Fame and money is not enough...

So Whitney Houston died last week. She was just 48. It seems another celebrity succumbed to prescription medication, excessive alcohol, depression etc. Not so long ago we lost MJ (meds), Kirk Cobain and Jim Morrison (suicides) and so on. I was trying to think, what in the world could be wrong with them. They have had immense talent. They earned an immense amount of money due to that talent. Enough money that you can call it quits at 40, get a mansion at secluded island, show rest of the day-laboring world the finger and live in great health without 99% of worldly pressure whatsoever. So what incomplete dreams or desires these guys harbored that they take such extreme measures? Is it that the talent they possess comes at a great price? A price that normal OK-to-do person does not pay. Or is that they achieve so much fame, money, fanfare, love, importance, VIPness etc that the small incomplete portions of their lives now stand more highlighted and in-their-face-sized big, accentuated and they see themselves as failures. A lot of people go through failed marriages and bad childhood and lack of normalcy. But does it affect successful people a lot more than bottom dwellers?

I still stand by my rule. Make enough if money if you can and retire and live a happy healthy life. Do no linger is daily squats of work, commutes, office politics, attitudes, rude people and so on. Just make enough so you can live peacefully and happily.

But again, if it was that easy!

Hell and Back Again...

I just saw this documentary called "Hell and Back Again".

Well, its just another documentary on Afghanistan War's effects on the American Soldier. It was well directed and edited. And it once again pressed upon the very simple and very evident point that these wars are just leaving a very deep scar on the current generation of Americans.

So young, physical, energetic, well trained and motivated. Yet so easily lost to one bullet. There is not a day that goes by when I do not stop and think for a second "What If". What if we had not had these wars and all the guys and potential had been used to build a new American economy and working force with all the money that was lost in these wars.  What if ?

What if we had send them to protect the borders and stop drug inflow. What if we had sent to New Orleans the next hour Katrina passed by. What if we sent them to get rid of sea piracy. What if we sent them on a 3 month mandatory National Service of their choice. You know! Teach, help elders, help scouts, help build homes for homeless. The number and difficulty of tasks at home trumps the need,cost or justification of these wars.

If at all we have to fight this enemy, lets build more upon special forces, the best of the best with best intelligence and missions and peel the bark off these degenerates called Taliban and extremists. Armies are used for fighting wars, not in taking down a few thousand terrorists. Taliban are like DDT resistant cockroaches that we will never get rid of because the we can never get of ideology that harbors them. The only way we will get rid of ideology is by educating those who are susceptible to this ideology. We need to attack them by developing a new form of DDT that affect their genes of ideology.

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First Practice of the Season

It was windy and we did not have our batting cage. But we practiced on the tennis courts.

Here are the things I notice.
1. picking up slower deliveries on leg side.
2. Front foot still not going all the way
3. Loosing my balance hitting big shot because I did not fully step forward. I can see a jerk back.
4. Get to the pitch of the ball if on front foot. The way to do that is watch the ball right from the hand of the bowler in his runup.
5. Get on frontfoot first and across.
6. Too casual on drives and defense. Need to commit and show intent.

Need to focus more on the footwork.