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Jul 21
 Orson Scott Card on IdeaJugglers.com [10:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Exclusive podcast of an excerpt from Orson Scott Card’s forthcoming novel ‘Ender in Exile’, read by the man himself. This is as good as it gets for Science Fiction buffs.
Orson Scott Card is best known as the author of one of science fiction’s greatest sagas which began with Ender’s Game. It was followed by Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind and the Ender’s Shadow series. Ender in Exile is his forthcoming novel. He’s considered to be at par with Science Fiction greats like PKD and Asimov. OSC has recently begun a long term position as a professor of writing and literature at Southern Virginia University.
Visit his official website to learn more about him: www.hatrack.com.
The intro track is ‘Falling Down’ by Fabulas Ater. Click here to check their album out and download the tracks.
The second song is ‘Nebulous Notions’ by Revolution Void. Click here to hear them and download their album.
Jul 15
Taxi for Two by Manny [3:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
The airwaves have been silent for a while I know. But not for long. Not for long. I’m getting a brand new podcast kit on Thursday with mixers, audio interface, studio microphone and headphones. This is as good as it gets because we can now fix live music to Spoken Word, so a lot more of experimental stuff.
Good thing too because here’s a list of what you can expect in the coming weeks:
1. Excerpt from Tanushree Podder’s new novel- Boots, Belts, Beret.
2. Excerpt from Sorraiya Khan’s new masterpiece
3. Believe it or not… Orson Scott Card has promised to share an exclusive reading from his new novel in Ender’s Saga.
All this and more in the next few weeks. Sounds good?
The song that you can listen to on the podcast is by an artist called Manny from Demo Album. I found him on Jamendo.com and weirdly enough he is untraceable now. I’m still going to look for him and in case you find before me, tell him his music totally rocks! In the meantime you can chill out with Taxi for Two.
That’s all for me. Over and Out.
Jun 29
Reviews of 3 Graphic Novels and featuring an awesome Jazz Fusion Band. Free downloads baby… yeah!
Sorry folks, new MacBook doesn’t support my microphone. You won’t be hearing my spiel till I get hold of trippy hardware towards the second week of July. I forgive Apple. I love the MacBook. Keep sending me your recordings in any case. No harm in that.
The topic of the day is Graphic Novels. Some of you have heard of them, some of you have read them, and those of you who still think they are comics, need to relocate to Riverdale. Work at Poptates and discuss philosophy with Archie.
A graphic novel is a tremendously evolved storytelling form. True, it’s sequential art like comics, but that’s where the similarity ends. Playing with time, playing with minds, these are the devices used by graphic novels. Images don’t supplement words, they compliment words, they are partners, working perfectly together to create a spontaneous flow of emotions in the reader.Not getting too carried away, I’ll quickly recommend 3 that I’ve read recently.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
This is a moving account of a young Iranian girl’s experience growing up in Tehran at the advent of the religious revolution. A story in 2 parts, it takes you on a roller-coaster ride of emotions as you travel with her and see the world through her eyes. The sheer inanity of power in the wrong hands, its abuse and the trauma faced by its victims will make you feel glad about your troubles. Big Brother might be watching you, you might live in a hole in the wall apartment, but you’re free and there’s no illiterate frenzied fanatic pointing a gun at you because you are carrying a Michael Jackson CD. In retrospect, if I catch you with ‘Do you Remember the Time’ on your Ipod, I might just be worse than them!
The writing is frankly, very, very good. It’s got a touch of dark humor shrouded behind all that dark reality. If you’re lazy, you can watch the movie first. It doesn’t match up to the book. The book is something else.
Pride of Baghdad by Brian Vaughan and Niko Henrichon
The Baghdad Zoo has been bombed and the animals have escaped. This is a beautiful story of survival in a war torn urban jungle. A pride of lions must cross the city on their way to the mythical wild. They debate about the good and bad of captivity, the bliss of ignorance, love and longing and motives. It’s all too human, too close and it makes you cringe.
The art work is gorgeous. The pictures are masterpieces. The colors are warm and the images play havoc with your mind. The writing is perfectly in tune with the imagery. I strongly recommend this one.
Epileptic by David B
This is a story of a family coping with an epileptic son. It’s been narrated by the brother and it takes you deep inside the labyrinth of a disease that has no cure. It shows how the whole family is affected by the disease as they all try to come to terms with the kind of life in store for them. It’s a bittersweet, dark and touching novel and you’ll get sucked into the story from the first panel itself. You could call it a coming of age tale but that’s where the twist comes in. Beautifully told and fantastically illustrated. If there’s one Graphic Novel you’ll ever read… read this one.
That’s it from me. I’ll leave you with an awesome Jazz Fusion group I stumbled upon. Really strong beats there with some good electro mixes. You’ll like this one. Increase the Dosage by Revolution Void. Visit them here.
Jun 19
There’s so much awesome music on the internet. In my search for songs to go with words, I’ve come across a huge amount of absolutely ear friendly air waves and since I can’t fix them all to podcasts, I’ve decided to every now and then put up links so you can check them out for yourselves. My key music sources are MySpace.com and Jamendo.com.
Brad Sucks’ music has a very Radiohead-ish kind of sound while at the same time sounding completely original. This is really good electro-rock. Crazy thing is that it’s available for free, though if you are a good person and your halo isn’t too tight, you have an option of sending them some money. Click here to hear them
Slim’s album Interstate Medicine has an awesome raspy feel to it. The voices are like sandpaper… which is a good thing. The guitar interludes and the chorus lines are perfect for long drives. This is the music you want to listen to right after you quit your job and just before the optimism begins to fade away. Click here for their music.
Fresh Body Shop has put up their album Orgamilk and even though the album cover spooks me out, I love the music. Very cool alternative stuff. This particular album is Pedro’s solo acoustic effort. Good effort. I’d buy the album if it was up for sale. For now you can download it for free.
Please spread the word around, IdeaJugglers.com promotes independent artists. If you know of a garage band that wants to peep at a parking lot, link them to me. I’ll be back later with more of fun podcasts and music.
Jun 16
I think I’m turning into a book monster. I’ve been devouring books faster than Jenna Jameson devours her victims in ‘Zombie Strippers’. I sometimes feel that all that reading is short circuiting my brain and affecting my choice of films.
We can’t have the best of both worlds. There are only enough grey cells to support one medium. Foreign films with substance and matter and wicked subtitles in Chinese English have taken the back seat for now.
I read this awesome book called Ishmael where Daniel Quinn, the author, has made some very interesting points. He says that humanity is screwing up the world because humans believe in a faulty mythology. Instead of belonging to the world, we believe the world belongs to us. We try to tame nature by conquering her and we have succeeded in ‘conquering’ the highest mountains, the deepest oceans, the densest jungles, the poles. But at what cost?
He compares all of humanity’s motives to Hitler’s purpose. Hitler waged a genocide against non-Aryans, we are getting rid of every creature and everything that doesn’t seem right to us. Hence jungles are cut down and animals butchered to the point of extinction to make way for farmlands and factories to feed the rising human population. The paradox is that an increase in food production to meet population demand results in another population explosion. When the belly is full, the hormones rage.
We forget that we too are animals. Just because we have a headstart in evolution doesn’t mean we own the goddamn world. When we’ve destroyed the earth we’ll spread out to rest of the universe. That’s the intent… you know ‘Conquer the Stars’, go where no man has gone before and cook some aliens.
However, on a positive note Mr. Quinn says that there is hope. We just need to change our thinking. We need to understand that as long as we humans belonged to nature, we evolved. From prehistoric primates to Homo Sapien Sapien, evolution brought us this far and then we separated ourselves, distanced ourselves from other creatures and that’s when we screwed up. He says that we need to go back to being a part of nature, without becoming tribals, we need to move forward, but sensibly. Going back to nature means respecting nature, respecting all her creatures and resisting the urge to take over the world.
Who knows maybe in a thousand, million, billion years, when dogs or chimps or whales evolve, they’ll remember us as guides, as a civilization that strayed away from the path, but came back on track and made way for other species to evolve.
Please buy the book. It’ll change your thinking. I’ll go back to watching ‘Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!’ a 1965 ‘B’ Movie classic featuring 3 very hot women with bad intentions and worse dialogues. I might even find a plot line there somewhere.
The End.
Jun 14
Excerpt from Smita Jain’s debut novel ‘Kkrishnaa’s Konfessions’ with music by Irya Gmeyner.
First up is the song, ‘Sold My Luck‘, by Irya Gmeyner from Sweden. It’s the kind of tune that plays on autorewind in your head. It’s haunting and beautiful like the rest of the songs in her album, ‘Basement Takes from Textilgatan 7‘. The album name is a pun on Bob Dylan’s world and the basement in Stockholm where the songs were recorded. Visit her site: www.irya.se and her MySpace page: www.myspace.com/iryamusic.
Following that is an excerpt from screenwriter, Smita Jain’s debut novel Kkrishnaa’s Konfessions, a wickedly funny, rip roaring read about a dried out scriptwriter, ambition, murder and mayhem. Highly recommended read. You’ll like it. Visit her website: http://www.kkrishnaaskonfessions.com for more info.
A quick confession… I’m partial to these podcasts. So please leave your comments and don’t forget to subscribe.
 
‘There is great festivity in the Sharma household. It is Tanvi’s wedding day. The day is bright and sunny in a fitting tribute to the prevailing mood in the household. Tanvi sits outside amidst her friends while henna is applied on her hands. Tanvi studies the intricate pattern on her hands and smiles in approval.
‘Observing her elder daughter from the doorway, the comely way her eyes dance with suppressed excitement and her lower lip trembles with bridal bashfulness, Shanti’s eyes well up with emotion.
Blessed with beauty one could write poems about - sharp features, milky white complexion, thick, long black hair, lithe figure - Tanvi is a rare, precious gem. Infused with an infectious joie de vivre, Tanvi is a livewire who lights up any room she enters. She is traditional in her values and modern in outlook. Yes, Tanvi is indeed a daughter to be proud of.
All these thoughts course through Shanti’s mind as she stands there gazing at her daughter. And also the melancholy thought that soon Tanvi’s effervescence will bubble in her house no longer. She will, from now on, brighten her husband’s home. It is just as well that that home is going to be Rahul’s. A more satisfactory groom would be hard to find.
Shanti remembers the gold bangles that Tanvi is supposed to wear and turns to go and fetch them from Tanvi’s room.
We intercut this with Gauri entering Tanvi’s room surreptitiously. Her entry is accompanied by her characteristic motif sound of a flutter flute. Once inside, her heavily kohled eyes dart around furtively.
Once she is sure that she is alone, she marches purposefully towards Tanvi’s cupboard and pulls open the door. There, on top of the pile of clothes, lies what she is looking for - Tanvi’s wedding dress.
The millions of tiny jewels that comprise the delicate kundan work on the lehenga choli catch the light and wink mockingly at her. Gauri stares fixedly at the dress. The dress, to her, represents all the things that her sister Tanvi has stolen from her.
Schvoom, schvoom, schvoom, the screen is besieged with successive images, at different angles, of Gauri staring at the dress.
Gauri’s face is a mirror reflecting the myriad emotions coursing through her mind - hurt, anger, confusion - each vying with the other for supremacy. She feels such intense hatred for the dress that she does not trust herself. Her chest heaves rhythmically with the tremendous effort of her control. But it is a losing battle.
She is suddenly afraid of what she might do. Her arms shoot out and bury the dress under other clothes. It is as if, if she banishes the dress she might banish her pernicious emotions along with it.
But her sudden movement dislodges the balance and pell-mell, the clothes fall out of the cupboard. The offending dress now lies atop a heap of clothes on the ground, still staring back at her derisively. Dhang, dhang, dhang, zoom in and out quickly three times.
Gauri again stares at the dress hatefully, her chest heaving with the surge of sudden emotion. She feels trapped. It seems there is no escaping the hurtful garment.
We intercut this with Tanvi laughing happily. The sun in the background forms a halo around her upturned face.
Back in Tanvi’s room, Gauri turns her face away and closes her eyes. Her furrowed brow, with the elaborate bindi in its centre, bears testimony to the anguish she is feeling. As she does so, her eyes fall upon a pair of scissors lying invitingly upon the dressing table.
Like a madwoman she falls upon the scissors, her blindingly grabbing hands dislodging the assorted bottles of creams and lotions and other such items of female adornment in the process. Play this out three times.
The scissors secure in her trembling hands, Gauri pauses, her chest heaving with the awe of what she is about to do.
She marches - in slow motion - to the dress, her flimsy chiffon sari swishing around her designer stilettos. The music rises dramatically, signalling to the viewers that she is about to do what they anticipate she will do.
Outside, in the passage leading up to Tanvi’s room, Shanti, too, moves inexorably, in slow motion, towards Tanvi’s room. Dhang, dhang. Zoom in and out rapidly, three times.
Inside the room, Gauri stoops down, in high speed, and picks up the lehenga choli. We switch to slow motion as she straightens and looks ahead resolutely. She has the lehenga in one hand and the instrument of its destruction in the other. Meanwhile, still in slowmo, Shanti inexorably approaches the door.
Will Gauri succeed in destroying the lehenga? Or will their mother intervene in time and save the unthinkable from happening? The background music rises to a crescendo.
We freeze the episode at this point…. What do you think?’
I looked up from the laptop, having just narrated the last scene from the screenplay of episode 1484 of Kkangan Souten Ke to my friend, Brinda.
Brinda’s eyes bulged with incredulity and her lips twitched uncontrollably. ‘Or there could be another alternative. With her chest heaving so much, Gauri could die of asphyxiation.’
I reacted to her facetiousness with a benignly tolerant, ‘Very funny.’
Now Brinda’s derision has to be viewed in perspective. She was not my average viewer. Instead, she was this corporate woman, single and rational and - the most irredeemable feature yet - successful. In fact, she, with this deadly cocktail of attributes, personified the character my viewers, average housewives in Kanpur or Moradabad, most loved to hate (she has to be a bad wife, placing her needs, her career, before her husband’s!).
In any case, what did she know about heart-wrenching human drama? She dealt with boardroom politics and unemotional corporate types. The worst crisis she would probably ever have to face is if her company went bust. And as I always tell her, companies come and go everyday; a corporate in crisis cannot even begin to compare with a soul in crisis.
Real human dramas are experienced by housewives in small towns where real crises unfold, not in boardrooms but in bedrooms, forcing their victims to choose between impossible situations on an amazingly regular basis. The villains here are not the quarterly turnover numbers, but cruel circumstances that threaten the solidest of familial foundations with astonishing regularity.
When she saw that I wasn’t to be moved, she said, ‘Anyway, how does it end?’
‘How the hell do I know? I haven’t got round to it yet. We’ll decide after the TRPs come in.’
Brinda’s face registered a variety of emotions, none of them flattering. ‘I knew it! There’s never a story.’
‘Of course there’s a story!’ I said, somewhat defensively. ‘It’s just that it’s flexible.’
The End
Excerpt © Smita Jain., all rights reserved. Music © Irya Gmeyner., all rights reserved.
Jun 09
How to Build a Robot Army and Bloodsport [10:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Excerpt from Dr. Daniel H. Wilson’s book- How to Build a Robot Army: Tips on Defending Planet Earth Against Alien Invaders, Ninjas, and Zombies. Music is by New Model Army.
Dr. Daniel H. Wilson is the author of ‘How to Build a Robot Army‘. He has also authored ‘How to Survive a Robot Uprising‘, which will be made into a movie soon. He wears a tie and glasses to look smart and intimidate people who visit his site- www.howtobuildarobotarmy.com. The book is very intelligent, you’ll be laughing about something and then suddenly realize the deeper meaning. Links to buy the book are on the linked site.
New Model Army from UK has provided the song ‘Bloodsport‘. Their new album ‘High’ is out and you can buy it from their site- www.newmodelarmy.org. They are alternative and wild and the songs on the album are awesome. Check out their store for some cool t-shirts and bling.
Aayush Iyer has read the excerpt on behalf of Dr. Wilson. He’s a cool guy and is one of the 2 people who’ve helped me set up IdeaJugglers.com. Catch him here- www.aayush.name.
How to Command Robot Minions in Battle
It may be easy to think of the robot that’s guarding your back as human, but it’s a mistake that could cost you your life. A good commander understands the mind-set of every trooper - human or robot. Listen up and learn how to give effective commands to your squad of robot henchmen.
Use a wireless headset.
A wireless microphone delivers clean, crisp sound directly to your robot, regardless of hearing range. Wearing a bone conductive earphone will transmit robot replies directly to your inner ear through the bones of your skull, even over the shrill screaming of alien overlords.
Give commands from the robot’s perspective.
Rapidly switching between perspectives (e.g., my left versus your right) is tough for a robot, although human children learn to do it around age five. Researchers at the US Naval Research Lab found that two astronauts used each other’s perspective to give directions about a quarter of the time. Unless speaking to a human, stick to using the robot’s perspective or an absolute system without ambiguity, such as latitude and longitude.
Avoid “embodied” metaphors.
“I’m feeling down,” “Keep up,” and “There’s trouble ahead” are all spatial metaphors that stem from your physical embodiment as a human. A robot will understand literal speech faster: Say, “I feel sad,” “Stay within ten feet,” or “There is trouble ten yards to the north.”
Be emotionless.
Shouting a command implies forcefulness to a human listener, but it will just make you harder to understand for a robot. Work out a priority structure and emphasize commands with priority levels, e.g., “Find my severed arm, priority red.”
Be literal - avoid sarcasm.
Sarcasm relies on a high-level knowledge of context, something a robot is not likely to glean. Sarcasm or veiled threats will only confuse your robot ally.
No baby talk.
Humans naturally speak slowly to babies, helping the little ones learn to talk and understand language. Your robot has learned to recognize human speech, not baby talk. Similarly, do not exaggerate facial expressions - unless the robot was trained to recognize emotions by watching soap operas.
Face the robot and stand at speaking distance.
Look directly at the robot - emotion recognition and lip-reading are drastically less accurate at a larger than 30-degree deviation from frontal face image. In addition, scaling a faraway image up to size loses pixel information, while standing too close introduces irrelevant details that confuse the robot.
Ask simple questions.
“What time is it?” may seem like a simple question, but how to decide whether to answer “noon,” or “11:59 P.M.”? Both answers reside in what researchers call the halo of truth, but one is more precise. Humans choose an answer based on its truthfulness, the current context, and by modeling the intentions and knowledge of the person asking the question. Limit the “utterance space” of possible responses by asking simple yes or no questions.
Learn to use robspeak.
Some military researchers believe that instead of speaking like a regular person (i.e., using natural language), robots should have their own simplified, formal language - robspeak. If you do this, make sure the language is simple for humans to learn and incorporates a redundant mix of verbal commands and gestures so that it remains useful in a chaotic battlefield.
The End
Excerpt © Daniel Wilson., all rights reserved. Music © New Model Army., all rights reserved.
Jun 02
Frozen Dreams and 8 Empty Beds on Old Reels [5:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Hindi poetry with its English translation against a background of modern classical music. Groovy duet for a Sunday evening.
NOTE: If this Podcast or any other on IdeaJugglers.com seems to play in Fast Forward… please download it and it’ll play fine. If anybody has a fix to this problem PLEASE share it with me. It’s driving me up the wall.
Virendra Gupta is a Mumbai based poet who writes in English and Hindi. His new book “The Unknown” has been published by Poets International. He’s been awarded as one of the Best Poets of the Year for 2003 and his huge body of work has been published many times and received numerous other accolades. Read his poetry to make sense of a lazy Sunday.
The Flashbulb plays a variety of music and the song played here “8 Empty Beds on Old Reels” is a modern classical piece. He has his own label- Alphabasic and enourages you to buy his music from there or from Bleep. Check out his MySpace page.
Pratishtha is a regular on IdeaJugglers.com. She’s read the English bits. Follow her fashion blog- ShotCouture.com for a funky perspective on styles and statements.
Ice freezes not- in my dreams
For it melts and melts
The maroon mountain
But a merry vale-
My heart belongs to the mountain
For you dwell on its other side
And my dreams dwell in you
For you live in my dreams.
Dreams so dear, so very bright
But hazy like a fading star-
Leave an empty horizon within me.
For my eyes-
You are a dream
And my dreams rest in you
So near, yet far-so far.
A lake descends in my dreams
Every night-
So my eyes are teary
Each morning.
A mountain melts and
A brook flows-
A lake forms when the flow stops.
My inner flow too has stopped
For- my dreams have frozen
For -you are a dream
And my dreams rest in you.
Poem © Virendra Gupta., all rights reserved. Music © The Flashbulb., all rights reserved.
May 23
Scientists are working on something called a Quantum Computer which can multi-task a 1000 things at the same time. I can find a 1000 things to talk about. The eyes and ears on this site seem to be growing. IdeaJugglers.com has found an audience. Hence, this site will now be updated twice a week instead of once. So, those of you who said I was lazy can now eat your socks!
The plan as it appears is that one post a week will be a podcast and the other post will be textual info and ranting. I’ll obviously not post them together, but if by chance you see them posted on the same day, please realize I’ve either lost track of time or been abducted by aliens who’ve replaced me with an imperfect clone. In the spirit of universal peace, don’t lynch it.
Piracy and Creative Commons
You might have noticed a new logo on the side bar. It says CC, and means Creative Commons License. It basically means that the content on IdeaJugglers.com is legit and not pirated. If anybody wants to use my writing, please get in touch with me. If you’d like to use someone else’s writing or song, get in touch with them. That’s one of the reasons why website links have been provided as far as possible.
Immortal @ 85
Scientists are also speculating a cure for mortality in the next 50 years. This throws up a rather difficult question for many late twenty somethings and hush thirty somethings. As much as we might want to live forever, would anyone really want to be immortal and old?
The comments section is open to debate.
May 21
First poem of the travel feature. Please submit your poems and stories here.
In Cyrus’ own words- ” [I am] A gypsy at heart and a writer by profession. I live to travel and my wanderlust has taken me to Europe, U.K, Africa, South East Asia, and many parts of India. I am a creature of the road, and have driven over 100,000 kilometres across various parts of India - many of them off the beaten track. As much as I savour the joy of travel, I enjoy sharing the beauty of the worlds I discover, with those who may not be as fortunate. But I hope to inspire them to follow in my footsteps…someday.”
Visit his site- www.GypsyTales.com
Having sold 6 million albums, toured the world over, plumbed the depths of nervous exhaustion, and pushed their working relationships to breaking point, Morcheeba return with their new album ‘Dive Deep‘, an “emotional blueprint” which has restored their faith in music. Morcheeba are dedicated to the prevention of the destruction of the Marine environment, and are using the release of the new album ‘Dive Deep’ as the perfect opportunity to raise awareness.
Official Site- www.morcheeba.co.uk / MySpace Page
A starling sounds the reveille
A million ravens take up the chorus
Sleepily, I draw the blinds
For another day is fast upon us.
Far, far from the hubbub do we glide
Across moor and sylvan plain
Willowy ferns wave a fond farewell
Alas, I’m on my way home again.
A sea of mustard shrubs congregate
As if in urgent conference.
Nirvana, left behind in the hills.
Citywards, I speed with deference.
Muddy tracks snake their way into forever
Connecting places that have no name.
I’m a long way from home still.
A gypsy, seeking neither fortune nor fame.
I travel, therefore I am.
A wayfarer in search of no end.
Many worlds lie before me.
Where should I go next, my friend?
A steel serpent cradles me in its womb.
Cutting through the countryside like a scythe.
Despondent, I’m leaving the peaks.
Picture postcard beauty, inspires me to write.
Sylvan memories echo in my mind.
As the hills tease me at every turn.
I steel myself for the journey.
Vowing someday to return.
Fields roll by, like carpets of green.
Flowers sway in wild abandon.
A gentle breeze tickling their fantasies.
Alack! That I could stop and pick some.
A gypsy has no roots, no home.
But my journey’s just begun.
I wander afar, upon a whim.
And race home, once my wandering’s done.
Some moss is bound to grow underfoot.
It’s the way things are.
But when it does, my friend.
I’ll roll along to lands afar.
Poem © Cyrus Dadachanji., all rights reserved. Music © Morcheeba., all rights reserved.
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