Cool sayings...
1. If you're too open-minded, your brains will fall out.
2. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
3. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.
4. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
5. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.
6. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.
7. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.
8. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.
9. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.
10. Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.
11. There is always one more idiot than you counted on.
12. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake
when you make it again.
13. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.
Shortest Love Story
He asked "will you marry me?
She replied "NO"
He lived happily ever after.
Fans too harsh on their heroes - From The Hindu
Adapted from "The Greg Chappell Column" of The Hindu --
It has been a fascinating few days in India. The passion for the game in the country is truly amazing. Everywhere I have gone, I have only answered questions on Indian cricket or about Indian cricketers: What's wrong with Sachin Tendulkar's elbow? Will he be able to regain his best form? Is there any hope for Sourav Ganguly? And so on.
I must say that cricket fans in India are too harsh on their champions. Most players are at their peak for four or five years. Sachin has been the best player in world for over 15 years now. After failing with the bat in Kochi, Sachin contributed with the ball in a big way towards India's handsome win. Yet, he finds himself under constant scrutiny. It's sad really because Sachin is a rare talent.
There has always been an extra-ordinary pressure on him to succeed. To overcome such social pressures and keep your mental focus is incredible. I don't think anyone, even the late Don Bradman, would have been under so much pressure in his time.
Their second victory on the trot at Visakhapatnam will definitely ease the pressure on the India team, for they are now 2-0 up in the six-match series and know that they only have to win two of the remaining four to lift the trophy. They can now relax a bit and settle down to play their natural game.
It will be certainly less pressure on skipper Sourav Ganguly, who is going through a lean patch. Anyone who has played international cricket for any reasonable length of time is bound to have experienced such a trough. He is too good a player to let his poor form persist for too long. Right now the public opinion is against him, but I wouldn't worry too much about that, for public opinion can be very fickle. Sourav is the winningest captain India has ever had and needs more support to get things right.
Only human
Fans often forget that the stars and their heroes are also human beings. That they can also make mistakes like you and I do, every day. It is not being easy to be under the spotlight all the time.
I always felt that Australian fans are very demanding and the English press used to be very harsh on their players, but now, having watched Indian fans' reaction to the `failures' of their icons, I can safely say that the pressure on Indian cricketers is the most. It is not a happy situation for the players because extreme pressure often leads to shortening of careers. Only those who are mentally tough survive.
I only hope that Indian fans were a little more forgiving and celebrate wonderful talents like Sourav, Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman and Kumble rather than vilify them for their short-comings. It will not only help the current lot to perform better, but also help newer talents to emerge.
Coming back to the second ODI, it is almost impossible to chase a target like 356. Scoring seven runs per over batting first is one thing, but maintaining that run-rate while chasing a target like that is quite another. Pakistan made a brave effort, but it was a lost cause really.
Now Inzy has to inspire his boys to bounce back in the one-day series just they had done in the Tests. Pakistan will find it harder this time because the come-back window is ever so small in the ODIs than in the Tests. I suspect that their effort in the Bangalore Test drained them so much mentally and physically that repeating the show in ODIs will be a tough ask.
CafeCricket
Rajni's Geometry
Rajni's Geometry
April Fools Day - Origin
Unlike most of the other nonfoolish holidays, the history of April Fool's Day, sometimes called All Fool's Day, is not totally clear. There really wasn't a "first April Fool's Day" that can be pinpointed on the calendar. Some believe it sort of evolved simultaneously in several cultures at the same time, from celebrations involving the first day of spring.
The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. Prior to that year, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved to January 1.
However, communications being what they were in the days when news traveled by foot, many people did not receive the news for several years. Others, the more obstinate crowd, refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the new year on April 1. These backward folk were labeled as "fools" by the general populace. They were subject to some ridicule, and were often sent on "fools errands" or were made the butt of other practical jokes.
This harassment evolved, over time, into a tradition of prank-playing on the first day of April. The tradition eventually spread to England and Scotland in the eighteenth century. It was later introduced to the American colonies of both the English and French. April Fool's Day thus developed into an international fun fest, so to speak, with different nationalities specializing in their own brand of humor at the expense of their friends and families.
In Scotland, for example, April Fool's Day is actually celebrated for two days. The second day is devoted to pranks involving the posterior region of the body. It is called Taily Day. The origin of the "kick me" sign can be traced to this observance.
Mexico's counterpart of April Fool's Day is actually observed on December 28. Originally, the day was a sad remembrance of the slaughter of the innocent children by King Herod. It eventually evolved into a lighter commemoration involving pranks and trickery.
Pranks performed on April Fool's Day range from the simple, (such as saying, "Your shoe's untied!), to the elaborate. Setting a roommate's alarm clock back an hour is a common gag. Whatever the prank, the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, "April Fool!"
Practical jokes are a common practice on April Fool's Day. Sometimes, elaborate practical jokes are played on friends or relatives that last the entire day. The news media even gets involved. For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fool's Day was a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers" and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees.
April Fool's Day is a "for-fun-only" observance. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other" out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It's simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant, for he may be the next April Fool!
You Know What They Say About Fools...
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. -- 1 Cor 1:27
However big the fool, there is always a bigger fool to admire him. -- Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux
[Politicians] never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge. -- Thomas Reed
He who lives without folly isn't so wise as he thinks. -- François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly, is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer
Sometimes one likes foolish people for their folly, better than wise people for their wisdom. -- Elizabeth Gaskell
Looking foolish does the spirit good. -- John Updike
Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed. -- Mark Twain
A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees. -- William Blake
A fool must now and then be right by chance. -- Cowper
It is better to be a fool than to be dead. -- Stevenson
The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year. -- Mark Twain
