An Open Letter to Pat Howard, GM for Cricket Australia.

The once proud Australian cricket team is now eating humble pie.  You built a dynasty just like the great Roman Empire, but the decay of the Roman Empire lasted centuries, while the decay in Australian years took only a couple of years!  If you were running a major company you will held accountable since the "buck stops with the GM".

There was the home-work fiasco in India. Then the Watto-fiasco with Shane Watson. The came the Warner-Boxer affair quickly followed by Arthur-gate.  The selection of the team is a mess.  If you have any "gumption" you should quit and let cricket affairs be run by people who who how to play the game.  Why would you appoint a South African to manage your team?  Is Australia so bereft of coaching and managerial candidates that you had to leave your continuent?

The laughter and derision that Australia is facing in England today can be attributed to your direct mis-management of cricketing affairs.  A rugby player is not a cricket GM.  This is just like Pakistan and India, where the cricket professionals are lorded over by politicians.  At least the politicians know to leave cricket in the hands of cricket professionals.

So I call on you to quit.  Go while you are ahead, instead of waiting for the ax.  Along with you there has to be at least a couple of changes in the team -- a new Captain and leader is clearly required.  Watto has to go -- this is a team sport not a one man circus.

An adherent supporter of Aussie cricket!

Wodehouse Addiction!

Wodehouse has taken over our home!  How is that possible?  The wife claims that Wodehouse has taken over our home and our lives.

How can we let it happen?  Well one may ask.  There are books written by Wodehouse all over the house, including the bathrooms, there are books written by others on Wodehouse, there are magazines with Wodehouse articles, including Caravan! there are videos of Wodehouse Works all over the living room. Each and every phone, tablet, and computer are loaded with Wodehouse videos.

I can tell you the wife is upset. However, when was making the bed this morning, I counted 7 Wodehouse books under her pillow -- not one, not two, but seven. Also, the only videos on her iPhone are the Jeeves and Wooster videos.  Come on lady, we have 2 kids and I expected to see some dance videos of the daughter or the son's 7th inning heroics that I recorded for posterity a year ago, but no, only Wodehouse videos are loaded on her iPhone.  I also checked her music library on her iPhone.  Guess what I found? A whole lot of Wodehouse audio books, loaded on her iPhone.  How can one blame me for this addiction to the greatest entertainer of all time?  Be it books, be it romantic comedies, be is the new Blandings TV series, it is Plum Plum Plum everywhere.

It has reached a stage when my kids and their friends call us WodehouseNuts -- it is one word not 2 words.  All our friends and relatives know about the Wodehouse addiction (I am not addicted, but she is).  Whenever someone spots a book in a store, they immediately call us to check if we have it in our collection. Our other friends and relatives from around the world have offered to sell us their books, of course the prize is our first born.

This morning, as the wife was getting ready to clean the living room -- she had the gumption to tell me "Get rid of the books, this is a living room".  Wait a minute, if this is a living room don't I live in it?  It has come to such a pass that my daughter was following the Facebook Fans of Wodehouse page with the story using only his titles and laughed out loud -- this in the midst of her mid-semester exams in college. It was nice to hear her laugh.  Her only lament was she does not have to time to read any -- and of course she knows the rules -- you can enjoy any of the Wodehouse material at our house, but the house is guarded by rattlesnakes and the Wodehouse material cannot be "borrowed" "stolen" or "removed" from the Srinivasan Castle!

High Jinks in Blandings by the Bay

The San Francisco Bay area Blandings Castle Society decided to honor a member of the family that we consider one our own -- none other than Joan and Ken, the President of the North American Wodehouse Society.  The visit was a wonderful event and was celebrated with due pomp and ceremony. The royal visitors were accorded their respect with its share of browsing and sluicing followed by a visit to the Eureka Theater for a light hearted musical on the Presidential Election by Gershwin, Gershwin, Kaufman, and Ryskind.  A wonderful time was had by all.

The browsing and sluicing was of the highest quality. While there was no nonnettes de poulet Agnès Sorel, the food provided by Gaylord India Restaurant, was excellent. The service was just right, and after satisfying our physical craving, it was time to move on to the spiritual event of the evening -- the play "Of Thee I Sing".

Although the play was written in 1917, it was very topical. It dealt with the Presidential Elections, Political Conventions, the Vice-Presidency, the Supreme Court, Marriage, Beauty Pagents, Foreign Affairs, good old Mother Hood and Corn Muffins!  The story is timeless. The music was fantastic, and the singing was pure bliss.  

The location of the play was the Eureka Theater, in the heart of the financial district of San Francisco. The theatre itself is modelled on the Princess Theater of NY City where many of P.G.Wodehouse's works were performed in the 1920s. It provided an intimate setting for 200 people and it was very intimate -- I felt part of the play, the stage was that close.  

The company of the Wodehouse Society made it all the more enjoyable, although you had to protect yourself from some of the criminal elements like Ken!  In classic Lord Emsworth mode, Ken nearly pocketed my little Penguin of "Crime Wave at Blandings", a la Egyptian Scarab! Just goes to show, that the President of the Wodehouse Society, and the President of the USA (John Wintergarden) have quite a few things in common!.

Alas, it was very soon after that we had to split up and go our respective ways, but the memory of last night, the music, the food will linger on for quite a while. This has kindled my interest to interact more with members of this society and I am looking forward to October 2013 when the Society will hold its convention in the Windy City of Chicago.  Who knows, we may hobnob with Reginald, the Third Earl of Havershot and other luminaries at this historic convention!

Election Fever

Election Fever is here. The republicans are fighting over each other to find out who is going to oppose President Obama in the 2012 Presidential Elections. There is a debate almost every week. Alas, by the time the primaries roll around to California the issue is most likely to be settled. However, it does make for interesting reading and a lot of speculation and discussions (none of it heated, since they are so far removed from us).

I am writing this from what used to be the bastin of Democratic Support, Cupertino, CA. Alas, the democrats have lost the votes of 30+ families in this pre-dominantly democratic, liberal minded area. Most of the folks are members of the "silent populace", and now feel that the current government is anti-liberal, and anti-immigrants. You see and hear how VP Bidden makes funny jokes about people of Indian origin. But when it impacts you personally, it is no longer funny and all we can assume is that the government in power today is "racist". Why do I say this? Let me go back to March 2011. We have a special class in the local high-school where 30 of the brightest and best are taught all about American Government, and the law of the land. The average IQ of this class is close to 150 (near genius). You have a group of highly talented 17 and 18 year olds, the so called future leaders of America. They were planning a trip to Washington DC and a visit to the Supreme Court and to the Capitol. Thanks to Rep. Mike Honda and Senator Dianne Fienstein, they had a wonderful time in the nation's capital. They also wrote to the White House to see if they can have a tour. After a lot of communications, the White House Security detail denied them access to the White House. The reason? They could not pronounce the names of 29 of the 30 students! These kids are all American citizens and have long memories. They are now spread all over the US from MIT to UPenn to WashU to UC Berkeley to CalTech and UCLA and more. They all remember the saying of President Truman -- The Buck Stops Here. The Buck does stop at President Obama. The word spreads and I think he is in trouble. He has lost the support of the 30 families and while the majority of them won't actively participate in any active political campaigns, they do talk about it over lunches, dinners, christmas, class reunions etc.

The question now is, how will the Republican Party take advantage of this lapse in judgement of the President? President Obama can recover lost ground by at least apologizing to the 30 families, but will he man enough to do it? VP Biden is a lost cause -- he is not only senile (he referred to the 49ers as the Giants before the NFL championship game) but blatantly racist see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM19YOqs7hU.

Only time will tell....

Planning Software on the Mac

Three cheers to Opus Domini Software! I've been searching for a software based approach to Franklin Planner. Since my Mac based laptop goes everywhere, I've been searching for a replacement to the Planner for well over a year. I've tried several note taking apps on the iPad and Android phone. And this morning, I came across Opus from http://www.piso13.com/Piso13/Opus_Domini_for_mac.html. This software has the look and feel of my paper based Franklin Planner but it runs on my Mac. According to their web site, there is an iPad version coming out soon. I can't wait for this version.

First impressions are excellent. I've been able to make notes and set "alerts" for events I am interested in -- the attached screen shot shows an item that I want to follow up on November 13th, 2012. I've also been able to attach pictures, files, charts, tables etc in the notes section.

I can't wait for the iPad version to come out. The $8.99 is well worth the cost of this software.

The calendar is automatically synced with iCal. The tasks can be prioritized based on the Franklin Planner methodology (or you can use your own). They can also be color coded. You can set your Master Tasks, Goals, Missions, and Compass based on Covey's 7 Habits principles. In fact it replaces my paper based planner completely!

The one things I would want here is the ability to link to Mac's Address Book and Mac Mail. I am sure that is something already being planned. For now, I can live without them, but if linked to my address book and email programs, this would be a complete PIM.

For now, I have bid goodbye to my paper based planner and saved myself $25 for this year and lost 2 lbs that I do not have to lug around in my travels.

Great job from PSIO13.

Cricket Fever

IPL, India's premier 20/20 tournament is in its half-way stage. These are games being played every day. And Indian Audiences are glued (at least this is what the advertisers are hoping for) to their TV sets.

English County Cricket is all set to start from tomorrow. Durham looks unbeatable in all formats of the game (County cricket, 20/20, and the newfangled 40/40). But don't rule out Hampshire, they may pose a challenge for Durham!

Living in the Pacific Coast in the mainland US of A, we get to watch very little of this international cricket flavor. The IPL game timings are awkward -- one is at work, and English County Cricket -- who wants to watch it anyway when it is going to rain for the 1st 3 months anyway?

If you take the IPL and County Cricket, as just cricket and ignore the formats, there are some similarities but a lot of differences. For instance:

* The stars (and the best performers) of the IPL and County Cricket are primarily old has-been.

- Anil Kumble -- retired from International cricket

- Shane Warne -- retired from International cricket

- Adam Gilchrist -- retired from International cricket

- Ganguly -- retired from International cricket. If you had seen the match against Punjab you would have sworn that this was the Ganguly from 2000 not 2010!

- Kallis -- he was dropped from the South African World Cup 20/20 team (what were the selector's thinking?) and now he is the star in the IPL

- Steve Harmison -- an extordinary County Cricket bowler, but he loses his nerve when playing for England. Will he ever play for England again?

- Mark Ramprakash -- he will never play international cricket again, but a very successful batsman when playing for his county. In fact he would be rated among the all time best within his county!

See what I mean? The established players like Pietersen, Sreeshanth and others cannot even find a place within their IPL teams. Yet, these are the folks who we are going to see in the world cup. Will they star in the world cup? I would like to see a world team composed of the 'retired stars' participate in the world cup under the UN flag and I'll bet money on them taking the crown based on the recent performances in the IPL

Both IPL and County Cricket has international players in plenty. But I decry the absence of Indian players in County Cricket -- a recent look at the teams show only Murli Karthik and P.Chawla. What happenend to the days of F.M.Engineer (lancashire), MAK Pautaudi (Sussex), S.Venkataraghavan (Derbyshire), Tendulkar (Yorkshire), Dravid (Scotland)? Why is County Cricket avoiding Indians? Are they afraid that India would take over the cricket world? -- they need not be afraid, it has already happened!

English County Cricket has a lot to learn from the IPL. The way IPL is marketed. IPL is show biz and a huge revenue generator for the organizers. In only 3 short years, the team's valuations have sky rocketed! Can English County Cricket match this? Time would tell.

Enjoy the Cricket! It is a great game played by noble spirits.

Dogs to Run Free in Cupertino

The City of Cupertino is spending hard earned dollars in an idiotic and expensive survey that involves dogs. Don't get me wrong, I like dogs and they in turn appreciate me. I get along with any dog and love playing with them. But what the city is doing is basically absconding their responsibilities to the community and to the tax paying public.

The proposal on the table is to open up selected parks where dogs will be allowed to run at will and without a leash! This is not in a fenced in area, but the whole park. Don't believe me? Check out the official Cupertino City web site: http://www.cupertino.org/dog. This is for dogs off-leash. The city is also spending an unknown amount of money in a survey asking the residents their opinion.

This is one of the stupidest ideas that have even been mooted. Can you imagine the havoc this will cause? Consider the following:

* The parks will be full of POOP. If the dogs run wild in the park will the dog owners run after them to collect the dog poop? The parks are going to the dogs!

* Dogs are pack animals. When they meet a fellow dog, there is the usual banter between them. The battle of wits for top-dog is on. When this gets emotional, watchout. You will not longer be a spectator, instead you will be forced to join in. I've seen dog owners in front of my home, unable to control their dog and being dragged around. How is this going to work when a dog is off-leash and has the entire park to run in?

* Children's health hazard. Most of the parks have children's play areas with slides and swings. Dogs tend to mark their territory by peeing at the poles. Is this what you want in the parks? Who will clean the play area?

* People safety. We tend to use the parks for picnics and leave food around on blankets when we play. The parks are beautiful and well kept and can be used as picnic areas. Will be food be safe when dogs are off-leash? Who will control them?

* The liability issue. When kids run around, dogs tend to chase them. If this happens and when a kid gets injured, who is liable? is the city willing to take on this liability?

The Cupertino council is nuts to take this on. They just establish a 'fenced in' dog park and be done with it. Instead they are spending public money on a survey over an idiotic and unworkable proposition.