MIDIval PunditZ–MIDIval Times…and niyaz

Posted on by

punditz.jpg Sepia-friendly record label, Six Degrees Records, based out of San Francisco, releases on Tuesday April 19th a couple of albums that many of you will be interested in. The first, and one of my favorites of the year is MIDIval Times, the second full length release by the New Delhi based duo of Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj, collectively known as the MIDIval PunditZ. The follow-up to their very successful 2002 debut is a bit more melodic, a bit more classically Indian, and a little less beat heavy, but nevertheless has changed my perception of what Asian Massive, or Indian influenced electronica can sound like.

The 11 track album opens with the song, “Morning,” a teaser of sorts that sets you up for an outrageous and mind-opening roller coaster ride of music. The album is not cookie-cutter by any means and does not fall into any one genre of music, at times it is Indian Classical and traditional, and at others it is Drum and Bass and filmi. Continue reading →

The “T-word”: only those with melanin need apply

Posted on by

Last week, the media flip-flopped yet again on the issue of terrorism. When reporting on the three darker skinned guys recently arrested in the UK and accused of plotting a series of horrific bombings, the NYT, AP and other news outlets called the accused “terrorists.” However, when reporting on the recent plea bargain by Eric Rudolph, the T-word was absent from their coverage. The NYT only called Rudolph an “anti-abortion crusader and former soldier.” Reuters called him a “survivalist” and a “fugitive” but not a terrorist.

What gives? Might melanin and foreigness have anything to do with it?

Rudolph’s actions clearly met the US State Department definition of terrorism. His bombs “killed two people, wounded 120 others, and “terrorized” people in three states.” When he was caught, he had 250 lbs of dynamite stashed away, and a 25 lb bomb “filled with 20 pounds of screws as shrapnel” across the street from his next target.

His goal was political and intended to influence an audience … and the attacks were most definitely perpetrated against noncombatants by a non-state entity. The situation seems at least as clear-cut as many acts regularly labeled terrorism in the media.[cite]

Not only was Rudolph a terrorist, but he was a terrorist who justified his actions based on his religious beliefs. He was a member of an extremist religious group and cited a religion as the central reason for his attacks when he made his statement to the feds. After most of the bombings, letters came from the “Army of God” saying things like:

We declare and will wage total war on the ungodly communist regime in New York and your legaslative bureaucratic lackey’s in Washington. It is you who are responsible and preside over the murder of children and issue the policy of ungodly preversion thats destroying our people. [cite]

While the US government (to its credit) clearly calls Rudolph a terrorist, it may not be prosecuting him as vigorously as it does other terrorism suspects:

Curiously, the Justice Department allowed Mr. Rudolph to plead guilty and avoid the death sentence that in other circumstances the feds have been quite energetic in pursuing. The official explanation was that a trial and a death sentence would have made a “martyr” of this man, who as a high-profile fugitive for five years eluded a giant manhunt and became something of a folk hero in rural Appalachia…. Maybe the prosecutors thought they couldn’t get him and so opted for an easy plea. But there are powerful people for whom the spectacle of an unrepentant murderer for the unborn, a clean-cut movie star handsome Christian terrorist, posed political problems. Better to defend life in the abstract, keep the focus on the enemy at the gates and keep skeletons like Eric Rudolph locked up in the closet.[cite]

Continue reading →

The World’s Worst Airports to Sleep in: Any Airport in India

Posted on by

There’s a new list of the best airports to sleep in, for those who are too busy or too thrifty to check into a hotel room. The best of the best? Singapore’s Changi airport. The worst? Anywhere in India, which is as bad as PNG’s Port Moresby airport where there was a gang shoot-out in the terminal.

Worst Airport(s) – This was toughy. I certainly could not narrow it down to just one in this case. First up, everybody please put their hands together for Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), an airport in which one of our contributors witnessed 7 seven being killed in a gang shoot-out. When in Port Moresby, be sure you’re wearing your bullet-proof vest and run. And then there are the airports in the Mid-East and India section where we have received MANY Hellish reviews. As there are so many to choose from, I am also giving the Worst Airport(s) award to the entire country of India who only has one airport rated “good”, but only because it was a better alternative to actually sleeping in one of their hotels. Unacceptable seating, foul odours, filth, fleas, safety, and general hassles have resulted in India’s 8 year reign of the Worst Airport(s) Title. Travellers beware: when sleeping in one of India’s “fine” airports be sure you have your own bug spray, air freshener and disinfectant or just go to the nearest bar and drink the pain away.[cite]

The list is an equal opportunity critic, American airports are not spared from its scrutiny either. The first runner up for worst is Boston’s Logan airport, and the fourth runner up was Chicago’s Om Hari airport. [via bookofjoe] Continue reading →

Manipur’s Bamiyan

Posted on by

The fundamentalists claiming to preserve their cultures are often the ones responsible for torching them:

Protesters demanding the introduction of Manipur’s ancient Mayek script set fire to the Central Library in Manipur’s capital Imphal on Wednesday. Officials say many of Manipur’s most ancient texts were among the books destroyed by the fire… Analysts say… the library was burnt because almost all Manipuri books preserved in it were written in Bengali script.

The Cauvery riots, the Karnataka cinema shakedowns — language stirs intense passions in India. But wishing that history were different doesn’t make it so. I could close my eyes and wish away the British Raj. Open them, and there lies Victoria Terminus still.

Previous post here.

Continue reading →

Midnight’s child

Posted on by

Pakistani strongman Pervez Musharraf is finally getting his birth certificate — from a New Delhi hospital:

Officials are set to present Pervez Musharraf with a certificate showing that he was born on 11 August 1942 at a maternity hospital in the city… “Begum Zarin became very emotional during her visit to the hospital and she could even recall the name of the medical superintendent of the hospital in those days and some of the staff members,” said hospital medical superintendent Indira Yadav. Delhi’s city council confirmed that an entry for the Pakistani leader’s birth had been found in the hospital’s records and a certificate was being drawn up.

August 11, eh? It’s a pity he was born four days early, or no one would’ve ever forgotten his birthday. Besides, his punctuality virtually disqualifies him from being desi 🙂

Like Rushdie’s protagonists, Musharraf also has superpowers. Only his came from sacking the judiciary and rewriting the constitution.

Continue reading →

Neobans

Posted on by

The Neo-Taliban running Pakistan’s fundamentalist parties aren’t content with banning food at weddings. Now they’ve figured out how to recruit more sexually-repressed young men. They want to ban all ads featuring women:

Last week the six-party religious alliance that constitutes one-fifth of the country’s parliament, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) introduced a bill in parliament seeking a complete ban on women in advertising… It proposes one-year imprisonment for any ad agency that uses women models…

The neobans (for banning is what they do) want to turn the clock back to when only men could perform in public, teaching an entire generation of boys to dress in drag. They yearn for when NAMBLA-like encounters were the norm as long as female chastity was protected. Of course, women were treated as mere property and were at much higher risk of rape and murder, but it was all in the name of purity, right? It was all for the noble goal of keeping people’s minds off sex… by depriving them of it.

Yeah, that worked out well. About as well as another movement which went against fundamental human nature.

Of course, the neobans won’t be content with banning female images. They’ll go after the right of women to drive, then to vote. All Pakistan would be left with is rifle-toting bullies in pickup trucks beating up men without beards and women without burqas. Been there, done that, seen it on F*dCountry.com.

The more that a religious strain teaches personal spirituality, the less that political middlemen can manipulate the faithful.

Previous posts: 1, 2

Continue reading →

A match made in marketing heaven

Posted on by

aishcoke.jpg

Sanjay Kumar of UP is feeling very cool and refreshed these days. Grocer by day, this real life Apu has just won a unique prize. Tipster Deepa Menon forwards us this Times of India article:

When Kumar bought a bottle of Coke to quench his thirst he ended up becoming the regional winner for Coca-Cola’s under-the-crown promotion, Thanda Aish-Cash.

As the winner, Kumar takes the prize – a dream date with the beauty queen.

Wait, if Kumar is a grocer, why would he have to “buy” a bottle?

So what might Sanjay expect to do on his date? Well if this dream sequence (.zip file of commercial) is any indication, he is going to be having a memorable time.

The date will be in Mumbai, where he will spend an entire evening with Ash at the premiere of her upcoming movie.

For Kumar, who has idolised Ash for years, reacted in disbelief. “I just could not believe my luck,” he says.

And what’s more, Kumar could well end up travelling with Ash to a foreign location for the international premiere of the movie.

Who knows? This whole affair may end in an altogether unexpected way. The possibility reminds me of this General Electric commercial. If only…

Continue reading →

Sending jobs to America

Posted on by

The F-16 debate to date has focused on the military balance between India and Pakistan. Many SM commenters have noted that even though India will be allowed to buy U.S. arms, it’s unlikely to do so because the U.S. has been an unreliable supplier.

Today a NYT story took the opposite tack: F-16 sales to India are good because they’ll keep the production line open in case the U.S. military ever places another order.

“The reopening of sales to Pakistan and the opening of sales to India extends the life of the production line, the Fort Worth operation and the entire F-16 supply chain throughout the country. It also provides the Air Force with a warm production line should it want extra F-16’s.”

Lockheed is talking like a business, not saber-rattling like the U.S. government:

“If India’s requirements are beyond any existing fighters, we are prepared to make upgraded F-16’s to India’s specifications with complete transfer of technology,” Mike Kelly, a Lockheed senior executive said in an interview last month with the Press Trust of India, a New Delhi news agency. “We have, in the past, taken up building of such exclusive fighters for the U.A.E. and we are prepared to manufacture F-16’s to India’s special requirements.”

India already writes software for Boeing and Lockheed :

Boeing… is already relying on Indian companies to provide software for its new commercial jet, the 787 Dreamliner…

The U.S. as hopeful suitor: it’s a newly respectful tone in the media’s handling of this story. Continue reading →

“Day to Day” interviews Amitabh Bachchan

Posted on by

NPR’s “Day to Day” interviews actor Amitabh Bachchan about his career and the Bollywood film industry:

In a tribute later this month, the Film Society of Lincoln Center will bill Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan as “the Biggest Film Star in the World.” Madeleine Brand speaks with the performer, a major star in Indian cinema, about earning the superlative celebrity moniker.

NPR: Amitabh Bachchan, ‘the biggest film star in the word’ (Real Audio and Windows Media)
Previous post: Brief film updates

Continue reading →

alt.muslim.com

Posted on by

Although some of you may not realize it, one of the most popular brown “Mom & Pop” websites out there is alt.muslim.com, which was founded by a married Indian-American business student who grew up in California. From the Information Warfare Site:

“My name is Shahed Amanullah, and I created the Website altmuslim.com. I started the site because I wanted to see some more open dialogue and discussion and debate about things that are happening in the Muslim world.

“Before the Internet came around, Muslims lived in relative isolation and obscurity from each other. They never had to deal with Muslims of different colors, of different schools of thought, of different political persuasions. And when the Internet came about and these people had to find each other and see each other for the first time, it was really jarring. I mean, Muslim discourse on the Internet for the first several years was nothing but fiery debates and insults and things like that. Muslims need to learn together in cyberspace in a way that’s civil and respectful.

“Only now are people starting to get together as Sunni, Sufi, Shia, without it automatically meaning, ‘let’s have a theological argument.’ And that change has been happening slowly over time. Friendships have been happening between these different people, between Muslims in the West and in the Muslim world, between Shia, Sunni, Sufi, even between Salafis and progressives.

“I think one person put it that the Muslim community has an ‘irony deficiency.’ Because of that, we wanted to interject humor and wit into all the work we did, because we felt that it was a really good way to defuse tension and make the pill easier to swallow, so to speak. So one of the things we do, at the top of our Website, is we have little taglines that describe who we are, ‘cleared by Homeland Security,’ ‘no assets to freeze,’ ‘all the news that’s not fit to print.’

Ahhh. That’s just the type of humor that hopefully turns SM readers on (well most of them).

Going over to alt.mulsim.com we see that in addition to running the site, Amanullah and his wife are bloggers. His wife Hina, blogs about her recent experience with motherhood.

amanullahblog.jpg

Go check out the main news site. There are lots of good and often controversial articles posted. Great brain food.

Continue reading →