a photograph of love

otsuka ai's renai shashin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N66Ivr0wgHE
some interview with otsuka ai
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpRMhX8xh-o

she's cut her hair. anyway renai shashin is very daisukidayo. the video, the feel of the song. especially the video. just that this is happy. showing a couple together, soothing melody, it's really like daisuki again.

haha maybe it's part two. her life after the guy died. i mean, she's cut her hair too. it's like the kind of things people will do to start anew. symbols, you know. symbols. haha. so lit.

whether or not she intended it, i dunno.

but this is for tokyo friends the movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW-VVxkIcK8

everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the freedom to choose his attitude in any given set of circumstances- leonhard frand

who are you, leonhard frand, to say these words that so reflect what i think now?

being aware doesn't mean believing

when you don't believe in it, you shouldn't do it.

like when you can't decide between two, it probably means neither is right.

our precarious situation is such that we cannot answer to our conscience.

sometimes i get very frustrated, because it seems i am the only one left fighting.

it shouldn't be like this.

we need to fight.

70 percent possession, 12 shots on target, 29 shots and 16 corner kicks count for nothing if the result is a draw. if it were a win, these statistics would imply a magnificent victory. but the fact was that we drew. if it had been a victory, it would have been very close to perfection, given that we had dominated so convincingly. but the fact was that we drew.

not good enough.

hamburg drew as well.

on a brighter side, ajax won again. 2-0 at heerenveen. 2 points clear of psv, who are really following close behind. but huntelaar has only scored a total of 4 goals this season. hopefully he can repeat his feat last season with 33 goals. den play a season of champions' league football with us before moving to arsenal.

that would be the ideal. please dun harbour any thoughts of moving to newcastle or portsmouth. or even man u.

they removed the clip of otsuka ai performing boo bee benz's to me in tokyo friends.

all the copyright issues.

i think google and youtube are walking on a tight narrow rope. it's a balancing act when it comes to all this copyrighted stuff. while the wrangle over copyrights will certainly diminish youtube's usefulness and appeal(if they have to take down everything), i think there is still alot of potential in youtube in terms of uncovering the next big thing. people can post their creations, their works there and get discovered. and there is still a lot of room for interaction. but ja, without all the copyrighted stuff, i think it would be less exciting.

speaking of which, actually, those companies shouldnt be so uptight. they can in fact, use it to help generate publicity, to reach an even wider mass. of course you have to have some form of control over the way the stuff are posted. but once the details are settled, then i think there is certainly an opportunity.

god is in the details.
just a line from the lost world. was it malcolm or levine who said it?i think it was levine

anew

so, what do you want to do now?

watch the sunrise over the pacific.

any particular reason?

it was her last wish.
***
goodbye, to the one i once loved.

she took a deep breath and swung the sledgehammer at the sculpture. the monument to their love.
***
watching her play the violin that autumn, i suddenly realise how much the violin, autumn and her have in common. the violin is like autumn: elegant, yet melancholic, bearing a wound from the past. the smile on her face is laced with pain and dried tears.

for the first time that chilly morning, i saw her hidden pain.

***
We were here before. The scenery’s the same, the buildings are still there, the trees are still there. Just that the trees are taller a little, the buildings older a little. But yet, the feeling I have now, is so much different.

death note

death note is quite nice. the anime is not bad too, but sometimes it's better to see real people act. anyway, it reminds me of infernal affairs. somewhat similar, i suppose.

and i think L is so cool. and hikari mitsushima, who acted as light's sister. the scene when he opened the door and the door covered her was so funny and cute.

kenichi matsuyama(L) was in nana! haha cant recognise him. he was shin, the new bassist brought in to replace ren by nana.

but seriously, L is really damn cool and funny.

asaka seto was naomi. couldnt recognise her at all la. i was even thinking it was miho nakayama. anyway nana katase(ritsuko in last christmas) is apparently in death note2.

waiting for december to come, cos that's when death note 2 comes out.

it's already coming out in japan los, like one more week or wad, in nov.

souled to the devil

actually, it's true that arsenal dun have an english soul, english backbone, whatever you call it. and it's also perfectly ok for me because 1) i dun like england and 2) if arsenal were to have an english backbone, they wouldnt be able to play like they do.

the epitome of an english team must be liverpool. can't pass, can't score, win by tycho goals.

you want to be like that?

not even chelsea can play like arsenal. different styles, of course, different philosophies. i am not trying to convince you ours is better. not really anyway. but it really is better.

anyway back to the spine of the issue. an english soul has its advantages. erm, actually only one: grit. and admittedly, we dun have alot of that.

but my belief, and i am sure arsene wenger believes in this too, is that you can win by sheer class, regardless of the physical intimidation and grit shown by the opponents.

of course, that would be perfection.

when there is no perfection, you need a degree of grit. but grit is something that's very basic. vanilla, in thomas friedman's lexicon. like discipline. it's something you need, but in order to take off, you dun really need it. it's like defending. you dun need to perfect it. you just need a decent amount of it.

upon 10, if i can have 7 for grit and 9 for class, i think i am much better off than someone who has 10 for grit and 5 for class. and the latter is precisely what the english backbone is about.

we only need grit as an insurance. like a plan b.

you may say we sold our souls, being an english team after all.

oh well, you could have said we sold our souls to the devil, but it wouldnt even matter.
i would gladly sell.

how can you fault such a game, such a belief?

4

4 out of 4. when was the last time this happened? last season, surely. cos this is hamburg's first win of the season.

feyenoord 0 ajax 4
king huntelaar is back. i am quite surprised that pple are worried abt any dip in his form cos he hasnt scored in a month. they are probably a forgetful lot, cos he was out for 2 weeks, rmb? 2 goals fr huntelaar and 2 fr perez. it could have been more, they say. simply fantastic. what more at de kuip. and feyenoord is surely out of the title race.

reading 0 arsenal 4
reading is supposed to be very strong at home. chelsea and man utd struggled. people were predicting a draw. but they never realised that the midweek loss to moscow was going to provoke a reaction; surely u dun expect us to just sit back and take it lying down? reading got blown away by that first goal. and after that, i was awtching, or trying to watch, rather, arsenal played like kings. fluid. dominating. beautiful. stylish. for 70 minutes at least, they were at their royal best, although if i am not wrong, reading's nickname is the Royals. anyway after they took off hleb, van persie and rosicky, they lost all the fluidity. they were horrifying to reading, but after those substitutions, they were horrifying to me. and adebayor was the worst of all. twice, his first touch let him down, or he would be really open. and rosicky cant seem to shoot from close range; it appears as though he can only shoot from far. his close range shooting is atrocious.

leverkusen 1 hamburg 2
van der vaart returned to action at last. but guerro stole the show with a brace. anyway vdv's presence helped, i guess. he's like a talisman to the team. hope his ankle holds up.

valencia 1 osasuna 0
villa again. villa is everything to valencia. the heartbeat of the team. he is on the wings, he is in the centre orchestrating the play, he is taking shots, he is scoring goals. he is winning the game.

man utd 2 liverpool 0
i betted on liverpool. i seriously hate liverpool now. first that fa cup final, now this. they are seriously weak. WEAK. title contenders???? omg. they played like crap. man utd werent fantastic either. but liverpool were seriously crap. i knew that if they were going to win, it would be scrappy, probably that kind of one shot one goal. but i din noe liverpool were worse than that. like feyenoord, they are out of the race. fergie was just being diplomatic, cos i tink he noes it, liverpool are out of the title race. u tink they can do a man u? haul themselves back from the dead to snatch the title with a dunno-how-many-games winning streak a la man utd back then? no way. anyway with the way chelsea is grinding out results, you tink they will slip like arsenal did that season to let u catch them? no. its arsenal, chelsea and man utd now.

and i have this very strong feeling who the champions will be.

it will be like a fairy tale again

bye bye feyenoord and liverpool

they cheated us again

you and your own fantasies.

whatever guilt, sympathy i felt last thursday- all banished forever.

cheated again and again.

now i know what the dutch must have felt in 1974, when the germans scored. they exclaimed in horror then: they cheated us again. now i truly understand how they must have felt.

today and wednesday. two times.

you have lost me even before it begins.

really brought crashing back to earth after yesterday's games.

music station top 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH_fPym6Q7Y

music station's 20th anniversary top 10

10. seishun amigo by shuji to akira 2005
9.sakuranbo by otsuka ai 2004
8. hitomi wo tojite by ken hirai 2004
7. seasons by ayumi hamasaki 2000
6. na mo naki uta by mr children 1996
5. hana by orange range 2004
4. sakura saka by fukuyama masaharu 2001
3. the world's only flower 2003
2. first love by utada hikaru 1996
1. tsunami by southern all stars 2000

sakura saka is quite a soothing song, though i wun go crazy over it. but it certainly reminds me of the 2001-2003 period, when they had more jap stuff on radio, on tv. the deejay will always say "ying ban". of cos the chinese version by alec su was played more often. but i tink sakura saka was quite a hit in singapore too. those were the days.

anyway i tink this list was based on sales

de klassieker

a few big games coming up tonight.

real madrid against barcelona
manchester united against liverpool
feyenoord rotterdam against ajax
reading against arsenal

ok, the last one might not be one of those classics, but it is imperative that we win tonight. to show them whos boss. reading very strong at home? never lost or something liddat? well, there's always a first. i am sure we will be happy to do the honours.

my gut feeling tells me liverpool will somehow win tonight. and i think it will be very very scrappy.

barcelona against real is really a tough call. real this season is not the real last season. cant really see them get whacked 3-0 at the bernabeu again. but i dun tink barcelona will lose again.

in any case, the most important game tonight is in rotterdam, at the de kuip. huntelaar is back. feyenoord are down in 7th place. it would be very nice to kill them off tonight.
***

the game against watford taught me a few things. actually, thierry henry taught me a few things. 2 actually, to be precise.

1) one touch is all you need. his goal shows clearly that one good touch on the ball can set you free. just like how one pass can split the entire defence. that's why i dun understand why people like to take the ball and run and run. seriously, when they run, they can't think, they can't see, and when they can't see and can't think, they run themselves to the ground because they dunno what to do next, and because they arent good enough to hold on to the ball.
all this translates to waste. because of this, you waste the effort of teammates who run into space, who make themselves available.

2) always know where the ball is. there was one chance he missed. he ran with the ball, den two defenders collided into each other. and they touched the ball, but the ball ran loose. and henry calmly strode to collect the ball, den curled it just wide. if you watch it, you wouldnt know that henry was lucky to retain the ball. when i first saw it, i was wondering what trick henry pulled to get past them. but it was really all about knowing where the ball is, and being cool about it. the result is a very stylish move.

a new deck

you don't need to be in a foreign land to feel alone.

i know i need to leave this place. yes, i can put down everything. throw it all away. it might not be better over there.

but at least i can reshuffle the deck, draw a new hand. be given the chance for better cards. much better than holding onto these cards.

there is really nothing much here worth staying for. all the reasons for staying pale in comparison to that one chance to start anew. at least there, there won't be any excuses. surprisingly. you need to look at things from my perspective, understand my reasoning to realise why it is surprising.

do i see myself in your future?

你手中的爱情地图走不到我的幸福

you might mock those people for being idealistic, but really, you are the one who's clinging on to your ideals.

exposed again and again.

colours and konayuki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lRL86ADeGU

quite a nice video.

these colourful days have turned into black and white photos in our album.

***

it's really sad that two parties are not on the same wavelength. A can go all out to do things for B, thinking that that's what B wants, and thinking that that's the best for B. but actually, A is just so dead wrong. and when B finally plucks up the courage to tell A so, at the very last minute, at that instant when the truth is revealed, you can really feel the tension, the silence.

yes, loss for words is really the phrase to describe A's feelings.

and it's really kind of sad. and i always feel sorry for A, even though i am more inclined towards the opinion of B. i don't really like to see people look as though their whole world has just collapsed. in a way, when A goes all out, it will really be like the end of the world when B drops the bombshell. all your life, you have always believed in that, and now someone tells you it is all wrong, of course you will be stunned.

so when this thing happened again on thursday night, it was like deja vu. been there before.

and i still feel sorry for A, but agree with B.

***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fA-UNhqMxk
clip of konayuki with scenes from 1 liter of tears.

i love the way the music comes on after her mother finished reading: mum, will i marry someday.

everybody wants huntelaar

aroh well. i think huntelaar shouldnt leave. not even for arsenal. one more season at ajax, at least. he has never played european football before, so the uefa cup would be a good experience for him before he goes out to play in the champs league. of course that's just an excuse. he is good enough to play at the highest level. but i just want him to stay at ajax. not even go to arsenal or valencia.

and the worst thing would be to go to newcastle.

no offence, but newcastle are always like the toad lusting after the swan. clearly not good enough for some players, but always want to buy and buy and buy. i don't even know what the hell emre is doing there. newcastle is a second-rate team. huntelaar should be playing for a top team. as simple as that.

i will flip if huntelaar join newcastle. clearly a lack of ambition. anyway i dun believe england suits him. go south, go to spain.

kafka on the shore

most of the recent entries have been on football, so i guess you know what it has been like. revolving around football.

which isnt all that bad, really.

it just shows that when the whole world is caught up with their own businesses, there's still something there, for you.

like your personal harbour.

today is champions' league day, so avoiding football will be kind of hard. anyway, just to sum up the week's action, kind of disappointed that valencia lost to celta. a few years back, before celta got relegated, we had some problems with them. now they have done it again. and we have lost the initiative to barcelona with this defeat.

travelling to moscow will be difficult, but we have to go there and win. win it, and we are almost through. on the brink. so is valencia, entertaining shaktar. maybe we will all be through after this week.

and channel 5 probably lost all meaning to me. they dun even show champs league now. i am kinda stunned by it. guess i have to rely on tv1 later. i dun really have tv2, so it's 50-50, in that i tink the two channels take turn to show a game on each day. have to try my luck. otherwise it's going to be the jerky feed from the net.
***
the title kafka on the shore sounds nicer and nicer. i have finished it at last. and i really think it is murakami's masterpiece. much much more imaginative than his hardboiled wonderland and the end of the world. and very powerful. of course there are many questions. he says u need to read it many times to find the answer to the book. the answer's within the book, buried within the riddles within. the answer will come in different ways to different readers. basically it's just another way of saying different people have different experiences because they are all different.

but i dun tink i will be reading it a second time anytime soon. still reeling from it. and i have another waiting.

there is certainly alot of sense in absurdity. it's very murakami.

and nakata rocks.

dream-like

max is right. after you have done it, when everything is over, you will always feel that it wasn't as bad as it had seemed to be. maybe because we have been there and done it, so we have the bragging rights. but i wouldnt really say bragging rights. it was more like relief that it was over. because i certainly wouldnt want to go through it again.

you want to take alevels again meh?

last year this time.

went back for open day yest. talked to ms ho wif max. that was how max came to this conclusion, when we talked about the past.

then we played a bit. couldnt resist the temptation after all. took the first step to banishing the ghost of the past, the burden and all. but not there yet.

but it is really very nice to aim at the big goal posts. it is just very different. it's been a while. shooting like crazy on thursday and friday.

and on thursday, something amazing happened. suspending yourself in the dream-like state. i came out with this phrase a while back. and i think it really happens. at that moment in time, you are really not you, but someone else. 4 or 5 times that day. i am not sure if i can do it again. but i would love to. ghosting. that's what i call it.

i am reading kafka on the shore now. i must say i am pleasantly surprised by what i have read so far. it's so murakami, yet so refreshingly new. it's like another way murakami would have done it, but just hasnt, at least until now. you could have anticipated it, but you didnt.

or maybe it's just because i haven read murakami for a while.

when old things come back, they can seem a little different.

there's only one king in england, and he's wayne rooney. forget lampard and gerrard, rooney is everything to england. after all, form is temporary, class is permanent.

seriously, when people tell me that in lampard and gerrard, england have the best central midfield in the world. they have probably never heard of xavi hernandes, xabi alonso, juan roman riquelme, cesc fabregas and many others. lampard might be a good player, but certainly not in the top tier. he has never impressed me. gerrard is much better than lampard, but he is still a mere mortal, the epitome of english athleticism. whatever gerrard can do, rooney can do too. whatever rooney can do, gerrard might not be able to do. what about defensive qualities, you might ask. seriously, defending, if you have read the world is flat, is like vanilla. it's very basic. to defend sufficiently well enough is very simple. of course defenders like cannavaro made it an art, but i always believe that rather than waste your time honing this art, why don't you work on attacking instead? attacking is like the chocolate topping. much more valuable and sophisticated. read: harder to excel in. something special. you just need a good defender; you don't need an excellent defender. and good defenders are everywhere. anybody can defend well. not many can excel in it. but you don't need to excel in it. so whatever rooney can do that gerrard can't more than makes up for his inferior defensive qualities.

so i say, rooney is the only king in england. and lampard and gerrard certainly arent the best central midfielders in the world. please get that idea out of your mind.

anyway arsenal won again. thankfully, the internationals didnt break our momentum. of course it's only watford. but we should have won by much more. and watching the game more or less confirms my belief that arsenal is the team that plays the most stylish football in the epl. and when you have just watched man utd play earlier, the comparison justifies the belief.

ajax won again too. yet another close game. we need to start thrashing people soon.

4 days of football in a row. the attacking role i crave. and i feel as though i can still go on, go on forever.

keep playing, play like you are never ever going to play again.

just enough

just enough to win, i guess. not a very fantastic performance at the Arena. just a 2-1 win over albania. and van persie scored again. he's got 4 goals and 3 assists. and holland has only scored 7 goals.

look at that, ruud van niistelrooy. where were u when we needed you most? you were never there. you have never done enough. you have never inspired us to victory. given ur experience and age, that is something we must expect. if you don't give it to us, how can you expect to have an automatic starting position? and these two games, though we drew against bulgaria, have shown that van persie can play in the center too. now, we are just waiting for huntelaar to come back.

looking at all these, you have to accept that you arent going to play a big role. and you are walking away from everything. to you, it's all or nothing. but we can't afford that. so i guess it's too bad about that.

i tink for a group of seven teams, you need around 20, 21 points to qualify, from 12 games. we have 10. we just need to win 4 more. but of course, we shouldnt be thinking about this. we should be thinking about how to get there in style. like 11 wins and 1 draw. that kind of thing. so the game against romania will be crucial. very crucial.

i think if we play like the way we play, if we can't change things, den we better score 5 goals by 30 minutes. we seriously have a very bad habit of playing very well at the start and then letting complacency take over. it seems to be a dutch thing. look at the 1974 final. of cos it's good to be arrogant. but at least score a few more first, please. this time it's albania. next time, it will be a much stronger opponent.

and in 2008, it would definitely be the big teams.

wake up, wake up, wake up!

podolski got two in the 4-1 win over slovakia. now, that's the perfect way to react. though they might have been easy goals, but still, this IS the way to react.

and england lost 2-0 to croatia. i cant imagine they devote soooo many pages to it. so boring.

and spain beat argentina. it certainly eases the pressure on aragones. but i tink it's true that spain's identity, or the lack of it, could be the real factor why they dun perform on the big stage. but for the dunno-who to propose that spain become something like the united kingdom... it's really quite a radical idea which will have political repercussions as well. using football to solve the longstanding problem of the basque country and catalonia wanting more autonomy. or maybe it's the other way, implemented to solve the political problems, and the effect on football is just the ripple effect.

yes, it is very possible.

but i am not sure i would like to see catalonia play against holland.

but then again, we don't always like new things until we tried.

the lueneburg variation

paolo maurensig's the lueneburg variation is a very haunting book. it's about chess, about the persecution of the jews, about one man's search for redemption, and the other's dark, hidden past. everything is very well-linked. and the story climaxed with a horrifying revelation. at least to me, it was. personally, i feel that it was very well-written, the style and all. written in a language that really sets the mood for the entire story. i like the way maurensig was able to switch the perspective as the story develops. from tabori, to mayer, then back to tabori. seamless.

it's like a mind game.

i just seen the bulgaria match.
we should have won it. i still don't see why van persie's second should be disallowed. we certainly had more chances. we dominated.

the albania coach said we were impressive. and that it would be hard for them tonight against us in amsterdam. we better win it. and win big. even without a real central striker. like i say, i tink babel, van persie and robben upfront is interesting. just take more shots and cut down on the crosses because though van persie scored with his head, let's be frank, we are better on the ground without a target man. use the pace and technique that we have, and we should be ok.

your calling is somewhere.

listen to it.

seek it.

live it.

break out. break out of this system.

anything that can be created can be destroyed.

seek your destiny.

i don't believe mine is here.

cd

有句话，在我心里，藏了一世纪

啤酒 咖啡 醉和清醒 爱情 有时是需要两者兼备的

你把我，放在心上那个位子？

in everyone's heart, there is a map of love.
i met you there.
where's this place on your map?

haven't bought a cd in a while.
the last one was one of the german ones in germany, i guess?
2004. more than 2 years to that point.

the nicest thing about buying cds, maybe in particular chinese cds is that the artistes will pen down their thoughts. in a way, it's more sincere. there's more feeling in it.

i don't know if albums nowadays, or rather artistes nowadays still do it. the last chinese cd i bought was i tink back in 2002 or 2003, hou xiang ting's best of.

it is a nice touch really.

all the above were from valen hsu's albums. all before 2000, if not 2002.

those were the days.

we should have won. i don't know how they scored. but this is one of those games that you played very well, you had chances, but you did not win.

in other words, not good enough.

i managed to watch the game, holland v bulgaria, online. watch is not really the correct word, because the streaming was such that the game would pause every now and then- correction: very often- such that the ball will move and then stop. and during that time, i have to guess what happens next.

i did manage to see that we had a lot of chances. 15 shots to their 4. i dunno if this was the last count. but i did hear the commentator lament alot. even if i hadnt seen the actual shots. but we were holding the ball most of the time, and in their half.

we were down 1-0 after just 12 minutes. ionly started watching after 20 minutes, cos it was only then that i thought to try my luck. and before van persie scored, i was seriously wondering if this would be a repeat of the 3rd placing game against croatia in 1998. needless to say, i dunno how van persie scored. i saw the ball crossed in, den i saw him celebrate. for the replays, i only saw the ball crossed in and then it's in the net. then he had a goal disallowed. i din see it also. i only saw him cover his face, then in the replay holding/being held by the defender.

it's really 2 points lost. the world cup qualifying campaign already showed that it is possible to win almost every single game; we drew one, lost none. because holland is holland, that is what we must strive to achieve. after all, bulgaria, romania and slovenia, however tricky teams they may be, especially at home, can't be better than us. that is why, nothing less than a win must be expected.

but the most important thing about this game was ruud van niistelrooy. we needed to win, to show him that he's not that important. we shot ourselves in the foot. we could have won, we didnt.

now, pple might tell us we are missing van niistelrooy. which i totally disagree, of course. now we have to show it against albania.

there are 2 things to take home from watching this game.

the first is that, actually all the hanging and lagginess is not bad from a tactical perspective. at those instants, you can see all the spaces, all the possibilities.

the second is that it is interesting to have babel, van persie and robben upfront. three players who are very fast and like to go out to the flanks. and none of them is really a centre forward. maybe van persie. but i feel that they shouldnt have kept crossing. they shuld play to feet, like arsenal. the technique is good enough to play like that. maybe it would have been more effective.

and spain lost again.

you will never lose what you never had.

the worst thing is to think you are in control when you arent.

goals

was watching the epl goals show just now.

got quite pissed when i saw this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCHY2Lo1xr8

david bentley's goal for blackburn against wigan.
as good as dennis bergkamp's. look at the way he places the ball there. but before that, the dummy and the turn. den the delicate touch. very dennis bergkamp.

we shouldnt have let him go.

maybe he wont be world class, the top tier, but he would give us depth. adequate cover.

sometimes you do wonder if goals are nicer when they are taken at a snap, or when the player holds the ball for a while.

take van persie.

i think he has scored 3 great goals. the one against villa when he pulled the ball away fr the keeper, and the one against blackburn, when he shot from a narrow angle after squeezing in between 2 players. and of cos, that wonder volley against charlton. the first two are scored after some nice touches on the ball. the third took onli one touch.

was that volley more fantastic, given that he only took one touch? after all, to take only one touch requires something special. to connect well at that instant, that split second... you might say it's genius. it is very hard to explain, but i guess you know what i mean.

but one thing is for sure, they are all great goals.

lara veronin and nan quan mama

mu dan jiang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7Ei7nJe1ZU
wu ding
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOUF8DDsuMQ
let it be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j83nR7-HJc4
li jia bu yuan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgIybfhY_XY
the audio quality is bad, but then again, who cares?

it's about lara veronin.

style style style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k23RbkZhlig
yuna ito's endless story

i am glad i stopped the game.

looking back, i doubt i could have won.

always trust god to make the best decision for you.

somehow he knows.

even if he may have that funny habit of leaving you hanging in midair sometimes,

the other times, you just have to trust him.

two already.

will you grant me the third?

september and december

lee hom's liu lei shou xin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbAigOxY_0I
was that the violin? listening to it makes me feel as though my heart is being torn apart. it's just so sad.

lee hom's yong yuan de di yi tian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnwZH9zXO1I
very nice mv. think it's my fave together with elva's wen. fell in love with it the very first time i saw it on channel 8 5 years ago. or was it 6? but it was back when they still had this mtv show at the 10 or 11 o'clock slot on sat mornings. and jap dramas too. goggles, they call it. good old days. but goggles nv took off, so they scrapped it. now, they dun even have the mtv on sat mornings.

so now you know why i don't watch tv. no cable= nothing. but once in a while, shows like pride, good luck and last christmas do come along. once in a while.

beautiful life's opening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIfDrFn0bzs
to many, the nicest trendy drama ever. tokiwa takako is so stylish.

konya tsuki no mieru oka ni, bl's theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhAkX6-2o3M
one of the nicest songs ever

summer snow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hreuAEtOYxg
the other super nice drama from 2000.

because the emotional state differs, i guess it is fair to have favourite dramas for each specific period of time. if that is so, then the period between 2000 to 2002 belongs to summer snow and beautiful life. now, it has to be orange days. but i guess that's changing, because the heart will change.

i am not feeling the same as i was feeling in december 2005.

i am no longer looking for december

so i suppose in a while, sign and orange days will become fond, but distant memories.

on the way to cks airport, there was this variety show. when asked to comment on the appearance of a third party in a relationship, a girl says that she will just ignore her bf until he comes back to her. the host asks, what if he doesnt. she says that she will dump him. because

"世界上没有男人是不可以被取代的"
kakkoi da ne!

anyway, i just realised that september has come and gone. so i guess alot of people are waking up now?

never thought september would come. i couldnt see september back then.

september brings with her autumn.

and in a while, december will come.

and then christmas.

and then, there will be wham's last christmas filling the airwaves and streets again.

but it's goodbye, the december of 2005.

charlton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJXBXFSbgvo

i said before: sometimes in football, the ball will come to you at the perfect moment, the perfect angle, the perfect speed, the perfect weightage. and all your life, you prepare for this moment. so that when it comes, you will score and become a hero.

torsten frings did it in germany 2006. tugay did it for blackburn before; forgotten when. and so did many others. zidane in that champs league final too.

but what van persie did...

they said it was a spectacular volley.

i thought it was out of this world.

he went to the ball. of course the ball went to the right space, but van persie went to the ball.

if you thought rosicky's goal against hamburg was great, just look at this one.

oh my god.

i think the chinese songs of the past are much nicer than the ones nowadays. by the past, i don't mean the 60's or 70's but the late 90's right up till like maybe last year or last last year.

or maybe it's due to less exposure, with the convenience of the mp3 player. time constraints this year also means less time is given to the radio, if not next to nothing. compare this to the past: every time i am home, the radio's on. now, it's every time i am home, the com is on, and the mp3 is plugged in.

but this year, i think there hasnt been a chinese song that really catches my ears.

but the time spent in taipei really brings back memories of those nice chinese songs, even though i didn't hear much over there. but walking around, they just enter into your world.

songs like liang jing ru's ru guo you yi tian, ocean's xiu xiu xiu, hou xiang ting's qiu tian bie lai, jay's an jing, tao zhe's tian tian, sun yan zi's kai shi dong le, hsu ru yun's tu ran xiang ai ni

other than xiu xiu xiu, the rest are from before 2002, i think.

from cass phang and lee hom's 让我取暖
回程的机票在手
也许明天就走
其实都可以更改的
只要你开口留我 只要一个理由
就能让我停留

"the biggest opponent is always yourself. the hardest person to convince is yourself. so for me, the biggest challenge always lies within.

"that's why it's never about the other team, but yourself. the most important thing to do is to play the perfect game. if we can play a perfect game, i don't see why we won't win.

"people may point to cases where a team plays very well, creating 10 chances but not scoring, but the opponent has just one chance and scores from there. but in my opinion, perfection entails everything. right down to the conversion of chances into goals. if you have chances but don't score, it just isnt good enough. as simple as that. it's not perfect."