Random Thoughts Of A Driftwood

I couldn't let off the chance of owning a P.G. Wodehouse book when I saw the book in a book store shelf. Yes... I'm quite the impulse purchaser of books. This is by no means a bad purchase though as the writing of PG Wodehouse came highly regarded among the English writing circle. I picked Carry on Jeeves... as the first Wodehouse books to own. Possibly his best known series. And by Jove is it a cracker! The Jeeves series follows the comedic exploit of one Bertie Wooster, a little lacking in the intellectual department and his valet(butler) Jeeves, making up for his master's lack of cranial matter. The book is a collection of Bertie and Jeeves stories, loosely connected with the each preceding one. It reads like a television comedy show, with each 'episode' relatively standalone in nature. There is no doubt that this series of books has had a huge influence on British comedy and comedy in general(we've had quite a few of comedy shows featuring a wise cracking ...

Homage to Catalonia is one of the best(if not the best) wartime accounts from on the the best writer of our times. Serving with the leftist POUM militia(Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista), Homage to Catalonia captures the optimism and idealism of revolutionary Spain. It then explores the mundaneness of trench warfare, which was more like non warfare. The treachery, living in fear of being outed, street fighting in Barcelona all vividly expressed. Even in the humdrum nature of it all, George Orwell writes a captivating account that manages to share with its readers the horrors and poor conditions of those in the front line and the political backstabbing from those that are far away from the actual fighting. A turbulent history of Spanish history with a huge variety of political entities fighting against fascism and against themselves. Homage to Catalonia ends with the hauntingly prescient paragraph in which Orwell expresses his disdain for his fellow En...

First of all, a warning... do not read this if you plan on watching this movie. I'll try to avoid spoilers but it is unavoidable that I touch on instances in the movie to make a point. So be warned. Watch the movie first, then read this post. The Woman In Black is a movie directed by James Watkins and is based on the Susan Hill novel of the same title. The main protagonist(Arthur Kipps) is played by Daniel Radcliff aka Mr. Harry Potter. It's hard to watch this movie without going "Look ma! It's Harry Potter!". Like all novel to movie adaptations, it exhibits some adaptation syndrom symptoms. Let me explain... Like all movies that are rather limited when it comes to screen time, details are definitely cut out. Make no mistake, I haven't read The Woman In Black, but I noticed the lack of detail and explanations for the plot. That being said, The Woman In Black does not(at least to my knowledge) display any gaping plot holes. That's a good sign. The Wom...

George Orwell(1903-1950) famously known for his work 1984, was a master of the prose. I posit that the words he had written in the opening chapter of Homage to Catalonia stands as a vivid painting of the landscape of a Catalonia swept up by revolutionary fervour. I dare say his description is even more haunting and real than the video documentaries produced on the Spanish Civil War. Here's a short example: "The revolutionary posters were everywhere, flaming from the walls in clean reds and blue that made the few remaining advertisements look like daubs of mud. Down the Ramblas( NOTE : La Rambla is a street in Barcelona ), the wide central artery of town where crowds of people streamed constantly to and fro, the loudspeakers were bellowing revolutionary songs all day and far into the night. And it was the aspect of the crowds that was the queerest thing of all. In outward appearance it was a town in which the wealthy classes had practically ceased to exist." Hom...

Horatio, Why so glum? The words seem to hum, But it augurs a despair... foreboding and dumb, An emotional moribund, Denial He became stuck in the ways of the smith, Oh how would he buck the blues, However best he tries to duck the truth, The man strives on with his flute, Loneliness The emptiness is a desolate desert, In which he plies his trade, The solitude a great partner, But it threatens to poison when in danger, Bitterness Turning and churning the bitter pill, Reality seems mocking... but still, The shocking brute of workmen life tills the mill, The man strives on with his drill, Sadness Sorrow fuses the pangs of depression, With the bitterness of the futility of escaping the flow, The feelings make strange bedfellows, But he is trapped in the billowing canvas of his work, Sanity Horatio, are you all right? The words linger a little longer this time, A sense of conciousness returns, like the scent of thyme, The man strives on with his poe...

The debate that has been garnering quite a bit of anticipation over the weeks has finally happened. Lim Guan Eng from the DAP(current Chief Minister of Penang) took on MCA's President, Chua Soi Lek in a debate that was aired on Astro Awani earlier today. It was in Mandarin with translators translating the whole debate into Bahasa Malaysia(as best as they could). This is indeed a rather momentous occasion to have a political debate be aired on TV(granted it was Astro Awani, but it is still a significant moment nevertheless). Both of them agreed that they would like to see more of such debates happening. I would add that debates such as these expand the knowledge horizon of Malaysians and create awareness amongst the plebeians on the positions that our leaders take on key issues affecting the nation. It is rather unfortunate that I felt there was less of a focus on these key issues and a overblown insistence on putting the blame on the opposition(and by opposition I mean the other pa...

One fine Sunday evening, Jean was traipsing along the ridge of this rugged hill(which was just near by his home). Alone he traipsed, as he had no friends, no one to traipse along with. He often wondered why company was hard to come by. He wasn't a mean or vile creature that scoffed at anyone who was friendly(in fact he scoffed at no one). All of a sudden, he caught the glint of light from the almost blindingly white and black striped tail of a lemur. It waltzes into view with a family of lemurs. A cohort of fellow furry creatures that tail it's leader with majestic agility that would put a word class ballerina to shame. "Who goes there friend?" Jean called out, not knowing exactly why he tried hailing a group of lemurs, as if he was expecting an answer. The family of lemurs halted their vivacious dance and stared at him. Out of this group, a boisterous little one popped out from the group in what seemed like an attempt at communicating with Jean. Instead, the c...