Ender's Game

I just read my first Sci-Fi novel. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. Fantastic is the word I would use to describe it. The story is on the brink of the impossible but yet you can see the sense behind it all.

The story revolves around the possible attack on the human world (Earth) by buggers whose primary agenda is complete annihilation of any other intelligent race. The protagonist of the book, Andrew Wiggin or more popularly known as Ender, begins his journey in the war against the buggers at the tender age of 6.

The book captured me because of the enthralling descriptions of the author of the unknown. I could almost envision the scenarios that he wrote about. What really blew me away was that S, who too has read the book and in fact made me read it, had almost similar notions of the sets that Orson Scott card wrote about. Now, I think that is powerful writing. The story runs through Ender’s life beginning at 6 and going upto the destruction of the bugger planet by him at the age 12.

The book deals with the training that Ender receives at Battle school and Command school to be able to become commander and manage squadron leaders his age or younger to eliminate the threat of the buggers. There were computer games one only dreams about, simulated battle sequences which were too fast for my regular human mind to comprehend and much more. In the book Ender is shown to be a fair human being with extra-ordinary learning capabilities. In my opinion, he comes across a compassionate person who reacts only upon being harmed and never by a desire for power or jealousy. These are true qualities of a leader.

But the task at hand was utter and brutal destruction of another intelligent race. Can a ‘compassionate’ commander achieve such? The trainers at the command school thought not. Though they also realised that Ender had extreme mental capabilities and the tenacity for surviving the inhumane training required for commanding a team of squadron leaders.

Ender destroys the bugger planet, not entirely knowingly, but most definitely skilfully.

There are a few more twists in the tale that follow. But for me the book was the expert writing which made the training of Ender Wiggin. A must read.

Pasta in red wine sauce... but not quite

I have been cooking regularly at home. I have been making regular Indian dishes made at regular Indian homes. I am a very lean kid and I think I know now why. I do not like regular.

I decided I would make a mean and unregular pasta for dinner tonight. I went out shopping for the works.... wine, rosemary, oregano, basil, cheddar etc etc. As luck would have it, before I could begin shopping I had to rush back home to let S into the house. I had no ingredients but the pasta I wanted to make and have. In no mood to get out of the house again, I decided to improvise. And I did.

The only alcohol I had at home were tequila, whisky and vodka. I decided vodka was the most food friendly. I run a very basic household... sometimes so basic that the only food to be had is bread with cheese slices. With this in mind, I rummaged through the refrigerator. No onions, no vegetables... only tomatos, olives and jalapenos.

• I took a little olive oil in a pan and tossed in sliced garlic let them brown a bit and added my champion ingredients (olives and jalapenos).
• When these were about done, I poured in a generous quantity of fairly expensive vodka. I took care to take the pan off the burner before I did this, lest the sloppy but good cook in me made me spill some and create a fireball.
• To this strong smelling concontion I added pureed tomatos (it is very difficult for me to list out the quantities I used as I never follow a recipe).
• I let this mixture thicken for about 20 minutes (that is how long it took).
• Add in some pepper as it will give the base a nice healthy colour and taste.
• Toss in pasta boiled in salted water (penne, fusuli...not spaghetti)

In case you realise later that the sauce is not enough to cover the pasta evenly, you may want to save some of the salted water you boiled your pasta in and add it to the sauce. Do not add too much as the water is very salty and you risk losing the flavour of the sauce due to watering it down.

Place the pasta on a plate and grate some cheddar cheese onto it. Serve it with warm garlic bread (I had neither the cheddar or the garlic bread).

To everyone's surprise (S & I) the pasta was pretty good.

Daddy Long Legs

Daddy Long Legs is a novel written by American author Jean Webster in 1912. It is very difficult to guess the actual plot of the book by the title. The novel follows the life of a young woman, Jerusha “Judy” Abbott. The novel starts with the John Grier Home, an old fashioned orphanage, where Judy Abbott has come of age and needs to leave. A kind gentleman offers to send her to college to become a writer. Judy catches only a fleeting glimpse of him from the back – a tall thin man with very long legs.

The gentleman has only one condition, that Judy writes monthly letters to him informing him of her progress. She is to address him as Mr. John Smith. In return, Mr. John Smith would never write back but send her money and take care of her requirements and he remains true to his word.

The book is the collection of letters written by Judy to Mr. John Smith. Judy does not like the idea of writing into a stranger, even though that is exactly what she is doing, as John Smith is the only real thing to a family she has. So she decides to call him Daddy Long Legs (owing to the long legs she had noticed).

Through the letters, Jean Webster, takes us through a fairy-tale adventure following the ups and downs in young Judy’s life. It shows us the dynamics of the relations of the orphan girl with other girls from middle-class to affluent families. We can clearly see, with passage of time and letters that Judy Abbott is blossoming into a fine writer and most importantly a fine lady.

While reading the book it is difficult to attach a single genre to it. It never talks about romance and longing for major part of the book. But by the time the secret identity of the tall, benevolent and heartless benefactor, Daddy Long Legs, is known, the book borders on ‘Romance’.

It is a mix of surprises and emotions that makes this book so good. Jean Webster is created magic with the language she uses. It is simple to read and easy to identify with. It is definitely worth a read. It is one of my favourite books.

Star Wars

This is my first post on the blog. Given the theme of the blog, I could not get myself to write about anything other than ‘Star Wars’. And mind you, I say Star Wars… not the prequel or the original episodes. It is just not the same without all 6 episodes.

Today, I am a proud owner of all the original DVDs. I have episodes I, II and III plus two versions each for episodes IV, V and VI. The two versions include the original – the way they were made in the late 70s and the re-mastered versions which Mr. Lucas decided was okay under the excuse of ‘artistic flourish’.

S and I were bent upon making sure that we got the original versions and not fall prey to better technology at the cost of altering what already were masterpieces. We were the genuine ‘Star Wars’ fans and not just pretending to be.

I am a huge fan. We finished watching all that we bought. Episodes I through VI and the re-mastered versions of episodes IV, V and VI in just…. hold your breath…. hold onto it… 2 days. The experience is far better than anything else… though it might be at par with watching the entire ‘Lord of the Rings’ in 1 day.

I am still a huge fan. The re-mastered versions were good. They were better than the original. No, I did not just say that. That dumb pretender put a gun to my head. Nooo…

But the truth is exactly that my fellow Star Warsians. The chances are that you have always seen the re-mastered version and never known it. The trick is to keep your eyes peeled during the ‘Mos Eisley’ sequence (Mos Eisley is the ‘wretched hive of scum and villainy’ that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker go to to find themselves someone to get them to Alderaan). At the end of episode VI, spirits of which characters did you notice watching over Luke at Endor? Obi-Wan and Yoda…. Diinnnngg! Wrong answer.

The original movie had Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin played by Sebastian Shaw (the fantastic Darth Vader in episodes IV, V and VI). The re-mastered version super-imposed Hayden Christensen (Anakin from episodes II and III) in place of Sebastian Shaw. Poor Mr. Shaw, the only shot that actually showed his face (sorry... the beat up face of Darth Vader just before he dies does not count) in a fine light was taken over the low-grade Anakin. What was the need, I ask? Hayden aged to look like Sebastian. Why, I further implore, was that difficult to digest?

But given all, George Lucas has done a very good job. He has edited the movies without taking away the overall effect. He has not at all interfered with the story or the characters.

The movies themselves are god-send. The magnanimous sets, the space shots, Tatooine... everything hit the right spot. It is a story of grandeur, achievement and the good winning over the not-so-good and bad. But I became a die-hard fan after watching ‘Return of the Jedi’. The Ewoks, Jabba the Hutt and his merry troop clinched it for me.

Do you know who the ‘Chosen One’ was who restored balance to The Force?

Select the area below to see if you are on your way to rise in this world.

Anakin Skywalker.

He was considered to be the Chosen One. But he turned over to the Dark Side in ‘Revenge of the Sith’. When Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in the final battle in ‘Return of the Jedi’ he puts down his lightsaber and refuses to kill his father. Here Darth Sidious (The Emperor) unleashes ‘Force Lightning’ on Luke to punish him for not joining the dark side of The Force. At this juncture, Anakin Vader (hehe... on his way to explore the good in him) turns the Force Lightning onto The Emperor and throws him down the Death Star’s reactor shaft... in turn sacrificing himself... turning into Anakin Skywalkeronce again. So it was little Annie who turned out to be the Chosen One indeed.

Favourite Characters (limiting to 3)

1. General Grievous (he is by far the best with lightsabers)
2. Ewoks (I want a couple of Ewoks for myself)
   
3. Kaminoans (From the colner planet of Kamino, these are the most graceful creatures of all)

Worst Characters

1. Jar Jar Binks (no points for guessing this one)
2. Young Anakin Skywalker (are you telling me they found no one else??)