Another weekend and another disappointment

About the only thing that went well for me was my football team getting a 5-0 victory.

But this is MY football team, not my football team - LFC!

Egads, before Xmas there was hope we would come out of the festiove season closing in to the top 3 teams. sadly, I have come to the realisation that we are at the most, the bes tof the rest, outside of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.

More distressing is the grumblings from Anfield that the owners are not happy with Rafa and want to let him go. Personally, if they fire Rafa it will be a dumb decision. He is one of the worlds best managers and anyone that can take a teram to 2 champions league finals in 3 years shows he is capable.

The problem with us is that we need greater investment in the team. The likes of Chelsea have spent nearly 200m pounds on players the past few seasons. Manchester have been buying big for a number of years with the likes of Ruud Van Nistelrooy (27m), Rio Ferdinand (20m), Michael Carrick (18m), Wayne Rooney (23m), Owen Hargraves (18m) costing a pretty penny but this has resulted in the team consistently finishing in the top 2 of the English Premier League.

Added to this are players like Nenad Cristic and yes, Cristiano Ronaldo. Both players could have been Liverpool players, but we just could not afford them. Many years ago we had a chance to snap up Ronaldo but we could not afford the fee. Same with Cristic. Imagine them in Liverpool now.

The only club inthe top 4 that has done things on the cheap has been the Gooners. Fair play to Arsene, he has achieved succes by being very astute.

While Rafa has uncovered some well priced gems - Alvaro Arebola and Daniel Agger come to mind. But to maintain consistent sucess, we need the Yanks to open up the cheque book and buy some quality.

If you need evidence look at Fernando Torres.

Anyway, another season. Another EPL title slips from Liverpool's grasp.

* * * * * * * *

Yesterday I witness India hug defeat from the volumptious bossom of aDRAW. How did this happen? Well, the Indian stuffed it up for one and they were aptly aided by the poor performance of the umpires.

As for the sportsmanship that was displayed during the match. Well as a stounch and true blueAussie, I have to admit I cringe at the Australians team attitude and demeanour during matches.

While I believe they should go for the win, the behaviour of the Australian players borders on the boorish. Too many times, the players say they play in the spirit of the game, but the reality is different. Too many times, we hear the Australian captain say they will play properly and as gentlemen, but when Australia get wound up,wehn they are threated by an opponent, they become bullies.

Look at last nights post game press conference. A certain Aussie captan got very sensitive when his integrity was questioned. He took offence and in the moment he came across as a bully to the journalist.

Sadly, Australians love the cricket because they dominate it. How can you love a game where there really only seven other opponents. World games such as soccer and basketball, never get this volume of coverage because, well Australia are mediocre at best.

I always tell people, that you have to measure your sporting achievements outside the sports of cricket or AFL. The way the cricket team carries on sometimes, just puts Australin sportsmen in a bad light.

It is embarrasing to see this display.

As for Harbhajan Singh. Well he said what he says and is a num-nut for saying so. He deserves his suspension. There is no need for racism in cricket.

As we close out 2007........

With 2008 approaching, I finally feel inspired to get out and blog a little.

So let me start with a recap of 2007, and what better way to recap then to do some lists. Given it is 2007, I thought we go for the top 7......

So here goes:

Top 7 movies of 2k7:
7. Stardust - This is a movie I saw last night and throughly enjoyed. In the same vein of a far away world with magic and adventure. I think Robert De Niro playing a campy Captain is the reason why it is on the list.

6. Simpsons Movie - This may explain why the last few seasons on TV have been average. They were saving it for this..and we were introduced to Spiderpig!

5. Babel - An amazingly well written movie that intertwines various stories into one. It makes you think how one action can have repercussions on the other side of the world. Great cast!

4. Sunshine - Not your standard sci-fi but moreso a murder-thriller mystery set in out space. It reminded me of 2001 and Alien.

3. I am Legend - Probably contains my worst nightmare, being isolated in a large place, where there are no more people, save for some mutants that lust for blood and can only come out at night. While this may seem lame, the way Will Smith carries himself in this movie is stupefying and he should be considered for some award here.

2. Transformers - Loved the cartoon as a child and I was apprehensive about this given previous bad experiences with remakesfrom TV shows such as "Starsky and Hutch", "Scooby Doo" or "Dukes of Hazard". Not only was the CGI amazing but there was a reasonable storyline. This format should be noted by Hollywood, do not try to change the storyline of the show too much, keep it to what people remember and it will be a hit.

Can't wait for number 2!

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - I love the HP books and the movies are a great. Some may moan that the movies miss parts of the book, but generally they include the parts which we want to see.

Honorable mentions: Rocky Balboa, Children of Men, Spiderman 3

Can't wait in 2008: Indiana Jones 4, Harry Potter 6, Rambo 4, The Dark Knight, Juno

Pics of our trip down south

Here are some pictures of our trip to Perth.

The Indian Ocean from the south west of Australia.

Looking out from our house in Denmark

One of the local roads along our travels

This is near the south west tip of Australia, where the Indian ocean meets the Southern ocean

PERTH

I am back in the place that I love and grew up in - Perth, Western Australia for a few days of holidays.

Perth was the first and only port of call my family made when we arrived from Malaysia in late 1981. I have spent nearly 20 years here, I went to school, university and made my life long friends here. Although I have called Melbourne my home for the over 6 years, this place will always be dear to me.

People (especially those not from Pertrh) may ask why Perth is so special and it is hard to describe as non-Perthites find it boring and little too slow. To be truthful it can be, but this place has marvelouslly friendly people, wonderful scenery, and sensational year round weather (living in Melbourne you miss the sunny and warm evenings).

To be honest, I do not think I could come back to live here. Although I weould miss the family and some of my closest friends.

Melbourne has my new friends, my new interests and exciting opportunities. It offers me a new lease on life where I can do new and interesting things.

In Perth, you tend to sit around waiting for things to happen, whereas in Melbourne there are so many things happening you really do not know where and what to do.

It may be the most isolated capital city nthe world but in my heart it will always remain "home".

Tis good to be back.

Monday's pointers

Most of my mates have been telling me about how lucky we were to win the Merseyside derby (fot the uninitiated or non-Soccer fans out there, this is the Liverpool and Everton match).

I differ, simply because we deserved to win. Everyone is on about how the referee got the last second penalty wrong. Well the linesman was too hasty in calling Dirk Kuyt offside when he scored in the 12th minute. That goal may have changed the result and he match. Still no one is taking about that.

But we got the 3 vital points, a loss or draw and I see our season disappearing once again. This weekend we take on the league leaders Arsenal and a win will close things to within 3 points.

Lastly, I think it is time for Momo to go. His passing is pathetic. Yes he is a hard worker and wins a lot of the ball, but at this level and for this team, you have to be able to retain possession as well. I tell my boys in my team that their passing must improve, otherwise they are on the bench.

Other notes:

• 2 more sleeps and then I shall hit Perth. I have not been back for nearly 2 years and last time it was not for very long. I did not get the chance to catch up with people. If I think about it, it is nearly 5 years since I really went back and caught up with people from back in the day. So looking forward to it and checking our the south-west and Little Creatures bar.
• Ben Cousins - interesting to see what happens with him. WA Police erred here and the club sacked him. Be interesting to see what happens.
• Kobe Bryant - word out of LA is the superstarwants out. Where, how and when...I look forward to updates.

Time to hit the hay. We lost our a side match 6-4 after leading 4-2 at half time. I feel like crap coz 2 of the goals were preventable by me!! CRAP!!

Burma

Sometimes we forgot how lucky we are. How we can enjoy the ability to express our displeasure at our leaders, how we can blog about things that affect us or how we can just speak freely. All these things we do without fear of retribution.

These days, there are not too many countries in the world where democracy is a dream rather than a way of live. Sadly, Burma is one of these countries, and the people live under one of the most corrupt military dictatorships in the world. The world has generally turned a blind eye to their plight. Burma is not blessed with an abundance of resources, nor are they considered a major power with weapons such as nuclear bombs that may threaten the freedom and lifestyles of the Western world.

The last time the world really focussed onto Burma was in the lates 1980’s, when Aung San Suu Kyi was elected as the Prime Minister of Burma, however she was not placed in power as the corrupt military nullified the election (they delusionally must have thought they would win).

The recent demonstrations by monks and nuns on the streets of Burma have brought the troubles of the country to the world’s attention. There are also significant differences in the politics of world these days. Gone is Cold War and even Communism is opening up as can be witnessed by the Chinese are accepting moderate, yet conservative Western values and trying to enter a somewhat free market trade with the world.

Sadly, if Burma had an abundance of oil under their soil, I am sure that something would have been done a lot sooner.

But now all of US, as human beings, need to keep our eyes focussed on this country and strongly encourage our respective governments that it is time for the dictators of Burma are thrown off their seats.

Nearly 20 years ago, the world awoke to the plight an imprisoned man in a South African prison. I remember the world uniting to help free this man from his unjust fate. Eventually, he was set free and went on to become South Africa’s first freely elected President. His name was Nelson Mandela.

So if the world could do it to South Africa then, then the world can unite to free Burma from the its current ills.

Chris Mainwearing (1965-2007)

Chris Mainwearing was a very popular Aussie rules football player for the West Coast Eagles and sadly he passed away yesterday. The circumstances of his death were tragic and there is conjecture that drugs were involved.


He won 2 premierships with the Eaglesin 1992 and 1994, and was a regular top player for the club. He was popular amongst the club, team mates and adored by the public. He was one of those blond surfey boys who enjoyed the sun and would give his time to people.

It is sad that he has passed away, apparently him and his wife were separating and he went on a alcohol and drug fuelled bender over the weekend. This year has not been good for the Eagles and Mainy's death will be the low-light. I hope and pray the lads fromt he west coast pay attention to what happened here and get back to playing football and living a good life.

He was only 41 and this is a sad day for footy fans.