Wednesday, May 21, 2008

So I dub thee unforgiven...

For those who have loved this song, respect! Enjoy it once again!
For those who haven't, please get a life!


Lay beside me, tell me what they've done
Speak the words I want to hear, to make my demons run
The door is locked now, but it's open if you're true
If you can understand the me, than I can understand the you.

Lay beside me, under wicked sky
Through black of day, dark of night, we share this pair of lives
The door cracks open, but there's no sun shining through
Black heart scarring darker still, but there's no sun shining through
No, there's no sun shining through
No, there's no sun shining

What I've felt, what I've known
Turn the pages, turn the stone
Behind the door, should I open it for you?

What I've felt, what I've known
Sick and tired, I stand alone
Could you be there?, 'cause I'm the one who waits for you
Or are you unforgiven too?

Come lay beside me, this won't hurt I swear
She loves me not, she loves me still, but she'll never love again
She lay beside me, but she'll be there when I'm gone
Black heart scarring darker still, yes she'll be there when I'm gone
Yes, she'll be there when I'm gone
Dead sure she'll be there!

What I've felt, what I've known
Turn the pages, turn the stone
Behind the door, should I open it for you?

What I've felt, what I've known
Sick and tired, I stand alone
Could you be there?, 'cause I'm the one who waits for you
Or are you unforgiven too?
(Solo)

Lay beside me, tell me what I've done
The door is closed, so are your eyes
But now I see the sun, now I see the sun
Yes now I see it!

What I've felt, what I've known
Turn the pages, turn the stone
Behind the door, should I open it for you?

What I've felt, what I've known
So sick and tired, I stand alone
Could you be there?, 'cause I'm the one who waits,
The one who waits for you

Oh what I've felt, what I've known
Turn the pages, turn the stone
Behind the door, should I open it for you?
(So I dub thee unforgiven)

Oh, what I've felt
Oh, what I've known!
I take this key (never free)
And I bury it (never me) in you
Because you're unforgiven too

Never free
Never me
'Cause you're unforgiven too!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Summer Calling...

Rules:
1. Put your music player on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write the name of the song no matter what. No cheating!



IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY?” YOU SAY?
"Soona Man Ka Aangan" - Parineeta ("Naach na jaane, Aangan Teda!!")

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Standing in the Shadows - The Four Tops (I think that's pretty close)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Monkey - George Michael (Umm..show me your monkey! Whatever that is! :P)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
See You Again - ATB (I 'll tell u tomorrow)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
The Man Who Sold The World - David Bowie (Muahahahahaha!! Beware! you have a special price on you)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Confessing the Blues - BB King (I can do this umpteen times!! I confess Father!)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Elvis ate America - U2 (Wee, I do have an appetite! But America?)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Star 69 - Fatboy Slim (They know wat is wat but they dont know wat is wat..they just strut..wtf!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Instrumental Piece - Miles Davis (Is this the background music when I am thinking. No lyrics?)

WHAT IS 2+2?
Son of a Gun - JX (Thy shall not ask such questions to the 'Son of the Gun')

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
In the City - The Eagles (Well, I guess he/she lives in a city! Duh!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
New Age (Injection Remix) - D.N.A (I am too high on *stuff*. What was that again?)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Trouble - Coldplay (How true :|)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Got To Hurry - The Yardbirds (Am I not grown up yet? I better hurry.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Sathington Willoby - Primus (Basically, nothing)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Don't Stay - Linkin Park (=))

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival (Not a very good sign, is it?)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Come Undone - Duran Duran (High Time I did)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Soul Kitchen - The Doors (Ummm...The "Lizard King" Kebab anyone?)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight and the Pips (Now, don't ask me who stays in Georgia. My lips are sealed)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Party Girl - U2 (Most like to party hard but girls? I don't see many!)

WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
Summer Calling (Josh Gabriel Mix) - Andain (Right song for this time of the year!)

Adios folks!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Wanting to Learn(ing) how to fly

I have never related to this song more than NOW:





Chalo ek baar phir se, ajnabi ban jaye ham dono -2

Na main tumse koi ummeed rakhoon dilnavaazi ki

Na tum meri taraf dekho galat andaaz nazaron se

Na mere dil ki dhadkan ladkhadaaye meri baaton mein

Na zaahir ho tumhaari kashm-kash ka raaz nazaron se

Chalo ek baar phir se..

Tumhen bhi koi uljhan rokti hai peshkadmi se

Mujhe bhi log kehte hain, ki yeh jalve paraaye hain

Mere hamraah bhi rusvaaiyaan hain mere maajhi ki -2

Tumhaare saath bhi guzri hui raaton ke saaye hain

Chalo ek baar phir se..

Taarruf rog ho jaaye to usko bhoolnaa behtar

Taalluk bojh ban jaaye to usko todnaa achchha

Voh afsaana jise anjaam tak laana na ho mumkin -2

Use ek khoobsoorat mod dekar chhodna achchha

Chalo ek baar phir se..



Later guys!

Friday, May 9, 2008

ICE ICE Baby!


Music, Music and more Music! I may not be an audiophile, I may not remember the lyrics to the songs, I may not even recall the names of songs I know; but believe it or not, I love my music. Brought up in a house where we always had the best music affordable. Growing up listening to Cliff Richard and Abba, on LPs and later, tapes, I have always been close to music since time immemorial. Later in hostel, it would be my walkman with the new taste of nu-metal band Limp Bizkit and the spanish rhythms of Enrique Iglesias, and then when I finally reached IIT, the doors to beautiful world of music were actually opened to me. Maturing from Backstreet Boys to Pink Floyd in the first year, to Metallica in the second, back to Floyd in the third and finally, the world of Blues, 'stoned immaculate'! This thirst for good music kept on with time, enjoying genre after another, with the latest milestone being House and Trance.


As promised in the last post, today I write about the In Car Entertainment (ICE) in, obviously, my car. The hunt for beautiful music in my car began even before I bought my car. Now, I come from a backgraound where spending anything more than INR 5000 on a car audio system was a luxury and believe me or not, we have a had a tape player in the car for INR 250!! As long as you enjoy it, it is worth it, that's what I believe. With no specific budget in mind, I started looking online for options, primarily on Team-BHP, which has an exclusive ICE section. Well, to put it mildly, I was aghast when I saw the setups. The budget for most would start from INR 10000 and going up to lacs. Now, this is something I had to hear before I could believe it. To be honest, I had never heard anything close to this expensive in a car before.

So, there it began, as with everything, my Excel was opened and a table comparing each and every component across some of the members' setups and the price of each was jotted down to make a quick compare. My ICE vocabulary before this started with Pioneer and ended with Sony, with JBL more of an exclamation mark! Now, I heard of names I never knew existed, brands like 'Illusion Audio', 'Ground Zero', 'Infinity', 'Image Dynamics', 'Hertz' and what not! I just didn't know what to expect from which brand; the only image I had of these brands was from hearsay. On the forum, the most popular seemed to be JBL, and lots of cars being JBLifyed on the "Sound Off and Show Off" section. Surprisingly, one thing I noticed was that amongst the Pune TBhp members, Illusion Audio was a popular brand. After this extensive research on the forum, now it was time for an audition!

In the meanwhile, based on some more discussions on the forum, I had already ordered the Alpine 9883 from Crutchfield and a friend was picking it for me to India. Also, the rear coaxials, not as important as the front components, were bought secondhand from another member in Bangalore.


So I meet Kiran, Suhail, Shrivz and Karl for the first time at Shisha Cafe, ABC Farms in Pune. Have a beer and a quick bite. I won't hesitate to say that I was anxious to check out the ICE in their cars. So later, we head to Shrivz' house, where parked are his Baleno, Kiran's Palio and Suhail's ex-Zen. I couldn't audition Shrivz' JBL ICE setup as there was some problem with his Head Unit (HU). The next turn in Kiran's car and my decision is final in 20 mins flat. This music was mindblowing. I had never heard music this good. The bass was very tight, the sound perfect, not too shrill but not too laidback either. I knew this had to be it!

So there it was:
My final ICE setup decided with the help of Kiran:
Head Unit: Alpine 9883 (Already bought)
Front Components: Illusion Audio EL 6.1
Rear Coaxials: Alpine Type-S SPS-690A (Already bought)
Subwoofer Ground Zero GZTW 30T
Amplifier for Comps and Rear Coax: Ground Zero GZTA4.120MK2
Amplifier for Subwoofer: Panasonic CY-PA2003U
Wiring: Ichibahn IKIT8 + Ground Zero RCA
Damping: Noise Kill

A rough estimate for the above ran upto to INR 53850! *gulp*
The first thought was do it in 2 stages, as and when the finances allow. But on the other hand, I am not really the one to wait for something like this. Lady luck shines on me, and I meet Amey for the first time the same evening. He is planning to upgrade to Illusion Lucents and GZ Radioactive Subwoofer. Hallelujah! The deal is struck immediately and I am the owner of a 2 month old Illusion Electra 6.1 and Ground Zero (GZ) GZTW 30T Sub, and at a nice price too! Sorry Suhail! So, finally, a few calls are made to B&T (Ajay) and a fine saturday was reserved for the Pune guys at Boom, Bandra (Bombay) - my install, Amey's upgrade and the instantaneous Suhail upgrade! The plans for the Panasonic Amp is shelved as of now.
So we drive down to Bombay early in the morning on the fateful day; I am too excited not to show! :) After the 3 hour drive, work finally begins on the car around noon. The workers at Boom were very professional, with excellent workmanship and tiny things given all the attention to minute details. Excellent. After a long day and lots of hard work, the ICE setup is ready finally!
How does it sound? A description I had written on the forum:
"Now, coming to the music, to be honest, before my install, the only setups I had heard of were Kiran's and Amey's. The song I heard on Kiran's install was "Hotel California". So, this had to be the first song on mine too.When the song begins, you realise that the Electras are beautiful, very clear, very precise. The clarity is mindblowing. You can hear every instrument separately. The guitars, the "chik-chik"..and then the drums roll in. Till now, you wouldn't acknowledge about the presence of the sub but then, the bass hits you. Tight bass,not messing with the clarity of the components, rather gelling very well with them. There are no rattles or any erroneous noises coming in from anywhere. The music is awesome. In simple words, I feel I have never heard music this good!"
Good enough for you? Not for me. Remember the Sub amp we left out?
Fastforward couple of months: I get a better deal on the Kenwood KCA-7203 2-channel amp belting out 500W RMS. Now we are talking! A long story cut short, the amp is installed some 3 months after it was bought, and tuned another month later (Day before!).
My ICE setup is complete. Well, I am greedy and I am already thinking about an HU upgrade to Alpine 9887 and maybe an EL12 Sub when it comes out and the rears to Illusion EL693s! My, why am I like this? Don't I like seeing my bank account burgeoning? Naaah! I like my music better! :)

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Gadget Binge: Pentax K200D

The thought process behind the purchase:

Most people who have been in the loop of my camera buying spree know that it has been going on for eternity. Close to a year back, I finally decided to upgrade from my puny Olympus P&S C-370 to a DSLR. I still remember the excitement when I had laid hands on it; taking pictures of every Tom, Dick and Harry. (Most of the times, these would be names of insects on my wall) And some of them came out really well). And then, there were times when I would feel restricted by the Oly and wanted something which would give me complete freedom in taking my photographs. There was only one way ahead...the DSLR way.

Spoilt for choices. That's how you feel when you are out buying a DSLR. Sometimes, I really envy people who don't feel the urge to research extensively before buying something. It's so simple. Go to a Camera Review Site, click on the link "Popular Cameras", and order the one with the maximum ratings. Well, this works for many but not for me. I cannot buy something like this impulsively. I am confused even after going through hundreds of threads, reviews, news, deals and what-not.

I would segregate the DSLR options in the market as follows:

  • The popular Giants - Canon, Nikon - These are the mammoths in the market. The ones with the largest fan followings, the most variety of lenses, and the superlative for every other thing except, perhaps, the camera itself.

  • The Underdogs - Pentax, Olympus, Sony - They are the small time players which are overlooked by most people as 'nobody's! But believe me you, the innovation is happening here! Most of the new features in the DSLR segment are being brought out by these camermakers, be it Live-View, In-Body Image Stabilization, Lens Dust Cleaning Mechanism, etc, and at amazing prices too.

With dreams of making a career shift to photography over the following years and how a lens I 'll buy now should be usable even when I move on to $3000 monsters, as this was something which was discussed again and again in most of the forum posts, favouring Canon/Nikon. If you are looking at a career later, go for on of these. It was around this time last year that Pentax launched the Pentax K100D.

A quick run through on the specifications shows it is a decent 6mp DSLR with IS inbuilt into the body. This was the biggest attraction - IS in the body! Now, this is something which would save you lots of money later into your photography career. None of the Canon/Nikon fans enlightened me of this. And along with the 18-55mm kit lens, an additional 50-200 mm lens thrown in, the camera at ~$600 after the mail-in rebate was a steal.

The plans got shelved for a few months as I bought my car, and spent a fortune on the In-Car Entertainment. So, a couple of months later, on my visit to The USA [1] [2], the quest for the DSLR began again. By this time, Olympus had just come out with the new DSLR Olympus E-510. I was introduced to it at BestBuy during one of the evenings, killing time. And I was blown away. For $650, you were getting a 10mp DSLR with features such as Live-View and IS. The memories of the 6mp Pentax K100D were quickly erased, and this was the camera to buy. No doubts about it! Many of you would be wondering why I never considered the biggies such as a Canon 400D or a Nikon D80. Well, for one, I am really not the one to pay $200 more and miss out on some of the features being provided on the Olympus or the Pentax. And IS is a must-have for me. Apart from the initial higher costs, which I can still live with, I was thinking of the money I will be saving on each lens I buy - hundreds of dollars! Just compare a $100 Pentax 18-55 mm Kit Lens to a $175 Canon 18-55mm IS Kit Lens. Not for me! But alas, my photographic stars weren't in focus and thanks to Mr. Santa Claus, this camera was nowhere to be found. A waiting period beyond my stay in US killed it all.

A few months later, after being close to bankrupt, paying taxes and clearing up debts, yours truly receives his annual variable compensation and is, of course, ecstatic. Add to that the news that a close friend is coming from the US and there he is dreaming DSLR again. Just about to order the Olympus E-510, I come across a lot of talk about the new DSLRs launched by Pentax. A quick search on the forums revealed that the lens variety is far greater for Pentax than Oly. That gave Pentax a one-up. So, there it was, the Pentax K200D. 10 mp, weatherproof, inbuilt IS, the acclaimed sensor of K10D, but at a higher price. Comparing it with the Olympus E-510, I was losing out on the Live-View (not that I care about it much) and paying close to $200 more. This was going to require more research. What finally closed the deal were the rave reviews about the Pentax DA 13-55mm AL kit lens. So, a quick order was made, along with a Transcend 8GB SDHC CARD (SD 2.0 SPD Class 6), and a pack of 4 Eneloop Ni-MH AA batteries (Works on AA. Yay!). After a few nail-biting days and hoping desperately, that the order is delivered before the 5th of May, when my friend leaves, i get news that it's delivered.

A long post after a long time, I am waiting to get my hands on this beauty and will be updating the blog realy quick with the first few shots!

Coming Up: A post about the In-Car Entertainment mentioned above.

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