The ubiquitous yellow taxi in Kolkata
The business district in Singapore, as seen from the Singapore Flyer.
Spotted deer at Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Nagarhole.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Images
The ubiquitous yellow taxi in KolkataThe business district in Singapore, as seen from the Singapore Flyer.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Memories
Given my penchant for all things silicon (wink, wink) and technology, this is _NOT_ a post about RAM, ROM or the likes. In fact, to clarify the winks, it is also not about politically-incorrect or physiological enhancements that keeps both practitioners and quacks of cosmetic surgery minting the moolah.
Back in college, I used to be the proud owner of a shady portable CD player that someone had given me. It was one of those dollar-shop things that America-return people used to pick up for their lesser Indian relatives and friends. In times when iPods were expensive (and mostly unheard of in the hands of engineering students in government colleges) and other MP3 players were scorned upon by elders who believed that listening to music while studying was uncalled for and if it had to be listened to then sitting in front of the computer was the way to go - the CD player was a prized possession. But, do realize that a CD player alone does not solve problems, and these were those problems that could be solved only if you had audio CDs and audio CDs were expensive back then and still are a little pricey. The alternative was to burn your own CDs - blank discs were close to 30 bucks a pop - with a CD writer. And, I did not own a CD writer. Luckily, for me an uncle had an external CD writer which he did not use and wasn't much attached to. This found its way into my possession and I started burning music - with my financial resources (read pocket money), I was able to make a grand total of 5 discs. One of which got corrupted for some arcane reason.
Disc One had an assorted collection of Joe Satriani and was the one that played only the first six tracks out of the thirteen that I managed to cram. The notable ones that I remember are Summer song, Always with me always with you, Lights of heaven and Until we say goodbye.
Disc Two had assorted Metallica tracks. This one was particularly dear to me since I started listening to metal with Metallica (specifically Master of Puppets and Sad But True). In addition to these two, there was Creeping Death, Nothing Else Matters, Ride the Lightning, Fuel, Unforgiven ( I and II), Enter Sandman, Sanitarium and others that I cannot now remember.
Disc Three had the entire Scenes From a Memory by Dream Theater. This was off a disc of MP3s that I had purchased in National Market (this by the way has been the only music that I have purchased from National Market - ever!). I'd just started listening to DT and somehow this album was the one that I liked the most. Very recently, I took this off my iPod when I realized I spent an inordinate amount of time listening to this album from start to end. I am quite sure that the sectors that had Overture - 1928 were the most ghisaoed.
Disc Four had a bunch of mixed tracks - Sounds of Silence ( Simon & Garfunkel), Jamica (Harry Belafonte), All you need is love (The Beatles), Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd), Coming back to life (Pink Floyd) and some others that escape my memory. This was one that played a lot on that player - one notable listener was Tho, who claims that he fell in love with Simon and Garfunkel after listening to this CD. He now even has a Simon and Garfunkel T-shirt and I, guess, most of their work.
Disc Five I have no recollection of burning but it had random Iron Maiden tracks - Fear of the Dark, Wasted Years and Number of the Beast. This was an unmarked disc - the others had the track listing written down in a painfully neat list on the face with permanent marker. Dickinson & Co. somehow never got that respect and effort back then and it remained a blank CD that I used to recognize by the Imation logo and a scratch at a particular location.
There were other tracks that I and Bhayak used to incessantly listen to on the computer. These are numerous and I cannot remember them except when I listen to them. The discs used to be the music that I used to fall asleep to when I was traveling between Surathkal and Bangalore. There are tracks that I associate with people and events that transpired over the four years in college - Sweet Child of Mine and Yellow with a girl I used to like; Comfortably Numb, Wish you were here and Coming back to life with sitting alone and retrospecting; Spitleaf with sessions on the Edge in Final Block; When the levee breaks and Kashmir with Bhayak waking me up at odd hours of the day; Christmas in July with playing NFS - Hot Pursuit; It must have been love with belting Tho for listening to yucky-love-songs; The blood and tears with the first inter-collegiate fashion show that I watched in MIT, Manipal - to name a few.
Even now, when I go to Surathkal to recruit people or for some other arcane reason I carry all these songs on my iPod with me. I got to Garuda; down a few cold ones and find my way to the beach in the night, walk along till Shanbogue, sit on my rock, check the sky for a moving satellite, walk to the statue and then through the campus to the STEP beach gate while listening to these songs. There are new gates and new locks and new walls and fences to climb over but all I need to do is close my eyes and see what used to be.
Back in college, I used to be the proud owner of a shady portable CD player that someone had given me. It was one of those dollar-shop things that America-return people used to pick up for their lesser Indian relatives and friends. In times when iPods were expensive (and mostly unheard of in the hands of engineering students in government colleges) and other MP3 players were scorned upon by elders who believed that listening to music while studying was uncalled for and if it had to be listened to then sitting in front of the computer was the way to go - the CD player was a prized possession. But, do realize that a CD player alone does not solve problems, and these were those problems that could be solved only if you had audio CDs and audio CDs were expensive back then and still are a little pricey. The alternative was to burn your own CDs - blank discs were close to 30 bucks a pop - with a CD writer. And, I did not own a CD writer. Luckily, for me an uncle had an external CD writer which he did not use and wasn't much attached to. This found its way into my possession and I started burning music - with my financial resources (read pocket money), I was able to make a grand total of 5 discs. One of which got corrupted for some arcane reason.
Disc One had an assorted collection of Joe Satriani and was the one that played only the first six tracks out of the thirteen that I managed to cram. The notable ones that I remember are Summer song, Always with me always with you, Lights of heaven and Until we say goodbye.
Disc Two had assorted Metallica tracks. This one was particularly dear to me since I started listening to metal with Metallica (specifically Master of Puppets and Sad But True). In addition to these two, there was Creeping Death, Nothing Else Matters, Ride the Lightning, Fuel, Unforgiven ( I and II), Enter Sandman, Sanitarium and others that I cannot now remember.
Disc Three had the entire Scenes From a Memory by Dream Theater. This was off a disc of MP3s that I had purchased in National Market (this by the way has been the only music that I have purchased from National Market - ever!). I'd just started listening to DT and somehow this album was the one that I liked the most. Very recently, I took this off my iPod when I realized I spent an inordinate amount of time listening to this album from start to end. I am quite sure that the sectors that had Overture - 1928 were the most ghisaoed.
Disc Four had a bunch of mixed tracks - Sounds of Silence ( Simon & Garfunkel), Jamica (Harry Belafonte), All you need is love (The Beatles), Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd), Coming back to life (Pink Floyd) and some others that escape my memory. This was one that played a lot on that player - one notable listener was Tho, who claims that he fell in love with Simon and Garfunkel after listening to this CD. He now even has a Simon and Garfunkel T-shirt and I, guess, most of their work.
Disc Five I have no recollection of burning but it had random Iron Maiden tracks - Fear of the Dark, Wasted Years and Number of the Beast. This was an unmarked disc - the others had the track listing written down in a painfully neat list on the face with permanent marker. Dickinson & Co. somehow never got that respect and effort back then and it remained a blank CD that I used to recognize by the Imation logo and a scratch at a particular location.
There were other tracks that I and Bhayak used to incessantly listen to on the computer. These are numerous and I cannot remember them except when I listen to them. The discs used to be the music that I used to fall asleep to when I was traveling between Surathkal and Bangalore. There are tracks that I associate with people and events that transpired over the four years in college - Sweet Child of Mine and Yellow with a girl I used to like; Comfortably Numb, Wish you were here and Coming back to life with sitting alone and retrospecting; Spitleaf with sessions on the Edge in Final Block; When the levee breaks and Kashmir with Bhayak waking me up at odd hours of the day; Christmas in July with playing NFS - Hot Pursuit; It must have been love with belting Tho for listening to yucky-love-songs; The blood and tears with the first inter-collegiate fashion show that I watched in MIT, Manipal - to name a few.
Even now, when I go to Surathkal to recruit people or for some other arcane reason I carry all these songs on my iPod with me. I got to Garuda; down a few cold ones and find my way to the beach in the night, walk along till Shanbogue, sit on my rock, check the sky for a moving satellite, walk to the statue and then through the campus to the STEP beach gate while listening to these songs. There are new gates and new locks and new walls and fences to climb over but all I need to do is close my eyes and see what used to be.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
WTF
The last time it was bra colors. Now, it is apparently where they like it. Where the f*** did you leave your brains?
Go get a research degree and make a medical breakthrough, go join an NGO and do campaigns, go talk to people and tell them.
"Either way I don't give a damn about what you are entitled to!" - Jack Nicholson - "A Few Good Men"
"Either way I don't give a damn where you like to do it or leave it, but just remember to flush!!!" - Moi - Here.
Go get a research degree and make a medical breakthrough, go join an NGO and do campaigns, go talk to people and tell them.
"Either way I don't give a damn about what you are entitled to!" - Jack Nicholson - "A Few Good Men"
"Either way I don't give a damn where you like to do it or leave it, but just remember to flush!!!" - Moi - Here.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Wish
In case you have some spare cash (read loads of money) lying around, here is some stuff that I like...
1) Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens.
2) Canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM Macro lens.
3) A Warlock Kerry King 7 _OR_ A Ibanez JSBDG
4) IPad
6) Kindle
I'd be glad to come over and pick it up from your place if you want.
1) Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens.
2) Canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM Macro lens.
3) A Warlock Kerry King 7 _OR_ A Ibanez JSBDG
4) IPad
6) Kindle
I'd be glad to come over and pick it up from your place if you want.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Sneaky feeling...
...that the other team isn't very pleased with the performance of the American Universities this season at the Subbu-Superbowl. They are going to be trying very hard to catch up, get into the lead and keep it that way. This advertisement was brought to you by the Mohan-Meakin Distilleries.
In other news, most of Indian folk-rock sounds pretty much the same. You've heard one, then you have more or less heard 'em all. Just that the stage-gimmicks might be a little different. Swarathma relies too heavily on their violinist, the drummer is talented but the rest of the crew is just plain good. Nothing spectacular, but all the same a tight-act.
Belgian beer is not a drink. It's an experience. Even a single mouthful. Swirl it around a little, taste it, swirl it again, slowly swallow it and then relish the rich after-taste before you repeat the process. Yes, your wallet will be much lighter than if you stuck to that yeast-piss that long-salt-pepper-haired bugger with that lout for a son (who has eye-candy arm-trophy women he calls girlfriends).
Bonus crossword clue: Brittle cardiac tissue in colder climes may suffer from this condition. (10)
In other news, most of Indian folk-rock sounds pretty much the same. You've heard one, then you have more or less heard 'em all. Just that the stage-gimmicks might be a little different. Swarathma relies too heavily on their violinist, the drummer is talented but the rest of the crew is just plain good. Nothing spectacular, but all the same a tight-act.
Belgian beer is not a drink. It's an experience. Even a single mouthful. Swirl it around a little, taste it, swirl it again, slowly swallow it and then relish the rich after-taste before you repeat the process. Yes, your wallet will be much lighter than if you stuck to that yeast-piss that long-salt-pepper-haired bugger with that lout for a son (who has eye-candy arm-trophy women he calls girlfriends).
Bonus crossword clue: Brittle cardiac tissue in colder climes may suffer from this condition. (10)
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Currently in my head...
1. Madness - Flavors of Entaglement - Alanis Morissette.
2. No Sunlight - Narrow Stairs - Deathcab for Cutie.
3. 3 rounds and a sound - 3 rounds and a sound - Blind Pilot
4. Needled 24/7 - Hate crew deathroll - Children of Bodom
5. Fade to black - Ride the lightning - Metallica.
2. No Sunlight - Narrow Stairs - Deathcab for Cutie.
3. 3 rounds and a sound - 3 rounds and a sound - Blind Pilot
4. Needled 24/7 - Hate crew deathroll - Children of Bodom
5. Fade to black - Ride the lightning - Metallica.
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