Archive for April, 2008
Monday, April 28th, 2008
Atom visits Toumani, is smashed
Bouffes du nord’s slightly decrypt, but intimate surroundings are the perfect venue for a Toumani solo. And boy was it mesmerising – although, I have to admit, for some reason I found myself fighting to stay awake… its funny, im certain it wasn’t boredom. After the first standing ovation, he hobbled back on stage to jam with a chappie on electric guitar – somewhat reminiscent of the famous collaboration with Ali Farka. The koura, unlike many ethnic instruments lends itself to a guitar jugalbandi very well, and this showing didn’t disappoint.
I was truly yanked out of my dips into semi-counciousness, however, by the eight minute standing ovation Toumani received. The Parisians really like their koura!
*the show was interspersed with Toumani’s thoughts on life, world music and other eclectica – and whilst my command of French is pretty much non-existent, so the obvious wit was lost on me, I did come away with the impression that he is an impressive showman.
I think WOMAD is on order!
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
Being Cyrus.
I watched Being Cyrus last night. It’s an Indian English-language drama released in 2006. it has a couple of big Bollywood names in it — Saif Ali Khan and Naseeruddin Shah — but it’s definitely not a Bollywood film (no wet saris here).
The action takes place in Mumbai and Panchgani with a cast of just seven lead characters, most of whom are Parsi and members of the Sethna family. Cyrus Mistry (Saif Ali Khan) — the lead and narrator — apparently just wanders into the family’s life, and it seemed like it would turn out to be a soppy ’self-discovery’ type of film. Fortunately, the story takes a couple of dark turns and turns out more interesting than I had thought it would.
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
beating the system
sorry for not posting for a while. did you guys happen to come across this article last week?
This is how you come to the Eligible-Bachelor Paradox, which is no longer so paradoxical. The pool of appealing men shrinks as many are married off and taken out of the game, leaving a disproportionate number of men who are notably imperfect (perhaps they are short, socially awkward, underemployed). And at the same time, you get a pool of women weighted toward the attractive, desirable “strong bidders.”
his theory is that as women who have been dealt stronger hands are more likely to be choosy and wait for ‘mr right’ to come along. meanwhile less “desirable” women, sensing the weakness of their position, will snap up most eligible bachelors.
as a male, i’m going to take away two lessons from this.
1) don’t get suckered into marrying early
2) even if your dream girl seems out of your league right now, by the time they hit their mid 30’s you’ll seem like a superstar :p
Saturday, April 19th, 2008
we can has rapidshare!
i think it’s a source of great pride that pakistan has its very own official reseller — Aekpani Networks ["To Lead You At The Peaking Edge"] — for rapidshare.
Friday, April 18th, 2008
Deepening Of Democracy
» an article by Aasim Sajjad Akhtar from The News On Sunday on the 6th.
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
wacom
» they have a slick website here. i think i’d rather like a bamboo fun.
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
culinary politiks.
» “For example, Dr Pepper is a Republican soda. Pepsi-Cola and Sprite are Democratic.”
what the heck? dr pepper is my soda. damn republicans.
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
On your point.
“Next time can we just get flu shots like everyone else?”
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
a couple of things.
» from the city of london comes the news that testosterone and cortisol might be controlling the global economy. with all those hormone surges, i’m glad i’m not working in the city or on wall street.
» here is an article from the april issue of good magazine on “eggcorns—a type of common and somewhat logical language goof named after a misspelling of ‘acorn’”
Sunday, April 13th, 2008
Tere ishq nachayya
I really liked Jawad’s vocal athletics on Meekal Hassan Band’s work; regrettably he no longer sings for them apparently, which is a shame - Jawad doesnt get half of the publicity he deserves i think.
Its also amusing to see the thinly disguised irriation both the singers seem to have for each other. Ironic, considering what they are singing..