The trouble with Orange juice is- that it can go bad quite quickly. Also, its a tempestuous thing, delightful when fresh and proper; poisonous when not.
The Dutch soccer team, sadly, followed my prediction... and mind you, I almost wanted to be proved wrong. They flattered to deceive, and they flattered oh so well!
One always wondered how they would react when put behind- Nistelrooy's 85th minute equalizer had me believing that this time things would turn out different, that the Dutch claim to European glory ( twenty years after) was made of sterner stuff.
But, the Russians seemed to want it a lot more, and seemed to be fueled by that urge to rise from footballing anonymity. Ashravin embodied that desire, to perform at the big stage and earn his due place at a Barcelona or a Real Madrid...
A lot of things surprised me about the Dutch, in a good way- Nistelrooy became less of a ball-hogging, wasteful striker and more of a wandering-in-the-deep move-maker. For a stretch against the French, Robben and van Persie truly were mesmerising Flying Dutchmen (of course, only for a brief stretch).
But the man who was my hero, as much of a trier as van der Vaart, but with greater talent, was Wesley Sneijder. I confess that I haven't tracked his career, despite the fact that he is now at Real Madrid. Yet his rasping shots and relentless runs, even when the rest of the Dutch team looked dead and beaten, were inspiring.
I hope now that Spain wins this tournament- at least one team should get what it deserves for being talented and playing the beautiful game.
"I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people."
" There are times when I look at people and I see nothing worth liking. I want to earn enough money that I can get away from everyone."
"I see the worst in people. I don't need to look past seeing them to get all I need. I've built my hatreds up over the years, little by little"
All I have's this journal that I write
Sketches of a 20-something life...
I just finished Y- The Last Man; 60 issues at a stretch. It is, as expected after enthusiastic recommendations, quite brilliant. A sensational premise kicks it off, and the plot keeps getting better and better- it is almost exhaustive, in its scope and effort to tackle issues, sub-plots et al. Particularly attention-grabbing, in those moments when the story drags a tiny bit, is its recourse to panels detailing HLA, again a justifiable consequence of the premise.
After all, well begun is only half-done and a lot of story-lines, brilliantly begun, tend to lose their way. Prison Break, the TV series, for me, would have been brilliant if it had ended at Season 1 - but thats not how the TV industry works.
But, in Y, the twists keep coming, the body-count keeps piling up and everybody keeps fucking around- how can any guy stop reading? Which makes me wonder how the graphic novel fared with its female audience...
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The Euros are on, and once more, I prepare to get my heart wrenched, as a staunch supporter of Dutch football. Very early in life, I had made a few choices, and have stuck to them: for I had sworn my allegiance to Becker and Graf in tennis, to India (and Tendulkar) in Cricket and Holland in football. These choices may have been so, in opposition to my Brother's selection of Edberg, Azhar and Brazil; or my childlike response to a young Becker, a very young Sachin and the Oranje 1988 European Champion trio of Gullit, Rijkaard and van Basten.
Ever since, its been an arduous journey, what with some brilliant players turning out in Dutch colours (Bergkamp, Staam etc), playing attacking, attractive football- only to bow out in various semi-finals by missing penalty-kicks.
I would not wish to make any predictions this year, for the present Dutch team has a lot of promise, but no real venom ( I absolutely detest the over-rated Ruud van- ah! Bergkamp!); however, their demolition of Italy makes me want to believe again. If nothing, it atleast opens up the tournament, and the Group of Death even more...
As for the English team- the whole lot of pompous under-achievers- I guess they are happy making headlines with their splashy weddings and beach frolicking; one hopes they qualify for the WC atleast...
This summer ought to be a character-building exercise. I am in Mithapur, which is in Gujarat- just about a km from the sea. The nearest 'city' is Jamnagar; all of which indicates a dreary existence. The sun is relentless, the surprisingly cool and strong winds are the only saving grace.
Having just returned from Switzerland, from the St. Gallen symposium, it makes for a stark contrast.
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I have been reading a lot of Batman these days, in anticipation of 'The Dark Knight'. So, I am working my way through this list.
Read 'The Long Halloween' and 'Hush'- couldn't help but notice the similarities, with Jeph Loeb writing both. The brooding gets to you after a while; Batman appears to be quite self-centred. The Joker is relentlessly berserk- though, for a physically 'frail' (atleast in comparison to Batman) and essentially, a lone operative, he is too successful with his 'dastardly plans'.
May they give Heath Ledger an Oscar for his role, or a nomination!
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Just finished 'An Equal Music' by Vikram Seth: quite depressing actually, like the London weather (apparently). There's a lot of music and music-related discussion, anguish and unrequited love.
The book needs some sunshine and laughter.
