5 and counting

Ok I know this is one week overdue but better late than never.

So last week, I took part in my FIFTH marathon, That's right FIFTH. How I got this far, I have no idea. When I ran my first marathon in Dec 2007, I thought back then that it was just a one-off thing to see how much I can push myself. But fast forward 3 years later, I find myself running at least one marathon each year. It's always the same story every time. I run. I finish. I tell myself that it's damn painful. I tell myself not to do it again ever. But I'll do it again anyways.

It doesnt help when you have friends like Is who has been officially termed gila by his parents. This dude is going to France for an ironman next year and he plans to bring a whopping grand total of 2 sets of clothes! Along with his bike of course, which he has to pay for shipping fees and not to mention the registration fee alone which costs bout $700. He has to get up early every morning to train and (as far as I know), he's not going to get laid! But that's ok cos HE IS AN IRONMAN. IRONMAN.

(Ok la that's beside the point but I just wanted to have a paragraph about him cos he is seriously mental dok)

Anywayyy, I dont know how I did it but I did my personal best this time. I think the official race timing was 4h 50min. I find this really amazing cos if you all had not known by now, I'm kinda of a pemalas haram. I sign up for races and I dont train for them. Usually about a month before the race, I get a bit worried so I'll probably start running. But this will last at most for a week and after that I'll be back to my normal lazy self. The most I've trained so far was for the KL Marathon 2010 and even that was disrupted by exams. So I know that I was severely underprepared for this one and my only expectation was to complete the race in decent time. If you take all these factors into account, it's no wonder I'm so pleased with the results in the end.

This brings me to the point of the entry, so what actually contributes to a good race? Cos as far as I know, from my first marathon till now, I have not been doing anything radically different. I have been practicing my own pre-race rituals and if anything, I've actually done less this year. Yet I managed to somehow slash more than 30 mins off my timing, which usually falls around the 5h 30 min region.

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I ran with two very fit people in Jon and Is. We ran together, side by side all the way from start to the finish. The only times we broke away were at the drink stations where I tend to take a little bit more time than them but we caught up with each other eventually. I started to sense that this was going to be my fastest race ever when we crossed the 20km mark at 2h 07 min. We did our first 10km in 1h 02 min, which was tremendously fast considering that the bottleneck extended all the way till the 5km mark so we pretty much had not much space to run into. We told ourselves to slow down but apparently Jon has no sense of timing whatsoever so ya he lead the way and we completed our next 10km in 1h 05min. So much for slowing down but ya.

I experienced my first slight hint of cramps at the 25km mark and the legs really started to get heavy from then on. There were numerous times when I really felt I was slowing them down so I needed to walk and but Is told me to hisap and pegi mampus so I had no choice but to keep going. At the 35km mark, both my thighs suddenly cramped up and this was the point when I started to scold myself for voluntarily signing myself up for this shit again. Surprisingly I managed to walk it off and made a final push for the final stretch. The last 2km was extremely torturous but with the crowd cheering us on, we glammed it up a little and crossed the finish line with our hands together raised up high.

Aside from the running company, I cannot really explain why I managed to outdo myself this time. There were a lot of times when I could have foreseen myself giving up and walking had I run alone. But these were the times when that little push from them can go a long way. And in my case it did and I'm thankful to them for that.

Perhaps, there is an even better explaination for this. Perhaps, I know the reason all along. It's actually cos... I'M A SPORTSMAN. I PLAY SOCCER EVERY WEEK. I'M A TENNIS PLAYER.

Tak.

Soccer Related

Since I'm bored and I can't sleep, I decided to look at the past GAFL results to determine who F17 are going to play against. Good news for us. Besides El Krados, they still have one more game against CUFC. However, they also have a game against Reds. Whatever it is, we still need to beat CUFC and hope our arch enemy will do us a favour after.

Anyway, to really emphasize the boredom, I googled Aeonity TLFC and found this article. Gonna post it here. One of our better games:

Good evening, this is The Shadow reporting from the TLTV Sports Centre on what was thought as an amazing last minute comeback by TLFC against Kawabunga FC earlier this morning at Clementi.

Jon The Hummer and Suff The Flash scored 1 and 2 each as TLFC surged to a comeback victory.

Yet the victory came at a price for the hosts, who were already missing many men like Syah and Irwan due to uh, injury and suspension, as leftback Nazir the Destroyer was destroyed with a quite serious looking ankle injury.

The game was only 10 minutes old when TLFC took a downturn as he hobbled off the pitch in agony after his left ankle failed under a kick/challenge from his own self.

Nazir could put no weight on his leg as he wasn't helped to the touchline and the word swiftly came out that he could not continue.

If there is any comfort for TLFC, it is that they are not facing anyone next week because, with many injuries and suspensions, they would be in trouble.

Having already suffered a loss last last week at the hands of Marine Devils, TLFC was keen not to repeat the same mistakes this week.

Yet, after a quite flimsy defence and goalkeeping error, TLFC was temporarily stunned by a um stungun fired by a player from Kawabunga whose name I'm not very sure of currently.

The opener came from an innocuous beginning as one of them won a header close to halfway.

Mr We're-Not-Sure-Who was onto the loose ball in a Jiffy, darted speedily to the penalty box by the left flank, then cut in and released a deceptive shot which looked like sommat between a cross and a lob. Which apparently was a goal.

For a while it seemed TLFC would be silenced in a manner seldom seen since it was formed seven years ago.

But as halftime came and went and a few major changes were made to TLFC, with Jon The Hummer playing upfront and Mus The Shadow playing right wing, (but in fact nowhere at all come to think of it) the game took a turn.

After a dizzying dribble by Jon going around in circles and back and forth and godknowswhat, the capacity crowd of less than 20 people held their breath as Jon unleashed a wobbling diagonal gounder which thankfully ended up in the goal.

From that point on it was a drastic improvement exercise for TLFC with The Gaffer feeling sufficiently comfortable about his side's position to remove top strike Mus (which was actually doing nothing) long before the end.

Sam's save did not prevent Siva getting his own name on the scoresheet for the I'm-not-sure-how-manyeth-time this season.

Despite being 1 goal down and desperately needing a win, TLFC was soon celebrating after setting Suff The Flash free with a mistake from the opposition goalie which allowed the TLFC forward to lob the ball into goal.

It was almost as if the opposition defence was fearful of Suff (which I'm quite sure wasn't the case) that they dare not go near him, offering the Flash a suicidal amount of space to run into every time he got the ball.

It paid off in the 90th plus minute, with Suff scoring a superb goal involving 3 touches: from Nas the Maestro's cross connected by Jon's head outside the penalty box which landed beautifully in Suff's path near the right penalty edge and the rest is as they say, history.

The Gaffer hails 'terrific' result

The Losers manager The Gaffer paid tribute to his side after a classic comeback 3-2 victory over Kawabunga at Clementi.

"It was due to my tactical genius that I was able to outwit Abinesh Ferguson and his men," The Gaffer told TLTV.

"I'm very pleased. It is a terrific result for us against a Kawabunga team which is a very good team and TLFC are back to their winning ways,

"I think I'm good enough to manage in the EPL."

Suffian Hakim was once again instrumental in much of what TLFC did - a contribution which did not go unnoticed by The Gaffer.

"Suff scored two goals but I won the game for us"

But we all know who's having judgement problems here. Even opposition Sivakumar was suportive in his remarks

"Suff did nothing la, only 2 touches and he scored the equalizer and the winning goal. He's like Mustakjm" rousing laughter from both sides, although I'm not very sure what's so funny about that.

This is The Shadow, attempting to report it Soccernet style from TLTV Sports Center at The Wall Empire. Good night.

Seriously la. We had nicknames all: The Fox, Flash, Maestro, Destroyer, Chilli Sauce Addict, The Shadow. How cool were we? And guess what, all these was 3 years ago.

Back then, our good results were far and few between. We started with 7 players and would end with 8. We got thrashed 1-5, and by other scorelines which I won't mention. Fast forward to now and we are a team who actually has 2-3 substitutes. We are even sitting on top of the table, with a high chance of winning the league.

Just hope we can continue this trend and not start our matrepness next season. If all our players are as confident as "We can confirm beat Rendezvous"-Nas, then I'm sure we won't.

Aussie Chess

When playing chess in Australia, one should say "checkmate" and "checkmatemate" to avoid confusion.

Capteh Queens

Recruit for TLFC ke pe

Who Says TOWNs Isn't Educational

Cocky Cows

Robert sipped on his coffee, savouring its rich taste and aroma. After taking a satisfying sip, he turned to his companion. "Cock cock cock," the tall, pale man said. "Cock cock cock cock cock cock."

Robert's companion, Ah Tan was not impressed by his speech. The acne-ravaged man was visibly flustered as he said, "Cock! Cock cock cock!"

Robert was prepared with a counter-argument. "Cock... Cock cock cock! Cock?"

"Cock cock; cock cock. Cock - cock cock!" Ah Tan replied. His muscular frame had since relaxed at Robert's earlier comment. "Cock cock," he added.

The two men were seated on a couch in a house that was not theirs. How they came to be there was a long story involving being bored on a Monday afternoon, a crowbar and lots and lots of marijuana.

"Cock, cock," Robert conceded to Ah Tan's exposition.

"Mooooo!" came a voice from outside. The two men jumped - they had not expected the house's tenants to be back so early. Robert peeked outside a window, and sure enough, he could see three cows walking towards the house.

"Mooo!"

Robert and Ah Tan bolted out the back door, neglecting the unfinished coffee they had left behind. They ran until their legs protested in pain, which was a good 5 metres away.

As they walked further and further away from the house, they passed by Samad, a mutual friend of theirs.

"You all look like you've been running for metres! What happened?" the concerned Samad inquired.

Ah Tan took a while before controlling his panting enough to be coherent. Finally, he said:

"We talk cock until the cows come home sial!!"

Miss of the Century?

They probably haven't seen Mus in action.

Bomb meletup

Since this blog almost dah nak mati, i'm just gonna post something ah. This song is stuck in my head ah. Didn't know this guy was this good.

Glasvegas

Contrary to popular (or really, really assumptive) belief, Glasvegas is not from Las Vegas. Nor are they made of glass. They are, in fact, a trio of people (not glass) from Glasgow (not Glasvegas). And together, with a whole bunch of music instruments between them, they form an alternative band described as 'too good to be true' by American essayist and music critic Robert Christgau. Someone should tell Robert to relek ah bro, muka maintain, but his opinions are really not far from the truth.

Fronted by James Allan (former Scottish footballer who played for Queen's Park) and affronted by the travails of the British suburbs, Glasvegas plays the best tunes to come out from the Land of Lochs since Travis.

I leave you with two examples of Allan's genius: Flowers And Football Tops, and Geraldine. Both very emotive, both very Brit and both very good.

Flowers & Football Tops


Geraldine

A Crossfire For Only The Young

The over-the-top, dramatic burlesque of Las Vegas, upon the vessel of a Christianity-tinged Americana. Proof that Brandon Flowers doesn't need The Killers.

I Don't Have To Sell My Soul, He's Already In Me

Proof that Ian Brown doesn't need The Stone Roses:

C'mon la guys these kinda things.

Ssangyong vs Mercedes
Actyon vs ML300

Whatcha Gonna Do When The Walls Come Falling Down?

You never move, you never make a sound.

Things I've never done before:

1) Get punched by a kangaroo.
2) Hose down a protestant/Protestant.
3) Pee on my employer/superior.
4) Kiss a tree.
5) Watch Devil by M. Night Shyamalan.

Guys, wanna change number 5?

Staying In Love by Raphael Saadiq

The clip below is Staying In Love by Raphael Saadiq. He's a brilliant new school-old school jazz and funk singer just dripping with debonair and soul. Worth your time and my passionate repetitions of his genius, trust me.

Eid Mubarak (i dunno what that means, i just wanna step)

On behalf of TOWNS, I would like to wish Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all our faithful and loyal readers. (yeah, i'm refering to those few of you). The holy month of Ramadhan has passed and another follows. It's Syawal, if you're wondering. To all those who fasted, Selamat Hari Raya. To all those who did not, well, Selamat Hari Raya as well.

Anyway, word of advice - The stomach is just adapting back after fasting for a month, so please don't be a glut ah guys. So let me sign off with a little pantun ah.

Lapan sembilan sepuluh tiga belas

Aku fail ilmu hisab

Enam belas tujuh belas aku dah malas

'Selamat Hari Raya' pula ku ucap

Sedang ku lungsuri Google dan Yahoo (chebah baik eh lungsuri)

Laptop aku battery dah sikit

Sesiapa yang nak ke rumahku

Jangan malu-malu, sekarang juga picit.

Baik Alvin Liong Ju Jun shaking my ass shaking my ass

Because You Guys Keep Going On About Our Blog Fasting

Sex.

Sex between a midget, and an orange-coloured horse.

Turd.

On the horse's head.

Penis. That comes to life.

And says, "Eh, kuda ku lari gagah berani."

Scooter. On a brick. Eating. Before Maghrib.

Serigala. Black. Having sex. With an exhaust pipe.

Cocaine. Snorting. Tapi ada hingus. So the guy goes, "AHHHHHHLLLLLLLLLLKKKKKKKKKKKK jamban."

Sex.

Sex between two midgets, sandwiching a guy in a turban. Threesome.

The Walking Dead

Since Lost ended, I've been left with a hole in my heart the size of Courtney Love's hole (quadruple entendre!). But I think this show is a worthy replacement as my next must-watch series. Check it out, guys.

Who are the Lions now?

Yesterday night, Singapore played Montenegro in their final YOG boys football group match. It was a thrilling match and the Cubs emerged 3-2 winners in the end. While the result itself is impressive, what was even more impressive was the manner in which they achieved the victory.

It was such a pleasant surprise to see these boys, who are clearly well-drilled by their coach Kadir Yahya, play the ball on the ground unlike their senior football team. The boys showed good touches, good movement and good awareness of space. Instead of hoofing the ball up in the air at every opportunity, they played little triangles amongst themselves to get out of trouble.

It was evident by their understanding and teamwork on the pitch that these boys enjoy great chemistry with each other. But what was even more pleasing to me is their approach of play. They held the ball well and chose short simple passes instead of the aimless long ball. At their level, their style of play is certainly admirable.

The player that stood out the most for me was Hanafi. The no. 10 has a good first touch and good vision for someone his age. The senior team will do well to learn a thing or two from these boys. No more stupid Ridhuan running like a headless chicken. No more Bennett playing perpetual long balls. No more insipid and boring football please. It's time the Lions learn from the Cubs.

Exercise Your Music Muscle!

Here's a visual game. There are 74 bands here (e.g. Gorillaz, right at the top) depicted by the literal definition of their name. Can you spot at least 30? And don't worry, the bands aren't from impressyourfriendswithunknownbands.com, they're all well-known bands who have made Billboard charts.

Bebe,Bebe,Bebe nooooo

Instead of signing the hottest property in European football right now i.e. Mesut Ozil, Man U has signed a 20 year Portuguese striker Tiago Manuel Dias Correia. Also known as Bebe. No one knows who this matrep is, apparently he was recommended by ex-assistant manager Carlos Quieroz. Suspect kuat he's going to be another Manucho. But you all be the judge from this video.

Celup And Get It!

Katy Perry shows August Man how sihat she is. Sihat, sihat. I wish I was a doctor and see how sihat she is everyday. Or, you know, Russell Brand.

Doritos but ya

Old Spice Follow-up

Sorry Suff for offsetting your post but I was watching The Ellen Degeneres Show today and the man in the Old Spice commercial is now a celebrity of some sorts because the commercial was so well-liked Ellen called her to the show. His name is Isaiah Mustafa. It took him 83 takes to get it right haha. There's even this boy who tried to do a re-make budget version. Emjoy.

Diane Birch

As some of you know, I have been going on and on about a hello indie singer named Diane Birch, who'll be performing on the second day of Singfest. And because you guys were like, "Siapa sial dia tu? Nampak sah dia kambing yang menakjubkan secara mamsu" when I talked about her, you guys can kiss my big fat Singfest media pass. Actually no lah, I'd love to bring you guys, but August Man has 4passes and the +1 for my pass is Ada. My colleagues don't seem interested to go for the third day, so if you guys are into Smashing Pumpkins, 30 Seconds To Mars or The Vines I can get you guys in.

But back to the topic at hand. Diane Birch.

She has this song entitled Valentino, and the video is fucking cute. Watch, and enjoy, and go, "Awwwwwwwww..........KISURAT!"

To the best penulis I know : A photo tribute

24 photos for your 24th birthday. Tak, aku terlalu malas. Happy Birthday but ya.

Happy Birthday Jack!

I'm referring to Mus btw.

Nazir White Brother!

Guess who's a Red now....

and who still is one and wants to stay as one, sadly. Ya, the latter refers to Lucas Leiva. Somehow I wanna think that he may suddenly be good ah, but tak.

Anyway, more importantly:

"Liverpool FC are delighted to confirm the signing of Joe Cole on a four-year deal," read a club statement. "The England midfielder has agreed personal terms with the Reds and will undergo a medical in the next 48 hours."

- Telegraph UK

So Joe Cole is now a Red. Woohoo!! Hopefully he won't be matrep ah. Jangan upset sua.

Sezairi's idol.

So sorry Zat for writing right after yours but I just found this out so ya.

Right. So as you all know Sezairi is the 3rd Singapore Idol. Arguably with the best voice, and now arguably the coolest.

Plus, it's like publicity for Sezairi, and he might land himself in some Hollywood movie etc etc. That'd be cool. And Kristen Stewart's damn hello in this.

Sitting pretty... for now.

Ok it's not often that the table can look this way. I know it has only been a few games but let's keep up the good work and remain at the top. But knowing our luck, right after this post, we'll lose our next match and go on a 10 match losing streak. Standard la kan kita.

And my copy and paste skills pun bagus ah but whatever.

Eclipse.

I just came back from watching Eclipse. It was so exciting, Nas and I created a side story while watching it. Mostly me, Nas just listened. But that's how bad it was for Nas to listen. Well Nas, this is not as good as our hunter story or Cheetah clan but it'll do ah

And the actors/actresses are helloer than the real ones

Nike Cup 2010

It was like something out of a football commercial.

You see an urban landscape – dull, concrete gray, listless, but it promised more. It was the perfect foil for something to happen – something magical, spectacular. Two teams of five boys, one team in red, the other in blue, step into the rectangular court, as a solitary ball rests stationary in its middle. The rock soundtrack in the background turns up the tempo.

A player in red kicks off. A cheeky backheel finds a teammate. With a deft flick, the latter evades one tackle. An elegant, Zidane-worthy 360-degree spin allows him to evade another. Free of his markers, the player unselfishly releases his Captain down the right wing with an intelligent through ball. The Captain releases a powerful shot…

Goal!

You half-expect this sequence to cut to the logo of the brand behind the commercial, but all that fills your vision next are scenes of celebration and dejection (for those in blue). Further behind, a large statue of global football’s biggest superstar Cristiano Ronaldo looks down at proceedings, while a black Nike-themed stage, backed by a graffiti mural designed by street artists from Skope, stands in stylish contrast to the historic Kallang Stadium that looms large in the background.

No, this is no televsion commercial. This is the very real, very exhilarating finals of the Nike Cup 2010.

A very bad statue of Cristiano Ronaldo. With cameltoe. Eww.



(From L-R) Samad, Ramly, Albert, Gilberto Nagini and Ali.



And their friends, Osman, Sidek and Stan Jallalabad. I really have no idea who they are.



As the kids played, Tabular rocked with Muse's Starlight, and Kings of Leon's Use Somebody and Sex on Fire.



And after that, The Great Spy Experiment took to the stage.



This shot's for Zat. She's 6 years old.



Ada proves what we all have known for a long while: she can't play soccer.



While I assure TLFC that I haven't lost my touch.



The best striker to ever play for Singapore, and Fandi Ahmad.



Later, Fandi put to good use what I taught him in an exhibition game. Indra Sahdan, Aide Iskandar, David Lee and Fazrul Nawwaz were also in attendance.

Orange is the colour of insanity

Since we are on the theme of football commercials, presenting to you.. the Oranje Army.

Keep on writing, Nike

This is yet another commercial by Nike for Spain. Logically they're gonna lose against Germany due to this commercial. However if you're not logical but the superstitious kind, they're gonna lose anyway. Anyone watched their match against Paraguay? I didn't. It was so boring I fell asleep on Faliq's couch. And that was after the frisbee went under the tong-cina-bakar-offerings.

This is why Brazil lost

Sorry Nazir, I had to post this. Furthermore, my fans (actually just Nazir) have been saying that I haven't posted in the longest time, which is true. So here, this is why Brazil lost ah Nazir. I saw this vid during the half-time interval, how apt. Hahaha. But cheers to the Oranje, finally making it to the semis of the world cup, since 1998.

German Glory

Germany. Known for class, excellence, trustworthy, effiecient.

German Soccer Team. Known for its unity, consistency, powerhouse in global soccer.

German coach. This Mus, the guy who is leading your team. He is known for picking the right tactics, striking gold at times, and eating up opponents. Maybe its a mantra he lives by or something.



Seriously la. Matrep seh.

Writes the future ah

I'm sure you've all already seen this video. Some of you like it, some of you think its really matrep and some of you don't care because no German players are in it.

Anyway, I noticed something about the players in the vid. Think about it, what do all these players have in commmon, besides their link to Nike? Give up?

Didier Drogba - Bad World Cup. Ivory Coast out.

Fabio Cannavaro- Bad World Cup. Italy out.

Wayne Rooney - Really bad World Cup. England got dismantled.

Franck Ribery- Bad World Cup. French Soccer team is the nation's pride right now.

Ronaldinho Gaucho- The only exception. He hasn't had a bad World Cup. But then again, he's not in it.

Cristiano Ronaldo - By his standards, he has had a bad World Cup. Portugal are out.

This vid is a jinx. It jinxed the players and their respective teams. I think thats why Dunga left out Ronaldinho. Good move Dunga.

Hopefully both Federer and Kobe don't fall prey to this curse.

Siape menang?

Chilean ke pe.

The crowd was great. They cheered and sang, singing along with the players during the national anthem. I just step and followed along. I even tried to say the usual "butos" and "gua percaya sama lu la sanchez" but apparently Chileans aren't really familiar with those terms. So after a while I had to pip down and just watch the game. I also had to take my flag, which I placed on my back, down, cos it was hitting this guy. I was more of a nuisance than anything else, thank god I didn't get beaten up ah.





Although Chile lost, thank god Honduras did me a favour. Why me? Cos i wanted to celebrate and soak in the atmosphere. It was insane. When Chile scored, I went nuts, I just jumped around and like joined a group of guys and shouted and all. Then after the game when we found out Chile was through, it was even crazier ah. Vuvuzelas being blown, confettis thrown, people cheering, posing for photos. Party on streets. Like when they opened the streets, and the cars drove by, people would like go to the cars, cheer, rock them and all. Then the drivers will horn back, wind down their window, sing and stuff.


When Chile scored


I wanted to take picture with one person but when others saw, they just rushed in


Just one of the many groups standing outside their houses and celebrating

Ah now this is really street soccer. And thats my ball. I caught it in the end but decided to just give it to them so that they could enjoy.



Next up Brazil. Actually it doesn't matter who wins. If Chile wins, then another street party. If Brazil wins, then hopefully they'll make it all the way to the finals cos I'll be there by then. So to answer the question, aku menang.

Tula, Pak Abu...

We all know Dutch people have a linked history with the Malays. Didn't know they watch Bujang Lapok also. Enjoy

Singfest, Quick Update

Hey guys I just came from the Singfest press conference announcing the dates, location and most of the line-up (they havent confirmed all yet, they'll update me in the coming days) for the 3-night music extravaganza.

So, it'll be from the 3rd-5th of August, at Fort Canning Park. Performances will kick off in the evening, because they understand that it's in the middle of the week, and not the weekend.

So the confirm line-up:

SMASHING FUCKING PUMPKINS!!!!!! I was happy when they reunited, but I didn't know they'd make it down to Singapore!

Kanye West. 50 bucks for someone to go onto stage when he's performing and say, "I'm happy for you Kanye, and I'll let you finish, but TOWNs has the best damn blog in Singapore right now! Best damn blog!

Katy Perry

Wondergirls (those Korean hotties who sang I want nobody, nobody but you)

Orianthi (the blonde lady guitarist for Michael Jackson's This Is It Tour)

Diane Birch. This hello American soul and blues singer.

Ian Brown. Not to be confused with Mr. Brown. One's a blogger, the other is the former lead singer of The Stone Roses. Was a big dude in the Brit Invasion days.

30 Seconds To Mars. That is one fast spaceship.

More updates as I get them.

Ultra Marathon Match

With all the attention on the World Cup in South Africa, there is actually another major sporting event that is going on at the same time. The Wimbledon Open 2010 is officially underway this week on the pristine grass courts in England.

And whist the usual favourites like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal take centre stage, there was an absolutely amazing match that took place at court 18. The match between Nicolas Mahut of France and John Isner has officially become the longest match ever in Wimbledon history and get this, it is still not over. Due to poor light conditions at the end of the match, it will resume again today. Here are the mind-boggling statistics that will not be seen ever again in Wimbledon history.

The match is currently tied at 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 59-59. That's not a typo but ya. For all you tennis noobs, the Wimbledon Men's Singles matches like any other grands slams are played over the best of 5 sets. There will be no tie-breaker in the final 5th set, meaning that the winner has to win by a margin of 2 games. Last year's Wimbledon final saw Federer edging Roddick with a scoreline of 16-14 in the final set. That is child's play in comparison to the 59-59 scoreline. If anything, it looks more like a basketball score.

The match is into its 10th hour! That's right, 10 whopping hours! The last set alone has lasted 6 hours and is still counting! To put this into perspective, the previous record of longest Wimbledon Men's match stood at 6h 33 min. The only break these players will get is a 1.5 min break at the end of every 2 games when they change end and a 2 min break at the end of each set. Other than that, they are constantly up and running, chasing, hitting and serving balls. But the players are not the only ones affected. The poor umpire's ass must be sore from sitting on the same chair for almost half a day. The linesmen and ballboys must be claiming for overtime pay. And the fans surely are getting their every penny's worth. So far, John Isner has served 98 aces and 218 winners while Nicolas Mahut has served 94 aces and 216 winners. These are just ridiculous numbers unheard of in the game.

I can only feel sorry for the loser of this match. To have played 10 hours of non-stop quality tennis and be knocked out only in the 2nd round will be the most bitter pill to swallow. Whatever the outcome though, these two players have surely cemented their names in tennis history. Respect to the max.

Del Piero and Oasis

While some people's favourite bands have their songs on the soundtrack of lame vampire movies, my favourite band gets namedropped by one of Italian soccer's biggest stars.

Waka Waka: This is Sur Africa

During the World Cup, everyone is a football pundit. We all have our own views, takes, critiques and intips.

For me, this World Cup has been quite boring. I hope its just a temporary thing. The games have been picking up, but there is still nothing much to cheer for. The one bright spot for me is that Chile is in the World Cup and its great to see how the people are crazy about soccer, and hopefully next week I'll be able to wake up on time and be part of it. Other than that, the World Cup, like I said, has been quite quay. Even Spain, with their array of very talented players, did not perform. Thank god for Argentina and my current personal favourite, Serbia, for making me have hope, that things will turn around.

The one team that everyone talks about besides Spain, is obviously the soccer nation of the world, Brazil. But we all know that this isn't vintage Brazil, with the matrep Dunga wanting a more organized team. Boring. And whats even more boring, is how they manage to leave him out.



Yes, he might not be at his peak and all that nonsense, but come on la, how can you leave a player of such calibre out. Its players like him who are able to light up the World Cup. And no Suff, I am not referring to Cantona. Which brings me to another matrep, Domenech. You bring players ike Henry and Malouda (for a Chelsea player he isn't that bad), but you start with Govou who can't even finish a simple tap in and play Gignac. I rather call back Vikash Dhorasoo ah. Thats why Anelka was bingit I think. He was so fed up playing with Govou upfront that he was thinking, "Je te flouppe Fli", loosely translated,"I can't play with that matrep". So what do you do, swear at your coach, don't apologize, and off you go. Since he was subbed out before Mexico scored, he can say he didn't lose any game in the World Cup. Good thinking Anelka.

All I hope for now is for Spain to remember how to score, Italy to learn how to defend, and for Lennon to sit on the bench and not play for England again. And for every country to play soccer befitting the World Cup

August Man's World Cup Review - AUGUSTMAN.com

August Man's World Cup Review - AUGUSTMAN.com

World Cup Kisurat

Brazil was so boring, that the commentators were talking about Carlos's freekick during the game.

"I remember one time, Carlos curled a freekick in! ... ..."

The Ball is Too Round.

It has been 5 days into the World Cup and yet the star of the show so far has undoubtedly been... the ball. That's right. The official ball for World Cup 2010, the Adidas Jabulani.

I've scoured the net for the players' opinion on the ball. And here's what I got.

“The ball is dreadful. It’s horrible, but it’s horrible for everyone.” – David James (England, goalkeeper)

“The ball is a problem. You can’t anticipate which direction it is going to go in. It is difficult for defenders to deal with and you can’t take your eye off the ball until the very last second.” – Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Japan, defender)

“The new ball is not decent, not just for goalkeepers but for everyone. Its trajectory is unpredictable.” – Gigi Buffon (Italy, goalkeeper)

“It’s very weird. All of a sudden it changes trajectory on you. It’s like it doesn’t want to be kicked. It’s incredible, it’s like someone is guiding it. You are going to kick it and it moves out of the way. I think it’s supernatural, it’s very bad.” – Luis Fabiano (Brazil, forward)

“It’s like a beach ball.” – Claudio Bravo (Chile, goalkeeper)

“It’s terrible… like a ball you’d buy in a supermarket.” – Julio Cesar (Brazil, goalkeeper)

“Maybe they should stop trying to keep developing the ball and just change the look of it. The ball goes all over the place.” – Seigo Narazaki (Japan, goalkeeper)

“It’s a little sad that in a competition as big as the World Cup to have such a poor ball. It’s not just the goalkeepers complaining, but the outfield players as well.” – Iker Casillas (Spain, goalkeeper)

“It’s a catastrophe. I played with many different balls, some of which wiggled or changed directions, but this one is the worst of them all.” – Vladimir Stojkovic (Serbia, goalkeeper)

“It’s a disaster… It moves so much and makes it difficult to control. You jump up to head a cross and suddenly the ball will move and you miss it!” – Giampaolo Pazzini (Italy, forward)

“Technology is not everything; scientists came up with the atom bomb, doesn’t mean we should have invented it!” - Marcus Hahnemann (USA, goalkeeper)

“For sure the guy who designed this ball never played football.” - Robinho (Brazil, Forward)

"But every cross I have seen has been overhit. It goes over the back post. I haven't seen anyone get a free-kick over the wall yet" - Jamie Carragher ( England, Defender)

Apparently, Germany has been using the ball for a good 6 months before the World Cup because the Bundesliga was free to use any ball of their choice thus choosing the Jabulani once it was launched. In the BPL however, Nike is the official ball supplier and the England team was still playing with an Umbro ball in its pre-World cup friendlies because of its arrangement with Umbro. This could possible explain the disparity in performance between Germany and the rest of the countries so far. But to what extent is the ball to be blamed for the team's performances on the pitch?

Altitude can also be a factor, given that the matches in South Africa are played way above sea level. Having seen the matches, there seems to be a noticeable difference in the trajectory of the ball. Somehow, and this is especially evident in the replays, the ball has the ability to sway and even pick up pace in the middle of its trajectory. The fact that the ball has drawn severe criticism from numerous players now seems to suggest that there is a credible argument behind the complaints of the players. Maybe Adidas should just go back to basics. Instead of incorporating new technology and testing it out in their labs with their robots, they should just keep the technology simple and gather feedback from the players before anything else.

Let's just hope that teams like Spain and Brazil will prove all the critics wrong. That a ball is a ball after all and that football can be played beautifully, regardless.

Jabulani Fever

And so it has begun. World Cup 2010 is finally here. 4 years in the making and for the very first time in the land of Africa. For people like us who eat, breathe and live football, there is no grander occasion to be a part of.

But for some weird reason, no one in this blog has displayed this enthusiasm on the blog so far. Bunch of lazy bastards. Nevertheless, it's never too late to inject some good old football enthusiasm. I guess everyone has picked out their favourites going into the World Cup. Mus - Germany. Nas - Argentina. Suff - EAT DA POO POO. Nazir - Chile (cos you're in it). I think Spain is a definite favourite since they play the most beautiful football now with all the gloriously talented players in their team. England will be watched by everyone because of our close affinity to the EPL.

So if I am left to pick a team, it'll be the Netherlands. I still have fond memories of them in Euro 08 and if only they can put their differences aside and play as a team, I think they can really be a force to reckon with. How many teams can boast such an attacking array of talent in Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Robben and Van Persie? And not to forget Kuyt. Ok nvm let's forget Kuyt. No doubt they'll have a difficult route to the final with the prospect of facing Brazil and England, but these teams are probably equally fearful of facing the Netherlands themselves. Then again, beautiful football doesnt always guarantee results but for the sake of football, I really hope that the winner this time round does it with a brand of football that all of us can only hope to emulate, much like how Spain did it in Euro 08. Only that will do the world of football justice.

The Next Phase

So about a week ago, I sat for what could probably be, barring any disastrous results, my last university exam. And with that, it officially concluded my university life. Another 3 years of education that has ended before I could even come to terms with it. The post-exams feelings were great, a mixture of absolute liberation and anti-climax nothingness. It's a funny feeling, having nothing to do after weeks of studying. But I'm not complaining yet.

All of that though cannot mask the fact that I am about to enter the next huge phase of my life, the unenviable task of making the transition from the familiar school environment into the virtual unknown of the working world. To feel nervous will be an understatement, but along with it also comes a tinge of excitement. One that probably stems from the fact that it is an inevitable process after all. A rite of passage of that all of us will go through sooner than later.

So the journey starts here. Job hunting. God knows how long it'll take me to find a job. Ideally, I'll like a job revolving around Audit/Assurance/Taxation so I'll be applying for jobs in these areas. A boring job but whatever la nothing beats Data Reconfiguration and Statistical Analysis so ya. Whether I'll get the job is another matter so to quote a good old friend, I'll "cross the bridge when it comes".

Till then, I'll be revelling in the lazy days that lie ahead of me. Ahhhh life.

Phoebe's Quirks 101

Skydiving but ya

I know my walk is off, my actions are awkward and my hair, lets not talk about it, but I finally did it. Something that I wanted to do for a long time. But ya.

Of Crystal Brands and My Latest Crush, squeezed into a 2 minute vid.

I think the title speaks for itself.

A Small Request

Okay guys my dear friend, the beautiful Miss Gayle Marilyn Nerva, needs help spreading her video around. It's for the Ellen Degeneres show, and I really think she deserves the spot. So watch this video, like it, and pass it on to all your friends!

Baik TL

(Click to enlarge)

Not many teams can boast of playing 21 games in a 20-game season. Only TL can.

The Madonna Nudes: An Interview with Martin H.M. Schreiber - AUGUSTMAN.com

The Madonna Nudes: An Interview with Martin H.M. Schreiber - AUGUSTMAN.com

"I'm on a horse."

Suduuuuu Sudu Sesudu Sudunyaaa.....

This clip is so irritating yet so funny I couldn't stop watching it.

Smooch from the Captain

Scholes must have had second thoughts about scoring the winner.