You know, the power of CSS is unbelievable when you really tap into its latent power. From the earlier theme, I was able to completely change the look of this site without touching a single tag of XHTML. Every layout change was made within the CSS file. This means the site looks exactly to web robots and other scripts. The changes are purely visual.

I still plan to use the older theme on and off as it's just one click away. But I just wanted to use this theme just as a variation and to get feedback from my readers. If you think this theme is too plain, just let me know.

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The ICL tournament is really getting my interest now. I think Twenty20 is here to stay. It's interesting to watch some of the international veterans like Lance Klusener and Craig McMillan still playing such competitive cricket. The intensity has definitely been higher than I expected at first. It's better than the current India vs. Pakistan Test Series which is going nowhere with such dead flat batting wickets. The fielding standards have been quite good too.

P.S. There seems to be (at least) a couple of other "Indian Cricket League" websites out there (and one of it claims to be an "official" website) which is bound to create some confusion. The site I linked to above *is* the official website of Zee TV's ICL.

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I am casually attempting to write a parody of Harry Potter. After all, I do write parody articles, so I thought I should try to attempt to parody a full-length novel. I've already fleshed out a first chapter and it seems to be quite easy since J.K.Rowling provides such excellent "parodyable" content to work with. I just hope this one comes good. Maybe if I really put in some effort into it, I might get it published.

It's not easy to sustain humour over several chapters and I'm trying to avoid the pitfalls of most parodies. Here I'll just try to write down a few rules to keep in mind for myself:

1. Don't resort to silly jokes. It just takes away from the "parody" aspect.
2. Be subtle to a degree. But not too subtle that the joke is lost on the reader.
3. Stick as closely to the original storyline to keep the comparitive value alive, but don't mimic the original too closely. Add variations to the theme to make it interesting.
4. Try and look for "clever" points to exaggerate and improvise.
5. Take a serious concept and twist it to a level where it becomes ridiculously funny.

Now, that's a handful.