Maximus Dhammus

I knew it all along!
The gladiators were short and were vegetarians, just like me.
In fact their average height was less than mine. Don't believe me?!
Check this

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

If you ever wondered what a Bollywood movie would be like in USSR, this book gives you some idea.

Delightful little masala novel with a dash of crazy Ukrainian humour thrown in.

Marina Lewycka has managed what aspiring writers dream of. Write a decent first book and make the reader enjoy.

She has in fact talked about the travails of writing a second book after a successful first book. But that's another story (pun intended!)

I salute the sun! (Read the book to know what this means)

KBR Park, Hyderabad

KBR Park in Hyderabad which offered much solace during our days spent in Hyd is featured above. Note that green line which shows my running track which measures almost 4km (My Garmin tells me that it is less than 4km).

What is interesting is the fact that much of KBR is out of public access internally despite a fee(while the path along the periphery measuring according to one estimate over 8 km, is always open and free of cost to public).

Ultramarathon Man

226.2 miles without a stop – running for almost 2 days! Actually Dean started running The Relay (a 199 mile in SFO), which is usually run by a team of 12 people doing 3 legs each of 5.5 miles, but decided to run a marathon after finishing it!
The Bad Water Ultramarathon, a 135 mile race in which your shoes may melt every hour due to the heat
The first ever marathon at the South Pole!
The Western States 100-mile endurance run!

Note that none of the above is an ordinary race.

I think each of the above is worth a book by itself, but Dean Karnazes, the man known by the moniker, which is also the title of this post has done all this and much more. This, after having stopped running for 15 years, having been a reasonably successful athlete in college.

Did I mention that he has also swum across the Bay?
There is not much a book can do to get you running. But this book comes pretty close, documenting as it does most of the pleasure and pain that accompanies running.

Highly recommended for endorphin junkies, the natural kinds.

Cheeni Kum

After more than a month or longer than I can remember, I went to a theatre to see a movie. Since I am usually very particular about the movies I see, picking one these days is not always easy. I picked this one since I have seen some of Balki’s advertising work and liked it.

Balki’s maiden attempt at tinseltown is quite a packet. My favourite is Zohra Sehgal’s character and her fixation of going to the gym to attract girls!
Next is definitely Tabu’s character who provides arguments in the case for a fascination with older women  Her sense of humour in the movie is mostly backed by some excellent timing.

Amitabh’s character is very patchy and is likeable in parts. Unlike Tabu’s part, there is more than one avoidable scene with unnecessary melodrama.
Paresh Rawal’s character is mostly underdeveloped and mostly stereotypical. I rather liked Tabu.

The character of the leukemia kid is something I find unpalatable. It is fairly easy to get a kid to mouth dialogue which is cute, when uttered by a kid and silly when spoken by an adult. I refuse to like this one. But if entertainment is what you want, the kid’s character provides plenty.

There is some patchy cinematography towards the end when the colours all but disappear and the kid and Amitabh are on this bench, intended to create an atmosphere of nostalgia which somehow seems half baked, but otherwise is very much trademark PC Sreeram and mostly fantastic, save for the above mentioned anomaly.
And the characters in the restaurant especially the one with the buck teeth lend some laughs to a fairly pleasant movie.

Cheeni Kum is definitely worth a try

More...

What a Carve Up by Jonathan Coe
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

joined other homeless books in my collection y'day.

Contributions to buy a bookshelf welcome :)