I’d like to thank all my readers and especially those who kept coming back and who contributed to the blog. It’s been an interesting 40 or so days and I hope you all enjoyed and benefited too.

Take care and best wishes to you all.

FC Barcelona’s dreams of becoming the first UEFA Champions League holders to retain the trophy are still alive after they ended Werder Bremen’s hopes at Camp Nou.

A moment of magic from Ronaldinho put the Spanish league leaders on the way against their German counterparts and a quickfire second from Eidur Gudjohnsen ensured the victory.

Read On…

The shootout resulted in the wounding of fourteen people (twelve police officers and two civilians) and the deaths of both bank robbers. Although only the suspects were killed, the sheer number of injuries made this one of the bloodiest single cases of violent crime in the 1990s, and one of the most significant single bank robberies of the 20th century.

It makes and interesting read. Looks something out of a fiction novel or a movie. In fact a movie was made based upon this incident. You can read the rest of the Wiki entry on it here.

Sergeant Comely was working on the general assumption that where you got lots of people gathered together, something illegal was bound to happensooner or later.
– (Terry Pratchett, Johnny and the Dead)

The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.
– (Terry Pratchett, Diggers)

One day I’ll be dead and THEN you’ll all be sorry.
– (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett)

It’s not enough to be able to pick up a sword. You have to know which end to poke into the enemy.
– (Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)

“I know about people who talk about suffering for the common good.  It’s never bloody them! When you hear a man shouting “Forward, brave comrades!” you’ll see he’s the one behind the bloody big rock and the one wearing the only really arrow-proof helmet!”
– Rincewind gives a speech on politics.
(Terry Pratchett, Interesting Times)

Cuddy had only been a guard for a few days, but already he had absorbed one important and basic fact: it is almost impossible for anyone to be in a street without breaking the law.
– (Terry Pratchett, Men At Arms)

Sometimes it’s better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness.
– (Terry Pratchett, Men At Arms)

That seems to point up a significant difference between Europeans and Americans. A European says: “I can’t understand this, what’s wrong with me?” An American says: “I can’t understand this, what’s wrong with him?”
– (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett)

He did of course sometimes have people horribly tortured to death, but this was considered to be perfectly acceptable behaviour for a civic ruler and generally approved of by the overhelming majority of citizens. [footnote: The overhelming majority of citizens being defined in this case as everyone not currently hanging upside down over a scorpion pit]
– (Terry Pratchett, Sourcery)

There were a few seconds of total silence as everyone waited to see what would happen next. And then Nijel uttered the battle cry that Rincewind would never quite forget to the end of his life.  “Erm,” he said, “excuse me…”
– (Terry Pratchett, Sourcery)

The Yen Buddhists are the richest religious sect in the universe. They hold that the accumulation of money is a great evil and a burden to the soul. They therefore, regardless of personal hazard, see it as their unpleasant duty to acquire as much as possible in order to reduce the risk to innocent people.
– (Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad)

The duke had a mind that ticked like a clock and, like a clock, it regularly went cuckoo.
– (Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters)

The consensus seemed to be that if really large numbers of men were sent to storm the mountain, then enough might survive the rocks to take the citadel. This is essentially the basis of all military thinking.
– (Terry Pratchett, Eric)

But still, it is good to have some sense of proportion. Sometimes to sit and think that there is a much bigger picture. Perhaps it would bring us hope in times of dispair.

According to Beathing Earth website, at present one Maldivian dies  every 3.7 hours and a Maldivian is born every 45.9 minutes. To put it into a simple time frame, by the time we finish watching a football match somewhere in Maldives two babies would have been born. By the time we finish one office working day two people would have died.

If we look at a bigger country such as India, a person dies every 3.5 seconds and is born every 1.3 seconds. Imagine the magnitude! Just look at your watch for a few seconds, keeping in mind that every second there is a child born somewhere on earth and someone else is at the end of his/her life.

Imagine that one of those black blips on that website will be you one day.

I can never look at the watch and feel the same. I find it humbling.

She told Dick Cheney, “The bird is so smart! George has already taught him to mispronounce over 200 words!”

“Wow, that’s pretty impressive,” Cheney said. “But you realize that he just says the words. He doesn’t understand what they mean.”

“That’s okay,” Laura replied. “Neither does the parrot.”

  ——————————————- 

President Bush was visiting a school. The children were in the middle of a discussion relating to words and their meanings. The teacher asked the President if he would like to lead the discussion on the word ‘tragedy’. So the illustrious leader asked the class for an example of a tragedy.

One boy stood up and offered, “If my best friend who lives on a farm is playing in the field and a tractor runs over him that would be a tragedy”. “No”, said Bush, “that would be an accident”.

A girl raised her hand, “If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, that would be a tragedy’. “No”, said Bush, “that would be a great loss”.

The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Bush searched the room, “Isn’t there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?”

Finally, at the back of the room little Johnny raised his hand, “If Airforce One carrying you and Mrs. Bush was struck by a ‘friendly fire’ missile and blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy”.

“Fantastic!” exclaimed Bush, “that’s right. And can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?”

“Well”, says little Johnny. “It has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn’t be a great loss and it probably wouldn’t be an accident either.”

  ——————————————- 

The Agent salutes and says, “Welcome back, Mr. President. Nice pigs, sir.”

Clinton smiles and says, “These aren’t pigs. These are genuine Arkansas Razorbacks. I got this one for Hilary, and I got this one for Chelsea.”

The Agent says, “Good trade, sir.”

The crowd inside the stadium witnessed the Blaugrana return to the level that saw them sweep to the title last term as the team chalked up their third consecutive league victory thanks to a brace from Ronaldinho and each from Eidur Gudjohnsen and Andrés Iniesta. Lilian Thuram stepped into the centre of defence and looking strong, Deco shone in midfield, Ronaldinho moved to the top of the scoring charts and Iniesta played a key role with his touch and vision. Despite the long list of injuries to the Barça squad, the team played with confidence and won.

Wonder goal

With just two minutes remaining, and with Rijkaard having made all his changes, the Camp Nou was treated to a real spectacle as Ronaldinho scored the best goal of the game and, arguably, one of the goals of the season. The Blaugrana number ten has numerous awards but it is actions like this that truly prove that he is still the best football player in the world. The move started with Xavi, who lifted the ball into Ronaldinho and from there the Brazilian superstar controlled the ball on his chest before beating Barbosa with an outrageous over-head kick which left the keeper with no chance and saw the fans pull out their white handkerchiefs to give a real sign of approval.

Q. What’s a mixed feeling?
A. When you see your mother-in-law backing off a cliff in your new car.

Q. What’s the height of conceit?
A. Having an orgasm and calling out your own name.

Q. What’s the definition of macho?
A. Jogging home from your vasectomy.

Q. What’s the difference between a G-Spot and a golf ball?
A. A guy will actually search for a golf ball.

Q. Do you know how New Zealanders practice safe sex?
A. They spray paint X’s on the back of the sheep that kick!

Q. Why is divorce so expensive?
A. Because it’s worth it!

Q. What is a Yankee?
A. The same as a quickie, but a guy can do it alone.