Oh yes , I am referring to "The Times of India" which is owned and managed by the Times Group , which was certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations as the world's largest selling English broadsheet newspaper in 2005. Paints a rosy picture of a newspaper that is apparently well received by the masses, and hence must be something I look forward to, with a cup of hot steaming Tea,as i lazily stretch my arms and in spite of drooping eyes try to comprehend the headlines, Right ?.Wrong.
The city edition of this newspaper always finds a way to annoy me for at least one of several reasons.One of the curses of modern media culture is the constant and exaggerated interest in the lives and times of the celebrities. In my opinion , the last page of the City supplement represents the worst thing that journalists can do, other than yellow journalism , of amplifying a piece of news of little importance into an article to find an excuse to have a photo of a pretty girl, with never ending legs and a revealing top adorn precious newspaper space. Case in hand, an article titled "Victoria Bekham cleans house" has a small snippet of about 7 lines regarding her attempt to clean the house and alongside you can find a photo of her revealing more cleavage than necessary and spreading her legs in manner that even a fool would realize is an understatement to call "provocative" . Let me not deceive you , I am not being conservative here neither am I criticizing her for posing in this lucid manner, I simply feel that a newspaper must not devote so much space under the pretense of delivering news . After all, what is Playboy for? I can fully understand that Page 3 is dedicated to the party scene etc , after all thats what page 3 is supposed to be about that. But why, the last few pages?
Next comes the issue regarding their priorities w.r.t the front page. As you tune into NDTV on Friday Night , and on listening to the 'Breaking News'(a trend that started with the WTC 9/11 attack , now even petty news is often refereed to in this manner) - 6 terrorists kill 18 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, you wonder if this will ever stop . The next day , you hope that the paper will tell you more , only to see the front page of the Times splashed with a "sweet" picture of Yuvraj singh and Deepika Padukone holding hands as they dine in a restaurant in Sydney. Oh yes, they went to dinner together , how fascinatingly interesting and crucial enough to devote the front page news to. Needless to mention , somewhere in the corner of the page , a small snippet(as small as Victoria Bekham cleaning her house) casually mentions the above mentioned event.
The editorial of this paper is always one - dimensional, lacking any vision or creativity(aah .. The Hindu) with Swami 's articles being rare exceptions.The sports page too , has in its extreme top right corner a small portion dedicated to the wives,girlfriends, mistresses and even prostitutes of football stars and off course Shane Warne! Another irritating trend is that they often give survey reports without citing proper sources and references. The newspaper dedicates a quarter of a page to TV timings and skips one fourth the channels to make space for annoying and irrelevant articles on Paris Hilton and her ("Oh so cute")dog.As for train timings , the trend of publishing it daily was stopped long ago.
I am sorry to say this but the "Times Of India" is an overly glossy paper that often deals with issues that barely concern the common man and over hype it to epic proportions, using splashy colors and inappropriate photos. Let me not get started on their liberal use of excessively sub-standard grammar and English purely to fit into a certain space(i have spent many a day musing about their grammatically incorrect headlines). Heavy Pro congress overtures is another annoying aspect of this paper.
Often I wonder how Karan Johar's productions are such big hits , or how Madonna has sold more albums than Pink Floyd, how Avril Lavigne claims she plays "Rock Music", how Ekta Kapoor's serials have such a wide audience, how something as obviously fake and nowadays silly as WWE has men in their thirties as live audience, how Dharmendhra or for that matter Salman Khan ever became actors, how Deve Gowda became our Prime Minister. These rhetoric questions will go unanswered until the end of time(except for the 'Papad ' rule ) and I must add one : How is "The Times of India" the world's largest selling English broadsheet newspaper ?
P.S : I buy 'The Hindu' back in hostel , but "Times" at home as it is beyond my control(trust me I have tried)
The 'Papad' rule simply states that the world is filled with dumbasses.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Rust In Peace.
This Megadeth album which was released in 1990 , in my personal opinion represents the band at the peak of their musical prowess. Also it combines for the first time, the musical genius of Dave Mustaine with the guitar virtousity of Marty Friedman. Yes, Marty is often given less credit than he deserves for his stint with Megadeth , but i believe Rust In Peace would not have been the same with any other guitarist. His style of guitaring, including his use of exotic scales blended so well with the band's style that I find it hard to believe that he left Megadeth claiming "I am tired of playing Metal music" an irony of sorts that such a great guitarist should pass a statement so devoid of the fundamental thirst in all guitarists belonging to such bands to push the limits of Metal music.
The main theme recurring throughout the album is regarding politics and warfare.I also feel that Mustaine's lyric writing has always been unquestionably outstanding, but in this album scales new hieghts.The opening track "Holy Wars,the Punishment Due" originally composed of 2 songs but the latest CD versions have them fused as one . Here again the lyrical excellence in terms of pure shock and effect are seen , especially in the latter half of the song. The song has an acoustic bridge by Marty followed by an intense solo by Mustaine.The video for this song too has been well shot with grotesque references to the ill effects of war.'The Punishment due' is a reference to the "Punisher" of Marvel Comics.
The next song Hangar 18 , is another all time classic of the band , and is about an alien space ship that supposedly landed in 1947 in Ohio.The latter half of the song is completely instrumental .A brilliant song , with several heart racing solos accompanied with short but powerful drum rolls, the finale of this song will not dissapoint a person who can listen to anything even vaguely Metal.
I still remember the first Metal song I heard . I remember when I was 13 years old , scoffing at the band that couldnt even spell death correctly as I randomly scrolled to a song titled "Lucretia". Right from the opening spooky laugh(which always reminds me of an old lady) till the grand finish I was hooked on ; like a small child let into a Toy shop, into a new world called 'Metal'.The reason I like songs like this is that i simply enjoy songs with a guitar solo that builds up to a supreme high point where the guitars scream and wail(like Pink floyd's Comfortably Numb extended version Pulse concert) nonchalantly. Ellefson and Mustaine wrote the above twosongs whereas most other songs were written by Mustaine alone.
The last song that I would explicitly mention is'Tornado Of Souls'.Another timeless classic with powerful lyrics and a solo that rips your heart apart.I dont know what these guys were on when writing these songs , and better still while recording them , but god bless their souls for an album so damn good that even if you take away their lifetime's every album and performance, this one album will ensure that I will always have something to cherish and listen to, and to hold on to a band that reached a pinnacle point of musical genius they themselves could never scale again.
My only letdown is the album cover art.Rattlehead holding a green light as he uncovers a coffined alien with a group of suited men around him lacks good art or creative meaning.
One last tribute to a band like whom no one plays any more, to an album like which no one can play any more and to a frontman and guitarist who gifted us with an album like none other,"Rust In Peace."
The main theme recurring throughout the album is regarding politics and warfare.I also feel that Mustaine's lyric writing has always been unquestionably outstanding, but in this album scales new hieghts.The opening track "Holy Wars,the Punishment Due" originally composed of 2 songs but the latest CD versions have them fused as one . Here again the lyrical excellence in terms of pure shock and effect are seen , especially in the latter half of the song. The song has an acoustic bridge by Marty followed by an intense solo by Mustaine.The video for this song too has been well shot with grotesque references to the ill effects of war.'The Punishment due' is a reference to the "Punisher" of Marvel Comics.
The next song Hangar 18 , is another all time classic of the band , and is about an alien space ship that supposedly landed in 1947 in Ohio.The latter half of the song is completely instrumental .A brilliant song , with several heart racing solos accompanied with short but powerful drum rolls, the finale of this song will not dissapoint a person who can listen to anything even vaguely Metal.
I still remember the first Metal song I heard . I remember when I was 13 years old , scoffing at the band that couldnt even spell death correctly as I randomly scrolled to a song titled "Lucretia". Right from the opening spooky laugh(which always reminds me of an old lady) till the grand finish I was hooked on ; like a small child let into a Toy shop, into a new world called 'Metal'.The reason I like songs like this is that i simply enjoy songs with a guitar solo that builds up to a supreme high point where the guitars scream and wail(like Pink floyd's Comfortably Numb extended version Pulse concert) nonchalantly. Ellefson and Mustaine wrote the above twosongs whereas most other songs were written by Mustaine alone.
The last song that I would explicitly mention is'Tornado Of Souls'.Another timeless classic with powerful lyrics and a solo that rips your heart apart.I dont know what these guys were on when writing these songs , and better still while recording them , but god bless their souls for an album so damn good that even if you take away their lifetime's every album and performance, this one album will ensure that I will always have something to cherish and listen to, and to hold on to a band that reached a pinnacle point of musical genius they themselves could never scale again.
My only letdown is the album cover art.Rattlehead holding a green light as he uncovers a coffined alien with a group of suited men around him lacks good art or creative meaning.
One last tribute to a band like whom no one plays any more, to an album like which no one can play any more and to a frontman and guitarist who gifted us with an album like none other,"Rust In Peace."
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