Hmmm this thing called music, pretty good stuff eh?

Attended Sarah Blasko's concert last night at Fremantle Art's Center. Beautiful place, it was outdoors. Went with Andrew, Hannah and Alicia. Brought my sleeping bag along. Had a very woodstock feel to it cos ppl were getting up n prancing and moving in a trance-like state. Like totally psychedelic dude. It was a very chilled out concert, really relaxed. She was lovely too and had a real good banter going on with the crowd. Her encore was a nice accoustic number that saw her play the guitar, lovely way to end. I came back all calm and chilled amidst the not-so-distant rumbling of exam drums.

Thats the thing bout music isn't it? That ability to just take you away and yet get you grounded. It puts things in perspective. At the end of the day, I look forward to that walk back home more than anything, cos I have a chance to escape into the world of big hair, leather pants, killer guitar solos, a sophisticated horn section, a groovy jazz man, a despairing man who sings about his woman who don't give him much lovin, and so much more. Music has always been a good companion and I have always seeked for solace in it. Like Kate Hudson's character in Almost Famous, Miss Pennylane said, 'When you are down, you can always go to the record store and visit your friends'. It is something like that.

The closest person I can connect with about music is my sister. No one understands my love of music more than she does. When I am home, we just spend hours comparing music and playing stuff for each other. The one song that we really connect with, (APART FROM ALL LED ZEPP SONGS) is the Mamas and the Papas's California Dreaming, cos there's a guy lead and girl lead and it sounds lovely when we sing it together. I guess it's also the best way me and me dad connect as well. We don't talk much but when we go watch a live band, it's like connecting on a higher level, it's like 2 good friends kicking back and enjoying some good tunes. What's more cooler than that? My mum needless to say is a hippie at heart and a true romantic though she has succumbed to some classic rock stuff. She likes Black Dog from Led Zeppelin and for those of you who have heard it will know, it's no Barbara Streisand.

Then there are my friends. Everytime I hear a disco song I think of Jason (there was point that everytime he got in my car, he would play the Bee Gees Cd), everytime I hear Metallica I think of Loi (yes those times in Loi's car as he tail gated and swerved his way on the road to the bak kut teh shop while Master of Puppets was blasting in the background, hehe), everytime I listen to Kashmir by Led Zepp, I think of CK and everytime I hear Linking Park, its Chua (and I think of how much Jason gave him crap for joining the Underground). Then there are some songs that remind you of that special someone. Beautiful.

Home (and hope) beckons even stronger as we slowly end October. So begins the days of library camping where I get more day dreaming done than studying.

I think I may have found a solution for this restless soul, but it ll take time and I m quite sure it will do the trick, we for awhile at least. We'll see how it goes la.

To end, listen to Brick by Ben Folds Five, Weeping Willow by Jaime Scott and the Town and Ohio by Neil Young ( I had to throw an old one in)

La Pedrosa II

Everytime I watch the Motorcycle Diaries, I get all fucked up. But fucked up in a good way.... I suppose.

Tonight was a special Che Guevara night which started with a documentary on him, followed by the Motorcycle Diaries. I missed the documentary cos of work but I rushed back to catch the rest of the Motorcycle Diaries....AGAIN.

I read the book 2 years back (thanks to my cousin shali's suggestion). It was a lovely book and my favourite parts were the letters to his mum. When the movie came out, it added a whole new dimension to the book and it stuck true to the book as well.

Since being exposed to these 2 forms of media that tell the same story, I have been even more restless and it gets worst everytime I experience them. Terrible I tell you, though I welcome it open arms. Restless is me and something needs to be done real soon about it.

I would also like to take a moment to express my sadness to those people who wear Che's face on their bodies and yet have no idea who he is, but they do it just to look cool. Such a pity. Well if it keeps the legend alive, so be it (the same is being done to Steve Biko, who together with people like Mandela fought against apartheid laws in S.Africa. He died on his way to prison. The cops that brought him in said he died of prolonged hunger strikes, but later on, they discovered he had massive internal bleeding especially in the cranial cavity).

Steve Biko

If you haven seen it, pls go grab a copy (the book too). Hopefully it will bring that restless soul out in you too.

Only words.....

In the middle of reading 'The Island' by Aldous Huxley. What a bloody genius! Was introduced to Mr Huxley by a friend. I read 'Brave New World' last year and it blew me away. But The Island, wow, just opens your eyes man. Most of it is alot of philosophy in between the actual story, but there are heaps of pearls within the philosophy. I have written down some lines cause it's so relevant to life. Such simple sentences that just conjure up images of complex grandeur and yet when you read it, you think, 'Heck I know that! Knew it all along, just didn't know how to express it'. Below are some choice quotes from the book;

'You never saw anybody dying and you never saw anybody having a baby. How did you get to know things?'

'Dogs die easier than people. They don't talk about it beforehand'

' "In solitude," he insisted. "For of course nobody can help, nobody can ever be present. People may stand by while you're suffering and dying; but they're standing by in another world. In your world you're absolutely alone. Alone in your suffering and your dying, just as you're alone in love, alone even in the most complete shared pleasure" ' (this was quite potent, especially when it comes to love but it makes sense)

' And a Sister of Mercy, unfortunately, isn't the same as a Wife of Love'

There were many more good lines. Seriously, if you get a chance, do read it. Some parts are dry, but just hold on cause the outcome is always good. Just the means to justify the end.

Today my playlist was set on Bob Dylan, a whole day of Mr Dylan. Coupled together with Mr Huxley, it's enough to make any man, stop and wonder. Just beautiful what you can do with words.

Like David Duchovny's character, Hank Moody in Californication (which is a bloody good in-your-face show) says to his daughter, "Listen to Dylan's Blood on the Tracks' album. It's a good break up album". And I can see why.

Berjolly-jolly

Had a semester break last week and what a good break it was.

On Monday (The Queen's Bday), Phil, Lucius, Isaac and myself set out to cycle to the city. Twas a lovely trip. We took our time. We arrived at Mill Point an hour later, had kebab breakfast and cycled back alot faster surprisingly, considering there were more uphills on the way back. God knows what went into those kebabs.

We repeated the feat on Wednesday with Mun tagging along. This time it was all the way up to King's Park, which is pretty high up I must say. The slope leading to King's Park seems to conjure up images of torn thighs, searing butt injuries, and testicular damage (then again , I do have an active imagination). Only Isaac went all the way, the rest of us just brokedown after the halfway point. When we got to the top, we found a nice spot in the shade and just took in the scenery, while replenishing our fuel stores. About 20 mins later, we cycled to China Town(northbridge) for Dim Sum with some friends. Needless to say, it just made us more groggy and sluggish for the return journey home, though we enjoyed every scrumptious morsel, hmmmmm.

The rest of the week was filled with work at the shop, badminton, soccer, celebrating Lucci's bday (at Freo and our house, where Sanjeev concocted a new drink, Laguna Blade. Just a pity that Lucius was the first victim ,hehe) and oh yea Pasar Malam at both Curtin and UWA. Simply lovely. ALMOST made up for the Buka Puasa stalls back home. It was a week of joy and literally no worries.

Now's its on to 5 weeks of uni straight, then study break, then exams and finally home. Should be good.

Was reading the Star online today and this headline caught my eye;

Listening to wives more, curbs nagging says expert

Bloody hell!!! Do we need experts to tell us stuff like this? Whats even more infuriating is the fact that they probably get paid shitloads to put sentences like that together. Sadness man. Has the world turned so cynical that even the media are speaking to us in a condescending tone.

Now, don't misunderstand me, I totally agree with that statement, but do we really need an expert to tell us that. Waste of talent I say.

On a lighter note, my mum told me that there is a wedding in the family (well extended family and being Indian, that usually means someone you have never heard of or met in your life, but thankfully in this case I know who it is). It's the wedding of a distant cousin brother to put it simply and it's in December. I do enjoy weddings I must say, especially when most of your family is there. It's also a damn good chance to cuci mata, ahem ahem. So yea some stuff to look forward to.

Go and watch this movie, Water, it's a hindi show, but with none of the usual tacky coconut tree dancing scenes and teleportation powers owned by the dancers. This movie actually has substance. No regrets. Look it up on imdb.com.

It's suppose to be spring, but winter is not going down without a fight as cold rain fell today and is suppose to continue till Wed. But it's nice to have the rain put you to sleep

To end, listen to La Cienaga Just Smiled (Ryan Adams), Rebellion (Arcade Fire) and Tangled Up in Blue (Bob Dylan).