Tuesday's Surprise!

I'm 24 so it's appalling that I can still act like a 16 year old sometimes (with great taste in music, of course). I can't rid myself of this excitement- let me share it with y’all before I faint. Brace yourselves: Tony Das got me an autographed CD of Brett Garsed...

and the best part of it is, it’s addressed to me!! Yay!!!

For those of you who haven’t heard of him before this, Brett Garsed is an Australian-based guitar maestro brought down to b’lore recently by Music biggie Sandeep Chowta. You will love this guy if you like instrumental rock music and I can’t wait to listen to this CD called "Planet X". Although I kinda cringe every time I take this prized possession out of its package. I’ve been showing off the autograph to my manager, who happens to also be a huge Brett Garsed fan. I bet he’s happy to finally send me home without hearing another ‘I can’t believe I have his autograph’ from me.

Grab a copy of Garsed’s CD if you can. Sure, you can stream his music but it’s something else to hold his record in your hands, listen to his music and realize that this guitarist is one of a kind. I don’t really listen to too much of instrumental rock music, but I'll totally endorse this one. Garsed’s music is a trip and its art. No, I’m not exaggerating. This is what music should sound like.

Today, is RJ’s birthday and she isn’t here. Miss her so much, particularly today. I hope she’s happy, wherever she is now.

Someone has been leaving a huge smile on my face lately. I’m not going to reveal more and jinx it. For now, all I’m saying is that he’s a classy flirt and an absolutely charming bloke.

I dig Mr. Big. Especially the single ‘Goin where the wind blows’. It's an excellent track; that’s the best way to summarize it. I can’t understand why this one didn’t race the charts and kick out ‘To be with you’ and ‘Wild world’, nor why it’s been largely forgotten. I guess it might’ve had something to do with the time period that it came out in. As you listen to this track you become conscious of the fact that this is a supremely catchy song that’s delivered with both finesse and intensity.

I’m rambling now. You want the music. So here you go.

Manic Mondays

At the moment the whole of B’lore is currently preoccupied with the live ban. I hate it and if you’re like me and the rest of us who are for live music, it makes you want to slap some sense into the authorities. I'm not going to go into my thoughts about this as it will just turn into a rant about human rights and governmental control.


Posters that were part of the Bangalore Protest:



This post is going to be real short as I’m too tired to post properly. I worked non-stop from stupid nine to five o’clock. Today, I reckon I must’ve be one of the busiest workers in B’lore. In fact, quite possibly, the world. I'm not going to whine as yet- honest, but today involved some real hard work. I now realize that there really aren't enough hours in the day. I suppose most women have known this fact for ages. And it’s back to work, again, tomorrow (yes, I know. sigh!)

One day Ruan and me wouldn’t stop singing this song and tripping on the lyrics. It was by this band called the Moldy Peaches though the version I’m playing for you here isn’t the original. Instead, it’s by the Juno couple- Michael Cera and Ellen Page. A modern love song that’s highly addictive and terribly listenable.

The Ideal Weekend

I wish I could walk into a place, rest my thoughts with a nice drink and listen to someone sing. It’s hard to believe that B’lore, of all cities, has banned places like those.

Saturday, somewhere in B’lore city, I met Shreyas and Ruan for brunch. Alexis and Venky also joined us. For those who haven’t read my older posts. Alexis, is comparatively new to the music scene in the city but she has made quite an indelible impression on the audience. Venkat Subramaniam, known as Venky in music circles, is the Frank Sinatra of B’lore. And that is not an overstatement (hear him here). The 5 of us met with the intention of having a late breakfast together. Six pitchers of beer and innumerable stories later we realized it was late evening and that it was time to move ourselves out of the place. All I can remember as I write this post is the beer and the generous serving of bread, bacon, eggs, sausages and mashed potatoes. It reminded me of regular weekend breakfasts with friends back in my college days.

Returned home drunk and sleepy. Took a quick nap, then went for coffee and got back home because Runa and Ruan wanted to come over and watch ‘Grapes of Wrath’. We had read the book in college and I finally got my hands on a great print. But I was reeking of alcohol, a little too sleepy and it was bit late, so we ended up talking about the day. I spoke to Ash after the girls left. She’s a good friend who’s in Chennai at the moment (taking a break from b’lore or someone in b’lore). After the call I then hit the sack.

I think I’m going to do this weekend-breakfast thing more often. I never want to get myself into a situation where I have nothing to do but watch movies all day. This is how one falls into depression. I need exercise and people.

The weather makes me think of these days as weird and wonderful. It's definitely not wonderful when others have to put up with the nuisance of traffic jams and slushy roads, or worse, flooded areas; but watching the rain just fall, feeling the breeze brush past my neck and the cool air all around - leaves me feeling quite relaxed at this time of year. I'm going to remember these past couple of days as the ones when I breathed the air, learned to wait, stepped out of my world of inhibitions and hoped for better things.

There's beauty yet in this world. Sometimes it's right in front of us that we miss it altogether.

I spent the last couple of hours playing with my niece. Some jumping, some kickball. I gave her my drumsticks, again. Her father will soon have to buy her, her own. Much laughter, then goodbyes. A good Sunday afternoon.

A Perfect Circle- 'Gravity'. For my dearest Ash.

Dark Knight and - Happy Independence Day!

Last evening, was quite an adventure and I can't recall the last time I had an unusual night out. I didn't go out for an old faithful drink but for the new batman movie (Damn CK for not having me seen it sooner). So the movie finally happened because god willed it I tell you. (He knew how badly I wanted to see Heath Ledger.) I must say the movie was pretty damn good.

I had finished work early and went to another office in the city and I just couldn’t forget the weird looks I got from techies who looked at me like I was some small sized girl selling cookies or something. My crew and I left the office pretty late and then we got stuck in the rain. Of course, no auto would take us to the theatre because it wasn’t far enough for them so we hopped onto a bus- a first for me and it wasn’t bad at all. It was one of those fancy Volvo buses and there was no inappropriate touching involved so I didn’t have to scream. We got off the bus, got drenched a little more and then entered the icy theatre ready to catch a cold… anything for Heath Ledger. The movie is still fresh in my mind and it seems so daringly real. For two hours I sat in my seat enthralled. One really can’t grasp the admiration I have for Heath Ledger’s acting until you watch this film. For my friends who thought Jack Nicholson was the best Joker there ever was… Umm… there’s no doubt about it now that Heath Ledger was insane in a way that Jack Nicholson never came close to approaching.

Dozens of critics and millions of audience members can’t be wrong- The Dark Knight is certainly one of the greatest films made this year. Period. The film consistently surprises you and Ledger is entirely convincing in his evilness and strength.

In the movie you never see Heath Ledger as the the Joker. Never. It’s hard to place the polished jaw, good-looking Aussie as the erratic villain. I was so bummed out that a guy with so much talent like him had to die but you have to agree that he did go out with a bang.

The movie makes you question the strength of humanity through the Joker. It’s ugliness. The theme of choice plays a huge part and that is the most crucial test in human character. This makes the experience of watching the movie all the more worthwhile. Director Christopher Nolan has done an outstanding job in transforming the world of comics into a literary experience.

A lot of movies make you sob your heart out or laugh out like crazy; this one just makes your head burst! For those of you who haven’t gotten around to watching it, well then rush to the nearest theatre and get yourself a ticket- if not for the batman then just for the terrific and the dark performance of Mister Ledger. Screw the standards of good and bad, villains and heroes. This movie makes you rethink all that.

Today, I got up late and then went with my dad to get my voters id. After that was done I joined my friends for lunch at Koshy’s. Bacon, eggs and beer- Mmm…life couldn't get possibly better.

I have cookies on my table, the DVD of ‘Lolita’ to watch and I have a window that opens out to the little sunlight there is right now. Late last night I chatted with a very old friend and it was so nice to catch up with him after so many years. When I meet most of my old friends they never tell me that I’ve changed drastically. Well, because I’m of the same height and size since I was in high school and also I look much younger than my age, a trait I’ve had to endure for awhile now (I’ve come to accept that I look more girlish than womanly).

Bought a new top in my drunken state – not bad. The feeling is great. I’ll have to try this sometime soon again.

Made a new friend- online. Still thinking if it was a good idea.

My friend Ash, wants to set me up on a date with a younger guy. Which is good because I’m starting to forget what dating feels like; but not so good because I don’t feel like I’ve finished up with the old yet.

I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants- Part II. If it ever reaches our shores, that is. Anyways, I’m off to read the newspaper and busy myself with other things like, take a breath, for one.

Going to end this post with one of my favourites. A brilliant track by the Red Hot Chili Peppers called ‘Road Trippin’. I must say I love it for the sprawling guitars and the vocals and whether you are or aren’t a Red Hot Chili Pepper fan you’ll love every second of this song, from start to end. Saying that is saying a lot.

Stay tuned for more melodrama and of course, how can we miss out- Music!

Happy Independence Day!

To Pritham.

I’m hoping I never find it necessary to ever cook in my life. I realize that such a wish would be frowned upon by the many individuals who read this blog but I really hate cooking. Sometimes fights with mom call for Maggie noodles and that I can deal with.

Once upon a time I used to be quite passionate about cooking but the event that changed it all was when I went to visit my dad in Dubai. He was at work and I was all excited about cooking up something special. So, instead of ordering from a restaurant I decided to play chef. A brief search of the kitchen revealed just the ingredients I needed to make some rice and chicken curry.
I opened up the packet of Chicken curry masala and followed the directions given on it. I suppose I used more than I was supposed to because I really wanted the flavor to stick out. I prepared the rice by calling mom who was back home in India. She didn’t have the patience so she ran through the entire thing in a hurry and hung up. I had a couple of distractions in between but I thought the food looked as it was supposed to.

My dad came back, I set the table and then we sat down to eat. He picked up his fork and took a bite. He was not one of those fathers who would tell their daughters it was nice when it wasn’t just to make them happy. I’ve never seen my father move at such speed the way he did that day, to the sink to spit out my hard work. Then he spent the longest time trying to rid his mouth of the taste of the food after which he told me, ‘You never have to cook as long as you stay with me.’ And from that day on cooking began to frighten me. The damage to my psyche is colossal and it would take a shrink a year or two to help me over it.

I received a call today from an old friend who works as an airhostess. She dutifully calls me every month just to make sure I’m not getting myself into trouble. And while she has been absent for many of my failures I thank her for having lots of faith in me and spending all that money on calls to make sure we stay great friends. I remember I cried on and off for the whole day when she left to Doha.

I don’t normally address political issues here because thinking about it gets me so angry and depressed but I just have to say that I don’t get Indian politics and it’s obsession to include everything religious. Corrupt politicians have managed to twist religion so thoroughly to their own ends that they’ve reduced God to a tool to help them get and maintain power. How can I vote for anyone when I don’t believe a word coming out of their mouths?

After I’m done posting this I intend to execute my scheme to take over the world. If you aren’t with me, you're against me.

Now, for something fun. The Doobie Brothers… weren’t they an awesome band?

The guitars are crisp and it’s one of the best tracks out of this band. Also, the instruments explode in this song. The arrangements and the layers sound great. The song accomplishes what it sets out to do and wraps up without any loose ends. ‘Long Train Running’ is a track definitely worth checking out and if you’re looking for something to put you in a good mood then this song comes highly recommended.

To Pratiksha.