2013 Grammys...WILD WILD SOUTH!

The nominations are out and I am totally floored by the number of Country musicians who have been nominated this year. Let me be honest...I have had a thing for Country music since I lived in Texas (shhh!!!). It has been my dirty lil secret and only in the confines of my car with the windows rolled up I'd listen to Martina, Reba and Faith. But gone are those days! Yes! I do know that Elvis started off with Country and there have been some great post that...but the kind of mass following that the KING had hasn't been seen since. Country is treated the way Canada is by most Americans...with a smirk and a limerick! 

So it's very encouraging to see how the past 3 years have shaped this genre. CMAs are now as exciting as the Grammys! Country music has come of age and how. I wonder what Willy Nelson thinks of the young lot of singers who have jumped boundaries and are experimenting with a totally different sounding style of Country. Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood who made Country acceptable by youngsters, have to be given credit here for breaking the shackles and opening up this genre of music to the world. Though Taylor has to be awarded for her music that broke through the clutter and with its rhythm that borders on Country-Pop-Rock (yes you do here the Tamborine and Mandolin in the background here and then) and made Country cool. The music she belts out is fun, alive and yes! has the drawl of the South. 

Apart from Taylor, Lady Antelbelum created a new space for themselves with Country music that was so Rock that it totally blew you away. Since then there have been many who have just come into being or have been recognized finally! Blake Shelton now is a co-host on The Voice, Brad Paisley is finally getting his due (move over Tim McGraw), Hunter Hayes (the Justin Beiber of Country) is so talented (I keep listening to his 'somebody to break my heart' on loop...lovely voice!!), FloridaGeorgia Line with their dark, romantic country songs, Ed Sheeran with his amazing lyrics (MY CONSTANT COMPANION AT WORK NOW)....have taken over the world of music by storm.

So here's raising a BEER to Country! All the best at the Grammys. Kick some Yankee Butt (WINK)!!! HHHEEEHAAWWWW!!!

Is Coffee going to be extinct soon??!!!! WHAT A SUCKY DAY!

I get into work and pop into the tini-tiny cafeteria to whip up my 'pheta hua' coffee every morning and then plop down on my chair to look at what needs to be done. This morning when I switched on my comp and went to CNN which is the first site I open...I found a very interesting article on iOT...internet of things...which is becoming THE thing for China to overtake the world in...(as if they need to make an effort!) when I found this article on the chances of the Coffee bean goingthe Dinosaur way!!!! (Link: http://www.redorbit.com/news/video/the-daily-orbit/1112728982/coffee-arabica-global-warming-extinct-110912/)

So apparently the wild Arabica which is the second of the only 2 coffee beans used to make the coffee in your mugs this morning is endangered. Global warming which has led to the rise in temperatures will cause this bean to go extinct in the next 70 odd years. Now this sucks! Imagine a life without caffeine! As if that wasn't enough I got to know about the smallest independent island republic of Nauru in the Pacific which is now sinking thanks to the same global warming brought about by the use and abuse of this planet by the worst animal to inhabit it...HUMANS!

The day has just begun and I am reading all sorts of bad news from everywhere around the world. Food prices are soaring thanks to this year's horrible weather and low grain yields. Inflation is very high and even earning well in a city like Mumbai is crippling...so I can only imagine what the poor and lower middle class must be going through. The economic pyramid is making the rich, richer and increasing the gap between the poor and middle class. Though the Indian economy has a very string middle and upper middle class which is also growing but with the cost of living going up I wonder if the definition of these two will change soon.

Philippines was struck by a typhoon that had left many dead and homeless. As if Sandy wasn't enough, mother earth is reacting and how. the last 5 years have seen the worst natural calamities and disasters. War is on everywhere you go. Be it the US and it's war on terrorism via attacks on Iraq and now a very tense situation with Iran or be it the middle east where Palestine and Israel fight for occupation of land. India and Pakistan though now calm are ticking bombs ready to explode. Egypt is a mess and so is Syria! 

Sucky day to be human! Time for a Margarita!

Hope tomorrow is better.