Bye! October 2005

Xabi: We Care!

29 Oct 2005 Liverpool 2-0 West Ham - EPL

BBC - Liverpool bounced back from their midweek Carling Cup humbling by beating West Ham with goals from Xabi Alonso and Boudewijn Zenden.

Alonso: "We are a big club and if you have a bad performance then you know you will be criticised. It is best to concentrate on improving and not to bother with what is written about you. But we all care. We all feel the disappointment, we all wear the shirt and know what that means. Anyone who says we don't have pride in playing for Liverpool should have seen us in the dressing room when we lost to Fulham. Everyone was really down and all you could see in the dressing room was sad faces. That should answer any suggestion that we don't care.

That is why we are all committed to the club and trying to do things as well as possible and to climb the table. It is my second season here but I really feel the pride of wearing a Liverpool shirt, I am fully committed to the club. Always there is something to prove. When situations like this arise you always have to show you are a good team, you understand that people will criticise and you accept it."

Zenden: "It was special to get my first in front of the Kop. It was good for me and good to settle the match that way. That [win] was a big boost for our confidence and I was pleased to get my first goal."

Murray The New Hope

BBC - Andy Murray signalled an impending shift at the top of British tennis by beating number one Tim Henman 6-2 5-7 7-6 (7-4) at the Swiss Indoors.

Anxiety

- I'll have the test this Sat.
- Oh! Don't worry, Amy, you'll be fine!

Hey...I really want to know....HOW DO YOU KNOW? Tell me, how the hell do you know I'll be fine!? From where, form what point, that you think I'll be fine on the test??? .....Well...look, if you don't really know, then why do you say so? What are you gonna say if my test result turned out to be bad? eh??

Damn anxiety...makes me fucking blame everything.

It shouldn't be like that as I'm not kind of person suffering from stress. I guess I care about it too much. I'm so eager to solve everything as soon as possible. Actually if I didn't pass the test this time, I can have a second time after 3 months. If I still can't get through, well, at least, I can wait for one more year. I know I'll be there one day.....

"Stop trying to control everything, and just let go!"

Yeah, Tyler Durden is always on my mind, as well as Lester Burnham.

"And then I remember to relax...and stop trying to hold on to it.
And then it flows through me like rain, and I can't feel anything but gratitude...for every single moment....of my stupid little life."

You know i'm not serious about the 'you'll be fine' thing, don't you?

I can't remember how many people have said that. But actually I especially appreciate those friends from the Internet world. Probably they just forgot it as they closed the chatting window or clicked 'Sent' in the e-mail, but for one moment, they had been wishing me all the luck from places so far away. That's tremendous.

Sorry about complaining the 'you'll be fine' thing. I know you're bunch of nice people.

Stevie Says Sorry

25 Oct 2005 Crystal Palace 2-1 Liverpool - Carling Cup 3rd round

BBC - Crystal Palace claimed a memorable victory over European champions Liverpool to reach the last 16 of the Carling Cup in a riveting encounter.

SkySports - Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has called on his misfiring team-mates to shoulder the responsibility for Liverpool's alarming form, denying that the fault lies at the feet of Rafa Benitez.

Gerrard: "I do not see why anyone should have a go at the boss. He's been saying the right things to us and doing the right things. It is the players who have to accept responsibility in this situation, we have to take the blame."

"That kind of performance is just not acceptable for Liverpool Football Club."
"A lot of our fans paid a lot of money to see that, and what they saw just wasn't good enough. We have to say sorry to them for that."
"There has got to be a big reaction to this now. We have all got to play for the shirt and start showing how much it means to be playing for this club."

Hey, Reds?

22 Oct 2005 Fulham 2-0 Liverpool - EPL

BBC - Goals from Collins John and Luis Boa Morte gave Fulham a deserved victory over lacklustre Liverpool.

Rafa: "The result is not good. They created maybe two chances and scored two goals. We created a lot of chances and didn't score. The best player in the second half was their goalkeeper.
Gerrard was almost fit. Two days ago he was training, but yesterday he felt something again."

I missed this match as everywhere were playing Man Utd vs Spurs. What's going on?

Acoustic Of The Week

New feature on the UGO - Mike Doughty's exclusive preformance! (Well, actually it's not that new as it's been there for weeks.) I don't have much time lately since I'll have a test next Saturday, which I've been preparing for 6 months. It's quite exhausted dealing with those stress and at the same time trying to keep up with the schoolwork. Anyway, I'll have more time after the test to update my blog with some other topics apart from Liverpool, and probably will try to write more on my own rather than just pasting.

By the way, anybody like me think that Mike Doughty looks so much alike Alan Shearer?

Should Have Scored More..Like Always

19 Oct 2005 Anderlecht 0-1 Liverpool - CL MatchDay 3

Sky - Djibril Cisse proved to be Liverpool's match winner for the second consecutive game as The Reds secured a 1-0 win at Anderlecht.

21 Oct 2005
Echo - Gonzalez deal sorted as Gerrard heads back- STEVEN GERRARD has handed Rafael Benitez a fitness fillip ahead of tomorrow's Premiership visit to Fulham - as Liverpool sealed the permanent transfer of Mark Gonzalez.

An Anfield spokesman said: "Following the player's knee injury, the original intention was to take him on loan with an option to make the deal permanent.
As Mark is recovering well, a loan deal is no longer an issue and we have agreed a long-term contract to bring him to Anfield.
However, he will only play for Liverpool once he obtains either a work permit or European passport."

Rafa: "Ideally, we would like to have him here in January but if that's not possible then we will have to wait until next season for him, when he will have a European passport.
He's a left winger with pace and skill who is capable of getting to the by-line and providing crosses that the likes of Peter Crouch and Fernando Morientes should thrive on."

Cisse's Blackburn Revenge

15 Oct 2005 Liverpool 1-0 Blackburn - EPL

BBC - Djibril Cisse put months of frustration behind him to guide Liverpool to victory over 10-man Blackburn.

Rafa(on Cisse): "We shook hands, we are both professionals. He worked hard, scored the goal and got us the win. And for him, after he broke his leg at Blackburn last season, this was a better outcome."

Liverpoolfc.tv - Cisse: "There is really no problem between me and the coach or me and the club. When I ran to the manager it was just a small message to people, just to show that there is no problem between me and the boss. We have a normal relationship. He showed faith in playing me today and I hope I have repaid him.

When you see the fans and how they support me, you cannot find supporters like that anywhere in the world. I don't know why people would say I want to leave. I just want to work in peace.

The best way is to scoring goals. I am happy but the most important thing is points for the team. We cannot stay in 10th or 12th place. We need to climb up the table."

'Man Is Condemned To Be Free'

World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia © 2001 by World Book, Inc.Ivan Soll, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

"The existentialists conclude that human choice is subjective, because individuals finally must make their own choices without help from such external standards as laws, ethical rules, or traditions. Because individuals make their own choices, they are free; but because they freely choose, they are completely responsible for their choices. The existentialists emphasize that freedom is necessarily accompanied by responsibility. Furthermore, since individuals are forced to choose for themselves, they have their freedom — and therefore their responsibility — thrust upon them. They are'condemned to be free.'

For existentialism, responsibility is the dark side of freedom. When individuals realize that they are completely responsible for their decisions, actions, and beliefs, they are overcome by anxiety. They try to escape from this anxiety by ignoring or denying their freedom and their responsibility. But because this amounts to ignoring or denying their actual situation, they succeed only in deceiving themselves. The existentialists criticize this flight from freedom and responsibility into self-deception. They insist that individuals must accept full responsibility for their behavior, nomatter how difficult. If an individual is to live meaningfully and authentically, he or she must become fully aware of the true character of the human situation and bravely accept it."
-------------------------------------------------
Some quotes of Jean-Paul Sartre:

"Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does."
"The existentialist says at once that man is anguish. "
"One is still what one is going to cease to be and already what one is going to become. One lives one's death, one dies one's life."
"It is only in our decisions that we are important."
"Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you."
"Hell is other people."
"Life has no meaning the moment you loose the illusion of being eternal."
"He was free, free for everything, free to act like an animal or like a machine...he could do what he wanted to do, nobody had the right to advise him...He was alone in a monstrous silence, free and alone, without an excuse, condemned to decide without an excuse, condemned to decide without any possible recourse, condemned forever to be free."
"Man does not exist in order to be free subsequently. There is no difference between the being of man and his being-free."
"Existentialism is a Humanism."

More: about Existentialism, about Sartre.
Related films: my favorite two -
American Beauty(1999), Fight Club(1999)

Top The Group

12 Oct 2005 England 2-1 Poland - World Cup qualifying

BBC - Michael Owen, captain in the absence of David Beckham, skilfully diverted in a Joe Cole shot to put England ahead.
Tomasz Frankowski's volleyed equaliser for Poland flattered the visitors and their keeper Artur Boruc twice saved from Owen to keep his side level.
But Owen set up Frank Lampard to volley in and give England a deserved win.

BBC - England midfielder Joe Cole described the boos greeting Peter Crouch's arrival as a substitute against Poland on Wednesday as "ridiculous".

Cole: "The booing of Peter was not good. Unfortunately, people believe what they read in the papers."

Eriksson: "I understand the reaction but I do not know who was being booed, whether it was me or Crouch.
Crouch is a good footballer. He had played only one-and-a-half internationals before this gamer. He has something other players don't. It is very harsh to judge him now."

Generation Lost In Quake

BBC - Overview: Quake aftermath -
The 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck close to Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Saturday morning has caused widespread devastation.
Relief operations are under way to help tens of thousands of injured survivors and an estimated two million people left homeless, but weather conditions and the remote mountainous terrain are slowing progress.

921 of Taiwan

I was sitting on my bed with my mind went blank, staring at the dark shaking room. I tried but failed to remember what I should do when there's a quake, while I did remember I've heard of it many times from teachers since a kid. Easy - 'hide under a desk', but it just wasn't across my mind that night on 21 Sep 1999.

I couldn't fall asleep without live radio for months after that, as I needed to feel someone's beside me. I've became really sensitive of earthquakes ever since. My routine when a quake happens: run over my home upstairs, downstairs and shout: EARTHEQUAKE! Why running? Because when you're running, you won't feel the shaking. My families are quite used to my behaviour, so they'll just ignore me. I'll stop running or walking when the quake stops, but keep trembling for a few minutes afterward. I kind of envy my brother because he's like a pig when sleeping, while minor shaking can always wake me up. After a few months of the 921, I finally could get rid of live radio before sleep, but still needed music. Until now, it's already a habit of mine for 6 years because silence makes me feel insecure after all.

I really hate earthquakes. You feel helpless when it happens. Firstly, you can't predict when it will happen. Secondly, normally home can keep you away from danger, but if it's a quake, then home isn't safe to stay anymore! How do you know it won't collapse within just seconds?

Born Today

Hugh Jackman(37)
Date of birth: 12 Oct 1968
[full profile]

Hmmm...girls must love him in 'Kate & Leopold', well at least my friends do. But it seems that he prefer roles like Wolverine in 'X-Men' or 'Van Helsing'.

England's Going To Germany!

8 Oct 2005 England 1-0 Austria - World Cup Qualifying

TheFA.com - Lamps lights the way - Crouch's fine downward header found Owen with his back to goal - and he was man-handled by a back-pedalling Scharner. Referee Luis Medina Cantalejo of Spain awarded a penalty, which Lampard fired home in nerveless fashion, low to the keeper's right.

BBC - Beckham angry after sending off - Beckham was shown two yellow cards for fouls on Andreas Ibertsberger in the space of two second-half minutes.
Beckham: "The first one was harsh, but the second one was even harsher. Everyone who has seen it has said the same." "I couldn't understand it. I don't think it was a sending off at all."
Austria coach Willi Ruttensteiner: "I don't think it was a correct decision to send Beckham off."

BBC - England qualify for the World Cup - England have qualified for the 2006 World Cup, with Holland's win over the Czech Republic confirming Sven-Goran Eriksson's team's ticket to Germany.

(Gerrard was the captain after Owen was replaced by Richardson on 82th minute! Wow, England captain!)

Gerrard: "Frank and I have been criticised but we are really happy how the partnership worked and the most important thing was the three points."

"Wayne is like a dog on a lead at the minute and we can let him off on Wednesday."

"I thought the sending off was very harsh. We have seen both incidents on the TV and can't believe it.
David did actually mention before the game that this referee pulls up a lot of incidents and I thought he had a poor game.
I don't want to get involved with saying the player conned the referee but what I do know is the referee made two mistakes."

BBC - Gerrard ruled out of Poland match - Liverpool have said that Gerrard may be sidelined for two to three weeks. The Anfield side will be without their skipper for the Premiership match at home to Blackburn, the Champions League match at Anderlecht and the Premiership visit to Fulham.

Born Today

Sami Hyypia(32)
Date of birth: 7 Oct 1973
[full profile]
He's getting old. He's probably still quite good in the air, but has no pace now. I think we need to buy a good central-back in January.

Jermain Defoe(23)
Date of birth: 7 Oct 1982
[full profile]
He really needs a big performance in England.

Rafa: KEEP OUR HEADS UP

Rafa: "I could see at the final whistle a lot of the players' heads were down because they were disappointed, but I said to them they should keep their heads up.
It's going to be difficult for them going on an international break now, but they should remember the reaction of the supporters after the game. At most grounds, the fans would leave when their side is losing 4-1.
You do not see this at Liverpool. Our fans stayed to sing 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. That meant a lot to me, the club and players because it showed they knew the score did not reflect the game."
"We must remember this is the first league game we've lost this season and we were beaten by a good team. We made mistakes which cost us, but we will learn from them."

Chins Up

2 Oct 2005 Liverpool 1-4 Chelsea

RAFA: HOW DID WE LOSE 4-1?

Well, I have to admit it that they were better. We made some mistakes, and they knew how to grab the chance and score. They're really good at this. We can't make any mistake when meeting such a team. I feel so sad about the result, but the gap is definitely not 4-1. It was not an easy win for them. We played well and just lost one match. Forget about freaky 4-1. It means nothing. We fans still keep the faith in our players, the manager and the club. Stay humble as we win, and keep our chins up as we lose. We're proud of Liverpool FC.
Anfield's crowd are the best. I was moved when they sang 'You'll Never Walk Alone' loudly at the end of the match. Really. I know it was a heartbreak for all the Reds. Please, don't joke to your Reds friends right now, as they're not in a mood.

Gerrard: "I'm the captain of the club and it's my job to drive the lads on. I don't think there's a massive gap between the teams and I don't think the gap is 4-1." "We played really well and the scoreline does not give a true reflection of the game."

Rafa:"I'm not interested in Chelsea or in what they are doing. I am only interested in my team and trying to make sure we improve." "OK, we're 17 points behind but at this stage it doesn't matter if it's 14, 15, 16 or 17. I am only looking forward to the next game and not talking or thinking about anything else."

The Legend Of 1900

"It wasn't what I saw that stopped me, Max. It was what I didn't see. Understand? What I didn't see. In all that srawling city there was everything except an end. There was no end. What I did not see was where the whole thing came to an end. The end of the world. You take a piano. Keys begin. The keys end. You know there are 88 of them. Nobody can tell you any different. They are not infinite. You are infinite. And on those keys, the music that you can make is infinite. I like that. That I can live by. You get me up on the gangway and you roll out in front of me a keyboard of millions and billions of keys that never end and that's the truth Max, that they never end. That keyboard is infinite. And if that keyboard is infinite then there is no music you can play. You're sitting on the wrong bench. That's God's piano. Christ, did you see the streets? Just the streets. There were thousands of them. How do you do it down there? How do you choose just one? One wonman. One house. One piece of land to call your own one landscape to look at. One way to die? All that world just weighing down on you. You don't even know where it comes to an end. I mean, aren't you ever just scared of breaking apart at the thought of it? At the enormity of living it? I was born on this ship. And the world passed me by. But two thousand people at a time. And there were wishes here. But never more than fit between prow and stern. You played out your happiness, but on a piano that was not infinite. I learned to live that way. Land? Land is a ship too big for me. It's a woman too beautiful. It's a voyage too long. Perfume too strong. It's music I don't know how to make...."