This!



The Complete Don Martin slipcase edition.

And this.



Lagaan 3-DVD box set

MUHUAHAHAHAHAHA!

all these accidents that happen
follow the dot
coincidence makes sense
only with you
you don't have to speak
i feel
emotional landscapes
they puzzle me
then the riddle gets solved
and you push me up to this
state of emergency
how beautiful to be
state of emergency
is where i want to be

all that no one sees
you see
what's inside of me
every nerve that hurts you heal
deep inside of me
you don't have to speak - i feel
emotional landscapes
they puzzle me
confuse
then the riddle gets solved
and you push me up to this:
state of emergency
how beautiful to be
state of emergency
is where i want to be

I want to be listening to this song when I die. No really, I mean it. This song has it all - the Greatest Singing Voice Mankind Will Ever Know whispering words that seep into your ears like a....oh, fuck similes and metaphors. This song has made me weep on dark highways, it has made me howl in my room. Yes, when I die, I want to be listening to this. No, actually, I want to die watching the Live At Royal Albert Hall show, where she says "nerrrve that hurrts you heal", and gives that twisted, creepy smile at the last "state of emergency". The kind of smile that breaks the last bit of restraint you try to hold in yourself. She's the Alpha and the Omega, she's Death and she's Life and she is peeling your emotions apart and oh my god she is smiling there on the stage and she knows exactly how she's making you feel.

Morbid? Oh, no no no no NO. When you have an Icelandic princess whispering in your ears, you get deliriously happy, and you tend to babble a bit.

Life is good.

Happiness Quotient : High
New Music Quotient: Extremely High.
Anime Quotient: Low
Graphic Novel Quotient: Extremely High
Ebay Spend Rate: Red Alert.
Work Rate: High.

There you have it.

I have come to the conclusion that there's absolutely nothing personal/thought-provoking/interesting I can write in my Livejournal, so I shall skip the Happiness part, and the reasons behind it, and go directly to the New Music section.

Secondspin.com rocks. The US-based site sells second-hand CDs, with very low shipping costs. They send CDs sans jewel cases, and the postage comes to a flat 5$ plus 35 cents per CD. But that's not why I say it rocks. I had ordered a small shipment of anime DVDs once, and a Danny Elfman TV/Movie theme collection called Music For a Darkened Theatre Volume One a couple of months ago, which were delivered pretty early. Two months later, I get an email, which said - We have not received any orders from you in quite sometime, and so here's this coupon that gives you free International Shipping on your next order.

And who could resist this offer? I went berserk ( what's new, pussycat?), and ended up ordering thirteen CDs off them, a lot of Original Soundtracks I had been lusting after, some assorted artistes I wanted, and two Sonny Chiba DVDs that I included because they were two dollars each. The prices of the CDs ranged between 7.99 for some ( which, let me add, sell for 525 rupees here, if you manage to find them), and 99 cents for others ( doobie-doobie-do! ), so the average price came to about 175 rupees per cd, which is about 3.5 dollars per CD. And of course, free shipping, so no additional charges.

Two weeks passed. And then two days. After which the package glided its way into my office cubicle. A little more money went into buying jewel cases - brand new ones, that is - and a lot of evenings after that were spent in taking in the new music.

This followed a particular sale I stumbled upon, in dear li'l Hyderabad a week ago, where a shop was getting rid of its unsold CDs, and were selling them off for 150 rupees . Picked up ten, and for a change, paid cash.

( The loot, with commentary.... )

"Be cool", Elmore Leonard says, in a voice that's a cross between a George Clooneyesque drawl and a gruff , Stephen-King storyteller old man father-figure tone. "Be very, very cool." he says. "Lots of time. Keep your paws to your own self, youngster, and all will be well."

I comply agonisingly. There is a tremor in my voice as I whisper back. Get a grip. Don't show him you are weak.

"One glimpse? A small peek? "

Tommy Monaghan smiles at me. It's not a nice smile. I know I would shit in my pants if he took his dark glasses off, but thankfully he doesn't.

"Not a good idea, kid. The old timer told you something, and you better listen up."

"But one quick look wouldn't hurt, would it?" I ask back. "It's not like the goddamn end of the world or something."

"Tell me. son." The Saint of Killers this time. A voice that would slice my skin off the flesh, if I listened for too long. His face hidden in the shadows. "How is the water around your knees feel? Smell funny, huh?" His face moves a little. I think he is smiling. I wish. "That's because that's deep shit you're treading in, son."

The laughter begins. The bastards. Let them laugh. Laugh on, you infantile lot of slimy wankers. No, er, I am sorry I said that, Mr Monaghan, sir. Can I take a look now? Please?

Please?



Things like this happen. Especially on days you get packages of complete runs of Transmetropolitan, Lobo. and Adventures in the Rifle Brigade delivered to you in the morning, and then you realise you have to leave them in their shiny plastic packets for ten more hours before you can go Gollum Gollum. Ten neverending hours. Somebody make the torture stop.

AAAGH! Not that way, Mr Saint, sir.

Damn! I hate bittersweet endings.

That said, let me add that Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is an accomplishment that the man deserves to be knighted for. A fantasy series that juggles multiple worlds , and hold on, none of those worlds are your stereotypical humanoid-infested cesspools. A storyline that borders on the blasphemous ( with regards to Christianity), and a gamut of interesting characters, Pullman's major strength being ( I think I have said this before, with regards to the Sally Lockhart stories) his ability to make his characters meet a final end without prolonging the outcome or making it overly dramatic. Precisely the reason why the reader ( me, in this case) is always on his toes, not knowing what's going to happen on the next page.

One of the blessings about the series is the lack of hype. This is "essential" fantasy, no doubt ,but hardly storypimped on newspaper articles the way Potter or the Rings trilogy are - you know, plot points and conclusions being thrown at the reader's face in two-line blurbs. I had not known anything about His Dark Materials, other than the concept of daemons which, frankly speaking, was not too intriguing. So the storyline, as it progressed, was like being on this frying pan that gets hotter and hotter, making you jump and squeal, at different points, with rage, frustration and sheer happiness.

It took me a long time to finish the three books. A conscious attempt on my part not to hurry through. Waited a month after reading Northern Lights ( which is mostly known by the other name The Golden Compass). Took a week to read The Subtle Knife, and it was extremely difficult to postpone reading the third book for more than two weeks. (Note: while prolonging reading pleasure, indulging in other tasteful reading material, such as Feluda stories, immensely helps.) So, after my mom left, I picked up The Amber Spyglass, and last night, it got done. Damn ending. Kept me awake until three AM, staring vacantly at the ceiling.

Will, Lyra, Serrafina Pekkala, Ruta Skudi, Pantalaimon, Iorek, Lee Scoresby, Mary Malone, you too, Mrs Coulter, John Faa, madhav, I love you all.

Now let's all wait until the sanitised version of the story comes out , courtesy Hollywood. They raped Homer, after all, so who be thee, Mr Pullman, to escape their clutches? Better grin and bear it, when the time comes.