It's hot and it's cold...

This problem has been driving me crazy for a few months now. In the warm summer months, when the sun is shining down on us and we are hot and sweaty, our office buildings are violently air-conditioned. The cold blast hits you in the face as soon as you get to work. You are shivering, drinking 40 cups of tea in 8 hours and wearing a shawl over your suit. So, how come all your colleagues seem warm and snug? Personal heaters. Every single one has one. Multiple attempts to get the management to change the AC settings are useless, it is a central system and we can't deal with this heat, and we like it cold inside. Deal with it, they say. So people do, in their own ways. But wait! Let's examine this situation here. It's hot outside, so you cool the place, but it's a little too cold, so you use personal heaters to stay warm in the AC?! Ack.

The winter is no better. I'm in Chicago, it is cold. Very, very cold. The cold is bad, bitter, biting. The apartment complex is centrally heated. But the heating doesn't just keep you warm, it makes you feel like you're sitting in a furnace with thermals on. It's hot and stuffy. One cannot open the windows, the cold draft will kill you. One cannot sleep in this heat, one cannot breathe. So one has to turn on the AC every now and then and kill it when one's head doesn't seem like it is going to explode. Eeps!

Utterly baffled by this phenomenal waste of energy. How are we going to save our planet?

The Maestro is back!

I loved watching Paa for two reasons:

1) It's a very funny movie. (No kidding, it has a serious theme, but the movie itself is very funny, heart-warming and enjoyable).

2) The music is fantastic. Ilaiyaraaja is back!, and in his inimitable style, he creates beautiful new melodies. My favourite is "Mudhi Mudhi Ittefaq Se":

All the other songs on the album are wondeful too. You should definitely watch the movie and buy the soundtrack.

Ma chandelle...

Au clair de la lune

Mon ami Pierrot

Prete-moi ta plume

Pour écrire un mot.

~

Ma chandelle est morte

Je n'ai plus de feu

Ouvre-moi ta porte

Pour l'amour de Dieu.

~

Au clair de la lune

Pierrot repondit

Je n'ai pas de plume

Je suis dans mon lit.

~

Va chez la voisine

Je crois qu'elle y est

Car dans sa cuisine

On bat le briquet.

~

Devendra Banhart

Devendra Banhart's picture from here.

I really like Devendra Banhart's Baby. The style is somewhat iron-and-wine-esque and perfect for a Saturday indoors. (Check out Angelika too).

Tharoor on Vegetarianism

ShashiTharoor: I explain my vegetarianism by saying i don't want to bite into anything that in its natural living state would have bitten me back.

Pomplamoose

While looking for Mr. Sandman, which appears very briefly in one of my all time favourite movies Grease 2), I stumbled upon the talented Pomplamoose (no, not Pamplemousses). This one-woman-one-man band is absolutely delightful. Click on the video below for my favourite: Mr. Sandman! Wow!

Also, see what they do with The Sound of Music, La Vie en Rose and finally, (I can't stand the original version but I love what they've done with) Single Ladies (Haha! Listen closely at 2:03).

• Remember this? More at PomplamooseMusic.
• Apparently, Mr. Sandman is very popular (0-99).
• The soundtrack for Prema Loka (one of Juhi's early films; a Kannada mega-hit) is loosely based on the Grease 2 OST.
• Yes, I do like Grease 2 better than Grease (blech!). There, I've said it!

A-ha! A-Capella!

• Absolutely my favourite 80s number of all time. A-capella!
• Original 'Take On Me' video here.
• Anoop Desai (of American Idol fame and) of theUNC Clef Hangers sings 'Angel of Mine' A-capella.
• If you like the A-capella group in Scrubs, you can buy their CD 'Riding the Wave' here.
• Perpetuum Jazzile performs Toto's Africa.