Soccer retrospective: il buono, il brutto, il cattivo

The setting: night-time in a packed stadium in Stuttgart. Filled with tens of thousands of screaming fans from both factions, the atmosphere is electric. Both teams know what they have to do. Both expect to progress.

The characters: the national soccer squads from Australia and Croatia, and the referees.

The plot: as complicated as a soap opera, full of twists and drama (plus plenty of poor acting). Two minutes into the game, the Croats take the lead thanks to a fantastic Srna free kick into the top corner of the Australian goal. The Aussies are shocked; the Croats are jubilant. Australia works hard and earns a penalty late in the first half. Moore converts. Australia is level, to the vast relief of their supporters, but the story does not end here.

Kalac's first game in the Australian goal this tournament is a tense affair. He drops a corner kick directed straight at him, not towards the outfield, but towards his own goal. Hearts stop. Early in the second half he drops to the ground too early. The weak shot from Kovac is offered little resistance from the keeper, and it easily rolls over Kalac and into the Australian goal. Now the Aussies are crestfallen, the Croats ecstatic. Australia's World Cup chances have literally slipped through the keeper's large hands. The Ugly.

Minutes after the first goal Viduka is dragged to the ground by a Croatian defender. Any more contact between the two and the match wouldn't have been fit for family viewing. The referees play blind, as they will for much more of the match. No penalty given. To come in the match is the first ever case of a player having three yellow cards by the end of a match (two yellow cards equals a sending off). The Bad.

The situation is dire. Australia is on the verge of elimination after working so hard to achieve a respectable position. In one last throw of the dice, Australian coach Guus Hiddink fields all of his attacking players hoping they can force their way to goal. Kewell tries hard, first his powerful point blank shot on goal is reflexively blocked by the enemy's keeper. Then his flick towards goal stopped brilliantly by the Croatian keeper amidst a flurry of Australian feet trying to tap the ball across the line. Finally he succeeds, when the delivery from Bresciano skitters across Aloisi's head into his path. One cool head, one glimpse at the keeper's position, one strike to put the ball past the keeper. Australia is level and the crowd roars in approval. Cue the celebrations. Australia is going to the round of 16. The Good.

The end? We shall see.

Exams: over? Or are they?

It's actually been a week since my exams have finished, so here is my belated internet annoucement: woohoo!

So that's another round of exams over and I didn't even miss any this time around (cf. semester 2...). I won't go into the details of the exams themselves...out of consideration for you, my readers. Also I'm suffering mild post-traumatic stress disorder from the ordeals and hardships faced during said exams. This is just a manifestation of my avoidance behaviour. La-di-da look at those ants on my desk, they sure have no cares in the world except feeding their queen and the rest of their colony. Squish! One down five to go.

Now, I have the bliss of a FULL YEAR without any sort of examination period. Sure, I have to write a 10,000 word essay but that's over at least 6 months (with the other 6 months spent researching and reading past studies...urgh). Horray for the lack of written exams! Jolly good. Cup of tea, then, Bruce. Let's celebrate.

In other news, don't run with a fork in your mouth. Especially not with the pronged side pointing towards the back of your throat. If you should trip...

About time

Yes, the time has come. The air is right, the season is spectacularly cold and those pesky neurotic brain cells have decided to refuse learning anything more until they get some sugar and a nap. Not that they ever were very willing to learn much. Not the important stuff anyway. Sure, I could quote random things from the Simpsons, perhaps remember various unimportant facts about things that don't really matter, yet when it comes to medicine it's all just a blur. With some random obscure facts thrown in for good measure.

So what's this all about? I'm bitching about exams is what. Or rather, my inadequate preparation for them. I could probably go on for a post or two about why I think the written exam system sucks major rectum, but at the end of the day it's my own procrastinatory urges (Wikipedia, this is all your fault! Aw, how can I stay mad at you...).

Oh well, at least it'll all be over Friday afternoon. And then I can run wild and free, as the old saying goes let your children run wild and free. Or was it roam? I forget. This happens when I try to cram too much in too little time (i.e. 14 weeks in 5 days...not good). Like when I took that home winemaking course and forgot how to drive.