21st Century Breakdown

It's too long of a wait for a Green Day fan. It's being almost 5 years since Green Day released their epic mega-platinum album, American Idiot. The magnitude of the success of American Idiot meant that the task that Green Day is facing to come up with a subsequent title is similarly gigantic. They were silent for a long time, and during those 5 years, they were only involved in minor projects such as "The Saints are coming" with U2, "Working Class Hero" and a off-shot album under the pseudo name of "Foxboro Hot Tubs".

When it was finally revealed that they'll come up with a new album, high expectations were already placed there for it. Anything less than the epic nature of American Idiot will be unacceptable. Some felt that perhaps the bar that Green Day had set is already too high for themselves.

Just like American Idiot, 21st Century Breakdown is a rock opera. While AI had two massive songs of 8 to 9 minutes each, 21st Century is divided into 3 different acts each. Something that I love about the album is that it still retains the continuing feature of songs as in there are some songs that connect continuously to each other without breaking. As a whole, 21st CB is musically less complicated than AI but it still retains the power chords ra-ra and Tre cool's rallying drum rolls that Green Day is famous for. Considering that Green Day quotes Queen as one of the inspiration of the album, the songs in 21st CB generally lean towards the anthemic stadium rock where everyone can just shout out along together.

The lyrics of the second song of the album, also titled "21st century breakdown" reminds me of those in Billy Joel's "Leningrad" and the narrative in there is a little like Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row". But I think it's closer to Leningrad coz Leningrad's chorus verses were "I was born in 49, a cold war kid in McCarthy's time" while Green Day's 21st CB starting phrase is "Born into Nixon.." For me, the best songs in the album has got to be Viva La Gloria, Static Age and 21 Guns. Viva La Gloria just has a nice piano combination slotted into it at the beginning and I like how the electric guitars goes into it. Static Age is just pure catchy stuff and fades off nicely into the melancholic 21 guns. The good thing about the album is that each song has a unique style on its own and the style rarely gets repetitive. The words of the lyrics in many of the songs echoes and bounces off each other nicely because there'll be some reference of the other tracks inside the song. So, it feels like the song speaks for each other.

Thematic wise, 21st CB dealt with abstract issues of post-apocalypse nuclear holocaust and living in the modern age. AI was anti-Bush, and 21st CB according to Green Day deals with the mess that Bush had left behind. Still, the album's theme can be interpreted generally with the apocalypse theme that is relevant for all ages. 21st CB could be and should be the soundtrack for Watchmen. Both would fit in nicely with each other. Lol, some of the songs in 21st CB contain just the right baggage of nihilistic or melancholic emotions. It's complex mix really because one can't avoid feeling the impending awfulness of the incoming nuclear winter after listening to 21st CB. (speaking of Fallout 3..ahaha) It can also be said that Green Day continues on the protests of the rock bands of different eras. In the past, around the 70s and 80s, it was the nuclear excesses of the Cold War and the dire warning of the world being annihilated tragically by the twist of the key. In the 90s, it was more of the sociological protest on issues such as exploitations against child/3rd world labour, capitalism and various social problems/maladies. And just as we entered the new age, not many had much to say about the 21st century, or for that matter, the first 10 years or so into the new century. Green Day stakes the claim in speaking out for the generation of this time on issues such as the gross excesses of the mass media and the complications in living in the modern era. Not only that, they have succeeded in reconstructing back past themes such as the disillusionment of the American dream, desolation and excesses of the American society as advocated by modernist writers T.S. Elliot and Hemingway in the 1920s and the same nuclear fear and hysteria that gripe the population during the Cold War.

I find the artwork of 21st CB to be very well done too. I like the powerful emotions that is presented in the locking of the lips and again, the imagery is reminiscent of a scene in the Watchmen too. To sum it up, 21st CB is a fitting successor to AI and it's definitely worth the money for 18 tracks and 69 minutes (most albums don't even hit 45 minutes). 21st Century Breakdown is a true masterpiece of magnus opus by Green Day and demonstrated their transition from their playful punk days of Dookie and Nimrod to the maturity of being social commentators in the new century.

Rome Heartbreak

I am Lionel, hear me roar!

This was the dream final any football fan would be dripping their saliva about. The amount of talents in both teams are simply mouth-watering. Just say the names of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and we will get a floodgate of discussions on both of them. Two of probably the biggest Titans in football enters the gladiator ring in the Colosseum to pit it out for the biggest prize of the European season. It's the English Champions against the Spanish Champions. The British Navy vs. the Spanish Armada. Lol..I'm feeling all Elizabethan again. =p

United began the match with a scintillating charge towards the goal. The quick blitz enabled Anderson to secure a free kick for Ronaldo to take within the first few minutes. It was right on target and Victor Valdes palmed the ball away. The rebound fell to Park and that could have just been a simple tap-in to put United 1-0 up. But nooooooooo..he blasted it vertically upwards. That would prove to be costly and the miss indeed came back to haunt them. The psychological effect against Barca would have been tremendous. The opening minutes saw United dominating for a moment. They were in the process of missing a good chance when Barca counterattacked back. Eto squeezed through the wings and Vidic desperately clawed back to stop him. It was that one second of concentration lapse from Vidic that allowed Eto to be ahead of him in the sprint. One twist of the body, he rams the ball past Van der Sar at the 10th minute. Michael desperately slid back but it was too late already. And United never did recover back from there as Barca rampaged through.

Much had to be said about how Fergie placed his starting line-up. This time's first eleven is far less impressive than last year's against Chelsea. For some weird reason or so, Fergie decided to start Park and Anderson and he even used a 4-3-3 line up for that. Maybe for Park, it's to reward him for his recent good form but Anderson to start?! Tevez should definitely have started. And maybe Scholes too. I have a feeling that Fergie could be trying to deplete Barca's stamina before throwing in Tevez and Berbatov later for the sucker punch. If that's his tactic, it was well in the dustbin the moment Eto scored at the 10th minute. The consequences of this is that the midfield area is totally raped. Anderson and Park will never have a chance against Xavi and Iniesta. Both Spanish maestros can keep possesion of the ball till kingdom comes..lol.

The whole positioning of the United squad is all over the place. The awareness of each other's positioning was just bad. Everytime one of them got the ball, there's no one there to support. Defence was awful too. They were slow to close down Barca and allowed all their best dudes to penetrate deep into the United half. For a team like Barca, there must always be constant shadowing and man-marking pressure against their star men. United failed in that aspect many times and in the process, failed to constrict Barca's flow too. A half-fit Ferdinand equals to a no-go Ferdinand seriously. Messi's rare-headed goal which killed the game could have been prevented by Ferdinand or any other defender for that matter. Ferdinand was ball-watching at that time and Messi was totally unmarked. Really unmarked!! Even Steve Bruce could score with his extra calories if I throw him back onto the field again.

I wouldn't say Barca's defender is fantastic enough to stop United's attack. It's United's attackers who took it upon themselves time after time for granted when they go forward. Ronaldo was not up to the mark, Park was not sharp enough and Rooney often had to run back to cover the inefficiencies of his defenders. Tevez was just placed too late inside. Barca's defence consisted merely of pushing upwards for a continuous attack and left no space for United to breathe or build up their returning counterattack. Man Utd were also used to playing the typical British long ball game and focuses more on physicality as compared to Barca's Spanish style of one touch short passing football that relied much on first touch skills. United could still win with the long ball approach, but it can only succeed if the defence was solid enough to shut down Barca. The presence of a defensive anchorman like Hargreaves or in the past, Keane is indeed sorely missed. If I were to choose the best United player on the field for that night, it would be van der Sar. That's because Barca would have scored 2 or 3 more had it not being for his fantastic saves. When Henry had tormented and bypass the defenders, van der Sar came up to be a reliable person to block the shots.

It's disappointing really to see how Man Utd approached the game. But as they say, you don't strike gold twice in a row. Even Liverpool's second time against Milan didn't end on a positive note. Barca deserved their win. They played well, was the better team and they showed their hunger to win the prize. They were outstanding on the pitch. Haha..on a statistical note, the last time Barca won the Champions League was also against an English side. Wenger's Gooners and Henry was on the losing side at that time. Now, Henry's on the winning side, and he got his Champions League medal that he had craved for. And he can proudly look back and say "That's why I left the Emirates and Wenger's Gooner troop." Pique was on the winning side last year and he was also on the winning side this year. Fortunate kid..hehe, but I felt that Man Utd really lost a potential star defender when they let him return back to Barcelona.

Oh well, football season has ended. Perhaps Man Utd can try again to reach the Champions League final next season but it's not going to be easy. I don't think any team has reached the final 3 times consecutive. That's just too monopolising..lol. Anyways, this period of break will have lots of stuff to be settled, particularly Tevez. Ohh...and also let all the rumour wars begin. It's the fertile period for tabloids once again for transfer speculations =p

Goodbye Geordies

Looks like he'll be seeing more of QPR, Ipswich Town and Swansea City next season

With the champions of the Premier League settled last week, this last round of the matches will determine the fate of the survivals instead. Four contenders are placed on the chopping block. Middlesbrough at no.19, Newcastle at 18, Hull at 17 and Sunderland at 16. Man Utd do have a part to play in that they will be travelling to Hull for the last match. Since Man Utd job is done, there's a recurring concern that a repeat of a West Ham survival coup two seasons ago will materialise again by Hull this time. Fergie, however, reassures that his second string will still have the same desire of winning the last match and will give the match of their life to the Tigers.

And true did the manager stick to his word as the United youngsters proved a point in winning the game 1-0, courtesy of Darren Gibson's goal. Well, that could have been advantageous for the Geordies but noooo..they had a uphill task in dislodging Villa at their own backyard and they were in trouble the moment Damien's own goal went in. Nothing came out of it and they were condemned. Sunderland lost to Chelski but they were up since they had more points in the first place. Boro looked to be the most likely to fail in the bid to escape and the loss to West Ham just confirmed their ticket to Championship football next season.

Newcastle's disastrous season was already in the writing from the first half of the season. They showed lots of guts in holding Man Utd to a draw on the opening game. They had a win afterthat against Bolton. And that's about it as they went on without a victory for the next 7 matches. King Kev couldn't take the heat of being in the hot seat during his second coming and Joe Kinnear took over from him. Joe's first press conference was the stuff of legends as hurl a barrage of "not-so-pleasant' words on the national media. Fifty-two to be precise. It looked to be alright for a moment as Newcastle climbed out of the drop zone for a short while. But there the long spells o of defeats and draw with no victories continue. Victories were more of a ink blot on the wave of defeats they are in. Now, afterthat, Joe had some problems with his heart and he had to go for some hospital surgery. The Geordies were in a limbo, managerless..continue to lose and draw games and they were back at the bottom again. All time favourite Geordie Alan Shearer was roped in to try to rescue the sinking ship but even he can't perform the miracles that he used to do on the pitch.

It's hard to imagine St. James Park hosting 1st Division matches next season. Everyone will wonder what's next for people like Michael Owen and Damien Duff. It's almost reminiscent of the time when Leeds United went for the drop. It's been 16 years in the top flight before the Magpies bite the dust. Newcastle are one of the teams that make football fans smile and laugh whenever we see them. We'll all remember the time when Alan Shearer used to wave his hand up around St. James Park like a rockstar after scoring, the days of Kevin Keegan loving it when he beats Fergie, the disastrous management lessons from Graeme Souness, the 'divine' defending partnership of Jean Alain Boumsong and Titus Bramble and the good old times when Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer would hold fighting tournaments in front of their own fans. Thanks for the memories.

Law Nite 2009

Law Nite came earlier for this year as compared to the previous one. This time, we still had it at Subang Jaya, but it's at Sheraton instead. I nearly forgot to take my ticket with me and when I realised that (after Vincent reminded me), I quickly rushed back to my room to grab it. Lol, that could end up in some future implications as you can see later.

We reached Sheraton about 6.30pm but had to wait a while before the doors were open. While waiting, we went around taking photos and snapshots. The dinner was alright, some of the dishes were good while some were not so. I like the vegetable dish with lots of mushroom..haha. There were others like pasta, rendang and fish in creamy sauce etc. I was happy to see pasta there but was a little disappointed when I had to bite through some hard ones that were not cooked properly. I would say the desert section would be the best one since it has some very nicely decorated cakes and puddings. The raspberry cake was something new that I taste and I like it..haha. To some extent, I find also that I couldn't eat as much as last year because before the dinner, I went to Mcdonalds for lunch after CG with all the CF folks.

There was also a lucky draw section during the dinner. I didn't win anything at the last law nite. Perhaps I'm more fortunate this time..hahahaha. They were drawing lots for the first prize to be given out so I quickly went busily looking for the ticket to see my ticket number. Suddenly, I heard my ticket number got called! Lol! Absolutely stunned but equally delighted. Mind you, it's a good prize of a 3 days 2 nights holiday at Penang for 2 people...ahaha :)

By the time we got back to campus, it was quite late already at about 12.45am. Lol, on the next day, which was today, I had to wake up early for practice. Sleepy but boleh tahan through in driving to church at Banting. I went to take a nap after coming back and later me and Reuben made a trip to Alamanda at Putrajaya to grab tickets for the Man Utd Asia Tour. Man Utd will be coming to Malaysia on 18th July! Haha..they also have training passes to be given away but have to wait until Wednesday. It's gonna be tricky in coming up with the timing to go on Wednesday since my timetable is pretty packed plus there's CF on that day. Oh well, we'll wait and see what happens on that day.

ICF Opening Ceremony

It's the first Wednesday meeting that the new Christian Fellowship committee is in charge of. We were quite not sure of what to expect because street party was also happening on the same day and starting at around the same time. I went there early for worship practice and Sc-1-1a seemed to be in a better condition before. The paint smell was gone and the air-conditioners were working well. Haha..since we can't make use B2-L02 anymore, we need to make this new place our home again. There was a need to readjust and inform members about it, and the committee was also worried that the new people might not find their way their way to the place. Nevertheless, Reuben's superbly drawn map should solve a big part of the problem in guiding them to our new place..haha.

At 6.30pm, it doesn't look like many were coming coz there were only about 2 newcomers and not even half of the old-timers were there. But fast forward 15 minutes time, suddenly everyone arrived and the number reached at about 40 plus! Wow, truly amazed at God's work..haha. By then, the whole room was really filled. Oh yea, probably for the first time in CF history that we sang hokkien gua (song)..lol. Afterthat, we had a sharing by Charles, who came back to give an account of his century-long stay at Inti. The video announcement afterthat was another fantastic job well done by Reuben. It's very professionally done (and very funny too!), and once again, I have to say it's probably one of the best that ever graced CF's history..haha.

Later, we break into different CG groups before ending off. We only had 2 English CGs this time to make bigger groups. Haha..we had our usual tradition of dinner at Al-Salam (it's being quite some time) and then some of us went to check out the street party afterthat. As for me, I didn't wanna miss the opportunity to get the kebab bun. There were lots of sweaty bodies in the middle of the road dancing in the night away. It's almost like a mini Zouk party, just without the alcohol of course. When I was on the way back, someone sprayed foam directly on my hair. Ugghh..I had to spend the night cleaning it away and I never found the culprit who did it..haha

Anyways, I wanna give thanks to God for the successful implementation of the opening ceremony that went on very well :)

Champions of England in a hat-trick!

It's another victorious season for Man Utd as they equal Liverpool's record

At the midweek match in Wigan, Man Utd secured all three points with a 2-1 win. It was by no means an easy one as they needed to fight for the points. United found themselves behind at the 28th minute. Ronaldo was firing blanks and whining all over the place. It was not until the introduction of Carlos that United became more effective as a whole. Within 3 minutes of his introduction, Carlos' backheel flick equalised the score. At the last minutes of the game at the 87th, Carrick was there to produce one of those rare blasting shots that resulted in a goal. His goal could possibly be the championship winning goal. That 2-1 victory in Wigan leaves United needing just a draw to confirm themselves to be champions.

The rematch against Arsenal could not have been more timely. Benitez had been hoping that his old 'buddy' Wenger will do him some favours in spoiling Fergie's party, or at least help in bringing about the audacious probability that United will lose their last two matches. United had the more easier job of just defending the status quo 0-0 and prevent the Gooners from scoring anything to achieve their objective. United showed their intent of sealing the game early on with Fletcher drifting a ball towards a charging Ronaldo just after the game had started. Unfortunately, he missed. The general style that United played in the game was a cautious one, focusing more towards defending rather than coming out to attack. With a guaranteed champions spot at stake, it pays to be practical instead of being adventurous. Tevez was substituted in the 67th minute and his shake of the head indicated that he was not happy with the substitution. He then proceeded in looking to all four corners and giving a wave to which the fans responded in standing ovation. That could just be his last game at Old Trafford.

Despite having Arshavin upfront, the Gooners could not make any headway in scoring against United's defence. It was just the result that was desired. At the blow of the final whistle, the jubilant United players and the entire Old Trafford crowd were ecstatic. They have became only the 5th side in English history to make it a hat-trick of being league champions! Man Utd had also matched Liverpool's 18 league championship records..and that's a fact. Not only that, to grab that vital match point especially against the Gooners is always sweet. Haha..we'll show Wenger how it's done..in his face.

Well, it's been a season of adventure for Man Utd. It was a slow start for them with Liverpool and Scholari's Chelski bulldozing their way through the league. The loss at Arsenal sparked up a massive run-up of a miserly defence with 13 games of clean sheets. A superb run of results which saw the Scousers stumbling around January and surrendering their lead. I would say that Liverpool had already lost the title at that time. Chelski also ran into some troubled times with Big Phil removed from his office. Then came the rotting period for Man Utd too that resulted from being shamefully thrashed by the Scousers 1-4. There was not immediate recovery as United languished through a few games before getting back to the habit of winning. It looked to be in critical condition, but United never looked like surrendering the lead with games in hand. And they did return back in time to make it to the finishing line. That's why the Premier League is referred to as a marathon. It's not how fast you sprint in the beginning, it's how you finish the race that matters in the end.

Looks like the final game at hull is pretty much meaningless now. Fergie would definitely rest his star players while putting in the young ones to give them some match time. Now, United just need to concentrate in going to Rome and create another set of history again. It's not going to be easy against Messi and Co. but Man Utd have every chance to walk away as Kings of Europe again. Till then, cheers to Man Utd and enjoy the rest of the victorious week :)

Busy bee

As you've noticed, some of the blog posts that are put up recently were posted late. That's coz I started it but never got to finish them to post them up on time. Many apologies for the delay in updates but I can't help it since currently I've been torpedoed on both sides, balancing between the jobs of being a secretary and a magazine editor. Being saying it lots of times already..haha..it's starting to get cliched but it's true! The secretary job is ok actually, but to mix it with the magazine editor job is just a potent disaster. I think I won't have any decent free time until it nicely published in mid/late July.

Anyways, recounting the whole week, it's generally a week of running around the uni to get proposals signed and lots of paperwork to do. It's also the exhibition week for all the clubs and societies, so it's also an important week for ICF to get new sign-ups and also for the old members to sign up again. Lots of administrative stuff to be done there. The exhibition week was shifted to the MPH this time. On one hand, the air-con and big space were appreciated but at the same time, the new intake of people won't be aware that they have to go to the MPH to sign up for clubs. The overall sign-ups for ICF are encouraging but are still less than previous semesters because of the change of venue. Friday was Fellowship Lunch and there were lots of mix-up and confusion initially. But eventually, we managed to pull it off and get the food ready on time. I myself felt encouraged too to see the amount of people attending the fellowship lunch. Hopefully, the number will be bigger for the opening ceremony and the number stays that way...ahahaha.

I played drums for worship in church for the Sunday and so there was practice on Saturday. It's been quite some time since I played drums for full Sunday service. There's a bit of rust here and there on the timing, but generally could pick back up the pace as practice goes on. We had a new praise song for the line-up from Planetshakers' new album, and gosh, it's 'rocky' with all the guitar solo and stuff. Joshua did very well on the electric guitars, and I like the pedal equipment that he brought along. After practice, we actually planned to give Hin Loong a birthday surprise by appearing at lunch in Italiennies. This was because he had the impression that we the students are going back while Grace, Kevin and Lizzy will celebrate with him instead. So, Kevin moved ahead first while I tail behind. I had to make sure I don't drive too close or Hin Loong would end up seeing us..haha. This is almost like one of the missions in GTA 3! Anyways, there was one section where I lost Kevin because of the traffic light. And all of us in my car had a great laugh when Kevin actually stop by at the road side to wait for us, and produced an excuse to stop his car by running out to buy drinks! On the second time that I lost him, I couldn't get him again, so I used my own instinct and knowledge in going to Mid-Valley. I did a few U-turns before managing to head onto the correct path towards the Federal Highway. I did reach Mid-Valley, but a wrong turning made me end up at the Bishop's house instead..zzzzz..lol.

We went to the Italiennies at the Gardens. I have always been looking forward to try out my first makan time at Italiennies because I've heard of the fantastic pasta that they've been cooking. We called giant pasta portions so that everyone can try different types of it. There's also the fried calamari and lasagna. Of all the dishes, I enjoyed Salmon Fettucine the best mostly because it's the only creamy pasta on the table!..haha. The bill came up to a massive RM350+, will everyone paying RM50 each. Bank busting, but I have to admit that the pasta was fantastic and I was so full that I need not eat dinner. I just had some drinks instead while watching the Man Utd vs. Arsenal match during dinner time..haha. Oh..btw, I managed to get Green Day's new album "21st Century Breakdown" at Mid-Valley! It was just released the day before on Friday. I've been eagerly anticipating for it for a very long time already, and I can't hide my delight when I got my paws on it. Actually, I've heard the entire album a couple of times already from some *ahem* sources..haha, but not in the high quality of 320kps that the CD could offer..lol. It was also doubly nice when I got a free Green Day shirt also to go along with the CD. Hmmm..the shirt should have been black though instead of the lime green but still, I'm grinning in getting a souvenier along with my purchase =D. Now, if only I can get a artwork poster of it..haha. I'll write a review of the album some time soon. =p

Sunday service today was good and I think it's one of the best serving time I ever had on stage. I have to really thank the Lord for giving me the inspiration and guidance in playing. After service, the whole lot of us went to the economical rice at Banting to chomp on our favourite pork dish there. Hmmm..looks like the start of the weekday is here again. First CF meeting will be on this Wednesday, and I'm praying that it'll be a great one :)