Categories
Tabs

Banjo and Guitar Tab: Kina Grannis – Pumped Up Kicks

Included in this post are Banjo and Guitar tabs for the Kina Grannis cover of Pumped Up Kicks (Foster the People). I’m basing this off the youtube video she does with Imaginary friend guest playing the Banjo. As well, an original tab submitted by Nopcir at ultimate-guitar. I’ll prob work out the picking pattern for the guitar at some point, but for the moment anything sounds good as long as you keep the same pattern throughout.

WordPress formatted the page a little strange, but I also have a cleaner text version of the song.

For the Guitar, the Root Key is B, but she plays with Capo 5, so it looks like this:

—–E A D G B e
Em 0 2 2 0 0 0
G      3 2 0 0 3 3
D      x x 0 2 3 2
Am x 0 2 2 1 0
A     x 0 2 2 2 0

The Banjo is also playing with Capo 5:

—–g d G B D
Em x 2 0 0 2
G      0 0 0 0 0
D     x 0 2 3 4
Am x 2 2 1 2
A     2 2 2 2 2

The picking pattern for the Banjo sounds like:

D —–2———0———–4——–2—
B -0—-0—–0—-0——3—3—–1–1–
G —0—0—–0—-0——2—2—–2–2-
d 2———0———–0———2——-
g —————————————-
Em G
Robert’s got a quick hand
D Am
He’ll look around the room he won’t tell you his plan
Em G
Got a rolled cigarette
D Am
Hangin’ out his mouth, he’s a cowboy kid
Em G
Yeah, found a six-shooter gun
D Am
In his dads closet hidden with a box of fun things
Em G
I don’t even know what
D Am
But he’s comin’ for you, yeah he’s comin for you, hey
Em G
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
D
You’d better run, better run
A
Outrun my gun
Em G
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
D
You’d better run, better run
A
Faster than my bullet

Em G
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
D
You’d better run, better run
A
Outrun my gun
Em G
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
D
You’d better run, better run
A
Faster than my bullet
Em G
Daddy works a long day
D Am
He’ll be coming home late, he’s coming home late
Em G
And he’s bringing me a surprise
D Am
Cos’ dinner’s in the kitchen and it’s packed in ice
Em G
I’ve waited for a long time
D Am
The slight of my hand is now a quick pull trigger
Em G
I reason with my cigarette
D Am
And say your hair’s on fire you must have lost your wits, yeah
Em G
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
D
You’d better run, better run
A
Outrun my gun
Em G
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
D
You’d better run, better run
A
Faster than my bullet

Em G
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
D
You’d better run, better run
A
Outrun my gun
Em G
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
D
You’d better run, better run
A
Faster than my bullet

Categories
Opinions

Why I Dread Telling People What I Study

I suppose it’s something that I’m just going to have to get used to…

I’ve been working on my Master’s Degree for almost three years now and whenever I tell people that I’m studying the history and philosophy of religion my first response is inevitably something along the lines of “oh, so does that mean you want to become a priest?”. After talking with more than a few of my colleagues around the department I discovered, to my great relief (or maybe it’s horror, actually) that I’m far from being the only one who’s been asked that question.

I suppose, in a way, it’s better than being immediately asked “what do you plan on doing with that degree?”, that question we all fear to hear around the holidays, when family members we haven’t seen in ages suddenly start wondering if we’re wasting our lives. That question is a little bit condescending, because it implies that we’re studying something of no discernible use. It’s even worse when I get into specifics, such as my main focus of research is examining an obscure Catholic saint in South India and how his shrine is largely the meeting place for a variety of cultural polarities. It usually kills the conversation.

If I were to tell people that I’m studying engineering, as vague as that word is, I’m pretty sure that I would get a good pat on the back, and kinds words of encouragement. I would be studying something practical, where the money is, and all that. When you tell people that you’re an engineer they immediately assume it means success, even if they have no idea what you do. Civil engineer, robotics expert, meh; it’s all the same and it’s all good. The second you throw in the words “religion”, “philosophy” and “history” (which my faculty happens to contain all three in it’s name) you get the look of troubled desperation.

I’m sure there are some people who can take all the groans and the moans in stride, and never tire of clarifying what it is that they actually do and why it’s important, useful and self-fulfilling, but I’m not one of them. After the tenth time of trying in vain to point out that the secular study of religion is not the same as going to seminary, I’ve mostly just given up. In fact, most of the time when people ask me what I’m studying, I’ll give them a different answer, just to see what happens. I told people that I’m studying philosopher, or culture, or Indian philosophy and culture. I’ve said “master’s degree” and left it at that, and I’ve even gone the path of rolling my eyes and saying that even I didn’t know what I was studying.

Those answers always produce an interesting variety of responses, and sometimes even yield more positive reponses than I was expecting. I’ve noticed that being vague or evasive somehow strangely makes it easier to get into the specifics of what I’m studying, and clear up any pre-conceived notions that people might have about the study of religion before I once again have to defend the fact that as an atheist, I’m just as qualified to study religion as anyone else, and no it doesn’t mean that I plan on converting.

Curiously, the one time I answered that I was studying Hinduism, it turned out to be a rather poor choice of words. The person who asked me what I was studying happened to me a self-proclaimed expert in Advaita-Vedanta, the Norther American understanding anyways, and fancied themselves the bees knees of all things Hind and Indian. It was actually a rather bizarre experience. I was asked when was the last time that I read Abhinavagupta, and after pointing out that I didn’t think he was part of the Advaita-Vedanta, I was nearly reprimanded for not really knowing what I was studying. I think that was when I noticed how good the salad bar looked, and pointed out that my immediate dharma involved breadsticks and I quickly made my escape.

Sometimes people are offended when I tell them what I study. Usually the offended parties involve people who adhere to a very specific set of values and or beliefs. Once when I was talking about ancient civilizations of the Indian subcontinent, and the possibility that some ruins might be as old as 6000 BCE, I was politely told that it was not the case because the world wasn’t even that old. At times like that you know the evening’s off to a poor start.

There was a time when I might have been more argumentative (combative, even) towards views like that, pointing out that things aren’t exactly the way a certain popular collection of religious texts would have you believe, but I’m far too tired too care. People can think what they want, no matter how ridiculous their belief systems are. If you believe the world was created 5000 years ago because a shoddily edited and very suspicious tome says so, that’s fine, but please don’t knock on other people’s accepted truths. It’s just as likely that the universe was created by a giant flying spaghetti monster 60 years ago, and everyone who claims to be passed the age of retirement is in on the lie.

In all, I’ve been rather lucky to only have a few people accuse me of either being elitist when I tell them what I’m studying, what I think about things and my field of study is just as interesting as (and potentially part of) unraveling the mysteries of the universe. So I suppose I have something I should be thankful for.

Oh, and for the record, Abhinavagupta wasn’t part of that philosophical movement. He considered himself far to classy to bounce in those circles.

Categories
Books

Books I Read in 2011

At some point over the December holidays I found myself sitting down with a tiny notebook that I received as a gift and began making a list of all the books I read over the past year. It was the first time I ever bothered to do so, and it was largely at the urgings of several friends who have done the same. In the past I’ve always shied away from counting how many books I read in my spare time because I always feared that if I did and someone asked me how many I read over the course of a year that it would somehow seem like I was bragging or exaggerating.

Well, this year I’ve decided not to hide from the fact that I’m a rather avid reader. Making a list like this isn’t all about the numbers, it actually has a lot to do with simply remembering what books I read this year. I realized the importance of this latter bit when a friend of mine recently asked me if I read any good books lately and if I had any recommendations. I named a few titles, but going further back than two or three books caused me to draw a blank; I simply couldn’t remember what I read.

So, in order to avoid future embarrassment of the same sort, I’ll now be keeping track of what I read. For clarity’s sake, I will only be keeping track of books that I read in their entirety (sorry Moby Dick) and in my own spare time. Textbooks and chapters of compilations that are assigned to me in my Grad seminar will be excluded, but novellas, anthologies and monographs will make the grade.

Over the course of 2011, I read a total of 19 books. It was a bit of a slow year where reading was concerned, especially compared to the previous year when I discovered the works of George R. R. Martin and found myself diving into Stephen King for the first time , but I’m nevertheless pleased with the titles I was able to finish.

The list is as follows (grouped by author):

  1. Rage by Stephen King
  2. The Long Walk by Stephen King
  3. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
  4. The Shining by Stephen King
  5. The Stand by Stephen King
  6. Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert
  7. The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
  8. The Girl who Stirred the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
  9. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
  10. Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson
  11. Casino Royale by Ian Flemming
  12. From Russia with Love by Ian Flemming
  13. I, the Jury by Mickey Spillane
  14. Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  15. The Door into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein
  16. The Cult of the Saints by Peter Brown
  17. Saints Alive by David Williams
  18. Red Sands by A. Sauliere
  19. Plato and a Platypus by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein