Land of the free...

Hmm... the 'Indian states visited' site seems to have a problem - right after I was reflecting on the fact that I had actually visited quite a big chunk of India! Oh well...
What it did get me to doing was to see how much of the US I had visited. Here it is:
(One major observation is that by visiting, say CHicago for a day, you cover Illinois as a state!! Seems like a highly inaccurate metric for evaluating how much of the country one's been to. Oh well...)


create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourFlorida travel guide

Milan Derby

AC Milan v Inter Milan
Champions' League Quarter Finals. Should be a cracker!

Visit India!

Thanks to Anita, I got to this site which maps all the states in India one's visited. Mine looks something like this:
(Prominent targets that remain: Khardungla pass on a Bullet, Goa and the entire Northeast!!)

Brought to you by pratibha75, quizling and teemus.

Which states in India have you been to?

... and all that.

" ... good luck and all that jazz."
" ... Happy New Year and all that."

This bugs me. Is it some sort of weird bug that's flying around the metros in India (esp Bangalore!). What is that? An expression of aloofness? A new kind of cool? I think not.

Nobody wants an insincere wish/greeting. If you really mean it - say it. "Good luck. I hope you do well in your exams" or "Happy New Year. I hope you have a great year" or "Get Well Soon" or "I miss you". If you don't... then shut up!

Statistics and Damned Useless Information

Some of the "key" statistics that I noticed in some very reputed cricket coverage (even Sportstar is guilty of this. And to think I would wait for these tidbits with bated breath when I was much younger... What was I thinking?!!):

On Inzamam reaching his 21st Test century.
" The 35-year-old became only the fifth player in history to score a century in his 100th Test. He joined an elite club comprising England's Colin Cowdrey, Gordon Greenidge of West Indies, Pakistan's Javed Miandad and England's Alec Stewart."

"...was the highest score by a batsman in his centennial Test, surpassing Greenidge's 149."

"... the highest Test score ever in Bangalore, ahead of Tendulkar's 177 against Australia in 1998."

There are some sporting statistics that are useful metrics of judging performance. And some very unique ones that are not so useful but are amusing. But give me a break... how is a century *on* the 100th test of any distinction? Or scoring the highest in a centennial test?!!

Overdosing on statistics is just pathetic, IMHO.

Go for it

I regret not doing something a lot more than doing it and failing.
At least there is no "What if?"

Tremors, tsunamis, hurricanes, fires, building collapses, plane crashes... everyday we see people dying, suffering - after carefully constructing their lives. I can bet the one regret they have is not doing/saying/trying something.

I think we put our lives on hold too much. True, moderation is called for. But there is great merit in "going for it". And the downside risk is highly overestimated in most cases. There is usually (for most of us) quite a strong safety net.

Be Cool

The sequel to Get Shorty.
Funny, quite slick, Travolta is smooth, the Rock is funny, Uma Thurman is hot, Aerosmith are live, Cedric the Entertainer, Harvey Keitel and Vince Vaughn (especially) round it off. Good music. Well shot. Good fun.
Critics didn't like it. Don't care. I loved it!

Rating: 4/5

Interesting

What's the difference between ignorance and apathy?
I don't know and I don't care.

Ljubicic and Davis Cup

Ivan Ljubicic had a spectacular weekend - dispatched Agassi in straight sets, teamed with Mario Ancic in the doubles to beat the American top-duo (the Bryan twins), and after 12 long sets and 3 matches in as many days, he still found enough to slam an ace - to dump the US out of this year's Davis cup. It was a truly inspirational performance... and a coming of age.

Having said that, it makes me question the commitment of the top players to Davis cup. I agree that Agassi and Roddick have always been available and ready to play - but do they really give it their all? If Ljubici were to face Agassi and then Roddick ina grand slam (even without the doubles), would he be able to replicate this performance? Or do we see such performances (remember Leander Paes' heroics?) only in the Davis cup - because it means SO much more to the lower ranked players and those fighting for their country's eminence in the sport? Roddick hardly needs to win a davis cup match to prove America's prowess in tennis! In fact, the cup barely earns a scrolling ticker mention in the media here. So, it's only natural to expect the prominence of this event to slip in the minds of the top players - who, after going through the tightening of their guts and the tingling of their spines while stepping onto the Wimbledon center court, can hardly expect to get the same response in front of 5000 lazy fans in a languid Florida keys setting. Who's to blame? Nobody. Everybody. The media, the tennis body, the players, the coaches and the parents. OR maybe it's just the way things are - and somehting we must all accept.