Music Review: Necro Spirituals (2010)

Not a dull moment on this thrashy black metal album!

RATING: 4/5

 

 

Beer Review: Carlsberg

Jaipur, Rajasthan 2008

Not sure if it was 2008 or 2009 when I saw an ad outside a liquor store saying Carlsberg beer had arrived in India, but that was when I immediately agreed with my then girlfriend’s idea of her catching up on a girlie movie because she was sick of me being horny all the time.  That left me free to do something else (other manly stuff, of course). I dropped her home and on my way to wherever, picked up two 650 ml bottles of Carlsberg, in the hope of finding a brew extraordinaire. How predictable.

There is much to be said about guzzling beer hurriedly in an autorickshaw. It needs to be kept out of sight of policemen, and a pint of Carlsberg looks like a bottle of Sprite, but I have two big bottles of this import from Denmark. The beer also must be kept chilled; Carlsberg is an ordinary lager, okay to drink when chilled, with a faint rose-like flavour showing up as it gets warmer.

Carlsberg’s promotional slogan says it is “probably the best lager in the world”, a claim which I rubbish as I point you to Tuborg Green – another Danish brew, and one you’ll enjoy drinking.

Beer Review: Tuborg Green

The best lager available in Mumbai comes from Copenhagen, Denmark. The bottle has a pull-ring cap and is green. A thirsty man’s delight, Tuborg Green is a crisp and refreshing beer with a clean, lingering aftertaste. Unlike other good beers like Royal Challenge and Tiger, Tuborg is everywhere and has also introduced cans to our advantage. “Smooth as water” isn’t the same as “tastes like water”, but some wouldn’t know a good beer if it came in the form of a tsunami, and let’s not go further into that. Here’s the winner of last month’s contest Aditya Rao enjoying the brew from a can.

Hypocrites Of The World, Unite!

This post is a reaction to a chain mail being forwarded to everyone.

While I don’t like the idea of animals being killed, we really shouldn’t be pointing fingers at any other country when our own allows animal slaughter. While our own traditions cause all kinds of pollution, other cultures have a different way of looking at things, and the last time I checked dolphin meat was edible, so it’s more than just fun and games. Whether it makes them feel manly or whatever their reason, so be it. Why the shock? Because they’re killed in large numbers and we can see blood everywhere? We’re in the land of Bakri Eid, for crying out loud.

We seem to not give a shit be unaffected when cows, goats, sealife and poultry are denied their right to live, but are quick to react when “cute animals” like dolphins, rabbits and dogs are slaughtered.

Life is life, death is death, murder is murder – for everything that breathes. One man’s pet is another man’s delicacy.

Let’s leave the shock tactics to PETA, and the next time we have any kind of non-vegetarian fare in front of us, let’s close our eyes and think of the last 10 minutes of that creature’s pathetic existence and ask ourselves if they deserved it any more than these unfortunate dolphins and whales, which are food for the Danes.

As a seafood lover I wonder what whale meat tastes like. The part of me that relishes vegetarian food may perhaps have some business denouncing any form of slaughter. But, the question is, if the meat eater inside me asks for all double standards to be dropped, would that be suggesting cannibalism?