James Bond b.1962 d.2008 RIP.

I dont know what this re-booting of the Bond series is meant to acheive.The things that made the bond series so memorable
a]The super cool villians - Blofeld,Scaramanga,Dr No
b]The delicious dialogues [I thought Christmas came only in winter :-)]
c]The super cool bond girls.
d]The gadgets
e]Bond himself being the ultimate arrogant chauvinist.

All of that has been removed and we have an watered down film having a no good villian making cheap jokes [the damaged goods commment was just too childish].The bond girls [Olga & the other one atterton i think] hardly make an impression.Bond himself goes through the movie with just one expression on his face.There are no gadgets,no witty dialogue nothing that even remotely interests us.The less said about the plotline the better.If producers want to make a realistic spy movie they would better watching the bourne movies [though these movies themselves could have been made much better.]
If i wanted this "humane raw" movie i might as well go to a vin diesel/statham movie they probably would have better stunts.
We need someone to do a nolan and rescue this series.

I think that most of the problems with arsenal is self inflicted with their so called pay structure severely screwing their team. Arsene's arguments on leaving behind a good financial situation behind for his successor is his usual bollock stuff. I mean common you need atleast one good CM to replace players like diarra, flamini and gilberto.A player like that Arsenal do not have presently in the squad [denilson,diaby and song are all too young to step up]. So a player has to be bought.That will surely cost somthing in the range of 7-8 mill atleast.That plus he will definitely be on a payscale significantly more than the pittance arsenal paid to flamini.
Also the team spirit came under some severe beating in the preseason with hleb gone,flamini gone and adebayor agitating for a move too all tied up with salary issues.
Now the team seems broken and without spirit.Arsene has to put his hand up accept his mistakes and buy decent players in the January window.Also Gallas as capt is a joke.Everybody except arsene know it.
All this makes for a hugely entertaining fare for me.As i just LOVE to HATE Arsenal and arsene wenger.

PussyCat Doll wins

I've only now recovered from the severe shocks suffered on sunday night.In two minutes i experienced a multitude of human emotions from
1.dull gloom - Hamilton 5th good enough for championship.
2.bafflement - kubica tries to overtake vettel and hamilton.
3.joy - vettel overtakes hamiltion.massa gonna win championship.
4.ecstasy - massa wins race and with it the championship.
5.horror - in the middle of jumping all over the room awaking my poor roomies i see the race classification stating hamilton as fifth.
6.anger - video of glock slowing down.
7.sadness - this was realistically massa's best chance to win the championship and at home too! cause Ferrari will pull behind kimi the minute he comes back to form.

This was as good a finish as i've ever seen.Right from the start of the race it was evident that it was going to end in rain.So it was beautiful watching the teams plot their way with multiple pit stop strategies.And the last fifteen laps especially was dripping with tension and suspense.
Sadly one team's gamble did not pay off.

Can india produce a phelps or a bolt

Watched the cnn-ibn coverage of sushil's kumar's residence in delhi yesterday.The place was inhuman, with twenty people being crammed into one room with just a bed for each trainee there. There is no gym, no food specialist, no tv nothing even remotely resembling a decent living place let alone a training place for national sportsmen. Contrast that with our cricketers being paid crores for loosing their pants everywhere and playing politics more than cricket. Yes this is an age old complaint but i did not realise the extent of it till now. These guys [the wrestlers,boxers and the others]dont want to be pampered like the cricketers all they want is a decent training facility and they promise to bring glory. Is this too much for our government to provide?Why try to outdo each other in doling out rewards to a medal winner [yes these guys deserve the adualtion they get but then rewarding only the winner and leaving the other thousands in the same old situation leaves me a bit sick] when this money and attention should have been given to the guys long before when they are preparing for these events.

Akhil kumar in his interview after the quaterfinal bout loss,said if one of the two remaining boxers win a medal my pain is nothing. I was really touched by this spirit of sportsmanship and love for the country. Men and women like him have to be cherished and not left to rot in obscurity.I serioulsy hope that some corporate group takes up the baton for indian sports becoz i dont think the babus give a shit about any of this.

Premier League Opening Weekend

Almost all the teams in the league are under one transfer saga or the other.For Liverpool it is alonso and Barry, ManU its Berbatov and Ronaldo,Arsenal one long transfer period where every player was linked with every club and vice
versa,Chelsea were under a cloud with regards to Lampard,Drogba and Carvalho but its been more or less resolved now.

And it showed on the pitch too,they were easily the best team amongst the top four in the opening weekend and if they keep this team fit for the season i think its going to be really hard to beat them in any of the competitions but they lack a bit in depth so ManU might still pip them to it again.Liverpool's crazy lusting after Barry i cannot understand cause they need a decent winger and having seen Jonas play for Newcastle i dont know how rafa missed such a gem.Without a decent winger or two,Liverpool do look a little flat.Arsenal's unwillingness to spend money is going to cost them,i mean i could understand when he did not buy anyone after that unbeaten season but now with flamini,gilberto and diarra all leaving in the last six months i think they need a holding midfielder and a good central defender.

The spurs have been most active in the market but there seems to be little direction in their buys,they have one striker in bent[this is not a joke] with berba laving soon and though their midfield and defense is better than their north london rivals without a good striker they will lose the plot very soon.

Amongst other teams Aston Villa,Newcastle and Borough look like this season's also rans.But right now Chelsea are the team to beat.Lets see what happens in the remaining two weeks,hope Liv gets in a good winger[sionko looked damn impressive to me in the euro's and riera is another good option] and spurs get in a good striker or two[personally i would prefer pavlyuchenko and mccarthy] and newcastle get in a good attacking midfielder and a left back[warnock and inler preferrable] and arsenal get no one in.That would make the season really interesting.

Gen-X 1 Old Guard-0

So the old guard has been put down ruthlessly.Dada,Sachin,Dravid,Laxman(gilly) the great indian middle order found wanting in T20.Sachin's mumbai was very unlucky to make the semi's they last three matches they lost were all victories being thrown away rather than losses. Kolkata too dint have lady luck on their side with their monster batsman gayle getting injured a day before the ipl hungama.But the dada,buchannan,srk mela was never going to come off that smoothly.Yet dada managed to salvage somthing with a stunning performance against punjab.
The other two teams were dismal to put it lightly.Laxman had no idea what being a captain meant i mean running off to the MONKEY for advice is the limit.The team was uninspired for the most part.Bangalore received a hammerblow in the first match and never recovered from it. Despite having probably the best bowling attack they could not put up enough to win matches.Some strange team selections and panic attacks in a few close matches early on ensured that bangalore was out of the race early.
The above four could make the semi's next year but for now it is Gen-X 1 Old Guard-0

Grant Sent Home

I would not say the sacking had any good reason behind it except roman might have been really pissed at losing to manu in his own backyard. The guy as i earlier mentioned had managed the club decently in really turbulent times. Compare his team's performance with that of Liverpool which performed worse under similar boardroom troubles. Couple that with the injuries to key players throughout the season and the african cup of nations you see that grant has done a good job of challenging on every front.
A lot of people say he had no involvement in the training ground and steve clark does all the groundwork et all but i am for the maxim 'If it aint broke dont fix it' . Done's done though grant is gone and a new manager in the horizon. Personally would like to see lippi take charge. Lippi vs Fergie would be absolutely lip smacking. Lets see what happens though more likely rijkaard or hiddink or scolari will be in charge.