Thoughtheart

Suzanna wrote this for me:

tick goes the sweeper round the marked field
each stroke, a breath taken to recoil
the cog
the beat is a constant through the graduation
of the day
only his thoughts are the catalyst to
the drive within

----

And I replied with this:

holding a landscape in the palm of her hand, a fleeting glimpse becomes a permanent state, a sun appears on either side as the light attaches itself to her body, she looks onto a rose-tinted day, a thought starts a dance and an eye sees a bridge over a river called forever.

----

I will miss her. :(

Arterial

...and its the little butterfly that comes and sits on my ear.
She tells me a story, quietly, patiently, in a language only I can hear.

Emotion Sickness

I picked this up from JP.

The instructions were: List ten musical artists that you like, and then go answer the questions.
And as JP said, note, these are not my 'top 10' artists, although some of them might be. Just ten artists I like and know a bit about.

1. Fiona Apple
2. Gomez
3. Alice in Chains
4. Radiohead
5. Soundgarden
6. Rachels
7. Silverchair
8. Erik Truffaz
9. Nirvana
10. Tori Amos

What was the first song you ever heard by 6?
Lloyd's register.

What is your favourite album of 8?
At the moment, "bending new corners". Anyone who can make a trumpet sound like car tyres screeching is a hero in my books. :)

What is your favourite lyric that 5 has sung?
Limo wreck. Was listening to "Superunknown" today. So.

Under the red
Break of the lights
Heroes in stretches
Inch to the site
Blowing the pieces
Belong to the wind
When the whole thing
Blows away
I won’t pretend

How many times have you seen 4 live?
Once. November 1997. Cardiff. Thom was about 10 feet away from me. I could smell his brain frying.

What's your favourite song of 7?
Definitely "Emotion sickness". I remember those days, the red bulb, the smoke, the wasted years of forgotten joy. Remember, JP?

What is a good memory you have concerning the music of 10?
On the highway, singing "Wednesday" as loud as I could. People passing by, thinking I've gone mad.

Is there a song of 3 that makes you sad?
Most of it. But definitely "No Excuses" unplugged. When Cantrell sings "you my friend, I will defend, and if we change, well i love you anyway", the camera closes in on him and I can almost see a tear in his eyes as he watches Staley drift away.

What is your favourite lyric that 2 has sung?
"Flavours" hit the spot.

There was a red light coughin' up a room of blood
And there were forecast seven inches of snow
And there were two tunes playing in my head at once
Arguing guitar and drums
There was a lover standing by her bed
With a cigarette burning on her hand
And there were moonbeams playing on her porcelain flesh
A capi ero alousca

What is your favourite song by 9?
Either "Milk it" or "On a plain".

How did you get into 3?
I saw the video for "Heaven beside you" on MTV back in 1994 and I wanted to hear more. So I went and bought their last album - codenamed "Tripod". So, I worked my way backwards. It was a big step for me, jumping from J.J.Cale to Alice in Chains. When I heard "Dirt" I felt there never could be a better band, ever. That's probably still true. I will forever miss Layne. :(

What was the first song you heard by 1?
"Sleep to dream".

What's your favourite song by 4?
"Like spinning plates" (live).

How many times have you seen 9 live?
Never.

What is a good memory you have concerning 2?
Will always remember hearing "We haven't turned around" in "American Beauty" and wondering there is so much left to discover. And I felt so happy.

Is there a song of 8 that makes you sad?
No.

What is your favourite song of 1?
Waltz. Its amazing how 1920's those horns sound.

Mainline

Take a canvas, draw a line, consider negative space, take a step back, take a step forward, draw another line, consider balance, take five minutes, take ten days to 35, look closer, draw a line, on your wrist, take a step forward, into the night.

You are now complete.

I'm so happy, I think my heads going to explode. :)

What is love, where is happiness, what is life, where is peace? When will I find the strength to bring me release?

----

Jeff Buckley

C

So, this is the beginning of "C", my new band. Christa came over and we started working on a couple of tracks. We were still getting comfortable so we didn't really crack a complete song. But there is definitely potential for magic. Michael Griffin lands sometime mid april. He will play the piano and hopefully by then Christa and me would have 2-3 songs worked out. So, working towards a May recording. I want Michael to play on a grand. We also have Lawrence, flautist/drummer who will join us for a jam next week. Things should happen. Abundance is round the corner. :)

Mein Führer, I can walk!

Had a very good turnout today at the xva club screening of "Dr. Strangelove". I met a lot of interesting people and the response was very positive. So, its finally time for "blast-off". Can't wait to organise a premiere of my film there. Hopefully, Christa and me will have a set of about 2-3 songs to play before the session. Oh, what fun! Go, mordecai!

Unfinished poem

I have trodden both tarmac and tarn; both are alike
immaterial to me, equally impotent to support or not
my unbeing

I have wandered both wilderness and walled jungle, caped
In insubstantiality I became neither predator nor prey and
Nothing hindered my course

I could burrow to Symzonia or break Newton’s shackles and
Make for Barsoom like a swashbuckler or refugee, earth and sky
Cannot obstruct what isn’t there

----

JP

open the swtich, the bomb goes off, the light turns yellow, the sun is nigh. :)

I do miss you, R.

Look (part III & IV)

So, its finally over. Shot on friday and saturday with Mark in the desert and at the... erm... lets keep that a secret for now. Anyway, got over 100 minutes of footage for a 12 minute film. It all looks very promising. It primarily explores themes of loneliness, frustration, anger and realisation. "Imagine waking in the desert and finding only you." Its safe to say we are all alone. Anyway, before I wear my dramashark costume, here have a look at some more stills and a brand new "longer" trailer". No violins this time, dont worry. Look here for the trailer (its about 2 mb so wait till it downloads fully, might take about 5 minutes depending on your connection) and here for more stills. I am losing myself in this surreal world of a black and white desert. Its all too beautiful.

Three-chord progression

As I look at your hands and understand how your fingers hold a chord, I realise how music is so visual. A visual fugue.
A stanza.
A chord holds you as much as you hold it.
Your breath contains the concentration of a single note.
A word begins, the song starts.
As the fingers move onto the next chord, I realise how sound can absorb emotion and thought.
I count a beat, you hear me softly and you gently drift away into another world.
The third chord is like a wire. Suddenly, everything becomes a diagram.
A world created by three chords. A space within my mind. My world. My song.

The "I will" tennis game (JP vs. Prem)

Pra Ha says: (12:08:02 PM)
i will remove ur petals in the greenroom

as millions of artists have demonstrated before us, if we put this chord after this chord, the song will sound really sad! says: (12:08:04 PM)
i will dropkick you into the marianas trench and unleash a swarm of piranhas upon yo sorry ass

as millions of artists have demonstrated before us, if we put this chord after this chord, the song will sound really sad! says: (12:08:26 PM)
i will deflower your virgin queen in the twilight of her empire

Pra Ha says: (12:08:48 PM)
i will manipulate ur cheekbones and turn them into an architectural flaw

as millions of artists have demonstrated before us, if we put this chord after this chord, the song will sound really sad! says: (12:09:28 PM)
i will abacinate, and defenestrate, you will lie shattered and eyeless in a market square where the passing fish mongers will shed scales upon your spreadeagled cadaver

Pra Ha says: (12:10:12 PM)
i will cultivate a rice field on ur left eyebrow and sell you for a quarter of the market rate

as millions of artists have demonstrated before us, if we put this chord after this chord, the song will sound really sad! says: (12:10:58 PM)
i will sprinkle salt in your coffee and locusts in your fields, i will send your email ID to every spambot on the inter webs and also your women i will ravish

----

end

Look (part II)

Going back into the desert this Friday for schedule four of my film "Look here, Kunigunda". What fun. Now that we have a lovely spot, things are a lot less stressful. This time its just Mark and me. Got to shoot lots and lots of Mark, close-ups, longshots, running, walking, sitting, confused, frustrated, angry. The brain is a demanding thing now isn't it? Also edited a 10-second trailer. Look here for the trailer and here for more stills. Tell me what you think. Really.

If I could...

If I could peel off the skin of what I have become, I would.
If I could cut, cut, cut, deeper into my veins, I would.
If I could blow my head off to disembody the brains from body, I would.
If I could cut my tongue to stop me from lying, I would.
If I could sever my hands to stop me from painting, I would.
I think I am in love. Again. I see black, black, black.

Again.

Four days

Two days dreaming, one day filming, one day watching footage (with a smile)

four jobs that i've had:
investment consultant selling mutual funds
managing a sikh pop artist called sukhbir
recording radio commercials
designing pretty things (with meaning)

four movies that i could watch over and over:
a clockwork orange
manhattan
fargo
SE7EN

four places where i've lived:
indranagar, bangalore, india
salisbury road, cardiff, wales
deira, dubai, uae
bandra, mumbai, india

four TV shows that i like:
don't watch tv. there are more important things in life than tv.

four places where i've vacationed:
windemere, scotland
beirut, lebanon
bath, uk
coorg, india

four of my favorite dishes:
chicken tikka masala
a wholesome gujju thali
my mom's onam meal
hommous with meat

four sites that I visit daily:
k10k.net
dead air space (the radiohead blog)
my 100hands email
apple.com

four places I'd rather be right now:
san francisco
cardiff
tekkadi, kerala (under a tree with friends and x-genome)
in her arms

four books that i've read this year:
i don't read

four bloggers that i'm going to tag with this:
Jp
.
Poonam
Anoopa

Look here, Kunigunda (2006)

So, finally, we went into the desert and finished shooting a major chunk of my film "Look here, Kunigunda". We spent about three and a half hours experimenting with spaces, playing with the shapes in the deserts arms. What can I say? I got to finish this film. Now, I have just one more quick schedule with Mark and then I go into editing. Here's a sneak peak of what we had going today. I could have taken many more photos but my still cam decided to let me down today.

And here's a poem that resembles the film - "a better resurrection" by Sylvia Plath -

i have no wit, i have no words, no tears;
my heart within me like a stone
is numbed too much for hopes or fears;
look right, look left, i dwell alone;
i lift mine eyes, but dimmed with grief
no everlasting hills i see;
my life is like the falling leaf;
o jesus, quicken me.

Valentine

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring,
if you like.
Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.

----

Carol Ann Duffy, again. Like a knife.