What a wonderful world...

Seen in a public school in Seattle.

Dharam Sankats and supping with Lucifer

Formula1 took the most fun twist I've seen it take in the past few years. Michael Schumacher ensured that Formula1 was never dull, and the past few years have been intense - racing-wise or otherwise. As he hangs up his helmet and racing gloves, Kimi Raikkonen moves into the hot seat at Ferrari.

With Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya leaving, Kimi's a personal favorite among the drivers left in Formula1. Ice Man to Michael's Maverick*, the blue-eyed Finn has always impressed me for his coolness and the impressive results he nursed out of a pathetic McLaren (pathetic in terms of reliability, that is). I've rarely seen him make the kind of mistakes that took out the mercurial Montoya (another favorite, if only for the fact that I see a bit of my earlier devil-may-care attitude in him). Moving to Ferrari is a good move, especially since he doesn't have to contend with playing second fiddle to Schumacher, something that probably drove Barrichelo to tears.

The problem is with the fans. McLaren has its set of rabid fans (less than Ferrari surely, but lots), and at least a few of them are fans because they are the anti-Ferrari. Raikkonen is the anti-Schumi, the prodigy who made it to F1 on sheer talent and wins only on that basis. People supporting Raikkonen and McLaren found a happy union of their loyalties.

What now? For techies, it's almost like Linus Torvalds working on Windows for Microsoft. They'd want to support Torvalds, but that would mean supporting Microsoft. Conflicted? Hell, yes.

Raikkonen's supping with the Devil Incarnate of F1, and I'm happy. My loyalties are towards driver skills, and I want Raikkonen to get a good car.

Schumacher and Raikkonen on the same Ferrari team would've been a darn fine sight to see, but two star drivers on a team do not a great team necessarily make ( case in point: McLaren early this season) and a strong team may elevate drivers and the team to really good levels (Williams-BMW with Schumacher Jr. and Montoya from the 2002-03 season). I only hope Raikkonen's luck turns, and he doesn't drag Ferrari down with his blighted fortune.

*Kimi's nickname is Ice Man, but Maverick's from Top Gun.

...Under Protest (Pine, Pike), take a right here!

Shailu writes of an interesting way to remember the streets in Downtown Seattle. "Jesus Christ Made Seattle Under Protest" indeed.

Speaking of Gods, after reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods a few months back, Terry Pratchett's Small Gods is a good change of pace. Laugh-out-loud funny, thought-provoking and yet mostly silly, it's all in good fun. Somewhat like the Blandings series of P G Wodehouse books I read way back. I lean towards Blandings over Jeeves personally - it's a matter of personal taste, and there's something special about a prize pig being named "Empress of Blandings."

I think I'll name my pet dog Lemuel Gengulphus.

Random Music Musings IV - it's called what?!

There hasn't been a lack of ideas to post about, but fleshing ideas to thoughts and then to words has been tough. Music, an obsession at most times, is always easy to write about, so I am taking the easy way out right now :-)

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I chanced upon a documentary on the history of metal music on VH1. Pah. While it did a good job of introducing the genre to noobs, (I am slightly better than a newbie and some of the information on there was new to me), the pandering to the LCD was annoying. A section on rap-rock went through with a detailed intro about Anthrax's collaboration with Public Enemy, a few quotes from Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit and passing references to Korn and Linkin Park. What, no Rage Against the Machine? You've got to be kidding me.

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Goo Goo Dolls are touring in support of their new album. I liked them as the playful and dreamy pop-punk trio they originally were. Songs like "Slide", Dizzy", "Here is Gone" and "Big Machine" have always made for great listening. I love their cover of "Give a Little Bit" , and of course, their big hit "Iris" is something else. Somehow their mellowing down hasn't gone well with me. Johnny Rzeznik's voice is still great, but the new single on radio lacks that punch which made me like them in the first place.

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Bumbershoot was missed for the second year in succession as more interesting things were done outside the city. Ironic - the only long weekend* of the past two summers that I've been reasonably open ( the Independence Day weekend), there's nothing on in Seattle. Memorial Day has Northwest Folklife, and Labor Day has Bumbershoot, and I've been out of town all four times in the past two years. Such is life.It is what happens while you're busy making other plans.

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As seen on TV! There's an advertisement for a compilation of alternative/pop/rock hits that's making the VH1 rounds right now - the collection consists of those odd favorites - songs that really caught your imagination when they were on radio/TV, but only fans probably bought the albums these were featured in. Classic examples include "Counting Blue Cars" by Dishwalla, "Lightning crashes" by Live and "Everything you want" by Vertical Horizon. The selection caught my eye immediately, as these were classic one-off songs - I'd not buy the album but the song itself interested me.

The compilation itself is called "Buzz Ballads". WTF? You put together a half-decent collection of songs, and then you call it something like that. It's the kind of name you'd not go near with a ten-foot barge pole. Since I know the song selection, I may still buy it, but naming a collection of songs "Buzz Ballads" is setting yourself up for failure.

Previously: I, II and III

Edit: Justified the formatting.

*This is partly because July 4th was a Monday last year and a Tuesday this year - making for long weekends. Next year it'll be a Wednesday, which means only the fireworks and nothing else.

Kaisa ajab yeh safar hai...

The promise of the open road. Fulfilled.

For those songs that get stuck in the head.

Playlist - August 2006.

Alternating between moody introspection to all-out head-banging, with a dance-hall/lounge diversion along the way.

Zinda - Strings. Fine songwriting.

Everything you Want - Vertical Horizon. Damn the lyrics, the intro hook won't get out of my head.

Renegades of Funk - Rage Against the Machine. Tom Morello, we bow to thee.

Vicarious - Tool. Listen to believe in the power of music to move you.

Dizzy - Goo Goo Dolls.  "monochrome delirious", I like the metaphor.

Woh Lamhe - Jal. There's a riff in the middle that's Dave Gilmour/Pink Floyd's "Coming Back to Life" all over again. The Jal album version is better than the movie version IMO.

Falling(Quantic Mix) - Nitin Sawhney. This is a remix, one of two on "All Mixed Up".

Dancing at Sunset - Karsh Kale. Delicious mix of carnatic violin and electronica.

Saeglopur - Sigur Ros. What is it with the Scandinavians and fab ambient/electronic/ethereal music?

...and why does everything have to be so f*#$ing hard?

"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands.You seek problems because you need their gifts."

 - from Richard Bach's "Illusions" 

Change is good...

I changed the layout of the blog since it wasn't rendering well on PocketPCs (Special thanks to Shailu) . I've been playing with the template code as well. Please leave comments if it won't render well on your browser. Browser name,version and monitor resolution information would be useful as well.

Blog, meet world

Somehow, my blogging and physical spaces have always had a disconnect. I've never really lived in the same area or frequently met many of the people who read my blog, and people around me haven't really read my blog much (they've never cared for that sort of thing, I guess). It's been changing over the past few months.

I re-use observations and insights that I've blogged about pretty often in regular conversation. It makes me look more well-read than I really am, since people don't realize that these are things I've given careful thought and time to. They (probably) assume this stuff is off the cuff.

However, I'm getting caught now - "I read that on your blog" is something I've heard a couple of times from a friend over the past few months. Another complained that he couldn't read my blog on his Pocket PC.

Yes, I'm pleased. I consider my blogging to be an important part of who I am (this was an exercise to try my writing skills, and I've realized I enjoy it a lot), and if people I consider good friends are taking the effort to visit my blog, that means a lot to me. The converse is also true - I am truly thankful for the acquaintances I've made and re-kindled over the Web since I started blogging. Some of these have spilled over to IM and email and have been rewarding to varying degrees.

In keeping with the fact that people blog for various reasons, I welcome a couple of new blogging friends (these are people I meet regularly in meatspace) - Brad and Shailu. Brad chronicles a very active lifestyle - hiking, sports and (here I hope to join him more often this winter) snowboarding. Shailu and I go back four years - the first time we met was at a CMU tradition - painting "The Fence" in the Indian tricolor on the eve of the 15th of August. Shailu's blog is kind of like mine -varied topics and life chronicles, though he is less into navel-gazing than I am.

Edit: Fixed grammatical errors and formatting.

Snarky. Very Snarky. But, oh so very true.

The blogerati's favorite whipping boy is back. K-Jo (man, I love that nick) makes his grand comeback with "the love that broke all relationships". KANK (the neatest film abbreviation I've heard in a while BTW) made its ways to theatres a few weeks back. Slick production values, great clothes ( makes even a very casual and nonchalant dresser like me stare agape) and overblown emotions come to set the box-office on fire.

So, what's new, you ask? What is new this time is the blogosphere (I never hated a word more). When K3G came out (the last time K-Jo directed a movie), there weren't that many bloggers. At least, there weren't very many who'd heard of K-Jo. The world has changed much since then, and it seems that "It's all about loving your parents" K-Jo (I can't get enough of that name. K-Jo. Has a certain ring to it) is the blogerati's b*&$% for the next few months or so.

Why, you ask? Ooooh, nothing succeeds like success. See, when Ed Wood made his films, he got anointed the worst film-maker of all time. But that was it. Of course, Tim Burton decided to make a film with Johnny Depp as him, and he gained a certain notoriety after that. But because his films were bad and they flopped, I'm sure that he has a small fan club somewhere. He is endearing because he is a failure. He tried something, was bad at it, and failed.

Unfortunately, K-Jo isn't like that. He's wildly successful. He's a manipulative film-maker, and he's good at what he does. Considering all that and the fact that so much of his filmography is vacuous (Disclosure: I loved KHNH and not because SRK dies in the end), it's easy pickings, innit? Irrespective of how annoying Mitwaa can get after half-a-dozen listenings and how smug and irritating K-Jo is, what really gets our goat about him (and Himesh Reshammiya, for that matter) is the fact that we are in the minority. The majority of the people out there like them. We can congratulate ourselves on being the intellectual, Omkara-loving, Indian Ocean-listening cognoscenti, but we count zilch when it comes to what works.

Earlier: The anti-populism brigade 

Update: Masochism comes. I saw the film, cringing at the absolute lack of insight into human relations the man has. I'm not married (or attached, for that matter), but some parts of the film related to relationships, marriage and the like rang so false that I was hiding my face in embarrassment. I forgot that KHNH ( which I really liked) wasn't directed by K-Jo, and that I've never really liked a movie directed by him. Technically, Nikhil Advani brought something to KHNH which K-Jo fails to bring to this (or to any of his earlier editions of candy-floss FWIW). Where's the party tonight was It's the time to disco all over, and Mitwaa is only  redeemed by some reasonably good singing. Even indulgent shots of my favorite metropolis didn't redeem the overblown nature of it all. SRK is at his worst ( also see: Ram Jaane or Chaahat), proving once again why he's a director's actor (see: Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na, Swades and Yes Boss ) and Abhishek Bachchan is most definitely a chip off two old blocks. AB Sr gets the best lines and has the most fun. He even dies, which is something the movie should've done. Slowly and painfully.

But it's running to full houses all over. *Sigh*. Such is life.

Once in a blue moon...

My favorite actor in Hollywood decides he wants to act in a movie. The Illusionist is out to wide release this week. Review, no review or bad review, a viewing is in order. Soon.

I came, I saw, I conquered...

From record sales, to sold out concerts
So muh'f*$%er if you want this encore
I need you to scream, 'til your lungs get sore

- Jay-Z "Encore"

Indian Ocean took over and rocked the bejesus out of a 500-strong audience yesterday night. Sore from all the dancing, hoarse from singing along and generally overwhelmed by the coolness of Rahul, Asheem, Susmit and Amit, I'm at a bit of a loss right now. More details will follow...

Indian Ocean - live in concert. Benefit for Child Relief and You, America.

August 11th, 2006 - Neumos, 925 E Pike St., Seattle, WA.

Setlist:

1. From the Ruins
2. Kya Maloom
3. Melancholic Ecstasy
4. Jhini
5. Leaving Home
6. Hille Re

BREAK

7. Bandeh
8. Bhor
9. New Song- As yet untitled from the soundtrack of the movie "Shoonya"
10. Boll Weevil
11. Maa Rewa
12. Kandisa
Encore - Kaun

Naam hai Bond

The new James Bond movie is shaping up to be interesting in more ways than one. First was the unusual choice of Daniel Craig - he is blonde, has blue eyes and a rugged face probably more suited to a Bond villain side-kick than 007. He looks quite unlike the suave Brosnan or Roger Moore, but IMO he's closer to the iconic Sean Connery than any of the previous Bonds.

Then, there's the soundtrack. Bond theme songs have always had a unique sensibility - evolving from Shirley Bassey and Frank Sinatra to Duran Duran and Madonna. Interesting segues along the way included Sheryl Crow, Garbage and Tina Turner ( Goldeneye,  a personal favorite). The songs vary in style, but they retain a certain feel to them which makes them stand out. This time it's rock superstar Chris Cornell (he of Soundgarden and Audioslave fame) penning the lyrics and singing the title song to Casino Royale.

While Bond has always been about guns,babes and bombs, its significance as a cultural phenomenon cannot be underestimated. Every movie release from the Broccoli stable is an event, and the search for the new Bond occupied the news by itself. When this baby hits the marquee, add one more to the list of the curious who'll be there to catch the movie.

Aap ka Suroo(n)r

To Himesh

Sing, sing, sing through your nose
And wear a stupid cap
All the autos play your stuff
But you mostly sound like crap

by Sidin .

*Desperately trying to get annoying nasal sounds heard at local desi chaat joint out of head

Find your way to me

"kimi raikkonen rotten luck" - tell me about it. Hungaroring was no better.
"internet intermediary disintermediary" - ah, favorite topic, tech + econ.
"Shiny Ahuja biography" - HKA was great, but what next?
"opinion of becoming pm of india for one day" - WTF?
"proven world does revolve around me t shirt" - OK, I own up. I own this narcissistic tee. I blogged about it too.
"Life's song by SLB" WTF?
"hazaaron khwaishein aisi buy audio CD" - Do so, please.
"Dosas Uttappams" - aijo, what?! Not on my blog.
"I remember someone old once said to me that lies will lock you up with truth the only key.." - Missy Higgins, a spare Aussie with a beautiful voice
"mera chain vain sab ujra" - yay for Kajra re!
"ripping afterglow live" - DRM sucks, methinks. Don't try this at home. Sarah rules though.

These are selected Google search strings that lead people to yours truly's blog over the past few days.

It's happening...

Finally, India's finest make it to the Pacific Northwest. Indian Ocean perform in Seattle on the 11th of August.

Proceeds go to support CRY.

Electrifying

Cricinfo's All Of Today's Yesteryears marks July 26th as an important date - the birth of Jonty Rhodes.

Jonty caught the imagination of a generation of cricket-lovers with that spectacular run-out in the '92 World Cup to dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq. An interesting and little-known fact about him is that he had a chance to represent South Africa in hockey in the Olympics, which would have given him the rare distinction of representing his nation in two sports (he declined the selection to play cricket) . Also, he is epileptic, a fact that caused him to stop playing soccer as a kid (a hit to the head would have induced a fit). The present generation of cricket players definitely have been inspired by his antics at backward point since he was probably worth 20 runs before he even walked out to bat.

A request to hardcore cricket aficionados reading this: *Any* chance of obtaining an image of his extraordinary dismissal of Inzy? I remember a Sportstar centerfold poster from back then. Searching online so far has been futile.

The heat hits

Temperatures soar, tempers fray, sweat pours.
Has the Seattle summer ever been this bad before?
I shudder to think of what horrors await us.
Is this just an abberation, or is this development's curse?

José- A Casa!

José + 10 is, simply put, beautiful.

As a friend remarked, all of us have played fantasy sports as kids in the neighborhood, where you take on the name of a famous player, while your opponent kid does the same. I remember avatars of Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards, Ravi Shastri (when he was still champion of champions and not the notorious slowpoke he became) and even Jansher and Jahangir Khan used as we duked it out. ( we had this variant of squash that we played with table-tennis gear and the porch wall).

To translate that into this ad is simply the coolest thing I've seen on TV advertising in a while. It manages to capture the effervescent spirit of futbol the world over. The clever juxtaposition of players from different eras, the music tracks used in the background and the impish José all add up to that rare ad - one meant for goosebumps and rushing blood.

Check here for a full look at the ad and translation.

Impossible is Nothing.

Hat Tip: Amit Varma

The Brits do it better

Pretty much the only TV I can tolerate is sitcoms. The best ones in India were on DD before the invasion from the skies - Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Dekh Bhai Dekh...). Then of course there was STAR, and Dharma and Greg was a personal favorite (though people preferred F.R.I.E.N.D.S.).

Now, of course, Seinfeld rules. The "serial about nothing" never ceases to amaze me with its nuanced observations on the things that make us tick (and tick us off). My limited TV viewing has been restricted to these, along with my slacker animation favorites, The Simpsons and South Park.

The Beeb they say has a rich treasure trove of particularly good comedy serials. Ramanand keeps mentioning them, and I'm a bit envious of the Pune crowd for easy access to the British Library. (I could go on Netflix, I guess, but why I haven't yet is a long story for a different day). A chance viewing of Coupling at a friend's place this week only piqued the curiosity more.

I haven't laughed this much in a while. "Laughing till my insides hurt" took on a whole new meaning with this slightly off-color take on the love lives (or lack thereof) of a bunch of single friends. There were flashes of insight that made me cringe, and universal truths that had me nodding my head in agreement ( if only I could stop laughing...).

Highly recommended.

Note: For those of you with a high-end Comcast cable package, Coupling is available "On Demand" in the TV-> BBC America section.