Not that I need any reminding, but here is one of the zillion reasons why I loooooove Arsenal:
Sighs.
Since the new EPL season starts tonight... I know that now is as good a time as any to write my 08-09 season ender. The short and bitter-sour of it: Beloved Team came up short on ALL fronts (Prem, Champions League, FA Cup, Carling Cup), and incinerated my fragile hope's gossamer wings.
O, woe is me!
Perhaps, next week some equanimity would be recovered. Maybe then, an objective appraisal of The Arsenal's 08-09 campaign. (You do understand that by "objective", I mean that Chelsea would have done nothing right, Man Utd. with their three trophies, would have been only "lucky", and so on.)
But until next week (or never) an inability to proceed.
Here, to stand you in good stead (or not), are doses of
PISH
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gabriela Endringer (remember that gym instructor?) have called time on their "relationship". Consistent with the utter classlessness of those who preceded her (football floozy, married model, D celebs), GE, has almost instantly tarted herself for FHM, and disclosed details about his ... lazy bedroom technique. If you care for a What the... bleeding Beelzebub????... sort of thing, read [BRAINBLEED WARNING] this.
TOSH
While we are on the subject (i.e. things that make nearly no sense), here is Cristiano Ronaldo, top journalist, interviewing Cristiano Ronaldo, top footballer. Hahaha. I would not be surprised to see him lathering up in a soap op. He successfully combines the X and the Ick Factors, so why not?
PIFFLE
A smart girl once said that it really is a fact of life that footballers let you down the moment they open their mouths. Could she have been more right?
I don't like Patrice Evra on principle. That is, he plays for Man Utd., so what possibly can there be to like? His silly statements, however, have led me to consign him to the rubbish bin reserved for the likes of Rooney, Lampard, Terry, etc.. Whereas he was priorly only nobody, he is now a loathsome non-entity.
First, the untempered gall to call the youngbloods of Beloved Team "babies", second, the bizaare challenge of Cesc Fabregas to fisticuffs. What. An. Idiot.
The babies comment makes me sore, obviously because it holds more than a modicum of truth. The threat to roughhouse Cesc though, is more than angering. I would, without batting an eyelash, cheerfully sic my neighbor's slobberingly rabid dogs on him.
Note:
1. Perhaps, I could sic on Evra our dog Figo (his namesake must be shamefaced!), who has, on two separate occasions forced me to lecture The Self-Appointed Savior of Strays on Philippine leash law, estoppel, liability of tortfeasors, other lawyerly stuff made up on the spot in an angry newscaster's voice. She only said "big words...".
I wanted to go last Wednesday, but for whatever reasons which were not good enough, I didn't.
Like several others though, I did stay pretty much glued to the TV for most of the day, even wearing my best yellowish shirt (which happened, by happy chance, to be a Gunner's jersey). I was well dressed for my couch, my seat of choice, watching from the start of the mass until the burial.
But while they discussed the Outspoken Daughter, Who Did and Didn't Attend, the torrential rain, military protocol, Cory's life, family and All Things Important, I was lamenting something....
inconsequential...(cough)
the musical aesthetics of the requiem mass...
and, I must confess, rather uncharitably thought, perhaps it was planned by those who went to that Other School*. That's mean. I take it back. My prejudices though are deep and are difficult to unlearn. Have patience.
The orchestra detracted from the solemnity and it seemed really odd to me. I would have preferred an organ for Those Songs. And of all the beautiful requiem music in the world, why was the choir singing Those Songs? Those Songs, I felt, could not rise to the occasion and were not fitting of a high mass in a cathedral. I felt a disconnect between the rich and ancient symbolism of the mass and the modern, seemingly informal music, they tried hard to elevate through orchestral accompaniment. Mind you not that I didn't love Those Songs in the normal mass,it's just that it seemed wanting in a cathedral.
It does occur to me that maybe, these were the songs Cory loved. So maybe, I will let it go. And maybe this doesn't matter....and I know I'm being a terrible snob...BUT...
But, since the only times where I actually stood in the presence of Cory, was for a command performance in Malacanang, and the inauguration of PALs Boeing 747 (yes millions of years ago), and because I love Rutter, it seems fitting to pay tribute in a way I know how.
And so, I'm leaving This for her, and her historic speech before the US Congress, for you.
Notes:
*who composed Those Songs