Jermaine Says What We Are All Thinking

Jermaine Jackson said the following after hearing of his famous - and more talented - brother's untimely death:

"I Wish It Was Me."

If it makes Jermaine Jackson feel better, I wish it was him too. And Tito. And, most definitely, LaToya. But not Janet.

Basil On The Rise

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Originally uploaded by nagarwal

Planted some basil plants in the garden this season. As you can see, they are coming very nicely. Can't wait to put in my pasta and pizza dishes.

I'm Still Here Status

Nothing new to report from my end. Of late, I’m on an extended hiatus. Not doing much blogging as you can see – not one post for May, in fact! I’m reduced to updating my Facebook status and an occasional post on Twitter. I have stopped reading blogs altogether; but I am reading a lot, reverting to printed materials. You can say I’ve gone old school.

But I’ve made an exception for the latest issue of Pragati, the history issue, which was edited by JK Nair. It is very good, and I highly recommend it.

Thinking About Tony Soprano...

Finally settling down to watch the last nine episodes of the Sopranos.

Funny Family Guy Episode

One of the funnier episodes of The Family Guy I have seen in awhile. Stewie essentially builds a transporter and kidnaps the the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation so he can spend the day with them. The voices are those of the original cast.

Reading Update

Since I have offered very little, of late, I figure I at least provide a reading update - my only refuge from my chronic writer's block. As is my habit, I am reading five books at the same time. This time I took a picture of the books and posted it below; an idea I stole off another blog.



Apologies for the poor picture quality, I was using a camera phone.

It's an interesting grab-bag of books:

• Every Man A Speculator – a fascinating cultural history of Wall Street. Instead of concentrating on larger than life players like other histories, this book focuses on Wall Street and every day people.


• The Seekers – Daniel J. Boorstin’s three-volume survey of Western civilization and culture ends with a look at those philosophers, artists, writers and other cultural iconoclasts who search for the ideas. In Boorstin’s opinion, it’s not about destination but the journey there. Sounds familiar.


• The Foreign Correspondent – Alan Furst is one of my favorite thriller writers. Like all his novels, this one takes place in pre-World War II Europe. His characters are not Americans or English, but French, Polish, Bulgarian, Dutch, and, in this book, Italian. The book is both vivid and engrossing.


• The Great Gamble – As America’s involvement in Afghanistan continues to grow, they should take the lessons of the past very seriously. This book surveys the Soviet invasion, occupation, and retreat from Afghanistan, a country that has trapped more than one imperial power.


• The House of Cards – A riveting account of the collapse of Bear, Stearns, who disappeared from Wall Street literally overnight. Bear, Stearns, like all stuffy Wall Street firms, suffered from hubris, when they arrogantly believed they would survive the sub-prime mortgage implosion.

I figure this will keep me busy until end of summer.

Will We Ever Know Who Did It?

No doubt the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the Pakistani city of Lahore is an act of pure terrorism, but questions remain: who and why?

Everybody, including the entire desi blogosphere, will be bandying their own pet theories; and, naturally, I have a few of my own. The pro-Pakistani bloggers will blame the attacks on a known enemy of Pakistan. This is code for India (and its intelligence agency RAW), of course. The pro-India bloggers, on the other hand, will blame Pakistani-based jihadis and their supporters (primarily the ISI).

Most people are in a fog of information regarding these matters. And we bloggers are no exception given that we get most of our information from second-hand or third-hand sources, which is hardly ideal to get at the truth. So we filter these new sources through our biases, prejudices, stereotypes, etc.

Honestly, will anyone know the truth behind this attack?

Dillan TV: Episode 18

No Mood To Write

It is end of February and I only have seven posts to show for it. The reason is that I have a lot on my mind lately: no job, no health insurance, dwindling savings, deteriorating health are just one of many of my troubles.

You figure with all this free time I would have something to write about; something to say. But I have nothing, not even a brain fart. I use to read dozens of newspapers, magazines and blogs a day to find something to write about, but these days I rarely visit any of them. As a result, I am getting more stupid and more ignorant by the day. I cannot hold any argument as I do not have command of all the facts.

I'm definitely in a funk of some kind, but I don't know when I'll get out of it. Hopefully it will be soon.

Dawn New Design Sucks

I use to be an avid reader of Dawn, one of South Asia's premier newspapers. It seems they have rolled out a complete redesign of their web site.



To be honest: I don't like it. Though aesthetically pleasing, and gentle to the eye, it is a net loss, in my opinion. What was gained by good locks was lost in functionality. For example, if you want to access the newspaper's editorial, op-ed and letter pages, you have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the web page - below the fold, so to speak, cleverly hidden in a gray box with opaque letter. A poor design decision.

I say bring back the old version of the web site. Sure it was an eye sore but at least everything was easy to find.