Donations for Haiti

I am sure everyone wants to do his/her bit in the relief efforts at Haiti. At the same time we are all wary about the numerous scams that pretend to be raising charity for Haiti (or any calamity / relief operations for that matter). Here are a couple of reliable avenues to make donations to:

1. The Red Cross: Donations can be made through the website, or for us lazy ones, we can text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10.

2. Doctors without Borders: This is a reliable, noble and entirely reputable charity active in earthquake response.

Dealing with my 7 stages of grief....

Ever since that Packer gut-wrenching excruciating loss at the hands of the Cardinals, I have been going through the seven stages of grief. It took me till this afternoon to realize that.

Part of the reason that pushed this incident from simple disappointment to grief, was the way the game ended. Some analysts called it the best game of the year. Some pronounced it the best game that they had ever witnessed in the playoffs...ever. To me, the roller coaster ride of the Packers going down trailing 31-10 at one point, and then making an unexpected yet exciting comeback to tie it all up and take it to overtime, was too much to handle already. And then, there was the way the game ended with the help of some missed calls by the refs (detailed in this post of mine), which directly resulted in a Packers loss. In my mind, I do not think the refs where biased against the Packers nor am I trying to implicitly suggest any "conspiracy theories" behind a Cardinals win. I guess the fact that simple incompetence on the part of refs, left a feeling of emptiness and emotional deprivation. It felt as if someone came into a room filled with people and stole a precious exhibit with a gazillion people looking.

Stage 1: SHOCK & DENIAL

Even though I was watching the game live, it took me a few minutes to realize that the game was over. It felt like a dagger to the heart, just when new life was given with a missed Field Goal at the end of regulation time, forcing overtime. Before I could recover from the shock I was in, most of my friends watching the game with me started taking off (bummed by what just happened). I now had to switch channels so that I do not catch replays of the traumatic play that ended the game. Got into a conversation with another friend about conspiracy theories (unrelated to football) and aliens. I started to do stuff as if it was not even football season. Soon I decided to call it a day and go to bed at 7 PM (never been to bed that early in my life). All this without realizing that I was, after all, in denial.

Stage 2: PAIN & GUILT

Tribute to "the king" (of pop)!!!

I am a little late on this (by a few days). It was a real real sad day last thursday to hear the news about MJ. He might have been the laughing stock r people during the better part of this past decade or so. But how could you undermine the legend that is MJ??

I probably do not listen to music like his now. But I sure did growing up .....who didn't right? I am sure every kid growing up in the 80s and early 90s must have tried impersonating MJs moves ..... his moon walk (wow... the moonwalk !!!), the kick move and the infamous crotch grab. Not to mention the number of walls with his poster on in the 80s, and kids with the red jacket of his. His popularity and stature was just mind boggling ....and dare i say (again) ...legendary. I still remember how I used to hate U2 for a few years when they won a bunch of Grammys for "Joshua Tree" instead of MJ's "Bad"...although objectively U2 probably had the better album that year.

I hate to talk (or even think) about his personal life. It is an understatement that he had issues. But it should not take any shine out of his achievements as an entertainer. I hope, at least after his death, people stop trying digging out dirt (yeah I'm talking about you ..... you sensitivity and morally challenged TMZ, E!, Hollywood access etc)..... he has been tarnished enough. This man deserves to be remembered in the right ways at least after his demise.

MJ was arguably the most popular global figure in entertainment this past century ....not only for his music but also his revolution in dance and music videos. MTV would not be here today if not for his transformations of music videos to an art, rather than as promos before his time. If you look at entertainment as a bunch of eras, the 80s and 90s were easily MJ's, just as Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra had their own earlier last century. Yes, to me he is up there with them as a legendary icon for music and I hope that is how history will see him.

Peace!!

Numero Uno!!

Well, I'm finally doing it. And its only the beginning (hopefully).

I intend to keep this blog more like a commentary avenue for myself. Will be dealing with more opinionated posts about day-to-day events around the world and very little, if at all any, personal posts per se. Sports has always been a passion of mine and so it shouldn't surprise anyone that it would be the most dealt with subject around here. There is gonna be a whole lot of Green Bay Packers talk here (Oh Yeah!! Go Packers!!) with some bay area sports sprinkled in. And pretty much whatever the hell I want :).

I will probably throw in a tad bit of politics in here too, which I intend to be more at a policy / philosophical level for people like me as individuals, rather than the dirty partisan party-line talk you find in Washington (or any typical political blog). I sometimes have strong opinions and feelings about things that are taking place and how they would affect me in the near future and later too. I will use this blog to express them.

Rather unique combination eh? Sports + Politics!! Feel free to leave comments anytime. I would love to be pointed out if I am wrong or if something I write warrants a better explanation from me. Do keep in mind though that most of the posts are gonna be my opinions and I reserve the right to hold them (wink). Will also post interesting links to articles and sites that I find interesting out here for some learning / entertainment value.

Stay tuned.......