The other day I went to one of my relative’s place for dinner and we sat down to watch an old DVD of a Simon and Garfunkel concert. Listening to their music made me wonder, when was the last time a modern day rock/pop band came up and had a cult following. And when I say modern day, I mean in the last 15 years or so. I scratched my head, thought over and over and couldn’t come up with  — forget many — even one band which created a mass hysteria amongst music lovers.

In fact, the only few names which I could come up were Green Day, Coldplay, and to stretch the list, I had to include Linkin Park in it as well. At this point, I must tell you that when it comes to music, I am very snobbish. In fact, music is the only form of entertainment, where snob value is the highest amongst people. You will rarely hear someone say “Oh, I can’t watch a SRK movie” or “All Yash Raj Movies are trash”. But when it comes to music, people have erected these mental barriers around themselves, which doesn’t allow them to go beyond the genres which they like. Like a friend of mine the other day said, “I just can’t listen to the likes of Rihanna”. Of course, it’s music, so personal tastes do vary from genre to genre among people.

In my case, I genuinely hate the Hip Hop genre and to a certain extent rap (Eminem is the only exception). Most of the artists sound the same, they have some of the most ridiculous names (what sort of a name is Three 6 Mafia for a band?!) and the words of their songs are inexplicable to say the least.

My wife is the exact opposite of me when it comes to music. Though she rarely allows me to use her iPod, when I do manage to lay my hands on it, I find all genres of music on it. From Bob Dylan to Black Eyed Peas. From Frank Sinatra to Freddie Mercury. From Pink Floyd to Pussycat Dolls. She knows what’s the “in-thing” and knows the songs of artists whose names even I can’t even pronounce. For instance, Soulja Boy, who is apparently a rap artist!. It’s something I really admire, she is always open to listening to new music and gives it an honest chance and then forms an opinion.

This other friend of mine, who like me is still stuck up on the music of 70’s and 80’s, says that its not because the new artists haven’t been that great. It’s just that when we were in college the likes of Pink Floyd, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Nirvana left an inedible mark on our minds. Even in college, there used to be these two groups. One who were always high on music and other “stuff” who preferred the likes of Cobain and Gilmour and the other who’s dose of music had the then contemporary music of Ricky Martin and Michael Learns to Rock.

But even then, Pink Floyd was never the “in-thing”. At least when I was growing up, the likes Backstreet Boys, Boyzone and the million other boy bands were a rage. Girls loved them, guys didn’t like them but listened to them as they weren’t all that bad, while some — as is the case with any genre — trashed them like anything. The point being even they had a fan following. These days, I guess it’s too much about one-song wonders band/artists. People like their songs but soon are forgotten.

So when last week Michael Jackson died, me and wife were having this conversation about how no artist/band in the last few years have managed to dominate the charts over a period of time. She said don’t crib as it’s your fault only. “Who’s asked you to listen to the same songs and artists over and over again?”. But I love them, was my immediate reposte. She agreed that there have been no new rock bands in the last decade or so to have a cult following. But added “Just because your snob value is so high, doesn’t mean good music hasn’t been created post the 80’s”. True, I guess, we can’t sob, sob…when we are so snob, snob!

I have always had an enormous amount of respect for former Pakistan cricket captain Imran Khan. He was a born fighter, a fantastic and courageous leader of men, and had an on field attitude which was unparalleled. He fought tooth and nail for every inch and even though he some might say that he wasn’t supremely talented, he is arguably one of the finest cricketers of all time. Why am I suddenly talking about Imran? Well, this week, I thought Imran pulled out a perfect in-swinger from his repertoire of deliveries, albeit off the field. He said that T20 cricket is more of Tullebaazi (read chance cricket) where one doesn’t need too much planning and it’s more about luck and taking chances. To be fair, he also said that he was happy that people were flocking to see so many people turning out to watch Tullebaazi.

What’s even more interesting is the fact the current Pakistan skipper Younis Khan came in for a lot of flak when he came out and said that he would be disappointed if his team gets knocked out of the T20 world cup but won’t take it too seriously as he equated T20 with “fun cricket”. Even Sachin Tendulkar in a recent interview had said that he likes T20 but it shouldn’t be played at the cost of test cricket being affected. Chris Gayle has already said something on the lines that Test cricket is boring and he prefers the more “fun” format.

Since I wasn’t around at the time One Day Internationals were introduced back in the early 70’s, I am sure that similar doubts must have been raised. Resistance to change is always very strong when it comes to cricket - both for the players as well as fans. But T20, at least to my dislike is rapidly incorporating too many changes. I read somewhere that the ICC is mulling over the concept of an ‘Eighter’. Already the concept of maidens seem to be history in the scorecard, with dot balls column replacing the good old maiden. Sixers are called maxium (prefix a brand name of your choice) before it. And strategy breaks were seen at IPL 2.0 to please the advertisers.

Although the biggest joke, and yes it was a joke only, had to be last week’s New Zealand-Scotland World Cup match which was reduced to 7-overs-a-side. Yes, 7 overs! I mean, for heaven’s sake, we all have played much longer matches in our gullys while growing up. How does a captain motivate his team for such a match? How does a batsman plan his innings? How does a bowler execute his plans for different batsman? Of course, that match could very well be a one-off and I might be reading too much into it. But seriously, the men running the show, need to understand that a fan is not devoid of cricket to such an extent, that he will watch a ridiculously shortened game! He might watch it, but deep down he will find it absolutely cringeworthy.

I, for one, definitely don’t believe that T20 would put the nail in test cricket’s coffin. As a sports fan, I am not too worried about that. What worries me most is, in fact, other factors such as lack of quality players, the current state of cricket in traditional powerhouses like Pakistan and West Indies, and most importantly, extremely flat and placid pitches all over the world.

Please give us back a bouncy Perth pitch, where batsmen actually fret before taking guard. Or the Sabina Park of old, where you knew that you were in for some serious business. If the authorities don’t wake up and do something about these things then that day won’t be far, when Tullebaazi will replace Ballebaazi!

Apart from feelings of bitterness, hurt, disappointment and anger at Manchester United’s meek surrender of their Champions League crown, the other thing which was going through my head was “How will the next three months pass?” No football on weekends mean that the television for the next 80-odd days is a mere show piece for me than anything else.

I have never been fond of odd-number years, which is ironic since I was born in one and got married in one as well. But no international football tournaments mean that you are left twiddling your thumbs and waiting eagerly for the next season to start.

Which in-turn means, that I can’t say no to any of my wife’s humble demands (like a movie or dinner, and on very rare occasions a trip to some shopping mall). Neither can I say no to any social engagements as my wife after saying no to most of the weekend get-togethers for the rest of the year wants to make up for the lost time.

Summer, in even-numbered years, are much more fun since there is always an international tournament on every two years. If not the World Cup, then the European Championships are always there to fill the void.

Of course, apart from football, there is tennis to look forward to. French Open is already mid-way and without tempting fate, I think Roger Federer might just win the one that has eluded him so far. And very soon, Wimbledon shall be here as well and the voice in my head keeps on saying that Federer would avenge last year’s defeat. Though I harboured the same hope for the French Open as well, but even that voice had a hearty laugh at the thought and asked me to stop daydreaming. This was till,  Rafael Nadal was still in the fray. That voice, surprisingly has gone quiet, even since Nadal was knocked out.

The T20 cricket World Cup starts next week as well but since I have a passing interest in T20, don’t think will watch any of it. Though the papers, TV channels, will come out all guns blazing to make it sound as if it is the biggest sporting extravaganza of the year. Speaking of cricket, even the Ashes, this time around, have failed to arouse much interest. The Australian team looks like a shadow its’ old self and England, in my opinion, will flatter to deceive yet again.

And on top off it, the on-going stand-off between multiplexes and movie producers mean that one can’t even go out to catch a movie as well. See, I told you, there is something about odd-numbered years that make sure that summer is longer than usual. Is it just me, or the weather is terrible this time around compared to last year?