My Tryst with Rock!!!!!!

When I was growing up,I had the chance of listening to various kinds of music. Hindi music was there but the scenario then was completely different. With no cable television(So no MTV!!!) it was the good old doordarshan that gave us our weekly feed of hindi music through its staple(now legendary) programme like chitrahar. Along with that my parents ensured that I listened to all sorts of Bengali music which included Rabindrasangeet and adhunik (modern) songs of stalwarts like Hemanta Mukhopadhayay, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Shyamal Mitra and so on. Most importantly, thanks to my mother I had the chance to listen to some lovely English music, artists such as Cliff Richards, Boney M, ABBA etc.
Well being an Iconoclast(!) I always wanted to listen something different, but as the older generations are, mother would dismiss new generation English songs as crap(Well that’s not exactly the word he used!), but I remained inquisitive. Finally MTV came to our household and lo!! Bryan Adams entered my life sending me to cloud number nine. I was blown away, but still I felt something was missing. In one my coaching classes I would often some of my friends speaking weird names. One day I asked them what were they talking of? In response to that one of my friends simply pulled my hand and wrote something no it. It read “LINKIN PARK”. Foolishly I asked(Naivety being my forte) where did this park exist., only to be slapped on my head.
The next day, one of my dear friends , Dwaipayan told me it is high time that I started listening to some quality music and recommended me Guns n’ Roses. But unfortunately for me the imported cassette was way too expensive (I got a measly pocket money during my school days).I lingered on, hoping that one day I will get to listen to ‘real” music.
Finally after acquiring a PC I got to listen GnR. First song I heard “you’re crazy”.Slow guitar rifts and then………madness .I was blown (yes again) and this time there was complete satisfaction. Gnr still remains one of my favorite bands even though my horizon has widened considerably.

Adieu Les` Blues

With great anticipation I had sat down(or should I say lied down) to watch the most anticipated match of this year’s Euro cup: France vs. Italy. Group C was almost wide open albeit Holland who had cruised past both the 2006 World cup finalists. the equation was simple, if Romania defeated Holland they will go through irrespective of what happened in the “big” match. France had to beat Italy, a draw wouldn’t be enough. Before the match started I had a bad feeling when I saw the French lineup. Thuram had been replaced by Abidal in the centre of defense. Now Thuram can be slow but Abidal is purely a left footed wide player. I kept my fingers crossed hoping Titi and benzema would sparkle today. But calamity struck in the 8th minute.Ribbery,the French playmaker got badly injured and had t be taken off in a stretcher. In came Samir Nasri, I sat up(really!) in anticipation, hoping to see this so called French wonder kid in action. But Abidal spoiled everything, fouling an Italian player in the penalty box(which Pirlo converted), conceding a penalty and getting himself a red card. Now Domenech(French coach) showed that he is actually a donkey. Down to 10 men, he decided to replace Nasri with the baboon…oh sorry Boumsong. Benzema was pushed back in the creative role with only one genuine winger in Govou. I think that sealed the fate of the match, Nasri plays as a playmaker for his club and he should have been retained in the field. Makelele looked out of sort in the entire match.

In the other match Holland cruised to a 2-0 victory over Romania, a very one-sided match. Good news being our very own Van Persie getting a start(and surviving the entire match!!!!!!) and scoring(Awesome!!!!).
So another mouth watering quarter final clash awaits, that of Italy and Spain, cant hardly wait for that.
So people get prepared for some more exciting times over the coming 2 weeks….

Its Euro time!!!!!!

When I decided to write my own blog,I was a bit uncertain what should it cover??? I must admit that being a football fanatic the only thing that motivated me for a long time was writing about football only. I dreamt on basing my blog on the likes of my favorite ones like arseblog,goodplaya,Le grove and many others. If someone follows European football with a fifth of my obsession then he can easily come to the conclusion which team I support: ARSENAL.
So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that when the Euro 2008 is going on in full sway, my blog should cover it. I am supporting Germany, apparently for no reason other than that all my childhood sporting heroes had been Germans-Steffi Graf, Lothar Matthews, Michael Schumacher and Jurgen Klinsmann. It was heartbreaking to see them capitulate against the Croats( those horrible nightmares of WC 98’ coming back).Don’t know why but my gut feeling says Deutschland wouldn’t surrender meekly(its simply not in their blood!),they would outgun the Austrians and march forward though I cant guarantee that on 29th of June they will lift the cup or not.
The team which has been most pleasing to the eyes and the senses is obviously Holland. The Orange Brigade has started the tournament with aplomb, their football a mixture of footballing technique of the highest level and controlled aggression. The way they dismantled Les Blues(another of my favorites, thanks to Titi) was simply a classic act.
From the Gunners point of view it was heartening to see Robin Van Persie getting to the scoring charts. The next few days should get very exciting as the tournament approaches the knock-out stage. Keep looking for this space for more updates.
And by the way India lost the final of an obscure tri-series to Pakistan(why I am not feeling sad?) just for the sake of information.
That will be all for today. Your comments are valuable, so keep them coming.

First Post!!!!

Well WELL wELL!!!!!
finally I have managed to create a blog!!!!
first things first.
I need to thank a few persons without whom this lazy Ass wouldn't have started blogging!!!
My roomie vishal who is a blogging freak.
My school friends(don't ask their names) whose blogging got me hooked.
finally but definitely not the least Somnath AKA Lomu whose blog I follow regularly,and to whom i dedicate this post(or the whole blog) for advising me in everything under the sun including this blog(YES!).

those who might be reading this blog might baulk at its name:OPTIMUM ICONOCLAST
well to clear matters ICONOCLAST means one who breaks the normal norms, with typical thoughts.
so you can expect mundane things with a little twist,like yellow dal with that extra zing!!!
well that's all for now.
don't worry I'll keep bloggin!

PS:I am eagerly wiating for comments.