tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538775631875832572024-03-14T01:59:17.871+05:30Across PolyethyleneSumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-39638463736689982412013-07-25T20:12:00.001+05:302013-07-25T21:33:28.556+05:30That 70s Post<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/1970s_decade_montage.png/420px-1970s_decade_montage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/1970s_decade_montage.png/420px-1970s_decade_montage.png" width="381" /></a></div>
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It is almost surprising to note that, looking back from
today, the 70s were not thirty years ago, but forty. An era that saw the world
turn around on so many fronts, the decade has formed a firm base to the
society, economy, political scenario and the pop-culture of day and age.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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A quick look at Wikipedia will tell you that the 70s has
mostly been a prosperous time with booming economy(which suffered during the
Oil Crisis, but recuperated soon after,) the various forms of liberalism,
atomic energy, feminism, increasing political awareness and environmental
consciousness. The seventies also saw the fall of the hippie subculture
that had begun years ago. But their ways, and their philosophy were here to
stay.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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As a person who was born twenty years later, most of what I
have learnt about that time is from whatever remains: the pop culture, or to be
more precise – the music from the 70s.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Post the shift from technical and intellectual serial music,
a plethora of genres emerged during those years. There was rise in minimalism
and the incorporation of modern electronic equipment (which were previously
used only in war.) At the same time, the gleeful, attractive and entertaining
pop-music of the 60s was losing its shine. Instead, a whole new revolution occurred,
bringing forth a more expressive form of music: Rock and Roll. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Of course, the 60s had its own set of insightful and
outstanding musicians creating, in the midst of Soul, Country/Folk and Jazz, a
rise in Blues music from Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton Jimi Hendrix and The
Beatles. No arguments about that. Still, the real growth spurt of the genre, or
what we could call a ‘boom’ happened in the decade that followed it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Rock and Roll did not emerge by itself, but as a bunch of
other genres which happened to have the same line up and instrumentation. The
most prominent of these genres include Punk, Heavy Metal and Psychedelic Rock
and Jazz-Rock. Still, upon closer inspection on the content from each of these
genres, all of them propagated a sense of melancholy that’s way more discernible
than in the decade before. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For years, I looked for a reason that explained such melancholy(and
often rage) in the forms of expression that arose from an age that seemed to be
pretty prosperous: The Great Wars were over. The Civil Rights Movement in
America had gained substantial momentum and the society had benefited from it.
Women’s Liberation closely followed and was equally insightful. The moon wasn’t
a distant dream anymore. Around the world, there was an increase in Industrial
Productivity. At the same time, Food Security issues were on a decline with the
all new Green Revolution making strides. It was all good. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Or was it?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u>America<o:p></o:p></u></b><br />
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Although the seventies look beautiful in grainy films with
badass jackets and shades, in America, the decade was a time of high government
mistrust. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In 1974, for the first time in history, a president resigned.
This was preceded by a series of clandestine activities by the US Government
that, unfortunately (to the government) came to light, an incident referred to
as the Watergate. This included bugging of offices of his Political opponents
or just about anyone who was considered suspicious. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Another popular issue from that time is Project MKUltra.
Project MKUltra is the codename of one of those covert operations undertaken by
the US Government that didn’t make it to light in association with President
Nixon. However, MKUltra involved the use of many methodologies to manipulate
people's mental states and alter brain functions, including the surreptitious
administration of drugs such as LSD, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, isolation,
verbal and sexual abuse among various forms of torture. This research was being
undertaken in over 80 institutions that included schools, colleges, prisons and
hospitals. This was brought to light by the Church Committee in 1975.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The following year, Saigon was captured by South Vietnam.
While the Vietnam War is a great source of discussion and debate and largely
depends on the point of view, it was bad news for an American citizen. The
general anti-government feeling was heightened by the fact that while the government
was capable of nefarious activities such as the ones I’ve mentioned, it was
unable to win the war in Vietnam; 58,193 Americans died trying. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Needless to say, the decade had plunged people into a sense
of fear and insecurity, despite look at claims that said they were living in
the ‘greatest Nation.’ That gave rise to a rebellion against authority. Not
through violence or representation, but through music. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The United Kingdom had its own share of political scandals,
most of which dabbled on sexuality, prostitution among others. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u>Satan<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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In its true sense, the word ‘Satan’ simply translates to
mean ‘the opposer’ in Hebrew. In the New Testament, Satan is a name that refers
to a decidedly malevolent entity which possesses demonic god-like qualities. For
most Christians, he is believed to be an angel who rebelled against God.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In Theistic Satanism, Satan is considered a positive force
and deity who is either worshipped or revered. In LaVeyan Satanism, Satan is
regarded as holding virtuous characteristics. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But that doesn’t come as a surprise as the duality in Good
and Evil also existed on either sides of the Arabian Sea, with Devas(or Daivas)
symbols Good in Hinduism, but Evil in Zoroastrianism, and Asuras/Ahuras being
Evil in Hinduism but the Gods of Zoroastrianism. Upon closer look, Devas and
Asuras were just theistic and symbolic representations of Order and Chaos. They
were meant to oppose each other in order to ensure harmony. <o:p></o:p></div>
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However, that was not the case with Satan. While Satanism
developed by itself as a new form of belief, it still stood to what it meant:
The Opposer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The perceived equivalent in Islam, <i>Shaitan</i> translates to mean ‘astray’ or ‘distant’. Still, the Islam
version is pretty consistent with the Christian version: All he did was to
disobey the God’s command, and he could do so because he had free will. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Free will, yes. As in a democratic nation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u>Rock ‘n’ Roll<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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“They’d say, ‘If you play the record backwards, you can hear
evil things like 'grrrr!'’ and I would think, ‘Geez, I didn’t know the devil
sounded like that. I thought he was coherent like the rest of us.’” <o:p></o:p></div>
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- Brian Johnson, AC/DC<o:p></o:p></div>
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The rock music from the 70s is a big and accurate reflection
of the troubles in its age. From the beginning of its time, the genres and its
musicians have touched upon a variety of methods and used a number of symbols
to substantiate their opinions against authority such as Satan. <o:p></o:p></div>
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What did they refer to, while talking about Satan? It was
about standing up to a Government that did not speak for the people; almost all
the time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At the same time, Punk musicians expressed their issues with
rules, hypocrisy and double standards of their leaders. Trend-setting
songs such as The Clash's "Career Opportunities" and Chelsea's
"Right to Work" deal with unemployment and the grim realities of
urban life. In early British punk, a central goal was to outrage and shock the
mainstream (something that electronica artists do today) which is prominent in The
Sex Pistols classics "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the
Queen" that openly disparage the British political system and social
mores. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Punk music wavered around and eventually disintegrated into
a number of other genres. Almost all the rage in its music was converted into
melancholic art-forms in most genres that followed it, including the no-wave
American Punk and 80s Post Punk. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Still, a number of musicians kept up with the
tradition of showing aggression through music. This practice was more prominent
than anything else in the emergence of Metal Music. Although the most memorable
bands that played Metal at that time were from outside America, the reason it
spread like wild-fire in the west was simply because of the rage and mistrust
against authority among people.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And given that it came up at a time when scandals and, by
extension, conspiracy theories were floating around like smell of hot-dog on a
city street, it was refreshing for an average music aficionado, or just about
anyone to pick up music that advocated their fears and dissatisfaction. <o:p></o:p></div>
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That said this theory has a number of exceptions. These
include the likes of Led Zeppelin, who started off with rock’n’roll music but
eventually moved on to a more personal sounding country/folk frame work, hence
not participating in any of the movements occurring in that era. Still, they
went on to become one of the greatest bands in history with a number of
subsequent bands across so many genres incorporating their musical elements and
style. The same goes in case of Pink Floyd. While the band tried
making larger-than-life statements and made references to a number of political
phenomena through their works, it was the music that happened to be their
primary form of expression.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u>Jazz<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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Jazz music saw a turnaround in the 70s with people from
Miles Davis’ troupe moving on with their careers forming bands that blurred
genres. That was the decade when Jazz Music, predominantly a genre that
contained black people associated with it, developed a fan base among the
whites as well as inspire them. This was perhaps, an effect of the Civil Rights
Movements that eventually resulted in greater interaction between black and
white people in America, causing greater exchange of art and other forms of
expression.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Today, Psychedelic Rock, Electronica, Traditional Rock’n’Roll
and Jazz form an indispensable basis for any band. And though the 70s were an
age with such distortions in the mind-set of people as opposed to the giant
step in development it witnessed, it has given us, more than any other decade
in history, the fundamentals for most modern music forms. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I do realize that I have not spoken much, or at all, about
the electronic music that very much developed around the same time. What
happened then? Was it too, inspired by the raging political issues of its time?
And where did it start?</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I shall write about it someday. <o:p></o:p></div>
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-Sumanth <o:p></o:p></div>
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Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-48496180805135958232013-06-20T19:28:00.003+05:302013-06-20T19:32:22.903+05:30Out of the Blue, and into the Black. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Pretending that the mobile phone in my pocket is a bass guitar pickup.<br />
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Starring at wet white stripes on the road at a crossing as they get distorted in the rain.</div>
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Getting used to air-conditioning. </div>
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Getting used to constant brightness. </div>
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Struggling with vocal melodies trapped in my head. </div>
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Wet shoes. Wet socks. </div>
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Neon sign flickering across the street at midnight. </div>
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Truck horns singing hit songs of a bygone era. </div>
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A black era. </div>
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The urge to break mirrors in an elevator. </div>
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Only replying to questions. </div>
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No more anxiety. No more cognizance</div>
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No more dogs in the street. No more dust in the air. </div>
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Fake and artificial.<br />
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Fear of being a mortal. </div>
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Fear upon coming across success stories. </div>
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Fear upon coming across disasters. </div>
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Imagining articles of self on Wikipedia. </div>
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But only about good things. </div>
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Blurring lines between modesty and masochism. </div>
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Socializing.<br />
<br />
-Sumanth</div>
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Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-76539507751058764642013-05-21T12:27:00.001+05:302013-05-21T12:27:21.997+05:30Ghosts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
They get away, unseen. Unheard. Unnoticed.<br />
<br />
Well, not really. They are pretty much visible, audible and whatnot. People do often take heed, but fail to remember. You and me; people. Busy with things that we don't want to do so we can get what some distant nameless, faceless, and perhaps a limbless man deems necessary.<br />
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But then, they're watching you. They make note of every little habit that you're trying to hide from the people around you. Remember every little confession that you make. They have figured a pattern in your behaviour, and they're bloody judgmental about it.<br />
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They know enough about anybody - your favourite movie, what you wish to achieve in life, how much sugar would you like in your coffee, the time at which your phone gets busy, the kind of people you talk to, what other people call you, subtle expressions that were supposed to inform something to somebody, your polar shifts in demeanor when talking from person to person - enough about you to have a proper conversation. But then again, they are still quite terrible at making contact with people.<br />
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They watch the world around them, as it breaks down into nothingness every evening and try to change it, but only end up inducing fear and apprehension in people's minds. They go out of the way trying to fix things well beyond their control, or as people like to call it, they haunt. They are very much concerned about the way you and I live. Concerned, but powerless.<br />
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If they wanted to, they could commit crimes, given the extent of knowledge and freedom that they possess. It's almost tempting. But they're still good people, who believe in letting you live the way you want to and wait patiently until you join them.<br />
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They're human beings, too. Very much alive, and probably standing behind you.<br />
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<br />
- Sumanth<br />
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Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-13464099518953398762013-02-28T20:22:00.001+05:302013-02-28T21:33:40.273+05:30Looking back, and then Forward<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Being my first post this year, one would expect me to have a lot of things to talk about. I'm not exactly sure how much I have in mind. It's been a long time since I have spoken my mind on the internet in such elaborate manner. It's probably going to take a while for me to warm up.<br />
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A good place to start it off with, would be:<br />
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<u>Life in 2012</u><br />
<u><br /></u>
Obviously, we didn't all die. Of course, many did. Some of them as good as Gods in what they did, and some as evil as the devil himself, sometimes both. The lines blur when it comes to defining a person by their deeds.<br />
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2012 had been a particularly eventful year for me. To start with, playing a part in the organizing of the tech fest of my college, which was among the first things to happen that year, has given me some of the most valuable of life lessons. It's been the first time I have been a part of a formal team that doesn't completely consist of friends. The first time I've worked under a leader, and the first time I faced actual challenges on a more professional front. My contributions mostly consisted of content writing and editing. I've had that love for writing ever since I opened up to it, which was sometime in eighth grade, around when I started this blog. But working here meant a completely different use of what I was good at. I'm rather proud to admit that my love and skill at this helped me acquire a reputation for the job. Which is when I began to get wary of the whole idea. Approaching an activity that I enjoyed, from a more professional and yielding perspective than from the usual emotional landscape was something that I was totally unprepared for, and I slowly began disliking what I was doing.<br />
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Needless to say, that's why I hardly blogged all year.<br />
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The striking realization of how the act of systematizing and clipping of my passions actually generated hatred brought a strange sense of insecurity. I'm sure we were all encouraged to pursue what we are passionate about. Also, ever since childhood, a job always had a negative ring to it, as it was considered nothing more than a way to make ends meet. A means to make money. More of an act of tolerance and perseverance that paid off on a material front and nothing else. We've all always dreamed of landing a job that would let us do what we liked and earn some dough at the same time. I began to fear that such a thing did not exist. From a point of view where I felt that working on what I liked would make work easier, I slowly began to believe that working on what I liked would somewhat reduce my enthusiasm altogether.<br />
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I spent a large part of the summer wondering what I really wanted to do with my life. Visiting new places, watching new people was indeed insightful, but it only provided more ways to look at things from. And that didn't really help. Third year at college began full of rush about deciding one's career, at least in an abstract sense. It was time to start prioritizing. at this point, I'm still not sure what I want to go ahead with. I saw this coming about a year ago, but nothing over all this while, I've only liked each face of myself more that it's been just as hard, if not harder, to choose.<br />
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Songwriting was something new I picked up in 2012. Music has always been close to me, and years of listening to new music and attempts at writing tunes and collages on my guitar led me to try out songwriting. Of course, my earliest trials were nothing more than blatant rephrases of my favourite songs. But that gave me my own way of writing. All I had to do was stick on to the rhythm of a song that inspired me at that moment, and write my own stuff to it. Most of them have that abstract minimalist sense to it, which has more to do with me not being a very good singer yet. I strive to be one someday, but let's see about that!<br />
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Getting myself an electric guitar propelled me forwards in that direction at exhilarating speeds. Within months, I saw myself becoming better in places I wanted to be. My first cohesive track was 'CCTV' which started off with me trying to write a poetic rant on some people I loathed at college, but I eventually ended up with protests against a seemingly Orwellian world with references to the New World Order theory. 'CCTV' refers to the British graffitti-art 'One Nation under CCTV' by unnamed artist Bansky. Hope I record that one someday.<br />
I also wrote another instrumental called Paperclip, referring to post-WWII German scientists working in the US: Check that <a href="https://soundcloud.com/templar165/paperclip">here</a>.<br />
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<u>Music in 2012</u><br />
<u><br /></u>
As I've always said, this place would mostly contain the best albums that I discovered in 2012. Not necessarily ones that released then. The year had been quite a journey through genres ranging from glitch to trance to metal. I've quite understood what kind of music I'm prone to like. Jazz is still an enigma, though. So many complexities hidden within, yet presenting a very sit-back, juvenile look. I've also taken to liking a lot of experimental music primarily depending on electronica. That said, being a guitarist, I still look for music that has sufficient amount of human touch in it to make me feel secure. My album of the year definitely exemplifies that. Starting with:<br />
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<b>10: Secrets are Sinister - Longwave</b><br />
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An interesting album from 2008 with the familiar 90s feel. The overall setting of the album resembled the happy yet urban and multi-layered atmospheric music from the likes of Interpol. I particularly liked the young-Radiohead-esque abusive guitar strokes by Steve Schiltz over the methodic rhythm-defining bass licks in the background. It's not much of a defining album really, but the vocal melodies had an effect on me. </div>
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Must Listen: No Direction, The Devil and The Lair, Sideways Sideways Rain</div>
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<b>9: The Eternal - Sonic Youth</b><br />
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Sonic Youth has been another album that I dug around, long after listening to their magnum opus Daydream Nation, which was back in 2009. I remember developing a keen ear for the clanging guitars and feedback filled breakdowns that build back into wholesome punk songs. The Eternal is yet another piece of their works, with a little more structure and focus on melodies as opposed to all their efforts on creating so many different textures in their other albums. Their comfort with such awkward guitar-tuning is still a great mystery to me. It was a strange coincidence, but I met an Italian Sonic Youth fan one New Year's Day at a nearby historic temple. </div>
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Must Listen: Anti-Orgasm, Antenna, Malibu Gas Station, Walking Blue</div>
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<b>8: Help! - The Beatles</b><br />
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Every Beatles album has its own thing. I became more of a Beatles man during the semester exams in May 2012. This was mostly due to my need for less demanding music to accompany my all-nighters before exams, and of course that mild desperation for female company on both an emotional and intellectual level that I have had for a while now. Help is unique with its guitar arrangements and vocal harmony styles where the main melody and the harmonies are not really in sync and go on to tell their own versions of the same story. </div>
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Must Listen: Help, The Night Before, You've got to hide your love away, Act Naturally, I've Just seen a face</div>
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<b>7: Illusion - Isotope</b><br />
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After my tryst with Mahavishnu Orchestra and Brand X the year before, I had always been looking for worthwhile music from the genre. Illusion by Isotope has that standard structure of a jazz-fusion album with a grand start, a funk follow-up and then a break into phrygian scale melodies and then back into full-swing awesomeness from both the drummer and the bassist. The guitar-work is surprisingly more atmospheric, as opposed to most bands that try adding intricate lead pieces that impersonate the original brass solos of the genre. </div>
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Must Listen: Rangoon Creeper, E-Dorian, Golden Section</div>
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<b>6: Secret Diary - College</b><br />
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Best known for its track in the movie Drive(2011), College is an electronica project founded by french musician David Grellier in 2005 with loads of elements from the electroclash scene that the country has been home for. College, in Grellier's words, was an attempt "to synthesize into my music the emotions of my childhood" and was greatly influenced by American 1980s pop-culture. Filled with the good old Moog synthesizer and Roland drum machine sounds, Secret Diary is one that brings nostalgia, which is not very disturbing. </div>
Must Listen: End Theme, Desire, Something Wrong Tonight, The Energy Story<br />
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<b>5: A Different Kind of Fix - Bombay Bicycle Club</b><br />
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I discovered Bombay Bicycle Club while exploring music soon after the Radiohead concert in June left me overwhelmed and dissatisfied with any music that I found. BBC reinforces the hope that guitar driven rock is on even today. A Different Kind of Fix is an excellent follow-up to their all-acoustic album Flaws which had won me over already. However, this album had more to offer. They have substantially developed since their debut album and grown into something so mature and modern with music that could be compared to the likes of Arcade Fire and TV on the Radio. </div>
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Must Listen: Lights Out Words Gone, Shuffle, What You Want</div>
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<b>4: The Clown - Charles Mingus</b><br />
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I would call this album an evil twin of the 50s musical Singin' in the Rain. With outstanding bass solos and brass sections that got as heavy as modern day rock, this album excels in every aspect of jazz music. This is also the first comprehensive concept-album that I've come across in the genre. It had its own dark moments and lonely solos, which then run into overwhelmingly noisy sequences.</div>
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Must Listen: Haitian Fight Song, The Clown</div>
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<b>3: Incunabula - Autechre</b><br />
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I came across Autechre while checking Radiohead's list of inspirations. Needless to say, things are pretty apparent right from the first listen. However, Autechre excels in its own accord with complex rhythms and syncopation with very little ambience to spare. The ever-pulsating cymbal samples and synth sequences are a signature Autechre style with the cold bass beat that changes rhythm with each track. It was another of those albums that helped me through the nights before examinations.<br />
Must Listen: Eggshell, Bike, Bronchus 2<br />
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<b>2: Swing Lo Magellan - Dirty Projectors</b><br />
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One of the most anticipated follow-up albums on my list. Bitte Orca had already made me a huge fan of the band and Swing Lo Magellan managed to surpass all my expectations. Backed with Michael Johnson's motorik yet grungy drum lines and the female vocal harmonies guiding through the tracks, topped with occasional stylish bass melodies resulted in a unique texture over which David Longstreth wove his dark lyrics at odd-time signatures.<br />
Must Listen: Gun Has No Trigger, Offspring are Blank, Just from Chervon<br />
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<b>1: After the Gold Rush - Neil Young</b><br />
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Like I said, nothing can be as good as listening to a simple soulful album with expressive guitar and piano. Then again, After the Gold Rush is much more than just that. Neil Young demonstrates his brilliance with the flow-y falsetto vocals and attacking piano lines. I found this album at an old record store during my brief visit to the US in the winter and, instantly, it became the perfect company for all the train rides, cold walks through the American winter and the long, introspective journey back to college. The album brings back so many happy memories from childhood as Young innocently sings along to simple drum beats. The lyrical content is ineffably beautiful in true poetic sense. Starting off with a regular sounding country song, the album goes into beautifully constructed pieces, each laced with poetic, yet paradoxical lyrics that pacify and intrigue right from first listen. Along come the stylish but expressive treble-dominated guitar lines that set the mood for the latter half of the album which is comparatively warmer.<br />
Must Listen: After the Gold Rush, Till the morning comes, Southern Man, Only Love can break your heart<br />
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<u>Books/Literature</u><br />
<u><br /></u>
2012 has been a good year when it came to me reading books. Although that statement bases itself on the number. I've read quite a few novels over the year. It started off with me hunting bookstores late 2011.<br />
From the harsh toilet humour from Chuck Palahniuk to soul-kindling first person anecdotes from JD Salinger, I came across a number of masterpieces. But then, the best I've read this year would have to be:<br />
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<b>Animal Farm - George Orwell</b><br />
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An outstanding piece of satire, cleverly taking a dig at landmark political events that occurred during the 20th century. This novel also presents an excellent insight on the mindset of leaders, power play and amazing analogy on the short-term goal oriented work of leaders and their hidden agenda. Around the time I read this novel, I opened up to the raging political issues in the country and a some of major political tactics such as propaganda and muscle-intimidation made substantially more sense to me after this book. This simple story with animals being the main characters contains sublime references to a number of real world incidents including the Perestroika and other communist acts. </div>
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This book threw Orwell into fame and also inspired people in a variety of fields, most notable of them being the Pink Floyd album "Animals." Unlike Orwell's other works such as 1984 and Burmese Days, which are more realistic and filled with dark humour, Animal Farm gets to business as soon as it starts and takes you for a ride through the deepest places in the mind. </div>
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This is a must read for, I'd say, everyone. </div>
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I haven't really watched many movies this year, so there's nothing really to comment on. I've been waiting to watch some of the movies that won stuff at the Oscars, but let's see about that. </div>
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That's with the old year wrap-up content. Okay, so I did have a lot to say. Cool.</div>
It's ankle deep into 2013 already, and this year will certainly be a crucial year in my life as it is the time when I shall have to make important life decisions and say goodbye to a lot of things, good and bad.<br />
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I do hope to keep posting, but that's not my New Year's Resolution or anything. </div>
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Till then, I shall return to the other place and wait there</div>
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- Sumanth</div>
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Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-13262384663312941262012-08-21T00:12:00.001+05:302012-08-21T00:25:10.025+05:30No Direction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
Hello all,<br />
Guess it's a long long time since i posted. Although there have been moments when I hovered over the new post button, contemplating and then finally deciding against it. Right now, this is an impulsive decision and I'm in fact thinking as I write.<br />
<br />
Way too many things have happened between my last post and this one. Literally.<br />
<br />
To start with, I went home after a year. My parents live in the other side of the earth where it's not time to go to sleep yet. The journey was long both ways and gave me plenty of time to introspect. I have changed over last year. Yet again. It's as if every summer I go off like a clockwork wondering what my choices would be at the moment. I'm still largely indecisive. On one side I have the academic/professional career pertaining to the major I'm pursuing, and on other side there still is Music. Something that I've always loved. How much? I do not know. It's still a question I find difficult to answer. One year since the dilemma, I've continued to be reluctant to proceed either way, inching in each direction one step at a time.<br />
<br />
My scores have improved by a good extent. Another year into college has taught me how to get by things and survive in a bad bad world. A year into my college Tech Fest's organizing team has taught me how to manage people, how to work professionally, not bringing personal judgements and opinions into picture, looking at the larger goal and putting the team first.<br />
<br />
Summer was a different experience altogether. Visiting another country was interesting. There were things that I liked about the place, things I didn't. By nature, I did resort to comparison trying to find the cause for various things. And having not visited as a tourist, I could get a glimpse into the everyday life of an average person in that land, which I don't think everyone gets.<br />
<br />
There were a lot of things that transpired there, although there might be a couple of things I would like to highlight. More so because they are the ones most memorable, close to my heart and two things that I had written down in my 'To Do in Life' list.<br />
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<b>Radiohead Concert at Camden, NJ</b><br />
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I'm sure all of you know how much a crazy Radiohead fan I am. In fact it has become a way of identifying me at college. I take pride in it :P<br />
Ever since Radiohead had announced their King of Limbs tour dates, I had been on the lookout for some place close to home where they'd play. I finally found one, and with great difficulty, managed to get the tickets for the front section(after the pit.)<br />
I can't really express in words how it was to see my favourite band play my favourite songs, less than fifty meters from where I stood. I'm not quite sure if it was the spectacular music, or the lighting, or the weed smoke wafting in the air, but the whole concert is still a haze. The few videos that I took are the sole concrete memories of the concert. Otherwise, it's mostly the emotion and the adrenal rush that I tend to recall when I think about the concert. I think everyone is entitled to that ephoric sensation at least once in life. I'm certain it's beyond any form of vice to get high over music.<br />
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<br />
<b>Telecaster.</b><br />
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After a long hunt through a number of shops, I finally bought an original Mexican Fender Telecaster in Philadelphia. It is a used guitar, but sounds just fine. Almost every part of it functioning perfectly. It's another big step in life for me, to own a guitar that's technically a kin of that of my God.<br />
I subsequently bought a Roland Cube15XL amp with basic clean and distortion channels.<br />
I haven't much to say about this, except that it's big for me, which I've said already. I'm trying to become a better guitarist, a better musician maybe. Although I'm not sure if that's not I want to be the most.<br />
<br />
<br />
It's third year at college, and yet another batch of juniors have arrived. I suddenly feel grown up now. I think it's time for me to assume responsibility of things, and accept being eligible for judgement by people. I still have a lot of choices to make in life, a lot of big decisions, a lot of people to consult, seek guidance and get inspired by. A lot to learn.<br />
<br />
Until I blog again,<br />
Sumanth</div>
Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-52891134530401765742012-04-26T17:21:00.001+05:302012-04-26T17:21:11.888+05:30Pseudo Life.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
You run with the world.<br />You sit down and watch the world run.<br />
You're still sitting down, but stop watching the world run.<br />
The world stops running.<br />
<br />
And then you realize that you have to run. Alone.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-8234378250528654702012-02-14T23:53:00.000+05:302012-02-14T23:53:10.089+05:30Insightful<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Spent the whole of Valentine's day reading stories about Alice and Bob. Too bad even that ended in a tragedy.<br />
<br />
<br />
If it is of <a href="http://downfall.jfedor.org/create/">no use</a>,<br />
<a href="http://www.animaclock.com/viewfont?font=spinners3_clone&v=-1&clean=1&_mag=2">It is</a> of <a href="http://www.smdepot.net/news/computer-tutorials/updated-using-googles-full-capabilities/">no harm</a>.</div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-20108651108910991682012-02-12T01:22:00.001+05:302012-02-12T01:22:25.124+05:30Squared.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sometimes it hardly matters how good you are at what you do. The only thing that's noticed is how different it is. People want new stuff, because it gives them the chance to judge without being experienced.<br />
So much time is wasted in differentiating oneself from the crowd that the job loses meaning. Why am I doing this? So that I can be better at it.<br />
<br />
Be better at it and do what?<br />
Just be better. It always comes handy.<br />
<br />
<br />
This is my hundredth blog post. I'm impressed by how long I've held on.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-27723401807537861102011-12-31T22:09:00.001+05:302012-01-04T21:43:53.233+05:30Turn the page.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hello all,<br />
<div>
This time I've managed to start this article well before New Year's Day (about 4 hours to go, that is) but I don't think I'd make it :)</div>
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<br />
<div>
This is funny, because the New Year's eve has never been so hectic and tiring so far. I've probably finished more today than yesterday, though my waking hours are comparatively less(until now)...OK. Not the point.<br />
<br />
2011 has been among the biggest turnaround years in my conscious life so far. Last new year was the first one outside home for me. Although I might have sounded largely apathetic to my surroundings and focusing more on the end of year charts and all that in my blog last year, in reality, I was dejected, alone and maybe(definitely) depressed. That describes most of the internet addicted teens today, but in my case it was an entirely different set of reasons. <br />
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<div>
Having come back from home after Christmas, fresh with homesickness, and idle, I was at the peak of frustration and back to the days of hating my college life. I'd rather call those days worse than two years of so-called turmoil during high school, or first few months at college. It was partially based on the delusion, which I still am not sure how it occurred to me, of having a way out college very soon. It was backed by a series of events that only added Hydrogen to my hatred. In hindsight, it was more of a negative cycle where everything wrong around me backed everything else and only made me assume that things were miserable. Sure, they weren't good. But those days were a perfect example of how life is all about the way you react to things. </div>
<div>
I don't really want to get into the Covey-ist point of view of it, but that's what it is. All it took was a change of perception. Summer was quiet. A nice break when i worked mainly on getting better with my guitar playing, learning basics of piano and reading up some physics. I also managed to watch a movie or two I suppose, and met up with old friends. Otherwise, I spent a lot of time alone in my room writing and painting abstract stuff. I also tried collaborating with friends, and recorded covers. It was short term though. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The latter part of 2011 was way different. My family had moved across the globe. Second year at college had a kick ass start. Back with old(new) friends, back to the life of night-outs, last minute assignments and such. It was lively, and probably the best semester (just 3 down, in fact :P) at college so far. I had gotten into the Media and Publicity team of our college tech fest <a href="http://daksh.sastra.edu/">Daksh</a>. I became an active member of physics forum Celeritas. I'd watched more movies and listened to more music than the previous year. 2011 was not a year of Anime or Games. I've learnt substantially a lot in my subjects of interest. I've met people who inspired me, contributed to clarity in life. I'm a lot better with my guitar now. I've made more bits and pieces of music than ever. </div>
</div>
<div>
That brings us to today. It's when you look back at such times, you realize the subtle difference between 'unforgettable' and 'memorable.' I had experiences of both categories and cherish many of them. :)</div>
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Talking of 2011, it's been most eventful in other aspects as well. Osama was killed. Prince got married. India won the cricket world cup. CERN has stumbled upon discoveries supporting the Higgs Boson(or the God Particle) theory. I'm proud I witnessed these :D<br />
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My frequency of blogging has reduced this year. I take it as a good sign; it only means I'm having a good life that makes me independent of the societies in the cyberworld. That said, I couldn't help have trollfaces rising in my reverie often. :P<br />
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Like I've been doing for years now, here comes the End Of Year Chart section :)<br />
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I'd start with movies. I've watched more Hindi movies this year than before. It's great to see great films coming up from the Indian film industry everyday. Each picking up a new direction, telling new stories, bringing new emotions...the best being:<br />
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<b>5.7Khoon Maaf</b><br />
<b>4.Dhobi Ghat </b><br />
<b>3.Delhi Belly</b>:<br />
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I would indeed call it a revolution in Indian Cinema. This is a movie that will be referenced to for years. With a nonsensical story backed by an eclectic plethora of local Delhi expletives, this movie gives an entire new look to humour in movies. Sure, toilet humour has been a thing in the west for years, but it's not everyday bold movies such as this one release. Also, the cheesy 70s references and absurd but epic sequences such as fireworks exploding out of a sitar are something that shall keep one laughing.<br />
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2.<b>Zindagi na Milegi Dobara</b>:<br />
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A very casual take on lives of three people, not very different from the production house's earlier venture Dil Chahta Hai in some ways. The story describes a reunion of friends over a road-trip during which they eventually get over their fears, learn to see bigger things in life and, importantly, live. Every character was well moulded and the entire movie had a subtle approach. The title literally translates to 'you don't get to live life twice' which is what the movie drove through, at the end. Personally, I found it pretty inspiring and saw the need to live life to fullest and enjoy every tiny bit of beauty.<br />
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<b>1.Shaitan: </b><br />
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A one-of-a-kind movie. Not everyday you get to see a drug film with little or no commercial appeal. Shaitan was a refreshing change from most crime films in India. With a perfect mix of cold disturbance of Aranofsky and dark humour of Danny Boyle and Guy Ritchie, the movie has an entirely new texture that took people by surprise. Being more than just an addiction based thriller, the movie was about the evil in people. Besides, the original soundtrack of the movie was among the best Indian albums this year. Khoya Khoya Chand as background music was almost as cold and amazing at the same time as Singin' in the Rain in A Clockwork Orange. In all, the movie was an ingenious piece of art that actually grew on me over time.<br />
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Funny that almost all the movies in english that I watched this year were older ones. The only ones I had watched were Pirates of The Carribean 4 and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. The latter was quite good. I was surprised at the flawless translation of all the comical elements from the book into a movie. I must say, Spielberg at his best once again. :)<br />
Among the older movies, my favourites were Requiem for a Dream(2000), Singin' In the Rain(1952) and Dead Poets Society(1989.)<br />
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I'm yet to watch some of the really good movies of the year, both Indian and English, such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, X-Men First Class, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Dirty Picture, Shor in the City and Don-2.<br />
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I've watched two foreign (non-english) films this year and both were awesome in their own way.<br />
One of them is Amelie, the cute beautiful coming of age story of a lonely girl set in france. The other is the original swedish movie rendition of the Stieg Larsson novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo(of which David Fincher recently made an American version,) which is a dark, disturbing story with a raging conflagration of religion, cyber-crime, sex and journalism set in Sweden.<br />
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Musically, 2011 had been a great year for me from the beginning. Over this year, I've listened to 36 albums, including new and old ones. Like always, my charts have albums that may have released any time. Not in 2011.<br />
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The best being:<br />
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<b>10.From the Yellow Door EP - Noise Noir</b><br />
<b>9.The Year of Hibernation - Youth Lagoon</b><br />
<b>8.Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay</b><br />
<b>7.Take Care, Take Care, Take Care - Explosions in the Sky</b><br />
<b>6.The Inner Mounting Flame - Mahavishnu Orchestra</b><br />
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The Inner Mounting Flame is among the earliest albums in from the american Jazz/Rock fusion scene. Apparently, the band front man had visited India and attained 'enlightenment' after which he named his band so. With energetic drumlines at odd time signatures layered with intricate bass and organ solos and guitar riffs, the album as a whole is an intense piece of art that keeps you up and going with the little funk that you need. The dark violin accompaniments, often played with piano sequences create a perfect acoustic and ambient atmosphere at the same time. In all, Inner Mounting Flame is a very apt title with all the energy in music and opened me to an entire new genre.<br />
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<b>5.Real Life - Magazine</b><br />
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This is definitely one of the most iconic post punk albums after Closer and Script of the Bridge. Unlike the rhythm experiments of Joy Division or atmospherics of The Chameleons, Magazine gives melody driven tracks with mild maturity and evolution from conventional punk rock. John McGeoch's eccentric yet melodic guitar hooks propel the entire track with the usual part baritone vocals. There's little or no experimentation on the rhythm sections of the songs, unlike most post punk bands that I've listened to. But the guitar work is probably just as great as that of Bernard Sumner. I had come across Magazine when I read about McGoech, who happens to be the inspiration for Jonny Greenwood :D<br />
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<b>4.Pygmalion - Slowdive</b><br />
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Slowdive is a popular shoegaze band from the early 90s who were largely inspired by the music direction started off by My Bloody Valentine. After their first two albums, Just For A Day, and Souvlaki, this album was a huge shock. To be honest, I was less surprised on listening to Kid A after the old guitar driven Radiohead. Pygmalion is easily among the greatest musical experiments that I've come across which beautifully illustrate the fact that one doesn't need great skills to make good music. Of course, Helstead and Goswell are highly skilled and talented people, but most tracks on Pygmalion, when musically interpreted, are surprisingly simple and complete at the same time. Besides, the depth achieved with such minimalist instrumentation and atmospherics is great. Like many say, I doubt a follow up can ever be made to this album.<br />
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<b>3.Xx - The Xx</b><br />
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Xx is the debut album of the English indie band of the same name, and I must say, for a debut album, this is pretty bold. The level of clear instrumentation and risky music is clear. Not many bands have achieved this. Not even the greats like Arcade Fire or Radiohead. The music is an icy beautiful mixture of digital beats with intertwined guitar and bass solos and catchy duets that give each song the dynamics it needs. The album also has a lot of synthesizer usage mainly for harmony and atmospherics.<br />
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<b>2.Strange Mercy - St.Vincent</b><br />
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After listening to Actor two years ago, I was sure Annie Clark would come up with more interesting work branching out of pop music. Strange Mercy has precisely that. Besides the different style of singing with pitch bends at ends, she has also tried a lot many things on guitar (at times abusing it) giving a very rough resonating sound to the entire album which moves in and out of choir like rhythms. She has kept on to the pleasant verses/loud choruses structure which once again has worked in its favour.<br />
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<b>1.The King of Limbs - Radiohead</b><br />
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Most of you would say that was obvious that Radiohead would top my list. To be honest, though I had written a <a href="http://www.across-polyethylene.blogspot.com/2011/03/king-of-limbs.html">particularly elaborate review</a> praising their latest album, I found myself not really liking tKoL over months. But one evening, I found this. And when i watched it, I knew I had found God. Once again.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">This was when I realized the true ingenuity of The King of Limbs. Up until then, I had regarded it as a minimalist electronica album that heavily depended on samples and mixing. The fact that Radiohead creates electronica with minimal use of electronic and digital instruments is what makes it awesome. </span></div>
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I'm sorry about the mirror imaging. Couldn't find a better video. </div>
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Talking about novels, I've read two of them. One is Death Instinct, which is a sequel to the popular Jed Rubenfeld novel The Interpretation of Murder. Another is the Stieg Larsson bestseller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'm currently reading it's sequel The Girl Who Played with Fire.<br />
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Yeah, so with that done, I'm close to ending this blog post. There's not much left to talk about what happened last year. Ah, yes. It's last year already. It's 3.30am. So yeah, it's good to see an entire year ahead of me with flower beds and landmines waiting to treat me as they'd love to.<br />
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<i>Jump off the end</i></div>
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<i>The water's clear and innocent</i></div>
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<i><a href="http://www.amovieaweek.com/images/starchild.jpg">The water's clear and innocent</a></i></div>
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</div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-9344323218768835952011-09-16T18:29:00.002+05:302011-09-16T18:36:35.855+05:30All Clear<div>Scene: Bridge on the spaceship. Two crew members Joseph and Barbara are reviewing data on their consoles.</div><div> </div><div>Joseph: Running final check of bio data</div><div><hits a="" few="" waits="" for="" moment="" and="" checks="" the="" reading=""></hits></div><div>Joseph: Data check all clear.</div><div>Barbara: What if it's wrong?</div><div>Joseph: It's not wrong.</div><div>Barbara: What if we're bringing back something dangerous?</div><div>Joseph: The only thing dangerous that we're bringing back is you!</div><div>Barbaa: You can't deny that it is theoretically possible we could bring back a new disease. A new disease capable of wiping out all life on earth.</div><div>Joseph: No. That's not possible. Not with the bio-scan. It has twenty five fail-safe back up systems. Nothing can get past it.</div><div>Barbara: Nothing we've seen so far.</div><div>Joseph: If you're so phobic, why did you get into space exploration?</div><div>Baraba: I like space. It's the planets that make me nervous. Besides, we know that a species can survive only if it has strong ability to overcome obstacles for procreation.</div><div>Joseph: <twitches> Sure. Things survive only if they have a strong survival, reproduction mechanism. That's just stating the obvious. </twitches></div><div>Barbara: But if you go by Darwin, a virus might avoid detection and still exist!</div><div>Joseph: If it did anything to affect us, anything at all, the bio-scan would detect it and warn us. </div><div>Barbara: There is some flaw in your logic.</div><div>Joseph: I'm Barrack Obama's great grandson.</div><div>Barbara: <flinches a="" bit="">Still, there is a flaw.</flinches></div><div>Joseph: Do you feel alright?</div><div>Barbara: Yeah, I seem to feel okay. But i can't help feeling we're missing something vital</div><div>Joseph: Well I feel great. Here comes Daniels! He's spent more time on the surfacec than both of us put together. Hey, Danies! Do you feel okay?</div><div>Enter DANIELS. His condition is sickening, although he doesn't realize it, nor do his crewmen.</div><div>Daniels: <he shows="" a="" up=""> Mmmm-rrr-nnn!</he></div><div>Joseph: See? Daniels feels great! A picture of health.</div><div>Daniels gives another thumbs up and occupies his seat. Mmmmmm-rrrrr-nnnn!</div><div>Joseph: Barabara here is worried that we've all contacted some disease that can outsmart the bio-scan and we'll bring it back and wipe out all life on earth!</div><div>Daniels: Mmmmmm--rrr!</div><div>Joseph: Strap in everyone! Nothing can outsmart the bio-scan. How are you feeling now, Barbara?</div><div>Barbara: Okay. Great, in fact. But someday, we will come across something that can fool us. Somethhing that finds a way to be undetectable. I just know it! I keep feeling the idea almost here, in my consciousness, but i just cannot get to it.</div><div>Joseph: <weird expression=""> Um...what about you Daniels?</weird></div><div>Daniels: Rrrrr--nnn!</div><div>Joseph: You know, if there was anything wrong, the alarms would be screaming by now. </div><div><br /></div><div>Alarms start screaming.</div><div><br /></div><div>--------------------------</div><div>An adaptation from one of Richard Nathan's works. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Sumanth</div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-59914476918960227782011-07-30T17:10:00.004+05:302011-07-30T17:25:14.155+05:30Bittersweet DistractorIt gets strange when they put you in a room when it's not freezing outside and ask you to be happy about it. It's stranger still, when it begins to snow and you don't have a window so you can watch it. All you have is a light bulb hanging off the ceiling, radiating all that it has, that reminds you, constantly, that the room has walls. And that the door is closed. <div><br /><div>You can dream of getting out of here soon enough, which is not false. You can plan on what to do once you're out. You can think of what to do when you're inside. Or you could just stare at the glowing bulb and wonder how it glows constantly when the charges painfully surge through it back and forth at speeds you've only come across in the physics lectures.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can imagine smiling faces outside expecting you to face all this like a man. Too bad they're all a farce.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Sumanth</div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-46385123975761669142011-07-18T21:04:00.002+05:302011-07-18T21:09:40.464+05:30Past Showtime<div>The End.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just as you are thrust out of the imaginative world, you feel the urge to run. Everyone is moving towards the doors at the corner with red neon board atop them saying 'exit.' You sleepily put your coat on, check your pockets, your seat and walk to the car park, the movie still in your head. Pulling your mind back into senses, you begin looking for your car among hundreds while your standing a few cars away from it. You check your watch before starting your car. You keep driving. Home is a good drive away. You look back. Kids asleep in the backseat. Wife dozing off too. But you have something to ask about the movie. It keeps bothering you from driving, and is eating into your sleep that's waiting to engulf just as you reach home. </div><div>The roads are deserted. You ease your foot on the gas pedal and sit back, gazing blankly through the windshield as gloomy street lights zoom past you. Shops and malls all closed. Darkness covering all the billboards.</div><div>You finally reach home and drive in. You don't really have to wake them up. They mechanically step out of the car and walk like zombies while you unlock and let them in. Your throat's buring with all the conditioned dry air in the hall. After having some water, you hit the bed and switch that intelligently crafted little lamp beside your bed off. </div><div>Why do we watch films?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Sumanth</div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-63151942809404790912011-06-22T00:53:00.004+05:302011-06-22T01:20:47.833+05:30Strings of day and age.Hello all,<div><br /><div>It struck me, that over the last few years, a lot of things have changed. Not from the worldly perspective, but in the small domain of things around me. That includes, to a large extent, my opinions and tastes. </div><div><br />Take the blog title for example: Over three years ago, i had started this blog to keep note of interesting sites that i visited. Hence i called it 'Cool Websites.' But over years, I've come to post more personal blogs that talk less and less about my travels in the cyberspace. </div><div><br /></div><div>There are also a number of other things. My past opinions, choices and experiences do appear ridiculous now. I often find myself questioning my past decisions. I had always fancied the field of computers but i'm doing a major in Electricals now. Three years ago, i had a craze for fantasy novels, but somehow i tend to detest the idea. My religious beliefs are more and more open and abstract with every passing day. </div><div><br /></div><div>In some cases, an alternative to the route i'd chosen would have spared me a lot of pain. But then again, there's the future that i know nothing about, which i must take into consideration. Perhaps I was wiser back then, looking into the farthest future self, and choosing the best thing...or maybe i'm wiser now, having gone through these couple of years. </div><div><br />It also largely influences the choices i make now. I remember, about two years ago i knocked my neighbor's door, curious about guitar as i had never seen one being played in front of me. A week later i was learning it. Today, music has become a huge part of my life. At times, I find myself drifting off into thoughts about it, often while in between something important. I must agree that it has a slight contribution in bringing my grades at college down. </div><div><br /></div><div>As i've mentioned quite a few times earlier, I'm studying Electricals and share a big passion for music. I've finished my first year at college and am a week away from my second. Over last year, often have I seen the need to make a choice between Music and Major. Which one am I more passionate about? Which one will I BE more enthusiastic about in future? Philip Selway, an accomplished drummer has mentioned that while picking up music is mostly a teen instinct, sustaining and striving to be a better musician is a tough job. </div><div><br /></div><div>In attempts to strike a compromise, I've also tried exploring technical careers involving music, such as designing pedals or other electronic instruments/accessories in the field of music as there is obviously a boom in the use of digital instruments. That's been a dead end. </div><div>Probably it's one hard choice. I suppose i have three more years before i take the decision. Who knows future-me might be wiser. Yes?</div><div><br />This is probably why Time Machines don't exist yet. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-82699296512286365642011-05-29T20:58:00.001+05:302011-05-29T21:01:11.635+05:3094.<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N6LDKQJD9yg/TeJmlPB-VxI/AAAAAAAAAv0/8LbYHej2Ejo/s1600/N%253Dmgcostheta.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N6LDKQJD9yg/TeJmlPB-VxI/AAAAAAAAAv0/8LbYHej2Ejo/s400/N%253Dmgcostheta.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612160875533063954" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Sumanth</span></div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-63428547306291094352011-05-01T16:33:00.001+05:302011-05-01T16:33:47.332+05:30Wax, Tallow, Pitch and Resin.<blockquote type="cite"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: -webkit-sans-serif; font-size: 13px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); line-height: 12px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; "><p style="line-height: 1.65; ">Don't worry about god,<br>Don't fear death;<br>What is good is easy to get<br>What is terrible is easy to endure<br></p><p style="line-height: 1.65; "><br></p><p style="line-height: 1.65; ">Sumanth</p></span></div></blockquote>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-85934878351022262812011-03-12T10:46:00.011+05:302011-03-13T09:41:21.955+05:30The King of Limbs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dr8KNrN8HCA/TXsCLTqgvbI/AAAAAAAAAvs/Q_RTFDpzDKE/s1600/radiohead-the-king-of-limbs.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dr8KNrN8HCA/TXsCLTqgvbI/AAAAAAAAAvs/Q_RTFDpzDKE/s320/radiohead-the-king-of-limbs.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583058556336258482" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Hello all!</div><div>Here it is, the eighth record, finally. You might find it odd with me talking about the album about a month after its release. I do too. But I remember when it came out, I had decided to hold on to listening to it for a long time before beginning to put it in words. Also, the internet at Uni. -_-</div><div><br /></div><div>It's a Radiohead album, so, obviously, I can't review or judge it. But i've lots to say!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The King of Limbs -- Radiohead</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>For those who don't know what Radiohead is, and who feel really lazy to open another tab and check wikipedia, here's a quick intro: Radiohead is a five-piece music(yes, music. That's it, no particular genre. Alternate rock if you wish) consisting of Thom(vocals/guitar/piano/drums), Jonny(guitar/piano/drums/sampling/many other instruments), Colin(bass/synth), Ed(guitar/drum machine/backing vocals) and Phil(drums/percussion).</div><div><br /></div><div>Although they started off with Emo grunge in the beginning with the singer whining over distorted riffs and feedback, they slowly graduated into atmospheric rock, then artistic rock and then into the cold land that's now called the Radiohead territory where no one else can survive. </div><div>The third album OK Computer IS considered to be the best album in the last 25 years. The 2007 album In Rainbows had one of its songs up for Grammys. Though I personally detest the grammy, it's good to see one's fave band going as far as up there. :D</div><div><br /></div><div>With In Rainbows, it was said by everyone that Radiohead had perfected in music. They had made a cohesive album with a wide range of experimentation which was, then again, accessible. Even a common man not much into music would appreciate a couple of songs in the album. That's the kind of music they has made. I remember talking to my friend about this two years ago. He had put the question: "Radiohead has succeeded in doing what they set off to do with Kid A. Now what? How will the next album be?" </div><div>The question dazed me for quite a while until the band released two singles over the period of last two years. One was a tribute song to Harry Patch, a WW1 survivor. It was vocals and strings, subtle and soothing, yet powerful. They then came out with a five minute track called These are my twisted words which had a cold feel to it. On first listen, it's hard to believe that it's a guitar driven song. Upon later discussions with friends and the online Radiohead guitar cover guru, Warren Lain, I realized that there was so much more to it. I don't exactly remember the term he mentioned, but it had something to do with each member playing with different counts at the same time. While drummer played at counts of four, the guitarist played at counts of five! </div><div><br /></div><div>All along the band tried letting go of the traditional rock setting and bring in new instruments like the french Ondes Martenot, the german Glockenspiel, french horn, electric piano connected to an effects pedal, or just everyday objects such as a portable television. But after mastering on that front with In Rainbows, they came back to <u>the roots</u><b> </b>of their original music, assuming their usual positions again, but working on new stuff. Guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Yet different.</div><div><br /></div><div>So it was around this time that i began visiting the Radiohead wikipedia page and started exploring their past inspirations like Joy Division, DJ Shadow, Bjork and others. It gave me a larger picture of the global music scene and a clear view of the Radiohead's Radiohead (adjective intended.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Later I got into college got around to living here, visiting Dead Air Space every once in a while and checking the songs that Thom suggested, working on my own guitar playing with help of many talented Youtube guitarists who interpreted very well crafted music and also tried figuring out the artists intentions on making such compositions.</div><div><br /></div><div>Days(months, actually) passed and it was the fourteenth of February. The day when most people spend time with their loved ones. I chose to do it differently. Ok, at this point i would like tell you that i'm single and currently love it that way. But as weird as that may sound, on that evening, i was among a dozen(meaning, very few) boys lazing around in the hostel while most of the fellas were out charming their ladies. </div><div><br /></div><div>So I switched my iPod on and started going to the usual places, Twitter, Musicovery, Facebook, UltimateGuitar and so on, when I remember stumbling upon "Radiohead: "Thank you for waiting."</div><div>Quickly, new tab. w w w . r a d i o h e a d . c o m / d e a d a i r s p a c e /. enter.</div><div><br /></div><div>And there it was, a three limbed creature in black and white, with it's giant eye, thanking everyone gaping at it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Radiohead had announced that their next record will be out on 19th February, and it will be called The King of Limbs.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know if the rest of that week felt long or not. But it was upbeat and i went back to listening to Radiohead tracks in all possible orders. Albums back to back, all openers back to back, all piano songs back to back and so on. I also came back to covering paranoid android on guitar, something that I hadn't done in months. It was on the 18th evening when I received a text while having cold coffee in the canteen:</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>King of limbs released officially by radiohead 24 hours before its previously announced date. released a single video titled lotus flower with thom yorke dancing. the track resembles amnesiac in many ways. downloading the album now. </i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">That evening, <u>little by little by hook or by crook</u>, I got the album. My first listen didn't exactly shock me, but I was surprised. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The opening track, Bloom was a difficult opener. Starting with a cold powerful piano, and then colliding into techno drumbeats accompanied by the traditional drums was confusing. And then a laid back vocal talking about i don't know what. Upon subsequent listens and a look at the lyrics, i found many references to Joy Division. The song, speaking about the tranquility and yet the frenzy nature of the oceans, comparing it to the inner parts of human mind, by itself appeared to be a lyrical sequel to The Pyramid Song from Amnesiac, which was about angels in the river.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Morning MrMagpie was good. It reminded me of the 80s tracks by Siouxie+The banshees. The drum beats were new and interesting, but the drum sound was minimalist and closed, giving a claustrophobic feel as opposed to the spacey atmospheres adopted by the band in their earlier works involving lots of background sounds and effects. This style extended to most of the songs in the album. It refered to many things in the modern world. One of the things i could directly relate to was photography. No matter how much revolution digital photography has brought to this world, to a common man, a digital point-and-shoot device stores numerous photos and thus brings down the importance. Also, it's hard to cherish wonderful moments stacked away, when you have copious amounts of it, most of them being absurd and suggesting otherwise. I do not know it that was intended by the band, but since i've been into photos and cameras for a while this quickly came to mind. It's another thing that the bassist of the band is a professional photographer.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Little by Little was like a western style song at first listen. A car going at full speed in the desert, driving towards its doom. My brother suggested that it sounded rather lonely and claustrophobic to him. And guess what, upon a look at the lyrics, he was right! :)</div><div style="text-align: left;">The lines "The dark cell/the pit of my soul" suggested something analogous to a writer's block. Something that i have been going through, and hence could easily relate to. But that apart, I love the song for it's interesting structure, the dancing style beats and Jonny's guitar work. The way his fingers seemed to have brushed across the strings suggest his musical prowess and maturity. From abusing his guitar and sustaining repetitive strain injuries in the past, he has come down to playing minimalist, yet distinctly ringing guitar solos that stay in the listener's head for a long time. xD xD</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>Great have fun. already on a second listen and must say they have really done it again.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">Feral was a different territory altogether. It was like a hidden rocky cave in the icy land of Radiohead, with flame torches and eerie carving on the wall. The repetitive drum beats and resonant ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-taa synth was cold and warm at the same time. Then the heavy drums dissolving into barely audible beats, with a fuzzy bassline taking control, while having randomly sampled vocals is yet another experiment. A successful one at that. Like an audio version of 2001:A Space Odyssey where you see colourful lights moving past your face at high speed and get amazed at it while you still have the desolate feeling somewhere inside. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Feral runs into the subsequent song called Lotus Flower. It was released as a single video on the band's blog along with links to download the album. I first checked the video since I was inquisitive about Thom dancing. Yes, I've scene him bobbing up and down going crazy while singing songs in the basement and other webcasts and that feature the band jamming. </div><div style="text-align: left;">The video of Lotus Flower is an awesomeness by itself. If there was anything to top the music with, it's dance. It was the first time a Radiohead track was danced to. But then again, the dance was just as eccentric, stylish, beautiful and symbolic as the music. Sure, Thom has a weird body language, one lopsided eye and funny epressions while singing, but they all came together in this little convergence of a video. The dance symbolized many things beginning from trees, nature and it's importance (something that Thom has always been standing for), the frenzy fast moving world with it's pros and cons, the acknowledgement of a greater power that governs us, and at the end, a dance move that acutally pays respect to fans. Masterpiece to accompany a masterpiece.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's the link to the music video: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfOa1a8hYP8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfOa1a8hYP8</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And here's a guide to understand the symbology in the dance: <a href="http://radioheadthekingoflimbs.com/thom-yorke-dance-guide/">http://radioheadthekingoflimbs.com/thom-yorke-dance-guide/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, talking about the song, Thom had come up with this song about a year ago during his solo gigs, and gigs with RHCP's Flea at LA and other places. He had first played Lotus Flower at the Echoplex in LA. A couple of days later, Warren Lain on youtube came up with it's cover and a tutorial. I sort of ignored expecting it to later be a part of yet another Thom Yorke solo album. Something that i didn't really like that much. But it was in King of Limbs! With a complete shift from the solo version. Although it still sounded like a Thom Yorke song through and through, every subtle piece of sound and music showed the band members contribution directly or indirectly. </div><div style="text-align: left;">The full band version was mostly bass and drum driven with almost inaudible atmospheric guitar sounds and synth bits here and there. There was also Thom himself clapping at odd time signatures providing another layer to the song. It had lots of references to the forests, but also the fairy tale feel to it. They were seen in the lines "'Cause all I want is the moon upon a stick/I dance around a pit/The darkness is beneath." Later, Stanley Donwood, the album artist for most Radiohead albums, explained that although the album has a lot to do with forests, trees and the thousand year old oak; its namesake, it also had to do with the fairy tale world. Most of the fairy tales in that region had characters spending a large amount of time lost in the forest and eventually seeing the beauty there, as in Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel & Gretel and others..</div><div style="text-align: left;">Lines like "I will shape myself into your pocket/Invisible/Do what you want" had me thinking about the modern day gadgets that reduce in size with every passing day, continue to amuse people but never succeed in helping mankind in any substantial way. It only makes one's life harder. With the advent of PDA mobiles, Blackberrys, Tablet PCs, Netbooks, people bring their work home and tend to screw their work-life balance eventually gaining no satisfaction on any front. No matter how many people they managed in the office, no matter how many people from different countries they got to meet, no matter how many different places they visited (on official trips), no matter how much they earned for their family, no matter how much they apologized to friends and others for not being there when needed, they eventually die alone.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>I am liking little by little a lot. upon first listen however codex, feral, lotus flower and separator were my faves. i think it will take one or two days of listening to familiarize with all aspects of the album and giving verdict on it.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">Codex was a paradigm shift from the style of the album seen so far. It was a massive slow down with processed piano strokes and mild icy beats giving an impression of cold music like the Kid A tracks, but also giving you the feel of being tightly wrapped in a coat so that you don't get frozen. Thom's falsetto backed by brass instruments brought in a sense of security and reassurance after a dark song about the bad bad beautiful world. It was a unique ballad unlike any other. They had tried to achieve a slowdown in earlier albums, such as in The Tourist(from OK Computer) and Nude(from In Rainbows), but this was unlike either. The former was more patchy and explicitly said "Slow down" in its lyrics. Nude had more emotional lyrics more to do with love life and chronic depression. Codex was rather positive in its outlook, like a father forgiving and reassuring his son who committed the biggest blunder of his life. "No one gets hurt/You've done nothing wrong" comforts every listener, puts him in relaxation mode and makes him feel good about himself. It also indicates rays of hope in future and the goodness that lies ahead, in the lines "Jump off the end/The water is clear and innocent"</div><div style="text-align: left;">I've had various perceptions of this song each time. The first time, it appeared to me as a track with strong pink floyd influence since it sounded like a processed piano cover of Speak to me/Breathe in a more Greatest gig in the sky style. But I was wrong. With the lyrics, the tranquil brass solo and piano in the background, it's as refreshing as Stairway to Heaven.</div><div style="text-align: left;">And then the song fades out...like a portal opening into some other place...suddenly chirping of birds bursts in...rustling of leaves, the wind, birds flapping their wings, and a thud every now and then, and...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Give up the ghost. </div><div style="text-align: left;">Thom had first played an acoustic version in a low-key solo gig at cambridge for his friend's political needs. The song had great response. I remember coming across comments on youtube saying that he/she hoped this song was just as haunting and raw when it appears on the future records. It was so. The full band version was hardly modified, except for the processing of "Don't Haunt me/Don't hurt me" part, and some very melodic bassline that accompanies a very non-conventional afro-dub crosses folk style of guitar playing and vocals.</div><div style="text-align: left;">This is both lyrically, and musically, a continuation of Codex. The lines "Gather up the pitiful/In your arms" signifies that charity, benovalence and such qualities are what make up for the wrong we've done, knowingly or unkowingly in our past. It's to clean up the mess we've created, and turn to nature for cleansing. "I think we should give up the ghost"</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>There are so many layers and subtleties which reveal themselves upon multiple listens and this is what i have loved most abt them since the bends.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Wake me up, wake me up"</div><div style="text-align: left;">Separator provides a very different finish for the album. My favourite Radiohead finisher so far has been Street Spirit(Fade Out.) Though all album ends tend speak philosophy, Radiohead had chosen the dark truth all along, talking about harsh realities, mostly to do with death, or becoming a kid again, trying to view problems in a more simplified way than growing up and complicating it. But Separator had a completely different take. Starting of with "It's like I'm falling out of bed/From a long weary dream" it gives a sense of just having woken up from the dream of problems. But as the song progresses on a more relaxed note with no deep emotions, it gets into philosophy indicating that the whole world is an illusion of senses, analogous to the way one believes what he sees in his dream until he wakes up. But then again, regardless of how pleasurable or harsh it was, he wishes to be there again, in the dream, until it finally dissolves out of his mind as he pursues other activities.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Life is all the same again.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>His new hairstyle is weird but my favourite part of the video when he puts the hat back grips it and he along with the entire song goes into a feverish state.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The album lasts for less than 40 minutes and none of the songs bore the listener out. Upon first listen, it doesn't even sound special or multi-layered. Perhaps that's the way it's meant to be. Beneath all the layers and experiments, Radiohead has believed in making accessible music. Something very difficult to do. Every album of theirs has attempted in achieving the perfect balance between accessibility and experimentation.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But that's just not it. In the weeks preceding the release, there were articles on the band's blog about how powerful social networking sites have been. But what they had in mind, was seen only when the album was out. Radiohead generated the maximum publicity with hardly any input by announcing the album release just about a week before. Then by preponing it further by a day, they made sure they would have the entire internet going on about them. And then the album was out. Twitter crashed. Blogs and social feeds broke out into a frenzy. People shared the rare experience of listening to an album track by track and sharing their first impressions with each other. Ansh and me being amongst them. I believe for most of us who experienced such a thing on twitter, it was an experience to remember and Radiohead has once again proven themselves why their thoughts and ideas about music and its propogation/distribution is light years ahead of everyone else.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Ah, long session. Life's pretty good here. Working on my play and a short film. Music and anime have kept me going. Glad that The Suburbs won the Grammy. They stand right behind Radiohead for me now. :)</div><div style="text-align: left;">Heard about the Oscars. Was rooting for Social Network. Surprised that it got one for the music! :O</div><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway, talk about more later. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Till my next blog,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Sumanth.</div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-63785300924633202612011-01-24T00:23:00.020+05:302011-01-24T23:06:47.185+05:30The view from the aftermath.<span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 255, 51);" class="postbody">He didn't know how long he had been standing there in the doorway. The snow had started to fall about an hour ago, and it had slowly began to increase in intensity. It was strange that he didn't feel cold. The people scurrying by were all wrapped in coats and scarves and thick warm gloves, but he, he didn't feel the cold in the slightest. He idly wondered why that was. What the hell, it wasn't important.</span><span class="postbody"><br /><br />2010.<br />Yet another year for most. To me, it was a mix of a lot of events. I've blogged a few times over the year and they talk a lot about how it went. However, the view from the outside is nothing short of amusing. It's like recording your moments of craziness and laughing over it later.<br /><br />Part-1: The Seven-Hour Test<br />It's easily qualifies as the most painful time-period of my life. Worst part being it didn't really help. I flunked the entrance exam and hit an academic all-time low with no idea as to how to proceed. But then, it was also the time when i made some of the best friends I've had.<br /><br />Part-2: Into the Uni<br />With some decent luck, I got accepted by a Uni which was sort of my last straw. Life has been bittersweet here. For most of the time, I've been a mismatch and still find it hard to adjust to the people in Uni. My birthday was an underground day with modest celebrations and low-key emotions...but fun nevertheless.<br /><br />Part-3: Deeper into the Uni<br />Although life has been peculiar in this place, I've discovered a great deal about <span style="font-weight: bold;">myself</span> here. I got the distinction of being the best director among all the freshers. Also my guitar playing has received some attention and we often get together and jam, covering our favorite songs. Life just got a bit better towards the end of the year.<br /><br />But that's just one way to look at it. Since I was far less busy compared to the previous year, I could get hold of more and more of the ingenious pieces of art that the world had to offer. Be it movies, music, books or TVseries.<br /><br /></span><span class="postbody"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Music</span></span></span><br /><span class="postbody"><br />2010 has been a year with lots of music. I've listened to over 20 albums over the year and loads of other music that include movie soundtracks and random tracks off compilations.<br />My top 5 albums of the year are:<br /><br />5.Unknown Pleasures -- Joy Division<br /></span><a href="http://thecolorawesome.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/joy-division_unknown-pleasures.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://thecolorawesome.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/joy-division_unknown-pleasures.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span class="postbody">Starting from the album cover, everything about the album is unique and vaguely disturbing. The cover itself signifies the disturbing nature and symbolically represents the hurdles between birth and death. Ian Curtis' depressive baritone swallows all the happiness one could ever think of. I have not-so-good memories attached to this album, but even then, Unknown Pleasures forms an integral part of me.<br /><br />4.Ágætis byrjun -- Sigur Ros<br /></span><a href="http://www.koolcd.com/album_img/S-120_Agaeti_UK.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 130px;" src="http://www.koolcd.com/album_img/S-120_Agaeti_UK.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span class="postbody">This is easily among the greatest experiments with music that I've come across. All the ten songs on the album include self-reference: the introduction contains backmasked parts from the title track, and the last song, "Avalon", consists of a different take of an instrumental passage from "Starálfur" slowed to around one-third its original speed. The album title translates to "A Good Beginning"<br /><br /><br />3.Teen Dream -- Beach House<br /></span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QzQktnXZjk8/TPf2YnCQjeI/AAAAAAAAAH8/gNRy_mRdPAE/s320/Beach%2BHouse_Teen%2BDream.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QzQktnXZjk8/TPf2YnCQjeI/AAAAAAAAAH8/gNRy_mRdPAE/s320/Beach%2BHouse_Teen%2BDream.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span class="postbody">I came across this album sometime in the latter part of December and instantly fell in love with it. It made me love acoustic guitar again. Among all the synthetic atmospherics of Post punk and ambient music that I had been listening to for most of the year, Teen Dream stood out and shone! In some ways, it reminds me of Bitte Orca and Actor.<br /><br /><br />2.The Suburbs -- Arcade Fire<br /></span><a href="http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/2010/08/02/arcade%20fire%20the%20suburbs.jpg?1280760687"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/2010/08/02/arcade%20fire%20the%20suburbs.jpg?1280760687" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span class="postbody">I'm at loss to describe this piece of art. A cohesive album that manages to speak a lot at the same time manages to be innovative and personal. It encompasses all the changes in the world that occurred between 1997(OKC Reference) and now. The degrading urban lifestyle, blooming and breaking friendship, the need to move on in life, the way kids see things, the changing seasons...i'm bowled over. It's the most colourful album i've heard in years and came THIS MUCH close to being the best album of the year xD<br /><br /><br />1.High Violet -- The National<br /></span><a href="http://everyonedeservesmusic.eu/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/The-National-High-Violet1-1024x1024-300x300.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://everyonedeservesmusic.eu/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/The-National-High-Violet1-1024x1024-300x300.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span class="postbody">If anything was better than The Suburbs, it was THIS. The soothing, yet electric voice of Matt that pulls you into the song like a vortex, in combination with beautiful drum line and sparks of guitar coming on and off, is High Violet. From the amazing opening track with it's drum-crescendo to the closing gospel style track, the album flows like a river of nectar. I came across this album sometime after my exams were over and since then, it's grown over me enough to define my emotions at certain situations. =)<br />It's another thing that my voice range comes close to Matt's, and me being able to cover the band makes me highly motivated. =D =D<br /><br />--<br /></span><span class="postbody"><br />That apart, I've learnt very few songs on guitar last year. But i did get a chance to try and perfect on some of my favourite solos on my friend's electric guitar.<br /><br /></span><span class="postbody"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 255, 51);">Suddenly he discerned a warm beam of light getting brighter, surrounding him in it's glow. It seemed to be beckoning him to its source.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 255, 51);">He remembered the stories that he had heard of bright warm lights that people have experienced when they have been clinically dead, before being dragged back to life. The poor bastards.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 255, 51);">He waited anxiously in case that should also be his fate, but nothing happened. He seemed to be in room bathed in white light. He had no idea of time, if it was minutes, hours or days. He started to get restless.</span><br /><span class="postbody"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Movies:</span><br /><br />Although I got to watch a number of ingenious movies this year, I could not catch many of the flicks that released this year due to the isolated location of my Uni. Among those I watched this year, my favourites include Fight Club, Kill Bill, The Departed, Taxi Driver, Scarface, The Dollar Trilogy, Dr.Strangelove and In Bruges. Although, the top ones are:<br /><br /></span><span class="postbody"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">5.Toy Story 3<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="postbody">4.Kick-Ass<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="postbody">3.Shutter Island</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="postbody">2.Inception</span><br />Christopher Nolan has truly outdone himself with his latest movie. It's easily the most popular movie and the one most rooted for at every award. But the last days of 2010 pushed it a rung down. However, it's got a never-seen-before concept put forth with an extra-ordinarily crafted screenplay that's absolutely flawless. If it's Dark Knight for action, it's Inception for true-thriller.<br /><br /><span class="postbody"><span style="font-weight: bold;">1.The Social Network</span><br /></span><span class="postbody">THE ONE which pushed Inception a step down. With an amazing script and excellent tongue-in-cheek humour, David Flincher has come with another cult hit which is sure to grab attention. My personal favourites from the movie were Mark's academic probation and the Bill Gates lecture. (xD)<br />Jesse Eisenberg has played a role that defines a true nerd which is, in fact, pretty inspiring. Andy Garfield has an interesting role and Justin Timberlake did an impressive job. I hated his character in the movie, but it was supposed to be that way and it succeeded in serving the purpose.<br />As we move on from one decade to another, it's time we see innovation in screenplay where words begin to speak louder than actions and emotions are shown in a more subtle way combined with interesting camera work (love Flincher for this and Fight Club!!), and The Social Network has hit the bull's eye when it comes to perfection.<br /><br />--<br /><br />I've read quite a few novels. Will put up the reviews soon.<br /><br />Oh yeah, my phone, i.e., Sony Ericsson G502 fell in water a couple of months back. Only then i realized how much I was attached to the instrument. I had developed a mild fever that night, and had turned into an insomniac for the next fortnight until it was repaired.<br />Now it's functioning well, and is a well-acknowledge part of me. My photography, passion for film making, music and of course, communication. Phone.<br /><br />Arg, that was tiresome. I typed this blog partly because I was waiting to speak out my favourites, and part because it was too much into 2011 already.<br />I have the Uni Tech and Cultural Fests ahead of me besides the number of tiny menacing tests peppered all over the term. I've been working on a play to put up at the Cult Fest. Will tell more about it in my next blog. :)<br /><br />Till then,<br />Sumanth.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-24836653326140057472010-09-25T20:21:00.006+05:302010-09-25T21:11:11.999+05:30Post-Birthday BlogHello all,<br /><br />It's been a long time in a new place and I can see a lot of changes, both inside and around me.<br />To begin with, on 21st, I turned 18. It was the first time I spent my birthday away from family and with friends. I was woken up at midnight and smeared with cake on my face. It was quite an evening...after all, it's an important milestone in any human's life. You get more liberty, and along with it, more responsibilities. It comes as a package.<br /><br />I do remember the times in my childhood when I wished I grew up. I used to picture the idealistic college life and how carefree I would be. Only now I realize that I can't really be carefree. Here after, I will be judged based on my actions, and often more prone to being mistaken compared to when I was a kid.<br /><br />The past three months have gone quite fast, faster than i thought they would, faster than I <span style="font-style: italic;">wished</span> they would. Yep, that's right. For the first one week into hostel life, I wished time went as fast as possible so that I could get back to what I then referred to as 'normal' life. As time passed, the definition of Normal changed. In these months, I've got new friends, met old ones and had a really good time.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Talk on Uni Life<br /><br /></span>As I've mentioned before, I've joined this Uni called SASTRA University. It has a long full form, let's get to that later. The campus is fairly big, spread across about 200 acres and has Engineering, Management and Law blocks. We have a cricket, football, volleyball ground and a so-so indoor stadium cum gym.<br /><br />I, like most of the freshers, have been allotted a room in this hostel called Sandipani Sadan which has over 100 rooms, each housing people (well, in most cases.) In the beginning, I had three roommates, but one of them soon left since he had got accepted by a better Uni. Talking about the room, it's about twice the size of an average bedroom and houses four people, three in my case. The restrooms and bathrooms aren't attached and are common for about 8 such rooms. We've a number of these, but most don't have proper bolts on the doors. Every morning, I just hope that I don't run into a homo.<br /><br />The food is decent, but once in a week we do get something for breakfast that very much resembles wet sand obtained at the sea shore.<br /><br />Our freshers' courses are at the Mechanical Engineering Block, along with people from all streams. I've Maths, Chemistry, Basic Civil and Mech, C Programming and Engineering Drawing as main courses, besides the regular ones like English, CAD and Personality Development sessions. The wifi connection at the freshers' hostel is pathetic and opens nothing but what's stored in the local servers. Although, the popular sports are streamed in over wifi which can be viewed using VLC Player. I watched the Champion's League matches that way.<br />Sad as it may be, Uni has a strict rule on dress-code: No T-Shirts. That makes things a bit strange, but you'll get used to it since everyone around you is in normal buttoned-shirt. I mean, the guys.<br /><br />But nonetheless, Uni life IS fun. I could also unleash my passion for photography seeing many interesting things all around me. There were many picturesque moments, like that time when I could see from the top of my hostel, that it was raining on the other side of the campus. And another instance when there was a small opening in the clouds and the evening sun rays hit down like a portal to the heaven. I've also begun playing Table Tennis on weekends, for two reasons: to enjoy sport as a human, and to reduce some weight since I'm a bit Healthy :P<br />Last month, I got a chance to go home and brought my guitar and iPod to Uni. It's really a good pass-time to play guitar. I met other guitarists in the hostel and even jammed with a few of them. Last week, a guitarist friend of mine, and I covered Street Spirit by Radiohead. I'm also teaching basic n00b guitar stuff to my roommate. It's really fun teaching another person, watching him or her experience what you went through when you learnt it.<br /><br />The weekdays just go by in running to lectures, finishing assignments and writing lab records. But weekends are fun. I also went to a nearby town and watched a local movie with friends. The act of roaming in an unfamiliar town with friends was interesting, that I wasn't really much into the movie. And many more small but interesting things happen at Uni, such as late night milk-inspired talks in the terrace or heated arguments in the break between two classes...arguments which stop when one speaks out something stupid and funny...<br /><br />Life is full of such small moments which give you momentary happiness and sit as a memory deep in your head. I believe it's these small moments in your Uni life that makes you remember and cherish it years after you're out living a completely different life.<br /><br />I'm off to studying for my next mid-term test that begins on this tuesday.<br /><br />Until my next blog,<br />Sumanth.Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-17868069662526937412010-07-11T00:06:00.004+05:302010-07-11T00:46:59.650+05:30Out of office autoreply.Not yet, but soon.<div><div><br /></div><div>As I had mentioned in my previous post, I've got an Electrical and Electronic Engineering course in <a href="http://www.sastra.edu/">Sastra University</a>, Tamil Nadu. The classes begin on 14th, so I'll have to get settled in my hostel room by 13th. For which, I shall be leaving tomorrow. </div><div><br /></div><div>Obviously, the last week has been very, very hectic for me. In the midst of packing, procuring necessary things and getting mentally prepared, I also had little time to watch a few movies and get hold of some anime. I haven't watched the anime, that's another thing, but I heard that they're some of the best: Neon Genesis Evangelion, GetBackers and Full Metal Alchemist.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I won't be watching any of those or listening to any new music for a while.</div><div><br /></div><div>For the first few months, I won't be having access to internet, and thus may not blog all that often. I'm hoping to get a laptop by Diwali (sometime around November) after which things should get better.</div><div><br /></div><div>In a few days, my life will supposedly take a huge turn thanks to the following:</div><div><br /></div><div>--> I'm moving out of home for the first time, away from my family and thus will have to get over my personal attachment and become independent.</div><div><br /></div><div>--> I need to share a room with three other people which means i will not be having anything 'exclusive' any longer, such as 'my' own room, 'my' cupboard and so on.</div><div><br /></div><div>--> For the next few months, I'm going to live in a place where's there is little or no connection to the outside world. For instance, they've no television. They've wi-fi enabled all over the campus, but as i won't be taking a computer or my iPod, i can use neither unless i borrow from a friend of mine.</div><div><br /></div><div>--> I'm not going to get anything instantly. If I feel hungry, I need to walk across the campus to a canteen that's half a mile away and get whatever I want. No refrigerator. It's another thing that the refrigerator at home wasn't very useful in this regard, but i'm going to miss its presence.</div><div><br /></div><div>--> Talking about being independent, it also includes being disciplined. I need to manage my own things and cannot just drop them around my room...simply because it's not completely mine.</div><div><br /></div><div>--> I'm getting into an entirely new system of education that's definitely different from our regular high school education. It calls for a different approach to learning...something that I can only learn over time.</div><div><br /></div><div>--> I'll be living such a life for almost four years, barring the vacations that come twice a year. Although certain aspects will improve as I get settled in my hostel.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Sounds like prison life doesn't it? Well, not exactly. College life is also known for the fun the students have and how they get shaped up as good individuals and better citizens.</div><div><br /></div><div>Looking at all these, it's both exhilarating and unsettling to consider what lies ahead of me. But it's all a part of life. Sooner or later, I'll have to experience all these...so why not now?</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I'll keep a little journal to myself where I shall be writing my little experiences. I'll post them when time comes.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm off to packing again...and go on a relatively long break from blogging.</div><div><br /></div><div>Until I blog again,</div><div>Sumanth</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-7378526998110763412010-06-27T01:03:00.003+05:302010-06-27T01:12:17.371+05:30Two Weeks<div>Hello,</div><div><br /></div><div>It's often said that people reach a very, very low point at least once in their life. Well, I think I did mine. Between this post and my last, a lot of things happened. I had some of the worst experiences: I was denied what I deserved, simply because i was not better that what i am. With result, i had days filled with head ache and chronic depression while nights were sleepless. For about two weeks, i had know idea what I was going to do. Life had come to a standstill and I was in no mood for vacation.</div><div><br /></div><div>For those two weeks, I had no idea what college i was going to join. Will I get a real good one like BITS? Will I get something reasonably good? Or will I be in a state where I get an obscure college with an unpronounceable name situated in a place that doesn't have a pin code? I didn't know. Or worse...will I have to repeat one more year to make up for my misgivings...and lose a year of my life in nothing but redoing what I didn't do very well? </div><div><br /></div><div>I looked around. All along I had been thinking that people around me were doing more or less what I was. But the extent of 'more or less' had been large enough to put me in a grey-area where i was absolutely alone. Everyone was ahead, in some way or the other. Or at least they were CLEAR about what they were going to do. I wasn't. Either people had modestly decided to repeat their twelfth grade and prepare exclusively for the deadly entrance examinations...others had somehow managed to get their colleges. I on the other hand wasn't sure about any of those, and worse, wasn't able to think in that direction at all. There were a few final fibres to hold on to, a few colleges who hadn't released their results...but what if they snapped too? I had no back-up plan.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thinking back on what I did in the past two years, I've realized that i made one big mistake: I had put too many restriction on myself to push my performance up. But my net efficiency was still down. For instance, if I saved four hours by restrictions, I used only two and a half of them. The remaining, just went as i dragged the work that I could have taken lesser time to do, or had better sense to give up and start over with something achievable. I took this weird path of lethargic perseverence. I paid.</div><div><br /></div><div>After weeks of the turmoil, I finally have a seat at hand, from an institute called Sastra University. It's not something you could call great...but I'm more than just glad to have it. Right now, I'm ready to go for it...although I'm yet to receive any communication from another college called VIT. But that's not the point. The point is...even though i was going to get my seat in a college, I got it after all this trouble maybe because I was supposed to see something in meantime. Something which is perhaps inside me. Have I? I do not know. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nevertheless, I'm certain that these two weeks worth of experience has changed me. I'm no longer the same guy. How have I changed? I do now know. But to keep it simple, I can (and will) promise myself, right here and now, that the mistakes I've done will never be repeated.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's a fact of life, one might say. But it's not all that easy i suppose. Not repeating a mistake is perhaps just as difficult as not committing it in the first place. But who says we've an option?</div><div><br /></div><div>Until I blog again,</div><div>Cya</div><div>Sumanth.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>"If you try the best you can,</div><div> If you try the best you can,</div><div> The best you can is good enough" -- Radiohead</i></div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-7464973594469437092010-05-07T02:31:00.011+05:302010-06-22T21:10:24.284+05:30Procession moves on, the shouting is over.<div>EDIT: I restored my system before posting this blog, and due to some sort of mess up, it shows that i posted this on May 7th. I, actually, put this one up on June 4th.</div><div><br /></div>Hello all,<div><br /></div><div>Time moves with a strange speed after all, very similar to a journey in an airplane: You look out through the window and all you see is the landscape beneath you barely moving. But in no time, you're far away from where you started!</div><div><br /></div><div>The last few months have been quite eventful on many fronts. All my exams are finally over, with shockingly mediocre results which, definitely, are not going to fetch me the best colleges in the country. I flunked IITJEE (the seven hour long test). However, the colleges i'm eligible for, aren't so bad either. I hope to get myself into Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS.)</div><div><br /></div><div>On the non academic front too, things have been moving well. Soon after I had my Seagette External Drive installed, I got a Western Digital 1TB Drive. I haven't installed it yet since I've a lot of space inside my PC, and very little outside.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JpM3H-S_G6Q/TA1QpI9mCkI/AAAAAAAAAho/HkBcLVVlgqA/s1600/EXT_HDD2.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JpM3H-S_G6Q/TA1QpI9mCkI/AAAAAAAAAho/HkBcLVVlgqA/s200/EXT_HDD2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480124989290449474" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My Sony Ericsson G502 went into serious trouble and began hanging and restarting about five times a day. With it's timely entry came the saviour: It's evil twin! Yes, I now have a Sony Ericsson G502, a black one this time with a few improved features and a more sensitive keypad. I've been lately clicking a lot of pictures using it. Those who have added me as your friend on Facebook can have a look at it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JpM3H-S_G6Q/TA1RaxaX4-I/AAAAAAAAAhw/Z1c2duQyiFs/s1600/g502black.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JpM3H-S_G6Q/TA1RaxaX4-I/AAAAAAAAAhw/Z1c2duQyiFs/s200/g502black.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480125841962165218" style="cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 200px; " /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I've been a lot into movies lately, exploring across various genres from film makers like Kubrick, Tarantino, Tom Tyker, Linklater and Scorsese. I also happened to watch this Anime series called DeathNote and really liked it. I further borrowed a few episodes of GetBackers and Neon Genesis Evangelion from a friend of mine, but they don't seem to work very well on my PC...need to find a more versatile media player.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>Rant on DeathNote</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">EDIT: Not exactly a rant...rather the opposite of it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;">Talking about DeathNote, it's got one of the most ingenious plots and a very interesting concept that's partially based on Japanese mythology of death Gods or the Shinigami. The series opens with Light, a high school boy who tops his class, is popular with the ladies and the son of a cop, stumbling upon a notebook. He further comes to know that the person whose name is written in the notebook shall die. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://library.thinkquest.org/07aug/00886/thinkquest/pictures/DeathNote.jpg"><img src="http://library.thinkquest.org/07aug/00886/thinkquest/pictures/DeathNote.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 500px; " /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The anime on the whole revolves around the two ways of defining justice. Light, believes that criminals should be punished, and hence goes on to use the DeathNote to kill the criminals. On the other hand, L, a mysterious but highly successful (claimed to be the world's best) detective believes that every criminal should be given a chance to start over with their life, and hence works towards stopping Light, pronouncing him a psychopath murderer.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">DeathNote contains a wonderful story with a very tight plot that leaves no loopholes and questions the intellect of the viewer at certain instances. L is also portrayed as an individual with strange characteristics like holding objects as if they were contaminated, and having an extremely sweet tooth.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Another good feature about the anime is its Original Soundtrack. The set is peppered with musical masterpieces which have influenced my guitar playing a lot. Tracks such as L's and Near's theme are intriguing and set a good mood. That friend of mine who recommended the anime to me listens to L's theme every time he gets stuck with an integration problem!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">--</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Talking about music, as I always do, I've been exploring new bands. Most of them have been from the British music scene, although I've also tried a few American/Canadian indie bands.</div><div style="text-align: left;">The ones at the top are Arcade Fire, Joy Division, The Smiths, Dirty Projectors and Pavement. I don't have much to talk about each of the albums in detail, but I'm sure each of them a must-listen to every indie rock lover.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Apart from that, I also continued with my as usual deep digging of Radiohead and listened to their B-side and EP tracks. Many of them are quite good enough to be placed on the regular studio albums. Others have interesting tunes, but pathetic with the sound quality. The rest are just repetitive. Moving out of the Radiohead's works as a band, I've also been listening to the member's solo works. Jonny Greenwood's OST for the film Bodysong is an excellent piece of art with loads of experimentation and continuity between every two tracks. One can find a lot of jazz and electronica elements in the album.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A few weeks back, I had spent sometime in Bangalore in the name of vacation, and had a chance to visit this music instrument store called Furtados. The shop is heaven for anyone who's looking for music instruments, and has knowledgeable attendants who are ready to give as much information as possible than just simply waiting for the customer to either buy or leave. I suggest all my guitar-loving friends to check this shop out. They're a chain of shops across the country and have branches in all the metropolitan cities.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">--</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I've not been into books lately. I last read the the legendary sci-fi novel called 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C.Clarke. Really impressive. As suggested by my friend, I also read The Firm by John Grisham. Reviews to come soon. I've a stash of books waiting for me to read, only that I don't find much time for those.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I think I've covered most things that I've been playing around with. Can't think of more. I believe I'll be more regular with blogging now that my crucial exams are over.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So Cya all until my next blog,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Templar AKA Sumanth</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">P.S.: I've already told this before, but for those who are bored of reading long blogs like this one, you can receive short and quick updates here: <a href="http://twitter.com/templar165">http://twitter.com/templar165</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>P.S. 2 (not the playstation, you dumbo): To keep up with the name of my blog, here's an interesting site that you might want to check: <a href="http://www.geekologie.com/image.php?path=/2009/07/22/computer-hardware-2.jpg">http://www.geekologie.com/image.php?path=/2009/07/22/computer-hardware-2.jpg</a></div><div>Have fun =)</div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-33017798172871295292009-12-31T13:47:00.009+05:302010-01-18T19:08:30.785+05:30Last blog of the decade.Hello all,<div><div>A lot has happened in the past four months, and it's high time I did blog about it. As the title suggests, this would be the last blog of the year, and of the decade too, hence there's the end-of-the-year wrap-up section following.</div><div>As for the gadget guys around, I recently bought a Seagate 1TB HDD. It's impressively small and sleek enough to fit in between my system cabinet and one of the speakers, which is barely any space IMO. I also purchased an also-run webcam with basic features since my dad's been going around the country all too often these days. And a replacement for my old Intex Headphones: Frontech (forgot the model).</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JpM3H-S_G6Q/SzxgCdlIY4I/AAAAAAAAAfo/YBkMvgGblv4/s1600-h/hd3.BMP"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JpM3H-S_G6Q/SzxgCdlIY4I/AAAAAAAAAfo/YBkMvgGblv4/s200/hd3.BMP" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421313646863606658" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>My Phone's working okay, but I'm unable to find an 8GB M2 card around here. I could go to one of those nasty little basement stores, but I'm not guaranteed of reliable stuff down there.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rant on Seagate External Hard Drive:</div><div>Starting with the price, it's quite surprisingly economical, costing around 5 grands (rupees). Owing to the high capacity and high transfer speeds, there's an external power supply. Compared to the other external hard drives, this one is bigger by about two times and has got more vents. The transfer speeds are quite impressive, almost as fast as the internal drives, and makes my PC look airy with lots of space :P </div><div>The hard drive comes with a bunch of softwares which could do a variety of things like creating auto-backups, encrypting files stored in it, and creating virtual space and thereby securing a part of the drive, just like false bottom of a draw. One also gets a movie-making software, which isn't any different from our good old windows movie maker. </div><div><br /></div><div>--</div><div><br /></div><div>My friend recently received a Nokia N97 on his birthday (amazing!) and I got some chance to play around with it. Actually, I had to tutor him on how to use half its features. Well, he's indeed a little nervous about the phone, thanks to the cost!</div><div>Talking about the phone, it's got a very attractive slide system. The touch screen adds to the goodness, but isn't as sensitive as the iPhone, and the stylus is a potential damage weapon to the screen. I'd recommend not to use it if you're invoking a paint-like software (don't remember the name, duh!) </div><div>Otherwise, N97's got an excellent music interface and great speakers. The highlight of this phone is the FM transmitter. One could set their own frequency on the phone and relay songs with a radius of 10m. It's particularly useful when one wants to listen to songs from his phone while driving...or when its party-time :) I tested this system vigorously for the quality; I played Radiohead in it, and was quite impressed. As far as how Radiohead is, I'll come to it later ;)</div><div><br /></div><div>--</div><div><br /></div><div>My guitar lessons have finally ended. I mean, not completed, but ended i.e., my guitar instructor/teacher has returned to the US after completing his mission here. We had a nice farewell, and he gifted my bro (and figuratively, me) a new guitar :) Since then I and my brother have been covering various songs, mostly from Radiohead. We haven't found a good guitar teacher yet, but I've been lately taking online lessons from Warren Lain on youtube.</div><div><br /></div><div>Apart from that, I've been mostly studying as the JEE comes closer and closer. Tomorrow will be 2010, a BIG step closer to the bang-day! I've improved over the period of past few months, scoring pretty well and staying fairly certain of scratching into the college. Although there's still a long long way to go before I'm satisfied.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">Best of 2009</span></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>And so has another year gone with all its exciting and contrastingly dull events. However one may refer to it, one more circle around the sun, or one more year closer to its end, it's finally 2010, and I'm glad it is.</div><div>On personal opinions, I would say 2009 went the fastest for me since I was very busy with studies and also the strange act of balancing many other things. Surprisingly, I've listened to more music than ever, watched more number of movies than any year in the last decade, and (obviously) studied much more! </div><div><br /></div><div>Moving on to my personal charts,</div><div><br /></div><div>*All that I shall be talking about need not have released in 2009, but come across by me in 2009.</div><div>**I'm not making a end-of-decade chart since it would all be concentrated around 2008-2009 even if i made one.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>Music:</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">Top 10 albums of the year:</span></div><div><br /></div><div>10. Homogenic - Bjork</div><div>9. Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth</div><div>8. The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd</div><div>7. Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin</div><div>6. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division</div><div>5. Is This It - The Strokes</div><div>4. Revolver - Beatles</div><div>3. Kid A - Radiohead</div><div>Runner: Turn On The Bright Lights - Interpol</div><div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.punknews.org/images/covers/interpol_turn_on_the_bright_lights.jpg"><img src="http://www.punknews.org/images/covers/interpol_turn_on_the_bright_lights.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.punknews.org/images/covers/interpol_turn_on_the_bright_lights.jpg"></a>I came across this album not more than a month back, and it steadily rose up my favourites with every listen. </div><div>'Turn on the bright lights' is Interpol's debut album released in 2002. </div><div>Beginning with the dark Untitled, Interpol takes us through fast paced tracks, amazing ballads and thought provoking lyrics. Though the band's line-up is nothing much but electric guitars and pick-basses, the lead is melodic, and music is difficultly tight! It did keep up to my friend's words "the album will grow over you like an e^x graph."</div><div>Must Listen: Untitled, Obstacle 1, NYC, Hands Away, Leif Erikson</div><div><br /></div><div>Winner: In Rainbows - Radiohead</div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.techdigest.tv/in-rainbows-album-cover-thumb-200x200.jpg"><img src="http://www.techdigest.tv/in-rainbows-album-cover-thumb-200x200.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.techdigest.tv/in-rainbows-album-cover-thumb-200x200.jpg"></a>Two Radiohead albums have made it to the top 5. </div><div>Starting with a groovy song with icy beats, the album progresses into britop and then in for some soft and abstract songs, then coming to win my heart with Faust Arp and Reckoner, further proceeding on with dark but soothing stracks such as House of Cards and Videotape. From the guitar point of view, the album has got a LOT to learn from, right from the first track till the last one! Some of the songs have surprisingly simple bases, which, I wish, had struck me. </div><div>In Rainbows in an excellent album and does feel like a rainbow in the sky; every track has it's own greatness and also sums up the band's journey across various music styles from The Bends.</div><div>Must Listen: 15 Step, Bodysnatchers, Nude...hell, listen to the whole album!</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">Top 10 tracks of the year:</span></div><div><br /></div><div>10. Wilderness - Joy Division</div><div>9. I Might Be Wrong - Radiohead </div><div>8. Obstacle 1 - Interpol</div><div>7. Actor Out of Work - St.Vincent</div><div>6. Silver Rocket - Sonic Youth</div><div>5. Untitled - Interpol</div><div>4. Alone, Together - The Strokes</div><div>3. Tomorrow Never Ends - Beatles</div><div>Runner: Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin -- Although I had first listened to it in 2008, I actually knew about it only around March 2009. Ever since the first listen, it's been at the top. One of the most optimistic song that takes you through the entire process of consolation. Lyrically, it's a song to worship. The lead guitar and guitar/drum sync is incredibly beautiful! I listen to it every time I'm a bit depressed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Winner: Paranoid Android - Radiohead -- I remember Reetesh had suggested last year that I listen to it. It was a a so-so song for me then. But in course of the twelve months that went by, the song grew over me faster than a massive and destabilized hydrogen fusion reaction. </div><div>Beginning with a very jazzy, and indie beat, the song progresses into angst laden melodies, then entering the heavy bit with Jonny's blasting solos..the song then undergoes a massive slowdown only to get faster again with a bang! Every bit of the song gives me goosebumps and not a day goes without listening to it. Greatness!</div><div><br /></div><div>--</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Movies:</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">English: </span></div><div>I haven't watched many movies lately, thanks to the academic priorities, but of those I've watched,</div><div><br /></div><div>Nominees:</div><div><ul><li>Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince</li><li>2012</li><li>A Clockwork Orange</li><li>Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the crystal skull</li><li>October Sky</li></ul>Runner: October Sky </div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mommylife.net/archives/2008/10/02/OctSky.jpg"><img src="http://mommylife.net/archives/2008/10/02/OctSky.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 425px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mommylife.net/archives/2008/10/02/OctSky.jpg"></a>October Sky is a pleasant movie about four high school boys living in a town supported by a coal mine. Inspired by the launch of Sputnik at that time, they set out to build their own rocket. The fun-filled journey with good deal of obstacles make the movie memorable. Another great aspect of the movie is that I could relate myself to the characters and their pressures at various stages, such as performing in academics, making an earning, etc.</div><div><br /></div><div>Winner: A Clockwork Orange</div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.todayinliterature.com/assets/photos/b/anthony-burgess-a-clockwork-orange-200x300.jpg"><img src="http://www.todayinliterature.com/assets/photos/b/anthony-burgess-a-clockwork-orange-200x300.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 300px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.todayinliterature.com/assets/photos/b/anthony-burgess-a-clockwork-orange-200x300.jpg"></a>One of the most thought provoking movies I've ever watched. The only other movie that impressed me as much was The Dark Night, which topped my chart last year :) The highlight of the movie is it's plot that is strong enough to make the viewer ignore many of it's shockingly perverse scenes. A must watch for anyone who can tolerate a perverse atmosphere (almost everyone, that would be) :P</div><div><br /></div><div>EDIT: I haven't watched the two great movies of 2009: Inglorious Basterds and Avatar. I wish I did.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">Hindi (Indian):</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div><div>As I mentioned before, I've watched more number of Hindi movies than I did before..in the theatre, I mean.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nominees:</div><div><ul><li>Dev D</li><li>Kaminey</li><li>3 Idiots</li></ul>Runner: Kaminey</div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bollywood4uonline.co.uk/ekmps/shops/rahman/images/kaminey-dvd[ekm]138x200[ekm].jpg"><img src="http://www.bollywood4uonline.co.uk/ekmps/shops/rahman/images/kaminey-dvd[ekm]138x200[ekm].jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 200px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bollywood4uonline.co.uk/ekmps/shops/rahman/images/kaminey-dvd[ekm]138x200[ekm].jpg"></a> An excellently narrated story of twins whose lifes are disjoint, but very much intertwined. Inspired by Tarantino flicks, it's an offbeat, yet a very catchy movie with a never-seen-before (in India) plot that thickens with every passing scene. </div><div><br /></div><div>Winner: 3 Idiots</div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://im.sify.com/entertainment/movies/images/nov2009/3-Idiots_200x06nov09.jpg"><img src="http://im.sify.com/entertainment/movies/images/nov2009/3-Idiots_200x06nov09.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 300px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://im.sify.com/entertainment/movies/images/nov2009/3-Idiots_200x06nov09.jpg"></a>I'm still running out of words to praise this masterpiece. It was the perfect ending for 2009 and released at a very strategic time when half the student population of the country is busy preparing for one of the most toughest exams mankind has seen. It's just as amazing as Kaminey with excellent plot, but also has an underlying message important for a happy life.</div><div><br /></div><div>-- </div><div><br /></div><div>I've hardly read any books. The only two I did this year were The Last Theorem by Aurthur C. Clarke and The Theory of Everything by Stephen Hawkins.</div><div><br /></div><div>Wish you all a Happy New Year which shall go just as fast with fewer bad moments greater success events! </div><div>I'm off!</div><div><br /></div><div>Templar AKA Sumanth</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-39986184207978675132009-09-02T15:22:00.006+05:302009-09-02T23:14:35.844+05:30Paranoid or not, Definitely Android.Hello all,<div><br /><div>Days are hectic. Not much time. The two months have gone faster than it ever has...and I presume it will speed up ahead. Ahead of me comes the regular college exams after which I've got two major tests back to back on 3rd and 4th of October. SAT on the tenth of next month. </div><div>Trouble comes with the fact that, these tests include what I've learnt last year, which means I need to pretty much revise what I did back then, and also improvise upon it.</div><div>Here is a rough compilation of what I've been doing in the past 2 months during my breaks, free time and other times when I'm not locked up in my room. </div><div>(FYI, the PC is NOT in my room.)</div><div><br /></div><div>On the first of June, I promised myself that I would pick up no non-academic work that would be time consuming, which includes reading novels. SAT requires quite a good vocabulary and language command, but with just a couple of months left to spare, any new effort would make no substantial difference IMO. The promise also covers restriction on jobs such as continue writing my novel and regular replies on forums. </div><div><br /></div><div>I come online mostly only to reply to my friend's messages and listen to webcasts and podcasts of some of the sites I follow.</div><div>From what I've heard...</div><div>1) Looks like SUN has turned down IBM's proposal to acquire it.</div><div>2)Sony's announcement of PS3 slim version.</div><div>3)iPhone 3GS released sometime in June...runs on an Samsung Processor.</div><div>4)RIKEN is busy building a supercomputer that is expected to reach speeds of 10Petaflops.</div><div><br /></div><div>The real me, or the non-digital ego inside me has been lately into a lot of music. I've also watched a couple of movies this year. Here are short reviews about them. The grammar would be erratic. No Pictures. Reason: Shortage of time. However, the list seems to be quite long, hence those who are not into much of music, please avoid this section of the blog.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">On Movies</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (English)</b></div><div>Contains least usage of special effects, more realstic picturization with a darker theme portrayed without the gimmicks of direct violent horror. Closest to the book, and also the best in the series.</div><div><b>Rating: 4/5</b></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Kaminey (Hindi; Indian)</b></div><div>Story revolves around twins - one is a lisp and the other stammers - is far away from the general emotional sequences. Dark theme of underworld intertwining with story of love. High violence. Blood and Gore. Figuratively a Tarantino inspired flick. Probably the best this year.</div><div><b>Rating: 4.5/5</b></div><div>(This is the first indian movie ever to have risen this high in my personal charts)</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">On Music</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>I've not put up the album covers since time does not permit that. Anyway, it's all about what you listen to.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>OK Computer - Radiohead</b></div><div>An album that set a new direction to the trend of music in Britain during its time. Dotted with dark tracks, it's a treat to every alternate rock lover.</div><div><b>Rating: 4/5</b></div><div>Must listen: Airbag, Paranoid Android, Karma Police, Subterranean Homesick Alien, No Surprises</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Tonight - Franz Ferdinand</b></div><div>The band has explored Europop and has come out with excellent tracks. Light hearted album with a carefree attitude.</div><div><b>Rating: 3/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Ulysses, No You Girls, Send Him Away</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Veckatimest - Grizzly Bear</b></div><div>One of the most innovative albums released this year, with a weird setting of darkness and abyss beyond the surface of the music.</div><div><b>Rating: 4.5/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Southern Point, All we ask</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Bends - Radiohead</b></div><div>Very thoughtful usage of the tremolo pedal. Radiohead comes out with the wonderful atmospheres that the BritPop kings like Oasis have somewhat failed to create.</div><div><b>Rating: 4/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Planet Telex, The Bends, Just, My Iron Lung, Street Sprit(Fade out)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Pablo Honey - Radiohead</b></div><div>Heavy, repetitive. Being Radiohead's debut album, it is a dead giveaway of the band's chief inspirations like Nirvana.</div><div><b>Rating: 2/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Creep</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Definitely Maybe - Oasis</b></div><div>A Beatles inspired band. The band's debut album with straight hit towards Nirvana; tracks having an attitude contrating to that of the latter. </div><div><b>Rating: 3/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Supersonic, Live Forever</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Fantasies - Metric</b></div><div>Outstanding vocals by Emily Haines. Guitar heavy tracks far away from Metal, but rocking! The quieter tracks are awesome too.</div><div><b>Rating: 3.5/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Help I'm Alive, Guns Gold Girls, Help I'm alive(acoustic)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Kid A - Radiohead</b></div><div>The band's turning point. A venture into experimentation using french electronica instruments, computerized effects and icy beats, Kid A wins every patient mind's heart (:P).</div><div><b>Rating: 4.5/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Everything in its right place, The National Anthem, How to disappear completely, Idioteque, Morning Bell, Motion Picture Soundtrack</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Amnesiac - Radiohead</b></div><div>Dubbed to be Kid B, the album is referred to as the twin of Kid A. Tracks contain lyrics expressing depression, resent and longing for suicide, all the same, it's one of Radioheads most innovative ventures.</div><div><b>Rating: 4/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Packt like sardines in a crushd tin box, The pyramid song, You and whose army, I Might be wrong, Amnesiac-morning bell.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Yellow House - Grizzly Bear</b></div><div>Secong studio album of the band. Ed Droste and bandmate Chris Taylor suggest that: "there is not really a theme with the lyrics but the theme of the album is us figuring out how to work together and recording in that house, which is what brought it together in that weird way."</div><div><b>Rating: 3.5/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Lullabye, Knife, Central and Remote</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Revolver - The Beatles</b></div><div>Band stands second in my top faves. Revolver explored the emerging genre of psychedelia. Loop tape effects, Reverse Guitar, repetitive drum beats. The band is also known for this album, as one of the earliest precursors of Electronica.</div><div><b>Rating: 4.5/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, Doctor Robert, I want to tell you, Tomorrow Never knows</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Led Zeppelin IV (Zoso) - Led Zeppelin</b></div><div>World renown album, and the final one by the band. The tracks have more of the bands native folk influence. This band happens to stand right behind the mighty Beatles.</div><div><b>Rating: 4/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Stairway to heaven, Rock n Roll, Blackdog, Battle of Evermore</div><div><br /></div><div><b>White Blood Cells - The White Stripes</b></div><div>Revisit into old style garage rock. Noisy and nostalgic, light minded music with probably not much sense.</div><div><b>Rating: 2.5/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Offend in everyway, The Union forever, Aluminium</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Urban Hymns - The Verve</b></div><div>Breezy album with hangover of the shoegazing movement of Britain. Peppered with positive and soothing tracks, all the same doing justice to the basic features of rock such as heavy drum beats.</div><div><b>Rating: 3/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Bittersweet Symphony, Sonnet, The Rolling People</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes</b></div><div>Another revolutionary album from Seattle after Nevermind (nirvana) and Ten (Pearl Jam), but deep into the indie genre. The tracks have a lot in common with retro indian songs in terms of the tunes and synthesizer usage.</div><div><b>Rating: 3.5/5</b></div><div>Must Listen: Ragged Wood, Tiger Mountain Peasant Song, Your protector<br /><br /></div><div>I'm currently listening to:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">Albums:</span></div><div>Actor - St.Vincent</div><div>You could have it so much better - Franz Ferdinand</div><div>Abbey Road - The Beatles</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">Singles:</span></div><div>These are my twiseted words - Radiohead</div><div>Seven Nation Army (off an album) - The White Stripes</div><div>All is Full of love(off an album again) - Bjork</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>----------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Face off - Blackberry 8110, Sony Ericsson G502, Nokia 5130 Express Music</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>The mentioned phones are those that are presently at home and one day I set out compare them. I know, they're poles apart, but I just wanted to see which one of these excels the most.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Looks: G502. </b>This little instrument is sleek and small in size but gives sufficient space for a two inch screen. BB's pearl is attractive, but on the whole, the phone is big and fat, and hence stands second. The Nokia instrument is curvy all over and gives an unpleasant impression.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Display: BB 8110. </b>The three inch screen is almost as attractive as the tiny pearl placed in the center of the instrument. The larger screen with very good resolution makes BB top. The next is G502 and Nokia comes last again for its disfugred LCD display that gives weird shades at different angles when holding the phone vertically.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Security: BB 8110. </b>Now that's quite obvious; all Blackberrys are renown for their strong security and real dense encryption of data. The Bluetooth is a main cause of lack of security in the other two, worse in G502 since the option to switch off Bluetooth is deep within a number of menus and in case of emergency, it could be too late.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Music/Sound Quality</b></div><div><b>>>On Speakers: Nokia 5130. </b>It's quite surprising to be able to hear the bass line from the speakers of the phone. The volume range is quite big and is enough for the music to be audible around a standard sized dining table. Blackberry second.</div><div><b>>>In Earphones: G502. </b>All Sony Ericsson phones (and Sony Walkman) are popular for the music quality, and this one isn't any less. The sound quality as very much comparable to that of an iPod. One small hitch is that the earphones are a bit too big and long time usage could hurt one's ears. Blackberry second.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Media Player Interface: G502. </b>The Sony Ericsson's default media player gives complete track information, album art and a two way runtime. It's also easy to access the playlist. BB comes next. Both the phones have an integrated media player from where one can access music, video, podcasts, photos and voice notes. Nokia does not have a very good media player. The playlist is difficult to access simultaniously while playing a song.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Overall Interface: Tie. </b>Both Nokia and Blackberry hit a tie here, for their own charm. Blackberry wins every techie's heart with its glowing pearl set strategically for optimum utility. It's amost like a mouse, but is thankfully not like the red dot in the middle of old IBM laptops.</div><div>Nokia 5130 attracts users with its media interface (not to be confused with the player interface) which includes buttons on the sides of the phones which control play/stop, next, previous and volume adjustment. The unique flashing effect when one opens the media player is also as good!</div><div>Sony Ericsson has a pretty bad interface; it would take sometime mastering it. Pressing the 'C' button could sometimes delete some particular data. It would take more than just common sense to operate the phone. Instructions on the screen has to be meticulously followed.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>PC Suite: G502. </b>The Sony Ericsson does not actually require a PC Suite, while the other two do. In the former, one could chose between Phone mode and Mass Storage mode. The Phone mode requires a PC Suite, but the Mass Storage mode makes is act just like a flash drive, which makes transfer of data way easier. The other two require a software on the PC, and of them, Nokia has a more user friendly desktop interface.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Final Face-Off</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Format: First Place-1 point, second-0.5 point(s), third place-0 point(s)</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Sony Ericsson G502: 5 Points</b></div><div><b>Blackberry Pearl 8110: 5 Points</b></div><div><b>Nokia Express Music 5130: 3 Points.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Which quite conveys that Sony's G502 and BB's 8110 are equally good in their own ways, while Nokia is behind.</div><div>One more factor that I've not mentioned is cost, where quite obviously Blackberry tops (most expensive). Nokia is the most economical of the three, costing not too much for all the also-run features it has. All the same, I've all the three, and this was just an analysis I did to satisfy the 'Templar' in me. </div><div><br /></div><div>Alright then, time's up.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hang on, here's something I wish to say before I sign off. All those of you who read my blog, please comment/reply to my posts in the COMMENT SECTION ONLY. When I receive replies through other media, my alter ego is put off and the real me at times fails to convey the point on cosidering factors such as social reputation, respect, courtesy etc. The internet is primarily a medium to share knowledge and we must hold on to its basic purpose.</div><div>Facebook users who might read this blog as a 'Note' on my profile may comment on this blog only. The link can be found in my Facebook profile.</div><div><br /></div><div>Time varying magnetic fields affecting a rod lying on a horizontal plane with the magnetic field creating concentric electric fields that create a potential difference, and induce a static electric field inside the rod.....integration...</div><div>Ah...it's the real me taking over...</div><div>Till my next blog...</div><div><br /></div><div>Cya</div><div>Templar AKA Sumanth</div></div><div><br /></div></div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-23424856855128109442009-07-06T22:03:00.003+05:302009-07-06T22:37:09.114+05:30The Rate Determining StepHey all...remember me?<div><br /><div>I've been busy all these two months with numerous jobs to complete. Moreover, this happense to be the most crucial period of time in my life, as it is in everyone's: The Twelfth Grade. It means a lot more than just graduating out of high school, since as many of you know, I aim at joining the most prestigious chain of colleges across India, called the IITs, for which it is mandatory that I crack a very challenging exam next april. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, here are a few 'Lifestyle changes' that I've brought in since the beginning of our new term.</div><div>First, I have made it a point to study for an average of Five hours everyday.</div><div>Second, in order to ensure my first resolution, I've decided to put a stop to what I'm most into: Gadgets. I guess it's tough, but I shall join a few quizzes now and then to keep myself somewhat updated. </div><div><br /></div><div>Talking about what has happened in the past two months, they have been most eventful.</div><div>First thing was the much hyped reshuffling test that came like a tempest and washed over all my dreams, putting me into a lesser priority batch. (I'll explain the system sometime later. Remind me.) This low priority roughly means lesser chance of being able to crack the JEE next year. Fortunately, I've got teachers this time, expecially for chemistry, who make me feel confident and back me up at those times when I drop down.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, talking about SAT. I prepared for nearly one whole month for SAT, and could not write it. Thanks to the the indian passport authorities. I had applied for a passport renewal before even applying for SAT, but did not receive the booklet in time. I missed the exam, and I doubt I can get the refund. Anyway, I'd write it again this October.</div><div><br /></div><div>Regarding other news, my dad's BlackBerry is alright now, and the bluetooth is perfectly working. Also, I have got a new instrument :) Sony Ericsson G502</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_d3m_xslOPdc/SLXFcM-ln0I/AAAAAAAABM8/3I635YpjIvo/s320/SonyRED.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_d3m_xslOPdc/SLXFcM-ln0I/AAAAAAAABM8/3I635YpjIvo/s320/SonyRED.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 260px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The new phone is quite impressive in terms of the features, which include the basic ones like mp3/mpeg player, FM Radio, 2MPCamera and also a few cool features that I've been wanting, like GPRS, Photo Editor in phone, and 3G. The 3G technology is useless at the moment since it has not much picked up in India yet, but soon it should come down to fit in a common man's pocket.</div><div><br /></div><div>My guitar lessons are coming around well and I can now play a few complete songs such as Airbag, Jigsaw Falling into place-Radiohead and Boulevard of Broken Dreams-Green Day. No lead guitar yet. </div><div><br /></div><div>Otherwise, one thing that has constantly been dynamic in terms of progression is my music-listening. I do not want to talk much of it. I'm just putting up pictures of Albums.</div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://eireanngoblaugh.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/radiohead.jpg"><img src="http://eireanngoblaugh.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/radiohead.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 240px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://eireanngoblaugh.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/radiohead.jpg"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jonolivermusic.com/images/album_covers/kid_a-300.jpg"><img src="http://jonolivermusic.com/images/album_covers/kid_a-300.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 308px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.channeladvisor.com/Sell/SSProfiles/12000635/Images/beatles_revolver_lp.jpg"><img src="http://images.channeladvisor.com/Sell/SSProfiles/12000635/Images/beatles_revolver_lp.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 350px; height: 413px; " /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://nastypanda.com/wp-content/3%20fleet_foxes.jpg"><img src="http://nastypanda.com/wp-content/3%20fleet_foxes.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px; " /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dailymelody.politicsandthecity.com/files/2009/02/green-day-21st-century-breakdown.jpg"><img src="http://dailymelody.politicsandthecity.com/files/2009/02/green-day-21st-century-breakdown.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 350px; height: 350px; " /></a><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Alright then, that's all for now. A dark year awaits me, to explore bravely and successfully complete it, where the end awaits an arena where all friends turn foes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cya</div><div>Templar AKA Sumanth</div><div><br /></div><div>P.S. I've joined twitter. My page is: <a href="http://twitter.com/templar165">http://twitter.com/templar165</a> do check out.</div></div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153877563187583257.post-50939576653393701882009-04-15T23:37:00.002+05:302009-04-15T23:55:38.910+05:30No Cool for a whileHello friends, <div><br /></div><div>It isn't going to be cool for a while in many ways. </div><div><br /></div><div>To start with, the six hour long tests are closing in, and I have devoted most of my time to preparing for it, as it is a mock test for the major examination I am aiming to crack sametime next year. I have halted most of my other activities, except for browsing the net and connecting with some of my friends. </div><div>Otherwise, regarding the things I recently did, I had been reading 'The Last Theorem' co-authored by Aurthur C. Clarke, and been listening to Kid A, and No Line on the Horizon. I also heard about 'Know Your Enemies' releasing sometime this week. I'll try it out soon. I also read somewhere that Twitter will soon be acquired by Google...is it? Interesting.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, the weather here at my place is quite aweful and I need to use the air conditioner more than I do usually during summers. The worst part is that there is a scheduled power cut every morning between 7 and 9, which is the time I usually start studying and get frustrated of being covered with sweat all over. It isn't cool here, not even warm, PIPING HOT!</div><div>But occassionally, no, rarely, a cool breeze blows by, or a drizzle in the evening, which results in further power cut...well, it isn't great time here during summer. </div><div><br /></div><div>I also wish all the best to all of you who have got their exams closing in, since I believe they are as crucial as mine are to me.</div><div><br /></div><div>More later, I need to go and finish a couple of revision assignments...I shall talk about tech later when I am relatively less busy.</div><div><br /></div><div>Until then,</div><div><br /></div><div>Cya,</div><div>Templar AKA Sumanth</div>Sumanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01611519719708574217noreply@blogger.com1