Saturday, September 09, 2006
U2 - Stay [Far Away, So Close]

Hmmm...for some odd reason it appears that a whole lot of my friends have never heard this one, which happens to be one of my favorites. The video clip for this track is also one of those which is always running at some corner of my mind. Reminds me a great deal of "The City Of Angels". So why not share it with you? I'd be happy to know what you think of it. :)



And the lyrics:
Green light, Seven Eleven
You stop in for a pack of cigarettes
You don't smoke, don't even want to
Hey now, check your change
Dressed up like a car crash
Your wheels are turning but you're upside down
You say when he hits you, you don't mind
Because when he hurts you, you feel alive
Oh no, is that what it is?

Red lights, grey morning
You stumble out of a hole in the ground
A vampire or a victim
It depends on who's around
You used to stay in to watch the adverts
You could lip synch to the talk shows

And if you look, you look through me
And when you talk, you talk at me
And when I touch you, you don't feel a thing

If I could stay... then the night would give you up
Stay, and the day would keep its trust
Stay, and the night would be enough

Faraway, so close
Up with the static and the radio
With satellite television
You can go anywhere
Miami, New Orleans, London, Belfast, and Berlin

And if you listen I can't call
And if you jump, you just might fall
And if you shout I'll only hear you

If I could stay... then the night would give you up.
Stay then the day would keep its trust
Stay with the demons you drowned
Stay with the spirit I found
Stay and the night would be enough

Three o'clock in the morning
It's quiet and there's no one around
Just the bang and the clatter
As an angel runs to ground
Just the bang and the clatter
As an angel hits the ground

Ah...I really do love this song.

Also, on a completely unrelated topic, Amoivikos/ASD had posted a link to this very interesting video clip in the comments for the last part of my report. I'm going to post it here, since I believe not many people will get the chance to see it over there. The video offers some good information about the Demoscene. [Thanks amv :)] And by the way, if [like me] you're not a German speaker, don't freak out, there's English subtitles. :)



Update: Ok peeps, looks like another discussion thread just opened up on the comments for the part 6 of the report (Vantage related), you might wanna check it out.

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Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Self Destruction? OR NOT!

I don't quite remember when I first received the news regarding the the Sivand dam [Iran - Fars] reconstruction and how it could seriously damage Iran's archeological sites, but I do know that now I'm completely sick and tired of my mailbox and Orkut scrap book getting filled up with all the emails and messages on the topic, which oh, yeah, happen to be ALL BLOODY LIES!
So here's the story: The Sivand dam has been an important part of an on going 10 year plan to provide irrigation water for the farmers in the area, and now that it's nearly complete, some very disturbing rumors have been spread around which have managed to cause serious concerns for a whole lot of people, including myself for a short while. [If you didn't know already, I'm Persian. At least to a large extent.] The rumors have it that the flooding of this dam could cause the total destruction of some of Iran's most important archeological sites including Pasargadae, the city built by King Cyrus the Great, and the King's tomb. So these are the rumors that everyone has been receiving and damn well spreading without the smallest bit of research and any actual credible information.
Now here's my question to whoever's been spreading the rumors thinking that they've been doing a fine job opening the eyes of the world to the truth: HOW GULLIBLE CAN YOU POSSIBLY BE? Why won't you go and learn the truth for yourself instead of getting so fizzed up over a bunch of spam mails? When are you going to wake up and see what's really happening, and what role you're actually playing here?
Last night I received an email saying that the flooding has started, and the tomb has already gone under, and HEY it included bloody PICTURES believe it or not. That's it, I've had it, my folly taking capacity is officially over. I've decided to post a little piece of authenticated truth here, so "you", rumor spreaders, might consider going and talking to the right people, or even better, taking a little trip and seeing things for yourself if you can. And of course I hope this helps anyone who would like to have some knowledge of what's been happening.
The Pasargadae and King's tomb are in fact kilometers away from the bloody dam. There's even a few villages in between, which means what exactly? Are you telling me that all those people have been drowned for cryin' out loud? Of course not, you didn't even think of that did you? In addition, you seem to fail to realize that the archeological sites of Iran don't just belong to Iran, they belong to the world nation and therefore they're all under protection of UNESCO. The Persian government doesn't do any kind of construction work around any of Iran's archeological sites without the permission of UNESCO. On the other hand, a Persian-Italian archeological research team has just recently unearthed another huge site in the area, which is being explored right at this moment. Makes me wonder, did they drown too? Or are they doing under-water explorations now?
The only actual concern that has been brought up so far, is the effects of the possible increase of steam in the air. As it turns out, in comparison with the amount of rain that the sites receives each year, the steam problem is totally negligible. I also have to mention that some interesting solutions are being discussed currently for the rain problem. I also have another little hint for the rumor spreaders: You might want to start thinking in lines of "what effect these rumors have on the international view of Iran", and how many more examples of similar problems we're dealing with currently, which have to do with certain political matters that I'm just too sick of them to get into them here anyway.
And now for some laughs, I'd like to share with you the very amusing [or not] photoshop works that I've just received, displaying the supposedly flooded tomb of Cyrus.
If you have some additional news, photos, or anything to contribute to the article, or for some discussions or questions, please either ICQ, MSN, or Yahoo me. Thank you.

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Monday, September 04, 2006
Second Demo Display [Report Finished, Part 7 Posted]

"I'm completely operational, and all my circuits are functioning perfectly". Yup! I remember my own circuits getting completely fried after seeing this one. Perfect Love by LKCC & Bauknecht was the second "Robotic" demo of the show. The only complaint that I heard about this demo was toward the sound track. I was told that with a better sound track this demo could be a master-piece. Of course robot-happy people like me never minded the music anyway, and just enjoyed the super eye-candy! :P
Next we had a bit of a sweet surprise for all the ASD fans. :) Iconoclast which was actually a part of the last show, was screened again! This was one of nicest part of the show in my opinion, since you could actually see a lot of excitement going around. The crowd [specially the old crowd] seemed to be very happy to see Iconoclast once more, and the fans were actually standing up the whole time during the re-screening. Yup, ASD ruled the house again. :)
The last demo of the show was one that apparently has a lot of fans. Heaven Seven by Exceed is a very well known demo which I was actually told to watch by quite a few people when I first came across the Demoscene. [& Yeah I actually do go ahead and watch your recommendations people! :P] I guess I don't even need to try do describe here how the crowd reacted to this one, do I? :) This demo was actually screened twice back to back, since people wanted to grasp a bit more of the lyrics and the general concept. Besides the awesome visuals and great music, there's definitely a lot going on in this demo, concept wise. A lot for us all to think about! :) And of course, screenies as per request:So that was it! To wrap things up we listened to the 2 fantastic tracks, Chloral Hydrate by aMUSiC which made me and my Dune fanatic friends super-happy, and Music On The Moon by aMUSiC and Amigo, which got everyone dancing. :D And I guess now it's time for me to finally finish up with this terribly long report [but what could I do, a promise is a promise! ;) I just hope you guys are happy! :D] As for the next show, I have no clue when it's going to be but of course if I decide to start arranging something again, I'll let you all know. As for your questions regarding the demo-groups, as I mentioned before you can find their websites through www.pouet.net, [and refer to the update on part 3]. Still if it's something that you can't find and you think I might know, the shoutbox is open. Have fun people! ;)

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