That Australia hit 434 in a ODI is amazing in itself. That South Africa successfully chased it, is mind-bongling. I can remember the first time 275 was hit in a ODI, thinking, wow, some team will crack 300! And Jayasuriya happened and ODI totals started to go up and up. Yet, the real high ones, the 350+, were still largely against bowling attacks of the Kenya and Bangladesh variety. And now we have Australia - arguably the best ODI team ever - in a heated contest against an arch-rival with words and deeds spilling over the boundary. The conduct of Aussie crowds during SA's tour last year was shameful and the trouncing the SA team got on the field must have stung even more. That Australia went into the final 2-2 was noticable. That they lost after scoring the highest total in the game's history is inconceivable. Mick Lewis' 10 overs for 113 should be enough for a man to take up knitting. Read the best account so far.
- In the NYT, Lee Siegel chases down the facts [ahem] in Exodus.
- Also in NYT, Pankaj Mishra reviews DFW's collection of essays: "Wallace's dazzling powers of description often redeem his bloggerlike tendency to run on". Heh.
- Andrew Bacevich, in the Boston Globe, points that "on March 7, 1906, US troops under the command of Major General Leonard Wood massacred as many as 1,000 Filipino Muslims, known as Moros, who were taking refuge at Bud Dajo" and the resistance that did not end.
- In the LRB, Charles Glass reviews a slew of UbL books - including the Bruce Lawrence's edited translations of UbL edicts. Glass recommends UbL google Fra Girolamo Savonarola.
- In the Times Literary Supplement Denis Judd, author of the recent The Lion and the Tiger: The Rise and Fall of the British Raj 1600-1947 [um, British Raj AFTER 1857, Denis], has a review essay on three recent books on British in India. Gilmour's book The Ruling Caste looks promising but the Judd essay is rather unimaginative.
- In the Guardian, Annie Proulx throws a fit over Brokeback's Oscar 'snub'. It really is a bizarre piece, for those following all this [zp?].
- Back to scary stuff, WaPo tells us that the National Security of this country is being run by the Sesame Street Generation which has the historical worldview that dates all the way back to 1991 - and they are Proud of It! These 'kids' suck at playing grownups. And no, I refuse to admit that I am of this generation.
- And finally, Žižek is on the NYT op-ed page talking about atheism.
COMMENTS
sharon | March 12, 2006
"Mind-bongling". I'll be borrowing this word in the future. Man, I wish I could've seen that match.
zp | March 13, 2006
Zizek writes about atheism, there's that nutty thing in the (more awful than usual) Washington Post and I'm supposed to follow up on Proulx? Ah well, I know my place. Though I'd rather try a comparative ethics piece on Zizek and Penn Jillette . . . From NPR This I Believe.
sepoy | March 13, 2006
Oh, I didn't mean for you to follow up...just notice. After all, the BBM is a cultural moment akin to the crashing of the hindenburg - or so they say. Penn rocks. Did you ever catch their show on Showtimes called BullShit? It was good.
s√âˆnee | March 14, 2006
I'm getting a DVD of this match !! It was incredible and I'm really happy that Gibbs 'wop aas' the aussies!!!
sepoy | March 14, 2006
Mail my DAMN ASHES DVD, NOW! also, this one.
desiknitter | March 14, 2006
i like how the judd essay summarises the legacy of empire: indian writing in english, cricket, tandoori, desis in britain, and "much else besides"! you don't say!
Qalandar | March 16, 2006
Sepoy: "...back to the scary stuff"??? Amigo, for this test match fan, anyone successfully chasing 434 IS the scary stuff! ...glad to see it happen to the Aussies though...