As Tests go...

I know that I said I never watched Cricket Tests. It was true up until a month ago. But with the Australians recently touring India for the Border-Gavaskar trophy, which consists of four Tests, I seem to have taken a sudden liking to Tests. Somehow the thought that a Test equates to a battle is a charming thought. Unlike the Twenty20 or ODI formats in Cricket, a Test is played for a period of five days. That's right! Five days! Each team gets to play two innings, each attempting to better its scores, or simply keeping the other down, with every batting turn. At the end of a day of play, the teams get to assess a variety of factors:

• How did the pitch behave today? Was there enough turn on the ball? Was there enough swing for the pace bowlers?
• Who played well and who didn't? Is a player's exising injury starting to bother him and should that be taken into consideration going forward?
• How much of the weather was a factor today? How much of the weather will be a factor during the remaining days? If the weather makes a turn for the worse (maybe heavy crosswinds are predicted), will the behavior of the pitch change?
• If that particular batsman turns out to be in great form tomorrow, how should the fielding placings be to counter his favorite selection of shots?
• And so on...

So now you see why such a Cricket match is called a Test! Trust me. People call Cricket a slow, boring game. But that is because they don't understand it or don't care to. In the Border-Gavaskar trophy, there are four Tests involved. This is a series. Whichever team wins the most Tests takes the series. The series is played every few years in India. And it is always played between India and Australia. The Aussies are the number 1 ranked Test team in the world. India are in 3rd place (South Africa are in 2nd place).

So far in the 2008 series, 2 Tests have been played in this series. The first Test was drawn and India won the 2nd Test by a huge margin. The 3rd Test will be on a ground where the India team has not lost the last 7 Tests it played there. And the Aussies apparently, after their heavy defeat last week, are raring to go! Anyway, the 3rd Test begins tonight at 12 PM EST (9 AM local time) in Delhi. An additional problem the teams have to encounter at the beginning of this 3rd Test is low visibility because of smog from all the firecrackers that were used up for the recently concluded Diwali, a national festival! I am going to bed now to get a few hours of sleep because I have to be up at midnight!!

State of the Fall

I have no idea what I was trying to convey with the title of this post but who cares? Anyway, here are some photos I took this past Saturday when I was up by Crescent Lake with Russ. Even though I just snapped away, I still had the presence of mind to use a ND grad filter to underexpose the sky. Click the pictures for a larger version.


The wisps of cloud immediately caught my attention.


Note the cranberry patch in the right, foreground.


And a closeup of the cranberry patch. Tart!


A couple of the locals at Crescent lake looking for work...


Russ had some nice stonework next to his cottage.


Would you believe that this picture was taken right next to the town dump?! By the way, the dump was new...


Note the milkweed. This was a terrific, sunny meadow!


We briefly investigated a beaver dam.


A random road that led to a farm where the look of things suggested a hesitant maple syrup operation.


Another random road that I was somewhat taken with.

On Sunday (the following day), I did a nice, energetic hike up to Mt. Osceola with Kim but unfortunately my camera battery was aziz. So I couldn't take any pictures. But I can always go back...

Joe the businessman

Wait a minute! If you make $250 grand a year in personal income, does that make you a plumber or a businessman? That being said, I am still in favor of a proportional tax for everyone with functioning organs and limbs.

Goodmorning!

So did anyone get Veeepped?

Last night, when Palin said, "Hey, can I call you Joe?", I smiled. But then when she referred to a hockey game, I grimaced, "Uh-oh, here we go again".

When I think of Alaska, I think of pristine wilderness...not theatre & the arts, a complex financial services industry or annual public transportation budgets. I strongly feel that it is easy to appeal to Alaskans or those folks from northern New Hampshire with Palin's brand of energy. Yes, she has got things done from the perspective of mayoral politics. But how would Palin do as a Mayor or Governor in a "fast" state like California (where even the mighty Schwarzenegger machine has failed)? My take: she might not even have gotten elected to office anywhere outside of Alaska. You want to deal with the EU? "Darn rights" aren't going to help with the likes of a Dalia Grybauskaite.

Palin's hockey mom saga also highlights a serious issue: is it necessary to have 3 or 4 kids to demonstrate traditional family values?

I am not going to comment on Biden as, like some people, I tuned in to confirm my impression of Palin. All I will say is that Biden seemed very capable with a much better handle on "issues" than Palin. I will like Palin as long as she remains within a certain context: small town politics and the hockey field. But who knows...

Champions League 2008

The inaugural Champions League 2008 kicks off December 3 in India. 8 teams -- including the two finalists from the inaugural Indian Premier League tournament from earlier this year: Chennai Super Kings (whom I support) and Rajasthan Royals -- will compete for the prize money of $6 million. The final match will be on December 10.

A week of intense Twenty20 Cricket would be a great way for me to kick start the winter here in the US before I transition into the ski season!


Ah!

Uh-oh! Kate's migrating...

So I had an email from my friend Kate, Ms. Cuteness herself, this morning :) It reads as follows:

"hello family. hello friends. as some of you know i've been living in the new englands for the last 2 years having sent my wagon east after my dawning years on the west coast. and i've learned something about this place kept mystery to many a westerner. it's ef'n cold in the winter! so, i'm leaving for south america. and that's that.

i fly into buenos aires on the 15th of december 2008 and will return to boston to continue my mechanics at the end of march 2009, leaving from lima, peru. this will be a bicycle journey embarked upon by myself and 3 babes of urban destruction. i will be the main support for mechanical life while another is an old hat at south american exploration and a keen navigator, a rouge student with legs of fortitude, and a muscle bound rugby trick gone nurse. a planeteer like quadrant of might, thundercats of adventure, power rangers of good timery. there is also interest by others to join us in legs of the trip which is encouraged though we can not guarantee stays and equipment for guests.

we are still in the budding of routing and contacting and looking for any and all help in stays and suggestions for this trip. if you have advice or know of a kind home for us along the way, please help. especially if you know anyone who has done bicycling in these areas. i talked to an agrentina that has and she informed me that it seemed like i was routing myself through the desert in the summertime. "oh, no." i said. "it's fine." she grinned.

also, and the main point of this email, i'm looking for a subleter for my room in jamiaca plain, a boston providence of large green spaces, large cuban influence, large art and activism encouragement, and a larger gay community. quit the happening spot. my room is large and beautiful with its mostly windows and rent is around $450 plus utilities and shared food. i live with artists, film makers, teachers, farmers, social workers, activists all in a big house with a roof garden and an ornery ex new orleaners cat and oldest resident of the house named alice. if you know of anyone who would like to sublet this space from me please give them my contact as soon as possible. it would be between november through march, though i can extend this a little on the ends if need be.

ok, you little whale biscuits. thank you for everything and if not sooner i will see you on the otherside.
-kate"