:: naazita ::

Tuesday, November 29, 2005 at 18:22

Dig Weed

This man is part of the reason why I learnt to appreciate electronic music (the other half of the reason being Sasha). Northern Exposure 1, that 1996 classic record, possibly one of the greatest of all time (the UK 2 CD version). The first time I put on this CD it was about midnight, lying in bed, a humid Hong Kong summer night. I remember the entire CD playing through in what felt like a few minutes. I remember hitting play again, and going through it all over again. I guess I must have done this a number of times, because before I knew it, it was 5am (can I add here there were no drugs involved :)). Ah well, the magic of Sasha & Digweed . So obviously, since then, seeing these guys live has been high on the must do list.

John Digweed, Live. TICK. (finally). November 26th Bogotá. Of course it wasn't his greatest gig ever, but I had a wicked time, and was completely content in my somewhat awestruck manner just watching him in his matter-of-fact, fresco style, an absolute God of the turntables, churning out some great tech house tunes.

Next on the list, Sasha & Digweed, live back-to-back, somewhere, somehow. (Watch the Southfest Argentina video on John's site, you'll want to go too)

This fantastic photo comes from Frederique's impressive photoblog, which I stumbled on.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005 at 18:56

God's Debris

The best any human can do is to pick a delusion that helps him get through the day. This is why people of different religions can generally live in peace. At some level, we all suspect that other people don't believe their own religion any more than we believe ours.?
-God's Debris. By Scott Adams.

Pick of this week - World's largest selling e-book is now available for free download here. I don't know exactly where I would place it in my list of favourite books. I do know though that it's a book I thoroughly enjoyed. I treasure my rare hardcover copy and often pick it up and plow through a random chapter. I've lost count of how many times I've read this compact little view of the world.

I know, I know, I'm turning into a downright Scott Adams groupie. This isn't standard Scott though, hell this ain't even humour.

Synopsis for those who haven't yet read it:
"Imagine that you meet a very old man who you eventually realize knows literally everything. Imagine that he explains for you the great mysteries of life quantum physics, evolution, God, gravity, light, psychic phenomenon, and probability in a way so simple, so novel, and so compelling that it all fits together and makes perfect sense. What does it feel like to suddenly understand everything? God's Debris isn't the final answer to the Big Questions. But it might be the most compelling vision of reality you will ever read. The thought experiment is this: Try to figure out what's wrong with the old man's explanation of reality. Share the book with your smart friends then discuss it later while enjoying a beverage."

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 at 18:31

Formerly Known As Indian

I'm considering lying about my nationality these days. I'm thinking of picking a boring nationality, like the USA maybe (other suggestions?). Something close-ended so the revelation of my nationality would not be followed by a dozen bizarre questions/propositions.

India is more than exotic around here. For one, it's on the other side of the earth and there are hardly any Indians in Colombia (can't say that about many other places now, can you?). And besides, there's a genuine fascination for all things Indian (or 'hindu' as they say) around here.

Thankfully my brown-skin, dark-hair, almost latina looks don't give me away as a foriegner. But everytime I get into a conversation with a new person, my Spanish eventually gives me away. On comes the exclamation (no me jodas!!) and delight followed by the 'interview'.

Just about anybody (JAA): what language do they speak in India?
(ok, where do I begin, this is a little tricky)
Me: Err, we have a few different ones actually, like around 20 official languages
Just about anybody: you mean dialects?
Me: No, languages, most of which have distinct scripts (I try to explain how India is like a mini Europe, possibly more diverse)...and we have many more dialects, like umm, hundreds...
Just about anybody: (zapped, blinks slowly)

JAA: you don't eat meat right?
Me: (yawn) Well, most Indians don't eat beef because the Hindus consider the cow to be sacred - but yes, there are many people who eat chicken & seafood - but yes, red meat is not so common - I don't eat pork since I'm Muslim and well, I generally stay off red meat for health reasons...
JAA: (zapped, blinks slowly)

JAA: you're Muslim? there are Muslims in India? (that's if they know what Muslims are, but these days we're getting popular, not for all the right reasons though)

It goes on. Where is your family? Do I have a Colombian boyfriend yet? (much gasping & disbelief when I explain I don't)? But you have many amigos, yeah (wink wink). Is everyone in India as bonita as you? [well, there's a billion of us, lots of bonita to go around]

It gets funnier and more random.

Random person: You're from India (no me jodas!!), y'all worship cows right... hahahahahahaahaha... you crazy locos... hahahahahaahaha...
[how about a little cultural sensitivity then?]

Potential client in meeting is less interested in my business proposal, but instead wants to talk about what meditation technique I use.
[meditate, who, me??? what say we come back to that proposal?]

Tech entrepreneur: you're from India, so tell me, what should I focus on, building my own software product & brand, or go the outsourcing way and take small projects from American companies?
[errr... hmmm... proceed to bullshit... but hey, I'm getting good at this]

Uncle of friend excitedly tells me he has a spiritual guru in India, 'You probably know him... Swami... Maha... Rama... Rishi... Nanda..whatever'
[duh, no clue. and if I was you, I'd be careful about any money I send off to this 'guru']

Taxi driver & proud owner of a TATA car (whom I have known for exactly 60 seconds) wants me to help him set-up a business importing automotive parts from TATA. 'Do you know anyone in TATA in India?'
[well, let's see, a couple of brief encounters with Ratan Tata, but he's probably not the guy we want, right?]

The recurring phenomenon of the latin chico who wants to me teach him the kamasutra.
[and when I say I haven't read it, they laugh as if to say, "yeah good one, you've got a sense of humour" and proceed to say something like "i'll bet you learnt it at school?"]

Huh? (and this is not even the tip of the iceberg)

Being 'exotic' has been and continues to be fun. I do enjoy being able to talk about my culture, and being Indian is a great conversation starter and has helped me connect with people, yada yada yada, but I'm getting a little tired of playing the cultural ambassador and having these conversations everyday with every random new person I encounter.

Soy gringa. No me hables más.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005 at 18:24

Señorita Colombia

So they crowned the new Señorita Colombia. Valerie Dominguez, from the department of Atlantico, home to many goregeous Colombian women (like Oriana, for eg ;)). Colombia may not have had Venezuela or India's success in recent years at the international beauty contests, but this country takes the whole Miss... mania to a new level. For instance, I found out that they have hundreds of beauty contests in Colombia each year. Not only does every neighbourhood, village, town, city, department etc have a beauty contest, they even have a bunch of bizarre 'Reinas' or beauty queens such as Señorita Yuca (that's a vegetable), Señorita Café, Señorita Flores, Señorita del Mar (Sea)... even Señorita Petroleo (come on! who would want to be 'Miss Petroleum')... the list is absurd & endless. Another thing that tickles me is how the TV presenters here take apart these poor contestants like they're cattle. Most of the time they're saying things like 'ooh, her thighs are so fat' or 'she has no bust' etc. Contrast that with Indian subtlety ('ah, nice figure'), it's all just hilarious. [If seriously recreationally challenged and/or fanatical about latina women, you can take a peek at Miss Colombia down the ages at El Tiempo's photo gallery]

Friday, November 11, 2005 at 12:28

Seven Things

Finally I've decided to respond to a tag : ) Only because my old time buddy, the inimitable wishfulthinker has tagged me... here goes. (Btw, wishfulthinker's blog comes highly recommended...I'm becoming quite a fan of his babbling)

Seven Things I Plan To Do
- dance like Shakira
- make Jamie Oliver look like a novice
- visit Peru, Brazil, UK, Ireland, Iceland, Turkey, China, Japan in the next 2 years (ambitious I know, but watch me!)
- stop being a slob
- get rid of these damn zits
- do my grandfather proud
- be closer to Paris ;)

Seven Things I Can Do
- get by, no matter where, no matter how
- coverse, philosophize, swear, flirt & just about anything else in Spanish
- burp at will
- make an ass of myself & get away with it
- mimic accents (the brit being my fave)
- run 100 metres in 13 seconds
- pick up any sport i try (as long as there's no ice/snow involved)

Seven Things I Can't Do
- write poetry
- live without music, Boo Boo or Potty
- abuse my body
- convince myself that i look better with makeup
- play a musical instrument
- ice skate
- bother with pretentious/boring people

Seven Things I Say Most Often
(this varies, given what phase/place I'm in, being culturally absorbent and what not. These days, this is what I say most often. 'Aiyo' or 'Arrey' just doesn't work in Colombia, ya know what I'm saying)

- chévere!
- uuyyyyyy!!!
- listo pues
- ni mierda
- puta
- quibo mijo/a
- no me joda!!!
And no, I'm not going to translate any of that, since most of it is quite... well, 'rude' ;)

Not gonna tag anyone, but would recommend giving it a go.

at 08:22

Friday I'm in Love

So you think Yahoo! Launch is cool. You have to check out Pandora, an offspring of the music genome project. Listen to any artist you like, streamed to your desktop, for free. My pick of the week. I'm in love.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005 at 20:05

Road Tripping

Yet another gloriously long weekend was put to good use. 16 of us, cruising around Boyaca in a van, gorgeous department close to Bogota. A small glimpse of the sights on the three day get away.

And the crazy 16, at the Bolivar statue, at the historic point where the Battle of Boyaca was won, and the Spanish were defeated...

David (Colombia), Tayrone (US), Jurak (Slovakia), Ozan (Turkey), Alexa (Romania), Tiago (Portugal), Anna (Neth), Martin (Switz), Eda (Turkey), Arturo (Mexico), Felix (Peru), Ann (Denmark), Thadeo (US), Andrea (Colombia) & German (Colombia) who was hiding behind the camera... : )

More photos at my MSN space. Also at Tiago's photos & blog. And of course, Martin's fantastic photos here.

Friday, November 04, 2005 at 18:25

Eid Mubarak

I've hit an all-new record of the most un-eid Eid ever. Let's go through the checklist.

- Heard the words 'Eid Mubarak' or equivalent in other language: No
- Gone through the morning prayer/Eid ki namaz: No
- Acquired new clothing: No
- Received a rupee/peso/other currency in Eidi: No
(and the most painful...)
- Eaten biryani: No!!!

I got up this morning, like it was any normal day, ran to an 8.30 meeting downtown, and somewhere around mid-day remembered it was Eid when someone dropped me a message on MSN (thanks for the 20 or so messages, was the only Eid-ish part of my day). What can I say, no family, no Eid. No friends to entertain and feed, no Eid (sure all the homies missed my mum's biryani as much as I did)

For the ignorant, Eid is possibly the most important celebration for Muslims around the world, marks the end of Ramadan, or the month of fasting. I'm not religious, but I always liked Ramadan. Whats so cool about starving yourself for 12 hours everyday for 30 days, you ask? Ask Tom Gara, that cool Aussie. To me, its a powerful exercise in discipline. I don't really know why, but I think it's fantastic. It's also a lot about community and family, but all the way here in Colombia, that doesn't count for much. This year my fasting record wasn't fantastic, I managed only about 60% of my rozas . And believe you me, 4am breakfasts are no fun, when you're alone and its 10 degrees outside. But hey, I tried.

I thought Hong Kong in 2003 was a un-Eid Eid. But looking back, I had Soddy to wish me & pamper me at lunch hour, folks to visit, my sort-of cousin Sumaiya to go out with, and even biryani. But this, is just an all time low.

Anyway, I think the point of all this was to say Eid Mubarak : )

"Eid is a time to come together as a community and to renew friendship and family ties. It is a day of forgiveness, moral victory and peace, of congregation, fellowship, brotherhood and unity." (And no, we're not all fanatics with bombs)

Thursday, November 03, 2005 at 18:02

I need out

Long day. 5am starts are not enjoyable, especially when it's 6pm and the end is not yet in sight. Extremely tense morning, running a conference against all odds. I am so sure I've broken out into zits, so I refuse to look at a mirror. Have I mentioned I've developed this tendency of breaking out into zits, for the first time in my life. Not good at all. I had an acne free teenage existence, so WHY NOW, why at age 24??? In these days of regression, I've taken to psychotically scrutinising people and despising anyone with perfect skin :) Kill 'em all, I say! So anyway, enough about the zittys & somewhat late onset of teenage angst. Coming back to this conference. So I did my first large-ish Spanish presentation, spoke in front of 50 people at a premier Colombian business event. Ok, so it was maybe 10 minutes in all, but hey, baby steps, right? ;) Sure I goofed up a bit, but all well within the permissible lovable extranjera margin of error. Or so I'd like to believe. On an unrelated note, I think Scott Adams is the funniest man in the world. I just wrote to him asking if I could be a Scottie groupie, I am pathetic sometimes.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005 at 18:27

Farra Loca

Some highlights of yet another crazy weekend gone by:

- Watching 'The Vagina Monologues' - the Colombian Spanish version. It's a cool concept you have to admit, three women just talking about their vaginas, and somehow it ends up being the funniest thing ever. And my days of being linguistically challenged are numbered... I got the jokes. If it wasn't for the lack of leg space, I swear I would have been rolling on the floor in laughter.

- I was interviewed in my first ever CENSUS experience, that too in Colombia, how cool is that. 'High tech' census that too, the census folks here all have these cool palms. Now that I'd like to see in the next census in India!

- Yet another crazy Colombian 'farra'. The Mini Feria de Manizales, a run up to the real event which takes place in January each year in Manizales, Caldas. In short, a lot of food & drink & mayhem. The Feria de Manizales is best known for its bullfighting events, so they did a little 'symbolic' bullfight. Well, ok, there were no bulls involved, just some pathetic looking calves. But thank God for the 'symbolic' part, I don't think I would have been up for more bloodshed. Some titibits from the Mini-Feria:

Look, it's BB King! Ok, don't look too close though :D

The pride & joy of Manizales... Ron Viejo de Caldas!

I would have bought a hat from this nice gentleman, but hey, I had my cool Colombian sombrero!

The pretty venue in Chia where they had the 'symbolic' bullfighting

Not so pretty bullfighting...

I did like the very ceremonial sounding music that goes with the bullfights though...

And the ensuing 8 hour fiesta with lots of great live music...

at 18:16

Heaven Scent

Happy Halloween, Happy Diwali, Happy Eid...

As if they weren't enough reasons to celebrate: John Digweed will be in Bogota on November 26. Yaaaayyyyyyy! This time, I won't miss it.

Chose this photo from JD's last gig in Istanbul, going out to Ozan, my new Turkish partner in crime & hey, it does say 'Heaven Scent' which is one of the bestest songs ever.