Television

I am not a big TV fanboy. I generally prefer the outdoors instead. However, these days, for better or for worse, I've been watching a bit of TV. My focus is mainly on the wildlife, travel and sports ones. My favourite channel without a doubt is National Geographic HD. The astronomy-related shows are superb. They're also based on fairly cutting-edge and recent research. So its mostly stuff that you'd probably not know via other means unless you are working in a related field. Did you know there's a jet of water shooting from one of Saturn's moons? The wildlife shows are a good reminder of what is out there and we're missing. From seeing the annual migration of the wildebeest to understanding why the shark is nature's greatest killing machine ever built - maybe you can get by without knowing. But again, you're missing out. Other favourites are TLC (Travel and Living). Their shows provide a great insight into so many different cultures. I find it very interesting. As far as sports on TV are concerned, I don't have much time left to watch any more than the occasional Soccer and Cricket. There are definitely better ways to spend your time, but its not all bad.

The Vicious Circle Conundrum

I skipped work today. Officially speaking, its a sick leave. But I am not really sick. (I'm positively sure my boss won't see this) Demotivated, perhaps.
So I was trying to figure out why I am demotivated. Its not that hard really. When you bang your proverbial head against a wall 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, you feel demotivated. Nothing motivates you like making progress in whatever you are doing. The feeling of 'getting somewhere' is innocuously powerful - however small the increment may be. Its probably why people suddenly start walking faster when they feel they are close to their destination. Some people think its appreciation that motivates - I disagree. Appreciation ostensibly seems to motivate - but the real cause is that it gives us a feeling of making progress. Undeserved appreciation is actually scary.
So then the answer to demotivation (and preserving your sick leaves for real illnesses) is to make progress. But hey, you can't make much progress unless you are motivated in the first place! Thats the vicious circle I'm talking about.
The only way out - as far as I can see - is to get a burst of energy when you are demotivated to propel you out of the rut and make enough progress to feel motivated again.
Good thing I'm going on a 3 week vacation in August.

We are surrounded by many such circles. E.g. Its hard to find friends unless you have some friends to start with.

Are you stuck in a circle too?

Cricket World Cup

A speculation, albeit incorrect, does not go to waste. Here, the end result is not the point. Its the stimulation of discussion and thoughts that matters.
So. Here are mine.
History shows that the cup has been won by (a) An overwhelmingly strong team OR (b) a well-settled team having strong leadership and which is on the rise and in good form.
'75, '79 - West Indies. Its no understatement that they were far ahead of the rest of the pack.
'83 - India. This was a team on the rise and in high spirits, after giving WestIndies a run for their money just before the tournament started.
'87 - Australia. Again, a team in good form and a positive mood leading to the cup.
'92 - Pakistan had just beaten WestIndies at home. Which was no mean achievement even in 1991
'96 - Sri Lanka. Strong leadership of Arjuna Ranatunga and a team on a high after beating Australia in ODIs.
'00, '03, '07 - Australia were strong favourites and dominated world cricket during this period.

So what does that mean for this tournament? For one, there aren't any overwhelming favourites. Lets look at the teams.
Pakistan look too unsettled for my liking, in spite of wining against NZ on their home turf.
England lost by a long way to Australia in the ODIs and the joy of winning the ashes has worn off. They're plagued by injuries too.
NZ got thrashed 5-0 in India. Admittedly by one of the favourites, but its hard to envisage them picking up the pieces from here.
West Indies is a team in flux. Not to mention they have loads of players who don't have much experience of playing in the subcontinent. Unlikely.
Bangladesh is an interesting one. They've beaten Zimbabwe and NZ at home. They're playing in familiar conditions. But do they have the firepower to go all the way? I don't think so. Not yet. In the series against NZ, their top batsmen was Shakib Al-Hasan, averaging 71. The next best was 34. Less than half! They are reliant on a few good players and thats not good enough to win the world cup.
Zimbabwe have lost miserably in the recent past to South Africa and then Bangladesh.

So, ignoring the minnows, we're left with Australia, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa in no particular order.
Thats the likely semis lineup for me. From here, it gets hard. It calls for a closer look. Maybe later.

ProperNounisation

ProperNounisation (figure of speech): Capitalisation of a common noun to stress upon a recurring pattern.
e.g.
If your girlfriend finds out about this, you're in Big Trouble.
I'll be in the mall around 6 doing some General Loitering.

Classical guitar

For a long time, my classical guitar skills were quite limited. I've mostly been dabbling with an electric or (non-classical) acoustic sounds. But in the last 6-8 months or so, I've been drawn to classical guitar. I happened to come across this video of Capricho Arabe (by the legendary Francesco Tarrega) and I was blown away. This degree of expressiveness using a single instrument is basically unheard of in rock/metal circles. imho. No entourage of bassists/drummers/vocalists, no distortion pedals to muddy the waters, just pure unadulterated music.
Soon thereafter, I got my first real classical guitar. The Almansa 434. I just had to do it.
Now I'm learning some of Francesco Tarrega's other songs. Also planning to take proper classical lessons from a well-known local guitarist, Anthony Garcia.
Where is this going to lead me?
PS: Never 'drink and blog'. Or this may happen to you.

Unsocialising

Unsocialising (n): Reducing or eliminating your social footprint in the cyber world.
Although I acknowledge the human need to socialise, I just don't find it appealing to have my personal details paraded on some server belonging to some company I don't really know well enough to trust.
So; I have decided to unfacebook and ungoogle myself.
As far as fb is concerned, I don't have much there thats personal, but I will have to remove my name-tags from a few photos. Boy I hate that feature.
UnGoogling will be a more difficult task - their apps actually provide value to me. Maybe a mobileme subscription... I need to think about this. Now is not the best time. I am drinking irish whiskey.

Guitar notes

I had all but stopped playing. But this guitar piece has changed things a bit. As I try to play and improve, I find myself going through the same thought processes which I went through a few years ago. I wish I had them noted somewhere. The next time I play after a break, I am going to read this.
1. Concentrate. Clear the mind of other thoughts (including vacuuming your messy room)
2. Listen hard to your playing
3. While listening don't forget to think ahead, of the next chord.
4. Before performing a troublesome chord shift, look at the frets you want to be at before your hands go there. The hands should follow the eyes. Not go together with them.
5. For classical pieces like this one, walk into the chords. i.e. Not all notes are plucked together so focus on the notes which are played first before getting the whole chord position right with the left hand.
6. Left hand improvement is like exercising in the gym. You can do a lot for a few days and burn yourself out or do a significant amount regularly and build lasting strength.
7. Enjoy what you are doing. Or stop.