The
Band Who Sold the World
By
Organised Confusion
If you haven't
heard about the greatest band in music history, then a word of advice:
Close, Bolt and Seal your doors because Kurt Cobain is going to come
and get you.
Nirvana came into
being around the 1986 and through their heavily sarcastic, completely
personal and effectively grunge tactics redefined the sights and sounds
of music. Thwart the leather and bring in the shredders, was probably
Cobains manner mode (and it might have had more to do with lack of
money during the beginning) but it became a sort of idealistic symbol
for Nirvana. Combine that with the hypnotic voice, the crazy drums
and a lot of noise that somehow becomes ultra-rich music and voila!
You have Nirvana.
The geniuses of
Cobain, Grohl and Novoselic came together and released their first
album, titled, 'Bleach.' This featured songs like 'About a girl,'
that was written for Cobain's maternal girlfriend who had supported
him through his lonesome poverty-struck period in life. Then there
was 'School', 'Blew' and 'Scoff', and a whole lot of others which
cleared the bushes and made Nirvana stand, albeit outside, but still
near the castle of great musicians.
It was the second
album that brought out the red carpets and left Nirvana overnight
millionaires. 'Nevermind' went on to sell over T-E-N million copies
(and still continues to be sold) and made over $550 million dollars.
It was announced to be triple platinum, occupying space in both US
and UK top ten charts. As Nirvana said, one day they're wondering
how to clear their dues, the next day their swimming in money. This
was also the album that highlighted Cobain's very dysfunctional teenage
years in the song, 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', a song that also went
on to define how you say hello. It also contained, 'Polly' one of
Nirvana's most controversial that had Cobain in deep seat of frustration.
It was around
this time that Cobain let it be known about the use of sarcasm, the
double-edged words and the privilege of the lyricist to take blame
for neither. So the next time you try to decipher what Cobain meant,
stop, instead take a break and get a breadth of what he felt and the
songs would sound like a whole new horizon. It should also be mentioned
that much of what Cobain wrote was different from what he sang (that's
why the lyrics never match) As I said, it's all about the feel of
things.
Then of course,
came In Utero and Insectiside, Nirvana's last two albums. 'The Man
Who Sold The World' featured in In Utero, and might be a one of the
leading causes for disappearing repeat button in your hi-fi remote
control. 'Come as you are', 'Sliver', 'Dive' and a whole host of other
songs had come into existence by then, and had deeply rooted themselves
in the minds and memories of all those who like good music.
In
1994, Nirvana recorded an unplugged (acoustic) performance in MTV,
the last of their shows, but it was quite enough. Those who were actively
criticizing Nirvana were silenced by the stunning and very simply
described, Beautiful, performance of the band. Unfortunately, in April
5, '94, Kurt Cobain committed suicide, ending his deep empathy for
the flaws of humanity, all his health difficulties and his depression.
And what is Nirvana
without Kurt Cobain?
So the band stopped
being in physicality, but rightly put, stepped with Kurt Cobain to
the new world of immorality and that is why it continues to sell in
the shops and play in the players.
In case, if you're
wondering how I came to have such and amazingly awesome, pen-name,
well, this was what Cobain planned on calling his band (as per his
journals that he wrote before he even had a band) but for several
reasons (the main being he predicted I might want it) came to call
it Nirvana.
Remember
when life was simple and games were simpler, and you 'oohed' and 'aahed'
over Wolf 3D? Well, if you're nostalgic about games like that, fear
not, we now have another of our own Deshi version of a 'Seek and Kill'
game...
Four developers
from BUET: Mahmudul Alam Dipu, Mehrab Shahriar, Naimul Khan and Mehadi
Hasan has developed a new FPS game. Actually, it's still a demo. Released
in early January, the game consist of one level in which you get to
play as Bipul Arman. An experienced and talented Intelligence officer,
he gets to protect an important conference Earth Summit 2004 from
a bomb threat and thereby save the world.
The Story: In
the 2004 Earth Summit, nation leaders from around the world will have
a conference in Dhaka, working on their way towards world peace, stability
and utopia. But shadow looms ahead as there is a suspicion of a bomb
attack on the conference amid the tight security. However, top officials
are only seeing this threat as a hoax and are refusing to provide
extra security without sufficient proof of any attack.
But Bipul Arman,
a talented intelligence officer doesn't want to take any risks. Based
on his instinct and experience, he knows that something is terribly
wrong. So he decides to infiltrate the conference building undercover,
killing all the security people, so that he can search for any suspicious
element that could be used as a proof that the impending bomb attack
is not a hoax.
As the game starts,
you find yourself in the back alley of the building in which the conference
would take place. The building is located in a remote mountainous
area of Dhaka, in a wide plateau surrounded by big mountains. The
security is absolutely state-of-the-art Grade-A pentagon material.
There are suited
rifle wielding guards at every corner who starts shooting at you the
moment they notice you. Should you try to sneak past the guards, you'll
be stopped by security doors that require special ID cards to open.
And there are also automatic wall-mounted Miniguns (or BFGs) that
starts shooting at you if you venture in too far. Also there are laser
beams that criss-cross many doorways, so that no one (except anyone
who knows how to crouch) can pass.
Eventually, as
you try to and kill all the guards, bypass laser beams, deactivate
automatic Miniguns and hunt down for any hints or clues about the
attack.
The game is available
for everyone to download. The size is 20 MB. Link: http://tinyurl.com/46evq
Play the game
and tell the developers what you think.
The
Age of Empires series has always been one of our favourites. After
the Age of Conquerors and the Age of Mythology, Ensemble's finally
back on the historical track with the announcement of Age of Empires
III. Having had my fill of Orcs and Nazis, I was understandably intrigued.
So I decided to hunt down information about this newly announced title.
"Age of Empires
III (there's no subtitle). The period we're covering is basically
from the end of Age of Kings until the industrial age. This is a game
about taking the European power that you governed in Age of Kings
and sending it across the sea to struggle for control of the New World.
The teasers on our website are building up to launching the Ensemble
Studios' Age of Empires III site.
The colonial time
period is a good fit for an Age game. Although military technology
has advanced, the fundamentals of combat haven't changed from the
Age of Kings time period the way they would, say for WWI. That is,
the game starts with a lot of units familiar from Age of Kings, like
Pikemen and Crossbows. Even in the later part of the game, where there
are lots of gunpowder units on the battlefield, cavalry still fight
hand-to-hand with swords. Other aspects of the time period work well
with our gameplay, such as exploring an unknown map, starting a new
town, eventually coming into contact with other players, and having
to resolve differences (usually by force). That is pretty much the
story of colonization and conquest of the New World in a nutshell."
Well, this sounds
does sound like awesome gameplay… but the best thing about it yet
is the in-game screenshots. They are absolutely gorgeous Grade-A wallpaper
material! Check them out: www.ensemblestudios.com/
The usual links:
Skeptic?
http://www.skeptiseum.org/
According to the Skeptiseum, many "abductees" are just people
having "waking dreams" or fantasy experiences. Created by
the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal,
the Skeptiseum displays the results of its investigations into the
paranormal. View the list of spine-chilling exhibits -- from ghosts
to psychic phenomena -- and then delve into the truth behind them.
In the harsh glare of the Skeptiseum's spotlight, many of these anomalies
appear to be frauds or old wives' tales. The site claims the infamous
Big foot footprint is an elaborate hoax, as are crystal balls. And
Zener ESP cards just don't provide scientific evidence that we know
what you're thinkin'. Before you pay your astrologer a visit, consult
the Skeptiseum. It may just save you a fortune in fortune-telling.
"God action
figure, complete with Kingdom-Come Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle"
http://tinyurl.com/5zj25
It's probably only a joke site… and it's pretty offensive. But it's
also very funny.
Automatic flatterer
http://tinyurl.com/1cl9
Check this out. You'll like it.
An extremely addictive
game
http://www.theflashgames.com/road_blocks-swf.html
How to create
miniature oranges
http://tinyurl.com/63qvc
Man! That needs too much patience. Still, they look good in the end.
Artwork of UFO's
http://www.ufoartwork.com/
The truth may or may not be out there. Despite that uncertainty, Matthew
Hurley is convinced of one thing: UFO art is most definitely out there.
He collects images of frescos, tapestries, illustrations, oil paintings,
and early photographs depicting unidentified flying objects. Thousand-year-old
"petroglyphs" tell the story of an alien ship crash-landing
in Death Valley, and saucer-shaped objects are the subjects of ancient
French cave paintings. Chinese illustrations depict flying cars, and
silvery saucers are hidden in a Buddhist mural. UFOs work their way
into religious art -- witness a red saucer in a 15th-century painting
of Jesus and spot the spaceships behind a Yugoslavian fresco of Christ's
crucifixion. Other alien artwork illustrates a light battle in the
skies of Nuremburg in 1561, a UFO hovering over Renaissance Rome,
and a red fireball suspended above China in 1890. Hurley also points
out various hoaxes and misinterpretations -- for example, the Bayeux
Tapestry shows an actual sighting of Haley's Comet in 1066, not a
UFO. As for the rest of these images, we may never know what they
mean.
You can email me to niloy.me@gmail.com or visit my blog at niloywrites.blogspot.com
Willys
Jeep
By
Mood Dude
We generally call
whatever big four wheel drive vehicle we see as Jeep. But did you
know that the word Jeep is an actual brand name and that the first
Jeep came about during the World War 2. The Willys Jeep changed the
face of warfare. Before its arrival two years into WW2, heavy machine
guns, light artillery, men and supplies were transported in large
trucks. These were cumbersome and were not fit for all kinds of terrain.
There had been several attempts at producing a small, maneuverable
all-terrain vehicle during the '30's but all failed. The US army took
up the issue in the summer of 1940, some 135 manufacturers being invited
to submit designs for an all-wheel-drive machine with an 80-inch wheelbase
and carrying capacity of 600 pounds. A tiny company called the American
Bantam manufacturer of the British Austin Seven under license won
the contest with its general Purpose Vehicle (quickly dubbed Jeep)
by coming up with the blueprint under a week. The idea was great but
the small company lacked resources to produce it in sufficient numbers.
Fellow automotive minnow Willys Overland was contracted to manufacture
the Jeep, Ford later building several thousand. Within 1941-1945 there
were about 380000 built. The Jeep is considered to be the single most
important machinery in winning the war. The basic shape evolved a
lot over the decades but has remained an icon.
