I feel wonderful tonight

Posted on March 28, 2007 by santosht
I was counting days for the Eric Clapton since the last few weeks. Time flew by slowly and here i was, at Key Arena waiting to get in.
 
The ticket clearly mentioned that camera’s will not be allowed but still, i thought i should take a chance. As my camera died a few days ago, i had borrowed my friends camera. It was too big a camera to sneak in. In the line to get in, the security person asked me if that was a professional camera to which i replied i am not a professional. 🙂 I am not sure what she understood but she took a look at the camera and let me in. Lol. It was a Nikon D80 with 35-200mm lens. 🙂
 
I was there just in time and Robert Cray was just about to hit the stage. He came on the stage and started belting his songs. He was singing like a vetran blues singer and "talking to his guitar". Thats his unique way of playing the guitar where he hums the tune he is playing loudly, loud enough for the mike to catch it. He played a few songs for about 30 minutes. He left the stage and then there was a 30 minute break.
 
Soon, the band started to take the stage. And then the man walks in. Mr Eric Clapton. One of the finest guiratist ever and the second best of the ones alive. He almost runs to his spot. I am amazed to see the energy he has at his age. This guy must have played at a few thousands of concerts but he is still so enthu.
 
The solo’s were breathtaking. He seemed to be so comfortable playing those. Man. It was awesome. I can still remember "Why is love got to be so sad" solo and "Motherless children" and the acoustic versions of "Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out", "Running On Faith". But the best part for me were the last 4 songs – Wonderful Tonight, Layla, Cocaine, Crossroads. Man. It was awesome. The sound, the crowd, the energy, the backdrop, everything was a treat. It was just awesome to hear Clapton play these songs. I cannot count how many bands i have heard playing these songs, but listening to Clapton was really memorable. I can still remember listening to Layla on the 3 feet tall speakers at Vikas’s place and now it was all happening in front of me. Memories to treasure.
 
Here is the setlist:
01. Tell The Truth
02. Key To The Highway
03. Got to Get Better in A Little While
04. Little Wing
05. Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad
Sit Down Set
06. Driftin’ (EC Solo)
07. Outside Woman Blues
08. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out
09. Running On Faith
10. Motherless Children
11. Little Queen of Spades
12. Further On Up The Road
13. Wonderful Tonight
14. Layla
 
Encore
15. Cocaine
16. Crossroads (with Robert Cray)
And here is the band that accompanied:
The Band:
Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals
Doyle Bramhall II – guitar
Chris Stainton – keyboards
Tim Carmon – keyboards
Willie Weeks – bass
Steve Jordan – drums
Michelle John – backing vocals
Sharon White – backing vocals
Too bad that Derek Trucks (guitar) wasnt there. 😦 But there is one more thing i have to say. The concert seemed a little too chreographed to me. He plays the same setlist on the entire tour. Man. How can that be fun for him? Also, the choice of songs is "interesting". Most of them are "Derek & The Dominos" songs and then Cocaine is by JJ Cale, leaving very few that are his own. Also, these songs are really really old. I think he should have mixed his classics with some of his new stuff. There are a few good songs on his new album with JJ. There are people who have attended his concet over 5 times and are ready to attend 5 more. Well, i am not sure how his concerts were different from each other. Having said that, let me add this, the next time Clapton tours Seattle, i’ll be going anyways.
 
Thanks for all the great the music Eric!
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Sad day today

Posted on March 23, 2007 by santosht
India lost to Sri Lanka in the World Cup and are out of the tournament. Shocking but true.
 
Having lost to the rookie team – Bangladesh – in their opening game, they had to win todays game. They bowled quite decently to restrict Sri Lanka to 255 but lost the game by batting very poorly, and the tournament is over for Team India and many die hard Indian fans. We Indians are die hard fans, we always believe that India will pull themselves out and stage a miracle. To be honest, i couldn’t believe the score when i saw it. Due to extreme head-ache, i could not watch the game at all. But i am glad i did not see them play.
 
What they announced about Bob Woolmer was extremely sad. That puts a scary thought in my mind. I hope the reaction at home isnt that bad and we are able to understand that its just a game. Its indeed a sad day for what they announced about Bob, its indeed sad that Indian team is packing their bags to go home.
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Eric burned down the house!

Posted on March 21, 2007 by santosht

Its little late in the evening. I was just about to leave for the day being tired from the last few weeks of intense drill at work. I couldnt stop for a few to read about peoples review about Eric Claptons US tour. I am going to see him live tmrw. He played in Sacramento yesterday and people were thrilled to see him. Vikas saw him live in Charlotte a few months ago and he was very impressed with the show. He said he got goose bumps when he sang "I shot the sheriff". I saw his Crossroads festival on DVD last weekend and i was very impressed and I am expecting tmrw’s show to be nothing less than a-w-e-s-o-m-e.

They arent letting cameras. Thats the sad part. But i am sure, i’ll have memories of the show registered on my mind forever. I am sure that i’ll write more abt it tmrw, after i see him.

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Hole Hearted – extreme

Posted on March 15, 2007 by santosht

Life’s ambition occupies my time
Priorities confuse the mind
Happiness one step behind
This inner peace I’ve yet to find

Rivers flow into the sea
Yet even the sea is not so full of me
If I’m not blind why can’t I see
That a circle can’t fit
Where a square should be

There’s a hole in my heart
That can only be filled by you
And this hole in my heart
Can’t be filled with the things I do

Hole hearted
Hole hearted

This heart of stone is where I hide
These feet of clay kept warm inside
Day by day less satisfied
Not fade away before I die

Rivers flow into the sea
Yet even the sea is not so full of me
If I’m not blind why can’t I see
That a circle can’t fit
Where a square should be

There’s a hole in my heart
That can only be filled by you
And this hole in my heart
Can’t be filled with the things I do

There’s a hole in my heart
That can only be filled by you
And this hole in my heart
Can’t be filled with the things I do

Hole hearted
Hole hearted
Hole hearted
Hole hearted

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Do what you like to do

Posted on March 13, 2007 by santosht
When i was in school, everybody who was elder to me used to tell me that you should choose a profession that you like. You should do what you like. I always dreamt of being a marine engineer. I think i was influenced by my cousin, who was a marine engineer and by the fact that they made a lot more money than most of the professions i knew at that time. Then i wanted to be an architect or a psychologist. I ended up studying Textile engineering and became a software engineer. Lol. That’s a weird story in itself. Anyways. They say that you should do what you like to do, but i do not think that quite possible. It’s always a choice between doing what i like to do and earning good money.
 
The competition these days is killing. Every person at work is trying to prove how smart he is. They try to find faults in you and they try to do a better job than you. After a point i think it becomes a race. You are just trying to come out first before the rest. You start thinking about appraisals, growth, promotions, power and thought to do things well and in the best possible way is lost somewhere. I hate all this. I think you can either be successful professionally or be happy with what you are doing. For most of us it will remain a choice between the two. Well, most of us will disagree to what i feel or, to put the same thing in a different way, most of us will not like to believe this just to keep themselves happy. It’s so stressful. I do not think that this problem is true only in the industry i am in, i think it’s a fact of life. That’s how life is, our world is.
 
When i was in New York, i had a really cool co-worker. He was a product designer for the company i was working for. The first time i met him, he introduced himself as a DJ. DJ??? i was wondering. Guessing by the look on my face, i think he realized he needed to explain me something, and i am glad he explained. He said "I am a DJ, that’s what i love to do. But my day-time job is that of a ‘Product Designer’. I do product designing to earn money but my heart lies in DJing". That was Andy Toh. I admire you a lot Andy.
 
Wish i can find me something that can keep me going…..
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Here we go again

Posted on March 12, 2007 by santosht
Isnt it strange that we commit the same mistakes again and again when it comes to dealing with the matters of heart? My collegue defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and again expecting a different result". Well, why are we insane when dealing with emotional stuff?
 
I donno why…
 
RAY CHARLES – Here We Go
 
[Norah Jones]
Here we go again
He’s back in town again
I’ll take him back again
One more time

[Ray Charles]
Here we go again
The phone will ring again
I’ll be her fool again, I will
One more time

[Norah Jones]
I’ve been there before
And I will try it again
Any fool, any fool knows
That there’s no, no way to win
Here we go again
She’ll break my heart again, yeah
I’ll play the part again
One more time
(Hi, Mr. President)
I’ve been there before, you know what?
I will try it again

[Norah Jones]
But any fool, any fool knows
That there’s no, no way to win

[Together]
Here we go again
She’ll break my heart again, yeah
I’ll play the part again
One more time
I’ll take her back again
One more time

[Ray Charles]
I will

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Evergreen State’s green again

Posted on March 12, 2007 by santosht

I just love to watch the trees and the surroundings on my way to work. I have been especially noticing the trees outside my office for the last week. These trees used to be green in summer, were amazingly yellow – bright and almost fluorescent in fall, leafless in winter. Come last week and i noticed that the leaves were coming back again. Today when i saw them, the trees were actually looking red. They look so beautiful. Everything is so colorful again. The trees in my apartment complex are pink. Some others have become green again, the sun comes out a few times every week, today we had the spring forward and it was sunny until 7.00 pm already ….its so beautiful out there.

I just love taking pictures and now when things are getting so pretty my camera isnt working. I cannot express how much i am missing my camera. 😦 I hope i buy a new one soon.

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Cricket World Cup 2007

Posted on March 12, 2007 by santosht
The Cricket World Cup started today. Being in the US, the excitment isnt there. Had I been in India, by now i would have had 10,000 discussions on the best team, best bowler, best batsman, how the current Indian team can come up with s surprise and win this time, drawing comparisons between the current Indian team with Kapil’s team of 1983. 🙂
 
World Cup is always fun. I remember the last world cup in which India dominated most of the games. They made it to the finals and in the entire tournament they just lost two games – both to Australia. I felt that they did put up a great show but Australian Cricket team was too strong for them. Indian team has always had a very strong batting lineup but that team had they best bowling attack i have seen Indian team have. Well that was then though. This is a new tournament.
 
Being a hard-core Indian Cricket fan, i have to say that i do believe that India has a chance this time. I also hope that we win this cup for Tendulkars. I am not too sure if he will play in the next world cup.
 
Next few days will be fun. I havent subscribed for the World Cup yet but i am going to keep a track of the scores and watch all games i can. And hey Mahesh, come tmrw, we have something besides to work to talk about during out chai breaks. 🙂
 
Go team India!!
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Dreams

Posted on March 10, 2007 by santosht
Some of my friends tell me that they can remember every dream they had but for some reason i cannot. I remember a dream only if i wake up suddenly in the middle of a dream… and it does not usually happen that way. I remember years ago, i used to see this one place in my dream often. I knew the place so well that i felt that if i go there someday in real life, i’ll know all the in’s and out’s as if i have lived there for years. Then that dream just stopped and i do not recollect going to that place in my dream anymore. Strange.
 
Since its already been over two years since i moved here, i really expect that some day atleast i’ll dream about my life here. To my surprise, that’s never happened. In my dreams i am always in India. I am playing cricket on the streets, teasing my niece, hanging out with my buddies, i am in my previous companies office, it might be about my mom-dad – it can be anything but it will definitly be about my life in India. I wonder why. If the dream is about something thats happening to me here – job/concerts – then the situation is the same but its happening in India. My friends might show up in my dreams but the location is India, Bombay. In fact the other day i was driving home and i was kinda hungry. It was in the evening and in my mind i was thinking of a good place to have vada-pav (a Bombay snack that u dont get here). Strange. Few days ago, i was supposed to kill an hour outside my house and i was thinking of options. I realized i was think of something that i used to do in India. I was actually thinking of going to Planet-M else Prithvi theater. Man!!
 
Today when i woke up, i said to me "9:00 o’clock wajun gele" (I was talking in Marathi and i was saying "Its past 9:00 already". I dont speak Marathi at all these days (unless i am talking to my parents), yet i was talking in Marathi. I think it had something to do with the dream i was having. I could not recollect the dream though. Since it was already 9:00, i did not try to recollect the dream and i just went to work.
 
I realized one more thing. When i woke up today, i was not in a happy mood. That mood just stuck on me. I was never in the best of my moods for the entire day, i have a feeling that it has something to do with the dream i had.
 
Wierd. I dont what causes all this but its quite interesting. I guess my heart is still in India….
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Few random things about me

Posted on March 9, 2007 by santosht
A few days ago, i saw this article on my friends blog where she had mentioned a few random things about her. I really liked it and here is my version of the same thing:
 
I am the first one to fall asleep after you say good night.
I leave the music playing as i go to sleep.
I cry during movies and sometimes even concerts. Roger Waters singing "Numb" and Paul Simon singing "Bridge over…"
I never comb my hair. Infact i dont have a comb in my appartment.
I prefer to buy tee-shirts cos they dont need ironing.
I go out for a coffee/drive past mid-night atleast 4 times every week.
I buy a lot of music.
I (try to) sing when i am driving. Of course the music is ALWAYS playing when i am driving.
"The Wonder Years" is the only serial i ever really followed. I think i have watched every episode that was aired on Star Plus.
I have been a die hard Andre Agassi fan since school days. I used to be more involved in his games than probably he was.
I have driven my car 18,000 miles in a year. Also, i havent yet taken it outside Washington State yet. All the long trips were on rental cars.
My nieces mean a lot to me and I miss them a lot.
Kurt Cobains house – where he ended his life – is about 15 minutes drive from where i live.
"Doppio Espresso" is the coffee i order.
I am horrible at saving money.
I say "I mean it", only when i REALLY mean something. 🙂
I think Paul Simon is a genious.
I miss my friends in India a lot.
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