Went shopping yesterday to get myself a brand new pair of jeans in faded blue. It was Rajastani festival at Seemati and the music of that culture filled the three floors of the mega store. There was this guy who had one of the longest mustaches in the world - I heard someone say that it was measured at 6 feet. I know of people, usally girls & women who spent hours at these shops. They chat, brwose thru the different selections, pass comments on their pluses & minuses, drink coffee provided by the hapless attendants and generally live out a day in there. Me, on the other hand, I go in, bing, find out the section that I would be able to find my stuff, bang, select the one that I am going to take home, try it on & boom, pay the guy at the counter, say thanks & walk out with my purchase. Simple!



I also bought 3 books at a used book discount fair. I had earlier stepped into Paico on M.G.Road and bought a copy of RSJ (the April edition with a cover story on the reunion of Judas Priest with original singer Rob Halford) and checked out the novels that were on sale. Paico has a much better selection of books at their Broadway branch, but I normally visit this one. I had almost made up my mind to buy any one of the John Grisham or Michael Crichton books displayed there, and it's a good thing I didn't. For the price of one new book at Paico I bought 3 books at the discount place. And who cares if they are old & a bit used. They seem in reasonable shape to me. The two novels I bought were old favs - The Doomsday Conspiracy & If Tomorrow Comes - both by Sidney Sheldon. If Tomorrow Comes is a real favourite' I actually saw the movie, well a mini-series, back in Kuwait when I was 10 years old & my sister had recorded it. By the way, one thing that is so strange about Kuwait is that any movies or tv series that they show on tv is edited. No kissing, no fondling, no sex. I always wondered why it was that a gal & a guy would lean forward to kiss, then a quick drawing back of the two is shown - they cut out those scenes!! Even in shows like Knight Rider, V" & The A-Team, which now seems so funny that they did that.

The third one, a non-fiction book, The Canadian Establishment is by the author Peter C.Newman. Newman was a journalist, who wrote for the Toronto Star & MacLean's was also editor-in-chief for both. During the 1970s, a loose confederacy of businessmen started to piece together Canada's underground government. They went about pursuing their status quo as secretively as possible, led by the belief that they knew better than both government and people. The Canadian Establishment is a shocking and factual account of the power they achieved. Peter C. Newman details the intricate network of powerbrokers and the relationships they had amongst themselves and others of influence. This is a stunning account of how the country is really run that will leave you wondering who's really in charge.



Another great NHL player is Joe Sakic, born 7/jul/69 in Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver, British COlumbia, Canada. The 5'11, 185 pound, left shooting center, was born to Croatian immigrant parents; Marijan & Slavica Sakic. He started his junior career with the Lethbridge Hurricanes & then joined Swift current also of the WHL. His professional career was initiated at the Quebec Nordiques based in Quebec City till 1995 now known as the Colorado Avalanche based in Denver, Colorado. With the Avalanche, Sakic has won the Stanley Cup twice. He was the most valuable player in the NHL playoffs in 1996, the NHL's outstanding player as selected by the members of the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA), the NHL's most valuable player to his team during the regular season & the Lady Byng Award in 2001 (awarded to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability).





Sam Roberts, is the name of a singer-guitarist from Montreal, Quebec, Canada & also the name of the band he fronts. Roberts came into notice when the six-song EP, The Inhuman Condition, containing his 2003 summer hit single "Brother Down began selling out. He has several other good singles at his disposal and has some good stage precence, which I was able to see on tv only once - on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. We Were Born in a Flame was released earlier this year on Universal’s MapleMusic imprint, and the CD again captures Roberts’ slightly rustic vocals overtop of guitar-driven pop melodies reminiscent of ’60s and ’70s Brit-rock. Here's hoping that Sam Roberts will be around for a couple of decades to come.



Song for the day - "Don't Walk Away, Eileen" - SAM ROBERTS