You would be in eternal bliss. At least I was. It was like I couldn't believe if whatever was happening was in a dream or reality.

That was how I felt when Delta induction results came out. I was confident of not getting past the three levels of induction, but the final list of selected members had my name. I was awestruck and had that unusual feeling of happiness, something vibrating through my torso.

Delta is the Webteam force in National Institute of Technology, Trichy, a club that takes care of the websites www.nitt.edu and also www.pragyan.org. There are several clubs, both active and inactive in the campus. Getting inducted into clubs like Delta, Dance Troupe, Music Troupe and Spider are considered a luck and a challenge. There are other clubs also like Writer's Circle.

Let's come back to my story.

As many in the campus, I too wanted to get through and be a part of Delta. They conducted workshops on web design and that gave me an insight into what Delta focuses on. They also announced that inductions will be conducted in our third sems, as soon as the college reopens. With hopes of getting through, I prepared for the induction tests, that i expected to include web design, php, javascript, mysql etc. I was determined to prepare, but my determination was just not enough, cause I drifted off track everytime I logged into my comp, and ended up chatting on orkut.

I spent the entire time of 2.5 months of holidays. My status was : theoretical and bookish knowledge of web design, and literally no practice. A gist of CSS, but no idea of how to implement it.

I came back to college soon, as my holidays ended. Soon the day of inductions came. I registered with little hopes and confidence.

The tests took place, and in which I still believe I screwed up the web design part. ( I know what the panelist during the interview had commented on my website :D ). The coding part on day two, was OK, I guess, because, I did exactly what a majority of people could do. The interview too went on for what I felt like 45 minutes. Finally the inductions was over.

My expectations of getting through was 0. Yes, ZERO. I told my mom, my performance was bad and I have lost all hopes of getting through. I told her, there are other avenues, and I will try those.

And hence, I did not worry about when the results will be out. Ignorance is Bliss.

But when it was out, I did have the urge to know who all got inducted. I came to know on my way back to the hostel from gym, that my friend Hariharan had been inducted. I was confident, that I wouldn't be selected. Don't ask me why, but it was it like that. Some times, human actions should be left unexplained, especially actions of frenzy people like me. I went back to my room, told whoever asked me about the result that I don't know.

After bath, I went to my friend Rakesh's room, who was most likely to be selected. And there they gave me a shock. They told, he wasn't selected, but I got through!

And my response was, "Guys, stop kidding, please don't tease me". But they weren't kidding. I rushed to the computer center, and checked the results. I couldn't believe it! I closed the browser (firefox), and opened the page in ie7, to check if it was some browser error. I was probably going mad. I logged out, waited for half an hour and then logged in again and checked.

The result was the same, I was in. But then I checked the list again, how come Rakesh isn't in? And again to my surprise, his name was there! I passed on the information and he too was happy. Someone had checked the list and hadn't noticed his name.

I still wonder what miracles happened those three days, and what resulted in getting me through. I am still in a state of disbelief as of how I got through. I consider this as a gift from God, because, I believe God is responsible for every other thing that I am unable to explain and no one is able enough to explain it to me in a satisfactory way.

Finally I migrate from NO CLUBER'S CLUB to DELTA.

:)

I was lost in a sea of what looked like goths, Madonna wannabes, and jocks. I was a "classic rock and pop" high school freshman. It was during the mid-80’s "musical grey area" when I met Curt, another student and music fan who would later introduce me to progressive rock, heavy metal, "deep" album tracks, and the merit of "balls-to-the-wall" hard rock.

(He may not like to admit it, but he also turned me on to "professional" wrestling.)

Among our group of friends, Curt was the "mature" one. He was a junior, and three months older than me. He drove a car, had a girlfriend, and a job after school (he could afford to go to concerts); he had "the life," plus advanced homework! As for the rest of our group? Broke, car-less virgins with an equal amount of homework and no social life.

When I visited his family home for the first time, we sat in front of his stereo. He placed The Yes Album on the turntable, and we started talking. We were just starting to really learn about each other when I first heard the Steve Howe instrumental piece called "The Clap."

My ears broke contact with his words and zoomed in on the sound of the most beautiful piece of music, performed on solo acoustic guitar. Curt noticed that I had "zoned out" and just said, "That’s ’The Clap.’ Don’t tell me that you’ve never heard this song before." I hadn’t. I only knew of them as the band that sang "Owner Of A Lonely Heart," which I didn’t care for at the time.

I asked him to play the song again because I missed the live spoken word introduction of the song by Howe himself. Curt played the song again, and we both sat in silence as the needle vibrated the grooves on the album and once more gave us that song.

Steve Howe’s guitar licks continued to fill the air as Curt told me of his family’s roots in Wisconsin, his favorite radio stations, and his after school job at McDonalds. By the time we hit the last few hypnotic minutes of the album’s final song "Perpetual Change," I felt as if I’d known him forever. He made me a cassette copy of The Yes Album, which I played to death in my Sony Walkman.

Trying to imitate Steve Howe’s finger picking style was my first instinct as a young guitar player. It was hard, but I learned the first 16 or so bars of "The Clap" before I switched gears and studied his lead electric guitar work in some of the other songs. It was at once bluesy, jazzy, and classical with a wickedly smooth texture and tone. He was unlike any other guitarist I had heard up to that point. He was precise, clean, and delivered a very unique impression. Steve Howe almost instantly won my ears.

As Curt and I got through all of the teen drama of high school and life, we always had music as a special bond. Time and distance had us out of contact for a while, but we managed to boomerang back into each others lives. Over the years, the sound of Steve Howe and classic Yes reminds me of Curt. The sound of Steve Howe is the soundtrack to my early friendship with one of my lifelong friends. Thank you Curt for turning me into a Howe-head, and thanks for being my friend.

And thank you Steve Howe, for showing me the progressive and musical side of guitar. Damn, you’re hypnotic! Happy birthday.

Note: My "listening to" selection (if it were working) would be... yes, you guessed it... The Yes Album which was originally released February 1971.

(Lex Neon is the musical mastermind behind the music of indie sunshine pop / rock band Poppermost.  For more info, go to http://www.poppermost.com/)

]]> http://clubpenguincheatsandalotmore.wordpress.com/?p=71 Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:03:43 +0000 jkisme5 http://clubpenguincheatsandalotmore.wordpress.com/?p=71 here is a funny picture about rockhoppper!!

click to enlarge

Jkisme5~

Two thoughts on this video:

1. I think they should start printing Barack's speeches in bold red letters.

2. I've decided that since Jay-Z married Beyoncé, the next best thing is to marry her sister, Solange. That way, you can say Jay-Z is your brother-in-law.

Random Story...

My friend John told me that he, and all Black folks, knows how to make his own bar-bq sauce. I'm thinking, "Sheeit...the fuck they do!" He said how to make bar-bq sauce is one of the things you learn in "Black People Class." BLACK PEOPLE CLASS!!! Then we got into a discussion about the importance of bar-bq sauce. He stated a little known fact: 90% of colored Americans will choose bar-bq sauce over ketchup. So very true.  It really made sense when I thought back to when restaurants started really carrying bar-bq sauce. It was a pretty big deal.

I'll leave you with this quote from my friend John:

"Man, what if bar-bq sauce was ketchup, and ketchup was bar-bq sauce?"

[Editor's note: In Black People Class 101, we learned the word "barbecue/barbeque" (in this blog we use the popular African-American spelling "bar-bq") has roots in the Arawak or Taino word "barbacoa," which means "sacred fire pit." The Taino and Arawaks were the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean with whom the African slaves intermingled when they arrived in the so-called "New World." This stuff was sacred to the Arawaks and it just might be sacred to us, too. Perhaps, this lends credence to John's claim that all Black people know how to make bar-bq sauce. Shoot...I know I do.]

It feels good to be intentional moving into the lengthening nights.

------------------------------

Questo è il commento di Marino al post:

A proposito di Stormy Six, questo è il sito di Franco Fabbri, storico chitarrista degli stessi e docente di storia della musica, che ho avuto il piacere di conoscere personalmente: http://www.francofabbri.net/

N.B. Franco fabbri è l'autore del pezzo (che ricorda la vittoria dopo l'assedio nazista del 43 alla città) e della maggiornanza dei pezzi del gruppo e l'unico ad aver attraversato tutta la storia degli Stormy six.

I read on Bawa's blog  that we had a Youth advance course at our Bangalore ashram a few days back, with over 600 students! In a time where our Indian tradition and culture is losing its value among the youth , Guruji has magically attracted so many youth into Spirituality.  He just amazes me !

Much like China jailing a bunch of protesters during the Olympics, and the US complaining, and then the US arresting and jailing a bunch of people who were planning on protesting at the Republican convention beforehand, on charges like "fire code violation"[1].

And the US isn't protesting. And the mainstream media aren't covering it, unless I missed it. Read more about it at feministing, their followup, and of course, Glenn Greenwald, who is always worth reading.

And since you're playing Syncronicity[3]...

Changes - Yes

And an appropriate followup for my last post would have been "Sweet Transvestite", from the Rocky Horror Show, Sean. Since you weren't sure how to follow that up... :)

[1] You see, having a door that's been bashed in, and is hanging off the hinges breaks the fire code[2]. Even when the police ( & FBI ) were the ones that bashed it in (without showing a warrant).

[2] Honestly.

[3] Which I do really like.

AC/DC: In Performance
America: SoundStage: America Live in Chicago
The Beatles: Magic Mystery Tour Memories
Eagles: Music in Review
Norah Jones: Live From Austin TX
Kraftwerk: Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution
Avril Lavigne: The Best Damn Tour: Live In Toronto
Lisa Lopes: Last Days of Left Eye
Paul McCartney: Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney
Pink Floyd: The Early Pink Floyd: A Review and Critique
Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman Live: The Best of Cat Stevens
Yes: The New Director's Cut of The Wonderous Songs & The Wonderous Stories

“I am honored to support Barack Obama’s history-making presidential bid through one of his many visionary platforms, including recognizing the importance of art in America. My artwork is inspired by his words, wisdom, accomplishments, and expression of our hopes and dreams for a better America. Our world is facing seemingly insurmountable economic and environmental challenges. It is a rare occurrence to behold a leader like Barack Obama who understands what America must do in order to reclaim itself on the world stage. As a first generation immigrant, I have confidence that America can collectively overcome these challenges under Obama’s presidency. YES WE CAN! ”

-Antar Dayal

Der Höfner 500/1 ist ein deutscher Bass, der bis heute Pauls Markenzeichen ist. Er spielt auch heute noch bei jedem Konzert seinen originalen 1963er Höfner.

Dieser semiakustische Bass hat trotz seiner kurzen Mensur einen wahnsinnig fetten Ton, und lässt sich spitzenmäßig aufnehmen. Meinen Höfner hatte ich mir im Jahr 1990 bestellt. Ihr könnt ihn hier anhören:

Running Up That Hill

Der Rickenbacker 4003 Bass ist die moderne Version des 4001 – einer wahren Legende unter den Bassgitarren.

Der Rickenbacker war der erste Bass der Welt mit durchgehendem Hals. Bei dieser Bauweise geht der Hals als ein Stück durch den Korpus hindurch. Den Korpus bilden zwei Teile, die seitlich an dieses Mittelteil angefügt werden.

Weil der Rickenbacker, bis aufs Palisandergriffbrett, ganz aus Ahorn gebaut wird, hat er einen knurrigen Ton mit einer extralangen Sustainphase.

Paul spielte seinen 4001S – ein Exportmodell mit Punkteinlagen im Griffbrett und ohne Korpuseinfassung – ab dem Album Revolver. Der Bass ist gut in den Promofilmen zu "All You Need Is Love", "I Am The Walrus" und "Hello, Goodbye" zu sehen.

Chris Squier von der Gruppe Yes spielt auch so ein Modell (gut zu hören z. B. auf "Owner Of A Lonely Heart").

Mein Rickenbacker 4003 ist Baujahr 1987, und trägt eine sehr seltene silber-metallic Lackierung.

Wie mein 4003 klingt, hört ihr auf diesem Stück von Frank Badenius und mir:

Let Me Think About It