tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534Mon, 07 Oct 2024 06:45:27 +0000cricketeditorialidiocylanguagebillupakistandrugsrebuttalshoaibthe mediaworld cup woesmusiccensorshipyoutubechootseconomicspollsa blog about nothinghttp://billudotnet.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (billu)Blogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-5766809781243897345Mon, 21 May 2007 22:24:00 +00002007-05-23T17:35:03.691-04:00cricketshoaibHere's a well-articulated argument on Five Rupees against Shoaib Akhtar's inclusion in the Pakistan side. Well, far be it from me to shy away from an opportunity for such ripe debate.I'm not sure I can pick holes in Ahsan's individual arguments per se. In any case, as he says, it's unlikely that either of us will change our opinion. But I can say that I am one of the few remaining Pakistanis who http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/another-shoaib-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-7198461720485086475Fri, 18 May 2007 19:55:00 +00002007-05-18T16:14:55.397-04:00cricketSo Pakistan beat Sri Lanka today. Quite convincingly at the end, but it was a good match all the way through. I have grown so used to supporting the Lankans that at the start of the match I honestly wasn't completely sure who to support. By the middle of the day I had found my loyalties again.I wasn't quite as impressed with the performance of our team as I was with their attitude. There was a http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/new-look.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-8807233755008260202Thu, 17 May 2007 15:38:00 +00002007-05-23T17:35:25.294-04:00pakistanHere's an article about how the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) has declared Inzamam (the team captain) an out-of-control tyrant who ruled the team with an iron fist and ran it into the ground.So let me see if I've got the sequence of events straight. 1. You have a traditional governing body (the PCB) that bumbles and fucks around and makes money off its public (cricket fans) without really giving http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/allegorical-account.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-2294776712928508413Wed, 16 May 2007 13:02:00 +00002007-05-17T15:13:28.579-04:00editorialthe mediaThis post might seem a bit dated by now, but I randomly came across this article in the San Francisco Chronicle the other day and it made me think. As the article exemplifies, it has become common for people to assume that males who do not want to watch the movie Brokeback Mountain are homophobic or "insecure". This is both unfair and erroneous. Has it never occurred to people like Mr. Hartlaub (http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/brokeback-mountains-out-of-molehills.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-3786912610581715425Tue, 15 May 2007 18:29:00 +00002007-05-15T23:40:46.419-04:00cricketeditorialworld cup woesA couple of weeks ago, we (Omar and I) had a few lengthy discussions about why it is that we found this World Cup so boring. It must be understood that we are a pair of die-hard fans who grew up on the game; fans whose earliest cricket-watching memories are those of Imran Khan lifting the coveted trophy in 1992. So if we are left horribly unsatisfied by the sport’s premier event, then how can we http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/cricket-at-crossroads.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-4500924397111963196Sun, 13 May 2007 15:36:00 +00002007-05-13T11:52:07.780-04:00cricketdrugsshoaibThese steroids sure are taking a long time to wear off. It's been nearly a year now. He must have taken enough to kill about ten horses. Either that or he's been popping pills the whole time he's been away from cricket. Either way, it is an impressive dosage, and if he can still play cricket after this, I can only applaud him. Only Shoaib could pull off a feat like that. Bravo!http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/only-nandrolonely.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-6887944136254441197Fri, 11 May 2007 20:36:00 +00002007-05-15T12:44:34.311-04:00censorshipthe mediaHere's an article in the New York Times about how the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) has been persuaded by anti-smoking groups to consider the prevalence of smoking (of tobacco) in movies when assigning ratings. That is to say, a movie that depicts no sex or violence, but merely some guys lighting cigarettes is unlikely to get a PG rating. This is ridiculous, and it's the kind of http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/where-theres-smoke-theres-ire.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-460918294237314898Thu, 10 May 2007 19:23:00 +00002007-05-10T16:15:25.562-04:00musicyoutubeOkay, corny title, I know. But in my enthusiasm to write about this I haven't bothered to stop and conjure up something suitably subtle. I went to the Arcade Fire concert last Friday. And it was awesome and fantastic and better than almost any other concert I have ever seen. Around two-thirds of the way through the show, the singer was like "Hey, I apologize to security, but you guys gotta dance http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/arcade-fire-sets-crowd-alight.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-8757902554723423628Thu, 10 May 2007 15:53:00 +00002007-05-11T17:37:15.347-04:00idiocylanguagepakistanA while ago I wrote about how people were finding my blog by searching for the word "choot." Of course, in most juvenile fashion, I found this incredibly funny back in February when I started my "...is a choot" series. (Incidentally, this is still true. Six hits last week were accounted for by the keywords "choot", "indian choot", "choot video", and, wait for it... "blood choot". Disgusting, I http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/searching-for-answers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-2974482511459818673Wed, 09 May 2007 18:10:00 +00002007-05-15T16:19:44.129-04:00cricketworld cup woesI teared up when Sri Lanka lost the final. I was supporting them all the way after Pakistan lost. If the match hadn't been interrupted, it may have been a tighter game. And yes, maybe Jayawardane wasn't out. But all this is moot, because shit happens, and the Aussies won fair and square.The question du jour is: Was it legal for Adam Gilchrist to put half a squash ball in his glove when batting? http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/world-cup-woes-lankan-whining.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-2019595085541804740Wed, 09 May 2007 18:05:00 +00002007-05-15T16:20:05.883-04:00cricketworld cup woesThe Aussies whined like bitches once again, this time because Sri Lanka refused to give them a look at their three strike bowlers in their redundant Super 8 match. Never mind that Australia frequently rest their key players when they have already won, or don't care about, a tournament (see here).I do think it was a bit wussy of the Sri Lankans to rest the players, but tactics are tactics, and thehttp://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/world-cup-woes-aussie-whining.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-7506992734645212005Wed, 09 May 2007 17:55:00 +00002007-05-15T16:20:53.791-04:00cricketworld cup woesWhat I'm about to say here has been said to death. The tournament was too long, ticket prices too high, the last three overs of the final were a fiasco, and it was a bad format. Next time there should be quarter finals, fewer minnows, fewer officals muddling over the rules, and the locals should be able to bring trumpets to the stadiums.i.e. this time it was not perfect, next time it should be.I http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/world-cup-woes-administration.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-837698819246473451Wed, 09 May 2007 16:13:00 +00002007-05-15T16:21:11.478-04:00cricketworld cup woesApril 17th, 2007: I am soaking up sun on Miami Beach when I hear that Pakistan is out of the World Cup after losing to Ireland. Shock, horror, self-pity, and much sulking ensue.Ireland went on to beat Bangladesh, and had previously tied with Zimbabwe. That's three good results for them. Of course, questions abound. Did their presence in the Super 8s diminish the excitement of the tournament? Yes.http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/world-cup-woes-hat-trick-for-st-patrick.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-8050991507744826063Wed, 09 May 2007 15:17:00 +00002007-05-15T16:21:28.989-04:00cricketworld cup woesOne of the reasons I went on hiatus last March was that when Bob Woolmer passed away, I felt I needed to write something that both matched the solemnness of the situation and expressed my personal disgust at whoever was responsible. Since I am good at neither personal nor solemn writing, I found this particularly difficult. There were enough comments about how cricket is just a game, and a man's http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/world-cup-woes-farewell-bob.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-3956361710983557944Wed, 09 May 2007 14:23:00 +00002007-05-15T16:22:59.799-04:00billucricketpakistanworld cup woesDear readers,It's been a while. Much has changed since my last post, both for me personally and in all the spheres where I usually target my commentary. Often in this period, I've come across something and thought, "Ooh, I should blog about that," and then not had the time or the energy. But here I am again, at your service.Let's get some of the backlog out of the way before I start writing in http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/05/guess-whos-back.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-3064260263433176155Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:34:00 +00002007-05-09T12:09:28.476-04:00chootscricketMy last post about the Pakistan team was about how awesome they were. And here I am writing another incendiary choot post with them as the subject. I'm not schizophrenic, and it's not that my opinion has changed. It's just that the team navigates so effortlessly between being "the shit" and being "just shit" that you can't really blame a person who tries to evaluate their performance on a day by http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/03/pakistan-team-is-choot.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-6771662897218653189Fri, 02 Mar 2007 06:33:00 +00002007-04-25T17:24:18.604-04:00cricketdrugsshoaibAs the World Cup draws near, we are being hit every day with news of another player that must miss out for such and such reason. Each of these incidents is a shame, because the whole point of the tournament is to bring together the best talent in the world. But few are as interesting as the two most recent tragedies.First, it's official. Shoaib and Asif are out, due to "injury." I put the word inhttp://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/03/tale-of-two-pities.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-2576094780315840010Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:39:00 +00002007-03-02T01:10:04.725-05:00billuidiocyA common motivational statement goes something like this: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Turns out, you could also make the Taj Mahal. Or that big Jesus statue that sits on the cliff above Rio de Janeiro.Here are some of my favorite pictures from the Fête du Citron, an annual festival on the French Riviera in which people get together and make gigantic sculptures out of oranges and http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/03/oranges-and-lemons.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-9012754009724286613Wed, 28 Feb 2007 22:25:00 +00002007-02-28T20:27:03.758-05:00languagethe mediaThe L Word is a TV show on the Showtime network about a group of women, mostly lesbians, living in Los Angeles. It's something of a soap opera, with terrible dialogue. It does, however, contain some steamy scenes that make it mildly bearable. But before all you pervs who found this blog through weird searches get all excited, that's not what this post is about.The show is typical of Showtime's http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/02/show-by-any-other-name.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-8744585153666620245Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:01:00 +00002007-02-28T20:33:08.044-05:00cricketdrugsidiocyshoaibShoaib, Asif to Get Complete Transfusion from Razzaq's BloodIn order to remove all traces of Nandrolone from their urine in record time, the PCB has launched an incredible and impressive secret campaign. Adbul Razzaq, an important, yet replaceable, member of the squad, conveniently fractured his knee just minutes before leaving for the Caribbean. In an interview, he appeared completely befuddled http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/02/blood-will-have-blood.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-3872607009119604151Sun, 25 Feb 2007 14:35:00 +00002007-03-01T01:25:39.425-05:00billucensorshipchootseditoriallanguagerebuttalthe mediaSome of you may have noticed that I cross-post my cricket posts on cricket.bloggers.pk, a sort of combined forum for Pakistani cricket bloggers to get better outreach for their posts.Well, I recently posted michael holding is a choot there, and here is a comment I received from a fellow named Adnan Siddiqi."Your voice could be heard if you had no't (sp) prefered (sp) to choose censored words. I http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/02/adnan-siddiqui-is-choot.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-8953845402800210111Thu, 22 Feb 2007 19:59:00 +00002007-02-25T12:40:24.322-05:00censorshiprebuttalthe media Here's an interesting piece in the New York Times. Basically, students at Middlebury College have been told they can no longer cite Wikipedia as a source in History papers. For some reason this has created a big furor.Apparently this article has been making the rounds, and a lot of campuses are starting to talk seriously about the issue. As usual, the New York Times has painted the issue in http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/02/every-fing-thing-is-not-censorship.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-5279582970413196950Thu, 22 Feb 2007 15:32:00 +00002007-02-22T16:28:22.102-05:00chootscricketIn one of my earliest posts, I applauded Michael Holding for sticking up for Inzi and pointing out double standards in world cricket. I also noted that this was against my better judgement; that he is, in fact, an idiot, but that his statement on that occasion had thoroughly impressed me.Well, his statement du jour is no less impressive. Unfortunately it's for all the wrong reasons. Mr. Holding http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/02/michael-holding-is-choot.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-8655914882189954767Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:50:00 +00002007-02-22T15:34:21.956-05:00billuchootsIt has been brought to my attention that people enjoy my crudeness here on billu.net. In particular, they seem to enjoy my use of the word "choot." How do I know this? Well, for one, my Darrell Hair is a Choot pt. 2 post was a hit. Teeth Maestro, among others, lauded it for the "pure, untamed quality" of my style. Others called it "angry", "caustic", "brilliant", and "a bit too much".Well, maybe http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/02/chooting-my-own-horn.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7143444266662917534.post-3681578512284978565Tue, 20 Feb 2007 01:01:00 +00002007-02-19T20:08:17.988-05:00cricketPosition Available: Opener for the Pakistan cricket team (National Squad) - temporary positionPosition RequirementsNo experience required.Age - Must be young. Under 25, with minimum domestic or international exposure.Preference for candidates from “warring tribal areas.”Required to score 100 on debut…and 50 every 20th game thereafter.Cover drives must be spectacular…no other shots required…the http://billudotnet.blogspot.com/2007/02/can-you-be-next-pakistani-opener.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (billu)0