A study in contrast

I can hear my laptop fan whirring as I type this. Its a quiet place, the one I stay in. Quiet people going about their quiet business just like all the apartments here (here=USA). And me having no business after coming back from work should have blogged a lot. But I lazed. If ever there was a pool of laziness then I must have swam, dived and snorkeled in it.

I have been watching movies though. After successfully ignoring I am Legend for months I finally gave in and decided to watch it yesterday. I don’t mean to boast but I usually get it right when I say movies suck before they release. I knew I am Legend would suck before it released and boy did it suck. All it needed was a Jawbreaker to suck on. Well, an exaggeration probably, for there were moments in the movie when Will Smith wasn’t conversing with the dog which made it faintly interesting. But frankly the movie lacked depth and a firm story line. If ever I had any lingering doubts about the movie after watching it, they were blown to smithereens when I turned on Donnie Brasco immediately. I couldn’t have chosen a more contrasting sequence of movies to watch. A ridiculous post-apocalyptic drab about a man and a dog in one and an intriguing story played by two true legends in the other. Hail Al Pacino and Johnny Depp!. And I fervently hope that I don’t see Will Smith as the last man on earth again.

Ah. And now I get to write about someone who deserves a post dedicated to him. One movie which I avoided watching was Sherlock Holmes. I have read the short stories, the novels , memoirs, you name it. And I have read these multiple times. I still remember the first Sherlock Holmes book which I read as a kid- The Hound of the Baskervilles (I was pretty confused at that time because of the number of times the Baskervilles guy was killed). In writing Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle created a fictional legend like no other. Here was a man endowed with supreme faculties of observation, capable of deducing events long after they happened, a boxer, a swordsman and a violinist. And yet there is this enigma to Holmes, a degree of eccentricity and aloofness which reassured me that he would solve the case. Some lines from the books are unforgettable like the “You’ve been in Afghanistan, I presume”  in A study in scarlet (where Holmes deduces Watson has been in Afghanistan from his tan and stiff arm) and this one’s my favorite at the end of The Sign of four– “For me,” said Sherlock Holmes, “there still remains the cocaine-bottle.” And he stretched his long white hand up for it.  No movie or series had ever done justice to Holmes. It couldn’t. He was and still is larger than life. Besides, the Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr was supposed to offer a totally different perspective on Holmes. So I vowed never to watch it. It would be disrespectful to Holmes. But hey, I couldn’t resist it when it was staring back at me when I browsed through my hard disk everyday. So, I watched it. And surprisingly I enjoyed it. There is no resemblance to the Holmes from the books except for a few moments in the movie when Robert Downey Jr throws clever lines. But it entertains (with plenty of humor thrown in). So, yeah sorry about that Holmes.

In keeping with my tradition of stringing together unrelated stuff, I have to write about how my fascination with cars is gradually nearing an end after coming here (here= California/USA). Cars are everywhere. They didn’t joke when they said Aliens would mistake cars to be earthlings if they were to look at this place. Back home, a Honda Civic was a dream, a Camry would get ogled at and a BMW was revered. Every 3rd car at my office here is a BMW, a Civic cuts a sorry figure and a Camry doesn’t deserve a second glance. Except for a convertible here and there, no car stands out on the road. As indistinguishable and non striking as  swarms of ants with the occasional Queen ant eliciting a sigh.