“Oram gives World Cup the finger!”

Read this on cricinfo. Allrounder desperate to appear in World Cup and Fingers optional as Oram pursues dream.

After breaking his left ring finger in a freak fielding accident he's so desperate to take part in New Zealand's campaign that he is willing to do away with it altogether. "If it means cutting the finger off, if that's the worse-case scenario, if that's the last resort, I'll do that, there's no way I'm missing this," Oram told NZPA.

I am disappointed that in this era of catchy headlines, none of the papers claimed “Oram gives World Cup the finger!”

A different perspective

When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bustling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity. - Dale Carnegie.

“X” told me the other day – "I am a very proud person. You piss me off once and I will never forgive you. I haven’t talked to my brother for 20 years now and I don’t even remember why we fought."

Me (gulping down all my questions and pity - with the rest of my cola - for reasons ranging from apathy to mild horror) - "Cool"

Chewing Gum

TV is chewing gum for the eyes. - Frank Lloyd Wright

So I chewed gum for 4 hours last night and watched 'The Departed' win the Best-Picture Oscar.

Stay Focused

The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work. - Oprah Winfrey

I was never much of a runner. Even at my peak fitness as an Engineering student (several years and pounds ago), 3 miles was the best I did and preferred weight training over cardio. Running for more than 30 minutes was boring and I looked at it as something to get out of the way before starting my “real” workout. I played cricket and didn’t care much for soccer (which involves a lot more running that I could have bargained for). I could run if I wanted to – I told myself – but never really got around to it. Running was non-glamorous, monotonous, and too tiring I decided as I silently dreamed of playing for the Indian cricket team regardless of talent (or rather the lack of it).

A friend of mine, KR, ran the half marathon in Bangalore in 2005 in spite of a bad knee. He posted his experience on his blog and it made a good read. Heck, it was inspiring and almost made me want to run a half marathon. Well KR is a natural athlete. I would never be able to do it…

Read it again a couple of months ago and decided I wanted to be fit enough to run a half marathon – not because it sounded exciting, but to show myself I could. Since I was nowhere close to my desired levels of fitness, I chalked out a 12 wk program – thanks to the www. Starting this program was tough – I barely ran a mile the first day and I was puffing and panting. In the first week itself, I had several thoughts of quitting. But quitting is easy, staying focused is tough… I don’t want to sound like I am making a big deal out of this, but different individuals require different levels of effort for the same damn thing. An ‘effort’ might be physical/ emotional/mental. For instance, the mental effort required by a smoker to cut down their smoking by half might be the same as the physical effort required by a mason to work twice as hard.
In my case, it was a matter of convincing myself that I needed to do it and then sticking to the plan!

I am currently in week 5 and I ran 7 miles last night. I am hoping to stretch it to 13 miles in the next 8 weeks. Let’s see how it goes. All I have to do is stay focused.

World Cup history

A brief history of previous world cups. An interesting read.

Dessert for the day: Humble Pie

Have you noticed how when you start thinking you are invincible, the next thing you know you are lying on the curb, your ass hurts and you don’t have insurance?

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose. Bill Gates

The Black Caps gave the Aussies a rare whitewash. Although the Aussies played without Ponting, Gilchrist and Lee, this is bad timing for the defending world. The Aussies do have the best team in the world - and that’s putting it mildly. However, after their recent Champions trophy and - more importantly - Ashes success, and being hailed as the best team ever, one gets the feeling they might have become a tad over confident.

'Sport Killings'

Read this disturbing piece on CNN.
Teen 'sport killings' of homeless on the rise

Story Highlights
• Number of attacks on homeless at highest level in almost a decade
• 122 attacks, 20 murders in 2006, according to National Coalition for the Homeless
• For some teens, "this passes as amusement," expert says

What kind of a twisted world are we living in?

Brain dead

Have you noticed how your brain seems to desert you when you need it the most?

The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning, and does not stop until you get into the office. - Robert Frost

We shave our head.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Albert Einstein

To her credit, Britney Spears is a decent singer (I think she is. Although I can’t really say in this techno world where everybody sounds the same) who has given us a few hits. But to call her the ‘America’s youth icon’ etc is stretching it a bit. But for some reason everything she does is news. To my utter amazement CNN has a front page article screaming “Britney goes bald.” Like we care - I thought. While the world is struggling with issues like global warming, bearded terrorists and Virendra Sehwag’s form, we have all the newspapers in the world talking about (of all things) Britneys hair or rather the lack of it.
However, today I saw another “hair raising” piece on the web which made me rethink the existence of the human brain. So while the world’s (read America’s) obsession with Britney continues, I quietly think: Human stupidity has scaled new heights. But who is stupid? Is it Britney who can’t seem to control her life? Is it the media who wastes time, resources, personnel, valuable printing space publishing this crap? Maybe not. The media can only print crap as long as people read it… Then maybe it’s the masses that are to blame. But who? The ones who read this crap? Or the ones who are stupid enough to sell Britney’s hair on ebay and call it a ‘piece of history’? Or the ones who actually buy the hair?

Or maybe it s just me. It's definitely me.

World Cup schedule

World Cup Schedule.

Prediction of the day: India will win this world cup.

Winners and those who didn’t win..

The thing about players like Kobe (and there aren’t many walking this planet) is the fierce competitiveness in everything they do. Maybe that’s what makes them the best in their business.

I remember Ravi Shastri talking about the fierce competitiveness that Tendulkar possesses. Apparently SRT and Shastri were on a vacation in the US and were playing a ‘leisurely’ game of tennis. But SRT kept score and made sure he ‘won’ that game. Yuvraj Singh says SRT can’t bear losing even at table tennis and the intensity with which he plays might make you think he is playing for his life.

Makes you think, in this politically correct world, we talk about ‘winners’ and ‘those who didn’t win’ (apparently there are no losers). We say ‘”Winning isn’t everything. It’s all about participation, competing and doing the best you can.” Isn’t that a load of bull? I mean, its great to console a 5 yr old, but the day we start believing in it, wouldn’t that kill our ability to improve and evolve? Isnt the thought of winning that motivates us to put in that extra effort? Isnt it the desire to win that fuels the curiosity of our ‘child scientists’ to be creative and excel in their science projects? I wonder if there is a single sportsperson in the world who goes through rigorous training day in day out aiming for the silver medal in the olympics!

Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing. It’s a different thing that mere mortals like us can’t ‘win’ in everything we do – although we would love to. But does that mean we quit trying?

NBA All Star

Watched the All Star game last night. After the kind of festivities that only the Sin City could dish out, they eventually got around to the game. Wade had a quiet night. LeBron was explosive in patches. Kobe was great as usual and walked away with the MVP.

“The thing about Kobe, he’s got a competitive edge to him that you can just sense, you can just feel,” said Phoenix Coach Mike D’Antoni, who led the West team. “He was the first guy, when the lead got down from 30 or so, that said, ‘Come on, put the hammer on them.’ He’s going to play hard every time he’s on the floor.”

Also read: Kobe’s image rehabilitation truly remarkable. He was known as self centered and selfish. A separate post on that one..

On-the-job naps

Instant messenger @ work. 2:30 pm.

NS: Me sleepy.
Me: Do the Dew.
NS: Got a better option. I will go to the scripting room and take a ‘power nap’. I can lock myself in. Ppl will think I am busy coding.
Me: Yeah that works too. Check this link. On-the-job naps might cut heart risk
Me: Japan has 'siesta booths’ and stuff. They encourage power naps to increase productivity
Me: and per this new study afternoon power naps are linked to reduced risk of heart disease..
NS: the scripting room might just save my life then ;)

World Cup’s Greatest Moments

Sachin Tendulkar's statement of intent , 2003

My weighing scale

I don’t think I am as fit as I used to be. (Read: I have put on weight). Every morning at work I get the feeling its taking longer for the elevator to reach up to the 7th floor than it used to.

Jacuzzi

Observation made at the local gym: No Jacuzzi in the world is big enough to hold two adult men in it.

WC team Selected

So the Indian team was selected for the WC. Now we have every Tom, Dick and Harish playing Monday morning quarterback (MMQB). Read this since you have nothing better to do anyway. Agree with Ravi Shastri. Powar would have been useful in WI. Heck, I am a MMQB too. And a damn good one at that.

Work Blog

In the spirit of blogs, I am thinking of starting a work blog. There is so much stuff and so many projects going on, I wonder what I end up doing all day at work! (“Not blogging I hope”. Yeah, thought of that.) So the next time my manager thinks what the heck I am up to, I could just forward him a link.

Marketing yourself

Marketing is what you do when your product is no good

Read a senseless article the other day – you know the articles that get printed because of freedom of speech? The ones that have no data to support them, no statistical evidence or facts? The ones that get printed to spark some kind of controversy or help sell something (newspapers, magazines etc)? The ones that get printed in the gossip papers lined up next to the check out lines at the grocery stores? Is Angelina Jolie secretly married to the Sheikh of Uzbekistan? You get the point… So according to this article apparently SRT’s fan club is dwindling and only the loyal fanatics remain (I am in the latter group).
So Tendulkar is not at his best right now (in tests. He struck back with a ferocious century against WI last week and followed up with a century in the Ranji final). Every player goes through a lean trot. But since all eyes are always on SRT, a couple of tests without a century is a calamity of gigantic proportions. And this is a guy with 35 test centuries, carrying Team India on his shoulders for the past 17 years.

A smart friend of mine made an interesting comment the other day. “After Mark Mascarenhas’s death, Tendulkar’s career hasn’t been the same”. Got me thinking, what the hell has that got to do with SRT’s game? Well granted, he was more than a friend to SRT, but what’s that got to do with his game??
“Well” my friend said, “he did market him as the best. It was only Tendulkar back then, but now you have other cricketers endorsing reputed brands and are just as popular.”
Interesting point. SRT is the best in the business. He does not have to “market” himself as the best player in the world. But marketing is important. I remembered a quote from ‘American Beauty’ - “In order to be successful, one must project an image of success at all times.” Think about it. Its so true!
And if SRT has to market himself, then so do we. In everything we do. Its not important whether you are good, its important that everybody else thinks you are good.

Its true at work. Let’s face it: Its not important whether you work hard, its important that your boss thinks you work hard.That’s true in friendship and in relationships. Girls like to hear “I-love-yous” and guys think “If I love you and you know it, why do I have to say it?” I know a guy who was not into public display of affection (PDA). But his girlfriend made him hug and kiss her in public so his friends know that he is serious about her! They loved each other, but it was important for her that other people know that too. Maybe in order to be happy, one must project an image of being happy all the time?
I can go on and on, but the fact remains – whether you like it or not, you have to market yourself in every thing you do.

Weight-Loss Drug to Be Sold Over the Counter

Weight-Loss Drug to Be Sold Over the Counter

Roughly 31 percent of American adults, or about 60 million people, meet the criterion for obesity. More than 64 percent of the adult population in this country is regarded as overweight.

Great! Now all we need is a recliner with a built-in crapper. Somebody get the beer!

KISS

Keep It Simple Stupid.
I mean what’s the point in complicating stuff? Every damn thing has a simple logical explanation. Simple common sense and logic could solve so many problems. Unfortunately, common sense is not that common and logic somehow doesn’t make sense to a lot of people! Arguing with them is an experience! I mean, you could use all the logic in the world but they baffle you with complete ignorance and baloney.

Read a bumper sticker the other day:

“Do not argue with fools. First, they bring you down to their level and then they beat you with sheer experience.”

Choices galore

I think we always have a choice.
Be optimists or pessimists. Either be happy about life or crib and cry. Be proactive or reactive. Either adjust or squabble. Be far sighted and eliminate problems or be near sighted and create more problems in the long run. Spend your life enjoying money or spend your money enjoying life. Pick your fights and win or lose every other one. Support someone when they are down or “I told you so!” Make others happy or make them miserable. Understand or misunderstand. Be proud of what you are or keep sulking you are not something else. And the obvious one: End this list while it is still readable or go on and on and bore your readers to death