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.