Sunday, April 29, 2007

Oh, the disappointment sinks in

For a few days, it seemed like Sri Lanka had a decent chance of winning the world cup. They seemed the in form side, a great line up of bowlers, a gallery of sharp fielders and useful batsmen who might outwit the Aussies when they least suspected it.

How heavily are such light hopes crushed.

It seemed inevitable that Australia would reach the final, perhaps even more so that they would win it. Four years ago it was with a determined hammering from Ricky Ponting, and yesterday Adam Gilchrist decided to attack the crowd from his position in the middle. 149 off around a 130 balls. If he had just made 30, Sri Lanka might've been in it.

What a tragic ending to an often dismal tournament. Cut short by rain, I would have thought that the World Cup Final of all cricket games would have been rescheduled for the next day. Unfortunately, the completely idiotic powers-that-be decided otherwise, and 38 overs a side it was. More rain meant that the Australian side celebrated too early due to a mistake by the match referee. Whatever the case, Sri Lanka lost by 54 runs a la Duckworth-Lewis. Or for the more sensible, Aus 281-4 (38 overs) beat SL 215-8 (36).

Australia have won the ICC Cricket World Cup for a fourth time, and for a third successive time. Cricket receives another nail in its coffin.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Virginia Tech University

33 dead. About as many injured. 1 gunman, 2 intermittent attacks.

Too familiar.

It takes just one student - one lonely, depressed, irrational person - to end so much life. Lives that could have changed the world one day, lives that were setting up the stage for those changes.

Why?

We should really know why by now. The apathy of society and the weight of modern life have put a strain on the human condition - place a gun within reach of a person, and you have a disaster on your hands.

Help is nearly always there for people who feel so down and angry at the world that they feel like destroying it. The concern needed to get a person to get help, and the desire to accept help, isn't always.

There is no way to ever completely stop these incidents. But the frequency of such events is alarming. The tools for such a killing may have to be kept away; people may just have to listen more; the world might just have to slow down.

Please, never again.

Free Alan Johnston!

If anyone who reads this can, try to help get this man free from his captors!

Alan Johnston banner

Friday, April 13, 2007

Kurt Vonnegut, 84

Kurt Vonnegut, author of "Slaughterhouse 5" and an American soldier in the Second World War died on Wednesday, 11th April. Listening and reading radio and newspaper obituaries, I've learnt that he was a cult figure in the 60s and 70s, continuing the dark humour surrounding Billy Pilgrim's tale into his other works. A literary icon has passed away. So it goes.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Life on Mars

Why did it have to end like that? My god, Sam Tyler committed suicide to end up back in 1973!!!
I feel sick!

Monday, April 09, 2007

Malinga 4 Wickets from 4 Balls

I just had to put this video up - the weirdest action in the world brings a dramatic ending to an otherwise straight-forward victory for the Proteas! I'm so glad Sri Lanka have him!

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Are things beginning to crumble?

It may not seem like it at first, but skip to the middle bit or whatever, and you'll find O'Reilly screaming his lungs out! Are the neo-cons self-destructing?

That's just not cricket, Amnesty International!

There have been reports recently that AI - the human rights watchdog - has been attempting to "educate people about human rights" by handing out cricket balls at World Cup matches with comments which put the Sri Lankan government into disrepute:
Angry Sri Lanka blasts Amnesty International for human rights cricket campaign - International Herald Tribune
Normally (and I do mean normally, not just rhetorically), I would just shake my head and feel embarrassed about my country's continuing downward spiral, but AI has crossed a very thick line in my book.

Perhaps Apartheid-era South Africa deserved to be treated like a leper when it came to the world of sports, for denying a majority of their population from taking part. However much Sri Lanka is to fault though, this is uncalled for. Cricket is pretty much the only good news Sri Lanka has received over the past few years, and with our team doing rather well (if I do say so myself), it would be sinful to disrupt their concentration. Anything other than a win in the final, with the knowledge that Sri Lanka are world-beaters in one at least one avenue of life, would result in a collective state of mental depression. We're not much for effigy-burnings or big protests if we lose, just the odd letter to the editor and an aggravated pundit.

The Sri Lankan team is perhaps (crossing my fingers here) a symbol of national unity, with players from different parts of the country and different ethnic backgrounds working together towards shared goals. There are scandals of corruption, of politicising the board, of dealing with criminals - but the team is something to feel passionate about.

I'll also wager that if we weren't playing so well at the moment, and left after the group stage - like say, a certain Zimbabwe - this wouldn't be happening. I didn't seem to hear anything about the Zimbabwean team having such a campaign against them last month.

So if you're reading this, AI, this is my plea: just let us at least have a chance at trying to win this thing!

BUMPER STICKERS: TO TAUNT YOUR REPUBLICAN FRIENDS

1. Bush: End of an Error

2. That's OK, I Wasn't Using My Civil Liberties Anyway

3. Let's Fix Democracy in this Country First

4. If You Want a Nation Ruled By Religion, Move to Iran

5. Bush. Like a Rock. Only Dumber.

6. If You Can Read This, You're Not Our President

7. Of Course It Hurts: You're Getting Screwed by an Elephant

8. Hey, Bush Supporters:
Embarrassed Yet?

9. George Bush: Creating the Terrorists Our Kids Will Have to Fight

10. Impeachment: It's Not Just for Blow Jobs Anymore

11. America: One Nation, Under Surveillance

12. They Call Him "W"
So He Can Spell It

13. Whose God Do You Kill For?

14. Jail to the Chief

15. No, Seriously...Why Did We Invade Iraq?
(Oh, never mind...you just sound like a broken record of
misinformation!)

16. Bush: God's Way of Proving Intelligent Design is Full Of Crap

17. Bad President! No Banana.

18. We Need a President Who's Fluent In At Least One Language

19. We're Making Enemies Faster
Than We Can Kill Them

20. Is It Vietnam Yet?

21. Bush Doesn't Care About
White People, Either

22. Where Are We Going?
And Why Are We In This Hand Basket?

23. You Elected Him.
You Deserve Him.

24. Dubya, Your Dad
Shoulda Pulled Out, Too

25. When Bush Took Office,
Gas Was $1.46

26. The Republican Party:
Our Bridge to the 11th Century

27. What Part of "Bush Lied"
Don't You Understand?

28. One Nation Under Clod

29. 2004: Embarrassed
2005: Horrified
2006: Terrified

30. Bush Never Exhaled

31. Pray For Impeachment
(Nooooo!!! Scratch that!
Who wants Cheney for Prez??!!!)

32. At Least Nixon Resigned

France Eurovision 2007 entry - Les Fatals Picards

Honestly, these guys are just incredible - the video here is just hilarious. For those readers in Europe, you have to vote for them.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Germany

I've been in both Bonn and Berlin over the past two weeks which is why I've been away from the keyboard. However, it does give me something to write about, so that's what the next few entries are gonna be about. Take this picture for instance, of Berlin's 'traditional dish', the curryworst (a curried sausage), which I have to say is absolutely delicious. I had one from a stall somewhere near Kurfurstendamm, where the guy took a red sausage like I asked, and proceeded to chop it up into equal pieces and sprinkling curry powder all over it and lastly, adding curry sauce. Mmmm!
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