I could have done this post about a lot of people (as usual, some of the more interesting ones are dead, including Keith Moon and River Phoenix), but today's BOTD is former AC Milan and Italy footballer Demetrio Albertini. Although he played for numerous clubs towards the fag end of his career, Albertini will always be remembered for his time at AC Milan. An integral part of the legendary Milan and Italy teams of the early 90s, he was as essential to his team for his solidity in his own half as for his vision and spectacular set pieces at the other end. And this guy almost always delivered when he was up for a crunch shot (the lone failure being a penalty miss in the 98 World Cup which wasn't THE crucial miss, but he did score in the 94 final shootout). In particular, the moment that convinced me most of the Albertini magic was a freekick he scored for Atletico Madrid in the 2002-03 season at a time when he wasn't considered to have little more than experience and vision left. Trailing 2-1 to city rivals Real Madrid, Atletico got a freekick 30 yards out with seconds to go. Basically one shot to try something against one of the best shotstoppers in the world in Iker Casillas, Demetrio Albertini had to pull off something truly magical in a crunch situation. What followed was a freekick so perfect in every manner, in a tough spot, that t-shirts of a photo capturing a photo of that moment continued to be sold even after Demetrio had left the Estadio Vicente Calderon for Italy. Seriously, if anyone finds a proper video of that free kick, PLEASE let me know... My media attachment for the day instead will be another moment that captured the magic of the man and his ability to provide something special. In his testimonial match, a game where the object of the testimonial usually ends up scoring from some pointless penalty just so he can celebrate a goal in his testimonial, this guy went and scored a blinder of a freekick, swerving inside out to beat a keeper of the calibre of Andoni Zubizarreta... this is that freekick.
Other birthdays (excluding the deceased such as River Phoenix, Giuseppe Meazza, Gene Kelly and Keith Moon): Daniel Ruettiger, American Football player and inspiration for the movie Rudy Shelley Long, Actress Chris DiMarco, Golfer Jay Mohr, Comedian and Actor Mark Butcher, Cricketer Scott Caan, Actor Kobe Bryant, Basketball player Carlos Cuellar, Footballer Natalie Coughlin, Swimmer Glen Johnson, Footballer
Ok, today's BOTD looks like being a mixed bag, cos the ones who have had some influence on me died in the last few years and hence I will have to bend my rules today to show some multimedia relating to a few dead people as well. There are quite a few notable people born on this date whom I can't, unfortunately, really talk about, but deserve to be noted. One of these is Ray Bradbury. Ray Bradbury is a giant of 20th century literature, and is part of the famed ABC of science fiction (Asimov, Bradbury and Clarke), arguably the greatest of the modern science fiction writers. He is most noted for his influential work Fahrenheit 451 and boasts among his other work The Martian Chronicles and a collaborative work that later developed into The Addams Family. He continues to garner honours for a lifetime that inspired a generation of science fiction authors and will continue to do so in the future. As recently as earlier this year, he has been awarded prestigious honours, being named a Grandmaster of the Science Fiction Poetry Association earlier in 2008. Alas, not being much of a science fiction person myself I am not qualified to describe him in great detail, but it speaks volumes about the influence of the man on all areas of modern life that even one as 'illiterate' as I would place him as the most important person in today's post. Henri Cartier-Bresson died in 2004, the first (well, he died a year after the other, actually) of the 2 influential dead I will mention in this post. He was one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century, and is considered a pioneer, if not the pioneer, in the field of photjournalism. My first experience of his work was a collection of photos he had taken in South India that I had obtained at Alliance Francaise. The simplicity in his work that inexplicably captured the most complex of emotions and states of being, accentuated by a fascinating interplay of shadow and light, captivated me. Well known for his portraits of famous people, the man himself refused to be photographed as he found the notion of being photographed for being 'famous' a ridiculous one, and one occasion held up a sheet of paper to cover part of his face (those who know me will recognise that I do the same thing when in front of a camera, but I should point out my ideological problem with being photographed is entirely different). A master of exploting shadows, Cartier-Bresson worked primarily with black and white photography and was an influential figure in the photography cooperative that he co-founded, Magnum Photos. He died in 2004, but even from beyond the grave he continues to influence photography and to win laurels for his work. Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003)is the last of the 3 persons I am profiling in this post. The filmmaker is mostly remembered as the director behind Hitler's propaganda films, but it is also beyond doubt that behind that controversial persona she was a visionary auteur, best characterised by her documentary about the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Olympia. She possessed a style well ahead of her time, and the universal appeal of even her niche works (apart from the Hitler ones, of course) continues to this day. Today, I choose not to remember the woman who helped manipulate the will of people to back a genocidal dictator, but the other side of Leni Riefenstahl- the artiste with the vision, and the magical ability to bring that vision to life. Hence, a brief and wholly unrepresentative clip of Olympia follows.
Other notable living people with their birthdays today: Honor Blackman, Actress best known for her role as Bong girl Pussy Galore E. Annie Proulx, Author best known for Brokeback Mountain among other works Valerie Harper, Actress I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Professional Liar, Obstructor of Justice and Creep (just search Wikipedia or YouTube...) Chiranjeevi, Telugu actor who has achieved everlasting fame on the internet due to a Telugu version of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video Steve Davis, Snooker player Colm Feore, Actor Tori Amos, Singer Mats Wilander, Tennis player Rob Witschge, Footballer Alexander Mostovoi, Footballer Richard Armitage, Actor (check out BBC's Robin Hood, where Armitage plays Guy de Gisbourne) Kristen Wiig, SNL comic Heidar Helguson, Footballer
Also, in honour of the tooltip from today's XKCD comic, HAPPY LINKSYS DAY! [this date will have to do until a proper date is finalised by Randall Munroe and the loyal readers of XKCD]
For those of you who don't know, Alizee Jacotey is a French singer who first rose to prominence as a young girl with her single 'Moi...Lolita' and gained a reputation as a precocious teenaged star with a very sensual style. Mentored by Mylene Farmer, a Quebecoise performer who specialised in churning out hits following a certain formula, a similar style of music and sensuality brought more hits to young Alizee (or Lili, as she's known to her fans). One of these was J'En Ai Marre, a single whose stage performances have become legendary for her dancing in skimpy outfits and even inspired a dance in World of Warcraft (the female night elf- the male one was taken from Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean'). I will not post that video as it's too common a post anyway. Just search for Alizee on YouTube and that should be the first video up there. Getting back to Lili... after a few mega-successful years where she just couldn't fail, and through her voice managed to bring soul and personality to somewhat dance-oriented songs in a manner Mylene couldn't have dreamed of, Alizee suddenly took an extended break. She married a singer by the name of Jeremy Chatelain, became a mother, and for the most part lived a reclusive life. In another decade, she would have disappeared completely. But in this period, the internet rules, and her loyal fans not only kept her career alive, but popularised her around the world to the extent that she could perhaps be considered more famous a French singer than even Edith Piaf, albeit within the internet using public. Then last year, the erstwhile Lolita returned, sans Mylene Farmer's presence and formula-driven records. Her third studio album, Psychedelices, showed a gentleness to her voice and variety not previously expected of the popstar, but it came at a bit of a cost, failing to match the sales of the previous two albums in her native France. Overseas, though, her fanbase was enormous, to say the least, and she has taken the opportunity to visit her fans in other parts of the world. It can only be hoped that the creative tinkering continues and she continues to grow as an artist, and that she can not only regain but also exceed the success of her Lolitaesque PR phase as masterminded by Mylene Farmer. Now, coming to my own experiences with Lili's music. My first experiences were rocky to say the least, as my housemate played me a song of her's the day before an exam, a song that stuck in my head and almost wrecked my exam. Not being into dance music, that song didn't impress me much, but her voice did have soul. I listened to a few more songs, and eventually found some that appealed to me. Her voice and ability as a performer grew on me, and I became a fan by the time the third album came. Once it came, I loved the new lyrical direction the music took, though I did miss some of the sweeping orchestral symphonies from previous works. But it was like a rebirth, one that Lili needed to be able to move forward after Mylene, and I hope to see her strike the perfect balance in the future. Also, I hope to actually see her perform- I was quite taken with her 'Alizee En Concert' performance- not just the performance, but the rocked-out music and attitude, everything. I even added the drummer from that concert tour as a friend on MySpace because he was so awesome! Now, for a video. Not the J'en Ai Marre one, but perhaps my favourite Alizee song, A Contre Courant. This has that perfect mix of her soulful voice, and sweeping electric orchestral music. And she just went up on stage and did her bit, which was the best part for me. No revealing outfit, no ass shaking- she went up and sang, and showed she doesn't need to resort to gimmicks to retain that allure [admittedly, given what usually happens on this show Disques D'Or, she probably lip synched, but you get what I mean- this performance was natural].
Other songs of hers containing that mix of soulfulness and sweeping background music include 'Veni Vidi Vici', some tracks from her new album (though this time it's soft, sweet, childlike soulfulness) such as 'Mon Taxi Driver,' among many others on the Psychedelices album, and even some of those dance track hits. And her Alizee En Concert album, quite frankly, cos it showed me that she can cut it, it's not just a million overdubs, that she has a good voice and with properly arranged music she can definitely cut it as a 'real artiste' rather than a popstar clone.
Joyeux Anniversaire à notre p'tite Lili!
Other notable birthdays of the day (only people who are alive, otherwise Joe Strummer would be on this list): Kim Cattrall, Actress (don't think I would ever be doing a post on her...) King Mohammed VI of Morocco, King (well, duuuhhh...) Carrie-Anne Moss, Actress Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google [gee, I wonder who next year's BOTD will be about ;)] Alicia Witt, Actress (she is a capable actress, I believe, and good looking- think she could have gone a lot farther than she has) Simon Katich, Cricketer Usain Bolt, Sprinter (I could have done this post on him, but it hardly seems like Usain Bolt needs ANOTHER post about him at this time!) Hayden Panettiere, Actress (don't think there's any shortage of posts about her, either...)
I'M BACK in my hometown! Finally done with that placement at HAL. Can't say I am fond of the city yet, but I will accept that I may have been able to tolerate the place if I had been in a position to get out more. But enough of that- just glad to be home. And I'll be back in Bath in a week, so WOOHOO! All in all, the last few weeks have been extremely productive... came up with a graphic novel concept, considered in great detail superhero fashions, and got so bored I added to my existing expertise in air tennis, air cricket and air football by learning air/mental kung fu fighting [although I am distinctly better at my new skill- my Henman lob in tennis still goes wide in my imagination, I keep edging the ball to first slip in cricket and I miss the corner of the goal in football, but as of now I can do to anyone what Black Canary did to Manhunter; ignore that last bit, it's a geeky comic book reference]. Okay, so I didn't pick up any new aerospace info, but I already knew that would happen before leaving, so nothing lost apart from 3 weeks. As for the blog, when I get back to Bath I am obtaining some tools that will encourage me to increase my blogging activity. Until then, I am going to do the odd post and in addition have a birthday of the day post each day, something I had been planning to do from August 1 before the lack of wifi in Bangalore wrecked that plan. First up, someone who I have an incredible fascination with. Have found some of her songs annoying, but on the whole I love her voice and think that with some less manipulative songwriters she would be one of the best around, and that she is misunderstood because of her past image. Plus, something I saw at HAL reminded me of one of her songs, so she is very much on my mind. All in the next post As for the title of this post, the last week in Bangalore has been characterised by sudden showers everytime I set foot on the main road, and the point of maximum intensity following me wherever I went. Similar to the Rain God in Douglas Adams' So Long And Thanks For All The Fish, who was followed by rain wherever he went.
Thanks to my dad, who seems to have no faith in my judgement, I am interning at HAL, Bangalore, and I absolutely hate it. A brief summary of how I have felt so far, day by day, is provided below:
Day 1 (31-07-2008)
Arrived. Don't fancy the place so far.
Day 2 (01-08-2008)
Hate Bangalore and hate HAL
Day 3 (02-08-2008)
REALLY Hate Bangalore and hate HAL
Day 4 (03-08-2008)
No public Wifi anywhere nearby, and nearest cybercafe about 10-12 km away. One hell of an IT city, this...
Day 5 (04-08-2008)
Hate Bangalore and hate HAL in a different department
Day 6 (05-08-2008)
Experimental observation of the day: My shoes are not suitable for Dorothy's "I want to go home" shoes/slippers trick.
Lone Bright spot: meeting my sis' old college classmate who's working here for dinner
Day 7 (06-08-2008)
I now really appreciate all those other moments that I have been miserable, cos this beats them hollow. I haven't been able to cry properly since I was 12 but I have a weird feeling it will happen sometime in the next 2 weeks. But my misery doesn't mean I will leave. If I have anyway had to survive so far, I might as well go through with it so I can show it on my CV. Now, I will either make it until 21st or die trying! By the way, the odds of the later happening aren't as slim as one would expect. My once-buried suicidal tendencies are starting to rise again, and even if they weren't there, it's hard to eat food if one is too miserable to muster up the force to enable one's glottis and epiglottis and oesophagus to move food down. So how will things pan out? We'll see...
