Well I am back from Calicut. I left at just a little before 11:00 am on Monday morning, taking a bus from Edapally Kavala stop to Guruvayoor. After a little lunch (2 porottas & kadala curry, which I was so scared of eating) & a 7-up, from Guruvayoor, I boared the first bus to Calicut & reached MIMS stop at around 4 pm. By the way, I was forced once again to face the fact that Guruvayoor bus stop is the dirtiest & fucking filthiest place in Kerala that I have ever seen! It almost rivals Kalashi Palayam bus station in Bangalore & man that is outrageously filthy! I know that it is raining heavily now and that does not help anything, but really folks. It is so disgusting, it felt like I was walking on shit mixed with water!!

My parents decided to come back to Cochin on Monday itself, so I didn't get to see them. I took the same room at Kovilakam Residency just near MIMS, room 208. I checked in, met my cousin Sanker alias guy with the eyebrow piercing, got some coffee and then freshend up to go to the reception party which was held in City Plaza. I left the party after an hour & a half, as there were only 5 people I knew there. The reason for that most of the people I knew were from outside of Calicut & Tuesday being a major hartal, everyone wanted to go home. So, ok I had dinner there and took my exit after telling my uncle & aunt. I took an auto to the hotel & went into their gorgeously lighted bar for a couple of vodka+sprites. Then it was off to my room for some shut-eye.

Hartal loomed large & ominous on Tuesday, hardly any one on the streets. Only bikes ventured out. Breakfast was three huge slices of toast with jam & butter & two cups of coffee that I had room service bring up, which cost me Rs.60! Fuck! Shinoy was the first to turn up to see me, taking a lift from a neighbour of his. He showed up at the room at around 1:30. We stepped outside to have a light lunch at a roadside vendor (thattu omlette). Soon Mujeeb & Anoop came on the latter's bike. The two years between our last meeting melted as we caught up on things that have happned since. Like the fact that Mujeeb is now a husband & father! He didn't tell us before as he says it was kinda sudden (???!!!!). We talked for a while before decided to buy a full bottle of White Mischief Vodka from the hotel and some sprite. We had peanuts & salad with it and also got some omlettes from the same vendor before Anup & Shinoy went out to buy our dinner - porotta & beef curry. We ended the day at 9 pm with another pint of Vodka and said goodbye.

The next day I woke up & checked out as soon as I could so I could make two stops before boarding a bus back home. The first was to the Calicut DO office of my company to see a few friends & then to Hotel Hyson to meet Mujeeb again. I also saw Yamini, she of the infamous phone calls to me & the call centre. Anyway, Mujeeb & I spent an hour talking before we had a crappy lunch and then we said goodbye as I got onto a bus heading for Ernakulam.



While waiting for my friends to come to the hotel room, I was watching REGENESIS a tv series about Bio-technological experiments, terrorism & the spreading of a SARS-like disease. Well that is what the first episode was about - a disease that spreads from town to town & heads to Toronto. I have been waiting for this series to start airing from the moment I saw the trailers on Hallmark. It stars Peter Outerbridge & Maxim Roy. It promises to be one the best series I have ever seen.

Italian media is reporting that Juventus are finally ready to bring Vieira back to Italy after a courtship which lasted over 2 years. Arsenal are willing to offload their star midfielder to net 10 million Euros and Ghanaian player Stephan Appiah in what would be one of this summer’s most sensational transfers. Always according to the newspaper reports, the negotiations are in their final stages as Luciano Moggi is discussing the last details for this deal to go through. In other related Juventus transfer reports, the Bianconeri are also preparing their final attack for Antonio Cassano to lure the talented young forward away from Rome. Spanish daily Marca have reported that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger met with Julio Baptista in Brazil a few days ago to try to convince the player to move to Highbury. The Gunners have already had a bid for the Brazilian turned down by Sevilla, but have now come back with an improved offer of around 15 million euros. Baptista has already admitted that the idea of moving to the Premiership appeals, although he has also revealed his admiration for Real Madrid and Barcelona. But with Real trying desperately to sign Robinho, and Barca unlikely to re-enter the transfer market, Arsenal looks the player’s most likely destination if a price can be agreed.



Luc Robitaille #20 LW Team : Los Angeles Kings DOB: Feb 17, 1966 Age: 39 Place of Birth: Montreal, Que., Canada HT: 6-1 WT: 215 Shoots: L NHL Seasons: 18 Drafted by Los Angeles in 1984 (9/171). Also played for : Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins & New York Rangers. Played his junior years with Hull Olympiques.

Honours and Awards
2001-02 Stanley Cup (Detroit)
2000-01 NHL - Second All-Star Team
2000-01 Played in NHL All-Star
1998-99 Played in NHL All-Star
1992-93 NHL - First All-Star Team
1992-93 Played in NHL All-Star
1991-92 NHL - Second All-Star Team
1991-92 Played in NHL All-Star
1990-91 NHL - First All-Star Team
1990-91 Played in NHL All-Star
1989-90 NHL - First All-Star Team
1989-90 Played in NHL All-Star
1988-89 NHL - First All-Star Team
1988-89 Played in NHL All-Star
1987-88 NHL - First All-Star Team
1987-88 Played in NHL All-Star
1986-87 NHL - Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year)
1986-87 NHL - Second All-Star Team
1986-87 NHL - All-Rookie Team
1985-86 CHL - Player of the Year (Canadian Major Junior)
1985-86 QMJHL - Guy Lafleur Trophy (Playoff MVP)
1985-86 QMJHL - First All-Star Team
1984-85 QMJHL - Second All-Star Team

Robitaille was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1966. He played his junior hockey with the Hull Olympiques in the QMJHL and had 85 points in 70 games in his rookie season. In the 1984 NHL Entry Draft the big story was not Robitaille but another Quebec kid, Mario Lemieux, who was the top pick overall. Los Angeles selected Robitaille after 170 other players, the ninth player the Kings chose that year. Robitaille began to prove the experts wrong with his play in Hull. He worked on his skating and made the QJHML Second All-Star Team after posting 149 points in 64 games. The next season he was the best junior in Canadian hockey. He had 191 points, was bumped up to the Quebec league's First All-Star Team and was a standout for the Canadian team at the World Junior Championship. He was named the Canadian Major Junior Player of the Year. Even after his incredible year, few people believed Robitaille could continue his prolific output in the bigger, stronger and faster NHL. But, he went on to score 45 goals and record 84 points that first season. He won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie, outpacing Philadelphia goalie Ron Hextall, and not only earned a spot on the league's all-rookie team but also on the NHL's Second All-Star Team as well. The next season he scored 53 goals and collected 111 points. He secured a berth on the NHL First All-Star Team, where he would stay for four years. Wayne Gretzky joined the team in Robitaille's third year, 1989-90. Robitaille continued to score, finishing the season two shy of 100 points and 46 goals. Gretzky missed the first half of the 1992-93 season with an injury and Robitaille ably filled in the offensive gap, as well as serving as the team's captain. His 62 goals and 125 points established league records for a left winger.


Here is a painting of Luc by Los Angeles based artist Stephen Holland
The Kings sagged a bit the next year, although Robitaille once again scored over 40 goals. It was the eighth consecutive season he had topped 40, the third longest streak in NHL history behind his teammate Gretzky, who had 12 in a row, and Mike Bossy's nine. When Los Angeles missed the playoffs that year, Robitaille joined the Canada's national team at the 1994 World Championship in Italy. He scored the championship-winning goal in a shootout to give Canada its first gold medal in 33 years. Robitaille was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins prior to the lockout shortened 1994-95 season. He had a solid year, collecting 23 goals in 46 games, but was sent to the New York Rangers in the summer of 1995. Aside from 1994-95, the fewest number of games he played in a season was 76, but for the first time in his career, Robitaille began to miss games because of injuries, and he struggled with his scoring. He scored 47 goals over two seasons with the Rangers, enjoying a brief turnaround when he was reunited with Gretzky in 1996. He returned to Los Angeles in 1997 but had an injury-riddled year, playing only 57 games and scoring just 16 goals. He reached the 500-goal milestone in a game against the Buffalo Sabres on January 9, 1999. Only the sixth left winger in league history to reach the plateau, Robitaille scored the goal in his 928th NHL game, making him the 12th fastest ever to accomplish the feat. After two more seasons in Los Angeles, Robitaille became a un-restricted free agent and opted to sign with Detroit Red Wings in hopes increasing his chances of capturing his first Stanley Cup. In his first season with the Wings, Robitaille registered 30 goals surpassing the 600-goal club and captured his first Stanley Cup and the Wings third cup in six years. During the 2002-03 season Robitaille's offensive numbers were not what he was accustomed to, however, the Montreal native managed to surpass the 1,300 point plateau. After two seasons and one Stanley Cup in Detroit, Robitaille was re-acquired by the Los Angeles Kings for his third stint with the club in the summer of 2003.







Song for the day - "Off He Goes" - PEARL JAM