Of Mysore Sandalwood And Warm Samarkand Nights... And Cute German Rowers

I've mentioned previously on this blog that I run the bookshop at the Buddhist centre I attend. Last night I had to make a mad dash from the office to get to the centre in time for a 6pm meeting I had arranged with our major incense supplier, who was in town from Melbourne. As it turned out he was running late, and after a few phone calls to and fro, he finally got to the centre at 7.30. Fortunatelty I had other stuff I could do and managed to keep my good humour about me.

When there was a knock on the door I opened it to find a very, very handsome Indian man at the door, with samples case in tow. As it turns out, there are worse ways to spend an evening than being sprawled on the floor, surrounded by incense samples, while a handsome man spins tales of Mysore sandalwood, exotic spices and rare aromatics. Even volunteer jobs have their perks.

I was still a little wired from a busy day at work and some serious 'incense supplier oggling' when I got home, so I decided to watch a film I had taped on tv the previous night. The film was Sommersturm [site is in German]. This sweet film is about a pair of young rowers who are best friends, one of whom is straight and the other who is questioning his sexuality, and the wedge that is driven between their friendship. Matters come to a head when they go on a team camp and come up against other rowing teams, one of whom is a team of gay guys. The young cast are generally quite good, although some of the supporting cast are a little patchy in terms of acting ability, but the leads all turn in solid performances. There is a quite frank, but tastefull and rather sweet seduction scene, which is handled well by the young actors. All in all, worth a look.