Soccer Suddenly

Today I had wanted to go for a run. I ended up getting invited for a casual game of soccer at a field nearby. A neighbour Abdullah got me to join a 9 a side game with his Saudi Arabian friends. There was several fields together and they all had decent goal posts, and the best part was that it was free to use and the air was good: no expressway or high speed/volume motorways nearby.

When they asked me what position I play, I just offered myself as a central... defender. I decided against asking for the midfielder role since I am off my peak pace and stamina. I declared to my team mates that I am not a speedy player. These guys were not only hospitable and friendly but funny too, when they assured "Just need to pass well". And was I confident enough to smile "Sure"... after all, passing was probably my best attribute! Other than first touch volleys and shots... and, the Lambretta.

And as the match progressed, the last man (aka the sweeper) was so effective in defence that I could move up and played CM, which was seriously a lot of running, as they play quite a lot of quick counter attackings with long passes.

It didn't help that the field was not as flat as the astro-turfs I have previously played on. And I did not bring along my Adidas boots with me on this work trip.

I didn't make much offensive initiatives and could only boast of a 100% pass rate out of the far and few touches I had.

Then I got a lucky break when I managed to steal a ball from one of their adventurous defender. I made a gamble of where he was going to push the ball past me, to my delight and his shock, I got the ball. And in a flash, I made a quick dash forward past the giver defender, and drove a low shot past another advancing defender into the farpost. There was a joy celebrating with teammates, and I only wish my football mates are with me.

An unexpected break, and bola action from nowhere, at a place and time I least expected.

Piece Passionate

Was on youtube and saw a rendition of Bach's prelude and fugue from his Well Tempered Clavier Book 1. And then I read what the author had to say about the piece:

This is one of our favorites of all the preludes and fugues by Bach. It is full of passion. Bach was deeply religous. Some scholars say that the chromatic minor subject in the fugue is a representation of Jesus and his suffering on the cross, whilst the transcentally beautiful episodes represent the consoling angelic voices of heaven. However you choose to interpret this piece, it is deeply moving. This 4 voice fugue is also, in our opinion, technically the hardest one in the entire book to play.

Last week's church service also saw a bit of Bach. It was a refreshing moment for me. And I really appreciate the rendition of Jesu, Joy of man's desiring on my favourite instrument.

Ruby Roby

I said (12:24 AM):
u got your own football?
JUNX said (12:24 AM):
got.
I said (12:25 AM):
Can practise then : )
JUNX says (12:25 AM):
*ic
JUNX says (12:26 AM):
*i everytime shoot, is not way over then is like curve>>>
JUNX says (12:28 AM):
*the grass
*st wilfird is artifical right
I says (12:30 AM):
*Artifical yes.
I says (12:31 AM):
*Way over... hmmm... u really need some quality shooting training.
*curved shot is not a bad thing
*: )
JUNX says (12:31 AM):
*the goal post nt big enuf
*=x
I says (12:32 AM):
*If the goal post needs to be bigger, then the whole field will need to be bigger, much more distance to run, and your shot has to have much more power.
JUNX says (12:32 AM):
*ahh
*i feel that
*the
*pitch
*is just right for me
JUNX says (12:33 AM):
*street soccer is too small =x
I says (12:33 AM):
*Yup. St Wilfrid is very nice lol : ) full field... really needs disciplined training.
JUNX says (12:34 AM):
*the weather is perfect today
*hope everytime is like that
I says (12:37 AM):
*HAHAH. that won't happen.
JUNX says (12:38 AM):
*yea
*yuan xin today like no mood to play
JUNX says (12:40 AM):
*omg
*today
*u did that
*trick
*so cool
I says (12:41 AM):
*Yuan Xin still tried hard... it's just that... he didn't get enough passes.
*I thot well of Yuan xin, and even Gary, he has lot of effort and shots at goal... pity none was hard hit enough.
JUNX says (12:41 AM):
*ya
JUNX says (12:42 AM):
*i dunno why they can shot
*as in near
*i cant get it
*oo
I says (12:42 AM):
*lol... that trick... i learnt it when i was in sec 3. At first just for fun, then later i really used it to get past players... had a lot of fun with that trick.
JUNX says (12:43 AM):
*cool
I says (12:43 AM):
*u dunno why they can shoot as in near? what do u mean?
JUNX says (12:43 AM):
*meaning
*they can get the ball
JUNX says (12:44 AM):
*near the goal post uh
I says (12:46 AM):
*two ways...
*(1) u control/deal with crosses and passes well enough. U just run into space or get into positions.
I says (12:47 AM):
*(2) u need to learn to get past players.
*if u can get past one or two players, and then run on, u will be much closer to the goal, dun u think? : )
JUNX says (12:47 AM):
*yea
*but
JUNX says (12:48 AM):
*i dun have the confidence to get past players
*argh
I says (12:49 AM):
*Last time i dun have confidence to even touch a cross!
*Today I run towards it and head it home!
JUNX says (12:49 AM):
*haha
*that was nice
JUNX says (12:50 AM):
*the
*ruby
I says (12:50 AM):
*ruby?
JUNX says (12:50 AM):
*er
I says (12:50 AM):
*Roby
JUNX says (12:50 AM):
*the barcelona guy
*he can run all over the field
*never say die attitude
I says (12:51 AM):
*he's very very hardworking and determined one.
*Yes, never say die.
*Nelson's team are disciplined and all can dribble pass and shoot...
I says (12:52 AM):
*But Roby won't let them run freely de.
He easily and consistently has the highest work rate in the midfield... the lynchpin of our midfield... he's as precious as a... ruby...

French Fries

2am in the morning and I was having a 2nd pack of french fries.

I walked alone in the silently dark midst of a concrete cosmopolitan undergrowth. Safe from claustrophobic people and circumstances. I should have been used to it... this seeming continuum of unbreathability. Like the voiceless plea of a dying fish: will the air pump work again, or was there never one in the first place?

It is too dark, but little rays are breaking through the clouds. Yet at times are those lightning flashes in a thick cumulonimbus, I do question... or are those beacons of passing traffic in the heavens far far awat.

I have denounced my liking of french fries, since the food poisoning affair with Mcdonald's some time back. And why am I eating it again, I let my inquiring mind drift as my broken soul floated along an empty street.

Sure, as you bite a hot french fries, and u close your mouth and u breathe out through your nose... that must be the better half-sibling of smoking, the less poisonous one. But of what concern is fatality to do with a living dead? Thank you for what little life in left in this body.

There is something about life that a packet of french fries can relate to... and that is the slight feeling of heat in my chest... that warmth... that usually come with all the rowdiness in the brightness of the eateries on occasions. Of family gatherings. Of others.

As I ghost in steps slow and shaky, like those taken usually on the top of buildings, I indulge in that french fries smoking and that little warmth from the food passing thru the oesophagus and past my chest. That heat of life glow gently and disappear quickly like a firefly in the dark.

The night is a void, and the air is cold... and where is the lamp to my feet as I ghost the streets.

Am I lost? In the shadows of the valley.

I need to write this... I need to ask these... though my answers would probably be hidden far and deep in a right brain. In fact, maybe it's that right brain that is elusive to me.