Of sports and games......

The sports ministry says that Formula One is not a sport. Read the article here . Now i know that people do not look for anythin g meaningful in my blog, but this is going to be a full-on rant. There are bound to be a lot of profanities and "bad words" so please do not proceed if you are allergic to them or you are going to burn my house down or something of that sort. This is a disclaimer and also the final warning.

Sports Ministry : an F1 race in India had been rejected on the grounds that "it (the race) would have no impact on the development of sports in the country".

Dear old Wikipedia will furnish all relevant information about Formula 1. I will not sweat it out over this point. All the information can be found here . Formula 1 exists in countries like Brazil, China, Malaysia. Not particularly rich, economies comparable to ours, of course properly scaled by size, basically agrarian or natural resource based economies. Any dumbass can do a google search to see what the "sport" has done for these countries.

Sports Ministry : F1 is not purely sports. It is entertainment and this venture by JKSP is a commercial initiative

Ok bastards, Formula 1 is all about the money. Truckloads of the green paper everywhere. The cars, media, circuits, glamour,...the works. Just because the Indian circuit was going to be a private enterprise and the ministry was not going to get a sizeable piece of the action, means we lose this race? It is like a veritable cash cow which once bought, with little maintenance can give milk and cow shit all round the year. Do not laugh, mother fuckers, cow dung can be useful too. Get what i am saying?


Sports Ministry : The basic premise of the ministry is that F1 is not needed in India and the money can be spent on development of disciplines which have a wider base in the country, ministry sources said.


Formula 1 is the pinnacle of automobile, electronics and aerodynamics technology. Think about the boost, industries in these sectors will get. Race drivers are considered amongst the fittest athletes anywhere. Anyone remember Michael Schumacher, the fittest man on earth in his time, may his neck rest in peace? And see the need to improve fitness levels in other disciplines? I can provide you with the details, but educated people can find and comprehend those for themselves. This is for illiterate smart asses whos brains will not be well shielded from all the brilliance that it exudes.

Sports Ministry : The proposed F1 race does not satisfy conditions which focus on human endeavour for excelling in competition with others, keeping in view the whole sports movement from Olympics downwards.

India has some very good drivers in its population (please google for names like Karun Chandhok, Armaan Ibrahim, Parthiv Sureshwaran, Gaurav Gill.....to name just a handful).Think of the exposure they get. Think about the awareness about cars and road safety that this "sport" will bring to India. Think about the level of development that will envelope the venue of the race. Think about the employment , this will generate.

If calling it a sport is a problem for the ministry, call it an frigging entertainment and get on with it. If money is what you bunch of money hoarding rascals want from it, i am a sure formula can be worked out. If you think that Formula 1 is puny as compared to cricket, then i will be pleased to shove a bat up your ass and show you how many F1 fans exist in India and how much interest the races generate here. (Remember, Sachin Tendulkar........ask him why is he often seen at Formula 1 venues, more often than not in the Ferrari camp....google for this too,punks.) Or let me ask Mr. Mallya to do the honours. I think his palm is itching already.



I hope some lazy ass-holinesses wake up and see the light. Nothing in India will change if they don't. Absolutely nothing. Cricket will still dominate, football will still be a joke and race weekends will be a time when some fools gather up in some coffee place or sports lounge to watch other fools drive cars round and round. And you sadists will still have inches added to your waist sizes every year. But think of the possibilities F1 brings in. Wake the fuck up!

P.S. : Right >> here is an article about the company that holds the rights to the circuit being built in Greater Noida. And the arrow pointers are for the sports ministry.

Aunty Kalawati

A lame story, with a lame end. I have tried to get some message through. But just please help me out with the story writing.

AUNTY KALAWATI

Once in a small town in India, lived a Granny. she had three grandchildren, who came to visit her in the holidays. This time was no different. School over, the packed their satchels and hopped and skipped all the way to Granny's. And of course dinner was full of delicacies made lovingly by Granny which was followed by a story. So they all chorused in unison and Granny was only too happy to oblige.

"Granny, what story are you going to tell us today?"

"My children, today i will tell you the story of Aunty Kalawati, Goddess of elephants!"

"Wow....elephants.......yay!"

"There was once a big big state....so frigging big, they had to cut it up!....well nevertheless it was called Paschim Pradesh. It was a wealthy and prosperous state. There were rivers, forests, farms.....people were contented and happy. So said the shady papers. And the ruler of this kingdom was Aunt Kalawati. She was the most beautiful, benevolent ruler in the known world. So much so, that there were statues of her erected to pronounce her kindness and glory!"

"What kind of statues, Granny?"

"Big white ones, my dear. Of her in her fully dressed spendor and carrying a designer purse. There were four statues, facing the four directions, looking over her kingdom. Alongside her own statues, were statues of other great men. Men who did and died for the state, men that she respected, men who stood for the right. And of course she had all those good values present in her too!"

"She seems to be a nice person Granny!"

"Oh she was,my sweetie. She loved her subjects. She always built parks for them with huge statues like those in them, for sweet kids like you. But they were so beautiful that nobody ever went there, lest they spoil the purity of it. There were elephants all around. Elephants were the strength of her army, her servants and her fashion.They were her mascots. And if somebody complained about something, an elephant would just visit that persons house and make that complaint go away! "

"The elephants loved her like a Goddess. She had empowered them. The elephants, who were large in number, were told that they were special, they were a minority. That they were being persecuted for being elephants and made slaves.The elephants were taken aback by this, and without flapping a ear decided that Kalawati was right and hailed her as their queen. They have been loyal to her ever since."

"WOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW"....said all three kids in glee!

"Yes. And she had a huge court room with a lot of different ministers from all parts of her state. She was so kind, that she did not give them any work, but paid them very well. And when some people said that these ministers were lazy, Aunt Kalawati, built them a house with a gate of iron bars, and those people lived there happily ever after."

"What was that house called, Granny?"

"It was called Jail."

"But granny, isn't jail where they put crooks and robbers and bad men?"

"No my child. Not in her kingdom. In that land, it was like a state guest house where the most esteemed of guests lived their lives. It was a place where bad people became good and good people became better.Other intellectuals,social reformers,rich people......many many people enjoyed such hospitality. And at the end of their stay, they all chanted "Hail Kalawati!"."


"What else did she do Granny?"

"When har kingdom had no electricity, she begged for it! When it had no water, she cried for it! When people were dying, she tried to make life for their family a little better by offering them compensation! When women were dishonoured, she put other women in Jail guest house!When there was famine, she got fodder for her elephants from other states and did not tax her poor
farmers! And when everything was alright, she built parks and statues, so that visitors and children could enjoy themselves. She played a lot of games with her brotherly friend, Naram Singh, who liked her a lot and wanted her to rule the state forever! She was like a sister to everyone in the whole state!Lot of people called her behen, but she preferred Aunty!"

"So what happened to her, granny?"

"Ah....as time passed she grew old, but her nature did not change. And then she went to heaven one day, and there she became the queen of Heaven, because the seat was RESERVED for her, as a gesture of love from all the Gods for the good deeds she had done! And then she sat on the throne, and sent the Gods to the jail guest house in heaven, fed Airavat golden fodder and ruled the Heaven peacefully ever after!"

Fire away........

No secrets in the fact that i am a heavy metal fan. I don't know what happened first, the feverish love for playing drums or 24-hour heavy metal fanaticism. But either ways, it does not go wrong. Have been a drummer for 4 years now and not a very good one at that. A few hits there, some bangs there and more often than not cocking it all up.Landing the lead singer in trouble, putting the guitars off time and throwing the bass lines into the furnace while (un)settling the rhythm. Been there, done that. And life is good.....

Many people have helped me out, generously with my uselessness at playing drums.Giving me tips, practising with me the whole deal.But there was one secret teacher i never mentioned,very imprudent of me. And that cached and humble teacher is Internal Combustion.....:)

Ever been in a six seater (damn things are every where is Pune and maybe the best choice for short distance transportation)? One mundane and unspiritual and uninspiring morning, i was sitting in one of those, trying to get somewhere. had to wait cause it was not carrying a thousand people and the driver won't budge unless it did. So he put it in idle, shoved some tobacco into his gums and waited for it.

For 6 minutes, the syncopated beat of that idling diesel engine was pounding my butts and only at the 7th minute does my butt ring in a call to my puny brain to wake up and recognise what was causing the vibrations. And then it took another 2 minutes (how do i remember such embarassig details?) to take in the regularity of the firing intervals. Like a perfect time keeping
machine but at the same time with an off sync beat which is very unsual, the engine thrummed away.

It just hit home with all the force of a 200mph Shinkansen. The beauty of it, in all its simplicity. The beat is everywhere. My mind was reeling with the implications of this discovery. Those little explosions inside little cylinders of metal which are responsible for literally moving the masses from one place to the other. And now they are are responsible for inspiring me to playing drums. Cause and effect relations do not come much more bizzare.

And if the 6 seater was a tuition, then the train is the whole concert, a drumming festival put together. Especially when the locomotive runs on diesel, for then it adds its own flavour to the already eclectic sonic curry. The slow start, the careless canter across little villages, the loud and brash rumbling over rivers and gorges, the steady swift beat when really whistling through the night. No wonder i wear a perennial grin, once in a train.



'Twas that day and ever since, the thrum of a paraffin stove under a hood has always had my ear and brain riveted to it. For rhythms, timing et al . Every trip has been a studio session, which in turn makes even the dullest of moments and the most polluted of places a lot more interesting and fun. Percussion, is everywhere.....quite literally!

ABC tag......(sounds cheesy as hell!)

Overtagged.....by Shriniket and Pratik. Indulging in a little (ok...a whole lot of) narcissism.

1. A – Available/Single? Single, but not available..........:)

2. B – Best friend? Too many to name......

3. C – Cake or Pie? Cake

4. D – Drink of choice? Milk

5. E – Essential item you use every day? Cant imagine a day without "The Indian Express"

6. F – Favorite color? Black and red.

7. G – Gummy Bears Or Worms? What the fuck are those?......:)

8. H – Hometown? Kolhapur

9. I – Indulgence? Calligraphy and poetry

10. J – January or February? January

11. K – Kids & their name? Nein.

12. L – Life is incomplete without? Heavy metal music.

13. M – Marriage date? #@#YY$*@($&@#&*

14. N – Number of siblings? One Bade bhaiyya

15. O – Oranges or Apples? Oranges

16. P – Phobias/Fears? Of growing up.

17. Q – Quote for today? "What is true power other than the complete knowledge of ones own self?"

18. R – Reason to smile? Any reason is good enough

19. S – Season? Winter.....Summers are getting harsher and hate monsoons cause they create puddles and dirt all around.

20. T – Tag 3 People? Dunno.

21. U – Unknown fact about me? I have actually known what i was going to do with my life since the 6th std. Having met a lot of people to date i have come to realise that this is not as simple and common as it sounds.

22. V – Vegetable you don’t like? Karela/Bitter gourd

23. W – Worst habit? Swearing........i feel like its healthy but people around me tell me otherwise.

24. X – X-rays you’ve had? Left foot and right hand (twice)

25. Y – Your favorite food? Ghar ka khana........

26. Z – Zodiac sign? Sagittarius.

I will tag Dreamcatcher, Indrani and Deepak Iyer. But very very very bleak chances of them writing any such post about themselves. Still , if they do, it will be great.

Please be seated........somebody is watching!

Amidst all the heavy metal tumult and VLSI silence, i took some minutes to free my mind. Wandering into the living room, where the tube was transmitting some people screaming. And i thought, "Oh great. Thats what i wanted." Since we have only Doordarshan at our place (yeah....thanks), it was the Question Hour from Lok Sabha being thrust onto our eyes and ears and minds (optional.....but we are so very susceptible). Being so desperate for a change, i decided to bear with that stuff for a couple of 60-seconders.

There was Minister, presumably for the Medicine and Health ministry trying to read something from a ragtag chit in his hand and answer somebody's query. And there was the din of a zoo all around.The camera swung to show the Opposition chip munks on screen and i could not believe my eyes. There was like earnest protest from 2 member of the Opposition. The rest of their kin
was just standing in the background and grinning from ear to ear as if a child is eying a great bar of Toblerone. Boisterous to the extent of irresponsible, they just did not let the proceedings of the House go in any direction but dead South. And Mrs. Meera Kumar, with all due respect was the proverbial fish out of water. Nothing she did would pacify these idiots (not that she did much anyway, just an occasional nod of the head, stare from above the glasses or a wave of the benighted index finger of her right hand) and so the respected Minister had to sit his jolly ass down. And the Opposition grins grew wider, spilling out of their faces onto other peoples faces.

This was disgusting. No let me put it as it is. Debauchery and depravity on National Television, broadcast live to a billions viewers (rather to whoever who cared to watch or people like me looking for a refreshment and who were trapped).I agree that debate and argument is necessary, to peruse an issue at hand, look at it with a keener and clearer eye. But this was rape of whatever we know as healthy debate in the interest of the people.

P.S.: Please tune into Doordarshan at 11am, weekdays, to watch it again.

Itinerary......

The train whistled its way through the bleak and cloudy night. Cutting a tunnel through the chilly air. He peered hard through the window bars to look out. Searching for something that was unknown to him too. The landscape was dotted with innocuous little lights.Marking the scene not unlike stars on a clear cloudless night. The light bouncing off the slightly perplexed surface of waterbodies, revealing an almost divine shimmering quality. The absence of any human features was almost mollifying. No begging hands, unheeded sympathies. No unwanted prolixity. The fact that the train was still moving, unbalked, unhindered towards the next mile and indeed the next dawn made him uneasy. If life was made of small moments, little incidents stitched together, why could it not be the same moment repeated over and over again? A flash question, he pondered over it for a while, smiled at the answer and then lost his conscious self in the blanket of sleep with the wind brushing his face softly.

Going Under...........

It has been going on for so long, that it now actually puts him at ease. An analgesic feeling of relief spreads like wildfire in his body. The descent is rapid. Things are hazier than a blur. But what does it matter? Its the same all over. And whenever there is a prick of conscious guilt on the inside, he tries to hold on. To the stony walls of the chasm he was tumbling down into. Scratching and bruising. Leaving meaningless marks of his transient presence. But the action, the adrenaline dies down rapidly. In vain. The space is cold. Numbing his periphery. Less work, he thinks. The beginning is like a little spot of light in the distance. The end is dark and endless. But for eyeslids closed tight, these are a cipher. Where does it stop? Does it matter even if it does? What after it does? Is there enough strength left inside to fight the smoke in his head and search for a crack which leads him to a life giving ray of light? Or just be the proverbial voice emanating from the floor of the well? And what when the voice silences down?

Very Large Scale Irritation...........

Structured ASIC design (also referred to as platform ASIC design) has different meanings in different contexts. This is a relatively new term in the industry, which is why there is some variation in its definition. However, the basic premise of a structured/platform ASIC is that both manufacturing cycle time and design cycle time are reduced compared to cell-based ASIC by virtue of there being pre-defined metal layers (thus reducing manufacturing time) and pre-characterization of what is on the silicon (thus reducing design cycle time). One definition states that

In a "structured ASIC" design, the logic mask-layers of a device are predefined by the ASIC vendor (or in some cases by a third party). Design differentiation and customization is achieved by creating custom metal layers that create custom connections between predefined lower-layer logic elements. "Structured ASIC" technology is seen as bridging the gap between field-programmable gate arrays and "standard-cell" ASIC designs. Because only a small number of chip layers must be custom-produced, "structured ASIC" designs have much smaller non-recurring expenditures (NRE) than "standard-cell" or "full-custom" chips, which require that a full mask set be produced for every design.[citation needed]

This is effectively the same definition as a gate array.


Courtesy : Wikipedia

Consolations.....

Yeah, the latest DT release had me so down in an emotional abyss, that i started surfing the net like a someone in the Sahara searching for lemonade. And got rewarded for this madness. More than a cheer up, these two tribute albums do more than enough justice to the original Creations and Creators. Representing the original styles of these respective bands and still being a fitting tribute to Maiden and Metallica, these albums are a must listen for any metal fan.


Tribute to Metallica

01.- Seek & Destroy (Primal Fear)
02.- Fight Fire With Fire (Therion)
03.- Whiplash (Destruction)
04.- Phantom Lord (Anthrax)
05.- Fade To Black (Sonata Arctica)
06.- Master Of Puppets (Burden Of Grief)
07.- My Friend Of Misery (Dark Tranquility)
08.- One (Crematory)
09.- Eye Of The Beholder (In Flames)
10.- The Thing That Should Not Be (Primus)
11.- Harvester Of Sorrow (Apocalyptica)
12.- Battery (Die Krupps)
13.- Wherever I May Roam (Sinner)
14.- Motorbreath (Rage)


you can download all the tracks here


A Tribute to Iron Maiden

01. Prowler - Black Tide
02. Remember Tomorrow - Metallica
03. Flash of the Blade - Avenged Sevenfold
04. 2 Minutes to Midnight - Glamour of the Kill
05. The Trooper - Coheed and Cambria
06. Wasted Years - Devildriver
07. Run to the Hills - Sign
08. To Tame a Land - Dream Theater
09. Caught Somewhere in Time - Madina Lake
10. Wrathchild - Gallows
11. Fear of the Dark - Fightstar
12. Hallowed Be Thy Name - Machine Head
13. Iron Maiden - Trivium
14. Running Free - Year Long Disaster
15. Brave New World - Ghostlines

The album is available here

Black Clouds and Silver Linings.....

Yes, thats the name of the latest Dream Theater creation, a potpourri of the many styles of musical influences these guys bring in. And that is where the adulations will die down. I do not wish to be obtuse and also "judge" this album. But, the lack of innovation and novelty is the stuff that famines are made of. Dont get me wrong again. For an album, this is brilliant. Six tracks, 4 of them lasting for the better part of 10 minutes. There is a deluge of solos and collective virtuosity from Rudess, Petrucci and LaBrie (surprised?). Some very distinct points :

1. Opeths influence on DT shows up blatantly. The first song, "A nightmare to remember" starts of like an Opeth song, "Demon Of the fall" i think.

2. Notes and beats per minute wars are back on. And this is just exposed since there is nothing new to look at.

3. Lyrics are second rate. But, being sort of well versed with DT's discography, lyrics have hardly ever been their strong point.


Every album, is invariably compared to its predecessor. In this case, i would prefer Systematic Chaos to this any day. It just is much much better even though old.

But as a cheer up, do check out the cover songs and the instrumental versions of the main tracks on this album. Those are fabulous!!!!!!


Track Listing:

1. A nightmare to remember 16:10
2. A rite of passage 8:36
3. Wither 5:25 (My favourite song on the album)
4. The Shattered Fortress 12:49
5. The best of times 13:09
6. The Count of Tuscany 19:16

Covers :

1. Stargazer (Rainbow)
2. Tenement funster, flick of the wrist and Lily of the valley. (Queen)
3. Odyssey (Dixie Dregs)
4. Take your fingers from my hair (Zebra)
5. Larks tongues in Aspic part2 (King Crimson)
6. To tame a land. (Iron Maiden)