In case any one was keeping tabs, I’ve actually been very, very consistent with my blog posts for the past 6 weeks or so. And that 30-Day Tumblr Challenge? I’m proud to say I’ve not missed a single day. Yet. :p You can see all my Tumblr posts here.
Now, can someone please give me a cookie, or something?
Just a note about Liverpool this season.
I’ve been trying my best to ignore the dismal reality of my team’s performance. I’ve continued to remain hopeful for good things to happen to the club, but somewhere in February or March of 2010, I just knew I had to get out of my state of denial. It’s not something I’m proud of, but at that point of time, I started growing nonchalant, and started setting low expectations. A draw would be enough, I’d tell myself, especially if they’re playing a “bigger” club. I’d only get myself up in arms if my boys came away defeated at a match that they should’ve otherwise easily won. After all, on paper, playing against one of the “smaller” clubs was supposed to be a walk in the park, not to sound complacent. But, on paper, there’s simply no reason for the team to perform so poorly.
Many have attributed this debacle to the sale of Alonso. As much as I love that man, and was admittedly very, very crushed to see him leave, I never believed his departure to be the cause of such a massive impact. After all, isn’t football a team sport? How is it possible for one absent player to cause so much damage? Instead, my finger was pointing at the manager and the club’s owners. I believed that it was a combination of a major lack of player development, team cohesion and financial support that was doing us in. And after reading this article that triggered this rant, I’m even more convinced now that Benitez has to go. Because quite frankly, I see him as one of the proverbial rotten apples who has contaminated the entire basket of apples.
I will not dismiss his successes with the club, and I’m grateful for the silverware he’s helped to bring home. But I do believe that Benitez is not a good fit. We must acknowledge his strengths and the fact that he has brought in a good number of valuable players, however I do not believe that his yin has necessarily meshed well with Liverpool’s yang. I also do not blame him entirely because he made it very open about the constraints he had in managing the club. As for Liverpool’s two public enemies, I think of it as two Americans who made an investment that didn’t pan out as ideally as they’d hope and unfortunately, we are now at the brunt of it. Thankfully, their departure is imminent. Although it will undoubtedly leave behind a big cloud of ash.
I’ll admit that Liverpool’s future does appear somewhat bleak and unless a superhero of a billionaire appears (such as Tony Stark, according to a friend), it may take more than a few years for the club to fully recover to its former glory. I also understand that I’ll continue to get frustrated with decisions/directions that I won’t ever comprehend, and I’m only putting myself through more disappointment and heartache. Nonetheless, I’m more than willing (especially now, more than ever) to stay true to my club’s motto and continue supporting them through this tumultuous ordeal. Yes, no matter how long it takes.
And yes, I’m passionate about Liverpool like that.
Over the weekend, I went to catch Iron Man 2 with the girls and with it, a new obsession with the Avengers was developed. Before I go into that though, allow me to admit now that I don’t know if I enjoyed Iron Man 2 more than the first. I definitely liked it and am eager to watch it again in the cinemas. But I was bothered by a few factors:
1. Don Cheadle as Rhodey
While I personally think Don Cheadle is a very good actor, I missed Terrence Howard. I thought he came into his own and he did a pretty good job in the last movie. He also brought more fun to the character and was a good complement to Tony Stark. Cheadle was way too serious. Also, no thanks to 30 Rock, I’m no longer able to see Don Cheadle without thinking about “Don Cheadle on a bed of rice”. (reference) LOL.
2. The romance between Tony & Pepper
I could probably count the number of lines Gwyneth Paltrow had in this movie. Okay, so their budding romance was already established in the first, but because it was sooo lacking in the second, it almost seems forced for them to kiss at the end.
3. Scarlett Johansson in the first half vs Scarlett Johansson in the second half
I really didn’t care much for Natalie when she was first introduced. She seemed like an unnecessary character who was simply thrown in to increase the babe quotient. Then the second half kicked in, we find out her true identity and I was in awe throughout that kick-ass scene. Now, I’m very pleased and excited by her casting.
4. Tony Stark vs James Rhodes
I think this entire scene that played out during Tony’s birthday party was merely for fanboy/fangirl pleasure and ended up slightly more silly than impressive.
There were still plenty of fun and enjoyable moments throughout the movie: Mickey Rourke was a great villain. Sam Rockwell was at his annoying finest and Robert Downey Jr… What can I say other than OH WHAT SEXY ARROGANCE. Ahem. But after the movie, instead of being excited about Iron Man 3, I was more eager over the release of the Avengers film slated for a 2012 release. If Marvel Studios had every intention of using Iron Man 2 to help pave the way for the Avengers, it certainly did a great job cos it has gotten me very, very excited about the whole series. :D My enthusiasm in “preparing” myself for the Avengers prompted me to buy Volume 1 of the Essential Avengers so I could get reacquainted with the characters and catch up on the many, many stories that I’d missed. And guess what I’ve been doing in my spare time since? :) Naturally, all this has gotten me very excited about Thor and Captain America as well, to a point that I’m now quite enamoured by Thor, no thanks to the Wasp who keeps talking about how good-looking he is, and the fact that he is a Norse god, so he’s more powerful than all the other superheroes, so yes I’m becoming a fangirl DON’T JUDGE ME
Um so yeah. The next couple of years are going to be comic book awesome.