LOG ENTRY #14 - Pakistani Music-2011

   When it comes to the amount of music produced in Pakistan this year, some may say automatically say "Nil." I would have said something of the same sort.. until now. I've actually made an effort to get to know the latest and greatest in Pakistani Music. And let me tell you.. there was only one HUGE disappointment.. ;)

                         

   Yep. I honestly don't get that woman. According to me, the only attractive thing in that video were the pair of silver sequinned headphones she was stroking her hair with. After seeing this, I was.. disturbed. And then some months later I saw another video, and believe me, if it hadn't been for the extremely familiar piano notes keeping my hand steady, I would have changed the channel then and there.

                          

   I failed to understand how the lyrics did justice to the song, and I failed to understand why on earth this song was called an 'adaptation' of "Someone Like You", so I wouldn't blame you if you were extremely confused right now.
  Moving onto bigger and better things, the major platforms in Pakistan for promoting music are either Coke Studio and Uth Records (which, by the way, was also introduced this year), or the Internet and YouTube. Coke Studio has been churning out alot of good songs for quite some time now and this year was an equally successful year. It may have been because of the fresh talent that Coke Studio was avidly followed by the younger lot as well as the classical-loving adult party, this year. Fresh talent, namely Bilal Khan, The Sketches, Mole, and Kaavish. These were instant hits with me. Bilal Khan, obviously, got his fame from his debut single "Bachana", which was a fantastic song to jumpstart one's career as well as boost Pakistani Music to a bit of a higher, more evolutionised level. "Bachana"'s success was amazingly fast and widespread.

                         

  Bilal's successful streak didn't end there. He went onto make appearances in this year's Coke Studio. The originals he performed there were just.. too good. My favorite was "To Kia Hua". Must have listened to this song about 20 times everyday for a month!

                        

  Bilal was also roped in by Levis, along with Zoe Viccaji, an extremely talented backing vocalist from Coke Studio, to do covers of classic Strings songs. Now we all know Strings are a legend. They are probably one of those bands that have contributed alot to the music scene over the years. Levis launched the campaign, "The Originals - Inspire" as (as I understood it to be) a sort of tribute to the Strings; them being the "orginals". I thought the campaign was a very good way to show our appreciation of the great work Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia have done. With posters of Zoe, Faisal and both Bilals gracing the interiors of Park Towers and Levis outlets, the whole affair was very nicely handled, and made aware about. As for the songs, I thought Bilal and Zoe formed a great duo, as their covers were really good and fresh.

                          

 

                         

   Strings also released a nice, motivational song this year, which had a alot of weight in the lyrics. Now if only all this could happen.. That would really make my New Year's Eve special. Here's to hoping 2012 has alot of good in store for our dear, young country.

Happy New Year, everybody! :-)

                         

LOG ENTRY #13 - "Hit 'Our' Lights"!!

   As much as I love Selena Gomez, I can't make myself like her singing all that much, since I've heard her singing live, on a YouTube video. Her voice sounds pretty strained. But the truth of the matter is that nowadays being an entertainer is more important than being a good and able singer. I mean, look at Lady Gaga! All her songs make her sound like a singing robot. And by old time standards she's not much as a singer. Yet she's got Twitter followers equal in number only to the great Bieber i.e about 17 million followers?  As a performer and entertainer there can't be anyone more tactful or crazier. She's got the guts to wear dresses made out of God-knows-what, and she has the confidence to make it work.
  Coming back to Selena; her voice isn't all that good, but she's popular because she's pretty, has a size zero-like figure, is stylish, successful, a movie star, a singer and whatnot. She's everything little girls look upto. And the last time I checked - there are ALOT of little girls in the world.
   However, despite the fact that her voice isn't all that good, her songs are. They're fun, catchy, upbeat and fresh. The melodies, the beats and especially the lyrics are slightly.. "hatke" as one would say here in Paki-Land.
  And then comes Taylor Swift. To put it in a nutshell - She's Perfect. And she's one of my greatest heroes (the other one is Patrick Star from "Spongebob.."). Her songs may seem like run-of-the-mill stuff, since they're nearly all about the same thing. But she portrays the same story differently and creatively in each song, and frankly I just like her smile and curls, so there's no point going on and on..

                       



                        

LOG ENTRY #12 - Surprise, Surprise!

 Note: Everything written in bold has been tampered with. Please do not take those words to be factual. Thank You

- Time Lord
                           
                                                   * * * *

    Oh wow. The internet is such a wonderful place, no? You never really know what sort of mindblowing (literally..) piece of information is waiting for you. Couple of clicks and you're staring at your classroom rival's latest Facebook picture. Couple of more clicks later, you're busily dashing off emails to people who never seem to want to know what they have to do for the class presentation. Yeah Yeah.. wonderful.
   But never did I expect to come across something so delightful, as a supposedly-anonymous blogger, and find out that I know that person. I'm not one to pry in people's businesses usually, but then this wasn't an intentional discovery. As my blog sub-heading says, "It's all about the minor details", and it was that very minor detail which gave the person's identity away.
   Since we're on the subject, I'll venture to tell you a bit more about THE GAMER, by painting a picture  of a typical scene from.. A PLACE.

 

The above two pictures are a way to inform you regarding the manner of retaliation you may face if you chuck jam at THE GAMER.

To top it all off, I apologise for my graphically violent usage of Jam. I have no idea how that poor delicacy got dragged in. Neither have I any idea what productive information this gives us about THE GAMER.

So I will simply scratch my head and be off! :)

LOG ENTRY #11 - Foster My People's "Pumped Up Kicks"

Have been listening to this song playing on the radio for quite some time now, and I've loved the original. However, this one could be said to have been.. "more me". ;)
P.S. I didn't know Alyson Stoner could sing that well! :O

LOG ENTRY #10 - Shielded from Reality.

There are days when you just dont want to get out of bed. When you just want to sink down, underneath the heaps of cosy blankets and pillows. Most would expect these days to come when one is depressed or sad, or just feeling under the weather.
For me, it happened on the day my exams finished. It was not something done intentionally, to avoid having to answer questions about whether or not I had been invited to the "It" get togethers hosted by the "It Girls". No.. It was merely me, shielding myself from the world. It was me, tired of the world and it's neverending chatter. It was an attempt to calm myself, saying, "Whoa there.. slow down."
Sometimes you just want to get away from it all, and just be happy and celebrate small things. Like listening to music you haven't heard for a long time, or reading a childhood favorite, or calling an old friend on the phone and catching up. I've realised how happy these small things make me, and after the fast-paced cramming phase comes to an end, I'm not one of those who would go all out and roam around the city, going wild.
My fun lies with me, myself and I. 

LOG ENTRY #9 - It's That Time Of Year Again...

 ..Yes. Mid-Term Exams. And don't say you thought I was going to talk about New Years Eve or Christmas or something. Exams' importance surpasses anything and everything. The most interesting thing, is the effect that exams can have on someone's (namely, my own) life.
    Frenzied eyes, hair-in-a-bun,  baggy T-Shirts and sweats. Yep, appearance isn't a major. Not to mention - severe eating disorders. Some tend to overeat when under stress, while others eat too little.Both are problematic, although I would much prefer the latter. :-P Also, sleep disorders are another negative impact of exams. Trying to cram your entire Biology course at 1 a.m. really won't help you, y'know? Just like a good friend once said to me, "Jo pooray saal na parh saki, woh aik din mein kaisay parh lo gi?" (How can you study in one day, what you couldn't study the entire year) Or in this case, entire 'term'.
   There's no time for prolonged ponderings on this long, long topic, so I'll just sign off and get on with my History syllabus. *Sigh* WHY, oh WHY do people like signing treaties and pacts so much?

And good luck to all my fellow crammers!! :-)
\m/