"My heart is broken in the face of the stupidity of my species. I can't cry about it. In a way I'm inoculated. I've suffered this pain for so long. …The West has packed the whole world on a runaway train. We are on the road to extincting ourselves as a species."
- Joni Mitchell on what inspired her to write this song, which is included in her new album "Shine" the best thing to happen in 2007!
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Countdown
So last weekend was good. Myrtle Beach was a nice excursion even though it rained most of the time Naufal and I were there. But in a way it was good that it rained. See even though Myrtle Beach is an ideal getaway from Raleigh over a regular weekend (just a three and a half hour drive), it is a place that has been commercialised to the extreme.
Somehow everything there is designed to attract the tourist, from the Broadway on the Beach (a very nice spot for the tourists to congregate) to the beach strip where the Summer Sun Festival activities are held. If you don't know, you'd never guess that this used to be a simple fisherman's town. I guess you can still get that feel at Merell's, but you don't feel it in the town in general.
The best part of the weekend for me was when I ended up at the beach at around 3 in the morning. It had stopped raining and I was with a couple of folks I had met just an hour ago. One good thing about tourist towns is that you can meet people just for the heck of it, do your thing, and then bid adieu. But being at the deserted beach was refreshing in so many ways.
One of the people in my temporary troupe was a Native American and I got a chance to do my first Indian war dance, barefoot on the beach. Personally I feel that I have a flair for the shrill war cries, I guess it's easier for people from my part of the world to roll their tongue! But splashing in the beach, doing the little jingle, with a stiff breeze blowing you into the circle, and singing the war cries is an activity to be undertaken at least once in the lifetime.
Also a nice sight for the eyes was this old couple walking around the beach, hand in hand, and talking in whispers all the time. It was testimony to the fact that love can last. Unless of course they were both married to different people and were having an affair far from their homes on the context of some business meetings...
To top it all off, I saw the sunrise. And there's this haunting quality of witnessing a sunrise on the beach, with the strong sound of waves (full moon) and water splashing on your feet. It was divinely providential that the clouds parted just at the right place at the right time for the dark husky sky to turn an emerald blue in front of my eyes. If I weren't so lazy, I'd probably go out for the sunrise every day, but then I guess it would lose its charm.
I finally got to my hotel room at 6 and soon it was time to head back after a quick stroll through the Broadway...
This weekend it's off to the city to meet up with an old friend and just walk around Manhattan, watch loads of movies in limited releases, and perhaps catch an off-Broadway production or two. Oh and yes, Naufal is driving over as well. It's amazing how we keep meeting up over here!
And then, finally I board the plane, Monday night and fly off again, back to the comfort and familiarity of home. Damn I've been missing my family a lot...
I'm leaving on a jet plane....
Somehow everything there is designed to attract the tourist, from the Broadway on the Beach (a very nice spot for the tourists to congregate) to the beach strip where the Summer Sun Festival activities are held. If you don't know, you'd never guess that this used to be a simple fisherman's town. I guess you can still get that feel at Merell's, but you don't feel it in the town in general.
The best part of the weekend for me was when I ended up at the beach at around 3 in the morning. It had stopped raining and I was with a couple of folks I had met just an hour ago. One good thing about tourist towns is that you can meet people just for the heck of it, do your thing, and then bid adieu. But being at the deserted beach was refreshing in so many ways.
One of the people in my temporary troupe was a Native American and I got a chance to do my first Indian war dance, barefoot on the beach. Personally I feel that I have a flair for the shrill war cries, I guess it's easier for people from my part of the world to roll their tongue! But splashing in the beach, doing the little jingle, with a stiff breeze blowing you into the circle, and singing the war cries is an activity to be undertaken at least once in the lifetime.
Also a nice sight for the eyes was this old couple walking around the beach, hand in hand, and talking in whispers all the time. It was testimony to the fact that love can last. Unless of course they were both married to different people and were having an affair far from their homes on the context of some business meetings...
To top it all off, I saw the sunrise. And there's this haunting quality of witnessing a sunrise on the beach, with the strong sound of waves (full moon) and water splashing on your feet. It was divinely providential that the clouds parted just at the right place at the right time for the dark husky sky to turn an emerald blue in front of my eyes. If I weren't so lazy, I'd probably go out for the sunrise every day, but then I guess it would lose its charm.
I finally got to my hotel room at 6 and soon it was time to head back after a quick stroll through the Broadway...
This weekend it's off to the city to meet up with an old friend and just walk around Manhattan, watch loads of movies in limited releases, and perhaps catch an off-Broadway production or two. Oh and yes, Naufal is driving over as well. It's amazing how we keep meeting up over here!
And then, finally I board the plane, Monday night and fly off again, back to the comfort and familiarity of home. Damn I've been missing my family a lot...
I'm leaving on a jet plane....
Friday, June 01, 2007
Some Thoughts & Weekend Plans
I friend of mine put up a very interesting post about the differences in generations and her near disgust at the "me" generation...and I have been thinking about it.
There is definately a huge difference between our generation and theirs, I for the life of me cannot understand why Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and all their crop are famous. For me they're just an extended definition of mediocre to no talent. But then I think this is a phase. I am sure we had our share of popcorn stars that disappeared just as soon as they arrived conquering everything.
It took me quite some time to realize the musical genius of Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, etc.
It took me even more time to realize that the world actually goes beyond my personal needs and desires. That there is a whole world out there that needs the basic things that I don't even take for granted, for you must be aware of something to take it for granted.
It was a tricky ride through the teens and early twenties and only now, when the thirties are smiling their big toothless smile at me, that I begin to realize the magnanimity and utter insignificance of my selfish existence. Yes there are people starving in Africa, yes there are people dying by the truck loads in the middle east, and there is this growing indifference to life, and we are practically killing our planet (buy another truck chummy). All of these things are more important then me, and all of us, for they are "about" us, and what we leave for the generations in the future. I guess I always felt about them, and cared for them at some secondary level, but it's only now that I actually try and do something about it!
I just hope that the "me" generation would grow out of the fat jokes and the never ending focus on being cool, and grow into people aware of what's around them, and let that direct their "me" demands...as usual, I am hopeful, you can never take that away from me.
OK, so I am planning to leave work a little early to kick off the weekend I've been looking forward to it ever since I got here. The plan is to head to Myrtle Beach, SC to join in on the summer festivities that are beginning this weekend!
So the idea is to pick Naufal up from the airport, take him around the Raleigh downtown (which I am sure will be a surprise for him as he hails from New York), and then leave for Myrtle Beach early tomorrow morning. I guess for the first time I have taken a lot of time to plan a weekend to maximize the time I have at my desposal, you know, booking a nice hotel on the beach, shortlisting the good restaurants, finalizing the beach activities I'd like to take part in, and looking up the night life in the South Carolina fishing town.
The only thing going against me is the Yahoo weather forcast, rain and thunderstorms over the weekend, and I am just sitting here, hoping against hope that for once they're wrong for the good...
There is definately a huge difference between our generation and theirs, I for the life of me cannot understand why Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and all their crop are famous. For me they're just an extended definition of mediocre to no talent. But then I think this is a phase. I am sure we had our share of popcorn stars that disappeared just as soon as they arrived conquering everything.
It took me quite some time to realize the musical genius of Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, etc.
It took me even more time to realize that the world actually goes beyond my personal needs and desires. That there is a whole world out there that needs the basic things that I don't even take for granted, for you must be aware of something to take it for granted.
It was a tricky ride through the teens and early twenties and only now, when the thirties are smiling their big toothless smile at me, that I begin to realize the magnanimity and utter insignificance of my selfish existence. Yes there are people starving in Africa, yes there are people dying by the truck loads in the middle east, and there is this growing indifference to life, and we are practically killing our planet (buy another truck chummy). All of these things are more important then me, and all of us, for they are "about" us, and what we leave for the generations in the future. I guess I always felt about them, and cared for them at some secondary level, but it's only now that I actually try and do something about it!
I just hope that the "me" generation would grow out of the fat jokes and the never ending focus on being cool, and grow into people aware of what's around them, and let that direct their "me" demands...as usual, I am hopeful, you can never take that away from me.
OK, so I am planning to leave work a little early to kick off the weekend I've been looking forward to it ever since I got here. The plan is to head to Myrtle Beach, SC to join in on the summer festivities that are beginning this weekend!
So the idea is to pick Naufal up from the airport, take him around the Raleigh downtown (which I am sure will be a surprise for him as he hails from New York), and then leave for Myrtle Beach early tomorrow morning. I guess for the first time I have taken a lot of time to plan a weekend to maximize the time I have at my desposal, you know, booking a nice hotel on the beach, shortlisting the good restaurants, finalizing the beach activities I'd like to take part in, and looking up the night life in the South Carolina fishing town.
The only thing going against me is the Yahoo weather forcast, rain and thunderstorms over the weekend, and I am just sitting here, hoping against hope that for once they're wrong for the good...
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