The Parlance of our times

Slow down, cut the chord and do nothing?

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:21:00 +0000

“Slowing down” in life has now become mainstream. Mint has a year-end special issue listing 50 ways to slowdown. Related, many people have a new-year's resolution to go on an Information diet.

Elsewhere, Pico Iyer is having the last laugh.

I am glad that I am not active on facebook, don’t own a smart phone or a blackberry (so far, I could push back a blackberry, but not for long, I know). But I still have my share of new-gen gadgets and spaces : I do most of my long-form magazine reading on kindle (which I thought could never replace printed paper, and I was wrong!) and I love it, do my casual browsing on my tablet. For books, I still prefer my library membership.

I still buy CDs and listen to albums (no vinyl yet as I am still looking for a good player), also buy singles from itunes (I still use my 1st generation iPod shuffle).
I follow less than 30 people on twitter and this number has not increased drastically in the last 1 year.

I guess I am having a right mix. I can’t go to that extreme of eliminating plastic from my kitchen, as Mint recommends. But, perhaps, I can bake a loaf of bread!

The child of tomorrow, I realized, may actually be ahead of us, in terms of sensing not what’s new, but what’s essential.(Iyer)

ON AIR

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0000

In 127 hours, there is a brilliant scene in which James Franco enacts a radio show, including a phone-in. It’s done exceptionally well by Franco and is one of my favourite scenes in the movie. But, thinking about it, it would have been easy for Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle to write that scene (in case it is not from the book the script is adapted from); because you have heard it many times on the radio, and that’s the format all radio stations across the globe follow. Very few radio stations try to be different, at least in the music they play. BBC 6 Music, which plays non-mainstream music, is one such station, and much debate has happened on its planned closure (at least put on hold, as of now) - give it a listen on the BBC iplayer.

Reason for posting this – I just finished reading stand-up comedian and Radio DJ Phill Jupitus’s excellent book “Good Morning Nantwich: Adventures in breakfast radio”, an account of his days at 6 Music, hosting the breakfast show. This is perhaps the first book I have come across which celebrates the love for radio (Woody Allen’s Radio Days is an attempt in film). If you are a radio- junkie and loves music, get hold of this book! It narrates what happens in a radio studio and ultimately tells you why Phil quit 6 Music, when the station management wanted him to stick to the station playlist (of course, he must quit in such a situation, what else you can expect from the maverick DJ of an indie music station!) The book also contains a section on how to start your own radio show on the internet. The book could have been edited to make it tighter, even so it was a pleasure reading it.

Since I mentioned the movie 127 hours, it was great listening to Bill Withers’s fabulous song Lovely Day, in the movie. It was something like what radio does - surprise you with a song that you loved, but have forgotten.

Too young to be Grammy material

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 21:22:00 +0000

I was not aware of this "trivia" - it was Neil Young's first Grammy (for music), last Sunday. Not that I care much about the Grammys. But this is really laughable. Have read that Dylan also received one pretty late... for Modern Times? Not sure, and no - I’m not reaching for the Google button.

Biz piece

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 23:43:00 +0000

On my way to work today, I was reading this free business newspaper (ah, the free tube newspapers, one of the few joys of working in London, and get to know who threw their cat in the garbage) and actually smiled reading this column on Nokia's burning state:

NOKIA finally confirmed a tie-up with Microsoft on Friday, which sent a ripple of excitement through absolutely nobody. At Mobile World Congress (MWC) this week it will announce a new tablet. Or an Xbox phone. Or a giant laser with which it will attempt to destroy the moon. It doesn’t really mater – nobody will pay any attention anyway.

[...] The problem is, Nokia is both vast and dull. It’s like Canada. Its phones are about as exciting as the vast swathes of icy tundra; characterless and difficult to navigate.
Sure, they both have their highlights. Canada has Montreal. The camera on Nokia’s N8 is nice. But this doesn’t make up for the N900. Or Celine Dion.

Maugham

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 21:11:00 +0000

Picked up a Somerset Maugham novel after a gap of almost 5 years! Perhaps he induced in me whatever cynicism I possess, through his three famous books - Of Human Bondage, The Moon and Six Pence and The Razor’s Edge.

The book I started reading now, Cakes and Ale, another classic, is his take on the literary world. The first few pages itself put me back in the somewhat strange and, in fact, likeable world of Maugham.
For instance, the way he details the appearance of his characters:

...a fine, upstanding young man, six feet high in his stockinged feet and of an athletic build, with broad shoulders and a confident carriage. He was not handsome, but in a manly way agreeable to look at, with wide, blue, frank eyes and curly hair of a lightish brown; his nose was rather short and broad, his chin square. He looked honest, clean and healthy. He was something of an athlete.

Or his typical observations of human nature:

Hypocrisy is the most difficult and nerve-racking vice that any man can pursue; it needs an unceasing vigilance and a rare detachment of spirit. It cannot, like adultery or gluttony, be practised at spare moments; it is a whole-time job.

Happy to be reading Maugham again!

Bruce Springsteen - The Collection

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:41:00 +0000

This is simply the best thing money can buy at the moment! First 7 studio albums of Bruce Springsteen in a box set for less than Rs. 1000. Just placed an order, though I already have 3 of these albums (Nebraska on CD, Born to Run and Darkness on tapes.)

I often dislike the fact that many of our rock idols mature as they progress in their career, and seek out something more rewarding for them, musically, than create the same music which made them popular; many drift towards jazz or world music – like Sting, Paul Simon or Joni Mitchell.

While listening to Springsteen’s 2009 release Working on a Dream, I was struck by the realization that Springsteen is doing just the reverse. Compare his first two albums and the last two, and you’ll know why. His debut Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ and the next one The Wild, the Innocent, and the E street shuffle are more mature, jazzy and elaborate than his latest two releases, Magic and Working on a Dream which, in Springsteen’s words itself, is “pop sound”. Interesting. But I don’t mind, as long as he continues to recreate Magic.

The Limits of Control

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:50:00 +0000

Thoroughly disappointed by Jim Jarmusch’s highly indulgent “The Limits of Control”. The movie, in fact, tested my limits of tolerance. But the 2 hours spent was worth just for this one scene- 3 minutes of an amazing flamenco performance:
Watch it!

He who thinks that he’s bigger than the rest
Must go to the cemetery
There he will see, what the world really is:
It’s a handful of dirt.

The curious case of critics

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:47:00 +0000

The other day, film critic Rajeev Masand tweeted that there is no God if James Franco was not nominated in the Best actor category at the Oscars. In the review that followed, he raves about the movie and there is not a single negative point he has cited. And he gives it 4 out of 5 stars.
He writes:

The extraordinary cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle and Enrique Chediak, and AR Rahman’s haunting score complement Boyle’s rich and imaginative storytelling style. And James Franco who appears in more or less every scene delivers a performance nothing short of spellbinding.

Question: Can someone please enlighten me on why he refrained from giving it 5 out of 5 if, in his opinion, the movie scores full marks in all aspects?

I have watched some reality shows on Indian television where one of the judges marks a performance 21 out of 25, while the other one marks it 23/25, without any explanation on how this score was arrived at!

The wonderful guys at the fabulous Sound Opinions, rates a record as buy it, burn it, or trash it. When I heard it the first time, I didn’t get what “burn it” meant, and on reading up:

Burn it! ...There are a few good tracks here, but not worth the full price....try a downloading service, or (cough), another method.

This is kind of, I would say, innovative and "adapting to the times".

Maybe, someday, all critics would follow a thumb rule, like Siskel and Ebert did – Up or Down? Which is it?

Gene Siskel boiled it down: "What's the first thing people ask you? Should I see this movie? They don't want a speech on the director's career. Thumbs up--yes. Thumbs down--no."

PS: I attended a session by Rajeev Masand in Bangalore in 2010 and found him to be genuine. When my brother asked him what he thinks about The Big Lebowski, he more or less admitted that he didn’t get it the first time and that he is planning to watch it again. That was an honest response!

études

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 16:22:00 +0000

BBC had aired Leonard Cohen's Live in London concert (2008-09) some weeks back and I had a great time watching him perform – especially the fantastic opening song "Lover Lover Lover" (video from the Bratislava concert of the same tour here). Some time before this, I had picked up his book, Death of a lady's man, a collection of poetry and prose. But I just couldn't read beyond 7-8 pieces. I don't think his poems as such will work for me as much as they do when set to music. For the record, I don't listen to Cohen just for the words. I love the tunes and of course, his singing.

While on the topic of words, prose, poetry etc., I must mention that I absolutely enjoyed reading Aseem Kaul's études, a collection of (very) short fiction, much like the author's blog posts. I am not sure whether the contents of the book were previously published on his blog, though the formats of some stories are strikingly similar. There are some cheesy pieces here and there, but by and large it is full of imaginative, metaphorical, stunning poetic gems. In fact, this book worked for me better than Cohen's.
Read the Mint review here.

A Boy named "Sue"

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:30:00 +0000

I wonder why a male singer would cover a song which has a female protagonist in first person, and vice versa. In some cases they adjust the lyrics to take care of the gender references – like changing “I’m your lady” to “you’re my lady” (Power of love, not sure which one is the original) etc.

Two brilliant covers I heard recently that doesn't take the pain (well, it’s not possible in these cases) to do a "gender flip":

Rosanne Cash – Long black veil (a live version here)

The White stripes– Jolene (Jack White sings Jolene Jolene.. pls don’t take my man, heh! Heard it on Sound Opinions)

The same old tune

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:50:00 +0000

“Genius borrows nobly. Art is theft. Good poets borrow; great poets steal. James Joyce said, “I am quite content to go down to posterity as a scissors-and-paste man.” Who owns the words? We all do, though not all of us know it yet. Art is not a patent office. It’s a conversation between and among artists.”

That was David Shields, in the introduction to his post on NYT’s Living with music blog series. I don’t agree with him on this, as you know there is so much art out there which is absolutely original... like...er, I don’t know. His playlist, however, is very interesting – a list of recyled/sampled music.

Achiever.

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:45:00 +0000

My Salinger tribute

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:19:00 +0000

Last week, I read at least 10 JD Salinger tributes.
Two of them worth linking: Salil Thripathi writes A world full of phoneys, in his Mint column, stating that Indrajith, a character from a Bengali play is our very own Holden (for me this could be perhaps Agastya Sen from English, August, although in a different way and slightly grown up). American movie writer Kim Morgan lists six movies which could have been influenced by The Catcher in the Rye.

Apart from changing my life etc. (another loser, eh?), the book induced in me this wonderful pastime of spotting phoneys around me. At work, in the pub, in media... everywhere. I also started appreciating people who were not. If I had kept a list, I could have made it into Holden’s Hall of Shame (phoneys), and Fame.

Two striking figures from the recent past from Indian media that comes to my mind now, for the Holden's Hall of Fame - people who chose NOT to be phoney:

Anil Kapoor: For just being himself at the Globes and the Oscars and immensely enjoying every moment than being conscious about the celebrities around him and the etiquettes. Each time Slumdog won, he was shouting and cheering- even if he had whistled desi-style, it would not have been out of place!

Kavita Karkare: For courageously ignoring societal pressure and rewriting the clichéd image of the Indian widow, at the funeral of Mr. Karkare.

In a society where grief over death is rarely a private practice, where formalised mourning rituals encourage families and communities to survive loss by reliving it through loud expressions, where bereaved women are expected to wear white and look distraught, Kavita Karkare refused to mount her sorrow publicly.
Dressed in a red and light brown sari, a small bindi on her forehead, a red bangle on one of her arms, her hair neatly combed, she projected an image of forbearance that badly needs to be registered in our collective consciousness as dark fears surround us. (Outlook, Dec 2008)

But for those who hated Holden, maybe I should just shut up and take a Prozac.

Society, you’re a crazy breed
Hope you are not lonely, without me.
(Into the Wild, Vedder/Hannen 2007)

RJ clichés

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:24:00 +0000

Often heard on the radio after a song: that was so and so “..belting out..”, “..keeping you company…”, “with his version of..” etc.
Meghna of Radio Indigo, Bangalore, actually said this after a Chris Rea song while I was driving to work: “That was Chris Rea keeping you company with [on] the Road to Hell”.

Note: This was in 2008 or 2009 and Meghna is no longer with Radio Indigo.

Year-end list '09: Music

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 09:31:00 +0000

Thanks to the longer drive from home to work last year, I listened to a lot of new music in 2009, both new and old releases. I can’t really recollect all of them while writing this, but thanks to Pearl Jam, U2, Springsteen and DMB for their 2009 releases and keeping pop music alive. Apart from the rock veterans, I loved the new artists too – yeah, Lady Gaga. I think 2009 was a great year in music!

But my most loved album of 2009 is Rosanne Cash’s The List. Johnny Cash’s daughter sings from the country standards’ list her dad gave her while she was young. My pick from this album is the amazing version of “Long black veil" with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco on guitars. As someone said in a review, hope she records the remaining songs from the list, maybe one album per year!

Ray and Lucy

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:24:00 +0000

Two powerful movies - Frozen River and Wendy and Lucy - with very poignant female lead characters and both directed by women. Just a coincidence that I watched both over a weekend.

Film reviews

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:35:00 +0000

Reviews by two film critics, Jim Emerson of Chicago Sun-Times and Baradwaj Rangan of The Indian Express, pans Avatar. Interestingly, both these critics panned The Dark Knight too, last year. I had my own rant about The Dark Knight, but loved Avatar!

Jim Emerson:

As much as I take delight in the appearance of the Na'vi characters themselves,
the biggest disappointment of "Avatar" for me is the visual design -- a kitschy
mélange of 1970s Roger Dean album covers by day, and Thomas Kincaid "Painter of
Light" Christmas-twinkle scenes by night.

B. Rangan:

Avatar, on the other hand, has no teeth. It feels like a sci-fi story envisioned
by a tree-hugging schoolgirl from the 1980s, who wrote the first draft in
longhand in a pink diary, probably after watching the Billie Jean video on MTV.

Year-end list '09: Indian rock

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 10:26:00 +0000

Namaste by Karnatriix – They are like one of those bands you have seen at Freedom Jam, relatively unknown, mixes rock and raga, and delivers a high quality performance. Namaste is their debut album, truly an exceptional one with the awesome, awesome performance of the carnatic classical staple “Entharo”.

Raghu Dixit Project does what Euphoria and Rabbi has done before, but it is heartening to see more quality music being produced in the Indian folk-rock genre. My favorite track “gudu gudiya” (in Kannada) is more or less similar to Rabbi’s “Bulla ki Jaana”, in concept (unearthed ancient poem) and perhaps in tune also. But, I like this one too.

Year-end list '09: Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:30:00 +0000

A great year in movies, watched almost 3.5 movies this year!

Richard Jenkins.

Year-end list '09: Cover Art

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 09:27:00 +0000

Favourite cover "art" of 2009:
Pearl Jam's Backspacer

The artwork for the album was handled by editorial cartoonist Dan Perkins, who goes by the pen name Tom Tomorrow. Perkins spent six months working on the artwork. In 2009, Village Voice Media, publishers of 16 alternative weeklies, suspended all syndicated cartoons across their entire chain. Perkins lost twelve client papers in cities including Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City and Seattle, prompting his friend Vedder to post an open letter on the Pearl Jam website in support of the cartoonist. Perkins referred to the artwork as "dreams and memories," while Gossard referred to the artwork as a "bizarro otherworldy dreamscape." (Wiki)

Dave Matthews Band's Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King

"Matthews, who drew the richly detailed artwork for thisr record, knew a different [LeRoi] Moore. On the cover of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, DMB's seventh studio album, Matthews portrays Moore as a giant laughing head on a Mardi Gras float, leading the delirium on a French Quarter street." (RS)

American Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:37:00 +0000

For many reasons, Bonnie "Prince" Billy's album Lie down in the light reminds me of Grateful Dead's American Beauty.. the sound, the words, the simplicity... and above all, the wonderful Garcia-like vocals...

I like the places where the night does not mean an end

Where smiles break free and surprise is your friend

And dancing goes on in the kitchen until dawn

To my favourite song that has no end..

Get Lucky

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:47:00 +0000

Mark Knopfler's new album is out and the pipes are back... and loving it! - something I didnt like much on Golden Heart as a Dire Straits fan.

Read up on the lyrics of Border Reiver while listening to the song, if you are not familiar with what Mark is singing about.. the context would give a whole new dimension to the song!

A hard day's night

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:44:00 +0000

Interesting comment by Jay Leno on his work schedule, in a Rolling Stone interview (Aug 09):

Rolling Stone: What made you decide to host your new show every weeknight when you had an opportunity to take a break and just do a show once a week?
Jay Leno: You know, once a week is harder than every day. Because if you write once a week, then you feel guilty that you’re never working hard enough on the show. I contend that a weekly magazine is harder to put out than a newspaper.

Music and Lyrics

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:04:00 +0000

Sting writes in the introduction to his book, Lyrics:

The two, lyrics and music, have always been mutually dependent, in much the same way as a mannequin and a set of clothes are dependent on each other; separate them, and what remains is a naked dummy and a pile of cloth.

Though I am a fan of Sting’s songwriting, I might not want to buy this hardbound book in which all his lyrics are published, with a brief intro for some of them, much like liner notes.

I glanced through these notes in a book store - apparently, the beautiful “Mad about you” is based on the story of David and Bathsheba, and what a great love song it is!

And I have never in my life
Felt more alone than I do now
Although I claim dominations over all I see
It means nothing to me
There are no victories
In all our histories, without love.

"...and the punishment comes in Chapter 12".

Zen and the art of Taking it Easy

noreply@blogger.com (Jay) — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:15:00 +0000

I had almost stopped reading travel writing two years back, after being bombarded by travel blogs. Perhaps, the travel blogs I used to read were not a great read as travel writing goes. But definitely, they came in handy when you had to find a good home stay or the driving route to a destination.

I think the last travel book I read (almost 5 years ago!) was Under a cloud, Life in Cherrapunjee, which was a highly readable account of life in the wettest place on earth (not really, the wettest place is Mawsynram, just close to Cherra). In the foreword of this book, author Binoo John says that the project was sponsored by Penguin India. This declaration made me wonder whether he was really passionate about the travel to Cherra or he did it just for the “project”.

In contrast, Pico Iyer’s The Lady and the Monk is a more intimate and passionate account of something he really wanted to do - to live in a monastery (a bit clichéd, but the book works), though Iyer says that he was on Time Magazine’s payroll through his stay in Japan.

The book eventually showed me what great travel writing is. Maybe it was due to my short stint in Osaka in the early 2000, or for my fascination for The Razor’s Edge kind of life (which I know, I can never do) or may be for the highly readable prose of Iyer, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. For instance, prose like this I could instantly relate to:

Whenever I wandered the winter streets alone, though, Kyoto still aroused in me a surge of unaccountable elation: even in winter the skies were unreasonably blue, and the days had a bright, invigorating chill that seemed to admit of no despair. In Japan, there was truly a sense of a culture calmly on the rise, in possession of itself and buoyant, and the mild air itself felt cleansed of cynicism and decay.

Iyer also writes a lot on literature, both Japanese and Western, and on Zen in this book. The most amusing Zen story he narrates is “Is that so”. He also narrates the classic Zen tale of absent mindedness, the story of the Zen monk and poet Ryokan:

One day when the ever-hospitable Ryokan had a guest, he went out to the village to get some sake, asking the guest to wait for a minute. When the guest didn’t see his host for hours, he stepped out in search of him, only to find Ryokan sitting just outside gazing at the moon.
“Isn’t it beautiful?
“Yes. But what about the sake?”
“Oh yes, the sake. I’d quite forgotten about it.”

As Iyer says, the mind was absent to the world -but only because it was taken up with something higher!

The other day, I was chatting with my friend on Buddhism and he had an idea on blending Christianity with Buddhism – I wish I knew this excellent Zen tale then:

One of master Gasan's monks visited the university in Tokyo. When he returned, he asked the master if he had ever read the Christian Bible. "No," Gasan replied, "Please read some of it to me." The monk opened the Bible to the Sermon on the Mount in St. Matthew, and began reading. After reading Christ's words about the lilies in the field, he paused. Master Gasan was silent for a long time. "Yes," he finally said, "Whoever uttered these words is an enlightened being. What you have read to me is the essence of everything I have been trying to teach you here!"

Reminded me of what George Harrison had sung on his final album – “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there!”

PS: Iyer says that westerners flock to Japan for two things: Buddhism and Japanese women. Strange. If only they knew how to take it easy!