Mairan Gana' Gandharvan

While in Kerala last week I came across a cartoon panel: A Mother is standing outside a closed bathroom door & is asking her son (who is in the bathroom) to stop singing the song & hum it instead because they'd be in trouble if Das ettan (Brother/Bhaiya Das) might hear them. OK I wish I had cut-out that strip as cartoon readings r pretty dum.

The particular ' Das ettan' they r reffering to is the famous malayalee singer- Dr. K.J. Yesudas. He is also the dude who sang the songs in the 70s Hindi movie 'Chit Chor'. Yes folks Yesudas is following the patented western technique of patenting anything & everything under our noses & the sun. Remember the US-basmati Rice & the German-Neem extract fracas? The renowned Gana' Gandharvan has been copyrighting famous classical songs & ragas left, right & centre. This means that every student of classical music would owe Das ettan a small thuga (amount). Some of these songs r centuries old & has shaped the present classical music scene. Copyrighting such works & that too something that he has not written is criminal. What is the world coming to?

So the next time u buy an Yseduas CD or tape, pirate it & distribute free copies to near & dear ones for the sake of propagating our rich musical heritage. Viva la Revolucion!

New Look

I've always felt that this blog wasn't easy on the eyes. So I took the initiative to save the eyeballs of a few gloryhole visitors. The phosphor green romance continues. There r a couple of adjustments left. All in good time. Just let me know if u guys r having trouble viewing it on any of the browsers you use. IE -check!

Villain Vijayan

Work on my 2D animated demo has begun. Its 30 seconds of 2D action- Thrills, spills, chills et al. Most of today was spend boxing around ideas for characters & the story. Storyboarding is yet to start. Here is the 1st of 3 characters. He is the villain & he is known as "Villain Vijayan":



I have great plans for this dude. He is armed w/ a sharp & curvaceous sabre. The eye-patch is something I'm not considering on including as it makes him more pirate-y. Also the cape has to go (This version is a beta release). Pirates r cool, but villains ought to be despicable & not to mention devious.And so he shall be!

Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

Wah! What a movie. Just finished watching this great movie called " Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" or simply "Amélie" for short. Its a french one with subtitles in english. In the beginning the rapid-fire french narrative interfered w/ reading of the subtitles. But I caught on. I'm a damn slow reader as it is; Still it felt as though the subtitles where trying to keep up w/ the narrator. I don't want to describe this movie (too much) as watching it is like going on a journey & making startling discoveries. The movie is shot somewhere in France. There r a lot of old buildings, wrought iron gates n' railings, acordian music, dull yet rich wallpapers. Everything is enhanced by a blue filter (I'm guessing here- I think there is another colour also filtered). I bet if u cut the movie up into 4 minute chunks & played pop tunes in the background it'd come of as a music video. a la Björk, maybe? Somewhere in there Amélie (the protagonist) finds love. Then, logically speaking, this movie is abt finding love! But wait a minute, its not like the usual girl/boy sees-meets-falls scenario. Its weird & gave me one of those weightless feelings u experience whilst peering into a kaliedoscope (for hours on end). In the end I felt like rewinding & watching the different layers in each scene once more. This movie is an audio-visual treat as there r a lot of references left abt in different scenes eg- an Edith Piaf song played in the railway station.

So whats the movie abt? Like I said its a discovery of love & a lot of other things. If u r a guy & can't figure out how the strange minds of women work, this movie isn't going to make anything clearer. Blame it on their cycles/moon/evolution!

This movie also reminded me of another love story called "Lucky Jack". Lucky Jack is abt an unlucky Jack who gets lucky. This movie isn't offbeat, its quaint & good. Jack is portrayed as this hesitant person who loses out on a lot of opportunities. He finally meets this woman. Overcomes all the unnecessary circumstances or rather chucks it all away & gets his girl. I never saw the starting credits roll & hence didn't know the movie title. But I guess they titled the movie so aptly, as u'd find urself saying 'Lucky Jack' at the end.

Inspirational Rot

Yesterday was one of 'those' days wherein I was so full of inspiration that I couldn't do anything. All that this feeling does, is fill me up w/ ferral energy & soon I find myself pacing in the bedroom; All the while making plans for world domination in a truly inspired fashion. Then I decide to jot down all the ideas that had occurred to me while pacing (I even a have book & a word document for it!). Within the first 5 minutes I lose interest, chuck it all away grab a paper & sketch/doodle as I may please. Whats actually cool abt 'these' days is that those ideas lodge themselves firmly in my head & start to rot. Then one fine day these ideas & other residues come together & a spanking new picture/animation is created. Then the orgasm i.e, a sense of achievement.

Sunday took that step towards organizing my music collection. Thank u Srikanth. Bought a CD wallet. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy.
Speaking of music I'm on a major 80's trip:
-I feel for You :Chaka Khan [An awesome cover of a Prince song of the same title]
-Running in the Family :Level 42
-She works hard for the Money :Donna Summer
-Shopping :Pet Shop Boys
-Happy Hour :House Martins
-Juice (Know the Ledge) :Eric B. & Rakim

It was tragic how Shaikh Yasin was assassinated. He was in a wheel chair when the rocket hit him! R.I.P. Its sad that the Israeli's can get away with it. Well now they can't get away from bus bombings can they? Talk abt asking for it. The whole rocket-wheel chair situation reminded me of the Duke deathmatches in the LAN back in C.R.E.C. It'd be cool to have a wild card mode in FPSs (First Person Shooters). Say that each player gets 3 chances to spawn. Somewhere hidden in the map would be a wild card that enables u to spawn a 4th time but only u'd be in a wheel chair & without any weapons! Mow them down if u have to. Others can kill the wheel chair bound dude only w/ a rocket.

Links for the day:
Aljazeera (english)
Croteam - the guys responsible for Serious Sam

Hokusai & How he did it

I've been fascinated by printing techniques. Unfortunately this fascination hasn't been strong enough for me, to get into the DIY mode. The interest has been dormant for quite awhile now. Last Friday I had been to the Chitrakala Parishad (an art academy in Bangalore) for an exhibition of students work. I thought I'd be lost in the gallery for atleast a good 3hrs. Unfortunately the exhibition was a wash out & it felt like only the painting dept. had something substantial to exhibit. There were some art-for-art's sake installations strewn around the place including a particular ugly one made from a ripped up motorcycle & a shitload of wires. Someone activated a sensor in it & the bloody thing kept beeping for an hour.

I saw a couple of interesting etchings & linocuts out there. Etchings r prints made from etched zinc plates. Linocuts r prints made from linoleum sheets with designs cut into them.

Which brings me to Hokusai.
Hokusai was an 18th century Japanese artist who is known for his wood block prints (Edo Period). I've always wondered how he incorporated colours in his prints. So one thing lead to another & presto I found a couple of informative links.


What is a Print?

The Technique of the Colour Wood-Cut

Jim Breen's Ukiyo-E Gallery - Hokusai

For the love of Tux

In the Pantheon of the most irritating cutsey mascots on earth, the stoned penguin- Tux (Linux fame) occupies the throne. The following picture was from a series of tortures I submitted the little bugger to.

TUX SUX

It was originally titled 'Tux Impaled & Splattered', B-man & I settled for the shorter 'Tux Sux'. Rendered using the evergreen Paintbrush programme on B-man's PC in 2001.
Tux Sux!

Max Payne 2 reviewed

Just finished playing Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. A choc full it was, but not a patch on the 1st version. Here r my 2 bits on this game

PROS: Max looks more like a cop w/ balls in this new outting. Earlier he had a smug wiseguy look. All the characters where fleshed out much better thanks to good voice overs & real-life stunt guys to simulate realistic reactions. Graphics wise this game was pretty good. Twists & turns in the story r dropped on u at the right moment. As a result u've this strong urge to know whats next & this adds to the ferocity of ur fire fights.

CONS: Quiet a lot actually. Horrible level design. Remember the subway & last few levels in Max Payne? U got shot most of the time just coz u had no idea of the orgy that was waiting for u at the next turn. Plus u ended up using the bullet-time feature in tight spots. In the sequel the levels consisted of small rooms & the occasional grandiose halls. No brainer- Open door fling grenade-step in finish left overs. Bullet time was something u used if u have the lousiest aim on earth. Alternatively u could walk in & shoot away (while praying that the chap w/ shot gun isn't quick & close enough).

Max Payne had the noire thing just right. There were little humorous things abound in the form wise cracks frm Payne himself, T.V. programmes etc. Max Payne 2 felt like u where playing one of those TV programmes. Horrible monologues, it almost felt like I was playing a pathetic spoof of the 1st game.

Overall: The story & action combo was superbly entertaining. The gun fights could have been more intense. But I expect they wanted us to play in harder difficulty settings. But once u've finished the story what more is there to it?

The most awesome part abt the game was this song called 'Late Goodbye' by Poets of the fall. U can hear it when they roll the credits at the end of the game. The song goes hand in hand w/ the end. Singer sounds like Michael Stipe (R.E.M. vocalist) but w/o his peculiar style of vocals. The music on this is a classic example of balance between all things acoustic & electric. Try downloading it of a P2P file sharer or something.

Lyrics of 'Late Goodbye'

Additions

Yo ppl, I've been a busy man for the past one hour. On the right side of the blog u have a couple of additions. There is list of blogs I read ever so often. Just below that there r a couple of links dear to me. Enjoy them.

Clean shaven freaks, do the rest of the males a favour & visit the beard related link.
Viva La Revolucion!

NM 156

A concept for the upcoming website is crawling albeit slowly, out of the primordial soup that is my mind. Artwork is not going to be a problem but executing special effects is going to be a challenge. Getting grips w/ Macromedia's Fireworks. Macromedia products r good, the ease of use couldn't be simpler. Editing images isn't going to be a problem anymore. I thought hard abt accesibility issues: For a smashing good site I'd need to use flash. I expect increased load time, but w/ my initial experiments things seem to be cool. Some viewers out there would be left in the dark. Heck get w/ the times! Lets see how it all works out later.

Queensrÿche's first album offering is looping in winamp. The whole album is abt a fucked up future. A very odd song in it has caught my attention. The song is called 'NM 156'. NM 156 is abt this man-machine thing thats sent out to kill ppl in a bid to control society. The song is written from the 'man' side of the man-machine monster thats still trying to fight 'logic'. Interestingly this album sounds like Judas Priest only diff being that the singer sounds like Bruce Dickinson. Its unfair to classify these geniuses as a Bruce-Priest monster. Their albums always had this concept thing going on (OK frm this side of the millenia these concepts r a bit overused). Rock? They Do!

Anyways top 5 songs on my winamp:
1>Wells Fargo (by Babe Ruth) [Genre:Rock]
2>It Must be Love (by Madness) [Genre:Ska-Pop]
3>One Angry Dwarf & 200 Solemn Faces (by Ben Folds Five) [Genre:Pop]
4>Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder) (by Maxwell) [Genre:Neo-Soul]
5>So Danço Samba (by Wanda de Sah) [Genre:Bossa Nova]

In continuation w/ the sea creature fetish:
Caribbean Reef Squid
Whats cool abt octopi, squids & cuttlefish is that they almost look alien. There is a certain sense of grace to them.

FYI - Ajay John Kulangara has left for Bristol.

The Horrible Haiku & Deep Sea Creatures

Pussycat sits glum
London revisited
Freddie Mercury dead

-Guru


By popular demand my works (not shitty haikus) will be hosted on a weird gallery like website. Work under progress. NKV Rao kindly hold onto ur panties.

If u r fascinated by deep sea creatures check this site out
Harbor Branch Oceanographic

Cocktails & Gift Wraps

Yesterday I had this wonderful drink called the 'B-52' at G$'s place.
B-52 Recipe
And if u've ever wondered what that tasty looking drink Jeff Bridges's character kept sipping in 'The Big Lebowski'. It called the 'White Russian'.
White Russian Recipe
Note: 'The Dude' also had a small dose of NyQuil in his White Russian. 'The Big Lebowski' was one of THE BEST Coen Bros. movies I've seen.

Friday I was out shopping for a Birthday gift. Getting the gift was not as hard as finding a decent gift wrap paper. I searched high, low & not to mention everywhere for that elusive gift wrap paper. Its akin to finding a woman in B'lore. All the good ones r already taken by some lucky guy or other. Geez! I'm starting to come off as a loser.

Also this weekend I got my grubby hands on 'The Bestiary of Flanders and Swann (& Extiary)'. A collection of witty songs which r accompanied by the piano.
Flanders & Swann Online
Some classic stuff here. Check out their lyrics section to get a hint of what u r missing. Here r a couple of lines from 'Twice Shy':

He's shy, he's shy,
Though he wears a fluorescent tie.
With a deep-down need to assert himself,
We know the reason why:
He's shy, he's shy
Give him another try:
When you hear his voice in a crowded room
And that laugh (Ha! Ha!) like a sonic boom,
Go right on over to meet your doom
'Cause underneath he's shy,
He's really terribly shy.

Swipe Me on a High Tide

SWIPE ME ON A HIGH TIDE

A small painting done in 7min using Corel-Photopaint. The painting started of as picture of a Llama & eventually got transmogrified into a piece inspired by the nose-bleeds I used to experience when I was a kid. The nose-bleeds got worse w/ the onset of high tide.

@ G$'s Abode

It was relief to know that G$ wasn't down & out. Had been to his place in the evening. Susk made finding his place an utter fiasco. Anyways we sat around, talked abt 'paras' yet to be commited & getting Susk drunk. Jenny & her mom were playing an odd looking card game. She said it was something along the lines of Patience. G$'s orangey cat made its presence known by going around the den a couple of times stopping at my foot twice. It had a nice soft coat & didn't resist in any manner when I stroked its head. Cool Cat!

Preparations for the IBM try out has started earnestly. I feel a lot is riding on this interview. MEL (Maya Embedded Language) looks too daunting. G$ says don't sweat it as the guys at IBM r clueless as anybody else in the world. Hope thats true. I still can't figure out why IBM is looking for animators. Kittyal Kitti, Alangil Chatti! (Roughly translated from Malayalam : If u get it, u got it, otherwise clay-pot).

Earlier this afternoon I had met up w/ Srikanth. Conversation drifted over to forms of Idol Worship by religions that r against Idol Worshipping (as if we didn't have anything else to talk abt!). In their defence I came up w/ a definition for an Idol -

" An idol is a physical manifestation of a mnemonic representing the abstract concept titled God.". How fucking smart.