Thursday, July 05, 2007
So Torres had signed for Liverpool after all the fiasco created by Atletico Madrid with Luis Garcia moving in the opposite direction. Liverpool do need strikers to take their soccer to an all new level and Torres may just be the answer. However at 26 million pounds, he does not come cheap and could prove to be an expensive flop should he struggle to make his mark. He's a proven goalscorer, even at a club like Atletico who couldn't promise him trophies and european football. Don't blame him for wanting to move on to a new club that can him those stuff. Just hope that he doesn't become like Morientes. Another good striker and is extremely deadly but just couldn't adapt to epl soccer. Most of the time, it could just be the way Liverpool plays that's affecting his game. From scoring goals for fun in France with Monaco to his current club, Valencia, he is certainly not a flop.
The news that Wenger had signed a new striker suddenly out of nowhere came as a shock to me while I was flipping through the Straits Times and newpaper few days ago. Like what the editor wrote "Arsenal fans hoping for a new striker weren't exactly thrilled at the signing of a virtual unknown when it comes to world soccer" I mean I've heard of Eduardo Da Silva because he scored against England when the 3 Lions lost 2-0 and also the first to score at the Emirates stadium as well. At 8 million pounds, he could prove to a bargain buy if he turns out to be our saviour. He comes with a bit of eastern european and brazilian flair. Age is also on his side as well at only 23 years old. We need probably obafemi martins or owen to complete the striking department. Let's not forget another defender as well. Does anyone still remember Davor Suker? He turned out to be a pretty good buy for Arsenal and let's hope this young Croatian will become like him.
I've been watching alot of asian movies online these few days but the one that I didn't caught in the cinema few years ago really kept me engrossed throughout the duration of the whole movie. Titled "Tae Guk Gi, The Brotherhood Of War", it's an extremely good war movie. Even one comment left by a view called it a better movie than Band Of Brothers. I think there is no comparison between war movies, that coming from a war junkie myself. Each and everyone has its strong points and protraying a different message to their audience. I'm sure everyone has heard of or seen this movie before but I'll leave the summary left behind by the site owner anyway.
Summary: The story of two brothers who are unwillingly drafted into the South Korean army following the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950. The older brother strives to protect his younger brother on the battlefield, while struggling to find a way to have him discharged so he can return to their village and care for the family they left behind. However, as the war progresses, the horror and violence they witness begin to take its toll on each man and severe their bonds as brothers and soldiers.
The battle and fighting scenes are extremely gruesome and let's not forget the wars back then took place without the advance weapons and techology we people have now at our disposal. It's more about courage and the different battle plans and tactics that set the victors apart from the losers. But actually, in a war, nobody wins. Everyone ends up on the losing side. As the Koreans from both the South and the North were engaged in a war based on idealogical differences, one scene that really caught my attention was when this guy suddenly said "Why are we fighting this war, it's not as if it's against the Japs?" It's quite retarded as in the fact that you're fighting people from your own homeland and not against invaders from other countries. Just picture yourself(who lives in the west) fighting your friend who stays in Pasir Ris because he has got a different idea from you.
The 2 brothers were drafted into the army unwillingly(somehow makes sense to all male Singaporeans out there) to fight in the Korean war. That scene could easily make any grown man shed a few tears because they were leaving behind their aged mother, fiancee and young brothers. The elder brother quickly rose through the ranks to become a staff sergeant because he wanted to earn a medal to send his young brother home. This is so that he can look after his family and resume his college studies. In the meantime, he became a totally new and changed person. Someone that his younger brother couldn't recognized. He even killed his own childhood friend who was forced by the North Koreans to fight the war on their side.
He became disgruntled with his own life and left to join the war on the communist side and became the leader of the Flag party. That was because his fiancee was murdered and thought that his younger brother had died. He nearly killed his brother in a battle but slowly regained his senses and realized he was still alive. He died a honourable death because he turned on his own North Koreans comrades by training the gpmg on them. This is so that his younger brother could have more time to escape.
War isn't a good thing to have because so many people suffered from it. Think of the loved ones you will leave behind if you don't make it back. There is always another way to settle any disputes and differences. However, if there is a need to be, we have no choice but to take up arms.
The documentary "Everest, Beyond Your Limit" ended its last part on discovery channel last week and it was pretty emotional as you watch the debriefing scene by leader Russell Brice. In 2006 alone, over a hundred people have died while trying to summit the mountain. To be able to make it down alive, whether you have summited or not, is more important. Watching how Tim and Gerrard trying to be selfish and putting not just their own lives but also their Sherpa's one in danger, is nerve-wrecking to watch. I mean anyone can totally understand how they feel, being just 100 metres away from the top but with their bottled oxygen running out, they won't be able to make it back alive. Phurba, the Sherpa guide, did not abandon them and he slowly coaxed them to make it back to advanced base camp. That really won my respect. He's paid to guide them out but he risked his own life to stay behind with them. Something that he doesn't have to do in the first place.
I've learnt that making it to the top is only half the battle won. The only half is to make it down successfully and most importantly of all, being alive. Many have lost their lives while trying to make it down. Like what Morgens Jensen said " It would be stupid not to turn around. The mountain will always be there for you to climb but you won't be alive to do it". How true. It's quite sad that any heli-rescue efforts won't be possible because of the extremely thin air. You go up the mountain knowing that you won't be able to make it down again. Even removing your body from the mountain can put the others' lives at risk and so many of the corpses were left there. No risk of decomposition because of the below freezing point temperatures. Some had even been there for more than 10 years.
Perhaps the best sentence was said by Brett Merrell. He didn't make it to the top but mentioned that he had already reached his own summit by attempting to scale the mountain.
