10Oct2014 : Top 5 Songs/albums For The Week

1) Jeff Tweedy is back with a new album “Sukierae”. I downloaded the album a few days ago and have not been able to digest the 20 songs on it. However, what I have heard so far, makes me love the guy even more! Beautiful sonic tunes. Urgent guitars on one song and then soft melodies on another. 4 out of 5 stars, so far. Here is the best one. It’s a live performance but the sound is really good :

2) Mounties. A Canadian band (of course!) that surfaced in my “to listen” list recently. Honestly, I had been ignoring them for a while but once I listened to Tokyo Summer on a whim, I was hooked. The band features the biggies of Canadian Indie rock scene (Hawksley Workman, Hot Hot Heat’s Steve Bays and Limblifter’s Ryan Dahle). The album is heavy on Synth which really is not my scene unless accompanied with a heavy dose of guitar and drums. And this one delivers! Here is my favourite song from the album which so personifies my attitude towards headphones :

3) Elephant Stone. A Quebec band that is into Sitar and rock. I have always liked that combination. A little too sweet and sugary for me but I really like the sound.

4) Interested in something soothing, lush folk rock? Especially from someone who specialises in blazing guitar work with lots of feedback? Then look no further than the new album by J Mascis. Tied To A Star. Wonderful album!

5) The New Pornographers have returned!! With an OK album :( I guess the expectation is usually very high when you are an institution in Canada. Anyway, I really like the album. Just thought it would be much better than it turned out.

3Oct2014 : Top 5 Songs/albums For The Week

Here are my current top songs/albums.

1) Ty Segall. Boy this performer gets better and better with each album! And that is a rarity in the music business. His new album is outstanding! Cannot find one song in that is “yeah, that’s meh”. Here is the track that captures you right away.

2) Here’s another band that keeps getting better. To be honest the album “Sunbathing Animals” is not “Light Up Gold” but it’s close. The best song from the album “She’s Rolling”. The song is fairly standard, it’s the close that really gets you!

3) Interpol is back! And boy did they surprise me. I thought it was going to be another mish mash album. A few earth shattering songs mixed with some boring ones. But no, this album is great from the start to finish. Ok, I have to be honest, towards the end of the album, I do lose interest but from Interpol, I will take it.

4) Found this band when I was playing around with Google music (yes, am a fan of Google Music and I think Spotify sucks) and was immediately taken by their bluesy grunge sound. Excellent EP (Comfortable Skin). They take a down turn when they slow down their music. Guys, you were not built for slow, romantic songs.

5) The Raveonettes are back! With another album that proves that these guys are the band to follow. Haunting video. Excellent song.

Top 5 Songs/Albums I Am Listening These Days

1) Lana Del Rey – Shades Of Cool

Am very impressed by the new album by Lana. I think she finally found the sweet spot between sadness, violence and a desire to abandon it all. And it is all encased in lush melodies that make you sad and yet makes you want to get to the end of the album.

 

2) Evil – Interpol

Interpol is band that I love to hate. They put out killer songs like Evil, Next Exit and Not Even Jail in on one album and the rest of the album is….meh. Why, Interpol? Why do you do this? They did this again on their third album Our Love To Admire.

 

3) Pink Floyd – Interstellar Overdrive

Bought the vinyl recently and cannot stop listening to this album. Love it!

 

4) Fanfarlo – Myth To Myself

The voice, the sound and the synergy from this band is astounding! Good to see this band has consistently produced great music!

Heard this band is a amazing live : This video sure does prove it

 

5) Lou Reed – The Raven

I have not heard all of Lou’s solo work but this album has always stood numero uno for me. Disturbing, haunting and yet riveting. Just like the man himself.

And this reading by William DaFoe on the album will give you chills down your spine.

 

Not Kate Mulgrew!



Who does not know this opening? When I first saw this opening (probably in 1981), the words and music (don’t remember the episode I saw) totally swept off my feet! Since then, I been a big fan of the Star Trek franchise.

Since the original, there have been numerous “flavours” of Star Trek. And there are forums, blogs, IRC chats, email exchanges on which one is the best. As you probably can guess, there is no winner.

However, since you are in my part of the internet, I would gladly tell you which one is my favourite : Star Trek (Voyager)

I will put up a post someday explaining why. But today I want to discuss my utter disappointment in my hero from Star Trek Voyager, Kate Mulgew. (Link)

Kate Mulgrew, the actor best known for playing Captain Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager, would be narrating a documentary backed by geocentrists and Holocaust deniers.

This is a major WTF news for me. How can a scifi hero be so freaking narrow minded? Astonishing that someone could even think on those terms at this day and age.

I was upset until I ready this (link)

“I understand there has been some controversy about my participation in a documentary called THE PRINCIPLE. Let me assure everyone that I completely agree with the eminent physicist Lawrence Krauss, who was himself misrepresented in the film, and who has written a succinct rebuttal in SLATE. I am not a geocentrist, nor am I in any way a proponent of geocentrism. More importantly, I do not subscribe to anything Robert Sungenis has written regarding science and history and, had I known of his involvement, would most certainly have avoided this documentary. I was a voice for hire, and a misinformed one, at that. I apologize for any confusion that my voice on this trailer may have caused. Kate Mulgrew”

As she mentioned, Lawrence Krauss said the same thing (link)

….. I was surprised to learn of the premise of the film, until I learned that its producer also apparently questions the Holocaust. It is tempting to say that both claims are obscene nonsense, but I believe that does a disservice to the word nonsense.

Overall, I think hearing that Kate Mulgrew would ever indulge in such a point of view was upsetting but I think the record has been set straight. She was not aware of the details of the project. Now if only she stopped being so anti-abortionist. She would be Captain Janeway in real life!

 

Dinner At Lee’s

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Back from the hairdresser.

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A close up.

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First the preparation.

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Of course the kids had to chip in.

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Outstanding soup!

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Mussels. Tried it for the first time. Loved it!

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Has to finished…. We willingly obliged.

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Time for home made sushi!

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… with wine, of course.

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Yup… all that is home made.

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Topped it off with a cake.

Lovely dinner as usual.

My Top 10 Albums Of 2013

Everyone is doing it so why not me.

10. Said The Whale

Album: Hawaii
Stand Out Song : I Love You.

9. Hebronix

Album : Unreal
Stand Out Song : Wild Whim

8. Tricky

Album : False Idols
Stand out song : Nothing Matters

7. Atoms For Peace

Album : Amok
Stand out song: Such Together Pieces

6. Hanni El Khatib

Album : Head In The Dirt
Stand Out Song : Family

5. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds

Album: Push The Sky Away
Stand out Song: Higgs Boson Blues

4. Foxygen

Album : We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace And Magic
Stand out song : On Blue Mountain

3. The Liminanas

Album : Costa Blanca
Stand out song : Liverpool

2. Phosphorescent

Album : Muchacho
Stand out song : Song For Zula

1. Tamikrest

Album : Chatma
Stand out song : Tisnant

India Here We Come!

So in 2002, nanah munna Anurag Sharma left India for  good to move to a better life (read for more $s) to the western civilization.

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After living in Canada for 12 years $s were scarce so he acquired a beer belly

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He was blessed with a daughter who looked like this : 

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to  become this

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He also keeps his dream alive of owning a Ferrai. But considering the iron grip his daughter has on him, the car will look like this :

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See you soon India!

Rhea’s First Recital

My daughter, Rhea recently started vocal lessons and gave her first recital a month ago. She finally gave me her permission to post the video here.

I thought the piano was too loud. Other than that, I loved the fact that she was able to stand in front of people and sing.

 

Daughter’s Birthday.

These days hosting a kids birthday party is soooo darn easy.

Book a trampoline place : check

Get a birthday cake : check

Invite kid’s friends : check

Order a pizza, fruit and chips : check, check and check

Pay : cheque (sorry couldn’t resist ;) )

Drink the insipid coffee at the trampoline place : check

First some stretching

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Then some jumping

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Then some cake

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Then cut the cake

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Play a truth/dare game
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Then watch the truth/dare game escalate to a cake fight.

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But in the end it is quite endearing to watch the children have a great time!

Happy birthday kiddo!

Top 5 Atheist Songs On My iPod

Here are what I consider top 5 atheist songs in rotation on my iPod. Yes. I still use an iPod because my Nexus 4 is not expandable beyond 16GB. Go figure!

1) Head Rolls Off – Frightened Rabbit

How can you not like these lyrics?

When my blood stops,
Someone else’s will not.
When my head rolls off,
Someone else’s will turn.
And while I’m alive, I’ll make tiny changes to earth

2) Heresy – Nine Inch Nails

Leave it to NIN to come up with a simple chorus :

God Is Dead And No One Cares

3) Heathen Child – Grinderman

She don’t care about Allah
She is the Allah
Don’t care about Buddha
She is the Buddha

Coz, she’s a heathen child

4) Marker In The Sand – Pearl Jam

Those undecided needn’t have faith to be free
And those misguided, there was a plan for them to be
Now you got both sides claiming killing in God’s name
But god is nowhere to be found, conveniently

What goes on?

5) Science Of Silence – Richard Ashcroft

Is it my genes that have made me?

Is it the things I took, is it the things I said
Does karma rule?
Well if there’s a God well can you hear me now?

I am crying out, hoping you know
And in my baby’s arms I need no faith
I need no words to define myself
And when I’m holding you, light rushing through

5 Top Songs Of The Day

1) Man, cannot get this song out of my head. Just beautiful!

 

2) Mo Kenny….just a beautiful voice and powerful lyrics. One to watch out for.

 

3) Rilo Kiley released a whole album worth of songs. No they are not back. Just left over songs from eons ago and some different version of their popular songs. Oh well, I will take it.

 

4) Veronica Falls : This is how pop music should be but I guess we are stuck with Justin Bieber for the moment.

 

5) Pixies : Just bought the vinyl for Surfer Rosa. Playing this song over and over.

 

 

 

Waterloo Marathon 28APRIL2013

I knew that there was going to be a substantially less number of people especially compared to Mississauga Marathon (around 11,000) and the two Toronto Marathons (around 25,000 for each), but I was not expecting 80 people in total for the full marathon!

That threw me off.

Anyway, the lead up to the race day was just gorgeous. 18 C on Saturday a day before the race and things were looking great. I was psyched and was eager. Got my race kit. The pick up should have given me a heads up on the number of participants. It was a small room with one table. However, I did not pick up on the clues.

On race day, got up early. Had some breakfast. Put on rocking music on the way to Bechtel Park. Parking was a breeze and organisers were cheering everyone. Mood was quite good. That’s when I noticed a lack of marathon runners (based on the reddish bibs the full run were wearing). And when the pipes started playing (yup, bagpipes), I went towards the starting line, that’s when it hit me. There were very few runners for the full. Why this bothered me was that I like the anonymity of a large group of runners. I knew this race would be tough because I am a back pack runner. But because I would be mortified coming in last or among last group, I knew I had to push myself.

Before the run there was a minute silence for Boston. But because they were using a bullhorn, not everyone got the message so there was a lot of chattering all about. The Ed Whitlock spoke for a minute and again no one had a clue what he said. Which was a shame cause I am a great admirer and I hope to be half the runner in the next few years that he is now.

Anyway, the run started and I threw my game book out the window cause everyone literally started to sprint away. I had to kick it up a notch too which is something I hate early in the run.

The course is a rolling course. That is, there are gentle ups and gentle downs from the start to finish. And because this was Mennonite country, there were horse drawn buggies and huge farm lands throughout the run.

The few runners means that for majority of my run, I had no one in my sights and I mean literally no one in sight. Not one person behind or in front. It was erie and quite disconcerting and caused me to question whether I was on the right course. The only action I saw were the volunteers every 3 KMs. They were the soul of the run! The volunteers were fantastic and the organisation of the run was very good. Water, gatorade, gels, fruits etc were available throughout the course.

Finally reached the point where we merged with the half marathon course. The half marathoners were all done by the time I reached that part of the course but this was through a suburb starting with the Blackberry offices. The complaint I have here is that since there were few runners and I was running at the back of the pack, I actually had to stop for red lights! Never saw that before in a marathon.

I rolled in at 4:14:07 to great cheering (since I was the only one approaching the end at that point) and the moment I stopped, my left leg cramped and I had to seek medical help. The para meds helped me through the cramp, got me some gatorade and I was walking back to the car in 20 minutes.

I really really liked the course. I just wish I could have run at my own pace. I am now better prepared, mentally, for the next time I run this race. I just hope that the participation increases.