Hello hello....!!

Amazing!! Here is the reason behind why we start a conversation with a 'Hello'!!

Source : "Vowel sounds are made by using the mouth as a resonating cavity, and distinguished from each other by such things as the position of the tongue, which changes the resonance. Since vocal cavities vary in size, we can understand a person's vowels only in relation to their other vowels. The pitch of a large man and a small child are very different. In fact, a larger person's high vowel in "see" could have the same pitch as a smaller person's low vowel in "saw."
Humans are amazingly good at understanding speech, and only need about two syllables to pick up a speaker's vocal range. This means that the first two syllables in a conversation will generally not be understood, and this is particularly true on the phone where the listener has no cue as to the speaker's size."

Surpirsed!!

Was surprised to see this!

New Life!! :)

Trying to breathe some life into my blog!! :)

This sunday was truly blissful.Spent most of the time reading about one of the greatest composers of Carnatic Music - Muthuswamy Dikshitar.

To talk about the gift he'd left the music sorority (well,what do you expect out of a feminist! :) )
Got a wonderful opportunity to listen to lots of krithis composed in rare ragas. Dikshitarophiles should definitely visit this.Was listening to one of the nIlOtpalAmbA krithi. Well,let me explain - Dikshitar composed lots of krithis termed by the sorority as 'group-krithis', which will contain krithis in the name of a particular deity,mostly, or in general, a particular theme. One such set, is the nIlOtpalAmbA.

The one that I listened to was in nArirItigOwla. All these krithis describe the neelotpalamba, the goddess of blue lotus.Since the raagams in which these krithis end with 'gOwla', they are also called gOwlAnta rAga krithis.These krithis are different from the navAvarnam by the fact that these do not have a dhyAna krithi and a mangala krithi.

Hoping to post more on various compositions and a more detailed one! since breathing too much life onto my blog might suffocate it!! :)

18

The number 18 seems to have lots of interesting facts associated with it.
Here we go.......

1. The book Catch-22 was originally titled 'Catch-18'.
2. The number of holes in the game of golf (a stipulated game,though).
3. Ulysses (James Joyce) is divided into 18 chapters.
4. Not to forget our Bhagavad Gita.
5. Mahabarata, which was fought for 18 days involving 18 armies.
6. Canons error message,called E18, which might cause the camera to crash!
7. The RIGHTS that a teen enjoys,on turning 18!
8. Lastly,not to forget my contribution to this number -
Its 18 days since I blogged!! :)

Justice!

Happy birthday Einstein!

Iron Man

Currently hooked onto this song. Its by Black Sabbath.

Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all,
Or if he moves will he fall?

Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?
We’ll just pass him there
Why should we even care?

He was turned to steel
In the great magnetic field
When he traveled time
For the future of mankind

Nobody wants him
He just stares at the world
Planning his vengeance
That he will soon unfold

Now the time is here
For iron man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills the people he once saved

Nobody wants him
They just turn their heads
Nobody helps him
Now he has his revenge

Heavy boots of lead
Fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron man lives again!

The concept of 'riff' adds beauty to the song! Well, a riff - is a short, repeated, memorable musical phrase, often pitched low on the guitar, which focuses much of the energy and excitement of a rock song.

This song is about a man who travels back in time to warn the people about the danger.But he turns into iron. And hence, Iron Man. Now, nobody wants him. This instills in him the thought of acting against his vow.Killing! This cannot be called as deviation from his prophecy, but,its destruction.Destroying the mankind.

Iron Man makes you go Paranoid!

Happy Pongal!

Here is my accomplishment for the day :)

A very Happy Pongal to the ones who chanced upon this post ! :)

December Season - Part-II

The second set of kutcheris ( music concerts) that I attended were that of Sriram Gangadharan and Aruna Sayeeram at the Music Academy.

Sriram Gangadharan's kutcheri started off with sree gaNapathi nee in sOwrAshtram.The second one was rAmanAtham bhajeham in poorvikalyAni,and Adi tAlam 2-kalai.Then came nilAmbari like a gentle breeze. The krithi was brovavamma in Misra chApu.This was followed by a storm!bHairavi!bAlagOpalA. Was rendered very beautifully.Next in the platter was a Raagam-Taanam-Pallavi(RTP) in nAttakurinji in misra gathi misra chapu.The pallavi that was handled was "rAma shrirAma pattabHirAma dasharathabAla" .This was followed by a rAgamAlika containing kedAragoulai,dhanyAsi,kalyAni,AndolikA and AnandabHairavi.His diction was really the thing to be noted.He was accompanied by B.Sivaraman on the Mridangam,Charumathi Raguraman on the Violin and Anirudh Athreya on the Kanjira.

Aruna Sayeeram's started off with sAveri varnam,adi tAlam.The accompaniments -S.Karthik on the Ghatam,H.N.Bhaskar on the violin and J.Vaidyanathan on the Mridangam.The next was a krithi is vAgadEshwari,paramAtmulu velige.The next one was sudhA mayi in amruthavarshini. It was mind blowing!!The next one was in Tamil. Vandeenam uzhalum solai in tOdi.Then came the classic O rangasAyee in khAmbOji.Then there was this traditional rendition, kAna vendAmo in AbhOgi.The Raagam-Taanam-Pallavi was in madhyamAvati.It was very enjoyable.The pallavi being bhAgyada lakshmi bAramma nammammA nee sow.It was in fact a rAgamAlikA describing ashtalakshmis.It contained kalyAni ( describing Adilakshmi ),kurinji ( describing dhAnyalakshmi ),atAna ( describing dhairyalakshmi ),mOhanam ( describing gajalakshmi ),sahAnA ( describing santhAnalakshmi ),ranjani ( describing vijayalakshmi ),bHairavi ( describing aishwaryalakshmi )and lalitha ( describing dhanalakshmi ).This was followed by an abhang in hindOlam,sAvale sundara. The final piece was a themmAngu. Audiences' choice. It was in senjurutti, mAdu meykkum kaNNe.On the whole it was a brilliant concert!

December Season - Part-I

I know its January :), but I can't stop myself from writing about the 'December Season' which is literally celebrated as a festival in the city of Madras.
Well, this season, I managed to attend 5 kutcheris, which is actually a very poor count :(. Yeah, but I had my own reasons for not attending them.

The first one that I attended was T.N.S.Krishna. A wonderful performance!He started off with a sAveri Varnam.Followed by begadA.The tOdi rendition was the highlight.The kanakku was amazing!TNS' lessons!!Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi(RTP) was in shanmughapriyA.With a simple pallavi paravasam miga Agude kanna unai ninaindhu. It was concluded on an Oothukkadu's composition vandhu ketpAr,a rAgamAlikA containing hindOlam,atAnA and bilahari.

The second one was P.Unnikrishnans'.Started with a tOdi varnam.Followed by shiva lOga nAdanai in mAyamAlavagOwla.Varali was good.There was a Swati Tirunal's composition,sAnandam kamalAmanOhari in kamalAmanOhari. It also included swarams in hamsadwani,bhOpAlam and tarangini.The next was Evari mAta in Kambhoji.Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi was in Kharaharapriya.(One of my personal favorites).The pallavi was arapriye lalithe thvAm tharunendu sekarah. The last one was a thillana in hamsAnandi.

Will be posting about the rest of the concerts in my next post.:)

==> Hence Proved

You Should Be a Science Fiction Writer

Your ideas are very strange, and people often wonder what planet you're from. And while you may have some problems being "normal," you'll have no problems writing sci-fi. Whether it's epic films, important novels, or vivid comics... Your own little universe could leave an important mark on the world!

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

Nonsense :)

Slightly got hyper and started thinking about 'Nonsense', which I feel is a beautiful thing! It takes a lot to be nonsensical! :).I swear!.My notion is - it's easy to call/term somebody a nonsense,and its easy to make sense, but it is difficult to make No Sense!! Oh, it's definitely a TALENT.

Chanced upon a few nice quotes on nonsense. That gave me a sense of relief. :)

“It is completely unimportant. That is why it is so interesting!”
“Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited”
“A little nonsense, now and then, is relished by the wisest men”
“Nonsense is an assertion of man's spiritual freedom in spite of all the oppressions of circumstance”
Here comes the best of the lot -
“Totally mad. Utter nonsense. But we'll do it because it's brilliant nonsense.”
From DA's stable!

I chanced upon lots of interesting stuffs on nonsense.This was a beautiful example - "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously" , well, the words considered individually make sense, and even the sentence is grammatically correct, but its utter nonsense. Don't forget to visit the results of the translation competition of the statement.
There's one more - Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand? This statement is called a koan.Koan does not mean nonsense in its truest sense, but more like beyond the comprehending abilities of a mortal.

Adding more of nonsense. Got a poem generated on this,on the lines of Vogon.

See, see the great sky
Marvel at its big fuschia depths.
Tell me, chick do you
Wonder why the cat ignores you?
Why its foobly stare
makes you feel refreshing.
I can tell you, it is
Worried by your portmanteau facial growth
That looks like
A yoghurt.
What's more, it knows
Your bloody potting shed
Smells of frog.
Everything under the big great sky
Asks why, why do you even bother?
You only charm fishs.

I can hear you saying, NONSENSE.And I know you made total sense while saying that.

Intellectual(?) Property Right!

Found this logo creator interesting. Oh, don't forget to read the FAQ's.





There is some more here!

Was just browsing about logos and stumbled upon the concept of subvertising.The word,is a portmanteau of 'subvert'(meaning sabotage) and 'advertising'.
Check out the sample image that was given for subvertising -

Half Century!

Hooray!
50
This is my 51st post! :)

Madras!

Rekindled my feelings for this name.... MADRAS!

One year!

It's ONE YEAR since my portal became a part of this blogging world.

So here it goes.............

Zum geburtstag viel gluck!

Syd..............

Syd Barrett is no more :(

Spring ,Summer,Fall,Winter and Spring

My movie for the day was - Spring ,Summer,Fall,Winter and Spring - a Korean movie.


A very beautifully made movie!

The movie starts by showing a gate.Well, its not exactly a gate but its more of a main door to a house.The door opens to reveal a house in the middle of an undisturbed lake.The architecture of the house is highly simple and it is entirely made of wood.A Buddhist Monk and a kid live there.
Their day starts with worshipping a statue of Buddha.The statue of Buddha is in the center of the house and on either side of it is a room with no walls. They just have doors.This reveals the 'Self Control' part of a human.This might sound absurd here, but the movie should be defintely seen to understand the hidden philosophy in each frame.

The movie goes onto show us how a man evolves across the seasons. It talks about CHANGE in the most beautiful manner.Well, we have all read about evolution, that's more like giving a physical view to it. But this movie talks about the mind and its orientation.
The desires,the seeking,the yearning,the decisions,the impulse,the thoughts,the anger,the learnings - each one of them is an epic. Ki-duk Kim has done a brilliant job by capturing all of these.

The beauty of the movie is, none of the character have names! And about the rating - I would call it a 'Must Watch'.

~~~Fedora~~~

Currently using Fedora!! Fedora is nothing but a felt hat. Red Hat Linux uses the Shadowman with a hat as its logo. And hence the name for this open source OS too.
Fedora's logo has an interesting funda!!

The Synonym

Currently reading The Picutre of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, where I came across the description of Lord Henry's house. It goes like this -

"a very charming room,with its high-panelled wainscoating of olive-stained oak,its cream coloured frieze.."

Opened OED to find out what the word 'frieze' meant. And I understood!(?) the synonym in its entirety.

- Part of entablature between architrave and cornice!

Ha!

Words!

An Acronym is a word that is formed with the initial letters of the word.But I came across something called a Backronym. A word is said to be a backronym if it started as an acronym and later got an expanded version! Well,an example would make it more clear -SOS was a backronym. But it later came to be known as 'Save Our Souls' / 'Save Our Ship'.

The word Backronym is a Portmanteau!The word Portmanteau was coined by Lewis Caroll. To define a portmanteau, it is a word that is formed by combining the sounds and the meanings of different words. Ha, would you believe if were to tell you that TomKat actually stood for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes? (Spare me geeks!Please.....)

If a word is either an acronym/a backronym and also has a meaning related to the words it is made up of,is called an Apronym. Apronym is a portmanteau of Appropriate Acronym! A famous example is - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, for LSD.Well, this falls under the acronym category.The one in the backronym category is - INFINITY, wherein it stands for Increment Numbers Forever -It's Nuts, I tell You!