Friday, April 29, 2005
Plaza closed down
Meet the fockers as it turned out was the last movie to be screened in Plaza.....Good I watched the last movie there and that too in the balcony
Wind taken out of the sails of the Windies
As I write this blog SA have won the toss and decided to bat and are 48-0 in 9 overs.
While I grew up even though WI were past their best and most feared team in the world status even about 10 years ago such scorelines were hard to imagine. I remember the WI batsmen as great back foot players ppl who would drive off the back foot since it gave them more time and also a chance to get under the ball to balls which were well pitched up. Richardson,Hooper, Simmons, Jimmy Adams are some names that come to mind. In fact from what I have read I like them even more...the best over ever bowled in test cricket by Holding to Boycott or the great spell by Andy Roberts in Chennai's chepauk stadium where Vishy scored an excellent 90 odd...Their greatness is testified by the fact that most batsmens would rate thier best innings whenever they scored well against Garner, Holding, Croft and Marshall.
Even though the present Windies team have a good line up in terms of batting with Hinds,Gayle,Sarwan,Lara C'Paul and Bravo its the bowling thats pathetic.
The enduring sight of the Windies to me will remain the 1994 test match. I think it was in Barbados where Waugh kept staring at Ambrose who was bowling an unplayable spell and kept beating Steves bat....Richardson had to literally drag him away to avoid him beating up Steve....Steve looked a midget in front of him..that was the sort of passion that they used to play with...
Walsh though less agressive was a bowler with a McGrath like accuracy and could work out a batsmen beautifully remember his spell in Mohali where he bowled them to a victory and broke Prabhakars nose in the bargain :)
But todays bowlers are really no good...no accuracy..no real pace though fridel edwards has a bit but again no control..they are very harmless and lack any sort of penetration....As Geoffrey would say "Even my mum could score a 100 against them"....
Also what does not help them is the sort of dead pitches that they have started preparing...previously batsmen would look to a WI tour with some sort of trepidation since they would cop a few but now they lick their lips in anticipation of the flat pitches and the club level bowlers they will be facing...
All this is very sad to see since anyone who has watched the WI team of yore will know...Just spare a thought for what Lara or C'Paul would be feeling...Lara is the best batsman on the earth his 176 and 196 were the knocks of the season so far only to end up on the losing side each time...C'Paul another batsman with a lot of toughness having a fine record and yet losing time and again...
They must be feeling the nails in the coffin each time they have to play with the other team ammassing 600 odd runs or when they score 400 the other team getting free runs because of some wayward bowling....
And it seems that the WI are where England were about 4 years back but England always had a great county cricket frame work which meant that you would come across some one good player sooner rather than later..not so sure abt WI...I cant see them producing the Flintoffs or the Vaughans unless they become more professional in their play on the field..the youngsters not throwing their wicket away the bowlers bowling accurately if not incisively...
As Lara and C'Paul would tell ya Cricket can be a very cruel game sometimes.
While I grew up even though WI were past their best and most feared team in the world status even about 10 years ago such scorelines were hard to imagine. I remember the WI batsmen as great back foot players ppl who would drive off the back foot since it gave them more time and also a chance to get under the ball to balls which were well pitched up. Richardson,Hooper, Simmons, Jimmy Adams are some names that come to mind. In fact from what I have read I like them even more...the best over ever bowled in test cricket by Holding to Boycott or the great spell by Andy Roberts in Chennai's chepauk stadium where Vishy scored an excellent 90 odd...Their greatness is testified by the fact that most batsmens would rate thier best innings whenever they scored well against Garner, Holding, Croft and Marshall.
Even though the present Windies team have a good line up in terms of batting with Hinds,Gayle,Sarwan,Lara C'Paul and Bravo its the bowling thats pathetic.
The enduring sight of the Windies to me will remain the 1994 test match. I think it was in Barbados where Waugh kept staring at Ambrose who was bowling an unplayable spell and kept beating Steves bat....Richardson had to literally drag him away to avoid him beating up Steve....Steve looked a midget in front of him..that was the sort of passion that they used to play with...
Walsh though less agressive was a bowler with a McGrath like accuracy and could work out a batsmen beautifully remember his spell in Mohali where he bowled them to a victory and broke Prabhakars nose in the bargain :)
But todays bowlers are really no good...no accuracy..no real pace though fridel edwards has a bit but again no control..they are very harmless and lack any sort of penetration....As Geoffrey would say "Even my mum could score a 100 against them"....
Also what does not help them is the sort of dead pitches that they have started preparing...previously batsmen would look to a WI tour with some sort of trepidation since they would cop a few but now they lick their lips in anticipation of the flat pitches and the club level bowlers they will be facing...
All this is very sad to see since anyone who has watched the WI team of yore will know...Just spare a thought for what Lara or C'Paul would be feeling...Lara is the best batsman on the earth his 176 and 196 were the knocks of the season so far only to end up on the losing side each time...C'Paul another batsman with a lot of toughness having a fine record and yet losing time and again...
They must be feeling the nails in the coffin each time they have to play with the other team ammassing 600 odd runs or when they score 400 the other team getting free runs because of some wayward bowling....
And it seems that the WI are where England were about 4 years back but England always had a great county cricket frame work which meant that you would come across some one good player sooner rather than later..not so sure abt WI...I cant see them producing the Flintoffs or the Vaughans unless they become more professional in their play on the field..the youngsters not throwing their wicket away the bowlers bowling accurately if not incisively...
As Lara and C'Paul would tell ya Cricket can be a very cruel game sometimes.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Match ka Mujarim
I watched the series finale yesterday. India lost the match even though the target was stiff, the pitch was still playing true though some balls were keeping low, and we had the second best batting line up in the world (or so dada claims).
But what made the day entertaining was this program that I watched on Star News later yesterday night. Had a very corny name "Match ka Mujarim". Interesting name is all I would say. The public was furious and there were three panelists Zaheer Abbas the great Pakistaani batsman, Kirmani one of Indias finest keepers and the chairman of selectors and Bishan Singh Bedi probably Indias best left arm spinner and known to be a guy who is very anti BCCI.
It was sad to see so many fans cribbing so much about the team. I mean as Kirmani kept saying that winning and losing keep happening, the public came up with some stupid questions like "Does Sachin think hes bigger than the team ?" Does anyone in India even have any indication of the pressure that he goes through each time he bats. He has played exceedingly well till about the past couple of years when he has changed his game and mellowed down. A phenomenal player to say the least, one only needs to look at Lara to realise what can happen when the pressure gets to you.
On the other hand people keep questioning the players doing ads. Are they plain jealous or what ? I accept the fact that they are probably overpaid considering the recent performances but why are they handed out such lucrative contracts, precisely for the reason that the same public idolises them, if they stop doing that then they wouldnt get such obscenely huge amounts of money. We have had people like Geet Sethi 7 times world champion or Pankaj Advani, Gopichand, Jaspal Rana the list goes on but we dont see them in any ads why coz the public aint interested in them but on the other hand Sania Mirza who hasnt won any major tournament (same thing can be said of the Indian cricket team) is the talk of the town one only needs to read Times of India to know that, bloody ell I have her face smiling down on me from numersous billboards. My point being that unless we stop worshipping these cricketers they will keep getting such ads.
And finally Indians are by nature not a nation that takes to sports actively. Not too many guys in school play any game at even a semi serious level, gali cricket not withstanding. Anyone who has played any game at even a club level knows that there are sometimes when things just dont turn out the way you want them to, and you win some and loose some. Even if you have the best strategy things can go horribly worng and theres nothing you can do about it. You lose, you cop it on the shoulder and go on with life, no point in doing the analysis that the numerous cricket shown on all the news channels with players who have mostly failed to do anything of note at the international level do. If its constructive its probably still ok but some of the jokers are just unbearable. So all the public at the star news show I think were just playing to the gallery its bloody become a movie show, Bedi sometime in the show said "The cricket team Should stop playing with the emotions of the indian public" if our emotions depend on the cricket teams performance then all I can say is "Dude get a life"
"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;"
Kipling "If"
But what made the day entertaining was this program that I watched on Star News later yesterday night. Had a very corny name "Match ka Mujarim". Interesting name is all I would say. The public was furious and there were three panelists Zaheer Abbas the great Pakistaani batsman, Kirmani one of Indias finest keepers and the chairman of selectors and Bishan Singh Bedi probably Indias best left arm spinner and known to be a guy who is very anti BCCI.
It was sad to see so many fans cribbing so much about the team. I mean as Kirmani kept saying that winning and losing keep happening, the public came up with some stupid questions like "Does Sachin think hes bigger than the team ?" Does anyone in India even have any indication of the pressure that he goes through each time he bats. He has played exceedingly well till about the past couple of years when he has changed his game and mellowed down. A phenomenal player to say the least, one only needs to look at Lara to realise what can happen when the pressure gets to you.
On the other hand people keep questioning the players doing ads. Are they plain jealous or what ? I accept the fact that they are probably overpaid considering the recent performances but why are they handed out such lucrative contracts, precisely for the reason that the same public idolises them, if they stop doing that then they wouldnt get such obscenely huge amounts of money. We have had people like Geet Sethi 7 times world champion or Pankaj Advani, Gopichand, Jaspal Rana the list goes on but we dont see them in any ads why coz the public aint interested in them but on the other hand Sania Mirza who hasnt won any major tournament (same thing can be said of the Indian cricket team) is the talk of the town one only needs to read Times of India to know that, bloody ell I have her face smiling down on me from numersous billboards. My point being that unless we stop worshipping these cricketers they will keep getting such ads.
And finally Indians are by nature not a nation that takes to sports actively. Not too many guys in school play any game at even a semi serious level, gali cricket not withstanding. Anyone who has played any game at even a club level knows that there are sometimes when things just dont turn out the way you want them to, and you win some and loose some. Even if you have the best strategy things can go horribly worng and theres nothing you can do about it. You lose, you cop it on the shoulder and go on with life, no point in doing the analysis that the numerous cricket shown on all the news channels with players who have mostly failed to do anything of note at the international level do. If its constructive its probably still ok but some of the jokers are just unbearable. So all the public at the star news show I think were just playing to the gallery its bloody become a movie show, Bedi sometime in the show said "The cricket team Should stop playing with the emotions of the indian public" if our emotions depend on the cricket teams performance then all I can say is "Dude get a life"
"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;"
Kipling "If"
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Karam
Watched Karam at the Mux on Sunday.
Was one of the better movies made. Its a standard story abt a contract killer and the love of his life and how he has to finish off one last business before he can leave the profession and avoid captain from cutting of his loves fingers one by one. Some of the stuff in this movies is good, mostly fast paced not much room for maudlin scenes and some good cinematography. This movie is Kill Bill, Matrix, MI2, Assassins all rolled into one. Worth a watch at least once.
Was one of the better movies made. Its a standard story abt a contract killer and the love of his life and how he has to finish off one last business before he can leave the profession and avoid captain from cutting of his loves fingers one by one. Some of the stuff in this movies is good, mostly fast paced not much room for maudlin scenes and some good cinematography. This movie is Kill Bill, Matrix, MI2, Assassins all rolled into one. Worth a watch at least once.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Meet the Fockers@Plaza
Watched the movie saturday night. Usually watch movies in Plaza in the upper stall but this time around my friend decided that we will watch it from the balcony. Well when I walked into the balcony I realised that I have gone into a time machine of sorts. The seats were divided into different compartments each in the shape of a box. We being we bought tickets early so we were in one of the higher up ones. As usual I did not find enough leg room throughout the movie. Also if I leaned back and tried to relax and still watch the movie the bottom part of the screen disappeared which meant that for most of the time I was leaning forward...gives a whole new dimension to edge of the seat doesent it !!! By the second half I could not decide which was funnier me keeping pop corn and trying to have a pepsi at the same time with the chair vibrating with every movement that I made or the movie itself...
Anyways the movie was quite good though not as good as meet the parents...essentially this movie is about Ben Stiller taking Robert De Niro and his finacee and mother in law to meet his parents. Who in turn are Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streissand who seem to be still living in the age of the hippies...lots of funny situations involving hoffman trying to break open the WC of DeNiro's trailer coz the latters cat flushed the formers dog, the dog I am sure was an IIT-ian in its previous life coz its only purpose in life seems to be fornication....we come to know that stillers mom and dad like to have a lot of cream when they are together and not just for eating :), and in the midst of it all is a child whom stiller is supposed to look after and who ends up holding a bottle of rum in his hand and uttering his first words which turn out to be ass and a pause and then hoooole and finally the fact that ben stillers fiance is pregnant
These are a few of the funny situations but there are numerous the only problem being that they seem to be too contrived and fantastic and after some time it becomes a pain to watch ben stillers parents....
But on a whole a movie worth watching at least once, I would descirbe it as an edge of the seat movie for more than one reason.
Anyways the movie was quite good though not as good as meet the parents...essentially this movie is about Ben Stiller taking Robert De Niro and his finacee and mother in law to meet his parents. Who in turn are Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streissand who seem to be still living in the age of the hippies...lots of funny situations involving hoffman trying to break open the WC of DeNiro's trailer coz the latters cat flushed the formers dog, the dog I am sure was an IIT-ian in its previous life coz its only purpose in life seems to be fornication....we come to know that stillers mom and dad like to have a lot of cream when they are together and not just for eating :), and in the midst of it all is a child whom stiller is supposed to look after and who ends up holding a bottle of rum in his hand and uttering his first words which turn out to be ass and a pause and then hoooole and finally the fact that ben stillers fiance is pregnant
These are a few of the funny situations but there are numerous the only problem being that they seem to be too contrived and fantastic and after some time it becomes a pain to watch ben stillers parents....
But on a whole a movie worth watching at least once, I would descirbe it as an edge of the seat movie for more than one reason.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Cricket
Went for the usual nets today. The mat was wet because of the overnight rain. For the life of me I cant figure out why one does not fold up the mats and keep it in a dry place during the night.
Spoiled all the balls that we had taken along. Ball was keeping low and hurrying along. I thought I will bat pretty badly, but did do pretty well in the nets. Some of my backfoot shots were cracking. The first one was right off the meat of the bat a square cut to point with my back foot right across covering the line of the ball. Seems to me my bad form is gone and I am feeling better with my feet movement now.
Only remains to be seen whether in a match I will be able to play just as well.
Going to watch Meet the Fockers tonight @Plaza. Apparently they are gonna close down the theatre and are building a mall there. Hmm might be one of my last movies there then I would imagine.
Update with the review of the movie soon.
Spoiled all the balls that we had taken along. Ball was keeping low and hurrying along. I thought I will bat pretty badly, but did do pretty well in the nets. Some of my backfoot shots were cracking. The first one was right off the meat of the bat a square cut to point with my back foot right across covering the line of the ball. Seems to me my bad form is gone and I am feeling better with my feet movement now.
Only remains to be seen whether in a match I will be able to play just as well.
Going to watch Meet the Fockers tonight @Plaza. Apparently they are gonna close down the theatre and are building a mall there. Hmm might be one of my last movies there then I would imagine.
Update with the review of the movie soon.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Fans of Bayes
This blog can be extremely irritating to anyone who is semi literate and of no interest at all except to the Extra Terrestrials who are looking for signs of intelligence on earth and might end up concluding after reading this blog that we are more primitive than the samples that they had found 5000 years ago.
Well the blogs name is Fans of Bayes. So I have to write about Bayes. Bayes was the one who came up with stuff like p(A|B) meaning probability of A given B.
Bayes is there in everyday life. So here are some truths about the real world looking at it from the eyes of Bayes.
p(committed | intelligent and humorous babe) == 1
p(cricket expert | Indian ) == 1
p(blog | sane human being) == 0
Will be blogging more such stuff soon.
Anf if ya are still with this blog and not irritated enough
Why is a tiger a Tech Park ?
Because 'Bagh' mane Tech Park.
Supposed to be understood only by TI,i-flex and Motorola employees.
Well the blogs name is Fans of Bayes. So I have to write about Bayes. Bayes was the one who came up with stuff like p(A|B) meaning probability of A given B.
Bayes is there in everyday life. So here are some truths about the real world looking at it from the eyes of Bayes.
p(committed | intelligent and humorous babe) == 1
p(cricket expert | Indian ) == 1
p(blog | sane human being) == 0
Will be blogging more such stuff soon.
Anf if ya are still with this blog and not irritated enough
Why is a tiger a Tech Park ?
Because 'Bagh' mane Tech Park.
Supposed to be understood only by TI,i-flex and Motorola employees.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Statutory warning
This stuff is likely to be irritating to almost everyone. If you continue reading, be warned!
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