Seersucker

Welcome to another fashion advice post from reverent uncle Girish. I have a very limited wardrobe. So limited that I can easily fit all my clothes (I mean absolutely every thing that I own now) in a carry-on suitcase.

I also seem to have a sort of an amnesia when I go buy new clothes. Which means, I forget what I already own and end up buying more clothes of the same color/ type and repeat my wardrobe. And then, I only shop from a very few places. Which means, I look the same most of the times.

Anyway, I recently realized that I have taken liking for this specific type of fabric called a seersucker. I realized this is when I washed 4 shirts all of the same fabric and type last week. Now, mind you, 4 is a big % of my total clothes, and if all of them happen to be of the same type, I believe I have fallen in love with that material. So this post now is hereby dedicated to the seersucker fabric.

For those of you who have forgotten, Singapore is an extremely humid and warm country. The national costume of most people (regardless of race, gender, age or class) is shorts and t-shirt. As I grow old, I moved from t-shirts to shirts, and that is where I came across seersucker! A quick Wikipedia search indicates that Seersucker is an all-cotton fabric of Indian origin that the British "found" and popularized to the western world. It is amazingly perfect for a humid weather and I can wear all day and sweat comfortably in it. Besides, you know what is the best part? It already has a "crumpled" look so you do not have to iron the shirts at all. All you have to do is - wash, dry, wear and repeat! Life can't get any simpler. So for the next few years if you see me wearing the same types of shirts - blame the British.

My Movie Choices

Long term readers of my blog know that I am heavily inclined towards minimalism. The philosophical me thinks that this endeavor to constantly reduce things in my life is what has kept me sane (so far). Reducing things also boils down to constantly downsizing options. I like my life where I don't have to choose much. This however is much difficult than what it seems.

Everyday (for me) is a constant struggle amongst numerous choices. Whether it is choosing what to eat, which movie to see, which series to start watching, which clothes to wear, where to go, the average consumer has a plethora of choices. Anyway, over a period of time, I have learnt how to restrict my choices, and limit the decision making process that I have to go through.

This blog however is specifically about - how I chose which movies to watch. Well, before I start, I need to give you some context. The only place I watch movies these days is either on a long haul flight or on Netflix. We don't have channel-subscribed television at home anymore. After struggling several years on making movie choices, I boiled down to choosing my entertainment based on the actors I like. As of this writing, here are my favorite Hollywood actors (in no particular order):

• Tom Hanks
• Jake Gyllenhall
• Christian Bale
• Keanu Reeves

This is besides the fact that I watch all Quentin Tarantino movies. But he doesn't make that many movies for me to go choose to watch them on a flight (I guess, I have already watched most of them, and the ones I haven't, aren't available on Netflix or on flights!). So if I have to see a movie, I just go through the list and search for the ones in which one of these actors are present. This has led to me seeing a bunch of weird, dark and psychological thrillers. I won't say I particularly liked them, but I feel like I have already had my fair share of demented movies. I think other than Tom Hanks, all the other actors listed above, have made some serious "art" films. The list of weird movies that I saw in the last few months because of these actors (again in no particular order):

• Siberia (Keanu) - Can't believe I saw it - if not for Keanu!
• John Wick (Keanu) - The only senseless action movie I ever liked - I am waiting for part 3
• Night Crawler (Jake) - Creepy, Jake is awesome!
• Demolition (Jake) - Weird, emotional - Jake is awesome!
• Nocturnal Animals (Jake) - Dark, emotional - Jake is awesome!
• American Psycho (Christian) - Weird, Psycho - Can't believe I saw it!
• Vice (Christian) - Awesome, loved it!
• American Hustle (Christian) - Awesome, loved it!

I have thus concluded that either my choice of actors are artsy or they just happen to be the choice for artsy films! Anyway for the superhero lovers out there, Jake is entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe as "Mysterio". So now you gonna get a taste of him too :) !!