fake solutions

This is just the beginning of Something

2011-12-26T13:20:00.000Z

Sparked by a thought provoking read of Haruki Murakami's masterpiece 1Q84.

What is the sort of reality that mirrors fictional creativity? As always mathematics may give us some clue, but the post festive days are spent uneasy and muddled, with someone who seems to have mistakenly swallowed a thick encyclopaedia book.

Yet, by some coincidence the future will become that kind of reality.

mungosciko's photostream

2011-03-30T19:54:00.001+01:00

mungosciko's photostream on Flickr.

The World Cup: Starting 11

2010-07-06T15:47:00.000+01:00

There are still four matches left to play, but I’ve seen enough to put forward my starting eleven.

This is my team of FIFA 2010 World CUP;

Goalkeeper: Richard Kingston(GHANA)

Defence:
Phillip Lahm(GERMANY), Ryan Nelsen(NEW ZEALAND), Lucio(BRAZIL) and Sergio Ramos(SPAIN)

Midfield:
Ajren Roben (Holland), Wesley Sneider(Holland), Mezut Oezil(Germany), Bastian Schweinsteiger(Germany)

Strikers:

Diego Forlan(Uruguay) and David Villa(Spain)

Coach: Joachim Low (Germany)

Formation; 4 2 3 1 (As played by Germany)

What’s yours?

The World Cup; My top five list

2010-07-04T19:48:00.000+01:00

Quarterfinals are over.

There are only 4 teams left (Uruguay, Holland, Germany and Spain) and any of them could become the new World Champions. I for once, am not going to put my money on anyone at this stage (I’ve lost plenty so far on, what I thought, would have been “straight forward bets”).

The game between Uruguay v Holland when finished will leave us with the least unbeaten team in the final next Sunday.

As for my team of the World Cup, it is undoubtedly Germany. The type of football they played is fast, clever and modern. It is beautiful to watch. The ease of their wins against England (4:1) and Argentina (4:0) demonstrated to everyone that it is not how many “stars” you have in your squad but the way the team gels together. However, Spain may be a hurdle to high for the Germans. It contains that perfect balance of talented individuals who have just begun performing as a tight team unit. I can’t wait for the semis.

Who are your favourites?

In a meantime, here is my list of top 5 teams so far:

1. Germany; In addition to the demolition of England and Argentina, their team is young, unassuming, talented, powerful, watchful.

2. Spain; Started slow, but getting better in each game and improving throughout the tournament. European champions are the strongest contender to the world title.

3. Ghana; Desperately unlucky to miss on the semi finals. Carried African flag so proudly, I hope their spirited performance inspires more teams from the continent to do even better in four years in Brazil.

4. New Zealand; Yes, All Whites are the unbeaten team in this World Cup. That would have probably changed had they lasted longer, but we’ll never know. At 2000:1, New Zealanders were supposed to be there for other teams to improve their goal difference, yet they were determined not to be outplayed, by teams from countries with far more established football histories then their own.

5. Chile; I’ve been following any sort of football from an early age but I’ve never seen a formation of attacking football like it (3 3 1 3). 10 out of 10 for the entertainment value.

Could have been six or seven

2010-06-27T18:17:00.001+01:00

No doubt there will be many analysis to what had happened to England today, and if we talk for a long enough we may even find something to say.

We may find a reason to make us all (England fans) feel better about losing 4:1 to Germany in Bloemfontein today.

Disallowed goal, wrong system played, substitutions etc.

But, it won’t change a thing. England football team of today is just an average side. Admitedly, there are some world-class footballers in there, but to perform at the World Cup (or any other competition) you need a team. Team of committed individuals, full of pride and passion for the team and the country. You need to have some arrogance too. Arrogance, to think that you can beat anyone.

Unfortunately, that arrogance is the only “quality” England players have. On it’s own, it’s not enough and quite wrong to think and say you were good enough to beat such an inspired team like Germany.

There can not be any excuses for today’s loss. They were beaten by better (and younger) team, playing modern football with flair. It could have been six or seven. And boys, you still don’t get it. Technology or no technology. England has not been good enough.

If you ask me, every single one of England players should go in exile (or at least find themselves a deal to play abroad, they may just learn a thing or two about playing at international level).

Volcanic ash disrupts UK flights

2010-04-15T11:46:00.001+01:00

“Volcanic ash disrupts UK flights…”

“The UK and northern Europe could be gripped by more frequent cold winters as a result of low solar activity….”

“Iran needs only six years for bomb…”

“Gang rape crisis in Congo…”

“Shots fired near Kyrgyz leader…”

These are just some of headlines taken from BBC website today. I could go on and on with quotes of various disastrous events from all over the world. If you switch on any TV or radio news channel it is more less the same. Doom and terrible gloom at every coming minute from every corner of the world.

Sometimes, I am surprised that we don’t have most of the people on suicide watch. According to the news, the world is full of crap and it isn’t worth making the effort to live in.

We are bombarded with fear and there is no place to hide.

But, in our daily life do these things really matter? Are we all really that badly affected by something like “At least one dead in Jakarta cleric tomb”(another headline from BBC today)?

Of course we are not. Most of these type of natural or man influenced horrible events have been daily occurrence since the beginning of time. The only difference is that today’s technology has made information about it instantly available to everyone.

Unfortunately, it is seldom that we hear the news that inspire or just put a smile on our face in the morning.

The news about a 13-year-old American boy who is to try to become the youngest person to scale the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, or a UK village which raised £37000 to offer 200 homes the super-fast broadband that BT could not deliver has launched its network, are confined within hidden depths of “also in the news” and “strange news” sections of news channel websites. Why is that?

The only answer I can think of is that good news are harder to sell, while the fear, in business terms is self sufficient. It’s cheep to produce and everyone is “buying”.

Well, today, I am not buying any bad news. Sun is shining and my bicycle ride to work was most enjoyable. Chelsea is the top of the league and in the FA cup final. I am planning a short trip to Milan this weekend. And last but not least my three weeks old nephew has smiled at me for the first time.

Life has never been as good.

Winter's over

2010-03-20T23:36:00.000Z

Silence in the rain

2010-02-25T16:15:00.000Z

TerrYfied Fabio bows to the media

2010-02-08T16:08:00.000Z

Last Friday, after the 12-minute meeting at Wembley, Fabio Capello took away the England’s captaincy from John Terry.

For many, it showed Capello as a strong disciplinarian who will not put up with any funny business from his players.

However, it is one of the worst decisions he has ever made for two simple reasons;

1. John Terry(the footballer) is the best defender and the best possible candidate for England captaincy at this time.

2. The main reason that he has been sacked as captain has not been resolved. The fact that John Terry(the husband and the father) allegedly had an affair with one of his team mate’s ex girlfriend still remains, i.e. with or without Terry(the footballer) as England captain.

Had Capello decided not to call JT to play for England ever again because of his antics off the pitch, it would be totally mad of course, but I’d have given him some credit for it.

That sort of drastic action would have sent clear message to everyone that Capello’s England is the bastion of morality, each team member a role model for everyone in the country. But, we know that’s not true. In fact there is probably no organisation in this or any other country that could claim to be squeaky clean. Therefore, sacking of JT as England player was never in question. Never an option that any of the papers or indeed Capello have considered.

But, the decision to remove JT the captain, and leave JT the player, will not address any issues in the dressing room which Capello and the media claim to be the only reason for his sacking.

England would still have the same group of players with the same views and their own opinion of what JT has done.

The question is what’s changed in the team England by JT no longer being its captain? The answer is absolutely nothing.

England manager has simply given in to the fierce media campaign against JT as a person. It only confirmed he’s own weakness in his own role as England boss. It confirmed that Capello cares more about his own image in the popular media, then how much he cares for his players. That alone, is the most disappointing thing in this sad soap opera.

On the other hand, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti, has chosen to make his decision based on pure football merits.

How JT conducts himself in his private life it’s his own business. As far as captaincy of Chelsea goes, there will be no change. Terry is, without any shadow of the doubt, the best and the only candidate for the job. He is the best centre half in this country and world class football player. The leader on the pitch in every sense of the word, which he so powerfully demonstrated in Sunday win over Arsenal.

The only people who have the right to judge JT as a person are members of his family, namely his wife and children. The fact that he cheated on them has got nothing to do with any newspaper editor, JT’s employers(Chelsea or England) or us, the public.

Let’s be honest, England, with or without JT, is (sadly) not going to lift that World Cup in South Africa this summer. In that respect, whoever is the captain it wont matter. But JT is one of only 5 world class footballers in the England’s squad. If England is to have any chance of getting close to the final it needs JT more then JT needs England.

You do not humiliate your best asset and then hope he’ll give his all for you.

If I was in JT shoes, I’d give up on England all together and concentrate on winning everything for the club and it’s supporters who appreciate the job he has been doing on the football field.

Overcome Resistance With the Right Questions

2010-01-25T12:05:00.000Z

Overcome Resistance With the Right Questions

A long way from home

2010-01-22T20:06:00.000Z

auckland night vision

photos by aleno

Comments

2010-01-14T17:08:00.000Z

A few days ago, I came across a brilliant article on coppyblogger.com. It asks the readers whether commenting on blogs was a smart traffic strategy?

What strike me the most about it was that it generated a meaningful discussion about something that, before I had read it, seemed so trivial to me.

There has been so many comments about commenting. Go figure that? I was 234th person that got involved with my comment. I checked the post again – discussion is still going on. There has been another 10 comments since mine.

My question to the author and the participating audience was if leaving comments should be viewed as “a strategy” at all?

I see nothing wrong in leaving a genuine word or two comments if I liked someone’s post. In fact, I really thought I was going to do just that for the article in question.

However, I had a feeling that the author would prefer me to refrain from “I like your post” sort of comment, if I didn’t have to say anything else. Maybe I was wrong, even naive to have thought of a comment as anything else but the comment.

I don’t see anything wrong in one liners as long as they are genuine. After all, it is a commentator’s web content that counts whether the commentator him(her)self is going to generate any traffic to his/her own site in the future. Surely, commenting on someone else’s post should be only about the content of the article we are commenting about. Nothing else, nothing more. If you ask me, I’d much rather see those one liners or tick(s) in my boxes “interesting”, “funny” or even “rubbish”, then nothing at all.

In saying all this lets not forget the original intention of my comment at the time, was only to say : I really liked post on coppyblogger.com. It is very interesting, educational even and I recommend it to any of you bloggers or innocent passers by.

Using Mexican to warm up

2010-01-10T14:13:00.001Z

Ponchos

photos by aleno

Looking for some colours to warm up

2010-01-10T13:46:00.003Z

Summer night in Georgetown - Washington DC

photo by aleno

Airport security - what next?

2009-12-27T18:37:00.001Z

I wonder how long is it going to take before we are ordered to board the plane in our speedos or bikinis.

Couple of days ago, another lunatic managed to get trough “tight” airport security, and set his pants on fire just before lending.

A certain ,Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, is alleged to have set off explosive device as the NorthWest airline's flight from Amsterdam approached Detroit airport. The device caused a fire that burned Abdulmutallab's legs.

As a result of it, we already hear of extra security measures that have been brought in for passengers flying from Europe airports to the US. Travelers can carry only one piece of hand luggage, including duty-free items. They will face a pat-down body search before boarding planes and will have to remain in their seats for the final hour before arrival in the US.

It looks like soon we would not be allowed access to carry-on baggage or to have any items on our laps during the last hour of the flight.

Airlines are advising passengers flying to the US to arrive at check-in with plenty of time to spare. Before this latest incident, getting trough so called security was taking ages as it was, but it is likely you’d need to allow several more hours now.

Those of us who do significant long haul international travel, are going to be severely inconvenienced by all this. Not only we’ll have to spend extra hours on the ground, being humiliated by security people, we’ll also have to lose extra hour of sleep on the plane, or by not being allowed access to your laptop even extra hour of work. That last hour, we will be denied our in flight entertainment too, and are strongly advised against drinking any fluids. Not getting up from your seat means no visits to the toilet.

When on earth is someone, who is responsible for implementation of all these measures, going to realize that this farcical security system is not working? “Strip-searching” everyone in order to catch a bad guy is just stupid.

On the other hand, a proper passenger profiling by the police or military intelligence just might do the job.

Surely, it is wrong to view the entire traveling public as potential terrorists. It is insulting.

What next? Are we going to be ordered to only wear underwear when flying? It wouldn’t surprise me at all, and our only option will be to stay quiet and roll with it.

BA Cabin Crew strike

2009-12-17T16:51:00.006Z

BA have just won legal injunction against it’s cabin crew union decision to strike over Christmas Period.

What are the odds, the Judge is one of the people who would have been grossly inconvenient if the strike had gone ahead?

On a more serious note, this is one of those situations where everyone is in the wrong.

BA and it’s management, have obviously alienated their relationship with their own staff so much, whatever the outcome of this particular argument. Bad PR, there is no doubt, will do a lot of damage to BA in the long term. Public knows there is a rotten root within UK flagship carrier. Consumer trust is one of the most fragile things any corporation have. When lost, it can bring it down in no time.

Union and BA Cabin Crew who decided to strike:

They have resorted to ancient tool that was more appropriate in early decades of last century then today. Some people were going to loose jobs, there were going to be pay cuts and restructures. So what? Over the last year every business had to implement measures of survival. Those who did not or were late in doing so are no longer with us. Virtually every single one of us knows someone who had been made redundant, or took a pay cut in order to save their job. That’s life – so get use to it. These guys have obviously made so much damage to BA over this (now)threat of strike action, that they, in the long term may loose much more then their bargained for when customers(who actually pay their wages) turn their backs on BA. Airline industry is probably the most competitive out there and there are plenty of companies ready to pick up any unhappy passengers from BA.

And finally, the legal system:

I may not agree with the strike but to call it illegal is just morally wrong. Strike is still our democratic right or are we reverting to old times of ruthless imperial capitalism where workers had no rights at all. So much so that a few Russians made it their excuse to start world wide revolutionary movement that took more then half of a century to dismantle(but still in place in places like China, Cuba….)

Web wizz or web less?

2009-12-15T15:40:00.005Z

Whatever happened to the times when we were able to fix things with a hummer or bits of tape. Every man used to be the handy man. When simple things went wrong in simple ways. The times, when a simple tool box was all you needed in order to get things fixed. Then, we had no excuses but to do it ourselves. Not anymore.

I’ve gone for all digital over the past few months. The internet taking over my life, but most importantly, finally making a lot of sense too. I admit, I’ve been loving it. It is good fun and there is loads to see, read, play and explore. Plenty of opportunities to get creative too. All that, until the day it all goes horribly wrong, and there is just no way the normal human being, like myself, will ever be in a position to fix it.

This is my predicament;

I managed to build a website. Well, the beginnings of something that resembles the website. I was exited to have done it all on my own. IWeb programme on my MacBook was so easy to use. I was hooked on it for days. Pictures, banners, blog pages and widgets. You name it – I was using it. I was mastering techniques of anything that you see on any respectable website you visit nowadays. The most self rewarding part was getting it all live and published on the world wide web. I had plenty of reason to brag about it. So I did, a lot. I bore my friends, family too, to death by asking them to visit the pages I created and give me some feedback. Naturally, they were all impressed(obviously we are talking really really good friends here)

Then, someone suggested to get a personal domain name. A something to replace long and boring “URL” code hosted by “Mobile Me”. It would just look nicer and give my website that more personal, individual feel it deserves.

I got onto a domain register web site and bought my personal “www” title. Easy, I thought to myself. Surely, that was job well done and I should have been on my way getting creative again. Movies, videos, hyperlinks should have been the next things on my list.

Oh no, not yet, not so fast and not so clever. Not so user friendly after all.

Getting my new personal domain to work in conjunction with my site, hosted by the internet provider other then the one I purchased the domain from, is proving to be a my worst nightmare. Since last Friday, I’ve been sitting behind my desk, staring at various confusing instructions, clicking, copying and pasting. I have bean tearing big chunks of already thin hair from my thirty something year old scalp.

The worst part is; I am no closer to solving the mystery behind it, then when I started with it.

I called people who sold me the domain, they were adamant my problem was with my “host” internet provider. I then went to the “host”, but I could only get another set of written instructions that confused a day light out of me. Back and forth, bouncing like a ping-pong ball.

The clock is still ticking, my frustrations are increasing, my patience and hopes to make this work recedes.

But please, stay put. I might have some news of my new web site very soon…
….or, I’ll just revert back to the old simple times, pick up the hammer, smash the computer to peaces, and continue to lead web less but simple and happy life ever after.

Awards

2009-12-14T14:37:00.001Z

Awards season is in it’s peak. Last night, Man U star, Ryan Giggs was crowned BBC sports personality of the year for 2009.I can’t deny he’s been a tremendous footballer for a number of years, but to receive this prestigious award at 36 years of age? I don’t know. The BBC report said there was around five hundred thousand telephone votes. 30% of them must have been Manchester United supporters, and those who probably have not seen any other sports last year. Giggsy was brilliant this year, but he was also well below the average in the Champions League final, when Barca absolutely(“unexpectedly”) destroyed his Manchester United. At his age he it would have been more appropriate to get nominated for a life time achievement award, or something similar.
Oh well, we live in times when American president gets Nobel Peace price, BBC sports presenter with two left legs makes into Strictly Come dancing final and David Beckham picks up man of the mach just for turning up at Wembley(ENGLAND v BELARUS 14OCT09).

Another strange weekend

2009-12-13T18:25:00.003Z

I had a hectic couple of weeks since I came back from my trip down under. I’ve been trying to clear my overflowing inbox; I had to battle with niggling virus that I caught upon arrival back to the UK. I wonder if is’ got something to do with such a rapid change of climate. It was sunny thirty degrees in Perth, but damp, rainy four to five in London.

This Sunday brings me back my favourite past time. Watching football. And for Liverpool, misery continues. Lost to 1:2 to Arsenal after leading 1:0 at half time and dominating the game. However, whatever talk Arsene Wenger has given to his team during the break, it worked. The Gunners started second half quick and sharp. Back to their flashy style of playing that totally overshadowed Liverpool. An own goal by Johnson and an absolute belter from Arshavin, sealed the derby.

What now for Liverpool. Where on earth next. Out of Champions League, and going down Premiership table fast. Their fans must be the most patient lot out there.

But this is a strange season and there will be many twists and turns before the end of it. Man U lost at home to Aston Vila, Chelsea only managed the draw with Everton.

Wolves surprised all by beating Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Bolton and Manchester City drew at Reebok.

If I am honest – way too many surprises but it is certainly the most exiting season in recent years.

Airborne again(part 3)

2009-11-27T08:09:00.000Z

Awake but not alert. I don't think I slept though. Two seats next to me are empty which makes my personal space a lot bigger then what I paid for. Tianjun, still in China, almost 8000 miles from London. 3 hours to Honkers. Hungry. I can see the crew are getting ready to feed us again.... Oh, yes! The lending preparations. The first leg of this extremely long journey is about to be completed. Two more to go - too tired to care. All I want is a fag and an espresso.

Airborne again(part 2)

2009-11-27T03:46:00.000Z

Attitude 11277m, over Urumqi. China, I think. The blinds are still on but they don't hide bright sunshine outside. I have just finished the second movie. "Shrink", drama, 104min. I am still awake - just. My eyes are like those of a vampire. Red and vainly. Sleep depravation is hitting me hard. I am dehydrated. I am drinking plenty of water which seems to evaporate out of me quicker then mist in the summer morning. 4 hours and 20 minutes to Hong Kong. It's time for a "mid afternoon" nap...

Airborne again(part 1)

2009-11-27T02:06:00.013Z

On board comfy Air New Zealand boing 777, I m trying to stay awake and get both brain and body use to Hong Kong time. Flying over place called Chelyabinsk, somewhere in Russian aerospace. I've seen a movie, the first of many to come. Julie & Julia, drama, length 123min. I had the first meal, and I have had an hour of sleep too.

A lot has happened since we took off 5 hours ago, but there are some 7 long hours left to Hong Kong, and then further 10 hours to Auckland. Although my destination is in fact Perth, I dare not think that far ahead. I have done this scenic round the world route countless of times but have never mastered a technique to combat the jet leg. Tonight, today or perhaps it is morning time, I am already feeling it....

Football makes me sick - sometimes

2009-11-18T23:39:00.004Z

It matters so much and that’s why it hurts me when my team(s) loose.

Obviously, almost all the predictions I have made a few days ago were wrong.

Yes, I said France will be better then Ireland over two legs, but that does not say how unlucky Irish

were. Henry handled the ball before passing it to Galas for the equaliser in the extra time. Can you blame him? I don’t think so. Every professional footballer would have done the same in his position. Referee did not see it and that’s it.

Greece and Ukraine played two of the most boring games ever. No score in Athens, but Greece managed to get that one and only important away goal in Donetsk. In front of half empty stadium!

Slovenia - well done for beating the Russians in Maribor. 2:2 on aggregate but Slovenia scored away goal in Moscow. I watched second half of this game tonight and atmosphere in Maribor was absolutely fantastic. I am delighted Slovenia has made it through to the World Cup.

And finally - Bosnian tale. They came so close and yet ended in disappointment again.

Very unlucky in their first game in Portugal. One mistake in defence was enough for Portugal to win 1:0. I think the scenes of Dzeko, Muslimovic and Ibricic hitting the woodwork will leave the scare in my memory forever.

The second game in Zenica was always going to be a struggle. Portugal scored early in the second half and that was it. Game over.

At least FIFA royalty will be happy to see Ronaldo playing in South Africa next summer.

Football makes me sick - sometimes.

Play Off

2009-11-12T22:24:00.007Z

The FIFA World Cup is the single biggest sporting event in the world next year.

Apart from the Olympic games, I can’t think of any other competition format that comes even close to the World Cup.

The last four remaining places (from Europe), for the trip to South Africa will be decided over two leg play off matches, on Saturday 14^th and Wednesday 18^th November.

I am excited and a little anxious to find out who will come well through the final test.

One thing must be said before the kick off. I can’t feel anything but disappointment about the way the FIFA officials had set up this ultimate qualifying round.

It seems totally unnecessary (or un fair) to seed France, Portugal, Russia and Greece for the play off format.

The FIFA claims the top four nations in the draw were seeded according to the latest edition of the FIFA’s World Ranking, published on 16 October.

France (ranked number 9), Portugal (10), Russia (12) and Greece (16) were placed in Pot 1 and were drawn with the teams in Pot 2, Ukraine (22), Republic of Ireland (34), Bosnia Herzegovina (42) and Slovenia (49).

By doing this, the FIFA has made sure that so-called upper league of European footbaling powers (namely France, Portugal and Russia) avoid meeting each other.

The ranking positions of the non-seeded national teams did not reflect their current form, or their efforts shown through out qualifying stage in their respective groups.

All four non-seeded teams have claimed the runners-up spots, with impressive and courageous qualifying campaigns, eliminating big-name FIFA World Cup contenders along the way.

The table shows how eight contenders feature in terms of points scored during the group campaign:

	w	d	l	gd	pts
Russia	7	1	2	13	22
Ukraine	6	3	1	15	21
France	6	3	1	9	21
Slovenia	6	2	2	14	20
Greece	6	2	2	10	20
Bosna&Hercegovina	6	1	3	12	19
Portugal	5	4	1	12	18
Ireland	4	6	0	4	18

If the seeding was made on points total, Greece on 20, and Portugal on 18 would never have made into the top four.

However, the table itself does not tell full story.

With the exception of Russia, who was in the same Group 4 as Germany (therefore, “expected” to be the second), all of the play off seeded nations (France, Portugal and Greece) have been the seeds before the competition started.

If the FIFA rankings/seeding for the group stage is anything relevant for the play off, France, Portugal and Greece should never have ended up in the play off anyway:

They should have already qualified by winning their respective groups!

The fact that neither have done so, should mean their seed status is no longer valid.

France, Portugal and Greece did not deserve to be seeded for the play off and earn right to avoid playing each other.

On the other hand, Bosnia and Herzegovina (ranked 78 in the world before the group stage of the competition) was a runner up in Group 5, that contained Spain (current European champions and one of the favourites for the World cup title), Turkey (at the start of qualifications, in August ’08, it was ranked as high as 10 in the world), and Belgium (a semi regular participants at both World Cup and Euro’s, at the time ranked at 68 in the world).

Ukraine squeezed out Croatia (ranked 5 in the world in Aug ’08) and came second behind England in their Group 6.

Group 3 runner up, Slovenia – beat Czech Republic and Poland(who were both favourites, the pretenders to the throne and automatic qualifying by winning the group), into the second spot behind another surprise qualifier Slovakia.

Republic of Ireland earned their play off place in Group 8 with the World Champions Italy and ever-dangerous Bulgaria who missed out.

On paper, Russia was always going to be here, Republic of Ireland had a fair chance of just getting there, but Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and Slovenia were never going to get anywhere near the play off.

The least they’ve deserved to have their match opponents pulled out of a hat.

I wish them all the best of luck on this final hurdle.

My (slightly bias) predictions:

Republic of Ireland – France (Dublin, ko 20:00)

Republic to beat France 2:1 in Dublin, but I have a feeling France will be better over two games.

Portugal – Bosnia and Herzegovina (Lisbon, ko 2030)

2:3 in Lisbon and any score draw in Zenica will send Bosnia and Herzegovina to South Africa

Greece – Ukraine (Athens, ko 20:00)

1:0 to Greece in Athens but 3:0 Ukraine win in Donetsk.

Russia – Slovenia (Moscow, ko 19:00)

1:1 first leg and 0:0 in the second leg, Slovenia on it’s way to the World Cup on “away goal” rule

Be safe

2009-11-11T13:54:00.001Z

Germs. They are everywhere, apparently. On everything we see and touch.

The world tour of H1N1 is here amongst us.

People on public transport, friends, colleagues and family members have all of a sudden become potential carriers of bad little creatures on the mission to infect me with the swine flu.

Usually, I wash hands before a meal, after any(however big or small) visit to a toilet, or when ever I see the need for it. It use to be just another natural thing I do.

But, the talk of the swine flu pandemic has made me so paranoid. I just found myself unable to leave the vicinity of the washroom for full ten minutes! I’ve been washing my hands countless of times in repetition on my way out.

I now carry around a little bottle of alcohol sanitizer hand gel in my pocket. I “spray” it on every two minutes like mad – If the virus was as big as an elephant, I would have killed it by now(or at least make it legless - drunk - therefore totally ineffective).

The smell of the stuff is making me cheerful too. If I am not safe at least I am merry

Just one thing before you go

2009-10-29T20:22:00.016Z

I am about to go on another trip abroad. Instead of being really excited about it, I am dreading it, and here is why;

Airport security!

There are only a few things one needs to make sure to get right before setting of for the airport.

Do not leave your 200ml half empty tube of Nivea for men/women in your purse or handbag, as any package over 100ml is “dangerous” and may pose high security risk (I got mine confiscated last week on the way back from Ljubljana to Heathrow).

Don’t ask why, unless you are absolutely sure the answer will not make you lose your temper, which as a result may lead you to take all of your frustrations out on the airport security staff, who have it in their power to stop, strip, search and waste as much of your time as they like. If it so happens that you miss your flight - it will be you own fault. After all, nobody made you open your gob and question the stupidity of the Bush/Blair legacy in the war on terror where airport security seems to be our first line of defense.

Who are you to ask if the measures of security imposed on the travelling public are relevant and/or appropriate?

As a result of our government’s policies over the past few years, “security” has become a big business and a revenue generator.

The security industry, making sure no bottle of baby milk is left unopened, has created employment opportunities all over the world for hundreds or thousands of otherwise jobless people.

Imagine how inappropriate it will be if a threat of a terrorist attack ceases to exist . All of security staff would suddenly need to find a proper job.

While I can’t deny there is an element of danger that some lunatic (or a group of lunatics) will manage to get on the plane and blow it up, I cannot recall any occasion where the airport security staff had been instrumental in catching any terrorists. I am sure you didn’t either, because this has never happened

Earlier this year, I heard on the news that the Government has reduced the terrorist threat level to its lowest point in recent times. Up to that point, “it had been at severe - meaning a terrorist attack was highly likely. The threat level now stands at substantial - indicating there is still a strong possibility of an attack.”

Is it just me or does anyone else have a trouble in seeing the difference between the two?

I guess this sort of language will continue to justify all the humiliating things done to us in the name of our own safety. Millions of us taking our hard-earned holiday break abroad will just have to put up with it.

We will sweat for hours in the long crammed queue, waiting to take our belts and shoes off.

We will be made to get rid of our bottle of water that we got from our local corner shop (only to have to pay £3 for the same thing in the lounge).

We will quietly watch an old lady on crutches being touch-searched for cold weapons and firearms hidden within her cloths. We’ll stare angrily at a young couple trying to figure out why they are being asked to taste all of their baby food prior to getting trough the beeping metal detector. We’ll put up with all that. We won’t raise our voice to or at anyone in charge of this utterly ridiculous and hopelessly useless operation, whose only real purpose is to make it legal to charge us all even more airport tax on our travel.

Security measures at the airports are for pure display. The only purpose they serve is to give us a false sense that something is being done. But it in terms of our safety - it does absolutely nothing.

Not so ultimate shopping experience

2009-10-28T16:18:00.002Z

The usual cheery songs celebrating the silly season are already driving me mad.

It is only October but if you turn your radio on you’ll know that Christmas is just around the corner. Jingle-bell notes as a reminder to get to the shops quickly and get those presents sorted.

I am still child less, but I have plenty of close friends and family with small to medium size kids that still believe in Santa story, which means my annual trip to a toy store is inevitable.

I like Hamleys in Regent Street(often wishing my parents took me there when I was ten), but last Sunday, I thought the easiest thing would be to go to the Westfield shopping centre in London’s Sheppard’s Bush. It was a disaster!

The traffic was awful on the way there. Luckily, I found parking space relatively easy and went in to find out what “the ultimate shopping experience” is all about.

The place is enormous, which is what I’d expect from an American style shopping mall. The Westfield website claims there are over 260 shops under one roof but it does not explain that once you are in - there is no way out.

The whole space is designed so that poor visitor gets lost immediately after walking in.

Within minutes, I was confused and disorientated by labyrinth of streets within so called “Village”, illogically separated floor levels, and crowds walking aimlessly in all directions.

Eventually, I managed to find the way to the shop I was looking for, but the sign on it’s doors said “closed on Sundays”.

Disappointed, I thought I’d leave immediately. A little did I know what a mission that was going to be.

What was supposed to be a short walk back to the car park, turned into an hour of absolute nightmare.

I realised strait away there is no visible sign for WAY OUT. I got in the elevator but it only took me to another shopping floor. I asked one of those, “man in black”, security people(all wired up with “ear pieces” - you’d think they are MI5 “on duty”) for help but even that was in vain. The security guy was only able to explain how to find different elevator and said that when I got to level 2, I should walk to “M&S”,then take another elevator from there to somewhere else….

I was fuming with anger like William Foster, the character played by Michael Douglas in the movie “Falling Down”. I was ready to go on a violent rampage across the city of London, trying to get myself out of the Westfield shopping centre.

Trough maze of sliding doors, I finally managed to get to the car park, but needed help from a parking attendant at the exit ramp to tell me where to find my car.

My weekend was ruined. I missed first half of Liverpool – Man U game, I didn’t get any presents and I have to go shopping for it all over again.

All I know is that I am never going to the Westfield again.

Very wrong indeed

2009-10-07T19:19:00.004+01:00

It is one of those days when taking an umbrella is just another fake solution! Rain falls horizontally so you needn’t bother, you’ll get wet anyway.

There is so much stuff going on in my head. Ever since I went on holiday, back at the end of August, I’ve not been able to get it all out.

I am still not in my reading mood and writing ideas have dried out.

I am sitting at my desk, looking at some numbers but I can’t even make sense there. Blurry, confused thoughts are all I have now.

I am wondering how many sentimental errors do I have to make before my life gets settled.

Knocking on the fifth decade, yet a child with no knowledge of what the future holds for me.

TV is switched off most of the time now, I’ve not looked at newspapers for ages. I have no desire to find out what has been going on in the world. An occasional “tweet” from NY Times or Chelsea FC seems to be enough.

I never intended my BlogSpot to become some daily diary like scribble but that’s exactly what it looks like to me today.

quiet times

2009-09-13T11:32:00.011+01:00

4th Plinth

2009-08-05T20:38:00.006+01:00

Having lived in London for the past sixteen years, I can’t honestly say that I enjoy an occasional stroll about its West End. It is normally too busy for me to cope. Crowds, from all over the world trying to capture their picture perfect memory from one of the most exciting places on the planet.

However, during the summer, as days become longer, I make sure I sneak out early and get my own (fix) piece of the beautiful city of London. Sunday is a perfect time for that sort of thing, getting on an empty bus having the top deck for myself and enjoying the ride.

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to join group of some fifty people taking part in one hour photo shoot by artist Dominic Harris on Trafalgar Square.He managed to secure a one hour slot on an empty fourth plinth (?) for the “One & Other” event. What’s that, you might ask?

Well, the forth plinth, built back in 1841, was originally intended to host a sculpture of William IV(the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1830 until 1837). Fortunately for all of us, authorities at the time “ran out of money” and the plinth remained empty ever since. For the next 158 years, an agreement was never reached who or what fourth plinth should extend it’s hospitality to.

In 1999, the Royal Society of Arts organized the “Forth Plinth Project”, which over the course of three years used the plinth to display commissioned works from three contemporary artists.

After that, the plinth was used for various promotional TV campaigns, sometimes unauthorized PR stunts by various corporations, but has generally remained a topic of countless speculations and debates about what would be the most suitable permanent fixture for it.

In my opinion, the best solution so far came to light this summer. Antony Gormley, the sculptor, came up with idea of creating “an astonishing living monument” by inviting the people of the UK to come to the heart of London and spend an hour in “a space normally reserved for statues of kings and generals”.

The event’s official name is “One & Other”. It runs every hour of every day from 6th Jul – 14th Oct 09.

As with everything else these days, I found about it quite late in the day. The queue of people waiting for one of 2400 available slots is now way too long for me to be able to claim my own hour on the plinth. Luckily, I had a privilege of joining in someone else’s activity.

Still, it wasn’t easy to get up at 5am in order to get to Trafalgar Square by 6am, the time Dominic’s hour was due to start. However, the buzz around the whole event was well worth being half baked and sleepy for the rest of the day.

I can’t wait to see the pictures.

For those of you in London (or those visiting), I highly recommend that you make the time and become a part of this extraordinary art experiment. It may be the last chance we’ll have for real PEOPLE to claim their, however short, spot in the history of London.

There are already more than enough statues of royalty, politicians or historical celebrity figures around. Wouldn’t it be phenomenal if “One & Other” became a permanent feature on the empty plinth forever?

Michael Collins

2009-07-21T21:07:00.004+01:00

We often forget the efforts and the importance of the anchorman in the team, the one who made it possible for all others to take the glory.

Does the name Michael Collins ring any bells? He is the guy who steered Apollo 11 mission to the Moon but never actually set a foot on it’s surface.

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve been following “live tweets” of the first ever man mission to another cosmic body. Fascinating stuff.

40 years ago to the day, Neil Armstrong climbed down the ladder of the Lunar module and proclaimed the famous words “one small step for man and a giant leap for mankind”.

He and Buzz Aldrin, the original pair of the Moonwalkers spent 21h on the surface of the Moon before getting back into their space vehicle to meet up with Michael Collins, the commander of Apollo 11 spacecraft who had been waiting patiently in the Moon’s orbit for their return.

Poor Michael, he must have been pretty cheezed off. Imagine going that far and not being able to set foot outside and have some fun on the Moon with your mates.

The achievement of putting first and second man on the Moon (and bringing them back alive) is even more amazing when you realize that it was done with some very basic tools in today’s terms. There is probably more technology in an iphone then there was on the Lunar module.

This leads me to wonder how far we may be from a mission to Mars? How does someone even prepare for a journey like that? A journey to the complete unknown.

NASA, the Russian, Chinese and the European space agency scientists may have done extensive research of conditions you would encounter on your way to the Mars and back, but the question is – how does one ever really prepare for something like that?

It’s not exactly you average long haul flight, is it?

hot day

2009-07-02T23:00:00.013+01:00

It is 32C again today. Where has our usual cool, damp and miserable weather disappeared?

These days, London feels like Habana Cuba. The heat, humidity and traffic fumes are making every day living and working even more hellish then usual.

Earlier today I had a flat tire on my bike and have just spent a torturous hour and a half on the bus on my way back from work. For some reason, as soon as the weather turns warm, the air-cooling system on red double deckers turns into a heating system. This is surprising to me, as I seem to remember a completely opposite effect in the wintertime?

The transport for London official website claims there are some 8000 buses operating every day, on over 700 different routes with daily ridership of 6 million people.

Those who are lucky to have jobs pack into these buses at least twice a day.

From what I hear, the morning ride is the worst. One gets squeezed between laughing teenagers listening to the loud, crappy music blasting from their mp3 player speakers.

Their noise is amalgamated with “subtle” voices of one or two “important” individuals using their mobile phones as weapons of mass disruption.

In other words, you are guaranteed to hear a story during your morning bus ride regardless.

I am not sure why anyone would be interested in how someone’s hen party in their local pub or some idiot’s business meeting in the Whipsnade Zoo went, prior to the “exciting” workday ahead. Nevertheless, you will get at least one boring story that you could mention to your colleague as soon as you make yourself comfy at your desk - seconds before they are able to get away from you to make themselves a cup of coffee.

In the name of “the team spirit”, please spare us your “guess what I just heard on the bus” nonsense – Honestly, no one else gives dinosaur’s bollocks about it.

Anyway, where was I? Aha, yes - just got back, sweating buckets.

My stomach is turning inside out. I am trying to work out if this has something to do with what I have eaten or with the rubbish Wimbledon commentary by BBC of what seems to be a fantastically exciting doubles match Fish/Blake vs. Nestor/Zimonjic.

It’s 4; 4 in the fourth set (Fish/Blake are 2; 1 up) and all you hear is the commentary about how/who Andy Murray is going to play in the final.

Give us a brake!

Murray is not one of my all time favorite tennis personalities or players but I have to give him credit for his Wimbledon achievement this year. So far, he has been brilliant throughout what seems to be a pretty unexciting tournament. With Nadal missing due to injury and Fed-express cruising trough his matches, Murray is probably the only other player worth mentioning.

However, the night before penultimate men’s singles matches, every one of the BBC commentators have already put Murray in the final (apparently, even the Queen confirmed she’ll come to watch the final should he go through) before the first point of semis has even been played.

Tennis is a gentlemen’s and a warrior’s game. Unlike football, where you could on occasion bluff your way to the win, a tennis match is never finished until the chair umpire calls very last winning point.

I am sure Andy (Murray) enjoys all the fuss around him but a little bit of modesty from fans and commentators wouldn’t be such a bad thing to have at this time.

The common opinion prevails that the only person betting against “our “Andy (Murray) is “the other Andy's”(Roddick) mum.

I understand everyone’s excitement and the will for the home player to win. However, he has to play a whole match before any Champagne corks pop out or the river of celebratory beer starts flowing down our high street or back alleys.

For once - let’s just enjoy tennis, the sport, instead of all the sensationalism around it.

Crap, where has that doubles match I watched earlier gone now?

Mr Bob - leave Him alone tonight

2009-06-23T23:22:00.010+01:00

Mr Bob’s best friend is relaxing on the sofa across from me. He’s watching “Dragonball" - a crazy Japanese cartoon - on his iphone. One of the other apps he keeps open all the time is his Facebook profile. He is looking for some friendly words of encouragement from all of us tonight.

He is secretly hoping that Mr Bob will give him some space to breathe this evening, and leave him alone to prepare for his first round doubles match tomorrow on the green turf of SW19.

Meanwhile, I am staying quiet, minding my own business, and keeping my mind occupied by planning another attack on the growing weed that has begun to nest among my flowers. So far, all the weaponry I used on those nasty floral terrorists has not worked. Now I am seriously contemplating getting help from the builder who is still clearing up the mess in the kitchen that I made couple of weeks ago, when I thought I needed a new one.

If you think I am going mad – think again.

My builder has some amazing tools in his toolbox that may give me a crucial advantage in my ongoing struggle against the garden enemy.

In fact, I am thinking about nicking his blowtorch when he leaves for his weekend break.

By adding it to my arsenal and with “the Americans vs. the Viet Kong - napalm everything” like approach - I think I am going to emerge a victor!

Occasionally, I glance at Mr Bob’s best friend making sure he’s keeping a cool head and seeing Mr Bob off for tonight.

The noise from the house next door does not help.Ten days ago my neighbour bought drums for his son. I am usually really easy going and rarely take notice of things others find annoying around our neighborhood. However, this is different. The noise I can live with, but this boy is probably –no - definitely the least talented wannabe drummer ever. His arrhythmic banging on the drums has made my inner ear move all the way inside my gut and apart from feeling sick, I am also having trouble standing straight on my two feet.

I can’t even begin to imagine what all this does to Mr Bob’s best friend on the night before his Grand Slam match. His only hope for some peace may be that Mr Bob finds something more appealing for him than winding his best friend up tonight.

London’s early evening is beginning to take its light summery clothes off . Within an hour or two there will be plenty of happy go merry tipsy office girls who will blush at the site of Mr Bob’s charming smile, longing for him to take them for another drink…or six. After that, they won’t care much if they’ll keep their office desks in the morning or join the long queue at the job centre.

In a few hours, the dawn will wash away their pain of having to get up early and running to catch those number 295 buses from Clapham Junction to Hammersmith.

Packed like sardines, with other clean and showered but already sweaty and sticky fellow commuters, the girls who kept Mr Bob away from his best friend tonight will not be aware of their service to Him.

So - go away Mr Bob, take a full swing at West London’s party scene tonight and leave your best friend with his easy, lucky thoughts (lucky thoughts?) for tomorrow.

After all, football is only gossip or speculation at the moment, while tennis and Wimbledon is again slowly getting under my skin.

I’ll be there at the All England Club court 18 to shout my loud support.

Who will be there on 11th Jun 2010?

2009-06-14T16:30:00.001+01:00

Last week’s rounds of 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa qualifiers went by without too much excitement and no big surprises. England won two easy games, 4:0 away in Kazakhstan and 6:0 at Wembley against Andorra, ensuring they stay the top of their group and on the verge of qualifying .

The tournament is in less then a year from today and I am already getting very excited.

While England is almost certain to secure their world cup spot in June next year, my attention turned to the Asian qualifying group, with Iran in it.

Why? Well, Iran has not been doing well and has already sucked couple of managers during its campaign. Most importantly, the results of their two matches against North Korea and the United Arab Emirates were going to have a crucial influence on the outcome of the country’s presidential elections on Friday Jun 13.

No,no - I hear you say — don’t mix sport and politics!

However, most fans all over the world would agree — “Football is more then just a game”.

It mirrors , economical, social and political values of every society and as such it is a fair reflection of each country’s current and future affairs. Football could indeed be a predominant reason for the overall positive or negative feeling of a nation.

The failure to participate in the biggest sporting event in the world next summer will definitely be just as watched by football crazy Iranians as Ahmadi-Nejad’s own failure too.

60% of Iran’s population is under 30 years old and the beautiful game of football is hugely popular amongst them. In fact, so much so that when they made it to the 1998 World Cup finals, it was reported that millions of people packed the streets of Tehran in celebration. Apparently even a few drops of alcohol had been consumed on the day, in what is otherwise an alcohol dry country.

In November of 2003, during the Asian Cup qualifier, North Korea (who was also Iran’s last weeks opponent) walked off the pitch of the 100,000 seater Azdi Stadium in Tehran . In the 60^th minute of that game - listen to this - “a home made rocket “ was fired on the pitch, allegedly injuring certain Korean midfielder called Su Hyok Chol.

That’s proper crazy - it goes way beyond just passionate support for your nation. Incidentally, FIFA decided the game was to be awarded to Iran with a 3-0 score . The verdict stated that Su Hyok Chol faked the injury after the doctors in the local hospital reported that there was nothing wrong with him, therefore making the stated reason for Korean walk off invalid.

Iran’s football team was about to face their old foe on June 6^th, just a week before Iranians were due to decide if president Mahmood Ahmadi-Nejad will remain their leader or whether a western media favorite Mir Hossein Moussavi is going to take over.

In order for Iran to stay in the race for a place in the play-offs in Asia Group 2 they must not lose to their direct rivals North Korea in Pyongyang, and they must win against UAE at home on June 10^th.(Group 2: South Korea, North Korea, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran - winner and runner up automatically qualify for the main tournament — the third placed team goes into a play-off spot with the third placed team of Asia group 1).

The Iranian players are dully obliged with a goal less draw in Pyongyang following with a 1:0 home win against UAE three days later.

Now, they remain in the hunt for that elusive trip to South Africa but it also seems, success on the pitch fueled Mahmod Ahmadi-Nejad’s hard line political party to secure another election victory.

It all came as a surprise to the western media who have been reporting of a raising popularity of the challenger to the throne of Iranian politics, especially amongst young people and female voters, the reformer Mir Hossein Moussavi.

Moussavi is reported to have said that the results of elections are due to “blatant violations of rules” while Ahmadi- Nejad in a TV address to his nation on Saturday night proclaimed; “The people of Iran inspired hope for all nations and created a source of pride in the nation and disappointed all the ill wishers” - Both statements are unbelievably similar to those of the managers of the opposing football teams after the game.

Unfortunately, the only difference being is that their battle is still ongoing, but instead of playing with the ball, this battle involves the real lives of Iranians.

According to the news and “tweets”, today tensions in Tehran today are getting worse by the minute, however, I must admit that this is only based on heavily biased pro-opposition reports.

Its about time that Iran got rid of its Bush’s “axis of evil” label and got accepted by the international community with the respect that it deserves, whatever the political landscape emerges looking like out of this.

Hopefully, it will end with no lives lost, whoever happens to make 2010 WC Finals.

Hammer, screwdriver and pliers please

2009-05-30T21:01:00.002+01:00

I have been gasping for some sunlight, at least for medicinal purposes (living in the UK - vitamin D in my body is virtually non existent) and hoping I’d be able to put behind the disappointment of my team not wining anything for a long time, I’ve gone through autumn and winter waiting for today.

Summer has finally arrived on the day of the 2009 FA Cup final.

My “warm up” began early soaking up the sunshine down at my local village coffee shop. But soon after, the novelty of sipping soggy lattés, people watching and reading gloomy headlines in Saturdays’ paper wore off so I headed back home to try to sort out a few glitches on my blog page that I wasn’t happy with.

I usually find too difficult to handle anything other then the basic use of computer functions . However, I wanted to make sure I get on with it today.

It must be done. In our cultivated society appearance is far more important then content.

Spent couple of hours clicking this and that in complete vain, having to revert back to the original easy set up offered by Google.

After all - I have an excuse. I did not grow up with “HTML, Play stations or Wii. The best I could have hoped for was to get for my early Birthdays were few blocks of Lego or electric train set. No wonder why you won’t see any flashy images or clever bits on my site.

I finished just in time for the kick off.

The game started badly for my blues. Everton scored after twenty seconds trough unstoppable Saha volley but despite having to let my frustrations out by shouting at the TV, deep down I was confident we’d come good in the end.

Drogba equalised twenty one minutes later and the half time draw was good enough for me to sneak outside for a relaxing rather than worrying smoke. (Nobody smokes inside these days, right? – it’s neither polite nor politically correct).

The second period, not particularly pretty to watch, was all Chelsea. The superiority in their physical presence soon resulted in Lampard’s goal for 2:1.

By the end of it, it should have been three in Chelsea’s favour but for the referee and the linesmen not spotting Maluda’s twenty five meter screamer bouncing off the bar and over the line.

The credit goes to Everton for getting into the final and deservedly finishing season in the fifth place which is - ”the best of the rest”.

The top four - unfortunately had been known before the first football was ever kicked, as realistically Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea have had far better squads for anyone else to be able to breakup their dominance.

Chelsea, cup winners - again! Brilliant.

I did enjoy the feeling for a moment or two and then it dawned on me;

What else is there to do until August?

I am not geared up for that yet just now.

The climax of the football season coincides with the first few sunny days in London - both always catch up with me too fast.

Here I am, thirty degrees in the shade in knowing that for the next two football free months I’d have to subsidise by pretending that an occasional Formula one race and Wimbledon will do the trick.

Flies and all sorts of insect like creatures have invaded the small corner of horticultural heaven(three flower pots) on my roof top terrace, forcing me to retreat back inside my air con-less flat…..

I better go downstairs and find some home improvement satisfaction to do!

There must be something?

Oh YES! Tearing down my kitchen sounds like a good idea – any manual labour will do me now.

Need to make the best out of this summer:

Hammer, screwdriver and pliers please.

“Football experts”

2009-05-27T22:34:00.000+01:00

An interesting title. Who are they, which school, college, and university did they go to?
I wonder how they qualified for it. They are certainly no ex footballers or coaches. They seem to be random guys, often not sporty looking at all so I really ask myself how they ended up with such a fancy job description. Has anyone heard of or pass some “football-ing expert “course in order to get it?

Or perhaps, they, just like me, go to few games a year but never miss highlights on BBC’s match of the day and Super Sunday on Sky?

So, am I it then too?

Well, tonight I certainly am. “The football expert”. And to add to my newly discovered expertise, as I am gaining in confidence with every single word I am typing, I’ll go one step further so to give myself the honorary degree in expert(ing) on football matters.

Dear reader, I’ll be yours very own “Dr in football expertise” tonight.

Honestly, the reason I am mocking so called football experts, various TV punters and football writers up, is obvious: Barcelona is NEW deserving champion of Europe.
But if you read any of their columns in newspapers, watch them giving their “expert” opinion in before the game analysis you’d be pretty amused and surprised at what just happened in the final.

Kings of the Premier league, the world champions, and Carling cup winners were denied their biggest prize this season. The European title was theirs to retain, all they needed to do is turn up at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico and collect “big ears” Champions league big silver cup with Manchester United words engraved on it.

Well, that is if you believed all those pre 7.45pm kick off “expert” reports.

The degree of ignorance and arrogance found in English media over the last couple of weeks was mind boggling, toping even that of the government expertise on financial state of the country before the current economic crisis came around and got us all deep in red.

The only question before tonight’s final was the margin of United’s victory.

Funny that, if you take into account that just three of Barca’s players (Etto, Messi ,Henry) scored 90 odd goals between them this season.

Have they forgotten brilliant Spanish national team who won European Championship last summer in which Iniesta, Xavi and Puyol played instrumental part?

Top it up with solid goalkeeper in Victor Valdes, sensational Yaya Toure, former Arsenal Brazilian Silvinio (they, Brazilians are always handy to have in your team) and another Spaniard Sergi Busquets who were more then capable of deputising for injured Abidal and suspended brilliant defender Dani Alves.

How could anyone in their right state of mind ignore such a fantastic starting line up Barca put on pitch tonight and say; Man U(almost easy) to win - without just a tiny bit of doubt?

Pre match media created Man U euphoria was such that it must have rubbed off on both their players and Sir Alex Ferguson who find himself answering questions about how it felt to be the first guy to retain champions league title, about Man U joining exclusive club of the greatest teams in Europe who have won the title four, five or god knows how many more times, the likes of Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus and Liverpool(Although, if you listened carefully, Alex Ferguson himself for some strange reason never mentioned Liverpool when he was talking about other European greatest.).

Sadly for all of them they will have to wait for a little while longer now.

I am passionate Chelsea supporter and no one was more disappointed then me when Iniesta scored in 93rd minute at Stamford Bridge. The pain of getting so close but not getting a chance of re-mach with Man U this year was such that for a few days after the match I really wanted to hate Barcelona, blame referee and call from the rooftops: INJUSTECE!!!

But such is the nature of this beautiful, the most important - totally un important thing in the world we call football, that all it really matters is who won.

In case of Chelsea v Barcelona it was actually draw, but they went on an away goal rule. And deep down I knew we were not good enough over the two games.

However, there was plenty for Man U to learn from Chelsea’s painful exit. They were first team to stop Barca from scoring at Nou Camp this season, and they came within seconds preventing them scoring at Stamford Bridge too.

One thing Chelsea never did over those two games was trying to outplay and outrun Barca. They concentrated on destructing their passing and flowing game so much that I don’t remember Barca having a shot at goal(apart from 93rd minute Iniesta’s “killer”). Chelsea’s game was anything but pretty to watch, however its only purpose was to try to get better of them.

On the other hand, tonight Man U started well and for the first 13 minutes I thought this is it – I was wrong and “experts” were gonna have a self endulging post match party celebrating their clever pre match predictions.

Barcelona looked shaky in early exchanges and only Pique’s timely tackle on Park prevented reds from getting their noses ahead.

Unfortunately, that was it from Man U for the night. Apparently, none of those football experts warned the boys that one mistake could put Barcelona ahead and from then on they’ll be chasing shadows all over Roman Empire to get them back into the game.

That’s exactly what happened. Lost pass from Carrick fell to Iniesta(he truly is maestro), Anderson failed to pick him up at first, and he was able to deliver wonder pass to Samuel Etto who found Vidic dancing just outside six yard box on a wrong foot, and slotted the ball pass Van Der Sar. Easy!!!

After that it was pure poetry from Barca. They made United look less then ordinary team. Second goal was only matter of time and it came mid second half. Xavi’s sublime pass over surprised Rio Ferdinand who never thought he’d find Messi to head it in for 2:0.

The rest is all usual stuff, confetti thrown over the winners which losing funs weren’t going to stay for cos’ they were busy getting back to their charter flights and hired campervans for a long and sobering trip back home to rainy England. The best night ever turn to be a waist of money.

Premier league still is the best and most exiting to watch. Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and the rest have not become inferior football teams tonight but Barca at least until next year is the best - whether we care to admit it or not.

If only we could all learn to respect our European friends a little more, care to find out about their ways, don’t be guided by ignorant coments of dayly press and real life TV shows about our own superiority over everyone else - and expect little less next time around we meet or go to visit, maybe just maybe once in a while we’ll get a nice surprise win something and enjoy the game over nice dinner or coffee rather then having our vision beer blurred - loose again, but ask why.