just got this from a gina. had a few laughs.

… now I can sleep well, knowing that with cracks like this, the world is in “good hands”.

=)

– I –

Two nights ago, I went home to Laguna. After staying up until 10pm, I decided to hit the blankets early.

1:18 am, with bloodshot eyes, I woke up suddenly. After several attempts to regain my interrupted dream cycle, I went down finally after a concentrated dose of unhealthy reading.

5:30 am, barely 30 minutes after, songs from a distant alarm clock reached a crescendo.

All I could think of that time was: 8 years of college life wrecked my biological clock.

– II –

I once dreamed of receiving a decent 85 on my biology exam.

Days later, full of confidence, I approached my teacher to receive my paper.

Nothing could be farther from the truth: the score written on the upper-right corner was 58.

– III –

It seems that HP Lovecraft is unavoidable these days. This month, I managed to obtain a collection of his short stories. Those two books are perfect for the rainy days ahead.

As to why Lovecraft was unavoidable… when I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean 2 - Dead man’s chest (with meg of http://megoybytes.blogspot.com), at the precise moment the Flying Dutchman appeared onscreen, I can’t help but remark on his disturbing resemblance to depictions of Cthulhu

I wish I had a more interesting one-liner that time, maybe something like:

Dael: You know that Dutchman! What a Cthulhu! and that Cthulhu creature? totally ineffable!.

"Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn."

– IV –

Is it coincidence that strange things have happened in the past few days or were there precedents in history?

In one of my aimless wanderings in the metropolis, I picked up a unique history book. While browsing through it’s contents today, the following entries caught my attention:

July 17:
    1674 bones of two boys locked up in the Tower of London were recovered
    1793 French patriot Charlotte Corday is guillotined
    1872 Mexican President Benito Juarez dies of a heart attack

July 18:
    AD 64 Nero burns Rome
    1610 Michelangelo Merisi (aka Caravaggio) dies
    1869 Pope Pius IX proclaims doctrine of papal infallibility
    1936 Franco signals the start of the Spanish Civil war

July 19:
    1799: The Rosetta Stone is found in Egypt
    1870: Napoleon III declares war to start Franco-Prussian War

Today, July 20, some years ago in 1944, a plot to assassinate Hitler failed.

– V –

Less than a week after they were shouting Il Campioni del Mondo! on the streets, protesters were shouting farce in Turin, Rome, and in many parts of Italy. The reason? Four top clubs in the Italian league were judged to have been involved in a match-fixing scandal. All four incurred heavy penalties and three among them were promptly demoted.

A sad day for football fans.

– VI –

Elsewhere in other parts of Europe, notably in England and Spain, club owners, managers, and coaches are preparing for what looks like "the maddest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of" football by selling/buying players to/from penalized the teams.

Not that all of it wasn’t understandable, but to put things in perspective: 8 players involved in the France-Italy final play for Juventus, the team that was hardest hit by the verdict.

– VII –

I dreamed about you.
When I wondered about it,
I saw shooting stars.

I wrote the above lines years ago ( … and would you believe, managed to publish it online?). I can’t believe how incredibly cheesy it was and how I managed to write it in the first place.

– VIII –

Any moment now, "water" will start appearing on my battered thumbs. Recently I’ve acquired a PlayStation2. Gamer’s Thumb that’s what it’s called.

Can’t get enough of Soul Calibur, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, and Winning Eleven 9.

– IX –

The Rat is dead. Long Live the Rat.

I’ve improved my overall rat-kill-rating to 5 (confirmed kills) because two nights ago, I bagged 3 of them.

How? via an instantaneous delivery  (proportional to the 2ND-derivative of the displacement of the instrument of justice) of a metallic rod to the bulbous cranium of the animal (Rattus domesticanus). Death was in a matter of seconds due to extreme physical trauma.

Prior to the application of the instrument, high pitched sounds were heard or picked up by nearby sonic wave detectors, though witnesses were unanimous in attributing it to the high-velocity gaseous matter escaping through constricted hollow conduits within the rat’s body.

Minutes after the incident, enterprising doomsday experts expressed belief in the episode as nefarious omens to future disturbances of cataclysmic proportions. In particular, those "of the type that would warrant the kind of behavior similar to rats leaving a sinking ship".

The Lab is sinking… The Lab is sinking, group yourselves into ..

63 games and several days later, the greatest show on earth ends with all the shades of blue on the pitch fighting amidst the sea of the green field.

Gweilo’s (yet again).

For France’s Les Bleus and Italy’s Azzurri (both referring to one end of the blue spectrum), it would be an unforgettable night for the victor and hell for the eventual loser.

At the precise moment Zinedine Zidane — ‘Zizou’, entered the pitch, French fans must have felt it was 1998 all over again, after a sluggish start in the group stages, they went on giant-killing-sprees. First, it was  Spain to feel the sword, followed by the Samba Kings — The Selecao – Brazil (arguably the favourites to retain the title), and finally Portugal who had just knocked out England (again) on three occasions. Morale was high as they entered the Theatre of Dreams.

If it was a dream run for France, the same can be said about Italy. Prior to the start of the tournament, investigations regarding the match-fixing scandal rocked the entire nation. Many players, especially Gianluigi ‘Gigi’ Buffon, the Italian Keeper, were linked to the issue.

It is as they say: what doesn’t kill you will make you strong. And Italy looked every bit as determined as France.

7 minutes into the game and the crowd erupts as Zizou, conjuring another piece of magic, puts the ball into the back of the net from the spot. The call for penalty was dubius as the French Malouda appeared to have fallen from minimal (if not invisible) contact with the Italian defender Marco Materazzi, as he cut his way into the box.

It’s going to take everything to win against and inspired side.

But come the hour, cometh the man and it was none other than Materazzi, who gave away the penalty to France. Andrea Pirlo swings the ball into the box from the corner and Marco (known for his prowess in the air) fired home Italy’s equalizer, above the defender, rising to the occasion to head home an unstoppable header: The perfect reply to a disappointing start.

Once more my friends, unto the breach.

The second half produced scares and blanks. Italy could have won in normal time had Toni been onside, Henry with his perfectly timed runs. But as the commentator says, it’s like chess. Or to paraphrase it (as in the movie Dragonheart): In mortal combat bound … whose false step shall be made, whose tears shall stain the ground?"

And the game dragged on to extra time… not before French players take a fall … Patrick Viera, Thiery Henry, Frank Ribery — through injury or a tactical switch by their coaches. Italy used up it’s substitute slots to give way to Del Piero, Jaquinta, and Perrotta.

When those French players left the pitch, it had looked like Italy would finally have the edge. But another flash of brilliance from Zidane almost gave them victory. Buffon had to make a great save from his header. Thankfully, he did.

It was in the final moments that the mood becomes dark. There were numerous signs that portend to the coming of the greatest Fall. Zidane, smarting from a shoulder injury picked up in normal time, lost his cool. Ironically, with the entire hopes of the nation resting on his shoulders, the same was already crying in pain.

Perhaps he may have been pushed to the edge by Materazzi. Whatever happened, Zidane retaliated. After appearing to let go of the issue with the Italian, he turned about and fired a header into the chest of the defender.

Zidane was the next to fall. With the finals in Berlin looking to be his last professional game (for club and country), he went out disgraced. The referee gave him his marching orders. The same head that gave him
the victory over Brazil eight years ago was used to a signal an
unspectacular and unheroic end to a glittering career.

As he walked off alone and past the world cup, the question remains: what went on inside his mind? What, if not tears, will follow him to the dressing room — and in the future?

But, even with 10 men remaining, the French defense held out.

Afterwards, it was down to the gruelling penalty shootout. Apparently, the Italians did their job, yet again. With the weight of history against them (for losing three out of four shootouts), they stepped up to banish the only demon haunting their game: Missing from the Spot.

David Trezeguet was the next to fall. The man who scored the winning goal against the Italians six years ago (Euro 2000 Finals) unluckily hit the crossbar. Afterwards, it was Grosso who finally delivered the killer blow.

Joy for the Italians and their Fans. Disappointment for France — The Magic of Zidane lost its charms.

Les Bleus were left singing the blues, losing out to the deeper shade of blue.

5:00 am and another quick ride back to UP. I didn’t make it back to the boarding house as drowsiness has overtaken me back at the lab. So I laid out some flattened carton boxes on the floor.

What dreams may come when you return home a champion…

(All pictures courtesy of www.fifaworldcup.com)

Germany Lost the Semifinal. Long Live Die Mannschaft.

Gweilo’s 5:30 am.

The last three minutes of the game broke some hearts in Germany. Elsewhere around the world, a lot of people were asleep.

It was the second time I watched a live broadcast of the game at eastwood. It did cost me a lot of money (mainly due to the P250 minumum consumable — I went overbudget many times) but it was worth it. Even when rooting for the side that eventually lost, I didn’t feel like I gambled big time (and lost).

Just when you thought Die Mannschaft and the Azzurri were about to slug it out in a Russian-roulette styled shootout, the Italians found their "killer-instinct" in the last two minutes to force a win.

Poor Germany. The Dream Final is over.

I have to admit, it was a deserved victory for the Italians. Perhaps, knowing that their record at shootouts were less than sterling compared to their opponents, they pressed for the win. And when it came, What a Time For It!  Two came in quick succession. If it were a knockout punch, the final blow was like an uppercut (or a sucker punch) to a glass jaw — it’s that deadly.

After the final whistle, I didn’t stay for long. The sun was already up. We managed a 30 minute travel back to UP. After I collected most of my stuff, I went back to the boarding house and slept like a log — dreaming about what could have been, if the Italians weren”t so lucky and determined.