Monthly Archive for December, 2009

Amon Amarth live!

I love Amon Amarth. Their album – With Oden on our side – is my favorite album of all time. And there would be no way in hell I would miss them – an off-mainstream swedish outfit – performing in India!

I’d purchased a large (40”) flag bearing the cover of the “With Oden on our side” Album a few months ago. It adorned my hostel room wall next to my bed. (Hence I lived literally “With Oden on my side”.) I took it back home and painstakingly stiched and duct-taped it onto a eleven foot pole so I could raise the flag and fly it high!

And here is the result (look for the flag in the first minute or so):

Some bloke even mentioned it somewhere online:

“Someone in the crowd had mercifully brought an Amarth flag that flew high and proud” [source]

Overall the concert was absolutely mindblowing! I never expected to see these guys perform anytime unless I went to some european place. My only regret was that the show ended too early because the Police closed the concert as nothing can run after 10 around here. They couldn’t even play their crowd-pleasing hit – “Pursuit of Vikings”. I felt that the other opening bands and “Textures” (who played before them) got too much time.

The exact same thing happened when Megadeth came and performed – Machine Head could play a full setlist leaving the main act short and the audience desperately wanting. I just hope this encourages show organizers to avoid trying to get a “woodstock” like experience by cramming many bands in and realizing most people just come in to watch one or two famous bands.

Either way, it was one of the most awesome nights of my life. I had seen Amon Amarth. Nothing else would’ve mattered.

Marathon time!

Yay! Last weekend I successfully ran the 22 km half marathon at the Bangalore Midnight Marathon. It was an absolutely fantastic experience, which took all of 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete. This was the longest I’d run at a single stretch until now, and it wasn’t as difficult as I’d originally expected.

The first 10 kilometers were a breeze, something I was quite used to. The next 4 kilometers were the hardest, after which it became surprisingly easy, as long as I kept my mind completely distracted – an easy task for me!

The run was great! Several hundred people turned up. A lot of people were skeptical as they had to run the same stretch of road 10 or 20 times for the half and full marathon. Many people I know opted to stay out of the run citing boredom and monotony, but the real passionate runners turned out in big numbers. Even my parents thought it was slightly weird – why would I drive out 30 kilometers to run 22 more at midnight and drive back afterward? I am not too sure myself, but I’m real glad I did it.

Hopefully by next year, I’ll be able to run a full marathon.