Watching The Sound of Music With Family!

Boys!!! (Watching The Sound of Music With Family)


When I envisaged family life – one of the dreams that was often included was to spend lazy Sunday afternoons in front of the TV watching old classics. Prominent among those was The Sound of Music. So recently when I realized the kids haven’t watched the old favorite yet, I got hold of the movie to make it a perfect afternoon.

However it didn’t go as I planned. First thing was I didn’t realize I was talking to a family thriving on Al Pacino, Bruce Lee, Kung Fu Panda, Hindi movies like Golmaal, Dabagg, etc – that is, paced entertainers or lots of blood, gore and movement. The movie started off with some awesome visuals of the Austrian Alps and then Maria singing in the mountains “The Hills are Alive With the Sound of Music”. Then the scene shifted to the abbey with the nuns singing “How do you solve a problem like Maria”.

“You mean it is a musical DRAMA?” – my dear Hubby asks?

“Don’t tell me you too haven’t watched this glorious movie? “

“Oh – now I realize why” – he says as he parodies the Mother Abbess’s high pitched contralto.

The youngsters thus encouraged started whining to play the 11th rerun of Golmaal – a mindless Hindi blockbuster or Ironman or Kungfu Panda.

I wouldn’t have any of it. “Listen, this is a MUST watch movie.”

It was just then that the Mother Abbess tells Maria that it is only in the Abbey that one cannot sing (after Maria confesses she has been singing in the hills) – there is no rule against singing in the hills. The elder son promptly points out – “only Maria is not permitted to sing in the abbey?” After all the nuns had just stopped singing “How do you solve a problem like Maria?”

I knew it was going to be a long afternoon.

Finally only my elder son and I were left watching the film. The poor kid watched the movie only after extracting numerous promises from me – which included pizza for dinner, etc, etc. The movie was 2 hrs 54 mins – and I was kept reminding of the duration every other minute.

I realized (as I keep doing daily) that they were just being BOYS!

How Much Money Does Mahendra Singh Dhoni Earn In an Hour?

As the India vs SA series goes on - here is an interesting bit of statistics on MS Dhoni.

According to Forbes - MS Dhoni is the highest earning cricketer - even higher than Sachin Tendulkar. The news states Dhoni's earnings as $10 million a year!

Taking his annual income as $10 million - wouldn't you like to know how much Dhoni makes in an hour?

Take a look at this link to find Dhoni's income in an hour!

How Much Money Does Mahendra Singh Dhoni Earn?

It is actually something over $5000! Not bad for the boy from Jharkhand!

Springboks Need Goats!

India Vs South Africa - 3rd Test Preview 2011

With India's historic win at Durban - the final contest moves to Cape Town.

England and Australia might say that the Ashes is the contest of the season - but real cricket fans know better. After all the World No. 1 team is touring to the World No. 2! Everyone knows that when you travel - your Test Cricket ranking doesn't really matter. Except the West Indies of the early eighties and the Australian team of the nineties - every cricket team has been a poor traveller. So the contest at South Africa is all about who is really the Best Cricketing Test team in the world.

After the first innings debacle at Centurion - India scored 459 runs in the second innings. That innings showed the merit of the side. There was no folding over - after a humiliating first innings batting performance. However South Africa had done enough in the first innings to win by an innings and 25 runs

See India vs South Africa 1st Test Centurion Scorecard - 16 - 20 Dec 2010
http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-india-2010/engine/current/match/463146.html

The second test saw an ebullient South Africa at Durban with a grassy pitch in overcast condition. Indians hate the grass - right? It reminded me of the reaction of the Australians after they won at Sydney and before the Perth Test in early 2008. Perth was considered to be among the fastest and Indians were supposed to have lost even before the Test began. At Durban India's 66 in 1996 was always on the top of everyone's mind. To complicate the situation - Dhoni lost the toss (again!). However as the Test progressed - it was the South African team which found the pitch more to their disliking! India's own Very Very Special man again stood up in a tense situation to deliver.

All this makes the Durban win a really special one for the team. A team that is fast getting used to its No. 1 status.

Now the contest moves to Cape Town. The talk is no more of grass - but of runs. The one who fumbles and doesnt score will likely stumble. A good partnership and a heavy first innings score will likely get a win. For India the Openers have to score runs. Dravid, Sehwag, Gambhir need to make a mark. Ishant needs discipline, Harbhajan needs consistency, Shreesanth needs to continue his aggression without overdoing it and Zaheer needs to keep fit. However all these are small niggles which every team faces.

The battle of the mind has been won. The Springboks have had to bring on the goats.