Cricket and Picking Up Local Culture

When I travel abroad (or sometimes within the states), I always like to try something new and try to take it home with me. Previous attempts have more or less failed, such as a gravlax habit that would have been prohibitively expensive here in the states or gradually losing interest in international rugby after the 2011 world cup.

Ever since I went to Australia I have been fascinated with cricket and even attended a couple T20 matches ahead of the cricket world cup, and I have been able to maintain an interest in cricket long after my interest in other foreign tidbits has already faded. During work I can tune into a test match and have it running in the background, and watching limited-overs cricket leads to every ball being important, which can't exactly be said for many other sports. Even in test cricket, where the strike rate is relatively unimportant, can provide constant entertainment over several days, such as the current iteration of The Ashes. Combine test and limited-overs cricket, and you have a sport that could entertain in any situation.

It seems that the primary hurdle of watching cricket is achieving a basic understanding of the rules, as otherwise it would be impossible to enjoy the game. While the game doesn't seem quite so complex after watching for a while, I realized that it can be very difficult to explain to other people with all the ways to get runs, to get out, etc. Once that significant hurdle has been overcome, it seems that cricket can be something I can enjoy for a long time to come.

Panda Cheese

Back in 2010, Panda Cheese, a cheese made by an Egyptian dairy company, made commercials featuring a panda destroying stuff. I remember these commercials having great success over the internet and having quite a few good chuckles back in the way. I was reminded of these commercials recently, and while they still provide good comedic value, I was more curious about the song featured in the commercial.

Buddy Holly's True Love Ways is reminiscent of songs of generations past, where the instrumental was more than just a series of beats and the chorus didn't repeat over and over again. The lyrics were meant to be meaningful and the song overall was easy on the ears, instead of today's overstimulus in all facets of life. Kind of like...