World Cup 2006 - The Saneness Is Driving Me Mad

This is somewhat a motley crew entry of sorts.

Germay 2006 - Not Yet A Nut-House

And so it began. I haven't got the luxury of time to catch all the matches, but those I've watched were pretty good. I remembered when I was a kid my brother and I used to arrange our laundry in the colours of our favourite teams, and create a makeshift pitch with pieces of Scotchbrite. The good ol' times.

Somehow this World Cup has been a tad lacklustre to me. The football is decent (much better than the preliminary stages of World Cup 2002 I'd say), but I've come to correlate the World Cup with mammoth bouts of unbridled hysteria and paroxyms of raw, unadulterated passion. It's like the whole world has turned into a frothing, bubbling nut-house and yet it is perfectly normal.

And somehow I'm just not getting the manic vibes just yet this year. Everything seems to be in control - still. No crazy roars in the wee hours of the morning from the neighbours. No excited chatter from friends. No major upsets as yet. No conspiracy theories a la Bryon Moreno. No Dutch fan wearing carrots on his head. The Italians have not kicked up a hissy fit as yet (gasp!). No dressing room bust-ups and players grabbing their managers by the throat. Laundry stays quiescent. No Scotchbrite in sight, except for the one by the sink. The saneness is driving me mad.

Even the players' hairstyles are tepid compared to previous years - where are the mohawks and mullets? Claudio Cannigia, Ariel Ortega and German Burgos used to send the cringe-factor sky-rocketing with their ugler-than-sin barnets. Now, only Juan Pablo Sorin upholds the beacon of follicle haute couture with the cascading mess of frizz atop his head.

Two things remain changeless though - England goes bananas over yet another broken metatarsal (Wayne Rooney this time), and the English team still can't even pass the salt around the dining table.

Edit: Just watched the Czechs getting humiliated by Ghana so that's quite an upset. =( And three red cards and an own goal to boot in the Italy-USA fixture - the lunacy is returning!

Creatures Of Habit

Last week was kinda like living in a blender with the whipping blades circumvolving at a dizzying speed and detritus being flung everywhere. I'm kinda in this very uninspired phase where everything felt like going through the motions. Sometimes I felt a tad disconnected with my own life, as if it wasn't me but somebody else living my life - eating my cereal, wearing my heels and towelling my hair -- while I'm watching it all vicariously with a huge yawn.

There're things to be thankful for though. On Wednesday I realised I had forgotten to relay some important information to my colleague for a meeting the following day. I hastily called her but all I got was the confounding monotone indicating that she'd probably left the office. (as it was quite late then) I muttered a prayer nonethless though I was resigned to the fact that she had likely gone home, which made me wonder afterwards how quick we are sometimes to pray simply because we are so awfully used to it. Being the creatures of habit that we are, we simply close our eyes and mumble a half-hearted, perfunctory supplication while giving scant regard to the meaning that underpins the act. I think saying grace is a prime example. It's in the littlest acts like these that one harvests either true gratitude for the simplest blessings, or merely a cursory tribute to God.

But anyway, after I prayed I got a call and against all odds, it was my colleague. =)

X-Men: The Last Stand (Thank Goodness)

Just watched X-Men: The Last Stand, and I want two hours of my life back. Not even Hugh Jackman in a latex suit can save this horrid outing.

Jean Grey, reincarnated as the Dark Phoenix, slinks amidst dark forests with a frigid death glare and then proceeds to turn radioactive and whip up a mini Chernobyl at the Alcatraz. Meanwhile, the X-Teens - Pyro, Iceman, Rogue and Kitty (it appears from my google search that the character's name is really Kitty, which makes it the worst name for a X-Men character, ever) - concoct a snore-fest with a hackneyed college chick flick plot, and a thoroughly uninspired duel at the end where Smirnoff Ice trumps Flaming Lamborghini. On another note, these four remind me of the cheesy British band Steps (note: NOT a compliment).

The plot zips off at breakneck speed right from the start, leaving characterisation woefully inadequate. Sorry, a CGI extravaganza is not going to salvage a story with a badly-paced plot chockablock with characters who get killed off barely two seconds after they are introduced. Pepper with generous doses of unabashedly cringe-worthy dialogue. Finally, throw in an incompetent US President and a military to double up as cannon-fodder, and you've just about got all the necessary ingredients for Independence Day, version 2,903,754.

And Wolverine's sappy, saccharine I-Love-You confession which brings the mighty Dark Phoenix to her sorry knees at the end is undoubtedly the worst piece of romantic dross I have watched since Keanu Reeves mourned Trinity's death in The Matrix Revolutions. It's horrible, period; I have no words to describe it. Is it any wonder at all that poor ol' Phoenix promptly turned into roasted Christmas turkey after hearing that tripe? (Ok, the turkey bit is an exaggeration, but you get what I mean).

Wolverine: All the macho facial hair in the world cannot hide the fact that I'm a syrupy romantic who delivers maudlin speeches that will make your skin crawl, yo!



Things I enjoy, however far and few between, include Magneto, played by the consummate Ian McKellen. Still cool and enigmatic, as ever. It's a pity Mystique gets zapped so early cos I really like her. And Storm's hair totally ups the vogue factor - it's a blast. Fancied the mutant kid named Leech too. He has these freaky saucer eyes, and who doesn't love freaky saucer eyes?

I also have to mention that my favourite, Nightcrawler (the blue bloke with the charming accent in the second installment), did not make an appearance. =(

In all, I felt like I just watched another episdoe of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and was almost expecting an affable amphibian mutant to jump out screaming "Cowabunga!!" any second. Totally doesn't do justice to the first two installments.

Magneto: Watch me rip apart the Golden Gate Bridge like a block of Weetabix!!