ILLUMINATI

There was a discussion in the facebook group "Reflections" about the previous post. Here is the link for it. The group is an open group. So you need not be a member to read the comments. I am thinking of writing an article later. But in the meantime, this is just an update. If do write it, I'll remove this post and replace it with the new one. You can post your opinions in the comments below or in the actual discussion in fb. Have fun fellas. https://www.facebook.com/groups/113739122115070/permalink/407007279454918/

  சில மாதங்களுக்கு முன்னர் “ Reflections ” ஃபேஸ்புக் க்ரூப்பில் ஒரு நீயா நானா வீடியோ பற்றிய விவாதம் நடந்தது. அந்த வீடியோ “நீங்கள் எப்படியெல்லாம் propose செய்யப்பட விரும்புகிறீர்கள்” என்று இளம் பெண்களிடம் கேட்டு அதற்கான அவர்களின் பதில் பற்றியது. அதற்கு வந்த பதில்கள் விசித்திரமானதாக மட்டுமல்லாமல் கவலைக்குரியதாகவும் இருந்தது. பெரும்பாலான பெண்களின் பதில், “சென்னையின் மொட்டை வெயிலில் கோட் சூட் போட்டுக் கொண்டு, ரூஃப் டாப் ரெஸ்டாரன்ட்டில் வைத்து, ஆயிரம் பேருக்கு மத்தியில், பேக்கிரௌண்ட் மியூசிக்குடன், ரோஸ் சாக்கலேட் உடன், முட்டி போட்டு, ப்ரோபோசல் ரிங் கொடுத்து, காதலிப்பாயா என்று கேட்காமல் என்னை கல்யாணம் செய்து கொள்வாயா” என்று கேட்க வேண்டும் என்பதாக இருந்தது. வெட்டியாக இருக்கும் போதெல்லாம் யூட்யூபில் ப்ரோபோசல் வீடியோஸ் பார்த்து கெட்டுப் போன கும்பல் இது என்று எளிதில் புறந்தள்ளி விட முடியாத அளவுக்கு இருத்தது  மிச்சப் பெண்களின் பதில். இந்த அளவுக்கு ரெஸ்டாரன்ட் செட்டிங் கேட்காத பிற பெண்கள் கூட இரண்டு விசயங்களில் ரொம்பவே தெளிவாக இருந்தார்கள். “ஒரு பெரிய கும்பலுக்கு மத்தியில் வைத்து...

Modesty Blaise: Green Cobra by Titan Publishers collects three stories: Green cobra, Eve and Adam and Brethren of Blaise, which are story numbers 42,43 and 44 respectively of the total of 92 stories of Modesty. Modesty Blaise strip has had several artists over the course of its decades, the most famous of them being Jim Holdaway, Romero and Neville Colvin. This volume collects the works of two much lesser known (for modesty fans) artists, John Burns and Pat Wright. As explained in the foreword, after Romero left, these artists were employed one after the other and neither lasted long and to this day, no one knows why. However different their styles might have been, these two had one thing in common, they were booted even before they got well adjusted to the strip. While John Burns illustrated two and a half stories, Pat Wright wasn’t even around that long. Having had read Modesty stories which had been illustrated by either Holdaway or Romero, this volume was quite interestin...

Parker is a stone cold son of a bitch. He is absolutely ruthless, completely professional, unforgiving, unyielding, unpredictable and vicious to the core. So much so that he could easily be portrayed as the antagonist of any story. And therein lies the novelty of the Parker series by Richard Stark. Portraying the ruthless, cold, vicious, professional thief Parker as the protagonist as he goes on pulling one of his daring schemes is the trademark of the Parker series and it almost never fails to deliver. Especially when it is illustrated by Darwyn Cooke. This latest installment of the Parker graphic novel series is based on the novel of the same name by Richard Stark. In the opening pages of the book, we have Parker and his slightly wacky pal Grofield pulling a heist only to see their escape go bad resulting in Parker being on the run with the money. As Parker finds respite in a closed-for-season amusement park, a local mob coupled with some dirty cops spot him and they decide t...

  Modesty Blaise: The Girl in the Iron Mask by Titan Publishers collects three stories: Fiona, Walkabout and the titular The girl in the Iron mask , which are story numbers 70,71,72 respectively of the total of 92 stories of Modesty. In Fiona, Modesty goes to a Bangladeshi jungle to visit a former Network accomplice, Sumitra. Little does she know that the area is being controlled by an old foe who is using an old, abandoned Bangladeshi jungle temple for his drug trade. Sumitra fears for the safety of Modesty and rightly worries that with her aversion for drugs, Modesty is sure to tackle the drug traffickers and decides to keep her in the dark. Along comes Willie with his lovelorn, jealous chimpanzee Fiona(who escaped from Willie's circus to be with him). With the assault on Willie and Modesty, Modesty suspects that something is amiss and so goes the story, which I found utterly predictable and to be on the weaker side of Modesty stories. There isn't too much going on ...

1 star stories: New York Mining Disaster, Airplane, A Perfect Day for Kangaroos, Dabchick. 2 star stories: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, Hunting Knife, A Poor Aunt’s Story, Nausea 1979,  The Year of Spaghetti, The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes, The Ice Man, Crabs, Where I’m Likely To Find It. 3 star stories: Birthday Girl, Mirror, A Folklore for my Generation, Man-Eating Cats, Tony Takitani. 4 star stories: The Seventh Man, Chance Traveler, Hanalei Bay. 5 star stories: Firefly,  The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Every Day, A Shinagawa Monkey. Reading Murakami could be like looking at a painting. Sometimes, it makes perfect sense, sometimes it is frustrating, sometimes it is puzzling. But sometimes, it talks to you. And when it does, it stays in your heart. While Murakami is best known for his surrealistic, dream-like storytelling, I’ve always preferred his stories that are firmly rooted on reality. And that is the reason I tried to read and gave up on Wind-...

American Tabloid is about bad men doing bad things to ensure that the history turns out just the way they want it to. And they are not afraid of doing sordid, dreadful, despicable, immoral (if not often contradictory) things to shape up history to their vision. Theirs is not the glorious pages of the history: the made-up moral conflicts, the glamorization or the idolization of the meek. They linger in the grimy shadows that helped lead history to its overblown glamorization. They don’t make the headlines. They exist between the lines, always ensuring the existence of the next one. In this world, there is no room for loyalty and every character abandons/kills/ maims/ exploits/ betrays at one point or another. But while they tend to exploit everyone around them, they must realize that there are some people who are hard to exploit; who got to their places in life by exploiting and not by being exploited. And they will realize that however competent the manipulation is, however pre...