Oscar time

'Tis the season of self-congratulation in the movie world with Golden Globes, SAGs, BAFTAs, et al. leading up to the big daddy, the Academy Awards. Are you excited?! Neither am I. I used to have some interest if I'd seen any of the movies that are nominated, but I've had a hard time taking the Oscars seriously ever since "Dude, Where's My Car" failed to get nominated for Best Picture.

So, to drum up a little bit of interest in the Oscars, I'm going to dwell a little in the past. I've chosen my five favourite winners from six Oscar categories, and you can vote on the ones from those five that you liked best. Then we'll see how your choices match mine.

The selection criteria are fairly simple: 1. Only Academy Award winners that I've seen are eligible for nomination.

That's about it. If you don't see you favourite winner here...that's tough. I am the only member of this academy.

So go ahead and make your selection by leaving a comment (and encourage your friends and family to do the same). And if there's one that you think I have shamefully overlooked, then feel free to make your case.

Here are the nominees:

Best Picture

1. 1934 - It Happened One Night
2. 1943 - Casablanca
3. 1982 - Gandhi
4. 2000 - Gladiator
5. 2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Best Actor

1. 1934 - Clark Gable in "It Happened One Night"
2. 1953 - William Holden in "Stalag 17"
3. 1972 - Marlon Brando in "The Godfather"
4. 1982 - Ben Kingsley in "Gandhi"
5. 2004 - Jamie Foxx in "Ray"

Best Actress

1. 1953 - Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday"
2. 1964 - Julie Andrews in "Mary Poppins"
3. 1989 - Jessica Tandy in "Driving Miss Daisy"
4. 1997 - Helen Hunt in "As Good as it Gets"
5. 1998 - Gwyneth Paltrow in "Shakespeare in Love"

Best Supporting Actor

1. 1964 - Peter Ustinov in "Topkapi"
2. 1988 - Kevin Kline in "A Fish Called Wanda"
3. 1993 - Tommy Lee Jone in "The Fugitive"
4. 2000 - Benicio del Toro in "Traffic"
5. 2004 - Morgan Freeman in "Million Dollar Baby"

Best Supporting Actress

1. 1950 - Josephine Hull in "Harvey"
2. 1990 - Whoopi Goldberg in "Ghost"
3. 1996 - Juliette Binoche in "The English Patient"
4. 1998 - Judi Dench in "Shakespeare in Love"
5. 2001 - Jennifer Connelly in "A Beautiful Mind"

Best Song

1. 1936 - The Way You Look Tonight from "Swing Time"
2. 1964 - Chim Chim Cher-ee from "Mary Poppins"
3. 1971 - Theme from Shaft from "Shaft"
4. 1989 - Under the Sea from "The Little Mermaid"
5. 2001 - If I Didn't Have You from "Monsters, Inc."

Movie Mania - Results

Here are the results of the movie quiz that I posted three weeks ago. You did really well, but there were one or two that I thought someone would get.

1. I have since heard of people under extreme duress speaking in strange tongues. I became conscious that a steady torrent of obscenities and swearing of all kinds was pouring out of me as I screamed. "A Christmas Story" -- Libby

2. Man has climbed Mount Everest, gone to the bottom of the ocean. He's fired rockets at the Moon, split the atom, achieved miracles in every field of human endeavour... except crime! "Goldfinger" -- Libby

3. I'd like to spell it out for you...only I can't spell! - "The Apartment" (1960 Academy Award for Best Picture; currently #89 on imdb.com's Top 250.)

4. Will you look at that! Look how she moves! It's like Jell-O on springs. Must have some sort of built-in motor or something. I tell you, it's a whole different sex! "Some Like it Hot" -- Miriam

5. “Do you know what's wrong with you?” “No, what?” “Nothing!” "Charade" - James (Nexus-6)

6. "X" never, ever marks the spot. "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" -- Joshua T

7. A movie! That's your problem! You don't want to be in love. You want to be in love in a movie. "Sleepless in Seattle" -- Libby

8. Our people, our people. I would have would have followed you, my brother... my captain... my king. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" -- Joshua T

9. No, you're not a bad mother. You're just a barking lunatic. "About a Boy" - James (Nexus-6)

10. It's spooky! She knows more about you than you do! -- "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (I was really surprised no one got this one.)

11. Do not speak to me of rules. This is war! This is not a game of cricket! "Bridge on the River Kwai" -- Libby

12. Okay, now I'm going back to Graduate School. That was the agreement. "Mystery Men" - James (Nexus-6)

13. Mary Ellen Moffat. She broke my heart. "Jaws" -- Joshua T

14. Tell me what to say. But don't tell me what to say. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" -- Amy

15. If he'd just pay me what he's spending to make me stop robbing him, I'd stop robbing him. -- "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (Won 4 Academy Awards for 1969; ranked 149 on imdb.com's Top 250.)

16. Every story's gets to have a really big coincidence and here's ours: -- "George of the Jungle" (One of my favourite lines of all time.)

17. Food is fuel. You get picky about what you put in the tank, your engine is gonna die. Now shut up and eat your garbage. "Ratatouille" - Charlotte

18. If you want to do something to make your mama proud, promise me. Promise me you won't let nobody turn you into no cripple, you won't become no charity case, and you'll stand on your own two feet. -- "Ray" (Academy Award winner for Best Actor in 2004, although this was said to Ray Charles by his mama.)

19. If you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth. -- "Gandhi" (Won eight Academy Awards for 1982, including Best Picture; #165 on imdb.com's Top 250.)

20. Are you interested in joining? The benefits are terrific. The trick is not to get killed. That's really the key to the benefit program. "The In-Laws" -- Libby

21. Please consider me as an alternative to suicide. "The Princess Bride" -- Amy

22. A - You can never go too far. B - If I'm gonna get busted, it is not gonna be by a guy like that. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" -- Dave Hale

23. Michael O'Sullivan was my great friend. But I don't ever remember telling him that. The words that are spoken at a funeral are spoken too late for the man who is dead. What a wonderful thing it would be to visit your own funeral. To sit at the front and hear what was said, maybe say a few things yourself. Michael and I grew old together. But at times, when we laughed, we grew young. If he was here now, if he could hear what I say, I'd congratulate him on being a great man, and thank him for being a friend. "Waking Ned Devine" -- Libby

24. When a girl is under 21, she's protected by law. When she's over 65, she's protected by nature. Anywhere in between, she's fair game. Look out. -- "Operation Petticoat" (Said by my favourite actor, Cary Grant.)

25. For what we are about to see next, we must enter quietly into the realm of genius. "Young Frankenstein" -- Libby

Tagged...again

Rules:

Link to the person that tagged you—this would be Tiffany.

Post the rules on your blog.

Share 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

My 6 non-important quirks (What? Don't you guys know enough about me already??):

1. Whenever I visit a new country, I seek out the local chocolate. I almost failed in Spain, because they cleverly import almost all of theirs from Switzerland, France or Belgium, but I did succeed eventually.
   Another interesting search was in Holland. I didn't know if the Dutch made chocolate, so I asked my host, Jos. He said there was a good brand called Droste, and that it was made in his hometown. I wrote down the name and went looking for it in the supermarkets. I found a box, bought it, and subsequently found it to be delicious. The sequel: I now notice that practically every airport Duty Free shop that I pass sells Droste chocolate.
   (PS: American chocolate is useless.)
2. I have over 25 shot glasses from Hard Rock Cafes around the world, almost all of which were bought by me. The three that weren’t (Las Vegas, Hong Kong and Singapore) were from places that I had previously visited. That’s the rule: only from places that I have visited. A friend of mine went to Lisbon on holiday and offered to buy me a shot glass, but I declined her generous offer as I’ve never been there.
3. I haven’t owned a car for the past five years. In fact, I’ve only driven on two occasions since 2003. Give it up for public transport in Europe and Asia (and a smaller carbon footprint pour moi)!
4. I became a fan of the San Antonio Spurs without knowing where San Antonio even was. Actually, I became a fan of David Robinson during the 1992 Olympics and decided to support the team for which he played, which happened to be the San Antonio Spurs. Good decision.
5. I will hardly ever print on one side of the paper. If the printer has a duplex setting, I will use that. If it doesn’t, I will feed the paper by hand so that I can print on both sides of the paper. My little way of giving some love back to the trees.
6. I seem to enjoy movies set in France. Charade, To Catch a Thief, the Pink Panther movies, Ronin, The Transporter…heck, I even started to like Mr. Bean after watching Mr. Bean’s Holiday ("O Mio Babbino Caroooooo…").

And now for the good part: tagging people. Well, I'm tagging people without checking if they've been tagged previously or not. If you have, now you have extra reason to get on with it. I tag:

• Alina
• Bobbie
• Christy
• Dave
• Erica
• Jill F (This is the closest I could get to F)

Movie Mania

It's quiz time! I've seen this doing the rounds on Facebook and I thought I'd see if it would work here on the blog. These are the rules:
• Pick 20 of your favourite movies (I'm going to be generous and pick 25).
• Go to IMDB and find a quote from each movie.
• Post them in a note for everyone to guess.
• Change font to bold when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie (so this will be updated as and when someone guesses correctly; I may re-post on a weekly basis few times).
• NO USING GOOGLE/using IMDB search functions. Feel free to ask friends and family, though (if you are really stuck on a topic for conversation).

1. I have since heard of people under extreme duress speaking in strange tongues. I became conscious that a steady torrent of obscenities and swearing of all kinds was pouring out of me as I screamed. "A Christmas Story" -- Libby

2. Man has climbed Mount Everest, gone to the bottom of the ocean. He's fired rockets at the Moon, split the atom, achieved miracles in every field of human endeavour... except crime! "Goldfinger" -- Libby

3. I'd like to spell it out for you...only I can't spell!

4. Will you look at that! Look how she moves! It's like Jell-O on springs. Must have some sort of built-in motor or something. I tell you, it's a whole different sex! "Some Like it Hot" -- Miriam

5. “Do you know what's wrong with you?” “No, what?” “Nothing!” "Charade" - James (Nexus-6)

6. "X" never, ever marks the spot. "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" -- Joshua T

7. A movie! That's your problem! You don't want to be in love. You want to be in love in a movie. "Sleepless in Seattle" -- Libby

8. Our people, our people. I would have would have followed you, my brother... my captain... my king. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" -- Joshua T

9. No, you're not a bad mother. You're just a barking lunatic. "About a Boy" - James (Nexus-6)

10. It's spooky! She knows more about you than you do!

11. Do not speak to me of rules. This is war! This is not a game of cricket! "Bridge on the River Kwai" -- Libby

12. Okay, now I'm going back to Graduate School. That was the agreement. "Mystery Men" - James (Nexus-6)

13. Mary Ellen Moffat. She broke my heart. "Jaws" -- Joshua T

14. Tell me what to say. But don't tell me what to say. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" -- Amy

15. If he'd just pay me what he's spending to make me stop robbing him, I'd stop robbing him.

16. Every story's gets to have a really big coincidence and here's ours:

17. Food is fuel. You get picky about what you put in the tank, your engine is gonna die. Now shut up and eat your garbage. "Ratatouille" - Charlotte

18. If you want to do something to make your mama proud, promise me. Promise me you won't let nobody turn you into no cripple, you won't become no charity case, and you'll stand on your own two feet.

19. If you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.

20. Are you interested in joining? The benefits are terrific. The trick is not to get killed. That's really the key to the benefit program. "The In-Laws" -- Libby

21. Please consider me as an alternative to suicide. "The Princess Bride" -- Amy

22. A - You can never go too far. B - If I'm gonna get busted, it is not gonna be by a guy like that. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" -- Dave Hale

23. Michael O'Sullivan was my great friend. But I don't ever remember telling him that. The words that are spoken at a funeral are spoken too late for the man who is dead. What a wonderful thing it would be to visit your own funeral. To sit at the front and hear what was said, maybe say a few things yourself. Michael and I grew old together. But at times, when we laughed, we grew young. If he was here now, if he could hear what I say, I'd congratulate him on being a great man, and thank him for being a friend. "Waking Ned Devine" -- Libby

24. When a girl is under 21, she's protected by law. When she's over 65, she's protected by nature. Anywhere in between, she's fair game. Look out.

25. For what we are about to see next, we must enter quietly into the realm of genius. "Young Frankenstein" -- Libby

Good luck!

8 things that made 2008 great

As we prepare to consign 2008 to the history books, I look back on this year with mostly fond memories. Despite the awful happenings around the world (continued terrorist activity in the world, natural calamities and a huge economic crisis caused by pure greed and hubris), there were some reasons why my 2008 was great.

In alphabetical order:

A (mostly) kept New Year Resolution: I had one resolution last year—don’t complain. About anything. That was it. And it was a tough one to keep…at times. What I discovered was that once I got going with not complaining, it became easier not to do so as time went on. There are too many petty things that we allow to get in the way of enjoying life, things that can be taken care of quietly, without having to make a fuss. True, there were one or two things that caused major annoyance (well, just one, really), but the resolution was only fractured most of the time and broken just once (most of the whining was internal, except that once, and that was by e-mail, but feel free to contradict me if you thought otherwise). It’s amazing how the capacity to be patient increased over the year.
Blogging: It was about a year ago that I serendipitously discovered a stranger’s blog that I really enjoyed reading (thank you—you know who you are), and, over the past year, I’ve discovered and re-discovered blogs from old friends with whom I’d lost contact for the most part. It’s been great getting back in touch with all of you, even if it is mainly by leaving comments on your blogs. Which reminds: when you drop by to visit, please do say hello by leaving a comment.
Friends, old, new and forgotten: Travelling, blogging and Facebook have yielded some memorable new friendships this year (CMP, B&R G, G&V G, JH, LNS, SH to implicate just a few), rekindled a plethora (C&B I, CF, DH, H&J D, I&A R, KH, M&Y K, TS, T&J T, to give a few examples) and helped me get back in touch with people lost in mists of time (HS, KLH, SCB and TC had all been consigned, regretfully, to the nostalgia shelf until Facebook lent a hand). And, of course, I'm grateful for those whose friendships maintain their consistent nature over the years (ALM, ANM, AMW, ELM, MAO, NP, RGW, S&S R, et al.: thanks for continuing to put up with me). It’s not too much of an exaggeration to state that, at present, I have Grade I friends on every continent of the world (now that P&F DW have moved back to their native South Africa), and possibly most time zones of the world, too. Thank you all for contributing so positively to my 2008.
Indian sport: Undoubtedly, 2008 was the greatest year for Indian sport in my lifetime. Normally we are more chumps than champs, but this year produced plenty of winners for a change. Abhinav Bindra won our first Olympic individual gold medal, while Sushil Kumar and Vijender Kumar (not related to one another) added a couple of bronzes; Vishwanathan Anand was crowned World Chess champion; Pankaj Advani won the World Billiards Championship; Jeev Milkha Singh won golf's Asian Tour Order of Merit and attained a top-10 finish at the PGA Championships; Mary Kom won a fourth successive gold medal in the womens World Boxing Championships; Saina Nehwal won the women's singles at the World Junior Badminton Title; and the Indian cricket team has hopefully started a trend by socking it to the hitherto unbeatable Australians (even the South Africans, notorious for their emotional fragility against the Aussies, are hammering them in style right now).
Olympus E-510: At the end of 2007, I bought myself a long sought-after digital SLR. And while I am nowhere near as proficient with it as I would like to be, I’ve managed to take a few decent photos with it so far this year. Parasailing: I’m not usually one to do adventure sports like para-sailing, but I was in a strangely devil-may-care mood during my trip to Goa in October. What a great idea! That was F-U-N! What’s next?!
President-elect Barack Obama: I have no idea what kind of President Barack Obama will be. He may be viewed with the same historical significance and affection as the previous President from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln. Or, he may be deemed as disastrously incompetent as the last guy. I very much doubt, however, that he will be irrelevant, as he will face the biggest economic crisis in 75 years. Whatever he does, or does not do, in office, though, ought not to take anything away from the fact that he will be taking office at all. His was a masterful campaign, a triumph of optimism and brilliant organisation. (Bonus: the way Steve's daughter Sariah says "Bwack Obama" is beyond cute. It happens about 7-9 minutes into the video. Enjoy the rest of the cuteness, too.)
Twerp that I am: In the gloom that was Chennai during the rain of Cyclone Nisha and the horror of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, there was time for serious reflection. It first helped me realise what a twerp I’d been not too long ago. And then it yielded a startlingly clear picture of what I want to achieve in 2009. December had more purpose than the previous eleven months combined.

So, what made ’08 great for you? For those of you with blogs, consider yourselves well and truly TAGGED. For those of you without blogs, leave comments.

100 Things I've Done, or Not Done

I've seen this list on a couple of blogs recently, and I thought I'd have a shot at it. (Items in red indicate the things that I have done, some with a few clarifications.)
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (not exactly painted, but sketched in pencil...I'm counting it)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (no, but I've been on television)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China (only a restaurant of that name with a great buffet)
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia (had a stopover at Moscow airport once)
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (bought a ton in the past, particularly the Trefoils)
62. Gone whale watching (only in my dream...no, really, I did have a dream that I was watching the whales)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving (it's on the list)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter (too bad no footage of this exists...it was ace!)
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (well, my name has been in a published book, with my contribution clearly acknowledged...I'm claiming credit)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Book of Mormon or Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Dead Sea
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Tagged: 8 Things

I was tagged, in a general way, by Tiffany. Here goes:

8 Favorite TV Shows:

• M*A*S*H
• Blackadder
• Fawlty Towers
• Monty Python’s Flying Circus
• Midsomer Murders
• Without a Trace
• Good Eats
• Strictly Come Dancing

8 Things I did yesterday:

• Went caroling
• Received an unexpected Christmas present all the way from Australia
• Ate out
• Skipped dinner as I had so many snacks during caroling
• Read a project document
• Chatted with a friend in the US
• Wrote out some Christmas cards
• Sent e-mails

8 Things I look forward to:

• Understanding all the settings on my camera — the day will come!
• President Obama’s inauguration
• Getting through the books of Moses without experiencing mental exhaustion (task for 2009)
• My next trip abroad
• Finishing Michael Porter’s “Competitive Advantage of Nations” (750+ pages long, and no murders anywhere!)
• The Wurtzbachers returning to Chennai — they’ve promised to bring me a jar of Wal-mart peanut butter
• My next date ;-)
• Dinner!

8 Favorite Restaurants:

• Sangeetha (the one in Adyar, Chennai)
• Freebird’s (College Station, Texas)
• La Costenita (Corpus Christi, Texas)
• The Butter Churn (Sinton, Texas)
• Madras Pavilion (Houston, Texas)
• Acme Oyster House (New Orleans, Lousiana)
• Blackeyed Pea (for their meatloaf)
• Jason’s Deli (for their Reuben sandwich) And special props to the fish & chip shop on New Street in Birmingham--saved my life more than once!

8 Things on my wish list:

• Another trip to Temple Square
• Liverpool winning their 19th League title
• Visiting Palmyra, New York
• Being able to afford an external flash for my camera — those things are pricey!
• Trident cinnamon-flavoured chewing gum
• A PhD
• A skydiving trip in Europe
• A reunion with Steve and his family

Am I supposed to tag someone? Well, I'll tag whoever hasn't done this list, yet.

100th Post: Shankar's Laws of Existence

Woo-hoo! 100 posts on my blog, in just over six months. Yay, me! Of course, it's not that big of a deal considering I've pinched a good deal of them from other sources. Then again, I neither have kids whose photos I can plaster on the blog every other day and let everyone know just how cute they are, nor am I writing posts about how being in a new place is so exciting/strange. So perhaps it all evens out.
At this momentous point in human history, I have decided to make a major announcement. It is clear that it is a chaotic and anarchic world out there on the Internet, and in order to bring some order and method, I am establishing (fanfare, please)...

Shankar's Laws of Existence:
1. If it's not in Wikipedia, it's not true.
2. If you don't post it on your blog with accompanying photos, it didn't happen to you.
3. If you are not my friend on Facebook, you are merely an acquaintance.
4. If it's not posted on Youtube, it never happened.
5. If you can't find it on Google Maps, the place doesn't exist.
6. If Matt didn't dance there, it isn't inhabited.
7. What speling misteaks?
8. And what are apostrophe's? Your not making any sense.
9. If you don't leave comments on my blog post, you haven't read it.

This list is by no means exhaustive, so please feel free to add others in the Comments section.

Flying Solo

Due to a couple of unfortunate developments, I found myself rather alone on my trip Pune and Goa, both literally and figuratively.

Pune wasn't too bad, being full of long days commuting an hour to the new office on the other side of town and eight-hour training sessions. Mind-numbing days like those have a way of sapping one's energy to the point that you don't think too much about what you thought were well-laid plans going completely awry due to the decisions of others.

Goa, on the other hand, was different. This was supposed to be a family holiday, but Dad fell ill right before he and Mum were to leave Chennai for Goa (we still don't know exactly what's ailing him, but we suspect it is something mosquito-borne). So there I was, in India's major tourist-trap, with a blank agenda to be filled by moi, and I wanted to do something spectacular.













I think I did alright.

By way of explanation, I went parasailing on Colva Beach. The guys who operate the ride send up someone with you to manipulate the parachute, and they send upto two people on a ride. My co-passenger was a Swiss tourist named Andrea, whose husband wanted no part of it. His loss.

Oh, and that's one item off my Bucket List. Yes, I know I said "hang gliding", but that was a generic term for flying in a non-aeroplane, non-helicopter way for a change. (Yes, I've ridden in a helicopter, but that was before I developed my Bucket List. Ergo, it didn't have to make it on the list.)

PS: Para-sailing was awesome.

Desert Island Discs

After the gravity of my last post, let's lighten the mood up a bit. Let's pretend that I'm famous enough to be invited to appear on BBC Radio 4's long-running programme Desert Island Discs. What 8 musical tracks and what one book (The Bible and The Complete Works of Shakespeare would already be awaiting me on the island) would I like to be with me if I were a castaway on a desert island? (Of course, in this world of 160 GB iPods and 5 MB mp3 files, 8 musical tracks aren't a lot, are they? We'll ignore this reality for the sake of tradition.) 1. My Baby Just Cares for Me, Nina Simone. As I've stated already that I would one day like to play this on the piano, you shouldn't be surprised that this makes the list. 2. You'll Never Walk Alone, The Anfield Kop. But it's got to be a recording of them singing after the 2005 Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg at Anfield. And this made The Bucket List as well, so no surprise here either. 3. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Why isn't this in the LDS Hymn Book? 4. Pachelbel Canon Techno Remix, unknown. I have no idea who did this, but I love it. Brilliant adaptation of the finest piece of classical music ever written. 5. Across the Universe, The Beatles. There had to be a Beatles representation, and this is my choice. And even if their pronunciation of the Sanskrit chant "Jai Guru Deva, Om" is almost incomprehensible, I still love this song. 6. James Bond Theme, Monty Norman Orchestra. Best theme music, narrowly beating Indiana Jones. 7. Volare, Gipsy Kings. I need an upbeat number for when things get a bit slow, and this is a wonderful version of Domenico Modugno's excellent song. 8. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, Monty Python. Mindless optimism from the bad boys of British comedy. Book: The Code of the Woosters, P.G. Wodehouse. Wodehouse is my favourite author of all time. I love his way with words, his turns of phrase, and his endless optimism about life. And although this was the third or fourth of his hundred-plus novels and short story compilations that I read (back when I was but a wee nipper), it still holds up as the best in terms of convolution of plot. So, what are your Desert Island Discs? And if your blog appears as a link on mine, then consider yourselves tagged and required to give your response as a post on your own blog (or else this post will have a doozy of a comments section).

The Bucket List

I’ve had this blog registered for a few months now, but I haven’t got around to writing so far, but this seemed like a great topic with which to start:

About 10 days ago, my friend Charlottalove posted part of her Bucket List, based on the Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman movie. I really liked the post, and so I said to myself, "Self! Let's kick-off my blogging career by sharing a few goals with the world." And self replied, "Yeah, whatever." I was not discouraged.

What are the types of things that would make my Bucket List? Well, they would have to be somewhat achievable (so walking on the moon is out), and somewhat well-defined and not completely nebulous (so simply stating "I want to get fitter" is not acceptable).

After much thought, here's what makes the list:



1. Read the entire Old Testament in six months. This may take a while. I always lose steam around 2 Kings, and then read random books and chapters here and there in the rest of the Book.

2. Sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” with the Anfield choir, preferably on a European night. I may only have four years to get this one done!

3. Learn to swim. Four failed attempts over the years, at different ages, in different locations, and different would-be coaches.

4. Drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. I’ve done some marvellous road trips in the US so far, but never one in California. And I’ve got the camera for it now.

5. Live in Switzerland. So I can say that I have a Swiss bank account! Oh, and I hear the chocolate there isn’t too bad.

6. Watch and understand a French movie without sub-titles.

7. Visit Israel.

8. Go on a photo safari in Africa.

9. Sing the whole of “The Spirit of God” without my vocal cords feeling like someone is massaging them with a rusty saw somewhere around the second chorus.

10. Learn to ride a horse. This will be extremely tough considering how skittish I get around live animals.

11. Learn to play “My Baby Just Cares for Me” on piano. This will take a while as I don't know how to play the piano yet.

12. Go hang gliding. I’m not too scared of heights, and I’m not particularly nervous about air travel, but the very thought of this has put knots in my stomach.



I think this is a reasonable starter list.

So, how about you? What makes your Bucket List?