The Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill passed away on January 14, at the age of 82. I don’t know most of his work, which means this note of remembrance is less about Bofill the architect per se and more about Bofill the designer of the La Muralla Roja, an apartment complex in Manzanera, Spain. Spanish for ‘The Red…… Continue reading Ricardo Bofill (1939-2022), architect
Category: Culture
What I didn’t like about ‘Eternals’ (2021)
I rewatched Eternals today and had some time to collect some of my thoughts on it. Spoilers ahead (including one each for The Tomorrow War and Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings). Too much deus ex machina – took 55 minutes minutes to find out what the Eternals are not capable of. And this trope continues through the…… Continue reading What I didn’t like about ‘Eternals’ (2021)
Look away
Not something I usually blog about but boy is this funny. (At least) Star Sports has been airing an ad for an app called ‘Magicpin’ that I think helps you in some way when you shop for stuff. And this is how the ad goes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2tSI8cH8j8 So… a fight breaks out in the middle of…… Continue reading Look away
On science, religion, Brahmins and a book
I’m partway through Renny Thomas’s new book, Science and Religion in India: Beyond Disenchantment. Its description on the Routledge page reads: This book provides an in-depth ethnographic study of science and religion in the context of South Asia, giving voice to Indian scientists and shedding valuable light on their engagement with religion. Drawing on biographical, autobiographical, historical, and…… Continue reading On science, religion, Brahmins and a book
Reading books, writing words
It suddenly feels like a lot more people have been reading a lot more books. Or maybe they’re talking about it a lot more. I have one friend who went through more books in 2021 than there were weeks. And I’ve been quite jealous looking at her and others’ Instagram and Twitter feeds about all…… Continue reading Reading books, writing words
On The Caravan’s new profile of The Hindu
On December 1, The Caravan published a 50-page report entitled ‘Paper Priests: The battle for the soul of The Hindu’. The report – actually, as a friend put it, a big profile – has many good parts and many others, not so much, especially from the point of view of an insider: I worked there…… Continue reading On The Caravan’s new profile of The Hindu
Don’t donate bad food and call it ‘dharma’
There’s a troubling pattern among some people who give food away to homeless people and beggars. I have seen this happen first-hand with my folks, my extended family and their wider group of neighbours and acquaintances. All of them are Brahmins, so I don’t know if this is a Brahmin thing because they’re who my…… Continue reading Don’t donate bad food and call it ‘dharma’
The names of our dragons
The first piece of very-popular epic fantasy fiction I read was J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth saga, which, among many things, reminded me how much the American and British writers of ‘high fantasy’ owed the ancient mythologies of the people of Northern Europe and, to a lesser extent, east and central Asia. I read many other…… Continue reading The names of our dragons
Review: ‘The Tomorrow War’ (2021)
Okay not a review but more like notes, although I hope they add up to one or a few semi-coherent points – which shouldn’t be hard considering you know I like to focus on the science-adjacent stuff. The Tomorrow War finally used a new analogy to explain jumping back and forth in time (although there’s…… Continue reading Review: ‘The Tomorrow War’ (2021)
Review: ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ (2021)
‘Godzilla v. Kong’ has managed to revive my interest in how bad movies with big budgets get made – $155 million in this case. The film is suffused with bad dialogues and blah acting, but its principal transgression is its writing. As the movie progresses, there are so many stupid scenes that you realise the…… Continue reading Review: ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ (2021)
root privileges 