time to write is now

there is a time to write and that is now..

procrastination,laziness and the pursuit of that ideal idle moment to exercise vocabulary to write things in the head never seems to materialize..

Jiwatra! :)

flame wars everywhere

News is all around us, and many of us devour upon it. I am a mild consumer of news.
News itself might be ranging trivial or funny stuff for leisure reading for people with specific interests to really breaking and important ones which everyone reads.

I occasionally get to read many articles from various news channels on interesting topics. I read quite less, as in I click on news articles in FB timeline,twitter timeline or in some news websites, only if I really get attracted to the headlines.

First I read the article, think upon it, and see if I agree with the author and his/her viewpoints depending upon my expertise on the topic. Then the mind seeks to know what other people or friends think about it if I feel it is something others might be interested in. So, I head over to the comments section to see the public perception.

The responses are interesting topic to study for data statistics and understanding the mindset of the readers. Comparing the responses to the same news topic in multiple media gives a good idea of the coverage of the media and the nature of their readers.

But there are also lots of news of high importance, for which the amount of public response seems strangely insufficient. I often feel short of content after reading some articles and wish to know what the general public reading it thinks about it. But almost all articles of interest to me garners no interest from the public that 'freely shares opinions'.

But among the few that do, I have seen such little useful and sensible comments that I subconsciously don't scroll down to the comments section for good articles. Take a news that even remotely relates to politics, war, religion etc and you get to the other extreme. There are lots of points, data and perceptions to read, but what spoils the apple cart is the flame wars.

Flame wars are fun to read upto some point, if the opposing sides have enough valid ammunition. But I have observed that most of the comments in the Indian media are very immature or sounds like plain propaganda message. I can immediately imagine a furious fanatic typing away on his keyboard trying to block the points made by the other side. The shit hits the fan when the topic covers sensational topics for no reason.

For this reason, sometimes I stick to respectable news media like The Hindu or some other foreign media for news that is of interest to me. Also I trust the category specific news feeds more as they don't tend to deviate from topic..

sounds good..

background scores, i feel were the most underestimated elements of  entertainment media. be it movies, games or tv shows. I mean there was lots of effort put into it, but the recognition and experimentation with it didn't begin until recently.

but even the old ones if you check, there is a certain old world charm to them. consider the Indian movies of a certain era like the 80s where a common theme existed over all regional movies copied and adapted from the English and American movie industry. But the bgm and music were quite original for many movies. We had a rich culture of bgms with good taste. Probably the work of many skilled people behind it. But in those days, people never used to recognize brilliance in that section.

Nowadays people comment on BGM if not about the movie when movies tend to suck and BGMs rock. The composers of BGMs get much popularity and support these days. Remakes, remixes, covers and so much more gets involved with BGMs. They have a unique way of marking out the movies, scenes or themes. Hollywood examples of Matrix, Mission Impossible,  and many more are successful examples of good BGM becoming a brand artifact for the movie.

Likewise for video games, those with intense and captivating background scores tend to keep the players engaged and leaves them with a satisfied feeling afterwards. Gaming for long hours is a physical and emotional tasks of gargantuan proportions. So BGM that suits the playing mood greatly helps the player attach to the game, its theme, the adrenaline rush and the time he/she had playing it. Even today I feel almost at ease listening to the complex themes of Age of Empires, Age of Mythology or Prince of Persia as while playing the game itself.

then there are these BGMs that become cult..  :)

not limiting myself to the small window of the movie, game or whatever media content for which the BGM was designed, BGMs also serve as reminders of many many things.. for example a well made oriental theme can take your mind to many a zen classes, many kendo classes, dojos, rice balls, japanese rains, battle scenes etc. Middle east does same. Sound has a way of triggering multiple nerve points in the brain and simulating lots of weird stuff that would have remained hidden in our memories. This quality I have observed doesn't exist for pictures, as they always give more detail and a concise picture. There is no scope for ambiguity or further interpretation in those cases. I have had many experiences with music wherein I would love a track a lot and listen to it in extensive loops, but the moment I see the video of it, I say WTF and soon the song drops out.

Sound is everywhere and for everyone, but still its personal and it can be enchanting to enraging depending upon the filter that you apply :)