"Slumdog" Steals The Show At The Oscars

It was a "Slumdog Millionaire's" night at the Oscars. The movie swept 8 awards out of the 10 nominations. The awards include

1. The Best Picture

2. The Best Director (Danny Boyle)

3. The Best Original Score ( A.R.Rahman)

4. The Best Original Song - Jai Ho (A.R.Rahman)

5. The Best Cinematography (Anthony Dod Mantle)

6. The Best Sound Mixing (Resul Pookutty)

7. The Best Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy)

8. The Best Film Editing

The Best Actor award went to Sean Penn for his role in Milk. The Best Actress award was bagged by Kate Winslet for her role in The Reader. The Supporting Actor Award was awarded to Heath Ledger posthumously for his role as Joker in The Dark Knight. It was only the second such instance of an Oscar being awarded posthumously. The Supporting Actress Award went to Penelope Cruz for her role in Vicky Christina Barcelona. The Brad Pitt starrer The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button which was nominated in 13 categories bagged 3 awards, for visual effects, art direction and make up.

The Oscar Fever Heats Up

Its that time of the year when the entire film world and the fans turn their attention to the Kodak theater where the Oscar awards will be presented. The 81st academy awards ceremony will be held on February 22nd 2009. The nominations for this year are

In The Best Picture Category:

1. Slumdog Millionaire

2. The Reader

3. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

4. Milk

5. Frost / Nixon

In The Best Actor Category:

1. Brad Pitt (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button)

2. Sean Penn (Milk)

3. Mickey Rourke (Wrestler)

4. Frank Langella (Frost / Nixon)

5. Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)

In The Best Actress category:

1. Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)

2. Kate Winslet (The Reader)

3. Angelina Jolie (Changeling)

4. Melissa Leo (Frozen River)

5. Meryl Streep (Doubt)

Freddie Out Of Fourth Test

England will be without their star all-rounder Andrew Flintoff for the fourth test against the West Indies. Freddie was injured during the third test and was in visible discomfort when he bowled 15 overs in the second innings of the third test. West Indies managed to escape with a draw in the third test. Although England reduced them to 370/9, the last wicket pair of Darren Powell and Fidel Edwards denied the victory for the Englishmen. Batting all-rounder Ravi Bopara and uncapped fast bowler Amjad Khan have been summoned as a cover. The West Indies lead the 5 match test series 1-0 with 2 more matches to play. The fourth test will be played at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown from Feb 26th.

Strauss And Colly Prop Up England

Centuries from skipper Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood put England in a commanding position in the ongoing third test at the Antigua Recreation Ground. After winning the toss West Indies skipper Chris Gayle put the visitors into bat, hoping to re open the scars of the 1st test. But all English batsman barring Andrew Flintoff scored half centuries and two of them went on to score tons. England's new No 3 batsman Owais Shah scored 57 while all rounder in the making Stuart Broad scored quick fire 44 of 55 balls. Engand declared at 566 for the loss of 9 wickets. For West Indies Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards and Ryan Hinds captured 2 wickets apiece.

In reply West Indies lost their skipper Chris Gayle for 30 off 32 balls. He fell to Steve Harmison. They were 55/1 when stumps were drawn on the 3rd day. West Indies lead the series 1-0, after winning the first test at Sabina Park. The second test was abandoned owing to a poor outfield. An additional test was added to the series after the abandoned match.

The Prodigal Daughter

"The Prodigal Daughter" is a sequel to the best selling "Kane and Abel" penned by Jeffrey Archer. Archer weaves the plot spanning three generations brilliantly in these two books. The book begins with the birth of the daughter of Abel Rosnovski. She is named as Florentyna. This is followed by a short account as to how Abel wound up in his present position. Then it goes deep into the life of his daughter Florentyna, covering her schooling and university years. The book also treads into Abel's life which is already described in detail in "Kane and Abel". However some of the events which are not fully explained in "Kane and Abel" are also discussed in detail in this book.

After finishing her education Florentyna works as an assistant in Bloomindale's under the name of Jessie Kovats to gather experience. In Bloomingdale's she meets up with Richard Kane, the son of William Kane. Florentyna and Richard fall in love with each other. After learning that there is a big feud between their fathers, they elope to San Francisco where they get married. Florentyna soon starts a chain of stores under the name Florentyna's while Richard works as a banker. Richard's mother visit them occasionally in order to maintain links with her son. While they live together, they hear the news that Richard's father has been thrown out of his bank, "The Lester's", and Florentyna's father was responsible for his ouster. After William Kane's death they come to know that it was William Kane who had helped Abel, when he was in desperate need of money. Florentyna and Richard also have two children , a son who is christened as William Abel Kane and a daughter Annabel.

Richard and Florentyna then reconcile with Abel Rosnovski and Florentyna then take over the reins of her father's hotel empire after his death. After facing a stiff resistance from a form Jake Thomas (An old rival of his father William Kane), Richard also succeeds in becoming the chairman of Lester's. After a few years, Florentyna is lured into politics by her old friend Edward Winchester and she hopes to make her childhood dream of becoming the President of the United States a reality. However she loses interest in life after an untimely demise of Richard Kane in a car crash. After some time she eventually starts to channelize her thoughts and then starts refocusing on her political career. However she is forced by circumstances to become the Vice President. But when President Pete Parkin suddenly dies of heart attack, she becomes the President. She also marries her old friend Edward Winchester who then becomes the first gentleman.

Florentyna Kane is portrayed as the President of the United States in Archer's book "Shall We Tell The President". To read the review of "Kane and Abel" click on the title. To read the reviews of other Jeffrey Archer's work, click on the author's name.

Prince Out Duminy In

South African middle order batsman Ashwell Prince has been dropped for the upcoming return series against Australia. J. P. Duminy who replaced him in the squad in Australia will take his place. Ashwell Prince was in the squad for the Australian tour but was unable to play due to injury. Although he has now recovered completely, he was forced out as Duminy performed creditably. Skipper Graeme Smith also returns to the squad after missing the ODI series due to injury. Opener Neil McKenzie who was off color in Australia also retains his place.

In the Australian squad Phil Hughes will partner Simon Katich at the top of the order. Hughes replaces Matthew Hayden who retired after the home summer. 36 year old spinner Bryce McGain has also been included in the squad. Marcus North fills in the role of a reserve batsman. This series will decide the leader of the ICC test rankings. Currently Australia sit at the top of the table closely followed by South Africa.

Jerome Taylor Scythes Through England

Remember the good old days back in the 80's and early 90's when fearsome fast bowlers from the West Indian islands roamed the earth terrorizing the batsmen around the world? Can you recall the days when a Caribbean cricket tour was synonymous with injuries? Well, things change a lot doesn't it? Gone are those good old days. Now a days teams across the world look forward to Caribbean tour, not only because Caribbean Islands are one of the most beautiful places on the earth, but also because the Caribbean team has been going steadily downhill. They are currently languishing in the bottom half in the ICC rankings.

The English public has been projecting the current Caribbean tour as a warm up to the eagerly anticipated Ashes series. England was also down in dumps recently after the ouster of the national coach Peter Moores and sacking of their captain Kevin "The Millionaire" Pietersen. Andrew Strauss was appointed as the skipper for his tour. And to put it mildly, he has begun the journey on an disastrous note. To begin with he won the toss and his team scored 318 in the first dig. West Indies responsed with 392 with skipper Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan scoring tons. During the first 3 days the honors were evenly shared. But the fourth day ended on a disastrous note for the visitors.

After finally dismissing the West Indies, the English openers were out for the second dig. What followed was a steady procession of batsmen from and to the pavilion as pacer Jerome Taylor wrecked havoc. He scapled 5 wickets in 11 overs and giving away only 11 runs in the bargain. England were caught unawares and was bowled out for a paltry 51. Spinner Sulieman Benn also snared 4 wickets. So disastrous was the English effort that the first boundary came along only in the 28th over. Infact Andrew Flintoff was the only batsman to score a boundary in the English team. It was an abject performance put in by a spineless batting line up. The pitch held no demons but the batsmen were caught napping. If the English outfit doesnt regroup quickly and make amends for this disastrous performance, this could be the start of another dark passage for England. To begin with they can inject some life in the batting order by replacing Ian Bell with Owais Shah. And on the other hand, this could be the start of something promising for the West Indies.

Kp and Freddie Top IPL Auction

Former English skippers, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen topped the bids in the second Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in Goa today. KP was bought by Bangalore Royal Challengers for a whooping sum of $1.55 million, while all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was snapped up by Chennai Super Kings for the same amount ($1.55 million). Thus KP and Freddie become the highest paid players in the IPL overtaking M.S.Dhoni who was the highest paid player last year. Dhoni earned $1 million.

South African batsman J P Duminy was also a hot favourite. He went to Mumbai Indians for $ 950,000. Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait was purchased by Rajasthan Royals for $375,000. Bangladesh all-rounder Mashrafe Mortaza was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for $ 600,000. England batsman Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood was purchased by Delhi for $ 275,000 each. South African all-rounder Tyron Henerson went to last year champions Rajasthan Royals for $ 650,000. Ravi Bopara of England went to Kings XI Punjab for $450,00. Hard hitting Kiwi Jesse Ryder was sold to Royal Challengers for $ 160,000, while his team mate Kyle Mills was sold to Mumbai Indians for $ 150,000. West Indian pacer Jerome Taylor was purchased by Kings XI for $ 150,000 while his WI teammate Fidel Edwards was purchased by Deccan Chargers for the same amount. Thilan Thusara of SriLanka was bought by Chennai Super Kings for $ 140,000. George Bailey was also purchased by Chennai Super Kings for $ 50,000. Deccan Chargers bought Dwayne Smith for $ 100,000.

The prominent players who did not attract any buyers include Australian keeper Brad Haddin, all-rounder Ashlee Nofkee, Luke Wright, Shakib Al Hassan, Samit Patel, pacer Stuart Clark, Andre Nel, Nuwan Kulasekara, batsman Chamara Kapugedera (He played for Chennai Super Kings in the 1st edition), Phil Jacques, Ashwell Prince and Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Symonds Out Of South African Tour

Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds has been left out of the touring party for South Africa. With fellow all-rounder Shane Watson also sitting out with injury, Andrew MacDonald is expected to retain his spot in the team. With this exclusion, Andrew Symonds has been forced out of second consecutive overseas tour. He was also left out of Australia's tour to India, after he skipped the team meeting and went fishing. He was subsequently brought back for the home summer but his form was patchy and he was injured during the series against South Africa. While recuperating from injury, he was again in hot water for calling Kiwi wicket keeper Brendon McCullum as a lump of s***. He has subsequently returned from injury and has been playing for his state side Queensland Bulls, but his form has not improved. It must be noted that Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has been pressing for Symonds inclusion in the team. With the team already in transition after the retirements of several stalwarts, the exclusion of Symonds has depleted the experience of the squad further.

After the retirement of Matthew Hayden, an opening slot is up for grabs and rookie opener Phil Hughes, Phil Jaques and Chris Rogers are the favourities to seal the spot. In the pace bowling department,with Stuart Clark and Brett Lee still recovering, Doug Bollinger may get another chance to press his claims. It should be noted that Australia has lost the home series against South Africa this summer. If they lose the series in South Africa, they will be officially stripped of their status as No1 test team in the world. They already lost their No1 ranking in ODI's against South Africa.

Google Launches Offline G Mail Access

Google is currently incorporating improvements in their G Mail system by introducing offline G Mail access. This feature is currently under testing phase and can be enabled by visiting the Google Labs tab which is placed inside "Settings" in G Mail's interface. This feature is currently being rolled out to those who use US or UK English version of G Mail.

How It Works?

G Mail offline feature works by downloading a copy of "mails" in the hard drive of one's computer. This is done through a software called "Google Gears". Gears must be initially installed in the computer system before one can use offline G Mail. However if one is using Google's own browser, Chrome, this software comes preinstalled. Thus the mail folder can be accessed through the browser window just like normal "on line" G Mail. Using this feature one can read, write and edit mails. But the mail will be actually sent only after the user connects his/her computer to the internet. However one cannot add attachments to his/her mail while using G Mail in offline mode. Contacts tab feature is also absent in offline mode and therefore new address cannot be added while using G Mail in this mode. Also only around 10,000 e mails can be stored in the hard disk. There is also another option called as "flaky connection mode" which can be used if the internet connection is very slow or unreliable. Also other new features currently under testing are also updated in the G Mail Lab's which can be enabled and tested. Post your comments on "offline G Mail"