Internet Education Week: Day 5

           Internet Education Week, seven days of making you lot less dumb. This series will probably span a little over a decade at the rate I'm posting. Since we started this thing though, we might as well drag it out to the painful finish. Today's topic is my current absolute favourite thing in the world, second only to Queen and Sam Smith, astrophysics!!! (With no less than three exclamation marks. I'm excited, as you can see.)

          Astrophysics is an incredible, incredible thing. Just saying the word makes you sound instantly smarter.

(Blind date)
Melissa: Oh, yeah, my type is totally, like, clever guys you know. I mean, I want the IQ points.
Aditya: Really? That's nice, because - ASTROPHYSICS - girls nowadays are generally so superficial.
Melissa: Take me now!

          Astrophysics is a long process of realization of the smallness and unimportant-ness of man. We are balls of dust, sitting on a drop of water, orbiting a little star, in a universe filled with wonder. Take a look at this. Know what this is?

            That's the Milky Way. Our galaxy. A barred spiral galaxy, composed of stars and dust and hot air. The  cloud-like region you see is gas, something like the atmosphere of the earth, illuminated by the light of thousands of suns. See our solar system anywhere?

                         Yup, there we are. Not exactly the centre of the universe anymore, are you? But, there's more.

                   
                      All those bright shiny things? They're all galaxies. Every single one. Among them is the Milky Way. In the Milky Way there is a little star, of moderate size and temperature. An atom of dirty water flies around this star. You're sitting on it.

                     So, we're not that big. And from the laws of probability, we're not the only ones either. In the words of Stephen Hawking, "I believe alien life is quite common in the universe, although intelligent life is less so. Some say it has yet to appear on planet Earth." But, as the case stands at this point, we have found no evidence to the contrary that we are not alone.

               If we are indeed the only somewhat intelligent life in the universe, a huge responsibility has been entrusted to us. We become, then, the only way for the cosmos to know itself. That's why we study the universe. That's why I study astrophysics.

          And also, of course, for stuff like this:

             
                    LOOK. THEY'RE DANCING.

Internet Education Week Day 4

Can't talk, too sleepy. Check these out: slam poetry!

Happy Monday!

Internet Education Week: Day 3

            For a long time I thought of human beings as mere animals, whose only instincts are to survive and procreate and whose only actions are governed by instinct. Then I realized that we were made for more than food and sex. There is something inside man that searches for a deeper beauty than that which is immediately apparent - a gentle spirit that loves colour and thought and music. I can find no other explanation for the heart-floods that certain poems create in me.
          
              Poetry is the revelation of a feeling that the poet believes to be interior and personal which the reader recognizes as his own. Salvatore Quasimodo

           Here are quotes from a few of my favourite poems. If they intrigue you, google them and read the whole thing! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

The More Loving One 

W. H. Auden, 1907 - 1973 

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

         I think of those last two lines a lot (there's more of the poem, by the way, please google it and read the rest). "If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving one be me." I chant it to myself as I internet-stalk Charlie McDonnell.

Come into the Garden, Maud 

Alfred Tennyson 1809-92



COME into the garden, Maud,

  For the black bat, night, has flown,

Come into the garden, Maud,

  I am here at the gate alone;

And the woodbine spices are wafted abroad,

  And the musk of the rose is blown.



------------- 
Queen rose of the rosebud garden of girls,

  Come hither, the dances are done,

In gloss of satin and glimmer of pearls,

  Queen lily and rose in one;

Shine out, little head, sunning over with curls,

  To the flowers, and be their sun.

 -----------
She is coming, my own, my sweet;

  Were it ever so airy a tread,

My heart would hear her and beat,

  Were it earth in an earthy bed;

My dust would hear her and beat,

  Had I lain for a century dead;

Would start and tremble under her feet,

  And blossom in purple and red.




 And, finally,






 He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

 W. B. Yeats (1865-1939)




HAD I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,



Enwrought with golden and silver light,


The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams




Happy Wednesday!

Internet Education Week: Day 2 (Finally)

             Hello, everyone! A person called Deb brought it to my notice that I promised you guys a week of education two posts ago and then didn't give it to you. I'm sorry. I think the moment has come to confess to you all that I'm actually a pathological liar, especially when it comes to deadlines and stuff like that. I hope this doesn't change anything between us.
 
             Deb is a very special person because a) he reads my blog and b) he brought it to my notice that Bengalis interchange their 'v's and 'b's. So the word 'VIBGYOR' for normal Indians would be 'BIVGYOR' for a Bengali. Yet another factor to contribute to my innate South Indian distrust of North Indians (Except Deb. Deb is nice).

          So, here we have it! Internet Education Week, Day 2! Today's subject: manga. Say it with me, people. Maaahnnn- gaaaaah. Step into the wonderful world of Japanese graphic literature with these links, and then hate me for the rest of your life. Seriously, this genre of literature alone has decreased my productivity by at least 45% over the past five years.
This is how my brain works:
Do I need to study for a math quiz tomorrow? No----------> Let's read Manga.
                                                                   Yes---------> Let's read Manga anyway.

Start off with these titles, these are my favourites: And, before you judge, yes, I do read shoujo manga. Yes, I am ashamed. Just read the list already. (EDIT: I just realized my links don't show up in different colours. The manga names are the links, okay! Okay, thanks, bye.)

1.  This is the first manga I ever read. Oh, the memories :') Beauty Pop
      I read this in seventh standard and after that I walked around for a year with my eyes half-closed like Kiri-chan before I realized I wasn't nearly cute enough to pull it off. Sigh. I still like it a lot though.

2 A shoujo manga classic that made me cry in several places (STOP JUDGING ME. I CAN FEEL YOU JUDGING ME AND IT MAKES MY LEFT EYE TWITCH): Fruits Basket.
I have college tomorrow but I think I'm just going to put this post up and spend the rest of the night reading these again. Why I do this to myself?

3. A title that you've probably heard of already in the anime form. Take time to read the manga though, it's very nice (if long): Naruto. 

And that's all for today! I actually drew a comic which I wanted to put up in connection with this post but I don't have a scanner :/ Just believe me when I say it was really funny. Good night everybody! Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Internet Education Week: Day 1

          Hello, dear Internet. I've decided that it's time to make some changes around here. You will be pleased to know that today is officially the beginning of Internet Education Week (fireworks and explosions). Every day of this week I will introduce you to something beautiful in the hope that this exposure will cause you to become less-repulsive specimens of humanity, rather than the soulless apes you are at this point of time. If the wonders that I present to you during the course of this week are already familiar to you, allow me to express my apologies in advance, as well as my congratulations.

          Before we get started, I want you to know that I expect you to take this seriously. I'm doing this for your benefit, so stop whatever else you're wasting your time with and pay attention. Ranjit, stop picking your nose and attend. Thank you. Today's topic is "Beauty in Music". Write it down if you think you won't remember.

        The main problem with life in the twenty first century is that the term "beauty in music" has come to be relevant only as it applies to the symmetry of the faces and figures of our "musicians", rather than the sound they produce. I miss the days when ugly people could become rockstars. Of course, there are exceptions. I'm not going to just brazenly denounce all of the music that's been produced recently, but, really, we could do better than this (*pointed stare at Shakira and Nicki Minaj who shift uncomfortably in their seats and look away*).

      This is not going to be a rant about The Current State of the Music Industry (mandatory spitting noise). This is just going to be a tribute to some really wonderful works of art. Please take some time to enjoy this collection. It is by no means complete or even sufficient, it is just a tip of the glistening, rainbow-coloured iceberg of lovely music that has been produced through the ages by the human race, much of which has been unfortunately lost or overlooked. These songs have done a lot to propitiate for our sins. Enjoy.

             Bohemian Rhapsody. Five-part harmony from four classically trained rock stars. Freddy Mercury's seven octave voice range. Really tight, shiny costumes. Best of all, it was written by an Indian. *breaks out into complicated Bharatnatyam victory dance*.

           After watching that video, feel free to visit the link in Youtube and lose yourself in the related videos: notable mentions include Led Zeppelin, Guns 'n' Roses, Pink Floyd etc. Honourable companion: the Beatles. Do yourself a favour and listen to everything they've ever written.

            Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, ladies and gentlemen. I'll say that one more time. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. For a more light-hearted piece that is as enjoyable, follow this link.

             Aaaaand, last but not least, I shall finish off with this. You're welcome. Happy Saturday, minna-san! I hope you've had a wonderful week. May the lines fall unto you in pleasant places. Good night.