PHINEAS AND FERB! Everybody's cartoon!

I was watching my favourite cartoon Phineas and Ferb on Disney channel when there was a knock on the door. Not wanting to miss Dr.Doofenshmirtz's hilarious monologue with Perry-the-platypus (or agent P), I chose to leave the doorknocker keep knocking for a while. This is one cartoon that I love; and which is very ingeniously drafted with a clever & witty humor track that can catch you unawares. The more number of times you watch an episode, the more details you notice. The cartoon plot is an interesting one. Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher are stepbrothers and kids who want to make each day of their 104-day summer vacation memorable. They are extraordinarily brilliant for their age and thus create extravagant roller coasters, beaches, circuses etc on their backyard. Their teenage sister, Candace tries to "bust" them and report their activities to their mom, but is never able to. Phineas and Ferb have a pet platypus named Perry. The sub plot usually consists of Perry-the-Platypus who leads a double-life and is actually the secret agent (agent P) posted to check the activities of Dr.Heinz Doofenshmirtz, the mad scientist who considers himself evil. In the end, Perry always manages to foil Doofenshmirtz's plans and in the process, inadvertently destroys Phineas and Ferb's backyard innovations. This way, Candace never gets to show her mom what her brothers do in the backyard. The characters created by Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Dan Povenmire reflect the authors' intention to highlight lesser-known things. For e.g., the species of a platypus (Perry) is  rare and striking. This animal is found in parts of Australia and is known for its bizarre appearance. It looks as if a duck beak, a beaver's body and an otter's feet are sewn together to make an animal. The platypuses make one of the only five mammal families that lays eggs (note- mammals are species that produce milk to feed their young ones). In addition, the Platypuses are electro-receptors, venomous and possess various other interesting qualities. In one episode of Phineas and Ferb, (episode- Tip of the Day) the boys create an awareness campaign for the word AGLET (meaning, the shoelace tip), which again, most people are not aware of. The episode describes it as "The most useful, but tragically ignored inventions." Candace is a typical teenage girl who's non-stop musings, attempts to bust her brothers and subsequent goof ups make her an adorable character. Ashley Tisdale's voice fits the character perfectly. Dr.Heinz Doofenshmirtz & Perry the Platypus (agent P)  Talkative Dr.Doofenshmirtz makes up for his usually mute nemesis Perry the platypus. He wins the most funny and pitiable villain award, hands down. Most of his inventions are results of his neglected childhood and so are aimed at terrorizing the tri-state-area. He's got a flair for naming his inventions with a suffix '–inator'. The supporting cast consisting of, Isabella, Baljeet, (Phineas and Ferb's friends), Jeremy (Candace's crush), Major Monogram, Carl the intern, etc is also ingeniously created and great to watch. On the whole, the series gets all five stars from me. If there's one cartoon that everyone can enjoy, I think it's this one. Three cheers to Phineas and Ferb!

VIVA LA ESPANA

The one month is over! The FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 has finally come to an end. The world would now move on to another event to quench its ever burgeoning hunger for excitement.

THE GAME

The world cup final between SPAIN and THE NETHERLANDS was a war, indeed. The game saw scores of yellow cards, disappointing free kicks, roughness, referees and first-aid people butting in every few minutes, and finally, a spectacular and a dramatic goal by ANDRES INIESTA, taking Spain to its first ever world cup victory in history!

The remarkable thing was that the goal kept eluding itself, only to be scored in the 116^th minute of the game, when everybody thought it was going towards a penalty shootout.

LOST OPPORTUNITY

Holland would have won the game, had the incredible shot at the goal by ARJEN ROBBEN during the 61^st minute, not impeded by goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who clearly got lucky!

The ill-luck of the Dutch was evident right from the time THE OCTOPUS picked Spain for the win, which would have no doubt dipped the Dutch's confidence at least by an inch.

SOME OBSERVATIONS

Ø  The din of VUVUZELAS was not as pronounced as they were in previous matches. People seemed deeply engrossed in the drama unfolding before them that was the match. ;)

Ø  And as my friend and ardent football enthusiast, Kannan noticed (and I later conceded), the Spain coach did resemble SNOOPY, the dog. (No offence intended) J

Ø  Finally, the world cup proved (just like in the IPL 2010) that fair play always triumphs!

 

Neither David Villa nor 'little' Wesley Sneidjer, the close contenders of the GOLDEN BOOT received the award. But it was young Mueller of Germany, who stole the spotlight and the BEST PLAYER title, being the youngest, yet the brightest player of FIFA WORLD CUP 2010.

 

Bidding adios to the world cup related excitement until the next one in Brazil in 2014,

Yesh J

 

 

Foot-follower writes...

Never did I think I would follow a football match, let alone being a fan of the sport. But the current FIFA 2010 has sure invoked the interests of innumerable football-illiterates. Whether it's the ubiquitous Waka-Waka ringtones or the constant voices of 'which-team-do-you-support?' that inspired me to follow this game, I don't know; But the game has captivated me to an extent that I monkey-jump each time there's a goal, contort my face in all possible forms (worse than even Maradona) when the ball shifts to the opposite side, and indulge in nail-biting during the edge-of-the-seat moments.

The round of 16 and the quarterfinals saw some shocking exits. England, under Wayne Rooney, couldn't make it to out of the first 16. The France team, after an embarrassing spat between the coach and themselves, walked back home. Brazil and Argentina, the two undisputed South American favourites were defeated by Netherlands and Germany respectively in the quarter finals.

Right now, I'm waiting to watch the first semi final match between Uruguay, (for whom this is the first time into semi finals since The 1970 World cup) and Netherlands. The match starts at 11:30 pm (Indian time) and I've even decided to bunk college tomorrow on account of pre-final-excitement symptoms, for Germany and Spain are all set to take on each other in the other semi-final round at 20:30 hrs tomorrow.

And finally, Thanks Africa, for hosting such an awesome game... and I kind of like those vuvuzelas :)

Cheers,
Yesh