THE MADNESS...ER...A HERO STILL LIVES.

As you know...or might have guessed...or if you haven't been following my blogposts (meanies!!!) this is Jamie-Sam, people! Aka, the actor SAM HEUGHAN who has been cast as James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser Hero extraordinaire from the Outlander novels. That's it. I have nothing more to say. Other than...let's just all take a moment to look at the pic again and again and again and...sigh, maybe drool a bit.

THE STATE and a DESI AESOP'S FABLE

An interesting take on the Ant and the Grasshopper story.

Original Story:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs dances plays the summer away.

Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the
cold.

Indian Version:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant’s a fool and laughs dances plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why should the Ant be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant’s house.

Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.

Mayawati states this as ‘injustice’ done on Minorities.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking worldwide support for the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven & Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance).

Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for ‘Bengal Bandh’ in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among the Ants and the Grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the ‘Grasshopper Rath’.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ‘Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act’ [POTAGA], with retrospective effect from the beginning of the winter.

Arjun Singh makes ‘Special Reservation’ for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions in Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, its home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV, BBC, CNN.

Arundhati Roy calls it ‘A Triumph of Justice’.

Lalu calls it ‘Socialistic Justice’.

CPM calls it the ‘Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden’.

Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later…

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley.

100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India.

AND…

As a result of losing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the Grasshoppers, India is still a developing country.

(Are you the ant or the grasshopper? What do you think about the Indian Governing System?)

MUSIC FOR MY EARS

Perfect theme song for a pair of star-crossed lovers. Absolutely love writing a romantic scene with this song thrumming all around.

What's on your playlist this month?

AND HE'S ALIVE...

EEEEEEK!

James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser will be incarnated in the gorgeous, tall, necessarily Scottish person of SAM HEUGHAN in the TV rendition of OUTLANDER on Starz. 

THIS is what a million plus Jamie groupies (myself included) have been waiting for since their first reading of Diana Gabaldon's cross-genre masterpiece. Titled, CROSS STITCH in the UK.

To see this hero amongst heroes come to life in a living breathing man is going to be a transcendental experience for me. I am embarrassed to admit that I'm quite a bit star struck already. (Move over SRK, Pitt, Butler and RK...I'm cyber stalking a new star from today!)

As pictures bring a million words to mind, I'm going to leave nothing to your imaginations. Here he is...

SAM HEUGHAN, the man who forever more shall be known only as Jamie Fraser. 

Etes-vous prêt, my Outlandish Companions?

THE BIZARRE WORLD OF MUNCHIES.

Food. 

The most exotic sensory experience humans crave after they've satisfied their palates with air, water and lust. The sheer number of cuisines, cuisine artists and dining places mushrooming all over the globe are testament to our gluttonaceous ways. Not that I consider gluttony a true sin anyway. Though the lengths we go to satisfy our incessantly watering mouths smacks of the sin of stupidity sometimes. Here's a list of the most ridiculous places to go munching that I've heard of in my life:

1. Hospital themed restaurants.

Yeah, I so want to drink a margarita through an IV staring at someone performing open-heart on his tilapia.

2. Bathroom themed restaurants.

Eat. Flush. Drink. Flush. Eat more. Flush. Flush. Flush. My only thought: this must be eco-friendly.
3. Hellen Keller themed restaurants.
Not only are the foodies blind-folded but are served in total darkness by blind waiters. I guess they believe that dulling one sense will enhance another. Senseless, I call it.
4. Live platter restaurants.
A beautiful naked model as my personal platter? I wonder if I'm allowed to use my fork and steak knife on her? Hm. Now I sound like Hannibal.
5. Dinner in the sky.
And that's not as pedestrian as being strapped inside an air balloon with a picnic basket. I'll let the picture below convey the thousands words about to erupt out of me.

Taking vertigo to new heights, aren't they?

I wouldn't try any of these munching places no matter how good the food being served or how piss drunk I am. Would you?