Sister & brother-in-law's 1st anniversary

Today, Val & Andrew celebrate the first anniversary of their marriage! Woo hoo! Congratulations to them!! They are away for their anniversary, no doubt having such a great time.

I can't believe how quickly time passed. It's been exactly 1 year already. We were having a ball this day last year, celebrating their union. Some relatives & family friends from interstate & overseas came to Brisbane to celebrate that occasion. I still remember, with much fondness, pretty much everything that happened on the wedding day. It was a great great day, one to cherish. And I pray that God will continue to bless Val & Andrew, their marriage & their future richly.

WrestleMania 24 - my predictions

For those of you who don't know, WrestleMania is the biggest & grandest annual pay-per-view event held by the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It is called "The Grandest Stage of Them All", & is usually held around the end of March or start of April. The latest edition, WrestleMania 24, is almost upon us. It will kick-off on Sunday night (US time) at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The final WrestleMania 24 card will be as follows:

Triple-Threat WWE Championship Match: Randy Orton (c) vJohn Cena v Triple H
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Edge (c) v The Undertaker
ECW Championship Match: Chavo Guerrero (c) vs. Winner of Raw/SmackDown/ECW Battle
Royal Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Ken Kennedy vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito vs. MVP vs. CM Punk vs. John Morrison (winner gets future title match within 1 year of the MITB Ladder match)
Career Threatening Match: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels (Flair has to retire from wrestling if he loses)
Raw vs. SmackDown Match: Umaga (Raw) vs. Batista (Smackdown)
BunnyMania Lumberjack Match: Ashley & Maria vs. Beth Phoenix & Melina (Snoop Dogg is MC for the match)
Belfast Brawl: Finlay vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)
No Disqualification Match: The Big Show v Floyd "Money" Mayweather

Raw/SmackDown/ECW 24-Man Battle Royal: This will take place before WrestleMania. Winner gets a ECW Championship shot at WrestleMania against Chavo Guerrero. The participants: Elijah Burke, Lance Cade, Deuce, Domino, Tommy Dreamer, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Festus, The Great Khali, Mark Henry, Hardcore Holly, Jesse, Kane, Brian Kendrick, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, Shannon Moore, Trevor Murdoch, Jamie Noble, Chuck Palumbo, Cody Rhodes, Snitsky, Stevie Richards, Val Venis & Jimmy Wang Yang.


Here are my predictions:

Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship belt. Actually, to be honest, I find this match hard to call. Many people are sure Orton will lose the belt. Some feel Triple H will win, while others say Cena will regain the belt. Orton's chances of winning seem to be overlooked. I thought I'd go against the popular prediction & tip Orton to keep his title. Being the "bad guy", Orton will likely cheat along the way to secure victory.

The Undertaker to become the World Heavyweight Champion, & so extending his unbeaten streak at WrestleMania, as he has never before lost at WrestleMania. That is also the case with Edge, but I tip The Undertaker to win the match, meaning Edge loses his own unbeaten Wrestlemania streak (which is much shorter than the Undertaker's).

Chavo will lose the ECW Championship to Kane. (see later)

Chris Jericho to win the Money In the Bank Ladder Match. WWE didn't bring Jericho back to the company last year just to be a bit-part player. He recently won the Intercontinental Championship belt, & I think he will win Money in the Bank. I would have tipped Ken Kennedy to win, but heard that he's making a movie shortly after WrestleMania - which means he's not likely to win Money in the Bank as he will have to devote considerable time to his movie. (Unless of course the movie rumours are untrue....)

Shawn Michaels to win, & end Rick Flair's career. Flair would be inducted into the Hall of Fame the day before WrestleMania. I take that as an indication he will be retiring soon. And if he is going to retire by losing, then who more "fitting" to do the honours than veteran, well-known, well-regarded, highly respected wrestler in "The Heart Break Kid" Shawn Michaels?

Batista to win. I would definitely be supporting Umaga, but I can't see him getting over Batista, who has been with WWE for much longer & is more experienced. I heard rumours that the storyline would see Umaga switching over to Smackdown shortly after WrestleMania to continue the feud with Batista. That suggests Umaga would lose this match, to fit in with the planned storyline. Umaga may eventually win the feud, but along the way, he would lose at WrestleMania. So, Batista to win, & he will have to do it the hard hard way - no one beats Umaga easily.

Ashley & Maria to win. Enough said.

JBL to beat Finlay in the Belfast Brawl. I just can't see Finlay winning. His role in WWE is basically to put over other wrestlers. I see JBL winning as a more believable outcome. After that, I can see JBL entering a feud with either Shawn Michaels or Triple H.

The Big Show to win, of course. WWE are not going to let one of their wrestlers lose to a boxer invited to the show to make a "guest appearance". Especially not with a wrestler the stature of The Big Show (biggest wrestler in WWE). Now, the outcome of this match seems to be a foregone conclusion. But I have a feeling WWE will come up with something to make the match a little less predictable, & make Big Show's win "less straightforward".

As for the 24-Man Battle Royal, hmmm.....I think size matters, so the winner is likely to come from one of Kane, The Great Khali, Mark Henry or Snitsky, as these are the biggest 4 wrestlers taking part in the Battle Royal. I can't see Snitsky winning, so he can be discounted. I don't find it easy to pick between the other 3 (Kane, The Great Khali, Mark Henry), though I am confident whoever wins will definitely go on to take the ECW Championship. I would tip Kane, if only because WWE might see fit to reward him for years of hard work & loyal service (Kane's been around longer than Mark Henry & The Great Khali). So, I tip Kane to win the Battle Royal, & then go on to win the ECW Championship from Chavo Guerrero at WrestleMania.

Now, those are just my predictions. I don't always get them right - in fact, I get more predictions wrong than correct! I can tell u that I won't mind being wrong on my prediction of Batista beating Umaga. Anyway, those of u watching WrestleMania 24, I hope u have a most enjoyable time.

Are You Afraid of the Dark? (by Sidney Sheldon)

I just finished reading the novel “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”, authored by the late Sidney Sheldon. It was published in 2004 – one of Sheldon’s last novels (possibly the last?) to be published. Look at the pic on the right – the cover of the novel hails Sheldon as “the master of the unexpected”. I would agree to that. For Sheldon is a true master when it comes to story-telling. I have read a few of his books, & “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” is as good as any of those that I have read.

Not that Sidney Sheldon’s talents are confined to novel writing; he is also a renowned screenwriter & playwright. On the screenwriting side, I remember Sheldon for giving us I Dream of Jeannie; though of course, he has done a number of other good works for TV. Sheldon the novelist has written a number of novels, some of which are best-sellers. I don’t know if “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” is one of those best-sellers. But that notwithstanding, trust me when I say this – that book was a terrific read. I thoroughly enjoyed it, & I am sure many who have read it would have felt the same way.

In “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”, 4 individuals in Berlin, Paris, New York & Denver all died simultaneously in mysterious & suspicious circumstances. In the wake of the deaths, widows of 2 of the dead – Diane Stevens & Kelly Harris – were then constantly harassed by unknown assailants hell bent on eliminating them. Both widows found each other unwittingly & learned of their common plight. Horrified by what might happen to them, the widows reluctantly joined forces.

The duo would discover that their husbands had one the thing in common – their dead husbands had worked for an international think-tank. They would discover that their deceased husbands had intended to travel to Washington DC to meet with someone, perhaps to reveal something important. The husbands were killed well before they even had the chance to get to Washington DC. And they would learn that their harassment by the assailants had everything to do with their husbands’ deaths – they are being hunted down to prevent them from discovering the dark secret that claimed their husbands’ lives. Diane & Kelly had to use all their intelligence to fend off their assailants. And in the process, they would discover the deep conspiracy within the think-tank that could have catastrophic, world-wide implications. The conspiracy which was responsible for their husbands' deaths. The conspiracy which was responsible for the attempts on their lives by the assailants in order to prevent them from learning the truth.

The novel is thrilling & fast-paced (Sheldon style), with danger lurking at every corner. At the risk of repeating myself, Sheldon is one heck of a story-teller. The way he tells the story (simple yet effective) kept me engaged & enthralled with every turn of the page. Alas, Sheldon is with us no more, which means no more new novels from him. But at least he has authored a sizable number of novels. I have already read a few, & I look forward to reading the others in the future.

Now I'm not feeling that well :(

Arrgggh, I'm not feeling too well right now. I've got a bit of the flu. I still went to work today, as I didn't feel sick enough to stay at home. But at work, I was sniffing & coughing constantly; I think I was the only one at work who's not well. So, already dismayed at the fact the Easter break was over, the fact I wasn't feeling 100% made it not such a great day. Actually my day wasn't that miserable, but it wasn't fabulous either. Maybe I should have stayed at home & rested?? *shrugs*

Then at dinner today, I had some curry eggs which made me feel a bit heaty. I just couldn't resist spicy food, so I went for it. Though I was told the curry eggs is not as bad for "sick people" as other spicy dishes, it still made me feel heaty, so I ended up restricting my consumption of the egg curry. Hmmm, now, I should be taking some rest instead of sitting in front of the PC & doing stuff like blogging & all that. But oh well...

Hopefully, I will have recovered by tomorrow - or else face the prospect of missing out on the assam laksa tomorrow night. I will head off to bed soon; hopefully the "mini-flu" (at times, it didn't feel so mini) & cough will have subsided by the time I wake up tomorrow morning.

Easter break - good but a bit too short

The 4 day Easter break came & went by quickly - too quickly for my liking. I love 4 day weekends - it gives an opportunity to sit back & be lazy. Though with my Easter break, I did anything but sit back. I was up & about.

Let's see what I can remember of my Easter break:

Friday:
I attended Easter day service at church & then we had Mark over for lunch & catch-up.

Saturday:
I picked up my future sister-in-law Nicole from the Gold Coast Airport (Ryan couldn't because he was working), & apart from that didn't do much else. Oh yeah, we had family dinner - Andrew & Val came. Food was nice. Yummmmm.......

Sunday:
Church as usual, then lunched with Nicole, BT, Andrew & Val (unfortunately Ryan was working still so he couldn't join us - ggrrrrr, doctor's schedule is like that) at that Japanese place at Hawken Drive. Effectively it's a family lunch, though my friend Ben C joined us. Then in the evening, I went to Southside church to listen to talk by a visiting elder from an American Chinese church John Huang on "The Meaning of Life".

After having dinner at home, I went out again, with BT to Echoes for karaoke with the Southside Clayers. My buddy Ivan was up in Brisbane for the Easter break, & we caught up with him & enjoyed each other's company (me, BT, Ivan, Maria, Edith, Ed, Jeannie, Sean, Kwang). Of course, I enjoyed myself. I always like karaoke, & though at times I think I'm now too old to do it, when I got the karaoke invitation, there always was going to be one answer from me (yes). The singing was fun. Edith & Maria enjoyed singing their Hongkie songs, it was good to see them going at it. I even managed to sing Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around"....well, yeah, I did. Ivan made me sing Aqua's "Cartoon Heroes", a song I've sung in the past. Hehe.

But me & BT ended up staying for less than 2 hours; whereas the others stayed till 1:30am! Me & BT left karaoke early to pick up Chris Ooi & then Mark to watch live football at our place. Ben C also came over. The matches were billed as blockbuster matches - Man Utd v Liverpool & Chelsea v Arsenal. These are the top 4 football clubs in England. The home teams both won - Man Utd by 3-0 & Chelsea by 2-1. Liverpool had to play with 10 men because Mascherano was sent off when they were losing 1-0; they would have lost anyway even with 11 men because they were rather uninspiring, but surely not by a 3 goal margin. As for the second match, Arsenal scored first but then let in 2 goals to lose the match. I feel Arsenal could have prevented both goals if they had concentrated fully.

Most of us were going for Liverpool &/or Arsenal. We were disappointed by the results (both teams lost). Me, I was disappointed by Liverpool's result, & not so much by Arsenal's result. With Chelsea & Arsenal, I don't mind either team - I just hope 1 of them can go on & prevent Man Utd from retaining the English Premier League title. By the time we slept, it was like 4am.

Monday:
I dropped off Mark & Chris, then had lunch at Shiok (in Eight Mile Plains) with Ivan, Maria, Damien & Grace, before Ivan heads back to Sydney. Jeannie came to Shiok after we finished lunch. Then after dinner, I went to Southside again to listen to another talk from John Huang, this time it is "Patience, Fruit of the Spirit".

Hmm, did I miss anything? Looks like I did quite a fair bit of things, wasn't just sitting around idle all the time. Unfortunately, the Easter break is over. I enjoyed it, but it was so short - just went by like that. You know what? I look forward to the next public holiday already!

My first prize - black 30GB iPod

A couple of weeks ago, during work hours, I received a call from Sydney from a guy with a South African accent. He said he was from WealthFocus. I initially thought it was Perpetual, because I do know they do have Perpetual WealthFocus investments (& in fact, I do have a bit of money with Perpetual). The guy said no, he was not from Perpetual. His company is simply called WealthFocus. When I questioned his reason for calling, he advised that I won first prize for an internet survey I did around this time last year!

I could vaguely remember the survey. From memory, the survey was about investments - one of those surveys where there is no correct or wrong answers. I cannot remember the specific questions or areas covered by the survey. All I remembered was stumbling on the survey by accident at night, & I did it probably because I had nothing better to do at that time. I would never have guessed that I would end up winning the first prize some 12 months later.

But win it, I did. The prize - a black 30GB iPod. Just checking Wikipedia, it looks like a fifth generation iPod. There are bigger iPods than the one I won. But hey, it's free, I paid nothing for it. I had previously considered getting an iPod when I go on holidays to Malaysia at the end of the year. But winning it as first prize means that won't be necessary & it's one less item on my shopping list.

To be fair, I was perhaps lucky to have won it, as the WealthFocus guy said there were a number of other candidates who had also been in the running to win the prize, based on their responses to the survey. But I was the only one to bother responding to their call, & since they also liked my responses to the online survey, they decided to award me the first prize. So there - a few days after the call, the iPod arrived in the mail (I gave them my work's postal address). And I showed it to some of my colleagues, who were impressed by my achievement.

Moral of the story - have a go when it comes to stuff like surveys, u never know what u might win. I should pat myself on the back, eh. I must have done something right in the survey, but can't quite remember what. All I did was fill it as honestly as I can (obviously, they liked my honest responses). And I struck first prize, & getting the iPod made me smile. Wow, DT won something. You done good, DT! All smiles! You know what - I'd be smiling even more broadly if I were to have the same luck in the gold lotto ;)

Hehehe, but anyway, now I got to figure out how to work the iPod. Hopefully, the iPod actually works & is not a dud. I'm a bit of a dummy when it comes to all those gadgets. One day, I will get there. I got lots of other things on my plate. Ahh, the distractions.....





The letter confirming that I won first prize (I covered up my work address)












The 30GB iPod with accessories, instructions booklet & box

The Devil’s Star (by Jo Nesbø)

Jo Nesbø, it seems, is a well-rounded person. He is one of Norway’s best-selling authors. He is also a former pop musician & he used to be a footballer with Norwegian club Molde FK. Just how good a footballer or musician he is/was, I would not know as I haven’t seen him play or sing. What I do know, however, is that Nesbø can write crime fiction very well. I say that after having recently finished reading one of his novels, “The Devil’s Star”. This novel (not Nesbø’s first) was translated from Norwegian by Don Bartlett.

Here are some reviews that the novel has received from some British newspapers:

“Terrific….a first rate thriller” Sunday Telegraph
“Steeped in entertaining observational detail” Independent
“A well-crafted rollercoaster of a book….Nesbø sets a cracking pace.…A series of spectacular plot twists leads to a thrilling finale. Highly recommended” Guardian

Having read the novel, I feel that all the above acclaims are justified. Judging from “The Devil’s Star”, Nesbø is indeed a fine crime fiction author.

So what’s the novel about? Well, it started with a young lady found murdered in her Oslo flat. A finger was cut off from her left hand, & behind her eyelid, the killer left a tiny red diamond shaped like a pentagram, the devil’s star. Detective Harry Hole was assigned to the case, with a colleague that he doesn’t get along with, Tom Waaler. Harry suspected Tom of being involved in shady dealings outside his police profession; specifically he suspected Tom of being involved in an arms smuggling operation & of being involved in the killing of Hole’s work partner. Also, Harry was experiencing some personal problems (alcoholism, separation from partner). So for those reasons, he wasn’t keen on taking on the case. But he was already on notice for dismissal from the Oslo Police Force. That, & with various colleagues being away on summer holidays, Harry had to bring himself to work on the case with Tom.

Just 5 days after the murder in the flat, another lady was reported missing by her husband. The missing lady’s severed finger was later found, & it had the red diamond. Then, another murder took place in another part of Oslo. And then another murder in another place. All the patterns & clues suggest that a serial killer is at large. The key to the killings is the number 5 – the 5 points of the star-shaped diamond, 5 days between each crime, 5 fingers to a hand.

So Harry set about finding the killer, & at the same time look to expose Tom’s illegal & corrupt dealings. The story took a major twist after the supposed murderer was arrested. That arrest took place with roughly 1/3 of the novel (just under 180 pages) left to read, & that was when I had a feeling there was going to be more twists & turns as the real killer was sought.

I thought that the novel (which was more than 520 pages) was well-written. The story was relatively easy to follow, yet at the same time anything but predictable. Never at any point did my interest drop. Having a street outline of the Oslo City Centre at the front of the novel made it easier to follow the story. I would definitely recommend "The Devil's Star" as a book worth reading.

One other thing (& this doesn’t take anything away from the novel’s quality): though the story was set in a Norwegian summer, I didn’t find it easy imagining a sunny Oslo or the characters not wearing coats. I mean, when you think of Norway or the other Nordic countries, you would normally think of cold weather & people in thick clothes.

I have read some good writings of American crime writers (who typically set their stories in North America) & British ones (who normally set their stories in the UK, occasionally France). So it was a welcome change to expose myself to the work of a Nordic crime fiction author and a different setting of a Nordic country. A story set in Oslo gives the novel a different feel from stories set in the UK or the major American cities.

I would certainly look forward to reading more Nordic crime fiction in the future, whether by Mr Nesbø or by other Nordic writers.

Qld Roar - season 2007/08 reviewed

Overall, Queensland Roar can view their 2007/2008 A-League season as a success. They finished 4th on the ladder during the regular season. Then, they ousted Sydney FC 2-0 in the home-and-away semi-finals. Next up was Newcastle Jets in the preliminary final, but lost 3-2 after extra time. Losing narrowly at the Jets' home ground was no disgrace. And it is of some consolation for the Roar that Newcastle Jets would then go on to beat Central Coast Mariners 3-2 in the grand final to become A-League champions for 2007/2008. Consolation in the sense that at least Roar lost to the eventual champions.

Qld's achievments must be regarded as remarkable, considering how ordinary they were in some of the home games during the early stage of the season. Readers of this blog would have noted how I ranted & raved every time Qld Roar put on a mediocre performance and/or achieve unimpressive results. That was the case early in the season, & it looked unlikely that Qld Roar would achieve a top 4 position. But all that changed in the middle of the season, where the Roar put on an unbeaten run to propel themselves up the table. Eventually, they achieved the playoff spot, & even entered the last game of the regular season with a chance of winning the A-League minor premiership, but crumbled in Adelaide to finish 4th when just any win would have been enough to secure the minor premiership. Then came the playoff games against Sydney FC & Newcastle Jets.

The season also saw coach Frank Farina introduce some talented youngsters into the first team, such as Robbie Kruse, Michael Zullo & Tahj Minniecon. These youngsters produced some impressive performances, which bodes well for Roar's future if Roar can keep them at the club. As I always believe, clubs must give talented youngsters a chance. You never know what you got unless you try them. Also, it should be noted that reserve goalkeeper Griffin McMaster did well in the 3 games he played as replacement for the other injured goalkeepers. Perhaps McMaster has a strong case for starting next season as Roar's first choice goalie.

While Roar's season was pretty satisfactory, I still think they need more firepower upfront. In some games, the lack of finishing power was all too apparent, & it was frustrating to watch. They will certainly need new recruits upfront, because strikers Reinaldo & Lynch have departed. Reinaldo has gone to a Korean club while Lynch has gone goodness knows where. So signing at least 2 decent strikers should be top of Roar's priorities.

Besides new forwards, Roar could also do with at least 1 commanding central midfielder. I would recommend that an approach be made to sign Jonas Salley, the Adelaide Utd midfielder who hails from Africa. He played very well & impressed me when Adelaide played Qld at Suncorp in the first game of the season. Qld also need at least 1 central defender, as Ognenovski has signed for Adelaide. He has had a good season for the Roar, & will be missed.

All in all, whatever people's perception of Qld Roar, I would like to say well done to the club for all that it has achieved this season. I hope they can go on to greater things in the new season. It will not be easy, but if they continue to develop & sign the right players to boost their squad, there is no reason why Qld Roar cannot finish in the top 4 again. Roll on season 2008/2009. And go the Roar!

Late review - 2008 African Nations Cup

Egypt retained their African crown last month, beating Cameroon 1-0 in the 2008 African Nations Cup final. In doing so, the Pharaohs (nickname for the Egypt national team) confounded their critics who doubted their ability to win the tournament a second successive time. I'm one of those who didn't think Egypt could do it, & they've really proven me wrong. So they have the right to be called the best team in Africa.

Egypt started off by hammering Cameroon 4-2. Then they beat Sudan 3-0 before drawing Zambia 1-1 to finish top of their group. In the knockout stages, they narrowly defeat lively Angola 2-1 in the quarter-finals. Then in the semi-finals, they thumped tournament favourites Ivory Coast 4-1 to reach the final in impressive style. Their final opponent was Cameroon, the team that Egypt played first in the group stages. Egypt won 1-0 to become champions of Africa once again.

Their achievement is all the more impressive, considering that they did not select arguably their best & most well-known current player, Ahmed Hossam also known as Mido (formerly of Tottenham, now of Middlesbrough). The coach Hassan Shehata deserves commendation for all his hard work & dedication. According to reports, Egypt played stylish football throughout most of the tournament & deserved their success.

As for Cameroon, well, I didn't think they would have made the final, especially after the caning they got from Egypt in their first game of the tournament. But they pulled themselves together & roused themselves sufficiently to eventually get to the final, where they lost to Egypt again but this time narrowly. Good achievement to the Cameroonians, but from reports, I get the impression this young Cameroon side has less creativity than past Cameroon teams, & instead rely more on speed & strength.

What of some of the other teams? Let's start with Ghana. They were the hosts, & I tipped them to win the tournament. Their performances throughout the tournament was reasonable overall, from reports. They didn't really rip teams apart, but one got the impression Ghana were being steady & saving their big performances for the latter stages of the tournament. Instead, Ghana didn't even get to the final, due to the 1-0 loss to Cameroon in the semi-finals. Not sure what happened - was it stage fright? Perhaps Ghana missed a genuine top drawer forward that could have knocked in the goals to steer them to the trophy.

Ghana's lack of such a forward was the reason many people tipped Ivory Coast ahead of them as tournament winners. Up until the semi-finals, the talented & dangerous Ivorians showed the sort of form that justified their favourites tag. Then, it all fell apart against Egypt in the semi-finals. Perhaps Ivory Coast's undoing was the fact that they were not really tested in the matches up until the semis, & so were brutally found out by the first team that really had the weapons to cause damage. Ivory Coast also proceeded to lose 4-2 in the third-place playoff to Ghana - a match many had thought would be the final.

The tournament would have been a disappointment for quarter-finalists Nigeria & Tunisia, as well as such teams as South Africa, Senegal & Morocco, who both didn't even get past the group stages. Nigeria really let their fans down by struggling in the group stages, almost missing the knockout stages. Hosts & archrivals Ghana beat them 2-1 in the quarter-final. Losing to the host nation by a 1 goal margin in itself was nothing to be embarassed about. But the lament was in the fact that Ghana were Nigeria's biggest rivals. Perhaps the bigger lament was the underpar performances. Nigeria have lots of talent, but German coach Berti Vogts could not get the best out of them. Not surprisingly, Vogts stepped down after the tournament.

Tunisia were perhaps less disappointing than Nigeria, as they at least played reasonably well in the group stage - in fact, well enough to top the group. They were narrowly bundled out 3-2 in the quarter-finals by Cameroon, who then went on to reach the final. Tunisia then dismissed Roger Lemerre as they considered the quarter-finals not good enough. I think Lemerre was unlucky. He led Tunisia to win the 2004 African Nations Cup & took them to World Cup 2006. I would have thought being able to take Tunisia to consecutive major international tournaments was proof enough that Lemerre has the right credentials to handle a national football team. The Tunisian football fraternity obviously thought differently, & dismissing Lemerre is a sign that expectations in Tunisia are higher than in the past. Still, a quarter-final berth at the African Nations Cup is nothing to be sniffed at.

South Africa took a young, experimental side to the tournament. Perhaps in that context, their early elimination was not such a surprise. But it does mean that the South Africans have a lot of work to do ahead of the World Cup 2010, which they will be hosting. Their coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, has a big task on his plate. Still, the tournament would have given the young side some useful experience which will hopefully benefit them.

As for Senegal, I was disappointed that they went home early. I expected them to have topped their group, but this expectation was influenced by their quarter-final achievement in World Cup 2002. Obviously, the current side have a way to go to match the exploits of 2002. As for Morocco, they had a forgettable tournament. They started the tournament with a 5-1 romp of minnows Namibia, but then lost subsequently to Guinea & Ghana. They would probably have expected to beat Guinea, but they didn't & so that contributed to their demise.

The other quarter-finalists were Angola & Guinea. Angola showed that their qualification for World Cup 2006 was no fluke. They finished level on points with Tunisia, & only lost 2-1 to eventual champions Egypt in the quarter-finals. Guinea did well to accompany Ghana to the knock-out stages, but were thrashed 5-0 by Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals.

The other teams that took part in the tournament were:
Namibia - bottom of Ghana's group
Mali - third in Ivory Coast' group, finishing equal on points with Nigeria but behind on goal difference
Benin - bottom of Ivory Coast' group
Zambia - third in Egypt's group
Sudan - bottom of Egypt's group

The matches were not shown here on TV, so I couldn't see them. But congratulations to Egypt for their success. Roll on the next edition of the tournament.

One Man's Trash

A friend sent me these today.

They relate to the work of Tim Noble and Sue Webster (artists from the UK). Noble & Webster take piles of trash and make art into them...but sometimes the art isn't apparent until you see it in a different light.

Very good, huh?

My new LCD monitor, & all that

Behold - my new LCD monitor for my PC. It's the Samsung 203B 20 inch TFT Silver. I got it from Umart, & picked it up on Saturday morning, parting away with $285 in the process.

So, it's bye bye to the old BENQ monitor, & hello to the new Samsung monitor. I'm really happy with the new monitor. Wow, feels like every part of the PC is new. Look at the pic on the right - that's what it looks like - except my monitor's neck looks a bit shorter than the pic.

Errr, I'd better watch my spending, eh. Fresh from with shelling out for that Samsung monitor, I splurged out a bit on clothes at Myer Indooroopilly on Sunday, after church. I bought a few shirts (business & casual) which were discounted. Now, it's not that I spent excessively at Myer. But a friend later asked - did I really need all those clothes, or did I buy for the sake of buying? Fair question. But, it's like this. When you see a bargain, go for it. No harm having a few more clothes. I mean, when I eventually buy a home, I won't be able to shop like this. So I buy now while I can afford to shop.

And now, the clothes I got on Sunday are still in the Myer bag behind me, together with a couple of other Myer bags which were from sales in December (Boxing Day) & January! Looks like I need to get the home rather soon, as it will give me the space I need to store my stuff!

Hmm, will Myer still have the sales this Sunday? Ohh hang on, why wait until Sunday? Myer City is open late on Friday (tomorrow) - guess who might be going there tomorrow? Hahaha......