tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51127022024-09-11T08:03:43.430-07:00the opinions and arguments of a twenty nine year old male, indian, programmer, engineer, avid reader, romantic, writer, chess player, poet.ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.comBlogger376125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-16259391208848610352012-09-12T22:55:00.001-07:002012-09-12T22:57:44.787-07:00

Sayed Kashua is an Israeli Arab (or is it Arab-Israeli?) writer who writes in Hebrew and has seemingly gained quite a following. I picked up Second Person Singular partly on whim and partly on the premise. I'm glad I did. Kashua tells the story of an Arab-Israeli lawyer, living in Jerusalem, trying to fit into Israeli society while serving his Palestinian clientele. The lawyer buys a

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-60365920432384670402012-02-12T23:16:00.000-08:002012-02-12T23:20:12.636-08:00

This is such a delightful, moody film with atmosphere and composition in practically every frame. The movie begins with a dark scene shot through a dirty glass window showing three men breaking bread and by turns talking seriously and joking. A dog barks in the background and one of the men gets up, grabs some food and goes out to feed the dog. A short interlude for credits later we see three

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-10961622904490121972010-11-28T21:30:00.000-08:002012-09-12T22:59:35.264-07:00

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-33902947423317070482010-11-07T23:11:00.000-08:002010-11-27T23:32:52.501-08:00

Paul Theroux often refers to his oily shoes and knapsack, and his unshaven appearance which leads to some confusion in the minds of the folks he encounters, watchful as they are for a serial killer on the prowl. Published in 1982, The Kingdom by the Sea is Paul Theroux's third travel book (after The Great Railway Bazaar and The Old Patagonian Express) and is as entertaining as every other

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-4000346425535353402010-10-02T19:52:00.000-07:002010-10-02T19:59:30.906-07:00

I'm more of a carnivore than I am an omnivore and I approached Mr.Pollan's book with a some skepticism. I did not expect to like it as much as I did. The book has its flaws but should be required reading for anyone who eats. At least it should be required reading for anyone who eats in America because many of the challenges Mr.Pollan discuses are directly related to America's unique food

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-15601803990382549952010-09-05T02:16:00.000-07:002010-09-05T11:34:42.280-07:00

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and SpringDirected by Ki-duk Kim.A meditation on life, almost completely devoid of dialogue, this is one of my all time favorites.3-IronAlso directed by Ki-duk Kim.3-Iron features the heartbreakingly beautiful song, Gafsa, by Natacha AtlasTwo murder mysteries that are not really murder mysteries..Memories of Murder, directed by Joon-ho BongMother, also directed by

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-52248567197833086942010-09-04T00:30:00.000-07:002010-09-04T00:36:06.437-07:00

Born to Run is a best seller and came highly recommended. I was excited about the book's premise, expecting to learn the secrets of those who don't crash at 26.2. The book's byline refers to the "Greatest Race the World has Never Seen" - however, by the time we reach this "greatest race", the author has already spoken about a few that seem as great.Christopher McDougall is a contributor to Men's

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-27306569626899579392010-08-22T12:10:00.000-07:002010-08-22T12:15:41.571-07:00

Prophets with visions! Folk heroes! Indifferent politicians! Thugs! Villainous dictators! The confusingly titled Watership Down has it all. Unfortunately all of its incredible characters are rabbits. Huh? Hold on a minute. Rabbits? Seriously? I'm not a hater, but I found it hard to relate to the travails of tiny fur balls. Richard Adams' fantastical tale is a classic with generally positive

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-40361072990906017512010-08-22T12:00:00.001-07:002010-08-22T12:09:36.730-07:00

An indictment of bureaucracy, local and state politics, the "24 hour" news cycle and India's failed attempts at bringing prosperity to its farmers and villages. Skillfully directed by debutante Anusha Rizvi, with excellent performances by Omkar Das, Shalini Vatsa and Raghuvir Yadav and with a great sound track, Peepli [LIVE] is the indie to watch this weekend (or next).

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-7950192712971817602010-08-04T00:13:00.000-07:002010-08-04T00:29:33.398-07:00

Onibaba is a 1964 Japanese black and white film set during the "period of the Warring States", in the fourteenth century. The movie was directed by Kaneto Shindō and released by Criterion on DVD in 2004. The Criterion DVD includes an interview with the then 91 year old director - and I recommend watching the interview in its entirety after you've seen the movie.Onibaba is a spare film with

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-7958044263345983562010-07-18T01:10:00.000-07:002010-07-24T12:13:00.489-07:00

From literary criticism to a perspective on John McEnroe, Sunrise with Seamonsters has an eclectic collection of Paul Theroux' writings spanning twenty years. Mr. Theroux writes about Richard Nixon's memoirs and of a meeting with the man. There is a fawning piece on V. S. Pritchett and an admiring essay on V. S. Naipaul. I have yet to read In Sir Vidya's Shadow, but considering the sour

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-67314758580900960182010-07-18T00:31:00.000-07:002010-07-18T00:44:33.105-07:00

I just saw Diary of a Lost Girl at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. The screening was accompanied by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. The movie is considered a classic of the silent era. I enjoyed it immensely. The theme seems a little hackneyed, but then this is the original that was eventually made trite by over use. At times, the movie reminded me of the Indian classic, Pakeezah.

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-68685910331744868112010-07-17T12:30:00.000-07:002010-07-18T00:31:02.166-07:00

I caught the full version of Metropolis at the Castro Theater yesterday. The screening had a live score by the Alloy Orchestra and was preceded by a conversation with Paula-Félix Didier and Fernando Peña, the film archivists affiliated with the Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires who made the remarkable discovery. We stood in line for two hours to get the rush tickets without any real indication as to

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-56124985916670589662010-07-08T20:39:00.000-07:002010-07-08T20:44:42.418-07:00

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-54377435841433063712010-06-07T21:16:00.000-07:002010-06-07T21:22:11.675-07:00

Will Ferguson wants to be funny and I'm unfortunately not a big fan of "wants to be funny". Mr. Ferguson hitchiked his way from Cape Sata, the southernmost tip of Japan all the way up to Rishiri Island, off the coast of Hokkaido. I find Japan and the Japanese interesting so I was looking forward to reading about Mr. Ferguson's adventures as he follows a mostly coastal path chasing sakura blossoms

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-60784846836787769062010-06-01T23:58:00.000-07:002010-06-02T00:14:10.064-07:00

Roshomon by Akira KurosawaRan by Akira Kurosawa Harakiri by Masaki KobayashiThrone of Blood by Akira Kurosawa

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-31542041365681772452010-05-19T21:04:00.000-07:002010-05-19T21:09:58.193-07:00

I'm not as much a fan of Paul Theroux' fiction as I am of his travel writings but I wanted to read The Elephanta Suite for its cover photograph. What's so special about the cover you ask? It shows a vista that has now been crudely obscured by an ugly, if necessary flyover. The photograph shows Mohammed Ali Road, a center of Muslim life in Mumbai, scene of glorious mayhem, food and people, cars

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-7758751911986970512010-05-04T19:39:00.000-07:002010-05-14T11:03:47.622-07:00

The one consistently recurring theme in The Quants is gambling. Ed Thorp, who according to Scott Patterson is the godfather of a quantitative based approach to investing is also the author of the Blackjack card counting classic, Beat the Dealer and the subsequent primer on a quantitative approach to investing - Beat the Market. Scott Patterson is a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal and in

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-49902908157863487602010-04-29T17:49:00.000-07:002010-04-29T17:55:23.106-07:00

Ali and Nino is a grand love story in the tradition of the grandest of love stories. There is childhood romance, warring families, murder and war - all rolled up neatly in a short 270 page book. I was led to this little classic through the enthusiastic recommendation of Paul Theroux who provides a glowing afterword in the current edition. It is the story of a romance between a Muslim, Ali Khan

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-50288074252529579972010-04-24T00:24:00.000-07:002010-04-24T00:32:39.595-07:00

I just finished reading The Big Short, Michael Lewis' thrilling account of three hedge funds that managed to see the crisis in the financial markets years before others had a clue as to what was going on. At a mere 250 pages, I was skeptical. I like my books to be fat and detailed, an obviously unscientific measure that failed miserably in the case of Andrew Ross Sorkin's Too Big To Fail.

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-6710806302006117102010-04-18T13:12:00.000-07:002010-04-18T13:24:57.055-07:00

Reading Mr. Theroux' travelogue of Chnia made me realize I should know more of Chinese history than I do (which is practically nothing). School history textbooks in India focus mostly on local, state and national history. In higher grades you deal with European history, India's colonial past and some American history - for example, we learned of the Boston Tea Party and the Declaration of

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-705227597191502422010-04-10T21:22:00.000-07:002010-04-10T21:30:58.374-07:00

Five Stars

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-38008645880437243042010-03-23T11:40:00.000-07:002010-03-23T11:45:29.191-07:00

More a long essay than a book, Sailing Through China is Paul Theroux' report of his time on a cruise on China's greatest waterway, the Yangtze. Mr. Theroux is characteristically dark in his prognostications and reliably vitriolic in his description of fellow American travelers. I read this book as a prelude to Riding the Iron Rooster, a description of Theroux' travels by train through China.

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-68041337583853669342010-03-21T11:08:00.000-07:002010-03-21T11:16:25.193-07:00

I recently saw an Intelligence Squared Debate where the motion called for the US to step back from its special relationship with Israel. Roger Cohen of the New York Times and Rashid Khalidi of Columbia University argued for the motion and in fact won the debate. The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy by John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt makes a similar argument in a comprehensively

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5112702.post-32693713838622565402010-03-07T12:41:00.000-08:002010-03-07T12:48:18.485-08:00

Dead Aid is a 150 page book with a 24 page bibliography - so it reads more like a long white paper than a book. Dambisa Moyo has an impressive resume, much alluded to in both the book jacket and the foreword by Niall Ferguson. The author has worked for the World Bank and Goldman Sachs and she has a PhD from Oxford University. Impressive no doubt. Even more impressive is the fact that she was born

ubaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03887060141703660547noreply@blogger.com0