The KingSlayer's room

On and on and on...

2010-07-03T02:42:00.000-07:00

I think I probably think about writing a new post once every week... at least. Just havent got around to it lately. I guess most of April and May went in working out the details of Li'l S's birthday party. My son turned 5 in May, and we had a blast of a party. Thanks to brothers and friends who travelled distances to come down and make the day special. My parents, my grandmom, they all came down to Bangalore. Its a rich feeling to have people you love around you, and it made my boy's 5th birthday truly special.

Other than that, work as usual kept my all wrapped up. There were a couple of good books i read though. Finished Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel, last years Booker prize winner. It was a really good book, and also kindof challenging. Its densely populated with characters, full of the atmosphere of 16th century England, there isnt as much happening as you would expect from a book this size.. its close to 700 pages. But what it provides, is a wonderful character study of Thomas Cromwell, who grows from being the son of a blacksmith, to the king's right hand man, the most powerful man in England.

One section of the book is called Arrange Your Face, in which Cromwell realizes the importance of never showing his internal emotions on his face. Whether it is fury or sorrow, triumph or defeat, arrange your face to only show the emotion which is apt for the occasion, which will not allow anyone to truly judge what you are thinking. It is the one key point i took away from this magnificent book. Beautifully written and captivating.

Read Josh Bazell's "Beat the Reaper", excellent fast paced thriller about a former hitman trying to avoid being caught by the mob men he has been trying to avoid through the witness protection program. Its very funny and full of shocking details, most of them about the medical profession as our hero goes about his day as a doctor. A patient recognizes him from his past life and threatens to let his pursuers know about his location unless he can ensure that the patient doesnt die! But this would require a miracle since he has stomach cancer, all our hero can do is try to make him live a little longer than the 6 hours of life left for him!

Re-read "The Green Mile", Stephen King's wonderful novel about the happenings in a prison during depression-era America. Stephen King has a wonderful talent for making his stories believable, making you empathize for the characters and here he builds such a wonderful portrait of the guards who work at the prison, whose job is not just to guard the prisoners, but also ensure their last few days on earth arent any worse than they need to be. And in the middle of this, comes a new prisoner convicted of the most hideous of crimes, but who seems strangely unlikely to have really done something so awful.

Right now, I am re-reading another wonderful novel - "To kill a mockingbird" by Harper Lee, courtesy of a friend who loaned it out to me. Had read this book ages ago, probably in my teens, and always remembered its wonderful characters and the precocious naration by the little Scout Finch. But now that I have a child of my own, i can truly feel wonder at how perfectly Harper Lee captured the essence of childhood - the games which the kids make up together, the bravado of the older Jem Finch, the tiny Dill being forced to play character roles, Scout's complaints about her nanny Calpurnia and her teachers who always seem to misunderstand her. More than anything, I can understand the difficulty children have in expressing their opinions or feelings to adults, who arent all as bright and clear-headed as Atticus Finch. And this difficulty is also captured so beautifully by Ms. Lee. I truly feel its one of the greatest books ever written from the perspective of a child.

On to music then! My brother brought a few albums down for me, recommendations included Slash's new album, Kasabian, Chickenfoot and Chicane!

I have to say, I think Slash is just brilliant. The album consists of collaborations between Slash and a bunch of mostly comparatively newer musicians - including Adam Levine of Maroon5 on "Gotten", Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother on the brilliant "By the sword", Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge on the excellent "Back from Cali" and "Starlight". My favourites from this album are "By the sword", "Back from Cali", "Promise" with Chris Cornell providing the vocals, and a brilliant number called "Saint is a sinner too" which features indie-rocker Rocco De Luca. Brilliant album, check it out!

I have been listening to a lot more music too, and just want to add a song which I am completely possessed by at the moment. Its by the strangely, but fantastically named band Death Cab for Cutie and the song is "I will possess your heart"! Did you ever hear "Every breath you take" by Police back in the 80's and get the feeling that this has got to be the anthem for all stalkers?? Well, here is the new anthem for stalkers, circa 2010! At one level, i guess the lyrics could be thought of as relating to never dying love! But at another level, it sure seems a bit creepy! But as Brian Tellis, one of the first RJ's playing rock music on India's FM channel once said, enjoy the music but dont take the message to heart!

Here's the brilliant song by Death Cab For Cutie, with the fantastic moody intro. This intro has to be the longest ever, the vocals only start around 4.40 into the song! But love this song!

	Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Birmingham 1 Liverpool 1

2010-04-05T00:26:00.001-07:00

This started off as the first of 6 must-win games for Liverpool. Must-win in the sense that, maybe, keeping your fingers crossed, praying hard like never before, maybe if Liverpool win all 6, the resulting 18 points added to our tally would ensure 4th place, qualification to Champions League, and provide a semblance of having saved an awful season from complete and utter failure.

So what happened? Firstly, you start the game off in the usual utterly boring, defensive manner that has become a trademark of Liverpool's play of late. The first half saw barely any chances, and at moments, I almost nodded off. This is a team which had Torres - maybe the best striker of his generation, Gerrard - maybe the best midfielder in England (although not this season). Well ok, not much more than that, but players like Dirk Kuyt, Yossi Benayounm Maxi Rodrigues and Glenn Johnson are definitely expected to rattle a mid-level team like Birmingham.

But no, this season has truly seen a terrible recession in Liverpool's quality and it continued in this "must-win" game. And one man is answerable for it, and he is Rafa Benitez.

Picture this. Liverpool score thru Gerrard early in the second half, and then quickly concede an equalizer thru some really poor defending. Birmingham are looking at nothing more than a point from the game, you know that. They are sitting back trying to absorb your attacks. They are bracing themselves, expecting Liverpool to throw everything at them as they go searching for a winner. And what do you see? The substitution board goes up. Am I dreaming? Can this be true? Is Benitez really using his first substitution to take off his best player? No, Yes and Yes are the answers to those questions.

Much to all round bewilderment, including Torres himself shaking his head at the mysterious ways of his manager, we witness the great hope being substituted with David N'Gog sent on in his place. Gerrard's look of bewilderment was captured brilliantly and just echoes the sentiments of every Kop fan around the world. Within another 5 minutes, Benitez makes the substitution he really should have made first. He brings Babel on for Benayoun, who had had an indifferent game till then.

So consequence? Babel's introduction provides some impetus, three great chances are created. Who do they fall to? David N'Gog. Can the poor bugger do anything with them? No. Would Torres have scored even one of those chances? We will never know, coz he wasn't there! But would you bet your mortgage on him converting at least one, if not two, of those chances? I think most Liverpool fans would.

What were the reasons for this act of humonguous stupidity? Was Torres, who has played only 18 or 19 games this season, so tired that he was unable to continue? There had been no indication of this, but Benitez claimed this to be his reason. Could it also be due to Rafa giving more importance to the Benfica match next week? If this were the reason, its a mis-calculation of such proportions that its hard to believe a man in Rafa's position would make it. What do we gain by winning next week's Europa cup game? Is that the aim of this club? To win the Europa league and lose out on Champions League next season?

I have very little doubt that Liverpool will fail to achieve 4th place this season. Manchester City have suddenly struck a very rich vein of form, and I wouldn't count Spurs out either. Its increasingly likely that Liverpool will end up at 5th or 6th position this season, which most likely will mean that Benitez will go at the end of the season. And if he doesnt go, will Gerrard and Torres stay? Will they stay even if he does go? Which top class manager will want to bring this club - minus its top two players - back into the elite? Especially as the Americans have ensured there isnt much money left anyway.

What a season this had promised to be. How bitterly dissappointing it has turned out. Rafa cannot be absolved of blame from this situation. His transfer policies are horrendously bad - buying Aquilani for 20 mn and not using him at all, buying a fading Maxi instead of some other players like Niko Krankjar who had become available. His horrible decision to rely on an inexperienced David N'Gog as the only cover for Torres in the striker role, again when there were options like Michael Owen available - I think most of us would take that gamble than the one which Rafa did. His continuous deployment of an extremely defensive combination of Mascherano and Lucas in center of midfield for most of the season. The list just goes on and on.

This is do-or-die time for Liverpool. The team needs to deliver by at least achieving the last of the objectives which are still achievable. The manager can after all only communicate his strategies to the team. However, at this point of time, it feels more like its the team which is being let down by its manager.

Jaane Na

2010-03-21T02:16:00.000-07:00

I am not a fan of reality tv. Although you cannot ignore the mass appeal of many of these shows, most of them dont appeal to me. Most of them are full of cynicism, many are full of bitching, some are downright staged. But one reality show which I cannot get away from, for the sheer talent on display, is Dance India Dance.

This is one show I miss if I couldnt catch one of the episodes! I believe the talen thats on display here, is not just of Indian significance. Most, if not all, of these dancers would completely rock any international dance contest. And to top it all, the choreography thats on display here - no doubt enhanced by the brilliant performers - is undoubtedly better than anything you will see anywhere in the world. American and European shows dont stand a chance against the brilliantly choreographed dances by the Indian masters, Remo, Terence and Geeta.

I just thought I'll post videos from the show which really impressed me. This one is done by a very simple guy called Amar, from Gujrat. He has a real funny Gujju accent when he talks, isnt very good looking although like many others, he tries to turn on the charm sometimes! But when he starts dancing, he is one of the best in the world. And he isnt even the best on this show! But this particular performance rocked me completely, firstly because its on one of my favourite songs. And secondly, because Amar had not really danced in this form, a mix of contemporary and hip-hop/b-boying before, and we didnt really expect this kind of break-thru performance from him. Before this performance, Amar had found himself in the "danger-zone" almost every week.

So, for those who havent really been following this show, take a look. I want to do my bit in promoting these extra-ordinarily talented young people from very middle-class backgrounds.

The End

2010-03-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again

Howz that for lyrics that bring out the goosebumps. Ya, it gets a bit beyond weird later in the song, but hey.. its the lizard king, and we love him no matter what, right?

Sometimes there is nothing else you can do except sit back and wonder at it all.

And if you stick through till the end, of the song that is, you get the beautiful again.

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die

	The Doors - The End .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

2010-03-04T08:59:00.000-08:00

Recently "discovered" this band.. The White Stripes. Had heard of them before of course, but just never heard anything by them. Loved some of their music.

Here are a couple of songs from their album, Elephant.

St. Val's Day

2010-02-14T02:06:00.000-08:00

And here comes the day that seems to bring out the worst in so many of our fabulous Indian politicians! And even more so from those of their so-called followers who are sent out in groups, always in groups, to enforce the wonderful morals for which these politicians have appointed themselves as guardians. The army of something-or-the-other, out to protect the boundaries of the ideologies they feel will be of the most benefit to them.

But this year, the ugly face of these politicians was well and truly blackened! Of course, the fantastic Pink Chaddi campaign from last year was also hugely responsible for the much less gung-ho posturing by these parties this year. The crippling hold the Shiv and MN Sena's hold on Mumbai has been unquestionably shaken - Rahul Gandhi himself has banged another nail into that coffin. That man - theres a lot to admire in him. Rahul totally rocks!

So here's to love! May we all have an abundance of it, always. And to celebrate, I'm going to plug in some cool love songs on this blog!

This one here is Hoobastank singing "The Reason" and its good!

And just coz I can never love a song well enough untill the lyrics truly sing out to me, here they are...

I'm not a perfect person
There's many things I wish I didn't do
But I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you

I'm sorry that I hurt you
It's something I must live with every day
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears
That's why I need you to hear

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you

And the reason is you
And the reason is you
And the reason is you

I'm not a perfect person
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you

I've found a reason to show
A side of me you didn't know
A reason for all that I do
And the reason is you

Umbrella Day!

2010-02-10T04:43:00.000-08:00

Wish everyone a very happy Umbrella Day!

(The cute drawing is from Darkris, who has loads of lovely drawings on her site. I just couldnt find anything prettier than this drawing for the all important umbrella article!)

So I guess this must be a huge achievement for those wonderful, hard-working folks at the World Umbrella Foundation (or WUF, as they like to be called) as umbrellas all around the world finally get their due. A holiday of their own! Its the day to marvel at this wonderful invention, and as the website says, "On a rainy day, we are sure glad that someone was smart enough to invent it." Amen, to that.

I have a sneaky feeling that if the invention of the umbrella had proved a little bit more of a challenge, we wouldnt have quite made it this far as a species. I mean, imagine the challenges in thinking up the lever or the pulley or just rope for that matter. And doing those while the rain pours down all over you... just dont see it happening. So thanks love, whoever you are, for the umbrella.

On a slightly tangential note, and also because I am too lazy to make this a different post, was just thinking of someone else who has been mighty impressed by the humble umbrella (and is also raking in a lot more moolah than the original inventor).

As regular readers (ha!) would know, I am blissfully unaware of the latest popular tunes and heard Rihanna's "Umbrella" for the first time at my hairdressers. It sounded good, but only today did I really listen to it properly and, I must say, it totally grooves. And more than the lovely tune itself, the lyrics really caught my ear and just thought I'll put it down here.

Am also planning to introduce music into this blog (if i can get the hang of it), and this one might just be the first. So keep checking, oh regular reader (please?).

You had my heart, and we'll never be world apart

Maybe in magazines, but you'll still be my star

Baby cause in the dark, we can't see shiny cars

And that's when you need me there

With you I'll always share

Because

[Chorus]

When the sun shine

We'll shine together

Told you I'll be here forever

Said I'll always be your friend

Took an oath imma stick it out 'till the end

Now that it's raining more than ever

Know that we still have each other

You can stand under my umbrella

You can stand under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh)

Under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh)

Under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)

[Verse 2]

Fancy things, will never come in between

You're part of my entity, here for infinity

When the world has took it's part

When the world has dealt it's cards

If the hand is hard, together we'll mend your heart

Because

[Chorus]

When the sun shine

We'll shine together

Told you I'll be here forever

Said I'll always be your friend

Took an oath imma stick it out 'till the end

Now that it's raining more than ever

Know that we still have each other

You can stand under my umbrella

You can stand under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh)

Under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh)

Under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)

Ella ella eh eh eh! Its really a lot more fun than you would expect from all the eh eh's!

Update:

Trying this for the first time, lets see if it works. Heres to music!

All work and no blogging...

2010-02-09T22:57:00.000-08:00

...Makes me feel real dull!

Its interesting though. There's been some general craziness going on in life, but I guess thats pretty much normal. Isn't it?

The other day, we went to my son's school. One thing's been worrying me a bit, its that he seems scared of slides. I see other kids going on the slides all the time, and I kept wondering how to make my boy lose his fear. Finally managed it this time! :)

I think it helped that there werent too many other kids on the playground at the time. The little guy finally agreed to try the shorter slide first. Of course, initially he wanted me to hold his hand all the way up and then on the slide down too. But I could see him losing his fear and enjoying it soon enough! In fact, he went ahead and tried the taller spiral slide too, and soon it was a chore for me and S to drag him away from the playground! :)

Watching children play is a lovely feeling. The pure joy of just running around screaming your heads off, jumping around for no reason at all, every little thing becomes a game. You fall down, you check if daddy saw you, if he did - bawl a little bit while dad soothes the hurt; if he didnt, just dust yourself off and get back to it!

The image is of a painting by a child, part of a lovely collection of paintings called Art for World Friendship. Couldnt think of any better way to embellish this post.

Musings on Music

2009-11-12T19:18:00.000-08:00

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life
Now show me how to live

Love those lyrics! For the past 15 years, I have been a fan of rock music, but its been predominantly classic rock. Then as I grew up, I added some of the legendary alt rock acts of our times like Blur, Oasis, REM, RHCP. But once Linkin Park took over the bandstand, I just decided to stick with what I love already! The rock-rap fusion was not really my thing, and I just switched off. Listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" was always a much more mind-blowing
experience for me.

But recently, over the last couple of months I decided to sample a little bit of the newer rock bands. Well, new for a wizened classic rock fan like me anyway. And I sampled some stuff from Velvet Revolver, Rage against the Machine, Audioslave and Foo Fighters. Also, Nine Inch Nails, Coldplay, and Marilyn Manson.

To be honest, I have heard a little bit of Manson before, and I like it! Its shock rock at perhaps its finest. Some of Manson's compositions are just downright brilliant. My favourite Manson song (from a very limited sampling though), is "Lunchbox". I know its almost incendiary in that it sounds like its promoting violence in schools! But honestly, its not like Manson looks like someone you would take advice from, right? Anyway, the song is about a kid in school who gets back at the bullies.

I wanna grow up
I wanna be a big rock and roll star
I wanna grow up I wanna be
So no one fucks with me

Interesting! And what makes it even better is the great guitar riff when he says "rock and rollllll starrrrr"! Another song that has a brilliant composition is "Astonishing Panorama of the End Times", along with a brilliant title! God is in your TV, indeed!

Out of all the other groups I sampled, Audioslave and Foo Fighters definitely made the most impact. I had really liked Soundgarden's Superunknown album. And Chris Cornell is a brilliant vocalist. I hadnt really heard much about Tom Morello, the ex-RATM guitarist, who is also part of Audioslave, but I have grown to love their self-titled album. The lyrics at the top of this post is from the song "Show me how to live", and its definitely one of the best songs in this album. There are a bunch of other great songs in there too, including "Cochise", "Shadow on the sun" and "Like a Stone". Not always the best of lyrics though, but excellent music along with brilliant vocals.

And Foo Fighters was probably a foregone conclusion, with ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl at the front. The album I sampled was "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace", beautifully titled, amazingly well composed, with lovely lyrics. These guys are brilliant at the slow buildup leading to an explosive climax! And songs which make the hairs on your arms and neck stand on end sometimes! "Let it Die", "Come Alive" and "Stranger things have happened before" are absolute stand-outs along with "The Pretender". "Stranger..." is one of the finest examples of a softened down, almost unplugged, rock song in a long time. I am a fan of Dave now, and looking forward to more of his music.

With RATM, the issue again was with the rap-rock fusion. But their music is something else, full of angst and delivered almost staccato at times. These guys were good, and there is a power in songs like "People of the Sun" and "Bulls on Parade" which completely mesmerizes.

So although I will never, ever, let go of those LedZep, Deep Purple, Rolling Stones etc songs, these "new" bands are definitely making an impact. I still havent figured out why Coldplay is the biggest band in the world. Maybe someday I will.

2009-11-12T17:00:00.000-08:00

As the days get shorter, and it gets tougher to get out of bed in the cold winter mornings, nostalgia seems to be the order of the day.

Winter has always been associated in the colder countries as an end to the beautiful season of summer. The cold winds drive away the warmth of the summer.

In India, predominantly tropical, winter has always been a solace from the heat of summer, the dampness of the monsoon. But this winter somehow finds me in a much more nostalgic mood than usual. I have always loved winter. Mumbai kids usually do. In Mumbai, winter brings with it a refreshing change from the year-round humidity. For about a month or month-and-a-half stretching across December and January, you enjoy the coolness of the breeze, and the very slight chill of the late nights. In Bangalore, of course, winters are a bit more severe and the weather all round the year can get a bit chilly everytime it rains.

Last weekend I went down to the supermarket with my son, my little helper :), to pick up the groceries from a list already provided. When buying soap, I looked down the aisle and picked up one of the soaps which used to be a symbol of the winters of my childhood! Pears transparent soaps ! Living in Mumbai, you tend to perhaps not use any of the moisturizing kind of soaps, unless its winter! And Pears used to really come into my house only in the winters. In the early 80's, I dont think there were that many options anyway, and perhaps Pears was the only available "moisturizing" soap of the time. Wikipedia tells me that Pears soaps have been in production since 1789! Thats one amazing business model!

So anyway, I picked it up again this time. And I realized again after using it, what a gorgeous fragrance this soap has! I mean, I never imagined I will ever wax eloquent about soap, but it really is worth mentioning! And everytime that fragrance hits me, it just seems to remind me of home, of those carefree days as a child. When everything was worked out by someone else, everything was made available without having to struggle for it. When life was simpler, perhaps.

Whenever I am reminded of my own childhood, I also wish that I had been a much better kid than I was, especially in the teens! I also hope fervently that my son takes more on his mom than me in that department! Parents truly are marvellous creations!

2009-11-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

I have been reading a lot lately. Well, a 'lot' is probably over-playing it a bit. Probably, giving it a little more time than I could earlier.

The experience of a long commute to work wasnt very helpful. A lot of time was taken away by the travel, and now that I dont have to do that anymore, I am enjoying the little things in life a lot more. One of those is reading. But the biggest positive is of course, that I can spend more time at home, with my son.

Its amazing how fast kids grow up. He's already taller than my waist now, and it seems just a few months ago that he was about knee-high! But now he's a big boy, as he himself would put it!

I am reading a Dennis Lehane novel currently, a dark, troubling mystery/thriller as he usually writes. There was a passage in it, where Pat Kenzie (of the Kenzie & Gennaro investigative duo), is watching his girlfriend's little daughter play. The author describes how every time the child stumbles, takes a bigger jump than you would expect her to, does the little things that kids do, Pat feels a sense of parental anxiety that makes him worry that she would get hurt. This struck so true with me. There are so many occasions when I tell my wife to not be so over-protective towards our son, but then there are also so many times when I too find my heart in my mouth! Just this morning, he took a too-big bite off the cookie he was eating as we waited for his school bus and just then his bus comes along. I made him spit the cookie out, and he went on and got into the bus, leaving me worrying about whether I should go after him to check if he is definitely ok! Little things, sounds even littler when I put it down here, but.. I couldnt help worrying! Didnt stop thinking about it till I went and checked on him at lunch time!

So I started off thinking I will write about the books I read, but I guess I am well off track by now. Anyway, this blog is reader-free enough that I can go ahead and indulge in whatever I want to! So, book reviews will just have to wait!

2009-11-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, you cant help but wonder. Why are the good things in life, generally bad for you? And why are those very things that are bad for you, so tempting?

What really happened on that mountain? Was there really a burning tree? Or was Moses the first of the moral police? Did he make those rules up, and whats with people? Just a flock of sheep, I guess.

So, here I go. Just another in the flock, following the leader. There are some things which you just cant go against, I guess.

Rafalution??

2009-08-18T04:45:00.000-07:00

One weekend into the new season.. ya, just one weekend. And it seems to be crisis time already for Rafa Benitez and Liverpool!

I guess this could be called second-season syndrome too in a way. That term usually reserved for the second season in the top flight for a team promoted the previous time around, seems to also apply to Liverpool, especially coz they came so close to winning the damn thing last year. So everyone thought this year, with Rafa given more control over the transfers, might just be Liverpool's year.

And its already looking unlikely. The team lost just one player really, with Xabi Alonso deciding to move on after he had shown Rafa up for wanting to sell him last year. But the problem, as Sarah Winterburn pointed out in her pre-season analysis over at Football365, is really the complete lack of depth in the Liverpool squad. Even Arsenal, who didnt do much buying this year either although they did sell Adebayor and Toure, are better placed simply because they have a bunch of youngsters who strengthen the squad. In the case of Liverpool, they have brought in Aquilani as a probable replacement for Alonso. But this still leaves them with a lack of choices in many departments.

The first weekend, the first game of the season. A good Tottenham Hotspurs team, definitely one of the teams trying to break into the top 5. And the two Liverpool central defenders have a horrible misunderstanding, resulting in one of them ending up with a cracked jaw. It just goes to show how fragile this squad is, that with Skrtel out for 2 weeks, Liverpool will be down to their only other option in the middle of defence with Dan Agger.

On top of that comes then news that Rafa doesnt have any money to spend anymore. So, he is trying to loan players like Sylvin Distin from Portsmouth and that club doesnt want to loan the player out, they want to bloody sell him! But hey, we dont have any money, man! And every Kop fan out there, must be down on his knees praying every night, praying and hoping that the duo of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres stays fit and injury-free through-out this season. Because, if we happen to loose either of them even for a single game, we do not have anyone covering for them! Its bizarre that Rafa decided to sell out Robbie Keane after not playing him much last season, and then proceeded for the new season without any backup for Torres and Gerrard. The completely untried (and frankly uninspiring) David Ngog, and the already discarded Andriy Voronin are the only options left. I will definitely not be confident of Pool winning any games based on the prowess of those two alone.

So, the season has begun, and there are some signs of Pool fans showing stress already! Unfortunately, this being a World Cup year complicates matters a heck of a lot more, especially for the teams competing in Europe as well. Rafa has done a lot of inexplicable things in his tenure at Liverpool, but he is also revered by the fans for the success he has brought the club. This year could well be his toughest, and I sincerely wish him all the best! Glory awaits!

Re-re-re-repeats and general rants

2009-06-07T04:31:00.000-07:00

I dont know what its about, but I have really been into re-reading, re-listening, re-watching and all things re ! Maybe this nostalgia is a sign of advancing age??

I have a bunch of books I bought lately which I havent read yet. Instead I find myself constantly trying to decide which of my books to re-read. Should it be the adventures of Rumpole, barrister-at-law, or the long journey of Frodo Baggins carrying his precious cargo? Will it be Ian Rankin's rugged Scottish mysteries or Satyajit Ray's Feluda stories set in often exotic parts of India? Neil Gaiman's Sandman volumes steeped in obscure histories, or Alan Moore's V for Vendetta set in a bleak, hopeless future? Even the contemplation brings me joy.

Coming to music, I was going nuts trying to find a few CD's I had misplaced. A bunch of Led Zep albums, which were once my regular listening, had been misplaced in an avalanche of electronic media. Sometimes, you keep the things you love the most in a place you feel is the most secure, and then you cant find it just coz its not where all your other stuff happens to be! Luckily, I did remember where it was, and with it found the wonderful unplugged Nirvana album, a collection of Hindi music I didnt even remember owning, REM's Monster and the wonderfully hard and heavy MI2 soundtrack. So, there it was. Audio nirvana!

I have just not had time for movies lately though. So what I have seen is just what was on tv, but then you still need to select which one you wanna watch, right? And again, I find myself preferring the ones I have seen before. Saw Seven recently, and was waiting for it with bated breath, although I have seen it at least thrice.

Apart from all this nostalgia though, hasnt there just been too much cricket lately? The IPL was great fun to begin with, but surprisingly as it came closer to the final stages, I found my interest waning somewhat. There is such a thing as overkill, and the IPL doesnt seem to get that, what with that Lalit Modi looking to add two more teams into the league.

But the beginning of the T20 World Cup has been interesting though. The last ball win for the Netherlands over England, the strong showing by Scotland against NZ, and the Windies beating the Aussies; all go to show that the 20-20 format is the one which has the most likelihood of producing upsets as there is simply no time to recover sufficiently from a bad period in the game. Lets hope for a few more interesting results. Maybe if Netherlands or Scotland go out and win the damn thing, the cricketing world will come to see the 20-20 format for the lottery it really is!!

(Image courtesy cricket.yahoo.com)

Bangalored!

2009-06-01T23:44:00.000-07:00

So, whats the latest in my life? I have been 'Bangalored'.

OK, not quite what that term implies. I still have my job, the money's still rolling in, albeit like a roll of coarsely kneaded dough rolling down a Velcro strip. And then it rolls out again like a particularly swift bowling ball that finds itself given the heave-ho over a heavily greased alley. But for us Bangalore residents, there are other ways you get 'Bangalored'!

For those who don't know and never cared to find out, I have been living within a radius of 5 km's from work for the past 7 yrs. And the last 3 yrs of that have actually been at a distance of 1.5 km's from office! I know, sounds like heaven doesn't it? Not coz my office happens to be Disneyland, but just coz you don't end up spending half your life commuting to work and back.

But hey, that's all a sweet little dream now. The powers that be decided that enough is enough. The KS (no, not that KS) has had too much of a good thing, and its time he was woken up to the harsh realities of Bangalore life. Which basically means, they decided I would perform a lot better if my office was moved around 20Kms further away from home. Bangalored!

And how they howl with laughter, as I struggle daily in search of fabled paths, legendary avenues unknown to common men which, so they say, lead you through traffic-less dream kingdoms. Tears roll down their eyes with mirth, as the new flyover work begins as soon as KS starts his unusual journey towards his new, distant workplace. Roads get dug-up overnight to lay further challenges along his way. Will he give in? Will he be another victim of the dark land of Bangalore, gobbled up and churned out after being infested with road rage?

Little do they know, how they have underestimated the slayer! For as long as there is Robert Plant screaming out his need to 'Ramble On', as long as The Who confirm that 'We wont get fooled again', as long as Amit Trivedi growls 'Nayan tarse', as long as RHCP's Anthony Kiedis sings about the city of angels, as long as Deep Purple play on, I don't give a fuck. ;)

2009-06-01T23:21:00.001-07:00

Over a year gone... its been too long. I'm surprised this blog is still alive! Thanks to the guys who thought it wasnt quite ready for the chop shop yet.

There have been lots of things keeping me away from here. Its been such a busy year. But was it really so busy that I couldnt write a few lines once in a while. Its not like i stopped reading, so I could have posted about the books i read. I've been watching movies, listening to music, could have written about that. And anyway, all my writing has pretty much been for myself! Not like a huge audience hankering for some action out there!! ;)

I read a couple of my old posts today, and just got a feel of how nice it feels to document a few of the moments that life sends our way. I had forgotten about the time when my not-yet-three year old son spouted out his favourite movie dialogues as we travelled to Hyd by train. This is worth putting down for me, so ya.. I'm going to keep writing. Have made those promises to myself before, i know.

Hope I keep this one.

2007 - A Brilliant Year in Movies

2008-04-28T04:18:00.000-07:00

I am not a movie historian. I am a fan though. And I have come to the conclusion that the critics and film historians who have made claims about year 2007 being a brilliant year for movies, are absolutely correct.

In going through a collection of last years movies, you cannot help but agree with them. Its a selection of movies which has a lot of originality, includes some excellent adaptations from books and stage, has a few films which worked within existing formulae and managed to unearth something new. All in all, an excellent year for films, and I havent even seen all the good ones!

I would want to start this list with Michael Clayton, the Tony Gilroy directed, Sydney Pollack produced, George Clooney starred, the Lord Shiva blessed and Tom Wilkinson owned movie which twists the corporate espionage genre on its head. Not by the brilliance of its plot, which to be honest, is not ground-breakingly different from movies like The Insider and Erin Brockovich, but through its stunning script and brilliant performances. The movie captivates from the first scene, and Clooney, Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton's performances carry it through to the end. The beginning has to be one of the best sequences in recent times, with visuals showing the plush interiors of a giant American legal firm while you listen to a perhaps half-crazed ramblings of a corporate lawyer gone a bit loony (Tom Wilkinson). What follows is an investigation, not only into the crimes which the law firm is trying to cover up, but also into the morality of human nature. Clooney does a star turn, but with enough soul as the title character. But who can forget Tom Wilkinson as he resoundingly pronounces - "I am Shiva, the god of death". Not quite factual, from a Hinduism point of view, but a great quote anyway!

(Sadly, I read the news of the passing away of Sidney Pollack the day this post was finally ready for publishing. RIP)

Follow that one up with a trip to the Texas-Mexico border with one of the best psycho performances of recent times. The Coen Brothers have made many excellent films, and this is their ode to the westerns, with a touch of noir to it. I have been a fan from the time I saw "Miller's Crossing" in my school days, and later movies like "Fargo", "The Big Lebowski" and "O Brother Where Art Thou?" just went on to build their reputation as movie-makers whose work always carries huge expectations. This time around, they got help from Cormac McCarthy's very cinematic book, and I personally felt that the Coen's just needed to put in visuals what Cormac had written. Nevertheless, great performances from Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin makes this movie something of a classic.

And then there is "There will be blood", Paul Thomas Anderson's film based on Upton Sinclair's novel "Oil". Excellent period film, raw depiction of the beginnings of capitalism and at the same time that it shows the evils of capitalism, it also reveals the hypocrisy hidden under blind religious faith. Again, this movie owes as much to its lead performers as it does to the director. Daniel Day Lewis is perhaps one of the most iconic performers of his generation, and he finds a brilliant foil in Paul Dano, who plays the local priest. In fact, Dano is so good, he actually manages to steal a few of Daniel's scenes! His performance is one of the unheralded triumphs of the year.

Moving on to "Atonement", yet another book adaptation. This was perhaps one of the most affecting movies of the year, and also - come to think of it - one of the few of the top movies which was basically a love story. There are the tragic, star-struck lovers who are destined to be kept apart by the vile villain. But the twist is in the villain. Whats really affecting is the shattering consequences of a small misunderstanding which ultimately results in tragedy. Its again very strongly acted by Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and the 13 yr old Saoirse Ronan. Ian McEwan, who's book is the basis for this movie, is not one of my favourite authors. But this movie made me want to read the book.

2007 also saw Ben Affleck go behind the camera as the director of "Gone, Baby, Gone", yet another movie adapted from a book. This one is adapted from Dennis Lehane's novel of the same name. Ben Affleck has earlier shown his talent as a writer, collaborating with Matt Damon on "Good Will Hunting", but the years since that movie has probably caused most people to think that Matt was the brains behind that success! But Ben does a good job of proving his detractors wrong, creating a gritty account of the investigation after a child goes missing. The mother seems to be more interested in seeing herself on the TV news, the cops are not getting anywhere, so its Lehane's well known private eye pair of Kenzie and Gennaro who are called in by the missing child's aunt. Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan play the detectives, and Casey practically steals the movie from other players like Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman. The acting genes in the Affleck family definitely found their way to the younger brother. But we will definitely wait for Ben's next directorial effort.

Continuing the list, we reach one of the best animated movies from recent years, "Ratatouille". The tale of a rat that loves to cook - and is darned good at it - and a restaurant garbage boy, who together form the greatest culinary partnership in Paris, makes a movie not just for the tiny tots, but for their parents too. Skillfully made by Brad Bird, who also directed 'The Incredibles", the animation is lively and the story is captivating and imaginative. There are no unneccessary mushy songs like other animated movies, to break the flow of the story. Not to mention the delicious looking dishes, which inevitably make you hungry!

And then there's 'Juno', the story of a pregnant teenager who makes the life-altering decision to keep the child rather than abort it. But the film does not focus on the decision itself, instead it focuses on Juno and her marvellously gutsy attitude of never feeling sorry for herself. Right from the starting scene which shows Juno downing a whole gallon of orange juice so that she can take another pregnancy test ASAP, makes you connect with her and root for her. She definitely does not treat this as the end of the world, instead deciding to grin and bear it matter-of-factly for the next 9 months, taking it one problem at a time, and then get on with her life. Ellen Page as Juno was excellent.

Thats the list of movies I managed to see. And though its half-way through 2008, I figured its not that late to put up this list anyway. Bloggers gotta work too! There are a few more which have been received very well by audiences and critics, but i am yet to catch them! A few of those would be I'm Not There, Before the devil knows you are dead, Zodiac, The diving bell and the butterfly and American Gangster. Will keep posting reviews as and when I catch these.

Oldboy

2008-03-19T03:41:00.000-07:00

Oldboy is a Korean film released in 2004 which shot to fame when it was awarded the Grand Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

This movie just blew my mind. Indian film buffs may know this as the movie on which the Sajay Dutt - John Abraham starrer 'Zinda' was based. In fact, the makers of Zinda were later sued by the makers of 'Oldboy' for copyright infringement. Makes you wish the international film industries would take closer looks at many more of our movies - getting sued for stealing other people's ideas is a known incentive for originality!

But just forget about Zinda, even though it was a fairly competent remake (authorized or not). The original is in a class by itself. There is violence in this story, sometimes very much in its gory, physical form. But more often the violence is all in the mind - and that is perhaps more brutal. Oldboy is based on a Japanese manga of the same name. There is though nothing comic about this movie. This movie is part of The Vengeance Trilogy, three films made by the director Park Chan-wook, all of which center around the idea of revenge. I feel some of Quentin Tarantino's sequences from the Kill Bill movies may well have been inspired by this movie. Quentin is known to be a huge fan of 'Oldboy' and was actually the head of the Cannes Festival jury which awarded the Grand Prix to this movie in 2004, which is the second most prestigious award at the Cannes Fest. Quentin failed to persuade the jury to give it the Palme D'Or instead, which went that year to 'Fahrenheit 9/11'.

The movie begins with Oh Daesu (Choi Min-Sik) who has been picked up by the cops for being drunk as a skunk. He comes across as a bit of a mischief-maker and definitely cant hold his drink. His friend finally gets him out of police custody, but Oh Daesu vanishes from the face of the earth before he can get home to his wife and daughter. He is kidnapped and held in a prison of-sorts, where he is kept for 15 years, without even being told why he is being kept there or who is responsible for his incarceration. Oh Daesu spends the time wondering what he could have ever done so wrong as to deserve the punishment he seems to be getting. And also planning revenge on his tormentor. Then suddenly one day, he is free. All he needs to do now, is figure out who was responsible for his 15 year sentence, and why!

As I mentioned before, there is violence. Gritty, raw, savage violence which seems too uncomfortably real. There are twists in this story that are quite shocking and surprising. Its one of the most inventive thrillers i have ever seen, besides being one of those rare films which stay in your minds long after its over. Perhaps the original manga has all the twists in it already, or maybe the director and writers got together and brainstormed this brilliance out - i dont know. But the movie is definitely one of the most powerful depictions of the brutality that humans are capable of. The movie seems to really begin only after Daesu has been set free. He now has a single mission, to find out why and by who he had been imprisoned. But as the viewer gradually finds out, things are just not what they seem. The director forces you to reconsider your initial perceptions at various stages of the movie.

There are so many sequences in the movie which grab you by the throat. This film demands attention, and earns it. A sequence where Daesu single-handedly takes on about 30 of his erstwhile captors, may sound like the run-of-the-mill action thriller scene, where the super-invincible Rambo-like hero takes on much more than a normal person would be capable of. But here, this scene changes into something much more basic, primordial. Imagine a lone wolf surrounded by a gaggle of hyenas. The wolf may be hurt badly, but its fierceness may still give it an edge over the hyenas.

This is definitely a movie for the strong hearted. But its also a movie so original, and makes such a powerful statement about the beastliness of humanity, that it deserves a much larger audience. In addition, there are performances in this movie which blow the mind away.

There are few movies which deserve 5 stars, Oldboy definitely gets 4.5 stars from me. I take away the half star for the final clash between Oh Daesu and his tormentor which, only in hindsight, feels like a bit of a compromise.

Where have I been???

2008-03-07T02:12:00.000-08:00

So February 2008 goes down as one long, weird month. Doesnt time just take its own sweet time going by? Its been a month of two parts - one small totally fun time when we went down to Hyderabad for my cousins wedding. One week of complete fun. Lotsa drinks, lotsa time with my son, watching him at his wonderful, funny, sometimes maddening, but always adorable antics. The rest of the month was just a long lonely time as my wife and son had to go to Mumbai due to an emergency with my ma-in-law.

Lets just talk about the fun week. This was my son's first long train journey, as we decided to cut costs by going to Hyd by train. It was fun to see him curious about everything. Its amazing that he doesnt feel the airport is anything special anymore, but the train station is full of wonder! And he is probably the biggest fan of the movie 'Taare Zameen Par' ! We saw the movie on the first day of its release, and usually he just goes to sleep by around the half-way mark. But this movie, with Ishaan playing an adorable but naughty kid seems to catch his fancy completely. My son has memorized practically every line from the first half of the movie - and is happy enough to repeat it for us at all times!! So in the train, when he was lying down with me on the berth, suddenly he turns to me and says - "Akela ghoom raha tha! Road pe! Look at your guts, daddy bhi nahi hai. Tujhe kuch ho jaata toh!" I couldnt stop laughing as he played out the entire scene between Ishaan and his brother Yohaan, repeating the dialogues where Ishaan begs his brother to write an absent note for him!! And he is not 3 yrs old yet! Its so funny and cute to see him try to say the dialogues and stumbling over some of the words.

Then at the wedding and the reception, he got so much space to run around that he kept everyone on their toes. One of my uncles volunteered to take him out for a little walkabout, probably seeing me and my wife frustrated with trying to keep up with our son. After a while, we looked out a window and saw my uncle running around in circles after him! Spreading the fun all around!

We Bengalis have funny marriages. I mean some of the rituals are a bit weird. Now dont go thinking Apocalypto, pulling out peoples hearts, animal sacrifice kind of weird. One of the weird rituals is that on the second night of the marriage, the groom and the bride should not even see each other from 6 in the evening till 6 AM next day. This is known as the Kaal Raatri (literally the next night).

So, my cousin - the groom - trying to get rid of his gloom, decided to come down to my hotel room for the night. My wife gave company to the bride, and of course my son stays wherever his mom is. Me and my cousin watched 'Michael Clayton" first, and then decided this is a good time to get drunk. And man, we got blown out of our minds drinking scotch all night! The two of us got through an entire litre of scotch that night. I couldnt stop laughing when, after 3-4 drinks, he says - "This Kaal Ratri is not so bad, dada"!!

All in all, a pretty cool time down in Hyderabad.

Taare Zameen Par

2008-01-23T17:35:00.000-08:00

Aamir Khan's first directorial venture is a languidly paced story about a dyslexic child struggling to come to grips with the expectations at home and away. Its a film with a message, and as with all such films, there is the danger of the story losing itself in the search for the moral high ground.

But Aamir manages to steer away from the dangers by concentrating his camera on the beauty and the little pleasures of childhood. His focus is constantly on the child, Ishaan Awasthi, than on the child's saviour. He brings to life the little moments in Ishaan's life which appear incongruous when seen from adult eyes - his pleasure in the tiny fishes captured from the gutter and given a place of pride in his fishbowl, in playing with the flea-ridden mongrels waiting for him to return from school, his wonder at seeing a man climbing up a scaffolding to paint the sides of a building. Seen through Ishaan's eyes, these everyday moments appear magical. So what if capturing the little fishes means getting your hair and hands soaked with gutter water? So what if those street dogs tear apart the exam papers sent by the teachers to be viewed and signed by your parents? So what if you have to bunk out of school to see the man dare to climb up that magnificent scaffolding? So what if you have to beg your elder brother to write an absent letter so mom doesnt find out about your bunking classes? As Ishaan puts it, "Bindaas!"

And so what if your scores in every subject are in the low single digits? If the teachers at school, and parents at home, do not understand that Ishaan has a problem with reading and writing, why should the 8-yr old point it out as a problem - he would much rather just say he doesnt want to learn! That ensures his "Bindaas" reputation after all. But when Ishaan is packed off to boarding school by his father, furious with his non-performance at school and concerned about his future, Ishaan finds himself alone in a world where studying by rote is mistaken as academic excellence. His one passion, the one thing which he is truly brilliant at, painting is also suppressed under the pressure of catching up with his fellow students.

Aamir Khan's achievement is multi-fold - his visualization of the childs internal world is wonderfully vivid. Borrowing a page out of Calvin & Hobbes to show Ishaan working out a math question, and later showing his angst and anguish at being considered a 'duffer' - Aamir shows a brilliant aptitude for taking us into the child's mind. He avoids taking up a preaching tone at any time and his criticism of parental pressure is pointed, but discreet. And when you see Ishaan standing at the edge of a precipice, staring blank eyed into the depths, you want to reach out and pull him back, explain to him that its all going to be alright soon. Somehow, you feel that this must be how so many kids become suicidal.

There are many sequences in the movie which stay in the mind. Ishaan's wanderings through the streets of Mumbai; his first day at the boarding school, with the haunting "Meri Maa" song in the background; Aamir's visit to Ishaan's home to investigate why this little kid is so quiet and inward; and of course the uplifting finale with a painting competition which makes you feel like buying an easel and some paint and whip out a few canvasses of your own.

The music fits in very well with the film, and songs like "Jame Raho", "Meri Maa" and "Kholo Kholo Darwaaze" are quite hummable. The lyrics by Prasoon Joshi are some of the best in recent years - very cohesive with the story and emphasising the child's inner turmoil. And then there is the artwork - wonderful paintings, clay sculptures etc which add together to make this movie a visual treat too.

Overall, its a great debut from Aamir the director. Its a great continuation to Aamir the actor's career - saying that he is excellent in his role is almost redundant. You really have to dig deep to find the roles where Aamir has been less than excellent. And its also the debut of a wonderful new child actor, Darsheel Safary, as Ishaan he lives the role. He is brilliant. So is the movie, definitely one of the best of 2007.

The 'Values' of the ICC

2008-01-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

The crux of the issue which caused the Indian team to take a stand and put the tour on hold has truly got swept under all the rhetoric which has been pouring out from every news channel and any two-bit columnist with half a keyboard.

Its not like this is the first time that India (or a sub-continent team) has faced awful umpiring. Its happened before and we have always taken it on the chin and gone on. How many times have Indian fans not groaned when the Indian captain remarks after another lost test match that 'these things happen in cricket', and maybe we should have done better inspite of poor decisions. But this is definitely the first time that the Indian team has taken such a strong stand against it. The key issue here is the fact that the Indian team has not asked for the second test to be annulled. They have asked that the umpires responsible for this embarassment of a result, should not be allowed to stand in the remaining matches.

The other main issue is that the Indian team believes there is no case against Harbhajan, and there should not have been any ban imposed on him consequently. Its clearly a scenario where a group of people feel hard done by, and are demanding justice. The fact that this group of people happens to be the Indian cricket team, the so-called most powerful cricket team in terms of financial clout, is immaterial. If this situation had happened with Zimbabwe playing against Kenya, the issue would still have been as important.

There are so many organisational faults with the ICC that its just a mystery how this body manages to keep a hold on world cricket. The very fact that even the CEO of this organisation, Malcolm Speed, is incapable of sifting through the mounds of crap and addressing the real issue, is astounding. The last thing this issue needed was for Speed to call a press conference and tell the world that the ICC will not allow a different set of rules for India. We have not asked for different rules, Mr Speed, we have asked that a different set of rules currently favouring Australia be not allowed. We have asked you for justice, Mr Speed. Does that sound like a familiar word?

I would really like to know what the responsibilities or objectives of the ICC are. Have they been written down somewhere? Do the employees of the International Cricket Council know what is involved in being a cog in the wheel that runs the global game?

In fact, they have been put up on their website. Hmm.. The ICC Mission! Values!

The ICC Mission
As the international governing body for cricket, the
International Cricket Council will lead by:
Promoting and protecting the game, and its unique spirit
Delivering outstanding, memorable events
Providing excellent service to Members and stakeholders
Optimising its commercial rights and properties for the benefit of its
Members

How do you protect the game, Mr Speed? Why has there never been any protection to Asian teams against the boorish Aussies? Do I even need to give examples here? Why didnt the ICC step in during the tens of occasions of boorish behaviour from the Australian team - the one team that has consistently claimed to be a proponent of 'hard cricket'. But they could never take it themselves, could they? So when the Indians appeal strenuously for a catch which they believe was taken, Sehwag is suspended. But here we have two cases - Ponting's awful 'cheat of the worst kind' appeal, and the equally awful 'Fifth umpire' ruling of Clarke's catch. Where is the protection, Mr Speed? Who are you protecting, Malcolm? Sehwag and the Indian team has no integrity? Whereas Ponting does?

Excellent service to members?? Clearly, Mike Procter has a different idea about providing service to the member countries of the ICC. How can you, Malcolm, overlook the fact that Mike Procter doled out a three match ban without a shred of evidence, except for hearsay from the Aussies? How do you provide for the selective acceptance of evidence from the Aussies, without considering that there was one other voice in the room which claims that the racist remark was not made? The person who that voice belonged to, was one of two people who were withing hearing distance during the incident, but he must have been lying, right? He isnt an Aussie after all. Why is it that your countrymen are considered to have more integrity than two veterans of the game, both with flawless records of having played the game with dignity and integrity? Is the ICC racist, Mr Speed?

'Openness, honesty and integrity' - these are some of the values espoused by your organisation. There is 'Accountability and responsibility', 'Respect for our diversity' and finally - 'Fairness and equity'. Please point out some instances of any of these values being upheld during and after the Sydney test, Mr Speed.

And with your comments equally distorting the real issues involved here, maybe its time to drop the hypocrisy and note down the real 'Values' you uphold, Mr Speed.

Just not cricket...

2008-01-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

The horrendous decision making by the umpires in the second test is completely ridiculous. At the time of writing this, Sunil Gavaskar is coming close to letting his rage become dangerously visible while commenting on India's continuing attempt to save the match. The problem is that the Indian team is not up against a team of 11 Aussies, but also against one West Indian, one Englishman and one South African. And you could probably add a bunch of others in the ICC to that list.

No other test match comes to mind when the poor (and i really mean pathetically, abysmally, match-fixer-allegationally poor) decision making by the umpires has contributed so much to the possible result of the test match.

Andrew Symonds, that proud protector of his race's pride and dignity, that hard-done-by accuser of racial insults being hurled his way by Harbhajjan Singh who himself had gone through a couple of hours of sledging being hurled his way constantly by 5 or 6 aussie players - that Symonds, maybe an Aussie symbol of sportsmanship, stayed his ground with a wonderful display of opportunism while the myopic Steve Bucknor spent about fifteen minutes in deciding that a clear caught-behind was actually not out. Then when the bowler, young Ishant Sharma, stood pulling his hair out in large chunks, that same deaf and dumb umpire thought it to be an act of great dissent, worthy of a reference in his report. Then later, even the third umpire got into the fun and decided to rule a clear stumping as not out. Symonds went on to score a large hundred and 'rescued' Australia from a bad situation.

Follow that up with the awful decisions against the Indian players, which has been written enought about in the media. The latest ones were Dravid being given out caught behind when he didnt touch the ball, and Ganguly being given caught in the slips by Mark Benson, who seems to believe that Ricky Ponting is the third umpire. He didnt feel the need to check whether the catch was clearly taken through the third umpire, relying on Ponting's immensely unbiased opinion. To add salt, haldi and Everest ka Tikhalal mirchi to the wounds, Ganguly's questions to the buffoon getting his paycheck under the heading 'Umpire' will probably be seen as dissent as well.

Adding to the awful umpiring, has been the opportunistic appealing and ugly unsporting behaviour shown by the Australian team. Lead by the one captain in international cricket who has no claims to playing anything called the 'gentleman's game', the Aussies have shown that a talented team can still be so ugly on the field that they earn nothing but disrespect.

I think its pretty unlikely, but in case any Australian fans pass through this blog someday, THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKET TEAM IS FULL OF CHEATS!!! And the biggest is Ricky Ponting, who is also a liar. Gleeful about the awful umpiring which has consistently been biased against the Indian team, he has lead his team to appeal on anything and everything, whether it be an authentic chance or not. They have obviously gone with the plan of piling pressure on the chumpires and push them further towards making their dreadful decisions. Every time the ball hits the pads, they all go up in appeal. Every time the ball goes past the bat, they go up in appeal.

And they do this in the safe knowledge, that this team of ugly over-achievers have always been sheltered by the incompetent idiots who head the 'ICC'. The kings of on-field sledging have never faced any inquiries against them (except the pathetic time when Warne had the balls to go on air and apologize for having fixed a match, and was let go relatively easily), but their opponents have consistently been brought to book for various acts including dissent whenever they let out a groan of despair when their hard-work comes to nothing. I may not have all the stats, but I cannot remember the last time when any Australian players were brought to book for their aggression on the field.

At the time of writing this post, there are 11 more overs to go for India to avoid defeat. Dhoni and Kumble are standing tall at the crease and trying to hold the fort. But it is so much more difficult knowing that you dont really have to make a mistake to be given out. It may just depend on the awful umpires imaginations fuelled further by the fact that Ricky 'The Cheat' Ponting and his boys seem pretty confident about having got their man.

Update:
:( Damn! Damnnn! DAMN!!!!

I hope this serves as a lesson to the bloody dimwits in the BCCI and wakes them up to taking some action against each and every umpire involved in this game. If either of Steve Bucknor or Mark Benson are ever seen officiating another cricket match, it will be a shame for everyone involved in this damn game!!! My condolences to Anil Kumble and his boys.

The Year That Was... in Books

2008-01-01T04:18:00.000-08:00

So 2007 has come and gone. This is my attempt to summarize the year that was and what the flow of time brought to me.

My reading year was filled with a need to re-read and a desire to accumulate. I have found that the need to collect - books, comics - has driven me this year. My work schedule has not allowed me more reading time than maybe an hour a day. After work is the time I get to spend with my wonderful wife and the little bundle of energy we have created together. But I collect - and in the process have accumulated a pretty large number of books and comics, both the bound-and-published format and the slightly guilty pleasure of the downloaded, pirated version.

Some of the best read's for me this year -

1) Watchmen by Alan Moore - Read this graphic novel for the first time this year when I picked it up from the Glendale Library. Read it again later in the year still filled with disbelief at Moore's writing ability, his vision of looking past the hype and hoopla of super-heroes and his ability to grab and expose the humanity under it. In all its grime covered glory. The series has been criticized for its art work, which is very much like a regular superhero comic. But Dave Gibbons's artwork is ultra-innovative and works in Moore's layer-upon-layer storyline spectacularly. See the image here for one small example, then imagine a similarly startling image every few pages.

Anyone who hasnt read this book yet should do so before the movie comes around and spoils it for all of us.

2) Sandman Volumes 1 to 5 by Neil Gaiman - Perhaps the one comics writer who can challenge Alan Moore for the brilliance of his work. And even if Moore pips him to the post as the best writer for comics, Neil Gaiman would still qualify for me as the most literary writer in comics. His seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge of myth and mythology shows in the brilliant storylines of the Sandman series. There are 10 volumes in the full series, plus a few tangential works. I have only read the first five, but these comics go way beyond entertainment. These are works of art, as well as awe-inspiring drama. The characterisation of The Endless is brilliant, and the stories are the results of fever dreams.

3) V For Vendetta and From Hell both by Alan Moore again - Two more brilliant works from Moore. VforV is a futuristic story about a Britain ruled by a Fascist group and an anarchic hero who stands up against it. The famous London fog seems to have filtered into the very heart of the people in this story, as the government clamps down its laws of morality and all kinds of arts are banned. The hero, identified only as 'V' and seen in a Guy Fawkes mask, believes that anarchy is a better option than living in such a society. If you have seen the movie, its like missing the fire for the smoke.

The same applies to From Hell, a 550+ page graphic novel presenting Moore's own hypothesis about the identity of Jack the Ripper. This novel is complex, sometimes vulgar and always hard to read. But its a tour de force in the reconstruction of the strange times which allowed a murderer of the monstrosity of Jack the Ripper. From Hell is how he addressed the letters he sent to the newspapers and police. Moore has studied every conspiracy theory on the Ripper's identity and built a history of that torrid time. The bleak black and white art work can sometimes engender a feeling of nausea and claustrophobia as it draws you uncomfortably close to the monster's mind. The movie cuts out such large parts of the story that it does not deserve to call itself an adaptation of the comic. I have actually lost some of the respect I had for Tim Burton as a filmmaker after I realised what he has done to the comic.

4) Blankets by Craig Thompson - What can I say, the best books I read this year were all graphic novels! I think this one has been listed as the longest graphic novel yet. Its a simple story - a love story between two less-than-cool teenagers with somewhat dysfunctional families - but told in simple art work (also by Thompson) which elevates the story to the level of a fairy tale. Its heart-warmingly real love story apart, it is also a coming of age tale. So, thats a two line summary, how do you spread it across 600 pages? By filling it with love for each of your characters, and giving them room to grow - just grow.

5) My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk - Constantly changing narrators, intrigue in the world of Turkish miniaturists, a dead man talking from the grave, a world of repressed and sometimes extinguished desires, a culture steeped in its own history and its legendary artists, a time when originality in art is blasphemy, and also a betrayal of all those who are unoriginal - yet a world filled with beauty, desire, and the lust for power. Orhan Pamuk works all these threads in his off-beat murder mystery which only serves as an excuse for a discourse on the art of painting. Captivating stuff.

6) Lisey's Story by Stephen King - King has for a long time been one of my favourite writers. Although sometimes he can be blamed for writing sub-standard stuff, many of his books are brilliantly entertaining and gripping. Books like It (which i am re-reading currently), The Dead Zone, Dolores Claiborne, The Shining, The Green Mile etc transcend beyond just horror stories to a genre all his own - a truly satisfying story, well told. Lisey's Story is probably his first book which tries to be literary too, besides being a rip-roaringly good yarn. And he succeeds. Lisey is a well rounded character and her story definitely is a very satisfying one.

As a bynote on King here, 'It' has always been the one book by King which has had its spell on me since I first read it - close to 15 years ago. Though I never read it again since then, the story of a town haunted by a being which is more than just a ghost, something similar to a Cthulhu-like evil, stayed with me for a long time. But King has never been satisfied with just a good monster - he has to raise the monsters in your mind too.

7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Rounding off the list for this year, the Potter saga finally ends. Though many readers found the book to be anti-climactic, due to the fact that a lot of the clues placed by Rowling in the storyline being correctly interpreted by fans, I thought this was a very satisfying denouement to the series. Miss Rowling though seems to be missing Harry more than she had thought she would, she has already hinted that she will be working on another HP book. That could perhaps be the beginning of a completely new series of Potter books. And all I can say is, bring 'em on!

Well, those are my favourites from what I have read this year. So ok, I probably missed out on a large chunk of stuff worth reading. Maybe some of you guys out there can drop a few suggestions for me?

Some of the other books which nearly made the list were -

Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman - Art retells the story of the holocaust through his father's voice and add's a different kind of menace to it by representing the Jews as mice and the Germans as cats. The human-like animal representations freaked me out - adding a deadly satire to the already horrendous acts which were done. Maybe he has hit the nail on its head there - humans could not have done those things to other humans.

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem - A mystery with a detective who suffers from Tourette's syndrome. Thats a plot device which just blows my mind. A Tourette ridden person has no control on what he says, so he blurts out whats on his mind at all the worst times. So what we have here, is a detective trying to hide his presence from various dangerous types while he goes snooping - but his condition never gives him the anonymity he needs! He scream's out his favourite tic - 'Eat me, Bailey' - at the most inopportune moments. There is humor in this book, but also a great deal of pathos.

And of course, I re-read the first two books of George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series again this year. What can I say, I'm a fan.

In fact, I've done so much re-reading this year, its probably cut down on new books I have read. But all round, not a bad year at all.

And 2nd Jan is also the birthday of the kingslayer's room! Yippee yayy!! This page is now officially ONE year old and can go out and buy itself a beer now! Yes, ONE is the official drinking age for blogs! ;)

Vacation Vacation

2007-12-24T10:17:00.000-08:00

Had a spectacular vacation.

Three weeks of free time with family, friends and just with myself. There were a couple of family occasions involved, which doesnt bother me as much as I know it does a lot of people. I guess I have a pretty cool family! Also, I loved the time I had with my son and loved watching him interact with (and gradually rule over) the entire family!

My cousins in Hyderabad are always fairly entertaining. We went out for a couple of drinks the day before one of them got engaged. And were treated to a lot of funny stories about their relationships. My younger bro seems to have picked up the idea that its real cool to ask a lot of vague, deep-sounding questions. Like - 'Dada, whats the biggest mistake you ever made?'! This, when we were sitting on the steps of a tiny shop at 11 PM, in what seemed to me a slightly disreputable part of town, smoking a couple of cigarrettes and washing it all down with cold coke's. I was sorely tempted to say 'Wishing for another brother' but avoided the temptation. I got the feeling the kid needed some advice on which of his girlfriend's he should not be dumping. I liked the one he introduced me to, and hinted as much. But kids these days, what can you say!

And I have always been very close to my grandmother. It was great to see my son enjoying her company too. Seeing her enjoying the imitations of her walking style by my two-year old and in fact making sure everyone else sees it too, was typical of her self-effacing humor. The time we spent together re-inforced my feeling that I have been blessed to have had such a warm relation with my Dida. There was also the one night she didnt feel at all well, and it worries me.

My son is fascinated with auto rickshaws! He doesnt get to ride one very often in Bangalore, and enjoyed all the auto's we took while in Mumbai. Everytime he is in an auto, he grabs on to the cross-bar behind the auto driver and acts like he is driving too. Everything the driver does, including pulling on the starter lever and waving his hands to signal a turn, is mimic'd. The funniest was when we returned from Pune at around 1 AM and caught an auto outside the bus station. Sio was asleep on the bus, but the moment he heard the auto start, he woke up and took up his post as the assistant auto driver. He actually thinks auto's are much cooler than our car!

The only thing I missed during this time were the bunch of graphic novels I left behind in Bangalore. I could have really got through a lot of them in this time, its my fascinating new obsession. Or rather I am re-discovering the love for comics which I had lost at age 10 probably. And to find the wonderful array of mature graphic novels available has been eye-opening. I wouldnt be as interested if comics still meant the grainy Phantom and Mandrake comics of my childhood - though there's nothing wrong with them, its just that I need a more mature aspect to the plot lines. There will certainly be a large number of posts in the future related to the comics I have on my reading list.

Anyway, I did have the wonderful Shashi Tharoor's novel, The Great Indian Novel with me on my vacation. And its a brilliant read. I'm still not done with it though, so more on it later.

This is probably going to be my last post this year, so wishing any stray reader a Very Happy New Year!

Dame Agatha's return

2007-11-19T10:51:00.000-08:00

I was 12 years old, maybe 13. Not quite bored of Enid Blyton but ready for something a bit more intense. The school library was not quite as vast as I would have liked it to be. And anyway, reading recommended by teachers was bound to be boring, wasnt it? So then one day, my English teacher (whom I loved, by the way) digressed from the lesson at hand to discuss what she thought we should be reading. I still remember her words, when she said "I hope you are not wasting your time reading trash like those Agatha Christie novels!".

Of course, that was all that was needed. I devoured most of Dame Agatha's novels with relish and became an ardent fan of Hercule Poirot especially. The first Christie I read happened to be "The Big Four" and my 12 or 13 yr old self was thoroughly impressed. But the Christie phase ended as reading tastes matured.

Anyway, even though I havent read a Christie novel over the past decade or so, I have always had a fond place in my favourites list for her mysteries. I still own half-a-dozen of them, and thats after having 'loaned' a bunch of them to friends, never to get them back. So, when I recently found 40 Agatha Christie books, the nostalgia itself egged me on to collect them.

And the first of the books I decided to read was "The Big Four". The same story which so thrilled me as a kid, seemed like one of Agatha's worst this time around. Hercule Poirot just does not seem the type who would have cigarettes which would double as a blow-pipe containing a poisonous dart. Although it does work in bits and pieces, overall - bad decision Dame Agatha.

I followed that up with the truly excellent "Mystery of the Blue Train". Perhaps this book is one of the best constructed of the Poirot mysteries. I was a bit dissappointed to find that I was able to guess the culprits identity well before the end, but I guess being a lot older than 13 has something to do with that. But it didnt take anything away from the pleasure and charm of reading a classically constructed Agatha Christie plot again. This story is also probably one of the less common Poirot stories which does not always follow Poirot around, making it necessary for the great detective to be constantly on the scene. He is very much in the periphery for great parts of the novel, and does not even make an appearance until well into the book. This book also differs from many other Christie novels in the build-up to the crime - which is a lot more detailed and complex, reminding me of PD James and Ruth Rendell. Much more than the usual dinner party with suggestive small talk during the main course! I dont think Agatha's fans will like that description!

But whether it be the antics of super-spy Poirot, or the intricate laying out of red herrings in the second book, the charm of reading an Agatha Christie novel once again has me in its embrace.

Radiohead's fans leave them 'High and Dry'

2007-11-07T06:26:00.000-08:00

Social experiments are a way to understand society and social behaviours. As such, they can often lead to rather unglorious statements about our society.

So we have studies on how swearing at work can relieve stress. Maybe another study is required on how employees are affected when one of them starts relieving his/her stress by swearing loudly at meetings. Another on the impact on prospective customers/clients maybe?

Radiohead, the alternative rock band, decided on an alternative means of selling their new album, In Rainbows. They wanted their fans to decide the price at which they want to buy the album. The album was released on their website and allowed purchases for as low as 1 penny. This was an interesting social experiment which also had a possible econimic backlash to it. And unfortunately for Radiohead, and everyone who thought this was a path-breaking idea, its not quite gone as planned.

Studies show that more than 60% of the people who downloaded the album paid nothing! Only 38% paid anything at all, and the majority of these people paid less than 4 dollars - probably about a fifth of the price that would have been quoted for the album if it had been released the normal way. Kind of harsh!

On the flipside, Radiohead does get almost everything paid by a buyer since this model eliminates the label companies from the equation. This is a band which has a huge fan base of millions worldwide but when it comes to paying top dollar - i guess theres nothing like a freebie. But Radiohead was prepared for it, they knew it may all come to nothing at all. The website clearly informs the buyer that its upto you what you pay. Its a path-breaking way to connect to your fans definitely. And if this was Led Zep putting their new album out there and asking me to pay what I want for it - I would know what its worth and would pay it. I bet there were the true Radiohead fans out there too, who would know the albums worth and would pay the best they can.

With the worldwide popularity of peer-to-peer networks, and the high cost of buying music cd's, especially a new release, its hardly surprising that most people just helped themselves at the buffet. Being only a middling Radiohead fan, I guess I would have probably done the same - maybe I would have paid at most 4 dollars, the same price which Frys Electronics charged me for a brilliant collection of early Deep Purple classics which apparently no one was interested in. I found it in one of those discount bins, hidden in a huge pile of forgotten albums and collections.

But it must have hurt to think your fans dont think your new album is worth much. Radiohead now seems to have decided to re-launch the album in physical format. Possibly that haunting Thom Yorke refrain of "Dont leave me highhhhhh, dont leave me dryyyyyyyyyyy" must have come to mind more than once.

And what a night it was!

2007-11-07T01:20:00.000-08:00

Following up on my previous post, a night to remember for the Kop faithful no doubt!

Liverpool 8 Besiktas 0 is not a scoreline Liverpool fans have seen often. I dont have the stats, but I definitely cant remember us scoring more than 4 in a match for some time now. But the team did what they did when it was sorely needed.

Again, Benayoun and Crouch made strong statements for bigger roles in the first team. Surely now Benitez must rethink his plan to use Crouch as a bit player. Crouch is not a great player, and strangely for a really tall guy he is better with his feet than with his head. But his contribution on the field is excellent. His ability to win balls allows players around him to play better too. He must surely be considered ahead of Voronin at least in the squad to play in the front line. Voronin was excellent yesterday playing on the wings too. But up front, his combination with Kuyt has not paid off yet.

Yossi Benayoun put in a brilliant performance and his hat-trick showed off his positional instincts wonderfully. Two of his goals were opportunistic and punished the goalie for his inability to hold on to a couple of cracking shots. Babel coming on late in the game and scoring two was also a good sign.

Benitez has a wealth of talent to use this season. With Kewell back, and putting in a decent performance against Blackburn in the weekend stalemate, there is a healthy competition on the wings. Crouch's performance might just have added that much pressure on Rafa to persist with him in the starting line-up. That would mean using Voronin on the wings, in addition to Kewell, Babel, Pennant, Benayoun and Rafa's possible favourite Jon Arne Riise. Inspite of their performances against Besiktas, neither of Crouch and Benayoun nor Babel may be sure of a starting place next weekend.

Here's hoping that Rafa works out a better alternative to his strategy of regular rotation.

Tonight's the night...

2007-11-06T05:32:00.000-08:00

...when Rafa Benitez and Liverpool truly need to stand up and be counted. The clash against Besiktas today in the Champs League is of utmost importance if Liverpool are to avoid crashing out of the biggest football tournament.

And Stevie G, Rafa etc are making the right kind of confidence-boosting noises, but I have a sneaky feeling its going to be another one of those nervous evenings for the Kop faithful. In recent times, Liverpool have always seemed really edgy and brittle in important fixtures. And I cant help but think that a lot of the blame for that lies with Rafa.

His policy of enforced rotation, without consideration for present form is becoming less and less supportable. Almost no one is guaranteed a place in the starting eleven, even if they performed brilliantly in the previous match. At the moment, Sami Hyppia and Jamie Carragher are the only certainties in the first team, and thats because Benitez doesnt have cover for them with Dan Agger out. God forbid one of those two get injured before the January sales!! And with Torres unlikely to start, Benitez has a bit of a problem.

Kuyt has just not delivered so far this season, and has nothing to show for all his industry. His partnership with Voronin has not clicked at all, and the only times the Pool attack seems to be incisive is when the lanky Crouchinator is on the field. But there again lies a stink raised solely by Benitez. His trumpeting in the media about the need for Crouch to adjust as a bit player is clearly a sign that the lanky one may be on the shop window come January. Funnily enough, Crouch's performances (however erm, short they may have been) have probably made him attractive enough for the likes of Aston Villa and even perhaps Manchester City... though thats a rumour all my own. In fact, I'll just go out on a limb here. If Kuyt, Voronin and Crouch were all available, I think Crouch would generate the most interest.

So with so many of Pool's problem's seemingly Rafa-generated, has Benitez reached a plateau with Pool? Is a Houllier-like moment coming up sometime soon? Has the 'Rafalution' reached its climax? The expectations from the new owners and the fans this season is the highest it has been for some time now. Benitez has been provided the funds to deliver, and if he implodes in the first round of the CL so spectacularly , it will surely raise more than just a few eyebrows in the board room.

Thats whats making this game with Besiktas so important. I have my fingers crossed, especially with the prospect of Crouch being played from the start with Kuyt. Lets hope that Rafa sorts out his rotation itch and decides on his best team.

The Footie Roundup Post!

2007-10-30T07:28:00.001-07:00

I've missed blogging. I've missed blogging (make that rambling on and on and on...) about footie even more. So here goes.

With more than a quarter of the season gone, the English Premier League table looks very different from the past few seasons. The most sensational story of the season has definitely been Manchester Citeh who are still riding on highs they havent seen in their recent past (their last moment of glory was in 1981 when they were, erm, FA Cup finalists). Sven Goran Eriksson and the dosh from the ex-PM of Thailand seem to be doing miracles for the club. Sven is clearly showing why he was a much better England manager than Steve McLaren can ever hope to be. Many of the players he has brought in were near-unknowns (even those Championship Manager fans didnt know about Elano, i'd bet!) but their quality has been undeniable. I always felt that Sven's being hounded out of the England job by the tabloids was disgraceful and that his achievements with the England team were phenomenal. But the English media seem to believe they should be winning every tournament they participate in, and thats never going to happen. It would be a minor miracle if Steve McLaren can take his team into the Euro Championship now, after their defeat in Russia. I mean come on, McClown replacing Sven! Ridiculous!

Both Manchester United and Chelsea had a much more shaky start to their seasons than usual. That great showman of a manager, Jose Mourinho, the Special One, found out that no one in the Chelsea setup is untouchable. Avram Grant and Henk Ten Cate seem to be proving themselves to be the right combination for that club. Sir Alex on the other hand, is reaping the rewards of his excellent bunch of attacking players. Nani, Hargreaves and Tevez, all are paying off their high transfer values on the field. Arsenal has also been brilliant this season with Cesc Fabregas coming very close to being the best player in the premiership, taking that mantle over from his ex-captain Thierry Henry. Van Persie, Hleb, Walcott, Toure have all been doing brilliantly, and Arsenal's version of kid-ology has them ruling the premiership table at the quarter-season mark.

Blackburn and Portsmouth have also gone off to great starts to their seasons. Though neither is potentially a top four club this season, they are definitely making progress in the right direction. With Roque Santa Cruz, Blackburn has bought a brilliant attacking player. Pompey on they other hand have made excellent purchases in John Utaka and Benjani. Both clubs have also kept their main players from the previous seasons.

Tottenham have definitely been the big losers so far this season. Martin Jol has lost his job on the basis of a string of poor results, but his work over the past seasons has been commendable. There is no doubt that Juande Ramos has a very good team at his disposal. Its upto him how he uses them. He made his reputation with Sevilla by getting the best out of a talented team without (arguably) having stars in his squad. If anything, he has made Freddie Kanoute more of a star than he ever was while playing in England. Dani Alves's star has also risen under Ramos' tutelage. Unfortunately for Ramos, every new manager is expected to bring in his own players, regardless of what is available. With a strike force consisting of Robbie Keane, Dimitar Berbatov, Darren Bent and Jermaine Defoe; supported in midfield by the talented and pacy Aaron Lennon, Teemu Tainio, Steed Malbranque and Didier Zokora; and defenders like Ledley King, Gareth Bale, Kaboul etc. Well, its a pretty decent team - but Ramos will need to make decisions and he will probably spend some more of the Spurs kitty, if only to prove he has a mind all his own.

Liverpool's season had started like it hasnt over the past five or six seasons. They were expected to hit the ground running and with the additions of Torres, Voronin, Babel and Benayoun and adding the resurgent Jermaine Pennant to the mix, Liverpool did do much better in the early part of the season this time around. But Rafa Benitez's rotation policy has yet again hit a snag and has come under much criticism from fans and 'experts'. Sometimes Rafa is a bit too fixed on rotating his team. And ignoring Peter Crouch is something a lot of people have done before and the tall one has always come back strongly. He has been given too few chances this season, according to me. There have been too many Kuyt+Voronin combos already and it would probably be much better to have the gangly Crouch in there to break the monotony. Also, Benayoun has been ignored a bit too often I feel.

Anywayz, theres a long way to go this season, and it may turn out to be even more exciting than the last one. This time there promises to be battles for positions all over the table instead of only for the top 2 or 3 places. Any slip-ups from one of the top four, even a string of 2 or 3 poor results can easily come back to haunt them.

Johnny Gaddar

2007-10-30T03:28:00.000-07:00

Lovers of good crime thrillers in India, rejoice! Here comes Johnny Gaddar with a thrill-a-minute ride without resorting to histrionics and melodrama. Or to Bunty-Babli style histerical repentance for all the fun you just had!

I had a great deal of expectation from Sriram Raghavan's second movie. His first was the taut revenge drama "Ek Hasina Thi" and he delivers big time. JG is a straight crime thriller where there are no purely good or evil characters. Each of the characters are given screen time to flesh them out and to show them in proud shades of grey.

So we have Dharm paaji playing the leader of the gang of no-gooders without any Godfather airs and without an army of thugs around him. He lives alone and in his twilight years still possesses enough guile and strength to not be bothered by it. His partners in crime include - Prakash (Vinay Pathak) who manages a gambling den for the gang, but has a weakness for the cards himself; Shardul (Zakir Hussain) who is possibly the wealthiest and definitely the flashiest of the gang, runs a night club, and is married to Rimi Sen; Shiva (Daya) provides the muscle and is given responsibility to carry the money for the gang to Bangalore where he needs to close a deal for them; and finally Vikram (Neil Nitin Mukesh) who is the youngest and we find out the sharpest of the gang.

Its Vikram's illicit affair with Rimi Sen which leads him to double crossing the gang for the money. Oh, and also his love for James Hadley Chase novels and old Hindi mystery movies. Relax, spoiler-phobes, this all from the first fifteen minutes of the movie.

The decision once made, the rest of the movie deals with Vikrams plans on cheating the gang out of the money. And of course, with the James Hadley Chase reference, its clear that not all goes according to plan.

The direction is slick and never slackens the pace of the movie. The performances are excellent from the entire cast. The plot twists and turns without becoming too predictable at any time. The dynamics within the gang are shown very realistically and its not hard to believe that this is probably how things are done in the unorganised underworld. And the con-man in this movie is not shown to be so amazingly good as to fool his much more experienced colleagues, there is a good deal of luck involved. But will his luck hold through?

The answering of that question keeps the audience on the edge of the seat. And you couldnt ask for more from a thriller. Heres to many more films by Raghavan, India's answer to Quentin Tarantino, and much fewer from the RGV factory!!

2007-10-23T23:26:00.000-07:00

Its been a while. There have been a few starts and stops, beginnings which were ended long before any end was on sight. There has been no lack of comment-worthy news, but due to a combination of several reasons, no comment came forth.

To continue from my previous post, the politics of power seems to have triumphed over good intentions. The nuclear agreement is all but dead. Dr. Manmohan Singh, perhaps the most important leader this country has had post-independence, has had to bow down to the pressures from several sides to accept the fact that the death of the nuclear deal is preferable to the downfall of the government. He has had to face up to the truth that an Indian electorate may not bear in mind his efforts as they go to the voting booths, there is no guarantee that the Congress will be able to come back to power if they call for elections now by defying the Left to pull out their support.

And the fickleness of Indian politicians has never been so blatant. The mischief-mongering Leftists like Karat, Yechury and Bardhan with a supposedly anti-American ideological stance has proved itself to be truly anti-Indian and anti-developmental. Their actions have appeared to be purely sensation-seeking and an attempt to assume a more central role than they are capable of in the national political stage. Their resistance to negotiations shows their closed mindset. They oppose to show they can oppose. As if we needed more proof!

The BJP being the single largest opposition party has also made opportunistic noises with the sole purpose of shaking the foundations of an otherwise stable government. That the economy has boomed under the secular image of the Congress party is not of any consequence to them. That foreign investment is driving growth in every sector of the industry is of no import. We are the opposition, our dharma is to oppose everything the government does. It does not matter one little bit that the discussions on the nuclear deal was started under the BJP government. If it goes through now, the credit will lie with the Congress. It does not matter an iota that it may lead to further growth for the nation, we oppose and oppose and oppose.

Anyway, so much for our political scenario. In other areas, the news has been much better. Dhoni leads India to the Twenty20 WC, it was definitely a tournament worth remembering. What is it about the absence of the big three that seems to spur a young Indian team on?

Vishwanathan Anand becomes the world champion of chess. This man must be brilliant. Its a huge achievement and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Sania Mirza breaks into the top 30 ranks in the world. I hope she can hang on and keep doing better. She really has something to prove in the Grand Slams.

The Sensex has been soaring to new heights making me feel like banging my head on my desk for not having invested in the market a few years ago.

There does seem to be a curious drop off in IT jobs recently in Bangalore though. At least, the TOI's Ascent seems to give that impression. There hasn't been a lot going on and the Ascent is getting slimmer every week. Have IT companies completely gone with the likes of monster.com etc?

Well, its nice to be back here indulging my need to rant again. Hopefully I will stick to a more frequent verbal diarrhoea from now on.

Doing the 1 2 3 dance

2007-08-24T03:20:00.000-07:00

And so the Left has been trying to make Mr. Manmohan Singh do the 1 2 3 dance! The way things have gone reminds me of the classic Procol Harum song, 'A Whiter Shade of Pale'.

We skipped the light fandango

Turned cartwheels cross the floor

I was feeling kinda seasick

But the crowd called out for more

The room was humming harder

As the ceiling flew away

When we called out for another drink

The waiter brought a tray

The skipping, turning, feeling seasick with joy, is very much how Manmohan Singh and most of the nations thinkers and well-wishers have felt. But when the UPA wants the deal sealed, the comrades played the errant waiter and pooped the party with their tray full of threats, ideological hypocrisy and generally antagonistic stance.

When the PM announced the 123 agreement with the US on sharing of civil nuclear technology, it was treated as a huge breakthrough. Diplomats on both sides have been working for the better part of a year on the technicalities of the deal, a lot of pushing and pulling has been done, and both the US and Indian governments have had to make several compromises in putting the deal on paper.

But now in the final stretch, when commitments have been made by the Indian govt, the communist comrades have decided to rise and sound the warning bells declaring that snuggling up to the Americans is not the way they see India go. Karat, Yechury and the Communist politburo are vociferously putting forth that the deal would limit India's sovereign right to test nuclear weapons. The hypocrisy in this, especially coming from the Left, is mind-boggling.

When our ex-PM of the soporific 'Yeh achi baat nahi hai' fame sanctioned the Pokhran tests, the Left was the most vociferous opposer. They even organised a 'Convention against Nuclear Weapons' at that time! Now they claim they are against the 123 deal as it stops India from testing nuclear weapons.

The Left claims it does not want increased collaboration with their ideological 'Evil Empire', the US, but at the same time, the CPM government in West Bengal is actively pursuing more American investment. Thankfully, Buddhadeb has tried to distance himself from the politburo's decisions.

Part of the ideology of communism is that it is against nationalism, but suddenly the politburo is upholding India's nationalism. The mantra for communism has always been 'Workers of the world unite', not just indian workers.

The deal itself has its points worth discussing. There is the Hyde Act which in some way tags along with the 123 agreement. It is easy for those wholly backing the deal to see the Hyde Act as required policing in such agreements. But there are clauses in there which can be seen as undermining India's sovereignty and its right to defend itself.

The crucial points are -

The 123 provides an opportunity for India to move out of the 'developing country' class into a class above. Nuclear energy is critical in this, as without power, development is stunted. Especially in the backlands, and even the class B or C towns, it would drive growth. It would drive an increase in jobs in the heartlands where youths are constantly migrating to the larger cities in search of work. It also specifies that collaboration will be spread to other areas besides nuclear technology, and this can mean improvements in agriculture, chemical industries etc. Havent we had enough farmer suicides already?
Once the deal is signed, it opens up trade not just with the US, but with several other countries forming the Nuclear Suppliers Group. This includes France and Russia, countries which may not be so concerned about stopping nuclear trade with India, in case the US decides to pull the plug from the deal sometime in the future.
Another crucial factor is that the deal is not just signed between India and the US, it needs to be ratified by both the NSG and the IAEA. The NSG will decide whether India will have a right to re-process spent fuel and definitely has a more accomodating policies.

There is so much good that can come to the country from this deal that the cons are completely out-weighed. But unfortunately, they cannot be completely ignored.

In the event that the NSG or IAEA does not sanction the deal, it remains only between India and the US. In this case, India will need to sit down and re-negotiate some of the clauses. So there is still some more diplomatic hustle to go.
If the US pulls out from the deal in the future, say in response to India testing nukes, and if the NSG also stops fuel supply, India will be left with a huge power problem. There is a great deal of investment required in setting up the infrastructure for nuclear energy generation, and this would be money down the drain. This is a remote possibility though.
If Musharraf loses power in Pakistan, and is replaced with a more fundamentalist government, India will have no choice but to make nuclear noises. This is not that remote a possibility.

This deal could be the way into the future for India. If it goes through, maybe in a few years, India Shining will not just be a phrase - it will be what India looks like from space. Maybe that will attract a few of those UFO's which only seem to show up in the US! ;)

The Leaky Cauldron?

2007-07-18T04:48:00.000-07:00

This iconic writer spends the better part of 2-3 years (i honestly don't know how much time she spent on it... talk about research) writing the last of a record-breaking series. She lives with her family but cannot share her work with her husband or kids. Her agent sits on the manuscript when she needs to take a trans-atlantic flight, perhaps fearing for her job if she lets the manuscript out of her sight for even a second. The editors are sworn to secrecy, and probably several clauses in their contracts ensure they keep their promise.

The publishers have to sign heavily loaded legal contracts ensuring they will not leak the contents. They cannot talk to the media or boast about the history-making event they are involved in. The type-setters are made to work in dim lighting, trying to keep them from reading the story. The printers are watched closely by armed security guards, their lunch boxes are checked, their bodies frisked. The packers again work under dim lights and are hand-picked to ensure the precious manuscripts mystery and mystique is maintained. They pack the books into individual boxes labelled "Do not open before July 21st 12:01 AM" and each box is tracked by satellite. The trackers watch every movement of every box ensuring none go astray. The shadow of the deathly hallows is on them all.

Millions await with bated breath for the book's release. Tension grows as major bookstores around the world run their countdown to the biggest moment in publishing history since the Gutenberg bible. Fans everywhere repeat the same questions which has had them mesmerised since the moment they finished reading part six. There is debate, conjecture, excitement.

And then, someone, somehow, gets his or her grubby hands on the precious. And with Gollum's growling possessiveness proclaims "Its mine!" and shall be no one else's. This hateful Gollum proceeds to put every page on the internet, his/her's only concern being the demolition of the joys of millions, snatching away their right to read and uncover the mystery for themselves. Will shabby pictures of the precious pages on a background of a red and green carpet be a substitute for the book itself?

You, Gollum, shall not succeed.

Liverpooooooool Liverpool

2007-07-17T03:14:00.000-07:00

Long overdue football post!

After one of the more exciting football seasons of recent times, its been pretty interesting to see the transfer activities of the european clubs. The 2006-07 season saw an unexpected English Premiership winner in Manchester United. Compared to Chelski's huge acquisitions of Shevchenko and Ballack at the beginning of the season, the only addition to ManU was Michael Carrick. Not the signs of a potential winner! But Sir Alex backed the aging warhorses Giggs, Scholes and Neville to all have one of their best seasons with their overall contributions. Also, the phenomenal season that Cristiano Ronaldo had, was not something anyone predicted.

At the same time, over in Spain, Barcelona threw away the title in spectacular fashion. Beckham must have been very grateful for Barca's implosion as he drove Real Madrid to their first title in four years. Cut to scenes of hysterical badge-kissing from most of Madrid's heroes who had been dubbed as zeroes for most of the season. But all that hoopla could not save Fabio Capello his job. The mental Real board thought his style was not exciting enough and readily offered him his severance package after just a single, albeit triumphant, season. On the other hand, Frank Rijkaard keeps his job at Barca despite dissappointment in both the Liga and the Champions league.

Anyway, thats all in the past already. The latest buzz is all about the transfers. And one of the first clubs to make their mark in the transfer season (reminds me of those 'Duck Season' Bugs and Daffy toons!), was Manchester United again. They made their transfers official way before any of the other major European clubs even announced their intentions. Sir Alex seems to be building yet another generation of Manchester United players who can challenge for everything. Anderson(17m), Nani(14m), Hargreaves(17m) and possible Carlos Tevez(on loan) very soon. Thats a great roster to add to his squad.

Chelsea this season seems to have forsaken their attempts to buy their way to success. But Jose is proving himself capable of picking up a bargain as well. The captures of Tal Ben Haim from Bolton, Claudio Pizarro from Bayern and Steve Sidwell from Reading, all free transfers, seem pretty sound. Also, he has added Florent Malouda as his only big money signing this season for 13.5m and he has a pretty good reputation as a speedy winger. But Jose may still have the problem of trying to fit in Ballack and Shevchenko in his team next season, unless the rumours of Sheva's return to Milan and Frank Lampard's possible transfer to Spain or Italy actually happen.

Another team which started early this transfer window was Bayern Munich with their big name signings of Luca Toni, Franck Ribery and Miroslav Klose in the close season. Barcelona, of course, made one of the biggest transfers in terms of the quality of the player involved - Thierry Henry leaves the English league. He will definitely be missed, most of all by Arsenal fans who must really believe their club is becoming a selling club now.

I should really stop torturing myself (and probably my readers) by straying so far from the one club i really do want to discuss. The first few weeks of the transfer season was sheer torture for Liverpool fans, as rumours floated about how the American owners had tightened the purse strings and squashed the Kops hopes of seeing their beloved club become more competitive. But those rumours have been proven false as Pool made the big purchase of Fernando Torres for 27m. They have added to Torres with one of the most wanted young players in the world - Ryan Babel, and one of the best midfielder/wingers from the English league besides the top four clubs - Yossi Benayoun. Add to this the free transfer of the experienced Ukrainian forward, Andriy Voronin and two other highly rated youngsters - the Argentine left winger, Sebastian Leto and the Brazilian midfielder, Lucas Leiva. Overall, it already seems like a really good squad which can even play exciting football - now that would be a change for us Kop supporters. Not that it ever mattered, but Liverpool now have pace on their wings and potentially we will be able to see Gerrard making his marauding runs through the middle more often.

Another huge factor will be the introduction of Torres into the squad - potentially the biggest star player that Liverpool has purchases in recent times. Till now, under Rafa Benitez, there have been no competitors in star power with Gerrard. This may change this season. Although, both Gerrard and Torres have a reputation for not playing up their egos, it may be a genuine attempt by Rafa to reduce the overwhelming status of Steven Gerrard at the club - which has caused severe consternation every time Stevie threatens to leave.

And finally, it may not even be Torres who is the most important signing of the season - it could well be the two new wingers.

Salman - The Great

2007-07-13T04:50:00.000-07:00

No, not the shirtless wonder. The bespectacled, much-married, much-reviled but also much-admired writer, Salman Rushdie.

After running through the gamut of Enid Blyton, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Hardy Boys, Sidney Sheldons etc, one of the first "literary" books I read was Shame by Rushdie. This was followed in a matter of weeks by Midnight's Children. The second still remains one of my all-time favourites and the one book i have re-read the most (hmm.. except maybe the Harry Potter books. Dont think thats anything to be ashamed of!). Its the only book I have bought twice, after having lost my first copy to a bunch of borrowing friends who probably never read it. He was the first writer I called my "favourite writer" after I got over Dame Agatha.

Though he still counts among one of my favourites, the only other book of his that I have read is "Satanic Verses". Maybe this was a factor on my not having read any of his other books, not because of the controversies attached to it, but because I found the book a complete drag! The words were as beautiful as ever, and a Rushdie book is never one which you abandon half-way. But one craved the magic of his art. Was this the same writer who created the marvelous scene at the beginning of Midnight's Children where Aadam Aziz hits his nose against the ground while performing his prayers in the frosty winter of Kashmir? The drops of blood become rubies before they touch the ground, his tears turn into diamonds... This was the same magnificent writer who left this wide-eyed, young reader mesmerised with "knees and a nose, nose and a knees". The high suspense as the midnight hour approaches in the chapter aptly named "Tick Tock". I would probably end up with a post the size of the book if I keep going at this!

Compared to Midnight's Children, the controversial Satanic Verses felt like a let-down. But yet, its been in some ways the defining point in Salman's life. Ever since the fatwa, he has lived in constant danger of assassination and persecution from Islamic extremists. In 1989, a plot to blow him up was foiled when the bomb exploded prematurely, killing the terrorist instead. The recent Glasgow burning-car-in-airport-terminal incident was said to be inspired by the rage of the extremists on Britain awarding knighthood to Rushdie.

Salman was the first writer from the Indian sub-continent who dared to write not in the Queen's language, but in the queer mix of regional tongues and English which is the true Indian English. This use of the colloquial language itself has inspired a generation of writers ranging from Rohinton Mistry to Chetan Bhagat in accepting and writing in their own language, rather than aspiring to the prose of their western counterparts. He is also considered one of the masters of the "magic realism" genre although his more recent books have not been strictly of this type. More than this classification though, the magic of his stories come from Rushdie's insistence to get to the origins and get to the roots of his protagonists. Saleem Sinai's story would never feel the same without first having learnt of his quaint antecedents.

Through all the persecution, Salman has maintained his dignity. When Britain decided to ban the Pakistani movie which had Rushdie as a villain plotting the downfall of Islam, and is shown as vanquished by the long arm of erm.. Allah himself, Rushdie himself requested that the movie not be banned. His logic was succinct and street-smart - a banned movie would have become the hottest video in town. He has appeared in many discussions and has always upheld a reformist view on Islam.

He has spoken in support of women's rights to not wear the burqa and has spoken in support of free speech. He has maintained a certain amount of self-deprecating humour at times. When asked by a journo about how he felt when he first heard about the fatwa declared by Ayatollah Khomeini, he replied that his first though was: "I'm a dead man!" Every time he speaks about the reforms needed in the Islamic world, fresh death threats are issued. But Salman continues to speak out on the same topics. Maybe a few will hear.

To a smaller extent, his shrouded, turbulent life recalls the same kind of persecution as Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi faced. His every move needs to be protected information. As he mentioned in an interview with Salon magazine, "(if) you ask me where I am going tomorrow, I can't tell you". But inspite of these, he had it in him to give the below answer to the same interviewer -

Q: Fiction is not taken very seriously in our culture and yours has been taken so much more seriously than most. Having been sentenced to death for the content of a novel, how seriously do you think fiction should be taken?

Salman: Very. I think there is nothing wrong with the idea that fiction is a matter of life and death. Look at the history of literature. Look at what happened in the Soviet Union. Look at what's happening in China, in Africa, and across the Muslim World. It's not just me. Fiction has always been treated this way. It does matter and it's often very bad for writers that it does. But that just comes with the territory.

I bow to you, Sir Salman Rushdie.

Vacation time

2007-07-04T02:19:00.000-07:00

Wow... its been so relaxing over the last 10 days or so. Being on vacation right after a whirlwind of work has been knocking me around for the past month and a half, it feels great! Stay in bed till almost noon, have a relaxed lunch, lazy afternoons with a book, meet friends in the evening, maybe a couple of relaxed drinks (maybe more than a couple), watch the cricket when it happens, read the Times, spend time with the family, watch Sony Pix which seems to be the only channel playing any half-decent movies currently, and then to wrap it all up, read till i drop to sleep somewhere close to dawn.

Then of course, being in Mumbai for the first time in 5 years during the monsoon, i was really enjoying the rains here. I mentioned this to a friend while we were sipping some Single Malt whisky on the rooftop restaurant of Samudra, and was waxing nostalgic about how the rains in Mumbai are so different from Bangalore, Phoenix etc. He smiled ironically to my remarks and said, "Baarish dekh liya na, ab floods ke liye bhi ruk jaa kuch din!" And the whole place was flooded the next morning! Boats on the streets, people swimming through the parking lots, the unfortunate ground floor dwellers fighting to save their property while battling to keep their frustrations and rage buttoned down, thankfully there were many upstairs neighbours available for help this year, as opposed to 2005 when the devastating rains had left people unprepared for the damage. Luckily, this time around it was not as bad in my area, although in other regions of Maharashtra, Gujrat etc its been a lot worse.

Then there's been all the depressing news which I try to ignore but its pretty hard to forget. The terror attacks in the UK, the all out battles between the Lal Masjid fan club and the Pakistani hawaldaars, the depressing political gamesmanship in the Indian Presidential elections, the Indian jawaans who were paraded naked in Kashmir as they tried to rape a local girl etc etc etc.

And then there was the horrifying murder of a girl in Thane by her boyfriend in broad daylight, on a public bus stop, with around 40 people watching. He stabbed her 20 times, then stabbed himself and fled the scene. All this with no one intervening. The girl was critical for 5 days before succumbing to her injuries finally. 40 people... one assailant, insane no doubt, but still just one guy. How much could he have harmed 40 people if they would have intervened? But he couldnt have harmed that girl so fatally if even 5 people had intervened...

Golden Baltics?

2007-06-12T05:04:00.000-07:00

Sometime ago I commented on the triumphant return of both Saurav Ganguly and David Beckham from their respective wildernesses. In recent times, Beckham's return has been nothing short of awesome.

Steve Maclaren (or MacClown as he is called in the Brit media!) had to do an immense U-turn to get Becks back into the team for the games against Brazil and Estonia. In both games, Becks was huge and proved exactly what England had been missing. Of course, MacClown had to spoil it all by bigging himself up as the 'mastermind' who decided that Becks should be recalled. Conveniently forgetting that he was also the 'mastermind' who decided to drop him from the England setup in the first place!

Dropping Becks had been nothing but a political statement from Maclaren as he tried to distance himself from the Sven-era. The problem, of course, is that he made the wrong choice then of dropping Becks instead of Frank Lampard. Lamps has rarely been a huge performer in the international stage and even his form in the last season has not been what you would expect from a former top-three finisher in the European Player of the year selection, but Maclaren has never selected a team based on form! His strategy seems to be to only pick players from the top clubs. So, Kieran Richardson, Alan Smith and Jermain Jenas are constantly in the England squad inspite of being no-shows for their clubs. On the other hand, top English performers like Joey Barton, Scott Parker etc do not get into the first team in spite of excellent form. Its weird!

Anyway, coming back to Golden Balls, or Golden Baltics as one newspaper called him after the Estonia game. Becks's return has been so complete that never-before-heard-nor-done things like a manager, Capello, who once claimed Becks would never play again for Real Madrid, is now making statements implying that its all his fault and they should have never let Becks agree a contract with LA Galaxy. The Real board are making noises trying to prove to the supporters that they are doing everything they can to keep Becks at Real, inspite of the fact that they have already sold him to the American club. Of course, at this point in the transfer, its all just an attempt to save face for the board. They should have done this about 6 months ago! Nevertheless, the Real management has been left completely egg-faced with all this. Especially, if they manage to lose the Primera Liga next week, the supporters will let them know how they feel about the shabby way they handled Beck's contract.

Speaking of the Primera Liga, what a mind-blowing weekend it was!! And it could well be another roller-coaster this weekend too. Barcelona may well have handed the league to Real though.

Another brick in the wall...

2007-06-01T04:50:00.000-07:00

Damn capitalism! Companies nowadays seem to believe their employees dont deserve any free time at all! Productivity is the mantra; get on that seat boy, nimble up the fingers and churn out lines of code, or whatever you do. How can you have any pudding, if you dont eat your meat? No, its eat your meat, brush your teeth and get back to work, there isnt any pudding anymore.

So whats inspiring this rant? Its them blasted internet firewalls which the corporates use to make sure employees dont get any pudding. I understand the need to block the particularly juicy kinds of pudding of course, after all you dont want your employees drooling in the cubicles and the corridors of this monument to profitable and untiring industry . That degree of freedom might be a few steps too far, and I stand stoically by the corporate in this decision, though with a slightly heavy heart. I even applaud the decision to block all web mail services during the official working hours. After all, the corporate can justly claim that employees only need the corporate mail service for all business purposes. But then, in their frenzy of righteous virtuosity, they decide to follow these decisions by adding another: let there be no sports!!

And thats where this loyal crewmember baulks and abandons ship. To club sports with the afore mentioned juicy stuff and the small discomfort of not being able to check your webmail is highly unfair. An avid football or cricket fan should be allowed to follow the game while at work. After all, the other option is to not show up for work at all!

Sports websites have been blocked for some time now, but the Slayer usually finds a way. I love those remote PC connection tools! Connected to a remote PC which was on a network that did not have sports websites banned, the Slayer was able to peruse the latest news in the world of sports whenever overwhelmed by his tirelessness of the past few working hours. And then came the rude shock today which lead to this overflowing of emotions and attempt of anger management through this rant. When the Slayer connected to that lovely remote PC today, and typed in his favourite football (or any) website URL, following that up by a dramatic rap on the Enter button, he was in for a rude shock - "This website is banned due to its content: Sports. Repeated attempts to access this website will be considered against company policies.". That remote sanctuary with its lush football-field-green pastures had been shut down, the drawbridge has been lifted, the gates closed, the towers manned by archers and the Slayer was on the outside.

Oh hateful, hateful day!

And by-the-way, all those links are to just show off my spanking new snap shots blog tool!! And the juicy pudding link might dissappoint some folks!

That Library Thaang...

2007-05-28T03:32:00.001-07:00

One of the things I constantly gripe about is that I dont get enough reading time nowadays. I am probably down to about 2-3 books a month. Really need to do better, especially as my To-Be-Read list continues to grow and grow.

I came across this fantastic website though. Its a great way to keep your library catalogued, and also provides good suggestions based on books you rate. Need to browse more into the website to check out all the tools it provides. You can also browse through other people's libraries and rate/review books. Neat!

Book fest at work last week. There was a literature based quiz contest as well, and I won two prizes. One was a nice little pen-and-business-cards stand, useful desk decor. The other was a Rs. 250/- gift voucher for one of the stalls at the book fest. Unfortunately, this was the stand which had obviously decided that what the techies must need most are books on technology. Blech! Anyway, they did have Freakonomics, so I picked that up. The other book I bought was "Motherless Brooklyn" by Jonathan Lethem which I have been planning to read for a while now.

Currently have a bit of a back-log though. Reading "My name is red" by Orhan Pamuk currently. I'll probably jump to Lethem's novel after this one coz I really am very excited about it. Orhan Pamuk, though, has me completely engrossed in his 16th century world of Turkish miniaturists. Wonderful stuff.

Other books I have on my reading list (the one's I already own that is) are Wally Lamb's "She's come undone", Tom Wolfe's "The electric kool-aid acid test" and James Ellroy's "American Tabloid: A Novel".

Milan 2 Liverpool 1

2007-05-25T01:21:00.000-07:00

I would have loved to report a different scoreline above, but thats how it ended in Athens. Not half as cool as two years ago in Istanbul.

But, hey! You can't win them all. Not that Liverpool has been winning 'them' all recently, but two European finals in three years is commendable. The irony really was that unlike in Istanbul, this time Steven Gerrard and his team went out on the field with the determination to take the game by the scruff of its neck. Playing Gerrard in a more advanced role than the right wing, as Rafa usually has been doing, signalled that even the cautios Benitez had decided to go for a greater focus on attack.

And there were definitely very good performances put in by many of the Reds that day. Milan are a good team, but not a team in the same calibre as Barcelona, who would inspire fear through their attacking prowess. Kaka is excellent, but Mascherano and Dan Agger put in terrific performances in controlling him. Where Liverpool severely lacked though, was on the wings. Zenden and Pennant huffed and puffed, but especially in the case of Zenden, were completely powerless to influence the game. Pennant actually surprised a lot of his detractors, including me, through several intelligent runs, but his greatest weakness is his final ball. His crosses either never go past the first defender, or are lobbed too high and far over the danger areas. The first time he did manage to get a tight, low cross in, it was the 83rd minute (or so) and Crouch didnt manage to beat the keeper. The next time his cross was low and tight, Agger touched it on for Kuyt to score the consolation goal. But the match was already lost by then.

Notable performers - Carragher and Agger were solid in defence, except for one misunderstanding which Milan could not take advantage of. Riise and Finnan were both very good, although Finnan had to cope with not enough help from Pennant down the right flank. What we wouldnt have given to see one of Riise's magical long distance goals on Wednesday!

In midfield, Mascherano was superb, as was Gerrard. But I was surprised to see Alonso losing his head so often. He was a ticking bomb waiting to explode, and finally he did concede the free kick with a foul on Kaka, which was converted by Pirlo via Inzaghi's wincing arm or shoulder. Harry Kewell got a chance to find out what the second half of a CL final feels like this time, but he could not influence the game as much as could have been hoped. Kuyt was hard working, but he did not see enough chances created for him.

So, another season comes to a close. Having missed most of the season in the US, I hate the thought of nearly 3 months without any football. But there will be a lot of action happening in the transfer market. And this time, Liverpool could be among the big spenders, thanks to Hicks and Gillett spreading the dosh around. Hopefully, we will have a couple of brand new wingers as high priority requirements. If the rumours are true, Arjen Robben could be out of Chelsea soon, but do we really want the oldest 'young' player in the world? Can Kaka be dragged away from Milan? Will we see two new exciting Portuguese players in Simao and Nani travelling to Merseyside next season? Will Rafa keep faith in Kewell for another season? Zenden, i feel, will definitely leave. Pennant may remain as backup only. Also, Gabriel Palleta and Sami Hyppia are probably leaving, so there should be another center back coming in. And how much dosh will Rafa be ready to blow on either Torres or Eto'o? Or David Villa?

Loads of questions. Hopefully, we will get the answers gradually over the summer. Exciting times ahead for Liverpool!!

I knew this one...

2007-05-11T03:58:00.000-07:00

You Are 16% Sociopath

You're empathetic, loyal, and introspective.
In other words, there's no way you're a sociopath... but you can spot one pretty easily!

Are You A Sociopath?

The Superhero in me !! :P

2007-05-11T03:49:00.000-07:00

You Are Batman

Billionaire playboy by day. Saving the world by night.
And you're not even a true superhero. Just someone with a lot of expensive toys!

What Superhero Are You?

Pleased to meet you...

2007-05-10T06:47:00.000-07:00

If I was more of a pious guy, I guess I'd probably be ringing the ghanta of my neighbourhood temple (there's one right next to my house) a lot more, thanking God for the wonderful things he has given me the capacity to appreciate and enjoy. But I missed that bus a while back.

And then there's the undeniably un-godly nature of some of the music I appreciate a bit too much of course. Case in point, as the title of this post suggests is the terrific Stones number "Sympathy for the Devil". Of course, the Rolling Stones were not to blame for the hue and cry from the clergy and the moral police who related rock 'n roll to satanism. That argument goes a long way before Mick and Keith paired up. But this song, along with several other Stones numbers, have had their fair share of controversy.

But who cares? What a great song! Great lyrics penned by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, great music which, according to rumour, had Led Zep's Jimmy Page pitching in with a guitar solo. Page, of course, was a well-known occultist and probably begged Mick for a bit part in this ode to Lucifer. Also, the lyrics are said to be inspired from Mikhail Bulgakov's great masterpiece "The Master and Margerita".

Bulgakov's book has its own colourful history, taking him almost a decade to complete. In Socialist Russia, Bulgakov had to go through a great deal of censorship and harrassment as his book was seen as inflammatory and satirical about the bureaucratic system. Three years into the writing, Bulgakov one day decided to destroy his work and burnt the entire document on his kitchen stove. Boosted by his wife's support, he again re-wrote the entire book and finally managed to get it printed, though in a censored form. The book is now considered a great piece of literature of course. I've got to get me a copy sometime soon!

Coming back to the song, I can't resist printing the lyrics here, with due regard to Mick and Keith who wrote it.

Sympathy For The Devil

Please allow me to introduce myself

I'm a man of wealth and taste

I've been around for a long, long year

Stole many a man's soul and faith

And I was 'round when Jesus Christ

Had his moment of doubt and pain

Made damn sure that Pilate

Washed his hands and sealed his fate

Pleased to meet you

Hope you guess my name

But what's puzzling you

Is the nature of my game

I stuck around St. Petersberg

When I saw it was a time for a change

Killed the Czar and his ministers

Anastasia screamed in vain

I rode a tank

Held a general's rank

When the Blitzkrieg raged

And the bodies stank

Pleased to meet you

Hope you guess my name, oh yeah

What's puzzling you

Is the nature of my game, oh yeah

I watched with glee

While your kings and queens

Fought for ten decades

For the Gods they made

I shouted out

"Who killed the Kennedys?"

When after all

It was you and me

Let me please introduce myself

I'm a man of wealth and taste

And I laid traps for troubadors

Who get killed before they reached Bombay

Pleased to meet you

Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah

But what's puzzling you

Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby

Pleased to meet you

Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah

But what's confusing you

Is just the nature of my game

Just as every cop is a criminal

And all the sinners saints

As heads is tails

Just call me Lucifer

'Cause I'm in need of some restraint

So if you meet me

Have some courtesy

Have some sympathy, and some taste

Use all your well-learned politesse

Or I'll lay your soul to waste, um yeah

Pleased to meet you

Hope you guessed my name, um yeah

But what's puzzling you

Is the nature of my game, um baby, get down

The song is from the point-of-view of the devil, with references to the mysterious deaths of the Czar and the Kennedy's. The vocals are brilliant, as you would expect from Jagger. The song was later covered by Guns 'N Roses also.

Themes inspired from Bulgakov include the references to the Czars and also the lines "And I was 'round when Jesus Christ/Had his moment of doubt and pain/ Made damn sure that Pilate/ Washed his hands and sealed his fate". The story of Pontius Pilate meeting Jesus and reluctantly handing him over to those who wanted to kill him forms a second strand in the novel.

So, some great music, intelligent lyrics, intellectual inspirations. What more could you ask for? So what if it deals with themes that are considered controversial. Go, listen and read. I already am.

Back in Bangalore!

2007-05-08T04:21:00.000-07:00

I'm back, and it feels good.

Things I will miss about the US in general - driving on those lovely freeways, the smoothies, the fantastic beer, the great scotch, and that Mecca for book-lovers in the Glendale area, the Foothills Branch Library. FBL - it was great while it lasted. I will miss you.

Spending a week in Mumbai with family was great. Even though the weather was a killer, the lazy days doing nothing much felt damn good. Gorging on vada pav and the terrific Mumbaiya pav bhaji was yum. Also the delicious maacher jhol at home, with mom trying to make me go through a month's quota in a week.

Being able to watch football on the telly is another pleasure I've been looking forward to. I missed almost the entire 2006-07 season of the Champions league and the EPL, but it was great to catch Liverpool's victory in the CL semis over Chelsea. Also, very very happy that ManUtd is now the EPL champs beating Chelsea again. Its great to see that big money doesnt always win you everything. Chelsea fans - you are free to rant.

The downsides are also there of course. Its becoming harder to watch the news everyday. Its astonishing the level of corruption in this country, with new cases of "fake" encounters every day. Were encounters ever supposed to be legitimate? I understand that they are a necessary evil in many cases, but the flip side is the fact that many of these encounters seem to have involved victimization of innocents, rather than the guilty. Now we are faced with the ugly mug of DSP (or watever) Vanzara, a criminal of the lowest order plumb in the middle of our police forces.

My first experience on reaching Bombay airport. The visibly inexperienced Indian steward on the Delta flight, had made the mistake of handing out just a single immig form per family, instead of one form per person. Standing in line at Bombay airport, the disgracefully dressed, vernacularly challenged person who was responsible for guiding people to the various booths for other similarly challenged people to process the forms, looks at the single form per family and says - "Cha maayla, kon toh chu**ya", which translates to "What the? Who's the a**hole who gave out single forms". And this loud and clear, without bothering to notice that there are families and women and kids around. Lovely.

Then the gentleman actually processing the forms, suddenly looks past me with his mouth wide open and eyes lit up. I look back to see an American lady in her mid-30's, drawing a lot of looks coz she left one shoulder uncovered. Bang, bang, bang go the stamps on my forms as the immig man tries to make sure she gets sent to his booth! Well, there's my immig checks done.

Not that I want this to turn into a rant, but there really does need to be something done to improve the first experience that visitors have while entering our country.

Well, on second thoughts, thats not the only thing that needs changing. We really need to do something about the beer we get here.

Play It Again

2007-04-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a song just grabs you and seems to become part of you. Well, that can happen with lots of stuff, not just music. A great book, a great movie, just a great something. But lets keep it simple and just focus on the music for now.

Probably every classic rock fan knows and loves "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I have only recently discoved this song, having always considered Southern Rock as glorified Gospel or Country music! And its just got a hold on me. What great lyrics, fantastic tempo that goes from the gospel-ish beginning to that mind-blowing guitar driven orgasmic crescendo. Great stuff. And a couple of posts ago I had mentioned the movie "Duets" which had one of the lead actors singing the words from this song. Its just so good it feels like touching some kind of brilliance which will never be recreated again.

If I leave here tomorrow

Would you still remember me?

For I must be travelling on, now,

There's too many places I haven't seen

And if I stayed here with you, now

Things just wouldn't be the same

Well I'm as free as a bird now,

And a bird you can not change.

Lord knows I can't change

Bye, bye, its been a sweet love.

And though this feeling I can't change.

Please don't take it badly,

The Lord knows I'm to blame.

And, if I stayed here with you now

Things just wouldn't be the same.

For I'm as free as a bird now,

And this bird you'll never change.

And the bird you can not change.

Lord knows, I can't change.

Lord help me, I can't change.

Play it again Skynyrd.

Goodness Gracious, great stacks of comics!!

2007-04-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

Alright, I have officially gone nuts for comics.

It all started with Alan Moore's "Watchmen" (see my review here). The fantastic art along with the mature, elaborately crafted plot opened my eyes to an art form which I had stopped indulging in since I stepped out of primary school.

There is a world of comics out there though, which do not cater to kids alone. And I have sampled a fair amount of these in the past couple of months. Hopefully will be able to sample a few more in the future. Of course, being in the US has the advantage of being able to use the fantastic public libraries here. But I know I'll end up buying a boat load of these deeply satisfying comics when I'm back home in India. And these comics dont come cheap.

Although many of these comics stay within the super hero genre (like Alan Moore's Watchmen, Swamp Thing series, Top Ten series, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series; Kurt Busiek's Astro City series), these are not the usual tales of crime fighting like Superman or Spiderman (not that these are any less worthy, they arent the all-time best-selling comics for nothing). For example, Kurt Busiek's series contains stories set in Astro City which is home to many crime-fighting super heroes, some with super-powers, others are athletic humans who fight crime through ingenuity and skill. But the stories do not revolve around these super heroes. Instead, the series focuses on telling the tales from an ever changing perspective. There are stories told from the innocent victims point of view, the regular people who were going about their own business when some super villain decides to stage some mayhem in their vicinity. There are stories told from the view point of observers of the mega-events. This series is about the lives of people living in a society which is protected by super heroes, and threatened by super villains.

But graphic novels are not limited to this genre. Take Art Spiegelman's wonderful two-volume retelling of his parents surviving the holocaust in "Maus". The uniqueness of this book is in that it chooses to depic the Jews as mice, while the Germans are cats. All other races and ethnicities depicted in the comic are represented by animals. This deliberate cartoon-ification of a hard-hitting story sometimes softens the blow, and sometimes makes it even harsher. The all black-and-white artwork is free of any fancy angles and is focussed on telling a tale Art believes requires no further inflection.

Art Spiegelman has possibly been the greatest inspiration to the modern serious comics writer and artist than most others. Alan Moore's inspiration lies in focussing on the story, making it the basis of everything rather than only focussing on the art or the drawing.

Spiegelman inspired graphic novels have been written by writers like Daniel Clowes (Ghost World, David Boring), Chris Ware (Jimmy Corrigan) and Bryan Talbot (The tale of one bad rat). These stories deal with mature subjects like sexual abuse, dysfunctional families, mid-life crises etc.

Moore has inspired another set of writers to remain in the fantastic realms and still ground their work with some astonishing writing. The Fables series by Bill Willingham is one such example. This series has as its premise the concept that Fables (like Red Riding Hood, Snow White etc) truly exist in lands far far away. But something happened, an unknown adversary launched a great war on the fables lands and the characters of these fables were forced to escape and they now live among us. These characters (at least the humanoid ones) now live as humans, and they have their own governance which keeps their existence a secret from common humans (called the Mundy's or the Mundanes a la Muggles). The stories are interesting in that though the premise is based in children's stories, the treatment is more adult. It makes for a gripping read.

Another series which blows the mind by its wonderful writing, and often historically based stories, is Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. This series is simply incomparable for its unique storylines and its rootedness in classical literature, myths and mythologies of everything from Greece to Persia to Africa, and also on true human history. The series is also unique in that its not concentrated on its main character, the Sandman or Morpheus, the Dream Lord, as much as you would expect. Sometimes he is peripheral to the story. But he is also the focus of the story in strange, haunting ways. Its hard to say much about the Sandman series without going into a lot of details, and I will keep that for another day, another post.

Sometimes a great movie

2007-04-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

Its been a terrible time in some ways. Mainly because work has kept me away from things I would much rather be doing. I havent seen any movies for like a couple of months probably, havent spent as much time with the family as I would have liked to, have been carrying around a bunch of great rock songs in my USB drive, but barely get the chance to listen to them, I have been reading some interesting stuff but have not been able to give it enough time. All that whining is basically pointing towards the fact that corporate imprisonment is taking its toll. I'm sick of it.

So last night, when I caught sight of Paul Giamatti while flicking channels, I thought what the heck, take some time and lets look into this. Giamatti is a good actor, and I thought maybe the movie has some potential. And it seemed funny in a quirky way, which always gets me.

So I watched, even waited through the long commercial breaks filled with those irritating weight-loss gimmicks which all claim to be the next best thing since iPod shuffles. The movie captivated me, primarily through the sincere performances, the mix of wistful humour and an underlying sensitivity towards the issues it was trying to tackle and of course, the great music.

Its called "Duets" and is basically a road movie, with a bunch of people travelling across the US to Omaha, Nebraska to participate in a Karaoke contest. Along the way, there is a lot of singing, a lot of black humour and lots of stuff going on.

Paul Giamatti (most recently in "The Lady in the Lake" unfortunately, better known for "American Splendour" and "Sideways") is as salesman who has become frustrated with his life. He tells his wife he is going out for a pack of ciggarettes and ends up taking a road trip with no destination in mind. He happens to stop at a karaoke bar, where a rather flaky girl inspires him with a lot of encouragement and a couple of lil blue pills to get on the stage and sing. When he wins the contest that day, he finds a new interest in life and wants to pursue it by contesting the big Karaoke contest in Omaha.

Besides Paul, the movie stars Huey Lewis (yes, the singer of the "Power of Love") as a Karaoke con-artist. He is suddenly confronted by his estranged daughter played by Gwyneth Paltrow who herself does some wonderful singing. The daughter wants to spend some time with her dad, and thats another sub-plot running through the movie.

The most interesting bit of the interlocking stories is that of an escaped black convict named Reggie (played very well by Andre Braugher). In one scene, as he hitch-hikes through america, he sticks-up the trucker who has just given him a ride. The trucker says "Learn a trade son, dont do this" and Reggie's anguished expression when he says "I did. This is it!" is remarkable.

Reggie has lived most of his life in prison. He never even learnt to drive a car before he was put in prison. The movie does not delve into the past, but shows Reggie's anguish at a lost life very well. Andre Braugher has been seen in quite a few character roles and is a recognizable face, but maybe not as much as he should be. When he meets up with Paul Giamatti, and though originally his intention is to rob him too, they become friends. There is a poignancy in their friendship as they both come to a deep understanding of what each is going through. They also join up and produce some of the best karaoke numbers ever.

And the music in the movie is just plain lovely. From Gwyneth Paltrow's surprisingly soulful rendition of "Betty Davis Eyes" to Andre Braugher and Paul's duet of "Try a little tenderness" and culminating in a fantastic rendition by Andre of "Free Bird", the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic. Just loved it.

Duets is not a classic, not a movie which will perhaps be remembered through time. But I will remember it for a while, for its music and Paul and Andre's performances.

My Vocabulary...

2007-03-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

Yayyyy!!

Your Vocabulary Score: A

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!
You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

Wastelands...

2007-03-15T22:04:00.000-07:00

Its been ages since I last updated this blog. I've been adrift in the wastelands, deep in the abyss, caught in the net. Been too busy to blog, in brief.

In the meantime, Liverpool again lost to Man Utd at home in the league, but kept their European campaign going with a brilliant victory over Barcelona. In the league, its looking more and more likely that Liverpool will not manage a higher position than 4th, which means they'll be involved in the third round qualifier for next seasons Champs League. Another year with a too early start to their season. But there is still hope, and Arsenal have shown that its highly likely that they will slip up - especially without Thierry Henry for the rest of the season.

And of course, the cricket world cup has got under way. The traditional game of Super Selector has begun, it should be fun. The Indian media has gone nuts like never before. The hype is sometimes cringe-worthy. The 30-mins of Indian news that I get to see (sometimes) on the telly has 15 mins worth of the newsreader repeating news about inane training sessions, trivial player and coach quotes, and similar balderdash like its the second coming. A story about a few food-poisoning cases occurring in the Indian team's hotel is given coverage equivalent to Saddam's hanging.

Then there's the quirky stuff too. Like Zee News proclaiming the Indian team as Dada's Army!! Quite besides the fact that this echoes the wonderful DA (Dumbledore's Army) from the fifth Harry Potter book, the eponumous Dada is not even the skipper of the Indian team. Seems like Saurav Ganguly is getting a lot more support in the media now, than in the turbulent period a year ago. But Rahul Dravid is our skipper, and the last thing we want in the middle of a tough, exhausting and mentally draining tournament is to see politics rearing its ugly head in the Indian team. Dravid is our skipper, and he should have our support. May he (with Dada and Sachin) bring that pot of moonshine home.

Barcelona 1 Liverpool 2

2007-02-21T19:06:00.000-08:00

Who would have thunk it! But its true. Of course, its far from over. But the second tie being at home, Liverpool will definitely take heart from the precious away victory. They can now literally afford a 1 - 0 defeat at home or a draw. But I think they can even add to this win with another at Anfield.

To add to the romance of this victory, the goals were scored by the two players everyone thought might not even start today. Craig Bellamy and Jon Arne Riise were the two players who were the most likely to get the sack as their team-building trip to Portugal had the opposite effect. Especially at fault was Bellamy, who allegedly attacked Riise with a golf club. With his past record, the media was claiming this was the end of Bell at Liverpool. It may still be, Rafa is not one to take lack of discipline in his squad, and additionally there is money flowing in of course after the takeover, which means Rafa may be able to afford a less volatile player with perhaps the same or better skills than Bellamy. That boy Bellamy even had the cheek to celebrate his goal with a golf swing !!! I dont know if Rafa might have appreciated that bit.

But for the present, these two players might just have redeemed themselves on the field. For most of the first half, Barca were lording over Liverpool and the scousers were barely seeing about 38% of the possession. But they got the goals that mattered as Barca consistently were unable to find the net in spite of all their attacking play. They now play Sheffield Utd and Man Utd at home in the Premiership before Barca comes a-visiting.

Great big whooooop for the Reds!!

Things left unsaid (thus far anyway)

2007-02-20T18:46:00.000-08:00

While I'm at it, there are a couple more things to talk about. Urgently.

Firstly, a great big whoop of triumph at Saurav Ganguly being named the man of the series for the India - SL series. The big man is back and with a bang. His has been one of two cases of actions being louder than words which has happened over the last month or so. The second being the triumphant return of David Beckham into the Real Madrid first XI.

Looking back, the silence in the face of allegations and harsh criticism of both Gangs and Becks had seemed to indicate that these two stars had given up on their careers. Gangs decided to try his luck in English county cricket while Becks retaliated to the intense pressure heaped on him by the Real board to sign an extension to his contract or leave, by making the in-your-face decision to leave for the MLS. In return, Greg Chappell for the Indian team, and Fabio Capello for Real made similar noises about the door back into the squad being shut for ever for their respective players. Capello was a lot more outspoken about it saying that Becks will never play in his team again.

In both their cases, luck has to some extent played its part. The Indian team started playing really badly, it needed a spark and it looked more likely to come from its erstwhile captain than from the rookies who were tried. This combined with injuries to players like Yuvraj, and the poor form of some of the remaining senior players provided the opportunity of giving another shot to Gangs.

For Real Madrid, a series of dissappointing showings resulted in a clamour from the public to bring back Becks, who had made a mark in the hearts of the fans by his professional nature and his passion on-field. Capello though might have managed to ignore the public outcry, but when his influential players like Raul and Guti publicly commented on the teams need for Becks to be re-instated, he could not ignore it anymore. Another factor, as pointed out by Tim Stannard, in his excellent articles about the spanish league on Football365, is the unerring survival instinct of the Real coach. Capello brought Becks back, and he has been the lynchpin in Real's mini-revival over the last month. Capello even managed to get some credit from it by making the statement that a smart man knows when to change his mind.

Both games are richer for having these two wonderfully skillful players back on the field. For Becks, there may even be a return to the England team as McClaren has reportedly decided to follow Capello's lead and look a lot closer at his ex-skipper. If he looks close enough, he might just find a way to save his job.

As a postscript, my big hope of Liverpool accumulating 15 points before coming up against Barcelona in the CL, has been dashed to bits. First, they were held to a draw by Everton, then they actually lost to a resurgent Newcastle. Thats 5 points fewer then than they could have taken. But its Barcelona tomorrow, fingers crossed for that game.

So many reviews, so little time...

2007-02-20T17:21:00.000-08:00

Any stray readers may have noticed tall promises of upcoming attractions on this website, in terms of reviews and criticisms, which have not been fulfilled lately. There is a reason, a valid reason and it is, in the Beatle boys's words "I've been working like a dog". But nuff said about that.

I had been waiting with a great deal of expectation for "Eklavya" to release, since the first trailers started getting aired. It has a cast thats stellar, especially now that Saif and Vidya have definitely emerged as actors, not just stars. And I caught the first day first show (only show really what with US theaters charging twice the money for a single showing of Hindi movies) of this movie last Friday.

The story is pretty much available and known, so I'll get straight to my rants and raves.

Firstly, there is a lot going for this movie. The previously mentioned stellar cast is truly magnificent. But unexpectedly, its not primarily AB who runs the show. If anything, this movie is his least showy and screen-grabbing performance of recent years. I have also come to the conclusion that this man is not capable (anymore, i should add) of giving a poor performance. His every move, his every gesture suggests a man at the pinnacle of his craft, be it a quite moment of silent sorrow, or a room-wrecking, studio-shaking expression of heart-breaking grief. Its a great performance, but not his best. I think Sanjay Leela Bhansali still owes AB a Rolls-Royce for his turn in "Black".

From the previous para, it might be apparent that there is a lot more melancholy in this movie than hilarity. In fact the few moments of light-heartedness are provided by Sanjay Dutt as the local police chief, and even those moments are laced with some black humour. Which brings me back to the cast.

The high-point of this movie is its character actors. Let me start with the one who has recieved the least celebrity, Parikshit Sahani, who plays the aging chauffeur to Boman Irani's the Rana of Devigarh (as Sanjay Dutt admirably points out, he is a King only in name and does not have any kingly powers). The casual camaraderie between the aging chauffeur and the aging bodyguard is portrayed subtly and is very believable. Their conversation reflects the slow pace of life in rural India and provides the character actors with a good stage for their skills. Raima Sen is also showing up in some pretty neat performances and here she plays the mentally handicapped daughter of the Rana. Jimmy Shergill and Jackie Shroff play the Rana's scheming relatives with wonderful cameos. I thought Jackie's use of his voice was fantastic, showing that this is an actor Bollywood has wasted. In a scene where he shows his frustration at being the younger brother of the Rana than the Rana himself, the only thing that changes about Jackie is his voice, and it portrays more than his face could have expressed. He has a tendency sometimes to ham, but is kept in rein through most of his performance by an able director. More on the director later, who also manages to draw an eccellent performance from Jimmy Shergill. Jimmy has probably always played likeable guys, but I always felt he has talent. And it shows here. To round out the supporting cast, there is Sanjay Dutt as the police officer who idolizes Eklavya, and comes from an "untouchable" background. And then there is Boman Irani. Boman is a first-rate actor and in a very short span of time, he has managed to wrest the juiciest character roles away from people like Paresh Rawal, Om Puri et al. He is not bad here either, but I felt he went a bit over the top here in a few scenes.

All this rambling i guess basically goes to say the performances are of a pretty high standard most of the time. Vidya and Saif are very good, and between them they probably came up with one of the most sensuous scenes in an Indian movie for a while. And no, they werent even anywhere close to a bed. Saif is excellent with his meaty role, and turns in a performance with a lot of restraint but also convincingly portrays the greyer shades of his character.

On to the other big, big star of the movie - the director, Vidhu Vinod Chopra. This is his first directorial venture since he flopped with "Kareeb". Cant really comment on that since I never see anything with Bobby Deol in it, unless it has Akshay Kumar also (by which I mean I saw Ajnabee). But VVC's comeback is nothing short of brilliant. "Eklavya" has no bigger star than the director. From the opening credits, which is one of the most original sequences in Indian movie history, to the sparse action sequences which use light, shadow and sound to great effect, the intrigue and the atmosphere of the fort, everything is done very well. There is even a sequence which I thought was a tip-of-the-hat to Quentin Tarantino and his Kill Bill movies. But the treatment is very Indian, and some of the decor's used are sumptuous. Notice the tiny details, like the paintings that Raima Sen makes, they show a lot of thought has gone in it.

The only gripe I really have with the movie is its ending. Obviously, I dont want to put any spoilers here, so see for yourself. But, I would still highly recommend this movie, but I'll also add its not for everyone. Dont go looking for a fun time, dont go looking for an action flick with camels. The camels only reflect the slow, melancholic pace of the movie, which is the better because there is a lot to savour about it.

Things that make you go "WHA....??"!

2007-02-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

I have had a few vodkas in my time, but I dont even know how many vodkas it would take for me to attempt this.

An Australian bricklayer wrestles a 1.3 m shark after voluntarily jumping into the sea with the intention of gitting that them there little fishie. He says its the vodka that made him do it, yes siree.

People in Indonesia have reported large swarms of sharks migrating north from the shores of Australia towards the safer waters of the Java trench and the South China seas. One shark spokesman said "Its not safe for us around Australia any more!".

Zed's Dead, Baby!

2007-02-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

Jules Winnfield: What does Marcellus Wallace look like?

Brett: What?

Jules Winnfield: What country you from?

Brett: What?

Jules Winnfield: What ain't no country I ever heard of. They speak English in What?

Brett: What?

Jules Winnfield: ENGLISH, MOTHERFUCKER! DO-YOU-SPEAK-IT?

Brett: Yes.

Jules Winnfield: Then you know what I'm saying.

Brett: Yes.

Jules Winnfield: Describe what Marcellus Wallace looks like.

Brett: What, I-?

Jules Winnfield: [pointing his gun] Say what again. SAY WHAT AGAIN. I dare you, I double dare you, motherfucker. Say what one more goddamn time.

Brett: He's b-b-black.

Jules Winnfield: Go on.

Brett: He's bald.

Jules Winnfield: Does he look like a bitch?

Brett: What?

[Jules shoots Brett in shoulder.]

Jules Winnfield: DOES HE LOOK LIKE A BITCH?

Brett: No.

Jules Winnfield: Then why you try to fuck him like a bitch, Brett?

Brett: I didn't.

Jules Winnfield: Yes you did. Yes you did, Brett. You tried to fuck him. And Marcellus Wallace don't like to be fucked by anybody, except Mrs. Wallace.

Which movie do you think of when you think of cool dialogues? For me, its Pulp Fiction. This movie has some of the funniest lines ever, and Quentin Tarantino is one of the best script writers ever!

The magic of this movie (which escapes a lot of people who are not so enamored of Quentin's hard-boiled style) is compounded by the fantastic virtuoso performances by a brilliant cast. Though names like Christopher Walken and Harvey Keitel are too big to owe Quentin any star-making debts, this movie turned around the careers of a bunch of actors - Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Ving Rhames and Uma Thurman, and probably the biggest debt is owed by John Travolta.

Pulp Fiction works at many different levels - as a thriller, as an in-depth look at the LA crime scene, and also as a comedy. Scenes like "Zed's dead, baby!" and Quentin himself appearing in the "Does my house have a sign which says 'Dead nigger storage'?" scene are minor compared to the big picture, but stay with your forever. Then there is the great watch story which Christopher Walken recounts to the little kid without holding back any of the details! And who can ever forget the Gimp!

So, on Friday night, after a long day, during which I had to skip out of Happy Hour festivities, had to work feverishly away at some bugs which needed fixing NOW till around 8 PM, then had to hurry down to a little kids b'day party for cake and coke, it was the break I needed to find Pulp Fiction playing on one of the TV channels at 1 AM. Needless to say, the next couple of hours were spent marvelling anew at Quentin's masterpiece. May there be many more.

Follow that up with the classic Hindi comedy, Padosan on Saturday and the cult classic Office Space on Sunday, not a bad weekend for a movie lover. My first time watching "Office Space" in fact, which rather weakens my position as a movie lover. Enjoyed it thoroughly. I don't think any person working in a software company can miss the parallels.

Have to end this with the most famous quote from Pulp Fiction of course -

Ezekiel 25:17. 'The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyrannies of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepperd's the weak through the valley of darkness. For he is truly his brothers' keeper and finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.'

Now I've been saying that s*** for years, and if you've ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never gave much thought to what it meant, I just thought it was a cold blooded thing to say to a mother f***er before I popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some s*** this morning that made me think twice.

Now I'm thinking it could mean you're the evil man, and I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here is the shepherd, protecting my righteous ass.

Or maybe it means that you're the righteous man, and I'm the shepherd, and it's the world that's evil and selfish. Now I'd like that, but you see that s*** ain't the truth. The truth is, YOU'RE the weak, and I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm trying, Ringo. I'm trying real hard to be the shepherd.

Alan Moore's Classic "Watchmen"

2007-02-09T16:20:00.000-08:00

I loved comic books as a kid. I bet everyone did. Superman, Tarzan, Mandrake the Magician, The Phantom and countless others which fascinated us as kids. Plus the fantastic Disney comics which I loved - Donald Duck, Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Huey, Dewey and Louie stories which were great if you get sick of the super-heroes. Then the comics for teenagers who longed to be residents of Riverdale along with Archie, Jughead and his gang, not to mention Betty and Veronica.

But most of us grew out of it. Lately, there has been a spate of literature from the boys-at-heart authors like Michael Chabon (The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay) and others who have written books telling of their love for comics. Neil Gaiman has not only expressed his love for them, but has given himself to creating comics with a gusto, and a writer of his caliber comes out with some pretty good comics i hear, haven't read them yet.

And then there is Mr. Alan Moore. Universally considered one of the best comics writers in the history of the art-form. And when we talk about Alan Moore's comics, they are ART. I can vouch for this after completing "Watchmen". Incidentally, "Watchmen" happens to be the only comic which is listed in the Time Magazines list of the top 100 books since 1923 till 2005.

And "Watchmen" lives up to that kind of hype. The story is very literate, complex and layered with hidden meanings. The art work is breath-taking always, and sometimes just plain mind-blowing. The artist is Dave Gibbons, and must be credited for some of the most intricate and impelling art work I have ever seen. The title is taken from the latin "quis custodiet ipsos custodes" which literally translates as "Who watches the watchmen". The implications of this become clearer as the story begins.

The story is set in an alternate reality New York in the year 1985. A death has taken place. A man has fallen through the window of his high-rise apartment. Detectives investigating his death conclude that he must have been thrown and his death is a murder. However, the cops are not the only one investigating this death. The other person investigating the death of Edward Blake is a masked adventurer who goes by the name Rorschach. Masked adventurer - as opposed to a superhero. Superheroes have super-powers. Masked adventurers are costumed do-gooders who rely on their ingenuity and athletic prowess and are basically human in all other respects.

This bit of information takes us deeper into the world Moore and Gibbons have created. We hear about the one-time popularity of costumed adventurers who were feted by the media, the people and the government. But once they had eradicated most big-time criminals, they ended up being considered as nothing more than vigilantes. Finally a law was passed which required that these heroes proclaim their true identities and agree to work for the government or to give up their "vigilantism". Only two of this group still function and both of them work for the government.

Rorschach though has just discovered that one of those two has just died. Edward Blake, better known as The Comedian, has been murdered. Rorschach is also a wanted criminal, since he was the only one of the costumed adventurers who never compromised and continued his vigilante career. He is wanted by the police not just for his status as a still-functioning vigilante, but also for the sheer violence with which he deals with criminals. There is a sense of the psychotic about Rorschach. And his character is perhaps the best among a group of pretty brilliant characterisations done by Moore and Gibbons.

Without detailing much more about the plot, I would like to focus on the structure of the comic (I am trying to avoid the term "graphic novel" as Alan Moore himself does not prefer the term). The comic consists of 12 chapters, at the end of each of them is a non-comic section. These sections are used to fill in the back stories and also to provide more depth to the characters. Besides this, each chapter also contains layered, parallel threads of the complex plot - sometimes chronologically separate as seen in the final chapters. And as if there was not enough going on, there is a comic within the comic which is so compellingly gripping and intriguing that it blows the mind. A single reading of the book will probably not allow the reader to grasp all the information that Moore and Gibbons cram into each frame of the comic.

And that brings me around to the frames. Each and every frame of the comic has a meaning to it. If it shows a man walking down a street, it also shows the newspaper blowing past him with a telling headline, it also shows the reflection of something on the dirty wet street which is important. And notice the smiley face on the cover, with an odd shaped blood stain... the shape of that stain will be reproduced in ways which will be completely unexpected and unforeseeable. There is a fantastic amount of payback to the reader for the time he spends reading this comic. And there are other ways in which symbology is used. Rorschach's mask is made of material on which the dark stain behaves like a fluid, changing its shape with his emotions and Gibbons makes wonderful use of this. And the comic book medium when used intelligently as it has here, has the advantage of merging the book-form and the visual-form. So its a treat for the mind like reading Kurt Vonnegut or Thomas Pynchon, and a treat for the eyes like an Akira Kurusawa or Tim Burton movie.

I guess I have gushed enough. But Messrs Moore and Gibbon have probably opened my eyes to comic books and the force they can have. Already picked up Moore's "V for Vendetta" (made into a so-so movie I haven't seen). Also picking up two other comics which are known as the best in the genre - "Dark Knight Returns" and "300" both by Frank Miller, another great comic book writer. Will also be getting "From Hell" by Alan Moore soon. So keep watching this space for more comic book reviews. And go get a copy of this brilliant work of art. Beg, borrow or steal!!

Footy Brawls

2007-02-09T10:14:00.000-08:00

From my favourite website, F365. Great football reporting done with a great big splash of Brit humour. This article had me rolling.

There is so much to admire about football, but too often there are individuals in the game that tarnish its image. The case of Kieron Dyer vs Lee Bowyer fight night was unique in that it was teammates fighting each other on the pitch, while the match was being shown live on TV. It just showed the shambles in which Graeme Souness left Newcastle. John Hartson is another figure in the game who has only brought disrepute to it.

Eric Cantona was of course one of the great mad geniuses of the game, and his attack on Matthew Simmons, a Crystal Palace fan who was mocking him, was also on live TV. But that's Cantona, a man who is now dedicating himself to the upliftment of beach soccer. Nuff said!

But then there is a man like Henrik Larsson, who put it so beautifully to the warring Freddie Ljungberg and Olaf Mellberg - ""You are specks of dust. We all are. The team is what matters." Now that's inspirational.

Weekend Movies and Reading

2007-02-07T15:41:00.000-08:00

First thing I did this weekend, I returned the books I had checked out from the library. I tried, but none of the three were keeping me interested enough. For the record, these books were -

1) Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk

Chuck is a good writer, he has it in him to deliver a shock. But sometimes, the shocks can just make the reader numb. Ya, so there goes Chuck delivering another supposedly shocking fact, and you dont feel there was any need for it anymore. This book made me feel that way. Haunted, is basically a satire on reality TV like Survivor and Big Brother, except this is a bunch of wannabe writers who are trapped within Big Brother's house. So each one of these has a "shocking" tale to tell. Well, it just got boring.

2) The Return of the Dancing Master - Henning Mankell

Henning is a very very talented writer. His books are written in Swedish, and translated into English. I am a big fan of his series of murder mysteries. His main characters are excellent. His stories are very bleak and dark, atmospheric, and he tackles issues which are very relevant. But reading this book, I just probably overdosed on the bleakness. Blame Chuck for this as well I think, coz this is not a bad book at all. But combined with Haunted, it just left me hollow-eyed!

3) Three Witnesses - Rex Stout

My first attempt at a Nero Wolfe book. I guess it was too old-fashioned and archaic in its structure for me to get too much into it.

So, I went down and picked up some more books. My reading list now has the following -

1) Stephen King's latest - Lisey's Story

Just started it, not bad. The reviews are rave, so i'm looking forward to this one. I believe King is one of the most under-estimated writers ever, and though all his books are not brilliant, when he is good, he is very good.

2) Silence of the Grave - Arnaldur Indridasun

Arnaldur is a brilliant Icelandic writer, and his books are crime thrillers in the police procedural style. But his writing style is very good. This book is his second to come out in an English translation after "Jar City", a gripping thriller which started with the killing of an old man, but moves far beyond that scope. I am looking forward to reading this one and will definitely post my review.

3) The Monkey Wrench Gang - Edward Abbey

This book is highly recommended by several people, its considered an underground classic. In fact this book is responsible for coining the term "monkeywrench" which usually gets thrown into the smoothly turning wheels.

4) Finally, I picked up two graphic novels I have been waiting to read. Both are written by Alan Moore, who is famous for his complex themed comics. The specific comics are probably two of the best graphic novels ever written - "V for Vendetta" and "Watchmen".

Currently, I am absolutely absorbed into "Watchmen" a book so good it sometimes just takes the breath away. I will have to write a separate post for this one. It deserves at least one, maybe more. Just the tag line itself "Who watches the watchmen" grabs you and pulls you into the heart of this story. Just brilliant.

Also watched a few movies this week.

1) Snakes on a Plane - good for a few laughs, sometimes for the wrong reasons.

2) Rear Window - saw this fantastic Hitchcock classic again, brilliant. Based on Cornell Woolrich's short story.

3) In the line of Fire - one of Clint Eastwoods earlier directorial ventures, with John Malkovich playing a sublimely creepy villain.

4) Sholay - eternal Hindi favourite

Not a bad weekend. Also, didnt need to work this weekend after a long time!!

Yankfield?

2007-02-07T15:14:00.000-08:00

OK the big derby has come and gone, and Liverpool dropped their first points since the double cup whammy from Arsenal. So the potential 15 points we could have taken before the Barca game is now down to potentially getting 13. That's if we beat Newcastle at St. James's Park next week. Well, lets see. Chances of catching up and possibly beating Chelsea to second are now slipping by.

The big news of course is the takeover by the Yanks, Gillett and Hicks. It opens up the possibilities of a lot more cash being available to build the team. A new 60000 seater stadium is part of the deal, and that would increase gate receipts as well. Plus, it brings up the possibility of making more money by staging big games not necessarily involving Liverpool too - Champs League finals perhaps. Only time will tell how the new owners build the club up. I don't think it will be the limitless cash option that Chelski has, but there will be more to splash, and perhaps Rafa can use his scouting network (mostly in Spain) to better use!

Dada's comeback

2007-02-01T15:02:00.000-08:00

Alright, lets make it a couple of posts for today then !!

This is something especially close to my heart. Saurav Ganguly is back! A man who went from being the most successful captain the country has ever had, to being accused of destroying the morale of the team through his selection policies and also accused of faking injuries. His bad form and inability to get over his technical weaknesses were an added factor. And so Dada went out of the team, and even out of the Indian squad. Initially, he seemed to have lost the taste for a fight. There was a great deal of pressure on him to prove the selectors wrong, and by skipping out of the regional games he seemed to be letting himself down. He decided instead to go to England and play county cricket, but barring a couple of decent scores, his trip was unsuccessful.

At that point, even this devoted fan had lost faith in his ideal. The assumption was that Dada had thrown in the towel. It was expected that he would announce his retirement from cricket soon.

There was a lot of anger and resentment I personally felt at the treatment being meted out to Saurav. I felt, and still feel, that his policy of supporting his team mates through thick and thin, was something which should be respected rather than ridiculed. Some of Chappell's main allegations were that Saurav would overrule the selectors when they wanted to drop out of form players that Saurav had groomed. I expect this list would include the likes of Yuvraj, Zaheer (who was ousted about the same time as Saurav) and Bhajji. But I can understand a captains need to provide stability and time to his team to improve rather than ejecting them out. That fierce loyalty was a characteristic of Dada as a skipper. This stability also meant that the young players were allowed to prosper and gain valuable experience on the basis of which they have proven themselves.

Contrast that with the era of Gavaskar's captaincy, when players like Dilip Doshi were cut out because they would not bow down to the skippers fancies (no puns intended!).

But three innings into his return to One Day cricket, and Dada is again being hailed as one of the best ODI batsmen in the game. Just a couple of months back into the Indian team, and his performances have been decent enough to allow his fans to breathe a deep sigh of relief, and also to sport a goofy grin. Dada's back and all's well with the world.

Busy Busy Busy

2007-02-01T13:49:00.000-08:00

Been very busy at work last week or two. Didn't get a chance to update my blog.

Following up on Liverpool's progress. It is now a third victory in a row, as Pool went on to beat West Ham 1-2 away. There was little to worry for Liverpool in this game, even though the Hammers have been busy in the transfer window. Some quality players have been brought in by Alan Curbishley like Kepa Blanco, Luis Boa Morte (who I rate very highly) and Lucas Neill. The latest addition is Matthew Upson, a very hard working defender who I think will have a definite impact on the Hammers shambolic season so far. Blanco got the goal for the Hammers but the Reds were not in trouble anytime in the game.

So that's 9 points out of 9 since the cup debacles. I predicted that they could possibly win all five before their Champs League game against Barca rolls by. Its the Merseyside derby next and this time it will be at Anfield. I think Liverpool will manage a victory over Everton this time around !!

And the transfer window is now closed. Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea did not buy any players at all this January!! That might be a real sign for Jose that Roman Abramovich is closing his chequebook and it may also indicate that Jose might be gone before next season's transfer window opens.

Liverpool themselves have been busy in the window, but the transfers all appear to be targetted at the future rather than the current season. I think that's probably for the best, Rafa is a shrewd manager and believes his current squad can get the best results for Liverpool this season. Realistically, the best league position we can aspire to is second. And the only cup we are still in is the Champs League and with Barcelona to face, it might not be a hurdle we can get past. Although Barca themselves are not performing anywhere near their performances from last year. So making expensive purchases in January may not be the best way to go for us. Except for Arbeloa and Mascherano, the rest of the purchases are all kids and points at Rafa's policy of securing the future.

It has been a dull transfer window though. The flashiest transfers were perhaps Vincenzo Montella's loan move to Fulham from Roma, and Man Utd's capture of Henrik Larsson, the legend, the footballing genius. I think these two will also be the best purchases of the rest of the season. Montella is already proving his worth for Fulham. So is Larsson. The dark horse could be Julius Aghahowa who has moved from Shaktar to Wigan. Julius was at one time a highly rated striker, we will soon see if he can match the feats of Jay-Jay Okocha or Kanu, his compatriots, in the Premiership.

By the way, wanna know who is the English footballer I most resemble ? I always knew I had a great touch for a big man!! LOL!!

Liverpool 2 Chelski 0

2007-01-22T15:44:00.000-08:00

That was a great result! Liverpool desperately needed something good soon, and this might just be the result that turns things around for us. Kuyt and Pennant were the scorers, while Jamie Carragher was the star in the center of defense. Wish this could happen more often. The truth still remains that this is the first time Liverpool have beaten Chelski in the league since Rafa and Jose arrived in the English league. But hey, lets enjoy it!

So, Liverpool have won two of the five which I had talked about in an earlier post. We are now 5 behind Chelsea, and 11 behind Man Utd. I think it may still be possible to catch Chelski. Though second is hardly the same as first, it would still be terrific.

Being in this situation just keeps reminding you of the wasted points at the beginning of the season. We could easily have been title challengers if we get a good start to the season for once!! Draws against Sheffield Utd and Middlesborough(both away) and Blackburn and Portsmouth(both home), defeats to Everton and Bolton (both away), coupled with defeats to all three of the big four, meant that at the end of November, we had already lost 23 points, out of which only 9 were to the big title contenders. The remaining 14 could have been real handy right now, and would have improved our chances of stealing some of the points from the big 3 too! And in December, we lost to Blackburn again, another three points wasted.

Anyway, West Ham(a), Everton(h) and Newcastle(a) now before the trip to Barcelona.

Brand New Day

2007-01-19T14:19:00.000-08:00

Big weekend coming up.. Liverpool play Chelski, Arsenal play Man Utd. And I am stuck here in the US with no way to watch the games. Darn! Anyway, Liverpool did beat Watford comfortably last week, and here's hoping they find a way to beat the champs. It will be a big favour to Man Utd too, especially if MU can get themselves at least a point against Arsenal. Not that I would usually be rooting for ManUre to win the league, but it will be fantastic to see Chelski bite the dust !!

I'm too busy at work lately, really need to get a lot done and fast. Might have to come in over the weekend and get some stuff done. Wish I could get out of town for a day, but don't think its gonna happen this weekend. And its dull and gloomy outside today, not at all like Phoenix, feels more like Mumbai or Pune, except there's no humidity. Its usually so sunny and nice here most of the year that one gloomy day makes you feel like it was all a mirage. It couldn't have been such a bright lovely day yesterday!! And its raining too, the irritating drizzles all day.

I'm looking forward to partying tonite at Andy's place. Its Mojito party time, and its going to be great fun as usual. We skipped our regular Happy Hour Friday meet at Tailgater's since Andy had to go home and get his cooking done. Usually, the Mojito party would be just us men, but the ladies are getting in on it today. So, there needs to be food, which we wouldn't usually bother about. Just a quesadilla later to soak up the alcohol would be it! Anyway, hope the weather is not a downer.

Did you know Mojitos were the second favourite drink of Ernest Hemingway? Though I think he had a lot more favourites than two!

And James Bond drinks one in the movie "Die Another Day". These facts courtesy Wikipedia.

Current music - still listening to Strings today. I am so bored with most modern music, i cant stand hip-hop or so-called R&B. I can barely stand most of the modern or new-age rock groups. Once in a while, a band like Train writes a song like "Drops of Jupiter" or Green Day writes "Boulevard of broken dreams". Where did all the musical talent go? I keep returning to The Who, Led Zep and Deep Purple among a few other favourites. Even bands like U2 and REM are not cracking it with their new stuff. And Metallica has lost it, they are trying too hard to just fit in. These are sad times musically. What will the next generation have to look back on as great music? Like I look back and wish it was the 70's now. So, Strings it is for today.

The Strings that bind...

2007-01-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

Feeling pretty good today. Have been listening to a lot of good music by Indian and Pakistani bands today. Being a hard-core (or pretty close) classic rock afficionado, it feels good to hear music being made in the sub-continent which can touch me the same way as Zeppelin, Straits etc do.

Of the Indian and Pakistani bands today, Euphoria and Strings are my favourites. Palash Sen, the driving force behind Euphoria is a talented musician, and I like most of their songs. They have a great way of fusing folk music into a lot of their pop songs, these fusion numbers are probably some of their best. They are most likely to trip up on songs which are all out western influenced. They have a new album out called "Mehfuz", and I hope they have a lot of sales.

But Strings is hands down the best band to come out of the sub-continent ever. Bilal Maqsood is a very good guitarist and Faisal Kapadia is an excellent vocalist. And above everything, they make music which is meaningful and literate. Check out the jukebox of their songs playing on their website. I especially love "Dhaani", "Sir Kiyae Yeh Pahar" and "Kahani Mohabbat Ki". Hats off to these guys!

I have great hopes from some other Indian/Pakistani singers or bands. The band Jal came out with a winner in "Woh Lamhey" but have not heard much lately from them. Rabbi Shergill is another and his song "Bulla ki jaana" will remain one of my favourite indi-pop numbers. Though indi-pop brings to mind mostly awful remixes, Baba Sehgal's crappy rap, and loads of British Asians trying to make it big with their bhangra booty shakes. Its up to bands like Euphoria, Strings and the guitar wielding Rabbi to carve out a new genre - maybe Indi-Rock! Aw yeah that
sounds right!

So any readers (not many yet!), go out and BUY their albums. These bands need our encouragement. Download the albums of the brit and american bands by all means ;).

Kiss Me, Judas

2007-01-17T16:32:00.000-08:00

Alright, no football action till the weekend, so lets talk books.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. One of the books which left a haunting image on my mind was Will Christopher Baer's "Kiss Me, Judas". This is the first in a trilogy about the misadventures of Phineas Poe, erstwhile cop, recently released from a psychiatric hospital. On his first night out Poe meets Jude, a prostitute, who unaccountably agrees to spend the night with him - only to wake up to find himself in a bathtub filled with ice and staples on his skin where his kidney was removed. A little note says "If you want to live, call 911."

The book is exactly the way it sounds - dark, atmospheric, surreal. Add to this the fact that Poe cannot remember clearly the details of his wife's death - she was found dead on a boat. Either it was a boating accident, or it may be suicide, or Poe might have killed her. It doesn't help that another lady shows up whom Poe mistakes to be his wife back from the dead. Somethings awfully screwy about Poe and the stuff he is going through.

Poe decides he wants his kidney back. But he cant shake off a dark fascination for Jude, and starts pursuing her. It doesn't help that he needs to keep taking morphine to ease the pain. There are too many painful gaps in his memory and Poe may be hurting more people than he knows, people he does not want to hurt.

Baer is fantastic at building the suspense, and his writing evokes Poe's dreamy, incoherent state very well. He builds the story up to a conclusion which asks as many questions as it answers. On the flip side, the reader will probably want to take a break from the bleakness and go back to the next part of the trilogy only a couple of months after completing the first part. You don't want too much of Phineas!

Definitely recommended for folks who like to delve into the dark side once in a while.

Godfather weekend...

2007-01-16T17:23:00.000-08:00

Watched the Godfather II again this weekend. Reminded myself that I havent yet added that to my list of faves. Wow.. what a movie. Robert De Niro is so good at portraying the subtlety of Vito Corleone's character. He is magnificent in that performance, something I havent been able to say too often lately. Wonder why he hasnt been making more serious movies lately, though I havent yet caught "The Good Shepherd". Al Pacino is brilliant too of course, two of my all-time favourite actors.

The one actor from the younger generation who will ultimately reach the level of these two greats, I believe, is Matt Damon. His performances in movies like "The Talented Mr. Ripley", "Syriana" and "The Departed" have all been brilliant. Another of course is Leonardo Di Caprio. He has been showing his capabilities ever since "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?". Which reminds me of Johnny Depp, another who is already on his way to greatness.

Chelski and Becks

2007-01-12T12:35:00.000-08:00

Heard a real good one about Ballack...

Ballack walks into a cocktail bar in the west end. "Two Martinis, bitte," he pipes up. The barman says "Dry?" Ballack's fuming. Slams his fist on the table and says "Nein! I said two". :))

Like the Beatles said, Money cant buy them love. Chelski have spend countless millions in trying to buy themselves all the trophies they possibly can. They have won the premier league twice now in the process, but are universally hated by all but their own supporters. Even their own supporters cant have failed to note the reasons for their clubs status as the most hated club in the world. Why, people would even support Man Utd just because they are the ones with the best chance of beating Chelski to the winners trophy! That takes a lot of doing, as Utd were definitely the most hated club before Jose Mourinho came along.

I wish they had just stuck with the amiable Claudio Ranieri instead. I am sure he would have got them the same results. Its not like Jose has uncovered gems through his scouting network, he just buys the ones who are making all the headlines. Makelele, Essien, Robben, Crespo, Drogba, and this seasons huge flops Ballack and Sheva. The worst possible failure of a manager is when he cannot get the best out of a proven world-beater like Sheva. Perhaps Mourinho's coaching style is similar to his media personality - obnoxious, out-spoken, arrogant. At least he did have the guts to place Sheva on the bench instead of trying to keep playing him when he is out of form. Another damning statement made about Chelsea is that they are unable to entertain, even though they are a team of galacticos. And then Jose has the audacity to ask "Why dont the Chelsea supporters sing?".

They dont coz they dont have anything to sing about, Jose. Grinding out 1-0 victories at home with Drogba scoring the only goal of the game against much weaker opposition is not what makes supporters break into song!

Of course, as a Liverpool supporter, I cant be too critical of Chelsea's game! Liv havent been setting the pitch on fire lately, but the difference is that the new talent coming in is vastly un-proven. Well, not the Bellamy and Pennant kind, but the Gonzalez, Paletta, Agger kind.

Another big story this week is about Becks's final stand-off with Predrag Mijatovic and the Real Madrid board. Mijatovic gave him an ultimatum, tell us if you will sign a new deal by the end of this week. Beck's comes back with "To Hell with you, I am not going to sign. I'd rather take the $25m a year package with the LA Galaxy"!!

Sad, really sad. I dont think he can be blamed for wanting the money, and it would do wonders for his celeb status living in LA and hobnobbing with Hollywood types of course. I think Becks wants to make his hay while the sun still shines. But from a footballing point of view, its a disastrous decision. He has now closed the doors to his England career for sure. Even if he scores 10 goals a month and sets up 10 more, he will still not get back into the national squad.

A great deal of the blame should fall on Steve Maclaren, I think. His decision to strip Beckham of the captaincy AND to dump him out of the squad was a very dishonest one in my opinion. At the same time, there was no action against players like John Terry and Frank Lampard, who both had very poor World Cups too. In fact, except for Owen Hargreaves, none of the English players did anything at the WC to enhance their reputations. And yet, Becks was made the scapegoat. As a footballer, he still has a lot to offer. Teams like Newcastle, Portsmouth and Bolton would give their right arms (or their managers) to have him play for them, but Becks made it clear that he will not be able to take lining up against Man Utd in the premiership. There was some rumours of Liverpool making a move for him too, but thats highly unlikely. That shows character, I think and a sense of loyalty to the club which ignominously sent out one of their favourite sons.

Unfortunately, Beckhams choice of his next destination will always be seen as more of a money thing than a footballing decision. Hopefully, after a season at LA Galaxy, he may rethink and decide a move to the premier league is not such a bad thing. I believe he easily has at least 3-4 years of football left in him, and the MLS will not be able to hold on to him, if he still has any footballing ambitions that is.

I think thats a long enough rant on footy for today!

Aww man, the Gunners again!

2007-01-09T15:56:00.000-08:00

Well, damn those gunners !! Two games in a row, both at Anfield, and Liverpool gets thrashed! Hard to believe it, but it really seems like the new year has brought more luck to the Gunners than to us.

For those who havent been keeping score, Arsenal first beat Liverpool on Sunday in the FA Cup third round game - 3-1 at Anfield. Then today, they went ahead and beat us again at Anfield, this time its the Carling Cup quarter final and its 6-3 !! Nasty!! Julio "Beast" Baptista scored 4 goals!! He had only scored once before this season, and this was his 14th appearance. According to the match reports though, Jeremie Aliadere, the French kid was the real star for Arsenal, scoring one and creating 3.

Whats really shocking though is that the Liverpool defence has now given away 9 goals in 2 games, both to Arsenal!! From the match reports again, looks like Jerzy Dudek may just have played his last game for Pool. Also, Gabriel Palleta had a nightmare game. Plus both the wasteful Luis Garcia, and Mark Gonzalez had to be stretchered off the ground, so thats worrying news for Rafa.

Its not just a matter of losing two games though. This now means that the only silverware we can win this season is the Champs League. And I am not betting the house on that yet, there's Barca waiting round the corner. On the flip side, now we have two less competitions to worry about, maybe Rafa can reduce the tinkering which caused so many problems early in the season. Concentrating mainly on the Premiership, perhaps just perhaps... we can catch up with Chelski and ManUre. Here's hoping!

We will have a much simpler fixture list now compared to Chelski, Manure and Arsenal. Can that help push us to a higher level in the league? I feel we have probably slipped too much already this season to make any sort of attack on the title, but have we slipped too far off beating Chelski to the runner-up spot?? I dont know, its just 8 points, and theres 16 games to play. By the time we travel to Barca on the 21st of Feb, we will have played 5 league games... if we can have collected all 15 points by then, I'd say we might just be breathing down Chelsea necks then. Chelsea would have played 7 games in that period, Manyoo 6 games and Arsenal a whopping 9 games! Could that be to Liverpool's advantage?

Oh by the way, to get the 15 points before the CL second round away game against Barca, we need to win three away games - Watford, West Ham and Newcastle - and two home games - Chelsea and Everton. I see all of those games as potential defeats for Liverpool, especially if Rafa does not tighten his team up and get them focussed again. But at the same time, I do think we can beat them all too. Chelsea and Everton will be the toughest obviously, even though they are home games. But WH and Watford are both in the relegation zone, Newcastle are on the rise (sort of), so all the games are hard.

But we can do it! I believe in Rafa and Stevie G, and the whole Pool team. Go Liverpool!!! Keep following this blog for updates from Anfield!

The first one

2007-01-02T15:56:00.000-08:00

Alright, so i guess this blog might just be doomed to be visited only by fans of George R.R. Martin and his super fantasy series "The song of ice and fire". Cool!! ;)

Jaime, the King Slayer, might just be one of the most complex literary creations I have yet come across, not just in the fantasy genre, but in all literature that I have sampled thus far. When the series starts, Jaime emerges as the first and foremost hate figure. He remains a shadowy character through the first two books, and then GRRM could not resist giving him a voice. And then the reader gets into the mind of this character, so incredibly wrenched between his hated public persona and what he knows of himself and his motives. Jaime represents all that is brilliant and unique about GRRM's series - the making, and then the breaking, of myths; the refusal to paint any characters as good or evil; making his readers re-think their opinions about liked or not-so-liked characters - and the author's sadistic glee in making the reader lose his bearings by throwing surprise over shock at him/her. His story is made even more fascinating due to the fact that initially you only hear about his terrible deeds, and you take him to be the true son of his diabolical father, Tywin Lannister. And gradually GRRM examines each of those dark deeds and shows us Jaime's view, and sometimes you think that maybe I would have done the same if I was in his place. Things are not always the way they seem. Only GRRM knows what other surprises he has in store for his faithful fans in the next episodes of his series.

I took a long time to complete Book 4, just because some of my favourite characters like Jon Snow, Dany and above all Tyrion were missing from this book. Even Sansa and Arya's stories had lost a little bit of steam, and Samwell's journey was getting monotonous. So the book starts off well, but gradually declines. But I have to say, trying really hard not to give away any spoilers for those who haven't read it yet, the book ends in a tantalising fashion. And since the next book will only concentrate on the characters missing from Book 4, we will have to wait even longer to find out what happens next to Cersei, Jaime, Arya et al. But I am looking forward to finding out what Tyrion is up to. Tyrion is another fantastic and brilliant creation. Pathetic at times, but his moments in this series hugely contribute to the superior nature of this series.

Well, that's enough for a first post.