Greasy lunch and a ton of music

So yesterday I woke up late and only managed to catch the last 45 minutes of Music from India on WRFG 89.3 FM. As the oldies segment began, they threw a quiz to the listeners: Name the movies produced by Raj Kapoor that did not have Shankar-Jaikishen as music directors. I called in, of course, only to get a clarification on the question: they were looking for collaborations with other music directors while Shankar and Jaikishen were still alive and kicking (oops composing). That ruled out the RK-LP and RK-RD films. I could think of only two films: Aag (his début as director and producer, which had Ram Ganguly churning out the music) and Jagte Raho (which he produced, but was helmed by Shambu Mitra and Amit Mitra, with music by Salil Chowdhury). As it turns out these aren't the only ones: Ab Dili Door Nahin produced by RK but helmed by Amar Kumar had music by Dattaram. When Jaikishen passed on in 1971 (after Shailendra in 1970), RK had no choice but to turn to LP for Bobby.

Our choice for South Asian lunch place for the day was Sabri Kabab House in Norcross, GA. The lunch buffet would give you cause for concern about the name of the place. Another cause for concern for health-conscious people is the high oil content! The food wasn't bad, but nothing to scream to the roof tops about: beef curry, lamb, cholé, naan, roti, rice. The overhead TV sets broadcast the Zee Gold Bollywood Awards 2002 (with grating unfunny compere Ruby Bhatia and endless lip synching performers) to add counterpoint to the lunch. As an aside: Why don't they get someone who can speak Hindi to host these shows? The English adds a surreal touch to the already dismally staged proceedings (Indian film award shows in general) and it becomes more painfully obvious that the actors and actresses of today are not comfortable conversing in the language of their profession. Sigh!

Our next stop was Discover Mills on Sugarloaf Parkway in Lawrenceville, GA. Be warned: this is not an outlet mall. And it's a painful ode to the credit card company with a large chalice adorning a junction somewhere inside. Disappointed, we headed to a Borders outlet housed in the Gwinnett Place Mall in Gwinnett County. The ambient album playing at the music section was Led Zeppelin's untitled album. A good sign, that. It's also the first time I've heard LZ in a Borders branch. After some interesting reading and music sampling sessions, I walked out with a handful of jazz CDs off the bargain bins and a couple of books. The young lady at the counter also tactfully asked us if we would like to make a book contribution to the Atlanta Primary school children. Not that I'm averse to charity, especially for a good cause, but asking people point questions like this puts them in a no-win uncomfortable situation where there is clearly no choice (yes, yes, we can argue that I could have said "No, thanks"). Here's what I got:

* Miles Ahead/Miles Davis and Gil Evans

* Milestones/Miles Davis

* Sketches of Spain/Miles Davis

* Jazz: Red, Hot and Cool/Dave Brubeck Quartet

* Ken Burns Jazz: Herbie Hancock/Herbie Hancock

* Blues Guitar Heaven {a 2-CD compilation}

* Ebert's Bigger Little Movie Glossary: A Greatly Expanded and Much Improved Compendium of Movie Cliches, Stereotypes, Obligatory Scenes, Hackneyed formulas, Shopworn conventions, and outdated archetypes/Roger Ebert

* Introduction to Postmodernism {a humorous look at this abstract bag of worms}