Get around the blog ban and the company firewall!!
Blog
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Sad News
1. A friend and a great guy is in hospital due to an accident. While I pray for him, I also swear that I will never make the same mistake. Hope he gets well soon.
2. R.I.P. Syd Barrett, the man who gave us The Wall, founder of Pink Floyd is no more. He passed away on July 7th. Shine on you crazy diamond. Here is an interesting and touching anecdote from his life (source: Wikipedia).
Syd Barrett had one noted reunion with Pink Floyd, in 1975 during the recording sessions for Wish You Were Here. Barrett attended the Abbey Road session unannounced and watched the band record Shine On You Crazy Diamond — coincidentally, a song about him. At that time, Syd had gained a lot of weight and had shaved off all of his hair, including his eyebrows, and his ex-bandmates did not at first recognize him (one of the photographs in Nick Mason’s book Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd appears to have been taken that day; it is captioned simply: Syd Barrett, 5th June 1975). Eventually, they realized who he was and Roger Waters was so distressed that he was reduced to tears. A reference to this reunion appears in the film Pink Floyd The Wall (1982), where the character ‘Pink,’ played by Bob Geldof, shaves off his eyebrows after succumbing to the pressures of life and fame.
In an interview for VH1’s Behind The Music, Rick Wright spoke about the session, saying: “One thing that really stands out in my mind, that I’ll never forget; I was going in to the Shine On sessions. I went in the studio and I saw this guy sitting at the back of the studio, he was only as far away as you are from me. And I didn’t recognize him. I said, ‘Who’s that guy behind you?’ ‘That’s Syd.’ And I just cracked up, I couldn’t believe it… he had shaven all his hair off… I mean, his eyebrows, everything… he was jumping up and down brushing his teeth, it was awful. And, uh, I was in, I mean Roger was in tears, I think I was; we were both in tears. It was very shocking… seven years of no contact and then to walk in while we’re actually doing that particular track. I don’t know – coincidence, karma, fate, who knows? But it was very, very, very powerful.” In another interview, Nick Mason has said: “When I think about it, I can still see his eyes, but… it was everything else that was different.” In yet another interview, Roger Waters has said: “I had no idea who he was for a very long time.”
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Start saying your prayers!!
F1 chief Max Mosley has announced that from 2008 onwards, now hold your breath, Microsoft (yeah, you read it right, Microsoft) will be the official supplier of engine control units.
Now that takes the word “crashing” to a whole new level. Doesn’t it!!
Also, going by Microsoft’s record the 2008 season may well begin in 2009 if all goes well following the Vista way!!
And don’t even get me started on BSOD 🙂
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To do what is Right!!
I am a member of and support:
I feel proud of myself.
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Tour-de-Farce!!
The ~3700 km long Tour-de-France, the true endurance testing event according to yours truly, has always survived the doping allegations bound to hit it due to the limits to which the human body is pushed during the event. But it seems that this year may be the beginning of the end for the great event.
The Tour, already battling for attention after the retirement of Lance Armstrong, the ensuing doping scandal, the Fifa World Cup 2006 and the Wimbledon, has been hit hard by yet another doping scandal of such a massive scale that none of the top 5 riders of the 2005 edition are a part of this years line up.
The doping scandal has forced Ivan Basso (2nd, 2005), Jan Ullrich (champion 1997, five times runner up, 3rd in 2005) and Francis Mancebo (4th, 2005) out of the race. Alexandre Vinokuorov, the unluckiest of them all, was forced to withdraw when the eligible riders on his Astana-Würth Team fell below the minimum of six (5 of the 9 riders of the team were suspects in the doping scandal). Though none of the charges in the Operación Puerto doping case have been proved the teams (T-Mobile, CSC and Astana-Würth, amongst others) have withdrawn the implicated riders. Mancebo has announced his retirement from the sport and many more heads are expected to follow suit.
The Operación Puerto doping case has implicated close to 200 athletes of using prohibited doping practices to enhance their performance. A Spanish newspaper El País published secret details of Operación Puerto and accused Manolo Saiz (ex-manager of the erstwhile Würth) and Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes of doping practices along with several riders. Ullrich (who had earlier announced that he will retire after 2007 season) has denied all allegations and threatened to sue the newspaper, but one feels that he might have to reconsider his decision.
Sometimes I think it is best that the WC2006 and Wimbledon has kept it out of limelight and has prevented a further fall from grace!! Also comes to mind the thought (however unholy it may be) of making the race a bit easier for the normal human body so that not many are tempted to dope and not many are required to.
Meanwhile, the Tour carries on with the Norwegian Hushovd wearing the hallowed malliot jaune (the yellow jersey for the uninitiated). I sincerely do hope that the event emerges from the shadow of doping and that human spirit is the final victor.