and the good beats the evil...

Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

- Baz Luhrman

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’97.

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; never mind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own...

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

Soliloquy

sound : Led Zeppelin - No Quarter

I have M.C.S. (Middle-Child Syndrome)...

i may be the eldest of my folks' two kids, but im the second to be concieved.... a few months back i found out from my mom that there was another child... my older sibling...

mama had a miscarriage before me!!!

imagine... they kept this away from me for 20 years!!!... i bet my life would have been much more different that what it is now if i had known earlier... maybe i would have understood why i was never pushed into anything... maybe that explains the complascence with which they treat me even though i feel like crap... ok, i agree its not conscious on their part... but subconsciously they still do treat me like the middle-child....

maybe its under-written in the very fabric of space-time... i am the second seed... i am the middle, the plain, the ordinary... maybe it is written that i am who i am.... maybe its this that brought me here in this very Now....

I AM THE MIDDLE-CHILD... i am not a genius in any sense of the word... i am not an academic intelect... agreed i have a good idea now and then, nothing substantial though... i am not the best looking person on earth, but i feel that i am unique... i think.... i may not be a wisened intelect but i think... i do not allow myself to become a slave to the cycle, yet i see myself raped for the wheel...

i feel inadequate... i feel weak... i feel so god-damn subdued by this sense of despondancy that kills me from the inside... i have M.C.S.

I WANT OUT!

this is my curse, to be me... this is my agony.... this is me soliloquy to myself... my ode to the pile of shit that is my life...

peacerespectempathy

John Paul Jones makin magick

... and that ladies and gentlemen is a mandolin/12 string/ 6string guitar!!!

sound : Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused

t leaves tomorrow in the afternoon... at least shes comin back in december... everybody's gonna be back in december... t, arun, neet... wow... it might be tha last time i can see all of us together... i know i can see everyone again but the chances of getting all of us together at one spot... thats like one in a million or something...

Rant # 117

i crave... i WANT... but i do not NEED... i know this rant seems really repetitive but i cant help it... i cannot control my wanton feelings... i really WANT this... i know we're short on resources right now but does doin it on my own justify as not being greedy and selfish on my part... what if i take the whole brunt of my enterprise?... will it pardon me of selfishness?... will my guilt magically heal itself knowing i havent burdened anyone?...

And when i quench my WANT will i WANT again?.. but what if it is not WANT anymore?... what if i NEED?... and when i NEED, will it be necessary to quench the NEED to stem my WANTs?...

i've got the cash... do i get the guitar?

peacerespectempathy

Graffiti

Decadence

sound : The Cure - The End Of The World

i kept a promise to myself... i guess its the first time i've ever done that... a week earlier i had promised myself that i would read on the beach at dawn... thursday night (during the trip to the beach) none of the kids went to sleep... all of em spent the night talking and watching tv... on the crack of dawn i picked up my book (Paulo Coelho's "The Pilgrimage") and went walking to the beach... the breeze was cool, the sun was just above the horizon... i turn to the page where my bookmark was... page number 115, chapter name; 'Death'... i read of PC's experience with the exercise and read on through that chapter, the next chapter and finall stopped at the end of 'Madness'... it was really beautiful... i had the waves lapping at my feet which were dug into he sand... the total feeling was of completeness... it felt so whole... so PERFECT... everything bout it... the way the sun shone behind me on its way to the horizon on the other side, the way he waves carried more and more sand over my feet till the were buried till my ankles, i hadnt combed or tied my hair since the swim the night before so it was let out in all its fritzy glory.. yes, it was perfect... i felt this totally happy feeling right from the soles of my feet to the tip of each and every strand of hair on my head... after a while i just sat there and closed my eyes to see how much i could feel... the periodic lapping of the waves sounded heavenly... i could hear a couple of filipinoes who were also there for the weekend go down the pier to fish... they sunded so happy and carefree... all sense of worry and depression left my body for that small period of time... i felt en league with the world... gaia was me... i was god... i just sat there looking into the horizon and watching the sea-gulls dive every now and then as they caught their breakfast... time flew by... before i knew it, it was breakfast time... i had to leave spot on the beach and go and have breakfast with everybody else... for a moment i thought i should stay but the thought of breakfast in itself had shattered the mood... it was a beautiful day... excepting for the small part of it where i was struck by symptoms of withdrawal which was cured as fast as it came... i spent nine and a half hours in the water that day... most of us were sunburnt even though everyone was piling up on sunscreen... me, i just got tanned... really tanned!... it was a good day... the first in a really long time...

peacerespectempathy

muffled

sound : Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love

i got so much to spew, yet there my chances are rather limited right now... i cant do this with big daddy watching over my shoulder... i need privacy...

peacerespectempathy

dreams...

sound : Led Zeppelin - Kashmir

Places I want to go/Things I want to see (in no particular order):

• The Shaolin Temple (Tibet)
• Meteora (Greece)
• The Louvre (Paris) [technically i've already been there but i was just 2 yrs old]
• The Amphitheatre (Greece)
• The Pyramids of Giza
• M'achu Picchu (Peru)
• The Christ of the Andes (Brazil)
• The Taj Mahal (Agra)
• Easter Island
• The Galapagos
• The Congo Basin (awesome photographic opportunity)
• The Amazon (ditto)
• Thailand (to get some of their renowned tattoos)
• The Great Barrier Reef (For an underwater photo shoot)
• Scandinavia (good beer and dream of Valhalla)
• Germany (more beer)
• The Cathedral of Notre Dame (Paris)
• Rennes le Chateau (France)
• Havana (for cigars)
• The Vatican (gotta see the basilica)
• St Petersburg
• New York City
• Bombay (I really gotta see what the big deal is about the place, ive never been there for more than 12 hours and the last time i was there i was robbed [the bastards!])
• Seychelles
• Stonehenge (England)
• The Mayan Pyramids (Mexico)
• Japan
• Morocco
• Timbuktu

i cant seem to think of any more right now... but i know this list is incomplete... theres so much i havent put here...

peacerespectempathy

Think for yourself......Question authority.

sound : TOOL - Third Eye (Live)

Think for yourself......Question authority.

Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities, the political, the religious, the educational authorities who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing, forming in our minds their view of reality.To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable, open-mindedness; chaotic, confused, vulnerability to inform yourself.

Think for yourself......Question authority.

- Timothy Leary

"Choices always were a problem for you..."

sound : TOOL - Opiate

i really want a guitar right now... i dont know why but my craving has increased today... its way above my usual guitar-craving threshold... i would give anything for money to buy myself a gutar... ive been reading through and read about two guys building their own guitars...

• building a guitar, tutorial/diary
• Guitar Creation Journal

the first guy's thread is really indepth and detailed... the second guy's design is awesome... ive got awesome ideas for guitar designs... the problem is that i dont have either the tools or the know-how or even the money to undertake a project like this... i've always been interested in shop and stuff buit i've never had a proper chance to fool around... my dad never was the workman type of person so we dont even have a proper toolbox at home...

i guess ill draw out my guitar design ideas and keep them... mybe someday... someday i can do all that i want to do... build an spanish guitar, build an electric guitar of my own design, travel to nepal and see the himalayas....

someday...

"If you want to get your soul to heaven,
Trust in me, don't judge or question.
You are broken now, but faith can heal you.
Just do everything I tell you to do."

peacerespectempathy

Maktub

sound : a perfect circle - what's going on

t's back!... she reached the day before yesterday (the 1st)... she hasn't changed a bit... got me the books i had asked her for (Ooh-haa!).... Both by Paulo Coelho.... "The Alchemist" & "The Pilgrimmage"... i finished "The Alchemist" a few hours back... i swear the book was beautiful... the thing is, i thought it was gonna be one of those thick reads... you know?... big, complex thought pieces... was i mistaken or what... the beauty of the book was in its simplicity... P.C. is a sheer wizard with words... the way he describes Santiago's conversations with his heart and with the desert and the wind and the sun and "The Soul of the World" was nothing short of beautiful... the thing about this book is that you're not gonna forget it any time soon... the ideas and the visuals linger on... maybe not the whole book... but parts of it... all evening i've been thinking of nothing else... thanks t for getin me the books.... and thank you Nillumine for introducing me to paulo coelho... im keeping "The Pilgrimmage" for later... i really dont want to finish it off so fast...

i got paid today... 350 big ones ladies and gentleman!!!... and all i did was invite a few people over to their office to be interviewed... plus the boss said that he'd call me after ramadan when another project comes up... like coelho says, its all "Maktub"....

after i finished "The Alchemist" i read a little bit of Herman Hesse' "Siddharta" and then i started off on another one of my personal projects... i found Arthur Edward Waite's "The Pictorial Key to the Tarot" online at sacred-texts.com.... the site is ok... its got what you need... but the problem with "The Pictorial...." that they had was that it's in .html format... so you cant read it unless you're online... well that wont work for dial-up monkeys like me... i thought why not collect it all and make it into an e-book (a .doc or .pdf file).... so i download all the pages from the book and right now ive finished it till the Ace of Cups... hopefully ill finish it by tomorrow and ill do the linking of the chapters from the index and stuff properly and ta-daaaa.... an e-book... and for those of you who are curious as to why im doing this: a) im jobless... b) arun's agreed to get me a pack or Rider-Waite tarot cards when he comes over in december... and finally c) did i mention that i'm jobless?...

about the US elections... im truly disapointed at the american population... truly... they have proved to us the true meaning of "the herd"... how could so many people manage to believe Dubya?... but you got to hand it to him... Dubya and his cronies sure knows how to brainwash people... they've managed to fool a whole nation with their hog-wash... but one things for sure, it would have been much better for the US on the international scene if Kerry had won... but what can i do about it huh?.. im just another asian... another potential terrorist in the eyes of fearless Mr Dubya....

check this blog out - Kraz Arkin.... its so rare to see a mallu who thinks... most of them would rather sit around and watch soap operas or (supposed) comedy shows (i dont find anything funny about them) on tv all day... kerala, like the US, is another fine example of The Herd... me... im a mallu... a self-hating mallu.... i hate mallus and i hate myself... so i guess i end up no better than all the other "sheep", but i know i dont want to be a part of their doomed flock and i voluntarily stray away....

i voluntarily stray away....

peacerespectempathy

VOTE FOR KERRY!

do the right thing people.... please...

peacerespectempathy

Inspiration

sound : TOOL - prison sex

heres a small piece off an interview with adam from tool….. for the full article click here

Publication: Guitar One

Date: January, 2002
page: 84

title: Images and Words

author: Bob Gulla

BG: Do you ever feel inadequate as a player?


AJ: Yeah, absolutely. I am not a technical guy. I mean, you see these guys from GIT, or wherever, and they know 50 different chord progressions in C(min)maj7. I’m not there. I like Frank Zappa, and Ry Cooder and Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix and all those guys, but after a while the lead guitar thing started boring me. So I never really went there, and it wasn’t important to me to practice scales. So in that respect, I feel really inadequate. If there’s some really good guitarist in the audience, and I know he’s watching me, I just go, “God, he must think I suck!” I play from my gut, and play as passionately as I can, but I’m not a very good guitar player, comparatively. I’m really just into what we do, and I love writing riffs, and I love challenging myself to play in a different time than Danny’s playing on drums, and trying to figure out something over the top of it that sounds really cool. But as far as being able to fluidly solo over something, I’m not into it. That’s why on some solos I’ll pick up an Epilady, one of those things ladies use to rip out their hair. It has this revolving, figure8, guitar-like string one it; I keep my on it to stop the motor, and it goes, “rrrrr,” and then I can let it go “reeeh” [gradually increases pitch]. Using delay, and other kinds of effects, it can be really powerful.


BG: What gave you the Epilady idea?


AJ: To be honest, I saw Dave Navarro do a solo with a vibrator once, and it was kind of cool. I didn’t have a vibrator around – I’m sure Dave has several! Just kidding. [laughs]. But I started putting electrical things up to the guitar and getting really cool results. I got one of those old hand massagers, and I could hold the motor and control it. Buzz from the Melvins showed me you could take a remote from your TV, hold it to your pickup, and make your guitar go “beep, boop, beep” – you get different tone right from the pickup. Then you put some flange and delay on, and it sounds great.

peacerespectempathy