Sense and Nonsense

Sense - A cricket match in Chennai in March (that's versus SA).

Nonsense - Non-stop cricket. Does anybody think about the players?

Suggestions puh-leez?

Mukesh Ambani has become the richest person in the world in the back of a bull run at the markets. Good news isnt it?

Better news - Now there are people in India who tell (read determine) you what to wear and what not to wear in your daily routine. For example, they tell you not to wear shorts while jogging. What should one wear then? Sherwani?

Suggestions puh-leez?

Red Sox win!

12.12AM - Boston Red Sox wins the MLB World Series 2007.

Waiting to watch Jonathan Papelbon do his river dance. He has promised to pull in Beckett too!

Driving and Sehwag

It is always a pleasure to drive in an organized environment where people mind their business and respect the law to a good extent making lives easy for themselves and others. My first driving experience in the US, a long one to Scranton - 3 hrs one way, all alone by myself. Except for the nasty rain in CT, it was a wonderful experience and gave me great confidence to go on for long drives.

There is one aspect that stands out in the US among drivers - courtesy to pedestrians and to other fellow drivers. Now this is something that is unheard of back home. I will not say it was a shock when I first saw this in US, but there was an instant feeling - oh boy how good is this!

I showed this video to my friends in between our weekly dose of Lollu Sabha and yes, the thought of driving back home scared the bejeezus out of them. There is no concept of yield there for all practical purposes - its all about adjustment and co-ordination. You are speeding on a road and bang comes another vehicle. Or even a buffalo. What will you do?

All you need to possess for driving in India is some street smartness and a good eye-leg coordination. Just like Sehwag - known for his hand-eye coordination.

Free Taco

Taco Bell has offered a free taco for every stolen base during the ongoing MLB World Series between Boston and Colorado. Guess what, we had the first stolen base by Jacoby Ellsbury in Game 2 at Fenway.

Now, this is an offer - cya at Taco on Tuesday.

Azhagiya Tamizh Magan - Music Review

A.R. Rahman is back - with a bang. Fresh voices, peppy numbers and an added folk touch constitute Azhagiya Tamizh Magan. Rahman has introduced a couple of singers - Benny and Ujjayinee and selection of singers should be really appreciated - they sing in Tamizh, if you know what I mean.

6 songs in the album - each one in a different genre.

Ellaa Pugazhum - No prizes for guessing this is the intro song for Vijay. The lyrics is as usual - hero mass masala material interspersed with junk. But its Rahman's high energy rendering of the song that stands out.

Nee Marilyn Monroe - Sung by the two debutants, the song is so so stylish with some peppy lyrics by Na. Muthukumar. The song ought to be shot in picturesque locales - should be a Namitha song. I am hearing it again and again already.

Maduraikku Pogadhedee - A superb folk song from Rahman zestfully rendered by Benny and co. Pa Vijay is the lyricist and does full justice. Starts with "Karpoora Kannikaiye Vaarai" and all the village elements are in total unison. Folk makes its way into a Rahman album after a long time and in great style.

VaLayapatti Thavile - My pick of the album. The song has funny lyrics by Na. Muthukumar and Rahman has taken it to a totally different level with the fresh sound of Nagaswaram and Thavil. Naresh Iyer is bound to go places with his rendering of "mayakkuriye!". Oh boy what a voice he has!

The lyrics is funny and at the same time quite creative - using harmonium and hormone as rhyming words is one example.

நீ நெருங்கும் போது கரண்ட் யேருதே உங்க ஊரு கல்பாக்கமா
நரம்பெல்லாம் முறுக்கேறுதே யேண்டி நீயும் மணப்பாறையா

This song is bound to be a fan favorite and the piece below suggests this could be another song for Namitha.

உன் கை கால் என்ன மத்தளமா
உன்ன வாசிக்க பின்னால் சுத்தணுமா

KeLaamal Kaiyilae - A soothing melody rendered by Saindhavi and Sriram Parthasarathy. The techno beats inbetween the classical rendering transcends you into a different world. The start reminds you of "Aagaya Vennilaave" from Arangettra VeLai. But the lyrics of the song itself is suggestive of it - clever!

கேட்டு ரசித்த பாடல் ஒனறே மீண்டும் இன்று நியாபகம் தூண்ட...

PonmagaL VandhaaL - yet another remix and its good in its own way.

Is it a rule now that each movie should have atleast one? Perhaps remixing songs is a better and simple option than remaking yesteryear movies. And when the right song is taken for tampering, it does stand out in most cases - "Ennamma Kannu" from the recent Dhanush starrer is one.

Overall...

• Rahman is on course for back to back super hit albums
• Vijay's movie for once has no yelling by Shankar Mahadevan
• No Madhushree and Udit Narayanan - nobody to kill the language.
  

மலைக்கோட்டை

Started watching Vishal's "Malaikottai". Stopped after 20-25 minutes... முடியல. KG asked me if it was as in Vadivelu's "Mudiyala". Yes it was.

After "Malaikottai" Vishal seems to me like another Vijay in the making. He already has a stupid title "புரட்சி தளபதி" that is the copywright of Tamil cinema. You would know it better if you had cleared the TOTPM (Test of Tamil movies as Ph.D material)

The best comment came in "Madhan's Thirai Paarvai" (courtesy: Vijay TV). Here we go, the cartoonist in submile form...

"விஷால் வந்து... நெரய்யா நல்ல படம் எல்லாம் நடிக்கணும். நல்லா வரணும். ஆனா போர போக்க பாத்தா, அவர் படத்துல வில்லன் வந்து "உன் பின்னாடி யாரு டா இருக்காங்க"-னு கேக்கும் போது ஆடியன்ஸ பாத்து "இவங்க தான்"-னு சொல்லுவாரோனு கொஞ்சம் கவலையா இருக்கு"

Joke of the year

This has to be the joke of the years 2007, 2008 and 2009. In an even lighter vein,

S: Manmohan Singh is the boss of UPA
M: என்னைய வெச்சு ஒண்ணும் காமெடி கீமெடி பண்ணலியே?

திருக்குறள்

Sreesanth doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes. Here is yet another piece of his on-field theatrics. He for sure has already fixed an appointment for him with the match referee after this series is over. Or we can say...

அடக்கம் அமரருள் உய்க்கும் அடங்காமை
கூப்ட்டுவைத்து கலாசப் படும்

Boorish and Boring - ?!?!?

This is the title of Nirmal Shekar's article in today's Hindu about Sreesanth's on-field behavior - which is quite pathetic to see (and hilarious too).

After reading the first paragraph, I had a doubt as to what the title will be more apt for - Sreesanth's behavior or the writer's repeated attempts writing articles assuming the readers are the judges of a literary contest?

It's deja vu, if you regularly read (or avoid reading) his articles.

I made an effort to finish reading it. I must confess - its simple english by his standards - % incomprehensibility is quite less. The matter is largely conveyed inspite of English language's own speedbreakers in between.

Special Occasions

Murungakka has lamented about how special programs aired in TV channels on national holidays are getting increasingly monotonous and மொக்கை and also suggested that TamBrahms make a special bakshanam for Gandhi Jayanthi.

How about "உப்ப"ு கொழக்கட்டை? It can be patented for Gandhi Jayanthi just like சீடை for Krishna Jayanthi.

?!?!?

Junk

This is மொக்கை time yet again. VK has unleashed two in a row over the weekend.

Spicing up everything is Gabtun's gimmicks in Kollywood. VK calls this the funniest link ever. KG researches alternate sources of battery power for laptops.

Agency sources in Seattle say that s/w companies are vying to hire Gabtun for integrating spreadsheet and data processing cababilities (yeah, spelling is correct) into Windows Media Player

Closing note on Gabtun's inspiration: Abdul Kalam என்ன சொன்னாரு? India will become a superpower in 2020. ஆயிட்டோம்ல??

Put a sock!

I chanced to read this article in IBNlive. Come on, put a sock in it! When are we going to stop finding faults in everything?

• If Shahrukh watched the game in Jo'burg, its his own business.


• Even if he promoted the movie, its his movie, he has to publicize it and he can do whatever he wants to do about it. Why should it bother others?


• Why should movies/persons be linked to cricket just for the sake of it? Already the word "Chak de" is in my word hate list simply because too much is being made out of it for no big reason.

As an aside, no cricket fan in India or Pakistan will care about any other damn thing when an India-Pak match is going on, leave alone a Hindi movie!

So, stop crap. Enjoy your cricket!

The Perfect Script

The Twenty 20 World Cup that concluded in South Africa yesterday was perhaps the most popular and successful cricketing event since Ashes 2005, the 2007 World Cup in the Carribbean being an obvious mismanaged flop.

This tournament had everything packaged such a way that it culminated in a terrific success with a marquee final

• Brilliant management
• Great organization
• Cheaper ticket prices
• Zero torture in the name of security
• Cheering dancers lined up in the stadia for the games and several other intangibles.

Adding to this were various happenings on-field that spiced up the proceedings the most notable ones being the following

• 'Ga(y)le' storm kicked off the tournament with such brutality that it woke up people to make note of some sensational action that was about to follow.


• Australian attitude - Its so typical. If they win, its because of practice and the training camps. If they lose, its because they just had fun. Lackadaisical attitude cost them dearly in the initial stages while youthful exuberance knocked them out of the championship


• Minnow Bashing - Courtesy Sri Lanka


• All tied up - The spectacular tie at Durban followed by the un-spectacular bowl-out to decide the result


• English Special - The inventors of the newest format of the game were the vanquished yet again. Deja vu


• Violence - India rubbed salt on England's already sore wounds as Yuvraj and Co. went berserk at the Kingsmead. Off the field, Durban - 600028 made waves over the internet


• "Choke" de South Africa - The number games proved elusive yet again as the hosts digged themselves into an ignominious exit


• Stop 'em - Australia sent tumbling out of the contest in the semi-finals by India


• The showpiece of 'em all - a nerve wracking "India - Pakistan" final, India taking home the first ever T20 championship. No one can ask for a better script to a final

Everybody opined that the tournament was going to be a bowler's graveyard but its the bowlers who won the games for the teams barring the opener. This factor has contributed to the terrific success of the tournament.

Now, T20 is being talked about (yeah its just the media, no one else really) as the future of the game. But yes, this format of the game will spread like fire in Cricket's biggest market. Take out the cliched terms - purists, classic etc. If you think from a public perspective. what do they love - belligerent hitting, delirious fun all inside 3 1/2 hours, half the duration of a 50-over game. Right? But what happens to the game?!?

The ICC for once has been prudent enough here allowing just 7 T20 games per year for a team sandwiched between Tests and ODIs - yeah yeah, the classical form and the instant form of the game. That number is a bit high but a definite stranglehold on traditional swindlers like the BCCI. Pat Pat Pat.

Too much of anything is bad. So toast the success of T20. Enjoy Test Cricket.

Oh yeah!

Got this as a forward. Brilliant creativity yet again. வாழ்க தமி்ழ் சினிமா