They say that when one door closes another one opens…or something like that, anyway.  I really have come to hate cliches these days.  My locus of control is pretty internal, so I don't really look at life as a series of events that involve a person or "being" doing things for me, whether it's something proverbial or concrete.  So because a big project of mine recently folded, I am going to make sure and take a good look at my prospects before I decide which doors to walk through.  In the meantime, I've taken advantage of some much-needed down time to revisit some things that make me happy.  Here's a short list:

The New Duncan Imperials  Sticky  (Pravda Records, 2000):   Everyone should buy this album.  I am a longtime fan of NDI, so I pretty much enjoy the hell out of everything they do.  Sticky is completely different animal from their earlier stuff, though.  The content is still as riff-heavy and as "balls-out" irreverent as their early material but there are some experimental tracks ("Remove Bones from Face Before Inserting in Bird") and out-and-out silliness ("I Like Carp") mixed in to boot.  It's a 30-track masterpiece that might well be appropriately dubbed as NDI's White Album. 

Sticky features some of my favorite NDI tracks ever, including "Waste Your Time" and "The Freshman 15."  And I've said it before but it bears repeating:  "Power Tool" is one of the best rock riffs ever.  If I ever get famous in any way whatsoever, I am totally going to do for NDI what Nirvana did for the likes of The Wipers and the Vaselines by telling anyone and everyone about them until they get the popularity and acclaim they deserve. 

Read a whole lot about my ultimate NDI mix CD here.

Bhagat Singh
Bhagat Singh
Bollywood films and playback songs:  Last week I was thrilled to find a new Indian and Pakistani grocery store less than 2 miles from our house.  The shop has a huge supply of DVDs and during my very first visit there, I scored a cheap copy of Hum Apke Hain Kaun which was a big deal because I have been trying to get my hands on this film for some time.  Recently I've revisited the films Sholay and Pakeezah as well as listening to a heavy rotation of my favorite Bollywood playback songs from Lata Mangeshkar, Chitrah Singh and others. 

Pretty much every chance I get, I am watching the trailer for The Legend of Bhagat Singh on YouTube.  It's still one of my favorite Indian films of all time and that's partially because the actual story of Bhagat Singh is so compelling by itself but also because Ajay Devaugn portrays Singh so effectively.   My only major issue with Santoshi's biopic of Singh is that the musical numbers somehow don't seem to fit well with the story.  It's still worth seeing if you're interested in Indian history or revolutionary movements…or both.

One of these days I will put together some notes and reflections on Sukhdev Thapar's 1931 letter to Gandhi.  Sukhdev 's correspondence famously brought to light some of the most profound differences between the two major camps in India's independence movement.

In 2006, I wrote a biographical article on Bhagat Singh for MIA.  Read that article here.

Erythrós Press and Media:  I am currently working on a complete overhaul of our site.  We've moved a lot of books since our launch in 2008, we're just now covering costs on almost all projects and we're looking at releasing some new titles later this year.  Hopefully, I'll be in a good position to make a new run of flags as we've moved all of our replicas of the Soviet Banner of Victory.  Response to the banners as well as the overall reception for Erythrós Press and Media has been overwhelmingly positive.

More to come...