The Delusion Of Being...

Some people are of the opinion that every citizen of the free world should have a say in electing the president of the United States of America. This is primarily based on the notion that in such a unipolar world any change in the America has a snowball effect in the rest of the world, and its not that preposterous an assumption too (the recent recession in the American economy being a prime example). So it can be safely said that whenever Uncle Sam sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold!

So when America goes to polls on the fourth of November, the only question on everyone's mind is who is going to be the next occupant of the White House. Is it going to be Vietnam War Veteran and former PoW, the 72 years old John McCain or the Harvard Law School and Columbia University graduate, 47 years old senator from Illinois, Barrack Obama ?

Whatever be the result, this presidential election has been historic in more than one ways. I mean after 9/11 who could have ever imagined that a man who goes by the name of Barrack Hussein Obama would be the front runner in the 2008 presidential race! In no other country on the planet is there more scrutiny and such fierce competition to get elected. Not only do the candidates have to fight with candidates from the rival party, as the Obama-Hilary face off showed us that the fight to win one's own party's nomination is no less intense indeed! Thereafter the the candidates are put through a grueling series of presidential debates, door to door canvassing, cross country campaigns etc. to finally emerge victorious. They are grilled on a wide range of issues which affect the American people in specific and the world in general.

If pre-election surveys are any indication then Senator Obama is going to be the next President of the United States (POTUS). Although the race was neck to neck till early September the recent meltdown in the economy has ironically helped Obama surpass McCain in all opinion polls, with leads ranging from one per cent (AP/GFK) to an unassailable eleven per cent (ABC News/Washington Post). Even the national average corroborates the fact by putting him ahead by 5.7 per cent. A deficit that's wide enough for most Americans to start believing that they are on the brink of electing the first African-American (read black) president in their nation's history. The general belief among them is that he'll be their messiah who'll lead them from the hellish reign of the Bush administration to a new Democratic tomorrow.

So is the result a foregone conclusion then, as it seems Sen. Obama has both the numbers and the general support of the people to back his bid? I would say NO. And the reasons for my stance are multiple.

Firstly we must understand some vital nuances of the way in which the President is elected in the United States. The most important thing is that the he/she is not elected directly by the people but by an electoral college, which is basically constituted by a group of electors. On Election Day, voters in each state, by casting their votes for the President, actually choose the quota of electors who will vote for the voter's preferred candidate. Secondly there's always a possibility that a candidate may poll more votes and yet lose (has happened thrice already)! Like in 2000, when George W. Bush won some states with slender margins and lost a few heavily. Thus he had the electors in bag but not the popular vote. Third and the last but the most important of all is, Hypocrisy. Despite all the right noises being made about how they are comfortable with electing a black man with a Muslim middle name to the office of the president and race being a complete non-issue in this election etc etc, its all nothing but hogwash. Deep down inside like the rest of us, Americans are basically hypocrites. They may give all the right soundbites but historically have been known to be extreme xenophobes. Despite questions about his age, the policy on Iraq, the ridiculous choice for vice-president (Sarah Palin) and the gap between him and Obama, what could work in McCain's favour, is his military career, international affairs experience and most importantly his American-ness. After all Americans would definitely feel more comfortable under a more American sounding John Sidney McCain rather than a Barrack Hussein Obama.

Although it will definitely feel amiss to not choose a winner, I'd rather leave that to the American people as a Litmus test to whether they can see beyond their tinted vision and really vote for change. In spite of what actually happens one things certain though, its only in America that you can win and.......still lose!

For the uninitiated, Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name "Majesty" by John Myung (bassist) , John Petrucci (guitarist, chief lyricist) and Mike Portnoy (drummer), while they attended music college in Boston, before they dropped out to continue as a full fledged band. The present line-up after a series of changes also includes James LaBrie (lead singer) and Jordan Rudess (keyboardist).

Dream Theater has become successful in the progressive metal genre in spite of the decline in popularity of the genre as a whole. Although the band has only had a handful of successful hits ("Pull Me Under" is the band's only notable radio hit yet), they have a dedicated fan following. The band is well known for the technical superiority of its band members who have won many accolades from experts. Dream Theater's members have collaborated with many other notable musicians.

Keeping aside their obvious brilliance, I must confess that the first time I ever listened to Dream Theater I didn't like it much despite being an avid follower of rock and metal. But when I gave it a second listen after a couple of months when friend recommended their recently launched greatest hits album, Greatest Hit (...and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs), I was totally hooked. From "As I Am" to "Peruvian Skies" to "Hollow Years" and the ilk, it was sheer brilliance all the way. So I got listening to their previous work and it was the same reaction all over again.

At the center of Dream Theater’s prog-metal whirlpool is composer, chief lyricist, co-producer, and guitarist extraordinaire John Petrucci. Listening to Petrucci play is similar to witnessing an epic artwork being created. The ideas expressed are his alone, but the sources—Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen etc —are well cited. It was no surprise then, when Petrucci was summoned by Satriani to be part of the annual G3 collective and has since been named as the third player on the G3 tour six times, more than any other invited guitarist.

Mike Portnoy is not less accomplished himself. Known for his drumming prowess, Portnoy has won 23 awards from the Modern Drummer Magazine and has also been writing a substantial amount of Dream Theater's lyrics. He is the second youngest person (after Neil Peart) to be inducted into the Modern Drummer''s Hall of Fame (at 37 years of age).

As for what "progressive metal" actually means, it can be best summed by what once Petrucci said in an interview.

"First off, there are no boundaries in this style. Within any given song, you can change direction any which way you want. You can have a jazz section, a ragtime breakdown, and then a full-on metal assault. Also, the songs tend to be longer, because you can be more creative with arrangements. You don’t have to stick to a strictly verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus format. There’s also a more intense musicality. Everyone’s musical ability is used to the fullest."

So, what can one expect from these guys in the future? Well only they have the exact answer but what I think (and hope) is that they keep churning out stuff similar in theme and treatment to what earned them a worldwide cult following that bought several million of the band’s CDs and DVDs at a time when they were still mainly an underground phenomenon.


(Fact and figures courtesy of Wikipedia)

Far from idleness being the root of all evil, it is rather the only true good.
-Soren Kierkegaard

I couldn't agree more! For centuries idleness and its followers have been discriminated against. From being called sluggish, indolent, lazy, slothful and the like to being treated as the scumbags of the society, Idle Inc. [:P] has taken enough enough shit. Maybe now's the time to take an alternate view to the whole phenomenon. Its time to ask some earth-shattering questions. Is "idleness" really that sinister its made out to be or does it have some conceivable use too (this blog being an apt example). If Mr. Kierkegaard, the prolific 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian said the opening lines of this post, he must have his reasons. So lets take a look the confessions of an idle, shall we?

First and foremost lets try and define work. According to Bertrand Russell: "Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid. The second kind is capable of indefinite extension: there are not only those who give orders, but those who give advice as to what orders should be given."

If that doesn't make any sense, let me simplify it for you. Not all work is good and nor all the the time spent doing nothing a total waste. I mean what good is the work, if you don't get the time to savour its fruits? The real problem lies in the fact that we let our lives be governed by too many illogical and impractical rules without ever giving a thought to the purpose they serve. And the facet is that most of these rules are sort of inherited from our peers when we should be making our own rules which are complementary to each one of us as individuals. One of my favorite lines in a movie ever was the opening dialogue to the 1996 British cult film Trainspotting:

"Choose a Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments............ But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?"

Leaving apart the part about dope, the reality is what we think is the time spent in "work" is just spent in emulating what others have done instead of carving out new paths. Being idle gives you the time to think about what you need to do to make your time on this planet more productive.

I would argue not only that early rising is totally unnatural but also that lying in bed half awake - sleep researchers call this state "hypnagogic" - is positively beneficial to health and happiness. A good morning doze of half an hour or more can, for example, help you to prepare mentally for the problems and tasks ahead. As to how on earth going early to bed could automatically guarantee riches and happiness, I suppose nothing can be proved, but I guess I'd rather find it out myself than half-blindly ape what others think is "right".

Greatness and late rising are natural bedfellows. Late rising is for the independent of mind, the individual who refuses to become a slave to work, money, ambition. In his youth, the great poet of loafing, Walt Whitman, would arrive at the offices of the newspaper where he worked at around 11.30am, and leave at 12.30 for a two-hour lunch break. Another hour's work after lunch and then it was time to hit the town. But then at the same time it should be noted that what worked for him may or may not give the same results when you or I try it. So its better to try out what we think is apt for us rather than acting like mere sheep in a herd.

In the end I'd like to end with the words of Anton Chekhov, Russian short-story and playwright, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in world literature :

"Life does not agree with philosophy: There is no happiness that is not idleness, and only what is useless is pleasurable."

Happy idling away!