So we have beauty pageants. The most beautiful woman on earth is “Miss World”. I can get on board that. But the next level above that is Miss Universe? What a joke!
How delusional are humans to crown one of their own as Miss Universe every year? Who gave us the right?
Mankind has barely even left the solar system and we are confident that there are no females anywhere else in this universe more beautiful than the one we choose on earth? What assholes!
Also, what’s the difference between Miss World and Miss Universe? 1 planet vs 21.6 sextillion planets? Even Miss Solar System (8 planets) or Miss Milky Way (100 billion planets) would have been more humble.
I was discussing with PC the Path finder how most Indians have a poor sense of social responsibility and civic sense. Filth is everywhere, no one follows rules. Most people think only of their own convenience, not their fellow countrymen. How even countries like Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia are better than India in this regard. During the discussion, we bumped into the solution that can fix all this. Lashing. If there’s one thing that can fix the behaviour of Indians, it is lashing.
Humiliating, public flagellation. Import some strongmen from other countries for this purpose. Train them in the art of lashing. For minor offences, mete out punishment immediately. Ask the offender’s family to witness, too.
Some examples below:
Civil Offences
Offence
Lashes
Intentional Littering
20 lashes, pick up litter with mouth
Public urination
20 lashes, rub face in own piss
Spitting in public
20 lashes, someone else spits in offender’s eye
Invading personal space
5 lashes, smear shit under the nose
Public Smoking
50 lashes, send to live in Delhi for 2 months during winter
Listening to music/watching videos on speaker in a public place
I started watching Monarch: Legacy of Monsters recently on Apple TV+. It is set in the post-Godzilla world. I found it average at best.
The Characters
The lead character Cate is super-irritating. Always crying and acting traumatised. Boo hoo I once saw Gojira kill some people. Ghau ghau, my father doesn’t listen to me. Boo hoo, I am imprisoned by a tyrannical organisation. Always doing RR. Her mother Caroline wears a permanently shocked expression on her face.
The actress playing May feels like a cheaper version of Tessa Thompson. Not because she’s a bad actor but because she is trying so hard to be like her. A few times, she gave me hope that she is dying, but refused to.
The otherwise demure artist Kentaro suddenly turns beast one fine episode, trying to break down walls of his cell with his fists. Then goes back to being like before.
Lee Shaw (Kurt Russel) is shown to be 90 years old. This is explained with “good genes I guess”. Getting kicked and punched, flying through the air from explosions. At least his acting is not irritating and he’s the only reason I saw this Season through.
The Plot
The flashbacks are cheesy. When they discover that the radiation pattern from Keiko’s findings is same as the light patterns in Bill’s paper, there was no real need to tear the page from the diary and overlay them to prove the point. And what are the chances the 2 images would be exactly the same scale and overlay perfectly?
Come on, bullshit
Why did Kyoko have an acceptance letter for Lee Shaw in the old age home?
Why did Lee Shaw stay at the old age home cum prison for decades when he already knew how to escape?
A South Korean policeman (Du-Ho) knocks out his colleague and betrays his country all the while laughing. Just because he’s old friends with Lee Shaw. How is that even possible when Lee Shaw has been interned for decades? Anyways, Du-Ho then flies a plane (alone, from Korea to Alaska), without being noticed by the USAF. Later, when a MUTO destroys his plane’s engines, he still tries to take off (without engines) grunting and screaming, as though the plane will fly from his sheer willpower.
The scenes with Gojira were great, though.
Overall, I would never have seen this show if not for Kurt Russel and Gojira.
I thought I would do a yearly version of this article. Below are the TV shows I started watching in 2023, TV shows I stopped watching in 2023 and TV shows I tried to watch but couldn’t. Also TV shows I continued to watch this year.
Unfortunately, there’s no known recording of it that exists anymore. Enjoy the lyrics and feel free to make your own recording/cover.
Verse 1
I am a man who walks alone And when I’m walking a dark road At night, or strolling through the park When the light begins to change I sometimes feel a little strange A little anxious when it’s dark
Chorus
Fear of the bark, fear of the bark I have a constant fear that doggie’s always near Fear of the bark, fear of the bark I have a phobia that doggie’s always there
Verse 2
Have you run your fingers down the wall And have you felt your neck skin crawl When you’re searching for the light? Sometimes when you’re scared to take a look At the corner of the room You’ve sensed that something’s watching you
Chorus
Fear of the bark, fear of the bark I have constant fear that doggie’s always near Fear of the bark, fear of the bark I have a phobia that doggie’s always there
Verse 3
Have you ever been alone at night Thought you heard footsteps behind And turned around, and no one’s there? And as you quicken up your pace You find it hard to look again Because you’re sure there’s someone there
Chorus
Fear of the bark, fear of the bark I have constant fear that doggie’s always near Fear of the bark, fear of the bark I have a phobia that doggie’s always there
Instrumental Break
Bridge
Fear of the bark, fear of the bark Fear of the bark, fear of the bark Fear of the bark, fear of the bark Fear of the bark, fear of the bark Fear of the bark, fear of the bark Fear of the bark, fear of the bark Fear of the bark, fear of the bark Fear of the bark, fear of the bark
This is Part 3 in continuation to my last post about running. The good news is, I have been able to follow my running schedule religiously over more than a year now. The only time I took a break was for a few days when I had the flu.
I have been able to increase my distance a bit since I started and am running around 18km a week.
My VO2 max has continued its upward trend, but still not reached 2021 levels and probably never will, because of age.
1 year VO2 max trend
I recently ran my first formal 10k in Bangkok, which was an exhilarating experience.
The only problem with participating in marathons in Bangkok is that they start very early (approx 2 AM for full, 4 AM for half and 5 AM for 10k). However, the atmosphere is electric, even early in the morning. There are mascots dancing, drones buzzing overhead and a live band playing.
Finisher’s medalFinisher’s medal
Running among hundreds of people is a completely different experience compared to running alone. The distance goes by very fast and before you know it, the race is over.
Actually, no one told me anything about being bald, because I didn’t have bald friends to consult with. Below are the things that came as a surprise as part of the bald life
I am sub-consciously running my hand over my scalp all day. However, I don’t think this will last long.
I need to shave my head every 2/3 days max. If I go longer, the shaver can’t catch the hair. I had planned to shave once a week, but had to re-think my strategy.
It took me many days to learn how to shave correctly. The first week was full of bruises and blood and missed patches.
The money I was saving from not buying Shampoo and Minoxidil, I am now spending on shaving gel and aftershave.
Shaving the head feels like a novelty at first, but starts feeling like a chore after a few days.
The balder requires weekly maintenance/lubrication.
There’s an unspoken solidarity between hairless men on the street. A subtle head-nod is not uncommon. I have even received welcomes from bald men I knew already.
The head feels unprotected, especially during activities like running. It feels like if I fall, the head will crack open like a watermelon.
Sunburn on the scalp is real. So now, instead of Minoxidil dripping down my face while running, it is sunscreen.
My parents have taken this worse than I had foreseen.
Overall, staying bald seems to require more work than maintaining hair. However, bald is better than blading, any day.
My relationship with my hair (The ones on my head i.e.) has been rocky to say the least. I had mentioned before, that I hate haircuts. Experiencing hair loss for quite a few years, I had made up my mind that I will not end up like Pathetic Fool 6. In the beginning of the year, I had decided that I would exit with dignity, and that time has come.
Bye Bye Hair!
Few days ago, I made the leap and shaved all the hair off my head, for good. This was a moment I had been dreading for years, but surprisingly, the act ended up being liberating beyond measure. I can think of the following ways it has improved my life
No need to comb anymore. One less thing to keep.
No need to apply Minoxidil anymore. Further saving of money, no more low blood pressure.
No need to wait for the tresses to dry after a shower.
No need to worry about hiding the slowly-expanding bald-spot on the top of my head.
Haircuts are now a thing of the past. It is so liberating to shave my own head without having to speak to someone or going somewhere. Further saving of money.
No need to wear a cap while swimming.
No need to worry that wearing a helmet will squash my hair flat. Plus points for safety.
No need to worry that getting wet in the rain will squash my hair flat. The rain drops just roll right off.
Hair not getting in my eyes anymore.
No bad hair days.
No need to buy and track shampoo anymore. Further saving of money.
All in all, this was one of the best changes I made to my life and there’s no looking back.
I caught Influenza A last week. The first 2 days were so bad, I couldn’t even get up from bed most of the time. The third day, I decided to watch Demolition Man. It is a classic 90s action movie with oodles of adrenaline; about a 90s cop (Who doesn’t give two fucks for collateral damage) being put on ice and then being thawed out 30 years later. It is also one of the first movies to have predicted woke culture. Having seen it at least 20 times during school days, I decided to watch it again and see what I notice now. This follows a similar exercise that I did a while ago.
Demolition Man
What I noticed
How does it matter if you cryo-freeze a prisoner for 1 day or for 30 years? For the prisoner, it is still over in the blink of an eye (It is later revealed in the movie that the prisoners were mostly conscious, but they didn’t know that before).
Why is the communication system in a robo-car called FiberOp? I would assume most consumer communication would be wireless and video service providers would be abstracted from ISPs?
Retina/Iris scan don’t work if the eye is severed from the head.
Why would handcuffs have passwords? Shouldn’t they, too, be biometric?
Seeing the penii of many men in a movie is not as shocking anymore.
Why is Lenina Huxley always typing on the police computer terminal first and then asking the same question via audio? Shouldn’t the interface be more simplified?
Even 20th century technology wasn’t that bad that frying 1 camera caused every camera in 6 blocks to go offline.
Someone saying “ching-chong” when they see people of Mongoloid descent would not have been acceptable in 2023, even if the character was a villain.
Why would someone (Lenina Huxley) who knows so much about the 20th century be surprised that John Spartan doesn’t know how to use the three sea-shells or have sex using a brain-machine interface?
They never address the topic of whether only San Angeles went woke, or the entire US or the entire world.
Why was there a cryo-tube in a pneumatic arm at the end-fight scene?
Overall, it is still a very entertaining movie. Stallone acts well, but the real credit goes to Sandra Bullock, who was just supreme. Especially her incorrect 90s quips like “You licked his ass” and “Let’s go blow him”.
At the end of August, I decided to read Liu Cixin‘s work. A bit intimidated by the behemoth trilogy that is Remembrance of Earth’s Past, I decided to start easy.
Wandering Earth is the name of a short story. But also the name of a book with a collection of other short stories. I found them immensely enjoyable. Unlike Ted Chiang, Liu Cixin‘s stories are centred around China with Chinese people as main characters. The stories are too good, I must write a bit about each of them individually.
Wandering Earth
The Wandering Earth – This story is about the Sun eventually going supernova and humanity’s plan to move the earth to Proxima Centauri.
Mountain – This story is about an alien spaceship visiting earth and how one man climbed a water mountain to speak with them.
Sun of China – This story is about China constructing an artificial reflector in space to engineer their climate and a group of mere window-cleaners who maintain it.
For the benefit of mankind – This story is about an assassin going about his business while an alien race is on the cusp of invading humanity.
Curse 5.0 – This story is about a jilted lover unleashing a harmless computer virus to insult her ex. And how a bunch of drunk homeless people accidentally modify it to destroy humanity.
The Micro-Era – This story is about how humanity genetically engineers themselves to microscopic size to escape annihilation. And a macro-human who was in space for decades’s encounter with them.
Devourer – This story is about spacefaring dinosaurs coming back to earth to take humans with them and raise them for livestock.
Taking Care of Gods – This story is about the gods returning to earth and how the earthlings treat them.
With her eyes – Cannot say anything about it without spoiling it.
Cannonball – A story of a Chinese scientist over decades of cryogenic sleep.
I really enjoyed Chinese sci-fi, so I decided to continue with Liu Cixin and read Hold up the sky. Just like Wandering Earth, it is a collection of Sino-centric stories.
Hold up the sky
The Village Teacher – A story about a teacher’s dedication to his students and how that eventually saves the planet earth.
The Time Migration – Is a story about immigrants travelling through time to experience what becomes of humanity.
2018-04-01 – This is a story about humans editing their genes to age slower and live longer.
Fire in the Earth – This one is not actually Sci-Fi at all, but nonetheless a good story about mining reforms.
Contraction – Perhaps the most fascinating of them all. It is about the universe stopping its expansion and beginning the contraction phase.
Mirrors- This one is about someone inventing a supercomputer which can simulate everything since the Big Bang. It reminded me of the TV series Devs.
Ode to Joy – A bizarre story about an alien mirror arriving to the Milky Way to play an inter-galactic concert.
Full-Spectrum Barrage Jamming – A fascination story of war between NATO and Russia. Till the end you keep thinking “What does this have to do with Sci-Fi?” And then you realise.
Sea of Dreams – This one is about a low-temperature artist visiting earth and putting all of earth’s oceans in orbit.
Cloud of Poems – This one is about gods coming to the solar system and using its matter to write all combinations of Classical Chinese poetry possible.
The Thinker – Is about a doctor and an astronomer stumbling into a galaxy-spanning discovery and how they track it over decades.
After this, I started reading The Supernova Era, my first full-length novel from Liu Cixin. It is about all the adults on earth being killed by a Supernova and the children taking charge. Much of it was Chinese propaganda and well-known stereotypes. American children doing drugs, carrying guns and shooting each other, threatening to sue, impeaching their President, Britishers always delivering memos about everything. Similarly, the Japanese children have been depicted as blood-thirsty savages, their children eating a live whale.
More Sci-Fi
Not willing to commit to another full-length novel, I started Twisted Planet Book One by a lesser-known author named Peter Schinkel. It contains many Sci-Fi short stories. I found them to be reminiscent of The Twilight Zone. My only gripe is that some of the stories were a bit too short. Like just a page.
No more Sci-Fi
I had enough of Sci-Fi by now, so I started reading On Love and Sex by Khushwant Singh. There was not much love in it, mostly sex. Lectures on sex, Khushwant’s first hand and second hand experiences. Like most Khushwant novels, it didn’t disappoint.
I probably won’t do much reading in October, because my parents are visiting and I have loads of TV shows to catch up on.
