On the IPL *barf*

Listening to: Radio 1

So I watched a bit of the KKR v DC match a few days back...ugh. Words/phrases that came to mind: tacky, decadent, grotesquely flamboyant. I mean the cricket is good (because the cricketers are good and cricket, in general, is good), but it's masked by ridiculous cheerleaders and nauseating product placement. Why the hell are there cheerleaders?!?! Totally unnecessary (if I wanted to see sexy women shaking their perfectly toned naked midriffs, I'd just watch this). Not to mention it's totally hypocritical in a cultural context, but let's not go there.

Everything about IPL just screams nouveau-riche at me. Maybe I'm being snobbish, I dunno.

Anyway, whatever. I don't know why I care (I mean the way Kallis is playing, Moggie's not gonna get to hold a bat this season anyway). I think the post-WC lull has got me looking for cricket. I'm sort of following county cricket, for goodness' sake! At least there, the focus is on the cricket...I'll take that over IPL any day.

Behold the moment I died and went to heaven

Listening to: my heart thumping

OK so I don't really know how to put this, other than to say...

I JUST MET STEVEN FINN!!!!!!!!!!

Now let me tell you how.

Middlesex CCC are playing Cambridge MCCU this weekend, in Cambridge. In case you've been living under a rock for the past I-don't-know-how-long, England fast bowler Steven Finn plays for Middlesex (along with England captain Andrew Strauss and England batsman - and my future husband - Eoin Morgan). So I knew Finny was gonna be in Cambridge this weekend (the other two are on post-WC leave and IPL duty respectively), and decided to do viva-prep all day and then cycle over to Fenner's for a bit of the afternoon session.

I got to Fenner's and I watched the cricket and took a few photos, all the while surreptitiously trying to spot the delectable Mr Finn. I mean he's 6'7"...surely he can't be that difficult to find? And sure enough, he wasn't...'cos a few mins later I saw him walking towards the bench where I was sitting!!!!!!!!!! He was with another guy who I assumed was a friend. I kinda whimpered "Finny" (I was sooooooo nervous and excited and my heart was RACING) and I don't think he heard me but the other guy did and he stopped and then Finny looked at me and smiled and then I asked "could I get a photo please?" and he said "yeah sure" and then I like a dumbass turned my camera OFF (so classy, PR :-| ). So then I fumbled and turned it back on again and the other guy offered to take the photo so I said yes please. And then I said "hmm maybe I should stand on the bench" and they laughed and then Finny stood next to me (and I almost died) and then we took the photo and then I said "thank you" and he said "no worries" and then I said "good luck" and he said "thanks" and then I sat down and then I realised that the other guy was actually a journalist about to interview him. Oops.

So yeah. I was planning on just getting an extensively zoomed-in picture of his right foot or something, and instead he stood next to me and I got a photo of us. Perhaps I should buy a lottery ticket today?

yes, that's how much I was smiling/blushing

I should probably try and calm down and get some work done now. EEE!

The time has come

Listening to: Radio 1

Four years have passed, and we're back where we belong - in the World Cup final. It's not gonna be easy. Today brought a setback that would've been huge even if our opponents didn't have the world's greatest batsman in their side:

WHY YOU NO PLAY IN FINAL?!?!?! :'(

But oh well, what to do.

The team have been preparing for tomorrow, no doubt...and so have I. The near-faded Sri Lanka cricket t-shirt has been ironed, and the war paint applied:

I will now attempt to get to bed before sunrise (it's not as easy as it sounds).

Go do your best, boys...make us proud.

Why I love English cricket

Listening to: nothing

So unless you're just back from a day trip to Atlantis, you'll know that Sri Lanka gave England a real thrashing today. A lot of my Lankan fb friends seem to have forgotten that we dropped Morgan thrice (two of those chances being absolute dollies...luck of the Irish, eh?) but it didn't matter in the end, so I won't be a spoilsport. Today's performance bodes well for the semi-final on Tuesday, and I hope we deliver. Being the realist/cautious optimist that I am, I won't be as arrogant and cocky (and to be honest, downright irritating) as some of my friends and claim to have a hand on the trophy already...but I'll gladly acknowledge that we have the talent and the form to go all the way.

And that is all I'm gonna say about Sri Lanka's performance in this post. The rest of this post, I want to dedicate to the England team and its supporters. I've been getting a lot of stick from people for supporting England in this WC. A lot of Sri Lankans can't understand how I could support a team of our 'colonial oppressors'. To them, I say: wake up (and grow up), we're not in the 1940s any more. A lot of Sri Lankans can't understand how I could support a team that's not my 'home' team. To them, I say: I was born in the UK and I've spent almost 15 years of my life here...I'm almost 28 - you do the math. A lot of Sri Lankans can't understand how I could support two teams. To them, I say: watch me.

So England aren't the best team around. So what? Did ardent Sri Lankan cricket fans only start supporting our team after '96? Oh wait...:D. But seriously, I like the attitude of this England team. They enjoy their cricket, and they have a laugh. They try hard, and they can take defeat. There's an excellent team spirit, and a sense of gratitude towards the fans that is lovely to see. They seem like the kind of people I'd want to go down to the pub with after work on a Friday. I won't deny that it helps that a lot of them are extremely easy on the eye, but that's just a bonus. I also won't deny that they've had lapses in sportsmanship (Colly's jelly-gate comes to mind), but I think they more than make up for it the rest of the time.

For instance, look at this tweet from Graeme Swann after today's match:

He didn't bowl that badly, but he got thrashed around the ground nonetheless. To finish a match like that and a) give due respect to your opponent, b) put it in perspective and c) compliment the opponent's home crowd...I think that's big of him. He could've moaned about the fatigue, the heat, the noise, the fact that the Taj (I think?) nightclub music kept them up last night...but he didn't.

And what of the fans? I don't need to remind people about the behaviour of some cricket fans when their team loses *cough*India*cough*Australia*cough*. But here are two responses that appear to be representative of the sentiment in the UK:

The first, from the lovely englandcricketteam tumblr (which you must visit if you want yummy pics of yummy England cricketers :D ) -

And this from BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James, in a reply to Sri Lankan BBC Radio 1 DJ Nihal -

It makes me proud to be Sri Lankan, and proud to be an England cricket fan.

I suppose a part of me feels pressure from my Sri Lankan friends to feel guilty about liking anything about England, sport or otherwise. After all, I'm only here for uni, right? Well...no. If 'home' is where you feel safe, happy, welcome, and that you belong...then this is 'home' for me. I'm not saying it always has been, or that it always will be...but for now, it is. A lot of Sri Lankan friends will call me names and what have you, but that'll just make me feel more at home in the UK, far away from their judgemental narrow-mindedness. Home is where the heart is, and right now my heart is snug as a bug in a rug in the UK. If you don't like it, that's your problem.

I shall end with my favourite picture from today's match, courtesy englandcricketteam:

Awww Moggie ♥

My own 'special' World Cup

Listening to: Radio 1

Now unless you've been living under a rock for the past month or so, you'll be aware that the 2011 Cricket World Cup is in full swing. The group stage has just been completed, so I figured now would be a good time to present to you my World Cup. If cricket's not your bag, do not fear...this post has more to do with cricketers than cricket ;-)

Anyway, a quick intro for those of you not following the tournament. There are ten full ICC member teams and four associate teams, in two groups. They are as follows (associate members marked with asterisks):

Group A
Australia
Pakistan
New Zealand
Sri Lanka
Zimbabwe
*Canada
*Kenya

Group B
India
South Africa
England
West Indies
Bangladesh
*Ireland
*Netherlands

Yes, that's pretty much all you need to know. Now for the rules of my tournament...which, to be fair, isn't really a tournament. It's just one match, played between two World XIs.

1. Each team ideally consists of players solely from one group (see above).
2. The quota is two players per full member team, and one player from the associate teams in that group.
3. Players can be those withdrawn due to injury.
4. When a full member team cannot source two players, that place may be filled in the following ways:
   1. Another full member team in the same group may choose an extra player from their squad, failing which...
   2. The associate teams in that group may choose an extra player from their combined squads, failing which...
   3. The associate teams in the other group may choose an extra player from their combined squads, and loan that player to the opposition.
5. The best looking team wins (duh!).

OK, so after extensive research (i.e. tv coverage, cricinfo squad photos and Google image search), I've finalised my two World XIs. I cannot confirm or deny that the above rules were finalised after said research, but it matters not. Behold the finalists!

World XI A

Australia -
        Shaun Tait, Brett Lee

New Zealand -
        Brendon McCullum, Tim Southee

Pakistan -
        Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz

Sri Lanka -
        Angelo Mathews, Kumar Sangakkara

Zimbabwe -
        Ed Rainsford

Associate -
        Seren Waters (Kenya)

Due to the lack of talent in the Zimbabwean, Kenyan and Canadian sides, the World XI A squad is one man short. The other teams are equally bad, so as per the rules, the eleventh man is therefore sourced from the Associate team squad for World XI B -
        William Porterfield (Ireland)

World XI B

Bangladesh -
        Rubel Hossain

England -
        Stuart Broad, Eoin Morgan

India -
        MS Dhoni

South Africa -
        JP Duminy, Graeme Smith

West Indies -
        -
Associate -
        Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands)

Due to the lack of talent in the Bangladeshi, Indian and West Indian sides, the World XI B team is four men short. Thankfully, the English side is abundant in eye candy, so included in the side are -
        James Anderson
        Andrew Strauss

This leaves the World XI B side two men short, so from the Associate teams, we include the following -
        Nigel Jones (Ireland)
        Alexei Kervezee (Netherlands)

So there you have it. As far as I'm concerned, this contest can be simplified to Angelo Mathews vs. Eoin Morgan...and since I'm planning on marrying Eoin Morgan someday, I'm going for World XI B. But seeing as I'm democratic and all, I'll let you decide.

Who do you love?

Listening to: Radio 1

So I just finished watching a spectacular game of tennis. So spectacular that half way through, I called Sri Lanka and woke my father up from his mid-afternoon slumber to tell him to turn on the TV. I mean it's not often you get to say -

"Nadal's 4-love down in the second set against some random Aussie teenager!"

Needless to say, my father responded with an emphatic "oh my god!"...which obviously made my mother panic 'cos she thought we were talking about something life-threatening. My father and I are 'silly people', apparently. Tee hee.

But anyway, the 6-2 7-5 6-3 scoreline doesn't do justice to the 3rd round Aussie Open battle between world #1 Rafael Nadal and 18 year old wildcard Bernard Tomic. Tomic was a joy to watch - so calm, determined and fluid...and totally unruffled by the legendary powerhouse at the opposite end of the court. Most experienced players would lose faith after a 2-6 first set loss, but not this kid. He kept going until the final point. I look forward to seeing more of him - he has the talent, the ability and the tenacity to make it big one day. Apparently he has a bit of an unsavoury off court attitude...but I'll answer that with two words: John McEnroe.

As for Rafa...well admittedly today wasn't his best game ever. Although I'm not sure how much of that was just due to him (and everyone watching) being surprised by the fight from his opponent. He did have some brilliant shots here and there, but I'm a bit disturbed by his first serve (especially during the 2nd set)...pretty sluggish and not very accurate. Though to be fair, he was sweating like mad. I think the shirt count was at 4 by the end of the 3 sets...and he changed again before his (hilarious) post-match interview with Jim Courier. Still, plenty of photo opportunities for the ladies in the crowd *wolf whistle*.

My reaction to today's match was, perhaps, unusual for a self-confessed Rafa fan. You would expect me to be upset that he didn't walk all over Tomic. After all, that's what every fan hopes for, right? Not necessarily. The game will only survive if the next generation of players poses a real threat to the current greats. While that threat is not good news for Rafa, it's excellent news for tennis. And yes I love Rafa, but I love tennis.

Move over, rick-rolling!

Listening to: nothing

So in case you've been living under a rock for the past few days, the Ashes have begun. Now I know that a lot of non-English/Aussie cricket fans like to rubbish the series as being over-hyped and overrated, but I think there's something magical about the tradition, the history and the rivalry. And this time we've even got good cricket! Day 1 saw a hatrick for Siddle and a lower order batting collapse for England, Day 2 was pretty even (if I recall correctly), Day 3 saw a batting masterclass from Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin, much to England's chagrin...followed by a lower order collapse for Australia (which went pretty much unnoticed, for obvious reasons). And then when all hope was lost for England, Day 4 saw some brilliant batting against what must have been a rather mediocre Aussie bowling attack...I can't say for sure, 'cos I went to sleep when they stopped for lunch.

Which brings me closer to the point of this post (there is one, promise). I've found that music is pretty ineffective at keeping me awake during late night thesis-writing, but a potent mix of Test Match Special on BBC 5live Sports Extra and the #theashes hashtag on twitter is exactly what the doctor ordered. It's quite a bizarre feeling - in reality I'm sitting in my flat, all alone, listening to the commentary...but with the live twitter feed from people who are listening to the same commentary or watching on TV, it's like I'm in a room full of cricket fans, cheering, jeering and discussing every minute detail of the match. And considering the time difference, you know that everyone tweeting from the UK is a genuine cricket fan, which is always nice. It's all general camaraderie, lots of retweeting of funny quips (of which there are a lot) and friendly banter.

Ah yes, banter...the reason I started typing this post. Ladies and gentlemen, meet @theashes. She's some girl in the States...and possibly therefore completely clueless about the significance of her username, especially over these few weeks. What probably started out as a mistake (someone typing '@' instead of '#' when tagging the match in a tweet) has turned into a bit of a meme. I'm not sure how many followers she had before her account was 'discovered', but at the time of this post, she has 3,914. And I don't even want to try and count how many mentions she gets...every second. Of course she tweeted this early on in the hope we'd take a hint -

Yeah right...you can't fool us!

- wishful thinking, eh? ;-)

I hope she takes it in good spirit...it is just friendly banter after all. And if it gets too much (which I suspect it has already) she could just change her username. Although life would be a lot better for all her fans if she didn't ;-).

Anyway, 10mins before final day's play. I'm gonna go get settled into my thesis. Come on England!

Reminiscing

Listening to: Radio 1

I just finished watching an almost clinical (well, save a few unnecessary unforced errors and 2nd serves) Wimbledon Final performance by Rafael Nadal. Rafa is my absolute favourite and I'm thrilled that it was so easy for him, but I had kinda hoped that Tomas Berdych (who is actually quite cute, btw) would rise to the occasion. He did against Federer and Djokovic, but not today. He's got potential though, and as with most of the players on the tour, he just needs to work more on his mental game.

While I was screaming words of encouragement at the monitor, my mind went back to a time when I wasn't into tennis. Yes folks, believe it or not, there was a time when I couldn't stand the stuff. Or cricket, for that matter. Oh how things have changed.

I used to be really into my Premier League football. I was a steady Spurs supporter (two words: 'Gary Lineker'). Tennis, in my opinion (if you can count the opinion of a 9 yr-old, that is), took far too long. Realistically though, there was a deeper reason. My father worked long hours, and I cherished the time he was at home...but with Wimbledon on TV, he might as well have been at work. I still remember that famous '92 Wimbledon final between Agassi and Ivanisevic. I was in the middle of a very tough 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, and I wanted Thaththi's help. But nooooo, he and Ammi were screaming words of encouragement at the TV (sound familiar?). Hmph. I can't remember why I went and sat next to them, but I did. And I followed the ball, and the cheers. And the scoreboard. Before long, I had grasped the basics of the game. And you know what? It wasn't that bad. In fact, it was actually quite enjoyable. Maybe I would learn to like this tennis malarkey after all.

Or maybe not. We moved back to SL in '93, and had no contact with tennis for a while (except through the papers). But then somehow, we managed to catch the 1996 US Open. I saw Pete Sampras play, and I was hooked. For a while at least...I briefly lost interest when Sampras retired, and it took the first of the Federer/Nadal encounters to reel me back in. Their rivalry, combined with the excellent BBC tennis coverage, has turned me into an addict.

Like I said earlier, tennis isn't the only sport that I learnt to love. Considering that I thought tennis took too long, you can imagine why I didn't like cricket! Again, the Ashes would steal my father from me, and it irritated me that he would rather sit and watch some weird moustached man (Graham Gooch) instead of playing Scrabble with me. Double hmph.

Fast forward to January 1996. I was in hospital after my surgery, and utterly bored in my room. As luck would have it, the TV in the room would only show one channel. The same channel that was showing Sri Lanka's infamous tour of Australia. I had two choices: try and follow the cricket, or die of boredom. And so I followed. I listened to the commentary, and tried to figure out what the hell was going on. I filled in the gaps by quizzing my father during visiting hours. And then I was discharged, just in time for the World Cup. The rest, as they say, is history.

So yeah, what started out as a way to have some quality time with my father, or to relieve my boredom, resulted in a lifelong love affair. And now I couldn't care less about the Premiership. Funny how things work out, no?

It's all about the bird shit

Listening to: 'Self Machine' by I Blame Coco [The Constant]

So I was in London last weekend, and Shorty suggested that we try for Wimbledon tickets. For what I believe was the first time, Wimbledon was releasing a small number of show court tickets online every night, so we thought we'd give it a shot. Unsurprisingly, we missed out. We weren't willing to queue up at 4am, so we decided to drop by in the afternoon and have a snoop around, in case there were any return tickets. If there was nothing available, at least we could wander over to Wimbledon Common and lounge around in the sunshine.

We got to Wimbledon station just after 3pm, and decided to walk to the grounds. Along the way, we saw 2 Ferraris and at least 4 Bentleys! And OMG the houses! They were enormous! We were on proper 'rich people' road. No litter, no chavs, no nothing. Oh except for some incontinent birds, that is. We were happily walking down the road when suddenly one of my friends said "ha ha PR you just got shat on" and then almost collapsed in a heap of laughter :-|. Thankfully Shorty was far more sympathetic, and one wet wipe later, she had removed all traces of the poop from my head. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is what best friends are for - to wipe shit off your head.

So anyway, we carried on towards the All-England Club, chatting about how birds shitting on one's head was supposed to be lucky or something. Well, turns out...it was! After walking for what felt like an eternity (actually only about an hour), we got to the starting point for the queue to get ground passes. The extremely helpful stewards told us that the wait would be about an hour, so we figured we might as well try our luck. We got our queue cards (I was the 12,745th person to join the queue that day) and hung about until the gates opened. When they did, we moved pretty swiftly - past the surprisingly clean 'toilet trailer' (the flush worked and everything!), through the airport-like security and on to the turnstiles. I think Shorty and I each gave a little squeal when we got our tickets...Wimbledon, baby! w00t! Dare I say I love having bird shit on my head? Hmm.

Since ground passes only provide access to courts 5-19, we missed Rafa, Andy Murray, Soderling and Sharapova. And the Williams sisters' doubles match. We did, however, manage to get up close and personal with a lot of other doubles matches. In fact we had pretty awesome seats for the first set of Sania Mirza/Caroline Wozniacki v Daniela Hantuchová/Cara Black. Mrs Malik and C-Woz played pretty well, but it was obvious that they were no match for Cara Black. The woman was amazing. Hantuchová just had to stand there and look pretty! Which she does anyway, to be fair.

[L-R] Caroline Wozniacki and Daniela Hantuchová: check out the different serving stances!
(click on image for corresponding fluidr page)

But back to 'my' experience of Wimbledon. We had a wander around the grounds - near the show courts (where we saw Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara), up onto Henman Hill/Murray Mound, and of course the now legendary Court 18. It's been a pretty special Wimbledon this year, hasn't it? Federer pushed for 5 sets by a random Colombian, Rafa pushed to 5 sets by a random Dutchman, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut mistaking tennis for test cricket...and that was just Week 1! Week 2 has brought its own surprises - Henin and Roddick out in the 4th round, Clijsters, Venus and Federer out in the QFs - and in almost all cases, the upsets have been caused by total nobodies. Unlike previous years where unseeded players would tremble at the sight of a big name, this year there seems to be this confidence, this belief that winning is an option. It's fascinating to see.

That said, some have crumbled. Like Tsvetana Pironkova against Vera Zvonareva, and Petra Kvitová against the mighty Serena Williams. And it's not just the inexperienced that freeze when playing 'the greats'. I think that's what happened yesterday with Andy Murray. He had definitely brought his A game, but so had Rafa...and anything less than a gutsy A+ is not enough to beat Señor Nadal on a good day. But what struck me as peculiar was Rafa's post-match interview. When being asked about Murray, Rafa praised his opponent and said he deserves to win a Grand Slam...the interviewer pounced on this and asked "so you think he can win a Grand Slam?". It's like he was seeking reassurance from the world #1. Why? We don't need reassurance from anyone that Andy can win a Grand Slam. We know he can...if only he believes it himself! It's an affliction of British sport - this lack of self belief. The influx of South Africans seems to have brought about that confidence in the cricket team, and they're doing well. But in almost every other sport - be it tennis, football or rugby, it's a big problem. All the talent in the world is insufficient if we're not convinced that we're good enough.

So yes, Andy Murray has to wait another year to aim for that coveted Wimbledon Final spot. And even if he does manage to work on that self belief, he'll need a lot of luck with the draw. Maybe some bird shit would do?

I really need to buy myself a vuvuzela

Listening to: 'Tenderoni' by Kele Okereke [The Boxer]

I've only been paying cursory attention to the World Cup. In fact yesterday's France v Mexico was the first match I watched...and even then, I left at half time 'cos I was hungry. In hindsight, it would've been good to see the goals...but truth be told, there wasn't much to see after Carlos Vela went off to nurse his hamstring. Apart from Patrice Evra, I guess...but his skin-tight top was a bit too distracting (and not in a good way).

But er, yes...back to the football...or not. I first heard this song when Chappers (formerly off of the Scott Mills show) played it on his 5live footy show (and then tweeted about it). It's now being played a fair bit on Radio 1, and quite rightly so...it is genius. And for those of you who have already seen me going on about it on twitter and fb; yes, I am obsessed.

So yeah. Maybe I should get me a vuvuzela. It might get me kicked out of the pub this evening though. Oh well. COME ON ENGLAND!!!

The Return of the King

Listening to: Radio 1

• 7 Grand Slam wins
• 40 career wins
• 2nd player to win 5 or more French Open titles (after Björn Borg)
• 5 wins at Roland Garros in 6 years
• Not a single set dropped in the 2010 French Open
• Only 2 sets dropped in the entire 2010 clay court season

And there are probably a few more I don't know about. OK so maybe it wasn't the most riveting match ever. Soderling tried, but he was totally ineffective in the face of such excellence. Ladies and gentlemen, the King of Clay is back.

Oh yeah and he'll be #1 tomorrow :-).

Let's hear it for the (sporty) boy(s)

Listening to: 'Do Wah Doo' by Kate Nash [My Best Friend Is You]

I've been looking at sportsmen a lot this week. No it's not as weird as it sounds...it was part of a birthday surprise for my friend who's a rugby fan. And what I noticed was, a lot of them are incredibly fit. No I don't necessarily mean in terms of physique...I mean that bit's obvious, yeah? My point is a lot of them are droolworthy. I mean take a look at these guys, for instance...

Dan Carter (Rugby)

Apparently he plays for the All Blacks. Do we care? I'm sorry but just look at that face. Just look. at. that. face. *sigh*...why would we care? If you want a real treat, check out the rest of him here (but at home, unless googling underwear models is kosher at your workplace) :P

Morgan Parra (Rugby)

I'm not happy about the fact that he was instrumental in England's defeat last night, but apart from that...erm yeah :D

Jenson Button (F1)

I'm not usually a fan of facial hair but in this case, I'm not complaining :D

Kimi Räikkönen (F1/Rally Driving)

How can I talk about hot sportsmen and not talk about Kimi? *sigh*

Stephen Fleming (Cricket)

OK so I know he's retired which means I'm kinda cheating, but hey...my blog, my rules.

Andrew Flintoff (Cricket)

Not an obvious choice, I know...but there's just something about Freddie...maybe that northern charm.

David Beckham (Footy)

Now this is an obvious choice; you have to agree he is a beautiful man.

Michael Owen (Footy)

Aww just look at that smile!

Marat Safin (Tennis)

The day he retired was a sad day for tennis...in every way imaginable. I just wish he'd shave more often!

Rafael Nadal (Tennis)

What list of sporty hotties would be complete without Rafa? And no, that Shakira video is not a mistake. Watch and you will see why (I actually prefer the Spanish version, which you can listen to here).

So yeah, I just realised I've listed 10 hotties from 5 sports. Not intentional, I promise. Admittedly this post is mostly for the girls, but hopefully the video will keep the boys happy. And yes, I enjoyed every bit of this post. Now I shall go back to my thesis. Just a thought though...why can't 'normal' guys be this good looking? Sigh.

"The Art of Being Arty" and other mildly entertaining anecdotes

Listening to: 'How Come You Don't Call Me [Neptunes Remix]' by Alicia Keys ft. Justin Timberlake [Songs in A Minor]

Typing a blog post at the cinema again. Not your bog standard Vue this time, but the much more sophisticated Arts Picturehouse (cue 'oohs' and 'aahs'). Why sophisticated? Well for starters, they let you bring booze into the theatre...and in glasses too (as opposed to a well-concealed brown paper bag). And then there's the reason I'm here tonight - the Cambridge Film Festival. Yes, very posh I know. Oh well, the movie's about to start so I'll type the rest from home.

---

Now, where was I? I suppose I'd better give a chronological account of my day. Or at least the out-of-the-ordinary bits. Was chatting with labmates in the morning, and as usual, I was accused of bullying them. I asked them why they don't bully me in return, and one of them said "but you're so lovely and nice...until we realise that you're actually not". Heh. But it's OK, we all love each other really. Honest!

In the afternoon, I helped out with the Cambridge Alumni Weekend celebrations, by taking some alumni on a tour of the department. Oh wow, I've never seen outsiders show so much interest in what we do! They asked so. many. questions. And none of them were superficial. I'm talking proper intellectual discussions. As an academic I was thrilled to see non-academics take such an interest in scientific research; as a tour-guide I was panicking that we'd be late for the post-tour presentation! It was interesting to hear these people talk amongst themselves about our research. I think when you spend enough time in a field, the 'wow factor' fades and you take things for granted. Listening to our research being called 'fantastic' and 'amazing' made me proud. Of course the post-tour talk was something else altogether. How many 83 yr-olds do you know that can give a presentation about work that they're currently involved in?! Sigh, JFD is a legend.

After the talk was done, I went back to the office to check on the cricket (more on that later) and then headed over to the cinema. The movie I was so interested in seeing was none other than Machan (to those of you who have probably seen it a million times already, yes I know I'm late, get over it :P ). In a word: wow. Had I seen the movie without the context of the film festival, I never would've guessed that the director was someone foreign to Sri Lankan culture. I suppose Ruwanthie de Chickera's script had a lot to do with that, but still. The director was present for a Q&A session after the screening, and he said that he hadn't wanted any Western influence on the narration of the story. I think he achieved that perfectly. There were parts of the movie that made me choke up, possibly due to homesickness...or maybe I'm going soft, who knows. And of course when you grow up with Doo Daruwo on in the background, Iranganie Serasinghe becomes family...I almost let out an audible 'aww' when I saw her on screen.

Machan presented a very serious problem in a very 'real' way. None of the depressing melodramatic 'woe is me'-ness that you get in a lot of 'serious' films. On the contrary, I was laughing through most of it. It reminded me a lot about how ordinary Sri Lankans deal with adversity. Our happy-go-lucky attitude is both our greatest strength and our greatest weakness. And then the tourists. During the Q&A session, someone asked why the tourists at the hotel were depicted in a purely negative light. Part of me wanted to turn around and remind him that the rest of the world doesn't necessarily see the West as the dog's bollocks, but the rest of me told me to shut up (thankfully). The director said that he merely portrayed what he had witnessed during his stay in Colombo. Nuff said.

Anyway, after being thoroughly impressed with the performance of the Sri Lanka National Handball team, I came home to be equally unimpressed with the performance of the Sri Lanka National Cricket team. Why oh why did we have to lose to England?! Now that'll be the main topic of conversation at my labmate's bbq tomorrow. Sigh...so much for not being bullied.

Running on empty

Listening to: 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell [United]

Rafa just got thrashed by Del Potro 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. I think I still have a pulse, but it's hard to tell. So sad. The thing about Rafa is, you know he does his best. Always. And it was pretty obvious that he wasn't 100% fit throughout the tournament. So you can't be mad at him. He'll be back. He'll keep trying and one day he'll get there. He won't let the US Open become to him what the French Open was to Sampras.

I was supposed to go to work today. I'm supposed to be doing an experiment now. Instead I stayed at home and made an omelette. With bacon and jalapeño peppers. It was good.

I haven't done a cover for a while. The duet with Gehan was posted almost a month ago, and that was long overdue to begin with. And apparently the last time I posted a solo cover was in April. It's September now. I think of all these songs and then I can't be bothered. Too much effort required. Would sound shit without accompaniment. My vocal chords have retired. The excuses are endless, really.

Sigh...an empty end to an empty day. Why did I wake up? Oh yeah, the omelette.

US Open: FAIL

Listening to: Radio 1

Last night's US Open Men's Quarterfinal between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez was suspended in the middle of the 2nd set tie-break due to rain. I've been having a look at the comments on the US Open website and two themes caught my attention.

1. Get a roof! - The US usually laughs at Britain for being old-fashioned, stuffy and generally uncool. So maybe they still wear white at Wimbledon, and maybe it's all about the traditional formalities (bowing/curtsying to any member of the Royal Family was only discontinued in 2003)...but after the retractable roof was installed over Centre Court, there's no way you can call us 'uncool'. Maybe it's just me, but I let out a little giggle when I read the comments telling the USTA to take a page out of the All England Club's book. Really, if they're gonna have such a tight schedule, there should be a much better inclement weather policy. Tsk tsk USTA.
2. What a rip-off! - The plan is, the Rafa-Gonzo match will be recommenced after the completion of the Kim-Serena Semifinal. There are quite a few issues with this.
   
   • According to the BBC website, it's raining in NYC and start of play will be delayed by at least two hours. How many more delays can we afford? While I accept that Kim and Serena shouldn't have to suffer because it rained last night, I don't see why Rafa and Gonzo should suffer either. As far as I'm aware, only the Arthur Ashe stadium is being used for matches today (apart from some peripheral courts for doubles/girls/boys matches). Why not use the Louis Armstrong stadium for the Rafa-Gonzo match? And what about Wozniacki and Wickmayer? They're gonna have to wait till this 'extra' match finishes to get on court for their Semi. And considering the first two sets have been tie-breaks, I'll bet they're in for a long wait. How is that fair?
   • What do you mean my ticket isn't honoured? Or maybe that should be 'honored' (heh, Americans). According to the website, tickets that were valid for the Thursday night session won't be valid for the continuation of the Rafa-Gonzo match. This has got a lot of fans riled up, and with good reason. Unlike Wimbledon, it appears you can buy tickets for a specific session for the US Open, so presumably the people who got tickets for Thursday night actually wanted to see Rafa and Gonzo. Now in my mind they could've issued last night's audience with special passes that would allow them in for the Rafa-Gonzo match but not any of the others being held today. That would've been even easier if it was being played on Louis Armstrong. But nooooo...the USTA in a display of infinite wisdom is denying all the Rafa/Gonzo fans and frustrating all the Wozniacki/Wickmayer fans. Way to go.
     

Anyway, what to do. I'm more than a bit concerned about Rafa's fitness, but we'll see. I'm currently awaiting the start of the Kim-Serena Semifinal, which should be good. Clijsters has had a dream comeback to the professional circuit, and it would be lovely to see her beat Serena. But only if it STOPS RAINING!!!!!!!!!

*sigh*

Welcome home!

Listening to: Test Match Special

The Urn is back. Andrew Strauss and the boys have won the 2009 Ashes 2-1 with a massive victory at the Oval.

We can talk till we're blue in the face about the role of the umpires and the pitch, but the collective eyesight of cricketing umpires has been on a steady decline for many years now, and further incorporation of Hawk-Eye is something the ICC should seriously consider. The fact remains that England played well when they needed to, and Australia came up (marginally) short.

In addition, Freddie Flintoff has retired from the longer version of the game and England has bid farewell to one of its most inspirational test cricketers in recent times.

As I said on Twitter -

I feel so British right now! :D

OK, now what?

Listening to: 'Always Be My Baby' by Mariah Carey [Daydream]

So...my Wimbledon men's final prediction was pants. The 'other' Andy (i.e. Roddick, duh) made the final against the greatest tennis player of all time, but Federer needed two tie-breaks and a mega 16-14 fifth set to overcome the American. Words used to describe the final include 'epic', 'awesome' and 'boring'...I'm just stunned that Federer only managed to break Roddick's serve once in his 38 service games throughout the match, and even that only when Roddick was clearly showing the strain of his 5-set QF (v Hewitt) and 4-set SF (v Murray). I was also stunned that Roddick squandered 4 set points in the second set tie-break...in the words of possibly the most controversial (or entertaining, take your pick) tennis player of all time, you cannot be serious?! (Aside: how's this for attitude?!)

If last year's tournament was one of 'epic rivalry', this was one of 'epic 5-setters'. Cilic v Haas went on for so long that they had to come back the next day for the fifth set. Murray v Wawrinka was played under the brand spanking new (retractable) roof, complete with floodlights; the fifth set finished at 10.38pm. And then there was Roddick v Hewitt, in which I think the cameramen spent more time filming the two wives than the players! There were probably others but those were the matches that stuck in my mind. I have to say I got very excited when I saw the roof being brought on. And hey at least I was right about one thing...this was one of the driest Wimbledons we've had in a while!

I feel sorry for Andy Murray. The boy tries, he really does. The British press should shut the hell up about him being a 'surly Scotsman' and start concentrating on his tennis. So he's not the most charismatic, best looking, most stylish player on the circuit. Who cares?! There's a BBC article today about how Roddick's coach has said that his game needs to become less defensive. Now that's what we should be focusing on: his tennis. I can't say I'm surprised at Stefanki's comments though...'defensive gameplan' seems to run deep in British sport.

Hmm...I suppose I should talk a bit about the women's game *yawn*. I have to say I was quite impressed with Elena Dementieva. Her shrieking wasn't too annoying and she actually made Serena struggle! Now if only her game was a bit more consistent! Dinara Safina on the other hand, seems happy to be the most consistent loser on the women's circuit. Seriously, it's about time she tried to win something important for a change. And she's still No.1...what a joke. Maybe I'm being unduly harsh, but still. When are we going to see some real competition for the Williams sisters?! The Eastern Bloc is letting us down!

Anyway, as the Facebook group had posted, "there's a Wimbledon shaped hole in my life today". In fact, there's a sport-shaped hole in my life today! T20 WC: over. Wimbledon: over. Pak v SL: haven't been following too closely but it's not looking good. Hmm...oh wait, the first Ashes test starts on Wednesday! Excellent! And Brett Lee is out for at least two tests. Maybe England can capitalise? Hmm...nah I didn't think so either. And when I get sick of watching England get massacred, I can switch back to the tennis for the US Open. Will Rafa be fit? I hope so.

Summer of sport, why must you distract me so...*sigh*

Bring out the strawberries and cream

Listening to: nothing

SW19 is bustling, so it must be that time of year again. I usually get very excited at the start of Wimbledon, but this year it's a bit different...for a few reasons.

1. Rafa, Rafa, wherefore art thou Rafa?!
   So sad that the defending champion is not fit to play. But I would rather he sat this one out and prolonged his career, than play just for pride and mess things up more. The thing about Rafa is, no one doubts his commitment. When he says he's not fit to play, everyone knows that things must be really bad. He'll probably go back to #2 after the final, but I know he can bounce back. Maybe he can get some rest and then win the elusive US Open crown? Vamos Rafa!!!


2. Place your bets!
   Now that my favourite is out, who will get my support? I think it would be fitting for Federer to win (although I ♥ Pete Sampras and this would mean his Grand Slam record would be broken). That said, Andy Murray has probably shown the greatest improvement over the past year of any major tennis player in recent history. I'm usually quite sceptical about British sports 'stars', but in this case I am truly impressed. Granted, today's match was more difficult than it should've been, but I think he'll get more comfortable as he progresses. So yes, I think a Federer v. Murray final would be good. I'm saying Federer will win in 4 sets. I've never made predictions before so we'll see how this goes! :D


3. Rain, rain, go away!
   Wimbledon has always been associated with rain delays. Especially the final. I mean in last year's epic final there were 3 rain delays...yes, three! But not this year. The fancy retractable roof over Centre Court should mean that rain delays are a thing of the past. While I'm thrilled that we can have an uninterrupted final, I'm thinking that a part of the Wimbledon experience has been lost. Oh well. You know what...it'd be funny if it's sunny as hell for this year's finals. D'oh! :D


4. Someone put the women's game on the 'endangered species' list
   I mean seriously. One thing I used to love about tennis was that the women's game was not just a wannabe-men's game. While the men's game tended to focus on strength and stamina, the women's game was a showcase of agility and grace. The men's game was a power game; the women's game was far more fluid. But now? I'm sorry, but I blame the Williams sisters. Their power game is far better suited to the traditional men's circuit. I'd like to see Serena play Rafa...now that would be an interesting match.
   
   But back to the women. Their game has become a watered-down, more audible version of the men's game. Yeah you know where this is headed. Martina Navratilova wasn't known for her shrieking or grunting, and yet she's one of the best players ever to grace the court. Same with Steffi Graf. Agility, grace, and none of the 'little miss piggy' sound effects we hear far too often today. For some of them, it comes naturally...if you try and force a shot (which you would do, if you were playing a power game), it's natural to exhale audibly. Some of them seem to overdo it...yes Maria Sharapova, I'm talking to you. You may be pretty and all but you are seriously pissing people off. You're a good enough tennis player to not need to resort to possibly underhand tactics. It's just unnecessary! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd say Justine Henin is proof that you don't need to grunt and shriek in order to win Grand Slams (she won seven). Why the hell did she have to retire?!?!?! Sigh.

So yeah. My favourite's not playing, Pete Sampras' record might be broken, Wimbledon's becoming too efficient to be British, and the women's game is becoming unwatchable. Should be a good few weeks!

3am musings

Listening to: 'Liberian Girl' by Michael Jackson [Bad]

I'm in the lab and trying to stay awake, so please forgive the randomness of this post.

I'm currently full of ideas. An idea for a blog post (a serious one) and an idea for a cover version. And I have no time to develop either. I'm always either asleep or in the lab! I suppose I could try writing the post now, but my cognitive powers aren't at their best right now!

I just had a mini-heart attack thinking I had forgotten to take a reading. But it's OK, I had taken it and forgotten about it. When you walk between the office and the lab every half hour for 20 hours, the memories do blur about half way through. I suppose missing one data point wouldn't be disastrous...I missed one recently 'cos I dozed off. Whoops! Moving on, why did the deuterium lamp on the UV spec have to die today?! I'm gonna have a massive backlog of samples to analyse when I manage to replace the bulb next week. What a waste of time. Stupid equipment getting in the way of my PhD.

I'm dancing in the office. It's helping me stay awake, somewhat. If I was at home right now, I wouldn't be able to have my music this loud, thanks to my uber-light sleeping neighbour. Then again, if I was at home right now, I'd be snug as a bug in a rug in my bed. Grrr.

The clocks have gone forward. So I've lost an hour. Which is OK, considering I'm awake. I think my sleepiness is related to the time I read on the clock, as opposed to how many hours I've been awake. I mean when you look at the clock and see '03:54', you think oh shit, I should be in bed!, no? But I can't not look at the clock either, 'cos then I'd miss the time to take my readings. Sigh.

Hmm I need to renew my visa. But first I need to prove that I'm not a terrorist. No I'm not joking. I need authorisation in accordance with the Academic Technology Approval Scheme, which is a counter terrorism and weapons proliferation initiative of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Go figure.

Boat Race!!! Actually to be honest, I don't really care. I tried going once - the last time Cambridge won - and by the time we got to the river, the boat had passed. I mean what's the point? Far better to watch it on TV or listen to the commentary on the radio. I do want Cambridge to win (obviously), but considering The Other Place is fielding a boat with five Olympians, it's unlikely. Yes, five out of their eight raced for Team GB. There should be some law limiting the number of national team members you can have. It's not fair. Last year they had some US Olympian, if I remember right. Honestly, they're turning into Lufbra for boaties (no offence to anyone associated with Loughborough Uni)! Yes yes I'm grumbling, so what. Anyway, Go Light Blue!

Ooh Aussie Grand Prix in a few hours' time. No I'm not into F1, I'm just saying. Kimi Räikkönen's kinda cute. But yes, I shall be all British and say go Button go! Because I think Lewis' ego is bigger than the circuit.

Jane and Lydia are still battling it out in my head. But Lizzie seems to be making her voice heard, so hopefully all will be sorted soon.

I need sleep.

Am I missing something here...?

Listening to: 'Don't Upset the Rhythm' by Noisettes [Wild Young Hearts]

So apparently the ECB's got its knickers in a twist because Aussie cricketers are playing English county cricket just before the Ashes. They're concerned that playing county cricket here will give the Aussies an undue advantage, and England's national selector is thinking of blocking Aussie players from pre-Ashes county cricket in the future.

Now let's be realistic: I think everyone (the English included) knows that even without said 'undue advantage', the Aussies have the upper hand in the Ashes. Why? Because England are, more often than not, phenomenally shite at cricket (the men at least...the women seem to be pretty decent). The 2005 Ashes series was proven to be a complete fluke, and their only saving grace is an egotistical South African who's playing for England on a technicality. There is talent in the team, but there's not enough teamwork and no consistency...and without those, the talent is as good as nowt.

But for a moment, let's assume that the odds for the Ashes are evenly balanced. And after the departure of Warne and McGrath, this assumption is less ludicrous than it sounds. So what if Clark and whoever else comes and plays cricket here? Surely they've played the guys on the English national team often enough to know how they play? And forgive my patchy knowledge of cricketing strategy but surely the English batsmen have more to gain from learning how to read Clark's bowling on English pitches, than Clark has to gain from watching the English batsmen's stroke play? Of course Clark would get used to bowling on English pitches, but I think the effect of that would be nullified by the lack of the surprise element.

And then there's the ECB's attitude towards the Ashes. OK I know the Ashes means a lot to England. But the Aussies aren't the only ones who play county cricket here before touring England with their national sides. Surely that is also an issue? It seems that the ECB is taking the stance "we don't care if we lose to everyone else, as long as we don't lose to Australia". Well I think it's unlikely you're gonna beat one of the best sides in the world if you don't try to beat the others. And if you think that Aussies playing here affects your chances of beating them, the same applies to all the other tours. To me, the ECB's sending a signal that Australia is the only team important to them. Doesn't really send a positive signal to all the other test-playing nations, does it now?

But let's look at the bigger picture of foreign contracts. Some people think that the IPL gives India an undue advantage because foreign players are exposed to the tacticians and strategists working with the Indian national team. I have my own reasons for disliking the IPL, but this is not one of them. That said, the globalisation of first class sport is a double-edged sword. The host country gives the visitor an insight into the conditions in the country (weather, pitches etc.), and the visitor exposes their talent to the home teams. And in the case of a sport where conditions aren't that relevant (such as football) you run the risk of having a first class scene almost completely devoid of home players...which has a major impact on the depth of the national squad. A certain amount of regulation is required to maintain a healthy balance.

So yeah, maybe I'm missing something in the ECB's argument. I dunno.