Thursday was one of the greatest evenings I have ever had. Me and goru headed out to Hard Rock Cafe to witness the performance of Think Floyd. Of course expectations were high as it was a Pink Floyd tribute band and we had been waiting for over a week for this. Add to that the un-certainty that we may be thrown out because we were not a “couple”. The band that night chiefly consisted of
ABHISHEK MATHUR : GUITAR & VOCALS
ANINDO BOSE : KEYBOARDS & COMPUTERS
CHINTAN KALRA : DIRECTOR, BASS & VOCALS
SUROJIT DEV : DRUMS
NICOLAS GIORDANI : SAXOPHONES
ROHIT KULKARNI : GUITAR & VOCALS
VASUNDHARA : VOCALS
Let me tell you that Chintan Kalra (of Parikrama fame; pictured above) not only looks like Roger Waters but sings like one too. In fact you can think of him as a bulkier waters or a thinner Springsteen. Anyways, the guy was a showman!!
The gig was to begin at 9:30 but started at 10:30. We were apprehensive because we thought the gig starting late meant a smaller playlist (boy were we wrong). As expected, they began with Shine on you Crazy Diamond, playing all parts perfectly; complete with a Sax solo by Nicholas.
Next came Astronomy Domine. When you go to concerts with bands playing, you expect commercial Floyd songs mainly Coming back to life. Never though did I expect them to play songs from Animals. But they did!! Next came Sheep (at which point I went mad) followed by Dogs (completely Hysterical). They even played Echoes (both 1 AND 2 goddamnit!!) They followed it up with Poles apart from Division bell and the compulsory Another Brick in the wall (all parts) and mother and other songs.
Next came a short break (at which point I realize that they haven’t played a single song from Dark Side of the moon!! When they next came on stage, after a song, my ears are treated to the familiar heart beat.
They start out with Speake to me/Breathe, and play every single fucking song of the album. Time was awesome with an added solo but the greatest surprise of the evening was the great gig in the sky featuring vocals from Vasundhara. Well, I had never thought I would see an Indian woman perform this song live, but she did!! When she began singing, the crown went into hysterics. No one could believe the voice on that girl. She sang the song perfectly with her voice reaching highs and lows un-imaginable by a normal singer.
After that came Money and Us & them (again with Nicholas on the Sax), any colour you like, Brain damage and eclipse. The band finished off with Wish you were here at around 1:30 morning.
By the end of the concert, our throats were completely seized up and we were in a state of shock. Next morning, I could recollect events from the previous night like a dream. Couldn’t believe whether it was true or just a dream. All in all, it was an experience of a lifetime. It makes me shudder to think what would have happened if we had witnessed an actual Pink Floyd performance.
Turn offs: Girls wearing revealing clothes “sitting” on the front row, blocking the view and talking amongst themselves while the band performed. For me, it was sacrilege. Would prefer concerts in a less formal atmosphere, maybe at an open ground.
Another turn off – guys fetching drinks for these girls, pushing their way around while the band was playing, blocking views and disturbing the trance that we were in.
PS: We also learnt about the three “P”s in life we should all yearn to attain!!
LSD: Love, Sex aur Dhokha
Explicit.
That’s the word that comes into your mind when you think about the movie. And explicit not in a bad way but in a bold, “there should be more indian movies like this” way. Dibakar Bannerjee has dared to venture where Indian directors seldom dare to. The movie has everything from sex scenes (blurred, but clear nonetheless) to explicit abuses to a be-heading scene. When you see this movie, you think this is reality, because when people talk in real life, they talk the way shown in the movie, not the way they show in the other movies. When someone is going to kill someone, they don’t call them kutte(dog), they use much choicier language. Also bold was the choice to have a song named Tum nangi achhi lagti ho (You look good nude); tum kali si kachhi lagti ho (You look as un-ripe as a blossoming flower)
The movie follows 3 stories and one gets to know the characters well. Like his previous movies,
Bannerjee shows a few good facts about delhi (people start fighting over petty matters), everyone showing off how many people they know, how much money they have etc and how ruthless they can be.
If you are going to see the movie with any expectations about how a movie should be, either drop those expectations or don’t go; just don’t sit there complaining about what type of movie this is (for you Sonal). This is not your typical movie; in fact it is not even a proper movie. But it will affect you nonetheless. You won’t get bored anytime in the movie. You will either be laughing, be afraid or be horrified; but not bored.
Bose® In-Ear Headphones
I recently had the opportunity to use bose in-ear headphones and I was so moved by the experience that I had to write a post.
Firstly, I wanted to know what the hype is about bose products and why they cost so more. Maybe it was this because of which my expectations were high. These bose headphones are good, but not as good as I expected. If you’re looking for noise cancelling phones, these are not for you. They fight very lightly in the ears but are very very comfortable. I normally use the generic headphones that came with my phone, so I like to keep my equaliser to high bass. The bass on the bose is so strong I immediately had to turn my equaliser back to normal. I started off with sad but true by metallica and the depth of the sound blew me away. The song sounded amazing. Next I moved on to marooned from pink floyd’s division bell. Again, amazing, with the bass just a bit high, overwhelming the mid range. Coming back to life sounded amazing, the bass on high hopes
was physically irritating to my skull and I had to lower the volume. Bose also says on the package that the headphones produce “natural sound” which is not entirely true, as the music sounds enhanced in the low range.
To change the genre I turned to Dire Straits. I started off with So far away, continued to Money for nothing and finished off with brothers in arms. Again, normal songs sound good, the songs with already prominent bass tracks just overwhelm the mid-range. By this time i’ve listened to an hour worth of songs but the headphones are barely noticeable and so comfortable that if it wasn’t for the sound or the wires
hanging off, I would not even know they were there. I am normally not a fan of in-ear earphones, but these are really-really good.
Pros:
- Excellent sound quality
- Excellent comfort
- Good Bass
Cons:
- Bass sometimes too strong, overpowers mid-range
- Better earphones available within same range
If you listen to a song for the music, the clarity of the instruments, there may be better options available. If you want just loud music with thumping bass, this the the thing for you.
I myself have added the Klipsch Image S4 on my wishlist and will be getting these bad boys as soon as I get my pay at the end of the month.
How to become an Upper-Class Delhiite
I have a habit of bitching about the places in live in, or visit. Here’s another one
After staying in the NCR region for a long time and especially after going to various night clubs tonight, I have compiled here, a list of qualities you must possess to be a true Delhi-ite
1. Always talk in fake accented english, so as to make people think that you’re from outside(some other country), even though you spent most of your life talking in hindi. Talking in hindi now is for foolish, un-sophisticated people.
2. Always dress up in expensive branded clothes with the labels strategically placed so that everyone can see.
3. Always wear cool shades, even if it is pitch dark and you can’t see anything. Fashion comes before the ability to see.
4. Always carry your car keys in your hand with the brand name visible. Talk about how you used your sources to skip the waiting list on the car and how you’re already bored and are thinking of selling it off and buying a new one.
5. Set the ring tone of your mobile to the loudest setting possible and use the latest hip-hop song as the ring tone. Take your time answering the call.
6. When talking to people in public, always slip in words like “canada” or “UK”
7. Always let people know how rich your dad is and how many political contacts you have.
8. Remove all the speakers in your car except the woofer, so that when you pull up on a traffic signal only the beats of the hip hop song are audible to people around you.
9. Cover all the windows with illegal black film.
10. Alloy wheels are a must. It’s a shame to drive a car without alloys.
11. On turns always remember to use the hand brake so as to make a screeching sound with the wheels.
12. Start driving cars at the age of 12, this will help you hook up with the girls in your school.
13. Claim to like rock music, even though you have no idea what rock music is.
14. Go to discos with your girlfriend, pick up a fight with someone who tried to hit on your girlfriend and call all your important contacts to get the other guy/group of guys beaten up.
15. If you’re a girl, wear skimpy clothes and when you go to parties, hug and air kiss all the guys that you meet and know but never talk to otherwise. Change back into traditional clothes before entering home.
16. If you’re a guy, brag about how many girls you have bedded and how things didn’t work out
17. If you’re a girl, brag about how casual sex is for you and not a big deal at all.
18. When paying the bill at a restaurant, open your wallet as much as possible so as to show the Wad of banknotes inside.
19. Buy a BMW/AUDI, get drunk and run over pedestrians/ beggars at night. When arrested, have your rich dad bail you out and resume your spoilt lifestyle.
Worthless Life
Hello. My life has become worthless lately. Reasons:
1. I don’t go to the gym anymore. My usual excuses are that I go to office in the evenings and wake up in the afternoon so I can only go to gym in the afternoon. The problem is only very expensive gyms are open in the afternoon.
2. I don’t play the guitar anymore. The thing I prided upon doesn’t matter much anymore. It doesn’t matter that I could once play the whole opening leads for the “Hell freezes over” version of Hotel California. My excuse is that the fret board is bent and I can’t find a place to repair here
3. I eat junk food everyday. I eat at nirulas or some other fast food joint everyday. I also have atleast a litre of coke everyday. Weekends are special binge fests with more food and alcohol thrown in.
4. I still spend more than I earn. Though I use buxfer and it has controlled my spendings I still end up spending a lot of money.
I’m still a long way off from financial stability. My only consolation is that I don’t really need financial stability at this point of my life.
5. I don’t ride my bike anymore. In the summers its too hot to ride and in the winters its too cold. When sometimes I do ride my bike it feels so amazing I can’t describe in words. Lights failing, indicators rattling, battery almost dead its in a sorry state. I remember in college I thought I didn’t ever want to buy a car and always ride my bike.
Have I really changed and just trying to believe that I’m still the same and can be the same way still when it’s time to move on?
Fog, what amazing fog!
I remember ranting about fog last year, around the same time of the year. Well, this year, the weather was clear till yesterday. Tonight however, was a different situation altogether. When I left office at 4 in the morning, it was one of the worst fogs I had ever seen. I could hardly see anything and couldn’t cross a speed of 20kmph. My only guides were the white markings in the middle of the road which I tried to focus on as I drove my car. Had to use a low beam as with a high beam the headlights reflected straight off the fog and blinded me.
Anyways it took me almost half an hour to get home, which is hardly 4km away. When I did reach and parked my car, it was an eerie sight. There were no street lights, and there was a power cut so there were no lights from nearby houses, but it was surprisingly brighter than usual. It was a full moon and that had a very strange and eerie effect. Everything around me was brightly bathed in moonlight, but even then there seemed to be no single source of the light and i could not even see the moon. The light seemed to be diffused through the fog and emanating from the fog itself. I spent atleast 5 minutes on the streets, mesmerised by the sight before the cold started to get to me and I went home. This reminded me of a scene from the story of the hound of baskervilles, where Sherlock Holmes and Watson lie waiting for the hound in the moorlands of dartmoor. As they say, really eerie.
Boring days
Nothing much has been new with life. Had been sick for a week (Cold, fever etc). Have been really busy with work (work in the office, work from home etc.). Want a nice long holiday away from home and somewhere new.
Have been growing a beard and it’s pretty good now. Plan to grow it some more before I shave.
Got a new phone (Nokia E-52) and will post a review soon.
Pulpy Screwdriver
This Sunday I came back home quite early and was pretty bored. Decided to watch “Ek Chalis Ki Last Local” for the 10th time. Had some spare vodka lying around (Haven’t had a drink for a month), as well as some Pulpy Orange so mixed the two and the results were quite satisfying.
The movie was quite excellent too! I had already seen the movie many times but the movie never bores me. The movie is based on a few hours worth of incidents but the special quality of the movie is the characters. The characters are not only extremely funny, but realistic as well.
Abhay Deol Plays the role of a guy from Delhi (Nilesh) who recently moved to Mumbai and works at a call center. Like all Delhi people, he considers Mumbai an inferior place and boasts about what he could have done if he was in Delhi. Neha Dhupia plays the role of a (super hot :P) whore who seduces men who miss the last train out of Kurla. Other characters include a devout don, a corrupt policeman, one who thinks he’s Rajnikant, a few goons, a Transvestite Pimp, a Poetic Gay Gangster, a whore turned hit-woman etc. Each and every character gives in a commendable performance.
Guys who have always lived through monetary shortages in the last days of the month will identify with Abhay Deol’s behavior in the beginning of the movie. From deciding what to order at a bar with only 70 Rupees in his wallet (I once has 10 rupees in my pocket and no fuel in my bike; deserves a separate post), to winning 40lacs at a card game, to being almost encountered by Policemen to being almost raped by the gay Mangesh Chhilka one has to watch the movie at least once to see what fate has in store for Nilesh.
Hmm. I am sleepy now. Goodnight!!
Out of town..
Today, we had an out of town trip after a long long time. It was a refreshing experience after the monotony of Malls and 8 lane expressways. I have to admit though that the trip would have been better on bikes.
The place is called Damdama lake, near Sohna, Haryana. It’s around 40km from Gurgaon and the road is a 2 lane normal Indian road. The last mile is a single lane and mostly mud.
Why I will continue to download pirated music
A few days back, I felt the sudden urge to download a few Dire Strait songs. I’d been hearing about online music stores a lot and felt that for some good songs, less than 1$ is a price worth paying. Come to think of it. A few years back an album cost much more than it does now if you buy and download online. You don’t have to leave your computer and your song is there in a few minutes, and all legitimate. Unfortunately,
I didn’t have such luck.
I started with the tab in windows media player that I always saw, but never used; the media guide. I remember how it always pestered me to select an online store during install. I looked all over in vain but it would only give me youtube links for songs that I searched. No store, no song. I tried ITunes next. After I completed the registration process, I was informed that you can buy music online only if you are in the US, or hold a US credit card. I tried amazon, napster everywhere, I had no option to buy music.
Finally I went to torrentz.com, downloaded the whole album for free in fifteen minutes. I have learnt my lesson and I would prefer to spend my money and waste my time elsewhere.