Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Hmm, that's interesting.

In the previous post, I was talking about how we, of the 1990 - 2010 generation, will be the ones seeing the maximum change in lifestyle and the way the world operates. I think I am really beginning to believe this. And interestingly enough, my colleague cam up with the same thing, and said the same thing, just a day after I wrote about it.
And we weren't even discussing anything related to the subject.
:-)

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There was once a boy who possessed some determination. He had some qualities of hardwork in him and was capable of it when it was really required. Or even when he was told it was really required. So he did work hard, and used his given talents and intelligence well. And he reaped the sweet fruits of his labour.
However, slowly, the fruits of the hard work made him lazy. And sleepy.
He began to find ways around having to work hard. He was too smart to be able to fool himself into believing anything consciously, so it wasn't too hard to convince himself that he could do this tomorrow, or it wasn't necessary to study this chapter. Or a few marks less wouldn't matter.

Well, yes, a few marks here or there may not matter, unless you're just 2 marks shy of being top of the class. THEN it stings. It stings like a BITCH. Yes, I know bitches don't sting, but just go with it, Shakespeare.

So he had lost it, those qualities, that willpower, the stamina, the diligence. And the silly boy convinced himself it was OK. That there are other things in life that are sweet too. And these must be tasted too. What he didn't know was there's nothing as sweet as success. Nothing that quite matches the inner explosion of joy upon achievement, and the sheer exhilaration of kicking the competition where it really hurts.

Sex doesn't even come close.

As tends to happen, time passed. Boy became man. One day, he sat down and had a good long look at his life. And he thought. Then he thought some more. He thought it was high time he got his priorities straight. He thought maybe it was time to focus on what was really important and shearing off all the other inconseqencies. Like cleaning the fat off meat.

It will take some time, he realised, but then he saw that this was as good a time to start as any.

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I was watching this program on Vh1. It was basically a Pearl Jam concert, but in a very personalised sort of seeting. It was indoors but wasn't acoustic or unplugged or anything; there were people standing quite close to the stage, and people standing in a sort of balcony / gallery area. Quite interesting.

But not near as interesting as listening to Eddie Vedder speak.

The man is fucking mesmerising.

He was basically speaking to the audience almost throughout the show - during songs, in between songs, introducing songs. There was even a section of the show where they all sat down on stools and Vedder started reading out fan mail. I think there must've been some promo for the show where they said send in your letters and we'll read them during the show.

There were, of course, gushing letters, but Vedder chose to read out the most interesting ones. And to his credit, he also read out a few that dissed or ridiculed Pearl Jam. Anyway, he drawled, and stared, and went nuts...damn, he makes it impossible to take your eyes off him.

One of the more interesting things I learned during the show was the story behind "Alive". Before playing the song, Vedder introduced it. He mentioned how it was originally called something else, how it tells the story of a guy who had a really messed up adoloscence (he gave details). And then he revealed that the guy was him.

But it was the manner in which he did that that was so amazing. It was so matter of fact, so by-the-way, that by the time the enormity of this revelation had sunk in and you related your whole life (and his) to the song, he'd already moved on and said something else at least as captivating and said it equally nonchalantly. The whole concert was like one big mindfucking conversation with Eddie Vedder. Obviously, in actuality, it was almost a monologue, but the way he spoke made you feel like you've been friends for ages and that you actually made significant contributions to the conversation. When all you actually did was mostly step around the puddle of your own drool.

Basically the "I'm still Alive" refrain is not a celebration but an expression of his frustration at what he sees as a curse - his life. But Vedder explained how he was so amazed at the way it was received and perceived, that it changed the meaning of the song. Even to him.
Now, that's really saying something.

Naturally, the first thing that came to my mind (after "WOW!, of course) was "I wonder what 'Jeremy' was based on". Like it was with the news of the assasination of Kennedy, or of 9/11, one usually remembers where one was or what one was doing the first time one watched the video of 'Jeremy'.

Where were you?

^

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Non-Sensica V

And so it seems I must get back into the habit of writing.
Or typing, as it has become these days.

In a month's time, I will take yet another exam. One I'm not entirely sure why I am taking, but it seems to hold the possibilities of wealth, fame, fortune and all the rest of the dreams they sold you so hard. The exam is online and requires writing.
Or typing, as it is these days.

So now, I use this space to randomise.
The expected outcomes of this exercise are :

1) I will re-learn how to think quickly
2) I will re-learn to translate those thoughts, arguments, ideas, and logics into (hopefully) coherent sentences and paragraphs.
3) I will re-learn how to type reasonably fast without making too many mistakes (seeing how I seem to have all but given up chatting and blogging)
4) The poor readers of this page (whose numbers seem to be rapidly dwindling, and probably with good reason) will be subjected to some pretty rubbish stuff. Yes, I know this is not something new.

Life's changing. Faster than it used to before. Faster than it did for our parents. And while we run around frantically trying to experience and document as much of it as we can, it seems our actions become more and more futile, with respect to the desired end.
Emailing, chat rooms, instant messengers, walkmans, cd players, dvd players, portable thisthatandtheother, ipods, 10 GB, 20 GB, 30 GB , ipod shuffle, smaller and smaller computers which do more and more, blogging, online everyFUCKINGthing, mobile phones, walkman phones, internet-capable phones, camera phones, digital cameras, handycams, plasma TV, music systems, home theatre systems, all in one systems, cable TV with a bazillion channels, reality TV, corporate culture, the whoring of education, the death of values.

Life's gotten a whole lot more complicated.
Sometimes I wonder if every generation experiences this feeling, or are we truly seeing something in this particular time frame (say 1995 - 2010) that will utterly change the face of human civilisation? Affect it as much as, say, the industrial revolution?
Or even more?
What is the fate of our race?
Whatever it may be, dear God, may Jessica Simpson, Victoria Beckham and others of their ilk have very little to do with it.

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There was definitely a time when the words came far easier than they do now. It was not so long ago, either.The sad part is, I may have become sort of indifferent to this death of a part of me.
My daily life now revolves around my office, the endless conversations on the topics of who makes how much money, and how to make more money, and how to be more successful, and who is an asshole, and who is a good guy, life in this city vs life in other cities. Then I come home and watch TV. Make a phone call. Eat. Sleep.
Repeat ad infinitum.
The usual.
Inspite of my sincere and considerable efforts to not be stereotypical, in many aspects of my daily life, it appears I have become the hamster in the wheel.
The rat in the race.
The gin in the gin-soaked boy.
Tsk tsk.

Soon, my decaying existence,
soon...

^