Friday, 24 May 2013

Friday Night's Drinkin' To: Alphawezen

I know it's been a while since I posted; I needed to recharge my batteries. Tonight's recommendation is some chillout. It's got a nice bassline, interesting vocals, and I have this sneaky feeling that you'll revisit this track because of it's lyrics.

The track is called Speed of Light by Alphawezen. Cheers!


Track - Speed of Light
Artist - Alphawezen

Sunday, 5 May 2013

Friday Night's Drinkin' To: The Funky Lowlives

I know I've been irregular over the last few weeks with my posts. Breaks are essential to break the monotony of life.

This weekend's track is called You Have To Come With Me, and it's by The Funky Lowlives. I suggest that you turn the bass up a notch and swim in the low end bursts of energy that this song exhibits.

Cheers!


Saturday, 20 April 2013

Friday Night's Drinkin' To: BT

BT (Brian Transeau) is one of the best artists from the electronica genre. I guess it's partly because his roots lie in classical music. He went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston and progressed to producing electronic music. This produces some interesting results, like the track I'm about to post. 

Do keep in mind that this track was produced way back in 1995 and it's still appealing to the ears. Most electronic music is short lived. This album isn't one of them though.

Cheers!



Artist: BT
Track: Nocturnal Transmission
Album: Ima

Monday, 15 April 2013

The IPL is here to stay and it isn't because of the cheerleaders

I was a skeptic of the Indian Premier League. I always assumed that people would lose interest in it after a few seasons. Cricket is considered to be a boring game; T20 cricket and IPL may change that. I have a feeling that it will.

Cricket relies on goodwill. It is the only game where the home side has a say in the playing conditions; it's legal to mess around with the surface to suit the home team's strengths. Goodwill ended the day Hitler decided to gas the Jews. There's been no goodwill ever since. The Indian Cricket team is unbeatable in India because of the pitches that we prepare. Any sign of grass and moisture on the pitch will have the subcontinental teams wetting their pants.

T20 cricket evens it out. The bowler only needs to last four overs, and hence he can can go all out without the need to conserve energy. The pitch may assist the batsman like the SS assisted Hitler back in the day; it's very easy for the bowler to counter that advantage because conserving runs is a high priority. There is no need for attacking bowling; starving the batsman of runs can frustrate him into a rash move where he throws his wicket away.

Likewise, the batsman needs to get a couple of hits over or across the boundary and he's got the advantage. A batsman doesn't need to last more than twenty overs. Ten overs of blitz is sufficient. The contest between the batsman and the bowler isn't as dependent on the conditions as it used to be. It's extremely unpredictable; mystery is good. The most memorable games are the ones that go down to the wire and IPL has a lot of them.

None of this would make any difference if the tournament was being hosted in the USA. Indians are crazy about cricket; the only other thing that they really care about is Bollywood  The IPL has Bollywood in it too. Many teams are owned (partially) by film actors and their likes. Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta in slow motion have a charming effect on the TV audiences. The broadcast of Dhoni's innings on television consisted mostly of his wife smiling into the camera. Indians love glamour and IPL has lots of it.

The IPL is a business. A business will do well if it's a win-win situation for all parties involved. The IPL offers a great channel for advertising; the media loves the excitement. It promotes cricket too, albeit in a weird manner. It doesn't encourage traditional cricket; but in this age of batting pitches, shortening the game balances the game. There are more teams, and hence more opportunities for players to get noticed. Getting noticed in T20 cricket and delivering in other forms of cricket are like oranges and apples. But it does provide more opportunities for players and that's not a bad thing at all.

Opportunities aside, the players get to make a buttload of cash for two months work. That's not a bad deal. A couple of hits or a couple of tight overs and one could be the man of the match. Its got a lot of money, and the players get to take home handsome amounts of money.

The audience gets their money's worth too. For a few hundred rupees, the general public gets to watch players from all around the world. There's room for improvement though; the stadiums are filthy, the general public is treated like cattle.

The IPL isn't something that I like, but I guess you get used to it. I don't know if it will help spread cricket; that's debatable and only time will tell. The IPL has a lot to offer; good cricket isn't what it offers though. What it offers is good entertainment and that's always appreciated.

Friday, 5 April 2013

Friday Night's Drinkin' To: Tania Maria

The funk flavour continues this week with Come With Me by Tania Maria. Cheers!



Artist: Tania Maria
Track: Come With Me

Thursday, 4 April 2013

Symmetry

Symmetry as a concept is a very integral part of our lives. Humans and animals tend towards symmetry. A lot of the things that we design are always almost symmetric. Asymmetry does exist; when it does, it's got a special place in the universe. Not all things are symmetric, but most of the world tends to follow symmetry.

The notion of beauty is based on symmetry. The definition of beauty varies; some people like chubby faces while others like strong facial features. People interpret symmetry of facial features as beauty.

Most architectural designs follow symmetry. Think of the most iconic buildings in the world, and they will exhibit some symmetry. The Taj Mahal is symmetric and so is the Eiffel Tower. Ancient civilizations built symmetric structures too. The Pyramids of Giza are one example. I can't think of anything else right now but I'm certain that any structure built by ancient civilizations would have exhibited symmetry in some form or another.

Cars and motorcycles show some symmetry. Almost all forms of transport are symmetric along one plane. Symmetry in automobiles is a necessity along the longitudinal plane. If they weren't stable along the longitudinal plane, they would be extremely unstable in motion. Engineers try to incorporate symmetry when it comes to the weight distribution of a vehicle, as it lends stability to an automobile.

Stabilty and symmetry are correlated at the micro level too. Electrons in molecules and atoms like pairing up. They always exist in pairs of opposite spin. A lone electron in an atom decreases the stability of the atom whereas all electrons paired up increases stability. All noble gases have their electrons paired up and don't react. This doesn't mean that they will not react; it just takes a lot of effort to get them to form compounds. All atoms which contain an unpaired electron will always try to achieve stability; they will find other atoms which can help pair this electron up. This is the basic rule; things aren't this simple though.

Optical Isomerism is an interesting topic. Isomers (in chemistry) are different forms of the same compound or element. Optical Isomers exist in certain compounds; they are non-superimposable mirror images of each other. Although it seems like a minor difference; the implications of this phenomenon are major. Some drugs that are used to treat medical conditions require just one of the optical isomers of the chiral compound. The other form is useless because of its spatial configuration. A right hand will only fit into a right handed glove.

Symmetry and asymmetry exist together. The earth is symmetric, more or less; the details of it aren't. So is the human body. Atoms show some form of symmetry, automobiles aren't symmetric along all planes. The BMW S1000RR is mostly symmetric, but I find the asymmetric front very attractive.

Symmetry isn't always good, and it isn't always bad. One may think of symmetry and asymmetry as good and evil. They both exist together.

If everything's good; there is no bad. Likewise, if everything is symmetric, there is no asymmetry to spice things up. They're both an essential part of our lives, and that's quite remarkable. 

Friday, 29 March 2013

Friday Night's Drinkin' To: Tom Browne

This one's a good old classic; Funkin' for Jamaica by Tom Browne. Great groove, amazing vocals. I hope you like it. Cheers!



Artist: Tom Browne
Track: Funkin' for Jamaica