Of Beginnings and Endings

Thought of giving this post a Shit Happens title but decided to go with the above heading..

2013 in January I had two friends P and T travel over to write some songs... by December I hoped that we'd have at least a couple of tunes worth recording in a studio. Didn't happen... instead of a studio, on the 27th of December 2013 I was in a station in Kolkata.. a police station with the same two friends - P and T. Arrested. Reason? 'Manhandling a taxi driver'... or in the words of the officer, "Taking the law into your own hands"

That morning, a crow had pooped on P's shoulder. I told him it's considered good luck..... Or was it bad luck? That night it just so happened that the bada saab of Park Street police station saw my friend talking to the taxi driver who'd refused to take us to our destination. The officer was in plain clothes, his ride was just behind the taxi that my friend P was having a chat with..

Never thought that the situation would escalate to the level that it did. T and I were just watching... initially amused at the scene unfolding before us..

( note: 'stock' photo - a Kolkata cab driver from my personal library. The one on the night was 25 years old and looked a bit like the evil Vaas from Far Cry 3 )

For the record, voices were raised, shirt sleeves rolled up and collars pulled but no punches were thrown (yet) between P and the taxi driver... but the bada saab from Park Street police station was all charged up.. Afterall it was Park Street.. a crowd was gathering.. and he was there to ensure law and order prevailed.... "Do you know who I am?", he thundered as P tried to explain the situation...(un)lucky taxi driver was the fifth or sixth who'd refused to take us for a reasonable fare to our desired destination..

Or maybe it was good luck in the end...the crow shit bit. ..long story short, bada saab (OC of Park Street police station) called his people and we were all arrested....taxi driver included..taken to the station..our id's noted...questioned...given a speech.... and then released... of course... a little cash was involved.. demanded by one of the cops who was finally in charge of getting us to sign a paper... by then we were in no mood to protest...FIR? not tonight sir.. I've got a train to catch tomorrow...

On hindsight, wish I had the presence of mind to record all that happened using my phone camera.... 

Our dinner before the whole incident did involve some alcohol...but the fact is that none of us were drunk..and taxi drivers refusing passengers is a prevalent problem in Kolkata...and the cops know it..otherwise things could have been really ugly for all involved... 

The money demanding cop in uniform himself was unable to flag down a cab for us once we left the station! He was successful only after standing in the middle of the road... As we learnt later, taxi drivers do have a right to refuse passengers at night... But asking for way more than double the normal fare is out of order..It seems city traffic police have/had formed a Taxi Refusal Squad during puja season.. well they were not present on Park Street by year end...

Onto other matters...while I've been through the 'I do's' and done with mine, earlier in December 2013, I flew up to the hills to ensure that my brother's marriage went smoothly... 

I was in-charge of alcohol, flowers and security.

For those who can't read Mizo the sign says "*Mizo people should strictly strictly get married in traditional Mizo dress" ... My brother was in Western clothing. Had he been an actual Westerner it would've been OK..Thankfully, nothing untoward happened...and the marriage ceremony went peacefully.

Mizo youth are highly influenced by Western, Korean and Japanese fashion these days which is affecting the local fashion market. I've been told even the chief minister of Mizoram has been criticized for wearing clothes and suits created by designers from mainland India.. 

Anyway, as they say... all's well that ends well. I do miss the hills and hope to complete my house up there soon... but right now the hills in Far Cry 3 are calling me...Didn't really like the ending(s) but gonna playthrough again.... Maybe setting the difficulty level at the highest will result in being satisfied with the ending..

*Disclaimer: This an unofficial translation and may not be accurate.

Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a book i've always wanted to read but have never read yet...
This post is not about the book..apologies to any one who has landed here because of my blogpost title.

Ever since Flickr announced there's 1 Terabyte of free space for all users i've been trying to make it a point to upload more frequently..Last Sunday afternoon was a memorable day since i finally shot some closeups of a butterfly, a dragonfly and a fly.. which i've never done before.

Feel rewarded for skipping my afternoon siesta and opting to go for a walk camera in hand.. I do not own a DSLR so capturing these insects with my point and shoot was a big win for me.. I say this because with zoom lens fitted on a good camera one can afford to stay far away from the subject / target... zoom in and get good shots..

 

*click on photos for larger size.. absolutely free for personal / non commercial use*

Now... not that other types of photographers are any less.....with my recent experience i'm thinking..nature / wildlife photographers must be the most hardworking ones...For example..fashion photographers pretty much have good control.. their subjects..and other vital conditions...street photography ..even though one might not be able to control subjects still ample scope for getting that special shot which you might be satisfied with...

Anyway from my small experience in capturing  the butterfly and dragonfly.. i had to wait for them to land near me to get a good shot.. the kind of Macro shots i desired.... I'm sure..With a good lens i'd have captured more decent shots by staying a good five to six feet away from the plants  they were landing on..

The Eagles sang...Learn to be Still..also pretty much the lesson i learnt that day.... Now i'm sure you've seen other awesome shots of insect closeups..but my dragonfly experience was awesome.. i captured it having lunch!!..

I even had to time to shoot a small video..Video capturing with my camera is bad :(  .....Was afraid the dragonfly would fly away so didn't go in closer plus the fact that i wanted to get some still shots resulted in the short clip.. Would've gone full on Nat Geo on this moment otherwise..

( Excuse me for the totally inappropriate audio background i've added for the video above...little snippet.. my friend Tone's guitar playing for a song from my upcoming album...)

Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace... my mantra for that day (also the name of a Foo Fighters album)..minus the echoes..with patience and a little grace to compose the shot.. the butterfly actually landed on my foot! As much as I'd like to display a photo with a Cobra coiled around my leg...this for now...

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So, all the photos i captured on the same afternoon..and at the same location..felt pretty lucky!
The butterfly gathered nectar from flowers of the small shrub on the left..the dragonfly and the fly hung out on the big plant..

 

Before i click Publish...might as well add in a couple of more photos

shot in the past..Flying creatures..

Short video clip of the bee with a mate getting drunk on whatever it's getting from the lotus..again featuring some music from my upcoming music venture...(hope it happens..)

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Drug induced 'post production' of the photo below...normal capture here

"The Reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings" - J.M Barrie, The Little White Bird

give me some wings!...or should i drink Red Bull?

Destination Set to Nowhere

So i was gonna title this blog post Destination Anywhere but all the Italian food i was eating made me change it to Destination Set to Nowhere - also the name of a concept album by Italian band Vision Divine.

Spent the last Sunday of September riding pillion on a Bullet....it was a divine experience..
The day was supposed to involve a gang of friends but it was down to just two of us in the end. I'd even cancelled a request to preach at a church...don't know why our friends bailed out.. maybe it's the rising price of fuel?

A good long ride can clear your mind, restore your faith and use up a lot of fuel

We decided to ride anyway..not that i feel old but this quote.. 

Young Riders Pick A Destination and Go...Old Riders Pick a Direction And Go

..pretty much sums up how we proceeded...no destination just a direction..Out of the city, on and on..straight road with no end and then Rajesh decided to go off the main road...

We were attacked by two wild apes... i believe they had shape shifting powers too..However, since it was a Sunday they decided not to eat us.. well as you can see not true but we went a little crazy in the forest..maybe it was the deafening silence..or us feeling right at home in the trees....Finally we made our way out of the grove.. and back to a road.... welcomed by a herd of cows...

 Four wheels moved the body. Two wheels move the Soul.

Soul happy; but stomach was empty...We decided it was high time we lunched.... so after getting back onto the main highway.. we rode on in search of a decent dhaba...And find one we did!

...and not disappointed with the food...plus drink..

of course we did not get drunk.

Truth be told we basically rode more than 60 kilometeres out of the city just to have lunch at this super dhaba....After the meal...we both agreed that our mission for the day was accomplished and decided to head back home....on the way we stopped for a while near a lake...

We were lucky enough to catch some fishermen who'd just come in with their fresh catch...Out of the water..into the weighing balance..into our hands..Rajesh decided to take one home...

(Sorry for the colourless photos above.. just trying to make the photos artsy ...)

After the aquatic break, back on the road...came across this...

beyond a doubt..Transformers exist!

To all our friends who couldn't make it... hope you are present next time around..

The motorbike ride reminded me of childhood days..riding BMX cycles with friends..just enjoying the ride..no destination as such..even then, i remember we used to go for long rides down winding roads...

Anyone up for a cross country ride let me know...on Cycle..i'm ready to get the proper ride..
...right now it's pretty much city exploration with my Toxin FireFox..

 

work to eat
eat to live
live to ride
ride to work

Peace, Gratitude & Free Software

So, 21st September happens to be the International Day of Peace
(Observed by All UN Member States)...

wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_of_Peace

..dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence....In 2013, for the first time, the Day was dedicated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to peace education, the key preventive means to reduce war sustainably...

 Today also happens to be (drum roll......) Software Freedom Day. That's right..

 

Visit the SFD website: www.softwarefreedomday.org

SFD is a worldwide celebration of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Our goal in this celebration is to educate the worldwide public about the benefits of using high quality FOSS in education, in government, at home, and in business -- in short, everywhere!

Don't know if there's anything happening out here in India recognizing SFD..

Anyway on to other days.. this is what i noticed on my Firefox home..

 World Gratitude Day is September 21.

Today also happens to be my birth day... On gratitude..well what can i say it's good to be alive. Recently finished playing Borderlands 2 (main missions) and i'm happy...or as Borat would say.. Great Success!

 Well a couple of side missions are left but i pretty much enjoyed playing as

Axton the commando.. caught The Hangover Pt. II on TV the other day and i noticed this..

 

by default Axton in Borderlands 2 ain't bald and doesn't sport a beard...but i chose

my custom skin as seen above....now...Zack Galifianakis as Alan Garner in the Hangover II.. bazinga!

this important observation prompted me to create the graphic below..

with all the difficulties that i faced in Borderlands playing solo.. felt it was apt..

 

I tend to think of myself as a one man wolfpack

(Zack / Alan Garner in the Hangover Part I had a head full of hair.. )

click here to watch the scene where he gives the wolf-pack speech.

and then it occurred to me that it would look good on a t-shirt...
maybe make another one..which led to the graphic below..

 I’d like more of the world go back to being wild.

Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement recently.

I pulled out the quote from this old interview..Awesome work and awesome white hair he has...

(Do not mistake the above graphic as a portrayal of Narendra Modi or the KFC man..)

Have been re-watching cartoons from Studio Ghibli.
Hayao Miyazaki is the co-founder of Studio Ghibli and director of many of its films.

So next up on my list.. some folks with awesome beards.. Zakk Wylde, Gandolf, Confucius,

Chris Adler, Jesus Christ, Leonardo da Vinci, Dave Grohl, ...

If you've come this far...Get a yourself a new t-shirt..

by clicking this link and downloading the file. Well, you'll have to find a printer first..
to print the graphic - the One Man Wolf Pack..
(Vector PDF file - scalable without loss in quality)
 

Like a Photograph...

cause today's World Photography Day...

A post with some photos from my flickr....and a couple of songs about photographs..

my daughter hardly studying..

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lotus stamen.. there's a small lotus pond in front of our house
so it's a constant source for images like the above..

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Def Leppard with their Photograph song...

I'm out of luck, out of love
Gotta photograph, picture of
Passion killer, you're too much...

in high school i had a crush on a girl who was a
passion killer..she was too much..

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we don't have any pets but we do have a lot of lizards..

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My watermelon man in Kolkata... i used to have him on speed dial..
thankfully my meth melon addiction days are over..
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Flying High... one of the times when i wished i had
a real good DSLR equipped with awesome telescopic lens in my hands...
yes i remember that time.. i also wished i could fly..high high high..

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reflection: Sun~Flowers

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Filter with Fades Like A Photograph .

Photographs taken, 
Like memories of you, they disappear.
Colors of your eyes, they fade with time 
They just can't stay clear.

fading photographs? today it's mostly HD photos and you can save them on the cloud..
Dropbox, Flickr...etc. no excuse for that crashed hard drive now..

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Do the Dew..
my point-n-shoot camera is decent enough for macro shots

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captured with camera phone.... i've got a fear of flying in them airplanes..
 flying coffins like Captain Haddock would say..

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Nickleback with their Photograph

Look at this photograph
Everytime I do it makes me laugh...

These days if you think you look funny in a photograph and
don't want others to laugh at you press delete

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Maniktala crossing in Kolkata..... miss the place..
the only Indian city with the spacious Ambassador taxis and trams..

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this photo pretty much sums up my life...place where i'm in now...
good place to retire..

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sadly for me.. it aint my bike..
Want to join the the oldest existing Royal Enfield Bullet club in India? Go to Aizawl..

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Michael Stipe's R.E.M with Camera

Will you be remembered? Will she be remembered? 
Alone in a crowd a bartered lantern borrowed 
If I'm to be your camera then who will be your face? 

note to self..and dear readers: mature songwriters don't like writing about photographs...
they write about the Camera(s)....and the films :)

Now seriously here's a Paul Simon song... Kodachrome..

Kodachrome 
You give us those nice bright colors 
You give us the greens of summers 
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah! 
I got a Nikon camera 
I love to take a photograph 
So Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away

if you've got time, do search for the video where Paul sings the above song with Garfunkel in Central Park.. good live performance..

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here's a real photograph ..my mother and brother..(1982?)
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Although i don't upload very often ..more of my uploads over here.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/blinddayze/
Feel free to use them..
Most under a Creative Commons license...
 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en

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Fidelity Hi and Lo

Sunday, 3:00 in the AM, watched Sound City.  A film directed by Mr. Dave Grohl. I'd given a listen to all the songs in Real to Reel the soundtrack to Sound City before. I liked the songs but after watching the documentary i'm spinning the whole album again..love them now!.... well there's nothing spinning...just my CPU processing compressed bytes of audio data with the help of an application meant to play mp3 audio format.

Neve8028 Console in Sound City (now installed in Dave Grohl's private recording studio.)

If you haven't already, do watch Sound City...  learn a little about THE Neve console... how Nevermind was recorded and more... Must watch for music lovers, musicians, sound engineers, audiophiles...

live tracking .... Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at Sound City back in the day...

Recording was analog, organic.. hi fidelity gear involved.. these days you got a laptop and a couple of audio apps and  you can go ahead... At the most, the only piece of extra hardware you'd need would be a sound card for your computer..

..or you could use a portable recorder like the H1 and record...Embedded below.. the result of my efforts yesterday.. a demo track for my upcoming album.. I've succeeded in recording a 6:00 minute pop song! Reminds me of the time i met a "musician" who believed if you had "long song" it was progressive..!! Dream Theater aspirations....



I'm no Dylan ... far from a Leonard Cohen ...but i hope the good folks at Orange Byte Studios with whom i've made a deal with will help in the future when a proper recording is done..and make at least the music listenable.. or maybe i could go raw.. real to reel with the help of friends..

I've been planning to get a music album out since forever.. just want to beat Axl Rose' record ..time he took in releasing Chinese Democracy ... like what..  6 years +? in-spite of all the financial resource and musical talent he must've had...

Anyway.. These days...either listen to digitally polished pristine recordings of sh!T or try to be selective and curate your playlist .....or you could Play safe.. and listen to classic songs... or....listen to albums that were recorded at Sound City studios... by artists like Neil Young .. Nirvana..Tom Petty...Rage Against The Machine..Fleetwood Mac..

The Devil Knows My Name

Sometimes life makes decisions for you... i heard someone say.. on the TV. Don't remember which show it was.. but definitely was sitting on the Comedy Central channel. ..And i guess it's happening to me.. not much of the comedy part....but decisions.. or maybe the devil knows my name..

Rain finally down from the sky which has been great...not So great.. Black Sabbath's 2013 offering... 13. To be honest with Tony and co. .. am yet to give 13 a proper listen except for the God is Dead? track which has been out on the internets for awhile...

Brad Wilk' on drums in place of Bill Ward.. Sure is sad that Bill isn't playing.. It's kind of strange that Black Sabbath chose Brad Wilk (RATM / Audioslave) of all the drummers in the world..I'm thinking it's gotta to do with Brad's connection to the number 3 .. Cause this is what i found on his wiki..

Wilk has mentioned a weird connection to the number three throughout his life, and little "3"'s are plastered all over his drumkit, and as well as in the liner notes for Rage Against the Machine's third album, The Battle of Los Angeles. In an interview with Modern Drummer Wilk said "Ever since I was eight or nine I've gravitated to the number three. It's something that has always been a really heavy number for me. It's tattooed on my arm, and I count in threes. Everyone in school was taught two, four, six, eight, ten- I'd count in threes in the way I'd walk, even in the decisions I'd make. It was all based on threes," and also incorporates 3 into his playing.

Anyways.. if a trio of 60 year olds can still churn out heavy heavy.. i've got hope. Just need more fine tuning .. same goes for my calligraphy..

Flickr's had some tuning and they're offering 1 TB space for your photography .... my Flickr storage status...
You have used < 1% of your 1 TB ...lot more bytes free. So here's some new uploads of old photos..

+  +

 

 little more over here

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