Foto Tag

No one has tagged me so far! So am gonna surutify a tag from one of my fellow bloggers
This one was interesting. The Flickr photo tag!

Here goes the rules

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into FlickrSearch.
2. Using only the first page, pick an image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.



1. What is your first name?
Ram Mohan

2. What is your favorite food? Right now?
Idly

3. What high school did you go to?
Montford Matric

4. What is your favorite color?
Black

5. Who is/was your celebrity crush?
Simran ;)

6. Favorite drink?
coffee

7. Dream vacation?
Australia

8. Favorite dessert?
Basundhi :P

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A media personality 8)

10. What do you love most in life?
Family

11. One Word to describe you.
Nallavan :D

12. Your flickr name.
Sankris Ram

Btw, I found a definition for Basundhi - Sweet fig in cardamom milk 8)

Photo Credits:


1. Ram Mohan Roy, 2. Idly_sambar_vada, 3. Rochester Cathedral HDR x5, 4. Solitude : Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self., 5. Simran, 6. Cookie splash! v6, 7. 'So what are you doing this Australia Day ?' Eyre Peninsula South Australia, 8. Sweet figs in cardamom milk!, 9. ABC coverage, 10. The Finger Family, 11. Nee Nallavanukku Nallavan, 12. Winter Ram

Time to fantasize

The IPL II comes to an exciting end today. It being a Sunday of underdogs in South Africa, with two retired war horses in Gilly and Jumbo leading their pack to the finals. No one would have expected them to pull this off given they were the wooden spoon holders last time around finishing 8^th and 7^th respectively.

One of the best things about this season’s IPL has been the Fantasy cricket, I have been playing throughout. It was really exciting to take a manager/captain’s role and pick the best 11 for your fantasy team.

So as a finishing touch, here is my hand-picked fantasy team with the best in this season so far.

[caption id="attachment_316" align="aligncenter" width="382" caption="Ram's 11 - My Fantasy team"][/caption]

Icon player [1]

It was a tough choice. Other contenders were Sachin and Dravid, but Yuvi has been good in parts with both bat and the ball, if not consistent. He has scored 346 runs and picked 6 wickets including double whammy of hat-tricks. His bowling and powerful hitting made him edge over Sachin. Dravid has been sort of in and out of the team, so he had an unsettled look. Sorry Viru, VVS and Saurav, better luck next time. But one small change, the icon player doesn't get to be my captain.

Foreign players [4]

Orange capped Haydos and his good old team mate Gilly were automatic choices. Mr. Priest, the walker gets to be my captain for his ability to lead from the front. Bowling slot was sweeped by Malinga given his consistent performance thru out the series. I couldn’t make a quick decision reg the 4^th slot. Should it be a bowler or a batsman? If a batsman then, ABD or Dilshan or Duminy. Else Nannes / Abdulla / Murali. I would love to have Abdulla in my team. This guy was amazing picking 14 wickets in 9 matches. He was unlucky to have Lee back in the side and he automatically fell out of favour. But inorder to maintain a balance, I have to go with a batsmen. And it’s the first centurion of this season ABD.

Indian under-22 [2]

Blore’s Kohli, Chennai’s Tyagi, Deccan’s Rohit n Suman, Delhi’s Sangwan, Punjab’s Sohal n Chawla, Kolkata’s Ishant, Mumbai’s Abishek, Rajasthan’s Kamran Khan n Jadeja have been really impressive and outstanding. I was really happy to see these kids perform well in the big stage, after all, IPL is all about identifying new talents like these. Now coming back to my pick, Rohit Sharma goes straight through. He has even been named the ‘Citi under-23 success of the tournament’. He rightfully deserves it. 2^nd slot was a tough fight between Ishant, Sangwan and Chawla. Sangwan gets picked for his wicket taking ability (He is 8^th in the top 10 wicket takers of this tourney) He bowls good left-arm medium-pace like his idol Wasim Akram.

Indian over-22 [4]

Purple cap holder RP Singh, the underdog and revelation of this season Ashish Nehra (I never expected him to be this successful) and namma Chennai’s very own super king Raina pick themselves up. The only remaining slot had the Pathan brothers from Baroda in a tussle. But, Yusuf lost it to his younger brother Irfan for his exceptional all-round abilities picking 17 wickets at an avg of 22.94 and scoring 196 runs @ a strike rate of 124.05.

All said and done, if there were no restrictions like Icon/Under-22/4 Foreigners etc., then the one below would have been my dream team.. Looks sexy na :)

[caption id="attachment_321" align="aligncenter" width="260" caption="My dream team"][/caption]

Let the games begin

I've lost track of days.. I don realise time flying by around me.. Days go on faster than nights.. I know wt u r thinking rite nw. No no! am not in love, but the Cricket carnival is back with a louder BANG!!

As sad as I am that it isn't played in India this time, am as happy tht it gets to be played at all. SA - the land of Goldmines, natural beauty, wildlife n all the action - gets to set the stage this time around. Hoping to have a cracker of a season. My favorites, namma Chennai Super Kings look better this time around with Haydos available for the whole tourney, the Million dollar baby Andrew, the captain himself on a roll after successfully touring with the Indian team around the world.

The 2008 finalists Super Kings n Raj Royals might start as favourites but I will hold the cards close to my chest. Look out for the Daredevils, MI and a rejuvenated Chargers and Knight Riders. I can't place the Royal Challengers anywhr. But somehw I feel Raj Royals n Punjab r gonna b a let down.
We r already a few days into it.. n there ve been few positives n negatives picked so far

+

• The carnival, big party and the opening ceremony


• English in IPL this time.. we ll get to see wt the kevins and Andrews get to do.


• No more Indians-led-pack. Last time it was all abt Indian war horses, young n old, leading the teams (with the exception of Warny). But this time common sense seems to prevail, with proper captains leading the pack (tho am nt sure if McCullum is better than Dada)


• All the Bollywood glam dolls being part of the franchises. Last time it was only Preity, this time we ve Shilpa, Juhi n Katrina joining her.


• N of course all those Cheer leaders. They really keep the game going :)

-

• ARUN LAL - no offense meant. but its getting really tired to hear him day in n day out during each break.


• One suggestion: Pack Arunlal off to Africa (so that we get to c him very less) n bring Mandira back on studios. I really miss the deadly combo of Charu n Mandira. Not that Mandira is anywhr near 'hot n happening', she looks overdone n old. But anyday she is better than few mokkai mannars. Not to mention the first day when I was really pissed off watching 2 Lal's (Arun n Lal chand rajput) discussing the 1st day's game.. I was like wt the hell!! the perfect way not to start the big games. Btw, all these with due respect to his contribution to cricket. It wud ve been better if he had only stopped thr.


• Big things come with controversies. All those things abt multi-captaincy, Pak players being withdrawn, few aussie players pulling out. Many turned out to be dampeners.


• The strategic time breaks, introduced to reduce the time taken for an innings, as the big-heads feel that more time is wasted to discuss strategies during a match. Tho i feel, this has not helped much, only benefit being to the organizers who ve found more time to sneak in their ads.


• CSK has started on a losing note. They ve lost 2 of thr 3 games!! :( Tho they had fought well, its really sore to be on the losing side. Hoping for brighter days ahead. So Goooo on CSK.. We r always behind u :)

And don miss my fellow IPL blogger Mr. Fake IPL Player, he deftly seems to pack a punch ;)

News and Views

City auto drivers to get lessons in spoken English

This is to showcase Chennai as as tourist-friendly city.

Do they fail to realise what is making autos non-user friendly. First we gotto give them lessons on proper usage of the meter and how to be fair in charging the customers. Even I have been a victim more than once, I was charged Rs.120 for a travel to Teacher's colony in Kolathur (thts less than 7 kms from Perambur). The biggest kodumai is that, they are not even ashamed to demand such illegal (yes, its illegal) prices.
But another news seem to suggest that 43,000 cases have been booked against autos in last 3 months! Really!?!?? o_O

Smoking by mother is the biggest baby killer

Maternal smoking has replaced sleeping on stomach as the biggest factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

This may not be that applicable to Indian moms.. but there shud be an awareness about passive smoking. Smoking alone doesn't kill, even being in the company of a smoker, kills. So all moms out there, stay away from ur 'smoking' hubbies.
I just wanna abolish the cigarattes from this world once n for all. Jus like that .. with the press of a 'Shift+Del' :(

Jaya may get into high-flyers club

AIADMK supremo JJ is reportedly planning to take to the skies on chartered aircraft for campaigns.

Ya.. recession has hit the nation hard. But i suppose it has not for this Re 1 salaried ex-CM of TN. Omg! Me and my big mouth!

Eating choc helps improving maths skills

Now some interesting news. People were found to be doing calculations more quickly and more accurately after they had been given a chocolate drink.

It would have been better had I known this during my school/college days. But, I needn't worry, as a wiproite we never run out of tests and assessments.
But that said, i wonder that if all these were true.. I should 've already been a mini Ramanujam :D

Genetic superkid, 3, moves furniture

This is a superboy who can move furniture at the age of 3.

No he isn't been bitten by a genetically modified spider. This  Michigan kid likely has a condition called myostatin-realted muscle hypertrophy, which means his body has very little fat and enlarged muscle fibres.
So, do we have a real-super hero after all these years!? :)

Made in India, to be sold in South Africa

IPL in SA could take the game to a new level. When SA was playing Aus in the T20 game recently, there were a lot of Indian flags flying around and messages welcoming IPL home.  Its quite evident that SA is getting ready to welcome this unique Indian innovation to their shore.

Ya.. who would  say NO to the Big Money Making Machine. The only few disappointed would be those fans who would have loved to watch these matches live in their home towns. But, its always better that its being played somewhere than not being played at all.

Courtesy: TOI for the news

Aham Brahmasmi

Well.. atlast Bala's most awaited work is out! And I should thank my cousin for getting a ticket at Sathyam in the opening weekend.

An off-beat (yet again), different and a moving work by Bala. I felt that it needs user discretion, as a few scenes though not very explicit, were quite disturbing. By the way, I liked it. I always like people who dare to think different. With Kollywood rolling out so many crappy movies in recent times, this one for sure stands tall.

It had Bala's trademark style written all over it and all the way through. His usual mix of timely comedy and drama were present. I was really surprised that this movie could have had so many lighter moments.

The dark realities of our lives, which we have never bothered to know until now, have been pictured realistically by Bala. The life among 'Agori' Sadhus, the troubled life of blind beggars controlled by the mafia and the lives of mentally-challenged people have been narrated in a way that is new to Tamil cinema.

I have to make a special mention of few outstanding performances. You might be a little shocked to know that Arya's performance was a little over shadowed by the leading lady. Pooja has done herself some good by accepting this role. Surely this movie will be a turning point for both the lead pair.  One of those bold beggar kids with his timely comedy gave us a good laugh more than once. The cast was almost perfect.

Maestro's songs were not really that memorable except a couple. But in general the background score was neat and was really helpful in letting the story flow smoothly. I happen to hear that all those specially-abled people in this movie were actually so and were trained to act in this movie. The only misfit character was probably Arya's dad. He could hardly emote!

Technically rich visuals, splendid re-recording apart from top-notch performances by the artistes makes 'Naan Kadavul' a very memorable one.

All said and done, I bet this movie will not be a darling of the masses, but if you want to watch something that's worth your money, then this might be the best bet.

P.S. Also we got a chance to meet Gautham Menon and Vishal at the movie hall!