Comeback of (Out of) Sorts

It's 7:30 am. I haven't slept all night.

In fact, I've slept three hours in the last three days because I've been working on my moot memorials (which just got submitted, fingers crossed). Now I can do with sleep deprivation better than most people, but this is really, pushing it.

No point in going to sleep now, I'll miss class. Speaking of which, first two hours is the attendance cutting marching maniac, super-Nagarathna Saibaba. And she hates me. So I can't afford to sleep for the first two hours.

It's a perfect recipe for disaster.

Might as well go shave and remove the two week old itchy-scratchy beard. If I am found death with a pool of blood coagulating around my throat, please note that it wasn't a suicide attempt. I probably dozed off and used the razor as something to lean on.

Token Post

since there have apparently been complaints of people getting sick of seeing the same 'Samu' post every day.

I have to do two weeks' effort worth of projects in five days starting tomorrow. Again. So much for turning over a new leaf. How in heaven's name will I have the energy to do a moot straight after that. Followed by the Allen and Overy course. Followed by tax mid term. Followed by Spiritus. Followed by another project (thanfully there is the feeling of having an exemption for the first time to look forward to). Followed by the next moot. Followed by end terms. Interspersed with all these are the organising of various CulComm events. And also the inaugural Five a Side Premier Football League under lights (this should be awesome). Oh, and Quirk too.

When the hell did I become this active??

Hmm, chilling for a week wasn't such a bad idea then. I clearly won't have time to do so again this trimester.

Screw You Southampton

So there I was playing FIFA Manager 09. I decided to pick Southampton, a team which in reality got relegated, and against all odds managed to make them win the Championship and get them promoted. No seriously, the way those eejits were playing for the first few games I had lost all hope and wondered if I survive relegation it will be enough. Somehow, I managed to develop tactics and make smart (or lucky) signings which suited the team and turned them around and brought them back to Premier League. Hell, I even beat Portsmouth (derby rivals, if you don't know) 3-0 in the FA Cup.

And while I was going through a whole bunch of stats of players to see who can reinforce the squad and getting ready for the next season...

They sacked me. For no good reason. Those bloody bastards.

Now it is October and they haven't managed a single win and are rock bottom and heading back into the Championship. So screw you, you deserve it!

As for me I was jobless for three months but then Burnley in the Championship signed me. They are an even worse headache than Southampton. I'm thinking of chucking it all and starting a new one with a lower level Premier League club like Wigan or something. This time I'll remove the 'sacking' option. Fricking sadistic game.

Everyone Is Unique, And The Music Never Dies

I am honestly tired of sports journalism always comparing upcoming players to retired superstars or even current players - "The Next ________". God only knows how many Argentinian prodigies have been dubbed the next Maradona and pretty much all of them - Aimar, Saviola etc - have succumbed to the pressure. The only one currently who seems to be justifying the tag is Lionel Messi, and so what do the media do, they dub even younger Argentinian kids The Next Messi. Hell, Messi just turned 22, he still has whole career in front of him, you can't push him over the hill like that. It's like giving a Lifetime Achievement Award to Dev Patel because of his 'superlative' performance in Slumdog Millionaire. You're implying that Messi cannot or does not need to achieve anything anymore, which is so obviously untrue.

This trick is mostly used to sensationalise the headlines, they are hardly ever a reflection of the player's abilities anyway. The new Brazilian starlet Douglas Costa who Manchester United are pursuing was , till a year ago, The Next Ronaldinho, now he is The Next C. Ronaldo. Because Ronaldinho's stock isn't as high as it used to be. How do you justify that on the basis of merit? Both of them are players with different styles, so unless one is saying the kid has changed his game to become a mirror image of someone else now, it really doesn't hold water.

Don't be lazy , journalists. Say it as it is, describe what the kid is good at, don't just mention he is like so-and-so and leave us to draw our own inferences. Footballers are people, and no two people are exactly the same or have the same set of talents. Everyone is unique.

...

A heads up to Vh1's coverage of Michael Jackson's demise, they have paid tribute to him in the best way possible, which is screening marathons of his music videos. Not a discussion of his life, a scrutiny of his well documented fallacies, false platitudes of his talents; just a celebration of his music.

All those platitudes can still be seen in the ticker in the bottom where the condolence messages sent by people can be seen. Some of them seem sincere, most of them are people who had little idea who he was and just want their three seconds of fame, and a few of them are dowhright retarded. Like this - "MJ, we miss you sooo much, your music has died with you :("

The music never dies, you freak! The art is what makes the artist immortal. How many people actually remember or care about the person. Even if he was a douchebag (which I don't believe he was) his music is what will count ultimately.

He was never a favourite of mine, but I really like certain songs and I overall enjoy his music. There is a definite sincerity and energy in his songs and he was one of the best lyricists of his era. He single handedly made Pop music cool and dragged it to its zenith before, well, the 90s happened. So all said and done, he will be missed. But his music won't be, because it hasn't gone anywhere.

Rants, News and some 'Tagging'

Intolerance reached a new level of absurdity when protesters prevented the construction of a Charlie Chaplin statue in Udupi on the grounds that he is a Christian... and therefore, our Hindu sensibilities will be offended when we see that famous moustache and bowler hat mocking us from their high pedestal. Some of us will probably succumb to depression and go drown ourselves on seeing that blasphemic sight.



chills my living bones

This is a Cracked.com article waiting to happen. How can anyone take this seriously? Thankfully, no one really has, not even Muthalik, who has condenscendingly rubbished it saying that Chaplin was never projected as a Chritian and therefore, everyone should view him as an artiste. Muthalik's comment has been tagged as 'Surprise of the Day' by Sunday Times, a nicely not-so-subtle dig on our misogynist crusader.

On a slightly related note, one of my favourite sad quotes belongs to this ultimate funnyman, more so because I have done it: "I always like to walk in the rain as no one can see me crying."

.....

The first week of the trimester has rumbled by and with the varying and, so far, mostly chilled out schedule we have had, it actually feels like we're in one of those filmi colleges where no one ever studies. It's not going to last, already the shadow of repeats and placement diary has put brakes to it, but it was nice all the same. And unlike most other pseudos, I had openly admitted that I had become restless sitting at home and was really looking forward to law school reopening. It's amazing how many people have indicated the same after a little prodding. If only we didn't cling to this falsely 'cool' sense of belief that law school is this unbearable hellhole where every minute is torture, then we could really enjoy our last really free years before career drudgery consumes our souls.

.....

Couple of blogs you can visit if you are not doing anything.

Firstly, this crazy one. It's by Dan Piraro who is the creator of the Bizarro syndicated comic strip. It's an absolutely fantastic read. The man's clever and hilarious, the best combination.

Then there is Neil Gaiman' blog. You probably already knew about it but what the heck.

Tribute to Jasper and Jinx (and a related rant)

Come on, you know who Jasper and Jinx are. Don't tell me you haven't heard of them. I'll bet my non existent million bucks that you have grown up with them. No? Well, let's see here. Jasper and Jinx were the original names given to these guys.



I'm glad they changed the names.

This post is a result of some hardcore television watching I have done post intership. This meant that most of the time I have been watching Tom and Jerry because, well, it is shown in Cartoon Network half the time (I will return to this). Tom and Jerry (along with eggs) were my first and most enduring obsession. I have seen all episodes at least five hundred times each by now (this is not an exaggeration) and I think the original Hanna/Barbera shorts are the best cartoons ever created. The obvious care in detail in animation and background score has never been replicated, fifty years after the shorts ended. It's also the only cartoon I know which everyone I know likes, including people who say that cartoons are for kids. I think I saw about 20 today itself at various times. The Chuck Jones cartoons (recognisable from the title sequence where Tom meows after the lion's roar) are also decent but cannot compare to the Hanna/Barbera ones. In fact, they resemble the 'Looney Tunes' and mostly Roadrunner gags are reused and the sound is nowhere near as creative, so some of the magic is lost. Still they are watchable. But the Gene Deitch shorts, recognisable by their absolute crappiness, should have been consigned to a forgotten history instead of being rerun along with the more brilliant cartoons. My two favourite Tom and Jerry shorts are The Yankee Doodle Mouse and The Cat Concerto.

Now to my short rant. It's concerning the quality of cartoons in Indian television today, which is absolutely shocking. It's amazing that when I was a single digit age kid, there was no dedicated kid's channel (or maybe Cartoon Network had just come in), and yet the quality of cartoons shown in DD Metro and Star and Zee and Sony were far superior to the crap being shoved down our throat here.

I mean let's take one channel here - Nickelodeon. When it first came in we had the Nicktoons, some of which were brilliant and all of which were watchable and outstandingly funny kid's shows like Kenan and Kel. Now, other than Spongebob Squarepants, we have mindnumbing anime like Ninja Hattori on offer. Why? Just because there is an anime rage sweeping the world, you'll pick out the worst the genre has to offer and show them? How does that make sense. Nickelodeon had a decent animation studio, what the hell happened?

Then there is Cartoon Network. When I was growing up, we had the Holy Trinity of Cartoon Cartoons, Power Zone and Hanna-Barbera, which, together with Tom and Jerry, had developed an outrageous monopoly of the best cartoons any Indian child generation has seen. Then came Pokemon. Now it isn't a bad cartoon. Having one anime like Pokemon gives good variety. But if you replace all that made your channel good with ten different rip-offs of Pokemon, you'll start to suck. They never have recovered and the fact that half their time slots these days are filled by Tom and Jerry, proving that it is the only thing which really sells anymore, shows how crappy they've become.

Even Animax, when it started out had some real good animes to offer - Samurai X, Get-Backers, Inuyasha etc. Even the lighthearted animes were good to watch. Now, I really can't see anything on that channel these days, it's just bad.

Kid's television is generally dumber these days. Do they not trust the mental faculties of kids anymore. Because I could definitely understand Swat Kats and Batman and Flintstones ten years back. The level of the show didn't need to be of that of Chhota Bheem for me. They should really give kids more credit.

This is one time where competition has clearly brought down the standards, instead of raising the bar as our economists would have us believe should happen. Apart from Tom and Jerry, the only show I really like is Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. This Tiny TV show from Pogo is smarter than Ben 10.

Bleh!

When Football and Money didn't meet... thankfully so.

If you are a football fan, and you haven’t been living under a rock, then you have most certainly heard about the transfer drama surrounding Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, better known as Kaká. It ended yesterday with the man reportedly deciding to stay at Milan rather than be lured by the obscene wages the EPL club were offering.

Now I am not a Milan fan, nor is Kaká my favourite player in the world, although I do like him (even have his jersey). But I am a football fan, and I was praying all along that he doesn’t go to City? Why? Because for however financially sound the move would have been, all my footballing sensibilities were against a former World Player of the Year moving to a relegation threatened club. It is also heartening to see players showing some loyalty (even if the club doesn’t reciprocate, like the current case) while most others follow the money trail. But that is beside the point.

Money has governed the game ever since one can remember, and there is nothing wrong with it. For all the romanticism associated with the game, it is still a business and money will make it go round. It is no coincidence that all of the ‘big clubs’ across Europe have the most money and there is nothing wrong with a lower club spending its way to the top. The football fan’s mind is short term, and the post Abramovich Chelsea is comfortably regarded as a big club now even though it was never one before the money had started pouring in. No doubt Manchester City would be regarded as the same a couple of years from now.

However, there lies a difference between Chelsea and Manchester City. Chelsea didn’t obscenely start waving its money as soon as Abramovich bought the club. They first built a solid squad of players which could challenge the top, and once their status was assured, did they actively try to buy ‘stars’. It is an interesting point that Chelsea’s first real star signing – Andriy Shenchenko, turned out to be the biggest transfer flop this side of Walter Samuel. Manchester City, on the other hand, lie just four points above the drop zone and yet they have tried to buy one of the biggest players of the world, purely on the temptation of money. While I do not buy elitist arguments that clubs without a winning history have no business challenging at the top purely due to their spending power, I do take offence as a football fan to see a rich club having nothing to offer by way of footballing ambitions and yet going for the big guns simply because they financially can. It would have probably disgusted me to see Kaká try to save a team from relegation rather than help it reach the top. City would do well to first improve and consolidate their status before they start approaching the best players.

Interestingly, I have otherwise taken heart by the fact that City have shored up their defence considerably in this transfer window, which was clearly their problem area. They really did not need an attacking player like Kaká (although a player of his talents certainly would not hurt) since they have the second best attacking record in the league; their troubles lied in the back. They have already made one shock signing in Robinho in the summer which signals their intent to challenge the big guns, but they need to follow it up with performances on the field, before stars like Kaká would even contemplate going there and fans outside their loyal base could start accepting it.