More Pratchett!!

Am in awe of Terry Pratchett. It's been years since I've been hooked to any author the way am hooked to Pratchett right now. In my opinion he is up there with Wodehouse, Asimov, Arthur C Clarke and Douglas Adams. I remember spending entire summers reading Asimov and Wodehouse.

I think I picked up Colour of Magic (the first Discworld book) sometime in July. It's mid september now. Wow almost 3 months! And I still want to read more of his stuff. Only thing I read in between was Nick Mason's "Inside Out" (more on that soon). 12 books in a row... and nowhere close to bored or too much of the same thing.

I remember wanting to write a blog entry last year about Tolkien and Lord Of The Rings... but then I thought "nah i'll probably say what thousands before me have said, that the man had an unparalleled imagination and that he is the father of the modern fantasy genre".... I did land up reading Hobbit and Silmarillion after LOTR but then you have to I guess.. that is if you want to know more about Middle Earth and it's past. With Pratchett it's not quite the same. After one book you can probably take it or leave it. There is continuity but most books can be enjoyed on their own. Although I would recommend following this reading order guide:

Reading Order List

Or the order in which they were published:

Publication Order List

I guess I want more of his stuff cos he is very entertaining. Like I've said before he reminds me of Douglas Adams. He makes references to other books, movies, popular culture, etc which can be quite hit or miss. The other day I came across "The Annotated Prattchet File". It's a collection of references he has made in his books over the years. My first reaction was "HOLY SHIT! This guy is very well read and knows a lot!!!". From references to various mythologies, to Shakespeare, to Monty Python to Led Zeppelin... it's very very diverse. But then again I shouldn't be surprised since Pratchett parodies anything and everything.

Dad pointed out the other day that his stuff would make more sense if we knew what exactly he was parodying. True but I think it's impossible to have read and seen everything he refers to (not if you have a steady job and a life anyway!). And even without knowing all his references and allusions the books make pretty good reading on their own.

Although I've stressed on the humour in his books, they have a philosophical angle as well which you'll can figure out when you read the books. Mark Knopfler's Ragpicker's Dream awaits.

Terry Pratchett and sleep

Terry Pratchett and Discworld are playing hell into my sleep... Not complaining.. Just an observation. But what little sleep I do get is filled with entertaining dreams.

Bliss (Close anyway...)

I followed the tech guy's advice and laid a fresh cable from the mains box to my stereo plug point. And boy did it help!!! I don't think I remember it ever sounding this good.

Recently got my hands on Simon and Garfunkel - Live from New York City, 1967. It's a very intimate and delicate recording of just the two of them with no other musicians. Poet and the one-man band indeed. Since a long time I wanted to hear a live recording of S&G in their prime. Concert in Central Park was almost a decade after they disbanded and the Old Friends Reunion tour was three decades. This has all their big hits recorded prior to 1967 along with some not so well known stuff like "He Was My Brother", "Leaves That Are Green", "Sparrow" (underrated song methinks). I think I like this version of The Sound Of Silence better than the studio version. Sounds more heartfelt somehow. Will need a few more listens to be sure though. All in all an awesome piece of music history.

Ahh the insanity ends

The govt ban on blogspot has been revoked. Apparently there was a bit of a mixup. The government only wanted some specific blogs banned but the ISPs landed up banning all of blogspot. Oh well.. At least it's fixed now.

Finally got my amp back from repairs on Monday. Seems ok except for a weird problem with the standby mode. If I put it on standby and then put it on after a while, I get some random distortion in the left channel. The tech guys at the shop have recommended a change in the electrical cabling at home which should be done in a few days. Bit of a relief on the whole. Was going kinda nuts with only the ipod for music listening.

Last week on a friend's recommendation I started reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Absolutely hilarious. The funniest thing I've read since Douglas Adams' Hitch-hiker's Guide To The Galaxy. I'd say it's to fantasy what Adams is to sci-fi. Luggage with 100 feet which follows it's master no matter what, dragons which only exist if you believe in them, a planet which rests on the shell of a giant turtle.... And that's just the first of over 25 books!!! Can't wait to read the rest of them :)

So much for being back

The government in it's infinite wisdom has decided to ban all sites on the blogspot and geocities domain. They feel that terrorists can post instructions to their sleeper cells via a blog.. Weirdly enough I can post an entry but I can't view my own blog!!!!

I'll be back when the governement decides to end this insanity

Back after a rethink

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. Mainly because off late I thought I have nothing much to say which hasn't been said by someone else already. I also never wanted the blog to be a day by day commentary about my life...

A couple of friends suggested that I write about music, since that's something I feel rather strongly about... I on the other hand felt that am no authority on music, except that I hear a lot of it. I don't play any instruments and would struggle to figure out what key the song is in. But I do know what I like and I guess I can write about that. They've convinced me that I should do it if it makes me happy. And who knows I might help someone find something interesting to listen to. So expect entries more regularly now :)

Time Well Spent

I missed a few concerts in the first couple of weeks of this month. My friends thought I was crazy and that I had missed some of the best concerts ever. Namely Uriah Heep with Indus Creed, Walter Trout and the Blues Brothers. I was in Jamshedpur from the 3rd to the 17th. There are a couple of people who mean the world to me and when they smile I'll willingly ditch most concerts. I spent 2 weeks in the company of just such a person. Not a couple of hours or days. Two whole weeks!