birds can be rather stupid

(click to enlarge)


only birds, of course.

don't come knockin'

(news of grandma caru)


my daddy just phoned my granny (his mum), as he often does in the evening. she didn't answer the phone.
this had him quite worried, because she hardly ever goes out, and surely not without telling, and not on a winter evening long after dark. and bless her, she's 94 if she's a day. so he phoned her next door neighbour, a lady in her seventies, who kindly went and rang granny's doorbell. no answer. knocked a few times, no answer either.
and the neighbour seemed to remember she hadn't heard granny's TV going today (and usually it's on from morning to night, and very loud too, for her hearing isn't what it used to be).

daddy jumped into his car (his blood pressure at about 200, so was my mum's, and mine too, when she told me over the phone), drove to granny's, didn't bother to knock or ring - expecting to find her unconscious at the very least - but let himself in with the emergency key.

oh, granny was SO surprised. no, she hadn't heard anyone knocking or ringing. yes, she had heard the telephone, but couldn't find it because it was dark, and wasn't quick enough turning on the light, because, you see, the light switch is difficult to find in the dark, too. almost annoyed, she was. but in good health, thank you. yes, the TV was on as usual, maybe the neighbour's gettin' deaf.

it's my strong belief grandma caru will live to be 120, and then someone will wring her neck for ruining his nerves.

quote of the week

"Die Liebe ist eine Art Koloquinthe; wer davon ißt, bekommt Bauchgrimmen."

"Love is a kind of bitter-apple; he who tastes it will have a stomach ache."

(Karl May)

and a quote, just by the way:

"you can never go home."

it's true. you freakin' can't, really.

Undisputable facts about Bollywood

There is no doubt that the greatest actor Bollywood ever had, or is likely to have, is Mr. Amitabh Bachchan.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the coolest movie he ever made is Don (1978) - a very dramatic crime story full of blood and tears, that will have you rolling off the sopha with laughter.

No reasonable person can doubt that the coolest song in Don is Khaike paan Banaarasvala ("When you've eaten betel from Benares..."). Check the video. It rocks. It's a bloody ear-worm. It was originally meant for another film, but who cares? Don would not be half the fun without it, and it has really become its message. Sing this on any street in India, and you will have five hundred million people crowding around you, joining you in the chorus.

It may be a bit surprising that the person who dances best to this song's tune should be a blonde, blue-eyed girl from Central Europe. But about that, too, there is no shade of a doubt.

moi non plus

Je t'aime / oh, oui je t'aime! / moi non plus / oh, mon amour... / comme la vague irrésolue / je vais je vais et je viens / entre tes reins / et je / me retiens - je / t'aime je t'aime / oh, oui je t'aime ! / moi non plus / oh mon amour... / tu es la vague, moi l'île nue / tu vas et tu viens / entre mes reins / tu vas et tu viens / entre mes reins / et je / te rejoins- je t'aime je t'aime / moi non plus / oh, mon amour... / comme la vague irrésolue / je vais je vais et je viens / entre tes reins / et je / me retiens / tu vas et tu viens / entre mes reins / tu vas et tu viens / entre mes reins / et je / te rejoins - je t'aime je t'aime / oh, oui je t'aime ! / moi non plus / oh mon amour... / l'amour physique est sans issue / je vais et je viens / entre tes reins / je vais et je viens / et je me retiens / non ! maintenant / Viens !

(This lyric, as sung by Gainsbourg/Birkin, was put here for me to keep up an association.)

it's worse than i thought

i read her favourite books.

i accidentally go for walks in her part of vienna, visiting places where she might have played as a child, or hung out when she went to school.

i go shopping in perfectly strange streets, trying to divine what she would buy there.

i get hungry and dream up a dinner to suit her, though i will eat it without her.

i come home, and it feels like entering a strange country.

girl, you've kinda moved in under my skin.