European Champions :

"fucken brilliant...Sir Alex Ferguson does it again..signed NANI and ANDERSON...oh i just cant wait for the next season to start."
This was the message I received from a real close friend of mine at the start of the Barclays Premier League 07 - 08. As it turned out, these two were the late late substitutes who had no experience of a Champions League final penalty shootout, thus the pressure was rested on their young shoulders. Boldly, both of them stepped up to take their spot kicks and dislodged them with fierce accuracy and tremendous composure. It seems just like yesterday, that all of them were up there, holding the trophy triumphantly in there hands, dancing and smiling, but the build up to this event was one roller coaster ride you would love to ride. Having scored in the 26'Th minute, United were leading 1-0 (C. Ronaldo the man who magnificently headed the ball goal wards), but as luck would have it, just before the half time mark, Chelsea drew level with United when Frank Lampard scored, what seemed to be an extremely scruffy goal, as Van Der Saar slipped while trying to close him down. All the exhilaration from the Ronaldo goal had vanished by now, and it seemed as if Chelsea were dominating the proceedings. A beautiful opportunity was created by Patrice Evra in the 11'Th minute of extra time, displaying superb ball control and pace, but it went begging as Ryan Giggs failed to get the ball past "Mister Chelsea" who cleared off the line. Penalties seemed inevitable, when a scuffle broke out for what seemed like failure to return the ball (from Tevez) as it was put out of play. As it so happened , Didier Drogba, lost his nerves and took a nick at Nemanja Vidic, who seemed murderous, but "Mister Chelsea" held him back. Sadly though, Drogba received a Red card for taking a nick at a player right in front of the referee. It was to be decided on penalties. Carlos Tevez stepped up to take the first penalty for United. Calmly he put it past Petr Cech, United 1 - 0 up. Ballack stepped up for Chelsea, and the penalty machine scored (as usual) ... it was now time for Carrick, who seemed to effortlessly put the ball in the back of the net, Belletti scored as well, 2 - 2. As the tension was rising, Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up for the spot-kick. As he kissed the ball and placed it on the spot, it seemed that he would surely score, but, as he moved towards the ball, he paused for a second to disorient Cech, who stood his ground, and as he took the shot, Cech saved. My stomach lurched, it was scary. Up next was Lampard, who scored, chelsea 3 - 2, leading and it was now time for sudden death. All the pressure was on the shoulders of Hargreaves, for if he missed, United would have to face humiliation at the hands of 'chelsea, but fate had different plans, for he dislodged the kick (with a brilliant technique) past Cech to keep United in the match. Most fans had lost their nails by now and there was no signs of a winner. Ashley Cole was next, as kicked the ball, it seemed for a moment that Van Der Saar had got enough of his gloves on it to save, but the ball went past him. 4 - 3 to Chelsea. Heaven overflowed with prayers from millions of Fans worldwide. That was when Nani stepped up, and scored, 4 -4. Solomon Kalou, made up for a mediocre performance by putting the kick past Van der Saar. 5 - 4. The young Brazilian, Anderson stepped up, commentators were muttering about him never having scored, but, he scored, calmly and without hiccups. It now rested on "Mister Chelsea" (John Teary), and as he stepped up, thousands of televisions were on the verge of being switched off (United fans), but he missed, and embarrassingly slipped at the crucial moment. "Yes, C'mon C'mon!!" Ryan Giggs, stepped up, 752 appearances for United, and he was not done yet, he scored past Cech, United were ahead. 6 - 5. It was now on Nicolas Anelka, the man who had played for twelve clubs, to put his experience into it, but as he stepped up, there was no sign of conviction on his face, he seemed to be doing it as a formality. It showed, and he missed. Van der Saar saved, and Cristiano Ronaldo was flat on the ground, his back to the sky, I was shouting at the top of my voice, millions were, its at moments like these when the word "One United" really makes sense. Fuck you Chelsea, and fuck all those glory hunters who thought Sir Alex Ferguson was "Scottish piece of shit". Chelsea will always remain second best ... United are the Champions of Europe again ...

Regrettable Act Of Desperation :

It was a fine Sunday morning today, and as my studies for the next year have already begun, I solved a pile of "mole concept" sums. Sadly, though, I could not carry on the impressive form for more than two hours. As I took a break, I switched on the television (since my internet was not working) to find something worth watching. Nothing. Nothing in the sports category, no movie, not even a decent cartoon! ... and, so, I committed an act of desperation, I decided to watch The Cheetah Girls on T.V. I do know that most of my friends will label me gay on reading this, but considering such unthinkable circumstances, a mistake had to be committed ... but looking at the brighter side, my patience was tested, and I solved more than 45 numericals keeping the movie in the background.

Bhajji - Sreesanth, Whack! ... Give us a break!

Since the past week, if not for my maths tutor, the only other thing that is really getting me irritated is the whole "Bhajji-Sreesanth drama". I am not really angry about the "veteran slapping the insolent young fool" incident. The unnecessary hype and controversy that it is receiving is what really ticks me off. Fine, a prat with no much experience said something in the heat of the moment, and the senior player did not take it sportingly, fine, give them the punishments and move on damn it. People are behaving as if the topic will lead to the 3'rd World War, news channels debating it out at least in 6 shows out of nine. Give me a break, even women's hockey has irrelevant spats, for fuck's sake! To makes things worse, the BCCI is unable to decide on the term of the ban that the players will receive, because it seems that this sort of incident is new in cricket (Gentleman's game it is ...)!
Grow up, that's all I can say of what the masses should be doing, and give it a rest, let the authorities decide, not amateurs who voice their opinions in this fashion : I think that - mereko lagta hai ki bhajji ka jyaada ho gaya hai ... he should get year ban.

Coverflow : As Good As It Looks?

The Coverflow software is indeed an aesthetically pleasing sight, IF you have all the album art organized. What if its not? In that case, brace yourself for torture. It transforms into one of the most tiresome piece of software invented. Firstly, Apple inc. is so desperate for profits that unless you have an iTunes store account (i.e without revealing your credit card number) you cannot automatically download and update your data. Not only is it cumbersome to manually download, save and then apply album art to your library, it is also temporary. The moment you update your iTunes version, there is Hara Kiri amidst your album art. Cradle of Filth - Blink 182, Metallica - Yellowcard, these are among the few such mix ups. The album art seems to go haywire, and again the daunting task of updating the album art begins. It is manageable for small libraries of up to 8 GB, but the thought of a 160 GB library sends ice-sickles down my spine. At the end of the day (day is an understatement), after all the effort, you look at your iPOD or iPhone and think was it worth all that? I fail to receive any positive answer. Many changes drastic ones, not minor tweaks mind you) need to be made to the coverflow if it is to live up to the hype to which it is subjected. IT NEEDS TO BE MADE USER-FRIENDLY!!!

A Stench Of Nostalgia:

Yesterday, as I emptied all the rubbish in my closet, I found notebooks, chits and half used diaries. In each was a memory of the time I wasted along with my friends, back in the eleventh grade. It was like a flashback in the bollywood movies of the 90's. Vivid scenes flashed past, I remembered all the stupid things I did. That night, as I lay in bed, I tried listening to Linkin Park, and I drifted into a dreamworld again, I was reminded of the many mistakes I committed, the first was to commit myself. In all the chaos, cute puppy-dog eyes flashed past me, and then suddenly a lumpy forehead which transformed into a biology textbook. I was reminded of a failed IIT campaign, all my failures in school danced around me, enjoying every one of my horror filled expressions. My sweet dream was turning into a nightmare, I woke up, cold perspiration on my forehead ... "That was fucken hell!", I said to myself. Nonetheless, I was tired, I changed the song to "One" and then I let sleep fondle me, gently resting my tired sinews. As I entered sound sleep only one thought kept flashing in my mind :
"Nothing like Metallica to wash the shit out ... "