To all of you who are working this week, I'm sorry. Me? I have the week off. But that doesn't mean it's all sitting around the pool with beer and a Stephenie Meyer book. Why?

a) I'm not a 13 year old kid...and I don't think Twilight technically counts as writing.
b) It's cold outside.
c) I don't have a pool.
d) The very thought of reading something penned by Stephenie Meyer frightens me.
e) Kid in the house! Kid in the house!

This was my first Christmas with The Frenchman. This year, Christmas was quite the huge celebration we'd hoped it to be. This year, despite a super nasty cold, I was all fully functional and totally grooving on the Christmas spirit and it was quite enjoyable but very tiring.
I've only shot a couple of pictures, been to a few get-togethers hosted by my family and friends, spent Christmas eve at my boyfriend’s, wrapped and opened a colossal amount of gifts, and eaten an amount of food that would be apt only for someone planning on running five uninterrupted marathons and then bench-pressing Santa. And it was all amazing.

This Christmas was lovely, but now I'm thinking, "Wait, it's over? Already?" Can you believe that another year has passed? It seems like just yesterday (or, a few weeks ago at most) that I was talking about how quickly 2009 flew.

But as we get to 2011 and leave behind 2010, I just want to say thank you. Thanks to all of you who drop by and read whatever it is I've chosen to ramble on about. I hope 2011 treats you right and sees your dreams come true. Me, well, I'll be right here as always. I hope to see you around. Spread the word and be good to each other.

And now for my gift to you all. This track needs no pithy introduction; no clever phrase could encapsulate all that it is. Just look at the title. It’s Elton John's 1970’s classic "Your Song" and a good cover by Ellie Goulding. Get some rest, spend time with family, and most of all enjoy the music.

Happy New Year.

Click on picture to enlarge

It's officially Christmas, for us, at least. Our tree is up, Christmas music is playing and of course, my niece has developed a passion for undecorating the tree. Which is fun. And not at all bothersome. Gifts are all acquired, though none of them are wrapped. You know what? I absolutely love this time of year.

The best part is the music. So great. And the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear! Gives me the warm fuzzies.

In the grand, year-end tradition here is The Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Christmas-themed heavy metal rock opera) with ‘Carol of the Bells’. One of my favourite Christmas songs and this version by the band is, in a word, awesome. Get yourself the album as it’s something you can see yourself listening to constantly for years to come. Also, the most criminally overlooked album. Who knew those classics need a little guitar solo.

Yeah, so, I didn’t mean to just ditch this space, but suddenly everything else in my life became 100 times more important, so, you know, the internet goes on to not count. Things have been really good and really busy: I’ve got this new dude, and I’ve been attending so many weddings, and also it’s been winter, so I’ve been alternating between going out and getting all drunk and tired and then coming home and not leaving my warm bed except to sit on the couch and watch this new show called ‘The Walking Dead’.

Some highlights of the past month or so: Ck and Bhavs, two of my collegues and good friends got married, and asked me to attend their wedding ceremony with my new boyfriend. This means I get to make an honest woman out of myself because I dressed in proper Indian-wedding attire. This also means that my new man gets along with my crazy colleagues. Life goal achieved: check, check.

I told my parents and sisters that I was seeing someone new.

Then I had to be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, guys, it’s cool, he’s our religion: Music.

I think I’m going to stop there, because anything else just feels like overkill. I have to go now, because I have to get something to eat, but I’ll try to be a little better about updating from now on.

This is what happens when you get the band Third Day to sing a Christmas song. And if this doesn’t make your heart ready for Christmas I don’t know what will. Play it, you won't regret it. It gives me goosebumps every time.

Enjoy the run up to the Christmas season. I’ll bring you musical presents as soon as I can.

The Frenchman: Part II

Of course my first impulse when I heard him say, ‘My girlfriend is so pretty’, I wanted to sprout wings and fly to the moon. I'm sure only a minute or two went by, but it sure as hell felt like I remained mute for the length of conversation.

It turns out that the days following our first date were full of extraordinary moments of honesty and letting people in and fear and facing your emotions and telling other people what you really think. None of these things has ever been my forte. But it has been wonderful.

To detail the actual feelings would be too heavy for even the most devoted readers, and, besides, they're more or less contained in the narrative of this blog. So I'll sum up: significant, marvelous, affectionate, all mixed up together.

I'm excited and nervous and terrified and full of hope and doubt. I wish there were a way on the computer to dot the "i"s in "likes" with hearts.

And with that, you're all current. So far, this story has no ending.

It's just to be continued.

The Frenchman: Part I

There is a reason posting has been irregular of late.

I don't quite know how to say this. It has certainly come as a shock to me. I considered trying to ease into the news, but all my efforts in that course proved useless. So I'm just going to give it to you straight, as it were. I met someone!

About two weeks back I was forced to make it to my company’s annual party, with every intention of leaving the venue before noon.
I realize that the words "I cannot stay another minute at this party," "I hate it here," make no sense to my bunch of colleagues who I hang out with. And yet they're absolutely smart, every one of them.
Since my plan of bailing out of event was by no means secure, I settled down in despair, most importantly not recovering the mind that I had obviously lost.

The one small mercy in that day’s event was that I got my eyes settled on a rather amusing foreigner, (a Frenchman) who I thought had entered the wrong party, which meant that I was sitting down and belting out comments every 5 minutes. The problem was that he was working for the same company I was, just out of a different building. Hence, I hadn’t seen him before. And he also happened to have a friend who was a part of my audience. Yeah, after I got to know that piece of news, five minutes of silence and embarrassment seemed like an eternity.

I met him a few minutes later as he smiled and shook my hand. I stuttered about how nice it was to meet him that I wanted to put my eyes out with a carving fork.

The days following our meeting he has asked my friends about me and then finally picked up the phone and asked me out on a date. It would have been a little braver of me if I answered him by not pitching my voice higher.

Baby steps, Eve. Baby steps.

Stay tuned, in any case, for my next post of Drink Poison, Drink Poison, Explode with Joy.

I'll be the one drinking poison.

There are days when it’s hard to comprehend the impressive talent that was The Cure. I’m not sure the world will ever see another front man that literally owns the audience in the way that Robert Smith could. I’m not even sure it’s possible anymore. All that aside this is a fairly awesome track of The Cure titled ‘Lovesong’.

To the Frenchman

The past week was so exhausting. Overworked. And dragged myself around the office this morning. Needed tea. And writing.
The worst thing about the past week was pulling a 14 hour day at our company’s annual showcase on Thursday, and then realizing that I needed to be at work the next day all bright and early.

The best thing about last week – I had many seemingly successful interactions with human males. Haha. That rocked. Also, my best friends, Tony and Runa got engaged. It was simple, beautiful, private and sweet. That's about the most perfect engagement I have heard about in a long time. “Congratulations to you both. I am so glad you have found each other.”
Marriage scares me to the point of an anxiety attack. But when my best friends finally decided to take the plunge it made me well up. Tear, sniff.

Runa and I decided to spend some time together over Friday at this swanky new restaurant on our side of the city and then I bought myself a few books for this month - Milan Kundera's ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’, that I have read in college but I felt like owning a copy of this book. Kundera’s writing is fantastic, as always. Stieg Larsson's ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ is one of my latest buys. I picked it up for the most part because the book seems to be all over the place - everyone is talking about it, everyone is reading it and everyone is commending it. If everyone jumped into a well, I wouldn't follow them but I'm more interested about books than I am plunging to my death. I also own a Batman comic by Bob Kane now. I love graphic novels so I couldn't resist this. Would I recommend reading it? It's Batman - you bet.

The music this week – Santana’s and India Arie’s ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ is excellent. Thanks to Ajay for the recommendation. It is, lush shoegazing blues-rock at its insanely, very good best. I've owned the original Beatles version and always loved it. But I suddenly realized just how genius this one by Santana is. It’s totally different than I expected and I’m duly impressed. It, no doubt, is worth repeat listens.

Keep listening to good music.

I might sound like I love going to the gym but the idea of going after a blissful vacation is not pretty. For the last few years I’ve been getting by on a recipe of being blessed with a great body type and being a continual activity machine. Except now my life isn’t really providing me with the high intensity cardio like it used to, at least not in enough periods to cancel out my love of meat, chocolates and any other fat-related foodstuff.

So I’ve resumed my sessions at the gym after two weeks which got my almost-rusting muscles moving again and I’ve got back some of my missing energy. Of course, the dilemma only arrives when my work-out routine becomes boring and the pain, post-workout.
I was ready and anticipating feeling like I had the flu after the first couple of workouts. Oh my god, I really expected less.

My thighs, MY THIGHS! I discovered that this evening after the second workout. I was halfway to sitting on the toilet when my legs failed; I landed on the seat wrong, and nearly ripped my shorts trying to save myself.

It definitely felt like I had the flu, if that meant the sickest you’ve ever felt and then someone beats you up one side and down the other with a baseball bat and steals your cough syrup.

I’m hoping after day three I feel a tiny bit better, like the way you feel with a hangover. I still can’t walk without saying ‘Ow’ a couple of hundred times, but I’m determined to do the entire run-up to Christmas and then take a break. And if by some miracle the exercises work as I imagined and my arms start to look like this one below, I’m hoping someone will tell me I still look pretty and buy me a dozen donuts.

Photo By Rokovor Vihienuo 

Mr. Big is easily my favorite band that I cannot seem to describe to others. Or for that matter get other people to listen to. They’re a band out of the land of California and lead singer Eric Martin sings in one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard. If the angels from on high sang in American then this is what the leading vocals would sound like. This release was part of their fourth studio album labeled ‘Hey Man’ containing this track called "Dancin' Right into the Flame".

For those of you who just found my blog take a minute to peruse other posts here at EC. I hope you enjoyed yourself this past month, November is sure to bring something amazing to everyone.

On Gangtok

Rescheduling travel plans has its good side and bad side, as most choices made after a couple of Jim Beam shots. Originally, this was planned as a trip to Sikkim, with a short beginning holiday to Darjeeling. Then, life happened. An opportunity presented itself to us when there were warnings of landslides in Sikkim and I decided to stay longer in Darjeeling. But changes to a plan are much more than a pleasant phone call to different hotels in Gangtok, asking for a vacant room. It is truly a pain, but I am of the certainty that it is well worth it.

After something like four hours of periodically interrupted sleep in one of Darjeeling’s most accessible modes of transportation – the taxi, I reached the hotel in Gangtok. It was the front desk, informing me that they would arrange for all necessary papers and permits for my travel to the beautiful Changu Lake and the Nathula Pass (the trading post between India and China). May God bless them, for pretending to give me time to get back to them and being so nice about it. The hotel belonged to a friend’s friend so they quoted about 1200/- per night (from the usual 2,500). I took it. The room was lovely and the view spectacular. It could have been a lot worse, the rooms could have been unavailable or the new rate (season time) could have been astronomical. The hotel was situated 2 minutes away from M.G Road and is highly rated as one of the best in Gangtok.

The city’s dining options are similarly impressive. Allen’s Kitchen, as I would find out later, is one of the popular restaurants in Gangtok. The food was some of the best I’d had all trip.

From there, I took off to drive around Gangtok, to see my friend’s school, the Tsuklakhang Palace and Monastery, various view-points and then back into the city to get ready for the evening out. If ever there was an almost instant way to fall madly in love with Gangtok, it is to walk it, sans map, just losing yourself in the area.

The nightlife in Gangtok is exactly what we needed to fall for the city. Little Italy was easy to like at first sight with its bohemian interiors and crowd.

And when they say the restaurants close early in Gangtok, it just means they won’t have tables available after that time.

From there, I went to Café Live and Loud to discover a new brand of fabulous. With flashing lights and a crowded bar, which we were told is the most popular club in the city, was packed with friendly people, all drinking, all singing along to a number of familiar songs performed by the band Route 66. You should know that by familiar I’m talking specifically about the following songs: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Layla and finally, and perhaps most importantly, Wild World, dedicated to yours truly.

And to end my trip in Gangtok, I went to a club called Orange, which was quite far from the city. This place was underground and filled up fast, and by filled up, I mean there was not a single inch of floor on which to stand and with only two bartenders the wait time between drinks became significant. It was around the time that we decided to dance that the DJ announced the last song was playing. Pfffft! But I will be back. Absolutely.

I had fun, unabashed fun. It was one of those trips I will be saying to my friends, “Remember when we were in Gangtok and…” for quite some time.

For those of you who frequent these pages you’ll notice something odd about this post. I literally never post videos, ever. But this performance by the band Route 66 was awesome enough and the recording is interesting enough that I thought today I would make an exception. The song is ‘Layla’. So how could I refuse to post this video? It’s shot with my phone camera in Café Live n Loud in Gangtok (Sikkim) …it turned out pretty okay I think.

See Darjeeling Like Nobody’s Business – Get the Best View

Darjeeling is a beautiful town located in the state of West Bengal. Well known for its tea estates, this small town has a typically busy market center lined by British architecture.

Tea Estates

Darj. has a history dating back to the 19th century. It has good connectivity by road and rail with the other towns around it. The Bagdogra airport is 4 hours away.

Most of Darj’s attractions are concentrated in and around the city center and it is best to walk along the narrow winding paths. Just keep an eye on the traffic.

Start with the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, the most famous zoo in India, built in the 1958. It’s the home for many species in danger of extinction like snow leopards, red pandas, gorals (mountain goat) and Siberian tigers.

A Red Panda

The Market Square contains the Capital Theatre, which I was told, was once a movie theater.

Keventers (breakfast joint) and Glenary's which houses Darj’s most famous pub, Buzz is also situated in this Market Square, just opposite the Capital Theatre.

Meat Platter at Keventers

Friends made during a pub crawl.

I think I need an "I ♥ Darjeeling" t-shirt!!

The city is also home to some of the best schools in the country with the most gorgeous architecture and surroundings. 

Loreto Convent

Chowrasta

Aloo Dum - Darj. Tea - T-Momo - Tai Po

If you do plan on taking a year-end vacation there then enjoy the food, rich culture, including drinking the local beer, Dansberg Blue Premium Lager Beer (founded by Sikkimese Bollywood Actor Danny Denzongpa).

Another one of the things to do in Darjeeling is a trawl around the traditional open markets held in Chowrasta. Shop till your heart’s content, the next great bargain may be just round the corner!

Ten glorious days of authentic Tibetan cuisine, alcohol, Aloo Dum, history, music and more. (Notice how food was listed first? Priorities, right?)

As much as internet on my cell phone allowed, I shared "What I Liked" along the way on FB. I hope you will join me for the rest of the journey in my next post on Gangtok!

This song just felt right for the mood of today. It’s cloudy, there’s a slight chill in the air, and it’s a lazy evening complicated by the decisions and planning associated with what to do during this long weekend. Thanks to Silversun Pickups for making this track – ‘Rusted Wheel’ that essentially is the soundtrack for my life. This song hails from an album the band put out in 2006 titled ‘Carnavas’. It’s one of my favorite tracks of the band and if you are reading this you should totally listen to the song right now.

See you soon!

Adios.

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

Wikipedia: Crows Lake in Sikkim

Tonight I head off to the land of tea and Lepchas and Bhutias for a visit and to meet two old college friends. Darjeeling is wonderful at this time of the year, but I have to stock up on Benadryl and warm clothes somehow. I’m also going to spend a few days in Kalimpong and Gangktok, Sikkim, where my top priority after seeing my friends is to get to see as many places as possible, then regrettably drunk for what may be something like we did back in college. My friend told me she’d understand if I wanted to chain myself to the bar.

I am also going to eat every possible meat I can lay my hands on and have some decadent fun that involves alcohol and Valium.
Well, I shall trust my old friend to deliver the goods, or fun in this case. Now, it's off to bed early and a prayer that a good, long sleep awaits me. Making a note that it is past my bedtime now, I shall presume that a long sleep may not be applicable, but I'll hope for a good, restful one anyway.

To all you who sleep tonight, I bid you good night! And to God, I'm really a nice, harmless girl; please let this journey be as painless as possible.

It's not often that I feel like a glamorous jet-setter.

But every once in a while I do.

Like now.

This has been a glorious week. I gave the band Vampire Weekend another listen - 2 albums (21 songs, and a full 60 minutes of new music) earlier this week (Thanks to Ajay). Just listen to this track ‘The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance’ below. That, quite decidedly, does not sound like anything you’ve heard before. It also, quite decidedly, got me very interested in what the rest of their music would sound like.

As we transition into the greatest season (yes, I do declare that the melancholy days of B’lore Winter are the best of the year) I only thought it proper to post this track as I watch the leaves fall outside in the wind.

I’ll miss you almost as much as you’ll miss me. Have a fun week and enjoy the rest of your October. Cheers.

Over the weekend I watched the movie ‘Eat Pray Love’, created by Ryan Murphy's cinematic adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's allegedly beloved memoir which keeps me aloft, because I imagine what it must have been like for ‘Liz’ to struggle with locked-in syndrome, and takes heart that she one day, breaks away from it all, and has the ability to move and express myself. It leaves the same effect on pretty much everyone who watches it or reads it - a huge smile and no small wonder (and envy) at the places she's been to. How many of us get to cut loose and take off like that? How many of us dare to? Watching the movie made me happy. It made me want to travel again. It made me want to step out of my cloak of inhibition.

(Skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to read any spoilers.)

                                        ***************************
Although, there are some parts of the movie I find hard to comprehend; that a successful, good-looking writer journeys the world for a year and still can't find happiness until she meets a similarly attractive and successful partner in the final part of the movie.
This sort of "voyage to finding oneself" was because she was rolling in the dough. In fact, this entire movie reminded me of all these foreign yuppies, I constantly run into in the city that would try to sound cool about their meeting with a yogi blah blah blah blah. I'm going to say that most of her readers could not (even if they wanted to) leave their careers and families to go on a year-long vacation to alien lands. Her experience is not based on reality for a large amount people. Nevertheless, the writer eggs on audiences to live richly through her, feeling the charge of self-empowerment and individual transformation, without getting off their couches and truly doing something exciting or significant with their own lives.
                                      *********************************
Yeah, much as I dislike coming off as a hater of this movie, I can say that this genre, mainly the food variety, speaks to me, if it's any comfort to fans of food-porn self-discovery travelogues. This brings us to what I did after the movie.

I’m at this new burger joint called ‘Peppa Zzing’. I clear my throat and smile. “Yes, I’d like a cheese-burst beef burger and a cold coffee, please.”

It only takes a few minutes before I’m handed my basket of yum-yums. I dig into the chips, but that’s just a distraction. I get started with the burger and within seconds make a sticky sweet disaster of the burger and myself. I devour the burger but have problems finishing it.
I don’t give a damn about calories but I can’t seem to continue eating the deliciously wonderful, fattening, bad-for-you, so-tasty-it’s-gross burger. I think that wonderful patty is doing amazing things for my face (or so I believe). I highly recommend having lunch/dinner there soon. You deserve a break today. I know I did last night.

Until next time I wish you all the best with the eating and the praying and the loving.

Before

Sure, he kind of looked like a Backstreet Boy then. But can you believe that this is the kid who’s played with people like Buddy Guy, Willie Nelson, Herbie Hancock, Cyndi Lauper, Santana, Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy, Aerosmith, B.B. King, Jeff Beck, and Sting?

After

Now 29, he may have traded in the haircut, but he's no doubt ready to show you the money. As talented as he is handsome, Jonny Lang has got it down. Here’s now-grown blues wunderkind Jonny Lang with the song that started it all thirteen years ago.

“Lie to Me”

To Long-Distance Guy

Well.... It's Monday already, Fuuggg!!

Monday again, huh? I can't say I'm too thrilled about that. And my brain, it's not functioning too well. I've got all kinds of things I shouldn't talk about but nothing I should.

I can't even begin to go into telling you about the weekend I had. Part of it was cool - I hung out with some of my best buds. But mostly it was disturbing. For some reason I seemed to have gained the weight I lost over the week in two days.

Finally, I can't tell you how many pints of beer, glasses of champagne, midori and whiskey I had. I don't have that many fingers and, since it’s Monday, my ability to count is based solely on the number of fingers I have. If you see me walking around with my shoes off, just know I was called on to do higher math.

I took it this past weekend, during our drinking session. Sadly, it appears as though the view teased us with a glancing blow. Oh well. Can't last forever.

Due to an awesome friend, Ajay, who left a video of this song on my FB wall on my birthday I have had the pleasure of spinning Mutemath’s ‘Peculiar People’ quite a bit lately and have landed on this as the stand-out track this week. It comes out of the gate with a frantic drum line that’s heavy and angular at times and melodic at others. The brisk vocals add to the song’s energy and the fact that it’s all so hooky and catchy and upbeat just makes it irresistible. It’s a whirlwind of a track and an example of Electro-Alternative-Rock at its most vital. Downright explosive guitar riffs, the song hits climax after breathtaking climax as the band’s impossibly loud, vehemently fuzzy power chords make your head spin. And special thanks to the soul who introduced me to them. You should thank him too.

WELL IT'S TIME TO TELL YOU THAT MY BIRTHDAY DID ROCK

I want to thank you for all the nice birthday wishes. I had a really great day. Thanks to having slowed my roll to a near-standstill, I managed to have a lovely dinner on Friday with some of my closest and coolest friends from work and woke up the next morning hangover-free, so I’d have to say that I’d really recommend 27 so far.

Runa decorated me up and I had my favorite dinner (smoked pork at the Naga Kitchen, in case you're curious).

It rained! It has rained on two out of my last two birthdays. I'm originally from the south and the rain hasn't lost its novelty. Although it took us awhile to get to the restaurant and back but because it rained, I got to have more cups of that enjoyable hot black tea.

Behold the new Oxelo Scooter. Thanks to this guy.

Saturday. My best friend came down to our fair city. It’s been three long years since I last saw him. It was hilarious and moderately frustrating to smile at the fun we were having together and the fact that we had missed so much of each other’s lives which erased said smile. Fun was had by all, especially by me who got to terrorize everyone without having to worry about the consequences.

Sunday. Throngs of people dressed in beach wear populated Palace Grounds. Yeah. We went to the Flea Market called ‘The Sunday Soul Sante Bazaar’. It was a perfect day for it - sunny, warm, slight drizzle and insanely gorgeous. Pity a lot of B’lore decided to visit the Bazaar at the same time. I mean, seriously people, there are other places to see bazaars, like your television. Aside from the invasion of an asshat who felt the models at the fashion show rehearsal were strutting all wrong, the market was fun. After that we went to Ice & Spice and had these –

Then we went home. And I collapsed.

I know lots of people who have a tradition on their birthdays. You know - people who take the day off, people who go clubbing, people who go out for a fancy dinner. I don't really have a tradition. Do you?

On this Tuesday evening I bring to you the AWESOME Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, a trombone and trumpet player from New Orleans, with ‘Hurricane Season’.

I love this track as it just never seems to quit. The music is spit fire and it drives along in a jangly bouncy mess of fun from start to finish. I seem to gravitate towards music that sounds as if they’re having a ton of fun making it, and this is just such a track.
It serves as a great kickoff to the winter. This is what Jazz-Funk has always been for me, and in this track you’ll find more of the same. The bottom line is that it’s a great tune from this musical kid genius.

Me Me Me Me Meeeeeeee

Today is my 19th 22nd 27th birthday, and I will be actually completing my 27th year anytime now (comes from being born awesomely early). What I really want for my birthday is to have my wonderful friends next to me, get up really late and have my breakfast in bed, or hold onto the arms of a really handsome hunk when I wake up first thing (not gonna happen); to sit on the couch and watch a movie of my choice with my entire - 6 member family (not gonna happen); and thirteen uninterrupted hours of sleep (not gonna happen). But, I am typing this after talking to so many friends who constantly make me feel loved.

If you would like to give me a gift, and you know you would, you can leave me a comment. This is a lovely present because I am obsessed with getting comments from y’all and it will score me a little easy entertainment today.

I have a friend who always gets himself a present on his birthday. I mean a really nice present. One year it was a camera, the next year it was a new Engine system for his car. (Or something like that, I generally stop listening whenever anyone uses the words "carburetion" and "four-stroke internal combustion.") I decided to take up that tradition myself this year and got myself a little something. Tickets to Bagdogra… from where I shall go up to Darjeeling, Kalimpong and finally to Sikkim.

Now, hurry and give me an internet-Hug.

Also a fabulous 4 pack of Chap Stick and a new purse. I’m not too old to pretend that I’m 22, right?

Here’s a song that I love and I hope you love it to. It always brings back the best of all memories, however I’m currently remembering it, and I hope it hits a warm spot in your life too. This is a song from one of my favourite artists that ever lived – Jeff Buckley. If you’ve never heard of him you better either live across the pond, be under the age of 13 {in which case it’s obvious your parents don’t care about you, I mean you are reading this blog, so go ahead hit play, it can’t hurt}, or be on your way to the closest retailer to fix this mistake in your life. I recommend the albums - Grace and Sketches for my Sweetheart. They’re both classic.

"AND I'LL RISE JUST LIKE AN EMBER IN YOUR NAME"

Man that would make any girl feel like a goddess...

Another One Down

As with most weekends, this one was just way too short. I could have used an extra day and, perhaps, a little more sleep. I did, however, get some stuff done this weekend, including a little day in the life photo set on Saturday.

Aside from the collected photographic substantiation, the weekend played out the way most do. Even though this one had some extra-added bonus live music. On Saturday night, I attended this concert:

It featured a friend on vocals as well as the soon-to-be newlyweds - my best friend, Runa on the paino and her fiancé Tony on the guitars. There was a great deal of screaming going on at around the same time.

So that's it. Another weekend down. These weeks, and months, seem to be passing a little too quickly for my comfort. Anyone know how to slow the world down a bit?

I'm not sure if it's a sign of basic delight or lunacy, but I characteristically wake up with a song running through my head. It moves around my brain until it finds a way through my lips in a hum or whistle and it generally fastens itself to me most of the day. As you can imagine, this can be a good thing or a nuisance. Here's the track list for the past week or so.

Favourite Things (Pomplamoose)
La Vien Rose (Pomplamoose)
Mister Sandman (Pomplamoose)
Nature Boy (Pomplamoose)
September (Pomplamoose)
Single Ladies (Pomplamoose)
Always In the Season (Pomplamoose)
Be Still (Pomplamoose)
Centrifuge (Pomplamoose)
Mrs. Robinson (Pomplamoose)
Twice As Nice (Pomplamoose)
If You Think Need Some Lovin’ (Pomplamoose)
You’re So Gay (Katy Perry)

A few questions. First, do you sense a theme? Second, when my brain finally decided to break the cycle of Pomplamoose, why the fuck did it go with lame pop girl Katy Perry? That ain't right.

As much as I'd love to hate Pomplamoose- Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn - I really can't. Seriously, I'd love an excuse. But they're pretty awesome. The tunes are quite clever, the songs are infectious and I love them with a fiery passion that burns with the strength of a thousand suns. But I am positive - absolutely convinced beyond any doubt whatsoever - that the geniuses behind this band have somehow injected it with the mental, audio equivalent of crack. How else could you explain the unconscious force that wakes me up with their songs in my head? Were I to be kept away from the music of Pomplamoose, I know I would first experience the shakes, enter a violently convulsive state and end up chopping up my music devices, snorting it and praising the gods of rock. And I'm fine with that. But god forbid I wake up singing Katy Perry again.

What kind of crap is stuck in your head?

Oh, and I turn 27 in 3 days, and I don’t know what to expect.

Pomplamoose – If You Think Need Some Lovin’

WHY I LOVE THIS GIG

A blogger's job is never done. This month I had the task of reviewing a mobile phone sent to me by Nokia. Specifically, the Nokia X6 music touchscreen smartphone. Nose to the grindstone, I poked, prodded, charged, loaded, and listened and I can now give my verdict.

This regular-sized sucker's pretty cool. Almost the same size of my earlier cell phones and quite a bit lighter, I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much. But I was wrong.

Turning on the mobile brought me to an appealing comprehensive 3.2 inch splash screen where I was able to navigate through the several categories of music player, media and supports. Audio files, messaging, dialer and contacts are all available from this screen. Navigation to each is simple by running your thumb or any other favourite finger across the screen. I was most curious about the audio (since I am, chiefly, a huge music lover) so I checked that out first. Having loaded a few of my favourite MP3s. Sound was all right, not too great. And even when it was bumped up by enhancements made through the equalizer it didn’t really sound too awesome. That was pretty much the only drawback noted here. The navigation between artists, albums and songs is trouble-free.
Next, I tried the video. It was crystal clear and the details are sharp.

The storage – 16 GB - is impressive. The rechargeable battery stays alive for quite a while (the box advertises 35 hours of music playback time and I've found nothing to prove that wrong). Stereo headset is provided, as well as a car charger cable and a phone holder. A USB cable is made available as is additional software. Of course, I can tell you much about that. I installed the music I love listening to when I’m at the gym or on my way to the office. Add your media files through the Nokia Ovi Suite and you're good to go.

Perhaps the greatest selling point? The OVI services. One of them being free downloads from the Nokia Music Store and the 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics - I know, I know who really cares about cameras in phones... but I’ll tell ya what, it's nice to have the option.

I love the way this phone operates. And if you're in the market for a nice phone that everyone else doesn’t have or won't break the bank, this is a good deal. My final admission. I've had this thing for a couple of months now. Who knows how it'll work over time. From my point of view, you're getting a lot of features for a pretty awesome price.

It's also probably worth mentioning that I love reading or checking my blog and other blogs from this phone.

And if you're wondering what to get all those people on your Christmas lists, give this a try. You can check the phone out at http://www.nokiax6.org
Some additional info can be found at YouTube.

At first I thought I'd just show you my mobile phone. Then I had an idea...

HI!!!!

My disappointment at realizing I’m a full 48 hours further from the weekend than I’d been led to believe was quickly tempered by the fact that I discovered a new band called ‘Pomplamoose’ (The name of the band derives from the French word ‘pamplemousse’ – incidentally which is from Tamil pampa limāsu meaning generally grapefruit) with a little help from Facebook. In fact, as soon as I got home, I got a copy of the songs, and am happily listening to it right now. And it’s good. (And, yes, I’m a dork. I’m a big dorky girl who thinks this is one of the best things since sliced bread. I think this cover originally sung by the band - Earth, Wind and Fire, ‘September’ is slightly different but good and has everything I like about this band and I’m going to listen to it over and over and you can’t stop me!

Ahem. Before we delve any further into the closet of my Musical Preferences, let’s move on to more important things. The music!

Here's a new feature on EC. Every month, this space turns it’s scheduled tasks over to friends to find out what’s playing on their music devices or in their heads. This week, we hear from Silvester Phanbuh, my peer from work. He's from the North-East, is a swell cook (he hasn’t invited me over yet) and person all around. We have a ball when we get together, which is always too rarely. Read his blog, Down-Shop Memoirs, here.

Where are you from?
Shillong, Meghalaya

What song did you think about when you got dressed this morning? Any new artists you’d like to recommend?
Not specific to this morning but if I were to have a soundtrack for my mornings it would have to be some landscape piece like an epic movie theme or Ennio Morricone, or the likes - A nice grand string arrangement. That’s because I live in a city so the only open spaces that I can open my windows to are in my mind.

How has your music progressed from when you started listening to music to right now?
As a kid I listened to anything that was popular or accessible – more than the word “listen”, the better terms would be “heard” or “familiar” as I never really paid attention. Although there were a couple of songs which I’d actually make an effort to listen to. As I grew up it got interesting - I discovered the Doors and Scorpions and finally I started listening to metal. Megadeth was, is and most probably always will be my all-time favorite band.
Initially I was very close minded, and my music represented my rebelliousness and there was always an “anti-something-or-the-other” angle to it. However, there was a natural expansion of my tastes and music started being influenced by my moods rather than an image I was supposed to cultivate. Hence, I don’t like it when people assume that I’m a plain old metal-head, because that term confines me.

What were the first songs that you liked that made it onto a music CD?
The first mixed tape I made had songs from KISS, Scorpions and Deep Purple if I correctly remember.

How do you feel the reaction is to music in B’lore?
I believe the music lovers in Bangalore are quite intelligent and there is always something for all genres. From my first hand experience I regard the metal crowd as the best in the country. Also the local scene is supported well which is refreshingly nice.

Where did you get the music you listen to?
I borrowed a lot of tapes from friends and vice versa – later on with the dawn of the “inter-web” acquiring music became easier. Of course, I always follow up on my favorite musicians to know about releases etc.

How big do you think blogs and internet buzz has been in a band’s success?
The internet is a great place to find music – I cannot explain the huge difference it’s made. Everything is faster, easier, has more options and mostly free. So automatically this led to exposure to lots of bands who would have otherwise been dependent on whimsical trend conscious record labels.

Check back and there’ll be more music lovers to read about.

The breaks between posts have been long and I do apologize, but I’ve been busy. I’m attempting to cobble together my life and that has taken over most of my music listening time. Fortunately I stole some time back over this past week to listen to a handful of random songs strewn about here and there on the web. Even more fortunately for all of us I tripped on this cover that the Noisettes have done that are worth a listen.

For those of you who are completely in the dark about Pop/Indie rock band, Noisettes, they covered the popular ‘When You Were Young’ by The Killers in March 2009 . This cover is especially nice. As would only be appropriate for it to gain space on EC.
I’ll do my best to post as often as possible. Rest assured that the music is still here and EC will continue on. Enjoy the music.