A quiet Sunday. Went for dim sum to a new place. It had trolleys, but was otherwise not very good. I managed a good bit of writing last night after thinking I would not get any done at all. Heard from someone who has decided not to engage in confrontation with a long-term nemesis, and […]
Not up to mark
I just finished Jennifer Brissett’s Elysium (vague spoilers follow). It seems to be well regarded and recieved several awards and nominations, but I was not terribly impressed by it. It was certainly very ambitious, and had interesting and coherent ideas. But I thought it lacked emotional resonance, it felt like an experiment but not one […]
Behind every successful woman
I have been enraged by Aitzaz Ahsan’s article on Asma Jehangir, or more specifically on her husband and in-laws. Behind every successful woman there is indeed a man to whom all the credit really belongs. It’s an exemplar of the clueless establishment uncle displaying his liberalism whilst scratching backs and maintaining the status quo which […]
No MSG
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has banned monosodium glutamate. As someone said on Reddit, clearly one of the judges must have received a Whatsapp forward. I mean… I often feel a bit funny after food with lots of MSG, and I consider it a really poor crutch, but I don’t see the courts banning tobacco.
Never forget
I was woken in the night, rather unusually, by the sound of voices and music from an adjacent flat. The song, from the very first words, tugged at my memory, it was definitely something from my teenage years, something that I had not been fond of, nor disliked, but it was ubiquitous and had sunk […]
Three volcanoes
An interesting overview of Mayan geological history.
Slightly out of date, but…
According to the members, film with “taboo” subjects such as menstruation will not be allowed screening in Pakistan. The Federal Censor Board also denied issuing an NOC to PadMan and announced a ban on the Akshay Kumar-starrer in all cinemas across the country. On the other hand, film distributors were also criticised by the local […]
Heroes die
Asma Jehangir has died. She was hated and despised and dismissed by many, she was called foul names, she was obnoxious and unpleasant, and she was one of the greatest children this sorry country has produced. It’s hard to articulate the despair her death brings.
On the road again
We’re off to Thailand this evening where (all going well) we’ll meet the GF’s adopted uncle, a Kiwi gentleman. We’re supposed to go to a fairly bland hotel for an overnight stop, about half an hour from Phuket airport (a true shithole), and then drive a couple of hours north, followed by a longtail boat […]
Revelations
I had a couple of sudden revelations about my Rufa Rujab story, the sort of revelations that other people pay me to have about their writing. First, I realised that there is no real tension in the story, no stakes. Second, I realised it is far too linear, and if I am writing a novella […]