Tuesday, January 08, 2013

2013

Ugh! Just ugh! My feet hurt, I can't keep my eyes open and exhaustion overtakes me. Writing this now is a good way of staying awake and active. For a few more hours at least.

Oscar season has started. DVD screeners abound. Django Unchained is ridiculous fun but what's with all the animal killing? Unnecessary but way more shocking than the 100+ instances of the word "nigger". How come no one's complaining about the gratuitous killing of animals but everyone has an opinion on that word? Sam Jackson should win an oscar. He hasn't been this good ever. Don Johnson was pretty great too. Otherwise, typical Tarantino over the top violence, great dialogue and some pretty good set pieces. Not as riveting as the last one but still pretty great.

Zero Dark Thirty though was disappointing. Too bloody long, a main character who's nothing more than a cardboard cut out and loads of fine actors wasted. Also, I guess no one will know but the streets of Karachi are lined with shops with Hindu names. So much for accuracy. Its a decent thriller but nothing more. Definitely no Syriana.

Planning to watch either Hitchcock or Seven Psychopaths tonight. Probably 7 P.

God! Java City's fucking loud. And I have mosquito bites all over my neck.

I want to shout at these people and tell them all to shut up. Easier to put on my earplugs.

2013 so far has been tiring. People everywhere are talking about "all the recent rapes". Were these people not watching or reading the news till December? Suddenly, people say they were late cause they were helping a girl get home. Where was this chivalry and how long will it last? The Times group seems to have found its bone and they're using it to target every establishment figure they can find. The Today group is using the bone to target the ruling coalition. NDTV is trying desperately to divert the focus from the ruling coalition while exploiting victims quite shamelessly. Surprisingly, CNN-IBN seems to be the only channel without an axe to grind but they too have the bone firmly between their teeth and don't seem to be letting go.

I doubt if anything's going to come of all this activism though. Talk of a special session of parliament has died down. The Delhi rape case hasn't been shifted to a fast track court yet and women all over the country are still facing atrocities on a daily basis. Everything depends now on the middle class and how good their memory is.

Why are the laws that most affect us, the hardest to change? A 17 year old juvenile who raped a 6 year old, chopped her up and dumped the parts in a few dumpsters is given the maximum punishment of 3 years and then released on his 18th birthday because that's just how the law works. The accused juvenile in the recent rape is also 17 and will get the max punishment of 3 years but walk out when he hits 18. The mind boggles.

The funniest thing for me was how some Punjabi pop singer was targeted for misogynistic lyrics and the ensuing outrage he suddenly provoked over a song that's a few years old. The funny bit was the moral indignation of people who have no problem dancing to a hip hop song where all the women are bitches and ho's. Oh well. And the next metalhead who claims outrage over Honey Singh's lyrics is going to get a kick in the balls from me. Even hypocrisy must have some limits.

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

the mood of the nation

A day of mourning,
A day of shame.
A night of talking,
About how much we care.

Move on, move on
Say our rulers.
No more, no more
Say our leaders.

Our fear is real
Our anger is rising
Our throat is hoarse
From this endless shouting

Move on, move on
Say our rulers.
No more, no more
Say our leaders.

Our rulers are blind
to our anger and fear
Our leaders will lie
While blood flows like beer

Our voice is stifled
Our lament unheard
We are the new monkeys
Nothing spoken, seen or heard

The leader will pledge allegiance
Promise of a new awakening
The crowd will light a candle
Finally, change is coming

Outrage is the entrance fee
To a better tomorrow
But there's nothing new to see
So come, let's drown our sorrow