Syd Barrett - 2 Years Since

July 7th, 2008 Roshan

Really sad. Here’s a story from the Wikipedia which shows just what kind of a guy he was:

Barrett’s unpredictable behaviour at the time and idiosyncratic sense of humour combined to create a song that, initially, seemed like an ordinary Barrett tune. However, as soon as the others attempted to join in and learn the song, Barrett changed the melodies and structure, making it impossible for the others to follow, while singing the chorus “Have you got it yet?” This would be his last attempt to write material for Pink Floyd before leaving the band.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreleased_Pink_Floyd#Have_You_Got_It.2C_Yet.3F

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The Feminist State of Denial

May 16th, 2008 Roshan

I was just reading this BBC article about celebrities that we love to hate and I noticed that somebody tried putting a feminist spin on it, claiming that the reason we hate female celebrities is because they don’t conform to the rules of ‘femininity’.

Celebrities including Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Rumer Willis, Mischa Barton and Kerry Katona are routinely condemned for their perceived excessive lifestyles in terms of their disregard for the apparent rules of femininity through extreme diets or weight gain, drug abuse, supposed lack of fashion sense/style, and an ‘unfeminine’ need for fame and attention

Now look at this, isn’t this ridiculous? The rules of femininity decide that extreme diets, drug abuse, lack of fashion sense, and a need for fame and attention are a bad thing? That is such a joke, Ms. Kirsty Fairclough. The things described are simply repugnant, and most sane people see them as just that. These people conform to the rules of ’stay away from’. Too quick to call misogyny, ma’am. Tell me, who thinks an attention-seeking flamboyantly-dressed anorexic male heroin addict is acceptable company? Not even other people that fit into that class would think these people aren’t the detritus of society.

Let’s have a look at the Top 3 on the list of loved celebrities: Paul McCartney, Lewis Hamilton, Gary Lineker. And the Top 3 on the list of hated celebrities? Heather Mills, Amy Winehouse, Victoria Beckham. This obviously describes a bias against woman, correct? Wrong. Let’s look at them closer:

The Beloved:

  1. McCartney: Famous for being a Beatle. Illustrious post-Beatles music career.
  2. Hamilton: Famous for being an F1 racer. Nearly won a title on debut. Few are that talented.
  3. Gary Lineker: Football player who played twice for England in the World Cup. Not once cautioned by the referee. Career in sports broadcasting. Obviously famous for sport.

The Despised:

  1. Mills: Famous for being McCartney’s wife. In divorce proceedings, she got 35,000 pounds a year not including the acceptable child support. Public image of being hysterical, throwing water on her ex-husband’s lawyer, stuff like that.
  2. Winehouse: Famous for being a singer. Recently in the news for swearing at her audiences at concerts and having overdosed on heroin, ecstasy, cocaine and ketamine.
  3. Beckham: This one beats me. On interviews she has this almost-dumb air about her, but she made her money being a big singer albeit one whose music I wouldn’t listen to.

Now, excepting Victoria Beckham, there’s a pretty good reason to dislike these people. If I had a kid, these aren’t the role models I would want them having. And yes, people make fun of Mick Jagger all the time, and we don’t think he’s a hero either though he’s a pretty damn hilarious dumb-ass. Compare that with the loved celebrities, they’re known for what they’ve done not for what temper tantrums they’ve been pulling. Also, while Simon Cowell is on the hated list, Anne Robinson is nowhere to be seen. Must I take this to mean that society hates men being caustic? Please.

But let’s look at those people who have broken free of the rules of femininity and fought society’s distaste for successful women according to Ms. Fairclough: Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Mischa Barton. I left out those who I had no clue about. These are your great warriors? Your fighters against organised male repression? The battle is already lost. Jesus. Drug addicts, anorexics, drink-drivers, man the cannons! It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic.

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Engineering Students

March 8th, 2008 Roshan

For years I have endured the incessant grumbling of engineering students, and while I listened to them patiently, it always amazed me how little effort they put in, when necessary, to change their lot. To make it worse, an engineering student’s problems are almost always caused by someone else, either parents, their teachers, their college or incredibly, Anna University. Unsurprisingly, these same students will either not protest - in an organised fashion, or at all - or they will riot like a bunch of mindless bulls damaging the property of their college, yelling like those retarded political supporters, and losing any credibility they had.

Of course, it is also incredibly surprising that engineering students in general are like this, because the large majority of them fall into the following categories: (omitting those who actually wanted to do engineering, because if they did they got into either the IITs, NITs, or any other top institute)

  • Didn’t know what to do. Chose what friends did.
  • Didn’t know what to do. Parents chose.
  • Knew what to do. Chose what friends did anyway.
  • Knew what to do. Couldn’t tell parents.
  • Knew what to do. Overridden by parents.

Of these, those who didn’t know what to do have little right to complain. If they had the balls to do anything more than complain, they’d have dropped out as soon as they knew they didn’t want that course. Oh, but of course, the multi-lakh fee necessary wouldn’t make that possible. Sorry, but that is such incredible lack of sense I do not know where to begin. Lock yourself in, then complain. I could almost laugh if it wasn’t so pathetic.

Those who knew what to do but either chose to do what their friends did or couldn’t tell their parents they wanted to are a sad lot, because they are unable to express what they want in a coherent manner. It is unlikely these would complain, unless part of a larger group of complaining engineers, because they’d be unable to make a statement outside a crowd. Other people call these people cowards. I don’t, I think they’re remarkable aware of the truth, that it is their own fault.

The largest group of grumblers, however, is the group of engineers whose choice wasn’t their own, but their parents. In every case but two, I have noticed that these are people who are incapable of leaving their comfort zone. They would rather live a life of suffering, grumbling every now and then, than sacrifice temporary lack of discomfort for a hope of later joy. If our independence movement had had leaders like these people, then it wouldn’t have been an independence movement. However, they are the most creative of the lot, and consequently, the most interesting. They will blame everything, I’ve heard of:

  • Evil Parents - Okay, this is obvious. It is in the list for the sake of completeness.
  • The Education System - Ooh, nice try. We all know the system sucks, but there are loads of us who got through unscathed, a hundred thousand counter-examples if you wish.
  • Society - Wait, what?! This one is hilarious, society forced them to become engineers. They wanted to be pilots, artists, philosophers but when society didn’t like that they caved in like a Chinese coal mine.
  • Parents - Yes, again! Because that’s what it comes down to, a weak attempt at rebellion, like a blog post about how “there will be revolution in the United States if they infringe on our freedom!” which is followed up with no such revolution. Talk is cheap, kids.

Since parents figure in the list twice, I thought it fair to talk a little more about them. With such draconian parents, people unwilling to accept that their children must be latent geniuses at something other than engineering, these people must be having a hard time going home and handing in their semester mark sheets showing a few miscellaneous arrears. Strangely, they don’t. They also don’t have any trouble bunking the occasional class, waking up at 2 in the afternoon, playing video games all the time or watching TV for long periods of time. So their parents aren’t foaming-at-the-mouth disciplinarians, or ex-army colonels, so it’s obvious where the problem is. Yes, brilliant! You guessed it, it’s not your brother, it’s not your sister, it’s you! Congratulations! Please come up to the podium.

Jesus, show some backbone. Whiners.

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