Music: Soulmate

There was this great band playing last week at Blue Frog called "Soul Mate". The band consists of blues-guitar player, songwriter and singer, Rudy Wallang and Vocalist Tipriti ‘TIPS’ Kharbangar who also plays rhythm guitar, Ferdy Dkhar on Bass Guitar and Sam Shullai on Drums. They all come from Shillong, Meghalaya.

Rudy was great on the Guitar and the Vocalist TIPS had great control on her voice and pitch. Great song selection as well, got the crowds into a night of Fun with good ol' live music, booze and friends!

Must catch this band when they in next. Way to go guys! Had a blast.

The Mighty Germans through to the Semis!

Germany kept their pre-torunament favourites tag alive with a facinating 3-2 victory over Portugal and booking their place in the semis.

Germany took a 2-0 lead from schweinsteiger and klose & were dominating the game till about 30 mins and looked very impressive. But their shaky back 4 gave in again and it was 2-1 through nuno gomes just before half time, leaving the 2nd half to be an entertaining one. Lahm and schweinsteiger particularly were looking impressive, as were the 2 keys to the germans - Ballack and Podolski.

And what a 2nd half and match it would turn out to be when ballack made it 3-1 and the portugese we from no angel about to call it quits. But it was little to late when postiga came on as a Sub and made it 3-2 in the last few mintues, but Germany held their nerve and won a great match against a great oppostion!

Some great football for display at the Euro '08 last night and we hope tonight's match as well - Croatia Vs Turkey! May the best team win!

Movie Review: 21

BLOWN'!!!! YOU GOTTA WATCH IT!

10 /10 right from start to end. Soundtrack to director. Slick!!!

Football: EURO 2008 AUSTRIA-SWITZERLAND

The EURO's are here FINALLY!!

After all that IPL Tamasha, the beautiful game is back with the UEFA EURO Championships '08 which are being held in Switzerland / Austria this year. The event that occurs every 4 years, the competition has 16 teams competing for the coveted title of European Champions.

GROUP A

1.) Switzerland

2.) Portugal

3.) Czech Republic

4.) Turkey

GROUP B

1.) Germany

2.) Poland

3.) Crotia

4.) Austria

GROUP C

1.) Holland

2.) France

3.) Italy

4.) Romania

GROUP D

1.) Russia

2.) Sweden

3.) Spain

4.) Greece

Greece did the impossible last year by beating all odds to win. Can they retain the title? (The odds are obv against them, but hey thats why Football - cos anything can happen!). Who will it be this year?

Will it be Capello's England? (ohhhhh sorry England suck ass and didnt even qualify!!! Well Capellos not to blame - only the players themselves are!) or will it be Guss Hiddink's Russians!

The money is there on the usual suspects like Holland, Italy, Germany, France, but Portugal are also a force to recon with this year with Ronaldo or CR7 in dazzling form! My personal choice would be a Germany Vs Holland final and Germany nicking it in Penalties. But hey in the end good football is what i'm in it for!

Music: Grand Pianoramax

For those who Love Live Music - this one was a must hear (well must see too!). I had not heard of them till a mate of mine told me "Crazy Band @ Blue Frog Tonigh, let's go ...". So i was like "O-rite bit*h, lets gö!". Thought if we got bored, we would leave and go else where, but that was soooooo not going to be the case that night.

Phuture Funk / spoken word / fusion / nu-jazz is the kinda Genre that you would classify Grand Pianoramax which had Leo Tardin from USA on the keyboard (You had to see how this guy played on keyboard. It was crazy), MC JP from Switzerland (Some wicked on-the-spot lyrics - meaningful and real) and Yoann from France on the drums (well orchestrated!).

Overall, was a mind blowing band. Would Love to see them again (if your listening Blue Frog - by popular demand - get em back!!!). YOU ROCK GUYS! KEEP IT UP!

P.S. Tried downloading some of their tracks that night itself but couldnt find them anywhere. Anyone have their CD's, puhleaseeeeeeeeee lemme know.

Movie Reviews: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indy is back ladies and gentleman! Yes, Harrison Ford the 65 year old is back playing the lead in the latest of the Indiana Jones flick titled 'THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL".

I went for it last night, and i feel that Speilberg has picked up from where he left of 19 years ago. Slick direction; build up to a good adventure and the typical Indy ending - all for the good of archeology and a happy ending!

The Crystal Skull is set in 1957 at the height of the Cold War. Indy, joined by a young, rebellious man named Mutt, and trailed by the Soviets set out in search of a fabled crystal skull of Akator, which must be returned to the legendary El Dorado or city of Gold. On the way, of course our hero must deal with the nasty Soviet agents, man-eating ants (holy shit you have got to see the part where these ants like work together and rise up like a rope to ate one agent - was awesome!), and his (slightly annoying) ex-girlfriend Marion, whom he eventually falls for allll over again.

Personally, I quite liked the movie. Director Spielberg and co-writer and producer Lucas had to make Indy relevant to new fans and satisfy old ones. The first half was a great build up, but the end was very typical. The Crystal Skull is efficient entertainment but it isn't a summer blockbuster what people were expecting. I recommend that you see the film. If only for ol' times' sake! I Would give it 7 out of 10!

Brutal Murders ..

I'm sure you'll would have been seeing and hearing about the brutal murders that have been taking place recently. Whenever i see the news i just think "What has the world come to man ..." "14 year old Arushi Talwar and her servant get murdered and then chopped into pieces" That's sick - she was 14 boss and her whole life ahead of her. Similarly in the case with Neeraj Grover. Different case, same outcome - man chopped into pieces by the girlfriend and सनकी boyfriend.

When is was writing this i was thinking of the Black Eyed Peas song - its soooo true!

"Where Is The Love?"
What's wrong with the world, mama
People livin' like they ain't got no mamas
I think the whole world addicted to the drama
Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma
Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin'
In the USA, the big CIA
The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And when you hate then you're bound to get irate, yeah
Madness is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates
Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all

People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)

Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love
The love, the love

It just ain't the same, always unchanged
New days are strange, is the world insane
If love and peace is so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong
Nations droppin' bombs
Chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones
With ongoin' sufferin' as the youth die young
So ask yourself is the lovin' really gone
So I could ask myself really what is goin' wrong
In this world that we livin' in people keep on givin'
in
Makin' wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends
Not respectin' each other, deny thy brother
A war is goin' on but the reason's undercover
The truth is kept secret, it's swept under the rug
If you never know truth then you never know love
Where's the love, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the truth, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the love, y'all

People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)

Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love
The love, the love

I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm gettin' older, y'all, people gets colder
Most of us only care about money makin'
Selfishness got us followin' our wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema
Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality
Instead in spreading love we spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' down
There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under
Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found

People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)

Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)

REST IN PEACE THE SOULS OF THE ABOVE DECEASED

TV: MTV ROADIES 5.0 FINALE

For some strange reason im addictd to show and actually have a remind on my BlackBerry for Sat 7.00 pm Roadies 5.0! Anyway .....

Today was the Finale of the MTV ROADIES 5.0 - THE GAME GOES INTERNATIONAL! After Sonel got voted voted out last week, it was all down to final 2 of Nihal Vs Ashutosh. Honestly not my favourite final 2, but hell they have got here so far so good luck to them.

Like all roadies episodes, this last episode had some twist. Here Raghu and crew though that they should let the finalist choose 5 each from the final 11 as the team they went into their final task. Raghu came and fukd their happiness and swtiched teams! अब दोनों आशु और निहाल के मु मैं आ गए!

The final however i thought could have been better, or i was hoping foir some twists, but all the 10 rodies completed all the 5 different tasks given to them (not for the captain, but for personal pride) - maybe thats wht made it a lil boring. In the final task when the 2 people had to get slapped, i thought maybe now someone would choose not to get slapped and take out his / her frustration and oppose, thereby the captain loosing. But both Shambhavi and Vibhor both took it! Anyway what was most surprising was the slap that Ashu gave Shambhavi! Damn i dunno where that came from, but चांटा मारा सेल ने उसे! hahahaha. Next thing u know he slaps Sonel on his 1st date when she makes a move on him! They however showed on the post-cuts that shambhavi was allowed to slap both Nihal and Ashu as ' revenge'. As a result, it was 5-5 in the tasks and the tie was decided by Sonel who chose Ashu for the title and the rest as they say was roadies-history! A litle lame last episode, but overall great fun roadies-ishtyle! Ashu won the title of Roadies 5.0 winner and the 2.5L; Nihal, Ankita, Varun and Snehashish won Karizma bikes respectively.

THe arguement which Raghu brought out right from the start was absoluetly correct that both these guys - did they really deserve a post in the final 2? Questionable. They did squat in the tasks and with politics were here. And i completly agree, but hey it's the real world. Its like saying Hard-Work Vs Smart-Work. In today's world, the smart one wins. Same is the case here, these 2 guys, were smart - malipulated all based on their insecurities and were there allright - Rightfully or unrightfully is a never ending debate, but they were here. Call it lucky, call it what you want. No one can disregard that. Good show Ashu, जय राम जी की brother!

In the end, Ashu may have won the title and the moolah, but the really winners are the guys who have put together this amazing reality show and kept us glued every Saturday from 7-8.30! Love you Roadies! Keep it up!

Movie Review: Death at a Funeral

Death at a Funeral:

I watched this really funny movie today called Death at a Funeral. For whose who havent seen it yet - WATCH IT! It freakin' funny dude. Thought it will be some dumb Brit comedy, but it turned out otherwise ... Laugh Riot all the way to the end!

In a nutshell: An extended dysfunctional British family gathers for the funeral of Daniel and Roberts father. Daniel's cousin Martha and her dependable new fiance Simon are desperate to make a good impression on Martha's uptight father--a plan that literally goes out the window when Simon accidentally ingests a designer drug en route to the service, leaving him prone to uncontrollable bouts of delirium and nudity in front of his potential in-laws. Tensions rise, old conflicts are uncovered and, when a man arrives saying he's the dead man's gay lover and threatens blackmail. All this and more in this extremly funny movie.

My star rating: 8 .5 / 10 (only for the lil obvious part at the end, but overall laugh riot!)

Farewell

Was never too good at Farewell's. I actually dont know what to say when people leave. I mean im happy for them, but on the same hand im sad to see them go.
But hey life doesnt stop - it goes on. Im not heartless but people go and come - the close ones always stay together! I know for a fact that people are going away (whether for less or more time that aside) for a god cause - studies, better life, whtevr maybe the case so im happy for them.

A Tribute

As a tribute to Manchester United's Emotional victory over Chelsea last night in the 2008 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL, there will be no more posts for the day!

GLORY GLORY MAN UTD, AND THE RED GO MARCHING ON .. ON .. ON ..!

KINGS OF THE WORLD!

What an emotional night it was! 22nd May 2008 will go down as one night that every FOOTBALL fan will remember as the great battle for European supremacy.

We all knew it would be one of the greatest matches with unarguably Europe's two strongest teams going head to head against one another. Could it be a night for Sir Alex's men, who were in frame for the 2nd trophy within a span of 10 days or would it be Chelsea, who had all to play for after disappointingly loosing out to Manchester United on the last day of the season. And so it lived up to its reputation!

It was nail biting stuff right from the word go and if anyone had predicted the final result at the start of the match would have been one hell of a psychic! 26 mins: Yes, big game player Cristiano Ronaldo opened our account with a leap frog header to beat the unmoved Pter Cech. But Chelsea was one never one to give up so easily. Lampard capitalized on a United error and slotted one in just minutes before the halftime whistle. It had been a half where United dominated, but the scoreline told another story. 1-1 it stood at halftime. In the 2nd half it was Chelsea who came out the stronger side, with Avram Grant's team talk seeming to pay dividends. Chelsea spurned 2 great chances - one of Drogba, who would later be involved in arguably the turning point of the match, and the other from dangerman Frank Lampard who also hit the bar. Would these misses be costly for Chelsea? Only time would tell. Man Utd on the other hand had a wonderful counter where Evra bombed down the left flank and did everything right, only for Cech to palm off an effort from Giggs to save them from the blues. The referee then blew for 90 minutes and the score remained 1-1, and we were into 30 mins of agonizing extra time.

Both teams looked tired and you could tell with the players resting and getting some relaxation for those tired calf’s to avoid cramps. The first extra time went by with no real talking points. Into the 2nd half of extra time - which is one which Chelsea fans will remember more than Man Utd fans. With 5 minutes to go, and the penalty shootout looming, the players get involved in a scuffle and the tension between the 2 teams battling it out for Europe's top prize seems to be boiling over. Didier Drogba, Chelsea's key performer of the season is seen slapping Nemanja Vidic and gets unnecessarily sent off! Yes, an experienced international like Drogba - who I'm sure, would have been the first few names on the sheet for a shootout - gets the marching orders and Chelsea are down to 10 men. Turning Point one would say? Could be! The hardest 5 mins go past and yes, the 2008 Champions League final at Moscow in the Luzhniki stadium was to be decided in a Penalty Shootout!

It was down to the team that held their nerve and the players who would either be remembered as greats for their club or be villain's forever. Finally, after all the drama, in which Ronaldo, missed only his 2nd penalty of an otherwise perfect season and John Terry's whose spot kick could have won it for Chelsea, had he not slipped to put it wide - some might recall the slip that David Beckham had in the world cup which put England all but out of the cup! Now it was anyone's game. May the best team win and boy did they. Ryan Giggs fittingly put Utd's winner past Cech and VDS - saved a Nicolas Anelka penalty which looked to be a little soft.

It was a night where the passions were rising, emotions were high, and I had never ever been so Proud of my team ever. I honestly believe Man Utd had the right blend of experience and youth along with Sir Alex's gift to mould a team of Champions. Surprising that it was that Man's only 2nd European Cup Final! I felt most happy for him and for the team who he has called as 'his greatest ever'. I never watched the '99 treble winning season but I'm sure the feeling would have been nothing less then what I was feeling last night after our DOUBLE. I felt bad for Grant, who has been given such a hard time by the critics - no one knows if he will stay or go, but hey give it up for the fellow getting Chelsea so far and for doing something almost near impossible at the start of the season after Mourinho's exit from the Bridge. John Terry - battled hard, but came under the scanner for his penalty which he will never forget. I can't say I understand what he's going through, but I'm sure it sure as hell isn’t one he will cherish in his lifetime. Lampard - a real orchestrater in mid-field - did well for Chelsea once again but to no vain. Well played Chelsea for an amazing game of football, where I really feel complete when Man Utd lifted the trophy and were crowned - CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE!

RED DEVILS CELEBRATIONS!

Money Talks!

Hey ..

Actually the reason why im writing this is because of some other reason (friends may know what it is but hey dont feel like talking about it in open forum) .. but i was just thinking, in our Country, we can pretty much buy out ANYTHING and when i mean absoletly ANYTHING. I was just surfing somewhere and on EBay i saw someone who had put up his SOUL FOR SALE! Damn ...

Especially here with all the corruption, i feel happy that i got out of the shit that i was in but generally thinking, we can buy our way out of anything if we have the money. Maybe sometime i'll take this hidden cam and go around seeing the crazy things that people would do for money. All i need is a sponseror for that. Any Givers????

English Premier League ’07-’08 – The Season Gone by …..

"The Season is finally over and what a season it was! It was nail biting stuff and the phrase "it all goes down to wire" that commentators use, did really come true in the end this time. I'm sure Man Utd fans nervously knew their side was going to win the trophy, but what Chelsea fans didn’t know was that they would be second best! Hahahahahahahahha. What a way to win their 10th Premier League title with Sir Ryan Giggy's goal! Most no. of appearance for Man Utd - over taking a legend Sir Bobby Charlton and how! Fulham took their hopes of premiership survival in their hands and won over Portsmouth and handed Reading and Birmingham – who incidentally turned on the style on the last day of the season, but to vain - ticket with will now join the heavily beaten Derby County in the Championship next season. All credit to Roy Hodson here who nobody, lets be honest, gave any chance or making Fulham survive the drop.

There were a lot of Highlights for the season:

#7 - Cristiano Ronaldo:
There are no words to describe the season he has had this year. Stark difference from the scrawny young boy who came on 2 seasons ago against Bolton and show-boated his way to the heart of Man Utd faithful who knew that Fergie would pay 15 ml for this boy just like that! Free-kicks (from hell!), heading, shooting from long and short range, #7 or 'God with the Ball' we can quite fairly call him, is unarguably the Man to Watch throughout the season! (Oh and I forgot to mention, also wing man who is the highest scorer of the season ended. Just makes his claim to be 'WORLD FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR' a tad bit stronger!)

David James:
This man has reclaimed Capello's England's #1 jersey and rightfully so. What a season this veteran has had between the sticks for Portsmouth. 17 clean sheets, numerous saves that would be like training videos for young kids. He has been remarkable this season - considering the fact that he is prone to the odd mistakes as we know him for over the seasons. David James would definitely have to be my choice for Keeper of the Season! (though he didn’t stop Ronaldo's 30 yard howler but hey would anyone have?????)

Fernando Torres:
Nobody, and I mean nobody - not even the Kop faithful would have guessed that Fernando Torres - the man they call "ÉL NINÓ" - would have notched up goals in his 1st season. With a price tag of £18million, we all knew he was quality but foreigners face it difficult to adapt to premiership life and so all that he has achieved, is down to grit and determination to succeed and help the otherwise boring Liverpool (Can proudly say that as a Man Utd fan ) win something - but in vain. Jokes, apart - fair play to him and as a football Neutral I would have to say Kudos to him and hopefully he can continue next season the way he did this.

Best Defence of the Premiership: Manchester United's dominant back '5'
With a patched up back 4 without Gary Neville and a shaky start for the Premiership with draws and losses in the first few games and no goals in front of goal, I feared the worst to tell you the truth. But with the back line of VDS, Brown, Rio, Vidic and Evra, and as the season progressed, we settled and soon became the stingiest defence around. Rio Ferdinand - any football fan who watches the premiership - correct me if im wrong - has proved himself to be best defender in the WORLD. Everything that came in our box was booted back out! So much for being a striker in the premiership eh? All played their part and I truly feel we won because of a team effort, but a lot of credit goes to this famous back 5 - who still have a little something to play for.

Young player of the Season: Gabriel Agbonlahor
He's quick, consistent and a goal scoring threat that defender's should be worried about. My young player of the season would have to be 'Gabby' Agbonlahor and rightfully so. Manager Martin O'Neil had a consistent team throughout the season and it paid dividends with their 6th position and Intertoto Cup run-in. Barry, Young, Agbonlahor, all the gems of O'Neil's side have shown why Capello's got a dilemma for selection for the England squad. Though they all had good season, including David Bentley (Blackburn), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), et all, but to me with Gabby's scoring prowess and finishing and most of course with age on his side, he is definitely one for the future!

THE BIG ONE

Finally, its now time for the coveted UEFA Champions League Trophy that we all have been waiting for. The 2 best teams of the premiership slug it out to be crowned Champions of Europe. Clearly stamping the dominance of English Club's in Europe, these 2 teams will go Mano-e-mano against each other on the 21st of May. You'll all know by now which team im going to be supporting - but im just playing it down since I don’t want to jinx it but hey I can proudly say it "MAY THE BEST TEAM WIN!"