A variety of faces
A lot of new faces
Great big smiles
Fronting their untroubled minds

A rubber raft
Violent water
Uninvited guests
Silence

Seconds away from the world above
Flowing water
A held breath
Daylight

Rougher bumps
A wilder ride
Trying to escape
This white water rapid ride

Full of color like a rainbow
Full of life like a child
This was me
Way back in time

Tick tock tick tock
The pollution grows
Tick tock tick tock
Buildings rise

Tick tock tick tock
My beauty is gone
Tick tock tick tock
My life is done

Full of trash as a dump site
Full of sorrow as a weeping widow
This IS me
Now

Ugly
Disturbed
Dead
A graveyard

Another great comeback by the Whites to reclaim top spot in La Liga! As the match against Real Madrid and Sevilla started, there was much at stake for the whites. With Barcelona only able to get a 2-2 draw against U.D. Almeria, it was the chance for the Whites to go to the top spot with a win…but it wasn’t an easy task with Sevilla visiting the fortress Bernabeu. Sevilla drew first blood in the first 45 minutes of play where Alvaro Negredo netting the only strike of the half. Real Madrid controlled the ball after that opening goal but failed to tally a goal. The first half ended with Sevilla leading 1-0. The Whites had to wake up coming into the second half but heart break came, 5 minutes into the second half Sevilla scored another goal via a Dragutinovic free kick from long range. The Whites were down 2-0. But the White wouldn’t go down without a fight. The first strike from the Whites came 10 minutes after Sevilla registered their 2nd goal via a left footed strike by who else? Cristiano Ronaldo. 4 minutes later, Real Madrid equalized via a Sergio Ramos heading from a beautifully delivered corner of Rafael Van Der Vaart. And the game was on. Real Madrid didn’t stop attacking the Sevilla goal and 2 minutes into injury time, Gonzalo Higuain met a fine cross with his head but Palop palmed it away but it wasn’t enough as Rafael Van Der Vaart poked the rebound into the goal. 3-2 for the Whites! It was a very exciting game and kudos to Sevilla for giving the madridistas a scare!

Next up: Lyon! Hala Madrid!

Our first opponent, Angeles City Football Club (ACFC). Since it was our first game to play together, this would be the game to feel each others playing style and then from there we adjust. We controlled possession for most of the game but we failed to net a goal. I tried to feed long bombs to our strikers but they never really finished well. ACFC had a number of chances at goal but good things I was able to prevent these chances into goals. The game ended in a disappointing draw. We knew we had the upper hand to score and win.

As we headed back to the control center to update ourselves with our next match, complications. One team from our bracket, AUF, wasn’t able to come which dropped the number of teams in our group to 3, which means we only have 1 more game to play. And the thing is, only the top team from each group will advance to the semi-final round as well as the best 2nd place team to complete the cast. so we had no choice but to win our next game.

The must win game was up against a very young team composed of 14 and 15 year old kids in Friendship United. We knew we would win this game but we had to come back from behind. A foul committed just inside our half allowed them to score the opener. It was a neatly hit free kick which went passed the wall and into the back of our goal, thus allowing the kids to lead 1-0.  Despite that, we didn’t panic. We kept our head together and still maintained our composure thus resulting into a quick equalizer. We netted 3 more goals which brings the final score to 4-1.  The final game of Friendship United and Angeles City Football Club would determine who would be number one in our group. If ACFC beat Friendship United by 4 goals, they would be top, but if they didn’t we would.

So as we watched the two team battle it out, we just hoped that the kids would beat the old ones. And to our surprise, Friendship United scored the first goal via an error by the goal keeper. ACFC then scored 2 goals at the end of regulation but it wasn’t enough to go on top of the group so we we’re assured of a semi-final slot.

In the semi-finals, we were up against a hard kicking Korean team. It was an intense start to the game where the Koreans had opportunities to score easily but it wasn’t going to be because  I wouldn’t allow them to. I threw my body just by the goal line at least 4 times to prevent them from scoring, and hell it paid off. After a few minutes, we went ahead via a very good strike by our lone striker Tristan. And from there on, we never looked back. The game ended 2-0 which got us into the finals against Don Bosco Academy who won their semi-final tie against Angeles City Football Club.

As the crowd gathered up around field number two, both teams huddled up one last time before the final game started. The referee calls us up. And the final game started. The game started slow as both teams felt each other out and was a bit tentative to attach each others goals thus ending the first 1o minutes of play in a 0-0 draw.  The second half of the game started in a faster pace as each team tried to net the first strike of the game. 4 minutes in, we scored. It was such a big relief scoring the first goal since you had the luxury to waste time and play at a slower pace. The final 2 minutes of the game was chaos, Don Bosco had the chance to equalize from a corner kick with one of their players getting a free header but was cleared of the line by our defender. One of their coaches struck a well hit low ball which I was able to save by the post and in the final seconds of the game, one of their players just had to tap the ball into the net but miraculously, I was able to dive from one end of the goal to the other end thus creating the save and a numb right leg. As I dove, I was able to tap the ball away and instead of kicking the ball, he kicked my right hamstring. I laid on the ground for 2 minutes trying to feel my leg but couldn’t. My teammates helped me up and just asked me to suck it up because the game was almost done. A few seconds later, the referee blew the final whistle to mark the end of the game. Then, Glory.

1 goal conceded throughout the whole tournament isn’t bad I guess for a first time goal keeper. Well, until the next game boys. Corinthians FC!

Champions.ü

Dive

]]> http://atwistedbrainiac.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/manila-represent/feed/ 2 atwistedbrainiac Champions.ü 23570_319262709241_711494241_3389012_5441538_n http://atwistedbrainiac.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/the-flightless-bird/ http://atwistedbrainiac.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/the-flightless-bird/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:35:49 +0000 atwistedbrainiac http://atwistedbrainiac.wordpress.com/?p=66 ]]>

Just so the other day, a co-worker of mine showed me this video on YouTube. So this video, according to its maker, is a masters thesis animation which was completed when he/she was at The School of Visual Arts, MFA Computer Art, in New York City. Anyway, this short video features a Kiwi, a flightless bird, nailing up trees to the side of a tall cliff for so many years where in the end, he gets the chance to create the illusion and or the feeling of flying but plummets to his death.

The nice thing about this video is the message behind it. As creatures of God, we have this attitude or mentality that when things seem to be out of reach or let me use the term IMPOSSIBLE, we just tend to fold up and give up. In this case, Mr. Kiwi, due to his aspirations to someday, fly just like all the other birds he sees around him, tried to find a way on how he would make this dream possible. Having to get trees and nailing it to the side of a cliff probably took him years and years, and yet he didn’t stop, he didn’t give up just to get to that once chance, to get that one feeling, the satisfaction, to fly. Mr. Kiwi just waited for the perfect moment, the perfect time in his life, to fly, for a brief period. And as the video shows, he knows, that he’ll end up dead in the end. If you guys, watched the video closely, just before the video ends, you’ll catch Mr. Kiwi shed a tear, for what? It’s probably for the feeling of happiness, the joy that finally, he was able to fly and he knows, that at the end of that short lived moment of flying, the end point of all things created will come, death…

Unlike the Kiwi, we people have the chance, the opportunity, to reach that seemingly impossible dream. If only we try, we push harder, and set in our minds that one day, we will reach it, it would definitely happen, no question. So no matter who we are, where we are, it doesn’t matter if we’re rich or poor, as long as we have the drive, the will, to make our dreams come true, we can reach that “elusive” dream.

Yes, it is the day of hearts or the day of love. So Happy Valentines everyone! You guys have a good one! Spread the love!

Daan.
Kapabayaan.
Sirena.

Sigawan.
Iyakan.
Katahimikan.

The story of the DLSU Baseball Team has not been the best, if not probably the worst these past couple of years. Close games never count as wins, no matter how hard the team tried, lady luck wasn’t just with the team. It has all changed now. From having win less seasons, the team has suddenly become a headache for the rest of the UAAP. After losing their opening match against the defending champions, the team bounced back with wins against the top teams this year. Now as the elimination round comes to a close, the team has locked itself in the elite four together with defending champions Adamson University, last years runner-up (if I’m not mistaken) University of the Philippines, and another surprise team, National University. If in the previous years, Adamson would just ransack all the other teams, its quite a different story this year. The 6 competing teams are giving Adamson a run for their money. So better watch out for DLSU in the Final Four. Good luck boys! Take it one game at a time! Relax and have fun! Animo La Salle!

The students of the 7′s and 8′s class recently visited Villa Escudero for their Social Studies field trip. The kids were divided into different groups and they had to do different tests such as turbidity, depth, water speed, and others on the Labasin River. They also experienced having lunch on a river and had time to play beside the man-made waterfall.

It has been a week since I started working there for their summer programs and  I have learned a lot about how things go in and around the school. It is a lot different from the school where I had my practicum and part-time substitute teaching, The Learning Tree Child Growth Center. As compared to the sort of the ecclectic approach of TLT, Keys focuses more on the use of the Bank Street Approach.

Well enough of the technical stuff about schools. I’ve met new teachers that I would be seeing around school more often than not. I have yet to get to know the other teachers yet since they aren’t working the summer program. I enjoy the company of the teachers who I had the chance to get to know in the past week of work. I hope this would also be the case for the others.

Well, got lazy again to write! haha.ü Later people!ü