Democracy - Is it time for Zim?

The little faith that I possess in a democratic system's ability to influence actual change was given a huge boost when Pakistan told Musharraf how it felt a couple of months ago. Zimbabwe now has a chance to do the same, with far more to gain in the process. Can it's people do it for their TPLAC (Yes Minister joke!).

Also, how likely is Mugabe to allow a fair election?

Tibet

There's a petition on avaaz.org up to be signed. Click here to sign it.
In other news, motherly presence coupled with pending papers has restrained a detailed blog about the Maiden gig (there is quite a story). Photos and a post shall follow as and when possible.

MAAAAAIDEEEEEEEEN

The countdown has been removed. There are 5 hours and some 20 minutes to the start of the gig. Probably another hour and a half after that to 'Aces High'...

Happy birthday to the kidoo!!

Ericsson ad

I found this classic ad which I don't think anyone has forgotten even after all these years.

Its amazing to think that in 1996 the phone she's using was 'tiny'!

Music Education Class 2 (Part 2)

This is one of the 3 songs Iron Maiden first recorded back in 1979'ish and was also on their first album (titled Iron Maiden).

For those of you with some experience in Maiden songs, you may notice the voice doesn't sound quite the same. That's because this is Paul Di'anno, the vocalist who preceded Bruce Dickinson. This song - Prowler - is best with him singing.

I would ordinarily put up live videos of Maiden. But unfortunately, the only video with Di'anno singing (Live at the Ruskin Arms in 1980) is very poor quality and therefore, this studio version must suffice.

Music Education - Class 2 (Part 1)

After the initial introduction of possible things to come last week, I revert to my promise of gradual progress. Today's featured song is a classic. Written in the late 1960s / early 70s, Paranoid was one of the songs that propelled Black Sabbath to metal legends status. Even the more ignorant of my readers will have heard of Ozzy Osbourne - he was (still is) Sabbath's frontman.

To truly appreciate this song, picture yourself as a teenager, about a year after you first heard 'I'd like to be, under the sea, in an Octupus' Garden with you'. Along comes Sabbath with frighteningly noir lyrics, and using distortion pedals to actually sound 'heavy'.

For the reader with problems watching the video - you don't have to. This is pretty much the first time I've watched these videos as well. I include a couple of links (these are optional for the course, but highly recommended) below:
1. Megadeth's version of Paranoid - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ISjWmkUnI
2. Ironman by Black Sabbath (another classic - lyrics on the info part of the video) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S524O_XNoLM

For Paranoid and Ironman - notice the wonderful riffs - how they're so catchy...especially when they're sped up (and made even heavier), ala the Megadeth version.

Before I give you the lyrics to Paranoid - the more perceptive of you will notice that this is only Part 1 of today's class. The reason for this is that thanks to upcoming events, I feel compelled to include an Iron Maiden song on today's class. That forms Part 2 of today's class.

Paranoid lyrics:

Finished with my woman cause she couldn't help me with my mind.
people think i'm insane because I am frowning all the time!

All day long I think of things
but nothing seems to satisfy
Think I'll lose my mind
if I don't find something to pacify

Can you help me, occupy my brain?
Oh yeah!

I need someone to show me
the things in life that I can't find
I can't see the things that make true
happiness, I must be blind

Make a joke and I will sigh
and you will laugh and I will cry
Happiness I cannot feel
and love to me is so unreal

And so as you hear these words
telling you now of my state
I tell you to enjoy life
I wish I could but it's too late

Escort me, wont you?

I found this some time back. I think I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago to AT , who is also a regular user of the TOI e-paper.

I don't know what to make of it... any thoughts?

Music Education Announcement

Due to You Tube's inefficiency, I have managed to lose to the depths of cyberspace Class 2 of the Course. Such losses cannot be tolerated. From now on, therefore, I shall only provide links to the You Tube page where the video can be viewed and post from my friendly dashboard.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, this cannot be done this weekend and I shall post the next installment (again!) sometime early next week, but before the countdown clock to the right of your screen turns to 0.

Bad News

Messi is out for 6 weeks with a thigh / hamstring tear. There is obviously something wrong with his physical training / amount of rest. This is what - the 3rd? 4th? time that it's happened to him in the past year and a bit. I hope they keep him on the bench for the better part of the remaining 3 odd months of the season, which will give him a good 4 and a half month rest going into the next season.

I don't deny that there is an obvious spark about Barca when he's playing, but its not very useful if he keeps limping off every other month. I think Henry, Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Eidur and Gio as the front-line options are formidable enough to get Barca the treble this year...

Forca Barca

Barca are through, convincingly beating Celtic at the Camp. Keeps the high spirits up after this morning's cricket. The only downside was Arsenal beating Milan. If there's one team I like watching in the Champions League, its Milan and thanks really to Maldini. This is the end of his C.League career. I suppose most knew that last year would probably be the last time we see him lift that trophy. All in all, it would have still been wonderful to see him play Barca in the final and pick up a runners-up medal!

Looks like he will have to be content with his incredible tally of 5 cups and 3 runners-up medals.

Well done India!

I'm sorry - but this is a deserved cricket post. It's been a while since I've watched an Indian team which has kept me so interested in the game. The last I can remember is the 2003-04 test series Down Under. I suppose the fact that its Australia made this tour all the more watch-able.

So we've just won the 2nd final a few hours back, which has resulted in my sleep patterns being completely destroyed for the 2nd time in 3 days. And I know there's enough talk about this, but here are some of the kids who delivered:
1. Rohit Sharma - who?
2. Praveen Kumar - who?
3. Piyush Chawla - who?
4. Ishant Sharma - who?

It's astonishing how these guys have come out of nowhere and exploded on to Australia. I'm incredibly excited about India's pace attack when it gets back to full strength - Zaheer, RP, Ishant, Sreesanth, Pathan, Praveen, Munaf(will he get a spot?), VRV (?). That's just amazing for an Indian team. Kudos to Venky for his work.

I was especially impressed with Piyush's bowling in the first final (and he wasn't bad in the 2nd). He bowled 60 balls. No wides. No short balls. 33 runs. That is incredible control for a leggie. I still thinks he needs a few more tricks to get wickets in Tests. And hopefully he'll be there by the time Kumble decides it's time.

I think Praveen might have a look-in for the Test side if there's a seaming pitch. I'm not so sure he'll be very good on a flattish track. I think the ideal Test bowling make up would be Zaheer, Ishant, Kumble, Bhajji and/or RP / Pathan. We need a good opening bat to step up, though. Jaffer has glitches in his technique and was found out and Sehwag will never be the anchor. Dravid is too good a No. 3 to open with. Rohit Sharma looks good enough to get a test call up - not to open though. Gambhir has arguably the worst technique for a No.3 in world cricket. I suppose what we really need is a Test all-rounder. Pathan isn't quite there, not to mention the nightmare he had with the ball in the finals (barring the final over).

In other random bits of observations on the finals:

• it was great to see Praveen acting like a kid and running away from the rest of the team to avoid saying anything after he won the MoM. He doesn't speak English - and that'll do nicely if he keeps it up against the Proteas.

• It was nice to see Mark Taylor having to shut up the Indian section of the crowd during the presentation. When he realised his mic wasn't going to drown out a 1000 inebriated Indian fans - he asked for a loud cheer for both teams! That section then went on to chant 'Boring boring' when Ponting was speaking (which was nice to see, especially in Australia). But equally they shut up when Gilchrist spoke and he deserves that. I think he's pushed this a series too far - you could see his relexes and batting skills are nowhere close to what they used to be. Maybe its just the mental weight of knowing this was his last series...

• I'm surprised Hogg has retired. He's fitter than our 25 year olds and is getting so good with the ball. No one except Sachin is picking him out of the hand, which is worrying from India's perspective. Also considering Aus isn't playing India for a bit after this, he might have gone on a tad longer. For some reason, Sachin thinks he doesn't deserve anything less than 10 runs from Hogg's bowling. It was weird to see him charging Hogg in the first final with the required rate at 3.5! He kept up his word and didn't get out to him after the last time in Baroda(?).

• Australia has a lot of problems. They have an under-par side, batting wise and are a quality spinner short. I suppose they'll be happy their next assignment is the Windies, who should be very useful to help blood some youngsters and get everyone back into form.

• For India - good times ahead. Loads of kids coming through. Despite my overwhelming adoration for him, I still think there's a place in the ODI side for Ganguly. He brings a lot to the table and India are struggling a bit in the middle order. He'll be useful when we play 4 bowlers.

This can go on forever. But class beckons....

Hope

Russia's new President-elect is 5'4", a lawyer (almost an academic) and has risen from basically being a political nothing to President in a little over 8 years. I find it absolutely incredible (particularly the part about him being a lawyer - these are all random facts gleaned from Wikipedia during a horribly boring weekly class).

It does give me some hope, though. But then India might have to move towards a psuedo-dictatorship pretty soon...and one of the A's (or someone equally well known to me) might have to be the first President.
Hope is a wonderful thing...

The Penguin Game

One of those simple, annoying and horrribly addictive online games. I was kindly introduced to it by AT and am now cursing him for that. See here.

Stats Question

India needs 11 more to win. I'm just wondering - does anyone recall how many times / the last time Tendulkar hit the winning runs in an ODI or was NO at the end?

Music Education - Class 1

I have decided (in the interests of keeping the blog going during lean patches) to begin educating my many many readers in the music I listen to. I will post a song once every week (usually on Friday afternoons).

Course Requirements:
You WILL listen to the song. While most songs are short I do not rule out exposure to 13 minute epics such as the Rime of the Ancient Mariner etc.

We will progress gradually, but you may, from time to time, be required to make a leap for a week. You will not be graded on these difficult songs.

For my introductory class, I have chosen Machine Head by Bush. The lyrics are below. The part of the song to especially note is the riff (the intro sequence of notes) and in particular how it's used midway during the first verse in the background to build up to the chorus. The lyrics aren't bad either. Enjoy!

Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in

Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in

Tied to a wheel fingers got to feel
Bleedin' through a turniquet smile
I spin on a whim I slide to the right
I felt you like electric light
For our love
For our fear
For our rise against the years and years and years

Got a machinehead better than the rest
Green to red machinehead
Got a machinehead better than the rest
Green to red
And I walk from my machine
I walk from my machine

Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in

Deaf, dumb, and thirty
Starting to deserve this
Leaning on my conscience wall
Blood is like wine
Unconscious all the time
If I had it all again
I'd change it all

Got a machinehead better than the rest
Green to red machinehead
Got a machinehead better than the rest
Green to red
And I walk from my machine
I walk from my machine

Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in, breathe out
Breathe in
Breathe in
Breathe in

Got a machinehead better than the rest
Green to red machinehead
Got a machinehead better than the rest
Green to red
Better than the rest
Better than the rest
Machinehead

And I walk from my machine
I walk from my machine