As I see it, the recent moves of BCCI had nothing to do with resurrecting the sorry state of Indian cricket, post the WC debacle. The Indian team's dismal performance gave the BCCI a brilliant opportunity to exercise the third word of it's abbreviated name...Control.
Historically, the BCCI always had an issue with the financial opportunities/clout of the Indian cricketers. And what better time to rein in these truant stars than when the public is baying for the blood of these 'overpaid underperformers'.
Every major change announced since then, are all related to this objective.
1. Retaining RD as the captain. RD is the proverbial 'good boy' of the class. He will hardly go into a confrontational mode against the BCCI, unlike some ex-captain with 'slow scoring rates'. And their move has been amply rewarded by the 'right noises' RD has started making thereafter.
2. Venkatesh Prasad as the bowling coach. Now you have to give RD a few carrots too. Or else how else do you justify the this appointment. I mean, Venkatesh Prasad? What is he known for? As Jawagal Srinath's not-so-consistent and not-so-regular bowling partner? Or the man who got Amir Sohail out at the 1996 WC q/f, with sheer histrionics?
3. Ravi Shastri. Perhaps the most brilliant move. While the cricketing community falls over each other trying to wax eloquent about the suddenly discovered razor-sharp cricketing brain of Ravi Shastri, let's get some facts in place. Where has Ravi Shastri's cricketing acumen been demonstrated? At the ESPN commentary box? Or was it the solitary Test that he captained and won in 1987-88 against WI?
Well, just put things in perspective, India won that Chepauk Test on a track, specially (under)prepared for a certain Mr Narendra Hirwani who had exposed the WI's discomfort at playing him in a previous tour match. So what was Ravi Shastri's contribution? Raising his his little finger near his mouth like Dr Evil and saying, "We shall include Hirwani in the team." Ha! BTW, let's not forget that the other big contributor to that victory was Kapil with his century to ensure that we had a good first innings total.
Ravi Shastri's appointment was the pre-emptive strike that BCCI needed, to take out any semblance of an united players' opposition that might have arisen over the endorsement issue. Remember Ravi Shastri was the representative of the still-not-recognised Players' Association.
I think the way to mend the state of Indian cricket does not lie in formulating policies about how many brands a cricketer can endorse. As I have said before, if (and only if) there is a correlation between performance and endorsements, the cricketing public is the best judge and the only ones capable to putting things in place.
The BCCI should occupy itself with more important things. But right now, it looks like a turf war and the BCCI has found a brilliant opportunity!
Monday, April 09, 2007
Thursday, April 05, 2007
The Corporatisation of Cricket
After India's World Cup debacle, we all agree that one of the reasons is the greed that has come into the game. And from this article by S Mohan, a Trinidadian WC volunteer, it looks like the rot has started at the very top...ICC.
Which kinda compels me to link this brilliant article written four years ago by Prem Panicker, one of the best cricket journalists of our time. Those were the days.
Courtesy: Cricinfo.com and Rediff.com
Which kinda compels me to link this brilliant article written four years ago by Prem Panicker, one of the best cricket journalists of our time. Those were the days.
Courtesy: Cricinfo.com and Rediff.com
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
A bad case of the funnies
Discovered some awesomely hilarious links, courtesy McSweeney.
REGARDING MY JOB DESCRIPTION
LOWLIGHTS FROM MY FAILED HIDDEN-CAMERA SHOW.
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF MAGICIANS RESPONDS TO AN APPLICANT.
BUSINESS IDEAS I HAVE REJECTED IN MY CAPACITY AS YOUR BANK MANAGER.
THE "I'M SORRY I FAILED TO MAKE YOU RICH" LETTER.
REGARDING THOSE INTERNET SEARCHES YOU FOUND AND THEN CONFRONTED ME ABOUT IN A HOSTILE WAY
Monday, April 02, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Murder, they said
The Bob Woolmer saga is getting interesting. The Jamaican police have now officially announced that it's a case of murder. They have fingerprinted the entire Pakistani squad. However that did not stop the Pakistani president from posthumously honoring the the murdered coach. Sounds like a perfect Dev Anand potboiler. What say Maity?
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Face2Face
A couple of Israeli undercover artists have come with a brilliant concept called Face2Face. According Israelity Bites,
Black and white portraits of Palestinians and Israelis doing the same jobs are juxtaposed in huge formats, in "unavoidable places" around the Holy Land. It is an openhearted effort to point out the common humanity shared by the people here. The artists insist that they favor a 2-country solution where "Israel and Palestine would live peacefully within safe and internationally recognized borders."
They say that an idea can change the world. Well, I desperately hope that this does.
Black and white portraits of Palestinians and Israelis doing the same jobs are juxtaposed in huge formats, in "unavoidable places" around the Holy Land. It is an openhearted effort to point out the common humanity shared by the people here. The artists insist that they favor a 2-country solution where "Israel and Palestine would live peacefully within safe and internationally recognized borders."
They say that an idea can change the world. Well, I desperately hope that this does.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
A little bit of cricket, politics and history
In 1983, a group of 18 West Indian cricketers undertook a 'rebel' tour of South Africa. This was a time when the country was still run by the apartheid regime. These cricketers were ostracized in their home countries, had to give up their careers and a few of them died in extreme poverty. But history reveals that these 18 cricketers also accomplished an unlikely task...of breaking the colour barrier in South Africa and 'converting and baptising thousands and thousands of whites into a religion of black acceptance and respect'. Siddhartha Vaidyanathan, a staff writer of Cricinfo, has this brilliant article.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Wow!
300 Trivia
* The film was shot in 60 days.
* The film was shot on green screen in Montreal.
* There are 1500 cuts in the film, and about 1300 involve some sort of visual effect.
* The work was photographed completely in Montreal, with the exception of two days of insert shooting in Los Angeles.
* Ten visual effects vendors contributed to the film, spread over three continents.
* The filmmakers used bluescreen 90% of the time, and greenscreen for 10%. They chose blue because it better matched the lighting paradigm (green would have been too bright) and because red garments (a la spartan capes) look better when shot over blue.
* There was one day of location shooting, which was for the horses that were shot for the 'approaching sparta' scene.
* Post production took almost a year. The film was edited on an Avid, with an HD cut also maintained in Final Cut Pro The 3D was made using Maya, XSI, and Lightwave The 2D composites were made with Shake, Inferno, Fusion, and Combustion. The filmmakers prefer Macintosh, but large portions of the movie were made under Linux. Asset management was handled by custom software written in the Panorama development environment, made by Provue. Color management was handled by Truelight software. The film was scanned on a northlight scanner and was recorded on the arrilaser. Most of the film was shot at high speed, between 50 and 150fps. Normal film is at 24fps. The film was transferred to HD SR tape and quicktime, and HD quicktimes were the basis for the HD preview cuts. The working resolution for the film was 2K, at a working aspect ratio of 2.11 and a projected aspect ratio of 2.35.
* The script demanded that most of the male cast spend the majority of their screen time bare-chested, as per Frank Miller's original graphic novel. Therefore, in order to adequately present themselves as the most well-trained and marshalled fighting force of the time, the entire principal cast underwent a rigorous and varied training regime for 6 weeks prior to shooting.
* According to an interview with IGN.com, Director Zack Snyder says that fighting styles and formations (particularly the Spartan's phalanx) were purposefully changed - making them historically inaccurate - so they'd "look cool" and work better for movie purposes.
* The movie never claims to be historically correct. It is based somewhat loosely on Frank Miller's 1998 comic book mini-series. Changes from history were made by Miller and Snyder so as to appeal to a wider audience and create a more exciting and visually stunning action movie, rather than a typical historical epic.
* Frank Miller was inspired by the original Battle of Thermopylae after viewing the 1962 film "The 300 Spartans" as a child. His perception of the 'hero' concept changed greatly after seeing the Spartans make their sacrifice.
Courtesy: IMDB
* The film was shot in 60 days.
* The film was shot on green screen in Montreal.
* There are 1500 cuts in the film, and about 1300 involve some sort of visual effect.
* The work was photographed completely in Montreal, with the exception of two days of insert shooting in Los Angeles.
* Ten visual effects vendors contributed to the film, spread over three continents.
* The filmmakers used bluescreen 90% of the time, and greenscreen for 10%. They chose blue because it better matched the lighting paradigm (green would have been too bright) and because red garments (a la spartan capes) look better when shot over blue.
* There was one day of location shooting, which was for the horses that were shot for the 'approaching sparta' scene.
* Post production took almost a year. The film was edited on an Avid, with an HD cut also maintained in Final Cut Pro The 3D was made using Maya, XSI, and Lightwave The 2D composites were made with Shake, Inferno, Fusion, and Combustion. The filmmakers prefer Macintosh, but large portions of the movie were made under Linux. Asset management was handled by custom software written in the Panorama development environment, made by Provue. Color management was handled by Truelight software. The film was scanned on a northlight scanner and was recorded on the arrilaser. Most of the film was shot at high speed, between 50 and 150fps. Normal film is at 24fps. The film was transferred to HD SR tape and quicktime, and HD quicktimes were the basis for the HD preview cuts. The working resolution for the film was 2K, at a working aspect ratio of 2.11 and a projected aspect ratio of 2.35.
* The script demanded that most of the male cast spend the majority of their screen time bare-chested, as per Frank Miller's original graphic novel. Therefore, in order to adequately present themselves as the most well-trained and marshalled fighting force of the time, the entire principal cast underwent a rigorous and varied training regime for 6 weeks prior to shooting.
* According to an interview with IGN.com, Director Zack Snyder says that fighting styles and formations (particularly the Spartan's phalanx) were purposefully changed - making them historically inaccurate - so they'd "look cool" and work better for movie purposes.
* The movie never claims to be historically correct. It is based somewhat loosely on Frank Miller's 1998 comic book mini-series. Changes from history were made by Miller and Snyder so as to appeal to a wider audience and create a more exciting and visually stunning action movie, rather than a typical historical epic.
* Frank Miller was inspired by the original Battle of Thermopylae after viewing the 1962 film "The 300 Spartans" as a child. His perception of the 'hero' concept changed greatly after seeing the Spartans make their sacrifice.
Courtesy: IMDB
Monday, March 05, 2007
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Friday, March 02, 2007
Doyal baba lyrics
Banglay lekha achhe
আমার দয়াল বাবা কলা খাবা গাছ লাগাইয়া খাও
আমার দয়াল বাবা কলা খাবা গাছ লাগাইয়া খাও
পরের গাছের পানে কেন মিটমিটাইয়া চাও
বাবা রে
পরের গাছের পানে কেন মিটমিটাইয়া চাও ।
আরে মাইনষের ভিড়ে চাপাচাপি
দয়াল বাবায় করে কাঁপাকাঁপি
বাবা তোমার বাংলাদেশে কতো কলা চাও
কলাবাগান চাষ কইরা কষ্ট কইরা খাও ।
বাবা কলা চাই এত বড়ো
কে কোথায় আছে আমায় ধরো
কলা আনতে যাব কোথায় বাবায় বলে দাও
কিনে তোমার খাতি হয় না সবই খাদ্য ফাউ ।
আছেন যারা জ্যান্ত বাবা
আহা তারাই আসল দয়াল বাবা
এই জনগণে ধরলে ঠেসে করবা হাঁউমাঁউ
বলবে সবাই ঠেসে ধরে বাপের কলা খাঁউ
তোমার
বলবে সবাই ঠেসে ধরে বাপের কলা খাঁউ ।
নিজের কলা আগে আনো
কেন পরের কলা ধরে টানো
শেষে কলা এত খুললে কেন এবার বিদায় দাও
সব কলা খাওয়া শেষ হইলে নিজের কলা খাও ।
-দয়াল বাবার জয় হোক ।
আমার দয়াল বাবা কলা খাবা গাছ লাগাইয়া খাও
আমার দয়াল বাবা কলা খাবা গাছ লাগাইয়া খাও
পরের গাছের পানে কেন মিটমিটাইয়া চাও
বাবা রে
পরের গাছের পানে কেন মিটমিটাইয়া চাও ।
আরে মাইনষের ভিড়ে চাপাচাপি
দয়াল বাবায় করে কাঁপাকাঁপি
বাবা তোমার বাংলাদেশে কতো কলা চাও
কলাবাগান চাষ কইরা কষ্ট কইরা খাও ।
বাবা কলা চাই এত বড়ো
কে কোথায় আছে আমায় ধরো
কলা আনতে যাব কোথায় বাবায় বলে দাও
কিনে তোমার খাতি হয় না সবই খাদ্য ফাউ ।
আছেন যারা জ্যান্ত বাবা
আহা তারাই আসল দয়াল বাবা
এই জনগণে ধরলে ঠেসে করবা হাঁউমাঁউ
বলবে সবাই ঠেসে ধরে বাপের কলা খাঁউ
তোমার
বলবে সবাই ঠেসে ধরে বাপের কলা খাঁউ ।
নিজের কলা আগে আনো
কেন পরের কলা ধরে টানো
শেষে কলা এত খুললে কেন এবার বিদায় দাও
সব কলা খাওয়া শেষ হইলে নিজের কলা খাও ।
-দয়াল বাবার জয় হোক ।
Dayal Baba Kola Khaba
Ok...this is the obligatory Doyal Baba post! Shonku thinks he is our answer to Whacko Jacko. We tend to concur. Anyway, I did some digging around on Bengal's only cyber-celebrity, and this is what I got.
Sayan Ranu (sayanranu@gmail.com) says that he got this from his roommate. After some investigation he (and his roommates) were able to find out that the stage show took place in Ujjal Sangha, Atabagan, Laskarpur, Garia, Cal 700153. "Dayal Baba" is a guy called Aditya from Tollygunge, Calcutta. He is a professional dancer. If you want to contact Dayal Baba then contact Kaustav at kaust.banerjee@gmail.com. he has all the details.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Ong-Bak: The best car chase in cinema history
Freaky stuff done with tuktuks. Even we have have ricks in this country. Wonder why no Bollywood action director has thought of doing a stunt sequence with them. BTW, Marty, are you watching this?
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
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