Some Journeys and Meetings

Been a while since I sat down to write something. Continuing from last time as I had predicted Alberto Contador won the Giro by a whopping margin of over 6 minutes from his nearest challenger. However he maybe stripped of the crown by Court of Arbitration of Sports for a miniscule amount of Clenbuterol found in his blood during last year's Tour de France. His case is not going to be resolved before the Tour and we may end up with a situation that he maybe stripped of 3 grand tour wins. 

Quizzing meanwhile has been in full flow in Calcutta with everyone doing quizzes right left and centre. The grand old man did his usual quiz which was a total disaster. The reviewers had a field day ripping apart the quiz as it had so many mistakes that it makes Christina Aguilera's performance at the Superbowl seem well coordinated. The old man has lost it or his cronies are giving him questions which he hasn't checked.

Went for 2 quizzes in the gateway to the northeast. Met some very nice people and ended up winning a good amount of cash with the doc. Now my focus shifts to the most famous cycle race of all- 'Tour de France'. I will try to write a pre-race analysis of favourites and stages to watch out for. Till then sayanora all.

Maglia Rosa and other snippets

This month has been spent mostly watching the Giro d'Italia. For people who are confused its one of the grand tours of cycling with Tour de France and Vuelta Espagna. In my opinion Tour de France is the least enjoyable of the 3 as the riders are very defensive. The title of the post is derived from the pink jersey given to the general classification leader of the Giro.
This Giro was one of the most mountainous with huge climbs like the legendary Monte Zoncolan (Google it and you will see). Eventually it has become about one man 'El Pistolero' Alberto Contador. Arguably the greatest grand tour racer after Eddy Mercx (though I feel Mercx wouldn't have won so many now). Contador really nailed his opponents by attacking on a relatively flat stage with a climb near the finish to come 2nd and then decimated the opposition in the Mountain stages at Mount Etna and Grossglockner where he gifted the stage to the rider who could stay with him till the end. At Monte Zoncolan he came 3rd but ahead of all his serious rivals. Then he put an exclaimation point by winning the mountain time trial by 34 seconds. The rest of the top 10 were withing 16 seconds of each other. He is 5 minutes ahead of his nearest rival and I think the race is over. There are 4 stages still left and it would actually take an act of god for him to lose. 

On the personal front the discussion about the various quizzer friends of mine is being continued where I am going to introduce a few new characters. Firstly the Cold Warrior who is a new addition from the suburban circuit but is an immensly enjoyable individual who was trying to sit in a quiz from a hospital ICU bed. Then there is the indomitable duo of Muffler and Silencer who are amazing as they have recorded the questions of nearly all the quizzes of last 5 years and wonderful people to know. There is the Smoking team who are made up of the engrossed one, the friend of Shaggy, the lord of kailash and the imdb featured one. All the characters turned up at a recent quiz done by the ancient mariner. The quiz was more fun with certain glamourous models coming to cheer for a team. The quiz will be featured in Fox History. Watch this space for further info. Gotta go now. Take care and arrividerci to all. 

Return of The Prodigal

Life was very difficult for last few years with the final conclusion of the disaster which was my marriage in a divorce. Getting back to Calcutta was also a happening which from a career point view did not look very promising but surprisingly has been very fruitful in all ways. The main joy I have is to be back amongst my friends the quizzers and quizzing fraternity. The taxman, the ancient mariner and the doc being the most prominent amongst them. The hairless hessian controller has not been quizzing too much. Some new friends made like the respectable wise one whom I will rename as 100-Nose and the ever enthusiatic DD-Dinda. Some new discoveries like the football-fanatic. Now there has been a new circuit of Calcutta which is the suburban circuit. Got to sign off now. But the tales will continue.Ciao.

The IPL and etc

The IPL-2 is back, however this year being away from the shores of our country to faraway South Africa. The best thing to happen to ipl this year is the new blogger who claims to be a player in the Kolkata Knight Riders and has given a live insight in to daily and nocturnal habits of the players and others. It is not very difficult to guess the various individuals considering their nicknames. The writer is absolutely brilliant and his wry Bong sense of humour makes for great reading unless of course you are being referred to in the blog.

Going into the cricket its more hype and performances have been generally mediocre. The IPL being a showcase for new Indian talent is being slowly lost in the mad rush to earn as much moolah as possible. The old guard are the ones really shining: Sachin, Dravid, Gilly, Warnie, Matty Hayden, Kumble etc have done greatly. Amongst the newer players only a few have impressed: Kamran Khan and Yusuf Abdullah being the most notable. RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha have impressed amongst the established new brigade.

The action and the innovation that was the first IPL is no longer evident. Maybe if it came back to India the things would improve.
As far as my own life I am languishing in the national capital. I have few means of solace: My book, my booze and my conversations with Nigel Harris(NH) and Adrian Hardwick Jones (AHJ). Cheers.