Long live the King

His, was the first tape I ever bought, when I was 10. I was walking around outside my Mom's office, looking at peddlers and was intrigued by a cassette cover with the word 'Bad' on it and the picture of a man with a funny hat.
His 'Thriller' was, is and will always be the best album I will ever lay my hands on
He redefined the phrase 'music video'.

He will always be the most under-rated song writer. He once told Larry king in a show forty years ago, when he was a kid in Jackson 5 -"wont sing it if I dont mean it".
He was only pop. But probably the only pop 'name' that has been/is/will be cool to 'drop', be it at a rock gig in Wembley, or on the jazzy Bourbon street in New Orleans, or a hip hop basement in NY. Oh screw it! He was even cool in Thiruvaiyyaru and Shanti Niketan!
He did not re-define 'pop' culture. He WAS the pop culture.
And I was looking at the July tickets last night...

Now listening!

10 things you remember about the december season 6 months later!

10. The 'double decker idli' - a rage at Mylapore fine arts! they actually cook two idlis fused in the middle with chutney!! (am waiting for Stem cell idlis next!)

9. Kanimozhi sitting in the last row of rickety chairs, listening to a Sudha Ragunathan gig

8. The 12B bus that would announce its presence promptly at 8:30 PM everyday, with a blaring electronic horn that was louder than......everything!

7. The horn on that particular night, which blended so well with a 'thodi' flourish of T.M.Krishna, that he had to pause momentarily to chuckle

6. The emergence of T.M.Krishna as the undisputed superstar of the season.

5. The new pocket-sized ready reckoner on krithis and their ragas, which was the most read book in all of Mylapore in December and January

4. T.N. Seshagopalan's Tamil diction that made proper Tamil 'keerthanai's sound like chaste Hebrew

3. The 'sometimes cocky', but 'perennialy indecisive' mylapore fan, who could not make up his mind on 'exit' strategies and invariably would get up to leave in the middle of a rocking 'thaniyavardhanam', as though it was channel music!

2. Akkarai Shubalakshmi, who dominated on the violin so much that lead performers were reduced to 'support vocalists'!

1. Aruna sairam, who continues to belittle U2 in concert showmanship!!

Give me back my shoe

Once, I was stuck in uptown Vegas without a cab and had to hitch my way back to the city. Unfortunately for me, the chap who offered me a ride was a pimp. For the 20 odd minutes that I spent in his 'bling' car, I dont think he finished a single sentence without mentioning his 'bunch' and how I should give him a call sometime.

I am often reminded of him this month, thanks to this hilarious news channel called CNN IBN. It is about time someone recognized IBN's efforts in the genres of comic humour and a weird kind of media prostitution. Lemme explain:  

In IBN speak, when terrorists attack Mumbai, you have to call it "India's 9/11" (dd/mm mismatch notwithstanding!)

When the Mumbai police arrests a father for raping his daughter, he has to be referred to as "India's Josef Fritz"

And when Janrail singh throws a shoe at Chidambaram......you guessed it - "Shoe-gate!!!!!!"

Am not sure if Nixon is gonna turn in his grave for that, but I definitely think this is unfair. Come on....after spending an insane amount on a flat screen TV and a Tata Sky package with 'news', the least I deserve is my own personal, national shoe incident! No?

Attack of the 'Adigaprasangi' Kids

Run for cover! They are everywhere - these perfectly normal looking 3-5 year olds, who have been spotted telling on their moms through a toy phone, offering life insurance advice to dads, washing tips to moms and switching on stadium lights to fool an apartment full of parents, among other things.

Phew! whatever happened to good old bikini-model style advertising? Does anybody hear me?