RAMfest, Pune

I'm heading off to Pune, for the RAMfest. No, it's no religious gathering, it the first Rock And Metal festival. About 6 bands are going to be performing. Plus, hopefully i'll meet Danny, Dhaval and the guys at Symbiosis.

Anyway, we'll be hawking copies of We ARE The Scene: Vol. One at the fest. We've sold a decent amount in Bombay. If we sell the same amount in all the major cities, then we'll rack up about half a g of sales. However, that is kinda sceptical, since the response from Delhi at the recently held metal fest wasn't too encouraging. But what the heck, eventually, yeah!

The cd cover image. Man, i wish i'd have refined it a bit more. I really need to work on my colors.

Here's a slight variation of the cover, 1024x768.

And what might have been the cover we hadn't had a mix-up with the printer. Again, 1024x768.

Ps, these are all thumbnails. Click for a bigger picture.

ATKTs..

First KT paper today. C#. Not bad. Pretty good infact. I hope to double my mark. from 26, to maybe upto a 60. A 48, atleast.

Fight Club Is REALLY Calvin And Hobbes!!!

Don't believe me?

Read THIS.

A funny conversation..

A few days back, i read a pretty funny conversation on CnC at dc++

starvingartist: When are they supposed to hit the technology wall? 2029?
vincecool3: 3265
Murphey: 2020, when the human race is wipped out
starvingartist: Ahh. I thought that was 2012.
Murphey: Nah, thats just when 99 percent of it is whiped out cause Bush got re-elected.
starvingartist: Doomsday. Late as usual.

Hah, it was one of those blindsides that comes straign outta left-field. Sign, i have no idea what i'm saying, but that little convo sure had me chuckling...

My BEST Near Death Experience...

Sign*. I really should get some new footwear. My floaters really gave me the slip. This time the bank interest would have been too high. Ok, enuff bad one-liners.

There's a speed breaker outside my building, where the buses slow down, and where ppl always get on and off. So this morning as usual, i try to jump on, and damn, my footwear's broken. I miss my footing. I fall, but i forget to let go. I'm dragged for a few meters, before some grey matter kicks in and i let go.

Boy, i look up and a big crowd had collected. I was bruised, but damn, i was so embarrassed. All the ppl i knew in the are were there, the shopkeepers, everyone, I felt like an ass, and wished the earth would open up and swallow me. On top of it, my hair was a mess. Suxx. No seriously, i didn't get and bruises, apart from a shattered ego.

Ripping into Sabretooth - Comic Book Atrocity

Hah!

Sabretooth 1.

Those guys over at The Fourth Rail really know how to smash the nail right on the head.

"And honestly, there's so much atrocity going on in the top 10 books, with Avengers dying off or betraying the team and supervillains raping and killing supporting cast members in Identity Crisis, that I'm not terribly impressed with the deaths of a handful of extras in a book based on a third tier supervillain."

Like i said, Hah!

Jack the DVD Ripper

I downloaded DVDshrink today, a free utility for ripping and compressing DVDs. Which might be illegal. But i'm only gonna be ripping DVDs which contain pirated movies. So it appears, a greater crime, or two wrongs making a right?

System : Upgraded

Aha, the new 17" monitor looks great! An LG Studioworks 700E model. So it's officially a new computer now, not just a new CPU. Except for the speakers, which were customised for the old Compaq monitor. Damn, will have to get a new set now, or maybe just a power adapter for old pair.

Long Distance to Canada..

No, i didn't call. I'm usually too broke to do so (or maybe too stingy, but i didn't just say that).

Must have been a few weeks since Amrita left for Canada (don't ask when, i suck at dates, don't even remember when my bro left for Russia). Been talking online now and then, but nothing beats speaking on the phone. So i was kinda surprised when she called, even though she'd said she would, cuz i'd thought she'd call in the morning. Forgot to take into consideration the time difference. Just because i stay up all night doesn't mean other people do too.. :-p

Anyway, from what she said, Toronto sounded a lot better than here. She's going to se the CN tower tomorrow. Lol, Toronto is where they shot RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE (review HERE). Forgot to tell her that useless bit of trivia. Hey, if you're reading this, consider it me telling you.. lol, trivia junkie = me.

It hardly seemed like we talked at all. And yet, it showed 6 minutes on the phone. Wow, relativity suxx.. Must, learn, to, slow, time...

Dave Mustaine talks...

Shockwaves Magazine talked to Dave about his new album, The System Has Failed, and obviously the talk veered towards the spat with David Ellefson, the ex-members, and Megadeth's turbulent history.

Mustaine comes across pretty much as a control freak, and it's irritating to hear him trash-talk about Ellefson and the other members in general.

Read it HERE.

Rock In-dependance..

So i just got home from I-Rock 2004. I didn't know what to expect, and the show ultimately left me with mixed feelings.

Sceptre opened, which was surprising. However, what wasn't surprising was that their set didn't excite me at all. Same old stuff all the time. Their originals Nuclear, Revolution, Quicksand and Charred. Good to decent. Nothing ground-breaking. Plus uninspired covers of Ozzy's Perry Mason, Metallica's One, and some Pantera stuff.

PDV were up next, and a lot more energetic. They had quite a few originals, and good stuff at that. Great crowd response. Also covered SOAD, and Deftones's My Own Summer, which was fucked up. Otherwise pretty neat set. Enjoyable.

Gary Lawyer came up next, in place of AFS. His band was awesome!! Excellent skills, and great showmanship. The entire crowd was swaying as if one. However, i didn't really like the song selection. Enough of Roadhouse Blues and Highway Star (can't believe the crowd still wants this shit played over and over again). Plus Bon Jovi and Creed got a bigger response than any other song played by anyone. So much for a supposedly metal-hungry crowd. But Lawyer was still great, very vibrant, and his band was awesome! The best of the day.

Finally, AFS. Was looking forward to them, 'specially Rushad on the bass, However, they seemed kinda lacking, like maybe the time out had robbed them of something. The covers wee ok, a surprising but screwey cover of FNM's Gentle Art Of Making Enemies, and a good one of RHCP's Give It Away. Originals were decent. Left when they were playing Eager Beaver, cuz i had gotten bored and tired.

Picked up stuff. Autopgraphed copy of Shrapnel's Intellectual Persuit, and Reptilian Death's Total Annahilation. Excellent inlays and production, the former, and some sadistically funny songs, the latter, including Nursery Rhymes For Satan's Children and 5 Easy Ways To Murder Someone. Awesome!
Got the PDV poster too, which is now totally creased and folded. Shouldn't have put it in the bag.

Good show overall, worth my 150 bucks, but didn't seem like I-Rock. Seemed just like a random show happening at some ground. Which wasn't half bad really. Chitrakut Ground. Pretty breezy in there. Was kinda tipsy when i went in, so couldn't see if the chicks were hot or not, and by the time i could, it was too dark. Travelling is easier for me now, no long distances. However, i still miss Rang Bhavan.. :-(

Small Gods!!

First of all, my review for Small Gods, here.

Second, Jason Rand and Juan Ferferya, the people on the book, actually read it, and took out time to respond to it. How cool is that!! Read it here.

Whadya think 'a that??

Aliens And Predators

I downloaded the Alien Vs Predator trailer from Jurassic Punk, and somehow, it isnt really what i was hoping for. It seems like your usual Summer Blockbuster, with gunfights and explosions. There's no indication of stealth anywhere, which is what i primarily associate with Aliens and Predators. They slink in the shadows, and stalk their prey, not jump in the open with full guns blazing. The trailer left them with no sense of menace or awe. Ofcourse, i'm not letting this dampen my enthusiasm for the movie.

Speaking of which, check out this hilarious article over Newsarama, where long-time Alien and Predator illustrator Dave Dorman interviews the two of them. Hilarious! It's here.

Web-Swingin' Wierdness

I couldn't sleep yesterday night. I kept having visions of the wallcrawler swinging through the city. What a rollercoaster rush!
Saw the movie, and played the game. Well, playing actually. I'm hooked on 'ol WebHead.

I woke up next to a cat...

...and her name was B. She had a free run of the place, coming and going as she pleased. Ofcourse, she chose not to go out at all. Nishit's room had all the comforts she needed. Food, water, a place to sleep. And even the random tabby that would wander in.
Everything in Nishit's room is probably created by hand, or made out of some junk or knick-knack that we would have probably thrown out. A lampshade of tweened steel wires, cd-carrying cases made of aluminium rods and cloth hangers, his chair a combo of a plastic chair body on top of a big electric box of some sort. And surprisingly, it's all very comfortable and homely.
A lot of odd stuff can be found at his place. I met some kind of a hyperactive monkey-frog hybrid at his place. It's name was Vidith, and it was Nishit's nephew. It was about 7 years old, and had complete about 540 pushups. 5 at a time, ofcourse. It's probably gonna get a new pair of sneakers when it reaches 1000.

@#!$% Bloody Memory...

I am getting forgetful these days.

Rohit "P-Man" came over today to deliver my copy of PDV's album Compose, Oppose, Dispose. So i go down to meet the dude, and take the cd and i'm gawking at it. He's standing there and i'm standing there, and there's some wierd feeling around. I wonder why he's waiting. Then he blurts out, "K, give me the 150 bucks, and i'll be gone", and it hits me. Not five minutes ago, i put 200 bucks in my pocket, to pay him, and there i'm standing, totally forgetting about it.

I also forgot to post Paddy mama's postcards. Shit, he'd asked me to do that like 3 days back. If he finds out, i'm dead. I'll post it tomorrow.

I went to sleep in the evening, and got up around 7:30. Sometime later, i got a call from Bhavesh, and then it hit me that i had to be over at his place, for a get-together with the rest of the ex-leos. He'd called me up two days back, to tell me about it, and now it'd totally slipped my mind! I spent the rest of the evening avoiding his calls.

And now, some time back, i wanted to go over to Jason's place, to get the Van Helsing movie cd. As usual, i forgot, and by the time i remembered, it was too late.

I suck.

Megadeth vs Megadeth

Oh my god, this is a nightmare! I can't believe the day has finally come when i'd see Dave and Dave on opposite sides!! It's pretty bad when when two fantastic musicians, who have been pals for nearly 2 decades, are going to have to slug it out in a courtroom. It kinda cheapens their image, reduces the respect i have for them.

There's a very well written piece by Dave Mustaine here, where he talk about Megadeth's decline, the fall in sales, and how various other incidents drove a firm wedge between the band members. This piece sounds surprisingly vulnerable, very unlike Dave, who generally has a rep of being an asshole. I guess this is why i'm still very wary of painting David Ellefson as the bad guy here, even though he's the one suing Dave M and Megadeth.

Though now, i pray this is just an alternate reality, and tomorrow morning, things will be all right again...

The search for 3D...

Phew! I spent all morning surfing the net, checking out links to various 3D resources - Models, Textures and Tutorials. It was a hard job, i tell you. My internet connection was really slow today, and Opera kept screwing up for some reason.
Well, i'm halfway through compiling these links. Check them out on the right. Any broken links or bad labels, let me know. Gotta bathe and eat now. I'll be back later in the evening to finish this.
Thanx to Chax for the impetus.