formerly dog of mystery & airport 75 (this was one of my favourite childhood movies in fact. about hi-jacking a plane as far as i remember. i wonder whether they had taken the name), monster magnet were (maybe still are - they're website was lat updated sometime 2007, promising a new website!!!!) retro-rock band out of newjersey, dave wyndorf (vocal-guitar) and john mcbain (guitar). they are very much influenced by likes of black sabbath and 70's rock. they have released 7 albums n a span of 15 years.

here's powertrip:

who's gonna teach you how to dance?
who's gonna show you how to fly?
who's gonna call you on the lame-dope-smoking,
slackin' little sucker you are?

who's gonna get you from behind?
who's gonna ring your little bell?
who's gonna con you into buying a television set

revolution they sell?

when are you gonna blow the game?
when are you gonna blow the screen?
when will you tell them that the crap doesn't last
and you found a way to make your own dreams

the crap doesn't last and you found a way to make yourself scream

well i died a million times
and i picked my culture well
and i built myself a gate
they can all now go to hell

i'm never gonna work another day in my life
the gods told me to relax
they said i'm gonna be fixed up right
i'm never gonna work another day in my life
i'm way too busy powertripping
but i'm gonna shed you some light

get down!

who's gonna teach you how to dance?
who's gonna show you how to fly?
when you get tired of the crap baby move over here and maybe buy some of mine

i'm never gonna work another day in my life
the gods told me to relax
they said i'm gonna be fixed up right
i'm never gonna work another day in my life
i'm way too busy powertripping
but i'm gonna shed you some light

i'm never gonna work another day in my life
the gods told me to relax
they said i'm gonna be fixed up right
i'm never gonna work another day in my life
i'm way too busy powertripping
but i'm gonna shed you some light

an Oasis in time - Sohrab Sepehri

Sohrab Sepehri (October 7, 1928 - April 21 , 1980) was a notable modern Persian (Iranian) poet and a painter. he was born in Kashan in Isfahan province.

he is considered one of the five most famous modern Persian (Iranian) poets who have practiced "new poetry" (a kind of poetry that often has neither meter nor rhyme - later called white poetry). other practitioners of this form were Nima Youshij, Ahmad Shamlou, Mehdi Akhavan-Salles, and Forough Farrokhzad, all of whom are now dead (it worth mentioning that Nima Youshij is famous for having a role was in breaking away from traditional ballads and style of poetry and was the one who introduced that to public, but was not the first one. Shamlou and his fellow poets like Akhavan-Salles and Sepanloo, who is still living in Tehran have different style of modern poetry which is called white poetry).

he was also one of iran's foremost modernist painters.

sepehri died in pars hospital in tehran of leukemia. his poetry is full of humanity and concern for human values. he loved nature and refers to it frequently. the poetry of sohrab sepehri bears great semblance to that of e.e. cummings.

well-versed in buddhism, mysticism and western traditions, he mingled the western concepts with eastern ones, thereby creating a kind of poetry unsurpassed in the history of persian literature. to him, new forms are new means to express his thoughts and feelings.

his poetry has been translated into many languages including french, english, spanish, italian, swedish and russian.

here is "an Oasis in time":

if you come to visit me
you will find me behind the realm of naught

behind naught there is a place
where
the veins of the air is full of dandelions, who bring
the happy tidings of flowers blossoming at the farthest bush

over the sands,
you can also see
the delicate footsteps of the horseman
who mounted the anemone hill of ascension at morning beyond the realm of naught,

the umbrella of desire has been spread
so that the breeze of thirst can run into the leave’s root,
the siren of the rain resounds
one is lonely here and in this loneliness the shade of an elm stretches to eternity

if you come to visit me,
come gently and slowly
lest the fragile china of my solitude cracks

به سراغ من اگر مي‌آييد،
پشت هيچستانم.

پشت هيچستان جايي است.
پشت هيچستان رگ‌هاي هوا،
پر قاصدهايي است كه خبر مي‌آرند،
از گل واشده دورترين بوته خاك.
روي شن‌ها هم،
نقش‌هاي سم اسبان سواران ظريفي است
كه صبح به سر تپه معراج شقايق رفتند.

پشت هيچستان،
چتر خواهش باز است
تا نسيم عطشي در بن برگي بدود،
زنگ باران به صدا مي‌آيد.
آدم اين‌جا تنهاست
و در اين تنهايي،
سايه ناروني تا ابديت جاري است.

به سراغ من اگر مي‌آييد،
نرم و آهسته بياييد،
مبادا كه ترك بردارد
چيني نازك تنهايي من.

lost years

without worrying about whether it's good or evil measuring the years i lived with Pearljam, i do and i somehow got disconnected from Pearljam after Ten until they published Yield when i found it pleasant to listen to their work again. especially i couldn't connect with "vs." for some reasons unknown to me. it is now one of my favourite albums. i got to listen to songs from vitalogy (tremour christ is my all time favourite) or smile from no code, but i never got to listen and understand the whole album, something that i regularly do. i am an album person to be exact. however, after few years i sat down and listened to whole Pearljam albums again (some 11 years ago) and since then, i discover the songs over and over again. sometimes re-discover them. it's been an awesome ride with Pearljam. some pix form their concert in Azkena rock festival (2006) in north of Spain, where i got my only chance to watch them from up close.

so i lost few years and those years would never come back.

i took that picture in that concert. it was a great night.

Love spread - Stone Roses

love spreads her arms,
waits there for the nails
i forgive you, boy,
i will prevail
too much to take,
some cross to bear
I’m hiding in the trees with a picnic,
she’s over there,

she didn’t scream,
she didn’t make a sound
i forgive you boy,
but don’t leave town
cold black skin,
naked in the rain
hammer flash in the lightning, they’re hurting her again

let me put you in the picture, let me show you what i mean
the messiah is my sister, ain’t no king man, she’s my queen

i have a dream, I’ve seen the light
don’t put it out, say she’s alright, yeah, she’s my sister

she didn’t scream, she didn’t make a sound
i forgive you boy, but don’t leave town
cold black skin, naked in the rain
hammer flash in the lightning, they’re hurting her again

let me put you in the picture, let me show you what i mean
the messiah is my sister, ain’t no king man, she’s my queen

i have a dream, I’ve seen the light
don’t put it out, say she’s alright, yeah, she’s my sister

Even flow - wiki

pearljam had given me a lot to think about. they have been great. never stopped or failed producing good music.
here's a article on "Even flow" in wiki

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Even_Flow"

Lady Fantasy - Camel

this probably is one of the best love songs ever made (at least to me). it definitely schools the pop song writers if they ever get to use their brains on more sophisticated stuff.
a tale of never ending story of the misterious unattainable. i guess we all had our shares in time.
here you go:

listen very carefully,
my words are about to unfold,
concerning a lady i've seen but i never could hold,

i can see by your smile,
take a long while,
the words that come through,
i see that they're true,
for she reminds me of you,

don't misunderstand me,
it's not always easy to say,
the words in your head and your heart that you just can't explain,

i can see clearly,
a face in the sky,
moon's in your eye,
you're passing me by,

tell me the reason why,

saw you riding on a moon cloud,
saw you walking on a whirlpool,
from the corner of my eye,
i saw you,

saw you sitting on a sunbeam,
in the middle of my daydream,
oh my lady fantasy,
i love you,

Anatole France

To accomplish great things, we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but also believe...

lou reed - perfect day

just a perfect day
drink sangrilla in the park
and then later
when it gets dark
we go home
just a perfect day
feed animals in the zoo
then later a movie too
and then home

it’s such a perfect day
i’m glad i spent it with you
such a perfect day
you just keep me hanging on

just a perfect day
problems all left alone
weekenders on our own
it’s such fun

just a perfect day
you made me forget myself
i thought i was someone else
someone good

it’s such a perfect day
i’m glad i spent it with you
such a perfect day
you just keep me hanging on

you’re going to reap just what you sow

save tonight - eagle eye cherry

go on and close the curtains
all we need is candlelight
you and me and a bottle of wine
going to hold you tonight
we know i'm going away
how i wish....wish it weren't so
take this wine & drink with me
let's delay our misery

save tonight
and fight the break of dawn
come tomorrow
i'll be gone

there's a log on the fire
and it burns like me for you
tomorrow comes with one desire
to take me away....it's true
it ain't easy to say goodbye
darling please don't start cry
'cause girl you know i've got to go
lord i wish it wasn't so

save tonight
and fight the break of dawn
come tomorrow
i'll be gone

tomorrow comes to take me away
i wish that i could stay
girl you know i've got to go
lord i wish it wasn't so
save tonight

گم میشود آوای حقیر "پوکه"
در آوار "سرو"
که می افتد؛
از پس فرمان "آتش"
در پشت دیوار مرموز کوهپایه شمالی
سکوت؛
سرریز میکند از دیوار؛
میخزد آرام؛
میگستراند خویش را در شهر
می پیچد بر چکمه ها؛ باتونها
وغرق میکند
هراس را
و
بَلبَلهء اشتران را
که مزد چادر بافته از پشم خویش را
هرروز
به مطالبت
افسار میدرند
...
به بامها رسیده اکنون
و
"ندا"
برای همه جهان

pearljam - all or non

its a hopeless... situation
and I’m starting to believe
that this hopeless... situation
is what I’m trying to achieve

but i still try, to run on
towards all or none

here's the selfless confession
leading me back to war
can we help that, our destinations
are the ones we’ve been before
i still try, to run on
towards all or none

to myself; i surrender
to the one ill never please
i still try, to run on
towards all or none

a take on our president

this is actually a modified text of the song "bush leaguer" by pearljam, to describe a bit about our president. i hope they wouldn't mind!

how does he do it? how do they do it? uncanny and immutable
this is such a happening tailpipe of a party
like sugar, he tries to look so refined

an over-confidence man, but why so hallucinated?
he's not a leader, he's an animal, a cheater
swinging for the fence, got lucky with a strike
drilling for fear makes the job simple
born on who knows when, thinks he got a homer

that guy weaves its way through the cities
darkness weaves its way through the cities
that guy weaves its way

i remember when you sang
that song about today
now it's tomorrow and
everything has changed,
forever

pearljam - thumbing my way

riot act is probably pearljam's most underrated album. their seventh studio album, it has been released after september 11 terrorist attacks on US and invasion of iraq. vedder himself sys this album is about "if we ar ein middle east, knowing why we are there!" and to defy the blind patriotism. the lyrics are quite touching and a mixture of hope and hopelessness.

thumbing my way
i have not been home since you left long ago
i'm thumbing my way back to heaven
counting steps, walking backwards on the road
i'm counting my way back to heaven
i can't be free with what's locked inside of me
if there was a key, you took it in your hand
there's no wrong or right, but i'm sure there's good and bad
the questions linger overhead
no matter how cold the winter, there's a springtime ahead
i'm thumbing my way back to heaven

i wish that i could hold youi wish that i had
thinking 'bout heaven
i let go of a rope, thinking that's what held me back
and in time i've realized, it's now wrapped around my neck
i can't see what's next, from this lonely overpassh
ang my head and count my steps, as another car goes past
all the rusted signs we ignore throughout our lives
choosing the shiny ones instead
i turned my back, now there's no turning back
no matter how cold the winter, there's a springtime ahead
i smile, but who am i kidding?
i'm just walking the miles, every once in a while i'll get a ride
i'm thumbing my way back to heaven

wasting my air - the mars volta

Let me point out
What's on my mind?
Look inside you I can tell
We don't want you here
We don't need you here
Making up a point, making up a side
Making up a point, making up my mind

Let me tell you this will all be over
Let me tell you that I'll call someone out
Let me tell you that we can end if so many give up before me

You're wasting my air

we paid too heavy a price for it. so many dead. so many arrested. it is a hectic time and crucial. would it be a movement that would die down or would it be a movement that make things for better, yet to be known. for sure, these are defining moments.
whatever happens it showed the people can unite, but also showed that how aggressive they could be. not sure if aggression would solve anything. crisis was not managed properly by either side. these much force was not necessary and opposition didn't manage to tackle the lack of communication!
people in total information black out and risked too much!

election

today i learnt a fact and it has hit me hard. so hard that i can hardly breath. i learn that how naive i am when it comes down to politics. i, for long, had believed in democracy. i had accepted the fact that in each and every elections here are frauds, irregularities, rigging. in the mean time i though that the more the turn out, the harder it is to cheat. today i was proven wrong. i was shown how naive i am when it comes down to politics!
they manage to change the result to something astronomically ridiculously false. so big a lie that one can question his own sanity. are we that blind?
final result of election had not been officially announced as far as i know. but i don't see it changed! in the mean time i can't imagine another four years of life in ahmadinejads era! i really am down, deflatted, depressed, demotivated, all the de-s in the world!

diversity

it's nearly end of my first week back home. we are helping a chinese company doing what they do. it has been an interesting week. for the start it is so diverse an environment that it is sometimes unbearable! the difference in culture is in part at the farthest. although we have great admiration for philosophy and art.
also the way they work is strange rather old and inefficient but they work like there's no tomorrow! it's not a bad thing at all. i wouldn't mind if i'd worked like that.
but most interesting of my observations had been their reaction to our election. our current presidential election which happen to be the most important so far had rejuvenated the whole mob and specially the youth and these colleagues of mine have no clue on what election is! they were curiously but not very positively asking about elections and some didn't even know there would be an upcoming election.
not surprising considering the socio-political environment they had been lived in!
i have to admit i am feeling lucky to be exposed to such diverse environment in past three years. learnt a lot and refined my thoughts further.

fear

i found this article from mybest friends weblog (thought ++). it is very interesting. i recommend the reading.
http://mises.org/story/1819

the saddest song - morphine

on my first day back in town
the clouds up above
they were hummin' our song

my biggest fear
is if i let you go
you come and get me in my sleep

i set my course
sailing away from shore
steady as she goes
clash in the night
two worlds collide
and when two worlds collide no one survives
reddest of reds and the bluest of the blues
is the saddest of song i sing for you

tough times

these are very tough days. i wish they pass by sooner and i can see them through.