Sita passes her QEs and then some

Very satisfying read about a boy named Pi and a tiger named Richard Parker adrift on a raft in the Pacific Ocean. Actually that much you could probably deduce from looking at the cover but it bears repeating.

It’s a great piece of magic realism that forces you to wonder at what point the story diverts from reality. One reviewer said it was like Calvin and Hobbes with an overt religious theme and I think that captures the spirit of it nicely. Though even Calvin’s worst dinners don’t approach what Pi ends up eating. Whether it will make you believe in God, as the author promises, is debatable as He’s got a funny way of showing His love to his most dedicated fans…

To answer a few of the Oprah’s Book Club type questions at the end of it:

Which animal would you like to find yourself with on a lifeboat?
I reckon a chicken for a steady supply of eggs and eventually, if it started getting on my nerves, nuggets. It’s less likely to harbour homicidal thoughts than your average big cat too.

Pi defends zoos. Are you convinced? Is a zoo a good place for a wild animal?
I reckon so. Though the zoo’s he’s defending are pretty far removed from self-styled ‘modern’ zoos with their breeding programs, scientific studies and laboratories and suchlike. Animals are animals and I reckon he writes pretty well about their nature. As long as the creatures are well cared for and human knowledge advanced then why not? Bring it on. That said, despite myself, I can’t help but feel sorry for tropical animals stuck in British zoos. And poor old Copita de nieve in Barcelona zoo who positively radiated depression before kicking the bucket a few years back. Still why the hell not. Nope Zoos aren’t going into Room 101.

In the Author’s Note, Martel wonders whether fiction is ‘the selective transforming of reality, the twisting of it to bring out its essence’. If this is so, what is the essence of Pi and his story?
Over to you, Oprah…

because of cloud cover and lack of organisation. But this photo from Tapatian photographer, pleautaud makes up for it a bit: see it in large for amazing detail. I don´t think you have to be a Flickr member to see it…

So yesterday we decided to stay another month, till the 2nd of December or thereabouts. I am very happy about this turn of events, it means we can fit in a trip to Mexico City, see the Day of the Dead properly, Sita can finish her interviewing relatively stress free and any other number of happy outcomes. ‘Cus is still slated to leave on Thursday though, and I can’t believe I’m writing this, but I’m going to miss him…

Anyway by way of a despedida for Atticus and celebration of one more month we had some good friends round and did the usual grilled arrachera and tequila thang. It was a fine afternoon. All the “‘Cus has a posse” photos are at Flickr. Here’s Sita, Ana and Jorge holding up the cake with “Felicidades, 1 mes más” on it.

Also of note is the photo of Beethoven, the enormous St. Bernard that sends Atticus into a frenzy when he’s taken on his walk by our house at around 9pm every night.

All our furniture now has price tags on it and things are flying of the shelves like shelves. While I was packing things up I came across this Spanish children’s book “Yo, el perezoso”. I bought it in the Skyview flea market a few years back. It translates roughly as “I, Sloth” and I’ve scanned it in for posterity. Have a read of it here.

The Official Record Store Cats by hnldesign

Thank b3ta it’s Friday… here’s Techno Cat, more round this way