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Quid Pro Quo With The Gods

Discussion in 'Cheeniya's Senile Ramblings' started by Cheeniya, May 20, 2017.

  1. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    @Novalis
    1310 Lizard Names
    This lizard must have been created by god in a highly playful mood. At first glance, it appears like it has got into a newly painted roof. I see that the stripes on its body run from top to toe unlike in the case of a zebra
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    The Creater is the best designer ever. What amazing creativity!
     
  2. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    1311 On Wodehouse
    I do not know if you have read Wodehouse on Wodehouse. Go for it if you haven't read it before.
    Here are two views about the book:

    No one can say I didn't give it a try. I read some 60 pages and just felt bored. I don't know if I will ever read a Wodehouse again. No rating for this one. (Rakhi Dalal of India. Refuses to give it any rating)

    This is an absolute must for anyone who is a Wodehouse fan. Not only do you get to know Wodehouse at a close angle but you also know that his books are so happy and full of life because that is the kind of person that he himself was. Loved living his life and always saw the goodness in others. Always! And that is the spirit of the man that comes through in all his books too. (Sudeshna Rates 5 star)
     
  3. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    1314 Doris Day
    RIP Doris Day.
    What a legend! I have seen almost all her movies. The theaters in Chennai where I saw her movies have all gone into oblivion. Minerva, New Globe, Safire, Anand to name a few. When I think of Doris, the song that comes to my mind is Que, sera, sera
     
  4. Novalis

    Novalis Gold IL'ite

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    The mentos advertisement points the impetus for evolution playfully at a psychedelic mint freshener. Bang! Growth spurt! The Space Odyssey we discussed last week imputes that spur to a mysterious monolith which kindles intelligence in the the idling monkeys. Sssh ...these interpretations are flimsy compared to the popular theory on what triggered the evolution.

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  5. Novalis

    Novalis Gold IL'ite

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    I will check that Pankaj Misra's book.

    I happened to notice RK Narayan's book in the spotlight aisle in the library, thus picked it up. I have not read exhaustive Indian mythology but for Amar Chitra Katha comics while growing up. The details now fascinate me more than the distillation, like, how the chariot was drawn, how the war animals were caparisoned.

    In the same book, Ravana's story intrigued me. He was much loved and elicited loyalty from his subjects, family, clan. Except Vibhishana, the rest were steadfast in their devotion whilst imperiling their lives to honour Ravana. He must be a charismatic and illustrious warlord even in the grotesque multitude of heads and arms to sustain such veneration in his dominion.
     
  6. Novalis

    Novalis Gold IL'ite

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    I try to detect substitutes for "walk" in Wodehouse's writing. No one knows why Wodehouse never captured the act of one foot ahead of another foot in "walk". He would inventively describe the act in "toddled away", "trotted", "legged it", "dashed", "darted" but no character in Wodehouse literature ever simply "walked". His whimsical characters might have considered the chore of walking too humdrum as they heel away in situational comedy. No person could merely walk around in the comic calamities of Wodehouse's narratives.
     
  7. Novalis

    Novalis Gold IL'ite

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    We both must have been 'word worms' in our previous births.

    These worms don't exhibit high intelligence on word usage. They simply curl themselves around words in books, sometimes flop their arm or pucker their cheek against these words giving the impression to others of incredible devotion for words in their pretense. The worms just enjoy the bodily warmth of the obscure sounds in sublime vocabulary.

    I enjoy only light reading about vocabulary. This week I am reading Simon Heffer's "Simply English" and Paul Payack's "A Million Words and Counting". I will share my insights whilst reading these books with you.

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  8. Novalis

    Novalis Gold IL'ite

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    Rhetorically, the old are persuaded with 'age is only a number'.

    But I counter, it may be a number, but not on the imaginary number-line in mathematics as age is plotted on the real number-line system, which means you feel aging. I observe myself, how my interest and activity have changed. Things and events that endeared me in the past no longer stimulate me. On weekends, I fancy a thick-shaken smoothie lounging with a book over travel to selfie-nurtured locations in the town.

    Heart says: jump on the boots, skitter outside, kiss the flowers, stand aloft in the sun, enjoy the birds, embrace the sights.
    Head says: you old coot, finish that damn book from last week in the library and buy yourself another glass of smoothie. ​

    My heads wins over me as I have never felt such fulfillment reclining in the library amused by the sprawling delight in front of me.

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    I will catch up with the rest of the posts in the night.
     
  9. Novalis

    Novalis Gold IL'ite

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    I have thwarted several miserable attempts to teach me chess. It is an obnoxious no-fun game which deposits cellulite on our thighs.

    Few years ago, I was reading an article on chess savants maneuvering the game blindfolded with multiple players. There's record of a man playing forty simultaneous games of chess. The grueling exertion could damage the brain, thereby the obituaries of grand masters reveal brain inflammation or insanity from that mental crunch.

    Cheeniya, our squishy brains cannot withstand that cortical gymnastics even with a single player. We should conserve our trifling brains for merry pursuits like QPQ.
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2019
  10. Novalis

    Novalis Gold IL'ite

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    Zebras are strange animals! I am surprised that we haven't discussed them yet given our propensity for misfits.

    The stripes of zebra are an evolutionary conundrum. How and why did zebra grow stripes? No evolutionary research could satisfactorily explain the streaky beauty. Why aren't animals allowed to grow fanciful features arbitrarily. May be the zebras sensed that dappled and tinged creatures are replete in animal kingdom, let's go for tattooed bands. Their uniqueness today warranted our attention in QPQ. I think, zebras have been spectacularly fearless in pushing themselves into an exclusive pattern amongst their animal brethren.

    Also, is zebra skin black with white stripes or white with black stripes? Ha, got you there! Biology teachers delight in demystifying that for kids -- zebra is black hide with white stripes only after the entire class failed in the test having chosen the other intuitive answer. Bad, evil, sadist biology teachers!
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2019

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