half-time

1. prisoner of love, utada hikaru

2. lies, glen hansard

3. lifesize, a fine frenzy

4. don't you dare, alexz johnson

5. with you, lisa and park hyo shin

6. chiisana koi no uta, mongol 800

7. forever love, xjapan

8. qing tian, jay chou

9. kiri, monoral

10. starlight, muse

something must change.

i know what, but don't know how.

so i am sitting, hoping to win the lottery without a ticket.

something will turn up, as wilkins micawber says in dickens' david copperfield

i watched the final of the champions trophy 2009 held in sydney this morning. argentina and australia played to a 0-0 draw after extra time. argentina's no8 and captain luciana aymar was simply a delight to watch, the way she played her way out of trouble, the way no one seemed to be able to take the ball away from her.

the final saw her set the new record for appearances in the champs trophy. perhaps it was also fitting that she was the one who took the last penalty to win it for argentina, thus ensuring a successful defence of the title.

i can't believe that australia, despite finishing second will be relegated from the champs trophy. to me, it doesnt make sense at all. of course, they have done all the math, they have a system of working out who plays in next year's edition.

england finished 6th, but because they are the hosts next year, they are assured of a place. so you would expect the 5th-placed team to be relegated, which is china. amazingly, it emerged that china would stay as long as they beat england in the 5th/6th playoff. and when that happens, as long as australia doesn't beat argentina in the final, australia would be relegated. i think if australia were to become champions, then germany would be relegated. there is a points system, a ranking system at work here, surely. but it must be very bitter for the australians. i think it is ridiculous, it is a shame.

but after the game, the australians were smiling and basking in the adoration of the home crowd. they are a young team, the captain madonna blyth is 23 and the player of the tournament. she was somehow not euphoric while receiving the award, coming across to me as meek even. it was almost as if she was surprised, guilty that she was upstaging lucha aymar. it is just such a shame that they won't be playing in england next year.

i also watched the qualifying tournament for the volleyball world champs 2010 in japan. anna baranska has longer hair, a headband, and is playing like anna baranska again. so the usual suspects will be europe's representatives: russia, italy, serbia, holland, turkey, poland, germany, croatia and czech republic.

i somehow hope the tour de france will be over quickly. it is taking too much attention.

life is beautiful. but you have to live.

Coming Soon

"Are you ok, are you ok?"

"Leave him, Corinna, leave him."

"Can't you see he is still alive?"

"We have no time. Leave him!"

"No, we can't."

Brother and sister stared at each other in the eye. Carlo finally turned and strode off, without a further word.

**

"Who are you, Outsider?"

"I don't know."

**

"Grandpa Stoke, who wears black, with an emblem on the collar that looks- like this?" she drew a circle, a cross in it, and a dot on the cross on the sand beside the old man's foot.

"A Shadow, child."

"A shadow?"

He leaned close to her and whispered, "An elite soldier of the Government. Top secret. No one knows about them. No one who has seen them has stayed alive. There are lots of rumours…that they are mutants…that they are experts with poison…you haven't seen one of them, have you?"

"Of course not."

**

"Who are you exactly?"

"I don't know."

**

"Tomorrow, we will have to fight. They are coming. You will fight with us. You understand?"

**

"You know who he is, don't you?"

-

"Why, then?"

"We need a hostage. What more, a hostage who can fight. Damn bloody well."

**

"What are you fighting for?"

"Freedom."

"Freedom. What is freedom?"