Hmmm, been a bad boy. Been absconding from diary maintenance since Friday.

Not that anything major has been happening. The office is duely airconditioned, and it is finally possible to work again without dissolving in a sorry-looking puddle. I function much better at 22 degrees Centigrade than at 35.

Lots of photographs over the weekend – check out Mutts 2, where Judo and girlfriend Mona take centerstage. In case you are trying to figure out who is who – the one on the ground with a silly looking look on his face as Mona dominates him completely is Judo.

Did some work on cleaning up the sound from the video of Phenom’s participation at the MCC competition earlier this year. Broke the 12 MB MP3 down into smaller parts, added fade-ins/outs, and sent them to Mrinal, who has put them up here.

Phenom reminds me – met Gaurav online today. Good to know that he is recovering. He’ll have to miss the Roger Waters show – his leg won’t take any standing on for a while, but maybe he will be in a shape to jam again soon.

Had an interesting discussion with him regarding perceptions of what defines a “real” band. He had a real life example of Mrinal playing for a “pro-quality” band like Cryptic as well as for what Noella calls a “college band”. For Gaurav, Cryptic is a real band, Phenom is not.

I disagree with that.

There is no doubting that Cryptic is a great band. But that does not make an amateur band, with its members in college, a band that is any less “real”.

There are two reasons for a band’s existence: to enjoy themselves playing their music, and for others who watch and listen to them to enjoy it was well. As long as you qualify on the first count, you are a “real band”. And if you qualify on the second count, that’s a bonus.

Face it – some bands want to go on to become the next Pink Floyd/Yes/Rush/whatever, with all the trappings of commercial success such as CDs published, tours, etc.

But some bands just want to have fun. They want to get together and make music together, and want their friends and fans to enjoy their performances if possible. The best fun does not come out of a 90 minute gig on stage but out of hours and hours of practice, rolling on the floor laughing as someone muffs his or her lines, figuring out chords to a difficult number, playing a song and (hopefully) finishing all at the same time.

In the long run, these “fun” bands are the ones that get the most out of the experience. And they, and their experiences, are very, very real.