Things have not quite been looking up of late so I'll concentrate on some of the stuff making the headlines.

Aussie "Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin's death has received surprising coverage in the national & international media.
I hadn't reckoned so many people watched Animal Planet/Discovery Channel, leave alone knowing about him.

There has been little cricketing action involving India since the Carribean tour. The 'Tri Series' involving Sri Lanka & South Africa was bombed/washed off. I think it's the first instance of so many things occuring at once during an ODI series. First, the Proteas getting scared out of their wits by a bomb blast & deciding to scamper home to their cities which have the highest crime rates in the world (no joke, this). Then, rain coming down in buckets & forcing abandonment of each & every ODI left in the series. A grand total of about 5 overs was bowled in the series. Crazy, once you think about it. Anyway, everybody's waiting for the ICC Champions Trophy now.

Then there's the case of this Chandigarh girl, Yamini Sharma whose pic appeared on ToI (as she protested against a ban on cell phones at her college campus) & caught the eye of Satish Kaushik, who decided to cast her in his new film! Talk about hitting pay dirt! Still, I can't help wondering what he found so beautiful about her .... okay, she's good looking, but not the kind who'd make you turn back & look at her twice .... oh well, to each his own I guess.

And finally, living in Bangalore, you are exposed to a lot of stuff one wouldn't normally encounter up North. Cable for example, shows a plethora of South Indian channels, a lot of which I hadn't even heard of. The same is the case with the FM channels. Of course, film music dominates their contents & I've been forced to listen more closely to some of the songs shown. Even though I don't understand a word of what they're saying, some of the music is really good. I've heard Harris Jeyraj's compositions for Anniyan, Ghajini & Vettayaadu Vilayaadu & one thing is clear .... this guy is one of the best we have in the country today. Presently am listening to Rehman's work for Jillunu Oru Kadhal & can't have enough of the track 'New York'. Some really good stuff & a nice break from the normal staple of Hindi film music. Keep 'em coming ....

And last but not the least, there are floods .... in Kashmir & Rajasthan! It would have been funny if it wasn't so tragic.