Sir Western Milon

There is one musician in Bangladesh who is so great that He has been knighted… by Himself. His name is Western Milon, or rather Sir Western Milon. His fantastic lyrics, unique singing voice and totally fabulous method of producing music videos has taken the online music community of this country by storm! That guy is beyond the definition of awesome. Just look at his hairstyle. And his face. He looks like a cross between Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix! Naturally His guitar skills and singing should be awesome, right? And so it is. Here's Rising Stars' review of 3 of His most fantastic songs:

Guitar Haatey (Guitar in my hands):
The social animal called human, treasures a part within himself that seeks solitude, no matter how many people he is surrounded by. But there are times when you get tremendously lonely and remember the sweet memories of your beloved and berated. Sir Western Milon's most famous number Guitar Haatey is the portrayal of that loneliness. Roughly translated, the opening lyrics sound like this- “I am sitting alone with the guitar in my hands. Crickets are chirping with guitar in my/their hands. There is no friend beside me.” Otherworldly, right? Especially, His shouts of, “Guitar haatey nie” tugs at the heartstring and plays banjo with it. Not much in terms of instrumental work, but His guitar and voice make up for it. Search on YouTube.

E duti Akhi (These two eyes):
Sir Western Milon is not only adept in writing songs of solitude, but also He can sing fantastic romantic ones. E Duti Akhi is His best effort in this genre. “Bhul bujhe jeo na priyo sathi, tumi jeno amar du chokher akhi,” He pleads. Then He goes on rhyming (not rapping, by the way) about the 'pride' of the sky, the wind and other elements of nature which are the “lokkho tara” and “gotir dhara” while His pride lies in “tomar dekha”. “Tomar” refers to His darling. Funny Good song.

Mouri:
Remember Limp Bizkit's 'Air Raid Vehicle'? Mouri by Sir Western Milon gives off the similar feeling at the start. No, He doesn't break dance or wave those cool 'rock on' signs. The way He 'shouts' 'Mouri, Mouri, Mouri' might make one remember “Rollin', rollin', rollin'”. We know you'll be loving this… stuff right here. Because Sir Western Milon can turn any boring lyrics interesting by his deadpan voice and the way he shakes his mane of hair.

An authentic album review was not possible as none of the music stores had His recent released album. A few even gaped at this reporter when he was insisting that Sir Western Milon was a sensation. We protest at this sort of treatment of the once-every-thousand-year Musical Talent. Also, we protest his recent arrest for being under the influence. He is a rock star! That is what rock stars do! Viva Sir Western Milon.

Oh by the way, always address Him as Sir. That's a rule the fans have set.

By Ero Senin

Crazy New Year celebrations

Do you find yourself at a loss about how to celebrate the New Year in a different way this time around? Take a look at some of the weirdest traditions observed all around the world. You might want to try them out, but don't forget to remind yourself that there might be considerable risk involved in the procedures.

A “Broken” New Year
A very popular New Year's Eve tradition in Denmark is to break dishes in front of your neighbours' houses at midnight. And the more dishes you break, the friendlier you prove yourself. Yes, the strength and loyalty of your friendship is measured by the amount of broken china you care to deposit on your neighbours' doormats. A wonderful chance to vent your anger at the annoying people living next door, don't you think so?

Same Procedure Every Year
Imagine being forced to watch V. I. P for a whole night every year. What are you going to do then? Well, bless your luck that you weren't born a German. In Germany, there is a weird tradition of watching a particular episode of the British Show “Dinner for One” on midnight every New Year's Eve. The practice has become so popular that the punch line “same procedure every year” is now a catchphrase in Germany. But it fails to grasp this writer's comprehension as to what this is supposed to symbolise.

A Deadly Welcome
In Talca, Chile, the people welcome the New Year in the freakiest way possible. For the last 15 years, the folks there have been celebrating their New Year by spending the time with their dead relatives. The doors to the cemetery are opened by the town Mayor at 11 p.m. for the public. Also, delightful ambience and soft music are present to create a “party” mood in the place.

New Year with a Suitcase
In Mexico, the people cross the streets at midnight on New Year's Eve with a suitcase. Thank goodness this tradition isn't observed in Bangladesh. The muggers would have a field day (night) if they caught someone crossing a lonely alley down in Gulsitan in the middle of the night with an inviting suitcase.

What colour is your underwear?
This is the weirdest New Year tradition I have ever heard. In Bolivia and other South American countries, the New Year is celebrated by wearing different coloured underwear. Red is worn for the luck of finding new love, while yellow is supposed to bring wealth and prosperity to the person wearing it. What a very “private” New Year indeed.

By Shamsil B. M. Kamal
N. B. All information taken from Google

War-ld Cup Preview

I'd been crying for a long time now, but in vain. I could hear voices shouting from the adjacent room and I was old enough to recognise them as my mother's and father's. Why would they be shouting and screaming in the middle of the night? The World Cup 1999 was the only reason. It was Bangladesh's first mega sporting event and Bangladesh had as much a chance of winning as the electricity not going off for a whole day. Nearly impossible but the Tigers surprised everyone (including themselves) as they crushed Pakistan. They fought with bravery, they fought with hope, they fought like it was WAR.

I was way too young to understand anything, I was barely two. It was just meaningless excitement and endless screaming and today we are looking at the World Cup coming to our very own.

Excitement and eager anticipation is flying through the air. The fans can't wait. But are we ready? The two stadiums, SBNCS in Mirpur, Dhaka and ZACS in Chittagong have major renovations going on and are on the right track. The installations of the new plastic folding seats and a DJ rocking the stadium makes a fanatic's experience of a WC game much better and enjoyable. The biggest worry, probably are the floodlights. A day-nighter was supposed to be played by Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in the recent series but was called off as the floodlights were misdirected and were shining on the pitch like spotlights. This seems to be the only problem so far as security also seems tight

The reason why the WC is so widely anticipated is obviously our own cricket team, the Tigers, who are in the best form of living memory, making the Kiwis look like Dodos in front of the home crowd and absolutely flooring them to win the series and later also beating the Zimbabweans, has really boosted the hopes of countless fanatics of Bangladesh. Shakib has had an amazing run of late, being ranked the No.1 all rounder and playing English County cricket for Worcestershire. He has held the team together during Masrafe Mortaza's absence due to, obviously, a knee injury which unfortunately has proved to be a regular occurrence. On the upside Shakib Al Hasan has been named captain for the WC and that is great for our team.

Even though there are countless fans in Bangladesh who are dying to buy tickets for the event, including people like my 13 year old friend whom I doubt has ever touched a cricket ball in his life. Hopefully the fanatics will make the visiting teams so disoriented that they lose to the Tigers and hopefully Bangladesh will fight like it is WAR and do well in the “War-ld Cup 2011”.

By Ahnaf Zarif Rahman