I forgot to post about our weekend last weekend in Los Angeles. We had so much fun .. Friday night we went to The Standard hotel after dinner and it was quite a nice place to just hang out. We sat at one of the lounges there - the music was great, the drinks were great and we generally had a great time. We were absolutely the last people to get out of the place. And that too, we were in no mood to leave - apparently it is the law to get everyone out of the place by 2am and we were out of the place by 2am. Came home and chatted some more before finally sleeping at about 4am! When was the last time we did that? Not sure. Not in a long long time!
Anyway, Saturday was lunch at one of the Thali places in Cerritos. Oh my goodness - we had so much to eat! We were bloody full by the end of lunch. I met with a few USC friends for dinner and then went to this party, but did not get a chance to get in. So the rest of the people were going to hang out with, came out and we ended up going to be a British pub in Santa Monica. Once again, it was almost the end of the night when we left from there. Another fun-filled (except for the waiting in the biting cold) night.
Sunday brunch was at The Grove Farmer’s Market. It was a beautiful day to be there - sunny, warm and pleasant. It was Mardi Gras celebration pretty much everywhere there, and it was just a happy feeling all over. Good to be there to soak all that happiness.
And Sunday evening, the wife and some cousins flew out and I stayed back and drove back to work on Monday morning.
The biggest part of this trip was the non-visit to the USC Bookstore.
What a freshness these English ex-cricketers bring to the commentary. I saw the India-Pakistan series and the sad commentators like Waqar, Rameez, Arun Lal, etc. were so easy to mute out. Now we have Gower, Nasser, Botham et al, and they do provide good commentary.
One thing I must say, the umpiring is quite pathetic in this match so far. And just a few moments ago, the third umpire joined this crappy party by giving Pieterson not out after seeing the replay from multiple angles, multiple times. All the commentators said he was out, and they were all quite surprised that he was given not out.
Before that, I think Dravid was clearly not out. And Sachin seemed to indicate that he nicked the ball. Quite a bad break for India so far, it seems.
A loss seems more likely than any other result in this match.
Now that India has been pushed to the ropes and is on the verge of losing the first test of the series, it is time to start thinking of the XI for the next match. The one important question that is going to come up, if Yuvraj gets healthy, is how do we accomodate him?
There are a few options that the team may consider:
1. Jaffer out, Yuvraj in … Dravid goes back to opening. Bad idea for two reasons - Jaffer does not deserve to be dropped, and there is no point in losing a specialist opener in the first place. 2. Kaif out, Yuvraj in … Bad idea. Kaif has played well and does not deserve to be dropped. 3. VVS out, Yuvraj in … this could be a possibility since VVS did not fire. Of course if he plays well in the second innings, even this option may be a bad idea. But for now, it looks viable. 4. Yuvraj is out till further notice. I would say that would be a good option. Betwee #3 and this option, the Indian team has a big decision to make.
Once again, India’s bowlers failed to close out an innings which should have ended at least 80-100 runs earlier. Having a team at 240-odd for 7 wickets with only one recognized batsman remaining should imply that your bowlers need to finish it for less than 275. Maybe 300. Definitely not 400!
Granted, the pitch was playing easier, and the batsmen were playing with more application than the first day’s batsmen. But still, letting the tail wag so much has become a habit for Indians and I hope the new ‘guru’ Chappell is able to address this issue quickly.
On a positive note for India, the bowlers bowled quite well on the first day, not letting England take any advantage batting first. Also, on a positive note, it is good to see Jaffer get his 50. It will relieve a lot of pressure and let him play with a little more confidence and little less jitter.
Now it is up to India to grind the England bowlers out and make sure they don’t have to bat again - being 130-odd for 1 at the end of Day 2 gives them enough time and wickets to create some pressure in the England second innings.
If you notice, since I jinxed the team already in some past post (or maybe it was in some comments on someone’s blog), I am going all the way with the bravado!
I loved the show Deal Or No Deal when it premiered a few months ago. So I started watching it this week, but I must say I was a little disappointed.
The network has started putting more drama with the hand going to the button and not pressing it, talking more to the family, having at least one family/friend shout not to go for the deal, etc. And that is precisely the drama I don’t like about reality TV, though this is not so much that genre.
Give me pure and simple DOND with the only thing to evaluate is how likely are you going to bust in the next set of picks. That makes it interesting, and mathematically challenging.
I like the show, but I am not going to watch it anymore.
Google seems to be releasing some or the other feature related to their personalized home page and gmail and chat, all the time. But Blogger and Picasa, the two tools/applications I use a lot, have not been upgraded for quite some time now.
What’s up with Google? Have they given up on Blogger and Picasa, now that they seem to be addressing most of the features ‘general public’ would require? Are they running out of ideas to be more diverse in their revenue creation?
Whatever be the case, I can’t wait to see some new features in both Blogger and Picasa.
I drove up from San Diego to Los Angeles on Friday evening and that’s when I finally realized what causes most of the pain driving here. I was always in motion. There was no ‘parking lot’ situation like it happens when there is an accident. The cars are always moving, though at varying speeds at various points on the freeways. I was always taking my foot off the gas and on the brake and vice versa.
Do that for 1.5 or 2 hours each day, twice a day, and you will know why the LA traffic is one of the worst in the country.
I am glad I don’t have to do that on a daily basis.
The axe has finally fallen. After being removed from captaincy and being rested, Ganguly was pushed out of the one day team and made part of only the test team. And the selectors have decided to go for youth in selecting the squad for tests against England and dropped Ganguly.
I feel bad for Ganguly. For no apparent fault of his - everyone goes through a rough patch in form - ask Sehwag, Dravid, Sachin, heck, Yuvraj - he was played around with as a political pawn. His godfather (Dalmiya) has basically caused his downfall. After the Pawar camp got control of the BCCI they made it a point to hit back at Dalmiya and what better way to do that than to dethrone the Prince of Kolkatta!
It is sickening. I mean, I don’t mind the current squad, but Ganguly did not deserve this treatment. I have been a Ganguly critic for a lot of the stuff he has done, mostly for his ‘favoritism’, but he did perform when needed. Instead of giving him the long run that he gave ‘his guys’ (Nehra, Zaheer, Bajji, Viru, etc.), he was embarrassingly thrown out of the captaincy, the odi team and now the test team.
Anyway, I won’t rant more. I have made my point - Ganguly’s dropping was incorrect, and it does not show any class. If the selectors wanted to throw him out, they should have asked him to step down and retire from international cricket. Or something other than dropping him. He could easily walk into this team.
As for the squad itself, why was Gambhir dropped again? What has Jaffer done to replace Gambhir? Or is the plan to continue opening with Dravid? I hope not. Also, why continue with Harbajan?? It is ok to give other spinners a chance! Yes, he and Kumble have worked wonders on Indian pitches, but so has Ganguly. Drat, I had promised not go flip back to Ganguly, but I can’t help it! Anyway, there are other spinners who could and should be blooded, instead of continuing with Bajji, who clearly needs a boost in confidence and brain power.
Bottomline though, India as a team should pummel the Poms!
I have been quite lazy recently. I did not blog about India winning the series. It was a fantastic performance for a ‘team’. There were some pretty good individual performances, no doubt. For example, Yuvraj and Dhoni did light it up in a few games, and Sachin and Dravid were also among the runs. But still, I think the matches and there series were won by the team. Every member contributed and did it selflessly, at least so it seemed on paper.
I watched the last one day match on tape delay and it was fun to watch the Indian chase. It was almost like they knew they were going to make irrespective of the asking rate. A few big hits from Dhoni and the asking rate went down drastically to being a joke. And I loved the finish from Dhoni, smacking Sami over the bowler’s head, twice!
Anyway, it was a wonderful performance by the New Team India, and hope to see much more of this in the future!
I am not the tagging types. In fact, I don’t like them. But Art tagged me recently, and rajesh had done it earlier. Today being a holiday, I thought I’d ‘get it out of the way’ :-)
So here goes the first one …
———————- Ten Years Ago - came to the US - called India @$1.20/min! - cooked for the first time by myself - walked a mile to get groceries done!
Five Years Ago - got married - called india @$0.40/min! - changed jobs and moved to the West Coast - did not cook at all - got a speeding ticket
Last One Year - Flew by without me noticing it - started traveling at work - sold our house - started living in a rental apartment
Yesterday - recovered from a trip to napa valley - played guesstures with cousins - had Papa John’s pizza for dinner - had South Indian food for lunch
Five Things Planned for next 5 Years - have a baby - get the green card - visit west indies to see cricket world cup - have another baby - work in a coffee shop (own or otherwise)
Five Yummy Things - Dairy Milk - Starbucks White Mocha - Cicero’s pizza - Cheese/Pineapple/Cherry - Veggie Max toasted subway with southwest sauce
Five Songs I know by heart- - Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd - Time - Pink Floyd - Chitthi Aayi Hai - Pankaj Udhas - Alive - Pearl Jam - Right Here Right Now (sort of) - Bluffmaster
Five Things I’d do If I had Money- - Buy a house - Get a maid - Trip to all of Europe for at least 2 months - buy a coffee shop in the middle of some downtown - get a lot of electronics
Places I Escape To- - internet - starbucks - TV
TV Shows- - Entourage - Friends - seinfeld - Everybody loves Raymond - The OC - curb Your Enthusiasm
Five Things I Can’t Live Without - my wife - internet - computer - tv - sports (to watch!)
Five Things I Can Live Without- - work - social obligations - politics - jealousy - backbiters/manipulators
Five Favourite Ethnic Cuisines - Indian (as in not commercial crap! More the paneer/dossas/pau bhaji/ bhel stuff!!) - Thai - Chinese - Mongolian - Ethiopian
Five best places to visit - Bombay - Lonavala - Mahabaleshwar - Bali - Hawaii
Seven things I plan to do before I die * Go on an Europe Vacation * Watch an F-1 race * Own a coffee shop * Learn a new language * Finally understand world history, now that I don’t have to write essays on it! * Watch India win the Cricket World Cup * Read books on a regular basis (I hardly read nowadays!)
Seven Things I can do * Drive long hours on a beautiful day * Relax * Be comforting * Surf the internet endlessly * Be patient * Be analytical in all matters (the wife obviously does not like it) * Eat the SAME food for 4-5 meals in a row (if it was good)
Seven Things I can’t do
* Cook * Work out religiously * Oversleep * Stay away from watching sports * Stay unorganized * Be negative for too long * Cartwheels
Seven Things that attract me to the opposite sex
* Facial expressions * Confident personality * Understanding * Sense of humor * Carefree nature * Her optimism * Some common interests with me
Seven Things I say most * Basically * Hey * Yaar * Essentially * Arrey * Bolo (Haa, Bolo) * Su Chaale Che?
Seven Celebrity Crushes * Sonali Bendre * Scarlett Johansson * Meg Ryan * Aishwarya Rai * Priyanka Chopra * Jennifer Aniston * Uma Thurman
The bastard from LSU still visits my blog. Keeps trying to play mischief. I would even say he/she is dedicated to the cause. The cause being unknown is a separate story. But the dedication matters.
Now, if only the idiot can channel this dedication to something else, it would make the world a much better place. Just like channeling the $10K to Katrina relief would be a better idea than throwing it at a stupid billboard in Los Angeles, channeling the dedication, the time, the effort, the commitment, to something else more productive, would make the world a better place.
I feel sorry for the family, the neighbors and the one or two people they call friends.
Listen up, you sorry little eel - get a life and move on to something better in this world than being such a negative child.
What’s with the Vice President shying away from the media all the time? If he does not speak up, he creates more fuel for the speculative forces.
Of course, we are assuming it was an innocent mistake and that if he had a press conference explaining what happened and how it was a mistake, it would be ok. But maybe it is not a mistake? Who knows?
In any case, as a person occupying such a post, he needs to talk to the people in one way or the other. It is a serious mistake he has made and he needs to clarify his position.
Why does this administration continue to wrap itself in more and more controversy by doing such nonsensical things? It is basically such ‘secretive’ and ‘fishy’ things that create a wall between the administration and the people.
I do agree that they will make a good pair. I think of it as Bard Pitt/Jennifer Aniston and the wife thinks that it is more like Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie. She thinks Rani Mukherkee would be a Jennifer Aniston to Abhishek’s Pitt. Funny how we think.
Anyway, I am tired of seeing the same news item appear on my news page over and over again. So, please stop the nonsense and stop taking up valuable real estate on my google news page :-)
I have always had this question, but I never really put it out in the open.
Why is ‘shit’ bleeped out on TV? I may be completely ignorant of some cultural knowledge here, but isn’t ‘bastard’ a worse thing to say on TV in front of kids, than shit?
Why is bastard allowed (saw a rerun Seinfeld where they use bastard) on TV and not shit?
I watched most of it (tape delayed) and I must say, Dileep Premchandran’s thoughts are quite on the money. I think he went a little overboard to say that the way he was leaving balls outside the off, was almost as good as his cover drive off Gul. No. The cover drive was better to watch :-)
Anyway, India was able to chase quite a tough target at the end, despite Pathan failing early on and Gambhir unable to provide the kind of start the a chasing team would need.
Yuvraj and Dhoni continue to be the dependables in the middle order and I just hope this winning becomes a habit rather than a one-off thing.
Spent the entire weekend catching up. Tried to restart squash this weekend, but instead of a squash court, they reserved a racquetball court. There were no squash courts, so it ended up being just a coffee meeting with friends.
But restarted squash after a long long time today. Felt good to start hitting again.
Watched some random TV and here we are at the end of the weekend. Made plans for Los Angeles for 2 weekends from now. Should be fun.
The USC alum received a letter from the PRIVATE company …
As you are aware, we have been bombarded with threats of vandalism if this board goes up in the Baton Rouge Market. Emails have even referenced burning the structure. Other emails have discussed climbing the structure and ripping the copy down.
This campaign has switched gears from a college rivalry to a public safety issue. With this in mind, I am making a decision to not accept this contract.
Thanks, Garth Roberts Vice President & General Manager Lamar Advertising - Baton Rouge
So there you go. Pieces of crap from LSU have decided to burn the place down but not let the state get $10K added to the economy. Ever wonder why those idiots stay poor?
I will not say much … I guess everyone knows why. One example seen above.
Wow, just as I get introduced to the drink, I find out that they are discontinuing it.
I know someone who is a BIG fan of the drink and in fact he is the one who introduced me to it. I was never excited by the concept. I could not finish it when I tried it for the first time. It was too thick and rich for me. But after having it a few times, I was finally able to at least finish the damn drink.
It still did not do much for me, and Starbucks marketing department got it right apparently. And they had the guts to yank it out. Good. One less choice when I go to Starbucks :-)
Being in San Diego in 75+ degrees nowadays, the drink du jour is Iced Coffee, sweetened.
