Monthly Book Review: The Sweet Science by A J Liebling

I'm back, but only for the review. Work's been hectic, and my apologies for my no-shows. Please bear with me for a little while longer.

So, on with the book review - this one is especially for Rajbir.
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I've often heard of A.J. Liebling being refereed to as one of, if not the greatest boxing writer of modern times, equitable to say, the Sugar Ray Robinson of pugilistic prose. However, being a child of today's 'show me, in order to convince me' world, I had my share of doubts. Frankly, because I find that many of today's contemporary writers have similar and consequently indiscernible styles, it's difficult to be truly distinctive and audacious in this arena. So, when I had a chance to pickup Liebling's, The Sweet Science, I felt not only intrigued, but also compelled.

The book is a compilation of some of Leibling's best works during the decade of the 1950's. During that time he covered boxing greats Rocky Marciano, Sandy Saddler, Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore, Joey Maxim, Joe Louis and a host of others.

One of the most obvious and discernible traits that Liebling displayed was his ability to re-create the current times and atmosphere he was writing about. He not only paints accurate fistic portraits, but also cultural and sociological ones. During one instance he talks about the day Sugar Ray Robinson challenged Joey Maxim for the Heavyweight crown in Yankee Stadium, where he not only provides candid moments on the fight itself, but also salient features on the venue, its atmosphere and the people that populated it.

As well, you'll quickly notice that Liebling was a very erudite man. Many, many times he'll amaze you by providing terms that are unequivocal in their defining purpose, and only with the assistance of Merriam–Webster will you be able to fully appreciate them. I found myself thumbing through my own copy on numerous occasions, all the while though, realizing the rewards that Liebling's caveats provided.

Liebling also had an uncanny knack of providing, and invoking humor and humanity in the characters he was covering. I never found his satire to be malicious, as he attacked everyone from fans, to fighters, to foes, but rather comical as no one was able to escape his sardonic wit. I found his portrayal of the verbal and linguistic skills of the patrons that attended fights quite enjoyable.

I Dream of "Gini" (Sam)

Alright now, first things first. Don't let your imagination fly with the title..... that's my best friend... the one closest to me. Though there are many whom I can term the same, she takes the cake... and by miles. The reason being she has never met me!! Intrigued?? Hmmm.......... guess i have to tell you a story.........

The story between Sam and Gini began around 7 months back, when they came across each other in the world of Orkut. Before that they knew about the other's existence through a common friend. So not really strangers to each other, they interacted pretending to be strangers, and before long realised that it was an effort in futility........ Long chat sessions.... fierce arguments..... and then a phone call!!

23rd December was the night. Sam was on his way back from Mumbai, and it was around midnight. Gini calls Sam up for the first time with certain doubts in her mind regarding the person she would be talking to over the phone. But she got more than she had bargained for...... What was supposed to be a 10 minute conversation, ended up being a 3hour long one..... And that remained the norm till the end of April. I mean that was like the minimum number of hours that they would speak.... Often they would touch 6-7 hours in a day.... To an extent they can't pass a single day today without speaking to each other for at least 5 minutes (thanks to professional commitments). The journey till today has been a joyous one... A lot of emotional upheavals.... Turbulent times.... testing times..... But Sam and Gini stayed together....

Here is what Sam has to say about Gini:

"They say all good things come in small packages, but after coming across this girl, I’d say the best things come in small packages. Guarantee humari kismat tumhari!! Lolzzz………… But seriously speaking this lady is a pint sized bomb. Energetic, full of life, very curious, very calm and stable minded…… except when it’s personal……then you’d get to see the fiercely passionate and possessive Gini. And trust me you’d love that sight. To be very honest this otherwise chilled out lady, can be very hot-tempered and god save your soul should you end up being in her wrong books. And from what I’ve heard and experienced…… it’s one hell of an experience. And now the icing on the cake…… she is very moody…… and her mood would swing faster than you can spell it out. Guess I am the only one who can handle that and calm her down to a more rationale frame of mind. Her curiosity knows no bounds. She can ask any damn question imaginable…… and I being the quintessential “Mr. Know-it-all” would go out of my way to answer her then and there. And the best part would be it would all be so logical, she accepts it. I can recall only one question of hers which I’m yet to answer: “How do you know so much??” The first time she had asked me this question was a few days into our friendship. It came around when I had to voice my opinion about her. As fate would have it…… it was more than just accurate…… it was perfect!! She reciprocated in the same manner but took her time (say a few months!! Lol……).

There are so many things about Gini, that either language is inadequate or time or space…… in fact, it’s really difficult to capture Gini’s essence in words. One has to experience her persona. It’s magnetic!! Hunterwali, cattie, dumbo… are just some of the names I refer her by…… At the end of the the day the way we can understand each other is nothing short of a “miracle”!! I’ve tried to sum her up often, coming up with names like Devilish-Angel or Angelic-Devil. While both are applicable to her yet something is always missing. Guess “Ananya” fits her to the T, for she is unlike any other lady you’ll ever come across.

Oh!! I forgot to add…… She hates sweets, loves spicy food, is simply in love with babies (not the bratty ones) and…………………… still loves to play with Barbies…… Sometimes I wonder, whether she is really 23 or is she actually a 3 yr old kid…… That’s how she’d behave when I catch her on the wrong foot!! But still at teh end of the day she's a sweetheart....."

That’s not all. Assume it to be just an insight to a wonderful person called Gini.
And to know what Gini has to say about Sam, ask her if you can find her… else checkout my Orkut profile.


Being the nice girl that she is Gini is always there for me whenever I’ve needed her comforting words…… and it ahs been duly reciprocated on quite a few occasions. It’s been a month that she started her 2nd innings in the professional world. While it has left us with little time to be the chatterboxes that we were, we still manage to catch up. Ummmm…… to an extent you can blame her for this blog bug…… I was happy blogging away in own domain, and never really bothered to venture out into this blog world as such. But, she made me read Tanuj’s blog and then there was no looking back.

So thanks to Gini basically, I’m blogging here today amidst all of you!! Thanks Gini… I owe you one!!

At the end of the day no matter how much we fight and quarrel, but we can't do without each other..... and to top it we are yet to meet... She stays in Delhi and yours truly in Pune.........

There are so many things I have skipped... She deserves a book not a single post!!

And so there you have an insight into my best friend.... my dear Gini... the Angel!!

Voila *wacko* tis!!

holla mates!

Finally, I do get a chance to become a part of this wonderful blog 'BUF'. I have been wondering what it takes to attract people towards one's blog, but unfortunately cudnt get a hint till now [:P]. I found this blog where i've instantly become friends with a lot of people hanging round here without even joining it. Well, this not being the sole reason for me joinin BUF, I actually realized that it is very creative and innovative to have a group of friends converging together to share what they feel like and simultaneously get to know what others feel. [:)]

Not deviating from my aim, crisp and short it will be! [:D]

As some of the Buffers here already know me by 'wacko', i would rather prefer being called as Anshuman. Yeah, thats my name! I dont actually know what 'anshuman' means but I defnitely have a hint of what 'wacko' means [:P].

As the name suggests, I am a bit weird and difficult to understand on the first hand. But, once i get hold of you(or vice-versa), I bet there aint any damn thing in this world that could get us part(till we die..is lame :P). I am currently pursuing my BTECH engineering from a not-so-cool college(Dehradun Institute of Technology) situated in the Doon valley of Uttarakhand, India. Though the college is not cool, the serene environment and the calm ambience there is definitely enchanting. Anyways, I love making friends(got half a million f em :P). I like people who are full of sarcasm, should possess a great sense of humour, trendy and witty not to mention! Some of my friends think I carry unwanted attitude with me, but on the contrary, I think 'attitude' is the only thing i cherish having in me. (yeah yeah i can very well differentiate between having a good and having a bad attitude).I really dont care much of what people presume or think about me! I dont give a damn.Matter of fact, I would really like to tell ya that some of the best friends ive ever had are ONLINE. I am what I really am. I am allergic to people who really dont know how to carry themselves or people who flaunt unnecessarily.

I have this ever-eluding dream of going abroad and settling there(man..i hv this charm for blonde's :D). Not to mention, am working hard to get a goooood GRE score..lol! Though am not the fittest hanging around, but I am a sports freak..a fanatic to b precise! (are ya guys able to catch the sarcasm filled moi?). I lauuuuuv music especially Hip-Hop and Rock...Can listen to any damn nigga(no offense ya) besides my family and friends repeatedly cursing me not to follow these semi-naked black body hulks with absolutely no sense of gentle-man dressing sense(i hope you get me)!!

I like surfing as in anything which i find worth lookin upon. My friends keep asking me to tell'em some of the sites to surf, but unfortunately i can only manage to find a way out of their questions. In short, I really dont surf anything meaningful :D. I like fidgeting with my laptop, playin games(Counter Strike yeahhhh) and fooling around online! And yeah, I am not at all political by any chance. :D

I am a social animal, a shopoholic, and am freakin insane. I like adventures and would not mind turning raunchy some or the other times! :P I've been a NOMAD literally. I've lived in Surat, Calcutta, Kota and Dehradun presently, still planning to take my ass wherver life takes me to.

thats it for now i guess!
Here's a link to my alternate blog: http://wacko-da-n00b.blogspot.com/

Ya gotta holla me back if ya wanna knw about me better! ;)

\m/ peace \m/

Current Topic: Introduce/talk about your best friend

Well, to start with..I really do not have a so-called "best friend" or whatever, but yeah at this time of my life, I would really like to mention about a very special friend of mine. She is Priyanka aka Pinka(it'll be P frm now on).

God knows what bestowed upon me, but unfortunately am not in touch with her anymore. So, all I have to share with you guys are just plain memories gathered in a span of some 3 to 4 years. And believe me or not, I met her online. Now looking at the very ironical fact of this particular phase of my life, the day I met her, she suddenly started acting weird and apart from a few swearings online, we havent been the same ever since that goddamned day! :x :x. We've never talked the way we used to. I miss talking to her not to mention! I even remember taggin her my best friend on HI5 :D.

Yeah, so gathering back all my emotions back...lemme tell ya some of her characteristics. She's a cancerian and so obviously she has this fukat ka attitude with her. She has this so-called mental block in her mind. By this, she refers to being petrified of some apprehensions that she has about meeting unknown people or talking to them. She has this so-called "respected" list of guys..Man, I tell ya, she's krazy..(not to mention a biaaatch too, but anyways i like her).

We first met when I was in the middle of my holidays after my 12th ka boards. All hail to Yahoo chat rooms...She was looking for this mentor she wanted, who could guide her for IIT and other exams and i bet she couldnt find anyone better than me ;). So this is where, it all began.

In the beginning, as most of the girls do hv security issues, so did she. She was afraid of trusting me and had a big doubt of even lettin me know her name. But anyways, since am not the usual hacker or whatever, I finally managed to make her understand that am humane enough to talk to. :D

As years passed by, we managed to keep in touch through mails incase of calamities and the usual chatting when it was perfectly normal. I still remember my parents and my sisters scolding me like anything for chatting with a person completely unknown. But, it seemed really hard to make em understand how well we both bonded all these years. I literally knew everything about her. I just hope she did too :). We had this rigorous sessions of sarcasm filled statements aimed right at each other. There were these long heated talks between us which ultimately i had to give up cuz of her attitude and shit. We had this so-called online dates where we used to fix up a time and then consequently not show up most of the times :P.

Then, one day I finally convinced her to meet me and get her fear away of not meeting unknown people. We did meet. I really enjoyed being with her. We parted nicely. It was just that she was in a hurry and was a bit tired. Ever since, we just met online a few times and things hvnt been bitter enough ever before. I told her what i felt and that was it.

I can perhaps write a whole book out of it, as I sincerely loved every moment I spent with her online. I dont actually know what happened(just in case ya ask me) between both of us. I leave it to ya guys to figure out and just lemme know the possible reason for it.

Anyways, at least for some part of my life, I considered her my best friend. I really dont know how she felt about it, cuz whenever i managed to ask her about it, she used to get away by telling she aint emotional and stuff....

Seeing the length of my post, I am scared already of the admin people kickin my butt, so I better finish it off.

Looking forward to knowing all f ya wonderful people.
adieu!!

Rathna from deep White Forest...:)

I am glad that I have been invited to this forum of between friends!

Well, well, well…My best friend Seema has already given my warm intro generously!

Yes this is about me :) I am honored to have a friend like her who is so supportive and encouraging! Yes! Seema

I am yet to know myself very well ...I will give a brief intro of myself as far as I know!

I was once upon a time studious gal until 12th std. But after that I drastically changed and leaned upon my extra curricula’s like singing, playing chess and theatre.

Though I take sometime to let a person into my world, I like making new friends and discover their nature completely. I have had the best times learning and discovering new things with my friends which is really unforgettable.

I love butterflies. May be bcoz they are colorful and beautiful! And thats my cute smile :D

Hmmm..mujhe bohot bohot bohot bohot gussa aata hain…I easily get angry. And this anger is devastating most of the times. Well none of them who know me and who just know me as a friend agree to this. There is a reason for that. I don’t get angry 90% of the times…the 10% of the times when I get angry, it’s devastating!

I play chess weirdly! I cannot tolerate when my opponent takes my Queen!
I feel as though he/she has taken away “ME” and imprisoned. I feel I want to spoil the game or resign from it though it’s not the end of the game!

There is always a combat between illusion and illumination in my mind....Whenever, I flow in the flow of illusions....my other side of the mind illuminates me with its light ...and tells me to do what is right!

So to sum it up ...I am a combat btn…illusions and illumination! (that’s also my name in Orkut:) )

And to talk about current topic, Seema is my best friend for 2 n half years now. Yes the very same Jaan ki sweetheart….. For what she considers me in her life…whatever I say is going to be less.

She is extremely supportive and friendly. Very caring and she believes in nurturing friendships tenderly which I like the most in her. She is also my best critic. But she has a very nice way of putting things across. I hardly care about how I look, what I wear. Seema is someone who suggests things that can make me a better person!

I am always inspired by her boldness and confidence she carries along!

Here I am, this is me (Sam)

About Me:

Libran

or may be a Scorp??

You see being a cusp fella is tough!! But then that's what makes me different, a bunch of contradictions and totally, absolutely confused...... confused sam.

Now, I have to introduce myself. This isn't an easy task, but let me try.

Hmmm.... now this is tough!! One can ramble on in an eclectic manner and say stuff that may be hard to decipher for the not so intellectual minded individual, else one can choose to be simple in approach.... I think I'll choose the later, for it is the simplest of things that can create the greatest of impacts!! Here goes:

I am a simple fellow, who loves to be the friendly soul around. Show me some good chocolate and music, and you couldn't have found a better way to bribe me. The rest u can figure out..........

On second thoughts, I'm an absolute nutter. Totally confused, lazy and crazy about good music. If you are around me, anything can happen.... good or bad, no guarantees! LOL!!
For the rest.... hey I am still around....... let's talk!! Cheerio!!

Personal Trivia:

• I am Bong, but not the typical one..... and definitely not into fish and rice.
• Crazy about music, I play the guitar and sing.
• Though I appear to be very playful, I'm very, very serious minded, and am particular about etiquette.
• Am a confirmed foodaholic, orkutaholic and now a blogaholic.... lol.....
• I love to analyze people and dig into their thoughts (only if they are interesting enough!!) and I get amazing results.... and earn friends for keep!! :)
• My friends consider me to be a smooth talker, mischievous, flirt, err..... and a few other stuff which should have made me proud... but then I never believe it!! Dunno why!!
• Am very skeptical, and believe in something only after I have verified it's worth personally.
• And I'm getting royally bugged just writing about me.... You may want to check out the post "BIG Quirky me" where I had listed out similar stuff..... and about 35 of those!!

Confused Gyaan :

" If you cannot present something in a single and simple sentence, that thing is either of profound significance..... else utter nonsense..... the choice to believe is yours!!"

Current Topic: My Favourite Childhood Memory

For a person who has spent his childhood travelling from Patna to Mumbai to Jaipur and then finally to Kolkata, I have a big treasure trove to choose from and I am spoilt for options. So I think I'll give you all a bunch..... enjoy!!

The first thing I remember from my childhood is trying to walk on the wall!! Surprised?? Well, there was this ad where they did just that, and I was determined to do so...... I still remember trying to walk.... while my feet did their duty well, my torso refused to defy gravity...... guess my first shattered dream.............

Was a foodie right since my childhood and simply loved the kitchen. Back in Patna, mum would set me up with some utensils allow me to create a racket in there while she would get busy around. And I would wait for the moment she leaves the kitchen to look into the forbidden areas.... So often I would end up being caught with a lot of those grains around me, which I would happily pick around :), and mum in an equally opposite frame of mind give me a whack!! Wonder why she never loved picking those grains and tasting them as it is?? Now, there was this one time, this would be warrior decides to enter the kitchen without permission. The coast was clear..... fast steps take the warrior close to the fascinated spot of the day.... and then SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH!! The whistle of the pressure cooker goes off...... Surprised by this sudden and never heard of intrusion, the warrior scrambles to safety outside the domains of the now strange territory called kitchen....... That was the day.... from then till today, the warrior is still scared of that thing..... much as the Gauls were afraid of the sky falling on their head. Now don't you go and share this with anyone else!! Please................ promise me you won't!! :P

And then there was Ronita......... not much memory of her though except the teacher always trying to separate the two chatterboxes and failing gloriously!!! And then a complaint to my mum..... my first ever.... so you see I was influenced by the girl factor since I was about 3.... :D

Wish I could write on and on, but time doesn't permit me the freedom. So pull things to a stop...... There was this cranky old guy whose trees we would climb for some fruit (don't remember the name), then "kala kutta" a black dog who managed to terrorise us kid successfully when we were in Jaipur, and my sister once getting terrified of it just by hearing about it (I admit spicing it up a bit, wanted her out of my hair... had some mischief planned)... and shouting on the top of her voice "lala kutta"... she was just three............ or the............ enough!! no more........ lol..... so many years, so little space, so few words.....

I'll sign off here.........

Cheerio

Sam

Speaking of Memories (Puja)

It’s just bringing back all my childhood memories. Those were the days. That innocence, the simplicity, the joy, the stubbornness, the fights with Brothers and friends…its all lost today in this cruel and bad world.

I still remember I used to get up early on Sundays and sit before the TV to watch Jungle Book – One of my Fav Cartoon shows. And would fight with my brother bcoz he wanted to watch WWF - I hate this- sare nunge punge aate hai wahan pe (All naked) But since I was the youngest I would always win :) and happily watch Jungle Book.



I went to SAI- Sports Authority of India and learnt swimming. I can never forget. I was so excited always used to get up at 4.30 – the first batch people used to get to swim for one and half n hour that’s 5.00 to 6.30. I used to go with my child hood friends and my daddy. It was so much fun, the coach would make us run may be 5 rounds. (It was a long one) and then jump in the water. (splash splash)!!!

I used to go a Dance classes (Nothing classical or anything) it was a Time pass Dance classes. My mom’s friend was conducting those classes. And we were totally 6 students. My friend used to dance so well. I was so so so jealous. And when it was the time to show what we have learnt. She won the competition....OMG I was so jealous I dint talk to her may be for week ;) I was chottu na hota hai kabhi kabhi. But those swimming classes, Dances classes ...I miss those days.

School time – A gang of 3 girls. It always yummier and fun to eat what others get in there lunch boxes. And in our school everybody used to keeps there lunch boxes at the back side of the class. Me and my friends we would flick one or two boxes and finish it hahahahha in the middle of the class and the teacher would never come to know. We were always back benchers, and very silently will keep the lunch box back. (The food used to be so yummy).

The PT (Physical training) classes I used to always miss them, The PT classes were so boring the coach would make us do all the exercises in that HOT SUN. I used to always miss them. When ever we had these PT classes, I used to flick some money from my mom purse(sorry) bacchi thi na. We were not getting any pocket money. So the easiest way is to flick money from mom’s purse(50 paisa or 1 rupee). I used to go to the ice cream center and would happily have Orange lolly with my gang. (I got caught one day and got such nice beatings from mom …. Ouch it’s still paining) And now my mom flicks money from my purse heheheheh Me n my mommy :) (like – Wife taking all the money from her hubbies purse) hahahhahah and when ever my mom does that I fight with her.

I miss all my childhood memories. Childhood is just Faded away, to a far away land.
Simple, so simple was I, Days of Play, Coming back from school at 4.00 and meeting all the neighborhood friends and play Hide and seek for 2 hrs. And then Mom shouting.....Puja Ghar aao do your Home work. Then see the friends going away far for good. Having fun, no tension and just smile and smile and smile. Those Birthday parties and presents.

I miss all of them.

My Best friend (Seema)

Heh friends sorry to be writing after such a long time..but i fell ill u know..had viral fever and was in bedrest for one week....Anyways now iam back and hope to be blogging on and on and on....

This time the topic that has been decided has been "Favourite childhood memory and/or talk about your best friend..." My Chidhood memories are so bad that i better not remember them. Anyways yes today i would be talking about My best best best friends......

Ya thats right this post would be dedicated to my two friends who are so close to me that without talking to them my day doesnot get complete....

The first person i want to talk about is my collegue and my best pal who has been with me for the past 2 1/2 yrs thru thick and thin. Lent her shoulders to me whenever i cried and adviced me whenever i needed it.... Ya her name is Nagarathna....My best buddy...No what she is so younger than me but believe me you she is so mature than me. Whenever iam low she advices me so well...seems like she is my elder sister. She always make me feel good. And believe me she is so ambitious...Has lots of dreams....And she is who makes the saying very true..."Good things come in small packages"....She is damn talented man....She is so talented...And she being the eldest at home takes care of her family, works, takes time out for her studies, takes time out for her friends, takes time out to go to gym, takes time out for her extra curricular activities( She plays chess, is great at suduko, Loves to dance salsa, and loves to blog) and what language she has man....God if i start praising her this blog wont be enough.... There is just one thing i have heard her feeling sad about her height but sweetheart let me tell u " U have many good things in you that ppl will not even look at your height" Lolz iam really lucky to have you as my friend. And also she is the one who introduced me to the world of blogging..... This is the pic we took on her bday party....

The second person obviously is my sweetheart....My Jaan..The special and the Mr.right of my life. Jaan...without whom prob i would never have survived all the crisis in my life. He never let me cry on his shoulder and all that...Know his love for me has never been like college romance. He always wanted to have a mature relationship and prob thats why he chose me....Ya actually he is the one who chose to make me his sweetheart. He always wants me to be strong and mature but always i end up leaning on to him for the support and care. Its not cause i am not strong but cause its the first time in my life i found true love and i want to enjoy it till i can. Tmrw before he leaves me i want to enjoy the relationship so much that i should be able to live in the warmth of the friendship we shared. He is a doctor. He too co incidently is younger to me only in age but the way he behaves sometimes i feel he is like my dad...he he he... He is so organised and has beautifully planned his future and now is planning mine.... He loves his car and his mobile ( more than me...sob sob sob)... Loves to party( he showed me what life is outside home), loves to travel, loves his work, loves music, and yes he lovessssssss biriyani.....he he he... And what i love about him everything....everything....Thanks sweetheart for supporting me and being there for me.......

And all those friends that i have not mentioned here..iam sorry..U r close to my heart but these two stay in my heart........