Random Thoughts...

1) 戴佩妮 - 时间快转
Heard this very nice song on cable TV just now... exactly my sentiments... if only it's that easy to do...

时间快转 它不停的快转
旋转我跟著旋转 失去方向我没有方向
迷失方向我模糊了焦点
想不通太多道理呀 就选择遗忘


2) Condemned England Team
First lost for Steve McClaren... England's loss to Croatia in the European Cup qualifiers sparked lots of questions... A new 3-5-2 formation was the main culprit... Even the best players get confused by a new formation... Unfamiliar job scope... Unfamiliar terrain... Unfamiliar players playing in unfamiliar postions around each other...

It was a necessary change... or so it was claimed... to break free from old shackles... to break free from old ghosts... to put one's authority over the tactics chosen...

And everybody seems to become an expert or authority to speak of the ills of the new team... everyone seems to have an opinion or two about how things could be better... and the pressure becomes ever so daunting for whoever's in charge...

So unfamiliar... yet so familiar in the way the new teams were formed around me...


3)Freezing Trip
Still yet to book my tickets to Chengdu and confirm with the Tibetan tour agent... there's rumours of the Qinghai-Tibet high altitude train stopping it's service from November onwards... keeping my fingers crossed on that...

It'll be winter in Dec... I'm a tropical person... I can't stand cold... I wonder if it's a wise time to visit the rooftop of the world... Somehow, I feel that I need to make this trip... the altitude and temperature is forebidding... isn't it so for any spiritual pilgrimmage? A test of my resolution... A test of my faith... What am I in my previous life? What kind of karma have I accumulated such that I'm living my present life this way?

Prince Sidharta renounced the world and left his palace to find his Nirvana... How many living Buddhas are there in the world today? How many of them actually know that they are living Buddhas? How long did it take for them to realise they are living Buddhas? Will I ever find my own Nirvana? I know what's holding me back actually.... the inability to let go...


4) Constant Nagging
My sis and bro-in-law are currently busy with their new flat's renovation... my dad seems to have extended his authority and opinions about what things to fix, buy etc a little too uncomfortable for my sis & bro-in-law...

Quietly, I'm heaving a sigh of relief for not taking the lead just this once over my sis... all these years, being the elder son at home, I get to do everything first... Well, not this time when it comes to marriage... I get to see some of the quirks and nuisance that my well-meaning parents will show during this period when my sis & hubby are preparing their home etc... Not something that I envy, I'm very sure...

And it kind of make it more inconvenient for me to reveal the fact that I'm going on a solo trip again in Dec... shall just delay breaking the news after I firm up everything... the naggings will come... but the trip shall go on... ;)


5) Scalett Johansson
There seems to be a flood of work lately by one of my favourite actresses... First noticed her when she was still a little girl in "The Horse Whisperer"... then a few other films made her one of the leading serious actresses... Lost in Translation, Matchpoint and Scoop were a few that I managed to catch... still to come, The Black Dahlia and Prestige... she's hot in Hollywood these days...

There's something about her acting... nothing excessive... something very close... can't really put my finger onto it...



6) Woody Allen
Never used to like or notice his works... But I think I'm beginning to see his genius...

Watched his latest work, Scoop... One of his quirky dark humoured jokes was this (something to the effect):
"I don't put on weight even after eating so much. It's anxiety. Anxiety is like aerobics. It helps me lose weight."



7) World Trade Center
The initial feelings when watching this film was the seeming lack of pace and intensity of the collaspe of the twin towers of the World Trade Center on Sept 11 2001... The focus of the film was just on the 2 lead rescuers...

But there's a good reason for this, I realised... the director wanted to focus the viewers attention, not on the gore, terror, panic and disaster of the collaspe... but rather, he wanted viewers to focus on the people who were right in the thick of the actions...

At the end of the film, the character played by Nicholas Cage said something like this...
"It's not about revenge... It's about how great people can be in helping one another..."

And how true... post 9-11 has been numerous calls for war on terrorism and numerous attacks in the Middle East in the quest to destroy the Al Queda... all in the name of peace and justice...

But the irony to me is: I can't differentiate the terrorists and victims after a few years... they all seem the same to me now... Ones' peace is attained at the expense of anothers' agony... What's peace?


8)He'll be Beck?
Still on soccer... Someone said Beckham should be re-instated back into the England national squad... of course, there's loads of theories and reason why he should or shouldn't return...

There's an article in today's Sunday Times on players who didn't perform in positions that's not cut out of them... Which brings me to ponder over something that's all so familiar in life around me...

Do we just deploy just because there's no choice? Do we just deploy a midfielder anywhere in midfield just because he's a midfielder? And for that matter, any defender or striker... Well, there are those players who could adapt... but there's many other contributing factors for such deployment to work as well... If players are deployed in areas of their strength, common sense will show that the whole team will perform as well...

But there are managers who work on the basis of convenience... managers who work on the basis of no choice... managers who work on the basis of personal gain...


9) And did I say that I heard this song over cable TV just now?
时间快转 它不停的快转
旋转我跟著旋转 失去方向我没有方向
迷失方向我模糊了焦点
想不通太多道理呀 就选择遗忘