I’m sad that I’ve finished reading the book. Including it’s sequel, The Eye Of The Moon. They were both fast reads although the latter had a tad more hare-brained plots than the first. But very digestible.

It’s got everything from mere mortals, to vampires, werewolves, undead Mummies, corrupt cops, monks, a double dose of Christianity, love, blood, gore, fights, social stigma. There is a lot more but the author [ whoever that is ] has created this intricate work of fiction that seems light digest and still carries some ‘meaning’. If we can pick out life’s lessons from the Harry Potter series, we can pick those out from pretty much everything else. Not saying that I dislike Harry Potter – I have the entire collection except the last two books.

But The Book With No Name and The Eye Of The Moon are definitely one-time reads. I’d probably pull my hair out if I was told to re-read them – definitely not in the same year.

I’ve picked up many books on a whim. Without prior knowledge about their plot, without recommendations and without checking reviews or the name of the author. This book I picked up because the lady in front of me in the queue has bought only this book after spending way more time in the bookstore than I had. I hate to admit this but the fact that she was a foreigner, made me instinctively think she might have a more ‘literary’ leaning that most Indians in bookstores who pick up Twilight and 2 States. I guess I was right. Of course the book is not even close to The Malazan Book Of The Fallen, which, by far, is my favorite set of books – ever.

The strangest part is that for legal purposes, the book’s author, as mentioned in the copyright information, calls himself The Bourbon Kid. Now, all of my friends know that I only drink the Tenessee Whiskey called Jack Daniels. I’ve been told that Jack Daniels is also a very regularly sought after Bourbon and that Brits regularly down shots instead of mixing it with Coke and sipping – like I do. Since the author, who’s name also happens to be the name of the lead protagonist in the book, is called The Bourbon Kid, I felt an instant liking to the book – just a couple of chapters in.

The even stranger part, when The Eye Of The Moon ends, it is revealed that the name of The Bourbon Kid, who was known as JD to most [ and most thought it meant John Doe ], is actually Jack Daniels! I had such a whomp of a laugh when I read that. The author clearly thinks he’s a smart ass – surprisingly, even though it comes across cocky in a lot of places, it is endearing too. I never thought I’d say that, but there it is.

Id’ give it a 7 out of a 10. I’m usually generous with my praise so go figure. It’s no work of literature though. Speed read.

The word “Koo” used to mean a multitude of words on the other planet’s vocabulary.
The two different scenarios of how the movie ends – the violinist coming back after six earth years only to find that his name’s been discredited because he ‘stole’ the precious violin or both the violinist and Uncle Vova returning to find each other at the very same moment right before they were transported to Plyuk.

Most of the inhabitants of Plyuk live under the ground. Everything visible above ground is mainly a deception.

The possibility that inhabitants of any other planet with life would, in all probability, be as stupid as human beings, with differences in what racism is practiced in – for example – on earth, there’s racism based on the color of the skin whereas on Plyuk, it’s based on what color their magnetic remote glows when pointed onto a person – orange is a Chatlian while green is a Pastak.

Hilariously enjoyable, it had it’s moments of insanely imaginative storyline and aptly confusing incidents, “What the hell was that?”

The ‘aliens’ trying to make money with their limited singing skills. The only word in the song being, you guessed it, “Koo”.

The only allowed abuse in their vocabulary is “Ku”. Too close to the only other much-used word. Probably a play on how confusing our own languages can be? We use “Fucker” when referring to our best friends and also while referring to someone who’s fucked us up. Many such moments thrown together in the movie make it very watchable without being confounded. And yet, it’s new enough to not make you feel jaded – I haven’t seen anything like this earlier.

The aliens, together with the two Earthlings, trying to make more money singing along and using the violin, which I might add, no one knows how to play – especially after it has been smashed to bits and then repaired with whatever parts that could be salvaged.

Since you expect it to be a crazy movie from the moment the dial is turned, the fact that the “aliens” speak Russian as well as the two Earthlings, doesn’t come as quite a surprise.

Kin Dza Dza is one of those movies that I’d like to keep in my collection. Not too heavy on the philosophy unless you stop and think [ which would be a bad idea for this film ] and neither does it encourage slapstick. It’s a smooth ride with enough interest to make you want to keep going. Definitely worth a revisit maybe once a year – from my stash of must-sees.

The two Earthlings :

I liked the color palette of the movie and there are multiple scenes that look like they’ve been painted.

We make assumptions based on incomplete information and our perception of the truth. Our behavior is governed by assumptions. Do we know why is a customer our customer and how to keep the ones that are loyal?

There are two ways to affect human behavior :

• to manipulate [ drop prices, promotions, fear, peer-pressure, aspirational message, pseudo-innovation - innovation is not a shiny new feature, innovation is game-changing - it changes industries, nations. ]
• to inspire

There were two Colgate toothpastes in the 1970s. There are 34 Colgate toothpastes now. And we’re not even talking about the other brands. There is too much choice and companies are having trouble differentiating their products, even though they are using manipulation in their marketing. Manipulation does not breed loyalty, it becomes expensive, stressful to both seller and buyer.

Talking about inspiration : Golden circle

• Why [ not to make money - that's a result - but what is the purpose, cause, belief, why does your company exist? Why should anyone care? Why do you care? ]
• How [ some know how they do it - companies know USP ]
• What [ what they do, what it is that you do ]

As an example : Apple : everything we do we believe in challenging the status quo, we believe in thinking differently [ why ] no trickery, no manipulation, no celebrity endorsements.

People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. They don’t buy it for you, they buy it for themselves.

What you do simply serves the tangible proof of what you believe and why you’re doing it.

This isn’t some theory pulled out of thin air – it is cross-cultural as long as your customers are people and this is also grounded in the tenets of biology – the brain’s neo-cortex and limbic systems.

Why does it, sometimes, just feels right no matter what the facts and figures say – it is because of trust. And sometimes, no matter how rosy the facts and figures, it just does not feel right. This is where you’re functioning from the part of your brain that has no language powers – you just know it. It is your gut – [ but gut decisions are not scalable ] – why do you love your husband / wife – impossible question sometimes answered with “He / she completes me.”, which doesn’t even mean anything logically.

Feelings drive our behavior.

Repeat business is different from loyalty. Repeat business is, “I will come back to you and buy from you again and again and again.” Loyalty is, “I will stand in line for six hours and buy your more expensive product.”

If you don’t know why you do what you do, then how will your customers? This is followed by the discipline of ‘how’ – values, guiding priciples – followed by ‘what’ you do – results.

How to instill authenticity : this means that the things you say and the things you do, you actually believe.

We are social animals, ability to form cultures communities – culture is a common sets of values and beliefs – to ensure our own survival – when you surround yourself with people with similar beliefs, trust emerges.

Differentiation does not happen in ‘what’ – it happens in ‘why’ and ‘how’ you do it – you can’t copy and expect it to work – best practices are a joke.

Price, quality, service, features – these are adjectives for commodities – if these are the only points available for comparison / differentiation, then there’s no ‘why’. What the product does serves the tangible proof with which customers can rationalize why they need it.

Law of diffusion of innovations. Read more here and here.

I have a dream vs. I have a plan. The latter is uninspiring. Yes, you need a plan but you don’t START with the plan – give instructions after inspiring.

Being rich and famous are ‘results’ – if you don’t care why you’re doing it, you’re screwed.

For passion to survive, it needs structure and for structure to flower, it needs the growth of passion.

Successful businesses – entrepreneurships are always two people. Partnerships. JFK RFK. Steve Jobs and Wozniak, etc.

We’re always looking for advice – how and what to do – asking friends – don’t take all the advice – the ‘why’ will be confused.

Stop talking about what you do and talk more about the why you do it. Once you’ve created that value-connect and trust, then talk about the how you do it and then finally what it is that you do.