That Bloke In The Big Smoke

Last night's New Year Party theme was Tangerine.

Lose weight, eat less, get a training contract, date more girls, manage my money better... bloody hell, if I'd not known better I'd say it's just like 2011 all over again. Here's to less of more of the same. Hope you're all well and wish you the very best in 2012!

I know what I'll be drinking this weekend.

Unlike NYC, London's Tube does not run around the clock. It's a tragedy for a city of its size and extensive nightlife. But for one night in the year, New Year's Eve, London's Tube runs nonstop and what's more, the travel is free between 11:45pm and 4:30am. In fact, all forms of public transportation in London are free during this time. I got the tube around 2am and was not surprised to find the entire Tube journey as busy as it was during rush hour, with the only difference that most of my fellow passengers were not sober. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of the hike in cab fares on the same night. Almost all cabs double their fares, and you can imagine the horror I felt when my cabbie asked for 12 quid instead of the usual £5.5 for the 4 mile journey home, from the tube station. Even 5.5 is ridiculous, but I wasn't sure if the buses were running that late, and as a result got majorly ripped off. I wasn't impressed. Also, it was disappointing how many pubs, bars and clubs were closed on New Year's Eve. And most (of the ones I encountered or seem to hear about from others) that were open were charging cover. Even pubs! WTF?! That's really not on you money-suckers! At least the fireworks are free. For now. Best of all, it appears so many people were getting drunk, engineering works on key railway lines got delayed to the disgust of City workers on Wednesday morning. Too many engineers called in sick due to hangovers. Only in the UK... only in the UK!

I went to The Barracuda with a friend from McGill who's now doing a Master's in King's College, to watch Liverpool play Marseille in the Group Stage of the European Cup. It was an extremely disappointing match and as much as I hate to say it, we deserved to lose. You know you don't deserve any points when the best chance you have to score comes in the dying seconds of the match, and even then you cannot put one of three possible chances into the back of the net from inside the six-yard box. It was an extremely frustrating ninety minutes and leaves us in a fairly precarious position in the group. A fortnight ago we drew with Porto and with this loss we have our task cut out. Benitez's position at the club enters the spotlight, and although it is too early to predict a timely demise, it would be fair to say that ever since the departure of his assistant Pako Ayesteran, things have not been going well for him or the club.

The game itself aside, it was the first time I had ever watched a football match at a pub/bar in the British Isles! And it certainly won't be the last. The bar had several wall-mounted flat-screens showing two games featuring English teams, Liverpool and the Chelsea game at Valencia. They reserved the big screen for our game but it would be fair to say that the Chelsea game was more interesting to watch, even if the final result was not entirely desirable. Though truth be told, I'm not particularly enthused with Spanish teams overcoming their English counterparts so it was tough to pick a side. I'd've been satisfied with a draw and though there were plenty of chances for both sides throughout the game, Didier Drogba's power and exquisite finish made the difference.

The bar is located within the City of London, aka The Square Mile aka The World's Financial Centre, and though it should not have surprised me, it was interesting how the vast majority of the bar's occupants were business-suited professionals. I was certainly one of the few people wearing a jersey and one of only two people who apparently had the guts(?) to enter the bar while actually wearing it. Come on ye Liverpudlian supporters! Be strong, be proud! Throughout the game there was a steady inflow of other business-suited professionals, and if it wasn't for the fact they were there to get drunk and watch the footie, I would've felt outta place. I'm not sure if I wanna go back and watch future Liverpool games there. I'm sure there are other places which have a more focused and passionate atmosphere. The Barracuda is too posh for off-the-street fans like myself. There's a time to enjoy a night out in places like The Barracuda, but footie isn't one of those occasions. At least the Kronenbergs were reasonably priced! (And the food smelled good too!)

"By many measures, North Korea is not even the most terrifying country in Asia; that dubious honour belongs to Pakistan." -The Economist :)

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Just got back from watching Superman Returns at Paramount's IMAX. It was a new and interesting experience! Kate Bosworth and Parker Posey were the star attractions. Oh, and that funny guy with a red and blue suit.

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Meanwhile, I found it rather ironical that a couple months ago, Daniele de Rossi, the Italian midfielder who made his name this World Cup for elbowing the American player, Brian McBride, was actually recommended for the annual FIFA Fair Play Award.

Apparently he admitted to a referee that he scored a goal with his hand during a Serie A match. Luckily for him, his team (AS Roma), went on to win 2-1.

( What's in a word? )

It has been a rather good weekend. Two movies on Friday night, City of God and Dirty Pretty Things, McDonalds, crazy photos, Sehwag's double-century, shocking The Romanian's Romanian friend, sleeping odd-hours, talking to J for an hour... Damn Man Acc quiz tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

My right contact is stuck inside the top of my eye and I can't get it out. I don't even have hardkore proof it's up there but there are signs. ( Here's what happened today... )

In support of the cause for getting it out, please take part in ( my first poll )

PS I'm more appreciative of The Passion of the Christ tonight than I was when I watched it last night. I guess it was just so overwhelming but in a subtle way that I needed some time for my mind to settle down with it. As for LoTR - since I've been requested to read the books first, I can be pretty certain that I'll never get round to watching the movies. =)

Peace!

At the end of the ManAcc quiz today Billy (my prof) came over to me and asked me why I only discussed the bad cricket news with him. That was amusing. Did West Indies do something of note recently? The Proteas must have been tired...

The ManAcc quiz was not what I expected. Forty MCQs - expected. Less than 10 MCQs worth of mathematical questions - unexpected. As it turned out, I didn't think I did too great but then again, it's only worth 5%. Fuck it, it's 80% overall for an A-, and @ worst I've lost 3.5% so far.

Went straight home and crashed. Stefan's call woke me up pretty much. Thanks to him I managed to idle my night away @ a colombian chick's birthday potluck dinner instead of clicking mindlessly on "Opposition Scorecard" all night and chatting on MsN with strangers.

The dinner was short but really fun. Met some incredible people and woah, the ladies were indescribably incredible. I wish I had a bit more notice and taken along one of my Indian delicacies...

I want to get into some fiction. Had initial thoughts of starting with Hitchikers but I think I might wanna start with something a lot shorter and lighter to set a motivational pace. Any ideas?

Cheers.
Keep it Real.

... Teenager!! That's some scary schtuff! Well, it was a great way to celebrate the occasion with a Linkin Park concert @ the Centre Bell, home of the Montreal Canadiens Hockey team. There must've been several thousand of crazy fans cuz it was jam packed and loouuuud! The floor was flooded, lots of moshing, despite the signs discouraging such 'violent behavior' and it was just four hours straight of alternative-metally-grunge rock. For those who share similar music tastes, it was a night not to have been missed. Brilliant schtuff, brilliant indeed!

The good news is that after turning my apartment upside down I managed to find the film roll apparently designed specifically for night photographs, so hopefully some of the 30+ clips should come out and scan well. There's a good chance I will have these up on my 'under construction' website. A few people have demanded I put it up very quickly so, if I can gather enough momentum and motivation I'll try and scan in a few other classik picturas from my time here @ mcgill so far. most won't make it thru the censor board though ... hehe

Most of my Montrealer buddies are either sick, or busy with Model United Conferences, Ski trips, School work and the like, so the 'surprise' party my parents had set up has been postponed to the coming Friday. It's taking place @ my favorite Indian restaurant so hoping to invite a fair number of ppl. Been a while since i've had a birthday 'party!'

Which reminds me ... I got a few phone calls to make. Forgot to inform a couple of the cancellation of plans for tonight. :)

I leave you with a Robin Williams cracker:
"The 5 year old kid, they're patting him down & he's going 'Hey! Whadya doing? You're not a priest. Let go of me'!"

Take care Amigos,
and have a Great day!!

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Close match for India last night. It's the first time India has actually won a match on my birthday! Yay!!