Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Beware of winning prizes

Few weeks back I got a phone call in my office number from some holiday club in Anna Nagar claiming that I have won for a free couple pass for holiday in their resorts. I was surprised for one that I am normally never lucky to win anything in a lottery and second I didn't remember entering any draw. On being asked the lady said that the draw was done on some exhibitions in the trade centres .
I started to get suspicious (which I often do get) because I had not been to any in the recent past, so I said I will send a messenger with my signed authorization so that they can handover the prize. The lady refused and insisted that I come in person with my wife to collect it. I said I will and disconnected the call, didn't think it was worthwhile to go all the way and that was it.

Yesterday in Suriyan FM Radio, the DJ announced that a recent con plot going around the city was doing exactly this. They call people to say they have won prizes, when they visit to collect it, brainwash them to buy useless items (or) strong-arm to make them part with their jewels and valuables. So Chennai residents be warned don't get fooled by the lure of prizes for competitions you never participated.

RASCAL FLATTS LYRICS - When you Stand

"Stand"
You feel like a candle in a hurricane
Just like a picture with a broken frame
Alone and helpless
Like you've lost your fight
But you'll be alright, you'll be alright

[Chorus:]
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause its all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand, Then you stand

Life's like a novel
With the end ripped out
The edge of a canyon
With only one way down
Take what you're given before its gone
Start holding on, keep holding on

[Repeat Chorus]

Everytime you get up
And get back in the race
One more small piece of you
Starts to fall into placeOh

[Repeat Chorus]
[Thanks to BlaBla for correcting these lyrics]

Just shows that the ICL is there to stay: Kapil- Icon welcomes Mithun’s involvement

The Telegraph - News

Calcutta: Mithun Chakraborty’s desire to do a Shah Rukh Khan couldn’t have come at a better time for the outlawed Indian Cricket League (ICL).

“It just shows that the ICL is there to stay... In fact, we’re looking at other celebrities to be associated with the other teams... I mean, an actor from the south could be involved with the Chennai Superstars,” Kapil told The Telegraph.

Speaking on Wednesday evening, on the eve of a formal announcement regarding Mithun’s takeover, so to say, of the Kolkata Tigers, Kapil added emotionally: “The young players who’ve joined us are even being denied admission to colleges and universities...

“How can that be done? Are we, in the ICL, doing anything wrong? If, yes, then I’ll stop it all... The issue is simple: How can you prevent cricketers from playing cricket? Mujhe samajh mein nahin ata... How can you bully?”

The ICL is in its first season and its latest competition will get over some days before the launch of the much-hyped Indian Premier League, which has the blessings of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The BCCI, which got beaten by Zee (the ICL promoters) in getting a pro Twenty20 league off the ground, is of course desperate to keep even the remotest hint of competition a million miles away.

The Mithuns, though, could queer the pitch somewhat.

Sunny, Speed have ‘civil discussion’- I think everybody is looking for yes men, says an infuriated Kapil




LOKENDRA PRATAP SAHI - The Telegraph

Calcutta: Sunil Gavaskar and Malcolm Speed, the outgoing chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC), had a “civil discussion” for at least 30 minutes on Wednesday.



They met in Dubai, where the ICC is headquartered.



An ICC media release didn’t exactly say so in as many words, but it’s clear that Gavaskar, who heads the powerful cricket committee, has been asked to choose between continuing in that role and working as a TV commentator and columnist.



The former India captain has to get back with his “views” after the next cricket committee meeting, on May 5-6, and before the ICC’s annual conference week (June 29-July 4).
Gavaskar’s term ends in the summer of 2010.



“The chief executive and Gavaskar had a civil discussion… They’ve worked with each other for years… It’s for Gavaskar to weigh his options and get back to the ICC,” a spokesman for the world body said in the evening.



The release, by the way, included the following: “The meeting followed discussions by the ICC (executive) board last week concerning the potential for a conflict of interest for a person chairing the cricket committee while, at the same time, working for a media outlet…”



What’s strange is that the ICC has suddenly woken up to the “potential for a conflict,” even though Gavaskar had been a mediaman when he got the chairmanship eight years ago.



Obviously, Gavaskar’s brutally candid comments (both on the TV and in his columns) during Team India’s recent tour of Australia have made the ICC — particularly England and Australia — see red.



Even more strangely, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasn’t extended any support to Gavaskar.



The BCCI did issue a statement on Wednesday afternoon, but it made for pathetic reading. At the very least, there should have been one line saying that it would take up Gavaskar’s cause if the ICC’s executive board made an issue of the “conflict of interest.”



The question doing the rounds is: Has a deal been struck, whereby the BCCI won’t cry foul and, as a result, gain in some other manner?



Among those very upset with developments is another distinguished former India captain, Kapil Dev, now being treated as an outcast by the BCCI for his involvement with the Indian Cricket League.



“I think everybody is looking for yes men… Sunil began writing columns decades ago, so what’s new? Also, if he holds an honorary position, then now can he be stopped from earning his livelihood? The ICC should be broad-minded,” he told The Telegraph.



Kapil added: “I’m not surprised that the BCCI hasn’t come out in Sunil’s support... In fact, has it ever really had time for us players? It may look after the big stars as long as they’re playing, use them, and then forget them once they’re through with the game... That, for me, is the BCCI...”



India’s only World Cup-winning captain has, clearly, experienced it all. Incidentally, Kapil’s isn’t exactly a lone voice.

To the Passing of a Hero: Arthur C. Clarke, 1917-2008

A Hero Passed Away on March 19th, 2008.
Arthur Charles Clarke will be missed



Sir Arthur Charles Clarke was born on the 16th of December 1917 in Minehead, England. Perhaps best known for his contributions to science fiction, and his inventions, his achievements will certainly not be forgotten anytime soon.



Clarke served in the Royal Air Force as a radar instructor from 1941-1946. It was there where he invented & proposed the idea of communications satellites in 1945 — an idea that materialized quickly and we now know, use and depend on to sustain our societies. His proposal won him the Franklin Institute Gold Medal and in 1994 he was nominated for a Nobel Prize. Consequently he became the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society.



He collaborated with Stanley Kubrick to create, in my and many others’ opinion, one of the greatest films of all time — and concurrently developed what later became a novel of the same name: 2001: A Space Odyssey shook the world and continues to inspire and provoke thought.
Moved to Sri Lanka in 1956. Knighted in 1998.

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Posted by one of my friend, Balaji.D @ Clueless Romeo