shhh....

 
Beyond the elementary...
Arthur Conan Doyle will always be known for his protagonist's detective skills rather than his own literary talents. There are characters like this in the world of books which outgrow their own creators just like Frankenstein's monster though all may not be so monstrous. While I was reading the novel 'Beyond the city' I understood how much little we see beyond the pipe smoking Holmes when assessing Doyle. It could do with the phenomenal success and popularity of the reclusive which have enthralled many a reader.
posted by Hash at 3:23 AM

 
Korean War
A ceasefire was signed on 27th July, 1953. But the embers still smoulder. The two Koreas are technically at war to this day and North Korea's secretive (now a public knowledge) nuclear progamme not making things any easier. The group of six nations, USA, Japan, Russia, China, North and South Koreas, sat around the table to negotiate a way out of the current fiasco. However no party is confident of a breakthrough. The best outcome of this round of discussions, to quote one Chinese official, could be to decide a date for the second meeting. So much for optimism. In the US State department, the hawks are not too enthused about this latest overture to engage the 'rogue' elements as they see it as a sign weakness to cow down to the nuclear blackmail of the communist regime. Nevertheless, it is the only safe option at least for the time being.
posted by Hash at 12:37 AM

 
"Who is the greatest Briton?"
Sir Isaac Newton, according to the recent poll on BBC World. The nationals of all the Commonwealth nations were allowed to participate in this exercise and the poll threw up a couple of intersting results. For one, I believed Sir Winston Churchill to top the list but the former Prime Minister had to be content with only the runner-up position. If, only the British were allowed to vote may be Churchill would have made it to the top. Most of the former colonies would have voted against Churchill for his haughty stance against granting independence to the colonies. His opinion about the Queen's subjects in the distant was not exactly in flattering light and often imbued with racial slur. No other person in the entire imperial history of Great Britain would have believed with more vehemence and arrogance the racial superiority of the Whites as a race. His acerbic comments on Gandhiji are all too well known. But no one can deny the person was extremely witty, though mostly sarcastic, and a great statesman. His credentials as a war-time journalist, his literary exploits are no small attributes.
The only regret I had about the list was the third position. It so happened that our fat bull dog was on top of the delicate and charming princess, Diana...No pun intended ;) Now don't ask me how Diana ended up so high edging persons like Shakespeare and Darwin. Survival of the fittest I should say.....
posted by Hash at 5:57 AM

 
Time just goes by waiting for none, lost forever never to return. The irony of the entire situation is that we wait for the free time and when we actually get it, we device ingenuous ways to kill it. In fact it is time which is killing us insiduously making us utterly pathetic. To raise above this you need not just strong character but the stomach to work hard as well.
"What has given birth to such despondency?"
"Three days of watching the idiotic programmes on television"
"Why don't you do something to resist from it instead of whining about it now?"
"I have tried hard and I alone know the efforts which went into it."
"May I know what those efforts are?"
"Of course you may. After every session of watching I resolved never to bother about the tube and after struggling for half an hour with boredom I am forced to resort to the abominal stuff. May be I just lack the drive the will to impose my will on myself."
"That doesn't speak well for your aims and aspirations. A weak willed will never succeed in life and even if success comes it would be in spite of you and such kind of achievement is no achievement at all."
"Do you believe that I am ignorant of it all?"
"Does it make a difference whether you are blundering deliberately or accidentally?"
"Let me make a diligent effort and see if things work out better. Thanks for listening me out."
"No problem. Bye"
posted by Hash at 5:30 AM