Reasons to Marry a Bong Guy

In response to this article that one of my friends made me read this afternoon, here’s why marrying a Bong Guy is a good idea!

The reasons to marry a Bong Guy are numerous. Here are a few

1) He will probably show up at the wedding looking like this, so you can laugh at him and forget that you are being starved.



2) He may not be a Literature graduate, but he loves reading nonetheless and digs Tolstoy and Dostoevsky
3) He knows that Led Zeppelin and The Beatles or Bob Marley are musicians and Justin Beiber or Nicki Minaj are well…
4) He gets along with kids, so your nonod er chotto chele ceases to be a problem
5) Vivekananda Park er phuckhkawallah ore chena, kaji discounted phuckhka guaranteed!
6) In reference to 5, he will have Gelusil handy for just such a binge
7) He knows how to play the sitar and possibly owns a harmonium
8) His thakuma’s recipe file, with short cuts to most major recipes
9) Bargaining is second skin to him. Aatsho taka-r illish maach uni 300 taka te kine phirben
10) He rocks the pajama panjabi look and so will his kid, under his tutelage



11) Poilabaisakh er din e bari te ranna banna ebong khawa
12) He knows housework. Gone are the days when washing dishes was a task you had to do alone!
13) His elder brother is a globetrotter who sends him booze from Turkey
14) His uncle is ex-military and has a few stories to make your blood boil
15) His sister knows his deepest and darkest secrets. Cue insane afternoons filled with laughter!
16) He knows that this guy is the true James Bond, no matter how sexy Daniel Craig may be



17) He knows how to cook and is a master of a) kosha mangsho and b) chingri mach-er malai kari
18) He knows that the best mishti doi to be had is from Jadob Das on Rashbehari. This alone wins him brownie points
19) His friends will treat their boudi like the salt of the earth and will help with any problems any which way they can
20) A Bong means free sweets everytime something momentous happens. Complimentary ones on bijaya dashami

Now who could ask for more?

The Bilge Master

A Lexicon Left Unsaid

His life was gentle, and the elements

So mixed in him that Nature might stand up

And say to all the world, “This was a man.”

Julius Ceaser, by William Shakespeare

 

This poem is written is memory of someone I knew. He was the gentlest creature I knew. He was my brother and my friend. In a few days, I will go to a new house, where he has never been. I guess in a way this is what I would say to him…and he would say to me with his liquid eyes…

 

Hello there, my old friend,

Good to see you once again,

Of course it’s not really you, just me,

Obstinately holding on once again,

It’s just that despite all being said and done,

There are some words we haven’t exchanged,

And they will now remain…a lexicon left unsaid,

I know not of any other way to express,

A feeling I have tried in vain to supress,

Ever since you left, things have been strange,

I think you’re there, I call out your name,

And moan in frustration at the echoing of my own voice in vain,

I think, you and I, we were like the rain,

Soft and warm, continuing,

I see your face in the clouds now and then,

I just wish we could meet more often,

And you see friend, tomorrow I will be leaving,

Moving on when the dawn breaks,

And as for you, well I just hope you are happy,

And I’ll see you in the Octopus’ Garden someday

Flat No. 8B

I was feeling pretty excited today. We had just moved to this new flat in a totally new neighbourhood. I wanted to explore every nook and cranny of it ASAP. Since the unpacking was done, there was nothing to stop me from spending the entire day outdoors if I wished. So, after a hasty breakfast, off I went decked up in a pair of jeans and a tee.

My first stop was of course the local store to buy some chocolate. There was an old man there. He had gray eyes and white hair. He reminded me of Gandalf somehow.

“New here eh?”, he asked, with a slight wheeze.

“Yes. Just moved in. Flat number 5D.”

“Oh I see. I’m in flat number 8B. We’re practically neighbours! Say why don’t you come up for a quick cup of coffee?”

“I guess!”

So there I was 15 minutes later in some total stranger’s house, drinking some lovely coffee. He even cooled  it in South Indian style, using two tumblers and pouring the milky beverage first into one then the other.

“So, when did you move in?”, asked my companion.

“Just last week. Thursday I think.”

“Good. Oh by the way my name is Dan and I’m retired. I used to work in accounts.”

“Cool! My father’s a financier. Can’t say I like his brand of work though. I want to be an engineer.”

“That’s good. We need intelligent people like you out there. Keep us senile old people from committing too many blunders.”

Just as he finished speaking I got a text from Ma. She wanted me to come home and help set up the TV.

“Well sir, I guess that calls it a day”, I said to my new friend.

“Sir? Don’t “Sir” me laddie. Call me Dan! What are titles between friends?”

“OK Dan. See you around.”

Call me paranoid, but I felt a tiny chill as he grasped my hand. His eyes were still creepy. They were sort of blank. But when he smiled and asked me to come again, he seemed to genuinely mean it.

The funny thing is Dan and I really hit it off and most afternoons after school, I would drop by his house for a chat. Dan loved to talk. He went on about his family. His daughter had eloped, against his wishes when she was 16. He hadn’t heard from her in some time.  Dan was widowed. His wife had died of pneumonia in ’86.

Dan also lent an ear to my troubles. He asked about classes, crushes and bullies alike. Suffice to say, we became friends very quickly. He just never wanted to come meet my parents or allow me to return his hospitality.

“I’m too old laddie. My social radar’s off balance. I don’t think meeting your folks is a good idea. Now pass me that book there and I’ll tell you a tale that’ll astound you!” he said.

Now, I mentioned school. My least favourite subject there was maths. I didn’t get why I always flunked in it. I understood the stuff well enough. The teacher who taught at school wasn’t any help. He didn’t like me much. The dislike was mutual.

I brought this up one day, on one of my visits to Dan. There was a maths test next week on differential calculus. Needless to say I was not looking forward to it.

“Well laddie, maths is fun. Did anyone ever tell you that? In fact numbers are everywhere. Look around you. There’s a lot of maths going on here in this room. For example, the number of blades on the ceiling fan.The number of creaks my old joints make when I get up or sit down. Come now, what seems to trouble you about it?”

“Well Dan, I understand it well enough, but I somehow can’t seem to crack the sums. I make a mistake early on that jeapordizes the entire sum. Just the other day, I wrote 15 instead of 5.”, I said meekly.

“Well laddie, that’s common enough. You just need to look out for yourself. Now take this test. You said it’s differentiation. What part?”

“Maxima and Minima”

“OK imagine a pole vaulter. He takes part in the Olympic Games, wins the gold. Next year he wins it again. The third time it’s the silver. So his performance curve has started to dip. He was at his peak having won the gold twice in succession. Now he’s in the silver. The next time it’s bronze. Then suddenly, he gets disqualified. So he’s at the lowest point with reference to his performance curve- the minimum point. Now he comes back next year to take the bronze. Things are looking up. In the next 2 Olympics, he’s back at the top. Back at maximum. You see laddie? Whenever a curve hits maximum, it goes down. Then it hits minimum and starts back up again. The ol’ rock bottom play.  Make sense now?”

“Sort of. So I have to find the points where the curve is lowest and where it’s highest.”

“Yeah. Now based on the question, you need to use either the lowest or the highest value of the curve. That’s upto you laddie. Go with the question.”

“OK then. Let’s give it a whirl.”

And sure enough, somehow what he had said made some sense. I managed to do quite well on the test. My finals were coming up too. I spent my afternoons with Dan brushing up on my Maths. We would talk about vectors- he would point to a bird on the window; ask me to imagine an eagle in flight. When we did integrals, he talked of a surgeon putting a body back together. Permutations and combinations were a girl’s wardrobe to him. I loved the way he taught. It really did seem easy. My fears washed away. I became good at solving sums.

The finals were a breeze. I did fairly well. I goofed up a few sums but got a fair percentage. The first place I went to after the results were out was Dan’s. I was in for a surprise. The door was locked.

The building’s janitor was in the hallway, having a smoke. I asked him about flat 8B.

“Flat 8B? It’s been empty for years kid. An old man called Dan lived there. He was teaching his grandson maths and went to refill his cup of coffee. He fell in the kitchen and hurt his head. Died on the spot actually. People say it’s haunted or something. Either way, it’s never been lived in since.”

I was somewhat shocked. I had seen Dan just last week! How is it that Dan had been dead? Had he never existed?

Or could it be, that somehow he had been waiting for someone? Someone who like his grandson needed help with maths? Someone like me?

I wondered if I had seen a ghost on my way down to my floor. Ghost or not, one thing was clear. I would never be afraid of maths ever again.

The Bilge Master

If Supernatural Met Skyrim

DISCLAIMER- This is purely fan made. I do not own any of this. All property of their respective studios. Enjoy the epicness that is Skyrim, with a neat little twist in the form of Sam and Dean Winchester!

The Scene

Sam and Dean just iced this irritating Wendigo which happened to be living outside a video game store haunted by a poltergeist.  This is in December 2011 and it's Christmas. Being too tired to do anything else, they picked up a copy of Skyrim from the aforementioned video game store.

SAM- OK Dean she's good to go. Managed to get the DLC too.

DEAN- What the hell is DLC?

SAM- It's Downloadable Content. Nevermind. Just let's play!

DEAN- Sure thing, Britney. 

Unbeknownst to S+D, the poltergeist who shall henceforth be called Freddie has gotten himself into the game through the update 45 and has set a trap. A door that will suck the players into Skyrim during the character creation scene.

SAM- So Dean, I'm thinking Wood Elf. Always wanted to ape Legolas.

DEAN- Yeah go for it. As for me, I'm gonna be a Nord.

SAM- You mean NERD?

DEAN- Shut up and proceed, Legolas

Just then a power cut happens. When the power comes back, Sam and Dean find that they are no longer on the couch in the hotel room ,but in a cart being driven along a mountain road. beside them a man with his eyes blindfolded is sitting in a cramped position.

SAM- OK, what just happened? I mean how are we on a mountain, in a cart? 

DEAN- Must be your freaky DLC.

SAM- Are you saying we somehow got downloaded into SKYRIM? Dean this is bad!

DEAN- It's your idea. Duh. Course it's bad. Question is how did we get here?

SAM- Could be a poltergeist. OK let's try to figure out what happened here. (to man in the cart)- "Sir, who are you?"

DOHVAHKIN-I just got captured., on my way down from High Hrothgar. They say a dragon's been spotted nearby. They think I control it, since I'm Dragonborn. Foolish of me to be so reckless with my Thu'umm

DEAN- Whoa. There's Dragons here? And you are Dragonborn? Alright buster, your ass is mine! Sam where is my shotgun loaded with phoenix ash?

SAM- Wait. Is that even gonna work? 

DEAN- It worked on that bitch Eve. It'll work on this douche.

DOVAHKIN- Have care how you speak. FUS. RO. DA!

The cart overturns under the barrage of a fully powered Thu'umm. Dovahkin is first to his feet. He electocutes the guard and steals his bow and arrows, clothing himself in the tunic the guard wore. S+D, somewhat winded get to their feet.

SAM- OK what was that? You shouted and the cart...

DEAN- Got it's ass kicked. Freaky! Ok mister, watch what you say to me.  I mean sticks and stones may break my bones, but it seems here that words will nuke me! What does FUS YODA mean anyway? Yoda is a short dude with whiskers for hair!

DOVAHKIN- Well it's a Thu'umm. A Shout in the ancient Dragon tongue. I use these Thu'umms since I am Dragonborn.

DEAN- You mean, you hatched out of a dragon egg? GROSS! So what only Excalibur can kill you now? Coz in that case we are screwed. I blew Excal up!

SAM- Dean, I think if he wanted to kill us, we'd already be dead.

DEAN- Have I taught you nothing Sammy? Never trust weirdos, especially those who have a penchant for throwing temper tantrums.

DOVAHKIN- I have no time for this. Either you help me bring down Alduin or we part ways. Choose. Also what is that you are wearing. That raiment is unusual. Are you from elsewhere? I have not seen your kind in Skyrim.

SAM- Who is Alduin?

DOVAHKIN- A Dragon. I am sworn to kill him you see. It is my destiny. I have learned the necessary Thu'umm. I head now to Sovengard to confront this tyrant and end his rule.

DEAN- So we have to kill a dragon. Great. Well, at least we can take the Impala.

SAM- I doubt the Impala made it here Dean. This is a video game!

DEAN- Just get it using one of those DLC things.

SAM- Yeah you mean a mod Dean. It doesn't work that way. Not here at least.

DEAN- Sam. All our weapons are in the Impala.

DOVAHKIN- Wait. If it's weapons you need, come with me to Whiterun. I have a stash at my house. Also, my wife Serana would like to meet you. Perhaps she could help you with your quest, being over 8 centuries old.

DEAN- Wait. 8 centuries. Is she a vampire?

DOVAHKIN- Why yes. My son, Ardyuul would also be of assistance.

DEAN- So, you a Dragonborn, your wife a vampire. So what does that make your son? Dra-vamp? Vam-a-kin? Nosfera-doo? 

SAM- Dean. Calm down. I mean who cares?

DEAN- Sam. This is weird. I'm in a VIDEO GAME, meant to make me forget the shit I do for a living. Instead I'm neck deep in the shit I do for a living. IN A VIDEO GAME! Do NOT tell me to calm down!

By this time, our ragtag band of companions have reached Whiterun. Just outside the gates of the city, they are confronted by Alduin.

DEAN- That is one BIG ass ugly dragon Sam.

SAM- Shut up Dean. It'll hear you.

ALDUIN- I see you have stooped to the level of mere mortals in desperation. Give up now. You cannot defeat me.

DOVAHKIN- We shall see, Betrayer. 

ALDUIN- Meet me at Sovengard, if you dare. I'm waiting. Bring your friends. A tasty morsel they will be.

DOVAHKIN- Challenge accepted!

Having robed himself in Obsidian armor and further perfected his Thu'umm, the Dovahkin prepares to face Alduin at Sovengard. Just then, Sam realizes that the Thu'umm is actually opening the portal back to the real world. 

SAM- Hey! That's our ticket out of here!

DEAN- What? Mr. Dragonborn's saliva?

SAM- Yes Dean, it's opening some kind of portal back to the real world

DEAN- So now I have to walk through this guy's breath? Ugh. I hope you brush dude. 

DOVAHKIN- Well, if that is the case, then perhaps the actual place to open the portal would be at Sovengard. I have heard tales of another world lying there hidden from us.

SAM- Yes, that makes sense. Remember the Hellgate Dean? All doorways have a specific location in the real world.

DEAN- I hear you Sammy. But you no making sense. Still I kicked your ass at football, so I guess you can kick mine at this stuff. Nerd.

SAM- Let's just get outta here bro.

The trio travel to Sovengard, where the Dovahkin and Alduin meet on the battlefield. Sam and Dean take cover behind a ruined cathedral.

SAM- Now remember, there has to be two triggers. One when the Dragonborn shouts. Two when the dragon replies.

DEAN- WHAT? I have to run into a dragon's maw? That's like that scene in Dragonheart! No way man.

SAM- Dean. Don't be a wimp.

DEAN- Sam. Dragons breathe fire. What part of that did they not teach you at law school?

SAM- They don't teach this shit in law school. God Dean. Grow up.

DEAN- OK. Just this one time, I'm gonna charge at a dragon full tilt.

Just then the battle begins. Dovahkin lets loose his shout. Our heroes, S+D begin their sprint. Alduin opens his maw. A jet of flame comes cascading out. 

DEAN- AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHAAAHHHHAAAHAHHHAAAHHAHAHAH

A blinding flash of light, and Sam and Dean find themselves back in their hotel room.

DEAN- I am NEVER playing video games again.

SAM- I think we should stick to this stuff in the real world. We would be better at it.

DEAN- YES

SAM- Shall we hit the road then?

DEAN- Yes. I'm driving. I need some time with the Impala to soothe my nerves.

And if you wanna know what they did next, check out the new season of Supernatural. Skyrim and it's DLC's are also available at a store near you. 

The Bilge Master

When I Grow Up

I’ve been dying to introduce my mother on the blog, but she doesn’t really like blogging. So this is a story my mother told me. My mother was a schoolteacher for a period of about 30 years and this is one of the writing pieces she got to correct during that time. What’s so exceptional about this is that it was written by a boy in Class II. Read on.

One day, I had a pain in my stomach. My father was worried. He picked up the phone and called someone. In about half an hour, a man came. He had a bag. He took out something from the bag. It looked like an elephant’s head. He stuck the upper part in his ear and held the circle against my chest. He told me to breathe deeply. Then he poked my tummy and that made me laugh. He took a piece of paper and wrote some words on it. My father took the piece of paper and went out. He returned with some white tablets. I took one of the tablets. The pain in my stomach went away. The man with the bag was a doctor. When I grow up, I want to be a doctor.

Author Unknown
Student of Class II

I do not know this kid, but I hope he got to be a doctor.


The Bilge Master (and his mother, for telling him the story!)

Ode to the Bulky Wallet

Rajesh was late for school again. His mother forcing him to guzzle down his milk was not helping matters. Still, he managed to shake her off and set off at a dead sprint for the bus stop. He managed to make the bus by the skin of his teeth.

Rajesh was in class ten, at the HN National School. He hated the uniform there. It was lemon yellow with a green tie. Ties were mandatory. If someone arrived without his tie, that person was doomed to spend fifteen minutes being lectured to by Mr. Chakravarti, whose only bad habit was the fact that he had no good ones. He spat at you, he was fat and rude. Suffice to say no one liked the dude. The students had a nickname for him- Bedwetter. As luck would have it, Rajesh had forgotten his tie.

Rajesh spent the next few minutes trying to figure out what he could do to avoid his “Bedwetting session”, when his friend Arjan boarded the bus. Arjan had this air of nonchalance about him. He was sort of a show off, because he got fifty rupees from his father as a week’s pocket money. Rajesh was a bit jealous of him for this reason. His parents didn’t believe in pocket money.  To be fair, whenever he asked for cash, he was given it. Still, it felt odd to him.

School was a complete drag. The day went really badly. First there was the “Bedwetting session” with old Chakravarti. Then, the maths class. To top all that off, Rajesh got his Bio test scores back. He’d flunked.  Again. He was very happy when the bell went at the end of the day.

A short bus ride later, Rajesh was outside his gate. He opened it and went in. His mother greeted him with hot samosas and a cup of steaming milky coffee.  “Things are starting to look up”, thought Rajesh. But the biggest event of the day was when his father came home and called Rajesh over.

“Son, you are now in class X. About 16 years of age. It’s fitting therefore that you have something  that every man has”, said his father and handed him a package. Inside the package was a black wallet.  “I want you to carry this wallet with you at all times, and keep your money in it”, his father said.

The next day, Rajesh proudly dressed up for school. He didn’t forget the tie and he stuffed his wallet in his trouser pocket, intending to show it to Arjan the first chance he got. But then, something about Arjan’s wallet hit him. It was fatter than his, seeing as Arjan had a lot of spare change in it. That’s when an idea formed in Rajesh’s head. He would cut up pieces of newspaper and put them in his wallet, in between the notes or pennies. His wallet would be as bulky as Arjan’s. Or once, he wouldn’t feel small.

The plan worked. Arjan seemed a bit more accessible to Rajesh now. That feeling of not having pocket money left him. School was fun too. For once he understood the trigonometry and the different factors that caused the Russian revolution. He was having a great time.

*************

School had ended and Rajesh was on the bus back home. He wanted to walk a little so he got down a stop earlier than his and started to walk down the road towards his house. He saw the beggar on the pavement and gave him a rupee out of his new wallet. A few minutes later, he wanted to buy some ice cream so he reached in to his pocket for the wallet. His fingers clutched air. He was shocked. He noticed the beggar had vanished and realized that he had been robbed. There was a huge lump in Rajesh’s throat. He went home, went up to his room and began to cry.

*************

The beggar had reached the riverbank. He squatted down and took out the wallet. When he opened it, some pieces of newspaper fluttered out. That was all there was in the wallet. Just pieces of newspaper and two flimsy five rupee notes.The paper pieces fluttered off, some settling in the water. The beggar sat there watching them float away and he began to cry.

The Bilge Master

Duality

“You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain”. That was a tagline from the 2008 film “The Dark Knight”. To be honest I had some doubts about this movie, since it featured a “new” Joker. On one hand, I was excited, on the other I was sceptical. the fact that I had never heard of Heath Ledger, and that he was about to assay the role of one of my favourite characters in fiction, did not help matters. But this isn’t about the movie, though perhaps the intro to this post seems to point in that direction. This is about the Batman-Joker situation. Yeah I’d say it’s a situation. A very interesting situation. What’s interesting you ask? It’s you. And me. Two sides of the same persona really, staring out in their undiluted splendour.

Ask anyone you know, they’ve all heard of Batman and if you ask them to name a villain, most of them will blurt out Joker. Ever wondered why that is? I mean Batman has a HUGE rogues gallery, with the likes of Mr Freeze, The Riddler, Calendar Man ands Ra’s Al Ghul to contend with. But he keeps coming back to The Joker. Funnily enough, the Joker’s sort of earned this attention really, because he’s done Batman the most amount of damage.

And then, there came this movie “The Dark Knight” where somehow, my view of this rivalry altered. I was scared of Ledger’s Joker. I shuddered when he walked into the room. But, one quote from the movie stood out in my head, long after it had finished. The last part, where Joker’s suspended from a building and goes “You won’t kill me coz of your stupid rule, and I won’t kill you coz you’re too much fun." That got me thinking. What if we had it all wrong? What if Joker was actually a good guy?

OK no. That doesn’t work. What kind of good guy shoots a girl through the spine, sells nukes to Saudi terrorists and kidnaps the police commissioner and tries to drive him mad? A good guy doesn't have go around town holding up the Mayor at gunpoint nor does he get his kicks out of poisoning the water supply of an entire city. Joker’s done it all, with a huge grin on his face. He’s driven Batman up the wall and down again. He’s toyed with him, he’s pushed him to insane limits and he just won’t quit. No matter how many times Joker gets locked up in Arkham, he always busts out. One time, in the comic “Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth”, he just upped and held up the entire asylum on a whim. The Joker doesn't care about anything. He has no morals or a conscience for that matter. Joker is the personification of Chaos in a way. This makes him dangerous, it makes him capable of anything. I guess that’s why in the opening pages of “The Killing Joke”, Batman screams into the inmate’s face.

Batman. The Dark Knight. As a boy he lost his parents to some criminal in a dark alley. He vowed to keep Gotham safe. He donned a suit, trained himself to the zenith, mentally and physically and took on the mantle. He’s kept crime at bay, protecting and watching. Yet even he has his weaknesses, such as his love for Dick Grayson, currently Nightwing. The loss of Jason Todd, who later became an enemy in the form of the Red Hood and of course there’s Barbara Gordon, who took a bullet to the spine. All on account of a madman with a trigger happy finger. Batman feels responsible for the Joker somehow.  So I asked myself, what exactly am I looking at here? On one hand, there’s the hero. He’s got an entire city to protect. He’s pledged allegiance to it and he upholds his vows. Batman sees things and does things that a lot of people wouldn’t even dream about much less have the capacity to even imagine doing. Taking on a half man half crocodile? Going up against one, no two of your best friends, namely Hush and Harvey Dent who are baying for your blood? The psychopath Zsaz, the Penguin and of course Ra’s Al Ghul.

Then there’s Joker. Before he became the self titled “Clown Prince of Crime”, he was a normal guy. He had a job, that wasn't paying, a pregnant wife who got killed. He got angry. That anger was festering in him on the night of that accident in the Ace Chemicals building. In a way, Joker isn't a man. He’s a personification. A personification of a feeling. The feeling of anger, and what it will do to a person if it is turned inwards and allowed to implode. This anger in the man, made him the Joker. Even if he hadn’t nose dived into the chemical vat, he would still have become something to reckon with. perhaps that’s why this entire situation strikes a chord, because in a way Batman is also angry. Just as angry as the Joker is. but the difference is in their paths of execution. Joker uses anger to unleash chaos. Batman uses it to curb damage and protect.

As Plato said “The measure of a man is what he does with Power”. The Batman-Joker situation shows us two distinct ways of using power. I guess that’s what makes the situation appeal to me. Somehow I identify with it, having had an anger management issue myself. So that brings me to one question, and that question is- what if tomorrow, something bad happens and anger surfaces in you. What are you going to do? Are you going to grab a gun and wreak some havoc? Or are you going to try and deal with the situation? Who do you want to be? Batman? Or the Joker?

More importantly, we have seen Superman flip out on us in the comic “Injustice”. But somehow I doubt Batman will follow in his footsteps. The thing is, what happens if he does and the Joker succeeds for once?

The answer is Chaos. Chaos that has led to wars, to loss of life and has never led to anything but pain. So you see, the Joker’s there in the world today. I guess he’s a character intended as a comment on the bad stuff going on. Batman is good, Joker is bad. And we humans are shades of gray. Maybe that’s why this situation is iconic. Because, it’s personal. It’s more than just ink on a page. It's a struggle being played out in our minds. Just as the struggle between these two characters in the comic books.

 

The Bilge Master