If I Were Santa

 What I may do-

Present people with lots of brooms and mops, to clean up the surroundings. We have a long way to go.

Teach world leaders to stop being in office forever.. too many seem to be unretiring, and unrepentant about it.

Ditto for cricketers who have outlived their usefulness.. Gavaskar had once said, "It's better to go when people are asking Why, instead of waiting till they say Why Not?"

Teach screenwriting and editing to as many filmy types as possible. Brevity is the soul of wit, but a lot of witless directors don't understand it.

Ask people to exchange gifts themselves, so I can retire. 

Film Review- The Martian

The movie is nice to watch, but not the best in its genre. Survival pics have been made that are better.

Firstly, there's too much technical mumbo-jumbo along with the real survival stuff-the latter is better than the former.

The dialogue is very good, and adds charm to the dull landscape (yes, even in 3D, it can get boring).

Secondly, why is it 3D? Not too clear to me. The humans appear small in 3D, and the planets big. I am a humanist, and not a planetist.

The story is predictable, mostly. Therefore, it could have been shorter. Editing is a valuable commodity while making a film. Usually, the Hollywood editors are better at it. Twenty minutes less would have made it perfect for my taste.

I prefer the raw, human, non-technological stories of surival, but this is not bad.

Random Diwali Thoughts 2013

The small plane is more fun to fly in than the big one. The Wright brothers had the most fun.

The Chinese are better at making Diwali stuff for the masses than India- fact of life. And a few other things, like furniture that guys want to buy.

There is no whiskey like the single malts- some of them, at least. My list would include most Islay malts, and Glenfiddich.

Food tastes divine when you are hungry. This is akin to the words of the great Confucius ( a man with a misleading name) who apparently said, "When hungry, eat. When sleepy, sleep." I agree.

What makes for a great movie is the edit. Mostly, it has to do with removing the unnecessary.

There is no greater happiness than friends, family  and nature. Everything else is a burden which we carry.