That was the time the match clock was showing when John Arne Riise tried to head out a Chelsea cross away from his net and instead helped it in to score an own goal and tie the game 1-1! It possibly can’t get any later than this!!! The Semi-Final phase of the UEFA Champions League went underway at Anfield between EPL rivals Liverpool and Chelsea and the first leg ended in a 1-1 draw…when it looked like going in favour of the homeside!
Liverpool went ahead courtesy a Dirk Kuyt strike in the 43rd minute and held onto their lead firmly. Chelsea were never fluid in their passes and the likes of Drogba, Kalou, Malouda and Lampard were never allowed to have any clean shots. At the other end, Petr Cech was stolid in goal and managed to keep out a few stinging shots from Gerrard and Kuyt towards the end. The match was all but over and Chelsea were already thinking of the second leg at home when a last-gasp-cross from Kalou found its way into the Liverpool goalmouth and with Nicholas Anelka lurking close behind, Riise stooped in to try and head away the imminent danger but instead helped the ball into his own net! Despair for Liverpool….delight for Chelsea!
The second Semi-Final is between Barcelona and Manchester United tonight at the Camp Nou. Hope it will see much goals and much action…..Go Man U Go!!!
P.S: Ten Sports’ Commentary Sucks!!!! When the own-goal was scored, the announcer was as emotionless as my TV Remote
Everyday I want to fly, stay by my side
Everyday I want to dream, stay by my side
Every morning I wish I could just play
Wish the mornings would just stay…..
In case you’re wondering who I’m talking about or which song is the one up above - Itz the Vodafone Pug
The lovable Pug is back again on TV in a new series of commercials for Vodafone and this time around, he’s company to a young girl. With the tagline of “Happy to Help” the ads show how the pug helps out the girl in time of need, be it fetching her sock/tie or fetching a fishing aid/first-aid kit [My personal favourite is the stamp-licking bit]. The ads symbolize the customer-friendly spirit of the brand and they do so with zero dialogues! As it is itz Visually appealing, but its the pug that makes it all the more wonderful!
The lyrics above are from the song that plays in the background of that song. A Google search reveals little though about the artiste or the band but methinks its a new recording made for the purpose of the Ads. Itz available on the Vodafone microsite as well as for usage as Callertune on its network. Listen to it below:
The ads (both the newer and older ones) are available on the Vodafone microsite for download; plus there are wallpapers, screensavers, music clips and e-cards also.
Noticed just today that Flickr has started allowing Video uploads too! It was announced on the 9th April (how lame of me not to have noticed that!). Downside is that as of now only Pro account holders are allowed to upload videos. Another downer is that the video length is limited to only 90 seconds. Read more here.
Free account holders can search for and view the videos though! I thought there might not be that many videos to search from, but boy! there are thousands of them…guess Flickr’s communities and members are photogenic as well as videogenic There are a few videos tagged India which show videos as diverse as the country itself. Be it some local wedding clips or a baby’s first steps or a traffic scene outside Hyderabad’s Charminar or Bangalore rains. Myriad views all…
Had been to the newly-opened 6Pack Health Food outlet in Ameerpet. Checkout the writeup here.
6Pack is a chain of restaurants in Hyderabad that offers you a better way to enjoy the food you love. We believe in the simple concept of providing affordable options for lunch and dinner that are both delicious and nutritious. [6Pack Cuisine]
Am not a stranger to watching Tamil movies. Ages ago, I had sat through some very terrible movies - which I neither could understand a word of nor recognize the faces on screen. In fact, I couldn’t even pronounce the name of the movie! (Kandu-something!). But over the years I have watched their re-made counterparts in Hindi and Telugu and had wanted to watch their original version just to get a comparative perspective. I even started listening to Tamil songs (only those which were already popular in their dubbed versions) - mostly by Ilaiyaraja and A R Rahman. And a few months ago, I did watch in its entirety, my first Tamil movie - Autograph.
And today, I have doubled the count by watching the acclaimed Kaakha Kaakha. Starring Suriya, Jothika and Jeevan, its the original of the Venkatesh, Asin starrer Telugu flick Gharshana. I had liked the grittiness and raw action of Gharshana and had always wanted to watch its original. Thanks to Mr. SD, I could realize that wish now. First impressions were that of how Gharshana is a frame-by-frame remake of Kaakha Kaakha! But of course it would be, coming from the same director. I could understand little of the dialogues but the English subtitles did help a lot. And so did the fact that I almost know the entire dialogues of Gharshana by rote! As the movie concluded, I was surprised. For the ending was quite different from what was in the Telugu version. The heroine is shown as good as dead in the Tamil version but is shown alive and well in its remake. I guess that goes to show how influencing the audience-receptive-factor is. Telugu people would like a happy ending more than a sad one! IMO, Venkatesh did a better job in the Telugu version and Jothika was better in the Tamil version. Wish they’d have done this together. Also, the bad guy was moreso badder in the Telugu version. Truly menacing he was. Songs are the same in both, at least the tunes are…but I’d prefer the Tamil ones any day over the Telugu ones.
Uyirin Uyirae Uyirin Uyirae,
Nadiyin madiyil kaathu kidaikindrein
neera alaigal neera vaari mughathil iraithum
mulhukum verkindrein!!!! (My dear llfe, My dear life,
I’m awaiting by the riverside,
Even though the cool waves are splashing upon my face,
I am perspiring profusely!!!!!)
Other Tamil movies I’d love to see are: Kaadhalan, Kaadhal Kottai, Thirupachi, Pokkiri, Agni Nakchatram, Minnale, Aayutha Ezhuthu, Kushi to just name a few.
After several days of dilly-dallying and dithering, I finally moved into a new abode yesterday. And by new abode, I mean yet another rented apartment! The dough hasn’t piled up enough to afford an own house at this point!
The new one’s quite close to my earlier place of residence - in fact is situated just behind the old one. So in terms of surroundings, am still in familiar territory. Which is a bit of a relief as well as a bit of a disappointment really. Why? Coz familiarity breeds contempt. With a new locality, new friends might have been made, new acquaintances being scrapped, new service-providers being tried out etc etc. [Err...the services should be read as 'cable' and 'internet' alone and not anything else ] But with the same ol’ place, such things are just not possible. Its like old wine, in a newer bottle. Bring it onnn………
Ferrari achieved a 1-2 finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix with Felipe Massa leading teammate Kimi Raikkonen. After a “could-have-been-1-2″ at the Malaysian Grand Prix, this race certainly showed that Ferrari has the most comprehensive package of all the teams. Pre-season testing here might have helped them a bit but there’s no denying the fact that they had the quickest cars on track. Massa outgunned pole-sitter Kubica at the start and sped off into the lead with Kimi fast on his heels. Kimi managed to pass Kubica a few laps later and the order remained thus. BMW had a terrific day on-track as Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld finished 3rd and 4th respectively. Pole position, 11 points plus the lead of the Constructors’ Championship - not a bad day at all by any means.
McLaren though, did have a pretty bad day, with Lewis Hamilton having a sluggish start to the race and dropping down to 10th before clobbering the back of Fernando Alonso and having to pit for new nose wing and a tank-full of fuel. He eventually finished 13th, well outside the points and relinquishes the lead of the Drivers’ Championship to Kimi Raikkonen. The lone silver lining for McLaren was Heikki Kovalainen’s 5th place finish and the fastest lap of the race. Toyota’s Jarno Trulli finished 6th with Red Bull’s Mark Webber in 7th place and Williams’ Nico Rosberg taking up the final point in 8th place.
