Found on Indian Express, via Samachar.com:
‘RSS looking to Hinduise Sikhs, Christians’
By sermonising to the church to Indianise, RSS Chief was trying to intimidate Christians...
Indianisation of the church is tantamount to Hinduisation of Christians..
The sound of "DOO-I" in the center of the word "HinDUIsation" is not very, er, tongue-friendly. Also remember, there is no "I" in Hinduism. Bad Philosphy joke.
I therefore propose the term "Hinduzification". Somehow, it sounds more, what's the word, robust and teutonic and solid. See, it has a "UZI" in the middle. As far as I know, there has never been an "Uzi" associated with this religion. So, now those same syllables, instead of sound ing like "DO I" sound like "DOO-ZY", a sound that just drips down the tongue like molten butter on a hot July afternoon.
What's more, it even means something. According to Answers.com, a "Doozy" is "something extraordinary or bizarre". Everybody wins.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Chup Ho Ja, Tommy, Chup Ho Ja
Uma blogged this funny cartoon from my favorite magazine.
I still remember chuckling over the "no one on Internet knows you are a dog" joke in 1994 (or was it 1499?) Now in 2005, not only does no one care if you are a dog, but no one cares if you are a dog with a blog.
I still remember chuckling over the "no one on Internet knows you are a dog" joke in 1994 (or was it 1499?) Now in 2005, not only does no one care if you are a dog, but no one cares if you are a dog with a blog.
Milk In Nehru
Even my spammers enjoy whimsical, surreal poetry. From a mail in my inbox today:
felicitous try gravitate it try lamprey ! ! britten some
be peale may it can it's be countdown ! a
snug ,not soccer it.
milk in nehru in may parent and and axisymmetric on
not belladonna a see tidbit in or mot may try
woodhen andand rend it's.
felicitous try gravitate it try lamprey ! ! britten some
be peale may it can it's be countdown ! a
snug ,not soccer it.
milk in nehru in may parent and and axisymmetric on
not belladonna a see tidbit in or mot may try
woodhen andand rend it's.
My Famous Ancestors
What's common to Hanuman, Herr Nilsson and Iwazaru? If your answer was "they are all famous monkeys", buy yourself a banana.
But for the rest of you who thought Herr Nilsson was a semi-famous singer-songwriter from the 1970s, you need this database.
But hey, where are Sugreeva, the King of Monkeys, and the tragic Vali?
But for the rest of you who thought Herr Nilsson was a semi-famous singer-songwriter from the 1970s, you need this database.
But hey, where are Sugreeva, the King of Monkeys, and the tragic Vali?
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Fun With Numbers
Which country is better suited than Britain to produce a TV show about India's pivotal role in world history as the "birthplace of numeracy", and what Britisher better than a Python to host such a show?
It seems to me that BBC has perfected the art and craft of producing TV shows that combine diverse topics like Science, History, Architecture and Geography (coincidentally abbreviates as SHAG.) And so the Beeb rolls out another very promising show called "The Story of 1" about the history of numbers, hosted by Terry Jones (who, we are told, employs "slapstick, quirky humour and learning".)
I wish my math teacher employed more slapstick and less slap and even less stick.
It is now a well-established, scientifically proven fact that the Pythons always insert themselves in Pythonesque situations, and fanboys like me will always find an exactly corresponding situation from one of their films or TV shows.
Here's Terry, then:
"The numerals we use are from India. We think they are Arabic but they aren't," he says.
"We travelled miles to a temple to find the place where the first ever zero had been written on to a wall," he says. It was a Pythonesque quest.
"When we got there it was locked and the gatekeepers were on holiday," he explains.
"Anyway, we managed to get into the right room and looked at this inscription and it was early Hindi writing.
"But without a guide we had no idea what it said or which one was the nought."
The words "Joseph of Aramathea" and "aaaaarggggggghhhhh" are still ringing in my head.
Will the kind lady at Within/Without do us a favor and post a little review of the show?
A good example of Terry's "quirky humour" at the end of BBC's article.
It seems to me that BBC has perfected the art and craft of producing TV shows that combine diverse topics like Science, History, Architecture and Geography (coincidentally abbreviates as SHAG.) And so the Beeb rolls out another very promising show called "The Story of 1" about the history of numbers, hosted by Terry Jones (who, we are told, employs "slapstick, quirky humour and learning".)
I wish my math teacher employed more slapstick and less slap and even less stick.
It is now a well-established, scientifically proven fact that the Pythons always insert themselves in Pythonesque situations, and fanboys like me will always find an exactly corresponding situation from one of their films or TV shows.
Here's Terry, then:
"The numerals we use are from India. We think they are Arabic but they aren't," he says.
"We travelled miles to a temple to find the place where the first ever zero had been written on to a wall," he says. It was a Pythonesque quest.
"When we got there it was locked and the gatekeepers were on holiday," he explains.
"Anyway, we managed to get into the right room and looked at this inscription and it was early Hindi writing.
"But without a guide we had no idea what it said or which one was the nought."
The words "Joseph of Aramathea" and "aaaaarggggggghhhhh" are still ringing in my head.
Will the kind lady at Within/Without do us a favor and post a little review of the show?
A good example of Terry's "quirky humour" at the end of BBC's article.
No Direction Home - Part 2
How did he find the narrative in the voluminous raw footage given to him, Charlie Rose asked Martin Scorsese, after Part 2 of the film aired last night. Scorsese replied by talking about spending three-and-a-half years on assembling, editing and shaping the film, while he was making Gangs of New York and The Aviator and shooting his new film in Boston. After all, this is the same man who once "stole" studio equipment to shoot "The Last Waltz".
After seeing Part 2 of the film, the narrative became clearer. The film is as much about the artist's pursuit of discovering his "true voice" as it is about the artist. Dylan, ever the cryptic Zen monk, says an artist should never feel he has finally arrived some place. Rather, he should accept that he is always in the "process of becoming".
Hence the (double) significance of the title, "No Direction Home".
Goddamn sweet punk moment in the film: Dylan instructing the band to "play it fucking loud" as the audience begins to boo the band.
After seeing Part 2 of the film, the narrative became clearer. The film is as much about the artist's pursuit of discovering his "true voice" as it is about the artist. Dylan, ever the cryptic Zen monk, says an artist should never feel he has finally arrived some place. Rather, he should accept that he is always in the "process of becoming".
Hence the (double) significance of the title, "No Direction Home".
Goddamn sweet punk moment in the film: Dylan instructing the band to "play it fucking loud" as the audience begins to boo the band.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
No Direction Home - Part 1
Last night was the premiere of Martin Scorsese's "No Direction Home" on PBS. A few days ago when I posted about it, I decided, rather smugly, that this was going to be a Scorsese event for me, not a Bob Dylan event. There was nothing I didn't already know about the man. Now that my foot and my mouth have been re-introduced and they are co-existing happily once again, let me say this: there is not much I know about the man.
Part 1 follows Dylan's early years, leading up to 1964-65. This is a look at the musical influences, his transformation from an "average" folk-singer-guitarist to a songwriter who could fingerpick, play harmonica and sing, a transformation that Dylan only half-jokingly attributes to "a deal with the Devil at the crossroads". He knows that many fans enjoy such allusions to blues mythology and he knows how some take it too literally.
Some images, words and sounds that made me sit up during the 2 hour film:
Woody Guthrie in the "hospital" (a mental asylum). Bob (and what would later be known as The Band) exploding into "Ballad of A Thin Man" in England after much heckling and booing; the dark, gloomy, suspended notes of the opening riff already sounding scary and crazy. Dylan referring to himself as a "musical expeditionary" with no past. The girlfriends who gave him shelter from the various storms ("they all brought out the poet in me" he says, and cracks the famous half-smile.) Dylan and Robbie Robertson on stage in England. Dylan and Robertson in the back of a limo, bona fide rock stars already, and Dylan complains "I can't stand the booing" (and at the exactly same time, in America, the Beatles complained that they couldn't stand the cheering). Dave Van Ronk's humility as he talks of young Dylan's sophistication in matters political. Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit". The great Studs Terkel interviewing Dylan on radio and asking him if "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" was about atomic rain and Dylan replying, "no, it's just a hard rain" and "I'm not a topical songwriter".
A musical puzzler moment for me: Joan Baez and Dylan at the Newport festival singing close harmonies. How on earth can ANYONE sing harmonies with Dylan? Sung individually, his notes are not exact but when sung in a phrase, they are exactly right. To sing just an octave higher than him is tough because Dylan's phrasing and timing is also very loose. But to sing thirds and sevenths harmonies? God. Joan Baez, while I am not crazy about her songs, must be a musical genius (and Dylan acknowledges it, saying "she was an excellent guitar player".)
Part 2 of the film airs tonight and now I can't wait for it.
Part 1 follows Dylan's early years, leading up to 1964-65. This is a look at the musical influences, his transformation from an "average" folk-singer-guitarist to a songwriter who could fingerpick, play harmonica and sing, a transformation that Dylan only half-jokingly attributes to "a deal with the Devil at the crossroads". He knows that many fans enjoy such allusions to blues mythology and he knows how some take it too literally.
Some images, words and sounds that made me sit up during the 2 hour film:
Woody Guthrie in the "hospital" (a mental asylum). Bob (and what would later be known as The Band) exploding into "Ballad of A Thin Man" in England after much heckling and booing; the dark, gloomy, suspended notes of the opening riff already sounding scary and crazy. Dylan referring to himself as a "musical expeditionary" with no past. The girlfriends who gave him shelter from the various storms ("they all brought out the poet in me" he says, and cracks the famous half-smile.) Dylan and Robbie Robertson on stage in England. Dylan and Robertson in the back of a limo, bona fide rock stars already, and Dylan complains "I can't stand the booing" (and at the exactly same time, in America, the Beatles complained that they couldn't stand the cheering). Dave Van Ronk's humility as he talks of young Dylan's sophistication in matters political. Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit". The great Studs Terkel interviewing Dylan on radio and asking him if "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" was about atomic rain and Dylan replying, "no, it's just a hard rain" and "I'm not a topical songwriter".
A musical puzzler moment for me: Joan Baez and Dylan at the Newport festival singing close harmonies. How on earth can ANYONE sing harmonies with Dylan? Sung individually, his notes are not exact but when sung in a phrase, they are exactly right. To sing just an octave higher than him is tough because Dylan's phrasing and timing is also very loose. But to sing thirds and sevenths harmonies? God. Joan Baez, while I am not crazy about her songs, must be a musical genius (and Dylan acknowledges it, saying "she was an excellent guitar player".)
Part 2 of the film airs tonight and now I can't wait for it.
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