As I have been told that I should wait until June or later to invest in a Powerbook because they are going to have something to do with Intel? At this hour my brain refuses to remember what exactly.
So Please Advvise ...Should I wait or should I not?
Showing posts with label The blog-enning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The blog-enning. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Some comments I have to reply to.
I got a thank you for singing KMI. I am not the one to be thanked here. Rahman Anna - DA ONE.
The DINK and DINS study was conducted in India. Maybe Outlook or The Week. I am not sure.
The Italy Trip - I was super lucky to have taken the trip with Ilayaraja Sir. I had never sung for him before. So I was shocked that he called me. Bhavatharini, Priti Uttam, Music Director Uttam Singh's daughter and Madhu Balakrishnan were the other singers. I think we were totally a 20 member group.
I got to know we were singing at an opera hall. It was also my first trip outside country, or even the city when I was on a professional assignment without my mother. I CRIED and cried. Half the time. She is the person behind everything that I am. My voice. And all the funda that I write about Ragas. I only type. While she dictates. Whatever I am able to do with my voice and as a person I owe it all to her. And I am at sea if she is not there.
It was also very lonely for me. She had work and she had to go somewhere else so she cancelled at the last minute.
Ilayaraja Sir, the first thing I went to his place, I started crying out of sheer fright. I said I am scared of you. (Yeah I did a lot of crying enough to last a lifetime, then)And then he and Bhavatharini started laughing. Then he said "Naan enna paeya boothama? Edhukku Bhayam?" Then he asked me to drink something. And I was also perenially scared to sing at the rehearsals. He never said anything. Even if he was angry or upset, it didn't show. He was like sing. And open your eyes and sing.
The rehearsals went this way. At the end they almost lasted until we had to almost leave to the airport from Prasad Studios. The rehearsals happened there.
We reached Italy after transit at Germany. It was a long haul. We reached the Bologna airport. We had to perform at Modena. Which was some 250 kms from Bologna, if I remember right. Modena had an airport too, we were informed, but it was under maintenance so all flights stopped here. It was cold outside. Maybe 9 or 10.C. We drove down to Modena by Bus. Some 2 hours.
Raja Sir, his wife, Bhavatarini,Uttam Singh sir, Preeti and I stayed at one hotel while the rest of them stayed at another. I didnt find out where. After settling down, we had to leave for rehearsals at the Opera Hall.
The Concert was called "The Musical Journey of Maestro Dr. Ilayaraja". The acoustics were too good. And I also saw how much work the women do in Italy. Lifting, drilling wot not. That done. The next evening was the show.
Sir told me again to sing confidently and to open my eys and sing.
Sir sang "Janani" first. And from the singers, I had to open. That was it. We were given headphones on stage, which doesnt happen in India. Here, we are on a constant struggle with the monitors, our voices usually never reach us properly, and we are just guessing what we are singing, there is no feed back. Explains why some concerts are not the same as listening to the CD.
I had also had a lot of trouble with the Taal with the Tabla Player. It was not in sync. As in between me and the Tabla Player. But on stage, it was a different thing. I was on a roll and it turned out much, much better than I had ever imagined. No problems with the taal. Or anything. After which Madhu sang a kriti, Preeti sang a Hindustani Classical Piece, and Bhavatharini sang another song. Our solos were now over. Other than that, I sang 'Ilangaathu Veesudhe' with Madhu, 'Aasaiyaa Kaathula' with Preeti and Bhavatharini, and 'En Ullil Engo' was a solo again. I hadn't heard this song before. I fell in love with this song when I sang that.
There were a lot of instrumental pieces also. Evenly distributed. And it was a wonderful concert. My favourite a three note composition, and Music in Indian life. The latter was a compilation of a Thaalaattu, a song sung during harvesting, marriage, falling in love. All his compositions. Yeah, definitely not in this order. The former was a composition made in only three notes. G, R and S.
I learnt a lot from this trip. What it was to be with a disciplinarian. And the first time I was under the influence of fear. Its actually 1/2 respect and 1/2 fear with him. I got less afraid later. I saw his style and way of working. I was darn lucky. Realised how God has given me a lot of things in life. Starting from my mom. There is a lot I have to say. To let people know. SO, thats coming soon to this Blog on a comp near you.
The Audience had only 6 or 7 Indian people. The rest were natives. And the applause. THAT WAS SOMETHING. It never stopped. After each song, we didnt know whether to stay on stage for courtesy's sake or leave so that the next person can come and sing. At the end they wanted an encore, right from the beginning. Finally we did an encore of one of the instrumental pieces. One evening. A lifetime's cherished memory.
I never thought that applause could be matched here, but i was proved wrong. But thats another anecdote. Another story. :)
Shall end my BLLLLLLLLLLooooooog here. This has been long enough.
I got a thank you for singing KMI. I am not the one to be thanked here. Rahman Anna - DA ONE.
The DINK and DINS study was conducted in India. Maybe Outlook or The Week. I am not sure.
The Italy Trip - I was super lucky to have taken the trip with Ilayaraja Sir. I had never sung for him before. So I was shocked that he called me. Bhavatharini, Priti Uttam, Music Director Uttam Singh's daughter and Madhu Balakrishnan were the other singers. I think we were totally a 20 member group.
I got to know we were singing at an opera hall. It was also my first trip outside country, or even the city when I was on a professional assignment without my mother. I CRIED and cried. Half the time. She is the person behind everything that I am. My voice. And all the funda that I write about Ragas. I only type. While she dictates. Whatever I am able to do with my voice and as a person I owe it all to her. And I am at sea if she is not there.
It was also very lonely for me. She had work and she had to go somewhere else so she cancelled at the last minute.
Ilayaraja Sir, the first thing I went to his place, I started crying out of sheer fright. I said I am scared of you. (Yeah I did a lot of crying enough to last a lifetime, then)And then he and Bhavatharini started laughing. Then he said "Naan enna paeya boothama? Edhukku Bhayam?" Then he asked me to drink something. And I was also perenially scared to sing at the rehearsals. He never said anything. Even if he was angry or upset, it didn't show. He was like sing. And open your eyes and sing.
The rehearsals went this way. At the end they almost lasted until we had to almost leave to the airport from Prasad Studios. The rehearsals happened there.
We reached Italy after transit at Germany. It was a long haul. We reached the Bologna airport. We had to perform at Modena. Which was some 250 kms from Bologna, if I remember right. Modena had an airport too, we were informed, but it was under maintenance so all flights stopped here. It was cold outside. Maybe 9 or 10.C. We drove down to Modena by Bus. Some 2 hours.
Raja Sir, his wife, Bhavatarini,Uttam Singh sir, Preeti and I stayed at one hotel while the rest of them stayed at another. I didnt find out where. After settling down, we had to leave for rehearsals at the Opera Hall.
The Concert was called "The Musical Journey of Maestro Dr. Ilayaraja". The acoustics were too good. And I also saw how much work the women do in Italy. Lifting, drilling wot not. That done. The next evening was the show.
Sir told me again to sing confidently and to open my eys and sing.
Sir sang "Janani" first. And from the singers, I had to open. That was it. We were given headphones on stage, which doesnt happen in India. Here, we are on a constant struggle with the monitors, our voices usually never reach us properly, and we are just guessing what we are singing, there is no feed back. Explains why some concerts are not the same as listening to the CD.
I had also had a lot of trouble with the Taal with the Tabla Player. It was not in sync. As in between me and the Tabla Player. But on stage, it was a different thing. I was on a roll and it turned out much, much better than I had ever imagined. No problems with the taal. Or anything. After which Madhu sang a kriti, Preeti sang a Hindustani Classical Piece, and Bhavatharini sang another song. Our solos were now over. Other than that, I sang 'Ilangaathu Veesudhe' with Madhu, 'Aasaiyaa Kaathula' with Preeti and Bhavatharini, and 'En Ullil Engo' was a solo again. I hadn't heard this song before. I fell in love with this song when I sang that.
There were a lot of instrumental pieces also. Evenly distributed. And it was a wonderful concert. My favourite a three note composition, and Music in Indian life. The latter was a compilation of a Thaalaattu, a song sung during harvesting, marriage, falling in love. All his compositions. Yeah, definitely not in this order. The former was a composition made in only three notes. G, R and S.
I learnt a lot from this trip. What it was to be with a disciplinarian. And the first time I was under the influence of fear. Its actually 1/2 respect and 1/2 fear with him. I got less afraid later. I saw his style and way of working. I was darn lucky. Realised how God has given me a lot of things in life. Starting from my mom. There is a lot I have to say. To let people know. SO, thats coming soon to this Blog on a comp near you.
The Audience had only 6 or 7 Indian people. The rest were natives. And the applause. THAT WAS SOMETHING. It never stopped. After each song, we didnt know whether to stay on stage for courtesy's sake or leave so that the next person can come and sing. At the end they wanted an encore, right from the beginning. Finally we did an encore of one of the instrumental pieces. One evening. A lifetime's cherished memory.
I never thought that applause could be matched here, but i was proved wrong. But thats another anecdote. Another story. :)
Shall end my BLLLLLLLLLLooooooog here. This has been long enough.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
I got to know first hand how powerful a Blog is. I met five new people who like my work. 'Fans' I should say. So all the hype was right.
I think my blog has been checked out more than my website! In three days that is.
I even had someone mail me saying that they were in Taiwan and that they could send me a stylus if I needed. Wow.. cool eh? But then, an update on that. I had a friend who went looking for me. Took responsibility that he lost the stylus, which I am very doubtful he did. He played chess on my phone last, and that was when I last saw the stylus too, but then he went about looking for one and got me one. Thanks buddy!
My BEST friend, Yasaswini would have stepped foot on home soil by now from Singapore. She is here for two months. Then she will have to go back and work. And then God knows when I will be able to see her again in Chennai.
I have spent the whole day listening to music and lolling around the house. The best that I could do in this HEAT that's baking my head through two floors above me. And through every other side. We are conveniently on the 6th floor. With wind blowing all day like Vayu Bhagwan is working overtime at our window. Or rather our building. But point he is spewing hot air. Take pity boss if you are reading!
VSNL has thrown me a huge 3 GB download for only 3 days of last month. We got the connection on the 27th, the lineman who came to do the wiring stole my mom's mobile, then knowing he had been caught threw it into our complex dustbin out of sheer fright. We walk out early next morning and the phone rings from the middle of every house 's rubbish. So we got the trash separators to take it out and what do I see? 65 missed calls in a span of 24 hours. And I missed a show because they could not contact me. Must sue VSNL for damages. And anyway the connectivity was not happening. 3GB from the 27th to 31st?? If any kind souls reading this have a solution please let me know. No Virus or Spyware in my system and have all the firewalls and wotnots. Waaaaaaah! I will go bankrupt paying for it. :(( *sniff*
AND they have not updated my account under an unlimited plan. Just 16 days and so much trouble. Broadband connection with a gigantic band of trouble. My cup of woes overfloweth.
I think my blog has been checked out more than my website! In three days that is.
I even had someone mail me saying that they were in Taiwan and that they could send me a stylus if I needed. Wow.. cool eh? But then, an update on that. I had a friend who went looking for me. Took responsibility that he lost the stylus, which I am very doubtful he did. He played chess on my phone last, and that was when I last saw the stylus too, but then he went about looking for one and got me one. Thanks buddy!
My BEST friend, Yasaswini would have stepped foot on home soil by now from Singapore. She is here for two months. Then she will have to go back and work. And then God knows when I will be able to see her again in Chennai.
I have spent the whole day listening to music and lolling around the house. The best that I could do in this HEAT that's baking my head through two floors above me. And through every other side. We are conveniently on the 6th floor. With wind blowing all day like Vayu Bhagwan is working overtime at our window. Or rather our building. But point he is spewing hot air. Take pity boss if you are reading!
VSNL has thrown me a huge 3 GB download for only 3 days of last month. We got the connection on the 27th, the lineman who came to do the wiring stole my mom's mobile, then knowing he had been caught threw it into our complex dustbin out of sheer fright. We walk out early next morning and the phone rings from the middle of every house 's rubbish. So we got the trash separators to take it out and what do I see? 65 missed calls in a span of 24 hours. And I missed a show because they could not contact me. Must sue VSNL for damages. And anyway the connectivity was not happening. 3GB from the 27th to 31st?? If any kind souls reading this have a solution please let me know. No Virus or Spyware in my system and have all the firewalls and wotnots. Waaaaaaah! I will go bankrupt paying for it. :(( *sniff*
AND they have not updated my account under an unlimited plan. Just 16 days and so much trouble. Broadband connection with a gigantic band of trouble. My cup of woes overfloweth.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
I could successfully blog for two days continously. Gap of two days already. If this is how it goes I have no clue how regular I will be. ;)
Had to attend a friend's wedding today morning. Met him after almost two years. At his wedding. He was glad I came and so was I. I silently promised myself that I will not miss anyone's wedding as long as I can help it. Got to know first hand how important it is to mark attendance, and that it does make a difference when you are there to wish the couple in person.
Listening to Anniyan's songs as I am typing this one. 'Sukumari' is playing. My pick in the album. And I also like 'Andankaka'. I realise Raag Durga or Suddha Saveri is my favourite. Sukumari is based on that. Saw Anniyan's trailor at Satyam when I went to see XXX2. The movie was pretty good. Those who say XXX 1 didn't quite like the sequel. But I liked it. Coming back to Anniyan, trailor looked awesome. Looking forward to watching the movie.
Then helped my foster sister to meet her crush. Damn cute. Schooltime romance. Wonder if its just the hormones ravaging or if there is more to it? But then I guess you cant forget your first crush in school. Mine was a bong guy in the 7th standard. He was a puny upstart. He thought he was the smartest. And always had smart ass comments to give teachers and everyone else. Point is he got away with everything. And thats what endeared him to all of us. There were half a dozen more girls who were behind him. There was a girl in a class who wrote him a love letter with her left hand. So the teacher made all of write with our left hand. The sad part was we had to reproduce the love letter. Blech!!! Something that was private came into public display. Also the first time I knew that 143 meant 'I love You'. Enlightenment. Then my crush left to Bombay. He gave me an address, which I promptly lost. He is one of the three or four people from our batch who is untraceable. So that was that.
If you have a Sony Ericsson P900, DONT lose the stylus. Guard it with your life. Have been searching for the stylus in the market for over two weeks now. I had two, one broke from the middle, and the other I lost.
I was also lately advised to take up the IAS exams. Because I needed a solid career other than music(Not my view, but it makes sense). Now I am doing so many things, I wonder if this is necessary. But I am finding out anyway. Sounds exciting. Haven't written an exam in a year. So it may be nice to do it... maybe.. this is still in the testing period. Watch this space.
My blogs are getting longer. Let me pull the brakes here and scram..... screeeeeeeeeech~!
P.S.: Also learnt its not a good idea for me to listen to music and do some work. Only the music keeps running in my brain. This Blog has had more language gurgles and spelling mistakes than I have ever committed.
Had to attend a friend's wedding today morning. Met him after almost two years. At his wedding. He was glad I came and so was I. I silently promised myself that I will not miss anyone's wedding as long as I can help it. Got to know first hand how important it is to mark attendance, and that it does make a difference when you are there to wish the couple in person.
Listening to Anniyan's songs as I am typing this one. 'Sukumari' is playing. My pick in the album. And I also like 'Andankaka'. I realise Raag Durga or Suddha Saveri is my favourite. Sukumari is based on that. Saw Anniyan's trailor at Satyam when I went to see XXX2. The movie was pretty good. Those who say XXX 1 didn't quite like the sequel. But I liked it. Coming back to Anniyan, trailor looked awesome. Looking forward to watching the movie.
Then helped my foster sister to meet her crush. Damn cute. Schooltime romance. Wonder if its just the hormones ravaging or if there is more to it? But then I guess you cant forget your first crush in school. Mine was a bong guy in the 7th standard. He was a puny upstart. He thought he was the smartest. And always had smart ass comments to give teachers and everyone else. Point is he got away with everything. And thats what endeared him to all of us. There were half a dozen more girls who were behind him. There was a girl in a class who wrote him a love letter with her left hand. So the teacher made all of write with our left hand. The sad part was we had to reproduce the love letter. Blech!!! Something that was private came into public display. Also the first time I knew that 143 meant 'I love You'. Enlightenment. Then my crush left to Bombay. He gave me an address, which I promptly lost. He is one of the three or four people from our batch who is untraceable. So that was that.
If you have a Sony Ericsson P900, DONT lose the stylus. Guard it with your life. Have been searching for the stylus in the market for over two weeks now. I had two, one broke from the middle, and the other I lost.
I was also lately advised to take up the IAS exams. Because I needed a solid career other than music(Not my view, but it makes sense). Now I am doing so many things, I wonder if this is necessary. But I am finding out anyway. Sounds exciting. Haven't written an exam in a year. So it may be nice to do it... maybe.. this is still in the testing period. Watch this space.
My blogs are getting longer. Let me pull the brakes here and scram..... screeeeeeeeeech~!
P.S.: Also learnt its not a good idea for me to listen to music and do some work. Only the music keeps running in my brain. This Blog has had more language gurgles and spelling mistakes than I have ever committed.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
My second day at blogging
Hmm back here. I spent some time today checking out other people's blogs, namely Kiruba Shankar's. The guy I would say is my advisor. Off and On. I ask him twice or thrice a year but I get his new phone numbers thanks to common friends who are regularly in touch with him. Knows the answer to everything I ask him, and have been looking up to him too. I first met him 7 years back.
He has been everywhere, done all that. He asked me to attend the Bloggers meet at Anna Universtity which I am sure he organized. Thats when and where I got to know what blogging was. From then to now its taken me two years to get my blog up. So that was a short history on me myself and my blogging.
My car was at the garage, pretty brand new after 1 1/2 years and the people there say some gear shaft is gone, belt is worn out, battery is dead, wotnot. Had to shell out some 5k. Guess the maintenance routine has started for my wheels.
I started to read a book "Reflections of Life After Life" by Dr. Moody. Not a Great last name for a shrink. He has interviewed hundreds of women and men who were close to death or actually pronounced dead. There is more literature available on the same topic. Dr. Brian Weiss. I think he got the world to sit up and take notice of what happens between two lifetimes, separated by death, or rather punctuated by death. More so because he is a devout catholic, didn't believe in anything that could not be proved by science. This includes the whole gamut of parapsychology, hypnosis, alternative therapy, the like. But then the first few lines in my Psych course material said Psychology doesnt accept the presence of mind, why because science cannot pin point the 'mind' anywhere in the human or animal anatomy, it couldn't decide whether it was a stream of thought or a thought process, and people in general did not seem to give the same answer when asked "What is mind?"
No matter what the mind continues to exist..............
His book, Many Lives Many Masters, provides info about the continuation of life after death and the influence of our past life experiences on our present life behaviour. Proves to be an astonishing read, even if you dont believe in this funda.
Past Life Regression, an alternative therapy to heal psychological disorders is fast gaining ground in India, with a couple of practitioners in Bombay and Delhi. But then anything to do with Hypnosis and people have their own misconceptions. Clear your cobwebs here. (i.e. if you have any :))
It might be tough for me to say anything about hypnosis or even remotely try to implement it in my sessions as a counsellor, when I become one. But I am looking forward to being called Dr. Chinmayi. Gives a certain adrenaline rush.
Anyway, that's that. The curtains draw on another day.
He has been everywhere, done all that. He asked me to attend the Bloggers meet at Anna Universtity which I am sure he organized. Thats when and where I got to know what blogging was. From then to now its taken me two years to get my blog up. So that was a short history on me myself and my blogging.
My car was at the garage, pretty brand new after 1 1/2 years and the people there say some gear shaft is gone, belt is worn out, battery is dead, wotnot. Had to shell out some 5k. Guess the maintenance routine has started for my wheels.
I started to read a book "Reflections of Life After Life" by Dr. Moody. Not a Great last name for a shrink. He has interviewed hundreds of women and men who were close to death or actually pronounced dead. There is more literature available on the same topic. Dr. Brian Weiss. I think he got the world to sit up and take notice of what happens between two lifetimes, separated by death, or rather punctuated by death. More so because he is a devout catholic, didn't believe in anything that could not be proved by science. This includes the whole gamut of parapsychology, hypnosis, alternative therapy, the like. But then the first few lines in my Psych course material said Psychology doesnt accept the presence of mind, why because science cannot pin point the 'mind' anywhere in the human or animal anatomy, it couldn't decide whether it was a stream of thought or a thought process, and people in general did not seem to give the same answer when asked "What is mind?"
No matter what the mind continues to exist..............
His book, Many Lives Many Masters, provides info about the continuation of life after death and the influence of our past life experiences on our present life behaviour. Proves to be an astonishing read, even if you dont believe in this funda.
Past Life Regression, an alternative therapy to heal psychological disorders is fast gaining ground in India, with a couple of practitioners in Bombay and Delhi. But then anything to do with Hypnosis and people have their own misconceptions. Clear your cobwebs here. (i.e. if you have any :))
It might be tough for me to say anything about hypnosis or even remotely try to implement it in my sessions as a counsellor, when I become one. But I am looking forward to being called Dr. Chinmayi. Gives a certain adrenaline rush.
Anyway, that's that. The curtains draw on another day.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
My First Blog
Well, I finally enter the world of blogging. The blog section on my website has been under permanent construction for a long time, hence here.
It was'nt too auspicious a start getting here, cos as soon as I clicked register, my internet connection conked. And then, chinmayi, chinmayis, chins, chin, chinnu, everything had been taken. I thought I had a rare name but some chinmayi had always beat me to Yahoo, Hotmail, Rediff and Sify mail. I guess I finally reached Gmail first.. ha!
After fiddling around for a looong time, checked out how to post a pic, and how not to do a couple of things. Point is I had to download some software to upload pictures. 2 to be precise. That was a slight iration. Got that straightened out. Have to figure out a lot more stuff here..
It was'nt too auspicious a start getting here, cos as soon as I clicked register, my internet connection conked. And then, chinmayi, chinmayis, chins, chin, chinnu, everything had been taken. I thought I had a rare name but some chinmayi had always beat me to Yahoo, Hotmail, Rediff and Sify mail. I guess I finally reached Gmail first.. ha!
After fiddling around for a looong time, checked out how to post a pic, and how not to do a couple of things. Point is I had to download some software to upload pictures. 2 to be precise. That was a slight iration. Got that straightened out. Have to figure out a lot more stuff here..
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