I know I should be revising, but I'm really quite pissed off at the moment.

I just read NME's 2 page love-hate spread on Hadouken!, and then following some wiki and googling (I was trying to find out more about Dr Venom and the True Tiger Camp) came across the Guardian's article on LDN is a victim (I know you already told me about the "song", but I hadn't actually read the article.

Anway, firstly with the NME article. Obviously I side with Jonze in that "they are the future of music", and think that Sam Richards clearly has NO idea what he's talking about.

When exactly have Hadouken ever said they were trying to BE grime?
From the begining they've been what they are - a fantastic fusion of Indie, Electro and Garage, Grime.

And why should they help Boy Better Know reach an Indie crossover audience?
JME and Skepta have built their success through their own hard work, as have H!, so are H! now morally obliged to offer a helping hand because they are white and more famous?

Like I said in a previous post, there's a clear genre-fusing movement going on in the industry at the moment and it's fan-f**king-tastic.

Plus I wouldn't worry, the "Indie crossover audience" are set to get what they apparently "need" (What, they can't just pick up a grime record in HMV along with the new Kooks single?) with the Arctic Monkeys - Dizzee Rascal collab.

Both NME arguments are centred around racism in the industry and Richards moans that "appropriating a whole mode of expression that's concerned with (laregely) black, working-class struggle and turning it into an ironic indie-scene gag is distinctly whiffy".

A) WHEN do H! do this? Have you listened to their lyrics? Since when were Indie Cindys and scenesters been part of the ghetto?

B) So we're back to the white boy steals black boy's style and sells it to more wannabe white boys argument.

Well again, wake up, this isn't H!, and like Jonze says, you can't accuse only H! of this, not if you deserve your job at NME anyway.

Plus, I'm not black working class. And I'm not white.

I'm middle class Indian, so tell me where do I fit into this?

Okay maybe I'm being a little unfair, that's a whole different discussion.

Anyway, moving on to the Guardian's article and LDN is a victim.

I agree with Llewellyn Smith in that, being a fan of most of the artists mentioned in the track, it leaves me thinking what I'm supposed to make of it?

The track and the response Podcast to the "broadsheet reading mofo's" SCREAM Ali G style posh whiteboy trying to be black satire, with the overuse of ghetto slang, and it's hillarious!

Seriously though, have you heard the Ali G soundtrack? It's like the scripts were written by the same person.


All of these arguments and accusations have got me really pissed off.

I agree, LDN is a victim.

A victim of all the haters getting too hyped up about who said what and black-white and rich-poor segregation.

Being neither of either, I'm just sitting here LOVING IT.

And I suggest that the haters, sit back, shut-up and just live and let live.

WOO-HOO!

Ahh, the sun is shining! The weather is sweet!

Summer is here, and that means goodbye this, and hello this. Sheer bliss.

Okay okay, I'm not on E don't worry, I'll calm down now.
I'm just really happy and positive.

I had my exam on Tuesday...I really don't know how I've done, but it went a lot better than it could have done, and much better than the last one...so fingers crossed.
God I'll be so upset if I've failed.

And even still there's no let up on the work what with needing to revise/just vise ALL of the past two terms worth of work as well as learning all the new stuff from this term.

But I don't care.
I'm still really happy.
I have great friends to get through it with, a set group to live with next year, and a "crew" I actually feel I really belong to.

And to top it off, there's a possible romance interest to explore.
And I've realised that this is just my first year at uni, I (hopefully will) have 5 more years to go (if I pass the exams!) of student life, in the BEST city in the country.


Three things I want to talk about at the mo:

a) The crew
b) The friend A
c) Something I need help with


a)
After the exam most people went to this all you can eat birthday thing, or began to do more work (weirdos!), but I thought I deserved a break and so went to my friends halls near Caledonian Road.
6 of them live there, 3 boys and 3 girls. Although it's so far from uni they are really lucky because they've bonded so well because of it and live in flats so have a lounge-kitchen area between 5 bedrooms, with sky channels.
It was so fun to sit in V and Es lounge and just chill with them, and they're all so lovely and genuine.
I rang E when I got there and she let me into the building and took me up to the flat she shares with V, and then as soon as the others heard I was there, one by one they all came up.

After about an hour we went to this amazing Sheesha/Cocktail bar on Heddon Street called Momo's.
Ornately and traditionally decorated in Morrocan style, with random customers belly-dancing, and others clapping along to the fantastic arabic music. A great atmosphere.
The kind of thing I like.

We stayed there till midnight because we'd agreed to get the last tube, and they wouldn't let me get the bus alone so I hopped onto the Piccadilly line in the opposite direction after saying goodbye. They had wanted me to go back to their place to have a celebratory piss-up but I didn't have any of my stuff and plus it would have been detrimental to the early-start-hard-work plan I had in place for the next day.

They're all really fun, nice and decent people, and we seem to have a lot in common. I'm really looking forward to living with the guys (Su, N and T) next year.
Su is looking to buy a house for next year, and E has already bought a house where she and V will live with 2 others. The other girl, So, one of my best friends from my tutorial group, is planning to live at home, though I wish she wouldn't.

b)
My best friend, A, surprised me the other day. I guess both of us have matured and grown after leaving school, probably him more so what with being in Hong Kong, working and living alone, and getting into a proper (sexual) relationship.

We'd been exchanging emails in order to keep up with each others lives and a few things he had said had annoyed me. But we'd also been talking about the strengths of our friendship and honesty.

At first the annoyance made me worry about how he was going to come to the same uni as me next year and how I'd come as my own person from home, to build a new life here in London and forge new friendships being who I am, but that that might all change with him coming and how it'd affect my friends and my space.

It was after that I realised that he will be wanting to do all those things too, and with the difference in years and timetables, we won't see each other that much.

As we'd been talking about honesty, I told him the things that had annoyed me, but unlike when we were younger, it didn't cause any arguments and no one got in a mard.
Instead he held his hand up to it and admitted that he did do it and explained why and that he didn't mean to.
I was surprised and glad and it made me value him so much more.

He seems to think that I've grown so much more since being at uni, though from my own outlook it's hard to tell. Have I?

I certainly have gone through new experiences and learnt how to deal with them, and I think I've become stronger and more confident.

Infact I know I've become more confident because I'm happy and looking forward to doing a certain something in the near future that I'd never have done last year...no matter how much I'd have wanted to, because of being to scared.

c)
I need help.
I'm going to have to tell my friend soon that I really don't want to live with him and the other two guys that I hardly even know or have anything in common with next year.
Obviously he's going to take it badly.
But how should I do it? I know over the phone is not noble...but it is easy. A
And if he gets angry, should I?

God I hate confrontation...

Aaarggghh!

I have so much to revise still. I just cant take it anymore.

I have a headache, and my limbs are aching, and I feel really tired, and stressed, and nothing is going in when I try to revise, and stuff that did go in a few weeks ago has now gone out again.

I feel sick.

I wish I was this baby, rather than reading and learning and memorising how it came to exist.

Oh ho ho ho homyyyyy GOD!

You know what I told you about that Dizzee Rascal track "The Industry", a few weeks ago?

Well, his new album, "Maths and English", is coming out 04.06.2007 and features Lily Allen, Shy FX, and THE ARCTIC FUCKING MONKEYS!!!!!! (or so rumours say).

Can you believe it?!

It seems there is a clear revolution in music happening right now - two totally opposite cultures are being merged together.

Grime with electro. Garage with Indie. Hip-hop with Rock.

Hadouken!, Groove Armada and Stush, Timbaland and the Hives, and now Dizzee and the Monkeys.

And I for one am LOVING it.

Anyway - check out some of the tracks from the new album on Hype Machine - especially "Pussyhole".

Sicknesssss

I've done it.


I've found my song for the summer.

After what has been a shockingly long time, and with a teeny weeny bit of cheating I have the perfect track.

I say cheating, because the track is not on official release, and was actually recorded months ago on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge however, it's now one of the tracks on the new album by the legend that is Mark Ronson - Versions.

The track I'm talking about is Amy Winehouse's cover of the Zutons track "Valerie".

You can here a live (and amazing) version here.

I can already imagine sitting in the afternoon summer sun, with a strawberry and cream frappaccino, lazing around, while listening to this.

Bliss.



In other news...

Easter was egg-less. I know. I'm still shell-shocked. (Haha....god I crack myself up...haha again!)
But seriously.
No one got me an egg.

I bought some rather cool sunglasses. They're all black and one big chunky thing that wraps around my face.

I'm still at home, revising, being tortured, suffering, hating it. I hate exams.
The only things that are getting me through it are The Apprentice, and Ugly Betty (both **SO** good).
Although did you see UB last friday?
We were really pissed off because my aunty rang halfway through with the threat, "haven't seen you guys in a while, and [Azuric's] back, either you come over, or we'll come over", so we were forced to tape it and watch it the next day.
I mean, what is everyone's obsession with seeing me? I'm not like some Hollywood movie star that's just rolled into town.
Anyway, back to the Betty - what the hell kind of ridiculous twist ending was that?!

Another thing that's getting me through it is my favourite song and my "track of the year". I've already posted about it but I LOVE the Groove Armada - Get Down track SO SO SO much. Everytime it comes on the Radio I jump up, turn up the volume and dance around my room waving my head around like the Churchill Dog.
It's so so damn good...if only I could understand what she was saying.

And finally...

should you meet/go on a date with someone with whom the conversation doesn't exactly flow, and whom you dont immediately find physically that attractive?

Right, now I'm going back to Action Potential propagation.
Sexy stuff.

!! AZURIC !!
LOVES THE
FUNK FUNK

when i first heard it I didn't think much of this track.
Now, I love it.

The videovideo is funkyfunky
loveitloveit

There are over 20 different types of collagen, coded for by over 25 different genes.

I personally don't give a shit about any of them.

So in an attempt to escape from my depressingly hard and boring lecture, I'm going define some Yoof-speak/Ghetto Verbage:

Merk - verb - To merk: To diss someone harshly/embarrass them in front of people/con them.

Aww you got merked!

Merkage: describing a situation where this happened:

That shit was merkage!

Bare - Adjective: Word used to emphasise something

That guy's bare safe - That guy is really nice.

Bare can be used in combination with the suffix -age on the verb it's describing to add further emphasis

That was bare jokage! - That was really funny!

Safe - Adjective: Used in 3 ways:
To describe someone who is nice/cool/good
To describe something that is nice/good
To show agreement to something

Brap - Adjective: Word used to emphasise how good something is, and used especially when showing off

I jus' got Glasto tickets! Brap!

Breeze/Cut: verb - To Breeze/Cut: To leave somewhere

Let's breeze/let's cut - Let's go.

Jokes - Adjective: used to describe something funny

That film was jokes.

Legit - Adjective: Used to describe anything good/nice

Your facebook pic's legit!

Allow - verb - To allow: To forget about something/leave something/ignore something

"We have to clean the kitchen"
"Ah allow that!"

And that's it for today, now I'm going to take my bad-ass gangsta self to eat dinner. I better not make mum wait or she might bus' a cap in my ass.

Ooh, I nearly forgot like the most important one:

Sick - Adjective: Used to describe anything that's really good

This new Dizzee Rascal track is sick!
"Sickness" can also be used.

Birth of the Monkey Warrior

Today is Hanuman Jayanthi, the birthday of the Hindu God Hanuman, the monkey warrior.

Once upon a time, long long ago...

...there lived a Varana called Anjani, who was a devotee of Lord Shiva.
For years, she had been trying for a baby, but unlike the rest of the women in her tribe, she was unable to become pregnant.
Everyday she would ignore the taunts and mockery thrown at her and instead would pray to Lord Shiva for a child.
After many many months, she grew tired of waiting and journeyed to Mount Kailash to find Shiva himself and ask for a baby.

When she got to Shiva's abode, she found him deep in meditation but pleaded with him to help her nevertheless. Shiva however, remained deep in a state of meditation.

Anjani, now so frustrated threatened to take her own life, and began banging her head against Shiva's lingam in violent desperation. Shiva was unable to tolerate this and so stirred from his meditation to appease Anjani, "why are you doing this?"

"I don't want to live if I can't have a child. Everyone mocks and abuses me, life is not worth living", cried Anjani.

Shiva upon hearing this granted Anjani a boon, "go home, and you will conceive. No one will mock you any longer, for your baby will be very special".

Anjani, so relieved to hear this, fell at Shiva's feet with gratitude, before leaving for her home.

On her journey home, whilst walking through the forrest, a sudden and mighty gust of wind blew through the trees, and embraced Anjani, and it was at this moment that she conceived.

That is why Hanuman is also known as Anjani-putra and Pavan-sutra (son of Anjani, son of Pavan - the wind god).

Hanuman is a very popular Hindu God and symbolises the pinnacle of bhakti (devotion/faith), and Hindus consider him to be the eleventh avatar of Lord Shiva.

He's the epitome of wisdom, brahmacharya, valour, righteousness and strength.

There are many more tales about Hanuman, like how his destiny to serve Rama was coined when he ate the Sun, and tales of the Ramayana, but I'll share these with you another time.