1987 Eurail Trip

 I first went around Europe with friends in 1987. Kind of DDLJ tour, by train, though Kajol was absent. There were 4 SRKs instead. We started at Frankfurt, and went around to Amsterdam, Belgium, parts of Germany, France, South of France, Pisa, Rome, Venice and passed through Luzerne and visited William Tell's hometown. The proof of travel..

It's a Comic Life

 I mean, comics made life what it is, for me, in large part.

I was addicted to all sorts of comics. Phantom, Mandrake were favourites during teens. Then, it was Richie Rich, Little Lotta, Dot. Dennis the Menace, in newspapers where it appeared. Sad Sack in book form.

As I got a bit older, Asterix took over. I got around to Tintin much later, but some of the characters (Professor Calculus, Thompson and Thomson) were to make a mark. We named people-batchmates- after many of these. MBA days were fun! One or two faculty also got nicknames from the comics. Lothar, from Mandrake stories, was one, and Cadbury, Richie's butler, was another. 

MAD magazine with its comic strip format, was another favourite, with its zany take-offs on everything. Politicians, movie stars, Films, TV series, advertising, and almost everything was spoofed.

Not surprising then, that my favourite writers (after mysteries) were humorists- PG Wodehouse and in Marathi, Pu. La. Deshpande. Both were alike in their approach to making the everyday things hilarious. Ok, Lords and their aunts are not everyday objects, but the happenings like binges in pubs, and walks in the manor, were, for those characters.

 

European Odesseys

I had two of these. Some pics-

 The Eiffel Tower, and the Eurail Pass that got us there-

 Tintin country. And fooling around at a sandy beach in Europe (below).

 Gondola=Venice and on a train.

 Marseilles- that Bond-ish feeling! Heidelberg, below.

 Rome, and Chateau D' If, above and below.

 Leaning at Pisa, and straightened at Mt. St. Michael, France.

 The Roman fountain, and postcards..

 Mostly Greek, with mythology as the central theme. picture perfect, below.

Tintin- the Movie

I used to read both Asterix and Tintin, though I liked Asterix a shade better. But Tintin was also a regular read, and his characters like Thomson and Thom(p)son, Professor Calculus, and Captain Haddock were familiar territory. We had even named some of our IIMB classmates after some of these characters, for either their looks or their behavior.

It was fun to see these characters brought to life. Along with their typical traits and dialogues- 'blue blistering barnacles' (Captain Haddock) and 'to be precise' (Thompson). The titles are themselves a work of art, and very enjoyable. The use of the same font as in the comics gave them a very familiar feel.

This one is called the Secret of the Unicorn. I was never too sure what a unicorn was, but that did not reduce the enjoyment one bit. I thought it was an animated film, so it turned out to be a surprise. Not sure if they created masks for all the characters in the movie. Actually, it was running houseful last week, and so I missed seeing it earlier. Incredible, in its third week too.

The characters are all loveable, even the villain. Steven Spielberg has his work cut out for him, with lots more movies to make.