The good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good:
There's Bob Dylan.... and there's a man called James McMurtry. He also pens good songs. Well i must admit i haven't listened to any of his other songs but for this one called 'We can't make it here'. It was only after reading a certain post by a Mr.Lefsetz that i actually heard of him and this song ~ It's good. It's true.

Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat sh$%, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

Link for the complete >>  Lyrics OR Listen to the >> Song



The Bad:
Some bus conductors are bad... they try to take more than the fare on the charts. And this past week i've argued with three..with my broken Bengali. But i'd like to believe it was just an unlucky week. Most are good.
War is bad. Obama and change? i guess just a change in the battlefield.

Read >>  An Open Letter to President Obama from Michael Moore


The Ugly:
The Bhopal Gas Tragedy... : December 3, 1984. 25 years.....ugly

When people ask, "Why is the disaster continuing? Why has the factory not been cleaned? Why have Union Carbide and Dow not faced justice?", the answer is this: Union Carbide's victims are still dying in Bhopal because India itself is dying under the corrupt and self-serving rule of rotten leaders.

Read >> Bhopal 25 years of Poison

THE END - that never comes?

How many times has one heard that the world will end during our lifetime? The year 2000 was a strong contender in the recent past but this prediction turned out to be a flop just like Governor Arnold’s film – ‘End of Days’ which was released year end of 1999 if I’m not mistaken.

Now, the hot new date to watch out for is 12.21.2012 according to the Mayan calendar and several other ‘calendars’ out somewhere taped onto a conspiracy theorist’s wall.

Okay, I just watched the film 2012 the other day so I’m in an apocalypticy mood :-). Maybe it’s because I’ve not been to a movie theatre in a long time + the super special fx that I enjoyed the film. So just go to a theatre near you and watch this film. No spoilers from me in case you have not seen or read about it. One of those movies best viewed on a big screen.

Anyways it seems only a couple of us from our office enjoyed the film. Yes, another thing. I guess I was kind of instrumental in generating the idea of going to watch the movie… so off we went. 90.2012% of our office members went to see the film.

So, highly recommended you try this at your workplace. Ideal conditions for this to happen… less workload + the magic words “The world might end tomorrow…[ add other words of your choice appropriate to what you’ve suggested to do…or maybe not do]”.

On a totally not serious note…. How would you want ‘the world to end’? Nuclear bombs? Tsunami + Meteor impacts? A ruthless new world order bringing chaos and destruction?...or an alien invasion. The whole of Earth fighting a war against unfriendly aliens with evil flying saucers from the planet Nibiru would be nice. Of course, here we lose against the aliens and we all die…and planet Earth gets blown up to kingdom come….unlike the film 2012 where the world does not totally end …..yet again.

Anyways I’ll near the end of this post with some lines I’d like to share from the Insight section of a book I was reading last night..‘Two potential dangers in reading Revelation are avoiding it entirely or getting obsessed with its details….’

Now I’m really gonna end. And I’m gonna reveal something. Remember you read it here on my blog called Learning to Live. You might well already know that Oprah Winfrey is ending her talk show in the near future. She’s coming up with her own channel in the year 2011. But why does she want to end her successfully running daytime show? Why? Why start her OWN channel in 2011??.... I say it's because something is going to happen in 2012!!! And something fishy is happening right now in the kitchen…..smells like fish. Food is ready!!!

Ui Fawm from Mizoram..

Some photos i'd taken during my last vacation which ive "wallpaperized"

..nothing great but..just in case you'd like a

....UiFawm {prayingMantis} & a Hive..

from Mizoram to rest as your desktop wallpaper

... feel free to Download at will.

click on the above pic for a larger one...

click HERE for a wide-ish one..

-----

click HERE for wide...

Life after a near death experience.

Sitting in a plane + flying through dark clouds + major turbulence. Whew!!! What an experience and I live to die another day and blog about my near death flight.

Well, okay I admit I’ve exaggerated about the “major” turbulence part and I guess I’ve had a nearer death experience when I was a 3 month old baby which is another story but I couldn’t resist the above blog title after experiencing minor turbulence on my flight back to Kolkata after a long vacation.

Brief summary of my vacation >>

26th Sept: Kolkata to Aizawl
Morning - leave Kolkata ….early afternoon, land in Lengpui airport. Get to meet someone I’ve known only online – Sandman a.k.a Illusionaire over here. He’s busy dropping off some relatives but what surprises me most is that he’s not wearing any Arsenal clothing. Later, I’m in a taxi along with a good young man B.S-a. On our way up to the city the taxi driver stops to get some local liquor – not for himself but for friends as he states. He drops us safely to our homes.

27th Sept to 15th Oct: At home
Truth be told, peaceful “baby sitting” was pretty much what I did during my trip back home…..correction - my 3 year old daughter is nothing but a passive little baby. Anyways there I was back up in the hills; no phone or internet, communication with the “outside world” minimal and enjoying scenes like this on some mornings when I did wake up early enough to witness the mist/cloud engulfed hills….



Private transport absent and public transport scarce from my point of residence, I hardly went down into proper Aizawl city – now a concrete jungle in its own right…..



So, spending the majority of my time at home led me to taking mostly photos of my daughter and sometimes her pet spider ……



17th Oct: Aizawl to Kolkata
Wife and daughter see me off at Lengpui airport. Weather in Aizawl is bad but Lengpui is magically clear. However all is not clear once we enter Kolkata airspace. Our plane goes through grey clouds and then turbulence. Minor, I guess, since the other passengers who seemed to be frequent fliers didn’t make a sound. Me? I was ready to scream at the top of my lungs when the plane bumped a bit through the dark murderous clouds….my knuckles white holding tight on the armrest, my heart beating super fast, my eyes transfixed – looking out at nothing but the dark clouds through the tiny window.

On hindsight I believe the other passengers were all too scared to scream. Well the guy next to me was sleeping soundly. But really, I do recall the woman in front of me straining to see if the ground below was visible or not. The airhostess who’d been skillfully walking up and down the aisle had immediately taken an empty passenger seat during turbulence.

What a relief it was to hear the comforting “…cleared for landing” message from the pilot. Once on the ground I try to act cool and let all the other passengers leave first. What I’m really doing is calming down my highly tensed nerves and silently thanking God and the pilot for bringing us back to solid ground.

Outside it’s drizzling. I’m glad to walk out of the *flying coffin...[Captain Haddock' term for an aeroplane]
Earn to live. Learn to live. Love to be alive. Take a break. Have a vacation away from your vocation... :-)

Click HERE to view pics of my daughter playing with her new pet spider.....

Wealth In Health

Health is wealth..so the saying goes and with good reason because theres a lot of wealth to be made in health care.

Personally im truly thankful that ive been maintaining good health. In fact I can recollect only one full day that ive been absent from work + another day when I went off a little early because of sickness in almost 3 years since I joined my current workplace.

I recently got hold of Michael Moore’s documentary film called Sicko [released back in 2002]. It’s a must watch in case you have not yet seen it. This film focuses on the health system in the USA. “Moore pulls the curtain back on the greedy HMOs, drug companies and congressmen who keep us ill…” is whats written on the back of the DVD case and that’s exactly what is in there and more.

After watching a couple of Moore’s documentaries I’ve become a fan of his work. In his films there are absurd scenes and statements and one might think that they were staged or written as scripts but they are all real and true…..and that’s why I came up with the line up there in my fan art – “More than just camera, lights & fiction” to state the kind of films Michael Moore makes.

For instance, the part where he opens an account in a bank and gets a gun for free was hard to believe when I first saw his film Bowling for Columbine but there actually is a bank out there in the USA which has this setup and the scene in the film is not staged. Surf over to read the interesting FACTS pages on his website. Moore’s latest film is called Capitalism – A love story.

Back to the health care or should we say careless industry. Watching Sicko reminded me of something Chris Rock said in one of his stand up comedy shows. It was something on the lines of questioning why we can’t find the cure for so many diseases when man has been able to send men up to the moon. Of course I’m one of those who doubt the authenticity of the man on the moon landings… but this is another story :-)

Long post already but September is a month of birthdays in my family and I guess it’s not too off topic to mention about recognizing birthdays. It’s good to be alive and healthy; to complete another year in one’s life. I dedicate the following song to my daughter, wife and all others out there who love this song and to those who might not yet have heard this song.

Forever Young by Bob Dylan … enjoy and take care.



May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

FUTURE TENSE

How well have you planned for your future?
Or are you one of those who “live each day as it comes…”?



I’d taken this photo a couple of weeks back, near a place where
I go to eat food sometimes.

The red robot with blinking lights standing in attention with headphones plugged into it + its owner [the man in the black shirt] regularly set up shop in their designated location. At first I’d assumed that the robot played music …so I thought it was a robo-juke box playing out the latest hit songs from Bolly/Tollywood films. I was wrong.

Now, look closely at the man with the headphones on. He seems pretty tense. At least not the kind of expression one would have when listening to music. When I approached the owner out of curiosity he immediately spoke out in English….”Future”. So, either the robot was predicting a dark future or the man was concentrating on the words streaming through the headphones. I tried hard not to smile...backed off a little as I took out my camera; the owner nodded his approval and I clicked one shot. The man on the headphones didn’t even notice me all that time. Hope he doesn’t mind.

So off I went with a big smile on my face. I forgot to ask how much one session of future prediction from the robot cost. Back home when I looked at the photo again on my computer I felt a little bad for the man with the headphones. Notice that there a couple of stickers on the robot’s “abdomen”. They are pictures of deities. I’m sure some customer s of the robot listened just for fun or out of curiosity but still I think some others would actually approach and walk away believing in the pre-recorded predictions of the future from the machine.

Of course on a different level we’ve got apps on Facebook like fortune cookies or horoscopes and even Orkut dishes out its words of fortune for it’s users…

I myself have a premonition that I’m gonna die in a plane crash
but that’s another story... :-)

Note: The place where the robot stands is in the Sealdah railway station area here in Kolkata. Sealdah railway station is one of the busiest in India and I bet a lot of people coming from outside the city approach this future predicting robot.

How to tell whether you are a Fanatic

First of all a quick definition of the word fanatic I’ve taken from an online dictionary:

Fanatic:
[Noun] - A person motivated by irrational enthusiasm (as for a cause)
[Adjective] - Marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea
Well…I personally don’t really have a concrete answer to tell if one is a fanatic.




So, I’m just going to take my case. There are a couple of artists & artistes I really admire...but now let me just limit my study to the world of football [soccer] and the Manchester United [The Red Devils] supporter in me for this brief case study.

The following are some random points:

1. Taking a photo of one’s 2 year old daughter
and putting in text which says “Little Red Devil” when one should probably be calling her “my little angel” or some other sweet appropriate word + making it appear as if she is wearing a ManUtd kit

2. Thinking realistically and knowing that one will never be able to play for ManUtd. in this lifetime but having recurring dreams where my little daughter becomes the star player of this very club I support.

3. Carrying an authentic Manchester United back pack to my workplace everyday even though all I put inside it is a bottle of water. [I’m saving money to buy the latest original jersey]

4. Asking my wife to give me live commentary over the phone [long distance call] while ManUtd is playing when I’m not in a position to watch the match. Okay a little exaggeration here but I don’t own a TV or have connection to the internet where I live alone currently so I do ask her to give me frequent updates over the phone when I dont make it to someplace where I can watch important matches.

Alright, shall not bore you more with my case. Probably mine is just a mild case compared to any of you fanatics out there … what/who-ever you are fanatics for. Maybe you don’t even think of yourself as a mere fanatic....maybe you are even more than a mere lunatic fanatic.

Oh, by the way Manchester United 2 – 1 Arsenal. Last night's match result. Really, Arsenal.. thanks for the charity shown. :-)

Quote I’d seen on some page on the internet in the recent past went something like:
“I don’t have problems with god. It’s his fan club that I hate…”
It brought a silent smile but it also made me think a little bit…..then I closed the web page and turned back to the latest news section of ManUtd.com.

Shot in the Dark

...Patience please if the image below is slow to load….

Clicked this photo last Saturday evening after a light rainfall. No idea whether it is male or female but since it kind of stopped to “pose” I think it’s a sheSnail.

I’d seen one of it’s kind on a previous evening but I had no batteries in hand. This time I whipped out my ready camera, set it to macro, got down on my knees, crept up close and took a snap...then a second snap...but I stopped clicking more since I felt the creature would not appreciate the bright flash of my camera. I was worried that other pedestrians wouldn’t see it in the dark and squash it to death but after a few long hesitant seconds I left it on its way….

Another reason I stopped staying with the creature was because I was afraid that people would think I was surveying it up close to decide whether it would make a good side dish for dinner. Snail Soup anyone?

___________________________________________

The above photo of the main road going / coming from the airport I took last Tuesday evening. After having shot the slow moving snail it struck my mind that I should capture something opposite to it in a way – fast moving traffic on the highway. The busy main road is just a jump away from the quiet residential block that I reside in so off I went to shoot the road from a footbridge over it.

There are loads of beautiful shots of this nature one can find on the internet and I also always wanted to at least try shooting one. The easiest way I know is to lower one’s camera shutter speed below the auto or normal settings. Hold the camera really steady or get a tripod and click. Even just a very slight shake will cause undesired results. But if you do want an abstract effect one can intentionally move the camera a bit while clicking. Experiment. I also soon found out that if the stream of traffic is thin then the photo doesn’t come out that cool...
Okay, enough of my tutorial...loads of good resources up online….

One can get decent digital cameras at cheap prices these days or you can always use the inbuilt cameras in your mobile phones or rather use cameras with phones. I own an outdated entry level digital camera by today’s standards but it has all the basic features in it.

Its great fun and with due respect to professional photographers out there I believe photography is a field where the learning curve is not too steep if you enjoy shooting & experimenting with your camera - both technical + artistic aspects. So, start shooting … [Becoming a professional paparazzo is optional.]

In League with Devils

Yes, a lot of people hate us….but I think it’s the price one has to pay for being in league with a force so united and powerful. I feel truly honored to count myself as one of those who stoke the flames of the empire…
Can the church or other established faiths stop us?

Yes and no…. yes because depending upon their location the church might succeed in stopping some of our fellow brothers and sisters from seeing the battles we fight. But actually some of our congregations pray in the very churches / temples / mosques… that others worship in... praying for the very force we support to achieve more.

No, because many of us choose not to enter customary places of worship but rather watch or be in the very premises where our devils practice their mastery. And yes, many give huge offerings to be able to do so every year. They might not appear to be … but there are many who are in league with the devils that I align with amongst church leaders. I personally know one such person. In fact his whole family approve of the devils and their deeds.

My own family members are yet to believe. I’ve got a wife who is too weak to have any more faith. When she sees me during times of devilish celebrations she shivers and breaks down. It hurts to see her suffer…mentally and the liver problem she has doesn’t make things easier.
My brother went astray many years ago following an army of failures. I truly feel sorry for him and his adopted sect. They have goals but it’s like they always end up firing blanks.

My parents? They just don’t care. Only hope remains for my daughter…but I leave it up to her to make a choice…though a little direction from my side wouldn’t hurt…

I must admit that a couple of strong adversaries do exist to bring us down. Much was accomplished in the past year except for an important battle that was lost at the end of one epic war. But a new period has come again. Glory is what we the supporters of Manchester United F.C. also known as The Red Devils wish for again from the team.
The English Premier League season is in. Whom do you support?

Notes:
> My wife does not have liver problems. She supports Liverpool F.C. who had problems in winning any major trophy last year.

> My brother belongs to the Christian Presbyterian sect. He supports Arsenal F.C. They really do fail to live up to their chosen name when it really matters.

> My mother supports Michael Chang the now retired tennis player. My little daughter and father enjoy watching Mr. Bean.

Image: Silhouette of Sir Alex Ferguson with a pitchfork.
Next time I’ll add him chewing gum. I’d forgotten to add this important attribute.
Source: In-house blinddayze Art.

Ready, Get Set, Read!!!

An uneventful week has gone by again as far as external activities are concerned [as usual]. Living alone I pretty much stay indoors after I get off from office and in the weekends too I’m mostly confined inside the four walls of my little rented room. Of course on Sundays I TRY to make it to church in the mornings…..but even on those occasions of failure to do so, I do end up at a good Reverend’s place and get to enjoy a tasty Mizo meal which they always generously offer…although I always politely weakly refuse.. saying I’ve already taken breakfast…etc..

Since I don’t own a TV I spend a good amount of time sitting in front of my computer. And this ancient machine of mine has served me well. It belonged to my brother who bought it while he was supposedly studying some computer course many many years ago in the same institute with
Bill Gates. Sadly today I’m not the brother of a billionaire. Okay sorry for the exaggeration….but the monitor and the 2.1 set of speakers are at least 9 and a half years old [passed on from my brother] and the main computer assembled about 4 years ago. The hard disk being the latest part to be replaced. Still, my machine is a far cry from the one I enjoy working on in office with a slick TFT monitor and Core2duo processor + loads of RAM.

My home computer is not connected to the World [wide web] so sitting in front of it does not include surfing the internet. However it serves well for watching movies – three of Jim Jarmusch’s films being the latest that I’ve enjoyed thoroughly. I would highly recommend Down by Law, Broken Flowers and Coffee & Cigarettes for those new to this independent film maker’s work.

Besides films and music… since four days ago my hard disk also happily contains the contents of a Gutenberg project cd [’03 edition] which I dug out while clearing up my cd/dvd suitcase. I’d long forgotten about this collection of [eBooks] literature which contains approximately 8000 titles in it. [HTML and text file format].


So, unless it’s only Sidney Sheldon books you’re interested in, just surf over online to Project Gutenberg and get free access to 25,000 and counting works of literature!!! It would also be a nice thing to contribute your own works or in the form of monetary help and various other means.

Alrighty then, this post is getting long rather quickly….going to get back to my Gutenberg treasure -- reading The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne …just completed Edgar Rice Burroughs – The Return of Tarzan….[I’ve always wanted to be like Tarzan in the comic books—sadly having long hair is the only thing I’ve accomplished]. Okay so once again…from Aristotle to Emile Zola’s writings.. it’s all in there!!!! Feel free to read the available literature…..pun intended.
Go Gutenberg!!!

...Justice for All...reality or fiction?

I'd joined a Facebook group about 15 days back - Justice for Professor Sabharwal...as i type these words i hope that a good number of people are there right now near India Gate [New Delhi] supporting the protest...

The Facebook group profile has the following words...

Yesterday - Jessica Lal, Priyadarshini Mattoo and Nitish Katara
Today - Professor Sabharwal
Tomorrow - Me, You and Our Family

The Late Prof. Harbhajan Singh Sabharwal Served as a Professor of Political Science at Madhav College, Ujjain (M.P). At the time of his murder on the 26th of August’2006. He, while on student election duty, was allegedly murdered in cold blood on the fateful day.

It was just a day after i joined the group that i read an article here in The Telegraph, Kolkata "Professor case in sabotage rut "

....It's sad...it's bad..Forget about arresting the guilty..."Some others were rewarded. Manoj Singh, the then city superintendent of police who was accused of not trying to save the professor, was promoted as additional superintendent of Indore."

Click HERE to read more. [The Telegraph]

Music: Origins | Jubal Cain

Recently watched X-Men Origins | Wolverine and that’s why I’ve got the post title as above. So please X- cuse me for using this bold post title. I could make this post short & precise or long & interesting….but since I don’t feel I’m good enough a writer to achieve either, I’ll TRY to stick to the middle path. Wait. Don’t think even this is going to be possible. Lost all writing skills - whatever I had over the last 6 years. Blame it on the habit of simply ticking off answers from multiple choices and not having to write up credible looking answers on my answer sheets during exams. Alright enough of the intro…on to the main piece.

Why is rock and roll music associated with the devil? Or…there is no such thing as Gospel Rock….There is NO music ever used or approved in the worship of the Holy Spirit…. Besides coming across such statements, I’ve also always wondered about the consistent use of the 5 pointed star [inverted]….goat’s head kind of imagery etc….in the album / merchandise artwork of metal and rock bands.

It was early this year that I started getting a little deep into trying to read and learn more about the link between music and the devil so to say. Google up subjects like this and one instantly gets so many links on it. So for awhile I got interested in something “off topic” -- the Illuminati and their mission to create a new world order or world domination -- which I myself have been planning all along. [ I gave up my world domination attempt when all my mission plan data files were wiped out -- my hard disk crashed last month.]

So anyways back to music… it was an odd dark stormy afternoon in May at the office, [please note: during spare time :-) ] … that I came across the ultimate webpage that gave me the answer I was looking for regarding the Satan & Music equation. Just as I was about to click the icon on my browser to save the site on my list of favorites the power went off and my UPS failed to give a power back up. Sorry I just lied. It was my boss who came to me at that moment and said that some of our sites were being infected with an “iframe.inf” virus…and they’d traced someone in Russia who was injecting the malicious code. They wanted me to fly up to the hacker’s location and exterminate him. However, my body was in no condition to execute such an important mission. [I was recovering from the effects of a street food eating incident gone wrong] Whew!!! thus I was able to carry on reading the contents of the web page.

Now, the subject I was reading on the site was not at all on music. It was on Freemasonry and Catholicism by Max Heindel [1865-1919]. Part two of this exposition titled The Masonic Legend mentions that the Masonic legend “has points of variance from as well as agreement with the Bible story”…. [Genesis]. And it was here that I read that Jubal Cain [a descendant of Cain] “originated music”. At this point I assumed that Jubal Cain was someone who only appeared on this Masonic Legend. Later on I came across another site which mentioned "In pagan traditions, musical instruments are invented by gods or demi-gods, such as titans. In the Bible, credit is assigned to antediluvian patriarchs, for example, the descendants of Cain in Genesis 4:21...”

I read the line again. Back home I opened my Bible and looked up the mentioned verse in Genesis chapter 4. Now, I did go to Sunday School as a child and learnt about the creation of the earth, Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, The flood & Noah’s ark, The Tower of Babel and so on but honestly I never went back to reading or paying attention to Genesis 4:21..”…Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.” and verse 22 ...“...Tubal-Cain who forged all kinds of tools….” [Please note: I mention these points from a Christian/Biblical perspective] So, there we have it!!! Jubal Cain invented the harp and the flute…and I guess he and his sons also made other musical instruments. Thus justifying my post title: Music: Origins… :-) and yes, Tubal Cain too; important man….first man -- inventing tools to make work easier.[Note: The man in the image is NOT Jubal Cain.]

On trying to read more about Jubal Cain on the internet I also came across a band called Jubal Cain :-) [They have a pretty funny FAQ section.] I guess naming ones band after the father of musical instruments does not guarantee musical “rockstardom”…Just Google or Bing up the band.

X-Men Origins…love the opening sequence that follows just after Logan [Wolverine] kills his real father…Oh, wait; I’ve not mentioned the Devil and music equation thing have I?

Back to the FreeMasonic legend / Max Hiendel part. In the Bible, Cain’s father = Adam.
Not so in the Masonic Legend.

The following lines - extract from Hiendel’s exposition:

“…It [Masonic Legend] states that Jehovah created EVE, that the Lucifer Spirit SAMAEL united with her but that he was ousted by Jehovah and forced to leave her before the birth of her son Cain, who was thus THE SON OF A WIDOW. Then Jehovah created ADAM, to be the husband of Eve, and from their union Abel was born. Thus from the beginning there have been two kinds of people in the world. One begotten by the Lucifer Spirit Samael and partaking of a semi-divine nature …..”

So, this particular legend [ for me] is how I believe all these Rock Music = Devil’s Music kind of statements and stories have come to be made and told. After all, this Masonic legend states that the descendants of Lucifer invented musical instruments. Now there are other myths/stories to be read which link up the devil with music.

"Slightly less familiar are the Devil's musical exploits. He not only loves singing but is master of the violin, of which instrument of evil he is reputedly the inventor. By the same token he can give mastery of the violin, bartering infernal skill for the pupil's soul.

These legends are related to the larger belief in the supernatural origin of musical skill and individual songs." (Botkin, B. A., A Treasury of American Folklore, Crown Publishers, p. 718; Cf. The Devil and the Fiddle, Herbert Halpert, Hoosier Folklore Bulletin, Vol II (Dec., 1943).

However, again from a Christian perspective the issue regarding the use of musical instruments in worship is something that I have to read and learn more about to give a definite opinion.

I end with yet one more extract.

In the story of Genun or Jubal, Musical worship is treated as Satan's change agent to seduce God's people down into his dusty world where he lives and where God, in Genesis, assigned him. The following story has many parallels in Scripture often hidden in parable-words in which Jesus said the Truth of God was put in safekeeping from those who see "godliness as a means of financial gain."
Kenneth Sublett, Hohenwald, Tennessee

---------------------------------------------------------------------------Bibliography: [click on the links below to read more]
Freemasonry and Catholicism by Max Heindel [1865-1919]
Instrumental Worship in Music
Genun - Jubal - Musical Worship - Book of Adam and Eve

Image: Johann Martin Schleyer (1831-1912), photography from 1888http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JM_Schleyer_1888.jpg

Googoo Gaagaa Google!!!

Besides speaking on the phone.. and sending photos... Google Maps helps.. :-) Featured below is the area where my folks, little daughter & wife currently reside..


View 23.761350, 92.734940 in a larger map

Was "playing" inside Google Maps yesterday....and it's pretty fun to fiddle with in free time...creating labels, exploring areas where you've been, where you want to go..or maybe searching for ahem..someone's house...okay we are getting into intrusion of privacy [stalker] territory .. :-)

Once you've created your map..you get a code to embed.. just like embedding Youtube videos. Google is cool!!! Now about the intrusion of privacy part + Google. Yesterday i was reading some Freemason stuff..and after i few minutes ...i was immediatley getting ads for FreeMasonic clothing..whatever that is. [Ads appear as links to the site inside gmail-- the sponsored links]

So, back to the privacy.. exert from Michael Hyatt's blog.. "For all practical purposes, privacy is dead: get over it. Via Google, people can find out more about you in ten minutes than was possible in a lifetime ten years ago. You might as well intelligently feed the Google search engines with what you want people to know about you. You need to be smart about it, but you are in control."... [+ read more] (Michael's post regarding Twitter) Affirmative i say.

Another new? feature that i read about Google Image search is the added option inside Advanced Search: Usage Rights which includes options like "labeled for commercial reuse with modification" ..pretty neat . I did a random search with certain words and got some pretty good photos [high res too]... and also a good way to look up for images to spice up your blog post.
So i guess i should end with --- Enjoy the world wide web responsibly!! and usefully :-) Cheers.

Already July....time Flies

What did i do yesterday?...alone on a Sunday.. rain pouring down?

Well i aint no Lennon
and far from Cohen
Just a wannabe Dylan... so i picked up my guitar and tried to write a song...that goes..

It's already July
the rains have come...
Oh.. how time flies
under the sun.....

Said i'd be home
but here i am....
Speaking on the phone
from another land.... ----- to be continued :-)

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Watched a film called Into the Wild.....directed by Sean Penn. One word..Wow!.. this man can direct too...direct well. And good acting from the actors. [Great Soundtrack too...for PearlJam/Vedder fans.. Eddie Vedder songs in here are beautiful...]

And talking about Sean Penn... i have not yet seen his latest Oscar winning performance in Milk.. a film in which he portrays an American gay rights activist - Harvey Milk. Now out here in India the dropping of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that makes homosexuality illegal... is making news. I never even knew that it was "classified?" as a criminal act.

My opinions on this subject?.... I was briefly talking with a friend the other day on this issue. Now without beating around the bush....and at the risk of sound a little explicit. The Sodomy part = unnatural behaviour.


I know this is a sensitive issue and i'm not gonna say much more.
But this is my take on it .. ( Probably a very immature way of looking at it) But here goes..
Friends of the same sex. Normal. Having physical relationships [sodomy]?....Not normal.

Human teeth as can be seen in the image.. Canine, molars, Incisors... God gave us these different types so we can eat both Vegeterian and Non Vegeterian food. Animals...--Cows they don't have Canine / Incisors to cut into flesh. They have good teeth to chew veggies. ...herbivorous. Humans, omnivorous.

Now did God design our bodies for homosexual physical activity? No. Again at the risk of sounding crude... the male body only has the part for you know what and not THE OTHER part for well....

I will end my uneducated take on this subject but this is what i feel. It's definitely not a Criminal Act. Rather i think it's a Medical or rather Mental thing involved. Gays should be treated with respect and Care.
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Teeth image - courtesy: USA 2017[dot]com
....

Weakly [in]Activity Report

Activity One: Watching someone who's not there...

Recently got hold of a not so recent biographical film directed by Todd Haynes... called I'm not There. A film about Bob Dylan. Where he is portrayed by 6 different actors. Now, the interesting part.. [at least to me]---Included in the list of actors who portray Dylan are Christian Bale and [late]Heath Ledger - both starred in the film: The Dark Knight (Batman)]....Bale as Batman, Ledger as the Joker. Bob Dylan has a song called Jokerman...which i really like and i really like Heath Ledger's acting as the Joker in the Dark Knight. I've not heard the studio version[Jokerman] but i really like this live performance with this particular line up. Watch out for the part where Dylan has problems with the harmonica..

Activity Two: going back to The Beach

A brilliant first novel from Alex Garland which i'd read a couple of years back....Read it all over again.... Makes me want to pack my bags and go back packing... be a traveller and not a tourist...
....and we also have Leonardo Di Caprio in the film version...which was directed by Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle.. In my opinion the novel's better..

Activity Three: Case Study

Reading The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. I'd got hold of this book [pdf format] from an online source sometime back. Reading it again. I've sent a mail to the author asking him whether the pdf format of his book was made available online intentionally or is this a case of illegal reproduction.... Anyways this book has helped me a lot and i would be more than happy to give the online source of this book to others interested in reading it... Hopefully i'll get a reply from LeeStrobel.com

Manchester United messed up by Messi and company..

I'd been saving up the month of May to post only one great "victory post" ...after the Champions League final.. but not so...sadly, the Red Devils were beaten fair and square by Barcelona FC who were definitely the better team of the night. Anyways ManUtd. won the EPL, Carling Cup, FIFA Club World Cup.....

One new fact about Barcelona FC i learnt...which i like...notice the UNICEF logo in their team shirt?....i always wondered how come UNICEF was a sponsor...it's the other way round...unlike other teams which usually sport a sponsor logo in front of their jersey...Barcelona FC donate a part of their earnings to UNICEF....hence the logo. However this is not to say that other football clubs don't do any "charity"...for example ManUtd. has it's Foundation programme...where it carries out this kind of work and activity..

Got some designs in my head for getting it printed out on Tees... though i still havent figured out a name for the apparel line..all the good names i come with starting with A seem to be taken already... :( .... Click HERE to see some of the stuff that i plan to put out...

And now...music...SCREAM ...Chris Cornell's latest album produced by Timbaland...i actually like some of the songs that he's worked out with Timbaland but now i guess the label wasn't that happy...well at least after the album was released and it didn't live upto expectations. In comes a man named Howard Benson...another producer...and he's produced or should we say re-produced the song Long Gone...and Cornell's site actually has it streaming with the words "rock version" after the song title...so in the end rock is what rules...

Now, this Howard Benson is also the man named to produce Creed's upcoming "re-union" album tentatively titled Full Circle... or maybe they should just call it "Let's make some money again" ..lol. I'm sure it's gonna be a good album...Howard Benson's producing credits is a long rich list...which includes Seether's Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces which i got hold of recently only..and i really like...

Okay to see or rather hear the difference ... what a producer can do to a band's/artist's sound check out the clips below...Chris Cornell's long gone...

Rock Version: [Howard Benson]



Timbaland's version....


So we now know the importance of a producer in the music industry... anyone in a band out there who happens to be reading this or if you've got friends planning to put out their music............ i happen to know someone who can get your music to another level....does not have his own personal site online now..but to listen to some of his personal music and work just click HERE... leave the first three tracks..some horrible vocals are in them...just listen to the last two instrumentals...

Now..if you don't have any musical skills or talent...maybe the producer can still help you to put out a good record..but don't dream of doing live shows....and tours..wait wait....hmmmm i guess the lip sync option is there...

Addicted to A's

As the temperature is going up here in Kolkata I’ve decided to get myself some light tees suitable for wear in the hot / humid clime. Plain white t-shirts can get rather boring sometimes so I came up with a couple of designs to get printed on the the tees….which I will be putting out in stores through my new clothing company called A-One Apparel.

Featured here in the pic I’ve posted are shirts with my newly conceived Blind Dayze smiling skull…just a personal thing..i love music and art so that’s why the sketching pencil + the musical note and I think the skull here looks pretty blind…. So watch out for my designs in stores soon!!… The pink shirt with butterflies?…well I figured that maybe one of the Bollywood actors could wear it [Saif Ali Khan..Hrithik?] and make me some money…since the masses will soon follow suit and buy from my clothing line…

Okay going a little overboard here…I really don’t have a clothing company…but that’s what im going to call it…A-1 Apparel. I’m “addicted” to A’s….like that lady who produces all those soaps on Indian televison…the K obsessed one…maybe I should add some extra A’s in for good luck….Sale! Sale!…A-1 maal from A-One Apparel..sale saaaalee…hmm yes even my “Sale” should have extra A’s …Saaaaaaale…yes that should do ….

Oh, and Manchester United won last night!!!.....yes!!!...still on top of the table in the Premier League...and hopefully that's where we will stay till the end.....

°F going up...weather wise and other-wise..

Still in the 9/11 atmosphere... I've not watched Fahrenheit 9/11  but will do so this evening..last night it was Bowling for Columbine. ...must get more Michael Moore stuff. Marilyn Manson also makes an  appearance in this documentary [Bowling for Columbine]....     

It would be nice if Webster Tarpley and Moore team up for some  good documentary in  the future....and what else..  LOG.......yes LOG would be a good band to put up a soundtrack for the Tarpley/Moore project.  The men in LOG have put out a good load of songs on politics.  

Their latest offering in Wrath....love it..it's been up for awhile   ..[all the songs streaming in their myspace playlist...]  Got to get myself a copy soon....

Suicide...& Redemption

Currently enjoying listening to Metallica's Death Magnetic album.......especially like the song "Suicide & Redemption" ..instrumental track which is i guess a couple of seconds short of running 10:00 minutes long.. However the opening riff instantly reminded me of a Shinedown song...think the song Devour...i think it's just a really  small riff / section....similar kind of sound in there but anyways these things happen....

I wonder what finally happened to the Joe Satriani Vs Coldplay case regarding the song Viva la Vida.....guess the case has gone cold...[pun intended]...and since i have nothing hot to blog about i might as well stop here... Oh, but im reading a nice little book called 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA by Webster Griffin Tarpley  

Wordpress

.....Trying out Wordpress...blinddayze.wordpress.com.......but i think i'm gonna stick to using Blogger as a personal blog...... And hopefully Wordpress  as another platform for another purpose... hopefully a good one...

Re-Unions ......New unions...

After reading news bits here and there regarding possible chances of a Faith No More reunion, i finally got to read about the reunion becoming a reality......without guitarist Jim Martin 1983-93....handling guitar duties will be Jon Hudson, who played on the 1997 album - "Album of the Year"....
[Learnt about this on Blabbermouth]

Next stop--Mr.Big!!!! ...learnt about them "reuniting" through the diary of the one and only Ross Halfin [photographer/diarist/humanitarian]...and i quickly got a confirmation with a quick google search on other sites... This Mr.Big reunion will feature the original line up!!!....hope these guys put out a new album...

And last but not the least...the "new-union"...a band called ChickenFoot..
A super-group if one can call it that..featuring Sammy Hagar on vocals, Joe Satriani on guitar, Chad Smith on drums and Michael Anthony on bass guitar....their MySpace page has just a 54 seconds "teaser" at this moment....but their logo is nice :-) : ...do not click on the logo...don't..don;t..








The reason behind the re-unions??...money?...music?? or just to have a good time with old bandmates + make money??...don't know myself..maybe i will after forming a great or not so great multi-platinum/multi-award winning band and then breakup the band...

Se7en etc.......

7 DEADLY SOCIAL SINS

Politics without Principle
Wealth without Work
Commerce without Morality
Pleasure without Conscience
Education without Character
Science without Humanity
Worship without Sacrifice

–Gandhi
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It's been awhile

इव बीन रीडिंग सम रेअल्ली इन्तेरेस्तिंग स्तुफ्फ....ओं फ्रीमसोंस... सीम्स थे थे व्होले ऑफ़ थे उनितेद स्टातेस इस रन बी थे इल्लुमिनती एंड फ्रीमसोंस रेअल्ली सतरंगे थिंग्स.....एंड आईएम नो अ १००% सुर ठाट नो ह्यूमन हस लंदेद ओं थे मून...ओके थिस शौल्ड फॉर नो...विल पोस्ट मोरे ओं थिस टोपिक इन थे देस तो काम.......hope people can read this........कूल न्यू फेअतुरे हियर इन थिस ब्लॉग टाइपिंग इन थे हिन्दी.....and yes Manchester United carry on with their winning ways in the F.A. Cup...what else?...oh beware of the Barack Obama administration.....
i've gotta keep an eye on this man... :-) ...a wolf in sheep's clothing...a puppet in the hands of एविल में .....अन्योने इन्तेरेस्तेद इन थिस स्तुफ्फ प्लेस फील फ्री तो शेयर व्तेवर दौकुमेंट्स एंड लीड्स यू माय हवे....

ProcrastiNATION..comic strip..

First Bandh in
Beautiful Bengal yesterday...guess the political parties have made a resolution to organise one once every month and break last year's record...okay joke..there maybe more serious matters behind all these bandhs so let me not comment more on it..

Anyways heres the first of a comic strip "ProcrastiNation Chronicles"....hopefully more will come up if don't keep off continuing them...

Chak de India and BLS

Got a Vodafone "Filmy Recharge" the other day...for which i got a Chak De..VCD free....the other day someone at my office got some other funny superhero movie free...the one with Hrithik Roshan i guess...i think i got a better offer with this Shah Rukh movie...had never seen this film before and was pleasantly surprised to see that the hockey match scenes were realistically well shot....oh and theres a mizo character too...Mary Ralte...

Also got hold of Black Label Society's "Doom Troopin -European Invasion (2006)" DVD... a real treat to watch Zakk Wylde's extended guitar solos especially on songs like In this River - which he has dedicated to Dimebag Darrell. Good performance by James Lomenzo...who is now handling bass duties in Megadeth. I had actually ordered Boozed, Broozed and Broken-Boned but it wasnt available yet so took this one instead but im really happy i did

......watching this dvd has made me want to do some Zakk Wylde artwork...as i was searching the web for a good reference image of Zakk with a Dean Razorback i came across this image of him.......bloody....i have a vague memory of watching a Mithun film...(yea the disco dancer)...playing a guitar and his fingers bled because he was shredding really fast!!!!...

Manchester United 3 - 0 Chelsea

No Monday morning blues courtesy The Red Devils beating Chelsea last night.. not that i'm prone to have "monday morning blues" .....

Manchester United 3 - 0 Chelsea........sweet victory... and were it not for the two goals from Ronaldo which he was denied, the first one a controversial corner...courtesy Rooney & Giggs which Ronaldo put in with a beautiful header and the second where he was called offside.. (replays indicate he was not) the score would and should have been ManUtd 5...and Chelsea ZERO..
All the RedDevils had a good day in office...was really happy to see Park Ji-Sung playing so well and was hoping Tevez would come in ....anyways Great Match...Liverpool watch out..Arsenal?..bye bye..

Talking of controversial / disputed free kicks..check THIS out...Youtube..

Let's Blog

Hmmmmm day2 on blogworld.. nothing to
talk
blog about..here is a photo i took sometime early last year....the church is St.James Church, better known as Jora Girja here in Kolkata....never got to find out what was going up in smoke..on the other side ..

I'm not much of a photographer but you can see some cool photos taken by a person called Indranil Ray....HERE ..he is also a die hard fan of the Mohun Bagan football club... We came to know each other when i saved him from the hands of some East Bengal fans who were beating him up..i'm a black belt in karate, taekwondo and all forms of martial arts.. Okay this last bit is not true...

He is a colleague where i work ..sorry Play!!!... FestoonMedia...

Year 2thousandNine

Winners make The Days Count ! Loosers Count The Days !! ......i'd Ctrl+C'd from somewhere and Ctrl+V'd this line into my status message in gmail.....to start the new year...and i really did not notice the spelling mistake...or rather the wrong use of the word "loosers" for this particular sentence..which should be "Losers"... my brother noticed and i promptly corrected it!..

Related to this "loser" incident..this morning as i was reading Blabbermouth.net i came across a post where Lemmy of MOTÖRHEAD talked about "saving" a female friend from getting a tattoo that read "Born to Loose"........:-)

Click here to go n read Blabbermouth ...Lemmy story..

So readers who are reading my first post here in "09..remember when to lose or to add the extra O...lose/loose in sentences.....really different meanings...