Scraps Stuffs - Random musings from apun ka desh

Aishwarya Rai delivered a competent performance in a deglamourised role in Provoked which I watched last week. Maybe the Salman experience came in handy to tap into the required emotions, but at least she can act some.

Even without makeup and glam clothes, the fact that Ash is very pretty just cannot escape anyone.

Nikon seems to be falling behind Canon in the pro DSLR category and this is possibly the worst place to fall behind in. Having the best pro DSLR gives you bragging rights, market share if the pros switch and mind share among all the potential buyers / fence sitters. Nikon appears to be a bit behind in image quality, especially at high ISOs. From all accounts I have heard, Nikon has better metering, better flash capabilities and better focussing at the higher end. What they lack is in image quality. Canon has been able to squeeze out better noise performance from their sensors which Nikon has only now managed to equal with the D40x (reputed to be equal to the Canon 30D which is an old camera by DSLR standards). To regain lost ground Nikon needs to create a new flagship DSLR with atleast the following features (my wish list, not that I'm going to be buying anytime in the future):

1. 24 MP full frame / 12 MP 1.5x crop in the same body
2. Practically noise free upto ISO 400 and very low noise at ISO 800
3. 4 fps at 24 MP, 8 fps at 12 MP
4. Increased dynamic range to 7 stops
5. Increased colour resolution to 16 bits per channel
6. Focussing improvements
7. Live histograms in the viewfinder

That should enable them to regain the lead. If the cost turns out to be excessive, then a D3x with the 24 MP / 4 fps and a D3h with the 12 MP 8 fps can be created, other specifications to be the same. And they need to get these DSLRs out sooner rather than later.

A large number of nature photographers have switched to Canon mainly because of the availability of IS in Canon's long lenses. The lack thereof in Nikon's equivalent should have been addressed long ago, but its still not too late to do so. Here's are the lenses I would bring out were I in charge on Nikon engineering:

1. 400 f2.8 AF-S VR lens
2. 500 f4 AF-S VR lens
3. 600 f4 AF-S VR lens
4. 400 f5.6 AF-S VR lens
5. 200 f4 AF-S VR macro lens

I would also create and release extension tubes that support full AF-S, VR and metering. And ensure that Nikon lens prices are competitive with their Canon equivalents. Right now the long lenses are typically costlier than their Canon counterparts and by a large margin.

Nikon has missed the boat in the digital photography world. To prevent more loss of market share it needs to improve. The trickle down benefits will be tremendous for amateurs still loyal to Nikon.

You'd have thought that the good-for-nothing Indian cricketers would take the BCCI's rebuke without much comment, but the players are angry at the board restricting their ability to make money via endorsements. Actually once you think about it, its not such a big surprise. Indian cricketers are in it just for the money, cricket is incidental. When even Rahul Dravid shamelessly speaks up for the players you wonder why he wasn't sacked and persisted with. These shameless beggars should be sacked if they go beyond BCCI's dictat. But we all know that the BCCI will buckle under the players pressure and back down. Sooner or later.

Dravid has shown just how shameless he is but Tendulkar has shown just how immature he is when he chose to speak up against Chapell. He should have let his bat do the talking. Oh wait, that's not a viable option! Better to let the kiddish voice loose instead.

Pathetic really.

Everything I've read about the various comments from BCCI tells me that nothing is going to happen to Indian cricket other than more of the same - more mediocrity, more respect for reputations and past performance, more ostrich like attitudes and more incompetence. BCCI says the coach will go - as if all the blame for the debacle was his alone. When Chappell took over and the Indian cricket team starting winning matches, they were all praise for his process. Now the same process is deemed to have failed. Perhaps they should look at the execution of the process and whether Chappell was allowed to have a free hand in doing so. He has stated time and again that we need a younger team, but a team of oldies went to the Cup. The results were predictable.

If reports in the media are anything to go buy, the senior people have a serious attitude problem and think of themselves as above any criticism or accountability. BCCI seems most reluctant to address this issue, so how can things change. Getting an Indian coach won't help. Do you see a Sehwag or a Ganguly or for that matter a Dravid listening to, say, a Mohinder Amarnath? Or a Sandeep Patil? They first thing they will throw at him is that their records don't match ours so they can't tell us what to do.

Its time to put Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar and Sehwag to pasture and tell them that their time is over. Let younger legs, enthusiasm and passion take over. Which means getting rid of Sharad Pawar first of all.

Predictably, the mice in blue turned out to be paper tigers with feet of clay. Nobody had the balls to stand up and be counted. 255 was an eminently gettable target and it was a do or die situation, so what do our zeros do - they roll up and die. Meekly. Without so much as a fight. That really pissed me off.

Its high time the big guns (on paper) retired from cricket while the goings good and they aren't being pelted with rotten eggs and tomatoes. Tendulkar and Sehwag should be dropped from the team immediately. Dravid, Ganguly and Dhoni can take turns being the 12th man. Every selector who has chosen Agarkar over the years should be blacklisted immediately. Harbhajan should be dropped too. Yuvraj can dropped and asked to play domestic games till he is mature enough to come back to the Indian team.

Actually, surrendering meekly shouldn't surprise us at all. After all that's what India is known for. How many times have we forged ahead and won against overwhelming odds? I can't think of many. We would rather hype up trivial things and small achievements as the next best thing since sliced bread. And then believe in the hype.

Cricket can't be cleaned up in India and we will continue to lose and lose miserably at that. For good things to happen to Indian cricket, every stakeholder needs to clean up their act. Fat chance of that happening. At the very least

1. The BCCI should give back more to the game considering the loot they are indulging in at this time. Massive upgrade of facilities at all major centres of cricket. Spend money on stadiums to upgrade seating for the crowds, improve parking facilities, toilets, availability of water and food. Spend money to hire quality groundsmen and curators, the latter from outside our shores if need be. Prepare pitches that help the bowlers, spinners and pacers alike. Let our batsmen prosper only if they aren't just flat track bullies. And that's just for starters.
2. The fans need to stop hyping the abilities of the Indian players and stop treating them as demi gods. Currently expectations are way beyond what the Indian players are capable of delivering, yet we persist in thinking that the Indian team is a world beater. Maybe if the world cup was played exclusively among minnows (on the other hand if minnows have the capabilities of a Bangladesh, we are in trouble yet again). By all means be happy when we win, but don't go overboard. Same case applies to failures. By putting massive pressure on Tendulkar, we have prevented him from delivering the goods. He's human after all, an extraordinary human no doubt, but still a human. That's counterproductive.
3. The selectors need to stop backing players from their zone, purely because they are players from their zone. Back the performers, the ones with the right attitude, the ones with the right work ethic. Banish the rest to the wilderness unless they improve.
4. The players need to internalize that only performance counts. Any hint of selfish motives detracts from team effort and should be avoided.

Won't happen, that's why Indian cricket for all the money it has, won't improve in a hurry.

A poor leopard who strayed into Nasik was beaten to death by the locals. I saw extremely disturbing footage on CNN-IBN yesterday and I was so angry I wanted each of those motherfuckers who beat the leopard with sticks to be beaten mercilessly in turn!

Leopards and other big cats sometimes stray into human inhabitation because we humans encroach shamelessly on their terrain and poach their wild prey to boot. They have no choice but to venture far and wide for food. And this is what we do to a poor animal? Why not keep clear of them and let the forest department try to trap it and transport it to a location that is more appropriate, even though that's a double edged sword?

The leopard is said to be the most adaptable big cat but in my opinion its days in India are numbered. We have already lost the tiger and the death of the last tiger is merely a matter of time. We are going to lose the lovely leopard to the greedy Indian too!

This was one nice movie which I enjoyed quite a bit. I would have enjoyed it even more if I didn't have to concentrate so damned hard to ensure I didn't miss any of the nuances. Leonardo D'Caprio acted the best, I felt. Jack Nickholson second best. There wasn't any incompetent acting on display at all. The violence wasn't too much considering the type of movie it is but it felt a little too brutal for my tastes which makes me realize that I'm growing older.

The one thing that strikes me when I watch most Hollywood movies is that the acting seems so natural. The actors just are the characters and not merely play it. In stark contrast to most Bollywood movies but things are getting better here.