Running Report for 2020

 What a year for running !

We were locked up home starting March-April. And thankfully the weather gods showed mercy on Minnesota and opened up Spring in April itself. With great weather, outdoor trails were the only blessing. Everyone followed social-distancing and even the new etiquette of side-stepping off the trail to grass, whenever someone approached.

And no commute time meant an extra hour in the evenings. For both reasons I managed to get more outdoor runs then ever before. I checked and my previous years mileage on Garmin is nothing close to this years. Overall mileage of 554 miles plus minuscule  on treadmill.

Among in-person races, I only did the one in January. Securian Half 2020 turned out to be my one & only in-person race. I never imagined that would be the case, when I finished it badly and vowed to retire from winter-half races. Starting March, all races turned virtual. I did not have the discipline to do virtual races, so just stuck to my regular outdoor runs. 

Only other virtual I did was Hindu Mandir Thanksgiving 5K. I ran it in Texas.

All of my yearly Run Reports are here.

Wish you all a very Happy & Prosperous New Year !

Running in Texas

Thanks to pandemic triggered WFH and Distance Learning and also being apart for more than a year, we took the plunge and drove from Minnesota to Texas to stay with family from Thanksgiving to New Years.

Being half-minded about lot of things and also about running, impacted my packing. I knew it's not sub-30 in Texas in Dec, I knew I had to run outside. So I packed the bare necessities of running. But wondering about continuous rain & pandemic, I skipped a few important items, like the phone-belt. Which meant I couldn't run with phone the first few times, until Amazon delivered a new one. And so I missed capturing picture of the one & only Armadillo I spotted on the trail - the first I have ever seen outside a zoo. The other item I forgot was a cap. Now after a Saturday morning run, I felt flashing hot cheeks, which usually cool down after the shower; but this one didn't & stayed till night. I was panicking if I had already hit menopause so soon. But by morning I deduced it was a sun-burn. Bah, how would I make that co-relation ? Who think of sunscreen & sun-burn in December ? It's not like we have been close to Australia ever. And the third item I forgot was Aquapor - but again Amazon to the recuse.

Anyway so here is my travel running bag checklist so I don't forget again:

1. Run clothes
2. Phone Belt
3. Run cap
4. Body Glide
5. Aquapor
6. Water bottles (buy disposable ones)

Flora & Fauna

CHAMPION Trail had the usual Social distancing PSA message boards along with the usual Wildlife warning signs. About wildlife I assumed them to be the usual deers & bunnies. But one fine run, I spotted a baby Armadillo crossing the trail ! Such a celebrity-sighting thrill. I had never seen one outside the zoo. Uff I did not have phone to click picture. Such a missed chance.

Then there were loads of Ducks, Cranes & Turtles, to watch upclose and who did not scatter away if approached close.

 

 

Its still Fall in TEXAS. This was a beautiful colorful tree, on a canal sidewalk side.

Route

My runs were on the closet trail - which is CHAMPION TRAIL. Every weekend I looked for the farthest point with car-parking spot; and arranged to get dropped there next weekend. This way I got to cover 7.5 miles of the trail. This way my initial out&back run soon became point-to-point. I would hide the water-bottle among the bushes at calculated midway-point.

My start of the route was along the canal.

Mile 1 was at this Bridge on a Lake. I have to say this hump was the only "hill" in the entire stretch on Champion Trail. It did wonders to my run-times.

Next up is Sam Houston Trail Park. A mile on this stretch is a dense trail, brings to the car parking spot.

Further up stretch, is below rows & rows of flyovers. Its a sight to see.

There are small ponds with tree branches rising out, reminding of Gupt song "Mere Khwabon Mein Tu".

Further up is Keenan Crossing Trail Park stretch. This is along the Elm Fork Trinity River.

After this the trail goes through Spring Trail Park.

At Mile 2.5, there is beautiful water canal and some construction. This area did give me a dread and I turned back from here first 2 times. Later I crossed and got to see more beautiful landmarks.

It curves and runs along Riverside Drive road and Elm Fork Trinity River.

Bird's Fort Trail Park is a great picnic location with car parking. 

This is along Elm Fork Trinity River Paddling River

1.5 miles from Bird's Fort Trail Park is Caliornia Crossing.

With lovely river-view offshoots on one side

and impressive real estate on the other side.

At this point the trail is closed for construction and I turned around from here.

2020 The Year of Films

2020 is the indoor year. All the movies, web series and shows have saved humanity. OTTs and past content creators and digital platforms deserve credit and I am sure their financials are reflecting it.

 Amazon Prime has unreleased nostalgia-Doordarshan era in our home. There is bouquet of regional language movies to pick from. And after the civil unrest, they showcased Black Movies for education. That was a good window to a lot of good movies.

And in post-COVID world, OTTs gave us the option for that thrill of a" new movie release".

NEW RELEASES

Gulabo Sitabo (Hindi 2020) was the first one to release I think and receives brickbats from the stakeholders who stand to lose with the shift from theatre to digital release. But soon it was clear, this movie is indeed for home private watch, not a communal theatre watch.

Soon a lot more movies in many languages went ahead with digital release first, as the wait for reopenings got longer.

Shakuntala Devi  (Hindi 2020) - Only fate that a movie on SD should open on a OTT called 'Prime' ! Vidya Balan is reliable as ever. Drama hai, humor hai, good acting, good locations, lots of stories.

Lootcase - Such a fine thriller-comedy in the clutter. Every scene, every actor, every dialog - important and funny. Kunal Khemu is an uner-appreciated gem.

C U SOON (Malayalam 2020)- Fahaadh & Roshan Andrews movie made during lockdown times and released on Prime. Totally different format, where every scene is made of screens from online or mobile app tools - for video chat & other windows. A lot of dialogues are by chatting, and since it was in Malayalam, subtitles were excellent support. Also meant you couldn't blink or multi-task while watching this movie. Background music conveyed the mood.

TULU

Paddayi: A Tulu movie which was not the masala slapstick variety. Oh the seascapes in this movie. The slow wrapping of a Shakespearean tragedy. It was highly engrossing.

KANNADA 

Avane Srimannarayana - Finally the heartthrob Rakshith Shetty's movie after a long time.
Its a treat to hear Rakshith's DK Kannada style narration and Jackie-Chan style action sequences.
Movie is all in western style and take about half-hour to get adjusted to that. But an explanation is provided by hero-narrator. After that the story becomes involving, and we forget about the whole setup. Much appreciation for the first-class production quality of the movie. CGI and set pieces are good quality.

Malgudi Days - Mix of a tacky storyline pepped with lovely locations. 

Such a welcome break from movies with the mandatory goonda elements for some cheap thrills of dishoom-dishoom. Seriously Kannada movie makes need to explore some other path as well. But then I am not the one paying for theatre tickets, so why should those makers listen to me ? But do makers like Rakshith Shetty know something else ? Its online outlet to explore now since theatres are shut from past 5 months & future is in doubt ?

MALAYALAM

So Malayali movies have striking bunch of actors, each one better than the other.
And then they feature them together in so many movies, making multi-starrers, a usual thing.
And then in so many movies (atleast all those listed below), each frame has a huge clutter of people, each doing a unique thing. I know its a big effort production-wise. But amazingly its happening in all movies, all the time - amazing !

Virus: This movie is correct dramatization on how Corovirus is being handled today. This 2019 Malayalam movie on NIPAH outbreak, is on Amazon Prime. But they should re-release this movie in theatres. Atleast after the theaters are back in business. Showing it again in theater or TV will help the prevention message reach to larger audience, without the panic that's going on now. Also will be morale-boasting for the doers on the war-front. Also make us appreciate their efforts.

Movie was very engrossing. Such a large ensemble cast, all seasoned actors with equal screen time. So many stories, locations. Mystery tied together in the very end.

Unda: Large ensemble slow-burn movie, which places Kerala cops in Chattisgarh naxal area. Each character with individual background story, which does not take over the movie. Treat for me to watch Mammoty after a long time. He is the epitome of a gentleman.
The climax action sequence made my family pause & watch the screen; who otherwise go about their business while I am immersed in Malayalam movie.

Charlie just for Dulqer Salman & Parvaty (eye-candy), assortment of artistic objects strewn across the screen and a story which hops everywhere in a name of suspense, albeit a good one.
People in the middle of real-world problems, spouting existential questions and giving a knowing looks. Its not as bad as it sounds. All of it made it a good time-pass movie.

Driving License - Came for Prithviraj and stayed for the masala-way situation escalated. Each of these were believable. It can happen.

Ayyappanum Koshiyum - 1st hour was filled with dread, heart kept racing about what's going to happen, about how the first guy will harm the second one. 2nd hour was for the 2nd main lead to take over. And 3rd hour was the clash. Good movie to watch, family friendly. No darkness or gore, yet impactful as any horror movie.
This could be compared to Driving License, and Prithviraj is the common factor, in both movies of situation escalation between the 2 leads. While misunderstanding is the reason for escalations in DL, ego is the reason here.

So glad I saw it without reading any review before that. Not even the FC one. They gave away all the spoilers - connection of the first scene & everything after Hour 1. I mean the power of the movie is all the dread that happens in the first hour. You know what to expect in the next 2 hours , but still has impact. Experience watch. (Prime)

BENGALI

Prime did update a lot of Bengali movies this year. Big relief for me. Bengali movies are my goto for a quite-time/nap-time in afternoons. There is this sthir (Hindi) quality about them, which is missing in Hindi movies.

Bengali movies has this set of maybe 10 leading stars and how amazingly often they star together in same movies, without any overt conflict. They are actors first - Jisshu, Parambratha, Anirban, Ritwick and my fave Abir C. They have acted in so many various movies, yet no baggage of their past accomplishments showup in their current movies.

So many Bengali movies and so many recurring actors I am getting familiar with. Prosenjit, who I knew only as a masala movie superstar, has such an diverse collection of movies, its unbelievable. Aparajita Auddy is so endearing one, and then so severe or practical in another. I feel I have seen entire filmography of Rwitobroto Mukherjee. Rajesh Sharma who has an impressive lineup in Hindi, has a parallel life in Bengali movies. That way, I got less of my fav Abhir C.

This years spotlight is on Anirban Bhattacharya - who is a chameleon. I first saw him in Uma where is Mahisa Sur. And then onwards he is different in different movies. Below list has him in almost all. I still can't guess his age.

Ghare & Baire - Keol is that star we have been missing after Madhuri & Jisshu is endearing.

Chhaya O Chhobi - a lovely ensemble cast and movie located in beautiful Darjeeling.

Ghawre Bairey Aaj - quite little story touching upon controversial topics. Simplicity of it all made it fee amateurish. Each side presented lines we have heard a million times in interviews & social media. But amateur filmmaker would not have been able to portray the maturity it did. I played this movie in installments across many afternoons.

Alinagarer Golokdhadha - was not as interesting as Guptodoner Sandane, but it was in the exact same format of treasure hunt with history of Bengal as background.

Gumnaami Baba - very detailed & researched movie. Movie switches between Netaji's pre-50s life in B&W and color for current investigation events as well as that of Baba's life. Again standout performance by Anirban.

Kishore Kumar Junior - mast musical journey, featuring loads of Kishore Kumar songs, sung by Kumar Sanu, in a mashup of Hindi and Bengali versions. Also a road movie traveling in Kolkatta & Rajasthan border. Ends on a bitter-sweet note.

Asur - argh really argh. What 3 main characters ! Each one more puke worthy than other. Only lasted till the end due to fav Abhir C.

Generation Ami - treatment of two sensitive topics was well. Actually student-performance-load part was laid out well. The other one was not. Even if it was not joltsy like Gantumoote, it is trigger worthy. About the student-performance part, parents side was also presented. It was shown more as a disconnect between the two party rather than parents as villains.

Mayurakshi - yes to watch it.

TELUGU

Brochevarevarura: When the movie started, it was nothing like what I had built-up in my mind, based on this poster. But what a movie. Smashing. Kept us engrossed till the end.

MARATHI

Rewatched a lot of Ashok Saraf-Laxmikant Berde-Sachin movies to refresh mind during these unusual times

Girlfriend - I needed this to revive Amey's image, after I saw him in Asur. Good pleasant watch.

HINDI

Satellite Shankar - well made road-movie with a deadline looming to return back.

Mardaani & Mardaani 2
It was a good police procedural. A very believable team dynamics, not over the top usually it is. I had avoided it all this time because of the topic. But it managed to see it by forwarding the disturbing bits and sticking to the investigation part.

Bioscopewala - its a warm movie at the cusp of Hindi & Bengali. Takeoff from Kabuliwala movie, has a few loopholes, but Danny, Geetanjali Thapa & Brijendra Kala make up for it.

Choked - good thing it was not the usual Anurag Kashyap profanities flavored movie. All characters were well drawn. Story was engrossing and we really needed to know what happens next and what he/she did. Ending properly closed all threads and pretty much happy ending.

KOREAN

Little Forest - if you are looking for meditative peace without any spirituality talk, then this film is it. Just watch 3 friends, lovely rural house, watch veggies grow & watch her cook with those grown veggies & fruits. Watched on Prime.

ENGLISH

Little Women - Saw it in theater in Jan and maybe that's the only one this year. An enjoyable retelling after a long time. While there is nostalgia of familiar incidents, in this movie, its laid out in non-chronological order and yet not some boring flashback. This review talks about it all in detail.

Lady Bird - Had heard of Greta Gunsberg's genius debut and needed to see it after watching Little Women.

Last Black Man of San Francisco

I always wanted to see it but got to see it once Amazon showcased it in their promotion of Black Movies after the civil unrest starting mid-year.

Very meditative and poetic way even to convey intense voilent feeling of some. It could almost be set in Bangalore to represent then & now.

The Other Half of it - very poetically made movie on high-schoolers. Tone & styling was same as Ladybird. No false notes. Got me rooting for both Ellie Chu & Paul Munksy. For a movie set in some small town somewhere cold north-west, it pulled in Bollywood - via a train scene from Ek Villian movie.

Top Gun - Cant believe I never saw this movie before ! Even if I have been an active 80s & 90s kid. Well thanks to Am Prime, saw this 1986 movie with full family. Movie had leather jackets, motorbike and jet-planes; even ships. No wonder it was a big hit. The simplistic story was matched with brilliant airflight technology they had & choreography they did. And the music - Ah !

Speaking of 80s, also caught up with Big Business and 10 things I Hate About You. Nothing better than some of the 80s fare to cheer you up. Oh the music.

My Yearly Movies List here.

Read List Books of 2020

When I reviewed by Book list for this year in September, I was horrified to see only 3 out there. 

I did spend the initial months re-reading. But I managed to scrape through more books in later months.

Thirst - 2600 miles to home - Heather Anish Anderson

Ended the year with this soulful reading. Travails of Anish hikes PCT for setting new FKT record.

Tears of Giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith

Morality for Beautiful Girls -  Alexander McCall Smith

 

Again a sweet book, working through the life of No.1 Ladies Detective Agency and her expanding family, along with Botswana. There is a mystery running through the book, while smaller cases & adventures get tackled in each chapter or its neighborhood. The detection cases keep use curious and only the long-running case keeps the feeling of dread alive.
Author portrays a sweet picture of a laid-back Africa, of the diversity within the continent's different countries. Of how the misrepresentation of Africa pricks their people.
Name of the book (Tears of Giraffe) tickled my kids every time I mentioned it. Explanation of the name is given in the last chapter.

The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes -  Suzanne Collins

 

The attraction factor was that it was set in Panem and get to revisit it. Even if I felt icky about it being about Snow. It's a good read no doubt , I finished in 3 days or so, while I have some others I am still plodding on for months.

I read another blog review where the reviewer mentioned, she read mentioned she read the Hunger Games Trio as a YA and now as a mother she cant revisit the contest where Games contestants do what they do. Not the case for me, I remember I had that phase as a young mother. But I read HG3 as a grownup & person cynical of national power structures. The book was about Katniss who is trapped in a system where she doesn't know any-other form; yet she or her mind is rebelling all the time. That is a very interesting premise, because in the story things never goes as we think or as Katniss expects, so its filled with constant twists & turns. 

Meanwhile in TBOSAS, its about Snow and how he became the ruthless President he became; atleast the initial adulthood of his where he set in the path. When it starts, he is an impoverished teen who needs to hold on to the family pride along with tackling poverty. In the 3 parts of the book, we see him work around his situation with self-preservation being the most crucial for him. Even with that being primary, his initial actions seem very altrustic to others and hence they adore him. He doesn't have to use any overt charm, it just happens. He doesn't manipulate it but he doesn't hate it either. In act 2 and act 3, when dice is rolled and he goes through bad situations and is offered lifelines, he takes it whole-heartedly and realizes in the power games if he is not the one calling shots, they he is the one being shot. 

The part about guilt is also portrayed well. The book shows he feels guilt and repulsion at seeing the bad results of his actions. He is horrified and guilt-driven to see the results. But his self-preservation stops him from reversing anything. And when he is not caught and add self-preservation to it, he is embolden to go the path, where he creates the universe where he is the perpetrator and no one can harm him. He is as repulsive as George Claire character in Things Heard & Seen.

Part about Tigris was good to know, expected even. Maybe sequel will tackle the life as stylist and any surefire dokha she suffers from her beloved cousin for whom she does everything.

The Games themselves were lacklustre when compared to the ones mentioned in HG3 books. That is to depict how unorganized and unprofitable they were in the initial years. And why Snow revamps them to the sleek games they eventually become.

Emotionally I did not like the book and did not want to own it anymore. My copy of HG Trilogy is my prized possession.

The Rosie Project & The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

A dear dear book to me. The protagonist speaks to me. I <3 Don Tillman. Next up is the third part.

Micro by Michael Crichton & Richard Preston

Finally such a satisfying science fiction. I remember I had started this book few years back and abandoned after few pages - mostly because I was busy and also because there had been more interest sci-fi's around. But in todays world, littered with fantasy s??? posing as sci-fi, this book is a breeze of fresh air with some real science explanations.

Eventually it felt like a dark-Honey I Shrunk The Kids in a Hunger Games.

About the text of the book, it lacked the real MC style of writing. There is a sharpness in his books. MC is my favorite sci-fi author and I have read most of his books. He was prolific so its tough to catchup with all. Incase of Micro, it was finished by Richard Preston after the death of MC.

Today will be different - Maria Semple

Picked it because it was by author of my fav Bernadette. But its not as fulfilling as that one. 

Same Seattle setting. But the mind of the narrator this time, is even more complex. I found it hard to get a hold of it and finally few lines in page 59 got me hooked. Then on I could follow what's going on. Just a burning searing talk about the relationship pains.

Us by David Nicholls

Interesting rolling book, with a complete Europe tour, and modern-fairy tale ending.

And miscellaneous Art books to scroll through

Older Reading lists: Entire Book list | 2021 (2) | 2021(1) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |

OTT scene in 2020

2020 is the year where TV has emerged the savior. It kept people locked up home and happy about it.

DD unlocked the 90s magic for people of India and everyone enjoyed with their kids-next-gen, the magic of Ramayana, Mahab, Byomkesh Bakshi & all other 90s nostalgia. For those outside India there was new & old Web series generated for us on OTT.

SCAM 1992 - Surprise package of this year. Very enjoyable to see the details of a important recent history event playing out in every detail. The nostalgia is only from the newspapaer headline from the 92s and whatever little we could make out of it. It was very useful to see how the whole thing played out one by one and even understood it all now as an adult.

Very impressive Pratik Gandhi as the main character. Last seen by us in Mitron, which was a good movie. Shreya Dhanwanthary playing the equally main character of journalist Sucheta Dallal.

Show did not shy out of using financial lingo and not dumbing it down to some dramatic businessman swagger thing from the usual soaps. 

Production was excellent in keeping things 90s without going overboard. Check out the details in this article: Betting on Bombay: What it took to turn the clock back for web series Scam 1992

Special Ops for the thrill of spying to enact vengeance on terrorists.