nymph-o-mania: the good, the bad & the muddled

"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely miss..."

Sirens (greek); Selkies (scotland); Merrows (ireland); Merry Maid (cornwall);
Lorelei & Meerfrau (germany); Rusalka (russia); Mermaid (hans christian anderson);
Narf (shyam-osaurus)
Nymphs seduce men. They entice tired handsome travelers and keep them hostage under the cold dark water for the rest of their unfortunate(?) lives.
Sirens (bird-women turned nymphs) sing hypnotic songs to lure sailors into destruction.
Merpeople "do not take kindly to those who enter their domain". They do not sing, but screech when above water. They have yellow eyes, broken teeth, wear chokers of shark fangs and carry spears to poke anyone who enters "their domain".
Mermaids, the fairer and kinder of merpeople, fall in love with mere mortals, give up their voices alongwith their immortality to be with one, and eventually turn into sea-foam to sing to lost sailors.
Narfs are confused nymphs with absolutely no mystical powers. They have bad hair-do, bewildered looks, and whiter-than-white albino skin that separate them from the rest of us. They come from the "Blue World" to warn, help and "awaken" humankind. Humans carry them around and use sign-language to communicate during narf-ous breakdowns.

Hylas & the nymphs: artist Waterhouse, 1896	Merpeople: harry potter (goblet of fire)
Sirens: artist Herbert Draper, 1909	Narfs: Shyamalanesque Lady in the Water

Shyam-Alan, you are still a cutie...

my whacky God, where are you?

Hermes kills Argus, artist Velazquez
Aphrodite/Venus, Goddess of Love and Desire, had an affair with Ares/Mars, the God of War. Love and Conflict goes back a long way.
The gloomy God of Death and Underworld, Hades/Pluto, abducted and married Persephone, Goddess of Fertility, only to set her free in spring and summer to create new life. Life and Death are symbiotic after all.
Athena/Minerva, Goddess of Skill and Wisdom, had grey eyes, and sprang from Zeus' skull. Where else can wisdom spring from?
Neptune/Poseidon had dangerous mood swings, had a knack for making sea-monsters, and was pretty bad at creating land animals. That's what being hormonal is like... welcome to my world.

'morning after' at a celebration of Dionysus, artist Alma-Tadema
The oldest Greek tragedies were religious rituals of sacrificing goats on stage, to honor Dionysus/Bacchus, the God of Wine and Tragedy. Wine and tragedy, well I'll be damned...
Cupid/Eros, son of Aphrodite, was a sadistic God who had gold tipped arrows to make people fall in love, or lead-tipped ones to dull passion. He married Psyche, the personification of human soul. Eroticism strives to become beautiful with a touch of soul.
Artemis/Diana, Goddess of moon, never married, loved skinny-dipping, and turned spying men into stags. You go girl!
Hermes/Mercury, God of travelers and thieves, was swift, clever and athletic with winged heels, and stole sacred cows of Helios, the God of Sun. Eccentricity has it's downs...
Circe, the beautiful sorceress, had power for spiritual purification, and turned men into pigs. Spiritual purification and turning men into pigs jive well together.
Apollo/Helios, God of Sun, Light, Music and Healing was possessive, ruthless and was famous for his mortal loves. He sent prophecies through Oracles in sacred shrines. No comment.

A Rembrandt of Hades kidnapping Persephone
Zeus kills Phaëthon, son of Helios, artist Sebastiano Ricci
Zeus & Hera, by James Barry

Venus in Botticelli painting. 'Calumny' is the female holding a torch, dragging a man. Ignorance & Suspicion, whisper to Authority. Treachery & Deceit, arrange Calumny's hair. Scrawny Envy, gains a hearing for Calumny.

Zeus, God of Sky and Lightning, ruler of Gods on Mount Olympus, seduced humans, nymphs and other beings, sexual fidelity never his strong point. Power and promiscuity feed on each other.
Hera/Juno, Goddess of Happy Marriage, wife of Zeus, ironically spent vengeful, spiteful times tormenting Zeus' lovers and illegitimate children. Nobody can hold a grudge like her. That's like a true wife!
Anemoi, the Wind Gods, (Boreas, Notus, Zephyr, Volturnus, Eurus and Aeolus) were imprisoned by Gods in stables, and would be let loose by Hera to cause disaster. Hell hath no fury...
Hephaestus/Vulcan, God of fire, forge and craftsmanship was crippled after Zeus flung him from the heavens in rage. He married Aphrodite and had a trio of cyclopean assistants. Spent much of his life chasing Aphrodite's lovers..
Aurora/The Dawn, "rose-fingered" Goddess, painted colorful morning skies from Isle of Aeaea. Yawn!


Zeus' daughters: the nine muses depicted by Raphael

Final Words:
My muses have left me. All my nine muses have left me, one by one.
I am suffocating in my museless existence.

umm...

... nothing.
Just feeling like this since morning... Useless and ... pouty.




Bollywood hero Shahrukh Khan in Devdaas

my new 'it' guy

Kevin Smith | Silent Bob speaks!
one long entertaining speech on
Superman, giant spiders, gay R2D2 and Tim Burton.

summer camp no-nos

while we are still on this

Don’t Talk With Your Mouth Full…
"I'm not going to talk too long like the rest of them. Some of these guys talk too long. Gotta go home. Got something to do tonight."


Permutations and ruminations

unleash the kraken!

I have nothing against giant squids gobbling up ships, or 50 ft. long hungry sharks upturning boats with men (and naked girls)... ... or lustful, temperamental Gods on horseback, lurking around gardens to snatch away mortal (naked) women... ...

the collage (right) was created from various artists' sketches found on google images

... Actually I am all for it.
Fantasies are truer than truth itself. And graphic depictions have never lied back to me. Nor has my imagination. Since I was 8 years old. This book on Renaissance paintings that I discovered in the attic... the keyhole to my vast wonderland... that nobody has yet succeeded in zapping me out of.

While this movie was dragging on and on for hours... I was busy inspecting the over-active suckers on the slithery tentacles of kraken... suckers with minds of their own... the fish-scaled mutated green bodies, fungi-clad, worm-ridden faces with hyper-ventilating sea anemones for parasites... I watched it all with bated breath. There was no other reason actually…




... well, there was one. To see Bugs Bunny run... slanting backwards... did I mention it's a Disney movie?

Jack Sparrow... Bravo! You got the whole bunny thing down pat.

to speed up the slow

hmm... ... just thinking about it makes me realize how long it's been I haven't seen a good movie (after post: the slow list, july 06). Well, to push things further, here is a site desimusic.com which will help you get list of hindi movies. (Click on either movies, actors or actresses) It will freshen up your dusty, cobweb cluttered memory. Not only should we make an official list of "Top critically-acclaimed, yet commercial disaster movies" but also crown the actor/actress who starred in most of those our king or queen of tragedy.
After this, we will move on to the Hollywood movies... that'll be fun actually! Al Pacino, Al Pacino and Al Pacino.

sell your soul to the devil

after the cross-pollinating bee, july 4th, 2006, Every super-duper hit movie in India these days, is followed by a buzz for an Oscar nomination... further followed by disappointment and wonder at why such "great" movies are not being acknowledged by Hollywood as masterpieces. Example, Asoka, Devdaas, Paheli only to name a few. Here are the Indian movies that got nomination for best foreign language movies so far:
01. Mother India (1957) -- an epic saga of the struggles and sufferings of an Indian peasant woman
02. Salaam Bombay (1988) -- about street children of Bombay, in the world of drug addicts, pimps & prostitutes (strangely similar in theme to Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids, directed by Zana Briski, which ended up with the golden dude)
03. Lagaan (2001) : fictional patriotic movie on Indian villagers fighting their British rulers

If you notice, "poverty" ( or is it "struggle for a better life"?) was the underlying theme for all these 3 movies... in other words "keeping it real" to what India was, or probably still is to the western world. For your amusement, some interesting excerpts from some of Academy's foreign language film committee members:
"We look at the films from the American point of view. What happens (in Bollywood films) is that in the middle of the scene suddenly (the actors) start jumping up and dancing and singing, which, to us, is ridiculous. When we see an Indian film and that happens, we don't know how to react to it. That's the problem."
"Lot of people walk out of films, because they get very boring. It is not out of disrespect. It is out of the fact that we have to see so many movies and we can't just sit there and be bored."

I guess Ms. Mira Nair leaves no stones unturned to make sure she is being recognized (?!). In her article, she questions, "And if the West is now waking up to our energy and confidence, will we be tempted to change? Will Oscar fever mean we temper our spice to suit Western palates?" ... then answers in mock defiance, "They'd better be careful. Soon this country will be run by people who look like us." and finally gives in... "The key to every seesaw is balance". Done with the street children of Bombay, and a colorful Indian wedding with songs and dances, she is moving on to "Namesake" (on migration and displacement) and "Gangsta MD" (hardcore commercial, which in her own words, hollywood is paying "good money" for). "India is still too far" her jaded friend had vented 18 years ago at the Oscars. Too far from what? Oscars? yes dear... if you keep losing your way and digress everytime. And with Gangsta MD, why do I get the feeling that was never the point to begin with?

On a side note, Satyajit Ray was the only Indian filmmaker who received an honorary Oscar (Life Time Achievement Award)... who's "World of Apu" got the Golden Globes at best. And this is one person who was never famous for compromising his integrity for commercial success.
And on a really really different note, how to sell your soul to the devil ... (for 18 and up, read at your own risk, bashkaranjohar.com will not be held responsible for your actions).

another one for my pandora's box

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
Match Point.