Aug 31, 2004

Thsi caem in as a fowrard tdoay!

"Cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. THE
PAOMNNEHAL PWEOR OF THE HMUAN MNID Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer In waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the
olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, But the
wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?"

huh? huh? huh? huh?

Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2004

1 comment

Aug 30, 2004

Healthy Habits
---------------
ok, after ages of just talkin about it, we (me and fellow jogging enthusiast Fuad) went for a jog this morning. it was 8 in the morning, a bit late for our choice, but we thot... 'Now or never' since any time we do wake up early we just fall back into sleep after minutes of little struggle! So anyway, the sun was not out and it was actually drizzling outside. Now or never was the motto. we had to start sometime! So we walked to the park in sector 7 and then started jogging. Fuad did a little sprint too! i didnt want to overdo anything on the first day and spend the day at the office thinking about the pains all over my body! so all went well. just as we stopped jogging, started some free hand exercise. Then, it happened. Started raining dinosaurs and elephants. Or whales. Ok, it wasn't really heavy but i do think it was a sign. On the first day of our attempt at starting healthy habits... it rainss!!! ouch. i was grumbling all the way back home.

Gmail
-----
Since last night the boys at the office were up and down with one word "GMAIL!!!!!" it must be how "Eureka" sounded when the naked scientist ran down the streets. But anyway, this morning thanks to 'Saiful Saiful' and 'Mssaikat''s invitations i got a taste of it too.

Its pretty good. So far its been fast and there is address autocomplete and ...well... 1GB of space!!! hmmm... will all my skeletons fit in this closet?

hhaha.. time wil tell.

Posted on Monday, August 30, 2004

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Aug 29, 2004

"I am a tree
From my top boughs i see
The footprints that led up to me"

[Unknown]

I don know who wrote this, but this is without doubt the only piece of prose that i have retained since the days. :p

Posted on Sunday, August 29, 2004

2 comments

Aug 28, 2004

Last night recorded again with ashu. All the previous songs have outstanding raggae rhythms to them. It's ashu's beats, they just crave for raggae rhythms from my guitar. It was the same with last night's session. The beat just reeked of raggae. I did my best to suppress that and played something latin-like over it. The end result was very nice. It felt good.... the song.

today is a hartal again. Hope i have no trouble going home. Its always that part that is difficult.

Otherwise things are cool. hope to have a good day ahead.

Posted on Saturday, August 28, 2004

2 comments

Aug 25, 2004

This is about SECRETS. Is there such a thing called a secret?
Since morning the song that was stuck in my face was "Queen of
the Stone Age"'s 'The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret'. While humming
the words of that song i began to think of the lifecycle of a secret.

We come up with something we want to keep a secret and we tell someone
we trust. And like the chorus of the song, we say "Don't tell anyone!"
He or She we trust again passes on the secret to someone trusted. I think
this continues till the secret, though not really public knowledge, is
known to many in different circles of trust!!!

Even if I don't make sense... do listen to the song. Its a cool one and this is the
last verse of it:

I think you already know
How far I'd go not to say
You know the art isn't gone
And I'm taking my song to the grave
[The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret:
Queens of the Stone Age]

Posted on Wednesday, August 25, 2004

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Aug 23, 2004

The country suddenly seems to have taken a turn for the worst. The ruler, the opposition are now in the center of everything. With the attack on the opposition leader and her 'party people' yesterday, accusations and rumors are now abundant as the polluted air in the city. The opposition leader is in shock, but physically unharmed. Other top leaders of her party are however in hospitals having really suffered from the bomb blast.

This morning the paper was blistered with the ghastly images of the suffering that followed the blast. People in shock, bleeding, lying dead on the street, or being dragged away by a helping hand.

I always found the news of our politics very disappointing and disheartening. I would have a bad day any day i was graced by the news paper in the morning! And today i was left speechless, just thinking of how I ended up where i was. Strangely though, that feeling didn't last and i did not have a bad day. I went to work. I took the bus in the morning, tried to help a lady by offering to her my seat (she refused by the way!), had lunch, made jokes at work, all the usual stuff plus i read more news on the internet! News was of abundance anyways, one did not need to look around for it today. The phone would ring and carry with it news of skirmishes here and skirmishes there.

A train which was bound to chittagong was burnt. There was a fight in motijheel. Ivy Rahman the wife of an MP and an activist herself for AL died..so on and so forth. And also the warnings from concerned relatives and friends poured in, "Go home early" they all said.

Well, the popular belief now is that this is the ruling parties' dirty politics. Logic fails me now and i don't know what to think. Why would BNP call on such risks upon themselves by attackin AL in such a fashion? AL would not inflict such a wound on itself. Or would it? Is it some third party's work? What was achieved from this other than the looming possibility of total chaos?

Well, its politics. Bangladeshi politics. Every party wants our good, our well-being. But they just can't stand shoulder to shoulder amongst themselves to unite and achieve that. They hate each other with arrogance, and rage. The Jonogon (people) as always are caught in the crossfire. I am one of those jonogon who hates them back. But there is no arrogance in my hate. Only rage.

Politics was made a dirty word a long time ago, but we are on the forefront, trying to give it a new dimension of dirtiness it seems.

Posted on Monday, August 23, 2004

2 comments

Aug 21, 2004

"Why put off something for tomorrow when you can avoid it forever!"
"Nobody dies a virgin, life &*%#$ everybody"

!!!

For more check out the nuts at forum.amadergaan.com

Disclaimer: I could not quote the sayings word by word due to internal problems with volataile memory.

Posted on Saturday, August 21, 2004

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Aug 19, 2004

its here again. The end of the week. Once again the planning will start for this one day of break from work, from the blockage of the time of day between morning and night. I am baffled as usual as to what i shall do.

Will go meet my uncle who is visiting from UK, dad will also be in town... meet them, then contact Bipu mama, take his tablas and head on for some recording.

Or anything else.

: ) its really not enough for me!

But as my friend says, the shortage of time is a good thing. He will usually compose tunes while he has classes at university, and not do much during the weeks of his holidays. Even then it is still a little difficult to do that while hurdling the 10 - 6 job i have (usually i miss the 10 am entry time and also miss the 6 o clock exit!). Like last week I recorded with Ashu quite a lot, but i could feel the struggle to gather the energy and motivation to play a note on my guitar. Hopefully tomorrow i will not personally play anything, just sit and watch, and brainstorm.

PEaCe and Respects.

Posted on Thursday, August 19, 2004

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Aug 18, 2004

I blog while I am at work. and in the middle of the hustle bustle i thought of something to write about. But that was probably an hour ago. So seconds back while i discovered this window, I was hit by the thought of it... what was i gonna say!! I totally cannot remember!!!

But, I did read a lot of good blogs today, there was ullah.net, then Wamy and Rifats, and this guy who had a massive list of bloggers who are from or in Bangladesh! amazing!

Well, substance later.. thats all for now!

:)

Posted on Wednesday, August 18, 2004

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Aug 15, 2004

"To Serve and Protect"

I think i heard that phrase in a movie. Something to do with the police. Well, that was just a movie! and where we are, the next in line in the scare list after criminals are the police.

Its a institutionalized symbol of the crude politics, and the corruption of our govt. Its an institution whose corrupt ways are most widely known. You can see them on the roadside, standing, on one foot, hands on their hips, licking their teeth behind their closed mouths, with their focusless gazes and their big tummies! If there is a bunch of them they will be sitting around having a chat.

Recently however you will see often some lean officers, with a beret and sunglasses, often resembling Stallone from the movie Cobra. So is there hope?

Zilch.

You go to make a GD, you will have to pay for their attention and time (And i wondered why people want to evade taxes). They are mostly ill mannered and ill-trained. So what can you say. Its become common knowledge about the sum of money required to enter the police force. It is common knowledge that despite the low salary scales of this job, it is LUCRATIVE!!!! It is common that a police man will take bribe! its like dark clouds and rain. Whether a drizzle or a storm.. it will rain. Gloomy, i know! :)

Extortion, is the latest in the 'services' offered by our uniformed protectors. With politicians on their backs to have them stop the opposition from protesting, the arrests of common people is rising. Suspicion is enough to arrest someone and the suspicion does not have to be stated or logical. Then maybe or maybe not, you will get a beating and then your family members can come and pay to take you back home.

Once a long time back a school girl on the way back home was the victim of a policeman. The headline of that story said all there is to be said about this:

"Rokkhok jokhon Bhokkhok"

Posted on Sunday, August 15, 2004

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aaj 12ta porjonto chilo shok dibosher hortal. Aaj shei din jedin Sheik poribarer onekjon-ke mere fela hoy. What other day would have been more perfect for the opposition's leader's birthday? Depending on who is ruling you are either celebrating or mourning.

I mourn everyday for the plight of this country i call my own. bebodhan berei cholchey eikhane motamot, dhon shompotti aar ggyaner. Rukkhota bere uthchey manusher kotha bartay, beboharey. Its like a man who is in his deathbed, cursing everyone around him for the bitterness that has grown in him slowly through the years in his life.

I was reading in the newspapers of south africa (iol.co.za) today about how school children went out in a rally to demand electricity, and school teachers! hmmm.. even though the rally ended up in a riot and police had to be called in... i am amazed to see that the demands were so .. realistic. Unlike here where rallies are mostly political and which involve 'paid protesters'! Sometimes street children. Its such a shame.

Posted on Sunday, August 15, 2004

1 comment

I was just playing the Audioslave album and the darned cd is skipping only during the songs that i wanted to hear the most. Thus, BUMMMMMMMMARRRRRRR!

Posted on Sunday, August 15, 2004

No comments

Aug 12, 2004


Shadows and light. Posted by Hello

Posted on Thursday, August 12, 2004

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A view of the trail Posted by Hello

Posted on Thursday, August 12, 2004

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Aug 11, 2004

Last week I traveled to Shofipur (just after Gazipur) to attend a friend's wedding. I was just amazed there with the house they were living in. It was a grand-dad of a house. The architecture was very old, the bricks were showing from places, breaking out of the paint and plaster that was hiding it. There were many passageways to go from one place to another and at places there were no roof, giving an immediate view of the sky if you look up. Very well ventilated and spacious. The pictures below are of that house.

Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2004


What is this? Posted by Hello

Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2004

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Look up at freedom Posted by Hello

Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2004

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The walls that hold no roof Posted by Hello

Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2004

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View of the sky from the staircase. Posted by Hello

Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2004

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A passage inside the house Posted by Hello

Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2004

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Aug 10, 2004

With the recent floods, a lot of people in the city of Dhaka, on its outskirts and the south have become victims of a terrible fate. Diseases are breaking out and insects are breeding well promising more dangers up ahead.

A lot of people have been very generous however in providing relief to flood affected people and areas. Some give money, and some their energy and sweat. Others find ways to make the former two successful.

I m proud of my friends who have managed to arrange a concert (a lot are happening ...yet the more the merrier since the floods are relentless... ) to raise funds. They have also made arrangements with Red Crescent so that all the money raised will go to them and thus the real attainment and transportation of the food and other supplies will be left to the pros.

Posted on Tuesday, August 10, 2004

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Aug 9, 2004

I am finding it very difficult these days to visualize how I am going to manage my goals of making music while carrying on at work. I DO not however want to end up in the cliche, and have to say that i had to sacrifice 'dreams' for surviving reality.

With only fridays off, i get one day to arrange for a session for my band to come together and jam on new material and practice old stuff. On top of that is the complication of having no vocals for the band! I have had tried out a few guys in the past and seen no real promise in any of them. Another dude is in queue now but I am trying to figure out how to handle this. That too, I'll have to fit it into my friday. On top of that is the fact that it takes so much time to move from one place to another due to traffic! ooof... like the song says: Aar parina aar parina amar klanti amay kaday [Aurthohin].

I dont think i have composed anything since I started working! So maybe the whole creative process is getting stomped.

Today is monday and i am thinking of these stuff. They usually crowd my mind on saturday mornings when i am lying in bed after waking up and before getting up for work.

Posted on Monday, August 09, 2004

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funny how the sports pages these days are filled with gossip about the sportsmen's (esp. Footballer's and coaches as of recent days) sexual endeavors!!! Maybe Sports should no longer be a separate section... 'Entertainment' is enough to hold that crap.

Posted on Monday, August 09, 2004

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Aug 8, 2004

Planning of this has been going on since Saif and I first did one song together with other musician friends of ours. The song was called 'fish song' for no good reason... it had reference to fishes in its words and soon we started referring to it as 'the fish song'!

Anyway, this time, Saif is not here, but his brother Ashuis around. Also on board is Fahmi a brilliant guitar player with loads of ideas in his head. We also have Bipu mama standing by who is a maestro on the tabla. Only thing we lack now is time and co-ordination. I finish work at or after 6 pm. That leaves about 2- 3 hours to work with in the day. And Fahmi gave me the bad news that he is starting classes for his masters degree soon!

But lets see what happens, we have decided for now to start from tomorrow. BUT first i have to collect my friend's guitar effects processor so i can tune my guitar and get ready. We meet with Fahmi day after tomorrow. Hope to see some great instrument jams to shape up by the end of this month. to ...Get your groove on

Posted on Sunday, August 08, 2004

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Aug 7, 2004

hmmmmmm. well, i need to rethink my 'shopping' policies. Need a new Effects processor before I get myself a new guitar. Since i can manage with a second rate guitar but not with a processor that refuses to be ON!!!

First choice was to get something from DigiTech, of te RP variety. Then i heard that those are way too risky to use from where i am coz the circuits might get burnt up with our jumpy voltage levels. Oh well. Think... Think....

Posted on Saturday, August 07, 2004

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Aug 4, 2004

The Watson Brothers

This band came out... without a sound. And where loud noises cover the landscapes you need more than a bang to get noticed. Had it not been for Amadergaan.com's forums i would have also not known about it!

I don't get it! A band comes out with an album, what are its producers aiming for? don they want to sell the CDs!?!?!??! anyways, for what its worth I am glad i listened to The Watson Brothers. Great band with one great CD.

Posted on Wednesday, August 04, 2004

1 comment

Aug 3, 2004

Slash being the reason i picked up a guitar, i got suckered into an obsession with Les Paul guitars. you can see but not touch... its so damn expensive. But thanks to Epiphone its safe again to dream.

Its about time anyway since the tattered battered TGM in my room now hums too much. Also my processor (zoom 707) is not really usable anymore either. Well, i'll have to focus on the guitar first, then i'll think about the processor.

Check out the beauties below.

Posted on Tuesday, August 03, 2004

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Epiphone Black Beauty Posted by Hello

Posted on Tuesday, August 03, 2004

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Epiphone Goth Posted by Hello

Posted on Tuesday, August 03, 2004

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Aug 2, 2004

Recently under the influence of friends (Mushfique and Saif namely) I have adopted the use of a few softwares to record music.

My soundcard is an old SB Live and my pc an old P2 433MHz machine with a 34 GB hdd space. Hardly the setup that would fully support a task such as running audio editing/arranging/rendering softwares and hardwares! Indeed so, coz i get hung up quite often.

Even though, I managed to do quiite a lot with the help of the friends who were more experienced in the process.

The softwares i have used so far are Sonic Foundry's Acid Pro, Adobe Audition, Cakewalk, and Fruityloops. So far i have only stuck with Audition and Fruityloops. Being interested mainly in creating rock music, that works for me. I create drum tracks for a song with FL and then lay it out in Audition and record as many tracks of guitar as i want. And sometimes i even put bass on with the pickup selected on the one that enahnces the bass strings. So far so good. Then i even try singing on them sometimes.. ok, lets leave that out coz, none of the audition plugins and whatnot could make that sound like music. Audition is really easy and intuitive for me... thats what its appeal is to me.

With Saif and his brother Ashu, who are hip-hoppers, I worked and am working on a few instrumentals. So this time we switched my old soundcard with Delta M-Audio Audiophile 2496 (or something like that.. pardon me .. I am bad with names.). plus we got hold of a mini synthesizer, and a giant synthesizer (which our other member of the project uses with his guitar), a BOSS drum machine and other such things. This project will be a mixture of rock and hip-hop and eastern instrumentations. A tabla will also be used.

People in the west (say even Saif and Ashu who stay in the UK) are already well ahead with the use of softwares such as these and are setting up good quality studios in their own home. Dhaka is well behind still, with unavailability of softwares/hardwares, or even when they are available ... the unavailability of the knowledge of the use of such wares. Some of the studios in Dhaka have moved on to use these soft/hard wares in production, like 'Art of Noise'.

Recently I have found out a community on the internet that is comprised of people involved with electronic music. From there I have found the inspiration to maybe soon turn my laptop into a recording machine, I have found countless reviews on soft/hard-wares, found out about laptopalooza (something like lollapalooza but with djs who use their laptops to make music) and loads of other stuff. It is an interesting place where a lot of creative people come together have brilliant and intellectual conversations with each other... ok... maybe not.. its interesting nonetheless. Pay a visit: EM 411 .com

My half-done pieces: parthib.info [Click to proceed to the MP3 section].

Posted on Monday, August 02, 2004

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Just cancelled the thought of going to Goteborg Sweden to pursue a masters in IT with focus on Art and Technology. From start it was a glitchy process. They refused me in their preliminary selection process and then again by their own grace re-considered me for the program in their second round of selections.

Then the papers from them that was the letter of acceptance or invitation ...however you want to call it did not arrive! Then i asked them to fax the papers to the embassy so i could apply directly for the visa. This took a while considering it was summer!

I was on my way to the embassy to collect the forms. The embassy was apparently in Gulshan 2 beside the GrameenPhone office! That day i found out painfully that there are two GrameenPhone offices in Gulshan 2 ...on its opposite ends!

In the end with one month remaining, my father dismissed the possibility of preparing the amount of money neccessary for me to start a new life in Sweden in time. And that was that.

Posted on Monday, August 02, 2004

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