The zone

Dislodge yourself from the inner zone boy, it is a fast car, jump out and in the state, taste the wind, feel the inconvenient dust, look at the sky blue and white and think. Is that blood, is that my blood. Damn. The precious post fragile state that will cease to exist, I’ve found my spot, this is my spot. The wind is awesome, where’s the beer, where did the dog go. Sleeping is an option but I want to look at the dog, why didn’t I notice these before. Too late, the ECNALUBMA is here. What the hells an ECNALUBMA.

Life is good man

Not so easy to lose self-imposed inhibitions after all. The black album sounds so sweet after a long long time. Die hard fan and grown out of Opeth now, it might start to make sense to a metal head. The cheap and sweet whiskey might have had a part to play. The songs reminded me of my last class of journalistic writing, almost had me reminiscing if you are up for a cliché. Most fun through the course of a rigorous math/phsyics/engineereing based PhD. To give some perspective to things, today was my last day, enrolled as a student who could register for credits for any courses towards a degree. I am finally, truly a ABD. All But Dissertation if you know what I mean ;). Although, a fine is officially necessary to follow this through as I like to start my day late.

Life is good man.

Flying in a blue dream..

Inspired from the song with the same title by Joe Satriani..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SINl5JY7LhI

There he was, perplexed at the way the tortuous cables snaked over the fancy instrument, hanging lose from everywhere. THis was the moment he had been waiting for, butterflies in stomach rocketing off to supersonic flights and the the unrest rushing through his brains. The flashy dark floor tiles were beckoning. "Go ahead man", he told himself. He was still not ready.
 
The doctor in the white cape urged him to take his shoes off, sit back on the seat and relax. How could he decline the command He did what he was told, as if he must. "Why shouldn't I", he thought. He had paid top dollar for the experience. 
The doctor put the head gear on his head, a nylon strap reinforced helmet ornamented with antennas and little fancy LEDs and more cables hanging lose. It almost looked like an overdone contraption. Suddenly he was frightened of the possibility of something going wrong. "What if a cable comes lose?" "What if the an antenna betrayed" "Why did I" he thought and hoped and prayed as a little probe close to the ear stung him. He was scared now and overwhelmed by the sense of seriousness assumed by the doctor. The cleanliness of the room air was asphyxiating. The silent air conditioner hum was deafneing.  He suddenly noticed the perfection scattered everywhere in the room. RELAX... THIS IS ONLY TEMPORARY urged the doctor. Some clicks here and there, some instruments activating, he could feel that single drop of sweat trickling down his temple. 
"Why am I doing this.." he thought as he urgently missed everything outside. "Why did I.." ARE YOU READY asked the doctor. "Ye.. Y Yes... " DONT WORRY, JUST RELAX. IT WILL BE GREAT. The doctor was suddenly more casual than before.  

CLICK he turned the switch on. 

"What do these machines do ?" thought the man, standing by the seat. There he was, perplexed at the tortuous cables snaking over the fancy...

Keith Merrow

Very many of us use services by Google including Gmail, maps, YouTube, calculator, dictionaries and most importantly Google search. Google tracks everything and with some reservations, it has become an omniscient entity of the lives of many. It ‘most probably’ knows what you like to eat, wear and as my friend realized once, the size of his underwear. It is quite likely that Google also knows where you live depending on your internet presence and how often you use maps. 

The idea is similar to the barman in your favorite restaurant knowing what you like to drink. A whiskey drinker will not randomly switch to vodka one day and someone who loves scotch will most likely worship single malt. Similarly Google keeps a track of what your interests are depending on what you browsed/searched on internet. However, more often, I have found this creepy, as if someone is following me, knows where I went and what I bought. I’d like to be a ‘stranger in town’ when I want to. Switches exist for shutting off Google tracking features and (as I realized), I still have a few ON unknowingly. There are simply too many to tackle!

The one time I was really happy I did not turn ‘that’ switch off was when after listening to some Jeff Loomis, the algorithms running you tube (I love them now) suggested the guy Keith Merrow. I am a metalhead. I used to think it was a passing fad, I still think it is. But it has lasted me through good and bad times for more than ten years. Of those, I have been a massive Opeth fan at least five. However, anyone who is into this genre (for the same time or longer) will probably agree, it is very difficult to come up with anything novel. ‘Sacrament’ does not happen every day (if you know what I mean). And today, with so much metal already recorded, it is difficult to come up with anything that is good to begin with. This is obviously a very subjective issue.

Keith Merrow borders on metal core (ughhh.. very demanding) but makes it wonderfully melodic. I was inspired to write this blog by the song ‘Heart of the sea nymph’. A very good and punchy riff forms the backbone. He is also an Opeth fan (for a fact) and the song has some ‘Beneath the mire’ bleeding from it (in a metal way) specifically referring to the drums. It was a just the right riff with the right punch in the right moment thing. Lot of his music is available on his website for a price that you feel like paying. 

Have fun… \m/

lose yourself

I was lucky to have listened to my roommate yesterday and after some urging, decided to watch Black Swan. A fantastic movie with fantastic production, intense drama and warranted sex. The movie however is obviously more than that otherwise this blog would never be.

The story is based on an attempt to lose oneself, to live for the self in the moment with no inhibitions, apprehensions, worries. It maybe likened to Karma yoga in the truest sense, where one is totally lost in the pursuit of an absolutely selfless act. This however is a difficult task in the modern society where there are distractions and phosphoric acid drinks (look at ingredients of a common aerated soft drink) ( I chose this metaphor to refer to the BS everyone has to live with) and of course, resulting distress; and I was led to question how to practice this difficult task.

I gave it some thought throughout the day and think I saw some light. The art of losing yourself (or Karma Yoga as I have decided to call it) is difficult because it is imperceptible but when done in the right way, it is like a sweet dream that leaves few memories after waking up. The movie is about dancing, a very graceful art. The self can however be lost by ways of meditation, sports, cooking, cleaning the car, literally anything. All one needs to do is sincerely love the act, but make it selfless by not expecting anything out of it.

Life would be so different if we did this. All the best.

between the burried and me

Yes this is about the band. I have been discovering music that I had in my own computer ever since I bought a 160 GB ipod, probably because it is with me all the time and there is always a time and mood for that one song which you wont play otherwise. So there was time for experimentation too and I got lucky btbam.

It is very abstract very heavy music lacking a general structure. So if you are into progressive music like Opeth, some Jethro Tull (minstrel in the gallery like stuff), some Meshuggah etc. you will like it. It does take a little getting used to though, mood changes in a btbam song are often quite random and it is quite heavy on the ear. But there is beauty in this for sure, listen to the album called Colors and you will know what I am talking about.

Good progressive metal overall. Hope you like it.

There is almost no light music by the band. My favorite track is 'ants of the sky'

finally it is over

Yes.. it is over finally. Even with a slight glitch in the guitar and a slight confusion during the first song, I think it went pretty well. The best part of the show was (in my opinion) the Karnatic classical music in the beginning. What a performance by 4 amazingly talented people 2 on vocals and a guy on mridangam and another on violin.

Entertaining a crowd is certainly not an easy task. Countless hours of frustrating monotonous preparation goes into a 20 mins of live performance. The performance should be thrilling. It should make people happy (maybe sad in a few cases of serious drama or music), whatsoever, it should really be good enough to trigger some reaction in the brain that releases the emotion goo. Obviously lots of people can do it very well. Thats why we go to see concerts and dramas.

The most important part in all of this is ofcourse, the preparation and rehearsals. I was glad I was a part of this all. It must have certainly not been as thrilling as watching porcupine tree play live (quite far from it, very very far indeed) but it was a good effort none the less and I guess that is what counts at the end.