My song du jour

I don't know if it's the singer or the song, but this is a bit of alright. Comments are hilarious.

Me and Mini-Me

Indian wedding art

Marigolds twined around a tree as part of the decor at a wedding dinner in Madras.

The nominees were Dross and Gold

That's what it all came down to at Oscars 2012. On one hand, you had Angelina Jolie vamping it up to the entirely wrong crowd, on the other you had Meryl Streep with her bottomless talent accepting an Oscar and saying what mattered was looking out at the audience and seeing all the friendships that had accrued over the years. It was like a farewell speech, and perhaps it was because mortality is always around the corner and she's been on that stage so many times, the odds, as she herself said, are against her. But what a woman. Where La Jolie is a bottomless pit of hype, here is someone with the kind of class you have to be born with, not the kind of flaking-off vanity that you need to escape from under. Streep is a good egg, and she has the respect of every single person who crosses her path. She doesn't need to be Jessica Rabbit to validate her existence, she just goes about her remarkable business.

Oscars 2012 was also Billy Crystal bringing a level of comfort and hilarity to hosting that is exactly what Jay Leno brings to the table. Critics panned Crystal and Leno has many haters, but as a viewer you know why you enjoy, say, Leno while Letterman is nothing but a conundrum. It's entertainment, not existentialism that you need at the end of the day with your feet up, drinking green tea. The latter you're faced with the minute you open your eyes to another over-bright morning anyway, and how many mornings are those. Crystal was impeccable, with the kind of inputs (Clooney and Justin Bieber) that had you laughing long into the night.

Loved Gwyneth Paltrow's flowing-like-molasses white gown and matching cape from my hero Tom Ford, and Rooney Mara's fragile beauty in another delicate, virginal creation whose designer I don't recall because Rooney's fantastic face overwhelmed everything else.

Blew kisses at the screen every time Scorsese's face was shown and wiped away the tears as Christopher Plummer spoke but that was only to be expected.

It was the best Oscars in years, with new inputs like actors talking about their profession and only a few people going over the time limit with their acceptance speeches. Of course, the media has said it was the worst but what do they know. They're the same ones who think La Jolie is a great actress.

Big, bad manners

People simply don't know how to behave in public. This coming from someone who screeched 'Asshole!' and flipped the bird at an auto-driver yesterday may seem a bit much, but still....I would never do what this woman did at Barista. First of all, she was getting the evil eye from other customers because she was a big woman, and tucking into a cheese croissant and cold coffee with nary a care in the world. Yes, people are like that. 'Honey, really?' were the thought bubbles appearing above several turned heads but I digress. As I tried in vain to catch the server's eye, she had no such compunction. 'Tissues!' she bellowed. Then she stabbed the croissant with a forefinger you couldn't ignore and said, 'Bring butter.' When she next bellowed for the bill, we were better prepared but honestly, what ever happened to using some good, old-fashioned articles prefaced with a 'May I' or some such thing. So okay, I was still struggling with a delicately upraised hand while she had already paid and walked into the sunset to rue someone else's day but I dunno, I don't mind waiting a bit rather than opening my mouth and removing all doubt about my antecedents.