One of my all time no.1

Music Video:STAND BY ME (by Ben E. King)

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Modern Times !!

Bob Dylan’s new album is creating waves all over once again and the poet philosopher singer is enjoying his popularity with the generation Y fans. Bob Dylan's first new album in five years, Modern Times, will was released on August 29. The artist's 44th album features 10 new songs recorded this past winter with Dylan on keyboards, guitars, harmonica and vocals, accompanied by his touring band.

While it has been marketed as the third in a conceptual trilogy, beginning in 1997 with Time Out of Mind, Dylan himself has rebuffed that notion; in a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he stated that he "would think more of "Love and Theft" as the beginning of a trilogy, if there's going to be a trilogy."

The Rolling stone says that Modern Times is something different. It's less terrifying, less funny on first listen. But it has more command, more clarity. There is none of the digital murk of Time Out of Mind, and the snakebite live sound of Love and Theft has softened. This music is relaxed; it has nothing to prove. It is music of accumulated knowledge, it knows every move, anticipates every step before you take it.

I just heard couple of songs and as usual was lost in his haunting melodies.It has Dylan in a classic mode and as usual the songs will require repeated listening (like many other Dylan songs) before you finally get in the grove.

Mile Sur Mera Hamara

Wonderful Stuff...

Those days...

Last night I was listening to a movie song which was released when I was in school. As the music played a strange sense of melancholia and deja vu struck me. It was a haunted feeling of years gone by, strong emotions overwhelmed me. I went in a flashback mode and tried to recall how things were in my life exactly 10 years back.It was 1996 and India-Pakistan hosted the Cricket world cup. I still recall the dilemma I faced when India played Pakistan in one of the most memorable World Cup contest .The Quarter final match was held a day before my 12th Boards Literature exam and I had to make a tough choice of between studying and watching the cricket match.

I fared very well in my board exams. On the day of the results I was sleeping carelessly till my friend arrived and informed me that the results are out and that I’m the school topper. I still remember calling him a jerk since I felt he was playing fool. I was expecting good marks but I was never ever sincere enough to expect the Top rank.

Life seems to have changed so much in the last 10 years. I still remember being one of the biggest pranksters in my school. I was literally thrown out of the school on ragging charges, in which I was falsely implicated. I am not sure where most of my classmates are now, cant help recalling eating out the tiffin of my classmate everyday. Those were the days when life was made of simple things and the joy of youth lied in sharing moments of laughter, cheers and pranks with my chums. Those were the days of innocence and camaraderie, life was password free and key strokes were alien.

My days in college started on a different note as I found the college life very peculiar. I think I’m lucky to have made couple of friends who still very good pals of mine and have been able to stay I touch despite all odds. One of things which you always wish in your life is to relive those days when you had some of precious moments of your life with your friends and mates. When you wake up every day and spend times with people around, you seldom realize the memories of the days will brighten up your life some other day when your chips are down.

How often we forget these simple moments spent with people from different stages in your life. I may never get to meet or hear about those folks ever in my life but then life never fails to surprise you. I wish I can tell all those people I still remember and would like to know where they are today.

We are so hassled by the ways of the world today that we seldom take a break and reflect on our past experiences. The pace of lives has changed so much that we seldom find time to think about present .So the best thing to make life a pleasant joyride is to try and make the best of what you’ve got today, think about ways how you would like to introspect and look back on your life few years from now….

Another year passed by....

They say it’s my Birthday today :-) , so what the heck I’m supposed to do ? Look myself in the mirror and wonder ……

I think it’s time for some serious retrospection and set my priorities for the coming year. Looking back I think this has been a quite a momentous year. Lot of changes happened at personal as well as professional front. To some extent I miss leaving my beloved home at Patna and the quite life I lived there. However it has made me realize and made me more committed to the social cause than ever before. I have taken the changes in my stride pretty well and just hope to meet some of the other targets which I have set to achieve in the days to come.

Overall I think it’s been a good life till date. I had my share of good and bad experiences and to some extent my belief system has also undergone some changes. I feel I’m less judgmental and easier today than I was ever before since a right balance of pain and pleasure in your life makes you equipoise. My only concern is that I expected myself to be more serious in the days to come but it seems my clock is turning the other way round and I love being a wisecracker more than ever before.

SO what next ………..here goes my wish list. I hope to check this next year.

Top 3 personal

1) Try and improve my execution ability.
2) Prioritize my short and long term goals .
3) Stay connected and keep blogging .

I also plan to focus on improving my reading habit, which is pathetic to say the least. I’ll continue to dream Big and dream endlessly. I somehow feel dreaming is more important than reading .Too much reading does gives you an understanding of divergent viewpoints but at the same time it makes you opinionated. So I’ll continue with my good old funda read all but respect and believe in your own views and don’t forget to question the wisdom of anything sacred.

I’ll end this post on my one of my favoirite John Denver Song “Poems,Prayers and Promises"

I've been lately thinking, About my lifes time, All the things Ive done,

And how its been , And I cant help believing, In my own mind,

I know I'm gonna hate to see it end ,I've seen a lot of sunshine,

Slept out in the rain, Spent a night or two all on my own , I've known my lady’s pleasures, Had myself some friends, And spent a time or two in my own home...

And I have to say it now, Its been a good life all in all

Its really fine, To have a chance to hang around

And lie there by the fire, And watch the evening tire

While all my friends and my old lady,Sit and pass the pipe around

And talk of poems and prayers and promises And things that we believe in,

How sweet it is to love someoneHow right it is to care, How long its been since yesterday

And what about tomorrow, And what about our dreams, And all the memories we share,

The days they pass so quickly now,Nights are seldom long

And time around me whispers when its cold,The changes somehow frighten me

Still I have to smile,It turns me on to think of growing old,

For though my life’s been good to me, There’s still so much to do

So many things my mind has never knownId like to raise a family,Id like to sail away ,

And dance across the mountains on the moon I have to say it now,Its been a good life all in all….

This is awesome :-)

You must see this :-)

http://www.fugufish.org/frog/?p=38

Paisa Vasool

Just saw Omkara and Pirates of the Caribbean this Saturday .Two very different but engaging movies in special ways. Omkara has got mixed reviews for the ingenious desi depiction of Shakespeare classic Othello. Although reports suggest that the movie has not done too well on the box office but the movie has a touch of reality .I guess we are too happy watching the typical pop corn –chewing style movies which are now where close reality .

Well the movie has got almost every thing right from the cast to cinematography .The music and cinematography deserves a special mention as it sets the context. People may crib about the use of foul language but it adds a touch f reality in the movie.

Well the same junta who is cribbing about the foul language may be happy watching the phoren movie which uses the F** word more often than .However when it comes to Hindi movies they might crib it’s indecent. Double standards are not new to us.

Well as a viewer I had a 100% paisa vasool and would expect more of such classic from Vishal Bhardwaj's in the days to come.

What's on my Mind

Life has been hectic as usual work…family…projects…dreams …the list is endless.24 hrs in a day, and so much to do, so little time. Sometimes I often wonder am I doing justice to all the projects and initiatives which I have taken. It started with HR Funda Yahoo Group, then came Buzz, HR Funda Blog,Cool Bihari , The Job Shop and finally Patna Rice. Some people have started assuming that I’m a full time blogger and I’m paid for my blogs …well I wish I were :-)

I think my own space Buzz I have not been able to express my thoughts and views on life around. I always want to be aware and conscious of the changes which I feel my thoughts are undergoing ,but sometimes the turn of events are so fast that you really don’t get to ruminate about your experiences.

What’s on my mind ………well I just wish I could change few things in my life ….

So true..

This is the End...

Can't express much about then pain and agony which I felt one must be undergoing after the bloodbaths in Mumbai yesterday.Just read these lines from "The Doors" song "The End", it truly makes me numb and thoughtless after seeing all this...

This is the end Beautiful friend This is the end My only friend, the end Of our elaborate plans, the end Of everything that stands, the end No safety or surprise, the end I'll never look into your eyes...again

Can you picture what will be,So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand
In a...desperate land Lost in a roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane,All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah
There's danger on the edge of town

Ride the king's highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, babyRide
the snake, ride the snake
To the lake, the ancient lake, baby
The snake is long, seven miles
Ride the snake...he's old, and his skin is cold
Driver, where you taken' us

The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went into the room where his sister lived,
and...then he Paid a visit to his brother,
and then heHe walked on down the hall, and
And he came to a door...and he looked inside
Father, yes son, I want to kill you
Mother...i want to......Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill

This is the endBeautiful friend
This is the end.My only friend, the end
It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die

Times they are ......

We live in a greedy little world--that teaches every little boy and girl

To earn as much as they can possibly--then turn around and Spend it foolishly-

We've created us a credit card mess-We spend the money that we don't possess-Our religion is to go and blow it all

So it's shoppin' every Sunday at the mall

All we ever want is more-A lot more than we had before

So take me to the nearest store -When you're broke go and get a loan-

Take out another mortgage on your home-Consolidate so you can afford-

To go and spend some more when you get bored-All we ever want is more-

A lot more than we had before-So take me to the nearest store-

Let's swing Dig deeper in your pocket

Oh, yeah, ha Come on I know you've got it Dig deeper in your wallet Oh

All we ever want is more-A lot more than we had before-So take me to the nearest store

Ka-Ching by Shania Twain

Journey Continues...

Sometimes the greatest of discovery of one’s life comes through self introspection. At times I seriously feel that my thoughts and beliefs on certain issues in life are firm and unwavering. However to my own surprise and amusement I find my beliefs changing with passage of time.

It creates some confusion in my mind about my own self; the harder I try and understand my self, more confusing or rather surprising the outcomes are. May be I’m expecting my revelation to happen to soon, but the constant thought of self-awareness does leads to a heightened awareness of one’s own thought and actions.

A conscious effort to monitor one’s own action leads to some peculiar situations. Many times you’ll encounter a situation in which your mind and heart will be under perpetual conflict of arriving at a decision. In my earlier days I thought that’s part of growing up process and time will come when things will fall alright and I’ll overcome the constant ???

But the journey continues and so the surprise of discovering a new person within yourself which you never thought you were.

Mark of A True Software Professional

Mark is Back

Mark Knopfler and country's Star Emmylou Harris have come together and released a new album titled "All the Road Running.

Having met at a Chet Atkins TV special, Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris began recording songs like "Red Swaggering" and "Donkey Town" for Knopfler's 2000 solo album Sailing To Philadelphia.

Mark Knopfler liked the songs so much he kept them off the final album, hoping that Harris would be able to find the time to cut some more tracks with him. Over the next few years, the dynamic duo found time in their hectic schedules to add to their song collection and finished off the opus over a week in the studio last year.

With heartfelt songs like "Beachcombing", "If This Is Goodbye" and "Beyond Belief",All The Roadrunning finds Knopfler's bluesy voices merging with Harris's angelic country harmonies rekindling the glory of the great country duets.

For a country and slow rock buff like me this is going to be one helluva album.

Busy :-(

Human Spirit

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Embrace all equally".

Nick Vujicic was born on the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne (Australia), was born without limbs and doctors have no medical explanation for this birth “defect. The doctors we shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any other baby.

The law in Australia didn't allow him to be integrated into a main-stream school because of his physical disability. Her Mom fought for the law to be changed and Nick was one of the first disabled students to be integrated into a main-stream school.

Nick says “It was very hard for me to get used to, but with the support of my parents, I started to develop attitudes and values which helped me overcome these challenging times. I knew that I was different but on the inside I was just like everyone else. There were many times when I felt so low that I wouldn't go to school just so I didn't have to face all the negative attention. I was encouraged by my parents to ignore them and to try start making friends by just talking with some kids. Soon the students realized that I was just like them, and starting there God kept on blessing me with new friends.

There were times when I felt depressed and angry because I couldn't change the way I was, or blame anyone for that matter. I went to Sunday school and learnt that God loves us all and that He cares for you. I understood that love to a point as a child, but I didn't understand that if God loved me why did He make me like this? Is it because I did something wrong? I thought I must have because out of all the kids at school, I'm the only weird one. I felt like I was a burden to those around me and the sooner I go, the better it'd be for everyone. I wanted to end my pain and end my life at a young age, but I am thankful once again, for my parents and family who were always there to comfort me and give me strength. Due to my emotional struggles I had experienced with bullying, self esteem and loneliness, God has implanted a passion of sharing my story and experiences to help others cope with whatever challenge they have in their life and let God turn it into a blessing. To encourage and inspire others to live to their fullest potential and not let anything get in the way of accomplishing their hopes and dreams.

Food for Thought :-)

I believe in Music

In the late 80’s and early 90’s it was really difficult to find tapes of quality international music in small cities .I still remember the days when we were left with no other option but to buy pirated copies of latest music and wait endlessly for new international releases to reach India.

In fact in those DD serials like Top of Pops, Europa Rock and Grammy Awards were must watch for us. Being close to Nepal we were privileged to watch some exclusive music videos on Saturday Night show on Nepal TV. Then came Magnasound, BMG and things improved amazingly, the quality, packaging and availability improved, finally with the advent of MTV in early 90’s the entire international music scene in India changed .

Angereeze (English) Music which was passion for selected few in metros and big cities also reached to small towns from Bhilai to Gaya. Now everyone can watch the latest music videos on the TV and go for buying the music tapes in the stores. Those were the good old days of magnetic tapes. Finally CD’s started making waves by mid 90’s but still in those days it was accessible to privileged few . As a school going chap I was never able to buy CD’s since I could never afford it, so tapes remained our favorites and I still savor the gusto of listening to some good old rock and roll music in good stereo output in my walkman.

The music industry made good profits in the 90’s, riding high on the popularity of Music channels, but unfortunately the sales started to dip by late 90’s as MP3 made its way. Suddenly the music lovers found an affordable, easy and almost dream come true medium called MP3 .This compressed music format changed the way we listened, brought and stored music. Suddenly my entire tape collection started looking pale and it was tough to buy tapes as the prices touched roofs.

But on the other hand MP3 democratized music distribution and also gave the consumers lot of varied music to experiment with. Since the music was easily available via net and easy to store and potable we tried out all kinds of music. This was good and bad, good because the genre of music people listened to was now wider, bad because the sales of records fell as it was freely available on multiple music channels and also easily shared via Mp3.

Napster and other Music sharing tools created a new medium of on line music sharing and finally even that was made official by making it pay to download music. However as a music listener one has always thought about having a tool which can allow them to experiment with different kinds of music and have a recommendation on different types of music. The music genome project in which on January 6, 2000 a group of musicians and music-loving technologists came together with the idea of creating the most comprehensive analysis of music ever.

Together they set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. They ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony. It's not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records - it's about what each individual song sounds like.

Over the past 5 years, they've carefully listened to the songs of over 10,000 different artists - ranging from popular to obscure - and analyzed the musical qualities of each song one attribute at a time. This work continues each and every day as they endeavor to include all the great new stuff coming out of studios, clubs and garages around the world.

I think the way music I heard and stored today (with Ipod’s Second generations) musical adventurers in the day are going to be all then more exciting. Neil young newly recorded protest album "Living with War," including a song calling for the impeachment of President Bush, will be posted for free Internet streaming next week, his label said on Friday.DOORS ,Perl Jams the classic rockers are now also joining the league. Now that artists are going to use online medium as a tool for music distribution big music companies will have to find out new ways of promoting and making money from music artists.Also to add to that you haev lot of customisation happening the way way people to radio,we also have personal online radio's now.

Nearly one quarter of frequent online music users say that the ability to share music with others is a key factor when selecting an online music service. And a third were interested in technology that helps them discover and recommend music, such as tools that allow Internet users to publish and rank lists of their favorite songs. Perhaps most important for the recording industry, a tenth of those surveyed said they frequently make music purchases based on others' recommendations.

Already artists encourage free distribution /or at nominal rates to make their music more popular and make money by going for live shows and radio shows.

So the mantra is that if you have the talent pick the microphone and get started .New age music listeners will decide who is the king.

Believe or not

The Unsung Hero

Only a life lived for others is worth living: Albert Einstein

Courage, Determination, Humanity, Empathy ……..these may appear only words to few but for some it means more than life.

Words really can’t describe the valiant effort of Javed, 18, who was a resident of Mandawli in east Delhi, was working at a clothes stall at the Brand India fair on Monday when the fire broke out. He got out unhurt, but went back in when he saw the children trapped. He collapsed after his sixth attempt, and suffered 70 per cent burns.

Friend Sarfuddin said: “He heard the cries of small children and rushed back inside to save them. He saved many lives and then a piece of burning synthetic cloth fell on him and he got badly burnt because of that,” he said.

The student of Sarvodaya Boys Senior Secondary School at Vinod Nagar in east Delhi had just sat for his Class XII CBSE examination. He took the job at the Meerut fair to help his father Mizaz Ahmed, who does embroidery work for a living. Javed was the eldest of three sons; his brothers are 12 and 9.

First admitted to Meerut’s Sushila Jaswant Rai Hospital, he was moved to Safdarjung Hospital where he died.

“I lost my son because they did not take good care of him. If they had taken good care, he would still be alive. The Meerut doctors kept him alive for three days but as soon as he was brought to Delhi, he died,” his mother Anida Begum cried.

What was meant to be a visit to a fair ended up in a visit to death bead? There are too many controversies surrounding the death of Javed whose effort saved the life of six kids.

Now for moments just imagine the kind of empathy and humanitarian values this young man showed when he saw the kids stranded in the fire. I’m sure many people would have been around, expressing dismay, fear and pity for the kids who were left helpless, but hats off to the courage shown by the young man who sacrificed his life for others.

Now compare this with what Bangalore experienced yesterday after Dr. Rajkumar’s demise. With due respect to Dr. Rajkumar I can safely say that the unsung heros of the world deserve much more than the silver screen heroes who simply do what they are paid for.