May 26, 2007

I woke up this morning, and while my eyes browsed some news of cricket, I realized I don't know who won the world cup this year!

But aaaanywaay.... Reading the news is always such a chore. Its fun sometimes tho. Not 'fun' as in haha, being on a merry go round feeling happy way... but in a desparate, sarcastic way. The news most of the time gives me the impression that something is really wrong with the world, and it just surpasses common logic and thus appears 'funny'.

Of course there is nothing funny about war, and people dying of forced circumstances, but there is something funny about people reinforcing those circumstances, and defending those circumstances. There is nothing funny in hearing that Suu Kyi's house arrest has been extended.
And that the champions of democracy are really not too bothered about her. Lack of 'interests' you see.

It is definitely a chore when there is nothing funny, just the deaths and the violence. And you see countries put up against countries on those headlines. Israel - Palestine - USA - North Korea - Iran - Syria - Lebanon - Afghanistan. Its not funny. An entire country feeling hostile against another? Or is it just the government, and the ignorant or selfish portion of a population? I wish that a distinction could be made as such, but its next to impossible, unless the portion opposed to the atrocities, or plain outrageous 'circumstances', come out on the streets, on the blogosphere, the media to show their opposition or disgust.

Last night I read something funny.

The US govt. is now fearing the growing military powers of China! Thus, the pentagon calls for greater transparency from the Chinese govt. on that matter! How now brown cow?
And who remembers the US spy plane that was caught flying over China's airspace?
I am fondly taken back to childhood memories of being concerned if a friend had a better matchbox model than me.

The bbc report states that they have missiles with ranges that cover the entire United States, and submarines that carry nuclear weapons.

The US govt. has always had a fear of China. The govt. of Nixon in 1971 hesitated to acknowledge Bangladesh as a free country due to political reasons to not make Pakistan .... unhappy. "Kill as many as you like ... We are friends" says Mr. Burns. They considered Pakistan to be the one that was preventing China from being more boisterous in that region at the time.

Now, China is one of the big boys in the "market place" (aka. The world as we know it), and they are one of the nuclear powers.
N u c l e a r
This is again another one of those 'funny' areas. Who shall have some? Who shall not? Who shall decide? And, Who shall not be allowed to care of others' opinions? The only way I see fit to balance things is to either to all have it, or all not-have-it. What about the one country that has already used it? Shouldn't they be definitely not allowed? "You had your fun boy, now gimme that" ? There is also the no-first-use treaty. What can I say, my face is breaking into a smile already! Maybe its just me, when I think about our defense budgets, our gun makers, I cant help but smile in disbelief. 'Funny' is definitely the wrong word here.

Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007

3 comments

May 16, 2007

Khaleda will go to S'pore for treatment
BNP discloses formally, seeks govt permission for 15 leaders to see her off

Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007

No comments

I have been using someone's poetry as a signature on my emails since when I first opened my first email account. And till today, i never bothered looking up where I found those lines, and always put [unknown] as credits for it. Today I took the initiative to find the author, and it is one R S Thomas, who lived between 1913 - 2000, and is Welsh. I found one similarity with him, both our dads were sea captains, and needless to say, lots of differences - he was a priest and also nominated for the nobel prize! meanwhile, I am I [another stolen phrase, credit Queensryche].

Here

I am a man now.
Pass your hand over my brow.
You can feel the place where the brains grow.

I am like a tree,
From my top boughs I can see
The footprints that led up to me.

There is blood in my veins
That has run clear of the stain
Contracted in so many loins.

Why, then, are my hands red
With the blood of so many dead?
Is this where I was misled?

Why are my hands this way
That they will not do as I say?
Does no God hear when I pray?

I have no where to go
The swift satellites show
The clock of my whole being is slow,

It is too late to start
For destinations not of the heart.
I must stay here with my hurt.

Poetry and facts lifted from Poem Hunter dot com

Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007

No comments

May 9, 2007

3SE635-91 was not spared.
Beth was. For the moment.

Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007

No comments

Apr 20, 2007





What is it you hoped to find here?

Posted on Friday, April 20, 2007

1 comment

Apr 15, 2007

Go to Flickr.com and search everyone's photos using "wtf".

Posted on Sunday, April 15, 2007

No comments

Apr 9, 2007

Well, for those who missed the game last night, or any other nights... i found this website hosting some of the highlights of Bangladesh's plays from World Cup Cricket.

Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007

No comments

Mar 30, 2007



Lebanon, originally uploaded by AnomalousNYC.

I usually write/rave on about music a lot.
So, this is not about the Stone Roses, or The Rolling Stones, and not about the Guns n' Roses either.

Click on the pic and check out the work of AnamalousNYC, and read. Check out his photography, which i think is absolutely sweet!


Related:

Posted on Friday, March 30, 2007

No comments

Mar 27, 2007

tft

Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2007

2 comments

Mar 20, 2007

I have a predilection for crime and punishment on tv.


Firstly, I don't mean a show by the name of Crime and Punishment. Just the theme of Crime and Punishment. Shows like CSI, Law and Order and all that. But recently I have also been tiring of them, mostly because of the USA bravado on display in these shows. What was interesting about CSI to begin with, however, was their simulated show of events happening. Like any crime novel character, they also describe what they think happened, but thanks to the cgi available today, they dont have to settle for showing the detective walking up and down describing his theory, let the animation do the talking. Having watched that for a long time, I developed a condition whereby I also ran simulations in my head when for example I would hit my knee on the corner of a table ... I would imagine in my head the corner of the table creating a dent on the surface of my knee cap in slow motion. I actually stopped watching CSI once to get rid of this condition!

Anyway, last night I was watching a show about law, and the lawyers and the cases they fight. A neighboring woman of one family stole their son and put him in her car's behind (where the spare tire stays, I can't recall what this part of a car is called!) where he died. Now, lawyers are fighting for each party.. the grieving family, and the accused woman. But what is amazing about these kind of shows is how they show the lawyers fighting the cases. It has all gotten refined to strategies. You do a serious crime, then you "go for the insanity defense", and da da da.. some jargon I can't remember. Or, you "go to the press" with your case, in an attempt to fight the case "outside the courtroom" by manipulating public opinion or something of the sort. Guess, its kind of a game (only in the tv as people might correct me).

A Strategy is an important thing I suppose. I guess everybody wants to win, or be on the winning side. On "60 Minutes" a news-kind-of show was showing how terrorists (need i say islamic/muslim/fundamentalist) are using the power of the internet to further their cause of (here comes the rhetoric for me westerners) Jihad and fighting the USA, trying to get more people in on it. To discuss it all they had a loud mouth, eager-as-a-buffy-workout-guy trying to sell gym machines on tv, general of the usa army. He was totally excited (seemed to me in the wrong way) about the websites and their methods. But what really made me say "ummm?" was his closing statement "Its a war of perceptions, they understand it, and USA needs to understand it". Really?!


On a similar note, here is Tool with Vicarious:
Eye on the TV
Cause tragedy thrills me
Whatever flavor
It happens to be

Like:
"Killed by the husband"
"Drowned by the ocean"
"Shot by his own son"
"She used a poison and in his tea
and kissed him goodbye"
That's my kind of story.
It's no fun 'til someone dies

Don't look at me like
I am a monster
Frown out your one face
But with the other
Stare like a junkie
Into the TV
Stare like a zombie
While the mother holds her child,
Watches him [dying;]

Hands to the sky crying,
"Why, oh why?!"

Cause I need to watch things die
From a distance
Vicariously, I
Live while the whole world dies
You all need it too - don't lie.

Why can't we just admit it?
Why can't we just admit,
We won't give pause until the blood is flowin'
Neither the brave nor bold
Will write as the stories told

We won't give pause until the blood is flowin'

Blood like rain, come down
Drawn on grave and ground

Part vampire
Part warrior
Carnivore and voyeur
Stare at the transmitter
Synched to the death rattle...

La, la, la, la, la, la, la-lie (x4)

Credulous at best
Your desire to believe in
Angels in the hearts of men.
Pull your head on out
Your head please and give a listen,
Shouldn't have to say it all again.

The universe is hostile
So impersonal
Devour to survive
So it is, so it's always been ...

We all feed on tragedy
It's like blood to a vampire

Vicariously, I
Live while the whole world dies
Much better you than I.

[ Lyrics found on http://www.metrolyrics.com ]

Posted on Tuesday, March 20, 2007

No comments

Mar 16, 2007

For all deshis who are missing some Made In Bangladesh music being outside ... Bangladesh's newest radio station by the name of Radio Foorti has released their online version:
http://www.proshikanet.com/radiofoorti/index.html

(The website is full of non-working links and
I could only get the Low Speed-version of the radio to work )

Posted on Friday, March 16, 2007

No comments

Feb 26, 2007

While shuffling through the channels I suddenly thought of the movie The Hurricane. I remember watching it years ago, it had a good soundtrack and style. Strangely, it was on in one of the channels. And hence stopped by browsing. I watched it again. I think I have to move this movie to my favorites list. Or one of those movies I can watch over and over again. Among those ranks are also High Fidelity, School of Rock and Fight Club.

Featured in The Hurricane soundtrack is this song by Gil Scott-Heron:



The Revolution Will Not Be Televized
1972

You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox

In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.

The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.

The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.

The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.

The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.

NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.

The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.

There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.

There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.

The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.

The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.

You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.

The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.

The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;

The revolution will be live.

Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007

No comments

Feb 12, 2007

[via The 3rd World View]

"Bangla is a language of 230 million people. Of which about 140 million people reside in Bangladesh and almost all the rest resides in the state of West Bengal of India. Being a neighboring country the language and the culture are similar between West Bengal and Bangladesh. But sadly the cultural exchanges are diminishing to an alarming extent. ..."

Link to Post

Link to News [in Bangla]

Posted on Monday, February 12, 2007

No comments

Feb 6, 2007



Clip from the documentary "Before the Music Dies"

Posted on Tuesday, February 06, 2007

1 comment

Feb 5, 2007

I have been thinking about the walls of Dhaka and how they were spread with posters (which i dont mind) and also messages praising some political leader or some bullshit religious message (one once saying something about 'beporda' imams on tv channels being hellbound or something). While that was inspiring me to some acts I wont detail here, I came across this artist during some class discussion that i can't remember. Later on I saw some further presentation of his works during the ARS Electronica festival in Austria last summer. Well, instead of talking further, i'd like to present the url to his website, so the interested can take a look.
Website

Related

Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007

No comments

Feb 2, 2007

Posted on Friday, February 02, 2007

1 comment

Jan 21, 2007

This is not from a tag of a t-shirt at some market in USA or UK, or anywhere else in the market. Its the name of a movie recently released in Bangladesh. The protagonitst of the story played by Zahidur Rahman repeatedly uses the phrase when introducing himself to others in the movie. The first quarter of the film holds not indication of what the story will to turn out to be.

The movie seemed to me to be a tribute to all things bangali when it comes to nationalism and politics. Zahidur Rahman's character reveals a long list of demands he would like the government to fulfill for the betterment of everyone's lives, and that leads to the other characters, who happens to be all people of position that deal with policies and issues, to stand up and praise him and make suggestions, even though they are his captives.

A lot of the wrongs of our politics is displayed in this satire, though i cannot yet envision any politician seeing the movie and making any amendments to his ways. The movie hopefully will make more people aware of the wrongs that we all have in our own ways. Especially the ability to not only say, but to listen as well, and to say not just for the sake of saying something, but to think before saying it. The two arguing politicians from two parties (ruling and opposition) in the movie display this point very well. What appears comical and produces a smile in this movie is to me ironically also a point to be embarrassed about.

Posted on Sunday, January 21, 2007

1 comment

Dec 5, 2006

"As stone is to a sculptor, so time is to a
musician"

-- Stephen Nachmanovitch, musician, artist, author of Free Play

Posted on Tuesday, December 05, 2006

1 comment

Dec 3, 2006


Though he was away from the music scene after his conversion, he has made an album now as Yusuf Islam, which is who he is now...

Posted on Sunday, December 03, 2006

No comments

Free and Fair elections?
To choose which corrupt unruly party gets to rule us for another period?

Posted on Sunday, December 03, 2006

1 comment

Dec 2, 2006

Feels like i am blogging after a long long time. Didn't think it'd be after watching Stick it. So it is. It took me right back to the school sports meet for the year I was in class 8 or 9. We were to compete, two senior classes together, in a 100m sprint, and we just didn't want to. So we planned something else instead, and jogged across the track like old men and crossed the ribbon together, as together as possible. It was hard to choreograph, but it was hard for the judges to get to a decision also. In the end, they made us run the race one more time!

The movie just brought that memory back! How we were laughing when we crossed that finish line.

Posted on Saturday, December 02, 2006

No comments

Nov 9, 2006

Posted on Thursday, November 09, 2006

No comments

Nov 6, 2006



Almost forgot about this photo that i had taken at the ARS Electronica this year! It was a photo booth that took a photo of you if you screamed loud enough. Whereas kompis Fanouris had two shots taken of him with two successive screams, I had some trouble. I did not have the nice loud overtone-filled scream that was neccessary to operate the camera, luckily the attendant there gave me a hack, i clapped both hands near the mic while just putting on a screaming face. The website for that project along with some others are pointed out below.

Scream Point
Stencil Board
Memento [see vdo content]

Posted on Monday, November 06, 2006

No comments

Oct 16, 2006

Today i got news of a website in the making, called bdholiday.com. As the name says, it has many of the destinations in our country that are good to go to. Many people with money are traveling to near about asian countries like thailand and malaysia, but there are lots of places within our countries worth the while. We should just learn to rough it and think differently about taking holidays, shifting from the comforts of luxury hotels to that of just getting to see what the other parts of the country looks and feels like.

anyways, the site developing company is looking for advertisers to support their cause and I hope they find each other. If anyone in blogger community should like to get in touch with them, let me know or contact through the website.

Posted on Monday, October 16, 2006

1 comment


(From New Age's Music Supplement)

Posted on Monday, October 16, 2006

No comments

Oct 14, 2006

A story from Drishtipat.org, by one Saif Ahmed.

- excerpt:
Too many people told me that my money's gone for good. If it's gone, it's gone, it won't make me much poorer. I paid the taxi owner his money. Now I can put my blinders back on and live my comfy life. Tea has arrived. On a clean tray in nice bone china with hot milk and sugar with nice cookies served by someone of whom I know very little besides her name and that of her immediate family. I'm listening to music on my ipod (price Tk 29,000) and typing this on my computer (price Tk 60,000). It's a good life.

Full Article

Posted on Saturday, October 14, 2006

1 comment

Yesterday in class, we were asked who won the nobel prize for literature. No one knew except the professor since it was announced just minutes ago and he was the one who checked it. I for one didn't know the Nobel prizes were being announced. Then he asked us who we would suggest for this category. At first I couldn't think of anyone, but later managed to remember one name - Arundhati Roy. Then now I remember I would also like to nominate Percival Everett. That would be two authors, from whom I have read more than one book (=2). Oh, that would also bring in Robert Ludlum and John Grisham in the race. Frankly, I should not be asked such a question.

Anyway, just minutes ago I also found out that the Nobel Peace prize was announced and its Dr. Younus and his Grameen Bank who are the winners! That is mighty nice to know. Good intentions should always be acknowledged.

Meanwhile, via email, i received a report on the corrupt millionaire ministers of the land - You may read it here.

Posted on Saturday, October 14, 2006

No comments

Oct 12, 2006

Out of all the 'community' sites that came out, none got the coverage myspace got. Its talked about on cable tv, its become quite iconic of the new media culture. Yet, I fail to see why. The interface of myspace is one of the bad ones, its uncomfortable to use. To customize its templates takes painful amounts of time, and more importantly, the mail system has failed me always. 'New Messages' it says when i log in, but my mailbox is empty. I get emails now and then to join MySpace Groups! Sometimes from unlikely stuff like 'Sexy Singles', and all invite links from the email led to MySpace saying "Invalid Group ID". Well, I am totally not satisfied with the experience i am having with myspace, of which i have two accounts, and that too because the convert to artist (musician) profile feature they have did not work, i had to open another so i could showcase my music. tsk tsk tsk.





And everyone is on it! I found Joe Satriani there! Found Disco Ensemble, the coolest band at Hultsfred music festival this year. And even Cryptic Fate who just released their third, extraordinary album titled Danob.


Posted on Thursday, October 12, 2006

No comments


Patriotism
has a loud voice, but no strength in its heart.

Its an agenda that wins elections.

Its a festival that comes maybe twice a year.

Posted on Thursday, October 12, 2006

No comments

Oct 10, 2006

24

The number of hours in a day. Cut out the neccessary 6 hours of sleep (or so i heard, 5, 7 and 8 are also good candidates) that is healthy then you have 18 hours or so. I am coming close to regarding myself as a slob of the highest order when I think of how I spend those hours.

First I guess i should mention the little assignment we got recently for a course. One of the requirements of the course is to catalog or record basically, a 24 hour period of our lives from this week. I started mine at 12 AM (a few hours ago). I decided to record on a 24 hour timeline a few things i consider are variables of my life - the band i am listening to at a point in time, the clothes i am wearing, the food i am eating, something I am reading (website, news, books etc) and a person i am talking to.

Now that I am writing down at the precise moment I am for example starting to read something or change the music to a different band, I am realizing that I am reading 3 things at the same time, and the urge to change a song when it hasn't even reached halfway is immense. I cannot focus on one thing for a considerable amount of time to let it sink in. Writing down as i am doing now however has served to raise my consciousness and thus I am fidgeting less tonight. I hate to think how i go on about things usually. As of a few seconds ago i was reading a Daily Star article on the rich - poor gap in our society, "How to Create Timelines" at a opensource project website, and John Maeda's book Simplicity. John was saying something about complexity and simplicity being on a cycle of their own, coming and going with equal portions of stay and thus creating a balance of things. I need that balance. The cycle I am on has square wheels.

As much as I had loathed the beginning of this assignment, it has been nothing short of an eye opener for me. 24 hours could be put to so much use.

Posted on Tuesday, October 10, 2006

No comments

Sep 23, 2006

I wondered for a long time whether entertainment was not the biggest export from USA, and today i bumped into a blog that followed on that. [To anyone venturing on to the link given, do read through all the comments too]

Hooray for Hollywood - Richard Walter

Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2006

No comments

Sep 20, 2006

Uh oh...
I am getting hooked up on the comedy available on youtube. U can find lots of stand-up performances there, such names as jerry seinfeld will get you results, but best just go and search for Comedy or Comedy Central to find acts from a broader spectrum.

I really got to like (late) Mitch Hedberg's kind of comedy. His laid back attitude, lazy style of delivery and content that does not attack any race or group is remarkable.

He made one joke of those who catch fish for sport (just catch them and then take them off the hook and put them back in the water) where he said that some people don't want to eat the fish they catch, they just want to make them late for something. That also got me thinking about what that experience might be like to a fish! Well, mostly I wonder if they use alien abduction theories to explain it. What if our alien abductions were like that? Someone's is fishing up there for sport?!

They took her and ran experiments on her, and then brought her back here. She was never the same!

Other comedians I liked were:
D C Benny &
Omid Djalili

Posted on Wednesday, September 20, 2006

No comments

Sep 10, 2006

+ the stopover at Berlin for two days.... @ Carl's website.

Posted on Sunday, September 10, 2006

No comments

Sep 3, 2006

Posted on Sunday, September 03, 2006

1 comment

Aug 29, 2006

2 a.m. Bus is scheduled for Copenhagen 2:25 a.m. I am sitting at the station being asked the time every minute or so by a drunk kid. His bus leaves at 2:20 a.m or something, and he is afraid he might just miss it. He is drunk, but sensible.
2:15 a.m. I get on my bus. So far, most of my experiences on buses from Gothenburg has been of traveling in a bus half full or less. Today is different. Luckily I get a seat midway. I want to be close the the door so I can get off fast at the airport, which is one stop before the final destination.

Later there are people sitting and sleeping in the middle passage.

6:10 a.m. I get a call from Fuad, who says he is 10 minutes away from the airport, I think I am too, I tell him. I drop off at the airport a little after I finish talking to him. I see Fuad at the check-in line. He almost has no hair. A haircut! Good for him. Though he looks too thin now. This is it then. The beginning of our trip. Pretty soon, we shall be in Paris.

On the plane, Fuad starts chatting with the lady beside him. She is from USA, and a trainee sculptor. Then he drags me in to the conversation saying I am an artist. I fumble to disagree, and go on to tell her that I am only studying a little about art at so and so in Sweden. We have a pleasant conversation. She likes the idea of 'Art and Technology' even though I am nowhere-near-enthusiastic. She gives us pointers on the accent of the people in Barcelona. Apparently, they pronounce the 'C's as a
slippery "th" (for example on 'Gracias' [I think i noticed that later on in Barcelona]).

It is now sometime after 8 a.m. First thing I notice coming out of the plane is the cold wind. At the airport, we wonder how to contact Fuad's friend who said will pick us up. Fuad steps out to find a payphone, and steps back in a few seconds later with another guy. This is our contact in Paris, Sylvant. He drives us to his home in the suburbs [metro stop Les Vesinet - Les Pecq]. I sleep most of the way.

They have a very nice home, well kept and decorated. Well, I suppose most houses with families and conscious singles even have their homes that way, but being the mess that I am, I find it very pleasant and absorb it in. They have old fashioned furniture and souvenirs, turns out they have a history with Tunisia. We meet Sylvant's parents, Florence and Jean-Cristoff.

We only stop to drop our bags off and we are ready for action. We hit town.

We land in a small area in town near about the St. Michel sculpture, known to be a spot popular among students. The idea is to get lunch, cheap. Over lunch we ask Sylvant about Paris. We are sitting overlooking a Tunisian sweet shop and pretty soon all 3 of us are agreeing on getting dessert from there. The sweets look familiar to the sweets and pithas we have at home in Bangladesh. After lunch, Fuad and Sylvant pick the same sweet (a square thing, like a piece of brownie), and I choose a long thing that remind me of a pitha I like but cannot quite put a name to it. We take the sweets with us on our walk, so to not waste time in the process of eating. The sweets are just way tooo sweet and I think if I ate the whole thing my throat would be burning from it. We are soon standing outside the St. Michel monument, and Sylvant explains that the good saint once slaughtered a dragon. There are book shops and cafes on the sides of the road that lie on each side of the monument. Its on an island if you like to think of it. There is people all around it, a busy part of the city. I have been trying to look at people and trying to figure out which are the Parisians and which the aliens. Fuad and I of course also stand out, weirder than aliens maybe, and there are some people watching us. Sweet.


The truth is, people are not easy to make out here. France has a pretty large community of citizens who came in from other countries. Its less in Sweden and its easy to make out the Swedish face. I have however spotted some faces similar to the ones I know (like of Cecil, Freddy, or Sylvant, his mother or sister).

We walk over a bridge to go see St. Notre Dame’s Cathedral. Crossing the bridge took us to L’ile de Cite – an island. The cathedral’s outside is swarming with tourists and cameras. We walk towards the gate avoiding as best we can getting inside someone’s picture. The inside is enormous, quite dark and also very crowded. Did I miss beautiful? It is. The soft light also helps it. Some of the people are walking around and taking pictures, and some are actually sitting down and trying to get a moment of penance or thought or something. We were the former, and feeling sorry for the latter. Sylvant did a lot of explaining about the saints, and the biblical scenes that from the artwork.

I had a tour plan with me (Thank your Cecil for that), and on top of that, Sylvant too. So the tour was feeling very guided. We decided next to go get some ice cream, as Cecil had suggested (actually, maybe her mother) on the plan. We stop in front of Glace Bertillon. It’s a really small shop, but we start a queue, and soon there are many people in that queue. Business is good. With our ice cream we continue walking around and end up sitting on a wall by the side of the road. The road is on one side, and river Seine on the other. I enjoy the moment, the houses are really different from the ones in Sweden, the colors are nicer I think. Lots of windows and balconies are decorated with plants. The rails on the windows and balcony are designed nicely. Our next destination is to be the Musee d’Orsay. On a Tuesday, this is the only museum that is open in Paris, and it is a good museum for paintings of the impressionistic movement.

The walk has been long and we are still not there yet. The Louvre is on our left, across the river. I see two girls with the big round and flat hats that I have known to be typically French. They were also wearing white and black horizontal striped tops! I think that also holds popular here traditionally.

Musee d’Orsay has glass doors. Anything more was hard to see for the crowd in front of it. The line for tickets was really disheartening, and the closing hours on top of that did not present a good possibility for us at the time. Sylvant has to leave us now to go meet a friend of his, and the two of us decide to go see the Eiffel Tower.

We get off at the destined metro stop, and take the steps to get to ground level. I spin around searching the sky for the tip of the tower. Where I fail, Fuad is successful, and he points me in the right direction. I follow his lead through zebra crossings and narrow streets and soon we are near enough to the monster. It is huge, and I have to bend my head pretty far to see its highest point. We sit on a grass area and just relax for a while. I am a lazy person and wonder why anyone would think of building such a thing! Fuad points out that at least its handy for setting up telecommunication hardware.

Later we are tricked by our tired brains maybe, and find ourselves in the queue for the ride up to the top of the tower. Well, from then on, standing in line was the thing to do, every time the lift had to be taken up, or down. The whole standing in line was such a bad experience, it took out any possibilities of joy there might have been in the actual act of looking down from such heights. I am not even going to talk about it, except to say that the whole ordeal took more that 2 hours.

Posted on Tuesday, August 29, 2006

No comments

Aug 28, 2006

Since coming back from the 15 day trip through France and Spain (23rd of August), I have uploaded some of the photos from my trip on my flickr site. I did write a bit during the tour, and I shall put some of that up on here soon i think. Right now i am on some overhauling on my laptop. Meanwhile Thom Yorke is keeping me company.

Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006

1 comment

Aug 17, 2006

Posted on Thursday, August 17, 2006

1 comment

Aug 3, 2006

... using MS Word is like driving through bad traffic on the streets of Dhaka!

Why would they have Ignore Once on the menu? They just could not be so kind to also have Ignore Thousand Times in there now could they?

Posted on Thursday, August 03, 2006

1 comment

Aug 1, 2006

...that it may be dangerous to climb up a hill and think "What would Rambo do?".

[PS. to friends and family - don't woryy, i didn't do anything that smart!]

Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006

1 comment

Jul 26, 2006

Pearl Jam

Talking about their new album, and the inspiration behind it.

Posted on Wednesday, July 26, 2006

No comments

Jul 23, 2006






Finally! Arbovirus has released their first album. They have been playing their hearts out at underground concerts and have shown a lot of promise in the recordings for the compilations Agontuk (2 and 3 i think) and Lokayot. so this has been quite a wait, and i unfortunately have to wait some more, till someone is coming from BDesh to sweden to get the CD.

PS! The album is actually being sold online... @Amadergaan Shop

Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006

No comments

Jul 21, 2006

This made me laugh so hard!!!! hehehe... i still can't stop....

http://rezwanul.blogspot.com/2006/07/love-attack-on-merkel-bild-reports.html


PS. I opened an account with youtube, so i have a couple of videos there now, you are all invited to go see them.

Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006

No comments

Jul 19, 2006

I made a post earlier under a gray sky with missiles flying to and fro, called "People". Then I realized, it was nothing but the paraphrase of "People are People" by A Perfect Circle (originally by Depeche Mode) which I listened to a lot some time ago.

It goes like this:

We're different colors,
And different creeds,
And different people,
Have different needs,
It's obvious you hate me,
Though I've done nothing wrong,
I've never even met you,
What could I have done?

You're punching and kicking,
And you're shouting at me,
I'm relying on your common decency,
So far it hasn't surfaced,
But I'm sure it exists,
It just takes a while to travel
From your head to your fist.

I can't understand,
What makes a man,
Hate another man,
Help me understand,

People are people,
So why should it be?,
You and I shouldn't get along,
People are people,
So why should it be,
You Should Hate me

I can't understand,
What makes a man,
Hate another man?,
Help me understand

Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006

No comments

I heard this band once in BUET, it was quite a heady experience. Their music is a mish mash thing, with psychadelics being at the forefront.

Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006

1 comment

Jul 16, 2006

I saw a long time ago, that Black had taken an initiative to make a website, which they put under www.enterblack.com. Well, to my surprise however, I also found out they finally did put up a website, and now its re-enterblack.com

Well, unlike the first time, they did pretty much put up a lot of content, and I especially appreciated the music videos! Pretty good.

I found them on myspace too! Its actually better to check the videos online there. Plus you can stream four of their tracks from it too. And if you use myspace too... you can try and be their friend! hahaha... I did!

The video for Ondho is here. Its pretty good. It would have been super if they could somehow put the background to Jon's outdoor scenes in black and white.

Posted on Sunday, July 16, 2006

No comments

Jul 15, 2006

Posted on Saturday, July 15, 2006

No comments

Jul 14, 2006

Solar System - Planets - Earth - Life

People. We live on one planet. We might as well live on different planets.
We have made borders to call our own. Our levels of tolerance is low.

Add on top of that we do have similar physical features according to where our borders stand. Then we have different creeds, different ideologies, different pasts. Differend ideas of a future.

In light of the latest skirmishes on the planet we should all realize this.
As long as our borders are not treaded on by aliens, we are fine.
The lives within a border are valuable to those within it. Anything outside is tragic, boo hoo, and lets move on. Look closer through a microscope, this could be the same for a family. If someone from the family is in a fire, boo hoo and change the channel. If its someone from the family, then it matters more. On a national level, it plays out in a larger scope.

I guess as we go through life and time, extending borders, doing business,
making our money, these are our Rules of Engagement, or for Collateral Damage.

Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006

1 comment

Jul 12, 2006

No. I am not writing about poetry. I am here to share a photograph. In fact, I first looked up William Blake after I saw this photo. Some of the lines conjured deja vu.



And this little excerpt from the exceptionally long poem appears at the bottom of the picture:

Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born.

Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.

Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.

--William Blake, "Auguries of Innocence"

Tho I, we, my countrymen are not at any war by its traditional sense, we are constantly digging a bigger chasm between the rich and the poor. I have seen the same scene as the picture here in Mirpur 10, near the 'volvo bus stand' on the opposite side of the street outside a restaurant one morning. There was an older woman in place of the young child. The woman was scraping a large amount of what appeared to be donated or thrown away (rather) rice into a little hill on the pavement. I didnt see any plates or any other kind of container. There could have been some newspapers under the rice at best. The scene was terrible, so much so that it is still fresh in my ever failing memory. And this picture just brought it all back.

Again, my belief is that the one thing we are doing wrong has to do with education. Those smart enough has made their place in the city, found some way to sustain their livelihood, by hook or by crook. Others just move into the city in search of fortune but not a solid bit of information about it. Just reading and writing is not enough, i think the time has come for practical customized education depending on place and resources, about different crafts that can form a livelihood and about morals (so that 'by crook' does not become a popular option) and the environment. Education that people can use, and that helps develop a knowledgeable man. Don't ask me any further cause I haven't thought of it all too well at the moment. But centres that keep a log of skills required by the local industries and coprorations and teaches those skills to unskilled people could be a step. Industries should define the knowledge that a countries workforce requires, and vice versa, the educational institutes should cater to local industries and be funded to do research that further improves those industries and practices. I am desparately trying to make sense, but I guess I just need to stop and take a deep breath now. tata.

Posted on Wednesday, July 12, 2006

2 comments

When I realized i didn't want to be John Rambo,


(I had stickers and postcards with this image)
(PS. I don't anymore)

I quickly shifted my dreams to becoming a rockstar.
But being a bangladeshi you always have your parents drum in dreams of becoming a doctor, an engineer or a successful businessman all the time into you. Being a rockstar wasn't an option. Once you accepted that, you feel like you have grown up and accepted the r-e-a-l world. While i went about following the more pragmatic scenarios for a future, I did have the feeling that it would be nice to be in photography, or at least have that as a hobby while I keep a secure profession of ...whatever.

Well, I still have that feeling, and though I could not afford the camera of my dreams, I ended up with something I could use to take decent photographs, and store them on Flickr. Once you get a hold of this website, browsing through it and using its search facility, you get into a really amazing world. It just inspires you further. There are lots of good photographers, and there are lots of cliques of photographers, lots of 'pools' of photographs etc.
Also there are so many who are experts on Photoshop and I suppose other photo manipulation softwares who are doing amazing stuff.

My favorite thing to do at the moment is to look for people working on a concept. E.g. -

As is told by the author, its conceptualized from Through the Looking Glass. It is a very direct interpretation but the use of tachnology to realize the concept is marvelous.

Then there is this:


I relate to this picture well. The caption of the photo read "more davids than needed".

Lastly, I would like to point out this one:






Click on the individual image (better to right click and open in a new tab or window) to see the photographers' comments and the comments of the other members.

Posted on Wednesday, July 12, 2006

No comments

Jul 11, 2006

Headline: Gazipur garment workers go berserk after accident

Incident:

A Chandana-bound bus from Sadarghat in Dhaka ran over three garment employees
at Signboard Bus Stand area around 8:00am

Summary:
* 30 people including six policemen were injured
* torched three buses
* vandalised 12 vehicles
* attacked policemen and fire engines
* compelled eight factories to shutdown for the day

Surely, the world will be a better place tomorrow. Road safety will be assured, and people will not be vindictive.

-----

Then again, i am sorry for the cynicism above. Its just that reading newspapers can be an overwhelming experience for me, and lately, these vandalism and hartals just serve to prove to me that people are mindless. Are we? Isn't it a shameful reaction to ...whatever?

Anway, Daily Star had another article titled By The Numbers
No more hartals, no more sieges
, where there is a paragraph that ends like this -

AL and BNP leadership ought to have no reason to disagree with such propositions,* given that the interest of the country remains uppermost in their minds.
That just made me laugh for the joke it is. I shall maintain this stance till I see some proof.

Having just watched a PBS documentary titled Communism - The Promise and the Reality, I have come to the conclusion that all people pursuing leadership of a mass of people are narcissistic, fascistic and sadistic to different levels, and who sees clearly at the end of their struggle for position, that they are driven by their thirst for power and a godline stature. To be supreme. All else are just means to an end.



* Propositions for a ban of student politics and siege programs.

Posted on Tuesday, July 11, 2006

1 comment

Jul 10, 2006

MTV is a blast. They keep playing music i dont want to watch (or videos i dont want to listen to). One of them is Mry J Blige's cover of U2's One, featuring U2. One thing is for sure, that this has made me see the contribution that Bono makes to this song.

Speaking of U2, I just watched a documentary on the making of Joshua Tree. That was one good album. They don't do it so well anymore. They had the most amount of trouble, apparently, recording 'Where the streets have no name', which happens to be the first music video I saw on MTV ever!

PS. The Gnarls Barkley video is sweet!

Posted on Monday, July 10, 2006

No comments

Jul 6, 2006

I was emailed a long time ago by these people to enter this, I just didn't ... tho i mentioned them once on my blog before. hence their invitation. Tho i am also not from the USA, its kinda pointless maybe. I don think many people form USA read my blog. I also put in a phony postal address to get into the challenge. anyway, if a reader is from USA, he/she should take a look into this initiative, which i feel is great....


Check Progress


Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006

No comments

Jul 5, 2006

We started jamming on this and we all felt like it sounds like someone else's song, and then Razik who was singing at the time thought up some lyrics and he spun it around the words i used to describe the tune - Cheap Thrill. I was thinking that we should call ourselves The Cheap Thrill.

Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006

No comments

Jul 4, 2006

I guess hartals to our politicians is what ice-cream is to little children.

Posted on Tuesday, July 04, 2006

No comments

Jul 2, 2006

"The guitar has 6 strings and 24 frets." he said looking back and forth between his beautiful Ibanez SV and this new student. "The possibilites are many, dont limit yourself"

Limit myself? Bastard I have been chasing you around all week, be home when you give your students time for lessons! "Thank You".

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey man, can you give me a hug?"
"I'm sorry!?"
"Can I hug you"
"What do you mean?"
"See, my girlfriend is over there, and she is hugging this other girl. She is making me jealous"
An eyebrow is raised, and a puzzled look is put on the face.
"Just give me a hug and pretend we are mates and then she will be jealous too"
"I am not sure that will work... why don't you just go and try to talk to her?"
"Hey"
"There, she is back! There you go". An exit is made.

Posted on Sunday, July 02, 2006

1 comment

Jun 26, 2006

Tricky. I heard of him coz he and Live did a single together, i think its name was 'Revolution'. Maybe it was Tricky featuring the singer from Live.

Then I came across him again, when I brought the 'The Work of Director Stephane Sednaoui' from the library.
This director is great by the way, with these music videos to his creadit:
Tricky's For Real, Pumpkin; Garbage's Queer; Red Hot Chili Peppers' Scar Tissue and Give It Away, Bjork's Big Time Sensuality and Possibly Maybe; REM's Lotus; and U2's Mysterious Ways.

This is Tricky's For Real.

You watch too many films
Too many films for real
Some because you take too seriously
Your record deal
A record deal pays bills
Feeds the family
Your profile is too big
How you gonna be a crime family

Too many films are for real
You want to see any films
Films are for real

Dont get me wrong that you got guns
And youre not scared to use em
But is there money bein made round these guns
Or lives to be losin

You watch too many films
Films for real
You watch too many films
Too many films for real

Some of these people have to life their life
For real
I dont have to, I got a record deal
For real
You heard
I chill
I smoke herb

Now how about these sexy singers
Sex cards
Two pack girls in a turn
Your fantastic, you supersperm
Yeah, Im a player hater
I hate when players cant take their turn
And when the record company drops me
Thats when I learn

Its not for real
Its just passed the time
Its not real
All I do is rhyme

Its not real
Its just passed the time
All I do, all I do is rhyme

You heard you heard

You go romeo
Girls say you look tall on the video
And the colored girls sing

Give me money, give me money, give me money, give me money

And no one sings the blues
Everyone sings the greens
Some will say keep you on the prize
How you lose a dream

Who am I to say I dont need cash
In this hundred yard dash
I moved a while ago
And passed through new york
Ill be back in a minute
Its my turn to talk

For real
You heard
For real
You heard

I can grab a mic and wrack it
Make it go posethic
I train my mic
Restrain my mic

You watch too many movies
For real

You watch too many films
Films are for real

You watch too many films
Too many films are for real

You watch too many films
For real

Posted on Monday, June 26, 2006

No comments

Jun 20, 2006

The Hultsfed Festival took place from the 15th to the 17th, 3 days of different kinds of music being played in 7 stages of varying sizes. I got to see Alice In Chains, which was the highlight of my journey there

Alice In Chains

(More pics on my flickr site)

Also, got to see and learn of a lot of great bands i did not know about! So i will just list them and link them here, in case anyone is interested:

The Brian Jonestpwn Massacre [related: mazzy star, psychadelic rock, slow tempo, minimalistic lyrics and music]
Soilwork [Related: Metal, Pantera]
Stonegard [Related: Metal, Thrash]
Martha Wainwright [Related: Folk, Singer/Songwriter, early Jewel]
Strapping Young Lad [Related: Metal]
Disco Ensemble [Related: Rock, Ac/Dc, retro rock]
Phoenix [Related: Pop/Rock, Maroon 5]
Freelovebabies [Related: Stone Roses. rock]

Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006

No comments










Your results:
You are Hulk
























Hulk
80%
Spider-Man
75%
The Flash
65%
Superman
60%
Robin
55%
Supergirl
50%
Catwoman
40%
Green Lantern
35%
Batman
35%
Iron Man
20%
Wonder Woman
10%

You are a wanderer with
amazing strength.



Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006

No comments

Jun 14, 2006

Tomorrow me and a few friends head off for hultsfred, where a big music festival is taking place. We rented the car today, the tents, sleeping bags and food is on tomorrow's agenda. Hope everything goes well.

Posted on Wednesday, June 14, 2006

1 comment

Jun 3, 2006

Could someone write me a song, that promises great things in the verses and goes for a commercial break in the chorus?

Posted on Saturday, June 03, 2006

2 comments

May 28, 2006

Pink faces, bright contrasting colors, movie buffs, great!
http://www.unnayannews.net/issue/cultureNdevelopment/rickshaw.htm

Posted on Sunday, May 28, 2006

1 comment

May 23, 2006

Sometimes I amuse myself... While trying to explain to a friend why I sleep so much these days, I told him that I have split personality and one half of that is a hibernating bear! He said I was on drugs. /lol

Posted on Tuesday, May 23, 2006

1 comment

May 21, 2006

hey! my old school is online! wat a surprise while registering for MySpace!
Go Chittagong Grammar Schoool!

Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006

No comments

less is More

Pointless. Gutless. Careless.

Powerless.

Penniless.

Worthless.

Clueless. Shoeless. Mindless.

Formless. Listless.

Speechless.

God Bless

Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006

1 comment

Well, I made my fourth trip to Denmark and the third to Copenhagen this thursday. But this time the partners in travel were the whole of my class from 141, and two of our art teachers Graham and Martin. The highlight of the tour was the Lousiana Museum which has the best collection in Scandinavia. We also got to catch the "Sip My Ocean" exhibition which had chosen works of video art. Among them were the works of Gary Hill, Bill Viola and Nam June Paik, whom we read so much about in our first term. There was also one artist in that exhibition from my lil' desh named Runa Islam (tho she works out of UK). The Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen was also interesting, with its messy artworks in progress. It certainly made me feel a bit inspired about the arts, working with matter and your hands... to produce. Then again, we are back now to our computers, in our own mess, our ship-building block of 141 with its industrial cranes and whatnot. I took some pics while we were there, check out the flickr site for those.

Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2006

No comments

May 15, 2006

Wow! Good work Freddy!

Link

I just saw a lil video freddy made up from footages he took of the exhibition we had at the end of the first term at this art and technology madness. The music in the background is a part of one of Alejandro's compositions.

Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006

No comments

I have to change from tram to bus 16 at Brunnsparken every time I take a certain route to the 141:an, our program's block. Its either this or Hjalmar Brantingsplatsen. Either way, since Spring came, these two places are amazingly filled by the presence of birds, they are in constant motion and they are constantly heard.

For many days I been wanting to sneek up to some of them to take pictures. Well, that didn't happen today either but I did get around to taking some pics of them from where I was waiting for the bus.




the flock





in flight





birds

Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006

No comments

May 14, 2006

Ittadi showcased Mr. Leepu's handiwork a long time ago, which I can remember I saw as a schoolkid! He made a car for himself, in the shape of something close to a Lamborghini! how sweet is that?! Well, opening the Daily Star website today I came across a story featuring him, and how he was asked to make two different looking cars in 8 weeks by the Discovery Channel! Well, good to see him getting some exposure abroad! Too bad our govt. is too slow to pick up on anything (news news news huh?).


The Story

Posted on Sunday, May 14, 2006

No comments

May 13, 2006

As usual, i forgot the name of the place we went. The trip was a part of a course we have which deals with narrativity, and thus character building and all that. So on this trip we were to assume the roles that we had some time to develop over the past few weeks. Firstly however we were broken down into groups, so that each group had a theme, and then we developed the characters with relation to those themes.

Anyway, there are pics from that trip on my flickr site and the place was just soooo beautiful, I shall urge all to look at the pics from there.

Meanwhile, as far as beauty and photographs go, I would like to point out this link too:

http://www.parkeharrison.com/index.html

Posted on Saturday, May 13, 2006

No comments

May 6, 2006

Amazing how you see people and talk to them, but there are always things you never really know about them! Nikolai from my class is one of these people. He is an architect from Serbia who was the person to join the class the latest! lets say a week or so before the end of the first semester when we were all just wholly occupied with our upcoming exams.

Anyway, he has opened up a new website and it is called CGbrainchild. here is what he had to say about it:

Only aim of this gallery is to give inspiration to Artists. CGbrainchild is mainly about Computer Graphics, but every other piece of art, sketch, art studies, story is welcome, because this is about Inspiration.

So if you have some artwork that you would like to show, and you think that it can be inspiring for others, go to www.cgbrainchild.com and see Sending Your Artwork Details.

CGbrainchild is now on search for:
| 3d Artwork (created with 3dmax, maya, softimage...)
| 2d Artwork (created with Photoshop, Painter...)
| Sketches, initial idea drawings, studies
| Traditional art images
| Stories about success or better failure and what you learned from that experience
| Or maybe you have a suggestion

Be sure to also check out the links at the bottom of the pieces from the gallery of the artists' pages too!

Posted on Saturday, May 06, 2006

1 comment

May 5, 2006

I strolled into campus at sometime after 7 pm. Its Friday and I had no classes. Until Arif called me up to chat... and then I thought it was Saturday when talking about calling up the British Embassy to see if I might be able to travel to UK over the summer, and he made me realized it was in fact Thursday! damn! I missed a few classes today then. tanm to earth... tanm to earth...

Anyway, surfing through Amadergaan.com i am realizing what a good job the people over at there and Soundmachine and others with them are doing. Thanks to their perseverence, so many bands unknown/unheard of to so many people now have websites. And of course the people at the forum are providing feedback, reviewing their work... its working out well i think. Anyway, here are the links to some of the websites which are coming out:

http://www.bimsuckz.com/
http://www.stentorianbd.com/ (best you turn speakers a bit low for this one)
http://www.viralogy.com
http://www.rebornincarnated.com/
http://www.shironamhin.com/
http://www.pentagonmusic.net
http://www.avoidkral.com/

On a note unrelated, or maybe "related", my cousin faisal plays in Pentagon and he recently got engaged to Alif of the same band (she sings, he plays guitar... go figure), and are soon to wed in my absence. Congratulations to them.

Most of the websites have what it takes on the side of aesthetics, it reflects the band's mood most of the time. Contentwise they are all lacking, and it is kind of weird to see most websites having educational details of members, as we all know most bands break up due to members leaving the country for higher studies... ahem... and whats the point of mentioning that? I think the websites should focus on NOW and only on things related to the music and its art or influences. Books a member read and movies and favorite food kind of trivia is okay, i think that has some purpose to some fans. Another thing i like seeing in band websites is what the members are currently listening to, and hopefully pursuing those artists and musicians will broaden the scope for the listeners too. ramble ramble ramble.. blah blah blah.. over and out.


Posted on Friday, May 05, 2006

No comments

Apr 30, 2006

This is a great plugin for Firefox. Choose your likes/interests and stumble upon websites that deal with them. Great Fun.

Posted on Sunday, April 30, 2006

No comments

Apr 23, 2006

Well, seems like my wish for some free time has come true. At what price, I do not know yet. Firstly, my laptop stopped working! When frequent tries to boot Windows did not work, I tried going into my Fedora installation and that failed too. All this with my external review for the term project is on the 28th! Also there are pending assignments, and the small itchy fear in the hidden crevice of my pessimistic mind that all data on my hard disk might be at great risk here.

Anyway, the weekend is now on! I have 2/3 books with me from the library, and the problems with the laptop will be known on Monday. Hope there are no monsters waiting for me. PEaCe.

Posted on Sunday, April 23, 2006

2 comments

Apr 20, 2006

As suggested by our programming teacher, I went for a taste of Pandora, and it seems very nice... you type in a band or song's name and they spew out a radio station with bands of similar aura. :)

They call it the Music Genome Project. Do check it out.

Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006

No comments

Apr 19, 2006

Ticking away
The moments that make up a dull day
[Time, Pink Floyd]

Time. What is it? It is one thing which to me is boundless. It will carry on even when my body has stopped and maybe have dissolved into the ground. It is what we use to measure our lives. The tick tock of clock hands and the silent displays of the digital clocks its servants, lashing a whip on my back everytime I let things slip.

Not exactly.

Time is the one slipping between my fingers like sand while i clench harder to hold on to it. I want to make it go with me, arms around shoulders like buddies with nothing better to do but stroll around a busy street, make jokes and checking out ladies.
Me: "Oh she's nice!"
Time: "No! I like her..."

Thats not happening either.

Today while returning from the library I nearly walked into a car coming out of an obscure corner. But the driver stopped and nodded at me to pass. People have time for people. That is wonderful to see. It reminded me quickly of Dhaka, in 2004 I think, when a car almost got touchy touchy cause me and Ashu (who was visiting from UK) were walking on the side of the road! Not even a rude honk to let us know its behind, just crept up behind us too close for comfort. And to make the situation totally priceless I was telling Ashu at that moment how people in Bangladesh seem to have no time for other people anymore. Just busy with themselves. Oh Well.

Time management is big business now even. If I could afford it, I don't know whether I would get a consultant into my life or something. I totally am bad at it (trying to avoid "sucks"). I am sleepy for more than half of each day, which I have a feeling might be helped if i start getting physically active again. Maybe get into squash (too expensive) or jogging (too boring). Maybe.

Well, come to think of it, even as i am typing out this post, i am actually wasting my time! Considering how far behind i am with my term project's work. So, Maybe i will try to be wiser for the moment.... and... i am outta here.

Meanwhile,

Time, by Pink Floyd:

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you’re older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the english way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
And when I come home cold and tired
It’s good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells.

Posted on Wednesday, April 19, 2006

2 comments

The internet is a wonderful place, because here you can learn that Albert Einstein once said:

The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax
[Originally stumbled on at http://jscience.org]

Posted on Wednesday, April 19, 2006

No comments

Apr 18, 2006

Just thought I'd post this wonderful link i came across:
http://www.satyajitray.org/

Posted on Tuesday, April 18, 2006

1 comment

Apr 17, 2006

When in school, two things inspired me to drawing, sketching... one is comics, and the other is the illustrations of one man in our Bangla text book, Amar Boi. That man is Hashem Khan. Today i found an interview of him on the Noboborsho supplement of the Daily Star. Read.

Posted on Monday, April 17, 2006

No comments

Onek din por email porlam, onek din por blog porlam.. onek din por blog korchi. asholey temon din porey na... tobuo mone hoy onek din por. shob mathay. shobi dharona. gotokal noboborsho'r ojuhatey ekta choto khato onushthan kora holo Chalmers-ay. Oder kaukey temon bhalo chena chilona agey... jehutu amar class hoy onek durey... nodir epar opar bepar shepar. Ei onsushthaner prostuti ebong shomapti'r moddhe koyek joner shathey ekhon ektu bhalo porichoy holo. Chobi tola hoyeche kichu.. shegulo ekhaney:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanm2006/sets/72057594108291418/
1413


And while it lasts... Daily Star's City in Frame

Posted on Monday, April 17, 2006

No comments

Apr 8, 2006

we had a lot of fun and games yesterday, with lego mindstorms thingies. check out pics here: HERE!

And today was a boring tiring and fruitless midterm exam day. poooof.

Posted on Saturday, April 08, 2006

No comments

Apr 2, 2006

According to Wikipedia, Easy Star All-Stars are a group of Reggae artists who specialize in covering popular albums in a Reggae style. So far they did Dub Side of the Moon, a cover of Pink Floyd's Dark side of the moon, and now they are on the verge of doing a cover of Radiohead's .... why am i telling you all this! go and read it from Wikipedia yourself!

Anyway, we (Hugo Ramirez and I) just presented our first attempt at movie making yesterday, amidst a lot of fears, and nervousness. We finished the movie at 11 am and the presentations were to start at 1 pm. We were running late, but discovered Thommy who was going to be marking the presentations on the same bus. We didn't even compress our video file, and was expecting trouble from the projector playing the uncompressed file. Things kinda worked out in the end though.

Now I am looking for a way to embed videos in to my page. Shakia put one on hers, and you who have not seen it yet should check it out!
I think i will just steal some code from her page to do it though... here goes...

Ok, no.. i think i found out how this works....



Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006

1 comment

Mar 28, 2006

So, we were taken for a ride for a few days, a few days of sunshine and relatively lower temperatures. And then suddenly the cold wind was back, then it snowed again. Today, it rained. Teh teaser trailer is over. And during the tease i got all excited and packed up most of my warmer clothes. But i shall not take them out again, its my mutiny for now... winter.. go away!

Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006

1 comment

Mar 15, 2006

When I go the the bathroom, my hands instinctly go for the lightswitch! And if someone left the light on (which they shouldn't have, conserve energy people!) I tend to turn it off from this reflex action! Then its left to turning it back on, it helps aim.

Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006

1 comment

I notice a lot of people using the old analog phone's ringing sound (the good ol' kring kring!) on their cell phone! I guess we all miss it. After a while of playing around with mp3 ring tones and the polyphone kinds, a lot just go back to that kring kring.

Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006

No comments

uxorious \uk-SOR-ee-us; ug-ZOR-\, adjective:
Excessively fond of or submissive to a wife.

[from Doctor Dictionary]

A translation of the 'stroino' from bangla!

Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006

No comments

Mar 9, 2006

Graphs help visualize information. It is also something which is being explored by artists by various other means of visualization to create artworks that work on the concepts of databases and narrative power of objects arranged in such manner.

Sounds are now also being used in such manner by artists to 'sonify' data and thus creating original and interesting results.

Links:

International Committee for Auditory Display
iSIC - Information Music
Sonification Research
Webmelody

Posted on Thursday, March 09, 2006

No comments

Mar 3, 2006

Posted on Friday, March 03, 2006

No comments

Mar 1, 2006

FYI

Climate is what you expect.

Weather is what you get.

Posted on Wednesday, March 01, 2006

No comments

Feb 22, 2006

Daily Star na khulley monei portona... je ajkey bhasha dibosh, ekushey february! koto kichu je ajkal par hoye jay mone kono rokom kora na nere. jai hok, asha kori shobai deshey bhalo achey...

Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006

2 comments

Feb 20, 2006

Read an article from the Daily Star fully today after a very long time. Its a voice on the matter of income inequality of Bangladesh.

http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/02/19/d6021901011.htm

I think the widening gap will ultimately result in adverse social outcomes. Already there is in other news the headline: Baby trade booms at hospitals! Well, thats enough news for today, I'll go back to my escapist reality now. tata.

Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006

No comments

Feb 19, 2006

Kyrkan, is pronounced as "Sher Khan" .. no... kidding... like "Shirkan" rather, and is the swedish word for church. My landlord goes to a church called the Advent Church here in town, and they were starting a separate sermon in English, and thus, of course the turn up was expected to be lower than expected. Anyway, since today is the first day, my landlord asked me to come and play something, and i just for the experience of playing in a church said yes, but being the coward (teamplayer) that i am, i tugged Pongpan (a friend from Thailand who is a brilliant flute player) along. We met this morning, jammed on an idea we had... and it stretched to 10 minutes, mainly because of Pongpan's brilliance! Anyway, we liked what we heard and we were ready to go.

We arrived there late according to the time we had been given. As it turned out, people were late too... the sermon didn't start, the room to be used for the sermon didn't even get a row filled with people. Pongpan and I got a bit restless, so after they sang a few of their devotional songs, they asked us to play, we played complete with an introduction by me. And we played till the finish, and gave a smile to our mini audience of about 10 people. My landlord said thank you and that was pretty much the only sound before the subject of discussion was changed. They weren't impressed.
I used to think the 'Appluase' is a ceremonial thing, but i guess its not. Or maybe (hopefully) they have rules in their church against applauding.

As soon as we got out (pretty soon) I told Pongpan that maybe it wasn't their type of music. And later I was asking him in plain words whether we sucked. LOL. I smiled all the way back here.

Posted on Sunday, February 19, 2006

No comments

Feb 16, 2006

We are doing a course on Interactivity and Narrativity this term, which has brought us face to face with a book of the title Orality and Literacy, by Walter J Ong. Its full of interesting concepts, but very boring at times, since it is laden with names and references and dates. And of course a lot of Homer and his Iliad and Odyseey. The greek influence on art and literature is so immense it is fascinating, but its not for people with failing memory cells.

The book of course starts with the invention on languages, and how oral traditions were established first, since writing basically took a long time to develop. Thus memory also played a major part in the cultures and societies of the early ages. And to have important instances and stories be easily stored as memory, it had to be made in patterns and a lot of cliches or repititions. It also mentioned computer languages in the book, citing the difference between that and human languages. The computer languages have rules that are made first and then it can be processed or usable, and in human languages, the usage came first and the rules (grammar) were then abstracted from it. Our language is very interesting i think. Especially with its abundance of different versions of one sound, like the Dirgho-E (lengthy E) and the Roshyo-E (the shorter E). I once had the opinion that these versions should go and that they are redundant. I have now changed that opinion. This is since i have started learning Swedish a few weeks ago. Swedish has a lot of extra alphabets and different pronunciations, and our alphabets are now helping a lot to explain to myself the twists and turns of the swedish speech! It is quite fascinating, the dirgho-E, the Doy-shunno-R... they are all useful again. But i wonder if that is the only use for them, since the distinctive sounds are almost non-existent in our speech today!

As far as cliches go, they are really useful for remembering things. It commits to memory easily. Like 'seeing is believing', maybe i cannot remember who first said it to me or where i first read it, but i remember the saying. Related to vision, there is also the saying "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". Now songs and poetry recitals are probably the more prominent of oral traditions today. Story telling probably still exist in some societies or clubs and some radio stations. Anyway, I will end with my extracted saying: "in the land of the sleeping, the blind can be king", to reflect the condition of democracy in third world countries riddled with illiteracy, lack of education (or proper education), and corruption.

Keep talking, and keep blogging.

Posted on Thursday, February 16, 2006

No comments

Feb 7, 2006

So, i have crossed realms and my dreams have gone international.

A few nights ago (or dawns ago, i hear thats the best time for dreams), i was playing bass for Joe Satriani! it was an awesome show, i kicked ass with my bass and i was wearing a trenchcoat (i think it was the same one Joe wore in one his old videos... probably 'big bad moon').

* For those who don't know Joe Satriani but know Metallica, he was the guy who Kirk Hammet used to learn guitar from.

For those who don't know Joe Satriani but know Steve Vai (the actor against the kid in the guitar duel in the movie Crossroads and and interim guitarist for Whitesnake), Joe taught Steve Vai too and they tour together as G3.

For those who don't know Joe... period, click - HERE.



And this morning i woke up with the recollection of a funny one. I was talking to a woman (who was clearly from the west and white) about 'Fuchka' (pr. FOOTCH-KA)! I don't just mean talking... normal talk.. its like i was a salesman and i was selling the idea of how awesomely tasty treat a 'fuchka' is... I was describing what it looks like and how to eat it.

I miss fuchka.

Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006

1 comment