Thursday 25 March 2010

Odd World New World

So one day I was walking through the woods, with blades of brilliance stabbing through the shield of the tree tops, and I happened upon a sign. This sign pointed into 4 directions, each one looking more ominous than the next. The first direction was upwards, towards the sun and naturally I'd feel more comfortable going to the golden colored disc of light, but this felt like a one way street. The second direction was to the moon and once again I'd still feel comfortable basking in the ethereal and luminescent patter of light from the sun's sister but something gnawed at me, giving me some sort of sinister vibe that I couldn't quite shake off. Perhaps it was the fact there was a large pair of canines that circumferenced the little old moon. The third sign pointed towards an apotheosis of deserts. Deserts scared me naturally because of their lifelessness so going towards one would scare me even more. The last sign post pointed to the vast bed of blueness that was the ocean. I would have opted for the ocean as they tend to have that Je ne sais quoi that often entrances the mind into a lulled state of awe, however there were sharks in the picture that made me rather tentative.

Now this is where the story gets interesting. See, I could have gone back, but something about going back felt like it would lead to that niggling "what if" sensation. So onwards I had decided to go, but in which direction? Out of all of them and in my fractured opinion, I opted for the ocean - hey at least I'd die a peaceful-esque death right? I think :S. Anyway, so taking that last option I walked on for about 4 klicks and ended up at a deserted beach. It was still daytime, with the sun at its zenith at this point. With the light beaming down, I thought I'd see more here but I was mistaken. So taking a few deep breaths, I jump in and start swimming - aimlessly mind you - to try and find some sort of answer to the signpost. Maybe it was answers to myself - swimming in this vast blue ocean reminded me of alot of things in my own mind. See, I was still searching for something, much like how the ocean has that Je ne sais quoi feel to it, so did this goal in mind. I guess that's why I decided to go ahead and make a choice regarding the sign post instead of walking back and regretting it later. See, life's too short to not live it - so I figure we're all gonna die, why not make life interesting and experience what you can eh? Hell I might get some kicks out of fending for myself against the sharks. Come to think of it, those cut throat sharks remind me of something else....in a certain place with foreign people.

But I digress. So, I began swimming and by chance I manage to swim to a boat that's sort of eerily floating in the water without anyone inside. Nonetheless, I found somewhere on this empty ocean, so why not stay here for a bit and enjoy the break. After basking in the warmth of the sun, I look around the boat for any food - you'd figure I'd be hungry at this point right? Unfortunately, there's nothing available :(. Even so, I've now got a boat so I decided to use it to sail the oceans. Still aimlessly, but with a bit more pace :).


The End

Thursday 18 March 2010

Flowers some Reflection Eternal and a Modal Soul


Today I've just found out that one of my favourite hip hop producers, Nujabes, has just passed away. This is really sad news - for me personally, he was one of the producers that provided the stepping stone into the world of alternative hip hop which I never knew existed. Without his contribution I feel I would never be where I am musically. The details of death state that he passed away in a car accident on the 26th of February, which was the same day a 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit Tokyo and that a private ceremony was held for him.

My first exposure to his music was through Shinchiro Watanabe's Samurai Champloo. His music, alongside Fat Jon's, made half that animé what it was. The music got you more involved with the action, made you empathize with the characters, helped depict the almost oxymoronic world of samurais with hip hop and endearingly too. The music really drew you into the zany world that was being created by Watanabe-San. The funny thing is, I really hated the intro he made with ShingO2 at first! It grew on me and then I finally got the vibe he was giving out and from then I've not really looked back on it musically speaking. Since then I've scouted out whatever music he made and enjoyed every bit of it :). Even now, as I'm listening to Horizon, I'm entranced by the beatism and jazziness of it all. The fact he and Fat Jon practically and single handedly brought me into the world of alternative and jazzy hip hop speaks volumes about their class and genius.

The world has lost a great musician :(.

To quote my friend's blog, which aptly put it:

"Some live, some die, in the name of the samurai, some fight some bleed, sun up to sun down, the sounds of a battlecry"






RIP Seba Kun aka Nujabes.