Dec 6, 2020:Hawk behind the Thorncliffe Toronto Public Library, eating a ?dove

 

Samurai Gourmet Netflix show: Mellow and suits my present mood !

 Discovered Samurai Gourmet on Netflix yesterday (Dec 13, 2020). As I have said before I prefer crime and humor shows and the Samurai Gourmet is neither but I love it! Right now, I don't seem to be able to handle crime shows...no mood and the mind to handle the tension. And this show is so mild, gentle, no serious plot...it is absolutely relaxing to watch this.

Loving the comedies BREAKING IN (CTV throwback )and GETTING ON Crave TV and it may be a HBO show)

 These dark, short, gloomy, rainy dull days in December...with no friends visiting, no malls to roam in, no office to go to daily, I am feeling dull, listless, bored and questioning what the hell I am living for!

My brain is in no mood for the usual crime shows I like to watch on netflix and Bell. My days feel substantially lighter and happier after discovering these two shows recently...Dec 2020 on Bell's on demand.

Breaking in is funny and geeky...about an eccentric bright group of youth working in the ?cyber security business under an equally eccentric boss. This show was made/released in 2011.

Getting on is set in a geriatric hospital ward...it's something I can really relate to as I worked in hospitals and clinics most of my career. The acting, plot, characters, script are absolutely brilliant! I am enjoying the American version which has 3 seasons and aired in 2013, 2014 and 2015. .Apparently the original show with the same name is from UK and was aired in 2009, 2010 and 2012.

If you are feeling the winter blues, the Covid blues, the job-less, aim-less blues, the rainy day blues like me, these shows may make lessen your existential angst and cheer you up!

WHY DOES HE DO THAT? LUNDY BANCROFT'S BOOK, HIGHLY RECCOMENDED

 I am currently reading the book  Why does he do that?Inside the minds of angry controlling men by Lundy Bancroft. 

It is an excellent well written book. It is not just for mental health professionals but I would love for this book to be read by all women. It would be great if women in patriarchal societies could read this book...what I am saying is that all women from 75% of the world should read it. 

In several parts of the world: example, among many religions, Asian countries,  rural populations and lower socio-economic strata of urban India, abusive and controlling men are not perceived negatively nor is their behaviour labelled as  "abusive and controlling".  

(The reason I am listing only these Asian countries,  rural populations and lower socio-economic strata of urban India, is because I know for sure through my experience as a woman and as a psychologist who worked with some cases)

If all women could read this book at the right time which is before they get into a relationship, before their self-confidence, self-esteem is beaten out of them by abusive and controlling fathers, brothers, teachers, male relatives, boy-friends, husbands and all members of a patriarchal society in general, they could be able recognize abuse quickly; if lucky, be able to  side-step these men; if too unlucky to escape, they could at least be fore-warned and possibly fore-armed.

I would love for this book to be translated into all languages and made available to all women.

First of all, I want the brain dead film writers in Kannada to read this book...I am sick of seeing movies where the "hero" is abusive and controlling and this is glorified. The impressionable audience especially those with poor role models at home, little or no education,  surrounded by abusive male family members and patriarchal society,  start to believe that to be abused and controlled by a male: husband, brother, father or whoever is "normal". That it is one's fate if one is born a woman. Or worse, that this is 'right'!  Several Kannada movies has made me wonder about the mental health of the film's story writer! One movie with a really bizarre plot was one where Anant Nag "Literally" worships his wife like a goddess...pouring water, milk, etc on her like an Abisheka and also extremely controlling! What is the message? That he loves or or that he's simply an evil, mentally ill controlling bastard? (I cannot recall this movie's name)

I would love for this book to be read by all women in countries with Sharia law and become empowered in some way to survive that evil law or at least it's biased-against-women-interpretation in countries like Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, etc. Indian women, whatever their religion too need to read. Abusive men are present in all religions, castes, socio-economic status, all levels of education, etc. 

This book is available in Toronto public library.

PERCEPTION VARIES FROM PERSON TO PERSON...ANGLE TO ANGLE

 

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All the photos above are of a single photo (ad of Indigo book shop in Square one mall of Mississauga) from different angles. It has 3 people in one frame...Margaret Atwood, Rupi Kaur and I don't know who is the male.

CRIME FICTION FROM CROATIA

 Nov 2020, I am watching "The newspaper" (Novine) a Croatian crime series on Netflix. I am hooked to it and cannot understand why! Below is a bit of self-analysis for me to figure out myself.

1)It has no humor and I love humor

2)I am going by subtitles as I don't know the language

3) There is no fantastic natural scenery, etc.

4)I want to reach the end ASAP but am managing to get over my ADHD and am forcing myself see every episode..it's a bit of a torture for me!

5)The names are difficult for me to remember and so 90% of the time, I don't know whom they are talking about! However, I know all the faces. I can rightly link about 4 names to 4 characters (that is I recognize whom they are talking about even when they absent from the scene and only  their name is mentioned). For the remaining, that is the majority of the characters, I recognize who they are, if present mentioned.                                                                                                                                                      I am simply going with the flow.  

I know the story only broadly and not in minute details...but am sticking to it till the end!

I think the reasons I am hooked to this show are: a)It's realistic 2)Though several characters have ugly character traits...greed, corruption, hedonism, no conscience, opportunistic, etc...it's not grating on my nerves as much as it would, if I were seeing all this in an Indian serial. 

Yes, these are the 2 core reasons I am hooked to "The newspaper". It's like seeing the ugly side of Indian politics and bureaucracy....which I want to see in a TV show but cannot as I suffer too much while watching because it's too close to home for comfort.

As I watched this show I Googled for crime fiction from Croatia. I am an avid crime fiction fan, yet have not read one book from or set in Croatia. (I have read Alistair Maclean's Force ten from Navarone, set in the Balkans but before Croatia became an independent country and so...I am not sure if that counts! Also the focus of that novel  was more on three characters from Greece, New Zealand and UK than on the locals)

I found these four books which are Croatian crime fiction in  the Toronto public library and will be reading them shortly.

Alen Mattich's 

Zagreb Cowboy (book 1) I read this...it was nice and I recommend it..it's got humor, history, likeable characters. Though life must have been terrible for ordinary people at the time of the novel, this author has thankfully, kept the tone light and not depressing.

Killing pilgrim (book 2) Booked this and waiting to read it.

The heart of hell (3rd and last book)

and 

Ivan Srsen's  (editor)

Zagreb Noir

I will let you know  whether I enjoyed them or not once I have finished.

Discovered Daphnique Springs on Facebook and love her comedy!

 Daphnique Springs brief comical skits are hilarious.

Please check them out.

I wonder if people are being more creative now due to the free time they have due to convid or these comedies already existed and I am discovering them only NOW as I seem to have time to browse through the internet.

To WATCH these videos and of course the videos of my beloved 1.5 year old nephew give me a reason to roll out of bed these cold dull dark mornings of Covid Lockdown November.

I can smile instead of sigh these boring, lifeless Covid days thanks to these hilarious artists on Youtube and the other places on internet. Below is a list of the comedy youtube I discovered recently. I will be adding to this list as and when I find new comedians whom I like. I pray there are more out there...I cannot take this Covid Lockdown anymore! My attention span for books is zero and the only thing I seem to have the patience for is comedy.

Daphnique Springs

Liza Koshy

Lilly Singh

Raghu Vinestore (Kannada comedy)

Jordindian (Kannada comedy)

Discovered Liza Koshy today on Youtube and loving it!

 Discovered Liza Koshy on youtube (season 2, episode one Naked) today...21st Nov, 2020

I love her and the entire cast!

Looking forward to watching her shows on youtube for the next few weeks of lockdown in Toronto.

I wish the stuff on Netflix was better OR

I wish I could learn to appreciate the stuff which Netflix has on currently.

My interest and attention for all activities, even pleasurable ones like watching TV and reading fiction has waned during these days of  'Covid-work-from-home' and 'Covid-no-vacation' and 'Covid-no-meeting-friends' . I don't even have the mood to read the thriller books I am borrowing from the library these days. 

Someone should do a study on increasing listlessness with life during this terrible Year of Covid and check out the mental health of humans like me. I honestly don't know how so many of my friends got into so many 'self-improvement' and 'home improvement' activities over the last many months with such enthusiasm. I know of a person who has been drawing (pencil sketches) of her cat daily; another who has started Yoga and aerobics; another who has built his backyard deck, etc; 

 Now that the days are shorter, colder and the mornings darker...literally darker (I don't mean figuratively!), I don't seem to have the mood to do anything.

Hamilton waterfront by Lake Ontario

 

It was a lovely day by the lake, Sunday 7th November, 2020. We had a lovely picnic lunch here (bought chicken biryani, up the mountain at Mahal restaurant, 527, Upper Sherman Avenue; drove to the lake and ate here).

We also saw a protest going on by the lake.

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When we were exploring downtown Hamilton, later we saw another protest against Covid! One of the persons was carrying a sign which said, "The earth is flat. Covid is a hoax"! What can I say ?

We ended the day with coffee and a delicious cake in the patio of some restaurant downtown before driving back to Toronto. It was a pleasant relaxing day and not at all like fall or winter!

Hamilton street graffiti and art

 I feel really bad about Bryant above. I wish things were different.

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