Poetry
Silent Litany
Her tears in a vase
Could wilt an evergreen,
Not in years but in moments.
And her face,
Could rend the coldest heart,
Could send words to your ears
Without lips apart.
Now she cries a silent plea;
An unsung litany.
She has lost a lover who left her cold
Love that was like coal
In a gilt of gold.
Labels: 60 worders
Poetry
This Day Will Someday Be an Anniversary
They sang, they danced, they chortled.
They drank, they cheered to the newly weds.
They joked, they jeered, popped open bottle after bottle.
Merriment unbound.
Yes, they were loud.
Too loud to hear the scream
As she jumped off the ledge.
This day will someday be
An anniversary
Not to mark a wedding,
No.
But to mark the bride's death.
Labels: 60 worders
my IQ according to Tickle
You're a Visionary Philosopher!
The Classic IQ TestBrought to you by
Tickle
Ahh...the Visionary Philosopher. It's got a true ring to it, no? The score was a 138. Better than your average joe... although they say:
"Your Intellectual Type is Visionary Philosopher. This means you are highly intelligent and have a powerful mix of skills and insight that can be applied in a variety of different ways. Like Plato, your exceptional math and verbal skills make you very adept at explaining things to others — and at anticipating and predicting patterns. And that's just some of what we know about you from your IQ results."
But I guess my SAT score will bear witness to my real intelligence.
Concert Review
The Unplugged Gig at Words ‘n Pages
A concert review by Knafice-Man
With dark clouds overhead but no sign of rain July 19th was the perfect day for a concert after the scorching days of summer. And a concert they had on the rooftop of Words ‘n Pages titled the Unplugged Gig. Organized by a group of prodigies committed to project S.A.F. (Save Alternative Foundation), which aims to restore the Alternative Rock genre as top favorites in the Underground scene, this show was a refreshing change since most concerts nowadays feature a long list of metal bands.
Around two hundred people congregated under a marquee, mostly youths, despite the size of the venue. Some were standing at the back under the open sky in the pleasant weather. The show started at around three o’clock in the afternoon and Ruptured took the stage first and started off with their cover of RHCP’s (Red Hot Chili Peppers) Californication. After their performance came (in slot order) TrainWreck, Elysium, Baah’sznought, Germantown and Shunno. Some of the more memorable performances where Incubus’s Drive and Creed’s My Sacrifice by Shunno, Outkast’s Ms. Jackson revamped by Baah’sznought, RHCP’s Snow by Elysium, Blink 182’s All The Small Things by Encore and Dido’s Life For Rent and Guns ‘n Roses’ Sweet Child ‘O Mine by Germantown with Mouri on vocals who attracted more audience into the marquee. Shunno, Encore and Germantown each played a track of their own as well.
This show also marks the comeback of Breach. Their performance by far, in the opinion of this reviewer, was the best. They performed at the very end of the show starting off with a cover of the Cranberries’ Zmobie followed by their own track Ananto from their album and Pearl Jam’s Jeremy and then ended the show with a new single of their own titled Aapon. Though the show was supposed to be unplugged a few bands, including Breach, didn’t play by the rules but the crowd simply loved their music.
The concert was supported by Words ‘n Pages and it also promoted the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The proceeds of the concert went to the Lilla Heart Fund – National Heart Foundation Hospital. Overall, the concert was thoroughly enjoyable and well organized.
I knew it...I'm Gryffindor...
Sort me!Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows coming out pretty soon... so I decided to get sorted... ^_^
Anime Review
REC
Episodes: 9 (9X12 mins)
Genre: Drama, Romantic Comedy.
You can easily tie this anime’s story and its plot progression to a dozen others’ (futakoi alternative and midori no hibi are the first ones to come in mind). But even though REC has nothing new to offer it still lures audiences with its core premise, unrelenting love that always comes through at the end of the day.
The story goes such, Matsumaru Fumihiko, 26 years old, is a neglected project planner working for Inoue Confectionery. He’s having a tough time coming up with innovative ideas and none of his plans ever got approval. One day he has a chance meeting with Onda Aka, 20 years old, while he’s stood up by a date at a movie. Aka insists they watch the movie together or else the tickets would just be a waste. After that they have dinner together and part their ways only to be reunited by an accident. Aka’s house gets burned down and she has nowhere to go. Matsumaru takes her in and offers her to stay as long as she wants. Aka, a poor girl who aspires to become a great voice-actor someday, starts living with Matsumaru. The next day Matsumaru gets his first approval and starts working on promoting Inoue’s latest chips “Ha” (meaning leaf, the chip even looks like a leaf). The mascot for the ads is a fantasy creature Matsumaru invented called the Nekoki (cat tree). Fate has it Aka ends up voice-acting for Nekoki. Where the story rolls from there is something you have to see for yourself.
REC is a rather short anime and if you watch the entire series in one go it might seem like a movie with small intervals from time to time (read intros). Each episode is titled with the name of an Audrey Hepburn movie and contains lines and similar scenes of the movie here and there. Watching those Hepburn movies help, since Aka dreams of dubbing Hepburn in Japanese sometime and uses her lines whenever she gets the chance. But even without them you will get the story of REC and like it for its sheer simplicity. Mind you it has lots of plot holes but none too big to overlook ^_^.
Feature
Mysterious Masked Men: Of Fantasies and Circus Costumes
By Knafice-Man
She was walking down the dark alleyway in the middle of the night, all alone and vulnerable to any attack. Just as she was about to traverse a pool of mud they jumped down at her, snatched her purse and tore off her jewelry. But suddenly from within the shadows emerged an unexpected interloper, the protector of the innocent, savior of the weak and redeemer of the evil. He fought off the thieves and returned the merchandise to its rightful owner. The lady was just about to give her hero special thanks when she noticed that he was clad in spandex tights with a long cape flowing behind him and wore a pair of underpants on the outside. She then fell in the mud and started rolling on the ground with laughter. The superhero squinted and said in a whisper, “Dear Lord! What have they done to you?”
The woman relinquished her laughs and replied, “To me? What have they done to you? What were they thinking?”
Really, what were they thinking? Putting an epic character in such shameful attire? Since the beginning comic book superheroes never really had the sense of properly dressing themselves up for fighting crime and fortifying dual identities. The blame obviously goes to the comic book creators and writers. You can never make a comic book too serious unless it’s simply meant to be too serious. But making superheroes look like they’re always up for some freaky parade is absolutely unwarranted to the skeptic eyes.
I’m sure pretty much every privileged teenager has acquainted themselves with comic book superheroes, the likes of Superman or Batman. Some of them have become fervent readers of their comics. Of which some idolize their favorite heroes and some even fantasize about being like them (and consequently suffer minor injuries from unfortunate accidents). But it seldom crosses their mind that they like to adorn multi-colored tights with equally colorful but probably even weirder emblem on their chest and the ever so humiliating brightly contrasted underwear on the outside (writer bonks his head several times against the table). Take any superhero for instance. Not the independent publishers’ ones, the mainstream ones. More or less every one of them falls into these criteria.
Here’s a thorough speculation of the case. Firstly, you must notice the wide range of assorted colorful line of costumes. Of course every superhero needs a separate costume for fighting crime and distinguishing him from others. But somehow the creators took the concept a little too far. In the Golden age of comics it was next to impossible to find one superhero whose clothes had less than three different colors. Superman had blue red and yellow, Batman had blue, purple and yellow and Captain America had blue, red and white (star spangled glory). But later on the lackluster characters and the famous Hulk and Spider-Man broke the boundaries. The Silver age brought a slight change in the costume designs and only recently did the creators ponder about changing the colors and make them less divergent (e.g. Batgirl, Nightwing).
Secondly, you’ll notice the queer costume designs. No one has yet gone for any radical changes except for Supes with his Argos City Costume. Batman still has his horns (or bat ears as it might resemble), Green arrow still wears his ridiculous hat and Wolverine and Flash doesn’t seem intent to change their masks. And Lycra still seems to be the personal favorite of most superheroes. I know it helps to attain increased flexibility and agility but it also shows (though artists avoid that) a lot more than you want to. But a few like the Punisher, who has improved from spandex to regular outfit with a trench coat (it was unimaginable for a Vietnam War veteran to run round in tights and hound vengeance), has gotten out of this “tight situation”.
Thirdly, you’ll notice the absurdly styled emblems emblazoned mostly on their chest, maybe sometime slightly to the left and sometime in multiple places as well (like the belt or the back). The sign usually come from their names, which in the story they give themselves but actually were supposed to be given to them by the people. Would real superheroes, had there been any, name themselves like Superman or the Flash, let alone thinking about Daredevil or Mister Sinister (in the case of villains).
Last but not least, I have to say a thing or two about the females. Just because all the creators are men doesn’t necessarily mean that the women have to go round kicking criminals in the kinkiest sort of clothing. Wonder Woman and Black Canary wears swimsuits, Supergirl wears a tiny pleated skirt (recently wears a tinier one), the Huntress, Psylocke, Storm, Elektra, you name it they all love to flash some flesh.
In the end I’ll say, comics aren’t just for kids. Even adults can find the well-knitted storylines and excellent form of artworks intriguing. But the fantasy sometimes goes outbound and mars the credibility of the fantasy itself. Weird outfits don’t go with comic characters anymore. It would, had it been the 30’s or the 40’s but now it doesn’t suit anymore. Though some of the new characters were dressed properly, the classic characters are still the same. So for the sake of the marvelous comic characters and the excellent stories I hope the creators make some changes for the best.
[Note: Queries, comments and rational criticism towards the author can be sent to the following e-mail address: voldemort2099@yahoo.com.]
Feature
Comic Books: The Image From The 90’s
By Knafice-Man
It seems like H.G. Wells finally conceded and let RS use his quaint little time capsule to travel back in time and bring to you: Dhaka in the 90’s - a blast from the not-so-distant past. Why? Because Dhaka in the 90’s is what made our generation. We are products of an era that witnessed the dawn of a new culture that worshiped TV, cartoons and comics. Though I’d love to write on about all of them, the latter is my topic of choice. So prepare yourselves to be enthralled, enticed and practically incited (towards me that is) as we venture into world of comic books from the 90’s.
If you’re old enough to recall the glorious days from the last decade you’ll notice that comic books were a significant part of any privileged preteen/teenager’s life. Most parents back then didn’t certify, considering them as implements form an “evil” culture. But you’d still sneak and buy a few issues or borrow them from friends and when you got caught it was lecture session – kids and parents 101. Sometimes they even resorted to confiscate your secret collection, the most heartbreaking thing that could happen to a kid after getting denied his first kiss from his first crush. But parents didn’t understand that it was sheer curiosity and bemusement at first sight when kids discovered comic books. They were filled with colorful characters captured in sequential frames that unfolded an amazing story to the kids. They found the humor and weird expressions in the word-bubbles amusing and the jokes would make them roll on to ground in a fit of laughter. Back then Indian comics like Chacha Chowdhury and translations of foreign classics like He-Man and the Phantom were high on sales and they didn’t even cost you any more than 10 to 15 taka. Then came along the tier of English comics. Can you name someone from back then who hasn’t sifted through the pages of Archie’s? I guessed not. Though they only had back issues then it was still a teen vogue in the mid and late 90’s. Another comic book series that became popular around that time was Tintin. Though generally made for kids, Tintin’s wild adventures didn’t fail to attract the teen readers as well. By the late 90’s there also came the line of super-hero comics mostly from DC (Superman, Batman, Justice League), which were pawned at a cheap price in the streets and stores of New Market and Neel Khet. Most of them were back issues from the 80’s.
And that, my friends, was just the scene in Dhaka. What we missed out on was a spectacular comic book revolution. In 1992 seven of Marvel Comic’s (Spider-Man, X-Men, Avengers) best artists founded Image Comics. These guys greatly relied on software to finalize and color their artworks and the quality they provided in 92 wasn’t surpassed by Marvel or DC until 98-99.
The scene has changed a lot since the 90’s. If you look around now you’ll see that comics are becoming obsolete to the new age of kids and teens. Sales are down and availability has become low because no one bothers to buy them anymore except the few truly fervent fans that still try to hike the stores and sweep out the vestiges. Right now I could only wish upon those golden years from the 90’s and hope that comic books will regain its rightful place amongst the hearts of kids again someday. Till then I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
[Note: Queries, comments and rational criticism intended for the author should sent to the following e-mail address: voldemort2099@yahoo.com.]
Cartoon
Band Review
Freefall With The Fall Out Boy
By Knafice-Man
Jamming buddies and old friends Peter Wentz (bassist) and Joseph Trohman (guitarist) with Andrew Hurley (drummer) came together after they strayed from their former bands in the backdrop of local hardcore bands in Wilmette, Chicago. Then they stumbled upon Patrick Stump, vocalist cum guitarist, whose strong quivery vocals gained them fodder to create a new band. Then the still anonymous band started jamming and playing in local shows. And only on their second gig, where they played at a college, they asked the audience what the band’s name should be and someone yelled out, “Fall Out Boy”. Thus the revolutionary rock band was formed at the dawn of the new millennium.
Fall Out Boy’s music sternly warrants the band members’ roots. They play hardcore rock music blended with melodic contemporary punk-rock and slice it with unprecedented riffs and bass powering up profound choruses and acute intervals. Though at first glimpse their music might seem punk-rock thorough speculation will reveal otherwise. And even though their lyrics stay profoundly emotional and somewhat effusive, their genre being called emo is met with a staunch rebuff. Fall Out Boy’s songs deviate to a level that it deserves plaudits for an innovative genre of its own.
Fall Out Boy first recorded a demo consisting three singles and send it to all the record companies they knew. Fueled by Ramen reciprocated and released their debut album “Take This To Your Grave” in 2003. This was an instant hit, selling over 200,000 copies, given the fact that in the rock scene Fall Out Boy played varied genres infused to create an allusive impression on the listeners. Not going right off to their next album, they experimented with different modes for a while and Wentz and Stump included the fellow members to create music this time round. The result was out in stores 2005, “From Under The Cork Tree”. This was a bigger success released by Island records (The Killers, Keane) and it compellingly clamored for a larger fan base. With their music aside the lyrics alone suffice to steal your attention with witty remarks and zany humor in every other tab. As the chorus of the song titled “Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year” goes, “Take your tears, put them on ice> cause I swear I’ll burn the city down to show you the light.” If that’s not raw emotion vibrantly incised in lyrical artwork than what is? Their discursive style of music and lyrics, which gently segues to and fro between segregated ideas, though not entirely unique, surpasses that of any other predecessor and makes the song more entertaining. Some of their rhythms even leave you longing for a sense of déjà vu then shatter it without a warning.
However offshore they might seem Fall Out Boy still coincides with fellow rockers, the likes of Reliant K, Bowling For Soup, All American Rejects, Matchbook Romance, My Chemical Romance and Good Charlotte, in the punk-rock scene. For those of you who listen to the aforementioned Fall Out Boy are a “must listen” and for other rock fans they’re well worth a try. After the demise of legendary yet callow punk-rock band Blink 182, Fall Out Boy can be a highly refreshing entrance that will spurn off the dimensions and take rock music up a notch or two.
[Note: Queries, comments and rational criticism directed towards the author can be sent to the following e-mail address: voldemort2099@yahoo.com.]
Anime Review
Licensed By Royalty (L/R) Genre: Action/Espionage (13 episodes) 
By Knafice-Man
No matter how many animes you saw you have never seen anything quite like L/R. The anime is extravagantly stylish and brilliantly plotted. L/R is a contemporary fiction of espionage and intriguing adventures with so many ravishing twists and turns that it is bound to keep the audience begging for more.
The story is substantially unique and secular. Set in the context of a fictional country named Ishtar, which closely resembles modern England only except geographically. A great feud regarding the royal family of Ishtar is about to erupt after being concealed for about fifteen years. The protagonists are the agents of the Royal House Guards titled L/R. Though everyone’s presumption of their code name being derived from their real names is always proven wrong, since one is Rowe Rickenbacker and the other Jack Hofner. L/R is a part of Cloud 7, the secret service of Ishtar. In the beginning they embark on some very interesting missions like catching smugglers for stealing artifacts that belong to the Royal Museum and taking down a criminal syndicate that threatens to attack the royal family. Then a random occurrence of bombings sends the two agents on a wild goose chase to track down the terrorist known as Angel. And along the way a young girl named Noelle who is just about to turn fifteen brings tons of surprises with her. Just after the middle of the series an astounding revelation takes place and the story hastily traverses to the climax with lots of astonishing twists and action in between. To say any more would certainly mar the plot.
The characters slightly deviate from your regular faces in any espionage story. For starters the agents themselves are anything but trite. Rowe is the rather laid back nonetheless maven agent and Jack is the perfect gentleman whose cast is only exceeded by his expertise. And like all agents they share the luxury of using and abusing hi-end state-of-the-art gadgets and cars. You can’t run an agency without a scientist. Cloud 7 has Desmond who shows us the many ways to cram handy gizmos into a pack of cigarettes. Mister Pennylane is the boss of L/R, who always maintains a certain level of anonymity especially about his past. And his daughter Claire keeps L/R going and tidies their house all the time. Character development is sublime and in course of events different and rather fascinating psyches of their minds are unveiled, which only makes the plot more feasible.
The animation is fluent and the action sequences are justly executed. The animation boasts stylish choreography. Albeit it lacks in drawing accuracy, the character and background details and riveting conversations more than makes up for it. The character design is less Manga and body parts are more realistically proportioned. The intro has an excellent video and the ending experiments with a little silhouette animation. The tracks are really good and rather catchy. With the exception of one JPop they are all in English and they fit in perfectly.
In a nutshell, L/R is an absolute masterpiece given that it stays true to its genre. The story is stunning and captivating from beginning to end. It’s serious with a bit of comic situations here and there. It’s guaranteed that it will leave an impression on your mind that will prevail for many days to come.
[Note: Queries, comments and rational criticism can be sent to the author at the following e-mail address: voldemort2099@yahoo.com.]
Anime Review
CHRNO CRUSADE
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy (24 Episodes)
By Knafice-Man
Do you like nuns with guns? And maybe even a demon sidekick to add to the fun? Then you should watch Chrno Crusade. This one amazing anime is created by Gonzo Digimation, which has a reputation for producing excellent 2D-3D animation and also has names like Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurais to their title.
Chrno Crusade is basically the old good versus evil story with a blazing spark of originality. The story is set in a fictional post World War U.S.A. The time is 1928 A.D. The states are thriving after the Great War. But for sinister reasons evil is lurking everywhere. The number of Satanists is rising and to thwart their evil attempts there are the exorcist nuns and priests of the Order of Magdalene. Rosette Christopher is one such nun with a demon partner named Chrno. Rosette and Chrno are searching for Joshua, Rosette’s brother who mysteriously disappeared four years ago. They’re the best exorcists of the Magdalene NY branch, but they always manage to imply a major amount of property damage in every mission. Pretty soon their job turns from dealing with powerful Satanists to tracking down and saving the seven apostles of Christ. These apostles are believed to possess great powers, endowed to them by God and the demon Ion is after them. They soon rescue the apostle Asmaria Heindric and are assigned to protect her at all times. In no time Stella Havenheit a.k.a. the Witch of Jewels, a beautiful German redhead who can probably (dare I say in front of TGND) put Ginny Weasly out of order, joins them on their crusade. In course of time they all find out how their destinies are intertwined and each plays their role of saving Heaven and Earth.
The storyline is serious with its fair share of laughter. It has got loads of riveting twists and mysteries just waiting to be unraveled. The good thing is there will be no questions unanswered by the end of the series. The character designs and art works are extremely well done. Gonzo gets two thumbs up for this. The animation is fluid and evenly paced in different scenarios. The action sequences are pretty neat too. There is this one scene where Ion dodges sacred bullets with uh… devil-like precision. It looks better than what Agent Smith does and it looks like he is really dodging it and not like he is in three places at the same time. The ideas are pretty unique too. I mean how many animes have you seen with demons with explosive beard or nuns riding spiritually empowered Harley Davidsons?
The characters however offer you a stereotypical variety. Rosette of course is the hotshot protagonist with Chrno as her trusty sidekick. Asmaria is her protégé. Sister Kate is the angry boss. Minister Remington is the mysterious good-guy. The elder is a perverted old scientist and Rosette’s personal Q. Stella is the sensible veteran. And Ion is the ultimate bad-guy hell-bent on universe domination. But the character development is good and manages to induce a bit of depth in them.
The intros and endings look marvelous. The first intro is superbly stylish. The 3D sky scenes are simply brilliant. The sound tracks are awesome. The only thing to complain about Chrno Crusade would be the bit of romance they entered late in the series. It started rather abruptly and ended incomplete. With that small single flaw aside, Chrno Crusade is a masterpiece. Chrno Crusade has an amazing story coupled with amazing animation. If there’s anything called a “must get” then this is surly one of them.
Relevant Information: The whole story is based on the popular manga series of the same title, created by Daisuke Moriyama, of which I still haven’t found the translated version of volumes 7 and 8. The manga is brilliant and due to its vast popularity a Chrno Crusade novel was released, probably in the late 90s. It was titled “Tsubasa Yo, Are Ga Tamashii No Akari Da” which means, “Wings, they are the light of the soul”. It has got some excellent illustrations inside and is worth buying from abroad.
[Note: Criticism, comments and questions can be sent to the author at the following e-mail address: voldemort2099@yahoo.com.]
Comics
Here it is. My first ever fully finished comic strip.
Short Fiction
Dead Towns
By Namida No Akimono
If we follow the trail of dust flying from the scorched breast of mother earth we will catch up to her. The woman called Sandy McSherman but she’s better known as the Gun-smoke Girl. Cause after a kill where everyone blew out the smoke in style, Sandy inhaled it to the bottom of her nicotine-blistered lungs. She’s the fastest gun in this part of the country, perhaps the fastest in the whole Wild West. But it’s not always your agility that keeps you alive. Sometimes a slower shot is a safer gamble and sometimes you needed to suck up to scum to survive. Sandy just knew the rules all too well. That’s why she’s been riding alone all this time and leaving a trail of dead towns in her wake without any resistance.
Now here’s where they call in the bounty hunters, famous marksmen living mercenary lives and killing for gold. And some even kill for something more than gold. They kill for memories and trophies, like the weapon of their opponent, to make the kill unforgettable and some just kill for the sake of it. The mayor of Harmony Ville, Mr. Henry Loudheart, hired the bounty hunters to kill Sandy. Her trail of dust will surely come by this town. Loudheart can’t risk it. The whole idea of hiring extra guns is not appreciated by the town sheriff Albert "Hard-eye" Husky. The moment those cash-licking cowboys set foot in his town he swore he would shoot them straight down to the cemetery himself. He even told the pallbearer to make the coffins ready. Problem is, each bounty hunter rides alone. There are three paths into town and there are five bounty hunters and they would probably kill each other off before they go for the target. Obviously the price for the Gun-smoke Girl is too damn high to share. Though the road from west is only used to get out of town people can use it to come in if they please. Presumably they will come from all directions and it would be a tough feat for the sheriff and his deputies to kill them all.
News came in to the Town Hall that the other three towns were left dead. In every single incident the Girl left no one standing. Several assassins in every town and gallant gunmen were all shot dead and lying on the streets and pubs. The town’s people were too frightened to come out for a few days and left the massacred bodies to rot under the blazing sun. This was not good news for Husky. He knew some fine men in those towns. If they didn’t stand a chance against one nasty little woman, what was fated for them?
Limpin’ Larry rushed into Husky’s office and reported that three of the five assassins arrived, one through the cemetery road and the others through the Byrne’s farm road. Hard-eye cleaned the barrel and loaded the bullets in his gun in a hurry, knowing that by the time he’s done they will be having a little shoot off in front of his office. His instincts never failed him. Three bangs and two of them are wasted. Hard-eye figured that the two from the farm road must’ve made a pact that they would share the gold in halves. The third one was shot from both their guns so he didn’t stand a chance, but he was an excellent shooter he took down one of them and he killed two assassins before he came here. Hard-eye came out quickly and as soon as he sighted the outsider shot him right in the chest with his revolver. But the outsider shot too and put a bullet beside Hard-eye’s guts. The part of his shirt soon became soaked with blood and he could hear the galloping of a stallion from the west road. The Gun-smoke Girl was coming.
When Sandy came all of Hard-eyes deputies have fled. Only Hard-eye sat in front of his office ready to draw out his gun despite the bleeding from his wound. She finally came riding a white stallion. When she got off from the horse Hard-eye saw her for the first time. A woman in her late twenties wearing a short red shirt that revealed a slender waistline with a waistcoat over it and a pair of rugged chaps over tight low-cut jeans. Her hat was hanging on her back from a strap around her neckerchief so that her long sandy blonde tresses would flow in the dusty wind. She wore boots with high heels and sharp spurs. She was one of those girls who were beautiful but didn’t know much to do about it. But what Hard-eye noticed the most was that the holster strapped across her waist holds two guns. This was bad.
Sandy was coming closer to Hard-eye. Hard-eye knew he couldn’t get her from his position. Maybe if he talked to her and got her distracted it would be of some good. He hid his wound with his coat and stared straight into her eyes and said, "So, you must be the Gun-smoke Girl. You’ve become pretty damn expensive, you know? Five grand. Never had that much money in my hand. No."
Sandy interrupted him and said, "Tell me old man, why am I wanted. I didn’t commit any crime. And I have a name, Sandy McSherman. Why does everyone know me as the "Gun-smoke Girl"?"
Hard-eye was a bit perplexed with her mild demeanor, but he wasn’t easily deceived. He continued, "Sandy, eh? I’m Sheriff Albert "Hard-eye" Husky. Hard-eye you see," he twitched his right eye and continued, "it’s made of rock. Lost my real one in the war."
Sandy interrupted once again a bit irritated, "Swell story sheriff. You didn’t answer my question. Then tell me why three dead men are lying in the streets of your famous town and there’s not a soul around? The same thing’s happened to three other towns I passed recently. And what does girl have to do to get some water around here?"
Then Sandy looked away into the distant horizon where the cemetery was visible. Hard-eye knew this was his chance he drew out his gun but before he could place his finger on the trigger Sandy shot him through his fake eye and blood spilled slowly out of the rock and splattered from the back of his head. Sandy looked into the dead mans good eye and said, "You know what your problem is, Sheriff? You talk too much." she put the smoking gun back in the holster and went to her horse. She mounted the horse and rode off in the direction of the next town to the north with a trail of dust flying in her wake.
Feature
BanglaUnderground: Revealed 
By Knafice-Man
In mid 2005, when underground music forums, like Amader Gaan, Tunes BD and Underground Inc, were climbing at astronomical rates in fan base, a forum called BanglaUnderground (BU) made its entrance in the underground music scene. Officially released on 28th of July last year by the site administrators Shezaad Yawar (who fancies the alias shezavu) and Rajdeep Dasgupata (almost psycho) BU is the newest online forum based on Bangladesh’s underground musical community offering tons of interesting features for music freaks all over the nation.
The BU website has excellent graphics, something you rarely see in Bangladeshi sites. It has got online forum activities, chat-rooms and a spot for thread-messages for the members to interact. Though mostly it is based on underground music, the topics can range from anything to everything. They even have a separate thread line for mindless bantering. Besides these the most innovative thing BU offers their members is the BU Messenger. The software is created exclusively for the convenience of BU members, similar to the Yahoo! Messenger. There’s a News section to inform the visitors about concert dates and what’s happening "under the ground". There’s an Information section that provides you with in-depth insights about underground and mainstream Bangla bands and foreign ones. The best thing however is the Downloads section where they give you multimedia goodies’ galore courtesy of the moderator Auvik. You will find anything you want as far as your demands bear credibility. Almost all the underground songs released to date are available with a few early extrications. You will also find foreign music here, software if you need them and all you have to do is just ask. BU also lets their members upload demos of their own music, which gives talented hidden rockers a chance to show off a bit.
The forum is managed by a very passionate team of music lovers. Besides being the administrators shezavu, who operates from Canada, personally handles the monetary management and internal affairs and almost psycho takes care of the graphical aspects of the site. Apart from the Administrators the management team is split into two divisions, the web-team and the street-team. The web-team controlled by almost psycho is liable for managing the site and updating it. The street-team, with Abrar-ul-Haque (sin eater) in charge, mainly organizes concerts and promotes the forum to music lovers and concertgoers. The members can join the management team if they please.
Within a month of their launching BU organized their first (and only till now) gig titled "The Concert for Saving a Life" on the 26th of August. This was a fund raising concert to collect charity for Mr. Mojibur Rahman Dilu, who is suffering from GBS. Top-line bands including Artcell, Cryptic Fate, Stentorian, Arbovirus and others performed at the concert and raved the audience.
Now six months after their launch BU has around 750 registered members. Their future plans include a more enriched forum website and organizing concerts for 2006 and 2007. They are planning to have an unplugged acoustic session and a concert to pay tribute to foreign rock bands within 2006. And a very ingenious scheme that stirred up from the mind of Tashhid Abdullah (lord voldemort), second in charge of the street-team, BU will arrange a concert, Underground Battle. Here up to 25 bands can enter and battle it out for the prize at the end of the road, an album contract. The gig will be stretched for a month and the audience will select the winner themselves and for the other bands they will get a much-needed exposure and hence have a podium to perform in the underground scene. Since this will be a giant leap for BU and will be tough to organize the gig is due for late 2006 or early 2007. For more information and details logon to their website: www.banglaunderground.com.
[Note: Queries, comments and rational criticism can be send to the author at the following e-mail address: voldemort2099@yahoo.com.]
BD Blues
01.30.2006I've been riding the bus for a few months now. Not regularly though. I think public transportations are the scenes for the weirdest things to happen. Here's a not so strange incident. I skived school today as there weren't any classes going, they just held us up for practising for the annual parade. So when I finally got out the car wasn't available. So I took the bus. Along with me at the bus stand stood a young lady probably in her mid twenties. Seemed like a typical middle-class. She might be considered beatiful by some but not many. Any way, we stood under the hot spring sun for several minutes before the bus arrived. When the bus finally came and I got on, I saw there were only two seats left, one just being targeted by another man who got in. So I thought I'd take the last remaining seat, but then I saw the young lady and I gave up the seat for her. Sad thing is she never even thanked me for that and I had to stand in the middle of the bus holding hard to a metal rod and think that where kindness is not rewarded with gratitude it is hardly due. I travelled like that half-way till I finally got an empty seat.
From My POV
Teen Central
The Dress-Code Dilemma
By Knafice-Man
Ever since the British invaded our lands way back in the 18th century people of our nation, mostly men, started impersonating their choice of clothes. Hence we bade farewell to our traditional clothing, which has been a prominent part of our culture for many, many decades. From then till now we still adorn the westerners’ attire. But the trends have changed and the choice of clothing is constantly altering in a fast-paced modern world. And here lies the common quandary most teenagers face these days, the dress-code dilemma. It has become a fact that parents nowadays are less open to new ideas and trends and the kids are just too fazed with the latest line of clothing. The choice of parents and their children differ so much that it seems that there is an enormous chasm in between and it’s filled with millions of fissures, which are heavily ditched with deep perforations and has become virtually unbridgeable.
Teenagers now tend to try out every type of cloths that are appealing to them. It’s ok when the practice is within the limits of decency. But when it gets out of hand and they start to mimic the likes of idiotically absurd and stylishly unethical rappers or r n b singers it gets on your nerves. Though you can’t blame them really, because that’s one more of cable TV’s bounties for us. These teens are utterly confused with their style and have lost their identity. They are wannabes who are neither black nor do they know how to rap, heck it doesn’t even matter if they can because they are making complete fools out of themselves. And coming to the point of accessories, bracelet’s, beads chains are all acceptable as long as they suit your looks, but when it comes to piercing and tongue, lip and belly studs it’s totally unforgivable. When your living in a city called Dhaka with slums adjacent to your apartment building and your still eating rice for lunches it simply doesn’t go with you.
Now if the parents budge in it is reasonable to a certain extent, although it was their fault in the first place that their son or daughter turned out to be like this. And once the seed of confusion is sowed it’s tough to rip off. But filial conflicts and scolding sessions won’t solve the case. If the child’s choice is warranted to the common eye, with understanding and mutual respect from both sides this can be easily resolved. Parents, you have to respect your child’s choice because after all you made him/her, right? And if s/he’s a wannabe, then you should just let him/her be. S/he has no future anyway. And for the parents who are still looking after their tiny toddlers make sure you supervise what they watch and learn from television and the Internet. The consequences can be disastrous if you don’t.
[Note: Queries, comments and rational criticism can be sent to the author at the following e-mail address: voldemort2099@yahoo.com.]
From My POV
Pre-Marriage Ponderings
By Namida No Akimono
There are many divine rituals of humankind. And among these the ritual of marriage stays loftily prominent as always. It is the ritual of man and woman uniting in wedlock for noble causes and praying for God’s blessings to live a peaceful and harmonious life together. But little do they know what they are actually getting into, for a wedding vow might as well be a death sentence for them. Here I present to you my discernment of the concept of marriage, which has been a human ritual since the dawn of civilization.
Although I’m hardly the age to get married, I believe my age doesn’t affect my capability to speculate this matter. We see married couples all around us. They come in all shapes and sizes. Well actually not that, but all sorts of ways couples generally come. We have happy couples, miserable couples, impassive couples, and every other type of couples. But there is one thing they all have in common. They all sacrifice. More or less in every marriage both the spouses always has to sacrifice, if not a lot then surely a little, for his/her significant other. Why? Because there is no such thing called a "perfect match". When the couple doesn’t agree on something one or both of the spouses has to make a sacrifice. And when one gives in to another person’s choice a part of his/her former self dies. Be it a sliver or a splinter of a wood chunk, it was still a part of the whole individual. And as this continues the person you were totally changes into another character.
Okay now. People are bound to change. People change every other moment. But why all these alterations for someone who was suppose to love you unconditionally? Shouldn’t you rather marry someone who loves you for who you are? Truth is, no one can completely love someone and it’s impossible not to dislike at least certain aspects of your own character. Then again, the concept of marriage is based upon, sacrifices, compromising and commitment. But who would want to get blissfully married, to change? Some would agree that it’s worth taking the risk and things usually turn out for the best. For a good reason I must say the contrary. Let me tell you a story of a long lost uncle of mine. He was such radical guy. He was a diehard fan of Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi and Aha. He collected over 300 cassettes of old rock songs back in the 80s. And now, after his marriage, he listens to "Dhoom Machaley". Need I say more? Surely if he had foreseen this change, he wouldn’t have gone for his high-stake marriage.
Another problem couples face is marital conflicts. Honestly conflicts aren’t actually that bad. What it renders is a better understanding among the spouses. Little fights work just as good as healthy conversations. The spouses figure out more about each other and they either slowly drift away or come closer to sharing the same raft in the middle of an unstable sea. But large-scale disagreements are a totally different story. It only has two outcomes. They either suffer tremendously long cool-off periods or they get a divorce. The latter marks the end of the relationship, so it’s pretty devastating. So marital conflicts and ego clashes are inevitable in a marriage, which makes it more painful. Even if you marry someone you’ve known for ages, it still might not be a safe bet and later on, there is no certainty that you’ll gamble your way out of every predicament. Everyone has some secrets that are never revealed or parts of their psyche that emerge without a warning. Therefore, one cannot know anyone entirely. Let alone trusting him/her.
So now you are probably wondering that I am one lame guy who is suffering from matrimony-phobia and making futile excuses to cover his weaknesses. Truth be spoken, I am afraid of getting married. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t. Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about this and came to brilliant conclusion. What I need to do is marry a puran (old) Dhaka girl. Based on the information I gathered, there are advantages in every direction I stare. I’ll be a ghor-jamai (uh, it’s translated into something like residential husband or something). What they look for in suitors is good education and a respectable family background. With that much settled all I need to do is sit on my bottom and look after my father-in-law’s business. And I even get to eat all the ravishingly mouth-watering foods of puran Dhaka. And the wife won’t even complain much. They are usually built that way. If that’s not the blissfully married life, then what is???
Although I still haven’t discussed the involvement of love in a marriage and dissected the facts by bits and pieces and scrutinized them to the utmost intricate details, I will draw it here. In the end, I’ll say, getting married is a tough decision and there is no room for blundering, for it will mess up your life and you only get to live once, right? I’ll leave you with this philosophical quote I made up, see if it makes any sense.
Marriage is a thing so complex,
It will easily get you perplexed.
Here is a word to the wise,
Before you get involved in the holy act of matrimony, think twice.
Poem
Walk
By Namida no Akimono
Dissipated sunshine
Scattered across the street,
Where the sanctity of a harem fails to reach.
Oh, what a beauty I see.
Lying bare beneath a heap of waste.
Yet pure as a child,
Who has not broken a toy.
Speeding cars passing by,
There is no time.
I feel ashamed to look.
But I can’t look away.
The cigarette burns to a dim flicker.
The silence resounds
Within the walls
Of misery,
Unforeseen,
Unbearable to me,
But the way of the street.
The path I walk
Is a path where she sleeps.
Poem
Again We Meet
By Namida No Akimono
Oh, Sarah.
Please don’t remind of the time we were together.
Though it might be of a time so far,
I think it still hurts me.
If only it was torrid
I wouldn’t have worried about a thing.
And after so long again we meet.
Why did you come back to me in tears?
How could you think it would suffice for the years?
I have lost you and I have lost so much,
I don’t want to lose anything again.
How could you bring me more pain?
You thought it was best for us to part
And stay away.
But I stay awake all night
Till I’m too tired to sleep again.
That is how I’ve been living my life,
Since that day.
Oh, Sarah.
Don’t come close.
I can’t stand to touch your hand.
I would break down on to the ground,
But I have to be a man.
Love is just not fair.
It is crushing us in despair.
And this is what I feared,
That someday you would reappear.
Oh, Sarah.
Let me live what is left of my life,
Without you by my side,
Without you holding me tight,
With no pleasant dreams all night.
Everything will be the same.
That is how I’ve been living my life,
Since that day.
Oh, Sarah.
We are standing beneath that tree,
Where I last saw you,
Where I shed my tears as I saw your hair
Flowing in the cold winter breeze.
And I left my heart here.
Oh, Sarah, let me free.
Say that you are loathsome of me.
Because when you pain your soul it pains me so
And it burns me in so deep.
If you want us back together,
Can you compensate for all these years?
I have lost my love and I have lost my passion,
Can you give that back to me?
Yet you leave so many answers unquestioned.
Tell me how can we be?
My Online Archive
Here's where you'll find all my works. All of them. From short fictions to thoughtful writings, I'll be putting all of my works up here. Visit the site time to time if you feel like it and you can send me feedback about how I should improve.
Sincerely,
Nafis Khalid.
