Thriller* - Michael Jackson

What a match! Everything a derby could ask for! I'm referring of course to the Everton Liverpool game last weekend.

It was truly entertaining. Thrilling. Nail-biting too! Moments of highs followed by feelings of despair.

I only started watching in the second half (together with the 1st half highlights during the half time break). So Liverpool were leading 2-1. But the main talking point of the first haf was this incident:-

Pic taken from The Guardian

How that is not a red card still baffles me. It still bothers me too. The referee has made sure he had a big big say in the outcome of the game.

There were other talking points too - like how bad Joe Allen was. He has never impressed in a Liverpool jersey and for that, he has been very consistent. In the second half, he could have scored with just the goalie to beat - or pass it to Suarez on his left who was unmarked. But he he sent the ball wide. He also got himself a booking - tho i must admit i was glad at how he got it!

The defence was pretty bad too! Minoglet let in 3 goals but he still made it into the team of the week on BBC Sports! That shows how good he was - and how bad the defence was. Having said that, Flanagan playing on the left full back impressed.

So it was 2-1, and then 2-2 and then Liverpool were down 3-2. I gave up all hope by then, to be honest. But still, i hung on - and was duly rewarded by the sight of this stupid dance which brings a lot of joy to a Liverpool fan:-

And finally, the rollercoaster ended. What a ride it was. To the neutral, it must have been truly wonderful to to watch. But to a Liverpool fan like me, i can't feel but we were cheated of a victory. We were in the lead when Everton should have been down to 10 men. But the referee did not do what he should have done.

It is so frustrating to see the inconsistency practiced by the referees - see how Rooney got away during the weekend too, but we have witnessed how red cards have been given for so much less.

The only way i can console myself is to honestly admit that Everton played really well too and if i was a neutral, i would think that a draw is a fair result for both sides who had countless of chances to win it.

*I'm sure everyone i know knows this song!!!

Déjà Vu* -Beyoncé Knowles

Got hit. In the back. Again!!!

Look at my earlier post some years ago. Compare the damage to the car then with the damage in the photo above. Looks similar, doesn't it?

The situation was also almost identical!!! The cars in front had come to a standstill stop. So i slowed down my car and stopped it too. After a few moments, we felt the impact!!! Yes, we got hit while we were at a standstill stop!!!

This time, tho, it was a bit different. There were 3 other cars involved. But mine was at the front. Thank God i stopped a safe distance from the car infront of mine or else the damage could be worse. As it is, the damage is only limited to the back of the car.

When i made the report at the police station, the corporal commented "Kesian" when i confirmed that my car was the one at the front. I know what he meant but it is better being the first car than being the 2nd or 3rd - damage to front and back - or the last car - being liable for all the damage caused!

Oh well... we were really thankful, tho that Shona was not in the car at that time. And the incident made me reflect that we are indeed blessed as i counted my blessings.

So i'm car-less for now. And that has turned out to be not a bad thing too as my wife and i have to leave for work together and come home together.

*The lead single for her second album, this song also features Jay-Z.

We made it* - Busta Rhymes

So England qualified for the World Cup in Brazil next year!!! Well done!

Pic taken from BBC Sports

I thought i'd blog about this - mainly to give credit where it is due. And credit is to be given to Hodgson, Rooney and Moyes.

I have not had very much respect for Hodgson since he became Liverpool's manager for a short stint. I did not think he knew what he was doing.

But i must say he did well. Thanks to him, all England fans now know who is Andros Townsend. Hodgson surprisingly included him in these last 2 crucial games and he performed really well. In fact, he seemed to have sealed his place as a first team player in England's squad!

On top of that, Hodgson did what a lot of managers failed to (or was afraid to) - he benched Lampard. There has been so much talk about whether Gerrard and Lampard can play together - and going by the evidence of the games they have played together, they do not seem to play well with each other. So Hodgson did not play Lampard but instead chose Carrick - and this worked well too! So kudos to Hodgson!

Rooney! He broke the deadlock in both games. Enough said. I felt that he was overrated - but he has shown how valuable he is to England!

And finally, Moyes. Huh? How is he involved? He was not. But this is regarding Baines - the player that Hodgson put in the team as Cole was injured. And Baines showed how well he can play. He even set up Rooney's goal last night!

I have been laughing at Moyes and the Man Utd team when Moyes was planning to bring in Baines. But perhaps this is proof that Moyes was not so clueless after all? Would Baines have formed a good partnership as a full back with Rooney in Man Utd?

Having said all this, no one is getting carried away about England's chances at Brazil. But i will still be wearing my England jersey come the summer of 2014 (and changing it with Spain's occasionally).

*This promo single featured Linkin Park!

No good deed* - Idina Menzel

The saying goes - No good deed goes unpunished. This basically means that "beneficial actions often go unappreciated or are met with outright hostility".

My poor wife experienced that recently. With good intentions, she shared her experience with another person when that person was not too careful with what she said. But that person responded quite defensively and in a hostile manner. I guess that some people can get too sensitive and misread good intetions. It probably comes from an attitude of pride - not wanting to admit that one made a mistake and not humble enough to accept advice from others.

So how? Stop doing good to others? Well, in my view, no. At the end of the day, we do good because that is what we supposed to do - and not to do good only if we benefit from it.

We just have to be more discerning when doing good - after all, the Bible warns us about throwing pearls to swines.

*From the musical, Wicked. Widely regarded as the most powerful song of the show.

Who's that guy?* - The Cast of Grease 2

I have been ranting about this for a while. And I am still unhappy about it!!! As Boromir would say it:-

But that's what Brendan Rodgers did. Giving it to Iago Aspas. Who??? I have no idea!!!

Sure, there have been former no. 9s who have flopped (I blogged about the recent no. 9s and whether they were successes or flops = you can read it here). But you can understand why they were given it - or least there was some justification. Diouf impressed in the 2002 World Cup and he was given the no. 9 jersey. Carroll was very impressive at Newcastle before he took the no. 9 jersey.

But Aspas?

Give him a chance? Well, he has not impressed at all when he came on as a sub. In fact, the only notable thing i remembered him doing last weekend was stupidly kicking the ball away (when it was Crystal Palace's freekick) right in front of the ref leaving the ref no choice but to show him the yellow card. Well done!!!

*One of my fav songs from the soundtrack, very musical-esque!

Papa, can you hear me* - Barbra Streisand

Happy birthday, papa!!!

I wish you were here - cuz you would then be able to see Shona! She brigns so much joy into the lives of those who see her, so i'm very confident you will be filled with joy when you see her too.

I am also confident that she will be so blessed to have a grandpa like you. I know you would loved her to bits, and spoilt her silly. You would have been there to carry her whenever she wants someone to (which is pretty much all the time these days) - and you would have done so willingly and happily.

I just hope that through me, Shona will be able to see you and the love that you have shown us when you were here on earth.

I have always appreciated you as my father - and now, being a father myself, i appreciate all that you have done even more.

We'll see you later, one sweet day!

*Taken from the movie, Yentl.

Back for good* - Take That

Wanted to blog this last Monday. Din get a chance. Thought i better post this up before the game later!

Suarez is back in the Premier League - and he marked his return with 2 well taken goals, helping Liverpool to win 3-1!!!

It was a poor poor performance by Liverpool - but Suarez helped them to win despite such a bad performance. So yes, i am glad he is back. And he looks like he's back for good. He still looks sharp, and he has not lacking in passion and work-rate. The boo-ing did not discourage him. His partnership with Sturridge is encouraging.

Perhaps more importantly, there was one telling moment in the game that warmed my heart - when he tumbled in Sunderland's penalty box from a challenge of a defender, but he picked himself up almost instantly and continued to chase for the ball. No more cheating? Well, i hope that is the case!

As he celebrates the birth or his new born son (see pics below) by dedicating both goals to him, i hope he will indeed be a good example to his son - and to all the young football fans out there.

The Daily Mirror published an open letter to Suarez earlier last week - and i was surprised at how much i agreed with the contents of it (you can read it here). Here is an excerpt from it:-

We have missed Suarez the footballer. A footballer of extraordinary talent. We have missed your astonishing skill, your ruthless will to win, your commitment to the tackle, your competitive edge, your obsessive love of scoring, your determination to fight for the cause, your skill, your pace, your power. 

We have missed your ability to change a game with a single, mazey run, your ability to trap a ball with the lace of your boot, to land a ball at the foot of a team-mate, seemingly at any pace and at any angle. 

But we haven’t missed what comes with all that. We understand that a competitive professional will sometimes push the boundaries of fair play but your record is something else entirely. 

So i hope that as he returns, he is back for good! And he can be sure that he will never walk alone.

* The number hit in many countries all over the world, taken from their 3rd album, Nobody Else.

Running on faith* - Eric Clapton

It has not been easy, being a parent - a first time parent. At times, it has been downright scary!!! There have been many moments of feeling utterly helpless anduseless - as there is only so much one can do as a parent.

For instance, how do we stop the jaudice (see my earlier post here)? How do we make it go away? We can just take her to the doctors and let them put her under the light. And then wait. Wait for each day's report on her blood test.

That is just one of the many examples. If we want to be paranoid, we can be worrying over the million and one things that could happen to her, all of which seems to be out of our control. At the most, we can minimise the risk - but can we ever eliminate it?

So one can just worry - and tears have been shed - most of which i think are due to feelings of helplessness, of not being able to do anything.

But thankfully, we have a God who is all powerful and all knowing. And we have a God who loves us so very much.

A fren recently reminded me - "It's difficult to ask you not to worry. But we have to learn to trust God. Small little things like this that challenges us".

That's so true. It is so difficult. But yet, we have to learn to trust in God. And he has yet to fail us!

One elder was preaching the other day about Moses, how his parents when he was a baby had to let him float down the river Nile in a basket, just having faith in God that he will protect their son. And sure enough, God did. Parents will have to learn to trust in God, to go in faith.

Taken from VersifyLife.com

*Taken from his album, Journeyman - apparently his favourite album! I love this song!

I know him so well* - Elaine Paige

We like La Cremeria ice cream! Not the best around - Haagendaz still holds the mantle for that - but not too bad. Interesting flavours, creamy, good taste. And nice container too!!!

Pic taken from Tesco's website

It is just the right height to use to defrost the milk for Shona. I was so glad to use it as the wife had been using the porcelein bowls and had to use two at a time. Using the La Cremeria box, i do not need to use anything else!

Until the wife decided to use the La Cremeria box to store some frozen food in the freezer. =( So back to using the heavy porcelein bowls...

That was some days ago. Fast forward to today. We were chatting in the car after lunch and i was telling her that Giant was having a sale for La Cremeria ice cream. She asked if it was really cheap and i said i think it was. It was normally around RM16, i think and when it is on sale, it can go to about RM13 plus. Now it is going for RM12.99.

She then responded by saying "...and you can use the box to defrost the milk!!!"

I was left laughing out loud as that was exactly the thing in my mind!!!

*One of my all time fav songs taken from the musical "Chess".

Survivor* - Destiny's Child

I recently started watching Breaking Bad - recommended by a good fren. Well, I have 5 seasons to catch up!!! It helps that the first only consist of 7 episodes!

Here is a quote from episode 5 of season 1 - and one of the best scenes of the series so far for me (i'm only at episode 6 of season 1):-

"...You've read the statistics sheet, these doctors talking about surviving, one year, two years, like it's the only thing that matters. But what good is it to survive if I'm too sick to work, to enjoy a meal, to make love. For what time I have left, I want to live in my own house, I want to sleep in my own bed. I don't want to choke down 40 or 50 pills every single day, and lose my hair, lie around, too tired to get up, and so nauseated that I can't even move my head. You cleaning up after me. Me... me some um... some dead man, some artifically alive, just marking time... No. And that's how you would remember me. That's the worst part. So... that is my thought process, Skyler... I'm sorry, it's just I choose not to do it". 

What would i do if in the same situation? I might just agree with this... and choose life!

*This song won the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 2002 Grammy Awards.