An idle mind is a wasted blog post....

10.25 PM - i decide that a post in my blog was long overdue. Its not like i have to make time for this between my busy schedule or anything. My schedule pretty much stops where it starts. You know the feeling of frustration when you sit around and wonder what to do next. Well, that has been my curse this term. I spend half the time - half my conscious time - cooking up ways of wasting the other half and later executing them.

Having read everything possible on a dead f1 season (which includes some really arbit stuff like david coulthard's insane opinions on what schumi should do) and watching a cricket match whose result was pretty clear even before the start i sat wondering what to do next. I had also squeezed in some hours of pool earlier in the day. Well, why not a blog post? That would be a fitting dessert to one hell of a 'vetti' day.

So now i sit and think what to blog. Its 10:34 already and i have succesfully wasted 9 minutes. Great!. Iron maiden's 'Fear of the dark' is splitting the serene silence of the night in my room. The song s just reached a cresendo. The same is not the case with life here. After an exhilarating thrill ride of the first year, this virtual vacation, which appeared exciting at first no longer seems to be. I am now wishing it would all come to an end so that i would have another change - the work life, although i am damn sure that i am gonna regret these words 6 months down the line.

If i have done something worthwhile this term, it has be playing pool and a good reunion of sorts with friends at coimbatore during diwali. Plan D - as one of my friends had named it - was full of fun and interesting anecdotes and so i will be dedicating a blog post to that later. First, pool. Well, before this term began i opened up a notepad instance and put 4 'resolutions' for me this term.

1. Learn guitar
2. learn and master pool
3. Jog regularly
4. -- censored --

I cant believe i am on my way in fulfilling 1/4rth of my resolutions. An unprecedented 25% success rate is something i have to be proud of i guess. I havent mastered pool by any stretch of imagination but it has blessed me with several passionate hours of wasted time. With wagers flying around it got extremely competitive at times. Tempers flared, abuses flew and people were playing it like a 'do or die' match. The fact that i managed to lose all the wagers is pretty insignificant, though.

Oh shit, its 10:47 and the 'Other side' from RHCP has just started. May be its time to complete this post. So, well, au revoir or whatever crap people say when they part. Anyway, i've just figured out what i am gonna do for the next couple of hours. Tuck in tight and finish of the prison break episodes i am lagging in. Bye bye.

Alonso is nearly there as Ferrari stumble

Alonso needed a miracle and he got one. Up until schumi's engine began to spew smoke and he pulled over with an admirable calmness, the race was shaping up to be a blinder. It wasnt exactly an exciting race with few overtaking manouvers but Alonso's drive injected a lot of thrill to it. Starting fifth on the grid he needed some catching up to do with schumi who was leading the race what with Massa moving away early on and letting Schumi through (i am not again gonna talk about team orders). Alonso, who set the fastest lap of the race, drove like he had rarely done in the recent past : an all out racing. Dismissing off truilly with disdain he had some trouble getting past a determined ralph. At points he pushed too much and lost a bit of time and racing line. But then when the overtaking came it was awesome - a typical karting move that saw him shoot past ralph into the third spot with massa ahead of him.

Ferrari's bad luck started early on, though it was much less advertised with Massa having a slow puncture. He had to go in earlier than ideal and that is when Alonso pushed. I sometimes get the feeling that Alonso observes schumi keenly and learns from him. In a typical schumi style, he did a couple of blistering laps bringing down the time constantly before he pitted. This and the fact that massa was caught behind a slow heidfeld ensured that when he came out he was 2nd on track. The race was already on.

For nearly the rest of the race, Alonso pushed really hard. But so did schumi. The fact that the gap remained constant for quite a few laps indicated that both of them were on their limits, not erring and pushing as hard as they could. If that had continued, we would probably seen a schumi-alonso 1-2 with maybe an exciting last 10 laps. But it was not to be. It had been a really long time since Schumi had an engine failure during a race that he might have forgotten that it could happen. It did happen and at the wrong time. Probably the biggest anti-climax of the season. Alonso's punch of the fist as he swept past the idle scarlet car indicated how much the victory meant. It has nearly sealed the championship for Schumi.

Brazil awaits. Who knows, a wet race and anything could happen. Schumi could still be the chamipion although i can already picture alonso jumping in joy on the podium with his 2nd championship. Go Nando!

A miracle and a german between alonso and WDC 06...

Michael schumacher dealt the first punch in the suzuka boxing match. Aided by great bridgestone tires and a near perfect ferrari he drove like a man possesed setting record time in session two. Although his team mate managed to steal pole, he must be satisfied that he is one step closer to the 2006 world championship than alonso. Schumi looks set for a victory and Alonso looks set for the drive of his life if he is to have any chance of even come within touching distance. He will start from a modest 5th place behind the toyotas in a race position that looks like a team march. Ferrari 1-2, Toyota 3-4, Renault 5-6 and Honda 7-8.

Frankly, it will take a miracle if Alonso is to win this one or sheer bad luck for schumi like alonso had in china. As far as predictions go, Alonso will almost definitely end up on the podium in 2 or 3 along with the two ferraris. That would also mean that he would almost nearly be out of the championship unless schumi screws up in brazil. But Brazil is always wet and so anything could happen.

I dont see alonso overtaking schumi on track except for maybe at the start. Renault always have great starts and so if he can somehow trick his way into 2 then we've got one hell of a game on our hands. Even if he ends up in 3 it should be a race with no holds barred. Schumi and alonso are not exactly chums and when the stakes are as huge as this we can well see some daring moves. It all depends on the first 5 - 10 seconds. I just hope alonso moves to 3 and then it should be a thriller!!