the great Polish

My friends and I went for a tahlil yesterday before going off to the Brazil against Ghana match. On our way to the mamak restaurant we went pass a few houses with the front door open. The ones which have a tv set in the living room only show one colour on the screen: green (ok technically there were the colours of the jerseys too but let's not get too technical). It's been some time since I last wrote and this time it would be about the World Cup, of course.

Despite the great goals being scored and the stepovers of both Ronaldos, my player of the tournament so far is Miroslav Klose, and not just because he's the current top scorer. Born in Poland, Klose is a classic reminder of what German footballers are all about (strange sentence eh?); his jersey remained tucked inside his shorts and he kept on running until the final whistle, he never dived (or at least I never saw him dive in this World Cup), even if he was really fouled, he never waited for the whistle but just got straight up to his feet. I never saw him ask for penalties. Or free kicks. Or even try to get someone carded. In short, he's very disciplined. The classic German. And maybe even a bit of the modern German, as he also showed great composure in never reacting to provocation, very much in line with Germany's aspirations to make this World Cup a friendly one. And he's very reliable, much like Jan Koller is for the Czechs. In a way he's boring and old-fashioned (get this: he wears Copa Mundial. Adidas don't sell Copa Mundials anymore. Not even in their stores in third-world countries. I think the boots are as old as he is. Not the ones he's wearing though) but he made up for that with his efficiency; he's top scorer now and not because of luck or poor judgment from any officials. And he played some brilliant passes too, like the ones which opened up the opportunity for Podolski to score against the Swedes. His technique is very good and precise. As I mentioned before, the classic German. Did I mention he's the player of the tournament so far..?

and the best presenter award goes to...(drum rolls)

Wow it's Wednesday oredi a..? Time flies by.. anyhow, went to Kuman's wedding last Saturday which was great! I marvelled at the wonders of p.r. skills. Mine, that is. Gempak sial aku. Greatest pria (this is a direct translation of the phrase 'pria terhebat').

Yesterday I did my first oral presentation ever. To a bunch of academicians (these last two sentences somehow had a weird, kinky aura to them). At the end these people actually applauded! Wow. I never thought I was THAT good. And I never thought they had life in them. Usually they'll wait for the mc's que before applauding. It's a pre-programmed thing I guess.

I spent a large part of yesterday and today listening to other people giving their oral presentations and learnt one thing; research paper titles can be deceiving. Seriously. There was this paper which title includes words such as 'regime shifts' and 'interest rates'. I was half-expecting some hardcore government opposition slam the ruling party (makes the air conditioning work harder, know what I mean..?). Instead, I get some guy talking about this stats software and stuff from books I would open only if I had trouble falling asleep. Bosing. At the end of yesterday I felt..nerdy.

Still looking forward to tomorrow though. They'll be having the closing ceremony and stuff. I honestly think I've a shot at the 'Best Presenter' award (fingers crossed), assuming there is one (fingers still crossed). Oh and when I mentioned 'I never thought I was THAT good', I was lying :p I'm the man. Da man (and I don't mean like Da Vinci).