Day: November 28, 2011

On Children

- Roshan

I don’t hate kids, I like them but I like them from a distance. I’m an unmarried & single man of 35 years. I do not have kids (that I know of) and in the next few years there are no plans to have a kid. If I do not father a child by the age of 40, I firmly believe that it’s better not to have any. Assuming, you know, my swimmers are all in peak efficiency and will cause no problems in getting that egg. So if I don’t find a female human who wants to settle down with sweet ole me and get married before I hit the big 4 0 – then the world will never see little Roshans or Roshanis running about on their little feet and causing havoc like their old man did back in the day!

But I have to admit that I do not see myself as a father even if I did get married before that cutoff age that I have given. Even if I had gotten married a few years ago, I still wouldn’t see myself willingly wanting to manufacture a baby or two. Ofcourse the practice is great but the actual end product is not something that I feel I’m cut out for. I do not see myself as a father, a dad, a daddy, a pop – a sugar daddy, yes maybe but not a parent. I’m not close to my nephews and niece; if they come over, I spend maybe 15 minutes with them and then I’m off. I have no overwhelming urge to see them. Heck my niece used to be shit scared of me because when she was very little I scared her wearing a towel on my head! Now at the age of 5, she never even talks to me even if I have tried bribing her a few times with candy.

A bunch of my cousins have kids and most of the time I find that I am eager to see my cousins but not so much their kids. I know their names and perhaps their ages but that’s it. I’m finding it hard to even muster the least interest in kids. I guess that’s also the reason & the result of me avoiding family functions. I wouldn’t be able to spend hours talking about what the kids did and all stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I wish only the best for my cousins and their kids – I just won’t be comfortable around them. I’m like the uncle who stays away.

Some people have told me that if I have kids of my own my feelings would change. Holding your new born baby in your arms for the first time changes every man. I dunno, there’s nothing wrong in choosing not to want to have kids, right? I know several people who feel the same way. This is not an easy world to live in. And plus who knows, I’m waiting for December 2012 to roll by to see if the human race will continue to exist. Who knows what’s in store but I don’t see my feelings change any time soon.

PS – but I go crazy for puppies & dogs, kittens & cats and even some other small ones of animals! I’m weird!!

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Mina & The Count – Pilot Episode

- Roshan

Until a few years ago Cartoon Network actually showed proper cartoons on their channel. But now they suck! I haven’t watched it in many years but when I saw my nephews and niece watching utter nonsense that passes for cartoons these day, I was shocked. Atleast some channels still have the oldies and guess what – the kids enjoy them better than the crap that comes out now.

As I grew out of my kiddie years and into my teens I stopped watching cartoons with the rare exceptions being Garfield & the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (The Simpsons are adult cartoons so even though I love them, they don’t count as cartoons). In the late 90s and early 2000s there were a host of good cartoons that most kids and adults loved – Johnny Bravo, Dexter’s Laboratory & I Am Weasel (voice by Star Trek‘s Worf aka Michael Dorn no less) and the launch pad for many of them the What A Cartoon Show or Cartoon Cartoon. During that time I saw what would be one of my favs, the pilot episode of Mina & The Count which later became a short-lived series, however I only got to watch that first episode. Thanks to Youtube and one Voldy2006, I am now watching all the episodes.

In case you didn’t know what Mina & The Count is, it’s about the friendship between a 7 year old girl named Mina Harper and Count Dracula, who mistakenly comes into her bedroom due to a goof up by his servant Egor. Egor had mixed up a 17 year old Nina Harker’s address with the little girl’s home. Mina loves the Count on sight and the feeling becomes mutual by the end of the first episode. What a cartoon! Enjoy!

RIP Gary Speed

- Roshan

Gary Speed, former Welsh international footballer and captain and recently manager of their national side, was found dead yesterday at his home in Huntington, Cheshire. It’s being ruled a suicide by hanging. He was only 42 years old. No apparent reason for his decision has come out yet. Friends & relatives of Speed are shocked at him having hung himself and are asking themselves what could have led him to take his own life when he had “everything to live for”.

Speed played professionally for Leeds United, Everton, Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield United. Rarely troubled by injury or suspension, he held the record for the most appearances in the FA Premier League at 535, until it was surpassed by David James. Over the years I’ve seen him play and remember him mostly as a Newcastle player. Born in Mancot, Wales he was an Everton supporter growing up but it was with Leeds United that he signed on as a youth trainee and made his professional debut at the age of 19 in 1988.

He would sign with Everton in 1996 and played for them for two years but left under controversial circumstances that were never publicly revealed. He moved to Newcastle in 1998 for a fee of 5.5 million pounds.  Speed featured in the club’s FA Cup Final defeats by Arsenal in 1998 and by Manchester United in 1999. He also played in the UEFA Champions League with Newcastle in the 2002–03 season.

He then played for Bolton from 2004-08 and it was with them that he became  the first player to make 500 Premier League appearances when he played in Bolton’s 4–0 victory over West Ham United in December 2006. The final year and a half of his career was spent at Sheffield United and in 2010 be agreed to become their manager but left is post to take over the reigns of the Welsh national side. Speed had appeared as a guest on BBC One’s Football Focus only a number of hours before his death. The tributes to the likeable Welshman kept pouring in as the evening went on.

Speed married wife Louise in 1996, the couple having two children, Tommy and Eddie. Speed was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.

Rest in peace Gary Andrew Speed, MBE (8 September 1969 – 27 November 2011).