Change is coming

The US presidential election is in full swing. I follow this race to be the leader of the ‘free’ world quite closely and am quite interested in the ups and downs of this campaign.

First of all it is quite refreshing to see after a while (8 years) an American leader who looks the part. I mean the last 8 years have been quite bad for America – in almost all ways one can think of. Be it foreign image/policy and economy among other things. The last leader looked like a dumb spoilt brat who has been given something he couldn’t handle.

This new leader is talking about change, he is talking about real reform, and he is talking about engaging all leaders of the world in a more diplomatic stance to enhance the credibility of the United States of America.

The leader I am referring to is of course Barrack Obama.

It is interesting to note that he has been talking about change from day 1. Since the time he came from nowhere to beat Hillary Clinton, which no one could have ever imagined a couple of years back. Even in that contest, the mantle of change was tried by Clinton, but was forcefully taken back by Obama’s campaign. Even though their views were more or less the same on almost everything, the mantle of change was always trumpeted by the Obama campaign – and still is.

Now we see the Republican candidates, John McCain who is a patriot and a war hero. But the Republican convention did not spring anything new that they haven’t said before. It was all about the American hero blah blah – of course they steered clear from any of the current administration people Dick Cheney has been off the radar for some time now, George W Bush made a brief appearence. I won’t even talk about Sarah Palin as I think it’s just useless. And finally, the bombshell by McCain, ‘Change is coming’ he mentioned in his acceptance speech.

Now that is just ridiculous! I mean how can they be so blatant to actually say that they are for change. I mean first of all, look at McCain’s policies – his policies are exactly the same as the current administration. I was watching the daily show with John Stewart the other day where he made a comparison of McCain’s acceptance speech and George W. Bush’s speech at their conventions. It was funny to see that there were quite a few instances where they have simply repeated even the same words in their relative speeches. Even Sarah Palin’s speech was written by Bush’s speech writer – this is not change.

This is just the same old people with different leaders in front of them. It is the same policies and the same attitudes towards the people of the world.

I don’t proclaim myself to be an expert in foreign policy or even day to day American problems. But I do know from a person who is observing this race from an objective point of view, that these are the same Republicans who brought the world the most hated leader in the world. They can try to talk change, but they are absolutely not for change and for more of the same.

American people are one of the friendliest in the world as personal experience tells. It would be good to see an American leader also like these people and who is a leader that will lead the world to a better tomorrow.

I personally hope that the Democrats seize power and Obama is elected president. I guess I will have to wait and see what happens on November 4th when the American people are going to decide the fate of a lot of countries in this world.

From Prisoner to President!

Warning: Anger filled rant below

I cannot hold my silence much longer. I know that my words and my rant will make no difference to the world. However, it’ll at least help me with my frustration, anger and a sense of desperation that is going through me these days. I am in this state because of something that is about to occur in my homeland of Pakistan.

Asif Ali Zardari: The name synonymous with corruption is about to become the President of Pakistan. It is beyond this blog how completely flabbergasted I am by this event about to occur. There are umpteen articles and news pieces that show him as being a man who takes pleasures in accumulating huge amounts of wealth for him. A man who likes to appoint ‘his’ people in all the right places in the country of course after a minimal fee.
Living in Pakistan when the Bhutto government was in power, I myself saw and heard all this craziness occur in the city of Karachi. Travelling in private jets, building huge mansions were just some of the things you could see occurring regularly. Building a prime minister house which is probably as large as the presidential house and accommodating a polo field at the back, for Zardari’s love of horses and the game of polo.

The point is, this man was all the wrongs that people could see when Benazir was in power. Getting people killed, burning places where he didn’t get his way was just a few things that happened.

Now this man is going to become the most powerful man in the country of Pakistan. He will have total immunity from prosecution – no matter what happens. I don’t foresee him changing at all unfortunately. Now he will have access to do anything and everything he wants to the people of Pakistan. He will build palaces and empty the country’s wealth and fulfil his own ambition.

I really don’t know what to say – I really don’t know what is going to happen to my beloved Pakistan.

They say leaders of a country are like the most of the people of a country – which I don’t really know what to say about now.

I refer you to this article for further reading - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/world/asia/05zardari.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Species above all species

The phrase 'species above all species' is one which I have taken from the Quran. Having taken care of our little one for the last 8 weeks made me think the other day, how this statement is very interesting.

Humans as a species are the ones with the largest brains. This of course has evolved over time and the brain has become an integral part of the human intelligence. If you believe the theory of evolution, the human brain has changed shape over time and has slowly evolved to its current shape over many years. First four legs then two….scientists believe that one day humans just started walking and became bipeds.

The human brain has been central to our evolution, if you think about it….the human body has not really kept up. The human body is and has always been fragile. It needs a certain temperature. It needs a certain amount of food and water. It needs constant maintenance; otherwise it gets ‘deformed’. Humans have used their brains to protect and survive.

The point is, the human body needs and has always needed constant attention for protection. If you look into the animal world, things have evolved a little differently; brains haven’t evolved much but the physical characteristics of the body have. Animals have changed how they walk/fly/hunt etc to survive the changing world. They always have done to their bodies what humans have done to their brains.

Interestingly, when animals are born, certain characteristics are fully developed. Take the example of a horse that’s off spring starts walking only a few hours after birth. Lizards that start hunting as soon as they are born, fish who swim right from birth. As compared to humans, the child can’t walk, can’t talk and is totally dependent on the parents for survival. Maybe birds are a bit close as they need the parent to feed and take a while to fly. I am not sure if birds have a problem communicating with their parents, but I know (and have experienced) that children can all but cry to communicate anything and everything at birth.

It seems these days that the flavour of the year is climate change. This threatens the very existence of humans on this planet. Humans have used their brains to get out of problems like this in the past, for the changes due to the normal evolution of this planet (re-location, warmer clothing etc). But now this change is due to our own development and progress. Humans like always will probably find out a way out of this crisis using their brains. Animals however will adapt and evolve again.

I heard something very interesting the other day, and I quote:

“Humans as a species use only a tenth of their brains, imagine if they started using another tenth and we would probably be worthy of God’s attention. Cockroaches for instance can survive for weeks without food or water, can survive radiation and even without oxygen in space. If God wanted to create an image of Him in a species highly evolved, then I submit to you that God, is a cockroach.”

Something to think about….

Dedication to my little miracle

On February the 8th, 2008 I was blessed with a little miracle of life. I still can't comprehend fully what exactly has happened, but I think it has slowly sunk in. Life will never ever be the same again. The little one has arrived with much anticipation and has already started to brighten it with his antics. When one sees a little life being born in front of your eyes, one can't help but be thankful to his Almighty and bask in the miracle of life. I cannot explain the way I felt when I saw the little one and gazed into his eyes (his eyes were wide open as soon as he was born), couldn't help but swell up with tears. A little version of me lying right infront of me looking up with a confused look. What could be better than this? I cannot wait to see him grow.... I wanted to dedicate the following song to this wonderful little bundle of joy.

My gift is my song
And this one's for you
And you can tell everybody
That this is your song
It maybe quite simple But now that it's done

Hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is now you're in the
So excuse me for forgetting
But these things I do
You see I've forgotten
If they're green or they're blue
Anyway the thing is well I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen

And you can tell everybody
This is your song
It may be quite simple
But now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words

How wonderful life is now you're in the world
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is now you're in the world

Your song by Ewan McGregor, Mouline Rouge 2001

Australia day 2008

Australia day occurred on the 26th of January 2008.

This day is very significant to a lot of Australians and has a lot of meaning in the history of Australia. It's even more significant for me personally as this is the day when I arrived in Australia for the first time. It was on this day back in 1999 that I came to Australia with hopes and dreams and great uncertainty. I had no idea what the future might hold for me and my time in Australia. Initially, I had planned on staying here for only 6-8 months as I wanted to head on to the US to pursue my educational goals. Taking a step back to give you some background, I had initially planned on going to the US for studies; however I was late in the application submission and hence missed the deadline. I was faced with the consequence of wasting about 9-10 months. I took the opportunity to come to Australia when my father was informed of a good degree program in Melbourne. How he got to know about this program is yet another story. Things just came to shape pretty quickly and I ended up in Australia in January to study till about July and then heading to the US. This was not to be as once I was here, I was settled in and enjoying my time in the culture and life here.

Since then it has been a long journey of 9 years. Quite a few huge milestones have been accomplished while living here.

• Finishing my studies and graduating from my Bachelor’s degree and then subsequently my Master’s degree
• Getting married and starting my married life
• Moving to Sydney from Melbourne
• Starting my professional career
• Becoming an Australian citizen

There are quite a few milestones in between all of the above, but I think the list above is of a huge significance to my life and the way it has moved forward. I am moving towards another huge milestone in my life, and Australia is in the thick of it.

In my previous post I mentioned that change is inevitable. Looking at the list above and what is going to occur in the future, change IS inevitable and it is our ability to deal with the change and make things happen is how we make our life filled with fond memories. I certainly have experienced many good memories in my time here in Australia and look forward to many great experiences in the future.

Change is inevitable

The word change is such an important part of all our lives. No matter how much we avoid it, it is bound to happen and is inevitable. I was particularly fascinated with this word as it has been brought up again and again during this year’s American election campaign. I saw a hilarious clip on the ‘Colbert Report’ where they showed a live debate between all of the major Democrats. The mediator of the debate asked a question and mentioned the word ‘change’. As soon as he finished his sentence (and I kid you not this is real!) all of the candidates like little children raised their hands up and started talking so that they could comment first and fore most on this topic.
Why is the word change very important in the American elections these days? Well I shouldn’t even go into that I think as that’s another topic.

Current events in Pakistan have also told the story of change. People of Pakistan in particular have a habit of asking for change sooner than many people. They get fed up with the same leaders who they elected with a huge majority and then support the same leaders if they are out of power to get them back IN power, weird.

These two examples are political in nature. There are many other examples where people want to have change. Change in scenery for a person going on a holiday, change routine, change of personal belongings etc.

Some people have to deal with change as just a part of life and come to people whether they like it or not. Some people deal with it well some people don’t.
I heard an inspirational speaker once and he said that change is something humans have evolved to deal with. Humans are probably the least evolved species on this planet to deal with the changing climate/temperature etc. If you compare humans with other species such as insects or others, you can easily see how well other species have adapted. Animals have developed extra layers of skin or have shrunk significantly in size etc. to survive. But in humans there is no change, humans have alternatively moved on to different places where they are suited better or have used their brains to build things that help in survival. This inevitably will be the cause of our demise as well, as we keep on consuming this planet’s resources, there will not be enough places to go to survive based on the rate of human growth.

Science fiction movies sometimes show the eventual evolution of our species. I think it’s a very valid thing and may happen in the future…I am not certain.

The same inspirational speaker said, it is the ability of the people to want change and adapt quickly to different situations is what makes them a cut above the rest.

My rant for the day is complete.

New year and new beginnings

Happy new year to you all! Hope this new year is better than last year. See I AM an optimist.

As for me, this year will be a new beginning to a different part of my life and I look forward to it and await it with open arms. Can't wait to start a new chapter of this life. I just hope that both of us cope with the transition well. Wish us luck!

God bless all of you :0)

Nine Inch Nails in Sydney (Part 2)

Two shows

15th September and 16th September 2007

It was an unbelievable weekend where we got to see Trent in action. These concerts were far better than what I have seen before. They were even better than the concerts back in 2005. Unbelievable shows with so much energy and passion. I don't know how they pull it off again and again with the same intensity.
The most amazing part of these concerts was that they almost played a totally different set list in both concerts. I took the decision of standing in the mosh pit for the first and sitting in the stands in the second. Unusually, Trent had a lot to say in the concerts. One, which has been reported all over the world, was when told us to steal his music until the record companies lower the prices of the albums. He also mentioned the fact that they are going back to the US now and will start working on the new album and will be back in Australia by mid next year, which I really find hard to believe...but here's hoping for the best.
I managed to take some pictures of the concerts, those will follow soon. Overall, an amazing experience which I'm sure I'll cherish for years to come....

First show set list:
1. hyperpower!
2. the beginning of the end
3. last
4. sin
5. march of the pigs
6. something i can never have
7. closer
8. survivalism
9. burn
10. gave up
11. me, im not
12. the great destroyer
13. eraser
14. only
15. wish
16. the good soldier
17. no, you dont
18. suck
19. the day the whole world went away
20. dead souls
21. down in it
22. the hand that feeds
23. head like a hole
24. hurt

Second show set list:

1. hyperpower!
2. the beginning of the end
3. heresy
4. terrible lie
5. march of the pigs
6. the frail/ the wretched
7. closer
8. ruiner
9. survivalism
10. piggy
11. gave up
12. me, im not
13. the great destroyer
14. eraser
15. only
16. wish
17. the good soldier
18. no, you dont
19. reptile
20. the day the whole world went away
21. hurt
22. the hand that feeds
23. starfuckers inc.
24. head like a hole

Liveability

Interesting index from the Economist

60 years and counting....

The people of Pakistan recently celebrated 60 years since gaining independence from the British Empire. When the new country was created, hopes and dreams were high. People looked forward to living their lives in a country where there were equal rights to all Muslims of South Asia in peace. Muslims of South Asia rejoiced at the fact that they will no longer be persecuted either by the Hindus/Sikhs or the British. Little did they know that the country will be set upon an uncertain direction, you see there were many kinds of Muslims who wanted to start their lives in Pakistan. You had the moderates, who wanted to establish a new democracy and start progressing towards the future inclined towards the west and modernization. On the other hand you had the Muslim far right who embraced the fact that the country was going to be founded in the name of Allah. (One of the only 2 countries in this world that were created in the name of religion, the other being Israel).

Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Islamic Republic, I always thought this term was a bit ambiguous. Rule of the people by the people living in an Islamic society. There certainly no rule by the people if you take it purely in Islamic terms.
Democracy is a system that has its roots back in the Ancient Greece and Romans etc. But true acceptance of Democracy only came after World War 2. Democracy emphasises the importance of an individual in the entire nation ie every person has a say in the overall country’s leaders/decisions etc.
Islamic society started with the Caliphate (at least the Sunnis did) which had the concept of one true leader ie the Amir Ul Momineen, who was mostly either assigned as the best leader/general or even hereditary. So you can understand where I am coming from, both really don’t truly mix.
Pakistan has been at this cross roads since day 1, whether to truly embrace the Islamic way of life or by modernizing itself fully. Should Pakistan be more like Saudi Arabia and embrace Sharia Law in full or modernize itself by completely aligning itself with the west like Turkey?
This has been the question all Pakistanis have faced throughout their lives. Its quite interesting to note that the people of Pakistan are truly divided. There is a big number of people that really want both and be Islamic as well as a true democracy for eg Indonesia; one can see how that is working out.
This is just one area where all the conflicts lie within Pakistan.

The country’s leaders have taken many a controversial decisions to make the country constantly unstable. The establishment of the language of Urdu being the official language alienated a large majority of people. The dismissal of the election results from East Pakistan effectively starting the independence movement for what is now called Bangladesh. The countless dismissals of civilian governments by the military right from the start of Pakistan’s history. Out of the total 60 years, more than half the years of this time were under military rule. This allowed for Pakistan to be left behind by its neighbours in terms of democracy and freedom.

The threat posed by its intimidating nuclear neighbour, India. The Pakistan military had to be powerful enough to ensure the country was safe from external threats. 3 wars with its neighbour over the jewel in the crown of either country, Kashmir, made sure that the defence budget was always high on the budget spending.

On top of this Pakistan found itself stuck in between the cold war. The bigger powers of the world offered support in return for access to the big fight occurring in Afghanistan. This allowed the military government to stay in power for more than a decade with support of the international powers that be.

Mind you the democracy in Pakistan has done its duty (even in its short time). By duty I mean people who have come into power have not only plundered the country, but have taken decisions that have made sure that the economy has gone from bad to worse. One that I remember being freezing all the people’s foreign bank accounts. What a good way for the government to increase the confidence of its people.

Corruption is common throughout the system, from the very low end workers to the very top; common all the way to the top office of the country. If you don’t have the connections and the right base, one will find it hard to make it in Pakistan.

Political differences, ethnic differences, religious differences are some of the conflict arising factors in the country. People are ready to fight and kill on all fronts. Sometimes crime is linked to all of these.

I can go on and on about problems in Pakistan. It is clear that the country has some deep rooted problems that won’t go away easily. It will take time and effort from the people and leaders of Pakistan to make a change and stick to it. But this goes back to my earlier predicament, moderate or extremist. Till the day the people of Pakistan don’t understand where they want to take their country and what future they would like to see, the problems would not be solved. All I can say is that Pakistan can only get better from this (maybe)

Happy Independence Day and God bless Pakistan.

The big come down

Its been a while since I have posted. What can I say it's been a couple of busy months. During the past couple of months I have come across many different things that I wanted to express my feelings about...unfortunately didn't get around to posting anything. One of the things that just happened last week is none other than the tour of Nine Inch Nails to Australia.

Warning: Groupie Alert!
Trent had given us a huge surprise right at the end of the With Teeth tour by saying that he had been working on the new album while touring. And then going ahead and announcing that the new album will be released in April and the whole Year Zero alternative reality game (ARG) kicked in. It was just unbelievable how quickly this was happening. All NIN fans were expecting a new album in the future....but never so quickly! Next came the tour dates, which of course started from Europe and then Japan and then came the dates to Australia. Come to think of it, this all happened in a flash! They announced 3 dates for Sydney and 3 for Melbourne, but they announced one after the other meaning if the shows got sold out they would announce another and so on. I purchased tickets for the two shows as soon as they were announced, I couldn't wait for them to announce any other shows. My wife being the accommodating person she is let me buy tickets to the first 2 concerts, but wasn't too keen in going to the third one, which is fair enough. So the dates we purchased tickets for were for Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th of May 2007. I couldn't believe that I was about to see them live again, considering how amazing the experience was last time around (refer to previous post Aug 2005).
As this time around both the dates were on weekdays, we had to figure something out regarding the work situation. Also the concerts were going to be held at Luna Park, which is not a very good combination with NIN. We caught the ferry from circular quay to get there as this was the fastest way possible. The doors were meant to be open at 7PM and we reached there at 6. I wasn't too fussed about the queue as I was a member of the Spiral, which had a separate entry.
Once we got in the venue, we were quite surprised to find out that there were no seats whatsoever, which was quite bad. We had planned on sitting in the comfort of seats for a better view, but had to settle for standing in the middle. The venue looked pretty small as compared to Hordern where the 2005 shows happened.
The band supporting NIN were called Sereena Meneesh, who are a Scandinavian band. They sounded pretty average in my opinion. I couldn't make sense of their music although I thought the drummer was pretty good. Once they were done with it was time for the main act. We were waiting in anticipation for Trent to come out and blow us away.
The Show:
It all started with Hyperpower! which is the first track of the new album and people just went crazy (along with us of course). Instead of me posting the set list, I reckon it's a better idea how the performances of each of them were. In total they sang 21 songs, it's amazing to think they can keep this momentum and energy up every time and still give amazing performances. In total they performed solid from 10 till 1130 non stop.

The Songs:
Hyperpower! ---> Great starting track really set the tone of the whole concert, combined with the theme of the whole album. The drumming on this track live is unbelievable. The noisy end to this song is just out of this world live. We could see the whole band besides Trent performing this one as this is an instrumental.
The Beginning of the End ---> Just like in the album, right after Hyperpower! I think this song sounds better live, it has a 'My Sharona' type beat which sounds great with all the noisy sounds in the background.
Survivalism---> Man! this song is a killer live. The sound is totally different to what it is on the audio track. The chorus was unbelievable!!! This was one of the best performances of the night. I like this song in general, but live its even better!
March of the Pigs ---> As usual this song really got the crowd worked up, showed how much energy Trent still has! Its amazing to think he has been performing this song for over 10 years now and he still gives it his all.
Heresy ----> One of my favorite songs off the Downward Spiral. I didn't have any clue that this would be performed live and it delivered. My wife doesn't like this song and doesn't like me singing it either as some lines go like 'God is dead and no one cares.. if there is a hell I'll see you there' and I think this line was sung even more passionately live.
Burn, No, You Don't, Suck, Dead Souls ----> I had heard these songs live before and they did not disappoint then and they didn't now. Before Dead Souls came on, Trent said "As you know we have a new album out which most of you have stolen, this song is not from our album and it's not even ours"

The Hand That Feeds, Closer, Gave Up, Wish ---> Star performances of the night

Help Me I Am In Hell, La Mer ---> Great interludes, Trent had a little trouble with the light over his keyboard during La Mer and had to abandon the song, it's so funny seeing Trent pissed! He just stopped the music and pushed the keyboard away
Me, I'm Not ---> The one performance I was expecting so much but didn't deliver. Maybe it was because of the fact that this was the first live performance of this song for NIN ever. Firstly, it had a little bit of problem getting set up (as this is totally computer generated) It was only him and Alessandro on stage for this. The tune of the song was not there most of the time. Trent said after the show in his blog, thats what you get when you make songs on a computer! I also believe just because these songs are so layered and so much work has gotten into them on the computer, they can't be matched live.

The Good Soldier, Only ---> I hadn't heard both of these songs live before and both were really funky tracks live. The good soldier had not been performed live ever before!

Mr Self Destruct ----> Mr Self Destruct was THE star performance of the whole show! It just went through the roof, the whole crowd was going nuts. I don't know why he hasn't performed that historically, but my compliments to him on that one.

Hurt ---> Out of the 3 NIN concerts I have been to, I definitely think that this performance was the best! He really looked as if he was totally into it and felt what he was saying. Unreal performance by him on the keyboard. It was so funny before this song started though. The roadie came and brought the keyboard to the center of the stage. Trent came and was jostling with the mike and ended up pushing it toward the keyboard which made the entire keyboard collapse. It almost fell toward to crowd! After all was settled, Trent said "Ever have one of those days?"

Head Like A Hole ----> Perfect ending to a NIN performance, it was full of energy and poise.

All in all it was a very different performance of NIN that I had seen. The lights were not that impressive, Trent said in his blog a couple of months back that he was really pissed at the lighting as he couldn't pay much attention to that part of the concert experience due to the whole album experience. I have seen better performances from him, but then again maybe I expect too much from them. I was seeing them perform 9 songs that I hadn't heard live before. Trent looked as if he was pissed generally and didn't seem his usual self, even though he looks pissed normally anyway, this time it was different. We had been wondering about his voice in some of the songs as he was sounding different?!?
As I mentioned earlier in the post, I had tickets to see them live on Thursday as well. We rocked up to the place the same way only to find out that the show had been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. Really disappointing as we had been anticipating eagerly to see them live again. They ended up canceling the 3rd Sydney show as well citing the same reasons. No one knows what happened and why they can canceled although rumors are everywhere. I suspect that he had a sore throat or something (as we did notice him sounding different) They did reschedule for the dates in September, which was quite a relief considering its not just a city in the US where they can just fly to. They would have to especially fly out to Australia to perform, but I'm glad they announced the dates. I had my heart set to see them live again and will have to wait another 4 months.
It's so weird to see so many NIN fans in the same place, normally I hardly ever meet people who are actual NIN fans. This time around I saw a far less goths though, maybe it was because I was in the spiral entrance?
As I said in the 2005 NIN concert experience, my wife was totally supportive and amazing throughout the experience. I definitely wouldn't enjoy as much if I had gone without her (which I noted in the Tool concert)
Can't wait for September!!!

Tool in Sydney

The experience of seeing Tool live was one of the best musical experiences I have ever had in my life. I had been waiting eagerly for the concert since the time I had bought tickets (I had bought tickets way back in October (I think) and the concert was in January). The build up to the concert was big as the fans in Australia had been waiting for a while to see Tool. They had been touring extensively all throughout Europe and the US before they came to Australia.

The concert was scheduled to start at 8pm, but started at around 9pm as there were so many people waiting to get inside. There was no support act so it started with Tool and ended with them. Of course there were no cameras allowed so I had to make do with my handy phone to take any pictures.

Tool started the show with a great performance of Stinkfist, which got the crowd excited and went on to perform classics like Schism, Lateralus and Aenima. Some of the performances were stand outs in my opinion, those being Jambi and Wings for Marie/10,000 days. The sound was pretty loud, although I was expecting louder as I had been warned that people ended up deaf after going to their shows.

The show overall was an amazing spectacle. Before the start of 10,000 days, they started throwing a lot of smoke in the air. It wasn’t until the song started that I realised what it was for. They started using the lasers. Man! As cheesy as they sound, they have an excellent effect on the performance. They were used sparingly and that made it even more amazing. The video projection was awesome and showed videos of songs as well as other cool stuff. The backdrop was typical Tool with Alex Greys stuff with full colour. The way they got revealed was awesome with one showing just when they came on and the other halfway through the performance of Jambi. The overall ambiance was amazing. Usually at a concert I feel the backdrops need to be good to get the overall feel of the concert. The lasers made the whole experience even better; it felt like the whole venue was involved.

Maynard was always standing at the back, which I think is really cool. Tool really show what a real band is all about by having performances from every single member of the band. The vocals are not overwhelming on the musical performances, instead every instrument is at the same level and vocals are one of them. Maynard being the kind of person he is attracts attention, but I think he makes an effort not to in Tool.

No encores to end the show, they showed their appreciation to the crowd at the end and huddled around before heading off stage.

Overall, it was an excellent show, which had more than what I had asked for and would remember it all my life.

Death of a Tyrant and the new year

I start the first post of the new year with the killing of the so called Iraqi 'Tyrant' Saddam Hussein. Hanged for crimes against humanity and hanged for brutally murdering countless number of civilians. He was hanged on the same platform where he had supposedly ordered countless number of civilians to their deaths. What has this killing achieved? Nothing. Is the world one less of a murderer? Maybe. Is the judgement fair on him? I have no idea.
I do know this though, I know that there are countless number of leaders/heads of state that have ordered mass killings and the world doesn't notice and nothing happens. Be it in the name of religion, state or whatever.
Mass murder is wrong no matter what the cause. If one is supposed to dig in history there have been many times that mass murder has occurred. The exposure and the publicity across the world would all depend on who has committed it. There would be no news or publicity about mass murders in Haiti or mass murders committed by the 'noble'. But there will be movies and publicity about mass murders that happened in China. It also depends on if the person or the leader who is committing these mass murders has the support of the 'good' nations. Of course this wont be reported until after this leader is against these 'good' nations or I should say can't be used anymore.
The death of this tyrant was none other than a big show put on for the nations and the people of the world to see that either you're with us or you're with the enemy. But the fine print is you're with us until we see the need for you, once we don't need you anymore, you CAN be with the enemy.

The new year brings with it new beginnings and new hope, I'm not very optimistic about the world for this new year. I can only hope that this new year is filled with a new brotherhood of man and peace for all mankind.

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one . (John Lennon 1971)

Happy new year to you all!

Elections, concerts and everything else...

Its been a while since I have posted and a lot has happened in the meantime.

Lets start from the US mid term elections. The American people have finally had enough of all the mess the Republicans have created, and have elected a new government. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to see this happen.

We attended the U2 concert a few weekends back and attended Pearl Jam's concert the next weekend. U2 were a class act, they played almost all of the classics including One, Desire, With or without you etc. The show was quite huge as the people of Australia had been waiting for this concert for a while. The stadium held about 70 thousand people so it was quite massive. I was happy to see Bono perform and also try to get a noble message across. It made me feel good that there are still some celebrities out there that try to make a difference with the power they have. My wife managed to get a good shot from the show and yes thats actually the huge backdrop.


Pearl Jam were a great experience in their own way. It was good to see them having the same energy they have had for a while. Although Eddie Vedder was quite drunk and was drinking
throughout the show, they pulled off a great show. Even though I had not listened to all of the songs they performed before, they still managed to play their own classics like Jeremy, Better man, Even flows etc. The only shots we managed in this show were from the screens, so apologies if they're a little blurry. Pearl Jam also demonstrated what U2 did, they made comments on what people should be doing to make sure that everyone has a fair go. That everyone is equal and deserves an equal amount of respect from others.

All in all both of the above experiences were good, even though both were quite different. U2 had everything, the massive stage, the amazing backdrops, lavish lighting etc. And Pearl Jam kept it simple, no real back drop, pretty ordinary lighting etc.

Besides the above excitement, I have been in the small country town of Leeton, NSW again for the past week and have to head out there the whole of next week, so its not been a fun time. It's really hard to leave one's loved ones behind all alone. Even though I am used to living alone as I have for a number of years away from family, it still is a hard thing to do.

Family is what makes one go ahead in life, but sometimes families are not very helpful in understanding that things change in life. Especially in our culture, I feel the old way of thinking that the son is obliged to do everything what their parents say is utterly absurd. As adults, people should realize that people do grow up and can make their own decisions. Old way thinking that the daughter is supposed to marry according to her parents wishes is unnatural in todays world. Even sometimes the son is supposed to marry according to his parents wishes. Granted that in our culture and religion, the parents have their special place and are supposed to get respect from young ones. But I feel that people have taken advantage of the above fact and have trampled all over their young ones time and time again.

I say respect should be both ways. Respect to others and expect respect in return. I do not think there is anything anywhere written that says only expect respect from others and don't do anything in return.

Cut and Run

Cartoon published in the washington post on September 5, 2006.

by Pat Oliphant

Imagine

So here we are again. Once again the Middle East is at a state of unrest. The events in the last couple of weeks are typical of the history in that region. I believe that region is one where there will never be peace (at least not in my lifetime). The abduction of two soldiers by two different militant groups is not an act of bravery or success. It is an act of cowardice. What did the militant groups think of achieving from this action? Did they actually think that the might of Israel will be brought to their knees by holding them to ransom? Wrong! I admit that the groups are trying to fight an enemy who is far more powerful than both groups combined. However, if they start carrying out actions like kidnapping, I do not think that their agenda is right. The image and the message that gets conveyed to the world are ‘fanatics, extremists, cowards, terrorists etc’.
On the other hand Israel, a state that was founded by force and created in the middle of the Arab world, a state that was created with the help of the power players of the world that had other motives behind this action, a state which is one of the most powerful in the world, even though it does not have much resources. An undeclared nuclear power and a state with huge piles of weapons of mass destruction; has escalated this issue into something it is not.
There is no gain from this act of aggression. Fine! They should attack the military installations of the militant groups. But blowing up bridges, airports, infrastructure and killing civilians is a war crime. I suspect that bigger and broader goals are to be achieved by this act of aggression.
The UN Security Council has voted twice to call for a cease fire between the two parties, but alas the same old story, the United States vetoed both of them. I sometimes wonder why the US backs Israel so much. Is it because there is a lot of sentimental attachment with Israel? Is it because there are a lot of powerful Jews in the US? I don’t think so. There are bigger and longer term plans at work here I suspect. By destabilizing the most oil rich area in the world, the power players ensure that they can always have an influence/control in that are. When will Israel wake up and see that they are being used. The power players only have interest in the strategic importance of Israel not anything else. By having a powerful and trigger happy country in that region, the world powers ensure that the area may never be stable.

I have said this before; the UN is ineffective in its dealings and actions in the world. The Security Council does not have the right structure/balance or power that it needs to actually address the issues in the world at present. The 5 veto powers are not the right reflection of the world. It doesn’t make any sense if 100 countries of the world vote for one thing and then the US comes along and vetoes everything. There should be no veto powers for anyone, no country should be treated less or more than any other. But alas, I am dreaming.

As John Lennon said, ‘Imagine, there’s no countries. It isn’t hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too. Imagine all the people life in peace. You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will be as ONE’

To head butt or not to head butt....

The football world cup finally wound up on Sunday night. Italy rejoiced as the azzuri beat les blues to win the Holy Grail. The biggest show on earth put on an amazing couple of weeks for the entire world to see. It became a platform for the world to see how Germany has changed post cold war and how it has united into one Germany. That was one of the best things to come out of the world cup this year. To see the Germans once again united under the one flag and be patriotic about their homeland was a treat. There were several highs in the world cup in my opinion, which are as follows in no particular order:
1. Australia coming back from 1-0 behind and scoring 3 goals in the last 8 minutes against Japan.
2. Ronaldo scoring a goal against Ghana to become the leading world cup scorer of all time
3. Germany winning on penalties against Argentina
I can go on about many others, but those described above are right up there.

As always, there were a few lows in the world cup too, which I do not want to go on about. There is only one moment that topped it all out....which is (you guessed it!) Zinedine Zidane head butting Materazzi in the world cup final and being sent off. One might think why such a legend and an icon would do such a thing. The person who is one of the coolest customers as they can come in football. The person who is an icon and a hero to many in France and people around the world. The person who was ending his glittering career on the day. Why?

Reports coming out from after the world cup suggest an interesting story. Some reports are saying that Materazzi called ZZ a 'dirty terrorist'. Of course he denies it rigorously. Whatever it was, it must be something really hurtful and offensive if it got through to ZZ.
Granted things happen during a competitive game, people say things, but a person who offends another by calling them or their family something is totally unacceptable.
It is different in different sports. In cricket for example sledging is accepted as being part of the game.
Football has taken the lead in putting out a message on racism in every single game in the final stages of the world cup. Both the team captains read out a statement shunning racism. But is that enough? When people's perception and ideas are governed by media in the world, can this or will this be of any help?
What Zidane did in the world cup final was not acceptable from a fair play/football point of view. But can what Materazzi said or did be forgiven?
I agree there should be rules governing this kind of thing and football is doing the right thing in promoting the message of racism and fair play.
However, in the end the way people are given the message by their governments and their media is the only thing that really matters.

Soccerwhos??

For those of you who don't know but the football world cup is going on in Germany these days. The nations that are taking part are gripped in football fever and especially countries that are doing well. Australia for one has gone crazy over football (or soccer as they call it here) for the reason being that never in history have they even scored a goal in the world cup, they didnt even qualify for more than 15 years or so for the world cup. Now scoring more than a goal, winning a game and giving the world champions Brazil a good fight have made Aussies excited for world football. Years that have gone by no one took notice in Australia as the biggest show on earth took place in some other part of the world. But it’s a good thing I suppose, football in this country would grow because of the performance of their world cup team, which is called 'Socceroos' here.
Australia faces Croatia in their final group game that will make or break their world cup campaign. Millions of Aussies will wake up at 5 in the morning to see their heroes make history. Thousands of Aussies will spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to be at the world cup to follow their beloved team. Millions of dollars will be spent worldwide by people to either watch the game or buy stuff related to the world cup.
It’s funny to think what kind of impact the same money would have on hunger and poverty in the world.
Enjoy the game!

The Bush Dynasty

I just had to share this cartoon. It was published in the Washington Post on May 12, 2006 by Tom Toles. If any of you don't know but this refers to Mr Bush mentioning in one of his great speeches that his brother would make a great president.

Call to Arm to the Teeth

"The Bush Administration wants the capability to produce 125 nuclear bombs a year by 2022.", Sydney Morning Herald April 2006

It is clear that the powers to be do not want to get rid of the world with weapons of mass destruction. The United States is one of only a handful few that has not signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The intentions are clear, fill nuclear weapons up to the teeth and act as a bully to the world. The United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country in the world today. More nuclear bombs by 2022? Any sane person would look at this and think, what are they scared of? Or trying to scare of? The only thing this action would do is to encourage other small aspiring nuclear countries to produce more of them or try to acquire them. What gives the US the right to have weapons of mass destruction as compared to the other countries in the world?
The amount of nuclear bombs the US has can destroy the entire planet 20 times over. It just scares me to think if sometime in the future there is a big conflict, the powers to be will destroy the world and we will sit by and watch.
The US is THE biggest producer of greenhouse gases in the world today. One of the only countries to have not signed the Kyoto agreement (the agreement that outlines a small plan to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions) is the United States.

In the end I suspect we will either watch the world powers destroy the world with a nuclear holocaust or the world powers will destroy the world by polluting the air and the sea. In both cases, we will have nothing to say. We will sit and watch as the world players decide our fate or I should rather say, decide our doom.