IIM Bangalore's Vista 2005 is on

IIM Bangalore's Management Fest - Vista 2005 is on right now at campus. Its happening today and tomorrow. Kiran Karnik and Ravi Uppal are the key note speakers.

Hung Up!

Where have I been? Just got asked that. Well, sometimes I have to work too! :) And work this last couple of weeks been hectic; going-bald kinda hectic.

Anyways, that being said the Rain God's been overly merciful this time around. He's not stopped showering us with his love since last weekend making canals out of roads! Its been grey and depressing. Not grey and wet like London, which somehow I love compared to most people. And there, roads do exist!

Getting bugged at work made me do this. Its evolving and should be fun in the long run.

Else, just been checking out Madonna's booty in her new hit 'Hung Up'. Its pretty nice (erm, the song that is) with a constant instrumental strain of 'Gimme gimme gimme' (ABBA) throughout with a few mixes thrown in. This lady never ceases to amaze me. While she comes across very brash and arrogant, she's one of the very few who has metamorphosised over the years - giving people what they are hearing and what they want to hear. I haven't heard the whole set (it releases on Nov 15th, pre-orders are on) so I don't know how the album's gonna turn out. I just think its gonna be great!

Playlist

1. Jimmy Eat World - Work
2. Feeder - Tender/Shatter
3. Leif Karate - She's adorable
4. MoZella - Light years away
5. Prodigy - Voodoo people

Welcome to the ball game!

The new soccer/Ball-game blog is up. Let me know if anyone is interested in blogging there.

and the world passes by...

Scene last evening:

5:41pm -> I finally get out of office after waiting for the last meeting of the day that did not happen!
5:42pm -> Am wondering which route to take to go home (considering most of Bangalore is water-logged).
5:43pm -> Decide with driver's inputs that Hudson circle route is the best one. Great!
5:50pm -> Get stuck at near Corporation Building.
6:20pm -> Still stuck there.
6:30pm -> Crawled some 100 metres.
6:40pm -> Still crawling...
7:00pm -> Crawled a km towards Lal Bagh.
7:20pm -> Finally reach Lal Bagh.
7:30pm -> Avoid BTM main road and take Dairy Circle Fly-Over to take right near Forum at Tavarekere.
7:41pm ->Reach Home.


So basically - sigh!phew! $%^S&!!!

What do you do when you are stuck in a traffic jam in good old Bangy? Actually nothing. So how is it different than being stuck in a Delhi, Chennai, Calcutta, Mumbai??? You do not sweat! And for the first time in my life I have realised the value of the iRiver during these jams. I watched the odd couple (with the handy plastic bag as the headgear) try and maneuver between the cars and trucks to get ahead by that extra inch. People getting impatient to get home and ending up taking all the wrong turns to get into a jam which again makes them more impatient. So I just told the driver - please drive on the middle of the road and just keep going ahead, no lefts and rights please. Irrespective of how much fight you put, you end up taking the same time to get to any place. So why not just chill? Thats exactly what I did with Travis, Weezer and the boys crooning in my ears through my iRiver player as the rest of the world passed me by (or stood still - depending on where I was). And I thought it was of more use during long flights!!!

How to convert your videos for the iPod

Anil has this simple way to do it. I tried it and it works like a dream.

Some more pics!

water water everywhere!

The first thing that comes to my mind is the name of the band 'Wet wet wet'! Thats exactly how Bangalore's been for the last few days! Its been raining since last week (12 hours non-stop on Saturday) and it has given no hints that it might stop anytime soon! Hosur Road - the one and only road to work (Electronics City) is flooded and so are a few more important roads in Indiranagar, Domlur, Jayanagar etc.

This is what TOI reports on the non-stop rainfall:

"October is a few millimetres away from overpowering rain statistics and records. The highest-ever annual rainfall recorded in Bangalore stands at 1432 mm in 1998. Cut to now, as of Oct. 23, 2005, the rainfall has clocked 1401 mm already, as against the normal of 970 mm. There’s more — the highest ever recorded for October was 522 mm in 1956. “We are very close to these statistics right now, another spell of 50 mm rainfall and it would be a historic rainfall,” declares Met department director A L Koppar. For, October has already seen 474 mm rainfall."

The images are of Bomanahalli and the Wipro Office on Hosur Road (images courtesy TOI). The first thing I did was not to head out to EC and instead chose to work from the city (where traffic was not that bad at 8:30am).

The guide to life and maybe everything else

As usual, on the way to work this morning, my friend and I were discussing about ourselves - work, life etc. We noticed that a lot of our friends and colleagues keep chasing things and are never happy or at peace with themsleves. I've had my share of moving around and believe all work and roles in different companies are just another shade of grey. So its what you lose out in your current job when you choose another. I'm not for a moment, suggesting that everything is hunky dory and people shouldn't change jobs (I've done the same, so I should not preach). What I'm trying to suggest is that when most people switch they suddenly get enamored with a good hike and not look hard at the future role & its responsibilities. And quite soon, they get disillusioned. That I feel is a waste of effort and time. If you are lucky to be in a large company, chances are most of the roles you would like to get into would exist; question is how do you get them? Networking & a good ear & pure luck would be the answer. Corny eh? But thats just how it is. One should stop chasing future probalities and focus more on the job at hand and make it worth the effort. A lot of us forget to do this. No work is bad work (refer: FedEx ad). It all adds up in the end, somehow and somewhere, trust me.

Then we talked a while of behaviour of people in a company and how some people just get to you, some are just too superficial. That discussion led him to share with me the Holden Guide to Life. Its an extremely good piece which attempts to answer these questions. He also sent me this poem (we couldn't trace the author, so I'm reprinting this with due credit to whosoever you are):

"The name is good, the brand is big
But the work I do is that of a pig
The work or the brand, what is my way?
I dont know if I should stay.

To work, they have set their own way
Nobody will care to hear what I say
My will be NULL, they wont change their way
I dont know if I should stay.

The project is in a critical stage
But to do good work, this is the age
This dilemma is killing me day by day
I dont know if I should stay.

The money is good ,the place is great
But the development is at a very small rate
Should I go for the work, or wait for pay
I dont know if I should stay.

The managers dont know what they talk
The team doesnt know where they walk
That's a bad situation, what say?
I dont know if I should stay.

I can go to any other place
But what if I get the same disgrace
I cant keep switching day by day
I dont know if I should stay.

The -ves are more, the +ves are less
Then why have this unnecessary mess
No more will I walk their way,
Its all done, I won't stay."

Amen.

ManWoe!

Thats the closest I'd get to summing up ManUtd against Lille a couple of nights back. VK posted about what's ailing ManUtd. I agree on most of the counts - my comments are there (which is as good as a post). So lemme be lazy. You go read that up.

Yet another case of harassment!

My friend, Madhusudan has been running pillar to post for the last few days to get the insurance claim after his father had a heart attack and was then admitted to Sagar Apollo. And then, I get this from him yesterday. This is just the pits! Thievery Corporation is just a band, maybe it means more here. You decide.

----- Forwarded by Madhusudan Rajagopalan/TAS/Bangalore/ErnstYoung/IN on 10/19/2005 05:33 PM -----

Madhusudan Rajagopalan 09/27/2005 08:20 PM

To: info@icicilombard.com cc: insuranceonline@icicilombard.com Subject: complaint

Hi,
This is with respect to policy number 4034/BC/077642/00/000. I had taken a policy from 30-April-05. My dad suffered a severe heart attack last month. When I tried to avail the cash less insurance facility, the guys at TTK Bangalore said that there is no way I can claim it as cash less because the policy is new. I asked them what it meant, they said they suspect us of cheating them. I said isnt that why you have a 30 day no claim policy, they said this is over and above that for higher claims. They accused me of lying to them when my dad was in the ICU and said things like my dad would die of brain hammerioge and thinks like that. Finally since my dads state was critical, I told them that I will pay up and then claim, which they said they will consider. I took a printout of the claim form provided in the ICICI Lombard website and got it signed by the concerned doctor who treated him at Sagar Apollo, which is a reputed hospital in Bangalore. The doctor had clearly mentioned that he had no previous history of the problem and neither was it a congenital disease. 2 weeks after sending the claim form, I got a letter from TTK today saying we need documents in the form of previous consultation with the doctor at the hospital. When my dad said that this was the first time he had consulted the concerned doctor at Sagar Apollo, they accused him of lying. My dad is a heart patient and has to undergo a bypass surgery in about 2-3 weeks. accusing him of lying and suggesting that he had cheated etc puts him under much more stress than unnecessarily needed. If you cannot pay up the amount, please do say so clearly. it is your imperative to get the insured tested before giving him a policy, not ours. When you want to take the money, you dont ask questions, but when you have to part with it, you ask us a million questions. When the leading cardiologist of a reputed organization like Sagar Apollo has certified that the disease was not pre-existing, I find it extremely ammusing that the doctors at TTK healthcare go ahead and question not just my dad's but the doctors integrity. I would like to know whether TTK healthcare is a credit card company or a healthcare institution.

It is extremely painful that a company like ICICI is involved in such an incident, I have always taken travel insurance from ICICI Lombard whenever I have travelled abroad and from now I will ensure that I never take any product from ICICI Lombard. What you have done to my father is harrassment and mental injury.

Regards
Madhusudan Rajagopalan
Policy No. 4034/BC/077642/00/000

Hmmmm...

Its been hectic for the last few days but on the other hand I read some interesting posts on Prerona and Aparna. For almost everyone who blogs, its a nice release to get online and talk about things that you might not end up discussing otherwise and you also find people who think alike. So my question is...at the end of the day - geographies apart, race apart, gender apart is everyone like everyone else? Am I like you? Or are you like me? I'm not really sure but I have noticed that you will always find a shade of yours in someone else for sure and vice-versa. So while we say opposites attract, look deeper and you'll see some similarity between the two people. It just has to exist [nothing compared to the extremes of the other parameters (for the lack of a better word)].

So thats the reason the post is titled...hmmm. :)

Btw have you ever noticed that the helper who sits in the Indian trucks (on the passenger side) is always sticking his left arm out irrespective whether the truck is taking a right or a left? And yes, coming to trucks, I am offically pissed off with Bangalore traffic!!! Yesterday it took me close to 2 hours to get back home (which is a 10 km stretch). Please do the distance by time thingy and tell me what was my average speed...I think we all do faster than that on the treadmill! The first time I came to Bangalore was in 1996 for an Aiesec conference and in just 10 years its gone to the dogs; it wasn't this bad a few years back when we were in IIM Bangy. What I see happening to this city is what Calcutta went through in the late 90s. And that city has improved since then. All we hear are big promises and 'Zurich-style' airports!!! Gimme a break....give me good roads and better traffic flow. I can do without the airport trust me!!

Kolkata buses

This is the first thing I read this morning when I opened my mails. Its a complete laugh riot. Some I had heard before, but good to hear them again. Here's the same for you:

__________________________________

There were no charpokas, peepreys or haatis on the streets Wednesday before last. Except for a few mamas and mastaans, almost everybody stayed home because it was a hartal. Bouncy break-dancers and slow-moving langras also had a rest day. Near Howrah and other vantage entry points, CITU sergeants saw to it that local trains could get no further. Decibel levels fell drastically, due to the absence of the rattle of Calcutta's bone-shakers and the barking of minibus conductors. There were no cries of "Aastey ladies", "Hilakey Chalo" and "Electrikey Chalao"."

If you've lost me and you're reaching for a Calictionary, stay right where you are, you'll find it on this page. Calcuttans on the street, more than any other city, have a term or a phrase of their own for everything under its scorching sun. No city can match it for originality and spontaneity when you talk of a roadside lexicon. No other citizen in the world has the intensity, the passion and the sense of humour that the Calcuttan has. With his turn of phrase he is an Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw and Sukumar Ray rolled into one? Expressive, Explosive and always Exclusive.

For the uninitiated Calcuttan, here's a handy thesaurus of innovative street jargon; for the hardcore Calcutta, it could serve as a ready reckoner.

MAMA: policeman. Now you know why you need to stay away from your "Mamar-bari"!
PEEPRAYS: auto-rickshaws who are multiplying in hundreds and bugging one and all
CHARPOKA'S : Maruti 800s
MATCHBOX: Calcutta's first generation mini-buses that left you hunchbacked and stiff-necked.
HAATIS: double-decker buses with a 'trunk' in which! the driver sits; an almost extinct species.
LANGRAS: three-legged tempos that limp along and handicap other drivers.
SHAHID MINARS: speedbreakers. Erecting them has become a trend, generally after someone has been killed on the spot.
ELECTRIKEY CHALAO: a bus conductor's coded jargon, telling his driver to speed-break-speed-break in order to jerk passengers further in, since they are all crowding near the entrance.
HECHKEE TULCHEN KANO: a passenger's retort to the above.
DADA, FEVICOL NA ORDINARY??: question asked by a 'standing commuter'(usually on a local train) to a 'sitting' one, wanting to know how far he is going. If the answer is 'ordinary', the 'standing' commuter will stay right there waiting to pounce on his seat; if the answer is "fevicol", he will move away to try his luck with another passenger.
DADA, KEE KELCHEN??: Test naa One day: The bus equivalent of above.
DADA, ISTRI KOREY DILEN?: what you tell a passenger who in his hurry to get off, stamps hard on your toes.
DADA,JE AKEBAREY DAAK-TICKET HOYE SHETEY GALEN:: sarcastic comment targeting Romeos who refuse to budge from the vicinity of the ladies seats, invariably getting 'stuck', just like a stamp on an envelope
SANDOW-MASHI:: a tongue-in-cheek conductor's term describing a not-so-young lady wearing a sleeveless blouse, a la Govinda.
HALF LADIES: a skinny, boyish girl in jeans and T-shirt; the conductor is in a dilemma!
DADA,KEE DOUBLE TICKET NAA KI?:adar kee double ticket naa kee: a passenger's caustic remark to a grossly overweight fellow passenger who is hogging the seat.
DADA; KON RATION-ER CHAAL KHAAN:, kon ration-er chaal khaan: this is another version of the rude comment above.
AIEREY, FORSHA KOREY DILO: a helpless pickpocket victim's exasperated exclamation.
DADA,ENGINE-ER_TUNING-TA-THIK-KORAAN: below-the-belt advice to a fellow passenger who is snoring loud enough to drive the pigs to market.
DADA,KAAR BAADI TE AAJ MOOLOR CHAR-CHARI RANNA HOYECHEY: >a subtle comment directed to whom it may concern, in a crowded bus, post a 'sudden whiff in the air"

___________________________

Hope you guys had a good laugh too :)

Playlist

1. All American Rejects - Move along
2. Fall Out Boy - Sugar we're down
3. Zero 7 - Look up
4. Nickelback - Figured you out
5. Weezer - Island in the sun

Bonus Track
Starsailor - Crossfire

weekend thoughts

After the last post I was on my way to see 'Flightplan'. Please avoid seeing it. Its an attempt of a thriller following up to the 'Panic Room'...not to be unfortunately. Story's wafer thin, you figure out what's gonna happen and when it happens it finishes with a whimper! What a damp squib! And to see Times of India giving it a 3 star...how??!!! I better not say too much eh, or i'd get some notices too as regards to someone taking offense to what I feel.

The whole IIPM saga has left a sour taste in the mouth. I refrained from posting on it because everyone (especially Kaps, Desipundit) else has actually done a pretty good job about it. But I was just wondering...I do not like banking with ICICI or Citibank (though I have a salary account with them) and I say that openly and have also written complaints to them regarding their services. Would I get sued for airing my opinions and telling everyone just exactly how I see it??? I hate a few clothing brands, I hate a few singers and people have gone on record to tell the whole world? Have they got sued? Don't think so. So how come IIPM is taking it so personally, especially if what they claim are absolutely true and what Rashmi/Gaurav has said is absolute rubbish? Another thought, if the same happened to any other institute, from the IIMs/XLRI/MDI/FMS etc etc, would they have got so worked up? I think they would have taken two options - refute the claims while giving the necessary proof and if they think it was just atrocious, they just wouldn't bother to reply. And I think the matter has now taken a new dimension with people thinking its a personal attack on students vs. bloggers. I do not think that was or is the objective. An article on JAM had come out. If it was untrue, IIPM should have just gone ahead and sued them or taken some legal action. Else, let people discuss the same. You shouldn't go meddling with people's lives and careers unless there is a certain justifaction to doing the same!

On another note, looks like the World XI is just not upto it, inspite the glimmer of hope early this morning, after the Oz XI folded up for just 199. While its a good concept, its gonna be a difficult product to sell in the coming years if the World XI capitulate like this every time. Maybe a 20-20 version is a better option?

Man-Utd won yesterday after a shaky start, with Rooney, Nistelrooy and Rossi in the goals. Mark my words, this Rossi guy is gonna stir up the defences in the near future...give him another couple of years. Rooney and Rossi are gonna be the first team regulars. Chelsea on the other hand ripped apart Bolton with a 5-1 win.

Here's some good stuff I picked up:
Woman countersues RIAA
Google is trying to make their IM like Trillian
In case you were wondering how to export or convert videos for the video i-pod, here's how

I knew I was forgetting something! How could I not post about Daniel Craig??? For the still-ignorant he is the new Bond...James Bond. I had seen him last in Layer Cake, which was a Brit drug movie done pretty well. Reactions are coming in thick and fast, but my take on this is that while I do not have anything against the colour of the hair, Craig somehow doesn't come off as a Roger Moore/Sean Connery/Pierce Brosnan kinda Bond...he's more Timothy Dalton..and he didn't last long right? I would have preferred Clive Owen with Ewan McGregor as the second-fave personally. We will wait and see on this one!

i know i'm losing it when...

...when i use toothpaste to lather up than my shaving gel!!!
...when i'm doin my steps to liberty x and sugababes in the shower!!!

this is what happens when i have a long holiday (off since wed, till sun)!

anyways am off to catch jodie foster in 'flightplan'...

so everyone have a good weekend; as hard-fi sings 'living for the weekend'!

a case of the blues...

its one of those days...woke up to a depressing day...its not stopped raining since morning. Its been so grey and melancolic. Mom and bro are in Toronto, dad's in Mumbai for the next few days and I'm in Bangalore. You get the drift...

Anways, I decided I should brave the rain to go buy some dvds. So with the jacket zipped up and a cap thrown in I hit the road. And I got lucky by getting the 4th season of 24. Its gonna last me till the weekend!

I remember when in school, how I loved to get wet in the rain...walking to the bus stop on the way home or just wading through the flooded streets. Having 'khichudi' and 'tele-bhaja'! I dunno, maybe its just the DP blues...I realise this post's getting nowhere so I'll just stop.

"...dream about the sun you queen of rain."

Shubho Bijoya!

Good things come to those who wait

Check out this great Guinness Commercial. Sigh! Wish I could get one right now!!!

Note: Needs Quicktime.

Update: Here's my puja gift for you...more commercials here (in case you didn't work it out)!

some quotes i absolutely love!

i could be absolutely juvenile but i dig 'one tree hill' for some awesome quotes if not for anything else. Here's a few...

"You turn the lights out; it’s all the same darkness..."

Bernard Shaw said, "There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart’s desire and the other is to gain it."

"Time takes it all. Whether you want it to or not, time takes it all away, time bares it away. And in the end, there is only darkness. Sometimes we find others in that darkness, and sometimes we lose them there again." - Stephen King

"When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone." - Tennessee Williams

"As happens sometimes a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment. And then the moment was gone."

John Steinbeck once wrote “It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure on the world."

T.H. White said,"Perhaps we all give the best of our hearts uncritically…to those who hardly think about us in return"

EE Cummings once wrote, "to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it's best, night and day, to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting."

"There are at this moment , 6,470,818,671 People in the World. Some are running scared. Some are coming home. Some tell Lies to make it through the Day. Others are just not facing the truth. Some are Evil men at war with Good. And some are Good struggling with Evil. 6 Billion people in The World. 6 Billion souls. And Sometimes all You Need is 1."

The World is not enough!

No, I'm referring to the James Bond flick (1999), but to the massacre that has happened at the Telstra Dome, Melbourne over the last few days. 3-0 to Australia. Was anyone expecting it? Maybe 2-1 or even 1-2, but 3-0 to the Aussies? Nah! And to think people were over the moon after the Ashes got over! The old order changeth they said...hmmm. Where are the same people now? You may have a Flintoff or a Pietersen or even a Sehwag, but on the other side you have a Watson or a Hussey or a Katich or a Clarke or a Gilchrist or a....You get the picture. What this side may lack in individual brilliance [(unlike an India or a Pakistan), some Aussies might even take offence to this], they make up with superior fielding, bowling, batting. If one fails, someone else takes the baton and finishes the race. That's the reason why they are number 1, and that too after playing and winning everywhere (they even conquered India). One English summer does not maketh a world champion! Hopefully the test match might prove me wrong!

1 down!

While I have started blogging more actively from March this year, technically I started blogging since last Oct, this day. Huppy budday!

Forever young!

Some are like water, some are like the heat
Some are a melody and some are the beat
Sooner or later they all will be gone
why don't they stay young

It's so hard to get old without a cause
I don't want to perish like a fleeing horse
Youth's like diamonds in the sun
and diamonds are forever

So many adventures couldn't happen today
So many songs we forgot to play
So many dreams swinging out of the blue
We let them come true

Forever young, I want to be forever young
do you really want to live forever, forever and ever

Playlist

1. Bedouin Soundclash - When the night feels my song
2. David Gray - The one I love
3. The Rolling Stones - Streets of love
4. Liberty X - Song 4 lovers
5. Robbie Williams - Tripping

Bonus track:
The Rolling Stones - Satisfaction

wat up, yo???

Black Toilet Paper? Sensual?????
Simpson-ised! Craptacular!
How dumb can you get? Thinkpad isn't enough, you need some brains too!!!

Rain!

Shubho Mahalaya

Its that time of the time of the year again. But somehow it doesn't feel like the same. Since I moved out of Calcutta, 'pujos' don't mean the same anymore. Back then, it was the fun of having the pujo at a friend's house, new clothes, dhak, arati, luchi and aloo'r dum plus some chholar dal too! And when I was a kid, I remember we used to go out at night to see all the idols in different localities - and we walked all night and covered a lot of the city only to get back around 5-6am. Even Delhi was fun in CR Park, where all of us cousins used to have a blast. Now I feel quite displaced - not the same here in Bangalore. Nothing much happened in Ahmedabad too when my folks were there. And Toronto is just too far away for me to just pack my bags for the weekend and spend time with family. So I guess I have to make do with the spirit of the festival, a visit to KC Das for some sweets, a lil' of Alpha Bangla to check out the scene back in Kolkata and maybe a trip to the pandals here in Bangalore.

But any of you who might not be in Kolkata or India for that matter, click here to get the Mahalaya audio as well to learn about the concept of Mahalaya (if you did not already know it).

Update: The above link might not work sometimes. Click here to listen to the audio. Plays only in IE though, do not try it in Firefox.

Wah wah!!!

Just got back after seeing the Transporter 2. Before I come to the movie, I just realised that I haven't done these 10pm shows for quite sometime. Last time I did this was in Singapore trying to figure out 'The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' at 12am! But its actually fun to go watch a movie when you have few people around? Wrong. Bangalore somehow was more crowded; it could be my imagination but i think Forum has become more crowded after Garuda has come up. Anyways.

Back to the movie. I have been a fan of Statham since his Lock Stock days with Guy Ritchie and that alongwith Snatch have been two of my all time faves. Just too slick. Here the chases are good [you know Luc Besson (Taxi,Leon,Nikita, etc.) has to be involved in it!], storyline is quite flat...but who cares? Paisa vasool? Well kinda. Hollywood is giving Bollywood a run for its money for its hero-fights-everyone-in-the-crowd-but-is-still-unhurt routine. Parts of it is Jackie Chan-esque, using regular stuff in fight sequences and as such something is happening every minute if not every second. But if you love the driving of the Audi that he drives, I suggest you pick Clive Owen in his BMW Films. They are in a different league altogether! Order or rent the DVD. You'll actually thank me for it later. I know.

Elsewhere, cable went off midway in the afty. When I called they said because the state govt. has imposed 10% tax and the cable-wallahs are so considerate that it would ultimately fall on the consumer, they have resorted to a strike. WTF!!! I almost gave the guy a piece of my mind. When our income taxes get raised or sales taxes get raised do we stop going to work, stop selling/buying stuff? Whom are they kidding? Sometimes I'm at a complete loss with these circumstances. Where do I go? What alternatives do I have? Sometimes this country rants about capitalism, more jobs, standard of living etc etc. Then conveniently it turns into a socialist state where everyone is suddenly aware of everyone else's well being!! Gimme a break. Don't p*** me off during soccer season weekends. And yes, ManUtd won finally after 5 weeks in the league. I couldn't see it! Grrrr. &%$#!!!