come rain or shine...

It was friggin cold when I drove my bike home last night. I was shivering so badly I had 20 sets of decent vibrators in the form of fingers and toes (can vibrators be decent?).

Yesterday it rained in the evening. So I thought, fine, I can't play footie. I had hoped that the rain at least stop before my class last night. Well, it did. At about 10p.m it started raining again though, while I was teaching. Great. Then I had hoped it would stop before 11 so I can go back home. Again, it did. woohoo.

It was ON MY WAY home that it started raining again. I had to endure like, 10km or so of rain in the middle of the night. I stopped for a while at a petrol station when it got too bad. It stayed bad for quite a while I actually slept on my bike. But I was so desperate to get home I thought, what the hell, I'm wet anyway so I might as well just brave the rain. And I did just that.

I just can't believe how cold it was. And I was dressing kinda lightly. Hooooooo it was soooo cold I felt my balls contract (no, it wasn't because I was horny. Driving a bike at midnight in the middle of rain is hardly a turn-on).

I got home to a brother-in-law who was watching Discovery. The Future Is Wild (this is the title of the featured documentary, in case you thought I suddenly decided to write something at random). I joined him but dozed off shortly, but not before I discovered that there'll be 'sharkopaths' and very intelligent giant squids in the Earth's oceans in a few hundred years.

It's always nice to be home.

on behalf of Rafa

Rafael Benitez is a very good manager ain't he?

I watched the Champions League match between Rafa's side and Chelsea last night and can't help admiring good ol' Rafa. Unlike Mourinho who did the talking for himself, Rafa let the numbers do the talking for him. OK, for all of you who aren't in the know, let me enlighten you; just 2 seasons ago Mr. Benitez was manager of Valencia. And he won the Spanish league title AND UEFA Cup with them. Then he left. What happened to Valencia? Nothing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Valencia didn't win anything the following season. They still have their stars; Aimar, Ayala, Angulo, Baraja, Mista, Canizares. But they fail to win things. Apparently, their best man have left for Liverpool: Rafael Benitez.

What did this guy do for Liverpool you ask me? with him at the helm, Liverpool won the Champions League. In his first season in charge. And in such a spectacular fashion that 'spectacular' is an understatement. If Manchester United's win against Bayern Munich in 1999 is described as the 'mother and father of all comebacks,' then Rafa must have invited both the paternal and maternal grandparents along with the aunts and uncles of comebacks for his side. A.C Milan scored 3 times and I, the sceptic, was heading to bed. I mean, Liverpool were playing against an Italian team. AN ITALIAN TEAM. Not only did the Italians know all the tricks in the book when it comes to defending, chances are, THEY are the ones who wrote the book. And Rafa's side actually allowed the Italians to score three times. Later, my roommate woke me up just before Xabi Alonso was about to take the penalty (yes, I did go to bed) that would level the score. And the rest, they say, is history. Or maybe you would want to choose 'legendary' instead. Indeed, if, say Carragher becomes a grandfather one day and tell his grandchildren about THAT night, I doubt that tears will shy away from the occasion. It's the stuff of legends really.

And last night, watching another Champions League match between Liverpool and Chelsea, again I marvelled at Rafa's genius. Against Real Betis the previous week; Finnan, Gerrard, Cisse and Didi Hamman weren't in the starting line up. Last night, it was a different story. Rafa shuffled his squad so effortlessly that complaints from the Liverpool fans are unheard of. And what about Traore? (come again..? Traore? who the hell is that?). Even the guy who bought him, Houllier dare not play him as regularly as Rafa did.

Rafael Benitez. He didn't say much. Some say it's because of his rather weak command of the english language. But he didn't say much neverthless. Then again, the numbers scream for him. And numbers won't lie. And when you're manager of Liverpool and have a Manchester United fan singing praise at you like what I'm doing right now, you must be very good. VERY good.

Damn, Fergie! Start thinking your tactics! pronto!

the World Cup for average janes and joes

I'm a big fan of the movie 'Braveheart' and one of the most memorable things anyone ever said in a movie, to me, is; "every men dies. Not every men really lives" (from 'Braveheart,' obviously.d-uh) ..So what is living, really? How do you define someone as living their life..? I don't know why, but for some reason when people talk about "living your life," it almost automatically means going paragliding or snowboarding or surfing or AT LEAST go on a vacation to Bali. Is that all there is to life..? Does living your life mean you have to go do something, like, extreme or out of this world? Then what happens to the average janes and average joes out there? People who struggle to make a few hundred bucks a month and can't go vacationing for fear of depriving a few mouths they're responsible to feed? Or people who just CAN'T do all those extreme activities? Can these people not live their life?

The average janes and joes, myself included, do the average stuffs; sell cars and insurance, teach, sweep floors, clean windows, write a software, repair cars, etc, etc. Nothing extreme. But I think we can always ask ourselves this; if there ever was a World Cup for what I am doing, would I win it..? AM I THE BEST AT WHAT I DO? I think if everyone constantly ask themselves this question, then we are living our lives aren't we? Or at the very least, we're trying to..

...then again, what do I know? I'm just the average joe. I'm not going to Bali. And I'm not going paragliding or snowboarding anytime soon, if ever. But I'm going to live. And while at it, I'll win myself a World Cup or two :)

something to hold on to

I am well aware that religion is not what most people are comfortable discussing about, but I just had to write this...

I was a witness of a friend's friend converting his religion yesterday. The day started as every other day would; we met and introduced ourselves,had breakfast and stuff. Except it wasn't any other day; it is THE day where he'd convert. Later, we went to complete the..ermm..procedure.

Besides he, there was a woman who was there with the same intention. Long story short, everything went smoothly, albeit a rather nervous 'performance' by the woman. She was somewhat distraught or something and later started crying (not the over-emotional-oscar-winning cry, just the regular, body-slightly-shaking-while-crying cry). The only other woman who was there, an older one, said; "it's normal for women to cry over these things..we women are sensitive.." Later when the guy who handled the process asked the crying woman; "have you told your family..?" she simply shook her head (OK,simply is an understatement..she -somewhat emotionally- shook her head). But there was no hint of regret on both people who had just converted. Shaken, but unmoved.

Standing there with tears begging to flow, I felt really small. In a world where religion is going waaay down on a lot of people's list of priorities, I think to hold on to one requires significant strength. To convert into another..well, let's just say that requires more. It is such a majestic thing to complete that if someone actually said he or she wants to convert into another religion; it actually dwarfed everything I ever wanted. I mean a lot of us are waaay concerned about our jobs and how much we make, will we afford a car, what house shall we buy, when are we getting married, and to whom..stuffs like that. But really, choosing a car or a house is just a teeny bit of commitment compared to choosing a religion ain't it..?

..religion is really not what most people are comfortable discussing. Nor do i think is a good first entry for one's blog. But I choose to write this anyway. And it's still just a small,small thing compared to the commitment made by the two people I met yesterday..