Sunday, July 18, 2010

"Trippy"

Old big cloud about to dissolve, the men who stare at goats, well okay, but do the goats stare back?

Where's PETA when you need them? Maybe they will, you know, rise up to protect the right of the goats...the bar yesterday was selling Absinthe, this guy next to me claiming it would send you to Mars or something...nothing much came of it frankly. Miller Lite has had a more profound effect on me. Some girl talking about how she can tell the Starbucks in College Park from the Starbucks on campus, ha yeah right, gosh these people and their fine palates.

No time for a summer friend, no time for the love you sent, seasons change and so did I, you need not wonder why. That's the Guess Who. Jim Morrison could only aspire to the poetry in those lines. Indians bleeding on highways indeed. All the acid was wasted on that guy. Proof that stimulus alone is not enough, that guy, uff, Lizard King. He was looking revolution, talking stupid.

The truly remarkable thing is that the only "stimulus" I'm working on right now is a huge bowl of Haldiram's Bhel Puri. The cool thing about being grown up is that you can crap for dinner. Although I did cook a nice chicken curry for lunch. I wonder if Lemmy ever ate chicken curry. Matter of fact, I wonder if Lemmy eats.

Okay then, computer.

Friday, July 16, 2010

new perspective

So my old headphones gave out and I'm using the cell-phone headphones instead.

This has created a strange, and interesting, difference in the perception of music.

A lot of the trippier stuff (your Strawberry Fields, your Pink Floyds) sounds vastly distorted - the vocals are pushed into the background, like they're singing across a huge auditorium and you can only hear the echoes. (Ha, a pun on a Pink Floyd epic). The instruments on the other hand are pushed into the foreground - this is all culminating in a very different experience.

For the heavier stuff, the bass is pushed almost out of the picture - again creating an interesting dynamic, because it is with the heavier stuff that a bass sounds good. The vocals are completely gone (for some bands e.g. Lamb of God, this is a good thing for me), instead all I can hear are the drums, keyboards and the guitars - but the guitars! The sound is so alive I can almost feel the guitar, I'm almost afraid to play a Hendrix song..! It's like putting your head right next to the amplifier to the virtual exclusion of everything else.

I'm also getting a completely different reading of the songs themselves. Did Jimmy Page really just do that? Keyboards are actually sounding like they belong in "Trampled under Foot"! People, you have no idea how good Iron Maiden are sounding. Three guitars and I can hear them clear as crystal. I can even make out without effort, the scraping of the pick on the strings.

Funny, when you think of it. The actual song itself does not change, neither the person listening, simply the medium has shifted, and an alternate understanding emerges. Mystical.

The earphones are for Nokia's XpressMusic line of phones. The laptop I'm using is an IBM, sorry, lenovo, T61.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Thoughts on America (#1)

Of all people, I wouldn't expect David Lee Roth to tell me something insightful. But that's life. Marked by uncertainty, ruled by surprise.

Talking about the differences in architecture and history between the US and Europe, he says something as follows:

"There's a lot more castles here (England/Europe), a lot more history. A lot more history, period. The United States on the other hand was based on Dodge City. The cowboys in the streets, and the guy who stepped out of line. The people who started the United States were people who were stepping out of line. That approach, very pragmatic, very practical, very day to day."

Say what you will, he actually makes sense to me. There's a fundamental idea here - of being practical - that may be very important in understanding how this country came to be.

Watch, 4:50 minutes onward (the documentary incidentally is a rather bizarre mash up of interview, random scenery and loud British heavy metal bands):


Monday, July 5, 2010

"Bharat Bandh"

I suppose you can call it democratic.

The left and the BJP is happy that the "people" have come out in "protest" though no "formal" strike was called. This shows the people's anger against the price rise, apparently. Forget about the commerce being hit, forget about lives that go out in disarray.

If fuel becomes more expensive, well, what can the government do about it? What the hell's wrong with our political system? How long will you avoid fuel becoming more expensive?

Ugh, and we know this is all being done to get votes by looking "concerned" about the poor.

Although if everyone's income is raised by an equal amount of the price rise, Marshallian demand stays at the same point. So no welfare loss.