Syrian Singers in the skies.

Of late there has been much hysteria over an article written in Womens Wall Street (first roy jones gets knocked out then smarty jones loses and now this!!! watch out for that chap on a plae horse people. The End is near). I am talking of course about the Terror In The Skies thing. It was then almost expected that this would be nothing more than earthworm excrement built up to be a mole hill. As it turn out all those people were in fact Syrian singers and they were indeed going to play at a Casino/Hotel. The author poses us a question that if terrorists can learn to fly airplanes then can't the learn to play musical instruments. the answer is an emphatic no. Any fanatical muslim will never play a musical instrument since their Prophet Muhammad declared music to be decadent and immoral.

You might also want to chek out :-

Snopes
The National Review
Salon.com

And then there were more.........

What!!!!!!!! You still don't have GMail???

Had to say that. For all you poor desperate should out there looking, searching, begging, cajoling for a GMail account. Here are some more alternatives (pale imitations admittedly) for GMail.

SpyMac: This is actually a Mac users site which for some inexplicable reason has decided to offer 1 GB of mail space. For all you windows user the clean uncluttered whit plastic look of the site should explain why Mac users will never shift to windows.

Walla!: Walla takes the whole copy-googles-idea to a whole new level. Not only have they copied Google's idea to offer 1 GB mail space they have also copied over the patent Google look. The Walla! homepage is as bare as can be.

Youve Got Post: Could you be any more unimaginative? The only person who can be allowed to get away with a title as hackneyed as this is if your first name is Tom and your last name is Hank.

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGMail

Say the title of this topic just like 50 Cents says "GMan" in his song P.I.M.P.

I got one. I got one. I got one.

I think.

Here I was ripping my heart apart trying to get a GMail invite by giving away my precious telephone card collection. Well a part of it anyway. And then this guys says all he wants is a post card from me. Ha ha. What a relief.

I read on GMailSwap that active user of blogger get a free account at GMail. Well if this is true then do you know that if you don't post for 7 days you are not considered to be an active user. To quote the middle sister from Full House "How mean."

Well for all you other people looking for a gmail account here are some other thing you can try :-

Rediff 1 Gb of free mail space.

Aventure Mail 2 GB of free mail space.

Yahoo was the first mail provider to react to GMail. It provides 100 MB of mail space.

Of course none of the above will ever match the allure of GMail. But if you are trully looking for a mail account that just gives you a lot of space then you can go with the above options.

But then telling your friends you have a Aventure mail account is not quite the same as having a GMail account is it?

Good Luck hunters :)

NBA Finals:- Part Deux

How myopic are the 'experts'. At first the Lakers were going to win it all, Kobe was going to score 30 ppg and the Pistons never going to break 75 points. Now that the Pistons are proving every one wrong and winning, just like I said they would (sorry couldn't resist that), everybody is coming out with how the Lakers obviously can't win and how they are all falling apart.

Wake up people.

Remember the 2nd round? Rember who was down 2-0? Remember who was supposed to win the championship then? Remember the point guard who scored a lot of points? Remember who won that series???

All you bandwagon jumper, calm down. Chill for just a moment before you trade your number 8 jersey for a 'fro wig. As so so soooooooo many people have pointed out the combined age of the 5 Laker starters is over 150. Yeah people that is a century and a half of Hall of Fame type experience and knowledge about the game (well almost all of it is anyway, but if the Pistons can lead this series then why can't devan george make it to the Hall of Fame?). You think this lakers team is just going to roll over and play dead? The Lakers have always been inconsistent. Fourteen points and 8 boards, you think that is the Desiel's A game?

Now here don't get me wrong. I want Detroit to win. I would love to see the Lakers humbled. But make no mistake it isn't going to be half as easy for the Pistons as so many of the 'experts' are predicting it will be.

I think now the only option for the lakers is to fight fire with fire. Or perhaps more accurately water with water. The lakers are going to look to turn on the screws on the Piston offence. To step up the defensive intensity. Just like they did against the Spurs. The Detroit offense has been inconsistent at best. It has also been heavely dependant on 2 guys Hamilton and Billups. The Lakers are going to shut these guys and that could win them not only the game but perhaps even the series.

Phil Jackson has not been known as the greatest strategian in the game but he is the Zen master. Motivation is what he does best. And if ever has there been a greater need for the Lakers to be motivated then this is it. He has got to get the Lakers to come out firing on all cylinders and keep doing that for the next 48 minutes. The fire in the belly that has been missing from the Laker game for the past 3 games has got to return.

Another problem the Lakers are facing is execution. Their finishing has been simply woeful in all this series. They are going to have to improve on that. Another thing wrong with the Lakers game is rebounding. When the Big Man gets 8 boards and Rip gets 7 you know something is wrong. The lakers know how to play ball they just seem to have forgotten how to.

My guess is that the Lakers bench is going to see a lot of playing time in this game. Payton will start the game but just barley (or maybe not at all). Phil Jackson will want to go more to Luke Walton who has to ability to go into the lane bring the defenders on to him and then kick the ball out to Shaq. Payton will be used more or less in spurts and increasingly as a body to throw at Chauncey while Luke gets some rest. Kareem Rush will also time on the hardwood. With Rush playing the 2 guard it lets Kobe play at the small forward spot and allows him go closer to the basket knowing there is another 3 point option for the team. Againg having a outside shooter will spread the Detroit defense which likes to clollaspe on players.

Phil jackson also has to realise that the triangle is working. Its just playing into the Detroits defensive scheme. He also has the perfect alternative at his hand. Malone. Gimpy knees or not Malone was one half of the most devestating pick and roll combination the NBA has ever seen. My guess is that Phil will use Slava and Karl to set hard picks, this bit is important as they have to hurt the skinny Prince and get him off his game, for Kobe and get him some daylight to shoot. Who knows if the real Gary Payton shows up (as opposed to the cheap imitation we have seen thus far) Jackson might even run a few high screens for him. But for that to happen Payton must want it to happen. In the triangle and amidst all these stars Payton seems to have forgotten himself. He has to remember that he too is a Superstar. He has got to demand for the ball ask for it. Want it not just hope for it.

Another tactic that he might want to use is to have Kobe drive to to the basket have defense collaspe on him and then try to dish the ball to Shaq for an alley, out to Rush at the 3 pt line or maybe to Luke/Malone/Slava/Gary/whoever for a mid range jumper. Kobe isn't going to like it but if he expects another ring then he is going to have to do it. Utlemately its going to be team play and execution that is going to ensure if Team Hollywood wins or loses this game and/or the series.

As far as the Pistons are concerned I see nothing much happening. They have won 2 games have home court advantage for 2 more games and thus far have beaten the shit of this pathetic lakers team. But Detroit has to look for offensive options it cannot just rely on itstwo weapons. And for that Rasheed Wallace has to stop collecting 2 fouls every 1st Quarter. Has to score some buckets as the Lakers defense will focus on shutting down the Pistons back court.

Last words :-

Go Pistons Go.

To All My Friends

To All My Friends

The CBSE mark list came out last Saturday and me and my friends ended up at school to collect them. We met up with the others who were also there to collect their mark lists. Afterwards we stood there in the canteen laughing, joking, messing around. Just like we had done so many times before. And standing there taking in the scene I was hit hard by this sense of surealness. That this was perhaps the last time. Here, like this. There was the hard edge of finality around the scene. We would never be like this again. Never again students in this school. Never again the friends, that stood in the canteen leaning on the counter, waiting for that bell that would send us back to the class.

The bell rang. The volleyball game got over. A new admission came into the canteen. Sparing barley a glance for us he quickly bought a juice and went away. Never looking back. It was his school now and we were merely wraiths in it. Occupying, briefly, some space before we disappeared completely. And I was acutely made aware once again that this was it, that this was the final goodbye. I was made aware of it by all the face which should have been there but weren't, by all the voices that said nothing, by all the empty spaces within our ranks.

As we slowly started departing, each one told the other 'Stay in touch man'. And we broke apart. After so many years together, after seeing those faces and features change and mature over the years, seeing each other day in and day out and taking each others presence for granted suddenly it was time to say goodbye. I wasn't ready. After all these years I wasn't ready. Not so quickly. Not so fast.

We were all given just a few moments. To bid adieu. And all the while as we said adieu what we really wanted to say was au revior. We didn't want to say goodbye, we wanted to say see you later. But we didn’t. And so, we stood there a few days removed from perhaps never seeing each other ever again. There was not a tear in sight, and as we collectively walked away from that school, which had provided such an admirable backdrop for most of our lives, none of us turned around for another look. We all just walked away. Leaving so many things between us unsaid. Hoping that they were understood. Hoping that the other guy understood what he meant to you. Hoping he realized what he had been for you. You didn’t look at the guy in the eye and tell him all this. That wasn’t the way it was done. Instead you just walked away. Never saying all those thing, leaving them there hanging, half understood.

We all make so many mistakes, don’t we?

*-=o0o=-*

I needed to get that off my chest. Its tough, you know.

In other news......

There are no sweeter words than "I told you so." (check my previous post) :D

The NBA Finals

Detroit is in the NBA finals and I am so happy!! Its not as if I like Detroit particularly. I admire the team but don't really like them (there is a difference you know). But I think that Detroit is the only team that can at this moment stop the Lakers.

I used to love the Lakers. But ever since the Lakers began to give a The Bold and The Beautiful a run for their money for being the most convoluted soap opera, I have come to like the Lakers less and less. Which is why I am happy that the Pistons are in the Finals. Apart from the Pistons I don't think there is any other team that cant handle the Lakers right now in the NBA.

Everybody has been commenting on how Shaq has been focusing more and more on the defense right now. But the fact is that all the post season Shaq has never really had to guard a center who was a true offensive threat (with the exception of Yao Ming). Hence he was able to help out on the defense. Gary and Kobe could thus pressure the perimeter secure in the knowledge that the Diesel was lumbering behind them. How ever Ben Wallace is going force Shaq to stay with him all the time. The match up will be of Ben's athleticism and of Shaq's size. While I can't see Ben Wallace winning that match up he should be able to tire out Shaq enough on to make any 4th quarter heroics from the big man unlikely. Remember that the Pistons have Rasheed Wallace, Edwin Campbell, Corliess Williamson as well as Mehmet Okur who can also guard Shaq. That is 30 fouls that Detroit has to give and you can bet that Brown will make the best possible use of his ability to throw 5 different people at the big man. Detroit's game plan against Shaq will be to wear him down. Constantly push at him. Force him into unfavorable positions and make him take low percentage shots.

Karl Malone hasn't been much of an offensive threat all year long and with Sheed guarding him this is unlikely to change. However Malone has shown that he can play rugged defense but unlike a certain T’Wolves guard Malone will find out that he cannot simply put a shoulder into Sheed and walk away from it. Malone has barely been reaching into the double digits region as far as points are concerned. But now Malone's out put will decrease even further. I wouldn't be surprised if Malone put up figures like 6 points and 5 rebounds.

Devan George is probably crying right now. He is facing the prospect of being called upon to guard The Richard 'Always Moving' Hamilton on the defensive end and then being guarded by Tayshun 'Russell Wannbe' Prince. Expect this guy to have the worst series of his life. The Lakers can't really throw anybody at the Detroit at this position that they can't handle. Unfortunately Prince hasn’t been scoring a lot of late. The pistons will be looking at different people to contribute towards scoring with their 2 main offensive guys getting bogged down (Hamilton by Kobe and Sheed by Malone), and Prince will be one of the guys who will be asked to step up.

Another guy who the Pistons will look to for increased scoring will be Chauncey Billups. Billups is one of the top 4 to 5 3 point shooters in the game. But he too, like rest of the Pistons, has been strangely anemic as far as scoring is concerned. Larry Brown might want to consider running a few high screens for Billups and see if he can knock down a few points.

But in the grander scheme of things all this is ultimately insignificant. All this series will boil down to, in my opinion, is the Hamilton-Bryant match up. These are the two 'go to' guys for their team. Although the Lakers are not as dependant on Kobe for scoring as the Pistons are on Hamilton, Kobe's ability to make the impossible shot will mean that he might be the only Laker who's production will not suffer. Such is the ferocious Piston defense that they could very well double-team BOTH Bryant and O'Neal and still make it tough for the other players to get an open look. And as has been amply obvious from the past 17 games, the Lakers can be maddeningly inconsistent, much unlike their opponents who will bring their 'A' game out every single time. The Pistons will force the Lakers to pay through their noses for every mistake. They will play pressure defense for all 48 minutes and hound LA's every step all the time.

The only question is, Will all that be enough?

These play offs haven't really seen an upset so far. Should we then, look for one, in this culminating series?

*-=o0o=-*

In other news......

My so called mission has to e put off until Blogger gets its house in order and puts up a search page.

Not that I was really going to go through with that thing anyways ;)

Beat this Don Quixote

Research shows us that majority of the blogs are kept by teenage girls. If that is so then why has there never been a 'blog of note' by a 15 year old girl? Why? It can't be because the life of a 15 year old girl is simply boring. If anything the life of a teenager has to be slightly more intresting than that of the average 9 -5 smuck.

Is it just lack of writing ability? But the law of averages refutes that argument. Out of the half a million different girls out there blogging there has to be one at least one girl writing a decent blog.

Thats going to be my mission. Tarwl through the Blogger profiles to try and find a decent blog written by a girl between the age of 13 - 15.