Posted: August 29th, 2005 | Filed under: Lists | 7 Comments »
I’m back in university and today was the first day of classes. I’ve never tried so hard at being optimistic. But there are little things that have caused me a tiny bit of stress in the five days I’ve been back. Some of them I’ve not told my parents of just cause I don’t think they need the extra negativity. But off the top my head:
1. Bees’ nest outside window, I’m allergic to bees and even after the custodians “fixed” the screen, I saw a bee inside today.
2. I ordered a new laptop (an exciting thing) but it still has not arrived, even though I ordered it on Tuesday in Kuwait and I chose the 2-3 day setting (it’s that stupid “business days” policy).
3. Two of the four classes I’m taking have their textbooks sold out in the university library.
and so on and so on…
I was hoping I wouldn’t be going through my Charlie Brown phase this year, at least not at the begining when I was really hyped up on really focusing this year. But I really shouldn’t take these extremely trivial things seriously and make them worse than they are. So I’m totally ignoring them and starting fresh tomorrow morning. Hopefully I don’t see a bee on my nose when I wake up.
Anyway, here is the initial blog post. These are the things I want to do before I die.
1. Learn to play the violin part in the song Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve.
2. Be involved in the making of a big budget Hollywood movie starring Drew Barrymore or Tom Hanks.
3. Spend a day driving a Ferrari F430 (black) at top speed in a really huge closed track.
4. Write a novel about a girl with bipolar disorder.
5. See the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.
6. Have a great dane and call her Sophia.
7. Attend a taping of Late Night With Conan O’Brian.
The last three are not too hard to accomplish. Well, I got to have a few that are not impossible so that I don’t leave thinking I’m a complete failure. Haha.
The sun’ll come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow - There’ll be sun
Just thinkin’ about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow
‘Till there’s none
When I’m stuck in a day
That’s grey
And lonely
I just stick out my chin
And grin,
And say;
The sun come out
Tomorrow
So you gotta hang on
‘Till tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow,
Tomorrow
I love ya, tomorrow
You’re always a day away
When I’m stuck in a day
That’s grey
And lonely
I just stick up my chin
And grin,
And say;
The sun
Come out
Tomorrow
So you gotta hang on
‘Till tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow
Tomorrow
I love ya tomorrow
You’re always a day away
Posted: August 21st, 2005 | Filed under: Lists | 4 Comments »
1. Al San’oosi
2. David Beckham
3. George Bush
4. Paul McCartney
5. Kermit the Frog
6. Leonardo da Vinci
7. Steven Speilberg
8. J.K. Rowling
9. Ahmad Al Yousef
10. Drew Barrymore
This list obviously isn’t compiled of favorite people of mine. It’s just a list of people who I think would have interesting thoughts and ideas on their world (fields of expertise) and ours.
Posted: August 21st, 2005 | Filed under: Sports | 2 Comments »
It’s great that one of the highlights of the season is in the 2nd week. Chelsea shouldn’t be as rusty as they were last week and they do have the home advantage. I’m expecting plenty of goals and action hopefully that will make up for yesterday’s highly boring games.
Review: I didn’t get to really pay attention to the game since I was at a friend’s playing kout. Haha. But the game was playing in the background and I was extremely happy when Drogba scored the clumsy goal against Man Utd’s greatest rivals! Hiya! Man Utd 3rd place, and Arsenal in 9th.
Posted: August 19th, 2005 | Filed under: Sports | 6 Comments »
I expect another win for Man Utd today. And I hope to see Cristiano Ronaldo play this time! He must have healed his ankle by now. But I must say Park, who took his place on Saturday, did a pretty decent job. I’ll be confident and say my boys will win 3-1.
A week has gone by and I’m still in awe at the great performance Wigan displayed in their match against champions Chelsea. And I’m eager to see if they have the same power. It’s remarkable really, considering the team had six new team members playing in the first line-up who had only been in the club for about two weeks before the opening day. Very little time for the teammates to feel comfortable with each other. I’m not very familiar with Charlton’s game-play style but I honestly have no idea what might happen in this game. Hopefully we’ll see some goals.
Review: Well, today’s games were mediocre. I was more entertained by the Birmingham vs. Man City game to tell you the truth. The idiotic Fergie was being a bit of an ass bringing in Ronaldo in the last 30 minutes of the game. I’m not saying this as a fan, but once Ronaldo came in the attack just improved and the ball was being passed more openly and freely in the middle. In fact, there were two chances for scoring made by Ronaldo in his first minute in! The defence did a good job but still, a one goal win is just not enough. If only Ronaldo was there from the begining. The Wigan magic is now officially dead. They’re back to their old inexperianced selves again. But I will give them credit for the little effort they gave and for only allowing one goal against them. Let’s just hope tomorrow’s Arsenal vs. Chelsea game generates enough excitement to make up for today’s dull matches.
Posted: August 16th, 2005 | Filed under: Cartoons/Art, Literature/Poetry | 6 Comments »
The Disney feature film, Mulan, is one of my favorite movies of all time. I knew the fact that it was a true story but I neve really thought about looking it up. Then last year in my Composition for Non-Natives class, people were asked to do a presentation on a favorite hero of their country (imagine how hard it was for me). A Chinese girl did hers on Mulan and today I just wanted to know more. It turns out that the only written document in history about Mulan is a 360-word Chinese peom written in the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 AD) by an anonymous poet. Of course, some contradicting legends place her in the Han Dynasty (206 BC -220 AD)and others, Sui Dynasty (581-618 AD). Some said her name was Hua Hu, and others called her father the same name while calling her Hua Mulan. Several regions in China claim to be her hometown. The county of Yu Cheng in the province of Henan has a large temple dedicated Mulan.
All these different claims make it hard to know more about Mulan. But here is the poem.
Tsiek tsiek and again tsiek tsiek,
Mu-lan weaves, facing the door.
You don’t hear the shuttle’s sound,
You only hear Daughter’s sighs.
They ask Daughter who’s in her heart,
They ask Daughter who’s on her mind.
“No one is on Daughter’s heart,
No one is on Daughter’s mind.
Last night I saw the draft posters,
The Khan is calling many troops,
The army list is in twelve scrolls,
On every scroll there’s Father’s name.
Father has no grown-up son,
Mu-lan has no elder brother.
I want to buy a saddle and horse,
And serve in the army in Father’s place.”
In the East Market she buys a spirited horse,
In the West Market she buys a saddle,
In the South Market she buys a bridle,
In the North Market she buys a long whip.
At dawn she takes leave of Father and Mother,
In the evening camps on the Yellow River’s bank.
She doesn’t hear the sound of Father and Mother calling,
She only hears the Yellow River’s flowing water cry tsien tsien.
At dawn she takes leave of the Yellow River,
In the evening she arrives at Black Mountain.
She doesn’t hear the sound of Father and Mother calling,
She only hears Mount Yen’s nomad horses cry tsiu tsiu.
She goes ten thousand miles on the business of war,
She crosses passes and mountains like flying.
Northern gusts carry the rattle of army pots,
Chilly light shines on iron armor.
Generals die in a hundred battles,
Stout soldiers return after ten years.
On her return she sees the Son of Heaven,
The Son of Heaven sits in the Splendid Hall.
He gives out promotions in twelve ranks
And prizes of a hundred thousand and more.
The Khan asks her what she desires.
“Mu-lan has no use for a minister’s post.
I wish to ride a swift mount
To take me back to my home.”
When Father and Mother hear Daughter is coming
They go outside the wall to meet her, leaning on each other.
When Elder Sister hears Younger Sister is coming
She fixes her rouge, facing the door.
When Little Brother hears Elder Sister is coming
He whets the knife, quick quick, for pig and sheep.
“I open the door to my east chamber,
I sit on my couch in the west room,
I take off my wartime gown
And put on my old-time clothes.”
Facing the window she fixes her cloudlike hair,
Hanging up a mirror she dabs on yellow flower powder
She goes out the door and sees her comrades.
Her comrades are all amazed and perplexed.
Traveling together for twelve years
They didn’t know Mu-lan was a girl.
“The he-hare’s feet go hop and skip,
The she-hare’s eyes are muddled and fuddled.
Two hares running side by side close to the ground,
How can they tell if I am he or she?”
From: The Flowering Plum and the Palace Lady: Interpretations of Chinese Poetry
By Han H. Frankel, Yale University Press, 1976.
Posted: August 14th, 2005 | Filed under: Sports | 11 Comments »
It’s day 2 of the first week and today I’m hoping I will get to see Frank Lampard play and not be disappointed like yesterday when Ronaldo turned out to have an ankle injury and didn’t play. Newbies, Wigan, will be playing against champions, Chelsea. Quite an interesting match up. I’ve never seen Wigan play before, and I’ll be eager to see the new transfers of Chelsea on the field. Most notably, Crespo. I’ve actually seen him play against his old team, AC Milan in their two games against each other in the summer friendlies. I predict a 3-1 Chelsea win against Wigan.
On another note, Arsenal also have a game today against Newcastle. It’ll be interesting to see how Arsenal will manage without former captain Patrick Viera and midfielder Edu.
Review: Wow! An amazing game no doubt, with the under-dogs appearing to be visibly superior to the league champions. From the start of the first half, Wigan had been putting in a massive effort in causing pressure on Chelsea with Frenchman, Henri Camara, being the most threatening. Back from half-time, Chelsea seemed to improve their game but Wigan were still consistent in their attacks. Two great chances for Wigan were wasted from an obviously inexperianced Johansson. Finally, with 40 seconds remaining (!!!!!!!!) Crespo delivers a fantastic finish from outside of the box. A game so close to be branded a classic, Wigan are still heros to their fans. Agreeably an undeserved victory for the champions. Great game!
However, the Arsenal Newcastle game wasn’t as exciting. The Gunners did manage to score 2 goals in the last 10 minutes of the game. A penalty from Henry and a goal from Persie. Nothing special.
Posted: August 13th, 2005 | Filed under: Sports | 10 Comments »
At last the day has finally come! The Premier League is finally starting today. I’ve been waiting all summer to kickstart my promise of watching every single Manchester United game until the end. Thank God I will be able to watch it overseas on KTV3 online!
And just my luck, the first game happens to be Manchester United versus Everton. And it’s starting in one hour. A powerful match no doubt. I hope Cristiano Ronaldo gives us a great show along with Rooney and Nistelrooy. Although I’m eagerly waiting to see what Ji-Sung Park has to offer, I really don’t want to see my boy, Ronaldo, subbed off for him. Rossi will also be under my watchful eye this season. Let’s hope Man U rock this season!
*** BLUE IS THE NEW BLACK ***
p.s. real madrid forever #1
Review: Well Ronaldo didn’t play. He wasn’t even on the substitue bench. Thanks to an ankle injury sustained during training. Well at least Man Utd won 2-0. Ruud van Nistelrooy started off with a great pass from O’Shea. Then Rooney topped it off with a gift from Everton. Thanks to a massively stupid move from their defence. But I have to say, Edwin Van der Sar was GREAT. He saved a goal that had a 97% chance of going in. Good game.
