Roll the dice...

One of my fondest memories of my childhood was the lazy summers and Sunday afternoons that I spent with my family. A good amount of them were filled with memories of playing cricket in the yard or going to a small ground to play. The other main activity was playing board games like Scrabble, Monopoly, Snake and Ladders and other games I don't recall. And for the longest period in my life, I never played these games. I still can recall all those boxes gathering dust back home. And it wasn't until recently something changed which reunited me with one of my old loves.

As odd as it seems, the first reason for it was the Apple iPad. Let me explain, little under a year ago I was gifted the iPad, and I will say it's an extremely impressive piece of technology. But little did I realize its potential as an awesome platform of board games. When I think of it now it is a natural fit. The screen resembles a board, and the graphics and sound can really simulate the feel of a real game as well.

Risk and Scrabble on the iPad

And often when I travel to work, these games are time eaters and also tons of fun. Especially two games on the app store that caught my eye were Scrabble and Risk. Playing scrabble all my life, buying Scrabble on the app store was an obvious purchase. And I've to say it's a brilliant implementation of the classic game. Sure there are times when you are left leaving head scratching when you hear a particular word exists. But the design is so intuitive that on a recent trip to my friend's place, his wife picked up the game within 2 minutes of getting it. The other game that I mentioned was Risk(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_(game)), which I will say didn't catch my eye initially. I was interested in it simply because I had seen the ad for the game on Xbox Live and heard really good reviews about it. So buying it on the app store was simply out of curiosity that anything else. But since getting to know the rules, I've become very addicted to it. The design is simple, but yet so effective in conveying the feel of being at war and that you have to constantly keep monitoring your trip units and those of your enemies too. I will confess that this game has beaten me more often than scrabble, but don't worry my day will come soon :). The great thing is that you have friends (big IF), you can play them over the network or Internet.

The other big reason, I've fallen in love with board games yet again is this awesome meetup group near my house. For those who don’t know you can find tons of groups who share your share same interest in a particular area on the website Meetup.com.  It is a great way to organize these kinds of unconventional groups and bring people together to share these kind of experiences. Sometimes it goes by the way side but often it’s bloody awesome. And this case it's awesome, plenty of people who know tons of board games, man some of them I've not even heard about. We meet every Sunday at  1718 P Street NW, DC around 1pm. And so far it's been a packed house. The games are loads of fun, filled with dumb moves (mine mostly) and awesome moments of winning a game (definitely not me). It brought back a lot of good memories of my childhood fighting and arguing my brothers during those lazy afternoons over board games. And the awesome thing is that every week the organizers do something new, which makes going for them lots of fun. And I will also say they’re very well organized and arranged that the experience is just even more awesome.

It's funny that these two seemingly unrelated events reunited me with a past that I had long forgotten and one that I want to remember and relive. If at all you guys have an itching to play those old board games, go ahead buy an iPad or find a meetup or just buy some board games because they are definitely worth the every single dollar or rupee or euro or whatever that you spend on it.

A concert of a different kind....

Today was unique experience. I attended for the first time a live concert on the Internet. As it sounds its live video feed from the concert. The band was one of my favorites Avial. For those who know me, you probably are already scratching your heads thinking, oh no, not another Avial post, but for those alien to them let me get you up to speed. Avial is a malayalee dish, which is a mixture of different ingredients. And as name suggests their music is too. They are an Indian rock band, who sing in my native language of Malayalam. Their songs have varying elements of traditional folk to heavy rock riffs. Their music is truly unique, with heavy bass lines, very little guitar solos and song structures which don't follow the typical lyrics-chorus style. For anyone who loves music their first album is definitely worth a check out. Even though they sing in Malayalam, they've fans ranging all across the country and the world. Avial is Tony John on vocals, Rex Vijayan on guitar, Binny Issac on bass and Mithun Puthanveetil on Drums.


Now on to the concert. The concert was at a club in Mumbai and was in celebration for the launch of their website avial.in. I was pretty excited for it even though i was seeing it online. Sadly the stream was single video feed and I guess you've to expect that as probably such sophisticated production costs could only be afforded by bollywood and cricket, at least in India. Anyways they began the concert with a song that I couldn't recognize, either it was a traditional malayalam folk song or song from another band I am not aware. It was pretty good, and the accoustic guitar really lend itself. Up next was a song called "Anna Kallan" from their forthcoming album. The song talks about fake swamis and priests. Tony did a real good job of singing it, and the guitar riff was really catchy. Anyone who wants a preview should check it out on YouTube. After that another new song called "Ayyo", and I had heard it previously. The version they cracked at Mumbai was mind blowing. Awesome bass riffs, coupled with a really awesome guitar work. I would say they've definitely getting the mix absolutely correct on this song. It bodes well for their new album.

By now, I couldn't help feeling that Tony was sort of getting on my nerves. Not his singing, but rather he really didn't try to mingle with the crowd. His interaction with the audience pretty lame I've to say. I really did wish somebody like him with an opportunity to really connect with a small audience absolutely squanders it. Anyways, more on that later. Little later, came the highlight of the night when guest singer Neha S Nair came out to sing the traditional song Nagumo. The singing and the fusion was amazing, it was just an incredible performance. If they do post a video of it online, you should definitely check it out.

It was at this time, the stream started acting and it went down for about 10-15 minutes, and I missed out lot of their numbers sadly. And it came up back up around the conclusion of the song Aadu Pambe. As the concert went by Tony's singing began to deteriorate, his performances on Karukara and Nada Nada were pretty bad. Its funny, I've seen lot of videos of Avial's live performance and he usually sings those songs pretty balanced, and has of late he has nailed Nada Nada. Its not like he is a bad singer, but just seems like he didn't care, which was sad and I'm pretty sure everyone will talk of bringing back the previous singer Anand which is pretty dumb.

In ending this, I would say the online experience was a sort of an Avial. It can't beat the experience of being there listening to it live, and singing along, but yet its an awesome model to bring in audiences. My respect for the band has increased even more(something I thought wasn't possible). They're truly an exceptional and unique band, which can really hit the heights as a live act with little more consistency from the lead singer. As with the rest of fans, I'm eagerly waiting the release of their next album.

The Glasshouse....

73/365 - Signal the Escape [Explored]
Originally uploaded by c.landrie

If I could throw a brick I would,
Shatter the glass windows that have sealed within me,
Why won't words come to me, where have you disappeared to,
Why do I struggle to speak, why won't I speak
Words disolve into the paper, my words have been stolen
My pen has dried from inactivity, it seems so long since I wrote
Has the old lady, sealed away my words for a prize


Though beauty surrounds me, beauty of the hopeful and the bleak
I see people in love, people lonely, I see beautiful people,
I see the homeless, craving for a piece of bread,
I see the happy, in joy of love, and life
but yet I am unmoved, I feel nothing, see nothing,
The circles and fountains unomove me, the rainbows don't seem to inspire me
Listless and enstranged, I see truly far away from them all
locked away in my world, insulated by everything
Invisibly moving through the days

While We're Young....

While we're young, let us do what the young do,

Get on elephant backs and traverse the jungles

Discover gold in the King Solomon's mines,

and then jump off the cliff to escape the impending natives

While we're young, let us not worry about our careers

For some say, careers are a 21st century invention,

Let us free our minds and do things we always wanted to do,

Maybe start a coffee shop in Cochin,

Or maybe scale the city of Machu Picchu

While we're young, let us fall in love

Forget logic and reasons

And fall in love with the seasons

And feel like being loved rather being in love

Do the unexpected and runaway with her to your own cove

While we're young, let us be young,

And stay young...

Brothers of Nothing

I've nothing to offer, so do you,

We can cook food, as long as you don't finish it
We can drink beer, as long as you leave me four
But we have no money in our banks,
Despite that we gather around our ranks

Why we are friends I wonder
For women abstain our homes,
For we've no contacts to give you jobs,
Our languages and cultures vary like the moods of a women
For we are people who can only talk nonsense
But we do have some chicken and beer
And you can have them, as long as you would give me some too

As our days come to a close, I ask
Won't you all stay for another drink,
Stay till the neighbors kick us out,
Talk into the nights about our lives and the lack of it,
For tomorrow, we might have money and houses
But we wouldn't have the joys of drinking with little money
Or Dance into the night like senseless creatures,
And be the Brothers of Nothing....

Summer of Music

This summer, while my spirits and focus should be else where, I seem to have found my love again. Its been almost 10 years since I've felt like this about music, when I had my first "Summer of Music". I've rarely related or enjoyed any of the contemporary offerings of the supposed "mainstream", whether it was rock, pop, alternate or anything else. I always had a feeling that every single of them sounded the same, and as they were having an orgasm while singing or as if they had gone to a the same school of Crap music. Until now, my view was that no good music was created after 1999-2000. While all of this might make me sound like an elitist or an oldie or a snob,it feels so bloody good :)

My first summer of music happened at the end of my 11th standard. Up until then I will admit that most of my music tastes revolved around Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys and some other crap. Yes Thomas, I've said that in the open, I loved Britney Spears!!!! It wasn't until one night in 11th grade when I was watching MTV Classic and the song "Don't Stand so Close to Me" by the Police came on. And my mind went"BAM" and it was as if the song opened the secret door within my brain. I remember thinking "Bloody hell that sounds outstanding". And I had never heard this song, despite it being released in 1980, a measure of how musically illiterate I was.

So I ran the next day morning with whatever cash I had(Most of it was my mom's) to Music world and bought "The Very best of Sting & The Police", and suffice to say I listened to that cassette so many times that the tape broke 5 times in a 2 week period. From then on there was no turning back, with the influence of Thomas, my music tastes broaden to Pink Floyd, U2, Metallica, Beatles, and so many many more. For the entire summer, I was mesmerized by the music, the lyrics, and the fact that most of these stuff existed when my mom was in her teens. And to my dismay my mom had an entire collection of Rock LPs stacked away without my knowledge, which included "The Dark Side of Moon" .Wow, how much cooler could the summer get, my mom and I can listen and sing to the same songs and talk about it. Of course I ensured I made every single friend of mine listened to these songs, whether they had a choice or not. And I had to convince them to change, and have some taste in music :)

But sadly, the summer ended and descended into a bleak Winter. And I've struggled ever since to listen any of the crap that most of bands of today put out. Whether it was Nickelback, Poets of the Fall, Sting, or U2 or any other genre of music. I've for the most part found it difficult to relate with them, or found anything unique with them. Always felt all of them sounded the same, or had to sound according to some archetype sound. I've derided the talent shows like Idols shows, the remixes that bands put out and pretty much every form of modern music. And for years, I was stuck with the songs I had fell in love in when I was in 11th grade. Until this Summer.

I always envisioned my Summer of Music would return when there was a new Police record, but sadly that's not happening since Sting is still stuck in his own world. But I've found love again in a rock band from my state Kerala called "Avial".

Initially my reception was sort of lukewarm, but as with every love, it blossoms in the summer. And suffice to say, they're bloody awesome. I feel yet again like the kid who fell in love with music in the 11th grade. Inspecting every single aspect of their music, from their beautiful bass lines to their drums to their lyrics. Their drums sound a bit like the Police, the organ sounds like the Doors, the intro stuff like Pink Floyd, but their combination with Malayalam music and its folksiness is something out of this world. I keep listening to songs like "Adu Pambe", "Chekele" , "Njan Aara" till my roommate throws the kitchen sink at me.

And the best thing of this summer is that, it has expanded to so many other bands. Most of them are Indian and folk. I've found great stuff like Raghu Dixit, Trio, etc. Its amazing how well India music lends itself to rock music, while at the same time sounding so unique. And I can't wait to listen to the new music I will find this summer. And I pray that the next Summer isn't going to take another 10 years to arrive. And yes, you've no choice, you're going to have listen to them all, whether you've a choice or not.

Strands of hope

Originally uploaded by Katrina †

You've queued up behind a million lines,
thinking this would be the last time
But it wasn't meant to be,
When will my time be, you ponder
The apparent Unjustness makes you want to surrender

Instead I tell you, it isn't just about day,
Even in the darkness, the moon shines upon you
Showing you the way through this abyss
The light will shine on you, for however dim it is
Take away these dark emotions that have besieged you,

When will you see light, for I don't know how
But I know its out there, for I've caught glimpses of it,
You will see it soon,
And we will celebrate in its brightness, soon...