Why?

I get this dream once in a while - that i have flunked in one of my Tamil exams. I guess it was college as I remember seeing Selva in the class.  This comes along once in every 2 months I guess - most recently, a week ago.  And every time, it is a pathetic performance - always in single digits.  Despite this, I am working for 4 years but everybody makes fun of this :-D

It is pretty weird for two reasons - first, Tamil was always one of my favourite papers - I did score pretty high in X std and second, there was no Tamil exam in college.  This genre is definitely getting a little over board as Geography joined the list 2 days ago.  Grrr...

Now, that's two of my favorite subjects.  I don't know why I keep getting it - probably because I did not choose "Advanced Tamil" elective in the 1st sem?!?  Nobody did!  Or is that why?!?  I honestly hope that it is NOT the answer ;-)

Hope the new year rings in peace and prosperity world over and for God's sake, some better dreams if they are centered around school and/or college.

Happy New Year!

To sum up this week,

• இந்திய‌ கிரிக்க‌ட் வ‌ர‌லாற்றில் முத‌ல் முறையாக‌, இர‌ண்டு வீர‌ர்க‌ள் த‌ன்மான‌த்துட‌ன் ஒய்வு பெற்ற‌ன‌ர்! மேலும் தெறிந்து கொள்ள ப‌டியுங்க‌ள் cricinfo.com

• my roomie's ongoing search for a belt to match a shoe that is apparently brown -- the common concensus here is that the shoe is red in color.  Just think about the ones the police inspectors in tamil movies wear. Come on, no self respecting belt manufacturer will ever make one in that color for crying out loud!

• Bosses for once are nice to their reports.  What is going on??  However, with all due respect - the crankiness still persists.

• A gorgeous Christmas tree was setup outside my office and every evening will be a sight to behold for the next 2 months with all the spectacular lighting.

• And finally, my quest for the perfect haircut in this country continues.

Rubbing salt

More than India's sound thrashing of the world champion Aussies, it was the final presentation ceremony and the numerous discussions that followed that will be etched in my memory for a long time.  If the players got under their skin in the aftermath of the mauling at Mohali (மா நா‍‍-வுக்கு மா நா ;-)), it was the commentators and the other hosts' words that were so scathing to say the least -- boy wasn't the cricketing world waiting for this thrashing?!?  I bet Ian Chappell was not able to sit inside the neo sports studio after the game.

 

Everyone pays for being arrogant.  Aussies got their due back this time.

The flush

It has always been a steady bash of hot weather throughout the year back home save 2-3 months when its in the low thirties and ofcourse the NE monsoon -- ask any native of Madras and you will know that the seasonal changes ceased to exist - or so it seems!

Living outsitde the city for a couple of years now has been a great chance to observe how things change climatically in unseen waters.  I have often wondered how these guys define dates for the start of a season and they are pretty accurate indeed.  Regardless of the prediction, it looks to me like there is a sudden rush of blood for mother nature that indicates that a seasonal change is on the way in the next week or so.  I call it "the flush".

Now that we were all enjoying the spectacular fall colors this late into the year, nature has apparently decided "enough".  Super heavy rain for the past 2 days flushed out all leaves out of the trees.  The barren look on the trees sends a chill down your spine as Winter stares hard at you -- "here I come".  We can safely sing "ellam black and white-il therigiradhey" for the next 4-5 months.

I can't wait for the next flush -- 2 days of close to 55-60F temperature and overnight rain to clear out the snow and usher in summer.

Saroja

Watch it in theaters and till the credits fully roll-over at the end.

IE8

is probably last in the history of browsers thus far to include crash recovery.  And yeah, it still crashes an awful lot.   IE6, for me, has certainly been the best of the bunch from the guys up there in Seattle.

The Jinx

I knew I was due for something when I wrote about insulting the Doberman. A two foot tall spotted labrador pounced when I was walking home.  Screw the idiot who did not tie the leash and would continue to yell "Cody, come back".  How will he?  I did not move an inch for a minute.  A couple of taps on Cody's head and he went back.

Apparently he is 5 months old.  Are you kidding me?

Sathyam

Taking digs at famous dialogues from older cop stories doesn't help one make another cop story.

If you mock Kaakha Kaakha, a great movie and Saamy which was a smash "mass" hit in the opening scene of a movie, then you are to blame yourselves. Original screenplay and dialogues lend a helping hand in cop stories and that totally lacks in Sathyam.

After all the build up, I watched it for some 30 mins and could not take it anymore. The story did not even start. And Nayanthara has a couple of stupid punch dialogues. Hello? What is going on?

On a lighter side, if a bullet costs Rs.50 in 2003 (Kaakha Kaakha), it will cost a lot lot more in 2008!

New Songs

The past 5-6 weeks, I've been listening to quite a few new albums - Anjathey, Dhaam Dhoom, Saroja, Sakkarakatti etc., A few of the them are refreshing. Sakkarakatti is one, Saroja chips in too.

All this amidst reusability engineering by Harris Jayaraj, A.R.R magic at times and the now famous guest appearnces by the Udit Narayanan and Madushree chapters of the "Association of sh**** pronunciation/roadkill of Tamil lyrics".

One thing about the "Marudhani" song in Sakkarakatti. People seem to love it. Well I don't - just because of the way the lyrics have been butchered. Vijay has come up with this. I am ROTFL.

There is one and only one reason why a singer should not sing a language he/she does not know - it is because they don't know it.

And this certainly ain't Relativity!!

Common Sense

The first experience always sets a few things right for the rest of your life. The first Watermelon made me bedridden for 5 days during school. I've never touched another piece after that. Similar situation with Doberman - it is one dog that I've always feared and will probably continue to.

Right from the first time I saw one in a friend's house, that was early 90s, - yeah it was taller and pounced on me. After a few years, I never used to fear any type of dog, atleast in India - ask Selva, I used to escort him when dogs patrol the ECE department and the adjacent areas :-)

But Dober has always scared me and still does. Look at that guy. How can anyone ever name him/her "Fluffy"? I mean, come on! It's an insult to the breed.

Thank God dogs don't understand English.

Wimbledon Finals '08

Easily the best tennis match for the next 2-3 years unless Mr. Nadal and Mr. Fedex choose to re-script it. And I believe they will. Nadal has certainly caught up with the master and might have just moved a bit up the psychological ladder.

What a final! - If the 4th set tiebreaker alone comes as a DVD, I will buy it without the slightest hesitation in my mind.

Niagara Falls

The third best place in the world after Madras and Las Vegas.

Apparently 90% of the water in the falls constitute the horse shoe and the rest is split at 3 other places. Just defy all laws of physics for a while - forget about being washed away, the force of the water is so much that if it falls directly on your head you will be hammered into the ground. The "Cave of the Winds" ride lets you have a "near hammering" experience. Water falls onto the rocks and sprinkles with such ferocity on your face. It is the best bath ever!

Nature at its magnificient best. எத்த‌னை கோடி இன்ப‌ம் வைத்தாய் இறைவா?

Perspective

Take this for a vision. This is something that definitely ought to be given some serious thought

Dasavatharam Songs

2 பாட்டு புரிய‌ல‌
2 பாட்டு பிடிக்க‌ல‌
2 பாட்டு decent to good.

And its likely that in a very long time, Kamal's new songs are not on their way to my ipod.

Starring down the barrel

Phoenix Crybabies err... Suns are in a hole that no team has ever come out from - a 0-3 deficit in a 7-game series. San Antonio thrashed them in Phoenix late last night in an offensive clinic.

Hello? Where the those who predicted a Suns series win in 5/6 games?!?

இது வேற‌யா?

As if all the unnecessary "talks" around Indian players playing in IPL and jokers in Maharashtra talking about cheer leaders is not enough, freakish behavior has taken center stage.

The last thing the playing nation wanted!

No one deserves this better

Emmanuel David "Manu" Ginobili has atlast won the "Sixth Man of the year" award - something which I believe he should have won twice already. Of course, it is the votes that count. Oh yes, Manu won 123 of the possible 124 first place votes garnering 615 of the 620 possible points!

The Spurs' super sub has been nothing but brilliant all season along and has upped the ante in the playoffs against the Suns averaging 26.5 points a game.

Manu received the award minutes before game 2 tipped off in SA.

Go Spurs!

Dispelling Darkness

ADMK had called for mass "lamp lighting" to dispell darkness in TN by inviting "Amma" to herald a new beginning at Fort St. George. The event happened yesterday.

No Comments.

Instant Success

There was so much haste, hype, hoopla, high-profile player draft, star power and "filmy" power surrounding the IPL kick-off. Also, there was this bunch of jokers in BCCI trying to flex their muscles messing up with coverage rights and the threat of the media boycotting the we-have-nowhere-to-go show piece event loomed large.

Brendon McCullum had other ideas. What we witnessed on the first day of IPL is what we have not seen in ICL so far, now in its second season.

IPL is here to stay.

Yaaradi Nee Mohini

Browse the internet for reviews. I am not writing one.

The movie was certainly fun to watch. The entire theater watched the movie as a group of friends and we were in splits a majority of the time courtesy the scenes and the plethora of comments that came up.

Takeaways

• Find a s/w company that does coding in the beaches of Australia although its tough to find a PM like Nayan
• Everybody can start and run s/w companies. All you need is DOS and a CD Drive. Full project-a DOS ம‌ட்டுமே வெச்சு deliver ப‌ண்ண‌லாம்‍-னு என‌க்கு நேத்திக்கு தான் தெரியும்.
  

Finally, Yuvan, Selva and co. deserve whacks on their butts using "Uruttu Kattais" for asking and then allowing Udit Narayanan to sing 2 songs.

First, his voice does not suit Dhanush (and everybody else in Kollywood for that matter). Second, he tosses the language for a roadkill - just the way he pronounces a majority of the Tamil words spoiling the beauty of the language. He pronounces "Azhagu" as "Azhukku". Shame on the crew!

P.S: For the benefit of people who don't know Tamil, Azhagu means beauty and Azhukku means Filth.

A dream come true

2nd March '08. East Rutherford, NJ - I had been to watch my Spurs play in NJ. It was a wonderful experience in a very well organized arena. I had been waiting for ever to watch an NBA game live and this year was the time.

And, the Spurs won. Yee haw!!!

We need a break!

I got my driver's license back home more out of a necessity. But ever since, driving has been a passion. And driving here in the US has been an experience in itself - one to ruminate life-long. I prefer driving with one hand while the other one will be on the gears (its auto-tx but still... I love stick shift) or the ipod or putting "ThaaLam".

In the past week, I've been forced to drive two handed - its because of the horrible weather. Gloves are of no help. You need to have your hands near the a/c vent! I hate it!

Now, its snowing again. Come on, daylight savings are a week away. Take a time out. We need a break!

Bones is back in the Alamo city!

Brent "bones" Barry has decided to join his old team - the team that traded him along with Francisco Elson to Seattle for the big man Kurt Thomas - the Spurs! Or is this a surprise?

The NBA this year has been at its frentic best with blockbuster trades looming under rumors, strokes of sheer brilliance, players veto-ing trades with their "Larry Bird" rights, trades spoiled by "leaky mouths" of players speaking to the media and of course the deadline thrillers.

There was a long running rumor about Jason Kidd being traded to Dallas for Harris, Stackhouse and others in a multi player deal. However, they lost a chance to take advantage of a loophole in NBA's rules - the 30 day period, when Mr. Stackhouse turned "Mr.Otta vaai" and said "I'll be back in Dallas in 30 days". All this after one Mr. Devean George refused to be a part of that trade using his Larry Bird rights. The world wondered if this trade will ever go through! It did, but after so much speculation and headaches and with a fresh set of players.

The Spurs simply used an advantage the media provides them every year - yeah, they do not cover them till the playoffs. They announced that they had traded Barry and Elson for Thomas. And boy, there was not even a semblance of a rumor! Barry had a calf injury that would cost him 30 more days, so Seattle waived him and now Barry is joining the Spurs on March 21st after five teams other than the Spurs went on a begging spree to sign him up.

And this is indeed a master stroke. Nobody knows Barry's health condition better than the Spurs and they used his "recuperation period" to pull off a trade involving him and now they get him back!

Dallas and others, that is how you do a trade!

Spurs fans, double delight ain't it? Barry is back shortly after the Spurs dispatched the Mavs in a high-octane thriller.

Go Spurs!

Words matter

The Indian Premier League (IPL) - hastily started in an attempt to ward off Indian Cricket League (ICL)'s threat had its franchises recruit players on Tuesday in an "auction".

Auction is not the best option to pick players for any tournament. The players may not be rookies and so you cannot really rank them and recruit, but atleast the monetary issues have to be handled with utmost sincerity and sensitivity.

The sheer money involved here has raised everybody's eyebrows and sparked off needless debates and controversies. Don't be surprised if somebody calls for a probe into this! It's India. And of course you have a plethora of cliches like "cricket under the hammer", "players become greedy" blah blah blah...

Alternatively, use of the word "draft" in place of auction and sensible handling of the monetary matters with the media would have paid of better. Having made an attempt to challenge ICL, taking a cue from their books ain't that bad!

BCCI brains are still raw.

The all-star weekend

The all-star weekend at New Orleans was easily NBA entertainment at its best.

Daniel Gibson hitting 11 shots from downtown in the rookie challenge, two 7-footers from San Antonio winning the shooting contest, Jason Kapono setting a 3-point shootout record, the best slam dunk contest ever and a thriller of an all-star game - the weekend had everything a fan asked for.

The dunk contest was the sickest and arguably the most creative ever. Gerald Green kicked of the creative extravaganza blowing off a candle on a cup cake placed atop the rim while dunking in. And Dwight "Superman" Howard put on an exhibition of amazing creativity and incredible power becoming one of the rarest big men victors in the contest.

Starting off with a vicious 360 windmill from behind the backboard, Dwight followed it up with the "Superman" dunk and followed it up with a left hand to backboard to right hand slam in the finals capping off the night with another sick dunk - picking up a ball from a small net affixed on the backboard and slamming in a windmill. Watch Dwight's sticker dunk last year - sad he did not make it to the finals!

There was also a flip side of creativity when Rudy Gay asked the public via youtube for dunks he can perform on stage.

The dunk contest has been revived and no one will fear that it will lose its sheen - atleast for the next few years. And the bar has been set so high that emulating it is going to need something out of box!

People and Poodle

Munaf Patel - Either get a haircut or bowl fast.

Now, one will talk about Ishant's hair style too. No offense meant to him but on the first look I thought his hairstyle resembled a Poodle. The comparison stops there - he has been a hound down under.

Talking about the usage of Poodle to refer people, nothing can beat the reference to Tony Blair as George Bush's Poodle.

180 + 180 = 360

Today was the first time I got to drive during a snow storm and oh boy, what an experience it was!

In the early stages it was just like "white dust" blowing heavily across and it was not tough to negotiate it. I continued my drive on I-84 and it was still okay and pretty much easily manageable until I got off the highway. By then, the roads were just nasty and full of tire marks and dirty snow. The marks took whatever grip that remained on the road and all that was there was hydroplaning. Or should I call it iceplaning/snowplaning etc?!?

Anticipating the need to brake often, courtesy a plethora of traffic lights I took a detour through a country road and that was it! A suave 180 degree spin at the entrance. That country road was hiddeous! Luckily the other road with all those signals was just a stone's throw away. So, left turn, detour again and boy, another 180 degree spin - this time even worse and wobbly. All these when driving at 5-10 mph.

Some presence of mind and absence of any cars around saved the day and I reached home safe. Malai had a 360 + 360 experience driving in sleet. Jeezaloo!

And, where is the guy who honked hard twice at me from an SUV? Why don't you drive a compact size car and honk from inside? Driving in snow ain't fun dude!