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So what’s up with me? Well at last we’ve been having great weather, and by great I mean fantastic. There’s no cloud in sight, or maybe there is but too far away, and the temperature outside is enjoyable. The good weather shifts procrastination from going outdoors to the office, which explains why I've been leaving work on time.

Last week I decided I need to start doing something to get fit. The motivation is the usual, a holiday is approaching and I need to have a certain level of fitness confidence to be able to tackle the glaciers or ski. Today is my first weekversary of my jogging, cycling and exercises plan. If I’ll manage to keep up with this till mid August I might consider it being a successful project. Apart from the fitness regime I’ve decided to start doing something about my diet which lately consisted of 60% beer, 30% junk food and the rest only God knows what. For starters I’ve told everyone at work so that they can exert social control when they see me munching biscuits, then I got (actually asked my friend) some vegetables and started making salads for lunch. I’m keeping up with it until now but this is nothing extraordinary – as usual the problem lies in continuing with this progress not merely starting, I start too many things only to forget about them days later.

This weekend: On Friday I hit the Porter House and met some new speech therapists from the small Island. I wonder whether there are any speech therapists left there, the situation must be pathetic. Overall the night was nondescript apart from meeting 3 occupational therapists from Zimbabwe. On Saturday I spent most of the day planning the New Zealand trip, and at last I've decided on a leaving date - 11th August at 0640am. If all goes well and I get on all fights I'll arrive on Sunday at around 5am, without having to live Saturday because of the time difference. At night I met my friends and we went to out to Dandelion and Sinnotts. On Sunday I went Blessington a small village in County Wicklow (read more).

On the cultural side yesterday I subscribed to the local library hoping to borrow Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, but I wasn’t lucky as the book was out on loan. Instead I got two books about Whales, an Ireland bird watching book and a travel photography book. This weekend I finished reading "The land of two halves" which is a fantastic travelogue on a hitchhiking journey in New Zealand.

A scary video on how easy it is to steal a bike. No wonder people get their bike's nicked so often.

The world cup final should theoretically be about soccer, but what everybody seems to be talking about is what the hell did Materazzi tell Zidane to get head-butted. (See video here). This was Zidane's last official match, in the world cup final in front of billions of people, so what could have elicited such a reaction? Here's a summary of what lip readers from around the world are suggesting:-

... one report suggested he responded with: `I'd rather take the shirt off your wife'. - ESPN SoccerNet

... Italian lip-readers said he had called Zidane's mother a "prostitute". - Irish Independent

He then accused him of being a "liar" and wished "an ugly death to you and your family" on the day the Frenchman's mother had been taken to hospital ill. This was followed by "Go f*** yourself". - BBC Sport

... Materazzi called Zidane a "dirty terrorist." - Associated Press

But what he probably really said was, "you goddamn dirty Algerian faggot son of a gypsy whore with widespread legs waiting for an Arab terrorists riding a rotten camel. And by the way vafan-culo-testadicazzo-figliodiputtana." But again the match would have finished by the time Materazzi would have said this.

Check out this football antidote: Babes of the 2006 World Cup

Biggest pity: Any african team doing well
Most Deserved Result: Italy winning and Brazil knocked out of quarters
Most disappointing player: Ronaldinio
Most discussed action: Zidane's headbutt
Best Player: Cannavaro
Best Goal: Fabio Grosso against Germany (for when it came and what it meant)
Best Match: Italy - Germany (semi final)
Best Coach: Marcello Lippi
FIFA's golden ball award: Zidane

[For the record]

In an effort not to re-invent the wheel, see match record here.

I watched the final at the local pub on the small island with some friends (3 of which were Italy fans and the other 2 non-Italy fans), and some English supporters who were obviously siding for France. After watching the Italians celebrate their well deserved victory we went out carcading with the other Italian supports of the village.

I'm off back home for the weekend to attend two weddings. On Friday it's my uncle's turn then on Sunday one of my best and longest known friends (since I was 6) is tying the knot.

<quote>
A typical Irish town consists of several buildings, one of which is always a bar, called a ''pub.'' Next to this there will typically be another pub, which is adjacent to several more pubs. Your larger towns may also have a place that sells food, but this is not critical.

Inside the pubs, you will usually find Irish people, who are very friendly to strangers, especially compared with the British, who as a rule will not voluntarily speak to you until you have lived in Britain for a minimum of 850 years. The Irish, on the other hand, will quickly start a conversation with you, and cheerfully carry it on at great length, with or without your help.
</quote>

Read the rest of Dave Barry on Ireland.

I'm so happy!!! This time the Italians deserve to be where they are, for once they're playing great football.

  

The vibe during yesterday's match was fantastic. We watched the game at Buskers with some other hardcore (real hardcore) Italians. The pub was divided in two with the Germans taking the big screen area and most Italian fans occupying the rest of the TV’s. Superstitiously we watched the match in the same position we watched the Ukraine match. As soon as Italy scored the first goal in the last two minutes of the second extra time half the whole place went into a delirium. On the subsequent kick-off after the crowed calmed down a bit Del Piero scored another goal with the last kick of the game to send us in ecstasy.

I was so excited and lost that I got the wrong bus back home because it was parked instead of the usual bus and I didn’t pay attention to the bus number. I ended up walking about 4km in the middle of the night back home, but it didn’t matter at all, it was all good fun. I cannot imagine all the swearing had the Italians lost and I got the wrong bus. The moral from this: it’s not what happens but how you look at it that counts. Your perspective can make even bad things fun.

While I hold my breath waiting for the final and the potential verdict that Milan are relegated to Serie B after the match-fixing scandal, I'm happy.

University of Malta forced to censor after Muslim racist references

Word: septic
Meaning:

1. Of, relating to, having the nature of, or affected by sepsis (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)

Usage: Septic Flesh
Comment: B asked what septic means after thinking about the word anti-septic in Wales due to its excessive usage on the trip

Word: sepsis
Meaning:

1. The presence of pathogenic organisms or their toxins in the blood or tissues.
2. The poisoned condition resulting from the presence of pathogens or their toxins, as in septicemia. (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)

Word: sprog
Meaning:

1. a new military recruit
2. a child (Wordnet 2.0)

Comment: Used during a meeting at work but I can't remember why.

Word: fudge (adj)
Meaning:

1. To fake or falsify
2. To evade (an issue, for example); dodge. (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)

Synonyms: avoid, dodge, evade
Usage: We have to fudge that point and concentrate on the rest

Word: discombobulated
Meaning:

1. To throw into a state of confusion (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)

Synonyms: confused, baffled

Apart from this word wisdom listening to all this English is starting to amuse me sometimes. So let's try this experiment, put on a smile and say these phrases and check whether you'll laugh at their sound

• "you cheeky fucker"
• "Frankie" … like "Hello Frankie" when greeting someone who's not named Frankie

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