Idylls

Every Christmas people create a snow idyll. Which in Kuala Lumpur is kind of insane... But look how cheerful he is...

The other idyll this week -- of the hard-working family, in their wonderful mountain landscape, beset by tragedy but ultimately strong and together -- was conjured up in The Good Dinosaur.

This was nice. Not transcendent, in the way Pixar sometimes manage. But nice. The premise was interesting: What if that asteroid had missed, and the dinosaurs hadn't been wiped out? So we're introduced to farming dinosaurs, and ranching dinosaurs, and rustler dinosaurs, all with well developed language. All the rest of the mammalian world are "critters", who can't speak at all. In fact, the human-looking critters seem to share lots of characteristics with dogs. The graphics, as everyone notes, were astounding. Water sloshing, water falling, grass rippling -- all impeccable.

Idlis

Our local Indian restaurant, the Maple Leaf, which I really should write about more, is occasionally open for breakfast at the time we require it. When it is, I choose idlis. These come with coconut chutney and two more side dishes, which could well have been mixed vegetable sambar and red pepper chutney.

Nigel opted for the breakfast thali, which consists of the above accompaniments, plus an idli, a vadai, a chapatti, and a masala dosa. Soul food.

To drink with this, you need milky ginger tea.

Idiosyncrasy

Well, that would be the Kodaly cello solo sonata we heard at the MPO's 6.30 concert this week. I guess I should beware of anything featuring the "imaginative use of the instrument's capabilities". And certainly, its "virtuoso effects" were impeccably played, but ultimately hard-to-love... "Themes and melodies are not really what this sonata is about," say the programme notes. And that's pretty much on the mark.

Fortunately, this tiring piece was followed by an absolutely delightful piano trio by Dvorak.

Identity

This inevitably shapes itself to the place you find yourself. I love the place I find myself. Here are some of its manifestations this week:







Idiocy

That is the act of working, working, working by far the greater part of every day.

PS: As my theme was id- words, I checked out what "id" meant, psychologically speaking. It's very interesting. I can't help feeling there must be an international relations parallel in there. But that's perhaps because I'm overworking...