It’s only 3-5 years now, before I get married to a nice Tibetan girl whose father owns at least a hundred and fifty yaks and twenty eight goats.
To impress the girl and her family, I have decided that in 2012, I am going to learn the dance moves below:
Lonely Boy- The Black Keys
Dance: Derrick Tuggle
Things are looking very exciting this time around. November 3-6 will see the first-ever Tibetan Film and Arts Festival to take place here in Sydney, and what a festival it will be.
The event basically aims to spread awareness of the Tibetan issue while also providing a platform for audience members to engage in genuine discussion and debate. Support for the festival has been positive so far, with Senator Bob Brown and Champion Cyclist Cadel Evans all pitching in as ‘Festival Ambassadors’. Author, poet and activist, Tenzin Tsundue, will also be flying in to share his opinions with the audience members.
What is remarkable about the event is that nobody is on the payroll and it is made possible entirely by people who are really passionate and firmly believe in what they are doing. Monetary resources might be limited, but the people behind it, are pushing it as hard as they can. The initiative is definitely 100% at the grassroots level.
The opening night features an amazing concert featuring a fusion of Tibetan singing, Classical Guitar and Hindustani tabla. For more information, including session times, visit www.thetibeteffect.com
The first-ever Tibetan Film and Arts Festival for Sydney is round the corner.
They say that if you go to hell, you got rock and roll… and if you were to go heaven, you played the harp.
I would definitely choose the harp, especially if it was the Koto.
This tune, with its dynamics and all, has been haunting me for over three days now:
If I could play this, I would be a happy man.
Marissa Nadler plays the most haunting/atmospheric music that I have come across. Staying true to her roots as an independent artist, she has run a beautiful campaign online via Kickstarter, asking fans to help her raise $11k to record her newest album.
Although, nobody backed up the $5000 pledge to help her in return of which, she would travel and play for anyone (in Europe), 390 people did support her and she raised over $17k. You can view the not-so-try-hard campaign that Marissa pulled off in the link below:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marissanadler/help-marissa-nadler-record-her-new-album-0?ref=video
Her latest album is self-titled, and was released a week ago here in Australia on iTunes.
Maria broke down yesterday (engine overheating), and I had to walk to work today. I surely missed my car, but I also realised that the 20 minute walk to work wasn’t all that bad… Not during the winter mornings at least.
Anyway, I opened the hood, and was introduced to a new world altogether. I absolutely had no clue. However, a colleague at work suggested that I check the radiator. After figuring out where the radiator sat, I managed to have a look inside. Yes folks, there is no coolant in it, and the damn thing is empty. (This is the second time, I have actually opened the hood in the past three months)
Fingers crossed, Maria is able to get back running ASAP.
With the limited patience that I have, I hate travelling on City Rail and public transport. But then, again, sometimes you meet amazing people… The interesting type that make you want to talk to them, and find out more about them.
A few weeks ago, I was on a train when I saw this girl a few seats away from me. She held up a beautiful cardboard box, which she kept looking into every two minutes. A quick/sly glance revealed what she told me was an ‘autoharp’, which captivated my interested. So I did away with all my snobiness/reservations/second thoughts and asked her more about how she got into it, and what songs featured the instrument. What followed was one of the most interesting conversations two strangers could possibly have…. The trip was over before I knew it, and I regret that we did not introduce each other by name.
Another time, I saw this girl seated at the front of a more or less empty train compartment. She had blue highlights on her hair and her lips were painted black. She sure caught my eye, and the photographer in me really wanted to make a portrait. I asked her, and she agreed. This is what I got out that day:
I also met an amazing percussionist once during my first month in Australia, when I was lost and caught the wrong train. We had a great jam (in the empty train) and he introduced me to ‘roto toms’. However, that is a different story altogether.
It is always an adventure meeting new people, even if it is only for five minutes in a place that you normally don’t like.
Till now, I thought that the drums were an instrument that always accompanied other instruments. You always sang to a guitar or a piano or something else that could play a range of tones, notes, chords and melodies. The drums then layered on that and provided the groove together with the base line.
All this changed when I came across Swedish husband and wife duo, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, who were a support act for Joanna Newsom. I was amazed to hear Mariam Wallentin sing so fearlessly backed by her husband, Andreas on drums. As an example, one of my favourite songs from them is ‘Places’. A highly infectious beat with lively vocals is the best way I could describe this song… And, instead of being just plain boring, it is dynamic, and builds to a climax. (More cowbell please). Other songs like ‘The Course’ are moody and it is hard to conjure that it is only two people making all that sound.
To Wildbirds & Peacedrums, you have won my heart!
R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
$20 is the most I have ever paid for a single cup. I am on top of the world whenever I drink in my cup.
This cup is all I need to feel an air of self-importance
Kids… When I was 17, I had the great honour of getting a colonoscopy done… You know the procedure where they try to diagnose an illness by sending a camera up your ass….
In my hour of despair, the following words of encouragement/empathy/support were offered to me by the lab guy:
“Mard ho kay itna nahi sahe sakte ho?” (Can’t you show some tolerance/resistance? Afterall, you are a man”.
What can I say. Some say that a boy becomes a man when he is old enough to make the right choices and is emotionally graceful… In my case, it was when there was a camera put up in the other end of my digestive tract.
PS: For those waiting to get a colonoscopy, you aren’t the only one… Best of luck, be a man and put up a fight.. Let there be light!
Look you finally have something exciting to talk about.
Growing old is something that I have always tried hard not to think of… you know the times when you don’t know many people and a trip to the supermarket is an occasion to dress up in your Sunday best.
In my case, I would probably end up like most of the elders that I saw walking around Boudha stupa each morning… prayer beads in hand as I chant ‘Om Mani Padme Hung’ 20,001 times without really knowing what it means. Five rounds maybe (too lazy for any more) and that would do fine….
However just yesterday, I played along with a ukulele group out of which quite a few people were old enough to be my grandparent. They seemed to all have fun, Hawaiian shirt on, beer in hand and a song to sing. Nobody thought that they were ‘senior’ and they certainly enjoyed the company. I noticed a man who had a uke tattooed to his forearm and he probably thought it was still cool. All of them sang songs, some timeless indeed, and a few sang originals which they had written for a friend or loved one.
As I got up the next morning, something had changed. I was not afraid my hair turning grey anymore.
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