Life's little mysteries

Why do women wear high heels? Why did the kamikaze pilots wear helmets? Why do women's clothes button from the left, while men's button from the right? Why are DVDs sold in larger packages than CDs, even though the discs are the same size? Read Life's little mysteries.

April Fools’ Day

A friend of mine KM, was born on Fool’s day. He is into his thirties and he still gets “You sure fooled your parents on Fools’ day.” Another friend VM was born on 2nd April and he still gets “You sure fooled your parents on Fools’ day.” I guess some jokes (?) never get old. Or maybe we just don’t get creative enough.

Speaking of creativity, here are a few prank ideas for tomorrow. And for the geek in you, (you know who you are) here are some geeky pranks. And check out this list of the top 100 pranks of all time by the Museum of Hoaxes.

Permutations, combinations

@ Lunch

NS: That girl is hot. Forgot her name… Her initials are SM I think.
RV: Are you sure?
NS: Not sure, but I have 1/36 chance of getting it right.
Me: Yeah, better than winning a lottery.
NS: 36 or 26 can’t remember.
Me: I think you wanted to say 26, but the probability will be less than that…
RV: ...yeah, since it’s a combination of the 2 letters.
NS: 1/26*1/25
RV and me: Exactly!

We lead a sad life.

Animals

For some reason I am always unsure when dealing with animals.
No matter how well you program (train) them you will always hear stories like this and that makes me wonder can you actually program them to perfection? Or is the thrill of dealing with them is all about unpredictability?

CB series - 2nd Final

Will we win? Can we seal the series? Will SRT recreate "Desert Storm"?

Update: Yes, yes, and yes.

Update: India created history by beating Australia to win the tri series. SRT and Praveen Kumar helped India close out the series. Check scorecard here. Also, check out the tour statitics for ODIs and Tests.

CB series - 1st Final

Here we are at the SCG for the first final of the CB series – which seems to be longer than the world cup. So far, India has done pretty well with Dhoni making all the right moves. Bhajji bowled magnificently to trap Symonds and Hayden. With all the drama surrounding the trio, Bhajji will be a happy man.

As of now, the Aussies have managed 173/6.

Adding to all the fun has been the commentary. I’ve been alternating between star sports and sky sports, and it’s like watching two different games. The Aussie media is like an extension of the Aussie team. They are part of the support staff. It’s stupid to expect fair commentary; in fact I am sure pretty soon, the commentators will start sledging the opponents.

Let’s hope we can keep the Aussies down to 225 and more importantly, chase it down successfully. Squeeze in a Tendulkar century and it will round off a perfect Satuday.

Update 1: Aus 239/8 in 50 overs thanks mainly to Irfan Pathan who probably forgot to put his bowling shoes on (How irritating is that? Kinda like "Forgot to put your thinking cap on?" I hear that at work and feel like smacking them in the face and saying "At least I have my boxing gloves on."). India need 240 to win and someone at the top (read SRT) needs to play a big innings.

Update 2: It's past 3 am and SRT just completed his half century. He looks set for a big one. There is nothing I like better than watching SRT bat like this. And now that Yuvraj has proved again that he can't play spin to save his life, lets hope Rohit Sharma plays a little sensibly. Very impressive - Rohit Sharma, he is definitely a future superstar.

Update 3: This was a day for predictions. SRT scored a brilliant, unbeaten century (117* in about as many balls) taking India to victory. Rohit Sharma played an awesome knock of 66 and earned praise from the little master himself. Dhoni smiled. Ponting scowled. I stayed up all night to watch this match and for once it was justified. Now that I have watched the presentation ceremony, seen every interview and all the post match shows on every channel , and read every match report on the www, I can finally go to sleep.

Same old...

No comments.

Memento

And how is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive? - Homer Simpson

Homer’s quote was hilarious not so long ago. Today it is the sad reality of life. I have a tough time remembering things, shudder at the thought of learning something new, and frequently google “alzhiemers” (“Did you mean: Alzheimer’s?” Google asks condescendingly and I concur sheepishly.)

Recently, I’ve been flirting with the thought of getting a professional certification. One of the certifications I was interested in requires me to review about 4 different text books and a comprehensive 4 hour closed book exam. Text books. That sucked the fun out if it right there. And even if I did manage the text books, I need to remember things for a closed book exam. That's too much for me to handle.

I think I have reached a point where my brain is absolutely saturated with mindless memories (my favorite t-shirt when I was 4 yrs old – and no, I did not see it again in a photograph, the exact store I bought the lock for my bicycle from etc), junk I don’t need to remember (BEST bus numbers and their routes in Mumbai – why they call them “best” buses when they are anything but, is a mystery), phone numbers of my crushes in school (in alphabetical order), random conversations with random people I have met on the bus/train, all the conversations with my close friends and family, faces of people I met in a wedding ceremony in 1987, some clever repartee that I came up with (albeit a tad late and to myself), dreams from 15 years ago (okay, so the dreams were interesting), embarrassing moments I have been trying to forget all my life, the list goes on. Stuff I don’t remember: things to do around the house, paying bills, work related stuff. Heck, I remember my lessons (with chapters and page nos) from school and college, but barely recall my Masters’ coursework. I read somewhere; you remember stuff that you want to remember. If that’s the case, I really do want to pay my bills and would love to forget some embarrassing incidents from high school. Hasn’t worked so far.

Before googling Alzheimers, check: Memory Loss With Aging: What's Normal, What's Not. And for an inspirational story check out how Lack of Short-Term Memory Didn’t Stop New Grad. And while on memory loss, check out the absolutely terrific thriller Memento if you haven’t already.

Now that I remembered to write this down, I better post it before I forget.

Pomegranate..

The latest marketing gimmick ..
The Truth Behind the Pomegranate Craze

The Indian Premier League (IPL) – Apna Sapna Money Money

The IPL auctions are underway and it’s not just Preity Zinta’s dimples that are making the news. Emotions are running high and while some think this is cricketing history being created, others feel this is the cheapening of cricket for money. And there is a ton of money involved. Almost enough for Sharad Pawar to retire to the Himalayas. And that would take a lot of money.

A comprehensive coverage of the IPL auction is posted here. So who were the players that the franchises bid fiercely for? Mahendra Dhoni and Andrew Symonds, obviously, as their signing amounts of US$1.5m and US$1.35m respectively suggest. Any bizarre purchases? Sure. McGrath and Mike Hussey were bought for $350,000 each while Ponting fetched $400,000. Meanwhile, Ishant Sharma (flavor of the day – but certainly no McGrath) was sold for $950,000, Manoj Tiwary (?) and Mohd Kaif (remember him?) for $675,000 each. Ponting is surprised. So is the rest of the sane world.

Check out how the teams stack up here. Bangalore’s Mallya was probably high on Kingfisher when he bid for players. Although if they change the IPL format from T20 to test matches, Bangalore will be the team to beat. Don’t see that happening. Meanwhile Laxman gave up his icon status to lead Hyderabad – which is really looking the best team on paper so far. With a rush now to get the backroom staff and high profile coaches in place, the IPL promises entertainment even before the tournament starts. And if the IPL is run anything like the European football league or the NFL, this can only help cricket.

PS: In case you are wondering who the franchise owners are, apart from Mallya and Ambani – check this out.