Thursday, February 21, 2013

OK, GO !





Sometimes we find ourselves slaves to the tube (here suggestive of all forms of tube - television, computers, so called smartphones, tablets) and in the middle of the every day dreary browse through of information, we run into something that makes our eyes grow wide and widens our lips into a smile. It happens to me when I am inspired(this is a tricky word because inspiration can work on many levels).
But OK GO ! is a band who, plays alternative American rock but is definitely an "Eyes and Ears" band. Again shown to me by a friend and I was blown away. This was just too cool to pass by, I had to "spread the word". Their music videos are filled with fresh ideas and color and even rhythm. Even the name is so cool and uncomplicated. Coming to think of it, its a simple thing to do - Just go ! (ha ha ha!)

Originally from Chicago, Illinois and now residing in Los Angeles, California The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar and vocals), Dan Konopka (drums and percussion) and Andy Ross (guitar, keyboards and vocals), who joined them in 2005, replacing Andy Duncan. They are perhaps best known for their often elaborate and quirky music videos.

The original members formed as OK Go in 1998 and released two studio albums before Duncan's departure. The band's video for "Here It Goes Again" won a Grammy Award for "Best Short-Form Music Video" in 2007.The band has worked with directors including Francis Lawrence, Olivier Gondry (brother of Michel Gondry), Brian L. Perkins, Scott Keiner, and Todd Sullivan.

Some of my favourite videos include :

Here It Goes Again !

This Too Shall Pass

White Knuckles - Psst! (This one is crazy!)

Anyone who watches their videos will just love the energy they have ! This is fun at your workplace redefined.
OK! GO! Wiki Them !

Again I like to end-type with a quote :

"Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity.
It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy.
You can't try to do things. You simply must do things."
- Ray Bradbury



Wednesday, February 20, 2013

DUB FX - This is just the best independent music artist ever !



Music.
Music is for the heart, by the heart and of the heart.

I type in this sentence as I listen to DUB FX - LOVE SOMEONE.
Music is something that connects with every human soul on this planet. We see everyday that technology progresses and with it music and the way it is played. Great musicians bring intrigue with the sounds they make.
I stumbled upon Dub FX today because my friend told me about it inspirational value. How one person can very well produce high quality 'awesome' music makes him a brilliant independent artist. He uses a recording mixing console with the help of foot pedals where he can sing/make beat noises into a mic and loop them into the console. By trying out various patterns of the music, he can compose his own background music as he goes about with the vocals/rap and so on. He also jams with other artists like Woodnote (saxophone player) and his fiance' Flower Fairy(Vocalist). Flower Fairy  also sells his cd's while he performs. What struck me was their originality in music. I am not a great fan of DUBSTEP but I am a fan of anything new music has to offer.  This artist has caught my attention and I would like the world to see and listen to DUB FX. His street shows are filmed by BEN DOWDEN

Dub FX (real name Benjamin Stanford) is a worldwide street performer and studio recording artist from St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia. After playing and singing in a band called Twitch, he set out solo when he moved to Europe. His trademark is creating rich live music using only his own performance aided by Live looping and effect pedals combined with his voice.He creates intricate hip hop, reggae and drum and bass rhythms. [WIKIPEDIA]

WIKI HIM - DUBFX

Another unrelated quote before I stop typing :

"Who are you and who am I
To say we know the reason why
Some are born some men die
Beneath one infinite sky
There'll be war there'll be peace
But everything one day will cease
All the iron turned to rust
All the proud men turned to dust
And so all things time will mend
So this song will end."

- Childhood's end (Obscured by the Clouds - Pink Foyd)

Monday, February 18, 2013

My obsession with God !





(NOTE: The following is automated writing flowing from my immediate thoughts - Please forgive spelling and gramatical mistakes of any kind and do go through if you find that the content makes sense. thank you)


It has been 24 years, 4 months, 21 days since I was born. And I do not exactly remember when I started pondering this but the truth is that I am still pondering. The ultimate question that each one of us still has deep within our insane minds. Who/what/where are we?

Now, most of the readers may ridicule this question by laughing out loud or just closing this page but just think about it for a second. Do you have any clue about where we, human beings came from or why we are here? Its an unending subject of discussion. It could go on very well for the next 24 years, 4 months, 21 days or even more. The question seemed to occur to me for the first time as I sat in a class in my standard twelve chemistry during an ongoing organic chemistry session. I wondered the purpose of all this, or even better how do we even know, if all that is being taught is true? Why do we trust those gentlemen and ladies who wrote our textbooks? It was a pure rebel thought and since then I started communicating this thought with friends and relatives who were comfortable listening to these thoughts. Some of them, even replied with their own thoughts that took me deeper into this idea of creation and the question whether "God" exists!?

Some of the above mentioned conversations about God lasted many hours with these friends. Some others who i spoke to, had no intention of having this conversation because they were too caught up in the reality they had created for themselves. If you read the last five words of the previous sentence, you can notice that it is a true feeling as we all live in realities created by our own semi-conscious state. This state where we go about doing our daily affairs as if these affairs are our only purpose in life. But, with the statement "To each, his own.", I would suggest that everyone has their own perspective and their own lives to live.

When I was 19 years old, I started to experiment in different ways as I thought of Experiments and Experience (two words that still hold much importance in my life today). I went through visual references, sexual experiences, travel and even imagination. Some of my worst experiences involving fear changed my outlook into life. And some of the best experiences involving love also did the same to me.

But I am far away from the point. When i turned 24, these questions that intrigued me started appearing in front of me in the form of answers. Everything from Psychedelics to Surrealist Art helped me. I started keenly seeing signs of everyday life. I even saw documentaries on these subjects(the paranormal, supernatural, metaphysical, etc) but what really brought me to research and passionately follow the subject of layman metaphysics was my Cousin Asha Warrier's Book "From Mediocrity to Madness". This book was a piece on past life regression therapy. Much to my amazement it was concluded that one could access the memories of his/her past lives with the help of hypnosis. This was very interesting to me, some of the answers were given to me in this book. I recommend the readers to pick up a copy of the book. This book led me to "Many Lives, Many Masters" which is a detailed record of all the hypnosis sessions of Katherine by Dr. Brian Weiss. This one opened even more doors and basically my mind unto various metaphysical possibilities. Quite simply put Metaphysics is a traditional branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world (WikiPEDIA).


These books further led me to the "Conversations with God" books by Neale Donald Walsch. I am still reading those books but I like to quote something from what I have read, which you may find interesting :

"If I do not go within, I go without."

"All human actions are motivated at the deepest level by one of two emotions - fear or love."

Other references include films like Enter the void, Waking Life, Slacker, Monty Python's Meaning of Life, etc. Also books like The Tibetan book of the dead, Re-incarnation, Astral Physics, etc (I am in the process of reading and referencing these but you will certainly find some direction in these works. I would post a list with details soon)

Hence I feel that whatever atheists say or deny, energy can neither be created nor destroyed. So what happens to the energy that powers us once we hit the deadline of our body's existence?


I'd like to stop typing with a quote from Monty Python's Meaning of life :

Person 2: One: People aren't wearing enough hats. Two: Matter is energy. In the universe there are many energy fields which we cannot normally perceive. Some energies have a spiritual source which act upon a person's soul. However, this "soul" does not exist ab initio as orthodox Christianity teaches; it has to be brought into existence by a process of guided self-observation. However, this is rarely achieved owing to man's unique ability to be distracted from spiritual matters by everyday trivia.

Person 1 : What was that about hats again?
.....