el clasico

The Real Madrid - Barcelona derby is rightly refered as 'el clasico'. Its just more than a football match, clash of two different cultures.

Real madrid lost 0-3 to Barca at Bernabeu,with Ronaldinho mesmerising the crowds with his skills. Barca player being appreciated by the Real Madrid crowd explained it all. The return leg is scheduled tomorrow. Barcelona hosts Real Madrid at Camp Nou.

Barca are in splendind form as against a lacklustre Real Madrid.So going by that it is pretty easy to predict a Barca spectacle.Still as a Madrid supporter I would want Madrid to put up a fight to atleast manage a draw against them.I strongly beleive that the team is not short of quality but just motivation.

When it comes to motivation I'm reminded of the 2005 season's Madrid thumping 4-2 victory.I still get goose bumps when I see these videos.I was lucky to watch the match live last year.Even today the first goal of the match by zidane lifts my spirits up.Unusually for once Ronaldo turns to be a provider and crosses it to Zidane on the far post who heads it into the goal.What is so inspiring here is the way Zidane flys in to meet the ball, makes a great contact with the ball directing it to the goal, and in the momentum his head goes on to hit the goal post. Luckily it was not a big injury and escapes with a small cut and blood pouring out of it. Now, Zidane is a superstar footballer, has won almost every accolade in the game scoring more spectacular goals than this and nobody would have questioned him or his abilites had he not scored this one at an age of 32.Such is his passion to the game which makes him a great player and such is the intensity of this clash to be refered as 'el clasico'.

Get Inspired Galacticos.Come back with your heads held high. As Aragorn says 'Ride out and meet them.'

Check out the flying goal by Zidane.(A big thanks to whoever uploaded it).



PS: I'm sad ESS shows almost all the unwanted cricket matches played across the world live,Golf matches live,some boring 0-0 clashes of other English league matches live, but deprives me from watching this match live with a delayed telecast on Sunday night 9.00.:-(

vetti pEchchu

Two guys who are members of VVS( Varuthapadatha valibha sangam - watch 'winner' to know more about the group's attitude)

Guy1 : Machi.Did you see that girl.
GUy2 : Oh..Blue? Whats with her?. Looks like I'm seeing her for the first time here.Looks good and charming.
Guy1 : Yes Machi. Looks great today.But dont you remember seeing her before.
Guy2 : nope.
GUY1 : Remember what happened last week Thursday evening.

Guy2 recollects the incident. It was a pleasant evening and both these guys were walking to the cab which drops them to the station. As usual they were immersed in their own thoughts poker-faced.A girl approached them,

Girl : Does this cab go to the station.

It was a question thrown out in common and typical of these guys none of them bothered to answer it, presuming that the other one will answer or some one else near them would answer.But apart from these two guys and the girl there were no one around, not even the cab driver.The girl once again looks at Guy2 and puts the question again a bit louder thinking that ther have not heard it before,

Girl : Does this cab go to the railway station.

Guy2 slowly turned at her with 'rashness' in his eyes (the 'rashness' here a typical characteristic of VVS members,just to indicate,that the girl has disturbed the guy from his thoughts.But in reality these thoughts are not even worth a penny.) and answered in a grumpy voice,

Guy2 :hmmm..I think so.

Thats it.After answering Guy2 continued staring at the horizon, again expressionless.

Guy2 thinks about this incident and now understands that it was the same girl whom they met last week and they are now drooling at the same girl.

Guy2 : Yeah..I remember now.
Guy1 : adede..maybe you could have been a bit more soft last week.
Guy2 : Hmmm..may be.
Guy1 : Its ok..Freeya vidu, pheel pannatha.
They were sitting quiet for some more time and then this girl crosses through their line of sight again.
Guy2 : Do you think she's really looking good.(in a doubtful tone)
Guy1 : Hmm..On second thoughts I too doubt it.
Guy2 : I think she has painted(makeup) herself a little bit too much.Thats how it appears to me. Guy1 : I too was thinking about the same thing machi.
Guy2 : These artificial things make these girls really look like some filmstars..huh
Guy1 : Agreed.Correct.that concludes She is 'No..Not enaaugh'.Machi after all you haven't lost anything due to your 'rashness' last week.
Guy2 : Nangellam...yaaru.

An observer:Intha mathiri pesi pesiye thaanada ivalavau naala veena poneenga.
Enakku therinju ippadiyey iruntheengana kadasi varaikum ippadiyey irukka vendiyathu thaan urupadrathuku vaippey illai .:-P

Rahman 'Rings' on Stage

The stage version of Lord of the Rings opens today at Toronto. Lord of the Rings had always been my favourite book in English and the same holds true with the movies. Couple of years back I used to check out the fansite more than a dozen times a day so that I dont miss even the smallest of news about the movie.In fact I even joined a BNU online LOTR class to know more about the story and the characters.:-)

There are some portions of the book that I would have loved to see in the movie, but then I can't complain, the extended edition DVDs did justice.Looks like the on stage show of LOTR runs for 3.5 hrs with two intermissions.Once again I think it is going to be hard to satisfy the diehard lovers of book.But people who were lucky enough to watch the preview show had appreciated the whole effort.

More importantly , the music composer is our very own A.R.Rahman along with a finnish Folk group Vartinna.So thats more than one reason I would love to watch the show.And Of course you cannot expect any 'Chaiyya..Chaiyya' or even 'Bombay dreams' for that matter.I wish he gets to make many such enjoyable and memorable compositions.

Anyways waiting to hear my fav lines 'The road goes ever on and on'.

PS:I do find some of the sites mentioning Rahman as 'Bollywood Composer'?? - Really!!!.Thats news to me.

PPPPost

Pulicat Lake


'ஒரு அலையாய் வந்து என்னை அடித்தாய்
கடலாய் மாறி பின் என்னை இழுத்தாய்'
('oru alaiyaay vanthu ennai adiththaay
kadalaay maaRi pin ennai izuththaay')
Can't find better words to describe the beauty of an Estuary :-).

More pics here.

Pooja(in Pattiyal)

Courtesy: Indiaglitz

Pretty good movie.I liked it.
Lesson learnt : Pesamalay kadalai
Even if you are deaf and dumb, you can put kadalai.Not with just-another-girl, but a girl as beautiful as pooja.

Premier League(and Primera Liga too)

With just 10 matches to go, the relegation battle and the fight for Champions/UEFA makes it more interesting to watch the matches.Enjoyed the Fulham victory over Chelsea and Arsenal appears to look like the in form team. Wondering how would Henry fancy playing in a champions league fixture against Barca - the club he is likely to move next season.

Petronas Grand Prix

Though Schumi/Ferrari didn't win,it was a good race.Enjoyed watching it.

That describes my Peaceful weekend.
Please...No 'P'eace priz(c)e nominations for the above list.:-)

Why me? - 2

I was busy with my work and didn't notice this guy entering my cubicle.

Guy : Hi
Me : Hi.(I dont remember seeing him before).
Guy : Are you new to this place??
(I wasn't able to make up the intention behind his question from his expression)
Me : Excuse me!!!
Guy : I mean, I haven't seen you in this cubicle before.
Me : Oh Really!!I have been sitting here right from the day this building was inagurated 3 months back.
(The guy now realises that it was a stupid question and I was still not sure what is in his mind untill this girl walked past through my cubicle.Suddenly the guy standing next to me with a big smile shouted,)
Guy : Hi X.
Girl : Hi Y.
Guy : So you are in this building then.(I was wondering if there could be a dumber question in this world.But it still worked)
Girl : I'm in this building now for this project.How abt you?.Haven't seen you before here!!
Guy : I work from the other building.I just came here to see my friend.
(pointing me ,winks at me Frienda..naana..adapavi..Ippo thanada onna naan first time paakuren and continues..) BTW are you going to Food court.
Girl : Yes.
Guy : hmmm..I'm also feeling hungry.ok..then will join you.My buddies are in some training.Lets go.
Thats it..Off he goes with the girl.So simple..huh.

I was overawed by the shrewdness of the guy, who walks almost 300mts and then climbs the stairs to reach the first floor, behaves like an idiot to another guy - for what. To meet this girl and now he has to walk back the same distance(of course not alone this time :-)), for the Food court is next to his building.(I was not sure if they had lunch together.)

Enna paathathunala ippadi ethavathu seiyanumnu thonutha,illa intha mathiri ethavathu seiyanumna enna paaka varuvangala?.ippadiyum oruthan kevalapattu pogalamna,athu enna thavira vera yaara irukka mudiyum.

Malaysian Grand Prix

18-Mar-2001

That was a stunning race right from the start.Schumi gets to drive a spare car and spins it due to the excessive oil in the track. In a while it starts raining heavily and both Schumi and Rubens go into the pits at the same time to change to wet tyres and comes out of pit garage to join in 10th and 11th position. After which there was no stopping them.In 5-6 laps schumi leads the race.



Both the Ferrari cars were easily quicker than the rest of the lot with Schumi winning the race and Rubens finishing second and Ferrari Celebrate.



19-Mar-2006
Second race of season 2006 - ESPN/STAR - 11.30 AM (IST).

Hopefully it rains this time too.:-)

Pics Courtesy:http://fedef1.com/f1.html

Anaikolra

'Anaikolra' is a tamil word which means 'Elephant killer' - 'Anai kolra'. The word denotes something which is capable of killing an elephant. Changing the letter 'l' to 'n' - 'anai konda'. Yeah..one of the possible origins of the word Anaconda.

I always beleived that some of the words in English could have been derived from Tamil and recently came across this site, which lists a few of those.An interesting read.

Courtesy: ponniyinselvan@yahoogroups.com

'Australian bowler'a appadina

After England were dismissed for a meagre score on the fifth day of the test match,

Guy1 : looks like an easy target buddy.I'm confident India could easily win
Guy2 : hmm..hope so...But did you see this guy Munaf patel reverse swinging the ball and mind that we are not facing Australian bowling to be so complacent, it is England.They have bowlers who can bowl a bit.

Overheard this and couldn't stop laughing. Though Australians batted well to post 434 runs, this match will be remembered not for that but for their awful bowling attack and of course South African's batting.

Sunset

Idhu Oru Pon Malai Pozhuthu
Vana magal, Nanugiral
Veru Udai Poonugiral

Clicked it near Cuddalore Old town Beach.

Peanut

The literal translation of the topic into tamil is 'kadalai'.Many of us use this word to describe the act of boy(s) and girl(s) talking to each other. Off late I have started observing that not all these acts can be claimed into simple peanut putting,as there are certain subtle differences.These are just based on my observations on seeing people in the restaurant and a train.Unmaikku purambagavum irukalam.

Degree IV - Group peanut

This is the intial stage after the boys meets the girls. Be it in college or at workplace they stick around as a group(normally four - two guys and two girls).
In a restaurant four seater table, one can find two girls sitting on one side of the table and the two guys on the other side of the table. It will be good to watch when these guys try to talk the girls in with topics ranging from their funny neighbours to the big fight they had with the other set of guys the other day.
In a train one can see a group of people boarding the general compartment and the same sort of jokes continue here too. If the girls dont stay in the same area, its jackpot for the guys. Even if the guy stays in tambaram he would accompany the girl till kodambakkam, buying a concession student train pass using some 'vivekandar theru,thupai' address in kodambakkam.

Degree III - Individual Kadalai

In this stage the girl and guy are not in the group or rather they have started isolating themselves from the group.
In a restaurant they usually sit in front of each other.They usually talk louder and discuss items that really matter like - 'Which side dish you like for Idly?.I like sambhar very much'.Answer 'Really..thats great.you know what..I too like sambhar very much.But chutney also is a good combination.' I beleive after having watched so many tamil movies one would now have trouble identifying who would ask such important questions.
In a train the girl usually sits in the ladies compartment and the guy talks with her until the train starts and once it starts he boards the next compartment. Every 10 secs a message is received in his cell phone which is opened with all due respect and a smile across his face and promptly replied in the next 3 seconds.

Degree II - Lip-reading kadalai

After some days of Individual kadalai, the two now are into the next stage.
In a restaurant one can see that these two sit next to each other in a four seater table.When you watch them one might be surprised to see them munching the Ice cream so violently.A couple of seconds later the giggle sound you hear would then clarify things. They have been actually talking to each other in such a low voice, which they decode only by lip-reading techinque and not by actually listening.Heard that there are special classes conducted to get people trained with such lip-reading skills(strictly proclaimed to be teaching only lip-reading).
Even expert eavesdroppers have failed miserably in trying to listen to these peanuts, by sitting just behind the couple in the train.It has been widely concluded that even the Weasley twins extendable ears from Harry potter would not be able to overhear them.The only clue that suggests that they are in the train is the giggles that you hear every 3 minutes.

Degree I - Mind-reading Kadalai

What next after Lip-reading?.(No..not that).Its Mind-reading.In this stage they dont have to see each other or talk to each other.They have a feeling that the other person is always next to them.
In a train one can see these two standing and then looking at each other without talking a word to each other , which at times will make you wonder if they are under a spell.Intial reports suggests that by looking at each other some wave signals are generated that are used for kadalai.But it is also beleived that these signals have frequencies matching that of radio michi and so just by looking into each other they can listen to the songs telecast by mirchi.How coooool!!!!! and during the commercials their kadalai would continue.

A typical kadalai of this degree I saw a couple of days back.There was this guy sitting in the office cab,reserving a seat for his girl to come and join him.Suddenly he remembered something and furiously he dialled her number.But then the next moment(after hearing her) his voice softened 'Hey,where are you'.His expressions suggested that he is fuming, but his voice didn't.That however is not our point of interest.But how come he suddenly remembered that she is not with him. On further analysis I found out that the cab driver has tuned into mirchi and so our hero was listening to a romantic song that he usually hears when she is near him thru the mind-reading mechanism.But when radio mirchi telecasted the commercials he realised that he is hearing it through the radio and not through mind-reading.So one can safely conclude that the mirchi songs heard in the case of degree I kadalai is devoid of commercials.

There is another degree of kadalai putting, surprisingly these guys put kadalai alone, yeah without the other gender present.One can find them standing near the door in the train.BTW if you are still confused on how they put kadalai alone, its very simple.When you travel by train next time, buy peanut for 1 rupee from the kadalai payyan.Take a peanut in your hand and put it in your mouth.Continue this till you exhaust the 1 rupee worth kadalais. Apparently this peanut putting cannot be classified into any of the categories above, but these peanut putters are the ones who dont fail to observe the above trivial things.