Vanilla twilight

Adam Young is a myspace.com sensational who was unsigned and he had released his singles independently until ‘Ocean eyes’. I came to know about him in tabloid! when he toured the UAE recently. I have had his songs on my playlist for a more than a fortnight now and I really like vanilla twilight
Just read through the song here.


Vanilla twilight

The stars lean down to kiss you
And I lie awake and miss you
Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere

'Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly
But I'll miss your arms around me
I'd send a postcard to you, dear
'Cause I wish you were here

I'll watch the night turn light-blue
But it's not the same without you
Because it takes two to whisper quietly

The silence isn't so bad
'Til I look at my hands and feel sad
'Cause the spaces between my fingers
Are right where yours fit perfectly

I'll find repose in new ways
Though I haven't slept in two days
'Cause cold nostalgia
Chills me to the bone

But drenched in vanilla twilight
I'll sit on the front porch all night
Waist-deep in thought because
When I think of you I don't feel so alone

I don't feel so alone, I don't feel so alone

As many times as I blink
I'll think of you tonight
I'll think of you tonight

When violet eyes get brighter
And heavy wings grow lighter
I'll taste the sky and feel alive again

And I'll forget the world that I knew
But I swear I won't forget you
Oh, if my voice could reach
Back through the past
I'd whisper in your ear
Oh darling, I wish you were here.


Vanilla twilight could easily be a song sung by a soldier in Iraq longing for his love in Ontario, Canada; however Adam young wrote it for his girlfriend in a different scenario. I haven’t seen the video and I have pictured the song in my mind entirely differently.

But then later I came to know about that the song was actually penned as he remembers his girlfriend who unfortunately passed away before her time.

Still,I find hope in it- the remembrance of times that were beautiful because of their togetherness. It’s a lovely song little song, a must have on your playlist – vanilla twilight. ’Fireflies’ is another cool number, the more popular one - the international billboard topper especially in Australia and the US. Adam has had 3 releases and his discography includes Of June and maybe I am dreaming.
He has used synth pop and alt rock in both.
When you hear you will know.Highly recommended !!

The downloading generation

There is a consistent trend of people downloading whole seasons of TV shows aired in the US and the
reason is the time lag caused by syndication issues .
But basically, it is an illegal means to acquire TV and movie programming content.
Broadcast programs are every bit as copyrighted as a show on HBO or a movie in a theater.

The downloaders are fully aware what they are upto. It is not a case of ignorance being bliss;
They know fully well that the downloading of seasons is illegal but don't have the patience to wait 6-8 months for the programs to air in India, and the TV shows here are
way behind schedule .With torrent downloads, they get immediacy and continuity in seasons, and there is no reliance on (English Channels)STAR WORLD,AXN ,HBO or ZEE Cafe.

Just to cite an example,Prison Break fans won’t wait for Star World to air the final season of Prison Break to know what happens to Michael Scofield. Star World incidentally has started airing Prison Break with extended ads noticing viewers that they get the previous seasons on its website.
They are not interested ,cos you are 8 months late. Prison Break concluded in summer 09’.

Downloaders can watch these seasons at convenience, as the whole seasons gets downloaded in a day! Importantly, they can do away with the ads .A one hour drama has only 40-42 minutes original
running time and a half an hour sitcom gets over in 20-22 minutes, it saves time !And what’s more, it is all HDTV quality.

What's also true is that there is so much at offer from American Television with great shows like True Blood,Weeds,Dexter,The Office which often don't air here regularly ,but are popular with the downloading generation. People were getting tired of the re-runs too.

The Oscar nominated movies were already on their laptops before they released in India .These guys are extremely aware and believe in getting the content pronto. The urban youth, the downloading generation, now has the broadband at its disposal and therefore is not shying away from getting content that may never air in India because of several reasons like censorship, TV rights or absent mindedness of the English channels.

But for all the advantages, the downloads are still illegal.
A copy is only legal if it comes from the original in your possession, be it a CD, DVD, or a TV signal you receive in your home, broadcast or pay, which in this case will be viewers with a set top box in the US. Copyright law have what they call a first source doctrine. Shows downloaded from torrent sites are illegal because they weren't recorded from your cable or antenna connection. Also if you are downloading in the Indian subcontinent, there's an added infringement of the content crossing the country of origin, usually the US, UK or Canada. If you are thinking that because they were broadcasted they are in some sort of public domain, you are wrong.

Love Sex aur Dhokha

Love Sex aur Dhokha

I remember Dibaker Banerjee’s debut film. The opening week of Khosla ka Ghosla was the first time a girl dumped me for something else, yeah not someone, something. The second time around, for Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! I missed the Nov 26 terrorist attack by a week. I had told my friend from and in New Delhi how I was always afraid to go to CST station, because that would be the first place that any terrorist attack was likely to happen.

So that ways the release week of his films have been eventful for me.

Soon thereafter I heard him speak at a press conference where he talked about the new grammar of cinema and that we should not look down upon the digital era where every rookie has a shot at making a film.

I knew then that he was upto making something on the new media,he had dropped hints when asked about his next film.
Love, Sex aur Dhokha in his own words is a film that isn’t one.
Cheap handycams and cheaper mobile cams with their shaky handling and scratchy sound are evolving the way people are broadcasting themselves courtesy youtube.

It pushes some buttons.
But what makes lewd MMS a rage?
That it has got immediacy and lust.
We all try to catch small little clips on our camera mobile .
Why??
Because we are born custom fitted with a 100 megapixel camera right into our heads –our eyes. And that’s what one of the points LSD makes-

WE ARE ALL VOYEURS.
And that’s exactly why Paris Hilton’s ‘one night in paris’ video went double platinum. We have all seen it, inspite of being shot in green night vision and its hazy shooting .News channels will willingly spend for an exclusive steamy sexual pixelated footage. Even in the times when 3-d films are beginning be a norm, furtively and salaciously placed cameras try to get a footage that has the potential to be the national rage, burning airwaves. And it has to have sex involved in it.

About the film, I think it can be termed as a hyperlinkning film but, not so much so .The stories are just very mildly connected. And the length should have been restricted to 90 minutes, because unlike the previous films by Dibaker Banerjee, LSD just didn’t have enough meat .But let’s not speak about the negatives of the film.

Dibakar Banerjee has moved from middle class Delhi in Khosla ka Ghosla to lower middle class East Delhi in Oye Lucky to the snooky and peeping camera mileau here in LSD. He has kept Sneha Khanwalkar as the composer who had dug out a fantastic Rajasthani folk song ‘tu raja ki raaj dulaari’ used beautifully in OLLO during the flashback of the lead character Lavinder Singh Lucky, easily according to my consideration, the best flashback in Indian cinema history. It’s delightful to see a female composer and in LSD, she has given a killer soundtrack in ‘I can’t hold it’ which again has a very rajasthani sound to it because of the lyrics and vocals.

You don’t allow us to say fuck off, alright then we will sing FO FO FO FO FO !

People may come out of the theaters saying we have more sex dished out than this in a local daily news bulletin .That’s the problem of having a juicy title , lest we forget, LSD is a potent acronym. LSD is not being preachy; I for one believe the film is very novel, a fresh idea and inspired by the times of our life, however, the entertainment value has been found lacking.

Society doesn’t know how to deal with a new technology and the debate of boon or bane has to take place to establish an equilibrium. After a while probably sting and sex clips will be passé too.

But that’s not the point of the film. The point is that we are surrounded by the digital eye and that we have to learn to live with the advantages and threats that it brings along.

The fog of friday

winter and fog in March!

its oh so cool!

Learn from South Africa

Don’t you ever get the feeling that any event in India can’t happen with its fair share of bumps and unwanted controversies. As it is, irrespective of what the central government says, India remains a soft target for terrorist attacks. We just are not serious enough about dealing with them. Apart from that we have parochial interests masking as the voice that represents popular sentiment in India,who just damage our reputation.

We had a situation where the Hockey World Cup currently being held in India successfully was under threat due to security concerns. India, still has to learn about how to host a no fuss, hassle free and highly successful sporting event of considerable repute. Look at how the sports administration involved is messing with the Commonwealth Games. The failure of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi seems impending and the tax payers will pay for several years for such a non event.

We all say look at China and how they hosted an Olympics.

But that is a comparison that is not justified, because they are a communist country where rules and structures can be built in a day. China wanted the Olympics Games to be its showcase event and it ensured it was in Beijing in 2008 .

However,rather than getting intimidated by China and its prowess,a much more valid case-study for Indians to study is South Africa .Post apartheid; it has been a consistently excellent sporting event host. It has hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, 2003 Cricket World Cup, 2007 Twenty 20 World Cup and the hugely anticipated 2010 Football World Cup this summer is to held there.

Unlike China, instead of aiming for the pole star that is Olympics, South Africa has aimed for the smaller stars, got them,and as a by product has a brilliant constellation. A fantastic CV as a host nation.

Of course,it helps that it is a multi-sports loving nation. It was home to last season’s IPL remember? And they did it successfully in midst of their general elections!!

Think about the reputation a country gains by being a safe and infrastructurally sound venue. There is something that can be learned from the South Africans.

Sports is a religion in South Africa.

Transcending race, politics or language group, sport unites the country - and not just the male half of it. The atmosphere is always found to be super charged in South African stadiums.

When a South African team wins, a cacophony of hooting, cheering, banging of dustbin lids, trumpeting on cow horns and fireworks reverberates across its cities.

Sports has shown it has the power to heal old wounds. When the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup on home turf in 1995, Nelson Mandela donned the No 6 shirt of the team's captain - Francois Pienaar, a white Afrikaner - and the two embraced in a spontaneous gesture of racial reconciliation which melted hearts around the country. A single moment, and 400 years of colonial strife and bitterness … suddenly seemed so petty.

But India is more complex. No one can do something or make a statement without upsetting someone ,somewhere. Indian sportpersons are making progress. For example,Narain Karthikeyan opened the gates and Karun Chandhok followed. What we need now is an immensely successful sporting event .I hope it starts with the Commonwealth Games 2010 which gives the momentum to Cricket World Cup next year and maybe an F1 Grand Prix thereafter.