Apologies to Book Lovers

I have to apologize to those who are following my book reflections in my blog at this time. I decided to stop reading books for a month because I am currently following the UEFA Euro Cup 2008 on TV and watching football (soccer) is one of my greatest hobbies which I can never let go of when the opportunity rises.

I am going to get back on reading “Blindness” by Jose Saramago and “The Gangster of Love” by Jessica Hagedorn once the tournament is over.

Cheers!

Happy 100th Anniversary to Anne of Green Gables

I haven’t watched the films nor have I read “Anne of Green Gables” but I am pretty aware about how it is a Canadian story and that it is set in Prince Edward Island. The story spread throughout the world as far as the United States, Europe and Japan.

The book was written by Lucy Maud Montgomery and was published in June 1908. It was aimed at fiction readers of all ages, translated in 33 languages, and was adapted into TV Series, Film, Musical Play, and even into an Anime series in Japan who at that time was adapting tons and tons of stories from the west (others I might remember are “The Sound of Music”, “Princess Sarah”, “Heidi”, “The Dog of Flanders”, etc… I might try to find the time reading the book and have my reflections on it - living here in Canada, I think I really need to read it. From studying Canadian History, I only read “Marie Chapdelaine”, “Kiss of the Fur Queen” and part of “Obasan”.

But that aside… For now, I’d like to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Anne of Green Gables since its publication.

Anne of Green Gables helped a lot with the tourism industry of PEI where half of the tourists came in all because of the novels. This year, there will be an event called “Anne 2008″ and the organizers and facilitators are hoping to not just make it into another event which will just draw tourists but also a way for the islanders themselves in PEI to revisit and become fascinated once again to the story of Anne as well as the life in the island more than a hundred years ago.

HAPPY 100TH ANNIVERSARY ANNE OF GREEN GABLES!

Euro Cup 2008 - Group C & D Matches

GROUP C

France, Romania, The Netherlands, Italy

GROUP D

Spain, Russia, Greece, Sweden

Round 1

June 9 Matches:

(1800CET - Zürich) France 0 - Romania 0
Cautions: Niculae 27′ Contra 40′ Goian 43′ Sagnol 51′

(2045CET - Bern) Netherlands 3 - Italy 0
van Nistelrooy 26′ Sneijder 31′ van Bronckhorst 79′,
Cautions: Toni 27′ Zambrotta 35′ Gatusso 51′ de Jong 58′

The French team definitely have changed drastically since Zidane left. They weren’t as strong as before. In this particular match, coach Raymond Domenech didn’t include Patrick Viera and Thierry Henry in the starting lineups, dunno what that meant. There were a few incidents where we can say became worth seeing from Anelka, Malouda and Benzema’s chances for France to the ones Mutu, Chivu and Niculae had for Romania. In the end, it was a goalless draw upsetting the French yet for the Romanians, it meant something big.

Italy on the other hand was not in the best shape for the tournament as they were when they lifted the World Cup two years ago in Germany. Their captain Fabio Cannavaro was injured yet came along the team as their moral boost; their keeper Gianluigi Buffon who was also in the Winning Squad of 2006 instead took the responsibility for these Euro Championships.

It was tough luck though for the Italians as they had tons of chances through Luca Toni, Alessandro del Piero, Andrea Pirlo and others that end up wide, wasted or blocked by Dutch keeper Edwin van der Saar who was successful in winning the UEFA Champions Cup with Manchester United and has become one of the best goalkeepers around. Sportscasters commented, “It’s just one of those nights (for Italy)” and I agree. The first goal came from Ruud van Nistelroy who seemed to be at an offside position on the first half. Wesley Sneijder and Giovanni van Bronckhorst scored the next two goals in the most convincing way possible to secure their three points in Holland’s first win against Italy in 30 years.

June 10 Matches: I wasn’t able to watch these games all throughout so I can only have little impressions on each game.

(1800CET - Innsbruck) Spain 4 - Russia 1
Villa 20′ 44′ 75′ Pavlyuchenko 86′ Cesc Fabregas 90′+1, no bookings

(2045CET - Salzburg) Greece 0 - Sweden 2
Ibrahimović 67′ Hansson 72′, Cautions: Charisteas 1′ Seitaridis 51′ Torosidis 61′

I thought that Spain really wanted the game and really began their campaign in a very optimistic way. David Villa was able to achieve the very first hat trick of the tournament with Cesc Fabregas finishing it with a 4th goal in response to Roman Pavlyuchenko’s goal for the Russians in 2nd half injury time.

I didn’t watch too much of the Greece - Sweden match but I have to say that the defending champions Greece seemed to be out of luck. Zlatan Ibrahimović scored out of nowhere to lead the team in the match. It was the goal that I wanted. The second goal for Sweden by Petter Hansson was also insane yet it was a mistake by the Greeks that led to it going behind the keeper. Greece needed to get back with a win next game. I only hope this is not the last we see of the defending champs.

~

The last 8 teams might be shaping up a bit for some people, but I will continue to follow the happenings in the tournament. In the next few days, I’m going to be busy and I won’t be able to watch every game at the next couple of matches before the quarter finals. That might affect my blogs as well. I hope no one would feel upset with my posts.

You can always check the happenings in detail at UEFA.com or FIFA.com.

Cheers!

_

Legend: Goals Sent-off

Euro Cup 2008: Group A & B Matches

GROUP A

Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Turkey

GROUP B

Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland

Round 1

June 7 Matches:

(1800CET - Basel) Switzerland 0 - Czech Republic 1
Svěrkoš 71′, Cautions: Magnin 59′ Barnetta 90′+3 Vonlanthen 76′

(2045CET - Geneva) Portugal 2 - Turkey 0
Pepe 61′ Raul Meireles 90′+3, Cautions: Kazim 4′ Zan 51′ Sarıoğlu 73′

I thought that none of these teams were in any way weak. For one thing, none of the 16 teams qualified for this tournament are minnows or underdogs. Switzerland was unfortunate to lose their match against the Czechs in their home at Basel. The goal was produced at the second half by then newly substituted player Václav Svěrkoš which became the very first goal of the tournament. The Swiss never gave up and they had tons of chances that were close. There were two controversial incidents in the game when handballs were committed by a Czech player in their penalty area which could have resulted to a penalty kick yet the referee denied it. Overall, I don’t think the Swiss need to worry since they did have good defense and they made a lot more chances than we’d ever think. Also, I do hope that their captain Alexander Frei, who was injured in the first half of the match will be okay on the next match yet it’s questionable of what recommendations will be given to him due to the injury - possibly it might cost him the tournament.

The Portugal-Turkey match was indeed intense. Portugal is one of the favourites to come back to the Euro Cup final but they were facing a speedy Turkish side. In the end, Portugal had a lot more chances. The two goals came in late in the second half with Pepe scoring the first one after running through the Turkish defense responding to a 1-2 pass with a kick straight to the goal. The other goal was scored by Raul Meireles on injury time after 90 minutes when three Portuguese players which included Cristiano Ronaldo (who was expected to perform well in these games) stormed the defenders before the final whistle.

June 8 Matches:

(1800CET - Vienna) Austria 0 - Croatia 1
Modrić 4′ (pen), Cautions: Pogatetz 3′ Säumel 21′ Kovač 51′ Prödl 68′

(2045CET - Klagenfurt) Germany 2 - Poland 0
Podolski 20′ 72′, Cautions: Smoralek 40′ Lewandowski 60′ Schweinsteiger 64′

Luka Modrić scored the first penalty shot of the tournament after Croatia’s Ivica Olić was fouled on the penalty area by Austrian René Aufhauser. Austria could have done a lot better in the first part of the match where they had poor passes but they went stronger later in the game who just like their co-hosts Switzerland were just looking for an equaliser but unlucky to do so after having some chances which almost led to something different for the team.

Germany proved to be the best in the tournament by breaking through comfortably the Polish defense and giving Poland keeper Artur Boruc a hard time in front of his goal. Lukas Podolski (Polish-born German national) scored both goals in the 20th and past the 70th minute mark. Poland faced a very good German team and the players and their coach Leo Beenhakker need to do something even better as they face Austria in their next match.

__

Legend: Goals Sent-off

FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifier - Asian Zone: (Match 4) Oman vs. Japan

Oman 1 vs. Japan 1 (FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifier - Asian Zone)
June 7, 2008 Oman Home

Weather unbearable, match hard to watch, very good penalty save by Seigo Narazaki, red cards flew, ended up in a draw. I knew that the weather was a big factor towards the performance of the Blue Samurai team yet they did have plenty of chances. Oman on the other hand didn’t give up and played some aggressive football.

Ahmed Mubarak scored in the first half with a low shot sneaking the rest of the players and Narazaki. On the 2nd half, Keiji Tamada was fouled on the penalty area. Yasuhito Endo scored a brilliant penalty kick to draw the game. Later on the half, Oman had a chance to score their penalty shot yet Narazaki saw the ball and blocked it leaving the scores as it is. Then at the 70th minute, a breakaway by Japan went too strong which ended to an accident between Oman keeper Ali Abdullah and Japan striker Yoshito Okubo. Okubo ended up kicking Abdullah intentionally which was game misconduct. Khayifa Alil also roughed someone at that time as well. Both Okubo and Alil were given the red card. Okubo is an important player for Japan which the team will miss on their next match against Thailand.

After this game, Oman still has a chance to take the place of Japan in the 4th round - Bahrain’s challenge could be too much for Oman despite how easy it may be for them to beat Thailand; but for Japan, Thailand seems to be the easiest team to play against and if they can, they might be able to take back a game from Bahrain who, because of beating Japan in the 2nd match, is now in top of the group and is securely moving on to the 4th round.

Other matches - these are matches that I didn’t watch:

PR China 0 - Qatar 1… Disappointing loss at home yet the group of death is starting to shape up with China having to demand themselves to make sure that they win the next two matches… Australia and Iraq are on the same group and Iraq made a disappointing performance not winning any of their matches - it’s a big demise of the team who surprised Asia in becoming the Asian Cup Champions last year. Australia and Qatar are both 7 points on top of the group.

DPR Korea 1 - Turkmenistan 0… DPR Korea is now on top of the group, but South Korea is currently playing Jordan and they seem to have the upper hand as I write this blog. If South Korea wins this match, both Koreas will have 8 points on top of the group.

Choice vs. Destiny

It’s been a while since I wrote my last self-reflective journal.

In our lives, we sometimes think about how we become what we are. And the answer is always through the contradicting ideas of the natural and the human influence. Some people would think that we are destined to be what we are at present. Others would think that it was choice that brought us to our present state.

I believe that everything is relative in this world. We might not recognize our very origins yet as hundreds or even thousands of generations pass by, our birth only seems to be our destiny. But we don’t understand that our lives are all up in the air.

We are destined to have a mind to be able to think, a free will to be able to choose and an uncertainty that we have to find out for ourselves and understand. It comes along with us as we are born… We are born with a worldview that our parents didn’t really make for us. We are born as individuals; we are embedded with the “self” idea because of that.

For this, I believe that our lives are not caused by destiny. After all, we are given minds and free wills and individual worldviews and perceptions. We are given the opportunity to choose what kind of lives we are supposed to have and preserve for the rest of our lives and hopefully will be inherited (not destined) to the future generations.

We live in a world filled with many directions and paths that will lead us into different lives. We are all able to become anything in this world. There are so many opportunities that we human beings can grab… all we have to do is to grab it and culminate ourselves to become the people who we want to be, who we think we should be, who we aspire to be, who we are willing to end up to be.

And the key really is “choice”…. not “destiny”…

Destiny is the result of our choice - and for that, we choose our destinies.

How should this help people in their pursuit towards the understanding of life?

The self is part of one’s life… You are part of your own life. Why do you always think of being enslaved? Why do you think of being predestined? You can make choices, it’s part of your free will! And most importantly, you can change your life overall; you can change your whole personality; you can pursue a different path in life…

What brings you there are the opportunities… the options… you see them around you, trying to inspire you, trying to draw you into a wild world, into a certainty which you might have never considered in your life to happen. You are given the chance to bore out and patch up the holes in your life.

Do not worry about what life has in store for you because there is uncertainty and you can always use choice through free will to fill up that uncertainty and tell yourself that life isn’t all about destinies - it’s all about choices.

~~

If you’re just wondering…

With regards to love life, I’m pretty sure this applies. Taking advantage of your opportunities will lead you into bumping on a person who might have recognized those opportunities as well and grabbed it along with you.

I have met and almost got close with about a couple of girls… but it’s sad because I rather choose not to commit for now and focus a lot on my studies. Though it’d be lovely though that I would be inspired in my studies a lot by a girl who I’d like to treasure in my life.

Cheers!

News: My Status on Deviantart

I’ve been checking out everyone in the DA community through multiply and deviantart and I don’t know really if there will be a chance for them to see this journal of mine. But after seeing all the great things about the experience of freedom from DeviantArt, I’m making a declaration in this present journal. But before that, let me tell you what I have been up to in the last couple of months…

I was able to read a lot of books. My hunger for reading is getting satisfied everyday and it’s so great that I was able to reflect upon 5 books here on WordPress in the best and most comprehensive way that I can produce. Right now, I’m reading more books and learning a lot of things.

CBC Radio One and The Hour with George Stromboulopoulos is even better to follow everyday with their academically inclined programming with smart discussions and debates as well as insightful interviews with big people in history and in present.

Football or soccer have been a great sport to watch since the World Cup was introduced to me in 2002. Now I’m getting more opportunities to watch the games and catch up with what’s happening on the different leagues around the world and how it enhances my analysing skills with regards to which team may have great potentials on big competitions. I am also trying to find time in reading Football related media such as books and magazines to find not just stats and player bio, but to find out the art in the sport which is convincingly present throughout the history of its existence.

Language learning and teaching is one of my options in life and I think my passion in languages is getting stronger from time to time. I’m intending to read through my Japanese and Spanish language learning materials as well as the novels that I get to buy from Japanese bookstores and Spanish cultural centres. or borrow from the Japan Foundation and public libraries around Toronto. Now, I even have access to international magazine stores which gave me the opportunity to buy the Spanish language Readers’ Digest entitled “Selecciones”. French is just around the corner though.

I get to focus a lot with my family and it’s no joke that after my mother’s accident, I was able to reflect upon my role in the family and what I should do for them if ever I move out, leave the country or marry.

The list is awfully long with all of those activities that I have been doing, but I guess at last… we have come to this point where I have declared my status on DeviantArt…

I’m very glad that I had memorable moments with DA and I’m so happy to make friends from the community. But I reassure everyone that DA didn’t hold me down, but because life without deviantart meant a lot to me in these past few months, I’m making this declaration:

I’m retiring altogether as a member of DeviantArt Online. What this meant is that I’m not going to come back on DA to upload or submit art, write journals, make comments, send notes, edit my profile, watch deviants through the devwatch feature or add favourites. The only thing I will do on the site is to read journals and comments and appreciate art by myself without making comments.

There are plenty of sites where I can place my art. I have wordpress to rely upon my blogs. I know that I have become a better person by looking through my own life and how it can move on through giving up something for good. But of course, I will keep the good times… you can count on me on that.

Cheers!

FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifier - Asian Zone: Iran vs. United Arab Emirates

I. R. Iran 0 vs. United Arab Emirates 0 (FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifier - Asian Zone)

A disappointing goalless draw. The campaign of Iran with their coaches Javier Clemente and now Ali Daei couldn’t produce a win after three matches (0-0 vs. Syria, 2-2 vs. Kuwait & 0-0 vs. UAE) but they didn’t produce a loss which is still giving them the chance to qualify further in the Fourth Round. I only hope that in the next three matches, Iran can get some wins since they are still favourites to win the group.

As for the game itself, it was hard fought. Throughout the ninety minutes, I observed that Iran has a lot more chances for goals yet either the shots are too wide or the UAE keeper anticipates it. UAE didn’t give up either and kept up with a clean sheet along with Team Melli.

Overall, I really wanted Iran to once and for all win something yet their play is a bit too loose despite how easily they can attack. They have tall players, I’m sure they have brilliant and smart players and I’m pretty sure that their coach Ali Daei has something under his sleeves as Team Melli’s new manager.

FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifier - Asian Zone: Japan vs. Oman

Japan 3 vs. Oman 0 (FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifier Asian Zone)

Nakazawa, Okubo and Nakamura scored all the goals in the competition. Nakazawa is still hot in the set piece situations by heading the ball from the corner kick; Okubo did a great job answering Tulio Tanaka’s pass with a smart goal. Nakamura took advantage of Oman’s defense by converting a cross into a sharp low kick. Naohiro Takahara didn’t play that match.

Japan continues to play out their accurate passing and amazing tactical attacks and defenses. Yuji Nakazawa definitely is the man in defense along with goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki. Shunsuke Nakamura delivers great crosses and one of them led to a goal by Okubo set up by Tulio Tanaka.

Oman on the other hand didn’t do that bad but their defense was taken advantage of too much which gives Japan too much chances in return.

After 3 matches - 2 wins against Thailand and Oman and 1 loss against Bahrain - Japan’s performance is convincing enough for them to qualify to the next stage. Bahrain seemed to be the only team to be reckoned with.

It’s nice to watch Asian football once again. This is the first one since the Asian Cup 2007 which took place last summer - Iraq was the champions of that competition beating favourites Saudi Arabia. But the team I really saw play crazy matches was Japan who went out of the tournament with memorable matches against the UAE, Qatar, Vietnam, Australia who have just arrived in the AFC as a strong team and most especially Saudi Arabia which was their fiercest rival in the AFC.

Here’s the video of all the happenings - this time, the commentary language is Japanese… enjoy the commercials in the end as well.

International Friendly: Brazil vs. Canada

Canada 2 vs. Brazil 3 (Friendly Match - May 31, 2008)

I missed this match! But I saw some great potential with the Canadian team with the two goals that they made - one of them was a nice laser shot by De Guzman. Brazil definitely has the better out of this match as they took advantage of the holes from the Canadian defense and breaking the 2-2 tie at the 60th minute keeping the score in favour of the Seleção 3-2 beating the Canucks.

Not a bad performance by Canada. But I hope this will motivate them to improve a lot more for the real deal at this point which is the World Cup 2010 Qualifier on the CONCACAF Zone which they have to go through in order to get in the last 32 teams. Good luck on your matches against Panamá and St. Vincent & the Grenadines!

As for Brazil, congrats! I’m also a fan of the team and I sure hope that they keep up with their mentality of playing the game and of course I hope they’d improve a lot more in the future especially now that they’re counting down for the FIFA World Cup 2014 taking place in their backyards.

Here’s the highlights on the match between Canada and Brazil - I apologize it’s in Spanish.