July 2010 !!

@ WC Quarters - So they line up finally !! I want the Dutch to beat Brazil simply because Brazil's game is "functional" but not the "Joga Bonito". And on a personal note Dunga left out my player of the decade, Ronaldinho. I think going ahead Brazil might be hit in the midfield due to lack of creativity. And then on, Argentina has to beat Germany. I plead to Germany to please loose this one. I know they are good, but I want Argentina to proceed. Come on Maradona, make it 2.5 (WC record - 1 win, 0.5 runnerup, 1 as coach) as against Pele's 3. Such an ugly equation :). But one think is sure, WC winner would be one of the two winners of these two Quarters. They would have passed almost the Final test in these matches.

Otherwise, it looks straight forward for Spain unless they make a mess of it. And finally, hope Ghana somehow runs through Uruguay. If they do it will be a big fillip to the African continent. Simply would be tremendous.

Let's say - "Play on" !

@ Pele-Maradona feud - Again some salvo fired by Pele on Maradona. Till now in my book I always thought Pele to ne No.1 and Maradona to be No.2. But I think in Pele's book it seems to be opposite. He seems to be so insecure about his position that all the time this cross fire happens. It's really a classic case wherein people, media and administrators find it difficult to dislodge an already established "greatest" when some one comes to snatch it. I thought and thought, read and read and concluded that Maradona probably was inch ahead looking at the "single handed" impact he had on his generation of football. In Brazil's team there were other greats also, Alberta, Jarzinho etc but here he single handedly achieved it for Argentina. True, as a role model it would be difficult to recommend Maradona as an idol as against Pele who is like almost copybook but the performances on field by Maradona were simply tremendous. Goals scored cannot be contested since their playing positions were as Forward and Midfield. Now when Maradona is getting favourable results as coach insecure Pele is targetting him. Simply looks sham for player of his stature. (To Continue ..)

June 2010

I was intending to be back to blogging from long time and so I am now. Let me do the blogging in a tweet fashion with paragraphs style for different topics.

@ Elimination starts - Now the real fun of the tourney starts. Knock out's. Every day two teams will bow out. I wish Germany overpowers England and Spain thrashes Portugal. These two matches would be mouth watering. Let's see how it goes.

@Italy so sorry - Felt very bad when Italy owed out. But indeed their fault that in every match they always fell behind and then the climb up was very much against their natural instincts. But still they fought as against France who were humiliated in every aspect.

@World Cup choices - My line up of choices is always. Argentina, Italy, Brazil and Germany in that order. Argentina stands 1st because of their flair and commitment to give attractive football whatever the situation. I know they could have avoided some losses had they changed the style of play but they are charmers so that's commendable. Surprisingly Italy comes next because their style is exactly represents my mental make up in life. Protect and guard all the gaps and then get the offensive goal. I being lot conservative in my thoughts find a perfect match to this style. Brazil for their flair and solidity, like the big daddies. Germany is my favorite country from Europe and I somehow has a soft corner for them.

@ALM - ALM is the new buzz word that I get to hear so often now. I researched a lot on this and found that many of the ALM products I see are surrounding the software product/projects development concept. Instead it would be worth wondering how ALM can help to manage a Business system which is kind of heavily customized. Nonetheless, just to have a good glimpse of ALM check this vendor - http://www.rallydev.com/agile_products/integrations/

@ About Aamir Khan's "intelligence" - I think Aamir Khan is one of the best actors but sometimes his crazy views make me flat. Like recently he said "lyrics writers should not be credited because it's the actors on screen who make the song hit" and he had a big tiff with Javed Akhtar. I was left laughing at his thoughts and intelligence. Come on, lyricist is the first one to be credited and rest should follow. I mean Sahir and Shailendra had been the gods of pen and his views were so much insulting to the greats.

Famously known for doing a film a year, I wonder if he "wants" to do it or he "can" do it, because since being "perfectionist" he does numerous retakes. But isn't it about efficiency also like in the case of stage actors who cannot do retakes. Really sometimes once we establish someone as great whatever he does is swallowed with pride, even if it is crass.

Another example I recall of his intelligence is, he thrashed music of Rangeela to be ordinary and not that good. See .. how intelligent people we have.

@FIFA World Cup - I wonder why England play the world cup. Every player looked so disinterested in the proceedings and gave such a flop show. Everytime they have so much glamour but are total failures all the time. Don't know why France also came? To give such an ugly performance on and off the field. Ireland would have been better any day :) . Even though I like Henry, I wonder what have he really done in the "record" 4 world cups he has played now.

@BP's Oil spill - Bhopal Gas connection - All I want to say is US is getting paid in their own coin. Morally what should happen is Anderson should be sent to India and then BP's processing should start. That would settle a few ghosts. I must admit with my heart fully open that, I either have tears or cry whenever I see the symbolic image of the little boy's burial of Bhopal disaster. All I can say is it's really shameful of what we(Indians) are and how we have treated our poor countrymen. Let's hang our heads in shame for a while.

And in case of US same sequence of events is repeating as the case with Bhopal. US Govt is also seeing the power of capitalism that they can't withstand in common people's interest. I don't think anything more would have been done even if there had been sizeable fatal casualties.

@ESPNCricinfo - I am really liking the new series that cricinfo has introduced on Legends of Cricket. And recent one to feature is Sachin Tendulkar. Excellent watch - http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/site/451900.html

@Analyzing Abhishek Bachchan - Honestly, I feel this actor is a disaster. In 10 years of his career I don't recall even 5 good movies. Impressive in Yuva, Sarkar, Guru ...... ??? .. That's it. His real measure can be gauged by searching for keywords, "Guest appearance" or "Special appearance" at this link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhishek_Bachchan . He is in almost every film but no where in your memory. Such appearances are made by big stars with big credentials not by someone who hasn't had anything yet. Mani Ratnam is a great director and can make anyone act so no surprise he extracted some performance from this dud. Honestly, like the Khans in the 90's, Hrithik Roshan is the flag bearer amongst actors for this decade. I wonder how long this bore will be hammered on us under the refuge of Big B.