Blog of Parag

Julia Sweeney

Julia used to be on Saturday Night live in early 90's. Her popular skit was "It's Pat", which was about a person named Pat, with ambiguous gender. I heard her on "This American Life" a couple of times. She appeared on a show a few weeks ago, which was titled, Julia Sweeney. She talks about her brother getting cancer and then she herself getting cancer. These recordings are made at a comedy club called "Un-Cabaret". Although she laughs about the whole ordeal, one can hear the pain and strain in her voice. She survived the cancer, but her brother didn't. It is an hour long program, but worth listening to.

Heartbreaking

How do you answer a five-year old, whose mother is in prison, asks, "Is my mommy a bad guy?"

And then goes on to say, "Maybe, I should do something bad, so, they'll put me in prison with her."

Heard on This American Life.

Is Ira Glass gay?

I have heard this question from many people. Sometimes, even I have wondered about it. Given that he is so smart and talented, I wouldn't be surprised if he was. But, the host of my favorite radio, This American Life is most probably not gay. In this episode titled, "Get Over It!", he talks about his ex-girlfriend. Have a listen.

Brain fried...

Yesterday, I was listening to my favorite NPR radio program, This American Life. In yesterday's episode, Fake I.D., Mira Nair read a story, "This Blessed House". It was about an Indian Hindu couple who moved into a house in Connecticut and found a lot of Christian artefacts. The story describes how they react to them differently and how that was related to their relationship. It was a very interesting story; I liked it a lot and was wondering who the author was.

At the end of the story, it was revealed by the host of the show Ira Glass. The story was from Jhumpa Lahiri's hit book, "Interpreter of Maladies". I had read that book when it came out in 1999-2000. It has been only 6 years since then, but I couldn't recall any portion of the story when I was listening to it. There was no 'deja vu' feeling. What is going on with my memory? Not that I drink much, but is my brain so badly fried not to remember something that I had read before?

It is possible that the story didn't make a great impression on me when I read it. Because I remember other stories from that book. Sometimes, the storyteller can make a story better than it is and Mira Nair narrated it very well. Go, listen to it yourself.

Sex and the city

Saw a post about the show and I had to post my thoughts.

Yes, I confess. I have seen every single episode of this show on HBO during its original broadcast. As it is true with almost every TV show, it was very interesting in the beginning but got boring later on. I liked the show initially, because it was about these 4 free-spirited women with fun lifestyle. Later on, they were all involved in serious relationships, getting married and having children. Who wants to watch that? It is all around us in real life. Why should I watch the same on a telly?

Anyway, Miranda was my favorite character. Smart and intelligent, totally no-nonsense woman without all the emotional crapiness of Carrie. Carrie was the most annoying of the lot. I just couldn't bear the parts with her and Aidan. Charlotte was alright and Samantha was wild. Samantha wore the most atrocious clothes. I think the director just wanted to make sure that she looked much better without them on. Carrie was just behind Samantha on the scale of horribly dressed women.

Also, it is a bore to watch the reruns on TBS/TNT without all the nudity and foul language. It takes away the punch of the original show. I am glad that I got to see all the original episodes on HBO while we were without kids. Now, there will be no HBO in our house for at least next 10-15 years.

Overheard on NPR

On Morning Edition today, there was a segment about this website, OverheardInNewYork. S. Morgan Friedman and Michael Malice run this website that posts snippets of overheard conversation from all over in New York city. Initially, it was only Michael and Morgan who used to contribute to the site, but, nowadays a lot of New Yorkers send in what they overhear while they go about their day-to-day business. The website is just hilarious. It is amazing how some people can say things that they say. I am sure it is more funny because it is taken totally out of context. It is a site worth reading for a good laugh.

Suit: Hi, what's your vegetable special today?
Waitress: Ehm, let me check...Macaroni and cheese.
Suit: No, your vegetable.
Waitress: ...Macaroni and cheese.

--Applebees, West 42nd Street

Overheard by: Hot Child in the City

They have also published a book, Overheard in New York that features a collection of the best snippets.

This is an excellent idea. Hope someone starts a website like this about things overheard in Mumbai's trains and buses.

People in the background

All morning shows on network TV, feature the weather(wo)man standing in front of a group of screaming/waving people to talk about the national weather forecast. What do these people in the background achieve? What makes them decide to go to these studios in NY city, stand outside in rain or snow or cold weather for an hour or two and wave/scream at the camera for a few seconds? I just don't get it.

Good Morning... indeed

I usually turn on the TV while getting ready in the morning to check the weather forecast. While the TV was on and I waited for weather, watched these two stories on ABC's Good Morning America. I was just standing there and shaking my head in disbelief.

The first sotry was - To Cry, or Not To Cry: 'Ferberizing' Clarified - about Dr. Ferber, a child sleep specialist. He wrote a book 20 years ago with guidelines for parents to teach their infants sleep on their own. It talks about letting a child cry for longer and longer periods of time before going in to pat or comfort the child. This teaches the children how to become self-reliant. He claimed that this method worked in 7 days. Dr. Ferber was interviewed on the show and he said that his method is one of the things that can be useful but, he didn't claim that it will work with every child and people should decide depending on how kids react.

As a parent, I had read this book and had tried out this method but, soon realised that it was not working, as we couldn't just sit and listen to our daughter cry. So, we chose to do something different. There were a couple of women on the show who were very angry. They had followed the Ferber method and now feel that they may have harmed their children. Why did these people HAVE to just follow what they read in a book? Couldn't they think and decide for themselves as a parent after reading the book and trying it out. Is it too much to expect people to think? Is it so hard?

The second story was: Pregnant 37-Year-Old Charged With Molesting 15-Year-Old Husband. This was really bizzare. This 37 year old woman got involved with her son's friend. The only problem is that this friend was only 15 years old. Even more bizzare twist is that State of Georgia issued a marriage license for them and they got married. There is a loophole in the age requirement for marriage if the girlfriend is pregnant. Now, that woman is being charged for molesting her own husband. The interview of 15 year old's grandmother was worth watching. It was quite hillarious.

At this point, I had had enough of news. Final conclusion: The morning news shows are turning into Oprah and Jerry Springer.

After the floods

Heard on my favourite radio program, This American Life:

First-hand accounts of people from New Orleans during/after the floods caused by Katrina. The program runs just under 1 hour. It is worth listening to in its entirety. Click here for a link to the audio file.

In the middle of nowhere

I had earlier posted about a show called 'This American Life' on NPR. I continue to like it more and more everytime I hear it.

Check out this show that was originally broadcast in Dec. 2003.

The first part is about the destruction of island nation of Naureau. It is quite a sad but interesting story.

If you ever have had a problem with MCI over-charging you and then, screwing you with refunds, you'll understand the second story of the broadcast. These bastards still owe me more than $200. I hope Bernie Ebbers burns in hell.

Mandalit del Barco

Some people have names that just sound so great. This NPR reporter is one of them. When she signs off at the end of the report, it is worth listening to. Whenever I hear her reporting, I stay in the car even after reaching my destination to hear her sign off at the end. Check out this report that appeared yesterday. If you don't want to listen to the whole thing, just forward to about 3min 40sec. and have a listen to her say her own name. It is a treat, at least to my ears.