My TANGO journey

I am guilty of ignoring my first proper blog for almost a year now ! I used to write whenever I felt the urge - well this time there was a burning desire to share my most beautiful TANGO musical journey !

For those in the know, TANGO is the classic music from Argentina with that heavenly sound from the BANDONEON ( sounds a bit like the accordion).

I was introduced to it by a FACEBOOK friend ( yes that can also happen !). She is from Argentina and we got chatting. My natural curiosity and love for music prompted me to ask her about local music prevailed in her country and I was surprised to hear - TANGO. I was not aware of its origin.

She introduced me to some classics like La Cumparasita and Adios Nonino. Especially composed by a legend called Astor Piazolla.

But knowing the restless explorer that I am, I veered off from the classic path, and discovered The GOTAN PROJECT. I had heard them on my Buddha Bar CDs, but had never paid attention to them before.

The sound was heaven to my ears - Classic Tango merged superfluously with today's electronica sound. Wow !

Downloaded a few tracks from the web( shhh !) and then eventually ordered 2 albums from Amazon ( redemption !) - two awesome albums called La Revancha Del Tango and Lunatico.

Just amazing music !

I ended up misplacing my Lunatico album and ended up buying it again on a subsequent trip to London. Here, I picked up another album by Federico Aubele called Gran Hotel Buenos Aires. Awesome stuff !

Always on the prowl, I found an older album of theirs in Singapore - Inspiracion Espracion which is also fantastic !

An unwitting discovery led me to buy another album called Buenos Aires Late. I was tol that is was a new Gotan Project album - I was overwhelmed !

Alas, it was not - but it was a great discovery nevertheless ! It had one track of Gotan and loads of other Electrotango artists - like Tanghetto ( which is also awesome !)

They had a track called Immigrante which is just kick ass ! This led me to download some stuff of theirs - and I discovered an instrumental track called Everybody goes away in the end -this has to be one of my all time fav tracks !

Googling around, I discovered another similar band called Bajofondo Tango Club - have downloaded some awesome tracks of theirs - Vacio, etc. lot from their album called Bajofondo Tango Club.

I realise that I have just found the tip of the iceberg of Tango and Electrotango ! I am loving it !!

HEROES

Who does not want to be a HERO ? I remember the song by the Wallflowers - "We can be HEROES - just for one day !"

I recently completed viewing the entire Season 1 of the highly acclaimed hit tv series - HEROES.

I must say that it really touched and moved me.

It is a story where many individuals genetically have super powers.

These individuals are all connected to one destiny - they need to save the world !

The Brilliant story telling and superb visual extravaganza does not hide the underlying message - Be true to your self - and all will work out !

I also took away one huge message for myself - We don't need super powers to achieve anything in life - just a super will - and that itself can move mountains !

Thank you HEROES !

This ain't no Tom & Jerry !

Art Spiegelman has created MAGIC !! He has taken a Horrific story - a story of a Holocaust survivor - a survivor of the Auschwitz concetration camp - his own father, and given it a whole new DIMENSION.

Firstly, he made the story into a comic book. Then he has portrayed the Jews as MICE and the Germans as mean CATS. You relate to this story at a totally different level because of all this !

It is , not a Sob story though it is full of the horrors suffered by the Jews at the hands of the Nazi Germans during World War II. It is a story of Heroism - in its most relatable way - not heroism of all the spectacular War Movie type ! It is a story of Determination - the Determination to Survive which drives Art's father Vladek Spiegelman throughout the toughest of situations. It is a story of Love. This was one of the biggest motivations that pushed Vladek to survive - his love for his wife, Anja.

Another dimension which makes the story so special is the depiction of the strained relationship between Art and his father. Art just cannot relate to all that his father suffered and gone through. And he could not accept what his father had become as a result. Art even shows us how he goes to a shrink to deal with his GUILT of not habing gone through what his father when through !

In all, a masterpiece - a winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, this is a classic you MUST MUST experience !!!

Way to go - Chak de India !

After a long I watched a Hindi movie that really touched me !! And not in the conventional way ! It was a FEEL GOOD movie - from an INNER MOTIVATION point of view.

It is set in the context of Indian Hockey cleverly juxtaposed over the over hyped and extremely commercial game of Cricket. Hockey is definitely the underdog game in India - though it is supposed to be the national game !

It also pushes the underdog needle on the meter by showing WOMEN's hockey !

Other than that it is a story of Human Drive, Determination, Defeat, Bitterness, Ego, Redemption and the ultimate cure for a pot boiler of Egos - true team spirit !

Victory can be sweet but Defeat can be oh so bitter - and it shows a perspective of the emotions behind the scenes. Of the players of what they go through when subjected to extreme crowd expectations - from cheering for victory to jeering for defeat and going even further to maligning and ostracizing !

But ultimately clear intent and determination pays off - and redemption is found in the journey towards victory !

This reminded me of another movie ( 1999) - ANY GIVEN SUNDAY with a similar story construct. Al Pacino is a loser football player who becomes a coach of a loser team and pushes them to ignore their "inadequacies" and start focusing on their possibilities !

I have posted a clip of the very stirring locker room speech already on this blog ( please do have a look at it - its a classic !)

Shah Rukh Khan performs a similar one - just before the main game - and I felt it was equally stirring and quite original !

This brings me back to the most MAGICAL quality of Human spirit - Believe in it and belief becomes Reality ! Whether it is Nike's classic - JUST DO IT or the recent Addidas' Impossible is Nothing , Chak De India stirs the most basic of human emotions - and I just loved it !!!

Hope it does the same for you ! Chak de !!

Back to Basics - COMICS - and their new Avataar !

Comics are BACK !

Richie Rich, Archies, Tin Tin, Asterix suddenly don't seem a part of a memory left behind long back anymore !!

The last couple of years have seen a resurgence of the COMIC BOOK - especially now for ADULTS !!!

I picked this up a few years ago when I was watching SETH COHEN ( from the uber-hip TV series THE O C) wax eloquent about Comic Books ! It appealed to me inside - but something made it stay inside !

Dilbert did it many years ago. So did the Simpsons - change the way adults were consuming entertainment. It touched movies - I lOOVED the movie SIN CITY and suddenly discovered a huge new dark world of Frank Miller ! And who can forget the inflluence of Calvin & Hobbes ?!

Probably that kept me away - I found the comic books or GRAPHIC NOVELS to be DARK !

That changed when a couple of weeks I took the step and bought my first Graphic Novel !

People recommended I try out Joe Sacco's PALESTINE and I am so glad I did !

What a refreshing story teller ! And the best part was the story he told was al TRUE - a story told through the eyes of a COMIC BOOK story teller !

And the story was no less dark / serious - it was the story of the Palestine struggle - which Sacco picks up after visiting the land first hand.

And, the best thing I loved about his style was the way he got into the gory details but still managed not to get emotionally get sucked into it !

This prompted me to buy his second famous novel - GORAZDE - the story of the BOSNIAN war !

Wow ! Thank you Joe for your gift ! I love the way you portray yourself in the comics ! ( that's him on the left !)

So, Comic books are back - and with a BANG and a whole new DIMENSION ! I am so glad - I believe that we are VISUAL beings ( rather than Text driven !). The Playstation generation kids of today can suddenly connect with characters of yesteryear in a format that they relate to ! I saw Agatha Christie novels in graphic novels form the other day ! Made me suddenly want to read them - something which I have honestly ever done !

Lets dig out those Amar Chitra Kathas - and while we are at it - can we see some Graphic novels of Shakespeare as well ?!

Good Old days !!

I remember when I got PULLED into Advertising, ads were simple, emotional and memorable. They just tugged at your heart !!

An example was the famous ASIAN PAINTS Pongal ad. God knows what it meant - but it just flet GOOD watching and HEARING it ! :-)

Boy band FUN !!!

A couple of years ago I would have written a LOT about Boy bands !

But when I saw this parody video by Wierd Al Yankovic, sweet memories of those talentless years cam rushing back !!!

Thanks Al !!!

Enjoy the VIDEO !!

The Next Frontier for me

Rock Climbing party, originally uploaded by Steven Pam.

What is my next BLOCK ? My next FEAR ? I suddenly realised today in the morning at the Gym that it is ROCK CLIMBING !!! I have started a bit of Trekking early this year for the first time in my life - but the truth is there is HUGE difference between walking up and down steep paths and actual CLIMBING !!!

So, I suddenly realised that the Gym has an INDOORS ROCK CLIMBING WALL - and I saw the instructor for the first time !

I nervously approached him and importantly for me, TRIED it out !
It wasn't a HOME RUN but I got the FEEL of it.

The Feel of getting harnessed and IMPORTANTLY LETTING Go of the Wall and using the ROPE in Panic !!!

I realised that I need to strengthen ( and sum up all the COURAGE) myself to truly do MY FIRST ROCK CLIMB !!!

Next Saturday, I will scale NEW HEIGHTS !!!!

Stirring up a Group !!

I find the ability to STIR up a group, MOTIVATE them, help them connect with themselves the most AMAZING skill !!

Parodies are another way to connect with LIFE !!

Yet another of my Influences in life - the KING of PARODIES himself - Wierd Al Yankovic !!!! Check out his take of Michael Jackson's FAT !!!

Think Different - get an APPLE !!!

This one always gets me !!! Just check out the words !!

Apple's "Here's to the Crazy Ones" Commercial Script




Here's to the crazy ones.

The misfits.

The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

It is the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Goodbye 1984 !!!! Hello APPLE !!!

This is the famous SUPERBOWL tv commercial which ran announcing the launch of the APPLE Macintosh signalling the end of CONFORMITY and the BIRTH of CREATIVITY !!! Hooooorahhh !!!!

Adventure on a plate !!! The WASABI way !!

wasabi no likey, originally uploaded by cior.

Do you like SUSHI ? I looooooooooooooove it !!! After having given up meat, I now enjoy VEGETARIAN SUSHI !!!

But, the SUSHI experience is really heightened by the innocuous looking green paste of WASABI or Japanese Horseradish sauce.

Dab your SUSHI with a little bit of Wasabi, and its fine. But, Dab a little more than intended and you are on a TRIP !!!!!

The senses ring ALARM BELLS !!!! The nasal passages become hyperactive. Then.... suddenly its all over and ... you are ready for the next dose !!!!!

What happens when you add HEART to Science ?

Miracles !!! If you haven't seen Patch Adams played by Robin Williams, you must !!!

Lessons from PATCH ADAMS !

Another POWERFUL movie played by Robin Williams ! This is a true story about Patch Adams, who was an UNCONVENTIONAL Doctor who believed that the biggest healing for patients was through the HEART and not just through medicine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_%22Patch%22_Adams

Robin Williams plays the role of Patch beautifully and most amazingly from the heart ! Patch is a medical student who doesn't believe that Patients should be treated as Patients ( but as people) and that Doctors should not get attached to the individuals.

At the end of the movie, the villain of the movie moves the medical commission to debar Patch from practicing medicine because of his unorthodox methods. Needless to say, Patch wins.

Here is an excerpt from that scene !! Enjoy !!

Medical Commission : Did you consider the ramifications of your actions?

What if one of your patients had died?

Patch : What's wrong with death, sir?

What are we so mortally afraid of?

Why can't we treat death with a certain amount of humanity and dignity and decency...and, God forbid, maybe even humor?

Death is not the enemy, gentlemen.

If we're gonna fight a disease, let's fight one of the most terrible diseases of all-- indifference.

Now, I've sat in your schools and heard people lecture on transference... and professional distance. Transference is inevitable, sir.

Every human being has an impact on another.Why don't we want that in a patient/doctor relationship?

That's why I've listened to your teachings, and I believe they're wrong.

A doctor's mission should be not just to prevent death...but also to improve the quality of life.

That's why you treat a disease, you win, you lose.

You treat a person, I guarantee you, you win, no matter what the outcome !!!

Lessons from DEAD POETS SOCIETY

One of my GREAT Influences in life ( wow ! how many influences do I seem to have ?!!) is the movie Dead Poets Society in which a Poetry Professor Mr. Keating, played by the affable Robin Williams connects with the hearts of the students.

English Poetry was at the bottom of the list for these students for both interest and career prospect reasons.

Keating however, captures their imaginations using Poetry to Excite and Energise the students into making them believe in themselves as INDIVIDUALS.

This of course goes agains the GRAIN of "formal education practices" but it ignites PASSION and ENERGY amongst the students.

After watching this move, the questions that came to my mind were :

"Why couldn't any of my teachers adopt this INSPIRING way to make the boring subjects at school come alive ?" I may not have given up on Science subjects and moved on to Commerce had that been the case !

"Why not follow the Dead Poets Society approach in everything I do in life from now on and EXCITE people about anything and not take their INTEREST for granted ?!

I have started following the above and can confidently say that it has made a HUGE difference in my life and I would like to believe that I am making one in others lives as well !

Three cheers to the movie and Professor Keating ! ( Robin Williams !)

Why do we need to get TECHNICAL about Life ??

Here we go round the mulberry bush
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush
Here we go round the mulberry bush
So early in the morning

This is the way we wash our clothes
Wash our clothes, wash our clothes
This is the way we wash our clothes
So early Monday morning

This is the way we iron our clothes
Iron our clothes, iron our clothes
This is the way we iron our clothes
So early Tuesday morning

This is the way we mend our clothes
Mend our clothes, mend our clothes
This is the way we mend our clothes
So early Wednesday morning

This is the way we sweep the floor
Sweep the floor, sweep the floor
This is the way we sweep the floor
So early Thursday morning

This is the way we scrub the floor
Scrub the floor, scrub the floor
This is the way we scrub the floor
So early Friday morning

This is the way we bake our bread
Bake our bread, bake our bread
This is the way we bake our bread
So early Saturday morning

This is the way we go to church
Go to church, go to church
This is the way we go to church
So early Sunday morning

So this is THE WAY WE LIVE OUR LIFE ????

Can we FOCUS on THIS IS THE WAY ( various WAYS !!!) we ENJOY OUR LIFE ??

Just like Professor Keating in the movie DEAD POET'S SOCIETY professed about Learning Poetry ?

History made FUN ! The Mel Brooks way !!

Back to one of MY ULTIMATE Inspirations in life - Mel Brooks with his MAGNUM OPUS creation - History of the World. Check out this awesome clip of the introduction of the TEN COMMANDMENTS ! ( or was it FIFTEEN ? !)

Why do we need to be SERIOUS ???

I have always loved people who are SERIOUS about FUN and spreading it. I have written about Mel Brooks earlier on my BLOG.

This is another series of movies - AIRPLANE ( and AIRPLANE 2) which I feel just CHALLENGES the Imagination of the mind and more importantly, makes one relaxed and ENJOY !!!!!!!!!

How can we SPREAD this message in this world ? How can INJECT this world with a SENSE of HUMOUR so that it forgets its Powerplay, EGO rifts, War, Sadness, Misery, etc. ???

Enjoy the clip !!!!

Who is in CONTROL ?

I smoked for 15 years of my life. I never admitted to myself that it wasn't me in CONTROL. It was my dependance; my addiction that was in control. One fine day I just asked myself this question - "Do I want to be in control at all ?" I never smoked after that.

Many people might exclaim - "Oh its not as easy as that" ! Whatever be your reason to quit and get back your FREEDOM, it is definitely WORTH it !!! Its been a 5 year long SMOKE FREE life for me ! And I don't miss it one bit !!!! Here's to exercising CHOICE in life !!!!!!