Week 10

A mini jubilee today as this is my 10th post! Keep reading – I will keep writing.

As Europe was watching Eurovision, I attended Merchants of Bollywood, an Indian dance extravaganza at Peacock Theatre. Expecting traditional Indian love stories, colourful costumes and inspiring dances, I was left disappointed with sparkly dresses, cheap sets and cheesy tunes. It felt like sitting through the agony of Eurovision when only 2-3 numbers out of whole evening were worth watching. Call me a snob, but most West End 'shows' are for people going to toilets in the middle of the performance, loudly rustling through their overpriced sweet treats and laughing at the lamest jokes. Yes, they all were at the Merchants of Bollywood.

Sometimes you don't enjoy the book you read, but the pleasure of it lies in the discussions you have with friends about it. That's what happened with Helmet of Horror by Victor Pelevin written for Canongate's Myths series. I heard that Pelevin is one of the most successful authors in modern Russian literature, so was very excited when my monthly book club chose it for reading. It is written in the form of a chat in the forum where contributors get lost in the labyrinth of the internet. Like most internet chatting, Helmet of Horror was a waste of time. But Tuesday's discussion was so enjoyable, because we shared our thoughts, opinions and understood better what the author wanted to achieve. After the discussion the book didn't seem so bad.

Also this week I watched elegant and erotic Water Drops on Burning Rocks by my favourite French director F. Ozon. I think Tom Ford got lots of ideas for his début from this film.