A grumpy old bathplug raves

[the1much]

A farmer named Clyde had a car accident. In court, the
trucking company's fancy lawyer was questioning Clyde .
"Didn't you say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine,'"
asked the lawyer?

Clyde responded, "Well, I'll tell you what happened. I had
just loaded my favorite mule, Bessie, into the..."

"I didn't ask for any details," the lawyer interrupted.
"Just answer the question. Did you not say, at the scene of the
accident, 'I'm fine!"?

Clyde said, "Well, I had just got Bessie into the trailer and
I was driving down the road..."

The lawyer interrupted again and said, "Judge, I am trying to
establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man
told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine.
Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my
client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer
the question, yes or no."

By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Clyde's answer
and said to the lawyer, "I'd like to hear what he has to say
about his favorite mule, Bessie."

Clyde thanked the Judge and proceeded, "Well as I was saying,
I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite mule, into the trailer and
was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck and
trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I
was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other."

"I was hurting, real bad and didn't want to move. However, I
could hear ole Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in
terrible shape just by her moans.

"Shortly after the accident a Highway Patrolman came on the
scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he went over to
her. After he looked at her, he took out his gun and shot her
between the eyes.

Then the Patrolman came across the road, gun in hand, looked
at me, and said, "How are you feeling?"

"Now what the hell would you say?"

[masalai]

I hope the judge found in favour of farmer Clyde...

[masalai]

Ok for all you "hot market" followers and players, your interests now have a name...

The 'Sania' effect on commodities market
By Sreekumar Raghavan/ Commodity Online
If there is one sports person in India who has acquired the status of a Bollywood star, it undoubtedly is Sania Mirza. Still below sixties in world ranking, she is yet to reach the pinnacle of her chosen profession.

Yet she is already a talking point worldwide. Even the Chinese media has included Sania Mirza among the world’s all-time ‘Top 10 Tennis Beauties’ along with Russian star Maria Sharapova and former player Gabriela Sabatini.

The Chinese media portrayed her wearing a traditional Indian dress as well as donning a skimpy tennis attire, a picture apparently shot during a Grand Slam Championship.

May be because of her good looks, her often `controversial attire’ or her career prospects, she is already a hot commodity on internet. Blogsites dedicated to Sania have appeared and get monumental page views. You have everything from sania wallpapers, posters and other hot downloads.

The Sania Effect on Commodities?

When we analyse this we can get parallel examples from the real world of commodities—all the expensive ones such as oil and gold.

Tennis is an expensive profession, hard for anyone to get into and equally difficult for anyone to get the top. So is cricket. But in cricket there are already so many players who have made it to the top and more hopefuls on the queue.

One may wonder why leading FMCG companies want to feature Sania even when they were never interested in Vijay Amritraj, Prakash Padukone, our own Payyoli Express- P T Usha, Shiny Wilson, or Karnam Malleswari. Or our tennis veterans of yesteryears, Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan or for that matter anyone else.

The closest any athlete came to becoming a star was Ashwini Nanchappa but her film forays were not successful at all, despite her good looks and talent.

In the case of Sania, her good looks and occasional upset wins were sufficient to catapult her to a hot brand in India, but not necessarily in the global arena where you have Maria Sharpova, Anna Kournikova or Martina Hingis, still others. Therefore, she is just a hot commodity in the global market.

In addition to that her dress and attire and the controversies surrounding it also helped her to be in the limelight and nobody focused too much on her winnings and losings.

One analyst Mark Dampier wrote in The Independent, UK that right now it is wise to go for gold because nothing else is glittering in an analysis of commodity markets.

The same could apply for Sania. For companies that want her to endorse their products or the excited bloggers, there isn’t anyone as glittering as Sania around. Again, ad agencies go for endorsements because it is less risky than thinking up off-beat `creatives’ which may or may not ring cash registers for their clients.

Her stature would continue until more and more young girls take to tennis and become successful in international circuits. Again with a high barrier—the expenses involved in taking to tennis, she is not likely to be displaced from her throne soon.

It was Amritraj’s Brittannia Foundation that helped budding youngsters like Leander Paes and several others to enter this sport.

For Sania, nursing an injury after a major tournament, all these sponsorships and adulation could help her perform better. You need money to take part in tournaments, hiring coaches and keeping fit.

For the time being, the nation and all the sponsors have invested in a hope called Sania just as investors bet on stocks hoping their value appreciates over time.

Look at Coke, which uses Sania’s endorsement. It continues to be a global leader in beverages because of its closely guarded secret of which cinnamon and nutmeg are ingredients.

Manny economists talk of `scarcity value’ of a commodity as the one determinant of the price of a commodity. If indeed, OPEC can create scarcity value by not producing more oil, international prices of oil shoots up. You cannot dig everywhere and get oil.

Whether it is coal, gold, oil, coal or for that matter any hot commodity it is confluence of high entry costs into industry, `scarcity value’ and non-availability of some other alternative that drives up prices. Call this the `Sania’ effect of commodities market.

[artemis]

Wow. For people who live upside down, them Aussies sure are awful smart. Can ya tell me ware I kin buy one of them 'Sanias'? An I'll pay in US dollars cause ya'll get more of em. They make real purdy wallpaper - cause that's about all they're gonna be worth pretty soon. But if ya got something physical that's of value, you can cut it into pieces to trade - you know, 1 finger equals a loaf of bread.

[masalai]

Did you check Sania out? one absolutely pretty Indian lassie plays pro tennis...

The "wallpaper" is for your computer screen... http://www.sania-mirza.in/photo-gallery-sprite-ads.php

[Frosty]

'A grumpy old bath plug raves'

Well I should cocoa a gander at the black sky, Ey lad were in fer a bita precipitation.

Ooooh look Grandad, its as black as a witches ---------

[masalai]

--------- Asinine disability to fly... Seems I am finishing off your sentences again?

[RHough]

Fuck ... I'm starting to feel bad ... just a little ...

That Mainstay guy's rig I dissed just dropped of the board ... like I hurt his feelings or was so abusive he couldn't handle it ...

Crap ... I only fired after he had stuck to his guns with several other posters to defend his idea ...

What have I done? Killed a budding young rig designer's dreams? Lost a potential bright lite for the future of boat design?

Nah ... maybe I don't feel so bad after all ...

Never mind ... carry on

[masalai]

Look at it this way, you probably saved the life of some dumb fool (not saying he was - just by way of illustration to make you feel better) Many of you "septics" seem to get in a mental rut and become unable to think outside that box - not just septics, but you guys seem to "rise to the bait" so spectacularly... he he he

[masalai]

US lawmakers try to block Bush from Beijing

A bill was introduced overnight (Australian time) in the US House of Representatives seeking to prohibit US President George W Bush from attending the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing following China's crackdown in Tibet and other alleged abuses, a congressional aide said.http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/
I love this - more than one way to skin a cat...

[masalai]

It is just short of 5 pm and I am grumpy because we have been driving around all afternoon looking for house or land to buy, and Lovely Lady is not pleased by any of them...

Now I go to prepare dinner for wife and Mum and would love to see something interesting and/or humorous when I return... Please???

[the1much]

will you marry me?,,,you sound like a perfect houswife hehe

[masalai]

I have already got one thanks... he he he

[masalai]

Now you can all see what the "grumpy old bastard" looks like... It is a "truth in advertising" police that I thought was appropriate... Having been induced by others, of whom I have great respect, to show a "true image" which my wife took yesterday...

So now I will have to be on best behavior.. . . My responses to threads are significantly slowed as my email browser is not up (I can't remember my password) - but I can still look at the web - just not get emails... So I don't see the necessity yet... - I installed a new operating system - still Linux, and seems to work my 2 screens better... How the F did I manage before - such an improvement - Not to be outdone, Lovely Lady hooked up her projector & has a wall-sized screen to play on (doing her thesis for a doctorate of science education) - bighead...

[the1much]

wowz,,,you as ugly as me,,,,,sorry hehe
and can i borrow that projector?,,hehee,,,i think i can scare the crap outta my gay neighbor hehehe