; the little -details- xXx

GEORGE CLOONEY IS SINGLE AGAIN, BITCHES!

we all know who he's gonna end up with in the end, right? *winkwinknudgenudge*

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can anyone tell me how the hell can i catch the germany vs serbia match live today? it's so bloody hard to find anything german soccer related stuff here; best example: they don't show bundesliga despite the german league providing the most players for euro 2008, which only goes to show the quality of the players and the games there. i love ligue 1 and i know people enjoy the dutch and scottish league, but bundesliga is a bigger league than these three and i've always failed to grasp the reason why no channel shows this elite championship here?

i really like germany's away kit though. really stands out from the rest, despite being red like 99.99999% of the other teams in the cup (okay that's an exaggeration, but if you see group A, you'll realise that Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey and Czech Republic all wear red shirt for home and white for away). however, france's away kit is just ... not easy on the eyes. seriously, the first time i saw it during the ecuador friendlies, i was thinking: holy shit, did domenech let his players wear the kind of jerseys people get as class jerseys for ten bucks a piece?

here's the summary of my problem with the jersey:

1. why red? it's almost seems like a rule for french home jersey to be blue and away to be white. the jersey doesn't even show the traditional blue-white color for french; for all we know, benzema, henry and co might have been wearing a spanish/czech/portuguese/turkey jersey.

2. it's plain. oh c'mon; it is bloody hell plain. the entire shirt would be a blank canvas apart from the french football logo, adidas logo and the player's number at the front and back.

but it seems like people like the french away shirt and hate the german away jersey. ... ... apparently i have horrible taste then, so sue me. (:




benzema is so cutei guess the reason why so many teams are wearing red this time 'round (wait a second: many teams across history have always worn red by the throngs) is because red is a winner's color--or so the belief goes, and of course everyone wants to have a slice of that superstition cake. still, since there would only be one winner... let's see how many red-clad teams would succeed this year.

you know what would be really funny in a very sadistic way? if someone releases a bull onto the pitch when the red jerseys-clad players are playing and there you have it: all you can trample buffet for the bull.

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holy shit i can stream live finally.



there, we've just had a beautiful game today, probably accentuated by the so many attempts and chances that brought the audience to the edge of their seat. defense still needs a little bit of work, so offense is the least of their worry (unless your name is bastian schweinsteiger and you notice that lukas podolski has just found his newfound talent in the left midfield and your bayern teammate can actually be a threat to your own position; so, schweini: giddy up!).

since lehmann has been whining about the adidas euro pass (just like buffon) and blames it for his inability to catch balls (unlike buffon, who claims that "i'll get it anyway"), i suggest that he better go gets used to it because the 38 year old cannot afford to slip up in such a tight competition. he should tie the ball to his hands, eat with it, shower with it, sleep with it... we need him to get into his world cup 06 form where he pulled such brilliant saves during the penalty (was it attributed to the cheat sheet he had in his socks? nah; i still think it's mostly awesomeness).

it's looking a lot like a klose-poldi pairing up front (and if your name is bastian schweinsteiger, you are really crossing your finger praying that it is so), although (insertnamehere)/klose is always possible--germany's lucky to have such array of attacking talents. frings-ballack pairing is always the backbone of the team while defense looks set to be marshalled by lahm. quite a solid team--it's essentially almost the same as the one that's got third place in WC06. maybe it can take a step or two further this time. unfortunately, germany's not the only one with a solid team, and euro cup has never been just about talent or team but also luck, which makes it very unpredictable, unnerving and fun.

at least there isn't no injury issues for germany yet; france's running wild with 'em (just like how it's going in holland, austria, etcetc), what with vieira, toulalan and ribery injured for an unspecified amount of time. they still have two more friendlies to brush up their final 23 though--and then: the big game against romania itself.

bully free camp over! my god; i've never felt so bloody tired this year. but it was all worth it; i had such a blast with my kids. i said yesterday that i've never had so much of a self confidence boost in probably my entire four years in nus high. well today, i've never felt so special. and this is coming from a serial self-hater. we didn't win any awards, but it was so awesome to see my kids played out the play. was kinda sad to leave 'em. almost every volunteer was. funny thing: i understand if my kids ask for my autograph, but funny thing is that kids i've never seen before ask me for my autograph and my email. didn't only happen to me though, but also to the rest. gotta love these kids. okay lah, kids i played soccer with together and the school i played the piano for i understand, but some of them i really have never seen before.

in fact, a TKPS girl has been smsing jonathan. he doesn't even know who she is.

remember the days when we used to be everyone's friends? not 'friends'?

details next time! mind's workin' on less than half the capacity and i still need to finish the skin for the MA LJ; i'll put the contents in tomorrow. woah. cant believe how busy i've been until i can't even do up a journal...

ahh yes self confidence euphoria is slowly draining off. now back in the real world where everything is so unappreciated and everything is so easily forgotten and everything so fake. i call bluff.

details plus thoughts next time. i promise.

oh yeah; final 23 squads are finalised for all 16 countries in the euro 2008; go check up who's in and their jersey numbers! a few misses in france and germany for me: pity ben arfa and flamini and cisse, but well ben arfa's probably too green to be in such a major competition despite all his talents and beside, being 21, he's still got tons of time to make himself a household name; flamini... well given the competition in the midfield, it's kinda expected and if you know how many talented attaquants or strikers france has, it must have brought domenech some sleepless nights to choose his final assemble of strikers over cisse.

and if ben arfa wants to be chosen into the national team, he should try to kiss and make up with his Lyon team mates, especially ex-BFF benzema so domenech would at least be persuaded to think that he can work well together with them.

and i shall not be immature and tell flamini HAHAHA YOU MONEY GRABBING TRAITOR; THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU LEAVE ARSENAL!

as for germany, i'm most sorry for marko marin for not making it in. the really full-of-potential 19 year old (whom jogi always calls--mistakenly--"markus" or "the little one") is, like ben arfa, too green for such a big competition and he still has all the time in the world to develop into something really great. some people are saying that choosing oliver neuville over patrick helmes may be an all time Low (i'm sorry for that pun; i can't help it xD) mistake, but with neuville 35 already, maybe Jogi just wants to give him the chance for a swansong. Helmes can form the next generation germany team.

all in all, my two faves look pretty solid, if injuries don't rear its ugly head. i'm pretty alarmed with germany 2-2 draw with belarus; miro's one goal is apparently from an offside angle and the other one is an own goal. that gives belarus a total of three goals and... none for germany. scary, much?

i'm writing this as i'm watching the france vs ecuador friendlies (shite i already missed the first half; it's still 0-0 though), so forgive me if my thoughts are a little bit jumbled up.

first things first: the world is a very funny place. a french skydiver who wants to break skydiving records finds his dreams in ruins after his balloon floated into the endless sky without him. and then the international space station's only toilet has broken down, and with astronauts' bladders bursting, NASA is planning for an in-orbit plumbing service!

second day of bully free camp! i was quite surprised to find the kids as hyper as usual while i was already lethargic, the better part of my energy being spent yesterday. well, kids are angels--actually, angels with such big bundles of energy they can probably power singapore for a year if we ever find the way to do that. had the usual trouble of finding a game (or as the organizers like to call it: "energizer" or "crowdie") for them since they always ask for one although whatever games i have on my list (courtesy of the organizers) are deemed lame. i played some really classic old games with them--the few i could remember from my primary school days--while the rest were of their own suggestions. funnily, even while playing with their own game suggestions, the games only lasted for a few minutes long. my god, these kids' attention span actually rivaled 11 year old me (and that's saying a lot).

GOMIS! shucks; barely there. sorry; potential french striker just almost scored. then again, i already know the final score, so what's the worry? XD

anyway, where was i? oh yes. i cant believe they called games like murderer, poison 21 and bigfish/whowhathuh/gezza/or whatever you call it lame since they find chasing one dollar coin fun--i call this game "soccer coin". anyway, i'm bringing a soccer ball tomorrow or something (thank god my brother is not home or he'd kill me if he finds out that i'm sneaking one of his babies out) so that the kids can have something more... can have something more tangible to play with. some, however, are more interested in watching me and especially peckyong play the piano.

i was quite surprised to find out that so many volunteers have problems with their kids, including jonathan. not only from the schoolchildren (who bring problems in terms of crying, whining, bullying--ooh the irony, quarelling, being general spoilt jerks and more) but also from the teachers, who can be uncooperative, cynical and just plain mean. i thank, thank thank god so much that my kids are perfect little angels who never fight, who listen to me and the teachers, who never cry, who memorize their lines minutes after looking at their script, who clean up well, who... their teachers are really nice and supportive; they help us do our tasks, but not doing everything for us, like some other teachers, and they respect me--not look down at the volunteers like a few others--and even buy me cookies and drinks--my favorite jasmine green tea! jonathan's kids are just plain mean to him, while my kids love me--my god, they give me more self confidence boost than anyone has ever had this entire year--maybe even these four years in nus high (which depletes my self confidence day by day).

awww. i love them kids too. i hope they remain adorable little angels tomorrow as well.

GOMIS! GOAL! and i cant squee enough for ben arfa and him having the chance to prove themselves in front of domenech.

anyway, one uhm, interesting point of the day is when all 24 schools played a game together which involved holding hands. i already had headaches trying to convince my own kids' guys and girls that they won't get cooties or anything if they touch the opposite sex, but apparently another school doesn't have that problem. the boys and girls swiftly held hands; i was holding hands with one of them when i realised that she refused to hold hands with the girl next to her, who also refused to hold hands with the girl next to her, who was happily holding hands with a boy. "Hey," i asked, "Why aren't you holding hands? I see that you have no problems holding hands with the boys, so why not among yourselves too?"

"Nooooo!" the girl whose hand i was holding quickly said, her face reflecting that of pure horror as if i just suggested for her to kiss a toad, "That would make me lesbian!"

i laughed. who wouldn't? it was an uneasy laugh though. "Holding hands with girls don't make you lesbian."

"Yeah, well," said the girl who was holding hands with her male classmate, but barely touching pinkies with the girl beside her, "in our school, it does."

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i'll never look at soccer shorts the same way again. after the sebastian kehl video, i just realised how short they are, and how potently dangerous they are. all these time, players are tugging at each other's shorts, although only a few mishaps have been captured (eg. kehl) on video. and slowmotioned. and set to richard sanderson's reality (dreams are my reality, my only kind of reality...).

anyway, i've been seeing so many people clad in the euro german jerseys. woah, i know germans are favorites, but i didnt know they are that much of a favorite; i thought portugal, italy, spain and holland are bigger favorites. so far, i've only seen one guy clad in an italian jersey. okay lah, i've committed a sample size error in that i've probably only seen like 6 people clad in german jerseys plus that italian supporter, but i was kinda expecting more people to walk around in portugal colors than germany's (and most people are inspired to support portugal only because of ronaldo and probably carvalho; it's actually the 'liverpool' and 'lewis hamilton' thing again, people supporting things they dont even know of because they think it's cool. but that's to be addressed in a long overdue blogpost). there were a few women in german jerseys--i was kinda surprised because HEY THE JERSEYS FIT THEM! okay, i only have the world cup jersey, along with two bayern munich jerseys from the previous seasons, but all three are long enough to be worn by themselves--the jerseys are long, and i am short; do the math. if this means that german jerseys are finally available in a smaller size to cater to the ladies... holy shit i gotta go get one now.

i've never numbered my jerseys--uhm yeah the jerseys themselves created blackholes in my wallet--but this time, i'ma number it 7. after schweinsteiger. because he needs all the love he can get right now; it's a trying time for schweini, what with a less than sparkling season in bayern and criics dying to have a go at him in international matches.

OOF BEN ARFA! bloody hell; a little bit more and he can confirm himself in domenech's final squad. defence is okay currently--but the attacking is beautiful. even for anelka, who just missed a goal. it's almost the kind of game i'd expect from france, but it still kinda lacks something--still not as exciting or as lethal as how i'd figure it would be. then again, this isnt really the starting squad playing--the lyonnais are still rested, and with them in the team next time, especially benzema, hopefully france fans would get the kind of games they want to. which, you know, can somehow have them topping the group of death and proceding to (crossed fingers) semis or even finals. or the cup. hey, one can hope.

i'm still a bloody hell worried for les blues, but i guess this game's relieving my worry. a little bit. gotta see italy's and holland's form. romania can always turn into a greece and demolish the three powerhouses--don't forget that.

GOAL GOMISSS! oh hell that's damn beautiful. anelka had the ball, passed it to gomis who sent it to the net with the keeper diving just above the ball. oh yeah, people have apparently been comparing gomis to zidane (as usual; you know how people are, always comparing people to kaka, figo, zidane, blahblah). so that would make gomis the potential zidane #12549. but then again, two beautiful goals on his international debut--that makes gomis more alike to zidane than most other potential zidanes (still can't beat benzema though; they look alike, have the same heritage, similar awesome presence on the field...)

two more friendlies to go for france--and then 10th of June would be here! (dundundun).

so what has jogi low been doing for the german team? well, he had them coached in basketball. underwent usual training and fitness session and players like miro klose, aka out of form players (germany has the luxury of having most of its players well rested--too well rested for some--as most of them are sparingly used in their clubs--a blessing in a curse? or vice versa?), have to catch up with the rest of team by spending more time in the gym. oh yeah, that basketball thing did happen; jogi wanted the players to learn the way basketballers defend with their bodies without committing fouls: less foul, less cards, less players sent off, more chance of winning. apparently, tim borrowski proved to be good in basketball; i'm not surprised. my god, that guy is so bloody tall.

and let's end off with richard sanderson's 1983 classic (yeah, that video was set to this tune):

first time i've been to bedok today. (: i was greeted by so many people smoking in my face that i felt like i was the one smoking, since that heavy poisonous cigarette fume invaded my nose and mouth (it was so awful; how the hell can people get addicted to that? i mean, neurochemicals aside, the taste has just got to put you off). anyway, half of my class volunteered to be either a facilitator (me, yang xuan, sheng jiao, li and jonathan) or in charge of logistics (randy, peckyong, siaw young, junyup). it was kinda nostalgic to be taking care of a group of primary school kids from lianhua primary, reminding me of my own not-as-innocent childhood (like they don't even know that a swear word that starts with 'f' actually exists; i already knew that word by then, just not the exact meaning XD). funny kids, so hyper, so curious, so... everything that we used to be and everything we're not. just now they had a lot of "come up to the stage if you know the answer" questions and god, i've never seen so many hands raised up, eagerly waiting to be picked out to come out, in my entire life.

and i'm lucky i got the friendly lot who didn't bully me or each other, didn't cry (like jonathan's group), and are just a generally nice group of people who are so friendly and enthusiastic, they greeted me like old friend when i first saw them. the only problem i had was convincing them to play some games because even though they are primary 5s, they still believe that touching/breathing the same air as the opposite sex can give them cooties/poison/touch of death/insert imagination here.

well, yeah, that was the highlight of the event. the bad was... our play. which is an epic failure. a universal fail--F A I L--with a capital F, A, I and L because it was just so... so... yeah, well, let's just say that the people backstage (me, and actors who arent acting in the scenes) can hardly look at what's going on. a couple of factors actually added up to give us this... this... thing: i was late with the script since i decided to change the entire play, no rehearsal because people are just so busy (not including the 'rehearsal' we had throughout the day which mostly included the actors speaking to themselves or one or two other) and a mic that apparently cannot broadcast the low frequency of guys'  voices (which resulted in our play seemingly spoken in a gibberish language, made up of 'mhfmfhjbbbffd' and 'ffhdfajkhdf?').

anyway, i told my group that our performance is a 'what not to do' example they should follow when they make their own play on thursday (and sheng jiao's group apparently told her that they could do better than us; erm i hope so).

on a very random note: 5 things i wish i can be:
1. a doctor
2. a graphic novel writer/artist
3. an F1 racer
4. a seiyuu: voice actor
5. a footballer WAG

previously, the no 5 spot was actually occupied with 'musician', but then again, who doesnt want to be a footballer WAG (unless your boyfriend/husband is oliver kahn, who left his pregnant wife for a new girlfriend)? money, fame, envy, power... you'll have it all!

i reached home a dead tired zombie today. then i checked out sebastian kehl, that very very very famous german midfielder, who is not only famous for his skill but also for something else (he apparently plays football with every part of his anatomy but his feet-- which is what some people think on the net xD ) which involves his bizarre uhm... exposure? i was laughing like shit when i saw this particular video--which i can't post here because it may be offensive to some people--which had his... accident... slow motioned and synced to a ballad song. sebastian kehl and his thing are spoken at the same breath as david beckham and his thing--and if you are an avid follower of beckham (i'm not; i just see his pictures on the offside blog :P), you will notice this certain tendency of him reaching down his pants to make sure his manliness is still there in the middle of games. and after the kehl video, i caught this hilarious video: two girls decided to show how much they love the azzuri that they rushed in, stripped along the way and streaked around the field while being chased by security personnels, all the while the surprised footballers (amused or bemused? i don't know either) watch, their training disturbed. actually what's more surprising about the video is that the girls have abandoned the original tradition of stripping completely to rally their favorite teams; it's either they are finally showing some modesty, or just that they got caught by the security before the stripped. the sight of the italian teams just stoning there is actually the funniest thing ever (i wish i can zoom in to their individual faces; see how cannavaro looks like!)

my mood is totally lightened up. thank god for soccer, and more specifically, soccer players. ahh the buildup to euro 2008 is like killing me. after this camp is over, i'ma try and change my sleeping habit to accomodate the tournament; i'll become a nocturnal being for this month. still always supporting germany and france but gargh euro cup is traditionally just so unpredictable (read: danes and greece have been champions) and germany, even if it qualifies for quarters it may meet fierce rival czech republic (today me and yang xuan were going around saying peter cech the czech, because we are bored random people xD) and i can only pray for france to actually make it through the group stage, what with it being in the DEATH GROUP along with italy and holland. meanwhile, ima hope to catch france's friendlies with ecuador to see its form before the tournament and probably predict/see domenech's final 23 and starting 11 (here's hoping benzema would have a place in his plans). sad news for the german camp though: schneider is like confirmed to miss the tournament thanks to his operation; i hope that him missing this tournament doesnt mean that he is missing his final chance for international glory, what with being 34 already and all.

who knows? austria or turkey may end up winning the cup, or greece somehow manages to defend their reign (touchwood! here's to a germany/france win or better yet, germany/france final!).

in this beautiful game, stranger things have happened.

you have no idea how badly i want france and germany to meet each other during euro 2008. my two favorite teams--challenging each other! can benzema pass through schneider's, borrowski's and co defense, and can klose and kuranyi slip a ball or two in with coupet guarding the goalpost? but due to their group placings, the only way they ever gonna meet is if both happen to be finalists, and well, that is no mean feat--we are of course not forgetting the always formidable spain and italy and the rising favorite portugal.

fingers crossed!

i really like it when things like this happens.

germany won 2-1 over czech republic and france won lithuania 1-0 during their latest euro cup qualifier games. we all know they're gonna win, but the cool part is that the people who scored the winning goals for the team were the underdogs, people who didn't even get considered for the World Cup last year. like kevin kuranyi of the germans who scored the two goals, and nicholas anelka who gave france the leverage in the 73rd minute.

(: like the song goes, "who said, who said i can't be superman?" who said, who said, i can't score for my country?

yeah so moral of the story, dont underestimate people, and if you feel underestimated, just keep pushing until you have the chance to prove yourself.

.

this goes for my band too. XD