The comments on this SepiaMutiny post were sincerely stimulating.

Among other things, am just hoping JPM, Button and Trulli rise to the occasion and beat alonso hereafter. I think JPM and Button will do that.
At the rate at which JPM's going, I doubt if the McLaren car's next versions and all will be as much suited to him as it is for Kimi. Kimi's been exceptional so far. JPM needs to buck up. He's an excellent driver and I hope he dominates the other cars consistently soon.

Because of this Ashes and all, my interest in cricket increased again and I chanced on this World XI vs Aus XI article. I cant even believe you have players like Pollock, Kallis and even Sachin in the team while Inzy is left out. Ok, atleast Sachin has some past glory which could carry him for another year I guess..

I used to love Aravinda De Silva in his prime (his last few years esp). He was a batting god !

My fav conventional players (might be a few ex players here n there. )
1.Brian Lara
2.De Silva
3.Adam Gilchrist
4.Inzy
5.Mark Taylor (C) - (I dunno why he isnt mentioned as 1 of the great captains. He really was 1 !)
6.Wasim Akram
7.Waqar
8.Warne
9.Akthar
10.Yuvraj
11.Mark Waugh (His batting was 1 of the most stylish things in all sport i've seen)

Hows that for a XI..I know, not balanced and all..But still good enough. Just watching Lara and DeSilva square-cutting for six at both ends would be ...am at a loss for words!

Days ago, I was thinking how I was going to catch hold of the Volunteers first home game against UAB, as I work my butt off coding for some snazzy hi-tech company in downtown San Jose.

And here I am, today, thinking of where to eat in a couple of hours - McDonalds or BurgerKing !

This job search seems to be a humbling phase..But maybe, thats what makes it exciting.

Rediff's business section is one sane tab in an otherwise 'India shining' gibberish..
This article was actually good

I especially like the way Haq talks about setting up the place with the proper ambience/tools to make things happen, as in Si valley.
And I think he has a point about Pune being the place in India. Personally I think Chennai/Coimbatore is as good a bet. Ofcourse, you need to figure in the fact that the only place I have been outside South India is Bombay..I saw Pune's railway station on the way though..Not a bit better than Arakkonam though!

I love this Venture Capitalist kinda positions..Risk-taking in all its glory, it sure is! I wish I'd be one some day (just a try atleast!)
Pramod Haq went to North Western univ; I am at a univ in the South East..Hey, we seem to be sharing something..like antonyms or something..atleast, thats a start.

How i miss this

Whenever I do something out of obligation, the end result of the effort takes a severe hit.

Like this blog post for instance.

I love Jack Nicholson.

The gap between Alonso and Kimi is actually smaller than it looks. Provided kimi does a top2 finish and ferrari are again resurgent and along with trulli/ralf, can create a sandwich b/w kimi and alonso for atleast 4 races, I am sure its gonna be decided in China. I think Alonso will be defensive, which anyway he is. I doubt if he's a good driver. These next 6 races will let me know. I guess Tiago would be alonso-2...steady,reliable finishing,consistent etc etc..
Ok, this analogy doesnt mean i put narain ji together with JPM...

Accepting my limitations
And living up life as per the norm
Is a stupid bane
I can do well without.

Like the columnist Sainath once wrote about drought, every1 loves a good whipping boy.

Kamal Haasan, Kobe Bryant, Sourav Ganguly, Brian Lara, Shoaib Akthar.
They all have 2 things in common.. They are some of my favorite stars.
Another common thread - all whipping boys !

But I hope I just dont always like stars because they are outcasts( well, sorta..). Sometimes, I hate the notion 'the people know best', used mainly, to explain box office success, that can be applied to this superstar scenario as well I guess. Well, I dont first believe in that notion I stated before.

People have made a supermegagigastar out of Rajinikanth and just another actor out of Kamal Haasan. Well, Rajinikanth doesnt make sense to me at all. Talks about spirituality to the extent that makes believers wonder if they are believers indeed (on a more serious note, without any effective meaning, atleast to me). Burnt his hand trying to venture into politics. Made 2 mega excuses for a movie (Valli and Baba were the ones). Says he is not interested in money/movie success but inner peace(yes, he said that a few days back) . KamalHaasan talks the talks and walks the walk (ok..ok, atleast he's frank and lives for himself, not trying to put on an image for society). Did rajinikanth correctly understand/analyze the mass thinking and come up with stuff that they liked..I dont think so ( Well, if he did that indeed that well, I would just think he's really clever, thats all. Too many ppl credit rajini with doing that, although i think its being overdone). Ok, I guess I am a little confused for my own comfort here..Maybe, you see the point am trying to make already. Most of the mega stars seem to ppl who though clever, seem to be living for the society. Most whipping boys seem to living their own life. Living your own life and being a mega-star seems to be a no-no for the masses.


Currently listening: Pudhu Vellai Mazhai (Roja)

Its been a while since I followed cricket. But i just dont understand why ppl/media are going so 'ooh..aah' abt greg chappel. I dont know if half the guys who wax eloquent about him have seen him in action, of some sort.

I would go with some1 like arjuna ranatunga for a coach.

And btw, I guess Schumi is light on fuel. If that is the case and given the hungary circuit, not unexpected stuff from ferrari, who though lacking in technology, are still strategy champs.
I am bullish on bar for next year..Button's cool.

Hoo boy! Its been quite some time now..Schumi vs. Montoya.
Watch out for the first corner tomorrow!

One of the patrons of this blog (can hear gasps) suggested that I stop using this a personal diary and start some active serious blogging. That thought has been doing the rounds in my mind.
Maybe after I get set here, which could take quite sometime, I am going to start some real serious blogging. Maybe I guess I will rope in a few of my friends to have a collective issues/ideas based blog.

On another note, I think blogs have become an overrated phenomenon, ofcourse mainly due to the mainstream media. I liked blogs initially and used to read a lot of them. But most of the good blogs nowadays are no different from MSM, in that a lot have lost objectivity, beyond a point. On my personal puking scale, posts devoid of objectivity would top it all, suburban Chennai girls a close second and Tennessee whiskey a distant third.

I think I was never really demanding, as a kid.
One of the very few things that I politely demanded at home was quitting complan and switching to coffee. This was refused because I was in Class IV then.
3 years on, my demand was accepted. I have since, taken to coffee in such a way that the quantity I consume sometimes even stupefies me.

And why O why does poor kimi have no luck? He really does have some ice in him, for such a season as his would have made a retard out of any normal driver. I guess the next 3 races could dictate narain's progress in F-1. If he does well now, I guess some teams dont hv too sophisticated a technology to refuse him for the next season or the one after.

Each man fending for himself rather than for the society at large sounds like a sensible foundation for a successful society or whatever you want to call it.

I watched Yuva yesterday, again. Michael mukherjee's wish to transform politics/society is his own self. His supporters' wish to transform society is not. Rather they are wanna be good samaritans. This is evident when after the life attempt on Michael and his recovery, they all gather and say they would not contest the elections, fearing for life. Because, their thoughts earlier on the same topic was not 1 of conviction but of feeling good by doing something for society. Although I am not making any revelations here, Maniratnam's potrayal of this was just remarkable. It is clear that trying to do social good for the sake of feeling good will lead nowhere.

Capitalist socialism might be a really cool idea.

I was listening to 'Margazhi poove' - an ARR classic. Its been like half a decade since I last heard it. Felt like I had re-discovered ARR.
Roja and MayMaadham were a little different from ARR works - they were sublime. Somehow, down the line, ARR's music became a tad too commercial for my liking I guess.

On an unrelated note, I just saw my room today which looked like a 'dress garage'. I havent done my laundry for 1.5 months now i guess. This bachelor life so totally rocks!

As I try to scramble through every possible job search portal, the only thing that pops in my head is "Why doesnt google have a job portal?"

Heck, I thot i would be selecting a nice job from a few offers sometime back.
Although that seems as far-fetched a thought as Uncle Pai being selected for the Pulitzer, this job search phase seems exciting nonetheless.

Pretty informative interview
Indiscriminate projects and clearances in the name of development for political showmanship and political gains is pathetic.

I dont know why jayalalitha is not taking this seriously.

Its interesting that while TamilNadu has had some really smart politicians, it's never had, in recent times, a head of the caliber of s.m.krishna or the street-smartness of c.naidu who had pretty good vision for development. (Although whether what c.naidu was indiscriminate and intent only on s/w is another debate altogether). But even through all this, the state has somehow managed to be in the top 5 states, on the economic front. Well, thats a tribute to something that the state possesses..i dont know what.

It would have been interesting if rajaji was CM for a longer time. I think rajaji was a visionary, although 1 of his ideas (regarding education based on father's occupation i think) seemed a little confusing to me.

When will raaga understand that their advertisements in between songs are downright irritating. Its become an automatic reaction these days..i dont even think before clicking the fwd button when they play some money sending ad.
Not too much of a thot process goes on in these kind of advertisement creation and stuff i guess..I mean, raaga's not the loser, the advertisers are.

I am all for a good ad, if it sounds cool. I hated watching ads in between programs when i was in india. But here, the ads are actually pretty good that I infact enjoy them at times.
I guess, the huge ad on rediff page covering all the news sets another low in showcasing advertising skills.

Look at blogger..Even though the ads on different blogs dont exactly make the page look great, they are atleast on the sidelines. Atleast, you arent irritated; infact get some 'good samaritan like feeling' (though such feelings go against my recently acquired capitalist leanings) when you click on some random guy's blog.

Ideally tomorrow should go this way.

JPM catches up with Alonso, overtakes him and keeps him behind.
Meanwhile, Kimi charges from 12th to 3rd. (how easily said :) )

Aah. Battle royale for 10 laps!
Then, Alonso sandwiched b/w the Mclarens and gives in to the pressure. Now, its battle time b/w JPM and Kimi. Am just waiting to watch if there would be team orders in this case. If there are, I might not root for McLaren anymore.

Keeping my arms, legs and finally fingers crossed.
Lets see.

Read 'Digital Fortress' by dan brown. Sucked.
Not unlike Anniyan. I am yet to get over the mental trauma of watching tht movie.

btw, i am beginning to see too many patterns in life/events these days.. Feels wonderful.

I am beginning to understand communism more and more. And my appreciation for capitalism continues to grow with it.

Pink Floyd's liberating.

Was Chirac's joke abt English food any reason at all for Paris losing out to London for the olympics bid??
Anyways, European news has never been this interesting in a long time. As some daily pointed out, Blair seems to winning his gambles with the poise normally shown by the French.

Enough of Asian and SAARC games, New Delhi..Bid for Olympics, atleast by 2030..
Heck, if C.Naidu was still CEO of Andhra, I guess we would've seen Hyderabad's name on the bid, sooner than later.

I guess I've become too much of a regular at the coffeeshop in the library that am being given free coffee once in a while these days. Free Brazilian coffee..talk abt luxury!

Continuing on my quest for 'classy' music,
Currently listening - 'Elangaathu Visudhe' -Pithamagan(nothing to rant and rave abt..come to expect it of the Maestro).