Out in the suburbs you can’t walk more than a few minutes without happening across a big pile of rubbish. I don’t know what it is - but some people have a really rude habit of dumping entire truckloads of waste - say on green grass verges in cul-de-sacs - or round the back of the supermarket - or in a quiet spot on the edge of an industrial estate. Most waste dumped like this happens to be building materials - or bulky household items that someone couldn’t be bothered to take to the municipal waste collection centre. In UK - this practise is known as “fly tipping”. Sometimes - some dodgy firms will come collect your bulky waste for a fee - and then instead of taking to the municipal waste centre - they dump it in quiet place somewhere out of sight - or at night when they cannot be see doing it. At one time - most of London’s fty-tipping menace was caused by such corrupt practises - until the local authorities and police launched a crackdown a few years ago. But it still happens - only this time I think it’s caused by people who cannot be bothered to dispose of stuff properly - rather than those making a profession out of it. For example - plumbers and builders - or family DIYers.
On a smaller scale, instead of a whole pile of waste dumped in a discreet place - you might instead find the occassional unwanted old fridge, or broken cooker, or old and broken TV - just dumped in the middle of a pavement in a street. In plain view of passers by. Looking somewhat lonely. Wishing to be taken away. Sometimes - such items will sit there for days on end - and then they will suddenly be gone. I always wonder what happens to them. Strictly speaking the council street cleansing department will only collect waste from the premises of private properties - perhaps another council department looks after the collection of “stray” items like this?
 |
I have stepped around the above TV for a few days now. I wonder when it will be gone - and I wonder who willl take it away.
HumTum is the name of Indian Cinema’s latest major-production-house blockbuster film. The film opened yesterday - and here in London the cinema halls carrying the film were packed - with some having sold out of tickets well in advance. It’s kind of funny to see not only the local cinema halls in Wembley, Southall, and Ilford including the film in their schedules - but also the prestige locations like UCI London Empire in Leicester Square - screening this “Bollywood” film alongside other Hollywood big-hitters like Kill Bill 2 and Day After Tomorrow. (With ticket prices to match the premium location too!)
 |
(Interestingly - you can see that Saif Ali Khan is sporting a RadioHead logo on his jacket!)
“Bollywood” appears to be riding the early part of the mainstreaming curve here in the West. The rising popularity of the colour, the bold costume, the kitschness and the spontaneous bursting out into song and dance so common in this genre is a not only a consequence of growing confidence and influence of the UK Asian community (aka the “brown pound”) - but is also almost certainly due to the increasing “globalisation” of our society and the effects that this has on it. For example - in London the social mix in some areas is very heavily represented by people with value systems not too far removed from those practised by peoples of the Indian and South Asian subcontinent. From Italian, Greek, Cypriot and middle-Eastern to the peoples of the old Soviet Union, Malay/Singaporean and Thai (did you know that Bollywood is BIG in the old Soviet Union and BIG in Malaysia/Singapore?) - there is a growing acceptance that Indian Cinema has something in it that makes it quite “normal” as a genre in Western audio/visual entertainment.
Click on MORE below to continue.
Anyway - HumTum charts (over a 9 year period!) the story of the relationship between a cartoonist played by Saif Ali Khan in his first lead male role and a girl that he meets in Amderstam (played by Rani Mukherjee). Filmed on location in Amsterdam, Paris and New York as well as Mumbai - this film, in the context of modern Indian Cinema, breaks new ground in a couple of areas; firstly in the marketing: which figures the cartoon characters in the promotional collateral (Hum and Tum are the names of these characters - hence the name of the film - and they play an important part in the theme ) and secondly in the use of UK Asian-scene bhangra-influenced DJ-style music in the title track - performed by London’s own Rishi Rich - who is one of the UK’s hottest artists in this genre - now producing the likes of Britney Spears and Ricky Martin etc. (Read an interesting article from The Guardian on this topic.)
 |
Click on one of the following media players to listen to some music from the film’s soundtrack. “Chakde” is a foot-tapping number with a catchy tune - and “Mere Dil Vich Hum Tum” is the UK-Asian dub-style track by Rishi Rich.
(I have encoded both tracks at a low-bandwidth 48kbps - so should be fine for dialup users to listen to as well. The first time the songs play - they should be downloaded and cached on your computer - so they won’t download over the net every time should you want to listen to them again.)
I know that there are several schoolkids who read these pages - so without trying to sound patronising I’m just warning you that this posting contains reference to material that could potentially be unsuitable for those under 18 - and possibly even offensive to those over 18. So - if you are lucky enough to be under 18 then you may admire the picture below - and if you also press the play button the media player underneath it you can enjoy the sound of a midi-sequenced version of a very popular song from the 1970s - which is still popular today. Turn up the volume loud - and go right ahead and dance to it if you like.
 |
If you are over 18 then click MORE below to continue.
Here in Kingsbury suburb of North West London - there is a strange shop just off the High Street - on a road called Honeypot Lane - sandwiched between a solicitor’s office and the derelict Prince of Wales pub that I wrote about in one of my prior postings about our local High Street. It’s called Cherry Pye Boutique - and it’s an exotic lingerie shop. Neither of these things are the strange aspects of it. No. What’s strange about this shop is as follows:
- There never appears to be anyone running the shop. The shutters in the window are permanently down. The only indication that there is life inside is the “open/closed” board on the door is turned around every morning and evening at opening and closing times.
- I have walked (or bussed) past this shop thousands of times in the last 10 years - and I have NEVER seen any customers walking in or out of it - EVER.
- Over 90% of the local population is of Indian/Asian origin - and the current generations are largely quite modest-in-public people - so the location of this shop here in Kingsbury is baffling to say the least. I’ve never seen anybody even browsing the items in the window from the outside. Locals have learned to simply walk on by and not look. (It always makes me laugh when I see, say, a couple of Indian ladies wearing saris and perhaps new to the area - unwittingly walk up to the window whilst chatting away to each other - and then suddenly realising what kind of shop it is - and backing off in shock and embarassment!)
 |
(Picture taken from the top-deck of the Route 79 bus)
I have always wanted to walk right in and simply enquire about all these things - but either never really had to bottle to do it - or else it’s actually not been open when I’ve walked past it. Last year sometime - the shop had a fresh coating of it’s distinctive red paint - and I noticed that an Internet website address has been painted on it. The website reveals that exotic lingerie is just one of several product lines sold by this shop - in what I would call “adjacent” markets. It also has another branch in Ealing.
Perhaps this “shop” is actually conducting most of its business by mail order catalogue and online - meaning that the shop itself is simply a small warehouse for the items on sale? The guy who cuts my hair at the barbershop on the High Street is always joking on to me about Cherry Pye Boutique: he thinks that there are illicit things that go on in the flat above the shop - but I personally cannot imagine what. It’s impossible to tell anyway - because the flat above the shop has heavy lace netting behind the curtains - so it’s kind of hard to see inside - even from the top deck of the bus.
The salutation “On your bike!” here in London usually means “get lost” - or “go away” or something like that. But along with the buses - the humble bicycle as a form of public transportation is enjoying something of renaissance in London at the moment. The cycle racks outside tube stations and railway stations are, these days, full to the brim and you see a lot more people hauling their bikes onto the overground trains now than, say, 5 years ago. There’s even people in the office I know who cycle to work - one from as far away Barnes! (Barnes to Slough is about 20 miles or so I think.) And despite the fact that the pro-cycling lobby are always complaining on the TV and radio about the lack of cycle-lanes in urban areas - I’ve certainly noticed a dramatic increase in the number of painted cycle lanes in my neighbourhood in recent years.
 |
At a time when state of the public’s health is in the firmly in the public eye - encouraging people to take more exercise by more walking and cycling can’t be a bad thing. They’ll need to provide more cycle racks though …
Known as “prawns” in UK and as “shrimps” in North America - together with mushrooms they make a great combination when cooked in the “bhuna” style - which is a “dry” and fiery hot dish - served up on a bed of basmati rice and garnished with freshly-chopped ripe tomato.
 |
 |
Click here to learn how to make this.
There are several options for my journey home once I get to Alperton in West London - and the one I prefer (of course) is Route 79 - which takes me closest to home. But occasionally I get Route 83 to Wembley High Road, and then switch there to Route 79 or Route 204 depending on which comes first. Tonight I got Route 83 - but I must have been sleeping - because I forgot to get off at Wembley High Road in order to switch to Route 79. When I opened my eyes I was faced with the sight of Wembley National Stadium under construction. On seeing this - I remembered a previous posting I made on this topic - and felt obliged to provide an update on how things are going for what will eventually become the world’s most spectacular football (soccer) stadium.
 |
(View from Wembley Town Hall)
If you visited my last posting on this topic - you will notice that the site looks more developed than it did last time. Specifically - you will notice that the framework for the seating bowl is taking shape - and I can tell you for sure that the structure can now be seen from several tens of kilometres away. I’m particularly looking forward to the new “arch” to be erected - which I understand will be visible from Central London - and will surely become a famous London landmark? Indelibly a part of the city’s skyline.
Diamond Geezer (THE oracle of all things London) recently visited Wembley Park tube station (which is on my local Jubilee Line) and wrote about some facts, history and opinions about Wembley Stadium. All I can say to the famous DG is this: you might not “believe it until you see it” - but since I am seeing it every day - I am confident that it will be there soon - whether London hosts the Olympics or not in 2012! Click here to read some excellent commentary by Diamond Geezer on London’s Olympic bid.
 |
(View from Wembley Park tube station)
The Hanger Lane Gyratory is the dubious-sounding name given to a big roundabout (traffic circle) in North West London. To me - it’s a major turning point from the A40 (Western Avenue) onto the A406 (North Circular) on journies home by car from Central London (or West London) - and I have to confess that I love it. The A40 might be my favourite London highway - but the Hanger Lane Gyratory is my all-time favourite traffic junction. Yep - much more exciting than, say, Vauxhall Cross, Staples Corner or the Westferry Road Roundabout - believe me - I’ve done’em all. At one point on this roundabout - you have seven lanes! I don’t believe that there’s any other road in London that has this many lanes to choose from.
Many people try to avoid it - and the traffic reports on the radio aren’t complete without mentioning it - but there is nothing more exhilerating that driving with extreme sense of purpose around it. Even better when you’re carrying a passenger new to London - for it’s a thrill that will have your passenger holding on for dear life in their seat. And an extreme sense of purpose you must have. Because this place is London’s car equivalent of the OK Coral. Every driver knows what they’re doing. Everyone except, that is, the unfortunate motorist who probably used the A-Z to plot a route from A to B without appreciating that the Hanger Lane Gyratory is probably THE MOST hostile roundabout in the country. Once false manouvre and you’re toast: every nearby car, bus and truck will screech to a near-stop and you will be assassinated by a volley of honking horn.
I have driven round this magnificent system for years - and not once have I ever experienced the kind of gridlock (or should it be “circle-lock”) that you get at, say, the Target Roundabout further up the A40. Maybe I’ve just been lucky - but I’m sure that the lane system and traffic light phasing does a marvellous job of getting vehicles around quickly and efficiently - just as long as everyone obeys the rules.
 |
It’s been 3 months since work moved from Hammersmith to Beautiful Slough - and Hammersmith has already become a distant memory. On the bus home the other day I remembered the Goodbye Hammermsith pop video that I knocked up some time back - and reminded myself that I should load it up onto the streaming server in order to make it more accessible.
 |
(Taken with my Lomo last summer.
You can see the old art-deco “Palais De Danse” lettering on the wall)
The more I mess about with the video streaming technology - the more I begin to understand how bit rate and file size affect the output quality of the stream. Unfortunately - this means that the lower the bitrate of the encoded stream - the lower the quality of the video. The lowest quality that I could take the video to without rendering it useless still requires a bitrate of 273kbps - which if you add in the IP and TCP/UDP overheads will require a connection where sutained throughput rates of around 300kbps can be supported on the downlink. Thus - the video is really only suitable for viewing if you are on broadband (ADSL, Cable or Satellite) connection. Also only suitable if you have Windows Media Player on your system. If you are on dialup - or you don’t have Windows Media Player and you are patient - then you could always download the video to your computer for offline viewing by going to this download page.
Click on the “MORE” below to view the video stream …
Press the play button in the media player below to play the video. Turn up your volume.
The pop video is made up from footage that I collected over the years in Hammersmith (all of it taken by me with my Sony Handycam) - both inside the office and outside. You will spot that some of the clips are from the “Genie” era - which is when I used to work for Genie Internet Ltd before the company got merged into O2. The soundtrack to the video is Inner Smile by Texas (which also features on the soundtrack to Bend it Like Beckham - and it’s “feelgood & tears” factor is one of the reasons why I chose that track to celebrate images of Hammersmith). The video finishes up with depressing images of Slough railway station - which is what I now live through every day! (It’s not really that bad though in reality.) Enjoy.
“Doing anything exciting at the weekend?“
“Well - tomorrow I’m having a lie in.“
And something like that is guaranteed to come up in conversation on a Friday afternoon in the office. It seems that to “lie in” (bed) on a Saturday morning is quite a popular thing to do. I sometimes wonder if this is a particularly British custom - or whether such a concept is institutionalised elsewhere in the world.
We often take advantage of this to enjoy the playground at the local park. Whereas at 7:30 on most weekday mornings the whole neighbourhood will be buzzing with activity - at this time on a Saturday morning the only people you will see around and in the park are those walking their dogs. And since dogs are not permitted in the children’s playground enclosure we almost always have the entire playground to ourselves.
A good couple of hours of undisturbed, uncrowded fun.
 |
Click the MORE below to view some more pictures from this bright Saturday morning at the playground in the park.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
This statement is, in itself, invitation to stick something - surely? The grammar doesn’t seem right. And the term “bill” in this context appears to be dated in today’s 21st century information age - where urban work, life and recreation is ablaze with banner ads, TV ads, posters, URLs on the side of every bus, train, truck, van and delivery bike.
And yet - our local authorities use those words to deter “unauthorised” posters in our streets and municipal structures (like the green boxes that house the cable TV circuitry at the end of every street). Casual observation seems to suggest that it doesn’t really work - flyposters post their “bills” there anyway. In our area the topics being advertised vary from the very amateur - e.g. a local wannabe Punjabi Hit Squad in the making holding a disco/DJ night in a few weeks time - to the more heavyweight promotions of major concerts or Bollywood films.
And one thing I’ve noticed is that - a bit like how people breaking the speed limit on the motorway will tend to stick together in a pack - the illegal posters have a habit of “congregating” around certain walls.
 |
(In this case - on a disused advertising hoarding on a side street off a main road)
Ever bought packets of ready-cook potato wedges from Marks & Spencer? Why deny yourself the pleasure of making them yourself? Give it a try - you’ll never buy them again if you do! :-)
 |
 |
If you really need to know how to make these - click here.
Up until a few months ago - I routinely aimed for the very front of the upper deck of the bus if the seats were ever available. The view is fantastically unique from a public transport perspective - and I would even go so far as to say that (in London at least) the view is more interesting and fulfilling than can be had from a window seat of an aeroplane.
As the bus pulled into a busy stop on Wembley High Road - I saw, through the window, an unusual motorbike parked up outside Wembley Central station. Even the helmet perched on the seat had that distictive retro feel about it.
 |
Click MORE below to carry on …
Nowadays I make my way to the back of the upper deck fo the bus. It’s a combination of a couple of things. The newer Route 79 buses have less leg room on the very front seat on the top deck - so it’ s just plain uncomfortable for anybody over 1.5 metres tall. Also - the micro-climate on the bus is highly variable. The front of the top deck is the most exposed to the sunlight - so on a sunny day it just gets very hot sitting in the front - and there is something really unique about the way the air vortex at the very back of the upper deck results in a seating position that is extremely cool and breezy. On a hot day - like the ones we’ve had recently - this is most relaxing.
Anyway - earlier this evening on the way home - I had no choice but to take the front seat on the upper deck. As the bus weaves its way through the traffic calming obstacles in Ealing Road in Wembley - it is clear that the traffic in the opposite direction is already so calmed it’s not moving. This makes it all the more possible to exchange proper glances with people on the upper decks of buses travelling in the opposite direction.
 |
(Traffic at a standstill on the Southbound)
 |
A warm and sunny Tuesday evening at around 6pm at Ealing Broadway.
 |
Click MORE below to continue …
When the sun comes out - the green grass of an open space or park in London becomes a most desirable commodity. . Just outside the station is a small-ish bit of parkland called “Haven Green”.
 |
Seemingly never-ending crowds of people in the evening rush-hour makes this place a fantastic place to “people-watch”.
 |
Some recent research into my neighbourhood (Kingsbury - London NW9) by visitors to this journal revealed that two of the founding artistes in a recently popular band called “Sugababes” were brought up here - and went to school just several metres away from where I live and the path of the Route79 bus. This band - who insist that they are not at all “manufactured” in any way - are recognised for their “urban street sound” and are apparently proud of their roots in Kingsbury - which is where they made their lucky break in the late nineties when they were just 15 years of age. (Goodness: I must have surely bumped into them at some point!)
Anyway - they have recently been touring the USA and causing a sensation there - especially for ousting George Michael to the number 1 spot in a recent edition of the Billboard music charts.
 |
Click play below to hear one of their recent smash hits: a really catchy, poppy number called “Hole in the head” - which I’m sure many of you will have heard before if you listen to poular radio channels - and is sure to get you tapping your feet in appreciation. Sugababes rock!
An errand in our neighbourhood this morning. Walking back - past a house with a high wooden fence. Spotted a tree growing in that neighbour’s back garden. A tree that’s preety unusual for this part of the world.
Well - the tree-expert in me concluded that it shows the unmistakable signs of being a fig tree! Well would you know it! And can you believe it?
 |
Now - the fig tree features in many ancient religious teachings - e.g. Christian Bible- as well as featuring as part of the culture and landscape of many peoples - especially in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East - e.g. Cyprus, Palestine etc. In Christianity - it is often seen as one of the oldest symbols given to the mankind. From Genesis 3:7: “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.“
Also - in ancient Hinduism - it is said that the fig tree is considered the most sacred of all trees. A man who plants this tree goes to the abode of almighty God after his death. He can neither be tormented by the miseries of ‘Yama-loka’ nor has to face miseries in this world.
From a fascinating page I found re the importance of the fig tree in Hinduism:
“Lord Vishnu dwells in the roots of this tree, ‘Keshav’ (Krishna) in the trunk, Narayana dwells in the branches, Lord Shri Hari in the leaves and all the deities dwell in the fruits of the holy fig tree. This tree is the personification of Lord Vishnu. Great men serve the ‘Virtuous roots of this tree. Protection of this tree liberates a man from all his sins and help in the accomplishment of every desire.“
Amazing eh? Anyway - it’s damned unusual to see a fig tree thriving in North West London.
What a gorgeous Saturday it was today! The Route79 tribe walked down to the High Street to get our weekly load of fruit and veg.
 |
Click on the MORE below for more pictures taken down our local High Street.
Click on play in the media player below to listen to some music whilst reading and browsing the pictures in the article. The music is a relatively punchy number called Makhna from the film “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan”. It is a track heavy with Punjabi bhangra egde. Personally - I thought the film was pretty crap actually - but I think the soundtrack is good. This particular track is picturised to the best bit in the film: an excellent dance sequence starring the fabulous Madhuri Dixit.
Here is the run-down arcade within which you will find Udupi Palace, Bombay Gents Hair Stylist and Sara’s Ladies Hair Salon. I simply love exploring this place - it’s dark, it’s tiny, and the 4 or 5 shops that are in it are also tiny and no-frills - but it’s fantastically devoid all of all things “corporate” (with the exception of an ugly T-Mobile logo at an entrance to a mobile phone shop.) The Udupi Palace at the end makes fantastic South Indian idlis and dosas - which if you “eat-in” you will get served at the green plastic garden table you can see in the picture at the end of the arcade. They also serve with a delicious cup of chai in a brown tinted transparent glass. There is even a little sink on a pedestal for you to wash your hands before and afterwards. Simply brilliant.
 |
A strange looking vehicle parked just like an ordinarily good citizen - in the layby just outside the busy VB and Sons Asian foods store. The roads around here have been resurfaced recently - and this weird thing is probably a remnant of the construction work. But the workers have been and gone. Perhaps they forgot about this machine?
 |
Just across the way from VB’s is the Prince of Wales pub. It’s kind of like a landmark in the area - it stands proudly overlooking the busy Kingsbury Circle - and is often the first thing that catches the eye of first-time visitors to Kingsbury arriving by road - and this is because Kingsbury Circle is at the intersection of two perpendicular road routes: An East-West route with West Hendon/Burnt Oak to the East and Kenton/Harrow to the West. A North South route with Stanmore/Edgware to the North and Neasden/North-Circular to the South. There is also another road that hangs off the Kingsbury Circle rather grandly called “The Mall”. This road provides the setting for the spectacular, brand spanking new Jew’s Free School - as well as a route to Preston Road and Wembley.
Despite the imposing nature of the Prince of Wales - many locals will not be upset by the fact that the pub has been closed, boarded up and derelicted for several weeks now - and rumour has it that it is being demolished to make way for a Tesco Metro. (Did you know: The very first Tesco store was opened in Burnt Oak - just down the road from here - in the early 1920s.)
 |
Further down the High Street there’s an amazingly busy fruit and veg shop called (unsurprisingly) Kingsbury Fruit & Veg (KFV). This is the King of the half-dozen or so grocers on our High Street - it’s by far the busiest - and this is probably because my neighbourhood is dominated by Indians - and this fruit and veg shop caters precisley for the Indian population. The other fruit and veg shops also have a loyal following - but cater for different communities - e.g. just a hundred metres away from KFV is a grocer who seems to catering for the Lebanese/Syrian/Iraqi/Iranian community judging by the exotics in the shop - and further down is another one that seems to be catering for the central European community - e.g. Albanian/Kossovan/Bosnian etc.
 |
Kingsbury Fruit & Veg was even more crowded than normal today - there were piles of boxes of heavenly-tasting alphonso mangoes (specially imported from the very specific village farms in India where they are grown) going cheap. Every customer insists on the box being opened and the mangoes inspected for the texture, colour and smell prior to purchase. (Did you know: Mangoes are from the same family of plant as Posion Ivy.)
 |
The shop next door were performing an outside demonstration of a new “as seen on TV” electric gadget that can make perfect pancakes, dosas, roti and parathas. If you were patient enough to wait - the lady making the pancakes was filling them up with coconut and chillie chutneys before rolling them up and handing them out for people to try. Tasty.
 |
We ventured up the High Street as far as Woolworths before turning back. Loaded with bags of fruit and vegetable - we loaded up with retro sweets from the Pic’n Mix at “Woolies” after having scanned the CD shelves for any interesting music albums. (Did you know: Woolworths is the biggest outlet for music sales in the UK?)
 |
And so - there is something quirky about the typical suburban London High Street - and you can definitely get a very good appreciation of the types of people who live and work in the neighbourhood - as well as their cultures, their tastes and the things that are important for them socially. Every London High Street is different. Every one of them a gem. I love my High Street.
 |
 |
A gloriously hot Saturday in London is best finished off with a gloriously tasty bowl of mutter-paneer with fresh roti, naan or toast:
 |
 |
To learn how to make this heavenly-tasting dish - click here.
India’s election results have stunned the pundits. Isn’t democracy wonderful?
Almost exactly one month ago - I saw the wondeful Aishwarya Rai live in concert - here in London - right here in my neighbourhood! I’ve been meaning to commemorate the occasion with a Route 79/London/UK photo montage of Aish. Have been too busy to get it all done in one go - so I did little bits at a time - and here it is:
 |
Click the play button in the media player below to listen to a currently-popular, really sloppy, not-from-a-film Asian love song whilst you are admiring the picture.
(The song is a progressive download encoded at 48kbps - so it should be fine for dialup users - and will be cached after the first download. Also - because it’s encoded at such low bitrate - I have pre-equalised the sound in order to preserve some tonal range - so you don’t set your equaliser on.)
Kheema is a delicious Punjabi-style minced lamb curry dish:
 |
 |
Click here to learn how to cook this.
My Triple-A batteries are now recharged. My MP3 player is, therefore, now back in action. When I am immersed in my music - the reality of the world outside is back to being a little hazy.
 |
(As the bus pulls in to a stop at Wembley High Road)
With olive-oil-roasted peppers and Jersey Royal new pototoes - this makes a perfect accompaniment to samosas - or spicy chicken wings - or whatever!
 |
 |
Click here to learn how to prepare this tasty summer salad.
Formulaic Indian Cinema is pure escapism.
Thanks to LOVEFiLM DVD rentals - we over here at the Route79 darbar get a weekly dose of fairly recentish so-called “Bollywood” releases on DVD which we enjoy in glorious hi-fidelity DTS and Dolby Pro-Logic surround sound in our very own home cinema - which is what we call the main lounge/living room - because we don’t use that room for anything other than watching DVDs. Each sitting takes me back to the days when I used to spend practically the entire day sitting down with my Mum at the weekends - watching masala films and drinking endless cups of tea - with tissue-box close by!
 |
One of the stranger things about the Indian Cinema industry is that the soundtrack to a movie tends to get released well before the movie itself. Well - that’s how it seems for those of us here in London anyway. Perhaps it’s because we get the soundtrack albums distributed to us on CD before the films are distributed for cinema showings over here? Anyway - the strangeness is because most so-called songs are especially developed against a “picturisation” - i.e. the director issues a brief to the commissioned composers, lyricists and playback singers - namely the context of the moving imagery i.e. the storyboard that the director wishes to project onto the screen for the song. And so - the song, music and lyrics are developed in accordance to the director’s aspiration. This has been the norm in mainstream Indian cinema since the year dot.
In releasing the soundtrack well ahead of the film - (especially if the music and singing is good) the producers create promotional hype in the build up to the release of the film - in order to maximise the box-office takings. However - in doing so the producers run the risk of listeners forming a mental “picturisation” of the songs that are different to that the director intended. To counter the risk of a disappointed public in this regard - the soundtrack of most mainstream Bollywood releases are characteristically “filmi” - which means that they have a certain easy-listening and catchy quality to them - and are generally composed, lyricised and sung by a very narrow selection of “dependable-as-ketchup” composers, lyricists and singers.
What amazes me is the sheer quantity and variety of filmi songs that work well within such narrow bounds. A typical formula will be a male/female duet with a steady ryhthm , medium tempo, uncomplicated use of instrumentation, and an emotional undertone of love, sadness and optimism - all in a tune that can get you tapping your feet and humming the tune on just the first listening.
Try this one by way of a good example - this is from the film Bardaasht - a track called Silsile Mulaqaton Ke - which is sung by the famously dependable Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik (who is a Mangeshkar/Bhosle legend-in-the-making) - and is composed by the famously reliable Himesh Reshammiya and lyricised by the famously predictable Sameer. Turn up your volume loud - and click on the play button in the Media Player below - it’s encoded at very low bit rate - so should be tolerable to those of you on dialup - and shouldn’t need to download again if you want to listen to the song again.
It’s finally Saturday again. During non-work time over the last couple of weeks - my mind has been occupied by a scattering of thoughts with little by the way of purpose or common thread. It started with the sudden and abrupt stop of music piping into my ears as the battery inside my MP3 player faded out. From that point onwards the world outside seemed very real, and very painful. The rechargeables never made it into the charger that night - and they still haven’t - perpetuating the reality that is the world outside the bus window.
 |
It’s during phases like this - that the minorly irritating become majorly so. Being zapped by static every time I touch something metallic is killing me slowly. Regularly looking out for and purposely making contact with any nearby metallic objects wth the flat palm of my hand in a preemptive fashion - the car door always jolts me, surprisingly and painfully every time I insert the key into it. Leading me to vent my anger on the car manufacturer - who, although delivers two keys with the car, only delivers one remote control door-opening key-fob - meaning that only one person can be privileged with the ability to open the door without inserting keys into fiddly holes. And that is not me.
Three facts: The lawn needs mowing. The lawmower is bust. The lawnmower is an utterly disinteresting object. I know that it will only get worse - and the job will be harder when I finally get around to it - but my mind is finding the irrefutable fact that motivation and disinteresting are orthogonal in their emotional trajectories. The lawnmower must wait until next weekend. Just like I said it must do last weekend.
The guy at the haircut shop on the High Street - the one who normally does my hair - he wasn’t there as I walked passed the window. I wandered around - a little lost and feeling helpless - and wondering what I was going to do. Resigning myself to a week’s worth of flaky-scalp-inducing extra-strong hair gel - and then I spotted him. He had popped out for his lunch break - and was back. He’s a big guy - and he flirts outwardly with most of the blokes he cuts hair for. He’s a great guy - he’s been cutting my hair for years - and yet he doesn’t know my name. But he knows me - like he’s my best friend. The whole haircutting session is one intellectual conversation after another - which always strikes me as being kind of bizzare: the setting isn’t quite right. Suburban London High Street, men’s “short-back-and-sides” haircut shop, queue of people waiting. Kiss 100 FM playing on the radio in the background and previous issues of GQ and Maxim magazines littering the cheap IKEA coffee tables near the row of seats. We should be talking about football - or about holidaying in Spain - or about going out the the pub tonight. But instead we float from smalltalk about how the The Sari Shop didn’t make it to the shortlist of the Orange Prize for fiction - to an in-depth sharing of theories on the impact of genetically modified crops on the environment. This monthly escape from reality ends as the hairdryer finishes blowing, I pay my money - and I step back into the drizzle of the High Street.
A bag full of onions, green peppers, kiwi-fruit at a bargain 9 for £1.50, and some annoyingly ripe tomatoes later I confront the third domestic problem of the day: Ms.79 wants to go to a Tesco. We never go to Tesco. The nearest Tesco is not very far - but it’s also not exactly near on a Saturday afternoon given that we have to drive through Neasden and cross the North Circular - and probably get stuck in the IKEA traffic jams both on our way there - and on our way back. Which is exactly what happened. What irritated me most is that Tesco is generally more expensive all round. Than Asda that is. But what was majorly irritating was that the rows upon rows of plastic boxes of exactly 9 kiwi fruit were on sale for £1.30 each. NO - I don’t have a clubcard. And NO - I don’t want one - and NO I don’t want to give you any reasons why OK? We reminded ourselves that we should never go to that Tesco ever again.
At home later - whilst I was washing my hands in the bathroom - I spotted little spider crawling down the wall - just above the towel-rail. I let it be - and reminded myself that I should put 4 rechargeable Triple-A’s into the charger.
Someone recently asked about how to make fresh roti (chappati). It takes a lot of practise to get it right. Unfortunately - I am not trained in the art of making roti - but I have to take my hat off to Ms.79 - who makes it perfectly - and just watching her doing it is a pleasure indeed. Click on the “play” button below to witness it for yourself. Turn up your volume - and watch her making fresh roti in the Route79 kitchen to the theme music of the film Lagaan!
Click on the “MORE” below to continue …
You will notice how she takes the cooking roti off the “thawa” (hotplate) and places it directly onto the flame burner for the finishing off effect. Watch how it “puffs up” gloriously as she turns it over on the raw flame! This method is a sight to behold - and they taste absolutely heavenly when they are buttered whilst hot - and eaten straight away!
This time - I have encoded the streaming video to be suitable for a dialup connection (48kbps bitrate) - so as long as you have a fairly up-to-date version of Windows Media Player installed on your PC - then the video should stream just fine. (Fingers crossed!). Please do let me know if this works OK for you! (or not.)
Apologies for not being able to update here as often as I normally do. Extremely busy: work etc
Lots of things on my mind at the moment - but not enough time to write about them right now. Leaving a picture instead:
 |
Apologies in advance if you’ve seen this before already. If you haven’t - then check out my “You Just You” (CCTV is everywhere) posting from earlier this year for more pics (and music) from the same thought-process.
At this time of the year - when the skies are clear and the sun shines brightly in the afternoon - there is nothing nicer than walking down the street and happening across the beautiful sight of striking pink cherry blossom covering the grey pavement - perfectly complementing the lush and well-kept greenery that graces the borders of dwellings in suburban London. For me - this is a very narrow window of opportunity - as it’s just before my hayfever hits - and it’s just before the green turns into the “burnt yellow” so characteristic of England in the Summer.
For me, at least, it’s sights like this that must be enjoyed while they exist!
 |
Radio 4: Today Programme. Wake up. Get out of bed. Check mobile for messages. Fire up laptop. Bathroom: Colgate, shower. Radio 4: Home Truths. Clear spam. Cup of tea. Washing machine. Ironing. Emails. Cup of tea. Get ready to go: Drive. High Street, Asda. Back home. Load up fridge. Cup of tea. Hoover. Emails. Work. Errands: B&Q. Garden. Cup of tea. Emails. Work. Afternoon. Cup of tea. Prepare to cook. Cook. TV. Emails. Finish cooking. Emails. Work. Darkness. Eat & Drink. Load up dishwasher. Check TV for news. Lock up. Put mobile phone on charger. Lights off. Bed. Sleep.
For “my life in a text message” during the weekdays click here.