F1, Save for Now.

So, F1 is save. For now at least. The meeting in Paris of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) has been fruitful. The teams and the association have come to an agreement to avoid any alternative series or championships. They will stick to the rules, as agreed upon, for the 2009 season. And some added regulations which were agreed before the 29 th of April this year. Part of those rules require the teams to reduce the cost of operations within two years. They will also need to help out the new entries in providing technical assistance. But I think the best news is that Max Mosley has announced not to stand for re-election in October this year. Hip Hop Hooray! I'm sure that was part of the deal set by FOTA. Good on them! Oh and by the hoo, there will be 13 teams in next seasons race. Sweet. Here's a list of the teams; 1. Ferrari 2. McLaren Mercedes 3. BMW Sauber 4. Renault 5. Brawn 6. Williams 7. Toyota 8. Force India 9. Red Bull Racing 10.Torro Rosso 11. Campos 12. Manor 13. Team US F1 Wow, that is going to be one very crowded starting grid. But that's alright, at least it is still F1. That is all we wanted.

Music for the Masses

Moonlight Sonata. Photo, aegils.deviantart.com Some of the best music most people can relate to is during the Elvis and Beatles era. Most people will say that that was when modern music was invented. I wasn't around then. But I definitely won't doubt it. I, for one, am also a fan of true masterpieces. But then again, can anyone really resist Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik? Many a people would probably only listen to this kind of stuff when they are in the washrooms or toilets of some posh hotels or in some elevators. Maybe restaurants even while they are having some scrumptious dinners. My personal favourite is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. I first heard it when I was in primary school. I found it very sad, emotional, touching actually. It's very true when it's said that you can feel the feelings of the composers as they write the music. I heard it again, believe it or not, when Depeche Mode played it in their single Little 15. Alan Wilder made full justice of the original version. It's since been played all over. On TV shows like CSI etc. You can even hear it on Resident Evil if you are a fan of the movie. This brings me back to the fact that for me I have had the blessings of being around when some other great music was written. Yes I am very retro. And I love it. Some of the best music I know was written in the 80's. Allow me to go through them. Depeche Mode. Depeche Mode is a class of it's own, so I needn't delve further on them. As is Nine Inch Nails. So that leaves me with the rest. And the rest are just as great! Tears For Fears. Duran Duran's latest Red Carpet Massacre. Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, The Pet Shop Boys just to begin with. Erasure, with the original Depeche Mode founder Vince Clark. He also founded Yazoo. Then we have Aha, OMD, New Order, Thompson Twins and U2. All influential in my love for music as I know it. Howard Jones. Let's not forget Howard Jones and one of my favourite songs by him What Is Love. Nik Kershaw and his hit, The Riddle. Does anyone remember the original boy band The Bros? I never liked them initially, but when I realised that they can actually play their instruments and not just sing in studios only, I really started to appreciate them. Dire Straits and their Money for Nothing song was another hit too. And who can forget Camouflage and that anthem of a song The Great Commandment. I remember playing that again and again on the cassette player when I was at The Big Splash with my classmates in primary 5. Camouflage. Then there were the alternative bands like The Sisters of Mercy, Blur, Jesus Jones, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, and even Nirvana fronted by the late great Kurt Cobain. The Charlatans, The Farm, The Stone Roses. Wow this list is never going to end is it?! But this are the things I miss in life. When everything was as near to perfect as it could be. When the music and the lyrics was written by the singers themselves. Nothing like what we have today. Songs sang by so called artist who are so young , that it's obvious even they don't know what they are singing about. You can tell that they didn't write it. They sing about having their heart broken so badly, when we know that they have hardly reached puberty. When they start growing hair in the right places, they'll know better. I hope. Still for me, I can and always will cherish the great music that I got to grow up with. Even as I write this, I'm listening to Depeche Mode's Never Let Me Down Again. In fact I just tuned into a heavy rock cover version of Depeche Mode's World in My Eyes by a band called Sonata Arctica. It will bring you into a whole new world. My World. Go on, click below and listen to it. Listen how two worlds collide gracefully. I know you want to. Moonlight Sonata anyone? How fitting.

Don't Bull the World

I cannot remember the last time I tuned in to the radio. There are so many things not right with the stations that I don't even know where to start. OK there was actually one station I did occasionally tuned into but it wasn't local, it was the BBC. The local, all crap. I don't remember ever buying a record or a cassette, (I'm from the late 70's remember?), because I heard a song or a band on the radio first. Even now, the latest downloads or CDs I buy are mostly of bands I grew up listening to or I'm familiar with. I used to head down to the many record and CD shops at Orchard and randomly listen through whatever they had. Or I'd mostly get info from my many friends who like me were also musicians. Some of us shared similar taste so it was easier back then to swap stuff. Then there were these few CD shops that actually allowed us to rent CDs. One that I recall was called Recoil, I think. It was over at Midpoint Orchard. But coming back to the local radio stations, I never found them up to par with what was really going on in the rest of the world. Seriously, the first thing I couldn't stand about the local DJs (if that's what they call themselves) is the English used. Speak good English yes, some and I mean very few of them could, but what is with that accent? Is that really how they speak at home or with their friends? They sound like they were born in some foreign land and suddenly parachuted into the radio station. These people eat Nasi Lemak, Roti Prata and Char Kway Teow and here they come sounding like some Angmoh who were born in America. Do they ever look in the mirror? Listening to them speak sometimes is like listening to a very bad comedy. Very torturous. Like nails on a blackboard. And that's another thing. They keep blabbering on and on about some stupid contest or some comic sketch that they have come up with or some other load of crap. I didn't tune in to the radio to listen to them telling their personal sad stories to each other. Where's the music? And when they do start playing, there is that hopeless repetition of the same songs over and over and over and over and over and over and over and. .. . . . . . . . . . .(now you know how that feels). I understand that there is a certain protocol that they are required to follow, but don't they have a mind of their own? Do we have to wait for the song to be a hit in another country before we start playing it here? I can go on but never mind. I'm better off without them. We all are. Thanks to my 'experimentation' with music I now know of bands and music genres that would probably not have seen the light of day on these stations. It's strange but nice to know how a song or a band has become a hit a long time after I'm already bored with it. It's nicer to lead then to follow.