Look at me* - Geri Halliwell

The following is what i drafted yesterday. The funny thing is that as i was drafting it, i started to disagree with meself!!! That's the reason why i decided not to publish it. 

But since it was already drafted, i thought i might as well publish it - but with a post-script at the end explaining why i do not agree with meself on this.

It never fails to surprise me how LOA some people can be on Facebook!!!!

Granted, FB users are there to seek for attention. If you dun want attention, then why are you on FB?

But some people seem to take it to a new level - seems to be pretty desperate!!!!

Like one student who out of the blue publicly declared his love for his father on FB, telling him how much he means to him etc. His father is NOT on FB. So why is he telling his father things on FB when his father would not know of it? To get attention, that's what! So a lot of girls actually thought he was such a nice person - one girl even commented how sweet he was!!!

Now, a lot of students announced that they have completed their law degrees. Fine. Great! Well done! Share the joy with others! But this particular student went on to post up all the DETAILS of his results - and even highlighted how well he did for his final year but this was not reflected in his overall results.

Wah... you so clever, ah!!!!!

The other day, a fren of mine declared her love to her husband on FB.

It seems that these days, it is not enuf to tell yr hubbie that you love him - you must tell him you love him and let hundreds of your frens hear you telling him!!! Why???

I guess to be fair to her, there is a thin line with telling your husband you love him on FB and telling everyone on FB that you love your husband. And a thin line with telling your father you love him on FB (even if he is not gonna read it) and telling everyone on FB how much you love your father.

But telling all the details of yr results when it looks good? I dun know... Dun get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with that. It is FB and you are free to express yourself (unless it goes against basic human rights principles). And i guess that if i dun like it, i can just ignore all these desperate calls for attention.

As i was drafting that post, i begin to wonder - it *really* is a thin line between telling your spouse that you love him/her and announcing on FB that you love your spouse. It is just a different way of saying the same thing, isn't it? And yes, i have declared my feelings about my wife on FB too. Not very much different from telling my wife about it on FB. A thin line it is, dun u think?

I'm prolly LOA too!!!

But the one about announcing ALL the details of yr results? Hhmmm....

*Her first single from her debut solo album.

Lucky* - Britney Spears

Lucky!!! That's something that the English rarely say about their team in major international competitions. It always seem like they have the worst of luck!

All the way back to the 1986 World Cup where they were undone by a goal scored by Maradona with his hand!!!

In the 1998 World Cup, Argentinian theatrics got David Beckham sent off and they eventually got knocked out of the tournament in that game.

In 2002, Beckham, their captain and star player broke his metatarsal just before the World Cup and while he played in the World Cup, he was clearly not fully fit and did not perform well.

Similarly, in 2006, Rooney also broke his metatarsal before the World Cup and he also was not in best shape when he played during the World Cup and he under-performed.

In 2010, Lampard had a perfectly good goal disallowed!!!

So for a change, it was nice to see that luck favours England for a change last nite! The Ukrainians had a perfectly good goal against England not given - and this eventho there was a 4th official standing at the goal line looking at the ball!!!

Are things gonna be different for England this time round? Well... perhaps. In my view, while they did get a lot of bad luck previously, it was just a convenient cover-up of the fact that they were just not good enough. For example. Lampard's disallowed goal against the Germans - Germany was clearly far more superior than the English - that even if the goal was counted, it may not have mattered. Others have a different view on this of course.

Having said that, i have been pleasantly surprised that i have not been bored to death by the English - as i had expected to be! Even last nite, their passing were pretty good - short passes were neat and Gerrard's long passes were accurate. We also have a pretty reliable goalie now. So with a bit of luck on our side, this could mean that things should be different this time?

Sure, they are not as good as the Spanish - but that doesn't mean that the Spanish are gonna win! Playing the best football and being the better team does not necessarily guarantee victory - ask the Polish and the Russians. Ask Barcelona and Bayern Munich!

I'm still supporting the Spannish - but sentiments makes my heart feel good for the English!

p/s - pics taken from all over the web

*Her successful 2nd single from her 2nd album.

Two is better than one* - Boys Like Girls

Being married, i can truly say taht two is better than one!

No, no, i'm not talking about the number of wives!!!! =P 

But doing things together is definitely better - and this demonstrated when we go grocery shopping!!!! The super special offer items limtis each customers to the number of units that we purchase - like 3 per customer. When we go together, we can buy 6! Hehe.

And when paying for our goods, we can use the express lane - even if the number of goods that we buy is over the limit. As long as it is not 2 times over the limit!

Ok, ok - honestly, there are way better reasons why being two is better than one!!!

*Really liked this song last year - included it in my wedding lunch playlist!

I'll be there for you* - The Rembrants

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains –
    where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip –
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord watches over you –
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm –
    he will watch over your life;
⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and for evermore.

 

Such a short Psalm but so rich and so powerful!!!!

Psalmist says that his help comes from the Lord!!!! Yet, so often, I turn to other things for help. I do not recognise God’s ability to be able to help me and God’s love to want to help me! I miss out on the blessings of being able to involve him in everything I do. I failed to admit that I need in him everything – and as such, I end up depending on myself. This clearly is sin – not giving God the proper place in our lives as he deserves.

After all, the Psalmist also reminds me that my Lord is the maker of heaven and earth! He is the creator for this whole world! Imagine, having Messi to play on the same football team as you? Well, in everything we do, we can have the maker of heaven of earth on our side, in our team!!!!

But even Messi can have his “off” days. But my Lord is one who watches over me all the time – he does not slack, he does not sleep. Not only does he watch over me all the time, he will protect me from things within as well without. In our modern day of travelling, we may not appreciate how the Psalmist say that God protects the traveller from the elements – but those are real dangers!

This Psalm was meant for travellers – and the reminder to the travellers is that God will keep us safe in our coming ins and going outs. For us Christians, we are travellers too – as this world is not our own. We are just passing thru – pilgrims in our journey to our Promised Land. As we go thru life, we travel thru this world – and we are assured that God, the maker of heaven and earth, the one who never sleeps, is there with us all the while, watching over us so that we will not slip or stumble, and protecting us from external things around us.

We look forward to our destination – but for now, we enjoy the journey with our Lord! For he Lord who beither slumbers nor sleeps will be there for us every step of the way.

*The theme song for Friends.

Just pass it on* - Joe Cocker

So it was the second night in a row when i dragged meself up from much needed slumber and parked meself in front of the passed-its-prime TV in our apartment to watch  22 grown men chase after a ball over 5 thousand miles away!!!

It was worth the effort! The word used todesribe my fav team's perfomance was "Masterclass"!!!! Indeed it was.

The stats speak for themselves - Spain has a whooping 78% of the possession! They had 27 shots at the Irish goal with 22 of them being on target (compared to the Irish's 5 shots at the Spannish goal). They had 8 corners while the conceding only 2.

In total, Spain had 894 passes!!!!!

I wanted to mark some papers while watching but i failed - as i couldn't take my eyes off the TV. It was such a joy to see them passing the ball so effortlessly!!!! The Irish were totally outclassed!!!! The Spannish passing was simply a delight to watch!

Xavi himself made 124 passes!!! The irish team made 190 passes in total!!!

The icing on the cake was watching my fav striker rediscovering his form and scoring 2 brilliant goals. The first was this:-

 

The second was even better, picking a tight angle and finishing with confidence!!!! Great game!

I doubt tonight's match will be anywhere near as good... but i'll still wake up and watch the English play!

*Taken from his album, Hymn For My Soul.

I will go* - Starfield

This video was made by a couple of my team mates based on the pics taken during our trip to Nepal.

I really need to make time to blog about that trip. Soon! 

*The title track of their 3rd album - and the song used in the video above.

Anything but ordinary* - Avril Lavigne

Halfway thru the class, i randomly mentioned to my students that they should be "anything but ordinary" - not to settle to be just normal.

Then i asked aloud, "Avril Lavgne! i wonder what happened to her???"

A student seated at the front replied - "She beacame ordinary".

I thought it was a brilliant answer. How true. I guess the reason i dun hear much of her anymore is basically that.

*One of her hits when she was still interesting to listen to!!!

That's what friends are for* - Rod Stewart

Another tribute to Kathryn Joosten - this was one of the scenes which brought tears to my eyes. Hope you enjoy it.

*The original version featured on the movie, Night Shift.

Wonderful wonderful* - Johnny Mathis

Kathryn Joosten - a name that is unfamiliar to me. But the person is not. She has played the character of Karen McCluskey since season 1. Yes, since i first watached that TV series way back in 2005.

I must say that altho she is not one of the main "housewives" character, she has grown to become one of the important characters of the series. She never fails to make me laugh - and behind that nosy old lady with a sharp tongue is a woman with a heart of gold.

******MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD********

I wonder how many people stuck on to the series like i did. Well, tt's another story in another post but for those of us who did stay on, we saw how Karen McCluskey died in the end.

I was shocked to hear recently that Kathryn Joosten passed away recently too - of cancer. Life imitating art? Or the other way round? I did not know she had cancer - and that she was really playing the part in the series.

I thought i'd post this up together with this scene of her death as a tribute to her. She was a wonderful actress and palyed her part in making a wonderful series. And me wife and i have had some wonderful moments watching her play her role.

I love her death scene in the series - sorta like a circle of life thingy. And i thought it was brilliant that they used Johnny Mathis' Wonderful Wonderful. Some fella posted up this scene and replaced it with "My Heart Will Go On"!!!! Ugh.... This is so much better - sad, but a celebration of a wonderful life lived. 

*This song was also featured on an episode of The X-Files and Cosby!

Day by day* - Five for Fighting

I've started a new blog. After being challenged during a recent retreat to have a spiritual journal, I decided that it will not be wrong to make it public and share my daily spiritual lessons i learnt at the feet of the Lord. 

It's nothing deep - just what God said to me in my daily Bible reading and my response. You can view the blog here.

*The 2nd track in their debut album.