Monday, November 28, 2022

The too little to live, too much to die haiku

Lenelio turned
seventy-seven today – 
work, like every day

– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2022)

Note
The truth and nothing but. Like many old people in the so-called rich countries of the West, my friend Lenelio must keep working to supplement his government pension, which is too little to live on – even though it is too much to die, as the saying goes.

Saturday, October 29, 2022

My Halloween Haiku


Unbreak my heart, sang
the grey monster chained up at 
the dark Illy bar.

– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2022)

Note
First-hand experience in Rome this afternoon as the whole city is getting ready for the carved pumpkin festival.

Photo by David Menidrey on Unsplash

Sunday, October 23, 2022

Bombairiya (2019)

 


Bombairiya is a 2019 Hindi film set, as the title implies, in Bombay - a combination of comedy / black comedy and crime -, directed by Pia Sukanya and starring Radhika Apte, Akshay Oberoi (shown in the screenshot above, the movie's romantic couple - even though the romance is mostly one-sided), Siddhanth Kapoor, Ravi Kishan and many others.

Much of it is screwball comedy, but the red thread that runs through is a crime story. The plot is somewhat hard to follow because of rapid changes of scene and the sheer number of people involved. I'd seen the movie before and finally managed to put things together during the second viewing, which was no less enjoyable due to the multitude of local details and interesting characters that make it charming and funny.

Sunday, September 25, 2022

Blues - a haiku

 


Irritable sky
then a classy big blues run
because of the greens

by Shinji Murakami


Note
Blame it all on the greens! An Internet-generated haiku based on personal input. The author chose to delete the poem from the site, which generated the following message:


Poor dog!

Friday, August 26, 2022

A random hot summer observation haiku

Lolling in her seat,
right hand hung out the window
like a wilted leaf.

– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2022)

Note
Everything wilts in this seemingly endless summer heat.

Friday, August 5, 2022

Be Prepared

 


Be prepared. OK, but what for?

Find out in this extended ghost story for a young audience by Anne Adeney (illustrations by Yannick Robert, Pocket Chillers series by Harcourt Education)

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

The that’s progress haiku

 


Some programmer got 
busy – made a box smaller,
saving room for adz.

– Leonard Blumfed (© 2022)

Note
The ugly truth and nothing but. Now that the Congrats box has been shrunk, Microsoft can not only display one ad but two at the same time! Pure genius! Just as we were getting undersugared from too few adz.

Terminology explanation
What are adz? Same as ads (advertisements), only much cheaper! It's like the difference between music and muzak.

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Suzhal – The Vortex

 


Tamil thriller series (season 1, 8 episodes), released in June 2022 on Amazon Prime Video. Written, produced and created by Pushkar-Gayathri, directed by Bramma G. and Anucharan Murugaiyan. The stars are Kathir, Aishwarya Rajesh, R. Parthiban and Sriya Reddy.

Set in the fictitious town of Sembaloor in Tamil Nadu, the series revolves around a police investigation in a missing person case as well as a fire at the local cement factory. All against the backdrop of a Hindu goddess festival, in the course of which the case gets solved.

Suspenseful, good acting, decent plot and dialogues. What more could you want?

Monday, June 27, 2022

Pardon me

 

  

if I sound naive, 
but is baited breath like bad
breath? Would like to know.

– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2022)


Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash

Saturday, May 7, 2022

The Melinda haiku

 


Dear Melinda, stop
putting your label on all 
the apples you sell.

– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2022)

Note
Melinda is probably Italy’s best known producer of apples and pears. Its products can be found in most supermarkets throughout the country. And each fruit comes with its own little sticky plastic Melinda label. The company’s website goes on and on about sustainability, bio, etc. How about really doing something good and leaving off the damn labels? Not only are they a nuisance to remove but they also create waste. How important can fruit branding really be?