The wireless sessions 2.5 the last one

29th November, Thursday, saw the last of the Wireless Sessions of the second season. The last show prompted a huge turnout and top-notch bands: Arbovirus, Synopsis and Yaatri to name a few.

The first show of the second season was held on the 1st, featuring bands like Eclipse, Babaz and Samir with guitar solos. It was a slow start to an eventually great series of events. The second show really picked up from the last, featuring new talent, as well as seasoned ones, with performances by Germantown, '71, Powersurge and Mechanix, each band performing their own tracks, as well as covers, brilliantly.

The third show had some really good jamming by Rafa, from Aurthohin, and a group of friend he put together. It also had a vocally charged performance by Xoroastrian, some moderately good acts, and an anticipated performance by Radioactive and Scarecrow. The fourth started off poorly, with a low turnout, and not so exception bands, but picked up from the time Jasper and Shanto started playing, to when Severe Dementia came on-stage, and then the memorable jamming session between Rafa, Saadi (from Kral) and Samir (from Powersurge). The evening ended with performances by showstoppers Kral, and then Sumon AKA Bassbaba.

All these led to the last show, which ended with a blast. It could have started better, had it not been for The Departed's forgettable cover of Summer Of '69 by Bryan Adams, and Nothing Else Matters and Fade To Black by Metallica. Cynic X seemed to be out to prove they were better than the last band, with covers of both Fade To Black and Nothing Else Matters; delivering better, it was still a poor structuring of the song list, the audience often bored with the repetition.

Overture came next, performing Fade To Black, yet again. They also performed Comfortably Numb, and one of their own numbers, failing to garner much enthusiasm from the crowd. Soothsayer, coming next, seemed to be having a bad day. They faced many technical difficulties, the bass sound often getting distorted, and could only perform three of their songs: Prayshchitto, Shesh Kobita and Hotta Kore Amaye.

After this however, the show took a sharp turn, as all the wireless sessions so far has always done. Synopsis, with amazing vocal gravity, and pleasing guitar work, covered Cryptic Fate's Protibaad, promptin a sing-along. Then they performed two mellow numbers, With Or Without You by U2 and High And Dry by Radiohead. The falsetto in the chorus of High And Dry could have been better, but it was a refreshing difference. After this, Himel rendered a folk song, Khachar Bhetor Ochin Pakhi, followed by two highly acclaimed covers of Lalong songs.

After this, the show literally generated electricity with a twenty-five minute long jam! It featured Saadi from Kral, Rafa from Aurthohin, Hythum from Germantown, Arefin from Decipher, Samir from Powersurge and Nazim from Eclipse. The twenty-five minutes passed without anyone getting a single second to draw breathe, performer and audience alike.

Arbovirus appeared next, a little late, but still amidst tremendous applause. Due to certain technical difficulties, and lack of their own equipment, they could only perform three of their numbers: Ja Icche Tai, Uttoradhikar and Omanush. The audience demanded most of the songs, and even with minimal equipment, Arbovirus pleased the house. They paved the way for Yaatri, many people breathlessly waiting for them. They performed their songs Ekta Gopon Kotha and Ami Ek Bhanga Ghorer Bhanga Janala, amongst other, much awaited and much-demanded tracks. And thus ended the second season of the Wireless Sessions.

Nafis Tahsin Ahmed Shubho, CEO, Live^2 Event Management, the man who made the shows possible kindly agreed to answer a few questions. Asked about the second season as compared to the first, he mentioned about a better turnout and crowd response, more partners to help them out, and quite a few big names, such as Sumon, Yaatri, Arbovirus, Powersurge, Kral etc. He said about new talents, “A lot of new bands also got a platform and many were indeed very talented!”

Asked about a third season, Shubho revealed that it is scheduled for March, and would be held on Thursday at Decagon Café. He further said about the third season, “If you have a band willing to go “wireless”, you definitely should look out for updates! Look out for the third season - you can't afford to miss those sessions!”

The event was partnered and supported by amadergaan.com, Radio Foorti 88.0FM, Incursion Music, Decagon Café and Sound Machine Ltd, and organized by Live-Square Event Management.

By Ahsan Sajid

At the British Council Auditorium, on Saturday, 1st December 2007, University of Cambridge International Examinations applauded high-achieving students at the event Brilliance in Bangladesh Awards. High achievement included three Bangladeshi students gaining top marks in the world in three O level subjects.

William Bickerdike, Dr Jane Rollingson and Guy Lane from CIE attended the event to congratulate the exceptional students of Bangladesh. It started in the morning, with short opening speeches by the visiting guests. Dr Jane Rollingon mentioned how it was good to be able to celebrate something in the midst of the tribulation Bangladesh is in at the moment.

This was Director of CIE, Guy Lane's first visit to Bangladesh, and he commended the fine results achieved by the students here. He talked about CIE, the world's largest provider of international qualifications, and how, unlike its rivals, CIE is not profit-driven. About the three students achieving world-highest marks, he said, “To achieve highly in a subject is fantastic. To achieve the highest marks in the world for a particular subject is quite amazing.”

After the opening speeches, the event moved on to the presenting of certificates to each high scoring individual student. The three students to achieve top marks in the world were Ibrahim Md. Junaidur Rahman, Nabil Tarique Hossain and Sajjad Khan Mousum, in Bengali, Mathematics (syllabus D) and Human and Social Biology respectively.

Other top scorers were Mandana Mahdukht Ali with 10 As, Shahed Ehsan Siddique with 9 As and Abu Bakar Siddik Ahmed with 9 As. A particularly enthusiastic student, Safath Rahman, who achieved the third rank in the Top in Bangladesh across any three AS Levels category, said that he would like to do his higher studies on management, in Canada. He would like to see himself as a big executive ten years from now. William Bickerdike said the closing remarks. Peppering his speech with witty quips, he provided many statistics showing how well Bangladeshi students have performed in the international arena. He said, “These successful students have gained Cambridge qualifications that will help provide a solid foundation for further success in education and life. Schools, teachers, parents and CIE congratulate them on their outstanding achievement.” The event ended on a light note, with group photographs and refreshments.

By Ahsan Sajid

You are beautiful

“Never frown, because you never know when someone is falling in love with your smile.”
-Henry Ward Beecher

Candy is Emmy's best friend. They have known each other since childhood and have always done things together. But as time passes by, Emmy starts feeling rather unsure of things. Candy is the prettiest girl in their class and she is very popular. She easily wins hearts with that dazzling smile of hers. Its not that Emmy is ugly, but she isn't extra ordinary looking either. And even though Candy has never treated her differently, other people have. People always criticize her, and Emmy always believes in whatever they say. Emmy's self esteem is going down and she is losing confidence. How to help her?

It's impossible to change the way a person has been created to look, but yes, there is always space for improvement. We send Emmy to the beauty parlor and give her a make over. She straightens her hair, goes shopping and by the end of the day, she looks like a completely different person. But is that so? Is she really a different person after all? Well the answer is no. she is still the same old Emmy who is Candy's best friend and loves maths. The only difference is that now she looks like a super model instead of a nerd. People notice her these days, but her old friends still treat her the way they used to.

A month later, Candy told Emmy over the phone “I miss the way you used to look”. Puzzled, Emmy asked her what she meant. “Well before you looked like this down to earth girl that anyone could talk to, now you look like some plastic doll. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that, forget I said anything!”

The next day when Emmy went to class, she didn't turn any heads. The only person who noticed her was her close friend Billy. But he didn't sense the change in her appearance. When Candy saw her, she gave Emmy a big hug but after a while she said “You look different, but in a good way”. Candy was right. Emmy had shifted to clothes she liked wearing and clothes that made her feel like herself. And above all, the insecurity and feelings of uncertainty were gone and now she walked with her head held high and with an air of confidence. Sure, she didn't look like a model or anything, but she looked like a normal girl, with an innocent kind of beauty. Yes, she was beautiful.

By Nayeema Reza

“The nice thing about being a celebrity is that when you bore people they think it's their fault.”- Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger was born in Bavaria of German parents, and immigrated to the U.S. at age 15. Henry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger on May 27, 1923) is a American politician, and 1973 Nobel-Peace Prize Laureate. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the Richard Nixon administration.

At that time many jokes were cracked about Henry Kissinger and his family. One of the popular one was-

A salesman knocked on the door of Little Johnny Kissinger's house in December of 1975. Little Johnny answered the door. "Johnny, is your father, Henry Kissinger, there?" he asked.

"He ain't home. He be out with President Suharto, approving Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, even though the military action be illegal and Indonesia be using U.S.-supplied military equipment." Johnny replied.

"'He be out'? 'Indonesia be using'? Johnny, where's your grammar?"
"She ain't home either.”
Source: The Internet

Compiled by Adnan Quadri