TED (Technology Entertainment Design) is a favorite source of enlightenment for many people all over the world. Today i want to direct attention to a particular TED talk titled ‘The sexy lie’ given by Caroline Heldman. Why stop & take notice of this talk ? Here’s why:
1) Enlightenment on the lie- Sexual objectification is empowering women
2) Her dexterous use of logic,rationale, facts & research exemplifying what women can achieve by focusing in the right direction
3) Her compelling passion
4) She delivers a resounding appeal in a commanding tenor that just arrests attention.
Shout out to all marketers,advertisers and media agencies out there who really ought to internalize the message.
“You are the architects of your future & sometimes architects have to demolish paradigms to build a better world….”
Even if you don’t care too much about this idea,my suggestion is to listen to it because you might just pick up good points on how to make a successful, impactful presentation. Note : Following information is from TED’s video Caroline Heldman : Chair of the politics department of Occidential College in Los Angeles, Dr. Heldman appeared in the acclaimed documentary, Miss Representation and is co-editor of “Madame President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House?” She is a frequent commentator on radio and television.
TED:TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader.
Guys I have this sneaky feeling that i am one of the last ones to discover this song, but hey I find this song by Daft Punk so super groovy!
“Up all night to get LUCKY!” Ok hold your neighing horses of imagination there & enjoy the peppiness of the song will you.. Oh please we all know what we all thought so lets just dismiss pretensions here so we may snap fingers & enjoy the super funky music!
How i chanced upon it ? Crazy thing, so i have neighbors who live on the floor above us & are quite loud , annoying,self loathing,world hating but play this song frequently so I half forgive them for all the disturbance, cause them people know their groovy music . (so you know yay! for them too)
Am also loving Soundcloud!! That amazing conglomeration of brilliant people who just make awesme songs better by remixing them!
PS :Yes i am aware i use the word “groovy” from old Archies comics time. But you know what? they haven’t quite come up with an adjective to replace GROOVY!! So Lets stay up all night to ermmm dance to this song thats so grooovy! (See what i did there ?phew!) Hope you like it as much .Enjoy!!
I love it when advertising sends a feel good message! Who doesnt? So I came across this inspiring ad made by Pantene (Philippine)- I thought to myself Shampoo ad ok another product that focuses on women looking pretty with some celebs thrown in (Yawn). But this one was different . I loved it as a woman & as an objective marketing enthusiast! This ad is exhorting women to not let haters, prejudices & labels hold them back. It boldly displays our distorted perceptions & encourages women to rise above those labels.
You might remember how dove connected to “real” women by running the love your self kinda ads? I think Pantene is pushing those boundaries by asking women to be strong & shine. I love it & am sure many other women out there will love it too! Thats just smart branding right there for you! Perfect emotional connect by just being smart, creative and most importantly by understanding the pulse of the customer. In the end the tag line “Be strong & shine” kinda reminded me of one of my favourite lines by Marianne Williamson. Below is the excerpt i was reminded of:
“We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
I know it might sound like a long leap & much ado about an ad made to ultimately earn bucks for a beauty product. But it made me feel good, it reminded me of the above poem that has always given me strength and also improved the shampoo’s top of mind recall for me so i would say its thumbs up for this ad. In times when it is so much easier to objectify women or make them feel insecure, i appreciate this ad that takes the road less traveled by . It might just make the difference for this brand.Hope you enjoyed it too! Sigh I just love good advertising/Marketing!
So am going to Goa to enjoy Sun,sand & the sound of waves! Super excited!Yay! Am supposed to be packing but am surfing stuff predictably like the net junkie that i am .
I came across this song of Dido’s that i used to hear in school. You can always sing her song with or without instruments. Her voice always conjures up imaginings of a campfire with family & friends , someone on the guitar & one other singing.Her songs have that earthy, intimate feeling. She seems so real, relatable & easy to love kinda person.
Yeah so am going away for a while & yeah Ill have to return & its so weird that I know this is exactly how i’ll feel when i return. I just like this song cause i know when i get back I’ll be all like – I still got sand in my shoes….” Its like taking a snapshot of the future & seeing it but its Dido so its all good !
Here the Song & below are the lyrics that are just soo spot on!
Two weeks away feels like the whole world should have changed,
But I’m home now, and things still look the same.
I think I’ll leave it ’til tomorrow to unpack,
Try to forget for one night that I’m back in my flat.
On the road where the cars never stop going through the night,
To a life where I can’t watch the sun set.
I don’t have time.
I don’t have time.
……..
Tomorrow’s back to work and down to sanity,
Should run a bath and then clear up the mess i made before i left here.
Try to remind myself that i was happy here,
Before I knew that I could get on a plane and fly away,
From the road where the cars never stop going through the night,
To a life where I can watch the sun set,
And take my time.
Take all my time.
You don’t have to be gay or straight to know that , you need to be compassionate, you need to have courage to challenge the “norm”. And when someone says- What are you -gay? in an insulting tone because that’s the best “comeback” they can conjure up…
Remember then, that it doesn’t matter whether you are or you are not , you don’t react like a cat on hot bricks. You question the
relevance of the remark, you question how would it matter if you were gay… Cause its not an insult, its a state of being.
I recommend this short, well made movie specially for those who have a difficult time in accepting the “Queers”. You may want to
see this challenging movie.It might give you a glimpse of what it feels like to be misunderstood and help in discovering your
compassion….
It may just help you understand, that homosexuality may or may not make sense to you,you may or may not accept it, but it is a fact & you can decide how you react to that fact- With compassion or with misplaced judgement.
My call ? – Life is too short to be an asinine, adult bully with ill formed opinions.
The photo above could be 2 women, or 2 men or a man and a woman holding hands & it would still remain the same – a representation of a close bond shared , & that is pretty sacred stuff whatever your belief.
At the risk of being lame & being the millionth person saying some inane thingummy like “work runneth over me & keepeth me there with face on dirt ” yeah you get the idea…yeah it kept me there & yeah it kinda led to the appalling normalisation of my head making me narrow mindedly fixed on the everyday & the mundane… I need more daydreaming time . I woefully accept to myself that my blogging has become extremely erratic I just got off a 4 day vacation . Its Diwali here in India !! hence i find the will to type.. neway why i did get to type & share..
Tired or not I always manage to discover or rediscover songs that uplift my day .
Tonight’s choice is rose tinted, laidback , salt of the earth, country music . Again one from days of yore (Parents’ time i mean :P), i discovered this gem… I hum it every now then. Its got a very magical tune & the sincerest lyrics ever written. A beautiful composition fit for a lady. The song is – LADY by Kenny Rogers.
Here is what Wiki tells me about it : The song was written and produced by Lionel Richie, recorded in 1980, and ranks among Kenny Rogers’s biggest hits. Rogers once told an interviewer, “The idea was that Lionel would come from R&B and I’d come from country, and we’d meet somewhere in pop.”
I heard the song & i went all like “& dats how u woo a lady………. old school knew the finer rules..unforgettable song this! “Sigh… girls just sigh… & weep for an era gone by while the lads learn to figure out how to sway to Dubstep. Dont get me wrong i like dubstep too! It just stands no chance against an old school like this when you go about the fine art of wooing .. no? Ok back to sighing.. (Disclaimer : All this sighing does not make me a pansy, don’t get my nailpaint wet small girlie. Its called allowing myself my whims 🙂 ) Ok now that that’s clear we can enjoy the song again…si..g..h…….
So after a long day (and part night) at the office i like to unwind like countless people of my generation by plonking myself in front of my laptop, to surf the net. Sometimes i youtube series . Nowdays I am watching “The Cosby Show” a really old family show. Its adorable with oodles of really good natured humour & family gooey cuteness with a fabulous amount of awww factor!!
I came across this episode where the cosby kids put up this little dance number on the song – “I got the feeling” by James Brown. Check it out. Its damn creative,funny, clever & oooh the song has soo much life!!
It was really awesomely the best heartwarming thing that made me want to dance !It was 12 in the night , i had promised myself to sleep after the episode but oooh the song got me snapping my fingers & loving the beats. They needed no autotuning in the 60s! Them oldies knew how to roll people!
You have to hear it, feel it & man it makes you wanna snap your fingers! The style is so different from anything i have been hearing for a while now ..and the change is so refreshing, its damn neat! I wikied it & found out this –
“”I Got the Feelin’” is a funk song by James Brown. Released as a single in 1968, it reached #1 on the R&B chart and #6 on the pop chart. It also appeared on a 1968 album of the same name”
Check out the song below …You should check out The Cosbys’ performance too (above). I love them both! this one is going in the archives!
So i see this piece of news & check out the video & think exactly 3 things in a span of 5 mins –
1) God bless the Faraday Cage!
2) Japanese are really cool people – They make kickass Anime & their trains are damn cool too!
3)Finally- Is this some crazy ironical warning by mother nature right when there’s all this news about Elon Musk’s Hyperloop train ? Like Y’all go on making these supercool trains I’ll just show you who the boss is!
Hey Zeus! Dude lemme borrow that thunderbolt will you? Good man!
Cmon Mother Nature its Solar powered!! We are finally getting on your side! Don’t be hating them trains!
Its gonna be 2 a.m. & I am a night person . Proved! Period!
Heard this song on Karaoke night at a local watering hole called loveshack last wednesday.
I fell in love with the guitaring and the simple lyrics. No verbal or musical calisthenics in this song. A very simple tune , a simple expression reminding you of simple times.
I kinda got a country feeling from this song though am not sure the singer was going for that genre. Small matter , more importantly its nice.Little bit of old charm in it. I thought it was an old song , was very surprised to note that it was released sometime in 2012.
I do confess though I wish it was sung by a guy with a deep rich baritone.Someone should do that rendition.
Do you like it? Try it when you are relaxed. Seriously not after a dubstep number & not when you want to dance ..so Not suitable for that mood.
These lines from the song-
“Staring at the bottom of your glass.. Hoping one day you’ll make a dream last but dreams come slow & they go so fast…”
That part of the song is blessed – with the perfect blend of imagery, depth of feeling & a beautiful melody..
Hope you enjoy it as much as i am doing
Dunno french
But loving this song shared by my friend
Amazing beats,
Moving story,
& imaginative choreography!
French exoticness for good measure & what a superb concoction!
The child exhorting his dad is so compelling. He makes me want to get up & dance with him!All like- lets do this shit!
I discovered a really incredible Math Blog today! Don’t click away because math & cool do not appear to juxtapose well together for some. For those of you who clicked because you saw the word “strip” in the title ermmm wrong blog, you might wanna close this page right now.
Allright here is the deal -if you know what a Mobius Strip is , I will drop trying to convince you! But if you don’t……
& you have the insatiable appetite for the mysterious ,magical unknown that helped human’s evolve and climb the animal Kingdom’s hierarchy…….you should totally check her videos out!
(basically you have to now just so you earn the right to be included in the numbers of smart primates- If curiosity wont work, Ill guilt trip you people ,Youll thank me later :P)
Check out this superb video and if you are not hooked or atleast in a state of medium level marvel, at the least….umm well hand over those opposable thumbs back 😉
She also created a very imaginative story using the mobius band. See below:
This new age material girl Ivy Levan sings in a strong ,devil may care,set in an old gangster movie frame style.
I chanced upon her song tonight on my usual rounds of idle youtubing for interesting new songs… Neway so the moment i see the video & its brash style, I start imagining Adam Levine & this girl getting together for a number!She seems his perfect counterpart!He loves getting hurt in his videos (Click here to see what I’m talking about!) & she loves to hit back ! Seriously though It’ll be fun to hear a melange of their work methinks..
Black & white version of Pink ,this girl! I like her strong v(o)ice 😉
An aggressive ‘Material girl’ this one!
Fun number to stumble on-Its almost theatrical! Gonna hear this for a while!
FRENEMIES that’s the 1 word description for my relationship with my hair.
I hate it most of the time but we have our moments (too few & too far apart).
Its always been like that .. I am sure while i was entangled in the complications of my hair …i missed the plight of other people going through the same..
My heart reaches out to you, I wonder if they have support groups for this kind of stuff….AAnnnnd now my hair yanks me back to reality while i was busy trying to reach out & make a connection.
No seriously
On a good day It smells good , it feels good & (After long minutes of wielding a straightener which I know plans to one day evilly burn my hair like plastic..That shit is real- check it out on Youtube!) I look like a decent person… After the time spent , you would think something glamorous would evolve.
Nope, not happening!
I can try all angles to get that hair straight or get it volume .. All i get is a minor workout & it firmly stays at oomph level-‘DECENT’. Its not even worth the effort. Makes me wanna work on my personality. Change who i fundamentally am. That should be easier.
On an average day it look like something the cat dragged in, On a bad day it look like something the cat started to drag in,changed its mind & left on the sidewalk for everyone to get creeped out on!
Nah i kid, i kid! I am exaggerating a teensy bit for dramatic flair.Its my half hearted ,compensating technique against the frenemy.. Its ironical though, that my hair decides to go with me on this one & makes me resemble Kishore Kumar (Late Bollywood hero with side cow licks. See below for reference) Bless his soul ! Am not sure he likes his look resting on my noggin either.I hear you buddy . Me & you both in this .
Frenemy under discussion has also been responsible for me being misjudged as a crazy person! You see-I talk to it.I figured-Works for them plants. why not for ye ol ‘crown of glory’? The cajoling, the histrionics, the threats, the plans; its quite the emotional rollercoaster!
Once when i was in Engineering college, I was staring at myself in the Hostel ladies room . It was kinda late & i assumed it was empty (Stupidity 1 Hostel Loos are so never empty. There is always some random shit going on!)
Oh but the stupidity does not stop -Stupidity 2. I looked at my open long hair, had got glasses on,was wearing white & thought it would be fun to arbitrarily talk at myself.
Note- You know how some people rap, some people sing, some people say motivating things to themselves when they are by themselves in front of a mirror -Here is what the talent less of the earth do-
& whilst making peace with the mane; God chose to give me (into each life some rain must fall & what not) i declared to myself “Hey you look like John Lenon!” For some obscure reason that made me happy!! In hindsight, I am thinking, “That’s probably not something one should be congratulating oneself about” & also “Hell no!! I looked more like Ozzy Osbourne”. Anyway, I proceeded to remove my glasses & then declared “Hey If you stay calm, you look like f******* Jesus man!!”
Bang! Door opens, out comes a senior very visibly stares at me & we both know she is thinking (Thank Heavens! I aint got no crap goin on like that on & (in)my head! & walks away, bouncing her loverly hair with my little pride following her closely) BLEH!
Oh yeah another day after watching “THE RING”, i scared the bejeebers out of myself when i washed my head! I was like eek! long black hair like from the creepy movie!! Do you folks know how difficult it is to rinse the shampoo off when you are scared witless & convinced its the scary girl’s hair you are rinsing off? Geez!
Anyway this rant of mine goes through my head atleast once in a day!You see now why i was gushing over Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye? So I decided I am gonna pen it down & kill it with the harsh light of reality ! There its no longer the ramblings of my mind. Its out there & now it has to be dealt with. I speak for only myself though, My hair no doubt has its own opinion.
I am all grown up now (yes some of us take that long). Engineering was a long time back & I decided to take control of my hair so I figured – Lets cut it short & see where it grows from there.Apart from grave misgivings of my parents,who think they will lose their daughter & magically get “another” son when the hair stylist chops off my hair,my friends have their doubts too. It might be fun when everyone else says don’t do it ! Wotsay should we call in the stylist yet?
Song 1 for today! .. Damn good music & voice overcome the confused,shallow principle behind the lyrics in this one.
That was my first impression of the song but then i got to thinking. You know what? This actually Sounds like a real woman. Not a “keep me & my thoughts on a pedestal” kind but one with the “cute crazies”. Yes guys, we women like to believe there is such a thing as the “cute crazies”!
She is one of us – this gal.
This woman with all her faults,desires & all the love in her heart is just… so many real women!
First things first for the lady- She wants to know that she will be loved when her shine is dimmed.That is so her number one concern! She asks this every now & then and in intervals affirms that she believes that he will! This vacillation between doubt & certainity exists till the very end .
She cares for her guy so fully , impractically & with childlike innocence.. she even contemplates negotiating with the saints to reserve a little piece of heaven for him. (& oh yeah, she is damn confident she is getting a ticket to heaven, its just him! He needs her help getting in 😉 I like this dame! She is like aye! You know its cause of me you get to enter all the clubs, what makes you think Paradise is gonna be any different?)
She thinks of him & sings first of his “grace” .. & that single simple word encompasses sterling qualities of a real man better than some other lengthier adjectives. Then she talks about his face (maybe cause it rhymes with grace?) & how he makes her want to party all night long.. an expression that sounds vapid but may just be an inadequate description of the happiness he evokes. The lightness of feet that the knowledge of being loved and being in love brings.
Come to think , this might be a song with depth hidden in clear sight.. or then maybe not.But her compelling voice makes me believe , it cant be just about the dude’s face!
So what made me think up all this stuff on a Sunday afternoon? Lets just say .. I’m a very practical girl with a deep abiding love for impossibly high heeled shoes!!
Make what you will of it 😉 Enjoy the song!
So i wrote this poem on the fly after this horrible evaluation i had on a Business Intelligence class some months back & thought Ill share it. Wondering if anyone out there has faced the same!
Oh ye Pivot table!!
naively i believed in the excel fable.
created you are, to bring sanity to data of all kind
when introduced to you, with happiness i was blind!
With the enthusiasm of a child
& a joy that was so much more than mild
Proclaimed I, “records will now look oh so pretty!”
The power to control my tables’ fields – exalting the worthy, sidelining the petty!
Such exploits were within my reach
Such promises, be forewarned are made by those, who do Excel teach!
But woe on you pivot! Betrayed me in my 1st evaluation you did!!
in a manner most sordid!
like your name , pivot u did but only my mind.
We dance like this in our heads when we are walking alone, with our mp3 player set to that tune , that tune with no lyrics, that tune on repeat… that tune that lets us form our own tales, the tune that converts us into something extraordinary for a brief while, that tune with the transient magic….
because it lets you be..
because it lets you imagine..
Yeah you’ve got that tune too don’t you?
I love some of the non dance video shots few seconds around 0:44 in this one, cause it brings out the act of celebrating with dance with a vivid contrast…
The magical against a background of the everyday banal…
Yesterday was my Bday & this time I got to spend it with my family after many years . It was relaxing, nice, fuzzy fun. In the evening the whole family went out for dinner & I received an unexpected gift –
I sat in my parents’ car after a real looong time & they played their CDs with those super awesome songs I heard all the time while growing up ..yeah that happened . I relished the ride to the restaurant & specially this particular song whose tune really got to me!! It was like a pleasing reunion of sorts.
So an hour after my Bday was over & I had aged ever so gracelessly, I hunted the song down in youtube (I LOVE THE INTERNET !) & played it non stop . I realized I totally did not understand this song when I was young cause I thought the singer was singing “One way ticket to the moon”
(NOTE: I thought earlier Savage Garden got their idea from this song btw & I adore “To the moon & back” too … my generation AMAZING kinda song…. hmmm something about the analogy behind going to the moon is intriguing I reckon…)
I thought Dude that’s rad!! Yes the rest of the lyrics did not make sense, but who cared? I was young & those were my favourite lines.
Sitting in the backseat of my Dad’s car, I think I really listened to this song for the first time & people, I kid you not, hear it out.. It’s a really well written & executed song . It’s quite something. This lady is lonely but armed with oodles of creativity. She has a strong beautiful voice & the song’s simple lyrics have a childlike charm. This lady has SNAP! Never has being lonely sounded soo good.
Check out these lyrics :
“I gotta take a trip to lonesome town Gonna stay at heartbreak hotel
A fool such as i ,a fool such as i There never was- i cry my tears away.”
Oh yeah after all this time I get the song’s name “One way ticket to the blues” 😉 It took me some growing up to understand it. I think that means something, but don’t feel like mulling over that.. I gotto go rummage through my parents’ collection now .
Note: For those who are wary of “The Blues” I wasn’t feeling blue, it did not make me feel blue. You can enjoy the song without being in a surly mood I assure you 😉
PSY is back with his new video “Gentleman” !!! & about time ! My musings were starting to get pretty serious there 😉
If you havn’t already watched it ,do so now for fun, mindless ENTERTAINMENT.
Ok so I watch his new video & I just wanna know this-
How come he gets adulation for dancing & singing & acting like a child !! while i just know we “real world adults” can’t get away lightly with doing this insanely awesome stuff in the real world!
I bet he is popular cause we all kinda fantasize about acting crazy ass erratic, unpredictably crazyyy & dance like no one is looking & make funny animal faces, but we are kinda scared we wont be taken seriously once we stop…but he is so doing it, & rocking it 🙂
I imagine some of us , while watching his videos are like OMG!! I always wanted to shout in a library,point at random people,walk with a determined expression & then point & then break out in a little jig like Ballu the bear from Talespin!, Scream my name while pumping my hands with full gusto & rapping arcane stuff!!
<Catching my breath here>
..act like an ass in a public place, be my stupidest in front of a member of the opposite sex i find attractive (i mean not my usual brand of unwitting stupid, but you know like decided, determined silly stupid!!Damn that has to be EMPOWERING in a contorted,foggy,inexplicable for obvious reasons kinda way….)
Geez i think this guy just revealed my personal deranged bucket list of things to do to myself…
Now to get a sponsor for all this …hmmm…
Neway I do declare,(very PSY inspired) – I AM A MO**** F****** LADY!!!
Still hiding my inner child behind innocuous asterisks there 😉 Enjoy the video though, while i just scoot over to the side there & invent my own chicken dance.
So in my last post I mentioned about embracing the “noise in my head” & guess what ? I kinda lucked out recently regarding that!! I’ll tell you how!
Ok so my MBA is all done & I am back home, vacationing for a month before I join the big bad corporate world .I decided to start reading “The catcher in the Rye” by J D Salinger & OMG!!–
Before you read further, a caveat!- I am soo not revealing the plot. That’s the worst thing you can do for the books’s potential readers! Here is my two cents on my takeaway from it. If you find the general direction interesting, you should pick up your own copy or else wiki it for the plot will you 😉 or better still if you have read the book already, figure if someone else felt the same way too.
So ok back to OMG!! – If ever someone had a constant voice in their head.. this unending monologue with themselves.. Amusing , depressing , enlightening , omnipresent , it was The Protagonist in this book, this dude named Holden Caulfield!!
His conscious, lets call it conscious for fun can we? His conscious is fun! Depressing, but so very like our own voice in the head. I fell in love with it. Headsup though – this fellow finds just about everything & nearly everyone quite depressing & phony (He really loves this word). But his thought process & his flashpan opinions are so captivating!!
I read through about 40 pages waiting for the story to start, not complaining, cause I was enjoying “the noise in this dude’s head” cause you know I thought I’ll understand him better.. Was all Context building I thought, till I realized hell !! It seems this is it!! This perpetual dialogue he is having with himself isthe story! His life, his observations on the small, the mundane, his loneliness, and his continuous rant is the story!!
& you know why I kept reading? Cause I love the rant! I know the rant! I know we kinda suppress the rant, what with all of us conditioned to be “with it” & being all hunky dory positive all the time. In the words of the dude in the book – It goddamn makes me wanna puke!! Imagine that! Although I use “rant” to describe his soliloquy , I don’t mean to trivialize it in any way. Thing is – The subject of his outpourings change abruptly, making Holden sound very close to be just a regular whiner, but if you read with an empathetic approach , You’ll kinda find yourself in those sentences somewhere. We all have experienced utter loneliness & confusion some time or other.
I think the secret to enjoying this book , is to kinda say , Oh Hol Ol boy! I see what u are talking about . I hate em buggers too! Which one? Oh all of em , no one in particular. Let’s talk . No really!! 😉
In fact there is this passage in the book , where Holden talks about why he likes his fave authors & the criteria is – well when u put down the book , you kinda want to call the author like he is an ol buddy & have a regular friendly conversation! I think it made Holden a bit more likable just for that! No idea why!
Honestly though, I thought I would be depressed, cause of his book. Weirdly enough it was liberating!! Maybe it’s a little validation for talking to myself & shooting weird looks to people every now & then (Sometimes its cause I don’t have my glasses on , but that’s something else altogether) 😉
Literary critics will have differing opinions & maybe Old Salinger (if he ever came to know my verdict on his work) would be all like – Hell no!! That’s not the idea! But I’m just saying! Dude I loved your 200 page crazyass rant .
I would love to know what you guys thought about the book! Isn’t that a wonderful thing about a book? Different people take away different ideas from the same book 🙂
or If you haven’t read it yet , do you intend to now?
I read so much on the internet.. umpteen blogs,articles – Science, philosophy,wise people, letters from fathers, letters from moms, words of the wise , words of the foolish…
Everyday we are flooded with opinions, observations, facts & rules on life…How delightful is the internet!! It’s the great equalizer.. in the sense that I love the way a meme created in another far away part of the world is just so darn silly , so wonderfully funny , so resonates with me! . Everytime I read something I love , I thank the world to be full of all these delightful people..
Its like having this great coffee table conversation that never really stops & is a little unnerving cause it makes me question – Do I have something to say that is truly unique? Truly original!! & will there be someone out there who feels quite this way.. Reading a lot will answer that – HELL YES!! There’s all kinds of crazy entertaining out there & we all seem to love this very public, intimate over a coffee conversation!
I struggled with the question of novelty when I was is in school, still struggle with it , but I realised (which too is not that novel I might add)is that the best stuff I ever read/enjoyed/celebrated/shared is the stuff that someone else felt too & expressed in this certain way that is just bang on REAL!
It’s not about originality, it’s about having your say, your own viewpoint (adulterated with borrowed wisdom or not!). It’s making a documentary of your life, or your perspective your ever changing take on life… Our 26 year old is as engaging as our 13 year old, cause both our selves are vastly different! We all have something to say! It must be expressed! It absolutely must!
I want to know what moved a 13 year old, what inspired a 20 year old & what continues to make a 40 year old value travel!
So I have loved to embrace the noise in my head..I think this song from Switchfoot says it so well – “I am at peace when I am confused!”
I guess it means this confusion is proof of being alive to the beauty of each moment….
So there is this roommate of mine. We all are pursuing MBA.. At the end of our course, just before an exam on finance, we decide to chat on our balcony & she introduces me to – The 4 forces of the standard model, The Higgs boson & why The Large Hadron collidor is a big deal ! I am like yeah I have heard about that… so talked about , so what ? Then she reveals to me stuff I didn’t know about it in this compelling fashion of the few real lovers. Like did you know that there are 12 particles (Quarks & leptons) there are 4 basic forces – Electromagnetic, strong & weak nuclear & gravity ! & these lads are trying to study how they interact to give mass to matter….
You see she wanted to be a Scientist, she still follows Quantum Physics… She is going to be a great Manager, that’s her thing now… But she pays an ode to her love of physics for no true greater motive than just continuing to learn more about the subject she loves. ..
I loved it!! I googled articles on it, she spoke so passionately about the idea! She infected me with it!!I loved the idea cause she made me believe it was an idea worth being in love with
& that’s what it is all about right?!! That enduring passion for an idea , an experience . An interest that’s yours & may not bring in the big bucks.. If you love it enough & share it with others , you’ll remind a jaded soul what it is to love again !
You see not long ago I loved electrostatics, Magnetism , inorganic chemistry (hated organic chem :P) & all that jazz too.. She just reminded me of an infatuation..It’s not my love , I’m still finding mine or maybe I just jump from one infatuation to the next… Who knows , I’m not going to bother about trying to figure out why I like what I do… I just know I am going to be fully aware of what I like at every moment !
Gangnam Style is the name of a hugely viral video I stumbled across today & boy it’s an entertaining fad that’s making waves since it was put up on Youtube in July 2012 cause it’s just so strange!!
Gangnam is a city in Seoul in Korea which has an extremely wealthy population! & the video seems to glorify (or make a parody) of the lifestyle there. Whatever be the underlying reason for this song , I give a thumbs up cause it made me laugh !
How I came across it:
Comments on a Justin Beiber & Usher Concert’s photograph on Facebook doing a silly dance step led many people to comment “GANGNAM Style” which stoked my curiosity. I googled it & whoooaaa!!
The pic that started my search
That’s how I was introduced to this crazy ass video . It is chaotic, ridiculous, clownish with dramatic (being kind here)dance steps very similar to some South Indian dance moves!
Unique Selling Proposition – A la Gangnam Style!!
Funny dance steps! Described by a youtube viewer as “Dry Humping the air!” (Very articulate huh? ;))
Peppy beats & a funky tune !
Asian Exotica added for good measure!
Viewer will at least once ,through the course of the video experience the, “ WTF did I just see!?!” moment . Those are sprinkled generously in this video with a huge dollop of parody of the Bling Set (The ostentatious rich)
This funny plumpish guy dancing with abandon declaring to the world that hell yeah! this is the way to do it people!! Rich, shiny, I don’t give a damn, Ill make you wanna dance with me is blatantly, ridiculously entertaining!!
Last time a man danced with abandon this way it went viral too! Remember “Where the hell is Matt?” I am beginning to think there is a link here somewhere. Anthropologists might want to study this fascination !! Well this time it is Park Jae Sang also known as PSY with his Korean song (& dance) showing us how to do it Gangnam style!
How viral is it?!!
VERY!
With 181,933,393 hits!! Someone ought to take Notes & learn the finer nuances of “The Gangnam style!!”
People from everywhere are using it in FB comments
It’s become a popular slang! Check out Urban dictionary for Gangnam style
It has even spawned a whole lot of other slangs. An interesting one is “The Open Condom Style” cause well that’s what the lyrics sound like in English!! I kid you not! I can’t make this stuff up people 😀
So do you think you got what it takes to rock Gangnam Style? 😉
Why do we love all that is bad for us-
Speed,primal fights,a golden cage-all that fuss.
The food that is junk
That brash uncaring hunk.
The fire contained within white with a filter complete
the smoke that may someday make us bleed?
That girl so conditioned,she has no clue
and that other who is always looking for something new
Coffee exceeding cups of three
giving insanely wise advice for free!
The anti elixir in a pretty vessel
Listening just to be heard – oh yes DO tell!
Music that makes us want to fight & bang our head
the one that extols feelings of dread
Why on earth why
Have not really written anything new, but I do try to share one thing on Sunday….so I’ll tell you about why my Sunday was a good one.
1) I saw the movie “The Departed”, yeah I know it was released like eons ago, in my defence I am a sporadic movie watcher 😀
2) The true highlight of my day was this beautiful piece of music shared by a friend of mine today. It’s a surreal but inspiring coming together of dubstep & violin. Below I describe the sequence of emotions I felt hearing this piece:
a. Skeptical of this guy’s ability to do justice to Ellie’s Dubstep with a violin.
b. Getting a hang of the pace
c. The pace builds , you start believing, you start moving
d. You get goosepimples!!
e. You hear the piece 3 times
f. You decide you need to get out , walk to enjoy the music.
g. You even manage to find an isolated spot & do a lill dance for the sheer beauty of it!
h. You keep hearing the track
i. You blog about it , cause this beautiful track must be shared & heard
Note: The blogger humbly requests readers to first start playing this song & then proceed to read. Pardon the eccentricity but I really believe the song opens the mind to understand the source of; if not accept; the views expressed under.
We are all alone.
We want our existence acknowledged.
This deep-rooted desire is expressed in many creative forms- from many Japanese Anime, to songs like Skylar Grey’s Invisible (The one you are listening to right now), to many dance & theater performances.
It doesn’t matter sad, sorry or angry, whatever the vented form, the real source is the despairing need to be remembered, to be understood, to be acknowledged.
I wonder though, whether this need be despairing, could it not be channeled for a positive?
We are afraid to be alone & yet we will always be. It is an inescapable truth.
We will always have moments of solitude no matter how many friends we have, no matter how well loved we are by our family. Solitude will find us. It’s like a person. We can choose to dislike it or embrace it. And like any other person, we can’t like it always; however hard we may try. Hence these lamentations are inescapable.
It may help to remember that everyone else feels the same way every now & then & those who seem to be happily surrounded by many people most likely feel lonely more acutely. Need validation for that idea? Think about celebs like Marilyn, Michael, Heath Ledger, Amy , Whitney . Think about rulers like Julius Ceaser, Mark Antony.
We always do feel the pressure to present the perfect versions of ourselves to the world frightened out of our wits that we would be rejected if our true selves are revealed accentuating the feeling of not being really understood & hence being eventually alone.
A way out?? You know those old folks really did know what they were talking about when they said-
“Judge not so that you may not be judged”
Don’t dismiss another’s way, ideas or purpose in life, for if you do so, you feed your own fear that the same will be done to you. This way we might just understand some part of each other.
Try this sometime: Next time you feel “invisible” take a walk, keep walking till you come across another soul who has the same haunted look in their eyes. You will know it the moment you see it. Acknowledge that person; if possible strike that conversation you wouldn’t normally have. You’ll welcome solitude into this comfortable private circle you create to join in ,cause then solitude acts as a guard who protects this unnatural conversation, this connection till you find a friend in the stranger with the same look reflected in their eyes.
Sometimes our best works are created because we took the time to get acquainted with ourselves. Paul Gauguin a painter actually left his family & friends to be alone in search of truth through the medium of art.
You see our solitude can be a very dear friend. Choose to try and embrace it. You will undoubtedly fail sometimes but there will be those other times, however few, which just might help define yourself to you.
Like every dear friend, taken for granted, we need to take the time to replenish the relationship we have with it- Our Solitude.
1) The first movie ever, during which I couldn’t finish my popcorn cause I was yelling, gasping & gaping at the screen!
2) The first ever movie, where I actually choked on the god darn popcorn cause ermmm <pretty much the same reasons given above>
3) One of the few movies that actually manages to STEP UP to if not STEP OVER some seriously high expectations (The other movie that succeeded in doing that this year being – Dark knight rises)
The moves, those gravity defying, divine moves! There have been dance movies before, but what distinguishes Step up 4 is how exquisitely it has elevated creative standards, pushed the limits of dance being a peaceful but powerful form of self-expression & illustrated “how”, in the words of the male protagonist “it’s good to break some rules”. The art, the mélange of dance forms, the coordinated abandon, the usage of creative form to artfully get your message across ….
DELIVERED. SOLD OUT. BOUGHT LUSTFULLY.
Totally! Cause it’s so damn good!!
There was street dancing, there was ballet, there was graffiti (yes graffiti I am not kidding you) & I ate it all up. Darn it! If this movie was a dish I would not be typing this “APPLAUSE” cause I would still be licking my fingers, waving my other hand to order ‘Another round if you please’.
Some of the scores used are a serious ode to dubstep & it serves to increase my reverence for this very “generation Y” form of music.
Ok now that the initial exuberance is abating (not really I am really finding it hard to sit down cause this movie has me blaring music, trying to dance & type this feeling all simultaneously)let me give you a gist of what’s it all about.
There is this cute poor dude who has his own dance crew named ‘The Mob’, this pretty rich girl with aspirations to be a professional dancer & the twain shall meet (obviously) & am so happy they do. Cause those two have some serious moves (on the dance floor people. FOCUS. 😉 ). The mob sets youtube on fire with its provoking Flash dance performances (TO DIE FOR!) for a competition initially, and then decides to channel its creativity for something bigger than itself for a message that needs to be desperately heard.
There is this statement made by the lead female protagonist, Emily – “Enough of performance art, it’s time for Protest art!!”. I adore the girl for that and I am all in for that!
For Step Up movies enthusiasts – Moose does this short number. The only downside – It’s too short!! Wanted to see more of Moose’s moves!
Ok all the statements in caps & exclamations might make me appear like a groupie 😉 (I already disclaimed, it’s so not a critique, no dispassionate analyzing this) but I so want to tell you guys- Please STEP UP to watch? nahh involve yourself with this movie! If it doesn’t energize you, like hell if I know what can 😀
Saw this movie a year back & had penned down the critique immediately, so intensely moved was I by it. Found it a while back rummaging through my files & decided to share the feeling this movie invokes!
It is not every day that you come across a piece of art that exposes your frailty to yourself.
What a movie & how aptly named!! A requiem indeed it is, for all the sordid, derelict of dreams unfulfilled, beaten & killed of the young & old alike.
The movie takes you through such agonizing moments; you will want to reach out to the characters in some way, any way! It’s like being on a ride which goes only one way, downhill & there is no way you can stop it or save the people on it. It’s someone else’s ride down to hell on earth & yet you are moved to the very murky depths of your soul because it could be just so easy to slide into that abyss yourself.
The movie starts well enough , you do take a note of the grim set up of the story at the very onset & mentally shift gears to tell yourself not to be too affected but its all in vain.
There are 4 main characters in the movie & the story revolves around their hopes & their well meaning plans to achieve them. The movie has a brief uplifting moment when the characters introduce to us their dreams… such innocuous little dreams, dreams that can sustain a drab life & bring beauty & colour to it ,dreams the failure of which is gut wrenching to the viewer because of their simplicity & likeness to his/her own dreams.
The movie darkens steadily when the characters kill their own dreams; one misstep at a time revealing unsparingly how easy it is to fail to achieve the small designs we set ourselves to achieve, & the despair of unrealized dreams.
When the characters’ lives spiral out of control because of a series of wrongly made choices you feel an acute desperation in which you find yourself hoping, praying even, for respite. Relationships, promises, morality all crumble in the face of all encompassing despair, loneliness, & dangerous obsessions .
Purposefully, do I stay away from revealing the plots because that is to simplify the requiem. You see- failure is easy to dismiss. It is easy to find comfort in the claim that you wouldn’t make the choices that the characters made & for that reason I should not make it so easy to do away with the pain by telling the stories simplistically in my inept words.
After the movie ended I was in a state of shock. Of such mind numbing depth of pathos had I been witness to. Agonizing, cold & discomforting but amazing was this haunting requiem. Do not watch the movie if you want to revel in the sunshine & thank god for all that is pure, true & full of hope , cause it will all be sapped out of you, such, is the monstrous power of this dark mesmerizing song of human weakness.
The cinematographic style is brilliant! Scenes are well shot & in a novel way. Upon researching it a bit found that the style use is called hip hop montage where Split-screen is used extensively, along with extremely tight closeups.
“One of these days I will do something…….I gotta do something!!”
While I tire my mind & others unfortunate enough to be close enough to hear me, with my passionate proclamations of wanting to “do something!!”, 3 friends of mine within the span of 3 days have quietly, dignifiedly shown me the way with their actions with unnoticed success stories of their own .
1 cleared a really tough exam
2 won prestigious competitions
They remain anonymous, because that’s how they are. They didn’t do it to prove anything, they didn’t do it because they would rise in someone else’s esteem. Their happiness was privately celebrated with those who would understand the value of their work, their endurance & fortitude, not their prize.
They did it because it simply had to be done, they motivated themselves, made few excuses, “slept a little less” (- I quote one of them here) . In brief just put their shoulders to it because it made sense to accomplish this task they set out for themselves.
I marvel at their fortitude, and being something of a writer I felt the strong urge to express how I feel about it. I am sure that respecting their anonymity will keep me secure from their protests
My hope for all of us is that we continue to learn from the very many ordinary friends of ours we meet daily with their quiet success stories who in this age of blatant self aggrandizement show us that sometimes, ”Goddamit ! It’s not just about the Promotion it’s about the PRODUCT as well 🙂 ” (Please bear the marketing references; I am bombarded with them in class all day 🙂 )
I learnt enough to not put off writing this out; Baby steps people baby steps. I hope the lesson will be revised many times by their continuing success.
Not exactly a literary piece of work 😉 am just penning (or typing) these hastily thought lines cause well its just one of those moments 🙂
My hair is greasy
My face is creamy
They got two cakes they did
one good one kinda putrid
My friends assaulted
with the cake at sight of which, my tummy revolted !!
After them i went madly running
But in the end I’m grinning
I’m happy that they cared
& think on their Bdays they too wont be spared 😀
Anything and everything that two girls can blog about in South Africa! English and Afrikaans combine to give you fashion advice, product reviews, experiences, and whatever else we can think of, all in one blog! Get what you need from TweeGirls EenBlog!
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