Zeeshan Khan

I permanently slipped into the realm of progressive music at an early age. Naturally, I started off listening to the likes of Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and Rush. To this day I consider such bands to be the greatest progressive rock bands ever.

In early 2000 I got exposed to progressive rock and metal bands like Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Riverside, Wolverine, Opeth, Katatonia, Anathema, etc. Listening to such bands is like reading a novel by Salman Rushdie or Amin Maalouf. Every verse and every note is decorated with beautiful prose and permanent enchantment.

These days music is only for easy listening, and nobody has the time to sit down and actually enjoy a complete record. Hence the reason record stores are going out of business. Only a handful of people buy CDs. Just about everyone is downloading Mp3 format.

I’m the exact opposite. I mean I’m the sort who actually buys CDs or vinyls if available; sit down under a dim light bulb and spend hours listening to carefully constructed composition. The sheer brilliance of such bands lie in their creative thinking process while fighting their inner demons.

Listening to a complete record is no different than watching a movie, or reading a book. One has to concentrate and appreciate what the artist is trying to convey through his music, just like a director through his camera, and a writer through his written word.

The point I’m trying to make here is to simply express my love for bands I’ve mentioned above, amongst others, and one more band that comes to mind is Antimatter.

If you feel like exploring a different music genre, I highly recommend the following albums:

Opeth:
Orchid
Damnation

Katatonia:
Last Fair Deal Gone Down
Discouraged Ones

Dream Theater:
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Awake

Wolverine:
Still Life

Porcupine Tree:
Deadwing
Lightbulb Sun
Voyage 34

Riverside:
Rapid Eye Movement

Antimatter:
Planetary Confinement

Anathema:
Judgement
Alternative IV

And there are many many more albums but for now this should do. And I leave you with the greatest artist I’ve ever come across, Travis Smith. He is a CD Cover art designer and a genius at what he does.

Katatonia Album Cover Art

You can find Travis Smith’s work here …

I’ve been hiding throughout the summer; busy refining design skills, consuming some great books, enjoying TV shows, caught up on some foreign movies, and feeding my watch obsession.

Couple of weeks back I wrapped up Let The Right One In by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist, a must read. A slow paced fictional tale of a vampire living next door to a kid who is always bullied in school. This is not one of your typical vampire novels about blood, gore, sex, and just total mayhem. The novel is centered around the main character Oskar who is tormented in school for being weird looking., and how later in the novel he strikes a strong bond of friendship with the vampire, Eli. Lindqvist does a brilliant job creating a heartfelt character. I totally got engrossed in the book from the beginning … The book is highly recommended and there is also a movie version in Swedish.

Last week I picked up The Hakawati which I’m going through right now … Other than that its all about True Blood, Friday Night Lights, and Entourage.

In my spare time, I study on watchmaking and obsess over Ball and IWC watches.

I’ll try and update my blog more often, as time and space permits.

I’ve been waiting for such a sweet victory. Not just a single night of pleasure but triple crowns of glory. I’ve been waiting for the sweet taste of success.

May 27th 2009 will be remembered, forever.

Junot Diaz has written an extremely vibrant book, packed with dynamite super charged prose. I haven’t read anything like it for a like with the exception of Irvine Welsh’s books. And ofcourse I’m talking about Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

I will be done with the book pretty soon and move on to Kamila Shamsie’s Burning Shadows or Lalami’s Secret Son. Lately I’ve read a brilliant string of books from Exploding Mangoes to Curfewed Night to Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

As for music, I’ve gone back to the 80s/90s heavy metal and listening to stuff like Iron Maiden, Megadeth, and some euro metal bands. Its really really hard to find new stuff thats actually worth listening to ….

Addicted to Six Feet Under. Yea yea I know I’m a couple of years late. Disturbed storyline, with sullen characters and I particularly hate the mother, she is too bloody annoying, and I also hate the daughter, pretentious and a bitch. I’m on season 5, so will be done soon and move on to something else.

Wow, sacked judges in Pakistan restored to their 2007 positions, now that my friends might be something positive.

It has been too long since I’ve left Karachi for the cold chilly shores of New York. I don’t deny the great experience and exposure, however I do admit the solitude of being away from home …….

What I really miss are mangoes. Juicy, luscious, drippy, messy, and amazingly delicious. Unfortunately the West has no idea what a real mango tastes like. Ok, now I’m just blabbering.

Just this past month I read Mohammad Hanif’s Catch 22′esque style “A Case of Exploding Mangoes”. A fitting title, a brilliant ending, and an excellent blend of fictional history with dry sarcasm. One of those books that simply connect to you and never let go. I can’t say its beautifully written like Maalouf’s work, but its well constructed and precisely executed. I’m sure Mr. Hanif is a son of a bitch and an arrogant prick, but his writing is excellent. I apologize for being offensive.

Anyways, moving forward, I recommend this book to anyone vaguely familiar with General Zia’s Pakistan during the 80s. He killed Pakistan many times over during his reign, and since then the country hasn’t recovered.If I see him in heaven or hell, I will spit in his face with all the venom of a king cobra.

How I love mangoes, Ghalib and his love sonnets.

Its been pretty much peaceful at my end, not much going on except gaming, books, tv shows, and that brilliant game between Barcelona VS Valencia.

Currently religiously reading this book, seriously, every page twice. Bolano is brilliant with his story telling style. I wish Borges was alive to comment on his work.

I’ve been studying his policies closely even before he was a presidential nominee(thank god H. Clinton lost the primaries). All local issues aside, I hope he strives to work towards a better foreign policy. If he continues to bully other nations, his presidency will be meaningless. He needs to address the Gauntanamo Bay issue, the Iraq/Afghanistan costly wars, and his stance towards Iran. I won’t even mention the Israel/Palestine issue since I know that policy will remain the same.

Hopefully President Obama will spend our tax dollars building a better health care and education system for America. Lets stop wasting away money fighting costly and morally damaging wars.

Symbolism aside, its time to step up and rock the house. I could care less if the president is black, white, green, pink, yellow, brown, shocking green, and even shocking pink. Lets see what he can do for the country.

PS. It kind of makes me uneasy that the choice for Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel might be a bit too hasty. I was hoping a clinton/bush free legacy in the current White House. After all, Representative Emanuel was a political advisor to President Clinton.