SriBees Random Ramblings: Day 21

There is something about Pakistan that infuriates one with exasperation and inebriates with joy! The fun part is that they usually alternate between the two states with no fixed pattern. One is tempted to call them the Curate's egg but that is so passé.

Auckland is dishing out thrillers this time around; after the trans-Tasman clash, this match between two green-uniforms did not fail to excite. The rains turned the semblance of fluidity that Pakistan achieved after some zillion games, into a sluggish, middling total. And the Proteas managed what they were capable of. Choke. Whether it is the unfortunate turn of events in Cape Town or the stead-fast refusal to have five specialist bowlers (ABdV & JPD bowled 9 leaking 77!) or the over-dependence on Amla/ABdV to bail them out - one doesn't know. But the result followed the pattern. At this rate, you can set any total for SA to chase and hope to defend that with reasonable certainty.

Down at Hobart, the game panned out as predicted. A high-scoring last-over thriller. Having seen them at close quarters for the last many years, I can say that more than three-quarters of the games between the Associates are close affairs - meaning they are almost always equally matched. In this WC, we have Zimbabwe, West Indies and to a certain extent Pakistan (when the Curate's egg shows bad parts!) and England (am still waiting for the good part there!) have shown that there is hope for the Assocs if, and only if, they get more chances. By the way, Ireland lives on.

Christian Ryan in his wonderful article has pointed out a gem by another blogger:

"As Russell Jackson, live-blogging the game, pointed out, "What's been notable… is the way they haven't smiled. They're genuine competitors. Najibullah and Zazai know they have no hope here and it looks like they're annoyed by that, not resigned to it."

The sheer helplessness of it all is so dispiriting that I am almost forgetting that tomorrow is a Sunday!
Q-Section:

Let me be honest. I had thought of one connection. Then Guru came up with the other connection. The name of the shark in the movie Jaws is Bruce and therefore the heroine of the Jaws movie is Lorraine Gary. I will give him the three points. Now for the connection that I had intended which AngelAsh and Raghav got as a matter of fact. All there get the 3 points.

Watch this video and then watch Brucey's impersonation :-)

Jack Nicholson is awesome, isn't he? This Stanley Kubrick classic "The Shining" can still be scary. Watch the full movie if you can. And Shelley Duvall as the heroine of the film, excels by displaying the right amount of helplessness - almost akin to the Associates, when faced with a slowly-deranging husband.

At that end of that question, here is the quiz position: