Uh-oh. And there is something on Cricinfo saying that they may choose Dinesh Mongia. What luck for that guy! :-)

So they came out with a win. Not bad, and not a bad win either. It was a surprisingly tougher opponent that most expected, so coming out of DC with a 1-0 record is absolutely fine.

But there are so many things wrong with the team today - the offensive line is not even close to the strength of the last year. So many times people forget that Leinart had so much success last year because he got so much time to think and then make his moves. Yesterday, the VA Tech defense was able to penetrate so easily, so many times.

The receivers are not even close to last year’s killer duo of Mike Williams and Keary Colbert. I think with all the hype surrounding MW, Keary Colbert’s role was kinda muted out, but believe me, his catches and critical moves at tough times were as important, if not more than, MW’s. We will miss him a lot.

Rushing was not up to the mark. Again, that goes back somewhat to the offensive line, which was not able to make enough holes to make good rushing possible.

But it’s all good. Pete Carroll has said that there has been a lot of things he has seen, where USC can improve and the good thing is that we have 2 weeks to prepare for Colorado State, and it will be a home game.

So on to the next one. 1-0 sounds good - though I must say, those guys from the SEC and everywhere else will love to see USC drop to #2 after the first round of games. Does not matter to me. It is Orange Bowl that matters more - not the intermediate rankings.

The touch down we scored, was off a turnover. I mean, its great that we had an interception which was converted, but Leinart has still not settled down and he is throwing hard or overthrowing, and the receivers are tentative.

The defense is solid, but there too, the offensive line at VA Tech is calming down and making it more and more easy for their QB to make plays.

Their QB I must say, is quite composed.

7-3 for the Trojans, somewhere at the beginning of the 2nd qtr.

Lactose free and normal milk - I was confused and had the normal milk. And paid the price :-(

Two days back, for two days in a row, I had normal 2% milk without realizing it.

The after effects were there for me to feel. I did realize later that what was happening to me was not typical, because at least of late, when I have been having lactose-free milk, there has been no real after effects.

But those two times were killer. I will put up the picture of the two boxes - one lactose-free and one regular 2%, and you’ll see that there is really no visual difference. I just picked up the normal milk without realizing it.

And paid the price.

And confirmed that I am definitely, positively lactose intolerant.


And that sucks.

You’re simply the best, better than all the rest, better than anyone, anyone I’ve ever met!
I’m stuck on your heart, i hang on every word you say
Tear us apart, baby i would rather be dead

Did you get the song? Its an old one!

Good, good:

You come to me, give me everything I need
Give me a lifetime of promises and a world of dreams
Speak the language of love like you know what it means
And it can’t be wrong, take my heart and make it strong…

–chorus in another post–

In your heart I see the start of every night and every day
In your eyes, I get lost, I get washed away
Just as long as I’m here in your arms
I could be in no better place…

Graf and Sabatini are going to play an exhibition match in Berlin. I still remember those days when we used to dream of the finals being Graf and Sabatini.

It’s been a while. :-)

Taped the show last night with John Kerry. He was not half as funny as Bill Clinton, but Jon Stewart was as usual too good.

My new favorite show - have put it on daily taping timer ;-)

I have a feeling it has made my computer slow, in the sense, it takes longer to boot.

And visually, no great change. IE has a pop up blocker built in. Other than that, not much I know.

I don’t use Outlook Express, so I am not too sure about changes there.

Bad bad bad news. He is not going to be playing for the Trojans this season. NCAA denied his appeal to be reinstated.

Which means, I am putting a National Championship defense at 60% :-(

Bad. Bad. Bad.

I am not sure if I had posted it, but last month, I exchanged Gotham 2 with Grand Theft Auto. I played Gotham 2 and it did not have too much different from the one I have. So I thought I’d be better off getting something different.

So we went to EB Games and traded Gotham 2 in and got GTA.

But it so happens that I did not even open the box till yesterday. And when I did open it, I was kinda shocked to see no disk in there. No disk?? Where did it go? I never played it after I got it. Neither did anyone else. So where was it? Maybe I forgot it.

But then I realized that I picked up the box from the shelf at EB Games and never had the cashier put the disk in there. The boxes on display are usually all empty, so there was a good chance that the disk was never even there.

So today I went with the receipt to the store and asked them if they could do anything about it and he said that usually, at the end of the month, the inventory variances are written off and there was very little chance he could do anything, but before I could say anything, he himself called his big boss and discussed the issue. After he hung up with him, he said that he would be able to get me the disk.

That was real nice of them to accomodate my situation. I know that it could be policy that they always give the disk, but they made me happy because I was not expecting them to give me any disk. They’ve made me a fan! :-)

Phew. Now, we are waiting for the results of the test, which are expected on Saturday.

Fingers crossed.

Team USA won the quarter finals match up with Spain, which was supposed to apparently end their Olympics run. They beat them handily, and once again everyone around the country is going to start raising them up to heavens.

Hopefully it won’t go to their heads.

From Mid Day’s online edition (Society pages):


Brad and Jen are adopting, says brother

Hollywood golden couple Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are adopting a baby — according to the actor’s younger brother Doug.

The Troy star and his stunning wife wed in July 2000 and have made no secret of their desire to start a family since Aniston finished filming Friends earlier this year.

Aniston has said, “We are absolutely in the process of having a baby. It’s where we’re headed.”

Doug (37) told British weekly Closer, he is looking forward to becoming an uncle, saying, “I’m really pleased. We’re delighted that Brad and Jen are adopting. It will be a great addition to the family.”

The good-looking pair admitted they are house hunting in England for a place to bring up their child and have looked at homes in the ancient town of Rye in East Sussex.

Pitt explained, “I’ve always liked England. Jen also likes it and Europe, so we’ll be looking for a place soon. Europe is a great place for kids to grow up.”

Any takers? Are they looking for “upper 20s” or “lower 30s” type of a ‘kid’ to adopt? :-)

I enabled ‘email this post’ feature on my blog. It is under settings. After enabling that feature and republishing, a small envelope icon shows up on each post.

If you don’t see it, then reload the page, or super reload it (Shift + reload). When you click on it, it takes you to a page where you can send the link to the post to a friend. Awesome, isn’t it?

I love blogger, and how they release these mini-features all the time. There is always something to look forward to :-)

Usually we meet with a bunch of friends on Wednesdays to break the monotony of the week. Yesterday, no one volunteered to host the meeting, so it was not to be.

But at least we went out to Sunnyvale downtown for their arts and wine festival. It was not that big, but it was an outing nevertheless.

Hey, its Thursday already! Yippey! :-)

I am actually nervous. There is so much pressure on the team, and it is the first game of the season. And it is not an easy opponent. I am at least glad that it is not in Blacksburg, the real home town of Virginia Tech Hokies. DC is bearable, but still it is close enough for those wild Hokies to come up and crowd the stadium.

If we can escape with a good win, I will be happy. I just want a win. Nothing else. :-)

Fingers crossed.

Went to Cinema Savers last night and saw White Chicks. It was alright. I think I laughed more than it was funny. Just because everyone else laughed, I went along with it. Maybe I did not want it to bea disappointment. :-)

Next up - Bourne Supremacy. Can’t believe I have waited so long to see it.

First of all, they did not make Holland play in it - what is the point of spreading the sport around the world when you don’t include the host team in the competition?

Anyway, after that, the timing of the tournament - all three games have been affected by rain so far, and only one was completed. So Australia makes it to the finals with 2 no-results. That’s just crap.

In a way, it is good for India because it seems a lot of players are not well:

1. Sachin - tennis elbow
2. Nehra - fever
3. Bhajji - fever
4. Ajit - side strain
5. Sachin - viral fever
6. Dravid - viral fever
7. Kaif - injury

Fingers crossed for the Natwest series against England. Need to bring them back to earth. :-)

Had a weird experience with Earthlink DSL last month or two months back. I have their service since 1999, and went from dial up to DSL around mid-2000.

Recently, I called them to ask if they had any current promotions for which I can qualify. They said sure, and they applied a $10 credit for me every month starting the next billing cycle!

I was surprised how easy it was. No ‘extension’ of contract. No time-limited promotion. No conditions. Simple reduction of $10 off my bill.

Since it was weird and too-good-to-be-true, I asked them if they would have called me with the offer if I had not called them. They said no. Which means, they want people to just keep calling and asking for discounts? And fleece the ones that don’t bother about it? Maybe so. Welcome to corporate America, I said to myself and hung up.

Why is it that such policies are allowed to exist? Why, if they have a promotion for existing subscribers, don’t they let the existing subscribers know about it? Why make them call again and again?

I am the kind of guy who may call again and again, but there may be so many more who don’t. What about them? Keep charging them the higher fees?

That’s totally wrong.

Even American Express! Yay! :-)

Such is life :-(

The show must go on!

Burricane Barley?