break in,break out

I now have this latest craze that is 'Prison Break'. My good friend Pullah (a.k.a K-Pool in some circes, due to his prowess at the green table with side pockets) downloaded it on one of his gagdets (what's it called again..? A harddisk that can be plugged in directly to a tv..? :p) and I watched a few (later) episodes. Then I started feeling teruja and stuff (not sexually though) and felt like watching it from the start. That I did. And now I'm 'in too deep'.

I guess that's a common reason for lifeless people to stay glued to the idiot box. In too deep. Is that a good thing or a bad thing..? Is that a reason?

sweeet

I arrived at the Batu Pahat bus station a couple of hours ago and decided to go to a nearby departmental store. It's my birthday tomorrow, so I decided to do some cooking. I called my mother, told her I'd arrive, and asked her the ingredients for her puddings. It's some kind of a family recipe thing. Later, my mother arrived to pick me up. This sweet, sweet woman brought me pengat pisang. Apparently, when I called to ask about the ingredients, she thought I was real hungry and had a sudden craving for puddings.

:)

UEFA Champion's League part 2:can Arsenal do a Liverpool?

For whatever reasons people seem to think that the Milan-Barca semifinal as the harder rather than the Arsenal-Villareal semifinal. And for whatever reasons the same people might be considering the Champion's League final a turn-off. I think that all of the four teams have equal motivation and very good reasons to win the most coveted prize in European football (other than money, that is). For the romantic, there's the question of whether or not Arsenal can win it in their final season at Highbury. Then again, also for the romantic, Villareal winning it would be fabulous. Logic lovers and statisticians would want A.C Milan to win, for obvious reasons. And of course lots of people would consider it unfair for el maestro of Barca to be delayed further in his quest to win it.

Post Arsenal's triumph in the q-final lots of people have likened them to Liverpool and their Champion's League campaign last season. Until the q-final stage of the competition, Arsenal are argued to have done better than Liverpool did last season. True, but then again, although Arsenal's form might be enough to win them the Champion's League, there are very important things Liverpool had in their campaign last season that Arsenal lacked;

1) an English heart
In Gerrard and Carragher Liverpool have two Englishman playing vital roles in their campaign. And how they played. In last year's spectacular final (aku harap engkau janganla sedih sangat boro) the duo played like their life depended on it. Arsenal, meanwhile, have Cole and Campbell. One is reportedly going to Chelsea and the other have a broken nose. Then again, the final will be played in Paris. Assuming Arsenal does get there, Henry (and the rest of the French legion of Arsenal) will most certainly give his all, and then some.

2) an English backing
While Liverpool have the die-hard backing of the Kops, Arsenal have their Highbury library. Last season, Liverpool fans showed that they are up there with the best, showing true European pedigree all the way to the finals. Arsenal might need help from the likes of Millwall and West Ham in terms of fans enthusiasm. Chelsea fans are worse by the way.

So, can Arsenal win it? I wish them the best of luck. I do think that they are capable of producing superb, beautiful football. And of late, they've matured a lot and have learned to play the slightly uglier game that is 'European-style football', which I think are trademarks of many successful European sides.

My ideal final?Arsenal-Barca. And not just because the two are leading by the same scoreline. But ultimately, I hope the final will showcase 'the beautiful game'. sori boro :p

UEFA Champion's League: Ronaldinho the Great

As always, the demi-god did it again. And as sleepy as I was, I watched the Milan-Barca game from start to finish. It wasn't an easy feat, mind you, since I played futsal on the same night.

A.C Milan; as a football outfit, is nowhere near weak. Even 'formidable' might be an understatement. But when Ronaldinho is on the field, Ronaldinho rules. Poor, poor Manchester United :(

The first half of the Milan-Barca game saw the home side applying the cattenacchio upon Ronaldinho. A.C Milan played brilliantly by not doing what other teams did to contain Ronaldinho; merely man-marking him. Instead, they blocked all passages to his pass. The chain-link defence. And the glory of the great fort was displayed for all to see; passes of el maestro never getting anywhere significant. But if anything, this emphasizes the greatness of Ronaldinho; by his exalted standards, merely passing the ball accurately and not doing mistakes is never enough. El maestro is on the field to produce something special. Not just to play football, but to be feared and awed by his opponents. And most importantly; to entertain the masses, as he always did (Mourinho please take note; being the special one does not just consist of boasting).

There's only one sure way of getting the ball away from Ronaldinho's feet, and that's when he decides to let go of it. Barca's goal actually reminded us of this fact. At that particular moment, for whatever reasons, the home side decided to start giving Ronaldinho a slightly more 'personal' attention rather than carry on with their cattenacchio. But not even the attention and aggression of Gattusso succeeded in wresting the ball away from el maestro's feet, and the result was devastating - a superb pass and a superb goal. And then, the smile.

I can't wait for the second leg.

joga bonito

I dedicated today to resting, post my exam scripts marking session. I was sooo tired I missed maghrib and isya' yesterday and today's subuh thru sleeping. Anyway, what's a geek's rest day without surfing thru the internet, huh? I just found this great site; www.joga.com. It's very much like friendster in the sense that you can invite friends, post messages, share pictures and videos, write blogs and testimonials..hell, it is VERY MUCH like friendster, albeit with a heavy football twist to it. And in joga Ronaldinho is a demi-god. Here's the disclaimer at the front page:

Welcome to Joga - the community for soccer players dedicated to keeping the game beautiful.

how cool is THAT? Now people, JOIN. I hope I won't get kicked out of friendster or whatever for doing this, but what the hell. I am 'Socrates the Thinker' by the way, in joga. Play beautiful.

tiga markah cukupla

Marking exam scripts can be tiring, depressing and nauseating at the same time. Aduh boringnya akuuu..!!

The tension is sooo building. I'm about to turn green.

the jambu diaries

I went to a tahlil Friday. A guy, shaking hands with me asked whether I'm a guy or a girl, my moustache visible for all to see.

jambu sial aku

mari mengukir sabun

I've seen this tv commercial about government officials being polite and proper and efficient (manning the various counters, that is. Bukan kaulah stone). The message from the gomen is quite clear; learn to be polite, learn to be courteous, learn to be bersih cekap amanah. But before there is any indication that staffs at the UM HEP treat people like human, I refuse to believe that commercial.

And here I thought a university is a place where people learn.

the fearless kid and other stories

Football fans in UM must have been to 'Jamal' at least once. It's a favourite place for my friends and I to hang out, especially when there are 'live' EPL matches. For the man in kopiah himself; business has been good, despite a freak accident which involved a flying car, and despite having a wife that never speaks bahasa, or so I heard. Jamal thrived, changing it's name twice in the process (the restaurant, not the man). As of now, lots of people would call the restaurant 'Asshifaa' rather than 'Jamal' (or Jamal Pak Tongkol, or Jamal Mohamed Sheriff, for that matter) and the man himself is rarely seen at the restaurant, having taken over another restaurant on the same street (come to think of it, he's rarely seen at either establishments. Balik India, perhaps..?). I call the two restaurants 'Jamal hijau' and 'Jamal kuning', respectively, for nostalgia's sake.

Anyhow, the last EPL weekend I was there ('lifeless people spend their weekends at Jamal' is my motto) and there was this fearless little kid; he's Chinese I think, and on the first night that I saw him he had a machine gun and a pistol. The second night..? A sword. But these 'weapons' have nothing to do with him being fearless. The thing is, he approached everyone, wanting to 'fight' everyone (not in a hostile way but in a playful manner), and I mean everyone; Malays, Chinese, Indians, even Arabs. And everybody loved this kid. Everybody smiled.

Kids are honest and sincere. They take some time to identify colour (if I'm not mistaken, kids below the age of four can't identify colour and have no permanent memory). I was like that once. We all were. Then we grew up. And we started building these walls around us.