A rather motley collection

of links and such things. I have just finished reading Tim Harford's the Logic of Life, and like the blurb behind the book promised, I feel like I have a pair of x-ray vision goggles to look at the world with. Unfortunately, it is little help in understanding the utter chaos in the world right now. And if you read the papers, you'd be forgiven for thinking the world is ending. I get scared every time I look at a newspaper, and its hard not to be pessimistic. On the other hand, you take relatives out shopping to boutiques and look at this gorgeous, gorgeous kurta and think, hmmm, maybe 32k isn't that unreasonable an amount to spend on something so pretty. Thankfully, sanity reigns before you can spend money that you don't have on clothes that you don't need.

So onto the fun stuff: Foreign Policy wonders what Google would be like as US President. I so love the idea of the article, I wish I'd written it! And I'm sure Google would have done better than Dubya. And there's an amusing bit here about how Bill Adama is the leader we need. Not as fun is three US states trying to challenge the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling. This NYT editorial on the matter is spot on in its estimate that the measures these three states have taken will have far-reaching consequences. And there's an alarming piece in the Times UK about how the credit crunch might mean the end of sport. But to end on a bit of a happy note: people are apparently getting mixed-up over which is Sarah Palin and which is Tina Fey. And in other bit of news, McCain has rescheduled with Letterman after the relentless ribbing he took when he cancelled his last appearance on the show to ostensibly deal with the financial crisis.

ETA: This lovely article in the NYT about caricature and its influence on politics. Again, I lament the lack in India.

Say it isn't so!

Several news sources are reporting that Battlestar Galactica might get pushed back to April '09. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! As if the wait from May till January next year wasn't long enough? These are just rumours, as of yet, it's only Aaron Douglas who alluded to it at a Con. But it better not be true or I'll......... yeah. There's nothing I can do to Sci-fi. Damn the greedy bastards. If this is for the Emmys, really, who cares? They've ignored the awesomeness that is BSG for so long now, it'll almost devalue it to get recognition.

Also, Medialoper suggests BSG has higher fan quality. I always knew this. This is in reply to an AP story doing the rounds wondering why new BSG films and spin-offs are being created when ratings are plummeting, suggesting that it might be time to fix the system of measuring TRPs. There's another story about the new F-word. I knew that trend was going to catch on! And Jamie, the litcrit in him is coming out. So cute.

Long Time Coming

Its been a while, people. Not that any of you have missed me. But anyway, I shall regale with stories of my new-found Dolce Vita. Part of it is due to the joy of having a job where you are required to, you know, actually work. Its quite a radical concept. And to top it all, I'm required to think! Boo-yah!!! Give me a salary to match job-satisfaction and I'd have myself a trifecta!

Suffice to say I am enjoying work.

Anyway, after having posted the nominations of all the award shows under the sun, I have not commented on the Oscar Awards. Since that threatens my self-proclaimed status as an award-whore, I must set this oversight to rights, ASAP. Here, then is a list of the winners, complete with pithy comments. For nominations look here.

Picture - The Departed

Director - Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Actor - Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Actress - Helen Mirren, The Queen

Film editing - The Departed

Original song - I Need to Wake Up, An Inconvenient Truth

Original screenplay - Little Miss Sunshine

Original score - BabelDocumentary feature - An Inconvenient Truth

Documentary short subject - The Blood of Yingzhou District

Supporting actress - Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Foreign film - The Lives of Others

Visual effects - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Cinematography - Pan's Labyrinth

Costume design - Marie Antoinette

Adapted screenplay - The Departed

Animated film - Happy Feet

Supporting actor - Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine

These awards were notable in that there are very few truly contentious/controversial decisions. And the biggest story of the night? MARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!! He-who-finally-has-an-Oscar!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I must say, I love that the Academy chose a fabulously done "genre" film over such "important" movies as Babel and (the extremely mediocre) The Queen. For once, the Academy eschewed the message film and embraced good cinema, as cinema. I enjoyed The Departed like nothing else last year. Also, very happy for Alan Arkin upsetting Eddie Murphy for Best Supporting Actor. I mean, Norbit? Plus, how angry was Eddie at being snubbed? Imagine missing out on all the drama. I wish I could warm to Jennifer Hudson, really I do, but something about her strikes me as so fake and so, so manufactured. I would really have loved someone else- anyone else - to win instead of her. Especially with her post-Oscar comments on how Dreamgirls lost out because of bias. The biggest snub for me was the German film, The Lives of Others, winning over Pan's Labyrinth. Ah, Academy. When will you stop rewarding upper-mediocrity over the truly brilliant? I also liked Ellen as host, she was warm and funny. I especially loved the bit where she gave Marty the script and then later when she had Spielberg take a picture of Eastwood and herself. Oscar comedy gold. I loved the two minutes Seinfeld was on, however, so much so I hope he takes over next year. I liked drooling over Gael Garcia Bernal in a tux with a skinny tie as well. Oh, and Will Ferrell, Jack Black and John C. Reilly were the funniest things about the whole night. The bald Jack Nicholson, on the other hand, was the scariest thing about the ceremony.

The Filmfare Awards were notable only for the fact that Shahrukh Khan, in his awesomeness, hosted them. Best Actor went to Hrithik Roshan for Dhoom 2, comparable to, say, Tom Cruise winning for Mission: Impossible. (This refers to a time when Tom Cruise was not synonymous with crazy-scientology-guy). Kajol won Best Actress for Fanaa, which was a bad, BAD film. And that is all I have to say about that.

Holi was incredible fun this year. I had a fantastic time with a couple of friends, and this was the most fun Holi has been for me since school. The festivities started on Friday at work, where the office interiors started looking like the exterior in the amount of colour spread over walls and floors. I ended up looking like a female version of the Incredible Hulk.

In television news, I'm so glad Koffee with Karan is back! I love the show with its wonderfully insidious host who makes the A-list say things they really shouldn't. A treat in these politically correct times. Veronica Mars is on hiatus until April after wrapping up another mini mystery arc in an extremely satisfying way for me. The Agatha Christie style parlour game mystery was a refreshing change from the Veronica-in-mortal-danger, which while more urgent are also frustrating, and now repetitive. Battlestar Galactica is going to cause me to have an apoplectic fit and/or palpitations with the amount of anticipation I have for the final few episodes. They have already exhausted me emotionally more times this season than anything else on TV ever has (with the exception of the BTVS episode The Body).

I have watched several films recently, including: The Queen which apart form its fantastic central performance and Michael Sheen as Tony Blair is really a made-for-TV type thing; The Last King of Scotland which was enjoyable enough but notable only for Forrest Whitaker's performance; Little Children, which was a truly well-made film; Little Miss Sunshine, ditto; A Good Year, um.... and Guru, also ummm.......

Is it Christmas? Sure feels like it.

Wow. A good weekend, and a mostly good week, and then yesterday's football results. Could a girl ask for more? (Well, other than a vat of chocolate sauce and Jamie Bamber and/or Jason Dohring).

My new job goes well, and it has so far stimulated more brain cells than the last six months combined. For some strange reason India has started winning cricket matches again, and even though I profess not to care, it is nigh impossible not to. I have been managed to get my hands on most of the Oscar nominated films and I am looking forward to my choc-a-bloc movie-watching schedule. Social life continues to flourish thanks to friends at work.

And then, I am gifted with superb football results! It was almost perfect - Manchester United win. Real Madrid win (and people die of shock). Arsenal lose. The 'almost' is only because Milan only managed a draw, but anything that's not a loss for Milan is good these days.

It gets better and better. There are rumours that Schumi is being groomed for the top job at Ferrari. A so-so episode of Battlestar Galactica is mitigated by lots of Lee Adama. And there is a fantastic episode of Veronica Mars.

Battlestar Muzaktica, Indeed

The reason for this unprecedented double post is that I had to say something about how absolutely incredible the score on Battlestar Galactica is. I love the show for its incredible character-driven drama, its morality and its politics, but the music sets the tone perfectly.

And there is one particular piece, called Passacaglia, which is beautiful in its simplicity. Its haunting, its bleak, and its sense of tragedy is almost palpable. It is the kind of music that you want to die to.

ETA: This is the blog of the composer for the miniseries, Bear McCreary. Its an interesting read for anyone interested in music, and also a fascinating insight to the creative process behind a score.