Not that I was very persevering at it, but the advent of Twitter seems to have cut into my already dismal state of blogging. Most off-the-cuff remarks I might have considered putting into a blog [1], I now find myself finishing in 140 characters or less. An example would be the early morning (by Australian time) Champions League final game between Barca and Man U. that Barca won through some superb midfield play, which in other circumstances, I might have devoted a paragraph or three, I Twittered (Tweeted? Twat ?) about.
For lazy bums such as myself, 140 characters or less is just too tempting; get the rush of sharing your (half-formed) thoughts with the world out of the way quickly – thoughtful analysis and introspection be dammed.
Then there are other advantages: you have a list of people who follow you on Twitter, and with judicious calculations of whether they are online (or will be) or a knowledge of their interest, you know you will attract their attention to your Tweet (Twit?). With blogs, it has recently become a crap-shoot: your RSS feeds (wow, that sounds so 2005-6ish!) could be on the subscription list of hundreds (mine isn’t), but most people, I suspect, dont bother reading beyond the first 140 characters anyway. However, this could be a problem with Twitter too: there are those insanes that ‘follow’ hundreds and thousands, and I have no idea if they actually read a quarter of them. But at least you are assurred of being skimmed over by a few, versus the neglect of all.
On balance however, I am not a big fan of Twitter. So call me old-fashioned and stuck in the Web2.0 age, but here goes some reasons:
First, I have noticed that the overall productivity of quite a few of my favorite bloggers has declined since the advent of widespread Twitter usage. This is a personal loss – I do get their Twitter updates, but often it gets lost under a mountain of trivial stuff. Blogs – I can read at leisure. Twitter – early mornings, I cannot be bothered beyond the 5th, or the 2nd if I haven’t had my coffee yet. So I assume I am missing out on the richness of much rants, fisks, and other such goodies.
Second, the tendency of many Twitters (Twats? Tweeters ?) to go on a self-absorbed chronicling of their everyday mundane activities is often disgusting, not to mention boring as hell (ok, so that was the third soy-latte-chai you had today morning, now get over it and be a man by ordering a triple-shot Venti or whatever abomination).
Finally, while Twitter can be put to good use in quick dissemination of information (e.g during the Mumbai blast) – or for interesting updates on the go with iPhones (e.g. a few droll observations by the ever reliable gawker from a suburban pub tonite) etc., the total misuse or worse, cluelessness, of the platform by many is absolutely irritating. A well known blogger and journalist I was following for a while suffered from the worst case of verbal diarrhoea I have had the misfortune of reading – his opinion seemed to be that the 140 characters limit was a simple inconvenience, easily abrogated by breaking up a blog-sized posting (never pithy to begin with) into 30-40 Twitters!! I exaggerate of course, but not by much.
So unfollow these people you miserable Luddite twat, I hear the cry goes. Rest assured, my Twitter following is kept at the bare minimum: I think I follow a little more than 30 people (!) – four of them are celebrities, or people who I consider celebrities (Stephen Colbert, Kal Penn, Mindy Kaling and Samit Basu), a few were reciprocal followers (I have stopped this now, unless I know the person) and why they wanted to follow me in the first place I don’t know, a couple are institutional Twitters (e.g NIH, CDC) and I plan to expand into this soon, and the rest are people whom I used to follow on their blogs, some I have met personally as well.
As such, I don’t think that Twitter is a very bad thing, but hope it will be put to better use.
Anyhow, there ends a not very brief rant. And now, excuse me while I link this to an Twitter update
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[1]: Even on a good week, less than 50% of putative blog posts actually get past the drafts stage.
I always thought that the intro section had a bit of santoor-tabla combo playing (Brian Eno’s idea no doubt) – although google searches kept insisting it was the “PersianSantur“. Anyway, I figured it would still be quite a good number for a fully Indo-western fusion version (more santoor, a bit of flute and even some sitar strings thrown in). Just a thought, not necessarily the reason for liking the music.
Now, being the usual chump, abodee under the rocks and quasi-luddite, I hadn’t realized (till about early this year) that Coldplay had actually released a follow-up version to La Vida – Prospekt’s March – that contains a full vocal, lyrical version of Life in Technicolor, unimaginatively named ‘Life in Technicolor II‘ !
Not to belabor it, point is that my realization about the existence of Prospekt’s March came while watching the music video of Life in Technicolor II (one that confirms the use of tabla and santoor):
While the video is interesting in its execution and fun to watch, I still prefer the original instrumental version of the song. I think the lyrics distract too much from the fluidity of the original melody (not to mention a bit of lack of subtlety in their video – did the little girl really need to confirm the CP bandmembers ?) .
[what's the point of posting this now, when realization had come couple of months ago ? not much really, except that I am enjoying the music anew for some reason and that I hadn't posted for a while. gotta let the imaginary readership know I'm alive and well!]
There are lots of negative things to be said about Sydney: the multitude of dodgy characters, the incredible rents, the hole-in-the-wall that purports to be a place of residence for the next few months (hopefully a longer post about the city etc in a while).
However, they are all balanced by the fact that right opposite the said hole-in-the wall is a pub. And not just the run of the mill, typical Aussie pub that satisfies itself by pouring weak lagers, but a true-blue alehouse that serves at any time, about 15 different beers covering ales, lagers and stouts on tap (not to mention the multitudes available on bottle). Apart from style, they cover different countries as well including US (the good ones), German, Czech, New Zealand and of course Australia (the good ones). And they keep changing the beers weekly/monthly.
Overall, some interesting beer-drinking experiences ahead.
But can someone tell me why is it necessary to keep the lights on at that swimming pool Water Cube thingie in Beijing for the remaining evening and all the other evenings in the year (unless some event is on)? Or why the Eiffel Tower needs all those lights (as if some Parisians or tourists would bump into it accidentally at night) ?
I always get pissed off by these gimmicky let’s save the environment by doing doing something symbolic for a short time movements. Why switch of lights for just that one hour ? Be sensible, and switch off whatever lights/fans/AC is not necessary every day; replace all your incandescent bulbs with fluorescent ones; don’t leave your desktop running overnight; drive less, walk more. There are quite a many ways in which you can contribute to saving the environment, and save yourself some cash while doing so.
Which brings me to the G-20 summit currently being held in London. One of their agendas is to do something about the environment. Dudes, just do your discussions via tele-conferencing and save the environment by not flying world leaders and their entourages (to say nothing of the press, or the emissions from all those protesters making their trip to London) halfway around the globe for meaningless photo-opportunities. And the countries save money as well. Would be such a better gesture, if symbolism is what you are looking for.
Finally, in context of the G-20, wanted to point out this recent remark by British PM Gordon Brown: “The option of doing nothing is not available to us” ( heard on the Bugle podcast), in essense admitting that governments were doing nothing previously !
The government has no business involving itself in business.
That is the popular refrain you will hear from fiscal conservatives/libertarians and such. Personally, I don’t disagree with the sentiment. Even in these tough times, I believe that the economy is best served by private enterprise with limited interference from the government. Plus, anyone growing up in India through the 70-80’s observed first hand how governmental involvement creates inefficiency in business (e.g. land-line phone companies) and how too much red-tapism destroy entrepreneurial spirits (or limits it to a dedicated or privileged few). So in general, I am all for the government keeping their fingers off private businesses.
Except, when they have a right to it, by virtue of ummmm…….say few billion dollars invested ! I am of course, referring to all the hullabaloo over Obama’s recent sacking of the GM CEO Wagoner. Predictably, a swathe of right-wing bloggers (even some liberal ones) are upset over what they perceive as the administration’s needless meddling. The Corner sums it up thus:
GM is now Obama’ s company. If it closes, it will be on his say-so. But Obama is a politician, not a CEO. So his first concern is to avoid bad political fallout, which means he will prop up the company for as long as it takes, regardless of what makes economic sense.
This is very much on the lines of emotion expressed by Don Boudreaux in an editorial on USA Today earlier this month (he was talking about bank nationalization, but the idea is the same):
Politicians’ incentives differ radically from those of private owners. Few politicians look past the next election or beyond the familiar interest groups whose support is crucial.
(A very typical line that is often parroted by a certain eminent Indian libertarian blogger as well.)
All this is mildly amusing. I wonder if people writing these stuff have any idea about the irony: Last time I checked, the current financial mess was created not by politicians, but private businesses, or rather the heads of certain private businesses. And the reason it happened is that these CEOs, just like politicians, were looking at short-term incentives - lining their own pockets with bonuses without considering long-term ramifications of their risky investments.
Similar short-sightedness have contributed to the fall of the Detroit Big 3. Rather than compete with foreign automakers by designing better vehicles in terms of quality, reliability and fuel-efficiency, they have been content to sit on the sales of poorly made gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks and lobbying to block any legislation that impact fuel efficiency.
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The problem is that the government should not have been involved in this mess at all (although when such a large number of people’s jobs are on the line, it is difficult for a modern government to be hands-off – and remember that while people are blaming Obama, the major bailouts were passed by the Bush administration). But now that it is involved having paid the dollars, you cannot complain about its involvement, for good or bad.
Off to my favorite scientific conference. I wish the organizers had chosen a warmer clime, but then hopefully the science within the heated indoors will more than make up for it. So here is looking forward to meeting old friends, making new ones, networking, and of course, some awesome science.
After the conference, a bit of nothing to do (unless someone wants to offer me a job interview ) and then San Francisco for a couple of days.
Any lurkers from Boston/Bay Area, give a toot. Beer shall be consumed in good company then.
What the f…k was that? Does Danny Boyle know what Bachchan saab means to us Indians? Who would dare approach him like that? (link)
He seems more upset that someone would dare to approach Bacchan-saab covered in shit, rather than the being covered in shit part !
And dude, if someone calls you a ’slumdog’ as a gaali – take it on the chin, and move on, or better: call him back with gaalis like ‘nixon’, ‘milk’, ‘wrestler’ etc.
(1) Today is a day for WTF-ery, will post more if I get a chance.
A big pat on the back of those who actually stayed awake to watch the entire Oscar’s night live; I had recorded it and even with the benefit of fast-forwarding through really boring bits and the commercial breaks, I wish I could even say ‘meh’ !
This was undoubtedly one of the most uninspiring, insipid and boring Oscar ceremonies I have witnessed. Allright, so Hugh Jackman can sing, he can dance, he can self-reference during his song and dance routines, and yeah, yeah…he is the sexiest man alive, or something. But he did not bring anything extra as a host – the best one could say is that he was not as irritating as Ellen Degeneress two years ago. But that’s not really saying much.
And, that was the best choreography they could come up with for O saaya and Jai Ho: A bunch of dancers in ethnically confusing pink dresses !? Jai Ho was slightly better, but only just. they should have left it to the professionals in Mumbai ?
The moments barely enjoyable included bits of the opening routine, Tina Fey and Steve Martin’s banter, and Jerry Lewis’ acceptance. Of course, Jai Ho to ARR and Gulzar for winning Oscars.
Finally, Kate Winslet: For fugs sake – stop the crying already and show some dignity. Meryl Streep was sitting not very far – she has won the award three times and nominated a zillion times, learn something from her.
Unlike last year, they are actually showing the Oscars live down here (on Cable TV though). Could have something to do with the fact that an Aussie, Hugh Jackman, is hosting the show. Unfortunately, work beckons and anything interesting that happens will have to be caught up with later tonite. Before leaving for work, I did notice though that as many as four different channels are showing the Oscar red-carpets !
Nothing much to say about the actual awards. The only film I have watched is Benjamin Button and that really doesn’t deserve an Oscar. As per smart people, neither does Slumdog Millionare, but since when is the Oscars about deserving. It has been mostly about hype, publicity and sometimes a bit of politics.
Re: Sulmgog, I find the hoopla and controversy surrounding the film bit pointless. Among the western audience, everyone seems to lap it up. The Indian audience is divided into three views: one that absolutely hates the movie, and the hatred is based on the fact that the film only shows poverty and a very tired cliche of what westerners would lie to perceive India as, and totally ignores the so-called ‘modern’ India. The other camp believes that poverty is very much a reality and Indians should face up to it. Neither of these are very rational views.
Thankfully, there is a saner camp in-between, and quite a few erudite bloggers have pointed out that they do not like the film just because it is not good cinema. This blog probably sums it up best:
Having lavished praise, awards, and money on a movie with atrocious acting, cringe-worthy dialogues, a plot that bends disbelief beyond its event horizon, characters with the depth of a chullu and a script more packed with cliches than the Virar fast during rush hour; white people have proved that colonial guilt makes better goggles than beer[2].
To be fair, I shouldn’t be commenting too much on the issue as I am yet to see the film myelf.
However, what I am hoping for – and admittedly this is a bit irrational too – is for Jai Ho to take the Best Song award. Liek many ARR compositions, this one took me a while to get used to, but I just love the catchy beats now. Certainly not the best ARR-Gulzar collaboration, but certainly award-worthy.
Immensely enjoying every bit of endless looping of this song on my ipod (from Anurag Kashyap’s latest film Dev D):
The wedding brass-band version above is certainly a hoot (and an inspiring decision by Kashyap to want to do this), but for a serious listen, I would recommend the other, very grungy, rock version . Possibly the best rock song ever sung in Hindi (apologies to all the Hindi punk-band-in-a-garage I am ignorant about).
And ummm…for further fun (or not), do check out this x-rated remix as well:
NSFW depending on where you are – certainly use ear-phones or keep the volume down if you are in India. Certainly not the most of polite of languages – reminded me intensely of some conversations during the hostel days.
In case someone still doesn’t know, Dev D is Kashyap’s re-imagining of the sappy love-triangle, Devdas. As part of the minority that absolutely loved Kashyap’s earlier venture, No Smoking, I am quite looking forward to this movie.
[Also wondering when some custodians of the Bangali-kalture will call a strike in Kolkata due to perceived slight on Sarat Chandra's legacy and asking the govt to ban the film there!
Me, I am quite happy - I have always hated the mushy, tear-jerking sentimentality and pyan-pyanani nyakamo (sorry can't translate) aspect of many of Sarat Chandra's works (to be fair, he created some fairly strong, adventurous characters as well), and am happy that someone is hacking it.]
The Catch the Fire Ministries has tried to blame the bushfires disaster on laws decriminalising abortion in Victoria.
The Pentecostal church’s leader, Pastor Danny Nalliah, claimed he had a dream about raging fires on October 21 last year and that he woke with “a flash from the Spirit of God: that His conditional protection has been removed from the nation of Australia, in particular Victoria, for approving the slaughter of innocent children in the womb”. (link)
Oh yeah – god’s message against the “slaughter of innocent children” (high debatable anyway)….is killing of more people!
Aussies are actually too laid-back to be deeply absorbed in religion like the Americans, and I hardly ever hear about religion being spoken about openly, so I assume this guy is really quite a fringe element of the society. But it is really deplorable how someone would try to take advantage of such a tragedy to further an agenda, especially from someone who is supposedly aiding with the disaster relief efforts. What a sad, pathetic excuse for a human being.
[1]: Regarding the fire itself, while any disasters that claim large human and animal tolls are always sad, but the fact that this was started by an arsonist, makes it tougher to digest.
