Symonds: Sreesanth Has White Line Fever

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth is the MOST aggressive player that the Indian Cricket Team has seen in ages. He leads the new string of aggressive Indian players like Gambhir, Uthappa, Yuvraj and others. "Tit for Tat, either with the ball or with the bat." (Just made that up lol)

Sreesanth - can he control himself?

Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds has played down speculation that he does
not like India fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.

Symonds and
Sreesanth clashed several times during the recent one-day series in India, and
Symonds believes the young fast bowler doesn't always know how to control
himself.
"He's just got white line fever," Symonds told the Daily Telegraph.
"He has got it that bad he couldn't rein himself in when he lost it a bit.

"It will be interesting to see how he is received over here. I don't
dislike him. Off the ground he was always polite. I saw him in the hotel and he
always said g'day. But, as I said, he's just got white line fever and sometimes
he just loses control."

This is the latest attack by the aussies on the Indian team, rather on pacer S Sreesanth. It shows that they don't know what to expect from us.



In this topic, we take a closer look at S Sreesanth. He's the live wire in the team. Doesn't like taking advice from anyone and he has a good thinking bowling brain. Sometimes (most of the times), he goes off the path. Highly passionate and emotional about his cricket, and really proud to be a part of it.

Sreesanth was born on February the 6th, 1983, in a place called Kothamangalam in Kerala, India.

Here's Wiki's description of Sree

He is a right-arm fast-medium-pace bowler and a right-handed tail-ender batsman. He is also noted for his exuberant and emotional behaviour, especially whilst
appealing and celebrating wickets. Such trademark behaviour has seen him
frequently fined for violating player conduct guidelines of the ICC. He is known to bowl at speeds mostly around 140kmph.

Sometimes, he tries too hard, and fails to perform, and then is given a rest. Also, his comeback match would always be in dire situations, where he cannot produce his best performance. The result? Dropped again. =\. This doesn't make ANY sense to me. Imagine how the selection method would be taking place. Bah.

Sreesanth studies psychology at university when not playing cricket, and speaks English, Tamil, and Hindi in addition to Malayalam native to Kerala. In his early years, he was a break dancer, becoming a national champion when he was in the eighth grade!

Here are some instances of his Enthusiasm :


1. Sreesanth-Nel
2. Sreesanth-Symonds
3. Sreesanth-Pieterson (The Beamer Incident)
4. Sreesanth Wicket Dance
5. Sreesanth absurdity
6. Sreesanth-Hayden



The list is endless ;)


This can go on for a long time. We NEED a charachter like him in the team. Hope to see many others following him :D

Counter-Strike

Now listen here. I ain't no pro. But just thought of blogging on something that millions of people, including me, are passionate about!

Counter-Strike!

How do you define Counter-Strike? The answer is "Addiction". Once you get in, you can't get out. You'd need to go to rehab centers to get the game outta your system.

Counter-Strike is a First Person Shooter game that needs a LOT of strategy and pre-planning.

The version 1.6 has become the most famous ever, but there are many users who prefer the older 1.5 version. Both are good in their own right!

Now there are a lot of ways you can play this game.

• You can play with computer generated players. They're called BOTS here. A really insulting term when it comes to Counter-Strike. They are the most noobiest players around. If you're OK playing with them, then you can continue and go to the next level.

• Now the other way, is obviously playing with "real" players. This can be done through LAN (You don't need an internet connection for this), or you can play on the internet too.

You can play in random servers through your internet connection, or you can play Counter-Strike Steam.

Well, what is Steam?

I used to ask this question to myself when I was a beginner...

Steam is VALVE's new automated content delivery system. It is a program you download that allows you to connect to VALVE's network and receive games (such as Counter-Strike), updates, and patches seamlessly.Steam includes a number of features for making the way you play your games much easier:

» Automatic Updates
» Server Browser
» Friends System for Tracking and Communicating with Other Players
» Purchase and Download New Games

To avail the advantages, you'll have to pay for a Steam Account here.

For Counter-Strike Stuff, log on to:

1. http://www.fpsbanana.com
2. http://www.counter-strike.net/
3. http://www.counter-strike.com/

There are many, many sites that you can turn to for help! These are just some of the best.

You can even get skins, maps, etc here.

Will be continued in the next post! Watch this blog for more on this awesome game !

Pearls Before Swine

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE is a sarcastically humorous comic strip! Here's a low down on the characters of the Funniest streep evah! (In case you didn't know...)


ABOUT THE CHARACTERS...


RAT:




Arrogant, self-centered, fatalistic, philosophical and quick-tempered, Rat is obsessed with fae, immortality and making a quick buck. Spends his time with Pig because it makes him erior and, more importantly, no one else will hang out with him.




PIG:




Humble (in fact, painfully aware of his limitations), practical, kind and a little slow in the head, Pig has few aspirations in life, other than to spend his days watching TV and doing almost nothing productive. Apparently sees something redeeming in Rat, as he is willing to endure Rat's endless barbs and numerous schemes. Kicked out of the Society of Cultured Pigs because he was caught eating a BLT!



ZEBRA:



Just trying to stay alive. In a world filled with lions, tigers and crocodiles, this is not an easy task.



GOAT:



The smart one. Would rather spend his time with his snout in a book than talking to any of the other odd characters in this strip.


THE FRATERNITY OF THE CROCODILES:





Proud members of Zeeba Zeeba Eata, a fraternity dedicated to the destruction of Zebra and other prey, the crocodiles are Zebra’s next-door neighbors. Stupid, slow and barely articulate, these particular crocodiles are a disgrace to their species.


DUCK:




Pig's loyal, but violent and unstable duck. He sits in a bunker on Pig's front lawn, defending the property against mailmen, girl scouts and offensive neighbors.


Now...


ABOUT THE ARTIST:





Stephan Pastis was born in 1968 and raised in San Marino, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1989 with a degree in political science. Although he had always wanted to be a syndicated cartoonist, Pastis realized that the odds of syndication were slim, so he entered UCLA Law School in 1990 and became an attorney instead. He practiced law in the San Francisco Bay area from 1993 to 2002.

While an attorney, he began submitting various comic strip concepts to all of the syndicates, and, like virtually all beginning cartoonists, got his fair share of rejection slips. Then, in 1997, he began drawing Pearls Before Swine, which he submitted to the syndicates in mid-1999. In December, 1999, he signed a contract with United.
Pearls Before Swine debuted in newspapers in January, 2002, and Pastis left his law practice in August of that year.

Pearls Before Swine was nominated in 2003, 2004 and 2007 as "Best Newspaper Comic Strip" by the National Cartoonists Society and won the award in 2004 and 2007. Pastis lives with his family in Northern California.

Global Warming - Causes, Effects and "Solutions"

You always tend to think, "Why is it so damn hot these days?". It's the Oct-Nov. period and you still feel that the summer ain't gonna leave you. By the way, it ain't the summer season, it should be winter! We all know the problem - It's Global Warming!


Yea right.

This is pretty big. The worst natural calamity (not entirely natural) that has already hit us hard, and yet, politicians are doing NOTHING about it. They keep debates, meetings (nowadays hearings) to show the people that they DO care. But, actually, NOTHING is being done to reduce gas emissions.

What is Global Warming?

Global Warming refers to the average temperature increase in the Earth's near surface air/oceans. It simply means more floods, more tornadoes, and ironically, more droughts.

Global Warming has different effects in different areas of the globe. It can cause hurricanes, floods, droughts, famines eventually. It's the disaster that's just waiting to happen.

Al Gore's Documentary/Movie "An Inconvenient Truth" inspired this article. It was an eye-opener to say the least.

A basic explanation of Global Warming here - Just a small video, do check it out to know more.


Is it happening?

Yes. Earth is already showing many signs of worldwide climate change.Average temperatures have risen by about 0.8 degrees celcius around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades. (with inputs from NASA)

The rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century's last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millennia, according to a number of climate studies.
Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier. Polar bears and indigenous cultures are already suffering from the sea-ice loss.

Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting—for example, Montana's Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. In the Northern Hemisphere, thaws also come a week earlier in spring and freezes begin a week later.

This is Mount Killimanjaro in Africa, in 1970. Look the amount of ice, it is virtually covered with ice.

This image is a post card, that was made looking at the giant mountain in 1970.








Now, take a look at the recent picture, of the same mountain, taken in the 21st century.
Where's all the f-----n ice gone ?

There are many more such examples that give an account of global warming on the rise.






And this is a self-explanatory image. Drastic Effects! Most of it is river water now.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some place in Argentina :P, in 1928.

Here's the same place in 2004.


Now THAT, is the best example of the effects of Global Warming!


Is Global Warming caused by Humans ?

"Very likely", the IPCC said in a February 2007 report.

This report is based on the work done by around 2500 scientists in about 130 countries around the world. It concludes that the humans are responsible for most of the planetary global warming.

• Industrialization, deforestation, and pollution have greatly increased atmospheric concentrations of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, all greenhouse gases that help trap heat near Earth's surface.

• Humans are pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere much faster than plants and oceans can absorb it.

• These gases persist in the atmosphere for years, meaning that even if such emissions were eliminated today, it would not immediately stop global warming.

• Some experts point out that natural cycles in Earth's orbit can alter the planet's exposure to sunlight, which may explain the current trend. Earth has indeed experienced warming and cooling cycles roughly every hundred thousand years due to these orbital shifts, but such changes have occurred over the span of several centuries. Today's changes have taken place over the past hundred years or less.

• Other recent research has suggested that the effects of variations in the sun's output are "negligible" as a factor in warming, but other, more complicated solar mechanisms could possibly play a role.

What's gonna happen - The Effects of Global Warming.

A follow-up report by the IPCC released in April 2007 warned that global warming could lead to large-scale food and water shortages and have catastrophic effects on wildlife.

• Sea level could rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 to 59 centimeters) by century's end, the IPCC's February 2007 report projects. Rises of just 4 inches (10 centimeters) could flood many South Seas islands and swamp large parts of Southeast Asia.

• Some hundred million people live within 3 feet (1 meter) of mean sea level, and much of the world's population is concentrated in vulnerable coastal cities. In the U.S., Louisiana and Florida are especially at risk.

• Glaciers around the world could melt, causing sea levels to rise while creating water shortages in regions dependent on runoff for fresh water.

• The ocean's circulation system, known as the ocean conveyor belt, could be permanently altered, causing a mini-ice age in Western Europe and other rapid changes.

• Strong hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, and other natural disasters may become commonplace in many parts of the world. The growth of deserts may also cause food shortages in many places.

• At some point in the future, warming could become uncontrollable by creating a so-called positive feedback effect. Rising temperatures could release additional greenhouse gases by unlocking methane in permafrost and undersea deposits, freeing carbon trapped in sea ice, and causing increased evaporation of water.

• More than a million species face extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems, and acidifying oceans.

What can I do ?

1. Put a brick in a plastic bag into your toilet cistern, then the toilet will use less water each time you flush. Don't worry that's plenty of water to get rid of...

2. Use paper on both sides.Try and buy products that don't use much packaging.

3. Give unwanted gifts and clothes to a charity shop.

4. Only fill the kettle up with the amount of water you need to boil that time.

5. Don't leave the TV or video on standby.

6. If you get lift to school in a car, take your mates along for the ride.

7. Ask whoever does your washing to use the machine at 40 degrees, this helps conserve power.

8. Switch lights off when you're not in the room.

9. Get a clockwork mobile phone recharger.

10. Cycle to places!

11. Persuade you mum or dad (or whoever does the gardening) to have a compost heap.

12. Have showers instead of baths.

13. There are ways you can help cut greenhouse gases and help stop global warming.

14. They are simple things, but can make a difference if everyone does them!

15. Re-cycle glass bottles, jars, newspapers and magazines and tin cans. Save them and take
them to local re-cycling centres.

Links for more understanding of Global Warming.

1. National Geographic Global Warming Interactive
2. Wikipedia
3. ClimateHotMap
4. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
   

These are just some of the links, there are a million of them available on the internet.


Think you know-it-all?

Global Warming Quiz

Global warming is a complex issue that involves many different environmental factors. Think you know the ins and outs of global climate change? Take the quiz to know where you stand!

Sporting Icons - A totally different view!

The images were unveiled on Wednesday to celebrate Disney Parks' "Year of a Million Dreams."



Roger Federer as King Arthur!

He's already the king of Tennis!

The image is one of three unveiled today to celebrate Disney Parks’ “Year of a Million Dreams.” Disneyland Resort in California and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida commissioned Leibovitz to create images featuring international celebrities in fairy tale settings.

Federer is currently ranked World No. 1 since February 2, 2004 for a record 196 consecutive weeks.

Apart from Federer, there were a few more, which included England Star David Beckham!
He's portrayed as Prince Phillip from "Sleeping Beauty". Annie Leibovitz described David Beckham as 'a very determined actor'.



Apart from Sports, there were certain Hollywood actors.

There was Rachel Weisz, as Snow White.



Scarlett Johansson was Cinderella.


Beyonce as Alice in Wonderland.


and last, but not the least...

Jule Andrews as the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio with her apprentice fairy, portrayed by "Little Miss Sunshine" actress Abigail Breslin.