Too young to be Grammy material

I was not aware of this "trivia" - it was Neil Young's first Grammy (for music), last Sunday. Not that I care much about the Grammys. But this is really laughable. Have read that Dylan also received one pretty late... for Modern Times? Not sure, and no - I’m not reaching for the Google button.

Biz piece

On my way to work today, I was reading this free business newspaper (ah, the free tube newspapers, one of the few joys of working in London, and get to know who threw their cat in the garbage) and actually smiled reading this column on Nokia's burning state:

NOKIA finally confirmed a tie-up with Microsoft on Friday, which sent a ripple of excitement through absolutely nobody. At Mobile World Congress (MWC) this week it will announce a new tablet. Or an Xbox phone. Or a giant laser with which it will attempt to destroy the moon. It doesn’t really mater – nobody will pay any attention anyway.


[...] The problem is, Nokia is both vast and dull. It’s like Canada. Its phones are about as exciting as the vast swathes of icy tundra; characterless and difficult to navigate.
Sure, they both have their highlights. Canada has Montreal. The camera on Nokia’s N8 is nice. But this doesn’t make up for the N900. Or Celine Dion.

Maugham

Picked up a Somerset Maugham novel after a gap of almost 5 years! Perhaps he induced in me whatever cynicism I possess, through his three famous books - Of Human Bondage, The Moon and Six Pence and The Razor’s Edge.

The book I started reading now, Cakes and Ale, another classic, is his take on the literary world. The first few pages itself put me back in the somewhat strange and, in fact, likeable world of Maugham.
For instance, the way he details the appearance of his characters:

...a fine, upstanding young man, six feet high in his stockinged feet and of an athletic build, with broad shoulders and a confident carriage. He was not handsome, but in a manly way agreeable to look at, with wide, blue, frank eyes and curly hair of a lightish brown; his nose was rather short and broad, his chin square. He looked honest, clean and healthy. He was something of an athlete.

Or his typical observations of human nature:

Hypocrisy is the most difficult and nerve-racking vice that any man can pursue; it needs an unceasing vigilance and a rare detachment of spirit. It cannot, like adultery or gluttony, be practised at spare moments; it is a whole-time job.

Happy to be reading Maugham again!

Bruce Springsteen - The Collection

This is simply the best thing money can buy at the moment! First 7 studio albums of Bruce Springsteen in a box set for less than Rs. 1000. Just placed an order, though I already have 3 of these albums (Nebraska on CD, Born to Run and Darkness on tapes.)

I often dislike the fact that many of our rock idols mature as they progress in their career, and seek out something more rewarding for them, musically, than create the same music which made them popular; many drift towards jazz or world music – like Sting, Paul Simon or Joni Mitchell.

While listening to Springsteen’s 2009 release Working on a Dream, I was struck by the realization that Springsteen is doing just the reverse. Compare his first two albums and the last two, and you’ll know why. His debut Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ and the next one The Wild, the Innocent, and the E street shuffle are more mature, jazzy and elaborate than his latest two releases, Magic and Working on a Dream which, in Springsteen’s words itself, is “pop sound”. Interesting. But I don’t mind, as long as he continues to recreate Magic.

The Limits of Control

Thoroughly disappointed by Jim Jarmusch’s highly indulgent “The Limits of Control”. The movie, in fact, tested my limits of tolerance. But the 2 hours spent was worth just for this one scene- 3 minutes of an amazing flamenco performance:
Watch it!

He who thinks that he’s bigger than the rest
Must go to the cemetery
There he will see, what the world really is:
It’s a handful of dirt.