Today the Sena has become a pathetic shadow of its supremo. With no ideology or faith to hold on to, with no organised set-up apart from the undependable network of frustrated and militant lumpens; with no second line leadership or charismatic successor, the Shiv Sena stands on the threshold of disintegration. The internecine rivalry between Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, as well as between Joshi and Rane will soon consume the outfit. As for the Icon that has presided over the Sena's fortunes, it has become a mere Cut-out.
November 28, 2005
Tiger's whimper
As the Shiv Sena stands on the threshold of disintegration, Kumar Ketkar's words from a year ago ring true. Check out the article, in particular this concluding passage:
November 21, 2005
The Lone Surfer Tour 2005
Yesterday evening, I went for Davy and Pete Rothbart's (buddies from my ultimate frisbee group) "Found" show. They had been on tour across North America, doing shows in 51 cities in 54 days (wow!). The tour was to promote Davy's (awesome) new collection of short stories "The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas" and to share and collect new "found" stuff.
Davy puts out the "Found" magazine - a collection of notes, to-do lists, letters, diaries and all kinds of other things - lost by their authors, and subsequently "found" by someone else. It is a rather odd concept - printing a magazine of found objects and creating a show based on it. Davy makes it work and how! He imagines the remainder of the persons' lives, from the snippet that he gets to see. He writes stories about them. He weaves their notes into anecdotes, and some ribald comedy. And Pete writes songs, sometimes based on found stuff, borrowing and extending lyrics, and adding his own touch, to create songs such as "Damn! The Booty Don't Stop" (You've to hear it performed live! Its awesome, vulgar, funny, an absolute blast!!). Together, they are terrific entertainment!
Davy's book, "The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas", is a collection short stories. Here's what he says about his inspiration for the title story, and his book:
I just finished reading a few other stories from the book. They are really good. The heroes of Davy's stories are mostly young men who haven't found a path in life. Narrating in the first person, Davy provides the reader a close-up of his characters. Davy's stories are set in odd places across America - an old people's nursing home in Florida, a strip joint in a Mexican border town, a prison in Michigan, and in the title story, rural Kansas. The characters are raw, their language coarse, and their feelings out in the open for anyone to see. They are humane, rough, compassionate, mean, lost. And just when it seems that they've "found" themselves, the world seems to crumble around them. Thus, a lost love, a sad father, and a congenitally lying dead friend. Davy's characters don't find redemption - that would be too easy. Rather, they are left alone to themselves. In a way, the stories are just like the found stuff Davy works with - snapshots of a stranger's life, accidentally found.
Hats off, Davy! (and yeah, see you on the field soon!)
Davy puts out the "Found" magazine - a collection of notes, to-do lists, letters, diaries and all kinds of other things - lost by their authors, and subsequently "found" by someone else. It is a rather odd concept - printing a magazine of found objects and creating a show based on it. Davy makes it work and how! He imagines the remainder of the persons' lives, from the snippet that he gets to see. He writes stories about them. He weaves their notes into anecdotes, and some ribald comedy. And Pete writes songs, sometimes based on found stuff, borrowing and extending lyrics, and adding his own touch, to create songs such as "Damn! The Booty Don't Stop" (You've to hear it performed live! Its awesome, vulgar, funny, an absolute blast!!). Together, they are terrific entertainment!
Davy's book, "The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas", is a collection short stories. Here's what he says about his inspiration for the title story, and his book:
A few years ago, I was driving on a small two-lane highway through rural Kansas when I saw a bizarre and riveting sight—-a teenage kid had slung a surfboard between two dead tractors in the middle of a cornfield and was balanced on top, like he was practicing how to surf. Here he was, thousands of miles from either coast, the sun setting in glorious colors behind him—-I was mesmerized and sat there watching for ten minutes or so, and then I drove away; I don’t think he even saw me. But that image of him surfing in the cornfields stuck with me, and my curiosity about him kept growing more intense, so finally I decided to write a story about him, imagining what his life was like and what might have happened had our paths intersected. I called the story The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas (Montana is the name of a tiny town in Kansas) and it’s the title story of my new book.
I just finished reading a few other stories from the book. They are really good. The heroes of Davy's stories are mostly young men who haven't found a path in life. Narrating in the first person, Davy provides the reader a close-up of his characters. Davy's stories are set in odd places across America - an old people's nursing home in Florida, a strip joint in a Mexican border town, a prison in Michigan, and in the title story, rural Kansas. The characters are raw, their language coarse, and their feelings out in the open for anyone to see. They are humane, rough, compassionate, mean, lost. And just when it seems that they've "found" themselves, the world seems to crumble around them. Thus, a lost love, a sad father, and a congenitally lying dead friend. Davy's characters don't find redemption - that would be too easy. Rather, they are left alone to themselves. In a way, the stories are just like the found stuff Davy works with - snapshots of a stranger's life, accidentally found.
Hats off, Davy! (and yeah, see you on the field soon!)
November 10, 2005
Midival Times
A wonderful album, fusing techno beats and Indian classical music. Kudos to the Midival Punditz ! Try the NPR feature here for a sample, or read the review at ethnotechno.
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