Ohhh no, are the Simpsons gonna be axed?!

Some potential bad news - I just heard that The Simpsons might be axed by Channel 10. Our favourite long-running cartoon is heading for the chop! D'oh!!

The Simpsons are shown weekdays on Channel 10 at 6pm, for 1/2 an hour. Apparently, if that show goes, the 1 hour Channel 10 news programme (which starts at 5pm) will be extended by an extra 30 minutes to run from 5pm to 6:30pm. The proposed axing of The Simpsons is said to be due to budgetary/financial reasons - the cartoon is said to be too expensive for Channel 10 to show.

That's no good. I don't want the cartoon to go. Goodness, we barely have good cartoons these days. It's so different from the old days in the 1980s when we get such good cartoons like Transformers, He-Man, Thundercats, MASK, GI Joe, Silverhawks, Voltron, Starcom, Ducktales.....the list goes on. Today, it's The Simpsons, Family Guy & Futurama (though I don't watch the last 2 nearly as often as The Simpsons) - can't think of anything else.

Anyways, I hope that the rumours of The Simpsons being axed are just that - rumours.


Addendum:
They ARE just rumours. Apparently, The Simpsons are here to stay. Woo hoo!!

Congratulations to AZ Alkmaar

AZ Alkmaar just won the 2009 Dutch Eredivisie. In the process, the club from the small Dutch town of Alkmaar are this season's football champions of the Netherlands. Congratulations & well done to AZ.

AZ coach Louis van Gaal (who formerly won Dutch & European trophies with Ajax Amsterdam) deserves huge credit for AZ's triumph. This is the first time since 1981 that the Netherlands have a champion not named Ajax, PSV Eindhoven or Feyenoord (Holland's Big 3). And guess which team were Dutch champions in 1981? AZ Alkmaar. They won their only other Dutch championship that year, so this year's triumph was only AZ's second championship in their history. AZ Alkmaar may have benefited from an off-year by all the other teams, including Holland's Big 3. But it would be wrong to simply dismiss AZ's title as a statistical aberration. AZ Alkmaar won fair & square, & the poor displays of their rivals was just as much a product of AZ's dominance as it was of their rivals' problems. Ultimately, AZ won this year's title with a few more weeks in the season to go. This is testament to AZ's consistency, which ultimately made it impossible for the chasing pack to catch them.

I'm happy that AZ are Dutch champions, because they were on the verge of tasting success in the recent past but just missed out. They were very close to winning it in season 2006/2007, but heartbreakingly for their fans, only just missed out. They went into the last game of the 2006/2007 season ahead, but lost that final game, & so were overtaken to the title that year. That season, they also lost the Dutch Cup final to Ajax on penalties, & then lost to Ajax in a home-and-away playoff series for a position in the UEFA Champions League.

Well, the 2008/2009 championship-winning season should make up for those heartbreaks of 2006/2007. Once again, well played AZ Alkmaar.

Hillsong wants to take over Brisbane church!

I just read a report in today's newspaper, of Hillsong wanting to take over Garden City Christian Church here in Brisbane. I have actually been inside that church before 2-3 years back, when it held a concert conducted by the Ugandan orphans of Watoto (& a wonderful concert it was, too). It's a nice church. But anyway, reading that newspaper report this morning sat off some alarm bells.

Understandably, certain people within Garden City Christian Church are not happy about the proposed takeover. One figure said he did not like the idea of Hillsong controlling everything about the church's affairs - they would get too much power to do things as they please. Fair comment, certainly. But going beyond that, one should question Hillsong's motives for taking over. One might reasonably suspect that the prime motive is to make money. That, by itself, is not wrong. But if the motive is indeed to make money, one has to ask a further question - for what purpose? If the money is generated to fund godly purposes (e.g. build more churches, give financial support to church workers & missionaries), then that is absolutely fine & good. On the other hand, if the money is generated for personal gain, then I consider that to be inappropriate. That was what set off the alarm bells - the possibility that Hillsong might have such inappropriate motive in mind when proposing to take over Garden City Christian Church.

I don't think it's appropriate for people who claim to be serving God & working for God to use a church to seek financial gain to enrich themselves personally. Of course, if you work for a church, & you get paid a certain reasonable amount by the church, then that is fair enough, as that is not financial gain. Churches should be for fellow Christians to come together & serve God & be encouraged by Him & each other. Churches should be devoted to building up God's Kingdom & reach out for the lost & unsaved souls. Those should be what churches are for. Taking over a church to make money for oneself is, to me, not appropriate.

Of course, there is the possibility that Hillsong's take over of Garden City Christian Church could generate both outcomes. What I mean in saying that is by taking over that church, Hillsong's proprietors might make personal gain AND at the same time manage to reach out & help save unbelieving souls. So there could be a mixture of undesirable & desirable outcomes by Hillsong's proposed activity in Brisbane. If that were to be the case, then I approve & applaud the latter outcome (the reaching out to unbelieving souls). As for the the former outcome (the personal gain), I don't approve but that is for God to judge. And that time will eventually come, when the Hillsong proprietors will have to answer to the Lord for any inappropriate motives which they might have (if any) when seeking to take over the Garden City Christian Church.

What a game - Chelsea 4 Liverpool 4

Chelsea 4 Liverpool 4. That is the result from this morning's UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg. And with that, London giants Chelsea, who are now coached by legendary Dutchman Guus Hiddink (at least until the end of this season), go through to the semi-finals 7-5 on aggregate. Games at the very highest level are often low scoring affairs.

You may have the occasional blowouts, like Barcelona's 4-0 hammering of Bayern Munich last week. But how often do you get 2 top teams (in this case, 2 of England & Europe's top teams) putting 4 goals past each other? Not very often, but it did happen this morning in London. A crazy result, a remarkable scoreline, & a very entertaining end-to-end game it was - though it must be said that the defending was not very great from both sides. When the Champions League draw paired Chelsea with Liverpool, many might have thought that the quarter-final ties would be low-scoring affairs, as both teams have played numerous times in the past & therefore know each other inside out. The complete opposite happened, especially in the second-leg - we got loads of goals.

Liverpool were up against it going into this game, because they had lost their home leg 3-1 to Chelsea the previous week. They had to score early to have a chance of overturning the deficit, & this they did, leading 2-0 after about 30 minutes played, thanks to a free-kick from Aurelio & a penalty from Xabi Alonso. They took this score into half-time, needing just 1 more goal without reply to go through. Unfortunately for them, Chelsea were the ones to score next, in the 51th minute thanks to Drogba. A few minutes later, Chelsea equalised via Alex's thunderbolt freekick, so it was now 2-2. Chelsea went in front 3-2 for the first time through Frank Lampard. Then more dramas in the last 10 minutes. Liverpool went 4-3 in front in a matter of minutes, thanks to goals by Lucas in 81th minute & Kuyt in the 83rd minute. At that point, they need just 1 more goal to get past Chelsea on the away goals rule. Will there be another goal in this see-sawing match? Yes, there would be - but it would be scored by Frank Lampard towards the end of the match. Lampard's second goal meant it was 4-4 & that was the final score, sending a valiant Liverpool out of the Champions League.

Phheewwww......what a game! At various stages, given the way the match went, it was anybody's guess which team would be going through to the semi-finals. In the end, Chelsea's 3-1 away win in the first leg proved a little too much for Liverpool to overcome.

Chelsea, who lost last year's Champions League final to Manchester Utd in a penalty shoot-out, are now in this year's semi-finals. They would play Barcelona, who got a 1-1 draw in Munich. It will be tough for Barcelona, but they can do it.

The Final Murder (by Anne Holt)

It seems I've been hooked on Scandinavian crime fiction lately! That's because I somehow manage to stumble on the books almost all at once at the library. I decided, ahhh well, let's check them all out & enjoy myself.

The latest Scandinavian crime fiction I read, "The Final Murder", has a Norwegian flavour, written by Norwegian author Anne Holt. And the story is set in, well, Norway. I'm starting to fall for Nordic novels!

And what do we have this time? Some ghastly killings in Oslo, Norway. First, Fiona Helle, a TV talk-show host, was found murdered in her home, her tongue cut off & left on her table, with the front of the tongue split off in two. Shortly after, Vibeke Heinerback, a politician with right-wing affiliations, was found crucified to her bedroom wall, with a copy of a religious book shoved up between her thighs. After this, Superintendant Adam Stubo was called from his paternity leave to lead the investigation into the killings. Both Helle & Heinerback were well known in Norway. Hence the lingering question: Is there a celebrity killer out there? Then a third person was found dead: an outspoken literary critic, whom few had liked, stabbed in the eye.

Stubo's partner, Johannes Vik, formerly with the FBI, agreed to provide some help, even though she was busy with their newborn baby. Vik began to see a pattern, which goes back to her FBI days. Then a fourth person is murdered - this time, an unpopular professional biathlete. This fourth victim conformed to Vik's pattern & heightened her fears - if her suspicions are correct (& Vik was convinced they are), the fifth & final murder victim would be Stubo. Finding the murderer proved to be extremely difficult - no matter what Stubo & his colleague tried, the murderer was always a step ahead.

I found it to be not a bad read. But for me, even though the 4 murders were committed in cold blood, I didn't find "The Final Murder" to be as thrilling as the axe murders in Hakan Nesser's "Borkmann's Point". In fact, I found the ending to "The Final Murder" to be very anti-climatic & somewhat disappointing. That is my only "gripe" with the novel - I didn't particularly like the way the ending was written (it didn't seem real) & would have preferred Anne Holt to have done it differently. Apart from that, I thought the book was reasonably good, & I would consider reading another Anne Holt novel in the future.

FC Barcelona 4 Bayern Munich 0

I woke up this morning to see a rampant Barcelona destroy German powerhouse Bayern Munich 4-0, in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final, first leg. They absolutely pulverised the German side, who I had expected to provide much stiffer resistance than they actually did. But from the moment Argentine sensation Leo Messi opened the scoring in the 10th minute, I knew Barcelona would win the match. It's just that I didn't expect the final score to be 4-0.

In fact, that was the scoreline at half-time. After Messi's goal, Barcelona continued the vibrant attacking football, attacking Bayern in waves. Their reward was to score 3 more goals (from Eto'o, another from Messi, & Henry) before the end of the first half. I think this might be the best & most devastating first-half display I've ever seen from Barca. As well as they played, I have to concede that Bayern were disappointing. Bayern coach Klinsmann must be under even more pressure after this result. But what a result! Barcelona completely outplayed & outclassed their opponent. How often does Bayern lose like that? Barca have now sent out an ominous warning to the rest of Europe.

Barcelona didn't score any further goals in the second half. They didn't have to, given the blowout from the first half. They just continued producing their entertaining football without as much urgency as the first-half, while Bayern reverted to a damage control exercise. The 4 goal lead must surely have sealed the quarter-final tie for Barca - I can't see Bayern getting much more than a 1 goal win in the return leg in Munich. I was all smiles watching the match from my TV. Not because I wanted them to hammer Bayern, but because the football Barca played was very entertaining & was of the highest order. On this display, Barca are unstoppable, & surely no one can stop them from going on to become champions of Europe. Hala Barca!!

Click here for the highlights (quality may not be the absolute best, though, but never mind):

UEFA Champions League 2008/09 - quarter-final preview

We are now in the quarter-final stage of the UEFA Champions League season 2008/2009. As always, matches will be played home & away.

Here are the upcoming quarter-final ties:
Villarreal (Spain) v Arsenal (England)
Manchester United (England) v Porto (Portugal)
Liverpool (England) v Chelsea (England)
Barcelona (Spain) v Bayern Munich (Germany)

The last 2 ties are especially intriguing. Bayern will be a very tough test for Barcelona, & I can see Bayern posing Barca lots of problems, though of course I hope Barca would prevail. And yet again, we get a Liverpool v Chelsea tie! These 2 teams have played each other countless times in Europe over the years, & they know each other very well. Too well, one might say. They played in last year's Champions League semi, & Chelsea prevailed, going through to the final where they lost to Manchester Utd in the penalty shoot-out. I have a sneaking suspicion that Chelsea might go through again this year.

I predict the following teams to go to the semi-finals:

Villarreal
Manchester United
Chelsea
Barcelona

Bon voyage Maria

Yet another member of our Clay Bible study group is leaving Brisbane. This time, it's Maria. She's heading overseas for a while.

We farewelled her yesterday (Sunday) evening. A group of us headed to the Coorpraoo Bowls Club, but the rain meant no lawn bowls. Instead, we stayed indoors & chit chat, & some of us played pool/snooker & darts. We then headed to the Norman Hotel in Woollongabba for dinner. I had a steak (medium-rare, of course) & it was not bad at all.

I only have good things to say about Maria, & good memories over the years. I remember going up with her & my brother BT to the 2002 YF Camp on Sunday for a day trip, to witness my sister Val get baptised (along with Andrew & a couple of others). Maria drove that day (I parked my car at her place). The 3 of us headed back to Brisbane in the evening & had dinner together at that Tibetan restaurant in New Farm (me & BT misbehaved a bit at the restaurant!), before BT & myself rushed home to watch the 2002 World Cup final. Besides that, there's countless functions (poker, karaoke) over the years where we would hang out with our many mutual friends (mainly fellow Clayers). Aaahhhh, memories......

I will definitely miss Maria's friendship & her presence at our Clay group. I'm sure everyone shares the same sentiments. Maria was the first female friend I met when I joined CCCB some 8 years ago (Hung was the first male friend I met on the same day). Today, Maria & myself are still friends :)

Bon voyage Maria! You will be missed! Come back soon! :)

WrestleMania 25 - my predictions

OK, WrestleMania 25 is coming up very very soon - tomorrow morning, Brisbane time (i.e. Sunday night, US time). The host this year is Houston, Texas.

The matches are as follows:

Singles match: The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels (Michaels seeking to end Undertaker's WrestleMania winning streak)
Money in the Bank ladder match (winner gets future title match): CM Punk vs Kane vs Mark Henry vs Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) vs Shelton Benjamin vs Kofi Kingston vs Christian vs Finlay
WWE Championship: Triple H (c) vs Randy Orton
World Heavyweight Championship (Triple Threat match): Edge (c) vs The Big Show vs John Cena
25-Diva battle royal: Winner will be crowned "Miss WrestleMania"
Extreme rules match: Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy
Lumberjack match to unify the WWE Tag Team Championship & World Tag Team Championship: The Colóns (Carlito & Primo) vs John Morrison
WWE Intercontinental Championship: John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) vs Rey Mysterio
3-on-1 Handicap elimination match: Chris Jericho vs Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat & Jimmy Snuka (with Ric Flair)

Here are my predictions:

Undertaker to defeat Shawn Michaels after an epic battle.
MVP to capture the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Randy Orton to capture the WWE Championship from Triple H (with some help from his crew, Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes; also expect someone from the McMahon family to betray Triple H & cost him the belt).
Edge to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (after using some sneaky tactics as usual).
Candice Michelle or Mickie James to win the 25-diva battle royal (I would like Candice to win - she's my favourite WWE diva!).
Jeff Hardy to beat his brother in the Extreme rules match.
Miz & Morrison to defeat the The Colóns to become unified tag team champions.
JBL to retain The Intercontinental Championship.
Chris Jericho to beat the 3 past wrestlers/WWE Hall of Famers.


You know what, if I got time (very unlikely though), I will blog on the actual Wrestlemania results.

Argentina football team is this year's April fool

Goodness gracious me, Argentina just lost 6-1 away to Bolivia in La Paz, in a World Cup qualifying match. The result equals the worst defeat in Team Argentina's history - they also lost by the exact same scoreline more than 50 years ago. A completely unbelievable scoreline; it's a tennis score! The phrase "hit for 6" quickly comes to mind. Head coach Diego Maradona said every Bolivian goal was like a dagger to his heart.

As a consequence of the debacle, Team Argentina must surely be the April fool of 2009, hands down. The honeymoon period is well & truly over for coach Diego Maradona. Heck, I'm now not so sure if he should remain in his post after this grand humiliation. Why was he appointed head coach in the first place? I simply don't understand. To be fair, we should acknowledge that Bolivia played a superb game & took full advantage of its chances. But as good as Bolivia were, Argentina were very very poor - well, they didn't show up. It is said that the high altitude of La Paz was a significant factor in the huge scoreline. True it may be, it still doesn't wash, as no Argentinian team should ever lose like that to anyone. And also, Argentina did beat Bolivia 2-1 in La Paz 4 years ago, with a weaker team on paper than the current team. That win 4 years ago was achieved with proper planning by the then-coach who ensured that his players were acclimatised before the match. Maradona, on the other hand, made no such careful planning this time round. He brought his squad to La Paz just 2 hours before the match. That is outrageously amateurish. How can you just turn up to high altitude, without any preparation, a couple hours before a match & expect to win??

Never mind lack of preparation. Maradona's tactical nous & squad selection is questionable. I'm not sure if he knows very much about tactics. He doesn't seem to have a clue how to organise his players, & I'm not sure if he knows what sort of players to select & what players to never call up again. He still picks certain players who are clearly out of their depth & use them in the starting line-up. On the other hand, there are others who Maradona left out, whose form at club level deserve selection in the national squad.

Not that Maradona should take all the blame. The players were also guilty; they were a collective failure. Even if some of the Argentinian players should never have been selected, they should still have been good enough to give a decent showing & get a decent result. Even though poorly prepared, the players should have at least show more intelligence in their play in La Paz, bearing in mind how dangerous Bolivia can be on their home ground. None whatsoever. Bolivia were allowed to pretty much do as they please. So all of the above pretty much paints a bad picture of the team; a sad state of affairs. Thanks to the La Paz humiliation, Argentina's football team are the sick men of Latin American football. A cure is needed - very badly & very urgently. Can someone please step forward with the medicine?