Untitled

This post shall remain untitled because there are no words to just act as a heading for what I am about to say.

First off: Tottenham 0 - 0 Arsenal
Wtf?! I mean seriously... According to some, it was "an honourable effort" considering we had ten men on the field with injuries to Adebayor and Clichy. But since when has anything less than a win ever been good? I'm not one to settle for anything less than what my heart strives to achieve and I'd expect the club I follow so religiously to be the same, so why I support Arsenal, I don't know. No, I'm not going to stop supporting them - not now, not ever. I don't lose faith in things either.And I remembered why I love Arsenal - they play the most beautiful football ever because beauty is better than results. Would be nice if we could have them both...

So now for the rest of what I wanted to say:
So in my last post, I said I'd be back. This is about as back as I'm going to be because I'm leaving again. Permanently. For the second time since starting this blog... I never even made it to the one-year anniversary! It's only like 2 months away...

My parting wishes:

Arsenal seriously gets their act together and makes UEFA Champs League for next year

Each and every one of you get what you're looking for in life (provided it is a good thing that you deserve)

To LTG, Misty Stiletto and my other blogging inspirations - keep shining and putting some light on the world because you helped lead me to where I am now and where I'm going

Again, to the bloggers I always read: keep up the amazing work

I wish each and every one of you happiness and success in life, especially those readers who have been there from the beginning

And lastly, I wish for the environment to be healed and for man to realise his carelessness and abuse of the land. Peace be to the earth.

P.S. I'm keeping my blog open at this space and not deleting it. Yet.

Excuse me...

Please excuse the fact that I'm not posting. This is for several reasons: it's holidays = going out, the new school year actually starts on Tuesday so I've been prepping for that as well. So I do apologize. I feel so bad for not posting that I'm writing this post on my phone and it's so hard to not use the shorthand typing I use in text messages... Some serious restraint here! And when school starts, we have a fashion show to plan along with the tour we're going on, other events and the agenda for this year that has to be sorted out in all the committees I'm on. Thank you for understanding... Fret not, darlings! I will be back soon... When, I do not know but I will return!

Riding through Boyce Avenue

How often does music determine the mood (hence success) of a moment? Always or at least most of the time, right? Well lets ring in the new year with really good, successful moments by playing some good music. No, this has nothing to do with Arsenal but I don't give a rat's ass.

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to be amazed by the four gentlemen of a band called Boyce Avenue, a band introduced to me by my cousin to whom I am forever indebted for this amazing discovery. The members of the band are Alejandro, Daniel, Fabian (the three Manzano brothers) and Stephen Hatker. And hey, they're all quite cute. Alejandro has the smoothest, sexiest voice ever. At the moment, I'm learning guitar but sucking at it quite royally and I wish that one day I'll be able to play their harmonious melodies as weel as they do.

What captivates me about them is their unique take/covers of very popular, mainstream songs. Here is the first one I'd like to show you. It's Good Riddance (done first by Green Day):

Amazing, right?

Closer (originally by Neyo):


Omarion and Timbaland's "Ice Box" (possibly my favourite):


Probably my second favourite - Forever, a song by Chris Brown that is over-played on the radio and now re-done by Boyce Avenue so that you'll never want to stop playing it.


The newer, better version of Neyo's "Because of You"


Other successes include:

Leona Lewis's "Better In Time" and "Bleeding Love"

Rihanna's "Disturbia" and "Umbrella" (their take on it is amazing)

Justin's "Lovestoned"

Linkin Park's "Shadow of the Day"

Among others...

My only criticism of them is that they re-did "Iris", a song which has already been done a million times over by Ronan Keating, even Avril Lavigne and others. Their version is still really good but this is like cover overkill. I don't think anything will ever be better than the Goo Goo Doll's original. With all Boyce Avenue's covers, in most cases they're better than the original but all the others are never worse than them (with the exception of "Iris" and possibly "Viva la Vida" because it sounds ordinary and neither song can ever have a cover as good as it). Their own stuff (i.e. stuff written and/or performed by Boyce Avenue) is really good as well.

Subscribe to their channel on YouTube anyway.

Hey, happy new year.

Happy Birthday: Belated, Punctual and In Advance

Goodwill and wellwishes are in order.

Happy belated birthday to Jesus. He celebrated his birthday yesterday and turned... how old? 2008? Well his legacy definitely lives on in Christmas when people drink eggnog, buy presents and eat themselves silly. Merry Christmas!

So Jesus's birthday wishes are belated but I'm punctual for Aaron's. Yeah, our Arsenal kid and bright hope, Aaron Ramsey, turned 18 today. Well done kid, you can now legally drink. Only two and a half years older than me: so do-able. Cheers, mate. Have a good day.

And lastly, I'd like to say happy birthday in advance to Jack Wilshere whose birthday is on New Year's Day. He turns 17. Still so young, Jacki. Arsenal's youngest and filled with so much potential. I hope you don't have a hangover from The Night Before because we all know what happens the Night Before.

See you all in the New Year! Happy 2009.

Oh, almost forgot. Today is Boxing Day as well as Aaron's birthday. In South Africa, we celebrate the Day of Goodwill which is a completely different holiday to Boxing Day which is why this completely slipped my mind: Arsenal is playing Aston Villa today and Portsmouth on Sunday. Good luck for both matches. No, wait; *Prayers*. On a relted-unrelated note: Cesc doesn't need surgery. Yes!

Some Lucky Pre-teens Met The Arseboys and I Didn't!

Yeah, that's right. I realise that me not living in England is a minor [cough, splutter] obstacle but I still want to meet the first team when some less-obsessed bunch of drooling toddlers got to meet them. These toddlers were some supporters up to the age of sixteen... Oh, wait - that's me! I'm a toddler! Being fifteen years old rocks sometimes. So I'm eligible. Now I just need to fly to England.

This whole event was staged on Tuesday 16th December 2008 and was a Christmas party for the Junior Gunners. Members watched the first team train, had a party with tea cups and saucers, and had autographs signed by the first team a.k.a. Cesc, Robin, Theo and crew. Some of the JGs (so cool they even have their own acronym) dressed up in costume representative of some of the players' countries.

Note the boy in the matador costume at the back.

Cesc said of the event:

“It’s always great to meet supporters, and the Junior Gunners party is something we look forward to each year. It’s brilliant to see so many kids in fancy dress to reflect the players’ nationalities and countries as well! We hope everyone had a great day.”

The JGs are the ones who get chosen to be mascots for games. They shake famous people's hands. So cool!

I like Alex Song's hat... If only I was six again and I could dress up as a matador and bear no shame.

Link: Junior Gunners have their Christmas Party!

Wenger's Weekly Newsletter

So Le Boss sends a newsletter every week to the Arsenal fans (who subscribe to it). I just read the one from 22 December. Funny. Hilarious.

"The title is won in May, not December"

And that was just the title. I think it's a good title but presents us a smidgen of hope. Yes, we do have a smidgen of hope but I also think it's kind of denying the predicament we're in and saying that we will still win the title. Which is far fetched. I think other titles are more available, like the FA Cup (within our reach) and the UEFA Champions League. But not the Premier League, darling...

"Emmanuel Adebayor's red card was very soft. It was 'Be A Gooner, Be A Giver' at the Emirates as the Club dedicated the matchday to our Charity of the Season, Teenage Cancer Trust, but you cannot say the referee was a Gooner. He was a giver though, giving yellow cards that we didn't deserve."

So cheesy! Just LOLing at the statement. I think maybe he was paid to say "Be A Gooner, Be A Giver" and that was the only way he could fit it in. Either that or Wenger is a nutter (whom we dearly love in his moments of insanity). The second yellow was justified but the first yellow wasn't which makes the red card as a result of the second yellow entirely unnecessary. Wenger thinks "the decision cost us two points" but this is oh so very wrong because a team can deal without one striker (i.e. ten men). It's been done before where they've won games with ten men. I think the ref is our new scapegoat.

"Cesc Fabregas went off at half-time with a medial knee ligament problem. I don't know how long he will be out at the moment, it is difficult to assess. Of course it is a blow, you don't want to lose a player like that, but we have to cope with it."

Latest news: he's out for three months. This is one of those "Oh Shit" moments, followed by speechlessness. Out until approximately late March? Oh Shit. *Prayers*

Hey, at least Arsenal remain festive:

"On behalf of everyone at Arsenal Football Club, I'd like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Thanks for your support in 2008."

Even if it tore your heart apart to do it. Merry Christmas.

Arsenal vs Liverpool: The Aftermath

I would've thought that a draw at this stage and in our current state would have brought minor depression but, no, it brings more apathy.

What I like about the match:

van Persie's goal

the fact that we scored first

van Persie's new haircut

What I didn't like about the match:

Liverpool's goal

Our inability to hold onto a lead

the refereeing

the lack of ingenuity and width on the pitch

Fabregas's injury

the final scoreline

Wilshere and Ramsey didn't play

The apathy is from... well, the fact that we're not winning when it's crucial.

To start off, I'd like to say that Liverpool seemed to have more fight in them now than they did in last season's corresponding fixture. I doubt it was a result of Sammy Lee's presence but I commend the team.

Can someone just kick Wenger in the head already? The team lacked a teensy bit of pace and oomph which is why I think it would've been good to put Aaron or Jack on. One of them. Both of them. Just pick! They provide a drive, a push, a massive force forward. Arsenal have done well before without the most solid defence because they've had a driving offence. A strong offence is the best defence - I think that pretty much fits with Wenger's policy.

So Eboue's improed since last season and I think all the booing is uncalled for. He provides a minute stability in midfield defence when he is put on. The mistake was that he wasn't put on sooner. When Fabregas got injured (ouch, my baby. My poor baby...), the next mistake was that Le Boss didn't replace him Jack/Aaron, instead of Diaby, was it?

Liverpool put up a good show. But how long do I have to go on about Arsenal's (nee Wenger's) incompetence. People complain about the ork that other people do and propose that they could do a better job. I'm not sure I could do a better job than Wenger and won't say that I can because it is an unmerited stated but I think there are others that are able to.

So I don't want to complain. It's getting old. Instead pray - *prayers*. Wenger, I *pray* for you.

Oh, before I forget:






Caught it from all angles? Or didn't you notice any difference? It's a little shorter on the sides and fluffier (more voluminous) on top than it usually is. And it looked good. *Prayers* for the team. Get better Sex Fibreglass and Eduardo too.

One last thing: I'm officially ~over~ the threshold - post 101, baby!