Its Plum Cake Time!

Tis the seasoon season to be jolly and all… Hope u fellas are having a good season this Winter.

Me and the roomies cut a plum cake at the stroke of midnight. One of them could only cut it but not partake in the actual consumption, since plum cakes are not eggless. He consoled himself by having an extra kachori.

No, thats not the plum cake we had. That is from some bakery in Greece. We had a smaller, less regal looking one. I always wondered why plum cakes are so expensive. In theory, they are supposed to have wine/rum in them but still. The bakery in our office campus had one on sale for 300 bucks. 300 bucks, for something like 500 gms. And then, they went and cut a couple into 12 teeny weeny pieces and charged 30 bucks for one. People still bought it.

Being the only two Christians in our team, me and John had the moral obligation to get cakes for the rest of the guys. Resisting immense pressure to get the 300 buck one, we got a couple of Mallu style ones from Madivala. The Mallu ones are not that rich and taste more like tea cakes. Plus, they are really sugary. Kerala also has the highest diabetes affliction rate in India. Go figure!

Anyway, have a fun and safe Christmas. A picture of a Yule log, just for the sake of it. I have never had a Yule log.

Love (2006)- The Beatles Review (Sorta)

Before delving into the subject of this post, first an aside…. Yes, I have failed and reneged on my initial promise to be more forthcoming with posts in my current avatar as a blogger. This post is dated a whole 7 months and 9 day after my previous rant. While blaming the pressures of work is the easy (and default) way out, more than that, I must confess to a distinct lack of interest(motivation?) in keeping this page alive. Why? Maybe because I am not the most natural of writers. Plus, the paucity of ideas stimulating enough to make me write the sort of paras you can see below. So, that’s it for my role as a two-penny intellectual. Atleast, for now.

So, starting now, more posts like the one you are going to read now. I dont expect (m)any comments, because it will be harder to flamebait with a music review.

I got my first Beatles tape when I was in 12th. It was the ‘Ones’ album, a compilation of No. 1 singles by the Beatles. Those were the days when I had long outgrown the Backstreet Boys et al, and was desperate for a proper musical education, at Dad’s expense. I was already well versed with U2, Pink Floyd and a smattering of others, atleast well enough to advance my cred as a ’serious’ music lover. The Beatles, however? Nah. They were clubbed with Elvis and the other old timers. Rock n roll, outdated, still powered by the misty eyed nostalgia of the baby boomer generation. Finally, just out of curiosity, I decided to set aside my prejudices and plunked down 18 dirhams of Dad’s hard earned money and brought home a pyschedelic looking cassette with a cover looking like it had been designed by my sister.

As with most compilations, this was also nothing more than a money minting scheme at best. For the sake of authenticity and the ‘warmth’ so often cited by LP apologists to pick holes with digital audio formats, the tracks werent remastered and most of them sounded, well, old. The early tracks like ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘I Want to Hold your Hand’ were fun but nothing more. No signs of much musical genius there sir. However, nearing the end of Side A, there was a perceptible change, in the songs, the lyrics and most importantly, the workmanship. ‘Something’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Eleanor Rigby’ sounded remarkable, especially considering the fact that they were decades old and still managed to be fresh and familiar at the same time.