I'm back, and Well Done Spain!

Greetings, dear reader

I'm finally back after a long hiatus, due to a book that has taken me longer than expected to finish. More about that later.
It has been a busy last few months, with the main highlights being:

• The 2010 FIFA World Cup;
• Grandpa's 100th birthday;
• Making plans to return to full-time study next year;
• After too much procrastination, finally finishing the Auxiliary Unit of my Level III TESOL certificate! I am now in the middle of preparing for my supervised practice teaching session, which is the final requirement to obtain my certificate.
  

Although not the worst World Cup ever staged, the 2010 FIFA World Cup did have several forgettable moments and aspects. There was a royal fuss kicked up over the Jabulani ball (especially how it behaved at high altitude) and the annoying buzz of the vuvuzelas, as well as FIFA's incompetent organisation of selling tickets (resulting in many matches with glaring empty seats), the at-times dubious standard of refereeing, and Ghana's tragic elimination at the hands of Uruguay thanks to Luis Suarez's "hand of God" act. And then there was the farcical episode that was France's campaign. Already unpopular with most fans because of the way they qualified (cf. Thierry Henry's manual assist against Ireland), the French players looked barely a shadow of their normal selves on the field, and off it there was turmoil and revolt, culminating in a players' strike against their coach Raymond Domenech, after he sent striker Nicolas Anelka packing for telling Domenech to - in much harsher terms than these - "go and get stuffed".

Nonetheless, there were some bright moments. Besides Spain winning the World Cup (which I had predicted as far back as two years ago), there was Paul the German Psychic Octopus, who amazed everyone with his accurate predictions (even Germany losing to Spain!), and the performances of teams like New Zealand and especially Germany, a team traditionally known for its effective yet dour style of play. But under Joachim Löw, die Mannschaft has changed its image and played with adventure, and even I have to admit that Germany was unlucky to bow out in the semifinal to Spain. With such a young team getting so far, I have pencilled them in as one of the favourites alongside Brazil and Spain for the next World Cup.

With the football out of the way, it's now time for my first book review. The book I will be reviewing here is Susan Maushart's The Winter of Our Disconnect, which should be available in any mainstream bookstore. I came across this book while doing my recovery shift in the book section at Big W, and was so fascinated by the idea of the book - which I am about to explain - that I decided to buy it. I can now say it was definitely worth the purchase, and if anyone would like to borrow it from me, they are most welcome to.

To put it as simply as I can, the author (who is a journalist and single mother of three teenagers) conducted a six-month "experiment" of no electronic media in the house during the first half of 2009. As you can probably imagine, this idea didn't go down too well with the three teens, and even the author, who herself is a tech junkie due to her profession, had doubts about how the experiment would fare. Yet all four did not merely survive those six months, they thrived! How they managed to do that in today's media-saturated era (and that saturation is only going to get worse until Jesus' coming) I will let you read for yourself. Written in an informal yet informative style, Maushart invites us to get to know her and her family and how all of them changed over the six-month period. Interspersed throughout the text are some interesting findings on the influences, good and bad, of media and technology on our society, which Maushart has researched and referenced at the back for those interested in further reading.

Before I finish, I would like to share with you about a hobby that I have decided to take up a little more seriously - BILLIARDS! Well, to be more exact, pool and snooker. For me, the first step to becoming a more serious player was getting my own cue, which I bought at Harry Evans & Sons Billiards in Fitzroy, a locally renowned family business specializing in billiards equipment. From them I have learned about how to look for a good cue and also how to take care of it. The cue that I purchased was a beautiful two-piece costing $300, which is just above middle-range. I know it sounds like a fair bit for two pieces of wood, but like a samurai sword, crafting a good billiards cue is a work of art, and as long as I guard it jealously and take good care of it, it should provide me a lifetime of enjoyment.

The next step is to get membership at the Red Triangle, also in Fitzroy, a billiards hall where I try to play at least once a week. There I encountered a member from my church, a middle-aged Malaysian Chinese bloke named Jason, who is a long-time member at the Red Triangle and has taken me under his wing. I have learned a lot from him and hopefully, given I have more opportunities to practice what he has taught me, I might one day be able to compete in a pool tournament.

I shall cover the rest of the topics in my next post, which I will post very soon.

Cheers and God bless

Jeremy