Juniper Lane

‘We spent the day at home, in Dibuphar, 4th Mile. I was chatting away with my extensive kin. I’ve known all the members of the family for a couple of years now but my relative’s fiancé, ‘Chen’ is the new addition and while the nearest and dearest had a hard time accepting him into the family, we’ve grown quite close. He’s reserved but talented, witty, and a truckload of fun when one gets to know him.’

Post-trip proceedings: I have to say, it has been extremely exhausting. And it's hard to be really brief or humorous about it, as I am experiencing extreme anxiety even while I write this. I’ve been trying to catch up with all the updates at work and trying to do stuff that would’ve taken me 15 minutes tops; I now struggle to finish in 45 minutes.
Last night I found myself thinking about the past and all the times I’ve been so very happy – researching a book after an M.A lecture or running to work at the radio station. So really I am just a big old ball of sappiness right now. No neuroses. I am even recollecting studying for finals in a melancholy and longing way.
Now if only I could experience such contentment in the moment, rather than looking back at it!

Oh, and I realized yesterday that somehow a comment by Lionel hasn’t made it onto this page. Sorry buddy. Perhaps the web had a nervous breakdown. So if you posted a comment and it didn't appear, it's not because I hate you. Now, somebody else's comment I might have gotten rid of because I hate him or her. But not you.
I'm trying to figure out this problem with my comment mechanism. If you try to leave a comment and something funky happens, fear not; before long all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well. So, Lionel, thank you for your post. Oh I know your brother wasn’t Elvis in the play… he just sounded very close to the King. Thanks for stopping by.
‘Take Me Home’ : Rock/Indie/Pop

Interested?

This baby stretches past three minutes.

The track is by Juniper Lane.
Does the opening minute of this track remind anyone else of another song?
There’s just something so overbearingly uplifting about the opening segment. In a good way.
The louder you listen to this track the more you’ll like it.
This is an official dedication for all the music hyper informed and well connected bloggers and blog readers.

That’s all I got for this post. Check back often. I basically tell you what’s good and what I’m listening to. I succeed in convincing you that you’re not cool unless you’re just like me. Cheers.

It’s a phase I’m going through now.

I seriously think I’m done with it...

...giving up the search for love.

Of course, not the blog; that I shall keep despite the fact that I do have plans for ‘redebuting’ under a new name at some point in the future.

What's sending my thoughts in this direction is the fact that my failure to spark it with the guy I liked, pre-trip. We saw each other a total of fourty four times (unlikely; maybe more but I just like the number 44) before I discovered he was already taken. And this fellow seemed so perfect in so many ways. A top.

I don't know if it's the universe that doesn't want me to be dating somebody right now; Except that the idea of the cosmos as an attentive being that is actually concerned about what happens to me makes me want to gag. Whatever it is, I'm making a resolution at this time and this instant- I'm not going to search for love any longer. If it finds me, grand! If not, then I'll . . . I'll . . .

Well, I'll just . . . um . . .hmmm...mmmm...

This may be trickier than I anticipated.

Let's move on to the images below that are of recent happenings in Nagaland.





There are more pictures that will be put up at a later date. Right now I'm kind of in awe, a little bit, of this band:

At first color The Wreckers sound like everything you’ve ever loved in a folk pop band. On the second time around you realize that the quality of music they’ve created has forever raised the bar on just what a dynamic duo can produce. Originally I thought their sound was going to be amateur-pop like, but after a quick listen I was immediately in love with their music. There’s something here intangible that keeps me listening to them time after time. A good staying power.

For those that are still unaware what EC is all about here’s a quick refresher. I collect songs and upload the best that I’ve heard in the past thirty days onto this blog. Feel free to go through the archives if you’d like to browse through various artists and events of my life. Enjoy the music, and if you live in beautiful Bangalore then enjoy the glorious weather. Eid Mubarak!

'Shopping at the famous Hong Kong market was interrupted by my dear friend, Z, who wanted to take me out for dinner. Z and I graduated together and I’m meeting her after 2 yrs. She seems to be much the same as always: warm and friendly, distinct, peppy and strikingly beautiful. While not very tall, she has a presence of about ten ordinary people. She has that thing called ‘charisma’.

So we went to the only place that was opened at 6:30 in the evening- a lounge called Fusion. It had a couple of old men conversing over a bottle of whisky and three of us girls, the only girls, gutsy enough to be out at that time of the night. Z brought a friend along named Corinne. Corinne is a model from Guwahati and came from quite a well heeled family. She had pictures of herself all over the room and while she was perfectly good-looking she constantly apologized for not looking her best.

Dinner at Fusion included an assortment of roasted meats. Our girl’s night out was then interrupted by this creepy guy who was absolutely dense. No matter how much we ignored him he still sat at our table and tried to make conversation. Finally we decided we had had enough of him and left the restaurant. Z took me to her home and I met her parents and a ton of relatives but not before we were stopped several times by cops who checked our car and our bags. I was at my formal best at Z’s home but that didn’t last for long when I realized my audience loved me already. So I started off with some jokes on Z and then some about myself and they laughed so loudly that I thought I’d fall off my chair. It took Z some time to get me away from my beloved audience and when she finally did, we went up to her room and to her little doggy- Snowball, who’s the cutest thing since pink candy! We made plans to take a trip to the capital city and then I returned home just in time to kiss my niece goodnight.’

........‘The people who live here are famously agreeable. Whatever you ask of them, they will seldom refuse. Theirs is a culture of almost unending positivism. So dedicated are they to being optimistic that it almost seems as if their speech lacks the term for its opposite. If they shake their heads, it is always to say "yes".
For them, the world is all about the good things. Every day is a festival, leisure chat a celebration, each word a gift. Their streets are paved with laughter. They amuse each other with music and tales. It's so upbeat it made me gape in surprise. Oh, yes, it's a great place to visit.’

Not many days have passed since the tragic events of the Mumbai terror. It serves us all to think back and remember where we were. I was on holiday when I woke up late, stumbled into the dining hall, and had to ask my aunt Anungla, “where is this happening at?” while I pointed sleepily at the tube. 'Mumbai' was her answer, and it took me a moment to properly understand that she meant our Mumbai City, the city I grew to love on my visit there.
Looking back it’s sometimes hard to find the words to accurately describe how we feel today, how that day changed us or the country as a whole.

Here’s a song off of Gotthard’s third studio album ‘G’, in 1996 that sums up everything I wanted to say. Comparing this band with all of those well-known acts might come across as a bit exaggerated but I guarantee you that each and every association is deserved. The lyrics are amazing. Take a listen to this track titled ‘In the name’ and you’ll see what I mean.

The second song, seals this post and clocks in at just under 4 minutes. It is brilliant. It is epic. You’ll definitely want to listen to it as I’m not sure another track on this blog (planet) will ever come close to matching the power and energy alive in this song. This is what I mean when I use the word epic.
Janis Joplin’s ‘Piece of my heart’ to Bhumika.

‘I woke up today at around 6:30 in the morning, opened the curtains and looked at the sunrise on the mile-wide expansive land, now beside me. It was strange wandering through the area with just a hint of the dawn peeking over the horizon. It was as if all the energy of the land was just about to begin. There was no traffic thumping through the grounds, just quiet stirring. For some reason I was awake and restlessly treading the grass beneath my still sleepy feet. But it was beautiful and just that scene has been sitting on the edge of my consciousness lately. There are the servants and the masters, creative writers and the real media, pop bands and passionate rockers, Mr. Big followers and Jordan Sparks screamers, addicts and those who watch the world pass by, freezing indoors and warm outdoors, soft woven melodies and freak out heavy metal. Yet here we all are, set to enjoy another day of music and sunshine and in this moment it is apparent that Dimapur wouldn’t be the same without all of these images crammed together on one site.
Lunch for day two was red tea, pork, a hot tomato and prawn chutney with rice that was laid out in the dining room. I am rested and happy; what would have otherwise been a day of staring at the computer has resulted into a dream. My bro-in-law’s sister, his mother and I watched ‘Kung-Fu Panda’. No shopping could be done as everything is closed on a Sunday (Nagaland, being a primarily Christian state observe Sunday as a day of rest). So we stayed at home and occupied ourselves with cake tasting, niece annoying, bird watching and stories while the boys played TT and munched on tobacco.’
Nov 11, 08

A few days ago I finally snagged a copy of Gotthard’s album and amongst other things their music has made me realize that my blog is capable of time travel. So to all of you who love hard rock and haven’t heard of this band until now, you are welcome.
Gotthard put their best foot forward in 2005 with the album 'Lipservice'. And by best foot forward I mean they clearly proved to be a legendary act in creating a trademark sound. They sound like a mix of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Bon Jovi and Van Halen. Their music is cohesive and entirely coherent and there doesn’t seem to be a single misplaced melody or harmony throughout the tracks and that, dear reader, should be music to your ears.

All right, enough of my hollow words. No matter how clever I aim to be you’re just here for the music. So we’re back to retro. Each month I scour the web for what I think are the best tracks out there. Here they are presented in an easy to read and easy to listen to format. Peace out home skillets. That’s all I have for you this time around. Click on the player to listen to the track titled ‘Lift you up’. Tell your friends, check back often, and keep searching for great music. This concludes today’s post, thanks for reading.

‘I hate the fact that Indian flights are never on time. My flight was scheduled to leave for 6:20am on Saturday. I was asked to check in 90 mins prior to departure. So I arrived at our fantastic looking airport at 4:00am and as I expected, everything that could happen to make me hate flying happened on Saturday. The flight was delayed and I was stuck in B’lore airport for nearly 2 hours and I detested the wait as I was getting looks from a couple of weird ass men- one of whom was actually wearing this big ol’ antennae-looking headset. As I tried to get back to reading my book, there appeared the yummiest looking steward I have ever seen. He was tall, strappy looking and stunningly cute. We checked each other out at the same time and I remember thinking to myself ‘he probably is on another flight’. I boarded the flight and nodded at the hostess who welcomed us in with a fabricated grin and as soon as I nestled into my seat I began to hope that the seat next to mine would be occupied by someone remarkable. The minute the thought was formed in my head, there he was this uninteresting, insufferable looking person who took the seat next to mine and he looked at me like I was non-Calcutta scum!
Cussing and just generally feeling bad for myself, I looked up into the face of the person passing by and there he was- hunky steward! But all he did was pass by a million times and ask me if I wanted this or that… hmm... every girls dream. To be waited on by a guy. No, we didn’t exchange numbers; I aint that forward but it really made me forget the creepy guy next to me.

I reached Dimapur, finally, at 4pm. Welcomed by my bro-in-law, sister and niece (who stretched her arms out as soon as she saw me). Sniff… it was quite like in the movies. Introductions to relatives took up a whole hour, unpacking another. Sleep was out of the question, when I had so many people to entertain. Family and friends gathered around the table to watch my current favourite video on my laptop- a 2 hr. show of Russel Peters. Then we broke for dinner- Fish Chutney with vegetables, smoked chicken and dhal. Post-dinner, we were joined by neighbors and delicious red tea until my eyes couldn’t keep themselves opened any longer. My first night ended in deep, unruffled sleep. I wake occasionally to a sensation of unusual calmness so profound that I might try to imagine it to put myself to sleep if I weren't in it already.’
Nov 11, 08.

So I've had a bit of time to myself to get reacquainted with reality. I certainly had the best time in Nagaland and I can't even begin to describe how beautiful the vacation was, from the weather to the house to the views. We had amazing meal after amazing meal, caught lots of rays (as my very dark tan can confirm), found love and laughed and laughed and laughed. I also took a gazillion pictures and I'll post a link to the gallery as soon as I get my pictures organized. All around just a perfect vacation.
It was funny to come back from living in such a relaxed pace to find myself in the middle of rush hour on my drive to work. There I am, sun-kissed and calm in my for-once-formal-attire (you know I was really excited if I was actually wearing formal clothes - as a rule I can't stand them), amidst the vehicles and various idiots all rushing to getting to work and driving like they were insane so that they could be the first ones to reach their office. We'll see how many office drives it takes before I'm back in their frame of mind! I'm thankful - and yet slightly amused - by how many people reached out to me today and told me they missed me. I received mails, text messages, and a swing of e-mails from friends and family, all happy that I was back.

I have to take a moment and say that the situation in Mumbai was unprecedented; amplified by around the clock television coverage, it seemed to take on a life of its own. The hours grew tedious, frustrating and- when the rescue mission awakened the rest of India and the world to the dangers- terrifying.
What matters most of all, was the life lost during this terror rampage. We can only hope that the tension ends and hope is all we can do.
And that's the latest from EC. Now it's time to get on, get with and get back to the bump and grind but not before I kick it off with my happy hour tonight! May as well ease back into the real world as gently as possible!

I have nothing more to write here, except that my first real boyfriend sent me his wedding invite this morning and I’ve been listening to Mr. Big’s ‘Take Cover’. Ok, that’s done {played it ten times now}, on with the show. This track serves as a perfect rock anthem. Dig it.
Hand. Claps. Head. Bounce. Awesome. Period. The band has made this track into something great. Great things are awesome too.

For all you readers enjoy your December and to M, Congrats!