the Matchup

From the beginning of the season, this was a series matchup that was waiting to happen - an eventuality.

The Miami Heat were built on the premise of getting 3 stars together in the same team. It also happens to be an exact copy of the blueprint the Boston Celtics drew up in assembling their Big Three of Garnett, Pierce and Allen. The fact that the 3 stars on both teams are an exact match in positions (2, 3 & 4) just makes the similarity more obvious.

The Celtics made a mid-season trade (Green and Krstic for Perkins) specifically to help Pierce and Allen in the post season. And it's pretty obvious that Danny Ainge considered the Miami Heat a big part of the post season.

And guess what ? Here they are. A little earlier than some would have liked, but it's Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat.

Looking forward to it.

Keep Breathing

Sometimes when I run out of ideas for a speech, I look around and there are inspiring stories everywhere just waiting to be shared. Stories of love, patience, endurance, kindness, joy - stories that celebrate the best of the human spirit. Stories that bring a tear to one's eye. Stories that warm one's heart.

And you just hope to have the appropriate soundtrack for that story, that moment .....

I guess Mourinho has a case to be miffed about Barca ....

I wonder if referees ever get influenced when they see stuff like this before they get on the pitch. If they know that a certain player is prone to diving or faking an injury, would they sometimes ignore him ?

Just check out Real Madrid's 'proof' that Dani Alves dived to get Pepe red carded.

It sure looks pretty conclusive that Dani Alves dived. I mean, by all means fall down. It's fair enough to lose one's balance when a tackle like that comes in. But to roll around like he's just been bludgeoned by Pepe when the video definitively proves that Pepe never even made contact with him ........... man, that's disappointing.

the Naming

"So what would you like your brother's name to be ?" we asked, "Cedric or Ryan ?"

"Cedric" she said without hesitation.

"Why Cedric ?"

"Because it's ... perfect."

We didn't have anything to reply to that.

Cedric it is.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Sometimes we chance upon a website and we try things out, just on a whim. Like this website here which generates celebrity look-alikes if you upload a photo. Dream tried it and it turns out that she looks like

I've got to admit that with the appropriate clothes and accessories, proper make up and hair, beautiful, soft lighting and at just the right angle, anyone would look good - even Miss Piggy.

So when we were at Madame Tussauds, London and having a blast running around posing with waxwork stars, we made sure that Dream posed with her celebrity look-alike - Audrey Hepburn.

Nooooo.....@1Malaysia.com

A 1 Malaysia e-mail account for every Malaysian above 18 ?

All I can say is "Have we got nothing better to do with our money ?"
Do we have too many high quality schools ? Not enough poor people ?
Too many police personnel ? (not that numbers will make any difference if they continue to be as pathetic as they currently are; I'm being polite here.)
An adequate public transport system ?

Why is it that with google, hotmail, yahoo and facebook amongst others providing essentially the same service for free, does our beloved Prime Minister want to create a 1 Malaysia e-mail account ?

Too much money, izzit ?

vol. X

I simply liked the way his legs crossed ...

... which eventually led to this semi-aeroplane posture

the ubiquitous iphone helps to forge another friendship

no Photoshop - truth

So this is what a Hypermedia Library looks like ...

We did something yesterday that I hadn't done in umpteen years - we went to a library.

A public library.

I guess we were just looking for a place where we could put the girl in an environment that she liked. And this seemed ideal since it was cheap and relatively near our abode. Not to mention that parking was a breeze.

It was also new. Couldn't be more than 1 year old. Guess that's where our tax money is going to, although I'm not really sure that I want to find out exactly how much it costs since most of our government projects seem to cost an inordinate sum of money.

Since the girl liked the place, I guess that we will be spending time here on occasion to satisfy her craving for new/old books.

That tiny little thing ?

As the tears trickled down her face, out came the words, "but I don't want a boy........ I want a girl ....."

Guess she'll just have to get used to the fact that she won't be able to play dress up or princess with a little sister.

What it Takes ....

It's that time of year again - moving into the stretch run of the European football season - with United still in the running for the Premier League, FA cup and Champions' League. With a maximum of 11 games to go, there is talk of the Treble ....

I, for one, find it incredible that this season's team is even in a position to be challenging on 3 fronts.

* Ferdinand - injured for half the season for one reason or another

* Johnny Evans - absolutely terrible

* right back - O'Shea injured for months, Rafael is liable to get a yellow card or two during a match, Gary Neville was so bad he decided to retire

* Paul Scholes - approaching the end of his career at 36, limited games due to age

* Darren Fletcher - where's he been the last few months ?

* Michael Carrick - hasn't been the same player ever since the Champions League final against Barcelona in 2009. Nowadays, if he plays a pass forward, he gets a standing ovation.

* Anderson - injured for most of the season, as usual

* Owen Hargreaves - he's still around ?

* Antonio Valencia - injured for most of the season

* Park Ji Sung - 2-3 months out when he went to play in the Asia Cup

* Obertan, Darron Gibson - squad players who should really be on their way out after this season

* Rooney - off form for large chunks of the season

* Michael Owen - can't remember the last time we sighted him in a match

With all this going on, how did this particular United team get into a position where the possibility of the Treble is mentioned ?

I've got to say that even though many of their performances have been under par, they've been winning matches based on some individual moments of brilliance, and frequently just on sheer blardy mindedness. I guess that would be the 'will to win' part of what it takes to play football for Manchester United.

I won't go much into some of the very good things that have gone into making United's season a potentially great one but

* Van der Sar - why is he going to retire ?

* Vidic - solid as a rock

* Chris Smalling - his emergence minimized Ferdinand's absences

* Evra - just keeps on going

* Ryan Giggs - just keeps on going

* Berbatov - his emergence in the 1st half of the season led to some very vital wins. Hard to believe that United's 3rd choice striker is currently the Premier League's leading goal scorer.

* Hernandez - his emergence has been an absolute revelation. Looks to be United's first choice striker for years to come.

Still, Harry Redknapp says that this is United's worst team in years. I agree, but they just keep on winning. Could it be that they have 'What it Takes' ?

Greenwich, 16th May 2010 - or is it 15th May 2010 ?

Wandering through to the top of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich we chanced upon this marker/sculpture/whatchamacallit which was sitting on top of the Meridian line (Longtitude 0, degre 0' 0") , so of course we wanted to take a photo with it.

There was, however, the slight issue of a queue that was 30-40 people long - which would have meant a wait of about 1 hour ?

So we decided to skip that and started looking around and that was when we noticed a potential landmark which wasn't drawing any attention whatsoever from the crowd. We walked right up and started snapping photos in varied poses, concentrating on the steel stripe which signified the Meridian line and the clock above the door which showed the 2 different days that the line separated.

We spent about 3-4 minutes trying to get the angles right to fit everything in - it required a lot of bending - and when we were finally satisfied that we had gotten the photos that we wanted, there was a queue of 20-30 people behind us.

On seeing it with your own eyes ...

One thing about bringing up a child is how much it changes one's life. The days when we could make the occasional sojourn to see a live band performance or musical have long passed by - at least here in KL. Having said that, if the opportunity ever came up and it is like, totally worthwhile ........

I guess we just have to wait for said child to get older before we take her to any live performances. I wonder if they're holding the Penang International Kids Storytelling festival again this year ?

vol. IX

sit ....

spin ...

splash ....

sky ....

squash ....

stone .

Tendulkar's Out !

Mahendra Singh Dhoni after his final stroke wins the World Cup for India

Tracking the ICC World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka on BBC's live scoreboard was a compelling read as the two teams played out a tense final.

When the line "Tendulkar's out !" flashed across the screen, it looked like India's hopes were sunk. It was as if lightning flashed and lighted up a dark sky as India's greatest batsman walked off the field.

That's before it was pointed out that this particular India team had a whole clutch of quality batsman waiting for their turn after Tendulkar. And so it proved as India kept their runs ticking along steadily to win with 10 balls to spare.

Cue celebrations from a few hundred million Indians.

United FC

Here's a little nugget.

United FC made a Chinese daily. Now I play with these guys every Tuesday and I have no idea when we were called United FC but they've been a regular part of my life for most weeks over the past few years.

When I was younger, I was quite the sportsman and used to play some game or other pretty much 6 days a week - whether it was basketball, badminton or football. Now, it's usually down to futsal on Tuesdays and the pool with Catriona on the weekend.

Would I like to play more ? Sure, I would. But time constraints mean that I don't, and interest constraints mean that I do not take up solo exercises like running. And unless weight constraints come into the picture, I do not think that this pattern will change for the foreseeable future.

The Shadow knows....

Ever get the feeling that walls are closing in around you ? That as much as you look around, all it confirms is that there's no way out ? The temptation to throw your hands up and say "the hell with it all!"

What goes through the mind of such a person ? How do they react, what do they do ? Do they take a hike ? Do they walk away ? Do they take it out on their protagonist ? Do they hunker down and cry like a child who has a nightmare ? Do they try to look on the bright side of life ? Or do they go out, get drunk, and crash their car into a tree ?

Darned if I know.