2013 - A year NOT to remember!

So 2013 is done and dusted!

I had an impulse to write a few words about some of the things I feel strongly about in this year gone by!

1. Lets start with Mahendra Singh Dhoni! I don't quite understand his value to the India Test Squad. The nonchalance which makes him one of the best captains around actually disgusts me when you see him trying to bat in Test matches in hostile pitches against hostile bowlers. I am sure he himself in his mind acknowledges that though he may be India's finest player in the shorter versions of the game and even in the longer version in the subcontinent or against lesser teams; he is just not deserving to be in the side when they play quality pace attacks on hostile pitches abroad. Considering this; and the fact that I feel he basically wants to serve Indian cricket and not any personal ambitions; he should step down from the test captaincy of the Indian Cricket Team. It would serve best to find the right guy right now to replace him rather than to witness the tragedy which is to see him bat against quality pace attack abroad.
2. Now lets come to Arrogance in Indian Politics. The sheer arrogance which politicians in India have is just disgusting. I have seen politicians elsewhere and to say that this is a global phenomenon would not be fair. First, we saw the Congress and the BJP so arrogantly belittling the AAP. And we all know who had the last laugh there. But alas, this disease runs so deep in India; that it would take a few AAPs to have any serious impact on the thick skinned bastards we call as our leaders. I see people like Akhilesh Yadav trying to repeat the same mistake and at the risk of making a prediction; I just cant wait for the next elections when his party would be wiped out from the face of electoral politics.

The Practice :)

If you wanna watch a real crime/legal drama; watch The Practice currently being broadcast on Fox Crime in India.

Gem of a series. Excellent cast; great stories and just an excellent watch.

I prefer to watch it over my two other favorite series, 'The X Files' & 'Supernatural'.

Although those two are different genre but all three have one thing in common: Excellent acting and great plots!

Probably, 'The Practice' ranks higher than the other two in these aspects.

The one amazing thing about this series is that all 6 or 7 of the main characters are strong actors/characters and you just cant pick a favorite.

Definitely a must watch for someone who likes intrigue in his daily TV dose.

SoooooperNatural!!!!

Another bit of television in the horror cum humor genre I am watching these days is the series, 'Supernatural' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural_(TV_series)
Not in the same league as the X Files, this series has a lot going for itself. I especially enjoyed Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jensen_Ackles. He clearly overshadows Jared Padalecki as the main character in the series. If you are into Horror Fiction and Dark Humor this is clearly your cup of tea.

Commentators - the good, the bad and the stinkers!!!

Commentators, I feel evoke strong emotions amongst cricket viewing public. Here's my classification of the men who can either irritate you no end or make the game more fun to watch!!!

First of all the good:

Ian Chappell. Thorough knowledge; mostly unbiased and a man of few but powerful words. One of the very few Aussie commentator who doesn't sound arrogant and loud.



Michael Holding. Lovely accent, his passion for the game shows off brilliantly in his words. Again, has thorough knowledge of the game.



Geoffrey Boycott. A genius. That's the easiest way to describe him.



Ramiz Raja. Unbiased (mostly anyways) and possesses a good sense of humor. Hardly any subcontinent commentator can match his wits.



Naseer Hussain. Again a man of few words. Has very interesting insights and strong views. Different and refreshing.



David Gower. Refreshing and different. Has extensive knowledge and a laid back demeanour about his commentary.



Sunny Gavaskar. Good student of the game. Clearly biased towards Sachin Tendulkar; but I guess you take some bad with the largely good.



Ravi Shastri. Seems to have a macho sense of humor and overall demeanour. Unfortunately, it does seem a bit pretentious at times. Overall not bad.



Laxman Sivaramakrishnan. I personally feel he is the most thorough and unbiased amongst all the Indian commentators.








Mark Nicholas. Professional and crisp. Has a refreshing voice and soothing to the nerves. Again a thorough student of the game.



Arun Lal. Despite his overall lack of fluency, he comes across as an honest individual. I would admit he seems a bit raw; but then he is largely unbiased and thorough. I like him!!!



Anil Kumble. Heard him for the first time in the ongoing T20 World cup and liked him straight up. To the point and different to other Indian loudmouth commentators. Very crisp.



Richie Benaud. Man, how old is he??? Still, he commands respect with his up to date knowledge of the game and the fact that he doesn't moan about the yore despite being from the yore!!!



Alan Wilkins. He has limited knowledge of the game; but he tries to give his 100% whenever he is there in the commentators box. He brings the best in those with him instead of trying to hog the limelight; he willingly takes the backseat! That's a rare quality in a cricket commentator.

Now the not so good:

1. Dean Jones. He is loud and lousy.



2. Navjot Siddhu. He is/was loud, lousy and biased.



3. Ian Healy. Probably the least worse of the crop of lousy, loud mouthed, obnoxious and arrogant Aussie cricket commentators.



4. Ian Botham. I have largely no problems with the man. But the fact that he is so damn biased, just makes me dislike his commentary.



5. Ranjit Fernando. Probably, should be the least controversial of my choices. He ain't very good, is he!

The Ugly!!!

1. Harsha Bhogle. He was ONCE a good commentator just like Indian team was ONCE a one man army and ODI cricket was ONCE the most exciting form of cricket. All that is history now. Sachin is no longer indispensable; T20s are the in thing these days. Similarly, Harsha Bhogle's day in the sun is over. Instead of coming across as a clever, witty and ingenious fellow, he now comes across as lame, over the top and an unbearable geek. I cant stand listening to his same old jokes and theories. His time is up; the sooner he realizes this the better for cricket viewing folks at home.




2. Mark Taylor. Biased and borderline racist. Most Aussies are; but he is blatant.






3. Tony Greig. The worst of the worst. Absolute disgrace of a commentator. Shifts loyalties just like he did in his cricket playing days. One moment he is this hardcore Aussie, the next minute he suddenly becomes a SriLankan and then an Indian. And when those three are not around, he'll either be an Englishman or a South African. If there is anything worse than being biased, its being Tony Greig.




4. Sanjay Majrekar. Poor grasp of English combined with his poor sense of humor gets compounded by his lack of thorough knowledge of the game.

Not so daredevil!!!

It was sad to see Delhi Daredevils bow out today to the Deccan Chargers. But I can't say I was surprised. I can't help but feel that had they played Glenn McGrath today, the result might have been a lot different! You can just feel for McGrath; 15 games and Delhi could not find a place in their line-up for the world's premier fast bowler albeit retired! That's disgraceful! And especially since they were the first team to qualify for the final. I mean it's one thing being smart; completely different being a smart ass. Delhi were so darn cocky in their attitude even though they had the best combination of players in the IPL and the rub of the green going their way. I mean every other team played their retired stalwarts and see how well they each did. If I were to say so, IPL-2 belongs to the likes of Hayden and Gilchrist just like IPL-1 belonged to Warney!


Considering McGrath had a difficult year with the passing away of his wife and the resultant mantle to support the Breast Cancer charity and support work; I am sure the man wanted to forget all that and just turn up and play cricket; the one thing he always loved and cherished.

Admittedly he worked hard on his fitness (because he knew that would come under the scanner) and said that he couldn't have been fitter despite being out of the game for an year. The man left his two young kids in Australia to spend two months over here and didn't get a game. I mean, cummon, show some heart!

As a Delhite and a hardcore supporter of anything associated with Delhi, I feel it's my humble duty to at least apologize to Glenn for this terrible insult to a honorable man and a devoted cricketer!

Sorry Glenn and wish you all the best with the McGrath Foundation! Please come back next year!

X Files - I want to believe!!!

I cant believe I didn't watch the series before now!!! And now that I watch it daily, I want to believe that it's probably the best bit of television ever made!!!

The acting is a piece of magic. Gillian Anderson as Scully is sheer joy. And well Mulder is just Mulder; I don't think there has ever been another character on Television or on Films that has had that aura of perfectness about him which Mulder has.

If you are a fan of The Surreal, The Eerie, a bit of heart wrenching entertainment, then I am sure you will cherish this series like nothing else. Here are a few of my favorite episodes from the series.

• Triangle http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/Triangle

• Ice http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/Ice

• How the Ghosts Stole Christmas http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/How_the_Ghosts_Stole_Christmas

Ghajini - Why was it the worst movie ever!!!

Well, I am watching Memento as I write this. You have got to watch it a few times to truely appreciate it's genius! And then you can't seem to forgive the people behind Ghajini and how they completely beat up the spirit and genius of Memento and molest it so bad that you feel bad comparing the two.

Memento is like a jigsaw puzzle with a gazillion pieces which eventually (after you watch it over and over) fit as perfectly as perfect can be. On the other hand, Ghajini is just one single violent absurd piece of crap. You feel blue while watching Ghajini. It leaves an awful aftertaste in your guts. Not once in the whole movie, did the director thought of the audience to be intelligent enough to have Aamir actually speak out what was on his mind!!! How in the bloody hell did he manage to have the BOLD font tattoos if he cant remember shit for more than 15 minutes. Instead a dumb Jiah Khan who cant even speak proper hindi is interpreting his actions and thoughts. It's just so lame (oh well, I guess thats Bollywood). In complete contrast, Memento is entirely in first person. You know exactly what the protagonist is actually thinking, doing and even forgetting. They did not use any stupid sidekick who can't even pronounce words properly.

And to those who say the movie is not a remake and just an inspiration etc.; well they can stay ignorant for as long as they want. It is a damn remake, just that no Murugadoss has the damn intelligence to make a movie even one-tenth as good as Memento.