My little corner on the web

A most unusual day!

2010-03-07T22:39:00.002+01:00

The weather today has been most unusually windy, wet, and grey. Compared to last week's beautifully sunny day, it is most disappointing since we had plans on going out with Rox, maybe to Rabat. Ah well. Back to my Xbox then.

Xbox!

2010-01-16T22:43:00.000+01:00

Following many oohing and aahing, I have finally splashed out on a new Xbox360 Elite. Getting home and plugging it into my HD Tv, it is nothing short of excellent.

Good build quality and brilliant games conspire to make this a favourite gadget.

I have always been a Sony fan, so I thought I would progress to the PS3, but an extremely high price tag, as well as niggling troubles with its blu-ray player, has steered me away. Also, I do have plans to mod my box later on... something not possible with the PS3.

A passing away.

2010-01-14T08:00:00.001+01:00

Unfortunately, my beloved grandmother passed away this morning just before 6am. Always jolly with a smile on her face, she will be so missed by all of us.

More so by my mother, with whom she lived in Fgura.

Goodby my dear, 'til we meet again...

Very Sore.

2010-01-12T22:25:00.001+01:00

Tuesday today, and against my better judgement, I decided to come in to work. My right arm is practically dead, and I feel as if I have been hit over the head with a no.7 size sledgehammer.

I just had to take a half-day off on leave, and go get some rest. It was off to bed at about one in the afternoon, and around 5pm I woke up refreshed and quite stronger.

Still, swimming was off today. Despite not having a fever, my temperature was still a bit on the high side....so better safe than sorry!

In the evening I settled down to watch Egypt vs Nigeria (3-1), and after that, took my trusty Cessna 172 out for a spin..err...on Flight Sim 2004 obviously.

H1N1 jab.

2010-01-12T02:21:00.000+01:00

Like many people here, I elected to take the dreaded 'swine-flu' jab. I have heard many things about this, and to be honest, I was a bit apprehensive of taking it.

But with my health problems. I thought I better not risk it. A quick poke and all was done. However I noticed an increase in temperature as the evening wore on.

2am now...and my temperature is still high and I can't get to sleep....

A nice quiet Sunday.

2010-01-11T07:47:00.003+01:00

It’s been a good weekend. Good, not great. If it wasn’t for the fact that my old gran is in hospital, unfortunately extremely ill, it would have been great.

Unhappily, there is nothing that can be done any more. When you get as old as ‘nanna’, it’s a chore just to keep breathing….

Saturday was a mad-house, as we frantically made our home ship-shape. It’s unbelievable how much we tend to leave things lying around.

In the evening we met new friends, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed myself.

Then yesterday it was up at 5am to set-up the powerpoint for Sunday’s 10am mass. I really must find a way to do this more effectively! Waking that early is not a joke…even then it is a hassle when I find we are doing new songs and I don’t have a decent lyrics background. Just the text is nowhere near good enough for me…

Ok we gave good account of ourselves, not special, but relatively good. As with the presentation, I’m not happy unless we played at 100%. Happily we had a new guitarist with us. Matthew is a (very) young Guns ‘n Roses fan, so expect something new from us.

Finally by noon, all was settled, and since we had decided to eat out instead of cooking, just dropped (not literally) my guitar home. We went down to Birzebbugia, and the weather conspired with us to make a wonderful afternoon. It was cold and VERY windy… ideal winter conditions as we picked our way on the deserted beach.

Naturally, we enjoyed ourselves hugely. Then it’s off to a nice quiet restaurant, and off home for a nice cuddle in front of the telly!

A nice relaxing way to end the day.

And now it’s back to this damn desk! Bah! Humbug!

End of days.

2010-01-08T12:21:00.001+01:00

Unfortunately, despite being Friday, it doesn’t seem to be shaping up to be a good weekend. My grandmother, now 88, is nearing the end of a long battle to survive each day.

We all know that nobody lives forever, and it breaks my heart to see such a wonderful woman leave us. She has now had her last rites administered, and doctors are warning the family to expect bad news from time to time.

I don’t know about other grandmothers, (my kids certainly won’t be lucky with their horrible lot), but ‘Nanna Rit’, as everyone calls her, is a paragon of virtue, love, understanding and kindness.

Hopefully she can manage to ‘cling on’ to life so that I can see her one last time tonight… the doctors say that she is one tough cookie and doesn’t want to let go…

That’s Nanna Rit for you…

2010-01-06T10:26:00.002+01:00

It is the 6th of January today. A day that I remember with bitter-sweet memories. Our dearly departed Jade would have been 23 years old today. Struck down in her prime on the 12th November at just 21, she will never be forgotten by my family, and the thousands of admirers and friends she garnered.

Give her oh Lord, eternal rest and favour in your eyes. Amen.

Juve back on the field this afternoon.

2010-01-06T09:20:00.001+01:00

Hurrah…after a long break, football is back. Juve are playing at 3pm, an unusual hour to be sure, but a great time nonetheless. This will give me time to go for my swim at the pool later on.

If only we can put up a good match…not so much for the win but for the performance. I’m sure that our opponents Parma will more than give us a good scrap.

I think that the spoils will be shared in a draw…

My working stuff.

2010-01-05T11:55:00.000+01:00

Lately, friends, knowing me as a Tech Freak, have been inquiring AND wondering what kind of hardware and software I must have running around at home.

Since giving up my shop in Fgura, I have naturally been left with loads of stuff, but what is of interest to all is the hardware I use at home. Sadly, I seem to err…have grown a bit, and my games needs have flown out of the window.

So does that mean that I’m using a bog-standard vanilla PC to get by with my computing needs? Not on your nelly!

Let’s describe my set-up. My main PC is an Athlon64 with 6Gig Ram, 500Gig of internal Hard-Disk, and a recently purchased 1.5 Tb external Hdd. The PC is connected via Wi-Fi to a router providing access to the outside world. A DVD-RW, multi-card reader and of course, a cordless notebook-style keyboard/mouse combination complete the set. The video card is an nVidia8600 1Gb Ram unit, connected to my 50inch Samsung Plasma TV via HDMI cable. The sound goes to a ‘classic’ NAD60 amplifier, delivering beautiful playback to a pair of huge Sony NSW-D350 speakers. These, my friends, are the bees knees! I want to be buried in one of these speakers when I die and am cremated. Naturally I also have the media centre remote-control…

The PC case is a beautiful set-top box, designed like a hi-fi system. Friends have difficulty in understanding that this is a computer and not a stereo system…but there you go.

All this stuff is complemented by a Samsung BDP-1500 Blu-Ray player and cable TV, arguably the weakest link in the system.

The software driving this system is extremely cheap and cheerful. I tend to go for freeware and open-source software. About the only thing I have paid a high price for is WindowsXP. The reason I use XP (in a dual-boot system) is to ensure compatibility with my kids’ learning environment at school. Otherwise I use Ubuntu as a free, solid, operating system.

For Office work I have two options. First is OpenOffice, by Sun. It’s fast, free, and offers all I need. The other is AbiWord, an oldie but goodie. I have no intention of ever installing Microsoft Office. The latest incarnations are hideous, to say the least.

For internet browsing, I am a Google Chrome man. Sometimes, but vary rarely, I fall back on Firefox. IE is a no-show on my system. Facebook and the free Live Writer are my main items for keeping in touch with friends, and now, blogging.

I have Calibre installed to transfer my files to my SONY PRS500 ebook reader. As an Acrobat reader I use Foxit, and for PDF creation, OpenOffice provides native PDF documents. Needless to say, the above programs are all FREE! As in 0 Euros. Not free by pirating. Legally Free!

For my guitar playing I have GuitarPro, another software that I purchased. This is by far the best music-creation software I have ever seen.

Image editing is next on the list. Photoscape (free) is my choice of quick and dirty image editing. However for serious creation and manipulation I use Paint Shop Pro exclusively. My purchases stopped at ver9.0 since it more than provides me with all the tools I need. I cannot understand the craze here in Malta for Photoshop… probably because it can be found for free on various torrents. 90% of people use 5% of Photoshop’s capabilities…silly really.

But why am I writing about productivity software when this machine is connected to some seriously cool hardware?

So let’s go to that bit. I use the free Media Player Classic (utilising the Combined Community Codec Pack) for watching videos (mainly mkv), and Winamp for playing music.

FFDecoders translate the data to images and sound, and I can tell you, watching a movie on this beast is nothing short of spectacular!

Sometimes, but very rarely, I hit the Windows Media Center software, but not enough to make an impact. I have ripped all my DVDs onto my hard-disks, together with my one thousand CD albums. I have not purchased a ‘physical CD’ for ages. I usually get them from Play on a download basis.

So just lie back on the nice comfy leather sofa, prop-up your legs on the coffee table, and turn that volume up!

(PS…I’m not going to mention all the gadgets I use from day to day… my iPhone, without which life would be unbearable… my PSP, or the GPS which is brilliant, saves me looking for addresses on errands. Or my lovely Inspiron1545 notebook… as well as the kids’ MSI Book PC and Acer Travelmate notebook. Should I include our iPod nanos? My younger daughter strangely favours my little 10inch Macbook laptop. For games I have a Sony Playstation 2, which is enough for me.)

As can be seen, most of the software used from day-to-day is absolutely free. I purchased XP, GuitarPro and PaintShopPro and Microsoft Flight Sim 9. And that’s about it!

Grouping up....

2010-01-05T07:05:00.001+01:00

Following an experiment, I have now reverted to my beloved Blogger site.

Bah...pajjiz tal Mickey Mouse!

Posted at 12:25 PM on January 04, 2010

In a world of injustices, it is always the closest to you that hits home. So, as written earlier, my Fuji S2000HD has a problem with the backlighting on the screen. This seems to be a 'not unrare' problem. Things that can be fixed.

But then when I call the Scan showrooms twice and both times neglected to be told that the Servicing office closes at five pm is nothing but sheer stupidity. Is it too much to mention that the workshop closes that early? Dear Jesus...this country sucks.

Blessed Sunday today.

Posted at 10:55 PM on January 03, 2010

Sunday is also over now, and to tell the truth, it has been a fairly noisy happening.

First off was our traditional 10am mass. Since it is practically the last day of Xmas, Epiphany, we had to play the same Xmas list as the one on Christmas Day. Naturally, after the novelty of different seasonal songs wears off, one can't wait to get them over and done with. And so it was with this year's selection. After mass was over it was off for a coffee with Noel, Jess, Claire, Matt, Alan and all of our band-mates.

Needless to say, a hilarious time was enjoyed by one and all...

But next it was with a heavy heart that I went to my in-laws for the traditional dinner. Don't get me wrong...I love eating as much as the next guy, but too much is too much...and coupled with the richness and multi-course meals on offer, I was dreading it. Thankfully I managed to put my foot down and only eat frugally.

Sunday, is however, a day that I like to reserve exclusively to the family. Hence my misgivings. It's only fair to say that everything went smoothly, and by three o' clock I was safely curled up on my sofa, in front of TV, watching Discovery Science.

8pm saw me then throwing on a jacket and going for a walk with Jack around the airport perimeter. Naturally it was bloody cold! But I enjoyed it immensely....and tomorrow?

Back to work! Call me a nerd..but I am actually looking forward to the structured times that employment brings.

At least it keeps me out of of the fridge! That can only be good news.

Under the Dome...what a copy! Or is it?

Posted at 10:04 PM on January 02, 2010

So this morning I was browsing through the latest err... electronic bookshelves for my Sony PRS500 reader, when I stumbled upon a book by the much-celebrated writer Stephen King. (Personally, his best book is 'Christine', you know, demon car and all)

Well, as can be seen from the cover image above, it is oh so SLIGHTLY familiar. Bart Simpson anyone? This storyline is straight out from Matt Groenig's animated sit-com hit of the much loved dysfunctional family that has made such an impact on everyone's lives with its' message delivering episodes.

'Dome-Depot'....I can still hear the jingle from the movie....couldn't this be described as plagiarism at its' best? It is a DARN good read though! I can tell it is going to keep me awake tonight!

Bang goes my Fuji HD2000

Posted at 07:13 AM on December 31, 2009

Bah...last day of the year, barely into the first year of use, and my beloved Fuji HD2000 has had its' screen die on me. The backlight seems to flicker intermittently from very dim to extremely dim....

Could be simply a loose connection, but the thing has never been even breathed upon, let alone dropped!

I called the Scan techs who naturally invited me to bring the machine over to their workshops....let's see if it comes back in the same condition at least....

A new toy....

Posted at 07:10 PM on December 29, 2009

Hurrah, I have finally decided on my Xmas pressie...even though that blessed day has passed. Ok, so it's still Tuesday.

So what is it? I splashed out on a 1.5 Terabyte hard-disk. the Maxtor Basic HD. Just plus it in and there you go...gazillions of space for my movies, music and pics.

Nice shape too, and something I really really needed.

Party time again....

Posted at 06:08 PM on December 27, 2009

Another day, and yet another party....bang goes my 'projected loss' for December..and January, I would guess....

This time we spent an afternoon at Gordon's house. Good food, and of course, pleasant company made it a very nice time. Naturally, Gordon being well-equipped, we indulged in hammering a lot of legends down. Yes. Karaoke.

It's a real pity I could not drink anything stronger than Coke, but my medication is too important to neglect...

So now, at 6, we are finally home, and dare I say it, looking forward to some real days of swimming and resting.

Starting from tomorrow!

English Football is so over-rated.

Posted at 06:57 PM on December 26, 2009

Following the signing of Mancini as head coach of Manchester City, I was curious to see what kind of play would be on fare. Sad to say, it was disappointing.

And hardly surprising...after all, there were only a maximum of 5 Englishmen out of the twenty-two on the pitch. And the play was so so disappointing. For all their touted names, neither City , nor Stoke, could muster enough skill to string together 3 passes on the trot.

Martin Petrov only scored after Robinho fluffed his shot, leaving him with an open goal, and Tevez scored from a glaring offside position, that in Italy, would reek of corruption if it stood!

Naturally, none of the scorers even came close to being born in England!

Meanwhile my Spurs drew against Fulham in a match that had 0-0 already stamped upon within the first ten seconds. Bland!

The day after Xmas

Posted at 10:14 AM on December 26, 2009

It's the day after the happiest holiday in the world, and I am still feeling a bit bloated and woozy from the wine we had yesterday. Nothing special mind you. It doesn't take much to make me tipsy.

All in all it was a nice day, with mass at 10am, and then having brother Trevor, wife Diane, and their bevy of kids over for the traditional Xmas lunch. Naturally it was great fun all round.

I will be posting some pics in the archive as soon as I get my senses back...

A visit to the prisons.

Posted at 11:52 AM on December 13, 2009

Today has been a most extraordinary day! Together with my band, we played during Mass at Corradino prisons. Read all about it in this link. ( A word document, opens in a new window )

A bone to pick.

2009-11-05T22:18:00.004+01:00

The opinions offered below are mine, and are my perceptions only. I am not employed by Melita or Go, nor do I earn anything from the said companies. To my knowledge all information below is true and unbiased. I am subscribed to Melita for full TV package. Melita offer the best package on the islands, but with every company, sometimes it takes an outside view to improve things.

This time, the bone I have to pick up with is called Melita.

As time (and money) goes by, I look at the bills in hand and continue to queston myself.

"Why the hell am I still insisting on using an out-dated low quality TV provider such as Melita in 2009? And for such a price?"

Let me begin by saying that I understand that on such a little place (ie Malta), the infrastructure and setup costs must be high, and the return, in numbers, relatively small in amounts. Therefore it is only understandable that the fees must be commisurate with the service vs. the subscribers.

But let me say this. The infrastructure was already in place by Maltacom (back then), when Melita had opted to use the Maltacom distribution pipes in lieu of new trenching.

The old Jerrold set-top boxes were ancient and from what I could see, were being totally replaced on all their respective networks across the US, Canada, and the rest of Europe. Add to that their hopeless mono audio quality, and you are looking at a fledgling company trying hard to grab a sector of the market with (relatively) modest outlay.

I remember being an early subscriber almost immediately. I can also remember defending Melita for their service against mates of mine who had gone to satellite completely.

I can recall them telling me that I get a commision from Melita for using their service. How further from the truth could they be?

I used to tell my mates that a cable system was the sign of the future, while they all pointed out the deficiencies inherent with the cable company in the fact that I had a limited number of (mono) channels while they all could upgrade to as many (stereo) channels as they wanted. (I guess the free porn channels were also an important issue with them.)

I could on the other hand, point out the fact that whenever their pirated satellite card conked out on a Saturday evening, it was to my house that they usually congregated to watch the Formula 1 and the Serie A (which at that time, according to the news from Italy, was being pirated by Melita themselves. Telepiu'anyone?) Cease and Desist, if my memory recalls. During the Juve-Inter match was it that this came to light?

However, truth be told, I eventually switched to satellite not only when the cost of cable escalated to a point that I could no longer afford it, but when the satellite limitations at that time were eclipsed by the huge benefits brought forward. Free Juve matches every week? Hell yeah. I could no longer argue against that logic.

So it was that I switched to satellite. And boy, it was a wonder. Being so much more than an electronics technician, I made my own interfacing (at that time ridiculously simple), connected the old Nokia box to a 286 decoding the signals...and Bob's your uncle.

Those were the golden days of satellite. Sky was still a glimmer in the mind's eye, and Telepiu', together with (Dutch, French and Spanish) Canal+ and Al Jazeera were providing all the football I could digest.

Finally the bubble burst and with Mr.Murdoch creating SKY and usurping all the other broadcasters in one fell swoop, the game was up.

Sky became impossible to crack, and with it came the realisation that I no longer had time to dabble in the mystic art of satellite.

So it came about that I reverted to being a Melita subscriber again. Mind you, I have to be honest that despite many people complaining about bad customer service or interruptions to their services, I have been blessed with relatively good service.

What is the bone I have to pick with Melita then?

Easy and simple. Their TV service needs a face-lift. Yes, it is laughably old. Remember this is 2009. Going into 2010. So what if their service is 'Digital'? It's just a buzz word.

You can provide digital service as much as you wish, but if it's bad, it's bad. (By the way, what IS the resolution of the 'digital' picture being transmitted?)

Ok, so after many a hullaballo, the boxes were changed to stereo. We welcomed that. What we don't welcome is the excessive pricing strategy.

One example? Listen to this, Melita guys. Why the hell do you have kids cartoons (the proper cartoons like Boomerang and Cartoonito) only on the higher priced package? I have looked at the 'L' package just now, and notice that on the kids channels, there is nothing but Disney and Nickelodeon.

Seriously guys. Has anyone ever noticed how incredibly bad Nickelodeon programming is? A further couple of points. Do kids watch Nickelodeon? Or do parents allow their kids to watch Nickelodeon? A waste of time, with senseless bashing and violence. Definitely not good.

So it is with heavy heart that I must pay the extra thirteen Euros per month to just avail ourselves of Boomerang and Cartoonito.

And this is just for the kids channels.

Alright...the blurb by Melita would go - 'But you get 92 channels..'

Well, who gets to watch the Fashion channel, or EWTN, or Poker channel, or Moda TV (super-low resolution) I won't go into the utter drivel delivered by MTV since a large proportion of the population seems to be turned on by the gyrating uh.. 'singers' of ridiculous songs.

Why can't we buy the packages that we want at a better price? (The Maltese channels would be the first to go. Such biased rubbish with low standards.) Why can't we settle for a, say, minimum 30 channel package? It's not how much you have, it's WHAT you see. And the Maltese population can tell you that we ARE picky.

And now to my really big boner (excuse my pun).

The Sports channels have gone up in price again. According to Melita, this is due to UEFA increasing the price of licensing again. So, since I am largely indoors during the weekend, this I will concede. Modern football costs money, and the service offered here is extremely good. Add to this the extremely competent presenters during 'Kick-Off' and you do have a very worthy package. A month's football (and a bevy of other sports, including the useless wrestling..bleurgh!) will only cost the equivalent of two pizzas and a couple of Pepsi, so yes, I consider this to be a good package price.

My contention here is with the quality of the signal and that ugly blasted huge impractical AMATEURISH melita logo in the bottom left of the screen. Why? Who in hell's name designed that obscenity? It is absolutely humongous!

Let's start with my setup first. I have a gorgeous 50inch plasma TV with a super-fast computer and Samsung Blu-Ray player delivering immeasurably superior and unbearably beautiful movies at 720 and 1080 resolutions. All this is piped out through an old-style, classy NAD amplifier, delivering hundreds of watts of power to incredibly expensive Sony DSW speakers. Watching an HD movie is a moving experience. You'll want to see the big-screen stars perform over and over again. (I'd rather give my car away than sell these Sonys)

So, as one can tell, I not only know what I want, I also know how to get things working in harmony. As an experienced electronics technician and old IT savvy guy, I know what I am saying.

Now, back to that bloody logo....which is... even now, happily burning a permanent image on my screen. I have MELITA LIVE on my TV even when I am not watching the sports channels. A lawyer friend of mine informs me off the record that it could be a case for litigation if I so wanted. Not yet...not yet. But I DO urge Melita to take a look at the way that other channels portray their logo and redress a situation that should never have come to arise.

And the final nail in the coffin is the fact that the video signal is appalling. Many people are actually happy with the quality of their fare, and I can understand that. But for people buying modern TV/Audio equipment these days, it is simply not on. Some time back, I think it was two years or three, I cannot remember exactly, there seemed to be an experiment going on at Melita, consisting of HD transmissions on a special box(?). If I recall even more correctly, I contacted Melita to ask what one had to do, and was informed that not only did I require the ownership of an HD TV (obvious really), but that I had to pay a goodly amount of money for the HD box(!!!) and the experimental service. Get out of it!

Since then, nothing has come out of it, I presume. Further calls to Melita indicated clearly that no one seemed (seems!) to know what the hell I was talking about. I actually looked at my set-top box to see if 'component' connectors were available, but unhappily I only have an RGB Scart outlet. There is no information on the Melita web-site either.

The TV system used is sadly antiquated and needs a refresh. Now if only somebody can talk to me about whether any improvements are taking place. I don't want to exaggerate, but sometimes I watch internet TV through my PC and onto my TV, in incredible HD, mainly from Holland. My goodness, what a difference.

The Internet service offered by Melita is really very very good. No complaints AT ALL from me. I would not change it for the world. Excellent service. Hats off!

Then there are other aspects of Melita that I'd rather refrain from talking about and refuse to be drawn into confrontation about.

The Movie channel. Grow up! Who wants to pay to watch a movie that is usually more than a year old?

The Hello fixed line is just about adequate. Great pricing here. Can't complain about that. BUT. Every couple of days when I ring I get an annoying 3-octave tone going dee, dee, dee for no apparent reason. This happens with whoever I am calling. How to solve it? Call yourself on your mobile phone. Really? Really Really! God almighty. 2009 springs to mind again.

The mobile service. I don't want to go there. I would only accept this if Melita paid me..and handsomely at that. What use is a mobile phone if you cannot get through to people? Past friends have become unreachable, and my brother insisted that his contract be rescinded. Maybe this is because the system is still in its infancy. Well, as a designer of electronic products for the industry, I can't wait for somebody to get hurt before applying improvements to my products.

The intrusion of Melita in the satellite sharing system has also left a very bad taste in my mouth. If people want to break the law by using this sharing, it is up to the local police forces to ensure legality, and not bringing it up yourselves. I can assure you that with software these days it is possible to obtain anything without your knowledge.

Finally, the price is too high for what is offered. Customers taking a whole package (like me) should be offered better pricing. Comparing your complete package (sans sports) to Go's is clear. Higher pricing at practically the same levels..with 400 minutes of mobile minutes thrown in with GO. Not that you can use them with Melita naturally.

So it was actually quite a big bone this week. One might think that if I am so disappointed, why not change allegiance to GO? Easy, without football I cannot live. Since Melita have all the rights to Serie A and Premiership (and also doing a good job), there is not much to do.

I would actually give a 6.5 out of 10 to Melita, with the mobile service and the pricing, together with TV definition bringing down the votes. Internet and Sports Channels are actually second to none.

But oh, how I wish I can watch a football match the way it is meant to be. In glorious HD.

Hello? Anyone listening?

Grande Vittoria

2009-08-30T20:07:00.003+02:00

Siamo andati a Roma. Abbiamo guardato intorno. Cinquantamile tifosi Romanisti...e quattro mila fedeli Juventini. E li abbiamo battuti. Conquistata la terra dell'Olimpico.

Grande partita di tutta la squadra, con un punto di diamante come Diego. Due reti, tanti assist. Grande giocate. Fenomeno.

Altra rete di Felipe Melo, cuore indomabile della difesa bianconera. Grande prova.

Calcio samba, Calcio vincente. E siamo primi,

Juve, grazie di esistere!

Saturday football marathon

2009-08-30T07:53:00.002+02:00

Sunday today, and it should be a day of rest. Unfortunately I have a mild cold that yesterday prevented me from enjoying what is about the only worthwhile day of the week. Saturday. So I turned to the TV set and the newly-restarted football leagues to watch the footy.

Things started rolling with the Formula1 qualifiers actually, but I managed to nod off during the last valid section for the top ten. Damn. Next up it was the Chelsea-Burnley match, which I did not elect to watch.

My favourites were on next. Tottenham against Birmingham. With the Spurs winning every match this year so far, it seemed to be a fair bet for an easy victory. At least on paper. What turned out to be had me and my daughter in tears right up to the very end.

A very tense (and domineering) first half performance ended goalless, and it looked as if the City Blues could easily hold on for a draw. That is, until Harry Redknapp unleashed Peter Crouch onto the field of play. The lanky forward showed the way to go and a number of chances started coming our way. Finally the deadlock was broken in the seventy-second minute. Crouch rose above the defence to power a header beyond Cooke’s reach. No more than Spurs deserved, and despite having a sore throat and all, our shouting was at fever pitch for the goal. Phew, what a relief!

But as a Spurs fan, one has to suffer, and suffer we did. Barely three minutes had passed, and the Blues were level. Another mix-up in defence, and Cudicini hesitated, before giving Birmingham an easy tap-in to score. 1-1. And we have to do it all over again. And this time in fifteen minutes.

Spurs not only did not manage to look too dangerous, but City had a glorious chance to win the match, but O’Connor managed to fluff the ball wide of the goal after a pass by Benitez.

On 88 minutes Jermain Defoe (who wasted innumerable chances) went to the ground injured and Russian international Roman Pavlyuchenko was drafted in to replace him. Still no go. The Russian giant barely touched the ball until the dying seconds.

94th minute and City were going forward, with ex-Spurs Steven Carr slipping on the ball. Tom Huddlestone nipped forward to take the ball off him, and pass it towards the Russian. Roman dribbled past two players before finding Aaron ‘Speedy Gonzales’ Lennon on the far left. The winger skipped nimbly past two defenders before allowing the ball to settle on his favourite right foot and slide it in beyond the reach of goalkeeper Cooke.

Ecstasy, Pure Joy, and of course much shouting at the last play of a match we thouroughly deserved to win. There we were, me, Roxy and Nunu, all jumping for joy, and my throat even more sore than before. Ah…the beauty of football. So exciting and unpredictable.

The next match was Man.Utd-Arsenal. That finished 2-1, with the Gunners feeling thoroughly peeved at the way they managed to lose a match they should have won easily. United are nothing without Cristiano Ronaldo, and trying to play Giggs in the same way as CR is such a wrong move. Suffice to say United won by a goal coming from a penalty and a ‘classic own goal’ by Arsenal defender Diaby…inexplicably, the defender, left alone, misjudged wildly his header, sending a bullet past team-mate Almunia in the Gunners goal.

The big match was then on at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Italy. Two giants, Inter and Milan taking on each other in the ‘Derby della Madonnina’. Expectations ran high for this match, and things indicated it was going to be too close to call. As usual, Inter had no Italians in their side, while Milan had six. (In the two matches between English sides described above, there were barely ten … mostly in the Spurs squad!)

Anyway, back to the match. This was a whitewash. Inter dominated a hapless Milan from the start. Milan’s weak link this year is surely coach Leonardo. I never really fancied him as a player, let alone as a coach! He is so hopeless. Adding Kaka’s goodbye was then nothing short of disastrous. The scoreline? 4-0, with the first half finishing already 3-0 and Gattuso sent off for Milan. His injury hampered him and showed Leonardo’s inexperience in not preparing Seedorf for an immediate change. Between being injured and being substituted, a whole three minutes had passed. An eternity in football! Thus it was that following a late challenge on Sneijder , Gattuso was sent off! What a shambles.

Inter selected not to inflict too much injury to Milan, as they backed off their pace a bit, but managing to score again by Stankovic, who it seems, sees red every time he plays against Milan.

And now….I’m off to bed…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAchoooo.

Damn that was good!

What a weekend it turned out!

2009-08-09T09:31:00.010+02:00

Aaaaargh...Ten in the morning and I'm still feeling pretty stoned this morning. That's what happens to people who still insist on partying at my age.

I slowly creak out of bed, before dumping some six bottles of beer into the loo via a complicated system known as peeing.

OK..so what happened? A rocking weekend. That's what. It all started on Friday evening. St.Maria band club in Ghaxaq splashed a fantastic sum of money (or so I heard) to bring the Queen Rhapsody UK tribute band to Malta. So me and the wife were at Ghaxaq by 8pm, in the hope of securing a place at the front. Nothing doing...it was already jam-packed.

Naturally there were a couple of supporting acts that went down really well. First off, one of my favourite Maltese bands, Myth, bashed out an acoustic set that showed the real talent this band has - preparation, stage presence, and musical realisation. And humility.

Yep. Dion is ever so humble in accepting praises for the band, or the songs they write. But it's ever so true. Together with Karen, Patrick and Mark, they have been releasing songs like there's no tomorrow. And perhaps not surprisingly, songs that have been taken well by a receptive Maltese audience. What's more, they have been doing this for yonks!!!

Sometimes I wonder to what heights these guys would have gone had sponsorship money been available to them...

The second band to play was the 'Joe Brown Band'. Let me tell you in a few words. These guys are pros. Real pros. First off they had Eleanor Cassar take up the singing duties, and I was gob-smacked at the power in this little lady's voice. Absolutely amazing. Needless to say, most of the tracks were cover versions, but far from being easy, I would say doing a cover and doing it well is the epitome of perfection.

Eleanor also sang her Eurovision entry, and not for the first time, I wondered what made the people and jury vote for Chiara. Stupendous. Eleanor is another shy and humble girl away from the stage. When I talked to her about certain decisions, she shyly hung her head to the right and answered 'I will try harder next time.' No remorse or anger or cynical remarks. Another winner that I wish would have more air-time and sponsorship available...but where on earth does she hide that incredible voice in such a tiny frame?

Mark and Aldo of Lord Adder fame then took the stage, and the crowd went wild as they belted one rock tune after another...Smoke on the Water, Hotel California, You give love a bad name, and of course, something also from their favourites.. Beatles and CCR. I remember first seeing Lord Adder live way back in err... 1985 I guess....and like me, they never grew up! Absolutely great show. Obviously Joe Brown himself is nothing short of amazing. What a guy!

By this time the crowd had swelled to incredible proportions. There was simply no more space in the road and in the side streets. I had a great position....Exit Stage Left, and I could see clearly down to the bottom, and it was bedlam when Mark and Aldo sang Hotel California. Who hasn't heard of this great track? So the Ghaxqin, together with a huge contingent of 'outsiders' sang with much gusto... awaiting the arrival of Rhapsody.

And the Queen tribute band were greeted with fireworks as they made their way on to the stage. The following ninety minutes were a frenzy of inimitable music as written by the great band themselves. Rhapsody were nothing short of jaw-dropping as they belted one hit after another. The Ghaxaq crowd literally exploded as song after song unfolded, everybody chanting with the chorus and generally having a great time. The singer's 'Viva Santa Maria' then threw out a roar of epic proportions... I thought the band was technically very impressive. The bassist played with incredible gusto all round, and I feel he is the cornerstone of the guys, although in truth, nobody disappointed. The singer's voice war remarkably close to the great one's, and wisely kept from singing tones he could not reach. Maturity and professionalism.

The guys finished with 'We are the champions' naturally, and for the Santa Maria Band fans, this was the epitome of a great show, fireworks thundering in the sky above, people in their thousands chanting and holding their hands in the air. Spine-chilling. Finally it was time to take a bow, and with a gigantic 'Viva Santa Maria' banner held by the band, the crowd were whipped into a frenzy... this, my friends, is what ROCK music is all about.

An absolutely great evening! Thank you Ghaxaq! Viva Santa Maria!

Yep, so that was Friday...I think it was 2am by the time we arrived home!

SATURDAY evening.

What could be better than a rock festival. TWO rock festivals of course.

Around 8pm we left home to make our way to Ta'Qali National Park arena, where a feast of Rock and Metal was about to ensue. the guest stars this time? Nothing but 'Kiss Forever Band'.

Unfortunately the time constraints we had did not enable us to listen to 'The Red Labels'...damn. We started off by Estrella, a Scottish band I admit I had not heard of, but these guys are damn good! I enjoyed their show...I enjoyed it a lot. This band is a five-piece classic rock-blues band that has great stage impact. I am certainly going to look out for them!

Next up were our mighty FIRE!!! God I love this band. Up there with Myth as my all-time favourites. I don't think I will waste too many scrapes and bows here. The guys know I admire their music a lot, as of course, do many more real hard-rock fans locally. Fire gave us their repertoire from their debut album 'Ignite', as well as tantalising fare from 'Thrill Me' , their new effort.

People, don't take my word for it...just go and get this CD. Hehe...how many nights has Robert stayed up listening to this one as he produced it?

Next up were Reborn. I have to be brutally honest here. This band had grabbed my attention two years ago when we took part in the RockBAZE competition, and I seriously thought they would be in the top two. This time however, I thought they were disastrous. The brashness of the lead guitar made listening to what was being played nigh-on impossible. The sound was actually coming through as one indistinct lump. The covers the band played? Shockingly bad. For next time then.

Okay, then up to the main attraction, greeting the band with the now infamous 'You wanted the best...you GOT the best....' Only God knows how long I wondered if I ever would hear that live. The band in question is the Hungarian 'Kiss Forever Band'... but damn me they are frikkin good.

A good tastes and selection of music was played for the now large-ish and VERY enthusiastic crowd...crowd pleasers, such as - I was made for Loving you , Detroit Rock City, Rock n' Roll all night, Beth, Strutter, Firehouse, Love Gun, Cold Gin, Doctor of Love, Shout it out loud and a host of others...

This band has now visited its' 21st country, Malta, and the fans here could not be happier that this Hungarian quartet has been here to play. I must admit to being superbly impressed...

Looking around me I could see pensioners, AND children, painted up as Space Ace, or the Cat, and it made me smile, at how the power of rock can bring people of all ages together. After all, the pensioners were still 20-something back then when KISS started playing. Fathers and mothers all painted up towing their now teenage offspring with them...also painted up.

I enjoyed myself supremely throughout the whole set...and we only arrived home at 3am... So no wonder I am stonked out! Anybody wanting the pics from the show are free to ask for them on the email above!

LONG LIVE ROCK 'N ROLL!

Beep Beep.....

2009-02-16T15:21:00.001+01:00

A number of things pushed me on to write this blog this morning, but most probably it involves the young guy I nearly ran down with my car today. Granted it was still around 7am, and quite dark too, but that is no excuse...or is it?

This particular young man, after hollering outside my car windscreen, jumped back on his bicycle-converted-to-motorcycle contraption, and spluttered off, leaving me and a goodly number of onlookers gaping at him.

Looking at his receding back, I could see that he had no lights, no fluorescent vest, and worst of all, a black jacket. Ah. That is why I didn't see him then. The fact that he had no safety helmet on, I think, did not occur to him at all.

So, in a roundabout way, I am coming to the point of what I want to say. The government says there are way too many cars on the road. And I agree. So that is why we are seeing a proliferation of these death-traps on the road.

Buy a cheap bicycle, import an engine from ebay for a mere hundred euros, bolt it on the frame...and there you go. A registration fee of five malta liri, and you're good to go!

What the heck is wrong with this country? I have a little 50cc Gilera motorbike for which I have to pay MY drivers license and the bike's road-tax and insurance. Not to mention the dreaded VRT.

How can this be?

Let's compare the two items in question. Both machines have 2 wheels. Both have a frame, and a saddle, and err...brakes....but wait, wait.

Let's REALLY compare them.

The converted bicycle has two thin tyres very prone to bursting at high speeds, as well as a thin uncomfortable saddle bolted onto a narrow aluminium frame that is not meant to handle high speeds. Braking, as one can imagine, is an absolute joke. Try stopping a bicycle going at seventy kilometres an hour on two little rubber blocks! Safety is nothing short of hilarious. These drivers are not asked to wear a helmet. Or God forbid, have front and rear lights.

On the other hand my little Gilera has two thick high-speed capable tyres, a comfortably padded seat with storage space beneath it. The frame is welded in a number of places to ensure safety. Powerful shock absorbers amortize the disc-braking system and a nice little windscreen deflects the wind comfortably away from my helmet-protected head. Powerful lights at the front and back make a good job of advising other commuters on the road that a motorbike is approaching.

So, really, there is no comparison is there? My bike is far more safe on the road...both to me and to others.

So can anyone tell me why the heck I have to fork out ALL that money to keep what is essentially a bicycle with wheels on the road? While the other guy pays nothing for using the same road, albeit with dangerous equipment.

I sincerely propose that for motorcycles up to 100 cubic centimetres, one simply pays a one-time registration tax...and that's it.

I can guarantee that up to a fifth of cars will disappear from the Maltese roads, especially in spring and summer. And why not. Mopeds are easy to drive and cheap to run. They use clean, efficient, unleaded fuel, cause less hassle on the road and are a doddle to park. Buying a moped doesn't necessitate breaking the bank with a loan. Being fun to drive is an added bonus.

So if the government really wants to do something (which I doubt), my advice would be to liberalise the sub-100cc motorcycle market.

So Cold....and so dispirited.

2009-02-13T07:58:00.003+01:00

It's eight in the morning, I am already at work, but earning my way through the day couldn't be further from my mind than it already is. The air-conditioning unit is on, struggling to keep the place warm, and mostly managing...but I feel so cold. Colder than I have felt for some time now.

I should be a bit happy in the knowledge that at least it's Friday today, and a weekend is stretching in front of us all. But no, I will probably be here in for work tomorrow. At least it will be quiet and I will be able to earn some extra wages as well. In all probability I will miss another 'Thorn' rehearsal, but at the moment, the band seems to be going through a sticky patch, and there is not much to rehearse for. So what is the point of continuing at all?

Sure I enjoy playing live and all that, but the occasions have become so few and far in between that I wonder why I bother at all. Last Tuesday was another damp squib, managing to play a couple of songs in all, but generally listening to everybody grumble and moan. Me, I just kept my mouth shut. And I missed a great football match between Brazil and Italy. No. Definitely not worth it then.

We seem to have lost that spark so cruelly taken away just as we seemed to be regaining our popularity, when Clive (drums) called it quits, and even though his replacement is more than up to the task, Clive brought with him a certain flair. Then Jade's retirement and consequent passing away was another nail in the coffin, so to speak. We badly need a synth to complement our songs.

So where do we stand? I don't know actually. Part of me wants to keep on playing with the band, learning more as time goes by, or simply give it all up and concentrate on the other band, primarily a Christian Rock and Gospel type, which seems to attract people who are more than happy to hear us play. I thought it would be just because of our service during mass on Sunday at ten, but no. We have experimented with a couple of 'short shows' at odd times, especially on Sunday evenings, and people still come to hear us. Hmm. Seems like there is a goodly amount of people who are content listening to the diversity of songs we play. Some have even asked us for recordings.

All these thoughts could probably be just musings coming from the fact that with this damp weather my arthritis is driving me round the bend with pain and fatigue. No matter how long I sleep or how much I dress up, the ever-pervading damp is still there to suck on my bones, my strength and my will to move a muscle.

And God...how I miss the sun. How I miss that great big yellow ball of relief from the blasted damp. And of coures, I miss summer, with its' dips in the cool sea, and the relaxing evening nights on the roof, having a beer with my friends and my brothers.

Yes, I can't wait until this bloody season is over.

What a load of cobblers.

2009-02-08T08:48:00.000+01:00

While we were on our weekend break at Selmun, it just happened that there was the Eurovision Song for Malta festival. While I am not a fan of soppy songs and all the corruption that comes with this travesty of music, my kids and wife usually like to watch it.

So it was no bother to me to have a lie-down in bed and actually watch events as they unfolded. And I have some comments to make. Timed at nearly four and a half hours, the competition was way too long. The adverts made up for half that time. Is that legal at all? I thought there was a legal limit as to the proportion.

The presenters? God almighty, I've seen wooden spoons that were far more animated than those two on stage.

And the songs? I could pick a handful that were above average, but only just. The winning song wasn't a song at all. Chiara tried to use her voice to carry her to victory, which she did. I tried listening to it, honestly, but I have rarely heard such a tuneless song. I dare anyone to try and whistle or hum the tune to it. You can't...there simply is none!

And finally, here is a pic of me and the wife watching the contest and occasionally falling to sleep.

All in another year's funny Eurovision. I am accepting bets that we won't make it past the semi-finals.

Gigantic Aircraft

2009-01-11T19:13:00.003+01:00

Truly Spectacular

Doctors, butterflies and dreams.

2008-12-28T08:42:00.005+01:00

It has been some time since I wrote something on my blog, and to be honest, I should be completely ashamed of myself. Here I am, an aspiring writer (without much hope) neglecting his homework. But for a diverse number of reasons, I have to confess to my sins with a number of, not really excuses, but happenings in these two months that have shaken my foundations.

A lot of things have happened as I already mentioned, but most importantly and sadly, has been the unexpected passing away of two dear friends. Two friends whom I never ever imagined that I would outlive, let alone look back in fondness on.

The first was the stroke that Dr.Karl Chirchop suffered. It was an incapacitating blow that struck this young gentle person. Now, politics has nothing to do with this since me and Karl go a little while back along the years. Many people know KC through his political work, but I wasn't one of them. Karl was actually our family GP, a Liverpool fan, and a hoot to talk to. The fact that I am on the opposite side of his political stands only spurred us to greater debates and thoughts. Karl passed away a month after his stroke, and his death left a great emptiness in my heart.

At his funeral service, I could see how much this man meant to so many people. Too young to go at only 42. KC, you are already sorely missed.

The second death, and one that struck so close to home was the passing away of our erstwhile feisty pianist Jade Brincat. Dying at twenty-one of a heart-attack is almost unheard of. Dying at twenty-one of an attack brought about by a simple anti-biotic is even more horrific. Jade had a history of heart palpitations not too many people knew about. The antibiotic which she took for a chest infection struck her just as she suffered one of her palpitations, resulting in a swift death.

The news came through at work. A mate of mine poked his head round my office door and said... "I don't want to alarm you or anything, but word is going around the factory that Jade died."

I remember looking up and saying that it probably was her grandmother who had been in hospital for some time.

Sandro replied that he had already heard that and that it was being denied. I recall leaping off my chair and going off to find Ruby-Ann who works with us at Gavazzi. I saw Glenn and Ruby down near the reception area, and at that moment my legs fell out from beneath me. A sense of bewilderness spread over me and all I could hear was the buzzing of the girls who were shocked at the news.

Needless to say, a lot of thoughts were being spoken out loud...being a rocker, a goth, ah, you know...rockers these days. I was so angry at those words.

I went down to Glenn and Ruby who confirmed my worst fears. the attack had taken her life swiftly and her parents had only a few seconds to reach out to their daughter.

It seems that Jade died in the ambulance on the way to hospital.

I cannot describe my grief. No words can ever hope to convery my despair at this friend's passing.

I cried and cried all through the following week...messages flooded my phone and my mailbox, as well as Stillborn's website. I felt this death so much... so so much. I used to pick up Jade on the way to the band, take her back home, meet up in church on Sunday evenings, pick her up on the way to work, and generally have a largely good time with loads of laughter punctuating the air. Jade was such a funny, lovable little person, and to this day I cannot fathom out why I felt her passing so much. She was much like the little sister I never had. My kids spent every last tear they had. They loved her with a passion.

Needless to say, the funeral service was chock-full, with practically every worker from Gavazzi attending, as well as the huge number of rockers that packed the parish church at Paola. It was so emotional and moving. I have never seen Raphael so distraught either, as we wept for our fallen friend.

Even now as I write, I am looking at her picture and feel the sorrow coming on again...

About a week after her funeral, I was still downcast and sad.

Until I had the dream.

I dreamt I was with my wife at hospital, walking along, when who should I see but Jade? She was wearing one of her usual black outfits, and she bade me to follow her. She went into a room, which promptly started to glow with an unearthly bright light, and Jade returned to us wearing an all-white smock with gilted edges, glowing bright yellow. At that point she hugged me and kissed me on the cheeks, telling me, 'Do you believe?'... We walked together to the exit, and in my disbelief asked her if she could, like, float...she smiled and hovered above the floor for a few seconds, before settling down with a giggle. I could only stare at her for a few moments. Jade started walking out of the door, and I can recall exactly that the sensor did not catch her presence, and she went on straight through the glass plate as if it wasn't even there. I think it was at that precise moment that I realised what she was trying to show me.

Out of the door I went with my wife. Jade turned to us and said. 'I guess this is goodbye until we meet again. Yes, until we meet again.'

At that point she spread her wings, held out her hands and rose up until she vanished from our view. An angel reaching out to the heaven that she so believed in...yes I believed.

Immediately I woke up, with a new feeling in my heart. Yes, Jade, our little butterfly had gone, no longer gracing us with her music, her mad giggle, her funny clothes and warm soul...but she would always be in our hearts and minds. Until we meet again.

I could already imagine her creating chaos in heaven as she tries to get the angels to try out nose-rings or black lip-stick! Not to mention playing Heavy Metal for them!

This was on a Saturday, and I had to talk to somebody about it. Well, what are friends for after all? I called a young priest friend of mine, who said that he had no doubt that she had talked to me through a dream. He was absolutely sure that she had reached our God in heaven, and He had sent a message to me to rest my grieving heart. Although I supposed he was right, I could hardly believe it.

Until the next day, when something extraordinary happened that put all the pieces in place.

We were pottering up on the roof after a particularly windy night which had destroyed our roof-top garden.

I was up with my wife and Roxanne, when we started talking about her again. We started talking about the last barbecue we had up there, when we got really plastered. Jade had passed out on the roof, and Ruby-Ann was close to going as well. Nothing would make Raphael lose it, while I recall being a bit unsteady. I told my wife that I really missed her, but I was convinced she was at rest.

Suddenly we closed our mouths as a great big brown and orange butterfly fluttered out of nowhere. I had not seen a King Butterfly in Malta for loads of years. But this one was as huge as a platter! The butterfly danced around me, before settling down on my wife's hair. We were struck speechless at this showing of God's magnificent creation. Roxanne looked on with awe as the butterfly lifted off, flew around her head, and then rose out of view.

I guess it was this last happening that really confirmed my beliefs.

Why is it that some people's loss affects you most? Is it because of their goodness, their unfailing help, or the total trust they offer you? Who knows...for me it has been a bizarre but self-healing experience.

First there was the dream, in which I was inclined to believe...then there was the butterfly incident, which totally convinced me.

When I think of Jade these days, it is usually with a grin and a contended sigh. Why should I grieve for someone who has finally found her place with the Lord? Yes my heart has finally settled and lost the stone that was resting heavily on it. I still mourn the physical person that was Jade obviously, but content with the knowledge that there is a new star in heaven tonight.

And the other Angels are probably wearing black lip-gloss, have their noses (and navels) pierced and listening to Heavy Metal right now as we speak!

S T U P E N D O U S !

2008-09-05T11:30:00.004+02:00

The first rains of autumn coincided with the morning that my blasted flu' took over. And so being quite unable to sleep, I decided to make my way to the rather large balcony doors that face south on to the gardens, eager to catch some of the majesty that the night skies were unleashing upon this little island....for the first time in more than three months.

And for the umpteenth time I thought about the many times I have woken up simply to watch this spectacle. And of course wonder how I could portray at least once of those 'serpents of fire' making their way though the clouds. At least once. But alas, luck, or perseverance, was never on my side.

The next morning on the official Times site, I caught a glimpse of the photo below. And I could only gaze in wonder at the splendor of it all. The winding road caught in a fusion of orange lights, the distant buildings twinkling merrily in the background, with a great big tongue of lightning lapping up the air, bathing the immediate atmosphere with its binding whiteness.

(click thumbnail to view image in full)

Photographer Malcolm Sammut has been kind enough to share this beautiful rendering of the power of nature free of charge to all those who have asked him for the photo. For that we thank him and offer our most sincere appreciation for an art that is asking for even more ingenuity due to the increase in technology. But apart from framing and a name, this picture in untouched. Pure timing and skill.

I can only say ... touche'.

Bah...ill

2008-09-03T20:50:00.002+02:00

It is NOT turning out to be a good week after all. About the only thing that can be said in its' favour is the fact that I won't be at work. But it will certainly not be enjoyable....au contraire.

The fact is that I have a rather harsh throat infection, meandering up to my ears. And it isn't pleasant at all. Strangely enough I didn't have anything yesterday, sure, I sneezed a couple of times, but not what you might make you think something's coming up.

But this night was a torment. After returning home from band practice, I felt a bit out of sorts, but put it away to tiredness, since the medication bloody well kills me. I did not close an eye for more than ten minutes, and stayed awake watching the lightning show.

And now my worst fear. An infection. Something as innocuous as this can really endanger my health. I can only hope that my antibodies have started working a bit now. It has been four months now since the 'deadly yellow' pills have been stopped, so things should be ok.

But a little insurance never hurt anyone, so a quick call to hospital made sure that the medics knew of my condition. As always, I have full faith in my helpers!

I'm going to bed, maybe get some shut-eye.

Blonde Hookers!

2008-09-02T23:30:00.001+02:00

As I make my way home from band practice every Saturday night, I pass in front of a house in Marsa which is well known for providing pleasures of the flesh to the hard-working men of the area. Now sitting on the doorstep of this house, are usually three or four of the women who, let us say ,'inhabit' the house in question.

Nothing unusual, one might say, after all, plying their trade in the traditional fashion is one of the oldest jobs ever available to mankind.

But one thing comes to my mind. Why is it that ALL of the assorted women who are on the doorstep are a frightening shade of pale blonde? There is a short one, a tall err...lady, a skinny one and a quite chubby one, who resembles my mother in age...but all unquestionably peroxide blonde.

What is it with hookers and blondes? This is a question that has me pondering mightily why it should be so. I can honestly say that I have not yet mustered the courage to stop and ask. Nor do I have any intention of doing so.

Be that as it may...there is a girl there who sometimes makes an appearance, and she is immensely beautiful, young and well-proportioned. But she sports jet-black hair.

Ah....must be the tea-lady then!

End of the games...and a lesson in humility.

2008-08-25T09:48:00.003+02:00

A month has passed since I wrote something, but a really hot spell made sure I did not touch my computer. A lot of things have happened, on which I will catch up later. But this story from the Olympic Games warmed my heart. Competing against adversaries is one thing, competing against life is another. The following story is compiled from one written by Charles Robinson.

Samia Yusuf Omar headed back to Somalia Sunday, returning to the small two-room house in Mogadishu shared by seven family members. Her mother lives there, selling fruits and vegetables. Her father is buried there, the victim of a wayward artillery shell that hit their home and also killed Samia’s aunt and uncle.

This is the Olympic story we never heard.

It’s about a girl whose Beijing moment lasted a mere 32 seconds – the slowest 200-meter dash time out of the 46 women who competed in the event. Thirty-two seconds that almost nobody saw but that she carries home with her, swelled with joy and wonderment. Back to a decades-long civil war that has flattened much of her city. Back to an Olympic program with few Olympians and no facilities. Back to meals of flat bread, wheat porridge and tap water.

“I have my pride,” she said through a translator before leaving China. “This is the highest thing any athlete can hope for. It has been a very happy experience for me. I am proud to bring the Somali flag to fly with all of these countries, and to stand with the best athletes in the world.”

There are many life stories that collide in each Olympics – many intriguing tales of glory and tragedy. Beijing delivered the electricity of Usain Bolt and the determination of Michael Phelps. It left hearts heavy with the disappointment of Liu Xiang and the heartache of Hugh McCutcheon.

But it also gave us Samia Yusuf Omar – one small girl from one chaotic country – and a story that might have gone unnoticed if it hadn’t been for a roaring half-empty stadium.

It was Aug. 19, and the tiny girl had crossed over seven lanes to find her starting block in her 200-meter heat. She walked past Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown – the eventual gold medalist in the event. Samia had read about Campbell-Brown in track and field magazines and once watched her in wonderment on television. As a cameraman panned down the starting blocks, it settled on lane No. 2, on a 17-year old girl with the frame of a Kenyan distance runner. Samia’s biography in the Olympic media system contained almost no information, other than her 5-foot-4, 54kilo frame. There was no mention of her personal best times and nothing on previous track meets. Somalia, it was later explained, has a hard time organizing the records of its athletes.

She looked so odd and out of place among her competitors, with her white headband and a baggy, untucked T-shirt. The legs on her wiry frame were thin and spindly, and her arms poked out of her sleeves like the twigs of a sapling. She tugged at the bottom of her shirt and shot an occasional nervous glance at the other runners in her heat. Each had muscles bulging from beneath their skin-tight track suits. Many outweighed Samia by nearly 20kilograms.

After introductions, she knelt into her starting block.

When the gun went off in Samia’s 200-meter heat, seven women blasted from their starting blocks, registering as little as 16/100 of a second of reaction time. Samia’s start was slow enough that the computer didn’t read it, leaving her reaction time blank on the heat’s statistical printout.

Within seconds, seven competitors were thundering around the curve in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest, struggling to separate themselves from one another. Samia was just entering the curve when her opponents were nearing the finish line. The television feed had lost her entirely by the time Veronica Campbell-Brown crossed the finish line in a trotting 23.04 seconds.

As the athletes came to a halt and knelt, stretching and sucking deep breaths, a camera moved to ground level. In the background of the picture, a white dot wearing a headband could be seen coming down the stretch.

Until this month, Samia had been to two countries outside of her own – Djibouti and Ethiopia. Asked how she will describe Beijing, her eyes get big and she snickers from under a blue and white Olympic baseball cap.

“The stadiums, I never thought something like this existed in the world,” she said. “The buildings in the city, it was all very surprising. It will probably take days to finish all the stories we have to tell.”

Asked about Beijing’s otherworldly Water Cube, she lets out a sigh: “Ahhhhhhh.”

Before she can answer, Abdi cuts her off.

“I didn’t know what it was when I saw it,” he said. “Is it plastic? Is it magic?”

Few buildings are beyond two or three stories tall in Mogadishu, and those still standing are mostly in tatters. Only pictures will be able to describe some of Beijing’s structures, from the ancient architecture of the Forbidden City to the modernity of the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest.

“The Olympic fire in the stadium, everywhere I am, it is always up there,” Samia said. “It’s like the moon. I look up wherever I go, it is there.”

These are the stories they will relish when they return to Somalia, which they believe has, for one brief moment, united the country’s warring tribes. Farah said he had received calls from countrymen all over the world, asking how their two athletes were doing and what they had experienced in China. On the morning of Samia’s race, it was just after 5 a.m., and locals from her neighborhood were scrambling to find a television with a broadcast.

“People stayed awake to see it,” Farah said. “The good thing, sports is the one thing which unites all of Somalia.”

That is one of the common threads they share with every athlete at the Games. Just being an Olympian and carrying the country’s flag brings an immense sense of pride to families and neighborhoods which typically know only despair.

A pride that Samia will share with her mother, three brothers and three sisters. A pride that Abdi will carry home to his father, two brothers and two sisters. Like Samia’s father two years ago, Abdi’s mother was killed in the civil war, by a mortar shell that hit the family’s home in 1993.

“We are very proud,” Samia said. “Because of us, the Somali flag is raised among all the other nations’ flags. You can’t imagine how proud we were when we were marching in the Opening Ceremonies with the flag.

“Despite the difficulties and everything we’ve had with our country, we feel great pride in our accomplishment.”

As Samia came down the stretch in her 200-meter heat, she realized that the Somalian Olympic federation had chosen to place her in the wrong event. The 200 wasn’t nearly the best event for a middle distance runner. But the federation believed the dash would serve as a “good experience” for her. Now she was coming down the stretch alone, pumping her arms and tilting her head to the side with a look of despair.

Suddenly, the half-empty stadium realized there was still a runner on the track, still pushing to get across the finish line almost eight seconds behind the seven women who had already completed the race. In the last 50 meters, much of the stadium rose to its feet, flooding the track below with cheers of encouragement. A few competitors who had left Samia behind turned and watched it unfold.

As Samia crossed the line in 32.16 seconds, the crowd roared in applause. Bahamian runner Sheniqua Ferguson, the next smallest woman on the track at 5-foot-7 and 130 pounds, looked at the girl crossing the finish and thought to herself, “Wow, she’s tiny.”

“She must love running,” Ferguson said later.

Several days later, Samia waved off her Olympic moment as being inspirational. While she was still filled with joy over her chance to compete, and though she knew she had done all she could, part of her seemed embarrassed that the crowd had risen to its feet to help push her across the finish line.

“I was happy the people were cheering and encouraging me,” she said. “But I would have liked to be cheered because I won, not because I needed encouragement. It is something I will work on. I will try my best not to be the last person next time. It was very nice for people to give me that encouragement, but I would prefer the winning cheer.

She shrugged and smiled.

“I knew it was an uphill task.”

And there it was. While the Olympics are often promoted for the fastest and strongest and most agile champions, there is something to be said for the ones who finish out of the limelight. The ones who finish last and leave with their pride.

At their best, the Olympics still signify competition and purity, a love for sport. What represents that better than two athletes who carry their country’s flag into the Games despite their country’s inability to carry them before that moment? What better way to find the best of the Olympic spirit than by looking at those who endure so much that would break it?

“We know that we are different from the other athletes,” Samia said. “But we don’t want to show it. We try our best to look like all the rest. We understand we are not anywhere near the level of the other competitors here. We understand that very, very well. But more than anything else, we would like to show the dignity of ourselves and our country.”

She smiles when she says this, sitting a stone’s throw from a Somalian flag that she and her countryman Abdi brought to these Games. They came and went from Beijing largely unnoticed, but may have been the most dignified example these Olympics could offer.

Bicycle races are coming your way.

2008-07-24T12:26:00.003+02:00

Following a series of health problems, (thankfully now relatively under control) I have been given the all-green to start exercising again at a more hectic pace. I enjoy walking, but I wanted something a little bit more demanding. Running was out of the question due to the impact produced.

So, something that was non-impact and still quite productive.Having lately bought a bicycle for my youngest daughter, I asked her for a ride. It was nothing short of exhilirating. Ever since I was a toddler, until way past my teens, I had always relied on a bicycle to get me from point A to B. First with the classic Chopper, then on Raleigh Racers, they kept me fit. So I began looking around on the 'net and in the shops for a decent bike. One that was sturdy enough to cope with my weight...but with a price tag that wasn't too high!

Thankfully, the little monkey that pulls the strings in my brain, reminded me of Etienne. This guys rocks. National cycling champion for the last million years or so, I thought he might have a bike he would like to dispose of! I mean this guy collects bikes like I collect BBQ invitations!

So, a quick trip downstairs and after a long trek, (this guy lives next door! hehe) I asked him whether he had something for me. Unfortunately I realised that all the bikes in Etienne's collections cost as much as a car! Well, several cars actually! No way I could purchase one of them.

The champ took me round a corner in his huge garage and asked me if I was interested in borrowing a bike that he had not used in years. There, under the dirt and grime, a bright yellow Giant ATX 990 Hybrid lay forlornly in the company of a red Cannondale MTB.

Since the Giant has front and rear suspension, it was just right for my broken back. Etienne duly serviced the bike and handed it to me quickly. And I am amazed at the quality of this beautiful machine! Needless to say, I have to be extra careful with this thing. It costs a hell of a LOT of money!

The 990 has a medium-sized frame with a high-ground clearance due to the long travel of the front fork, as well as the rear shock. Brakes that can stop the bike on a dime, and super-smooth gear changers, as well as beautifully machined parts adorn this beautiful giant. Following a series of short runs to acquaint myself with this monster, yesterday I took my Roxy for a series of laps at Sta.Lucia track. We managed a creditable 10km before finally succumbing to darkness and fatigue.

And now? Now I have aches and pains in muscles that I never knew existed! But they are happy pains...and my back? Nary a twinge.

My ass hurts though!

And Roxy is still sleeping away...aaah...the life of a student!

OH! ALWAYS wear a helmet on a bike. ALWAYS!

For once, Bill Gates is superbly right!

2008-06-18T15:22:00.003+02:00

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

If you agree, pass this message on to your mates.
If you can read this - Thank a teacher!

Unpleasant Incident.

2008-06-08T21:26:00.002+02:00

At the moment I am little shaken. I have just had to call the emergency services to send an ambulance for a 13-14 year old girl who was clearly dead drunk, and trying to cut her arms open with a broken beer bottle. Along with other people in the garden, I did try to calm the girl down, without obviously even trying to touch her to remove the bottle from her hand. She managed to wound herself quite seriously I think, and I could feel nothing but pity for her.

There was nothing else to do except call for help. Fortunately somebody else had also seen her stagger down the middle of the road in her inebriated state and called the police.

One might complain all he want about Malta, but not surely against these two stalwarts of law, order and health. Barely five minutes had passed and both police and ambulance were on site, taking care of the girl.

I could hear her swearing in English, cursing her luck and of wanting to die. What is it that drives such young people to this distress? Such a pity, for life is beautiful if lived right. Suffice to say that this girl is a year older than my daughter, and is well known here.

A few minutes after she was picked up by the ambulance, we could hear it screaming away into the distance... and we all know that ambulances do not use a siren for nothing.

Just another sad incident at Tarxien...

Do I moan too much?

2008-06-04T11:34:00.003+02:00

I have a (thankfully large) number of friends who tell me that I am always moaning about this or that. Although I thank them for the interest they show in my little scribblings, I would like to set the record straight.

I grumble where there is cause to grumble. I praise where there is reason to praise.

Starting from Thursday afternoon. I listened in horrific silence as my wife explained to me how she was going to pick little Roxy from school, only to see parents running as a shout went out that a child had been hit by a car. Obviously all parents would be scared shitless at this horrible news, and my wife's imagination went riot as she imagined that it could be ours.

It was not Roxy thankfully, but another poor girl who had escaped her mother's grasp, and run along the pavement. Seeing one of the mammoth UGLY festa columns in her way, she nimbly stepped onto the road, where she promptly was sent flying by a car driven by a teacher at the school no less. The poor woman (who also happens to be pregnant) was innocent of the fact, and obviously was moving along quite slowly. This was a great shock to her too I can imagine, although not as much as it was to the poor girl who lay on the ground crying and screaming at the top of her voice. (Thankfully the little lady escaped with nothing to show for it except bruising and shock.)

So where is the gripe here? Let me say this straight. If it had been my daughter who had to go down into the road and get run over because of the 'festa' columns, I would make sure that there would be no festa ever in Tarxien. Ever! I would sue the bastards down to their last nut! It has become 'tradition' to adorn the streets with these monstrous columns which do not allow room for walking on the pavement. Shame on you guys. YOU know who you are. YOU know which street I am talking about. Is it legal for these people to do this? Do they have a police license to stick these eyesores on the pavement? Do you know the problem you cause with traffic in the morning and afternoon at school-time? As if it isn't enough to have petards shake your house for a whole week...God how I hate them. I just wish they would be banned.

Another dangerous ugly column is one that is at the top of the road coming in from 'Tal-Barrani' and corner with 'Main Street', just where the Tarxien Wine Bar street ends. I tell you one thing. YOU CANNOT SEE A BUS COMING because of this ugly monstrosity. I nearly swiped a Lotus Elan careering down the road. The driver ticked me off properly until I meekly replied that I couldn't see him because the column blocked the view.

"Damn you're right. Who put that fucking thing there?"

How would I answer that? So...please be careful of these things. If they block the view of the road, they are probably illegal. ACTION!

Let's cue to last Saturday evening. Right after band practice my kids wanted to go to Mc.Donalds at Gudja International. While not against the fast-food industry in any way, I would rather go to a nice quiet (on Saturday? Right!) restaurant, or at least a pizzeria...but no, they wanted to go there to meet up with friends. No problem for me anyways, I could never resist a good burger, although to be totally honest I think that the new paint scheme at the Gudja Macadoo sucks big-time. This is a burger joint for pete's sake, not a high-falutin fancy Italian restaurant!

And here I come up to the first problem, or as my mates say, first moan. I fully understand that Saturday is a busy day for any establishment, but to populate the serving counter with barely out-of-school guys and girls is asking a bit too much in my humble opinion. The serving girl gleefully managed to get all our order wrong, and no amount of pleading could I convince her that it was not what I wanted. But, I am a kind man at heart, and seeing the panic this girl had on her, I simply decided to hand over my money and let matters be. Fortunately she did get MY order right, but just about that was the only thing. She even neglected to give us spoons for the ice-cream! Ah well...the work will do them good anyway.

Alas, I have another moan coming up. My kids love reading, and as they finished the meal, begged me to take them to Agenda book-shop at the terminal to buy a book. I usually get all my books from play.com since they are invariably cheaper, but obviously take some time to arrive. However the girls at Agenda are always courteous and nice, especially to the kids, so we made our way down the car-park to cross the road right in front of the departures.

We stopped in fron of the zebra crossing, and seeing that the only vehicle coming was in fact quite far-off, we started to cross. What we did not realise was the high speed at which this vehicle (a red mini-bus!) was being driven. Do you think the driver stepped of the gas pedal to allow us to cross? NOT ON YOUR LIFE. I had to pull my daughters back to avoid an accident.

Here I apologise to the (very) few decent mini-van drivers...but I consider these people to be not much above the scum that dirties the road. It is no use trying to explain to me. Ever since I was young enough to notice this form of transport, I have come to realise how badly educated they are Truth is truth, and no amount of advertising will convince me otherwise.

So yes, maybe I moan too much. But I tell you something. If just ONE of my moans manages to right one wrong, then I feel vindicated.

As usual...KEEP ROCKING!

Amazing product!

2008-05-30T10:20:00.004+02:00

Looking out for a new mobile phone recently, I was impressed at the specs offered by this phone from China, and on a whim, decided to get one.

At the paltry price of 99$, how wrong can one get? The only thing I can say is that thank heavens I got this phone!

It is a superb piece of multimedia kit. I can listen to music on my car amplifier via bluetooth, I can see the images from the camera on a large screen, and also watch movies on it.

Unfortunately sometimes I spend hours at hospital, and the ebook-reader option is a god-send. You can carry all amounts of books on it. Just plop your .txt file into the appropriate folder and that's all there is to it. You can switch from book to book without the phone losing your page! The phone can even auto-scroll the pages for you, by line or by page...

The screen is bright, clear and easy to use, calling someone is a doddle, and all round the phone is extremely easy to use. Okay it doesn't have wi-fi, but it never was on my priorities list, although it would have been nice. A couple of weeks ago I used to take my mobile phone and a pda with me wherever I go, but this is just great. The only thing I THINK I do not have is the 'shake' thingy, but no big deal to me.

The calls on the set are clear, and using the provided headset, I can go out for a walk with just this thing in my pocket, and when a call comes through it is patched through to the headphones....admittedly the earpieces supplied were rubbish, so I just removed them from the small speakers, and soldered a decent pair from Creative...and the sound is divine. Maybe not iPhone quality , but really good anyway.

Hehe...the original ones were moulded on a set of really expensive Sennheisers. I should know, owning the originals myself.

And you should hear this thing blaring through Bluetooth...oh the freedom of having your kids change the music at the back of my car without asking! And for private use try a pair of Motorola BT phones on this..you will be amazed.

In the case it has six speakers and they are LOUD...sorry . L-O-U-D!!!! I don't need a radio anymore! You even can set this phone up to switch itself off at , say, 11pm and switch itself on at 6am, hook up various alarms throughout the day and over a whole week...''wake me up at 6am on Mondays through Wednesday, at 7.30am on Thursdays and bugger off on Fridays.'' Yes, really!

And the alarm sounds so gorgeous, a sweet Chinese melody that I sometimes leave playing simply so I can hear it. Unobtrusive SMS pings and warbles... a good selection actually.

The calendar is a bit limiting, but not extrmely so, seeing that you can even use really accurate handwriting to input your data! And I have found a software to synchronise with my PC. There is also a camera which is touted at being 2MP, but unfortunately can only go up to VGA resolution. Firmware time anyone? The pictures are really great on a sunny day, but suffer a bit when taken inside. You can also frame the images with pre-drawn funky frames for your kids.

But there are too many other features to mention in a short review.

The $99 included the phone, 2 batteries (why? each charge lasts well over 10 days!), a wall charger, an electrical outlet adapter, a silicon-cover, a 1Gb SanDisk micro-SD with a larger USB adapter, a USB Cable for charging the phone and using it as a flash-drive, a car-lighter to USB Charger kit, head-set with microphone and earphones as well as switch for track-advancing or switching to answer-mode. Oh yes, the screen-protector as well as velvet-wipe for it. Hope I haven't forgotten anything. And all for the price of $99.

Ridiculous...I cannot imagine how they earn money selling this. I guess the only quibble I would find is the width of the unit, but even that is acceptable...it is a multimedia machine after all, with a HUGE touch screen. There is also a nice little stowaway stylus the goes into the phone's battery cover.
Now isn't that COOL? I really would buy another one.

Highly recommended! Just don't let your kids near it! You might never see this gem again, unless it is in their grubby hands!

Thanks to www.ex-audio.com for his sales!

Forza JUVE!

2008-04-22T09:55:00.002+02:00

Barely a year after the scandal which rocked Italian football , and Juventus in particular, it is time to draw some conclusions from the (still ongoing) league. As expect by those who follow Juve, the team has played really well and is in third position.

Should the 'fairness' that so much has been touted about materialized, Juve would have been well on the way to reclaiming what is by rights, so deserved...ie..the title crown. Instead, it has been shown clearly that what happened during the Moggi era was nothing as suspicious as the media made out. Indecent refereeing has lost Juve surely ten points, and gifted Inter as much again.

One has to just take a look at the top-scorer table to note that in the top five, there are five Juve players from the team that used to 'win by telephone!'.

Trezeguet, Del Piero, Ibrahimovic and Mutu have, this season, scored 66 goals between them, albeit with different teams. Makes you wonder eh? So yes, Juve will go down as the most successful 'newly-promoted-team' ever. Had to be. And with the current form of veteran Alex Del Piero, things are looking rosier all the time.

And for us Juve fans, it doesn't really matter where we play...our hearts are always worn on our sleeves...rigorously in black and white stripes!

A bit of quiet...

2008-04-15T09:45:00.000+02:00

April is usually a strange time here on our islands. I guess the weather plays an important part. The greenery all around us is still lush and verdant following the February rains, but the heat starts to set in at a most inappropriate manner.

Yes that's it...the weather. Sometimes in April it can be so cold and windy as to really bother you, and at times it so hot that it makes you wonder if we are already in summer.

The first week in April was surprisingly hot, with temperatures reaching up to 25 degrees, while what followed was a ten day period of dull weather with strong winds..VERY STRONG winds.

It is now a really nice breezy warm day that makes you want to grab a bottle of wine and a traditional Maltese Ftira, and make your way to the beach.

Speaking of which, me and my family have officially launched the swimming season. Every year we advance the time in which we take the plunge...and this year the date has been forwarded to the 13th of April. HAve written this down on our calendar, so maybe next year we can advance this too!

Cheers

Easter Sunday Sadness

2008-03-23T12:43:00.002+01:00

As the mournful music from the Pearl Harbor soundtrack washed over my senses, I reflected how unlucky I was not to have my father around me today, Easter Sunday.

I remember distinctly his preparation of the traditional Maltese figolla, preparing it in my favourite shape, that of an aeroplane, and then decorating it with chocolate and trimmings to make it look as real as possible.

I look back on all the times we used to go around the island, looking around the various churches resplendent with all the trappings of sorrow and resurrection, the two intertwined in our beliefs.

And then we used to celebrate Easter Sunday at our home town of Vittoriosa, running happily with the risen Christ by our side, not returning home until it was way past dinnertime and throats hoarse with all our shouting of joy.

And as I remembered these happy times, I could not resist looking through an ancient suitcase, replete with old and faded photographs of a time gone by.

And I weep.

I weep for the soul and the love of a man struck down in his prime.

I weep for all the children of the world who treat their parents as if they were nothing but a hindrance to their hustling and bustling lives.

In my tears I can feel his presence next to me, comforting me with the thought that eventually, like the risen Lord, we will meet once again sometime.

Yes, we will meet...and talk about life, love and family, and all the happenings we have gone through all the years we have been apart.

And I promise myself to continue loving my children just as he loved me in his day.

A change in format.

2008-03-15T06:27:00.000+01:00

Just a short note. I decided to change the format a bit. The main reason was that the original one, which I really liked, had a limitation on the column width. A nice, clean simple one is just right. Please also do take your time to vote on my poll on the right. Adverts are also making an appearance. I have so many visits that it only makes (ad)sense to earn a bit of cash for my humble efforts.

Finally everything is done and dusted...

2008-03-15T05:28:00.000+01:00

A week has passed since the day Malta paused to vote for the next legislation's leaders, and as I suspected, the Nationalist Party has won again. A narrow margin, to be true, but a victory nonetheless. As far as I can remember, since 1976 to this day, there has only been one Labour majority, and that was in 1996, when it was followed by a very short but intense(ly disruptive) twenty-two months of misguided leadership.

So, now that the dust has settled, I am attempting to write down a bit of what has been going on.

Saturday:
---------
93% of the voters turned out to vote on what was a really cold and wet day. I don't think that the rain stopped at all, or if it did, it was only to give us some respite. The figure was a low one which augured well for the MLP but not the PN. You see, there are certain causes that the parties are not willing to officially state their case upon, but are known anyhow. Everybody knows that mostly PN is against Spring Hunting, and have been so since the start. MLP, on the other hand, while not saying that they will ban hunting in spring, have quietly announced that they will follow the EU's directive on this ban. Now, I have friends in the know who say that the Trapper's association is mostly Labour supporters with a minority of nationalists, but still reaching the 35% mark. These guys don't just vote themselves, they even COERCE their spouses and children to vote for their cause...so yes, I can say that the nationalists lost a huge number of votes from the trapping section.

There was also the case of the JPO 'ordeal', as he was accused of screwing about on an area of land which is outside building permit boundaries.(I don't know who is right or wrong here, but a LOT of voters lost their nerve because of this.)

This caused a bit of concern, because the last time round PN had a 12k vote cushion. So, with 5k votes not being picked up and another 4k lost through the trappers doing, the advantage had slipped down to a bare minimum of 2k votes. Hardly enough to rest your head on the pillow without thinking about it.

The polling booths remained open up to 11pm instead of 10pm, due to the inclement weather and the local councils election voting. Fine by me.

So 93% it was, with Labour already daring to proclaim a hopeful victory.

Sunday:
--------
If anybody asks me to spell the word 'tense' for him, it would go like this...'S-U-N-D-A-Y' .. There you go...'tense'.

The ballot boxes were still being opened and the votes being put face-down by 10am , but in the vicinity of Paola, a huge noise of fireworks, car-horns and whistles was being heard. I stared in amazement when I got up on the roof to see what was happening.

There in the middle of the square, it was jam-packed with Labour supporters, celebrating a victory which was still not even plausible, let alone probable!

I called a mate of mine, 'K' to enquire what was going on.

K - 'It's a whitewash...17,000 to 22,000 advantage to us, we're going to celebrate.'
Me- 'How can that be? The ballot boxes are not even all open yet!'
K - 'Already worked out man. Jas told me.'

And that my friends, is the Labour mentality.

How can even one begin to celebrate a mighty victory when the match hasn't even started? How can one proclaim a victory against a formidable football team when you are still in the dressing rooms? And how, for God's sake can one shout about an election victory when the votes have not been counted yet? Yes...a Labour mentality.

Obviously, within a couple of hours at 12.30 came the cold shock I had been waiting for. Official sampling results had been creeping out. The nationalists were 2000 votes to the good. I stepped out on the roof again...

Ah...all was silent again on the Labour front.

Not for long though. I could see the Nationalist Party club being thrown wide open with people jumping up and down and screaming in delight. But this time the laughter and celebrations did not die out.

I can say that our little island held its breath in a collective effort, as even more samples were being taken and discarded as being 'too close to call'.

Finally, on TV I could see the PN supporters at the counting hall in Naxxar erupting in joy and banging against the perspex partitions. I felt immediately that victory had finally arrived. Not because Dr.Gonzi had been elected in that particular district, but the amount of votes he garnered made sure that there was no way his party could be reached.

I slumped down on my chair, worn out with fatigue and relief. Funny really, because I have never ever been a political creature. Also I am of the firm opinion of having alternate governments every 7-8 years. But there's something I don't like at all about labour. More on that later too...

Finally at 9.22 sharp, PN spokesman Joe Saliba uttered the magic words we have all been waiting for.'From first indications, it seems that the Nationalist Party have won the election.'

That was that! I must confess to dancing and jumping with relief. We all went down to Paola after that, to witness celebrations galore. After all the tension, the people had a right to enjoy themselves and let out steam.

Monday:
--------

Shhh.....the sheer silence of a country suffering from post-dramatic stress disorder.

I refused to let an election disrupt my work habits, so I went to work just like any normal day. And here is where I feel our population has to mature. Okay, we might get carried away with our enthusiasm, but after all is said and done, it is just a democratic selection by the people. I'm sure that the MLP want as much improvement for the Maltese people as the Nationalists. It's just the way some differences crop up and are tackled that is the real issue here.

So yes, it was a very quiet day, even here at work, where the relief was palpable. Our 'traditional' daily walk around the industrial was eerily different. Damn...even the guard dogs were silent today. Nary a car in the entire estate, except our car-park.

Meanwhile around Pieta' tens of thousands of PN supporters gathered around the party headquarters to render homage to their leader and yet another victory.

At last it was all over bar the shouting...or the swearing-in. That was on Tuesday.

Wow...what a long post...hehe...and I still haven't written in with my opinions yet...but I think I will leave that out for today. I will post later on in the day or tomorrow, when I have gathered some more musings.

As always....keep METAL \m/

Decision time is now!

2008-03-05T15:03:00.002+01:00

Election fever is gripping the island, and hopefully everyone has decided on which colour to splash out.

I say hopefully..because I have not decided yet.

Some pros and cons:

I have been into a website in which I have been amazed by the negative feedback left by so many people. It is unbelievable how these people leave such stupid comments.

I don't think that they are broke or barefoot, but simply see negativeness everywhere...deciding to neglect all the good that has really been built the past years.

Let us put colour aside and think about it for a while. It’s true not everything is heaven but the difference from the old labour days to the present hows and how.

Modern technology, schools, airport, hospitals, environment (more on that later), freedom of buying, freedom of speech, computers, internet, education and ... I won't be able to stop. The roads have long been the bane of our country. So let me tell you this. Start your journey from where I live in Tarxien, near Mintoff. Drive along the S.Lucia road, down to Qormi, up the bypass, to Zebbug, and the Mtarfa bypass, then all the way to Gozo...and if you find a pothole I'll buy you a beer!

People along the years chose PN for this change which we see till this present day. It’s black on white. Things can't be done by magic, they need sacrifices and support from all.

Now on the other hand PN have done some major damage. In my opinion, the environment has not yet been given the real attention it is due. Okay, there has been a huge improvement.. but there is still loads to be done.

1. Contractors... STOP THEIR PERMITS! How many houses are still empty in Malta? THOUSANDS. So...before some of these houses are sold, no permits will be issued.

2. Hunters/Trappers... For the sake of a little amount, the larger amount is precluded from enjoying the spring as it is meant to be. This has to stop. I wish they would break the law like they promised... spend some time behind bars, just like the FREE birds they ensnare.

3. JPO... everyone knows who he is no? For the almighty dollar I would never have imagined you would stoop so low! Shame on you. Off with your head matey!

Okay, now on to labour...which has not really had a decent majority since 1976..unbelievable but true. The only other majority was in the histori 96 elections when they were elected but unable to hold on to the post, despite having a 7000 majority. This was unfair as the amount should have given them two seats of advantage.

What's new with Labour? I am being honest now. Nothing new. Same old faces, doing the same old jobs, grabbing the same money from our pockets like the PN.

Sure, we might ge back the 5 days leave taken from our pocket by the blues. Sant also mentioned that the surcharge would be slashed to half....(I definitely recall him saying that it would be removed)..now we are down to half. Repeater classes..THEY ARE repeater classes...

Ok, now is the time to give somebody else a chance....now is the time to elect a third party to parliament.

Now is the time to go Green!

Think before you vote! Give green at least no.2

Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur!

2008-02-25T08:26:00.003+01:00

Mates of mine will know that I am a big fan of Tottenham Hotspur! So it was with no little pleasure that me an Roxanne witnessed the Spurs finally winning a trophy..and against mighty Chelsea! A well-balanced match, with the whites taking the lion's share of the play in the first half (although Chelsea scored first), and Chelsea responding well in the second, despite Spurs equalising. Funny bit that! Then a truly fortuitous goal by Woodgate in the 3rd minute of extra time sealed matters! COME ON YOU SPURS!

Fessed up again!

2008-02-23T23:20:00.000+01:00

Well somebody sure doesn't like us Juventini. This is the 4th match which we should have won comfortably, but being denied by extremely poor and biased refereeing. No excuses here mind you. Facts are facts, whichever way you look at them. This has been going on for some time with no end in sight. Aaaah..makes me sick.

Beautiful

2008-02-22T12:41:00.003+01:00

One of the (few) advantages of going to work early (7am) is enjoying the simple beauty of nature.

A mate of mine here at work is always running around with his camera in his car, and the following picture is a result of his efforts. Pity he uses a Canon! Hehe! I am a Sony guy, but no arguing with the beauty of this picture!

Well Done Johann...keep the camera rolling!

Some light-hearted relief! (in Maltese...sorry)

2008-02-20T11:03:00.003+01:00

Wara l-interess tal-'post' ta qabel, ircevejt dan l-update! Nahseb ta min jistudja l-proposti!

1) Il-familja naghtuha valur aktar. 3 day week xoghol ghal kulhadd u jithallas ta 7 day week halli il-familja ikollha aktar hin flimkien.

2) kull hadd intitolat ghal 50 gurnata leave kull sitt xhur

3) Innehhu l-Burokrazija fuq il-post tax-xoghol....jigifieri min jiehu sick jinqataw ic-cerimonji tat-tobba u certifikati.

4) Il-prodott lokali dejjem kien ghal qalbna. Jinghataw permessi anke fl-ispizeriji biex tinbiegh il-birra maltija u ovvjament tkun issusidjata.

5) Il-Mepa, mhux nirrangawha imma innehhuwha darba ghal-dejjem halli zgur hadd ma jgerger.

6) Nillegalizzaw il-haxixa ghax biha u minghajrha, skond l-istudju li ghamilna, nofs il-poplu fl-ispazju qieghed. (Ma naqbilx...DRUGS ARE FOR MUGS!)

7) Bhala Gvern, nintrabtu biex nohorgu allowances ghal kull min isiefer fuq vaganza, specjalment fejn l-individwi jonfqu aktar minn elfejn euro. Ahna jimpurtana hafna minnek aktar ma tonfoq aktar irridu ntuk x'tonfoq!

8) Il-valur ta L-euro nghamluh daqs dak tal-maltija u indahhlu id-dollar u l-isterlina biex nikkompetu ma l-Inglizi u l-Amerikani. Tant ghandna ficjucja f'dawn il-mizuri li nafu li wara ftit id-dollaru Amerikan nifqghuh.

9) Naghtu garanzija, li jekk anke niehdu tkaxkira ta Gesu Kristu fil-Eurovision, dan xorta jsir f'Malta.

10) Jitwahhlu tabelli - jidhru mill-ispace shuttles daqs kemm ikunu kbar - fil-bahar jippuntaw lejn l-italja u jinghataw mapep ta navigazzjoni ghall-italja lill kull klandestin li jkun gej lejn Malta. Skond din il-weghda qeghdin ukoll nipproponu li npoggu xi braken li fuqhom nistghu inpoggu l-fdalijiet ta' l-ikel taghna halli jkollhom x'jieklu wkoll u hadd ma jgerger izjed ghal hela li nahlu ahna l-Maltin jew li narmu hafna ikel gdid.

11) Il-programm "dejjem tieghek Becky" jieqaf mal-ewwel mix-xandir. Jinharqu wkoll il-kopji kollha li jezistu tas-sensieli kollha ta becky inkluz is-sensiela undercover.

12) Tinfetah bajja topless u jinghataw trombi b'xejn lil kulhadd. Ma naqblu xejn li ssir bajja bottomless. Ahna fuq valuri u principji ma niccajtawx.

13) Johorgu permessi specjali ghall dawk kollha li biex jiccelebraw ir-rebha tal-partit taghna, jiddeciedu li jifqaw xi kazin, jixhtu xi landa zebgha jew jorbtu xi Billboard ma wara tal-karozza taghhom. Tistghu ukoll tghajjru lil ta kontrina ghal jumejn shah. Ghal dawk il-jumejn ser inqassmu t-shirts li jiswew 5 euros biss li fuqhom hemm miktub: noboghdukom ghax kontrina. b'hekk kulhadd ikollu cans jizvoga.

14) Inzidu it-turizmu f-pajjizna - Kemmuna nibdluwha f'post aqwa minn IBIZA. Ahna turisti zghazagh ingibu li jgawdu u jonfqu, mhux bhall partiti l-ohra, balla xjuh jaraw xi tempju - (borg gebel mitfuh addocc). Dawk flixkun ilma bejn 5 biss jixtru. Sakemm ma ttijhomx xi taqliba u nispiccaw induru bihom il-Materdei!!

15) Naqtaw ghal-kollox, dik it-tikka, u nerga nghid, vera tikka, korruzjoni li hemm fil-football malti. B'hekk biss nistaw xi darba nikkompetu fit-tazza tad-dinja!

16) Xoghol - B'harsien u dinjita. Jigifieri aktar minn 4 sieghat kuljum kollu zejjed.

17) Peress li nafu li F'malta hawn iz-zejt (avolja hadd ma fadallu zejt f'wiccu), is-surcharge tispicca darba ghal dejjem u nrohhsu id-dawl fuq pjan ta 3 snin sakemm ingibuh b'xejn.

18) Nifthu skola gdida ghal dawk il-bdabad kollha li ghandhom bzonn tikka edukazzjoni specjali, biex hadd ma jibqa lura!

19) Innehhu L-VRT minn pajjizna halli nergaw naraw karozzi klassici (tipo xi triumph, Anglia, Capri etc etc) jiccirkulaw f'pajjizna.

20) Biex inheggu lin-nies juzaw it-trasport pubbliku, ha naghtu borza imqaret b'xejn hekk kif tasal il-belt u tipprezenta il-biljett tal-linja

21) U fl-ahhar, imma mhux l-inqas. Inwahhlu JUKEBOX f'kull kantuniera ta kull villagg, rahal u belt..u nwieghdukhom li nimlew bl-aqwa talenkt muzikali...Van Halen, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple...ecc....ma ddejqu qalbkom QATT!

Ghandna pjan ghal-bidu gdid. Iva, dan nemmnuh ghax flimkien kollox possibbli. Ahna nies ta idejat godda.Ivvutalna u tara!!

JIENA HA NTIHOM IL 1

So many things happening around us!

2008-02-19T08:19:00.005+01:00

Haven't updated my blog for a while, so it is about time I put up some posts. This is going to be a different post from normal.

It will definitely be longer and have three quite different subjects. I will be writing about Religion, Politics and Abuse.

Strange isn't it? For 5 years my political instincts lie dormant, while the mere mention of the words 'General Election' make me give a good long look at what has been happening around us here on the island. I won't be too far off the beaten track if I say that Labour will probably win this year's election.

Apart from a 2 year hiatus in '96, the Nationalist Party has ruled for the last twenty years. Looking at this lengthy dominion, Malta has changed for the better. Anyone with a sense of fairness will have to admit that things are far different than when they ascended to power all those years ago. And those two years Labour spent in governing were nothing but utter shambles. However, I feel that after twenty years, rot starts to set in. Intoxication of Power is the name of the game here, and it has really been too long. But is it the fact that people want a change to Labour? Or simply because they are tired of seeing the same people in power for so long? I shudder to think at the way Labour spoonfeeds the people, telling ME what is right or wrong for my kids. I have brains with which I can decide for myself no? Give me the facility to choose, and I will do so with my mind.

People DO NOT want to change the government policy...people want to change the ministers and deputies. So the 8 March will see a tense affair develop on the Maltese Islands. On one hand we see the Nationalist Government which has worked so hard to introduce us to Europe and the European Currency, on the other hand we see Labour with their aspirations of simply disagreeing with the Nationalists just because that's the way that things go. I doubt in Sant's leadership. No...make that I do not agree with his leadership. His methods date back to the late 70s early 80s, when all we could do was shut up.

It sure as hell will be an interesting three days!

Okay, now we turn to religion. I hate organisations as a whole. And I hate organised religion the most. I cannot imagine what two thousand year old teachings have to do with this modern society of ours. I would point out that today it is Islam that I am up against. I have just seen pictures that have shaken me to the core.

An eight year old boy, neglected and hungry, stole (stole? stealing food to live!) a piece of crust from a merchant in Iran. This boy, weak as he invariably was due to malnutrition, was subsequently caught and sentenced. The punishment? Having him lie down on the ground and having a truck drive over his left arm. And the fuckers said that they took mercy on him by only crushing his left arm, since he was right-handed. This boy will remain crippled for life.

Finally back to our shores and an act of sheer stupidity by what many presume is the FKNK. Well at least they are admitting that they were the ones to try and put things straight. Just head to the Birdlife Malta site. The gist of what happened is this. Three members of Birdlife were doing a scientific study at Buskett, when a bang was heard. The trio headed back to their vehicles, only to see them in flames. One of the men is an American, driving a vehicle with diplomatic plates.

How about that? On both websites of Birdlife and FKNK there have been threats by the so-called 'Conservationists', whom I consider as bullies. Obviously, hard facts are hard to come by, but everybody knows that the hunters association is hugely against control.

Hell, I have family members who were happy at this act of arson. When are these people going to learn that in this day and age there has to be change? I will be subscribing to Birdlife, and hope to play my part.

Quotes by Greenpeace follow. “Environmentalists throughout the region are shocked and alarmed to hear the news about the firebombing of wildlife volunteer's cars. Given a history peaceful environmental campaigns, even in the face of past threats and intimidation, this violent act is a disturbing threat to Maltese civil society” stated the Director of Greenpeace Mediterranean, Mr Ahmet Bektas. “This descent to what police believe was probably a criminal attack, has no place in an EU country. It’s perpetrators stain the heritage and risk the reputation of Malta” he continued. While Greenpeace is not involved in Birdlife’s campaign to save migrating wild birds from the spring hunt, it stands together with Birdlife in its vision to peacefully defend wildlife and the environment. Mr Bektas called for rapid, decisive leadership to send a clear message to those willing to descend into violence. “At a time when Malta has so much going for it, the Prime Minister and the Opposition must find the courage and unity to immediately address the underlying issue of illegal hunting. It is incomprehensible that they should permit a small minority who flout the European Commission as well as the views of wildlife scientists and insist on their right to destructive hunting. The government of the day must join and support the view of most Maltese people and protect remaining wildlife. This will not only give a clear message that intimidation and violent methods will not be tolerated, but it will also build the country’s reputation and allow it to move on.”

New Year , New Currency, Same old Shit...

2008-01-08T11:36:00.000+01:00

So it's the start of the New Year. What will it actually bring with it? Depends on which walks of life you are going to look at I guess.

Musically I am sure that this year will continue to give our band Stillborn even more satisfaction. Healthwise things are looking up after the huge problems I went through in 2006. Last year was the settling down of the same troubles, while 2008 will bring with it a whole new meaning to the word LIFE.

It is at work that I am very demotivated. I think that the wheel has come full circle and I need to make a move. So much pressure for so little satisfaction. I guess that is the root of all evil in so far as my disapproval lies. We are supposed to be a forward looking company, but 'forward looking' in name with no real direction bugs me.

It is my opinion that management is really fessing things up. Silly deadlines plucked out of thin air, chopping and changing, personnel leaving regularly... quite understandable really. The management won't change, so the the players will.

The simplest thing is to change work. About the only thing that is on my mind is the fact that my work notice is eight whole weeks. I don't know how a company can expect a worker to come to work with motivation knowing he has the time to make up before leaving. This is a stupid law. Two weeks is more than enough to say your goodbyes.

Another thing , and I think that this is the crux of the matter... I would dearly like to go back to my true love... IT and computing. Designing web-sites, programs, multimedia software and the like...maybe I find somewhere with good vibes.

Nothing like the sweet smell of victory.

2007-12-29T11:13:00.000+01:00

Well, we have done it! Stillborn has triumphed in the first RockBAZE organized by the ESCMalta togoether with ICommunications.

Words cannot describe my emotion. Simply speechless. I have to own up and confess that I shed tears of joy at this award. Admittedly we gave a brilliant performance, playing Angel once again, a song which has now settled nicely on our fretboards, and most importantly, showing promise also with a large number of listeners. Among the prizes won, there is studio for recording this lovely song. Finally our Guardian Angel will get the recognition he/she deserves.

Our stand-in drummer Roderick stuck to his timing immaculately, while Raphael and Mario swapped their trademark solos with high precision. The girls, as usual, left no stone unturned in their quest for a great performance. Jade was simply infallible...while Diane continued to amaze the audience with her powerful voice. That left my part...

I am going to admit that I played my heart out, resulting in a very satisfying performance.

Although a relatively small competition, it will be a memory to cherish forever, being on both major TV channels around five times in total this year means that Stillborn have become more popular. Good music, good response from the public...we are on to something.

I need a hero...

2007-12-01T10:55:00.000+01:00

This is a most different blog than usual. Because it has nothing to do with me. Well it has actually. Three days of being in bed because of my bad back has caused me to be online nearly all of the time, looking through YouTube. And I found this gorgeous gem of a clip. 2 of the best players in the world.

My Guardian Angel

2007-10-27T20:51:00.002+02:00

This was our entry at the Hard Rock Battle of the Bands...a beautiful song!

What do you know? I got an A...so many things that A can stand for!

2007-10-27T00:32:00.000+02:00

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct.

It's pretty obvious that you don't make grammatical errors.
If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs.
As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human.
And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

Monday Blues...

2007-10-23T12:39:00.000+02:00

It is in these quiet moments of the day, just before the dawn, that I can sit down for a while and gather my thoughts about the previous day's happening. These dark quiet moments of absolute silence help me concentrate on what I want to say, and more importantly, how to convey my feelings.

Monday has always been a day I hated ever since I was a kid. Going back to school when I was a kid, and now going to work following a weekend has never been too appealing to me. I guess this happens to most people.

So it is Monday and I am nursing a large cup of coffee, while sitting in my balcony, just before the big red panic button is depressed, waking up the angry traffic that buzzes just beyond the tree-line avenue I inhabit, and thinking about the last two days of quiet.

The weekend wasn't too bad really. It was a case of resting properly on Friday, and enjoying the Saturday morning, what with a few house-hold DIY jobs to do, and of course helping my little Rox with her homework. The early hours slipped by quickly enough and soon the little and big hands on the clock were pointing to the time that to me means a well welcome period. Band practice.

A late emergency in the band has caused us no little harm , both psychologically, and of course, in a practical way. I am really disappointed in what happened, since we were on such a roll, what with shows coming up, preparing for a charity concert, promoting our new album and all...so to have everything plucked out from beneath you is nothing short of dismal.

No amount of pleading could sway our erstwhile drummer from suddenly calling it quits. So, okay...you've got no drummer, and suddenly the phone rings.

Ah..it's the Hard Rock Cafe promoter. Oh, ok, I guess it's just a call to inform us when we would play the next gig. But...to my horror I realise that we had just been told that we finished just 0.8 points from the final qualifier.

This is bad.

Alright, maybe (but just about) we weren't the best band, but three of the bands occupying the space above us were terrible to say the least. I simply could not believe the lack of experience and originality. And to make matters worse, I went to see these bands and noticed that the judges were different from the ones who were passing their criticism on us. Needless to say they were more generous with their marks, otherwise the bands I mentioned would not be above us.

The guys in the band just shrugged and said that this was normal in our country, and to be taken with a pinch of salt. Hell. I don't want to take this with a pinch of cow droppings, let alone salt. Two weeks back I had to draw attention to the HRC that they were adding up the votes incorrectly, and now they expect me to take this lying down. Changing judges is simply not within the confines of the contract. But then... we are without a drummer.

Right.

Time to shut up then.

Sunday was a good day, a nice quiet relaxing time, watching a couple of movies with the wife, relaxing with a good book...aah the simple pleasures of life...and then thoroughly having my nerves destroyed in the evening as the Brasilian Formula1 Grand Prix brought the racing season to a close. A tightly fought affair, with both McLaren drivers making use of officially illegal machines, the championship was finally won by my favourite Ferrari driver.

This meant so much to me...I just love motor racing. My kids were amazed at the outpur of emotion I showed. Later on in the night there was the Juve match in which my heroes battled away to a single goal victory over plucky Genoa. Del Piero got that, so I am really happy for the guy.

The church bells suddenly bring me out of my musings as they peal out their call to the faithful and I realise that it is already half past six.

I swirl the dregs of coffee left in the mug, take a last sip, and finding no solace, get dressed for work...

The day after the battle.

2007-10-05T14:48:00.000+02:00

It is the day after the band I play in, Stillborn, came head to head with the sheer power of FIRE. I am absolutely shattered, and have aches and pains in my darkest recesses of my body! Hehe...we can say that we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the evening, although to be totally honest I cannot for the life of me imagine how the fuck the judges came up with the results!

I thought mathematics was simple...but not to the management of the HRC in Baystreet. What was supposed to be an easy addition turned up completely funny and damaging.

I was also totally blown away by the lack of sensibility from two of the judges present, and while taking it sportingly, would like to add some comments in the hope of taking the mickey!

Carrie, you poor poor misguided soul. A 2/10 for originality is not only unthinkable, it is also downright insulting. 45 minutes of original material only qualifies as a 2? Oh, and the only stiff I saw on the stage yesterday was in my pants.

Lee...what were you looking at? I guess you gave us a 4 for stage presence when you were yawning at the beginning of our show and nodding off to sleep! Petrified? What the hell are you talking about? Petrified? We can hardly call the amount of people present as a crowd! We are used to playing to far more people... Again originality...we are Malta's Evanescence? I guess Evanescence are Hollands's Stillborn...we started before the Dutch band for sure. Anyway, it would be an honour to be accosted to such masters. But then, if you don't like Evanescence you will hardly enjoy our style.

All in all, I enjoyed every bit of it, and would like to offer my best wishes to my friends at FIRE. A great band with a beautifully classic sound. Lee was not too happy with the blazing guys type of music...but hey they are a classic rock band..what would you expect...still they got more than us for originality!

Keep Metal!

\m/

Vincerai!

2007-09-08T17:01:00.000+02:00

On a day when I am wracked with pain and fatigue, I could not help but be moved to tears as I followed Luciano Pavarotti's funeral on Italian television. The great tenor died on Thursday aged 71 after a long vicious battle against cancer.

His family stated that like all he did in life, he proudly battled like a lion, only succumbing when the terrible disease claimed his senses.

So who was Pavarotti to me...a hardened rocker who revelled in harsh metallic beats? That is why many of you will not understand ever the frame of mind of us rockers. We bask in musical melodies, whatever they may be. The great tenor brought to us common people the complexity of opera in a simple package, bearing the words EMOTION , HUMILITY and LOVE.

He may not have been the greatest to those in the know (or pretend to know), but to me he was the tenor who mingled with rock legends and pop stars to bring opera to the masses.

Ciao Luciano...ci mancherai!

E vincerai'!

NO COMMENT!

2007-09-06T17:19:00.000+02:00

Time to load up our gear again!

2007-09-01T10:32:00.000+02:00

Here we go again with another gig, this time at the ALLEY ROCK BAR in Paceville. Straight to the heart of entertainment in Malta, we will be bringing our heavy sound to the diversity of students from every corner of the globe, apart from the local fan base!

Entrance is FREE, and of course our debut album THY FEEBLE SOUL is on there too!

Keep METAL! ... and be safe!

What a rocking time we had!

2007-08-26T12:09:00.000+02:00

A big round of applause to all those of you who made the short trip down to Marsaxlokk for the 3rd Rock Festival. It was awesome playing alongside great Maltese performers such as BNI , X-Vandals , and of course the hugely popular Angelcrypt.

We enjoyed our time on stage and hope you enjoyed the show that all of us managed to put on.

A huge thank you goes to the Local Council of M'xlokk which always find time, patience and money to sponsor this show year in year out. Mr.Remiggio Cassar...we can never thank you enough for your incessant effort, time, and devotion to the cause of promoting local talent. How I wish that other councils were as generous!

Maybe this year, in which ironically we had the best sound and lighting, we were a bit unlucky with the happening of at least another two big shows, which split rock lovers. But it never rains unless it pours, so they say. But it is better to have more than less , no?

What? We were paid to play? We were paid to Rock our hearts out? Well, cheers then Mr.Cassar! You've made our day!

PS. On a very positive note, we were amazed to look out onto the stall where our merchandise was on sale, to see our new album fly 'off the shelves', right after our performance. This is nothing short of amazing, and gives us great heart. To cap it all, we were then hunted down to autograph the CD Sleeve. I can tell you that we really really appreciated your purchase.

A very humble Thank You from us all!

A mad place to live in!

2007-08-22T08:24:00.000+02:00

So. Saturday we will probably see a repeat of what happened last year.

That is, the audience will be having fun rocking away to the music... but as soon as the magic hour strikes eleven, we will have to pack up our amps and guitars...and make our way home. Unless as organisers we want to spend the rest of the night locked up in the local chink!

So isn't 11 o'clock a decent time to pack it in? Hell no!

The fact is that here in Malta, our local 'festas', (with all the blood and sorrow they bring with them) are allowed to continue past that hour, well into the wee hours of the morning!

That's justice for you.

Okay, got that off my chest. After the summer holidays have ground Malta practically to a halt, this week sees the last of the stragglers coming back to restart work next week. My vacation only lasted 5 days, but at least it has been quiet here in the office. With maybe just a bit more of liberty!

Keep Rocking!

Have your feeble soul rocked.

2007-08-20T11:59:00.000+02:00

So here it is finally! The week we will fine-tune our music and set-list for the forthcoming festival in Marsaxlokk.

All is in order for us Stillborn, BNI, Angelcrypt and X-Vandals to rock the hell out of the sleepy seaside town. Xlukkajri prepare your ear-drums for a veritable rock feast.

Over here at Stillborn we are in a really good mood and raring to kick-ass. As if the release of our debut album ( Thy Feeble Soul ... ) wasn't enough, we are also in the process of writing new material for a second album. (I hope I can afford it!). Three new tracks from the next album will be making it to the concert, and we sincerely hope that you like them! Our new tracks take the music to a bare stripped-down essential, with more melodies and flowing solos. They are absofuckinglutely awesome.

So come on down to the quayside and enjoy a free night of rocking! Just offer us a nice cold beer and queue up to buy our album! We will be doing a signing session after the gig! At just 10Euros, you can hardly go wrong! Overseas orders are also accepted!

Keep safe..and keep METAL!

\m/

Long time not blogging

2007-08-05T09:11:00.000+02:00

Haven't blogged for some time, so here is a little post to show that I am still around. Well the heat here in Malta is searing, with high humidity levels..it is so hot it is incredible. I absolutely hate going out in daylight!

On a positive note, last Friday I was at the Farsons Beer Festival in TaQali, where once again our favourites, namely 'FIRE', contributed to nearly an hour's worth or beautiful classic metal! What surprised me most was the introduction of a new cover, that of Ozzy's 'I never wanna stop' from the new album...and I must say it totally rocked me away. As did all the other songs too...

Following Fire there was Frenzy Mono, who have somehow managed to put me off. I think they are great musicians and players, but their song-writing leaves me cold. Sorry guys. Unfortunately we were not in time with our application to play,so we hope to reserve our place from well beforehand next year.

Meanwhile , head over to www.stillbornmalta.com for updates on our festival on the 25th of August. BE THERE!

Hail Anette Olzon

2007-05-26T06:14:00.001+02:00

The long wait is finally over. After unceremoniously offloading one of the best singers in the industry (Tarja Turunen), Nightwish have announced not only the new vocalist, but also have done it with a beautiful song dedicated to children everywhere. Anette Olzon is a new breath of fresh air. Just listen to the single and you will get the idea. Soft , melodic vocals introduce this singer from a hugely popular band that surely knows no limits. So make a wish, and it will be so!

And listening to the other 3 samples on the Nightwish web-site, it is clear to see that despite three years having passed since 'Once', the power is still there. God I can't wait until September!

Meanwhile, the single EVA is available from NuclearBlast records. All proceeds are going to aiding children in third world countries. Don't you even dare try to download it illegally!

I belong...

2007-05-25T17:55:00.000+02:00

Two days now since the Champions League cup final has been done and dusted. And after Milan ran out deserved winners, a couple of scenes caught my eye. One was the salute that the Milan players gave to the Liverpool warriors as they made their way up the steps to collect the silver medal from 'Le Roi', my favourite Juve player ever...Michel Platini.

The second one brought tears to my eyes. Young, handsome, immensely rich and popular everywhere... and the first thing he does after winning not only this prestigious competition, but also the top scorer award? He gets down on his knees and prays. Thanking God for his love. Now that is what I call a man with guts and sense. Hail mighty Kaka'...may God's light shine on you through your years.

Bah...and I'm not even a Milan fan. But then...honour to the victors.

So many music, so many emotions

2007-05-19T08:49:00.000+02:00

So, a spate of new albums, and a surprise! Let's start off with Dreamtheater's offering. In my buddy Raphael's own words , Systematic Chaos leaves you BREATHLESS! A hugely melodic album with DT's famous progressive style. Words just dry up in the face of the onslaught by this huge band. A very good album, maybe let down a little bit by too many changes in rhythm in a track. And while that is the whole point of progressive metal, it is a bit tiring to listen to.

Another album I have been waiting for is from Vision of Atlantis. Trinity comes a good three years after Castaway, in my humble opinion,one of the best albums in metal, EVER! Period! So, how does Trinity fare up? Well, I am a bit mixed up here. I desperately want to like this album, but it is so different from their previous offering that I don't know what to make of it. I think I will give this some time to settle before making a decision. Usually an album that takes time to settle on your ears becomes a favourite one, let's hope that this is the case!

So! On with the next album...OZZY OZZY OZZY OZZY OZZY..ok,ok enough. you got my point. The Prince of Darkness is back with his new album 'Black Rain'. GO OUT AND BUY IT! NOW DAMMIT! This is a STONKER of an album. So different from the last album, and so refreshingly different. I don't think I can write an unbiased review here. Why? I have always loved Ozzy. Always. Ever since hearing Paranoid I have been addicted to his voice. The riffing of Zakk Wylde is nothing short of stupendous and his playing here reaches peaks I thought he had already reached. Ah...but does he have a ballad in there? The hell he does! 'Here For You' is an arena lighters-on song. But what about the rest? Nothing much to say except that the whole album is magnificent. Far better than 'Down to Earth'. Trust me. You'll love this one. I have naughtily downloaded the promo from the net on this album. But I have already ordered mine from play.com..2 copies...yes 2 copies...

So what's the surprise? Raphael was by round my house on Thursday when he mentioned a band called called Angtoria, who have an album called 'God has a plan for us all.' (2006)

I am actually wiping away my tears as I write about this album. I am going out on a limb here ok? THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST ALBUMS I HAVE EVER HEARD. This is amazing stuff. Their debut album no less. This is up with 'Castaway' , 'Once' and 'Heart of Everything', to be stuck on my mp3 player forever.

The lyrics are dark, brooding and sometimes scary, with all the pent-up emotions of the song-writers etched on their sleeve. The music is flowing, melodic, orchestral and convey the meaning of the lyrics magnificently. This is obscenely beautiful and moving. The vocals are in-fucking-credible. Deeply, deeply moving!

This is an album that is not to be missed. Thank you Raphael. You have made my day today. I have been playing this album solid for two whole days now!

Once again, I am proud to be called a metalhead!

Keep metal! \m/

Scorpions album out!

2007-05-15T17:14:00.000+02:00

Some time after I have listened to the RUSH album endlessly, another surprise springs forth in the shape of the mighty SCORPIONS..and what a humdinger of an album this is! Simply brilliant! Great growling guitar licks and riffs, brilliant vocal tunes, drumming and bass-work. But what really distinguishes the Scorps from other bands is their song-writing. Jesus Jesus what an album. I thought that the last effort, Unbreakable was great... but this is something else!!! Get this at once!

And Joy of Joys, the masters of progressive (after RUSH) , the absolutely fantastic DREAMTHEATER have just released their new album for 2007. Systematic Chaos is the title, and obviously I have put an order.. can't wait till I get it! Knowing the Dream, it will be massive, although I felt that with Octavarium, they could go no higher. What an album that was!

On the Stillborn front, all is err.....still...changes to the line-up seem imminent again, just as we have practiced relentlessly and getting ready to go live again... any pianists reading this? We simply cannot delay the album any more though, and it seems that as soon as we have the cds we will go ahead and launch.

Keep Metal \m/

Snakes and Arrows

2007-05-03T10:48:00.000+02:00

Hurrah! Snakes and Arrows, the new album from RUSH, is finally here and thumping on my home stereo system. And what an album this is. Straight from the catchy 'Far Cry' right through 'The Main Monkey Business' and on to 'The Way the wind blows', this is an album that you will stick in your player and glue the drawer!

For three guys to make such an awesome sound is nothing short of amazing. Rush have always had a strong song-writing tradition, and their instrumental hits are really grand. Who can't remember YYZ and La Villa Strangiato? Well in this album we have 'The Main Monkey Business' which is simply awesome.

So for the moment I am savouring the music before writing a more in-depth review. Let's see how long the good feeling lasts.

Meanwhile I have heard that Rush will be touring the UK in October...now that's a thought to ponder.

RUSH RULE!

Kicked out again...

2007-05-03T10:40:00.000+02:00

It's been a bitter sweet match result for me. First of all, I am NOT a Man.Utd. fan.... far from it. First and foremost I am a Juventus supporter, with Spurs coming a distant second place. But in all honesty I wanted United to win the tie against Milan yesterday for financial reasons. You see, back in August last year I placed a small 10Euro bet on United winning the Premier AND the Champions League. Damn...would have made a really nice return on my investment at that early stage.

So before the match last night, my footballing buddies Jonathan and Joseph were banging on my front door. As usual we had our usual popcorn, snacks, pizza, and of course wine... all cholesterol free of course...ahem... anyway, I guess the snacks didn't go down a treat this week as there was still a half-bottle of wine left as the guys made their way home. So I just did it justice...mmmmm.

There was obviously a lot of ribbing going on at work this morning, all in good nature obviously... or was it? I dare not tangle with Joseph. He's built like Schwarzenneger in his prime!

Until next time...keep safe

and KEEP METAL!

Requiem for a dream

2007-04-15T09:04:00.000+02:00

Sunday today, so it is time for a rest for my poor tired back from all the rigours of the past week. Why have I named this post 'Requiem for a dream?'...simple actually.

Me, Raphael and Jade were doing some band practice yesterday when Jade started to play this beautiful haunting theme on her synth. It didn't take Raphael too long to start playing some heavy riffs alongside. After a few moments to suss out the the chords for the song, we started jamming along with Jade, and produced this little gem that I have linked to :here: (the file is 2.4Mb) .

Fortunately I had my trusty HP PDA with me, and I recorded it on to the device. I didn't think it would sound this nice, but it is just right. Still a garage recording obviously, but free from distortion.

You know what? This little number could make a nice four minute filler in our set. So simple, just three chords really, and so moving and satisfying to play. It is taken from the film bearing the same name as the title, on the evil of drugs and what harm they cause. I saw the movie lately. It is so shocking and ultimately believable. So sad . . . my advice? Steer clear of drugs.

Drugs are for mugs!

Keep safe and keep metal \m/

The wait is over...

2007-04-05T13:40:00.000+02:00

At long last the wait is over. We have in our grubby little hands the creation that has meant so many sleepless nights, empty pockets and endless sacrifices for the Stillborn team. So much work and dedication have gone into creating this little masterpiece. Sales from this album will help us gear towards recording a new second CD. We have so much material waiting to burst forth that it is incredible to think what a long journey the music has to travel...but as long as the path that it follows leads to your heart...that's all that matters.

If your dreams are strong enough, then truly nothing can stand in your way!

Keep Safe

\m/

GO FINLAND!

2007-03-24T12:56:00.000+01:00

Leave me alone! That is the winning track from the land of HEAVY METAL! Take a look at the winning song from Finland. This is an Evanescence type song, with powerful voice delivery and impressive guitar work. How can we have otherwise from the country that gave us Nightwish, Sonata Arctica and many more metal bands? This is a hit in my humble opinion.Olivia? Hold on to your butt! In my opinion we won't even make the final.

HEAVY METAL RULES!

Yep..well worth the asking price

2007-03-22T12:16:00.000+01:00

Well of course I had tried my new BC Rich at home, but to tell the truth, nothing beats a balls-to-the-wall heavy session in a small garage to appreciate the real wall of sound that this guitar emits. Jesus wept! I had to keep the amplifier down to a bare minimum so as not to have my ears scorched by the deep booming emanating from the pickups. So yes, it was well worth the price. Now if we can only start to write new material. I know we have it in us!

On an even more positive note, regarding my very bad health issues, things seem to be moving on quite well. The reason? New medication in the form of VERY expensive injections, along with methotrexate pills, are enabling me to be myself again. Yes, I am back...but I am also totally new. This is an incredibly moving moment for me and my family, who has had to suffer from the consequences of my illness. The damage has been unfortunately done, but the medication will help to not only soothe the pain, but even slowly build on the damaged joint I have. In all probability, I will have to take these (self-administered) injections until the day I close my eyes forever...but hey...who knows when that moment will be?

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED!

2007-03-17T15:16:00.000+01:00

Barely 5 days have passed since it was sent out from the nice guys (grovel grovel) at thomann.de and my nice new shiny BC Rich is already hanging from its post next to my Fender replica baby. What a sight for sore eyes they make as I gaze at their splendour! And what incredible value for a highly crafted instrument. Dreamy chrome fittings and solid black glossy paint adorn a simple but beautiful slightly arched-top bass guitar. The pic below shows it on the right, next to my trusty Skylark.

Okay, so what about the sound? Hell it is already loud by itself, let alone plugged into an amplifier. And the playability...wow..that's why a well-crafted instrument will always bring out the best of you. With trepidation I tried it out to the beautiful bass-line of 'Sultans of Swing' , and . . . . and it plays beautifully!!!

I actually wasn't home when the guitar arrived by van. My crafty wife and kids didn't say anything to me as I headed to the computer room and let out a scream of delight as I saw the huge tightly packed box next to the sofa! So thanks to the guys at www.thomann.de for their fast delivery and amazing prices. Give them a try! Extremely helpful guys...Full Marks!

New Guitar on the way!

2007-03-13T10:25:00.000+01:00

Well, I'm as proud as punch...I'm gonna be a parent again..well actually to a guitar! Hehe. I just happened to be on a German website www.thomann.de when I noticed this gleaming BC Rich Eagle Platinum going for a song. Just 148 Euros was the asking price for this black beauty, quite a lot down from the RRP of 650 Euros. What could I do but buy it? So now I am waiting eagerly for the mailman to call me to collect it! I can't imagine my local postie dropping this monster through the letter box.

Visions of Atlantis album pushed to May 25th

2007-03-06T08:37:00.000+01:00

Well yesterday, wonder of wonders , fans of VoA got a mail from Thomas, (drummer of VoA) with a link to download audio samples of the band's new offering, 'Trinity'. After the news that Nicole had departed, I was a bit wary of what I was about to hear, but new vocalist Melissa made up for any fears I might have had.

Me and my daughter really enjoyed 'Castaway' , the band's previous offering, and we are really really waiting for the album with great trepidation. After hearing the sample tracks, I can say that the wait will be even more interminable. This is going to be good, really good. I left feedback to Thomas on their website and he replied back immediately, scarcely within 7 minutes. Now that is what I call honest to goodness availability.

So yes, although the album release has been pushed back to 25th May, the samples will do to whet our appetite. Thanks Thomas, and VoA...meanwhile we will just have to listen to Castaway again and again..but that's not a bad thing after all...Castaway has been one of my top three albums ever since it was released. 'Lost' still gives me the shivers after all these years.

Manowar - Gods of War review

2007-03-06T08:35:00.000+01:00

This is Manowar's first full length album since 2002's Warriors of The World, an awesome album that was filled to the brim with tunes that rank as high as any in their entire catalog. Songs like 'Hand of Doom', 'House of Death', and 'Call To Arms', became personal anthems. That album came out during the aftermath of September 11, 2001, and contains the perfect amount of emotional drive.

Mixed with the historical context of that day, I felt that it was successful in its attempt to portray a call to arms, time for us all to get off our collective asses and fight. Even though I had been a fan of their music for years, that was the first time I actually took them seriously. It was then, because of the context, that I came to realize they are serious about their message, and it is this message that never wavers. Unfortunately, it is a message that never wavers. It starts and ends with the big guy, Odin, and the goal of all Norse warriors, to fight valiantly and die in battle so he can cross over the rainbow bridge and chow down in the great mess hall that is Valhalla, sitting next to their King, Odin.

It is this imagery, though, that causes people, including me, to snicker and visualize a bunch of white dudes standing around a fire with horns on their head, waving animal carcasses on a stick, and shouting 'By the power of grey skull!'. This is a different time than it is was then. Yes I know, the age of war is not over, but without the real world context this time around, I cannot take the message seriously.

Gods of War isn't another call to arms as Warriors of The World was. It is a concept album, one in a series of tribute albums to come covering the Norse Gods of legend. The series kicks off with this rousing tribute to the head honcho himself, Odin. In a series dealing with Norse Gods, to begin with anyone else would be completely disrespectful and potentially catastrophic. Odin just might send over Thor to jam a lightning bolt up your ass if you didn't.

I am not much of a fan of concept albums, because what it really boils down to is this, I want to hear the music, not all the peripheral stuff. Such is the same with Manowar, I want to hear multitudes of rising anthems, crescendos that come fast and furious. I want to heat their version of power metal, long carrying the torch of true metal, played like they just invented it. The new album contains several of those moments, but there are as many moments that do not.

Believe me, I get concept albums, there are going to be lulls, ebbs, and flows. There is a story to be told, and sometimes a band has to go outside the song to lay the groundwork for the story. Something the songs cannot do this by themselves. So, what eventually happens is, concept albums tend to wander off on tangents and normally I will let it take me with them, for short necessary trips, but with Gods of War, nearly half of the album is spent ring around on these tangents.

And that is what kills this album in the end. The flow is needlessly thrown away in momentum damaging overtures that don't necessarily assist in telling the story. Example: Beginning the album with two overtures, lasting nearly nine minutes. That's too much set up, when all I really want is to hear the metal, this is a metal band after all, am I wrong? Another example is the placement of the hymn, 'Army of The Dead Part 1', which stops the momentum that 'King of Kings' created dead in its tracks. When 'Sleipnir' gets going, which is a nice little power metal diddy actually, the pace quickens again and stays moving forward through to the next tune, my favorite track, 'Loki God of Fire'. The guitar riffs that accompany the chorus are deliciously different than everything else on the album. Coupled with their only real attempt at groove, the song might actually make it into a personal top ten Manowar list.

Manowar is not a stranger to ballads, and this album does include them. I just question the placement of them. After the double shot of good metal I mentioned earlier, I think it was too soon to slow it down. In this case what did it was 'Blood Brothers', a good ballad for sure, but it is repetitious, and quite frankly, would have been great at the end, fading away as the album closes. If that didn't fully kill the momentum, what followed further cemented my desire to hit the skip button. The Odin trifecta, situated directly and smack dab in the middle of the album. 'Overture of Odin' is exactly what it says, 'The Blood of Odin' is nothing more than atmospheric dialog, and then, finally, the band gets around to picking up their instruments again to finish off the trio with 'Sons of Odin', a typical Manowar song, and really, not all that good.

There are more overtures and dialog to come. I'm not quite sure why, after all that. 'Gods of War' sounded so good to me, after all it is a pretty simple hymn. Either it really is good, or it was the fact that I had to wait almost a half an hour to hear it. In the end, I came to the conclusion it's combination of both. Only one track remains on the regular album that is worth noting, the curiously titled 'Odin', a mid-paced rocker that could have been better suited sandwiched in between 'Loki God of Fire' and 'God of War'. The copy I received has a bonus track 'Die For Metal' which is a classic fist pumping anthem for and about the desire to save metal. Falling completely outside of the concept box, which I suspect, is why it is a bonus track.

RATING - 4/10 - I am just not a big fan of the over indulgence of the set ups, overtures, quiet instrumentals, and dialog. Is this Manowar? or is it Rhapsody of Fire? Much of this could have been cut out, the track listing consolidated, and emphasis placed on the actual metal tunes. Then, follow it up with a ballad if you must. But after forcing myself to listen to the entire album, as is, several times, I cannot in good faith say that I ever really want to listen to the tangents anymore. In the age we live in though, you can just take a big giant axe to much of the album, rearrange what's left to your desired listing, and you can actually salvage this album.

Oooops

2007-02-26T20:13:00.000+01:00

Cor what an error...I was reasonably sure that the new Nightwish album would be out in May, but it seems that I was mistaken...It will actually be out on the 26th of September, just the perfect gift for me since my birthday is the day after! So long to wait...

A friend of mine has informed me that March will also see a new Judas Priest offering. Nothing on the website though. If it is true and the album is as good as 'Angel of Retribution', we are in for a treat!

Meanwhile, we at Stillborn are finally going out on the road...the last week of April should see us on stage with another local band. Clarifications and plans are still being hammered out. More news later on then!

What a year this is going to be.

2007-02-22T19:58:00.000+01:00

What a year this is shaping up to be. Why is that then? Certainly everyone knows my passion for music. So I will just say the following in a hurry... Rush , Nightwish , Visions of Atlantis and of course Stillborn. What is it with these bands then? Oh come on...new albums of course. Rush are to release 'Snakes and Arrows', a much awaited release after the hugely successful 'R30' tour...hmm...now did I have fun or what? Fucking awesome shows in UK.

So now we come to Nightwish. After unceremoniously dumping lead singer Tarja Tuurunen following the Hartwell concert 'End of an Era', Tuomas and gang have been looking for a new singer. For me it will be Nicole Bogner from 'Visions of Atlantis'...The VOA singer left the band right after Nightwish sacked Tarja (what a mistake that was!). This album will make 'Once' child's play...Slated for a May release, I simply can't wait.

Now we come to Visions of Atlantis. This is a relatively small band, but I tell you, they have an awesome album in Castaway. I suggest you get a good listen to this offering, as it is simply awesome. The official site has also a video of their incredible single 'Lost'...fair gives me goosebumps. So yes, I am waiting for this album with gnashing teeth.

Last, but certainly not least, we come to 'our' Stillborn album...'Thy Feeble Soul' is an incredibly deep album, with really good progressive riffs. This is without a doubt one of the best albums I have heard for a very long time. I haven't been excited about a local release since 'Fire's' debut album in August. If we only had decent backing abroad, we would really make a killing with this release. Slated for mid-March, you should get this if you are into progressive rock.

Keep Metal \m/

Stillborn are back!

2007-02-18T23:06:00.000+01:00

Well for the last 6 months I have been living a different dream. After some silence, I thought it best to own up. I was invited to provide bass playing for fun with a friend and friend of his. Well it turned out that these two guys were part of a band called Stillborn, of which I am a fan. Things started very well. What we didn't know was whether this was a side-project to the band,but then we had the singer back, followed by the drummer! Well , I invited Jade, an incredibly talented keyboard player, and suddenly Stillborn are re-born!

Next thing we know we are practicing the long lost Stillborn album! It has been a brilliant 6 months, and we need to cap it up with a good show to promote and launch the album.

It has brilliant guitar work and incredibly deep vocals. I am amazed still today at the depth of song-writing and execution! And now we are working on new songs...The new stuff is lighter, not so dark and brooding, but fantastic material just the same.

Watch this space for further info!

Meanwhile you can watch us on www.myspace.com/stillborninfo

Thanks for watching...the rollercoaster continues on its journey!

Ouch

2007-01-15T11:36:00.000+01:00

It has been some time since I posted, so what I will probably do is try to go back to my diary and write down my thoughts as they have occurred.

Last Saturday was a new first for me. It was the first time I had a car accident. This er...'lady' came out of nowhere and hit me straight on my side. The result? Two new doors are needed, but most important is the really hard knock I got. The car finished with the driver-side wheels about six inches off the ground. Thankfully, since I was on the hospital-bound road, I got help from paramedics who fitted me with a collar brace and took me for a check-up.

After an hour it was back to the accident site since the traffic police had not arrived yet...Oh well, just another bad episode in a period of disasters!

Bugging me!

2006-10-31T07:41:00.000+01:00

I just have to say something which has bugged me a whole frickin' lot! There was NO coverage whatsoever of the results in the internet media yesterday! OK, I got to know the results from the FIRE website, but nothing elsewhere. You would have thought that pres-malta would at least have the intelligence to update their web-site with the results!

I spent a WHOLE DAY surfing to find results, just to see what happened..and came up with a big fat zero.

It was Sunday night after all, and most folks have kids, who we simply have to take to bed sooner or later. Well organised, but you should have thought this one up.

For those still in the blind...the final results were

1. Fire
2. Mindstate
3. Cable35

Fire victorious at the Battle of the Bands!

2006-10-30T11:37:00.000+01:00

Great rocking fun once again!

Please follow this link for the complete review!

Well done to ALL the participants...and thank you for the music!

Link for the FIRE clips

2006-10-09T08:08:00.000+02:00

Please find the clips for the gig here . Just click on the metal radio icon! They are hosted on my local server, so you don't even waste any bandwidth. The first clip is around 69Mb in size, while the other is 29Mb. 69 Eh? Wonder how that came about! A nice round number.

Unfortunately today my slipped disk has enlarged , not to a compact disc...but to a long play..so it's a couple of days of rest...listening to metal, namely the new Epica album , as well as Kamelot...suck me sideways! I hope my daughter hasn't taken the CDs with her to school...bugger! Not forgetting my motorhead of course!

il grillo . . . .keep metal

\m/

Open Fire !

2006-10-06T09:06:00.000+02:00

Now that I have managed to open my eyes that little bit more, it is time to pen down my thoughts on yesterday's gig at Qormi. I had been a bit apprehensive as to whether the show would go on, but a quick call to Kenneth confirmed that despite a bad cough and truly inclement weather in the afternoon, things would go on as planned....'You don't think that the water will extinguish FIRE don't you?' were his parting words.

That was sweet music to my ears as I had been waiting for this gig for weeks now. Making our way to the festival grounds, I realised that year in , year out , the Lowenbrau script goes unchanged. Same old stalls on the right , new car on the left, being kitted out with some outlandish sound system blaring out (c)rap , same stage on the left for the (supposedly) more popular music , and the same smaller 1565RockStage. Well let me tell you something beer guys....there were FAR more people at the rock stage than at the pop shite stand..so get your priorities right.

Oh, it was organised alright, squeeky clean and all that, but a bit of a change is needed. All in all
though, good family fun is there to be had by everyone...and of course... there is the beer. Yummy!

So let's move on to the music, because that is what pulled me there. I was a bit worried at my arrival by half-past eight. There was virtually NO-ONE at the stage the band was to play. 'Ooops...' said my wife. I assured her that by the time nine o'clock would chime, the rockers would be drawn here like a gnat to an ass! (This was the first time she had seen the band live, and was suitably impressed.)

And sure enough the guys and girls, most of them now recognisable from previous FIRE gigs, began to turn up like bad pennies! By the time the band started, I was in my usual place at the front of the pack. Looking to the back I could see that the crowd was quite sizeable. You simply cannot keep a good rocker away from what he craves.... good old-fashioned rock n'roll....

And as if to defy the weather, the band started off with Stormbringer, a Deep Purple favourite, going on to their 'Get out of my way' and progressed on to 'Grinder' from Judas Priest. THIS is what we have been waiting for...

Throughout the rest of the set, the crowd was treated to another couple of tracks from their super album 'IGNITE' (Manhunter and Taste this Rock n'Roll) as well as various other tracks, namely - SpeedKing , Walking by Myself, Play that funky music, Whole Lotta Rosie , Highway to Hell and the closer Saturday night's all right for dancing. All in all I felt that there was a better vibe going on than at Marsaxlokk.

While the music was simply great, the set was way too short. I feel that the band's new direction now should be either to extend their playing time or to organize a concert simply for themselves. For us fans it is disconcerting to see good bands being bogged down by rules such as time constraints or having to pack up their instruments because another band has to play after them. I obviously realise that on this little island of ours, a concert will simply cost too much with little returns. Will people pay to see the big bands play? HELL YES!

On a more positive note, Kenneth announced that FIRE will be opening for Swiss outfit Krokus when the band (led by Marc Storace) will give us their long-awaited concert on the 25th of November. Jot that date down on your diary...FIRE opening for Krokus...or is it Krokus opening for FIRE? Whatever, it will be a thoroughly enjoyable evening!

So hang on to your steel hats guys, the flames are gonna get hotter!

Oh..and did Kenneth mention that the new album is still on sale? Thought so!

Cheers...now where the hell is that CD?

The water can't extinguish the FIRE!

2006-10-06T00:18:00.000+02:00

Once again I am writing down my thoughts after another FIRE gig.... it is , however well past midnight, I am tired , my bad back is playing up again , and the little movie clip I am doing is taking ages to render... so I will just promise to write up not only the review tomorrow, but set-up the video on my server so that fans can download it... after permission from the band obviously.

Meanwhile here's a pic to whet your appetite. As usual, the band pulled in a sizeable crowd despite the less than satisfactory day (Thursday! My daughter was livid with anger and disappointment), and of course the inclement weather, which put off quite a number of people...

Apologies for the lack of quality, both on the pictures and the clips to follow. (since my SONY got busted , I have had to make do with a super disappointing noisy , low-res-video Canon. Do yourself a favour... shoot yourself before buying a Canon!)

Keep Metal ! \m/

Year 02

2006-09-08T23:56:00.000+02:00

It is Friday evening as I write this. Late...very late...So late, in fact that is almost early...the next day of course. I have quietly celebrated by myself the second anniversary of one of my most important dates in my life. Birthday? Nope...wedding anniversary? Come on, gimme a break, who remembers those? Well today is the second year of my travels to England to watch THE band...RUSH...at Wembley. A four day trip that I will remember for as long as I live...hence the title Year 02.

A most memorable concert,that I enjoyed fully, not sitting down for a second. review here

And it all ended up in a great big muddle, from the moment I stepped onto the platform of the C2C train at King's Cross Station.....and the speakers announcing 'mmmf...mumble...mmf...02 minutes...**leigh'...bloody train speakers...I am flipping sure I heard that it was going to Rayleigh, but what it really meant was that this particular train was going to Leigh station,not Rayleigh...where my beloved relatives were waiting. Oh..and this was around 1.15 in the morning! I realised something was going wrong when the train passed the Dagenham Ford factory.

So there I was at 1 in the morning, with no credit left in my phone, and my relatives miles away at a different train station. Finally I got a call, and I informed them that I was at Leigh. They duly picked me up and argued funnily about it for a while....only to find in the morning that I did get the correct train from the correct station, but the 12.02 was the only one that went to Leigh. Hehehe....good one that.

Well, it is only now that I am laughing about it...cos at that time it was anything but. I was the only living thing for miles!

Happy Anniversary!

A matter of life and death.

2006-08-29T07:36:00.000+02:00

Welcome to the review of Iron Maiden's new offering. With daring constant themes of war and misusing religion to cause it , this may seem as a concept album. It isn't that, although it is actually very close. As can be seen from the cover artwork down to the lyrics, this is a full-scale attack on the futility of it all. Contrary to their previous efforts, there seems to have been some serious thought put into this album.

I think that two of the tracks that stand out are 'The Longest Day' and 'These Colours Don't Run'. I can see the Longest Day as a stand-out in live shows while Colours is magnificent.

'For The Greater Good Of God' bleeds into another big arena swinger , with changing tempos and three way lead solos that will leave you quaking. It's another Maiden classic that does not compromise heaviness in achieving its nine-minute span. Nine minutes! There are actually five tracks over seven minutes long , and two niners.

'The Pilgrim' and opener 'Different World' are straight to the balls standard rockers, while Bruce lets go with an amazing vocal performance on the balladic 'Out of the Shadows'.

I'm sure many fans will revel in the gallop and surge of 'Brighter Than A Thousand Suns', Steve Harris' bass twanging high in the mix, while the closing track, 'The Legacy' - concluding the theme of war breeding more war - features a call-to-arms fanfare of electric guitars blaring intermittently through movie soundtrack ambience and acoustics.

I think that Iron Maiden have really bitten the bullet with this album. I am sure that many will not find it too palatable, but long time fans will surely persevere beyond the first two spinnings of the CD. Because I honestly did not like it at all!!! Yep , there I was on my bed listening to the CD through headphones, and I really had to check the CD Display to see whether the tracks were really advancing.

Why? There is a 'sameness' to the tracks, especially the intros and choruses. This is something that I have been noticing when Bailey replaced Dickinson as singer. 'Brave New World' and the (really good) 'Dance of Death' confirmed this trend. The latter had 'Rainmaker' which really stood out in the old style of Iron Maiden. Musically of course, hats off to the guys...so I will treat this cd as a concept when I am listening to it. Obviously on subsequent spins, the album grows on you. I can guarantee that.

Maiden are gradually evolving into a different breed of metallers. Any old rocker worth his salt remembers the galloping and so 'tuneful' Run to the Hills , The Trooper , Somewhere in Time and similar tracks. I miss those days so much , but the guys are thankfully moving on...as it should be.

On a high note, I am really enjoying the way that many 'big guns' are recording their albums these days. No laying down of individual tracks, but a 'live' studio performance where the band plays all at once. I think that this sounds really good on the final product, and the emotion of playing is transmitted to the listener at a broader level.

The conclusion? I feel that new Maiden fans will struggle to get to grips with this album , but for us seasoned rockers, another grand album that is worth every cent....thanks guys!

Rockin at Marsaxlokk

2006-08-27T03:03:00.000+02:00

It's 3am on a Sunday morning...and the Hunchback of NotreDame has conveniently forgotten to stop his work!

There's this incessant buzzing in my ears...the reason? Simply a great night of good old-fashioned rock music at the little sea-side village of Marsaxlokk.

But as the saying goes....'If your ears ain't ringing at the end of the show....it ain't been loud enough!'...and I heartily agree.

So , four bands hailing from the local scene were invited by the local council for a rock-festival. In order of appearance the bands were Frenzy Mono , Stillborn , Angelcrypt and the mighty FIRE.

I met up with my mates Silvio (with Sue and Tiny terror Sarah), Paul, Robert and Mario at the venue, and obviously made our way to the front! Some of my usual rocking mates were there too....can't keep a good guy (or girl) away. So a big hello also to Damian, Alex, Jade and Tony. Keep it hanging my friends!

OK then, let's see what the guys cooked up.

First off with Frenzy Mono. To be frank, I hadn't heard from this band before the Farsons beer festival, but if they keep the momentum going, they will be big. Hmmm, so how am I going to describe this band? Easy actually, think of the rolling blues-rock of Led Zeppelin (all kneel) mixed with a healthy dose of Guns n' Roses, and you have Frenzy Mono. A true pity that this band started
first out, as there were only a few people who had showed up yet. Cool, tight riffs and a brilliant singer shone in the offerings. The band did a few of their own numbers, which I thought were really good. They also covered 'Welcome to the jungle' by the Guns, and 'Heartbreaker' by Led Zeppelin.
Absolutely brilliant. I simply adore the Zeps so I will make sure to order their album as and when it is out on the streets. Great mixing of the audio delivered a crisp, professional impression. Great Stuff. Sometimes I wonder why these guys don't simply leave this little island and make a fortune on
European shores.

After a short break for beer and a wee-wee, the second band, Stillborn, was promptly on the (tiny) stage. Raphael , the guitarist from this band works with me, and I only knew about this concert from him. Nothwistanding our friendship, this is an honestly unbiased review of their performance. So,
Stillborn are a seven piece progressive metal band, with longish tracks in the deepest tradition of Rush. This band were the only one with all original compositions, and the songwriting simply is fantastic. I must confess to liking their tracks....a lot...they should be seen when they get into the groove and rhythm...you could tell that they were really enjoying themselves, a clear sign of
confidence. As for their tracks, I think that 'Thy Feeble Soul' is simply awesome , and for the final track , 'Cross of Fire', words simply fail me. I humbly confess to not liking this track when I heard it first, some months back. But wait...it was recorded in a garage, and still a 'work in progress'.
The final version is beyond comprehension. I dig this style very much, and will be first in line for their album. Come on guys .... save our souls!!!! Give us your album! We don't care for the cover sleeve. On a negative note, I think that the amps were way too loud, which distorted the sound a lot. I also feel that the vocalist needs to tune her voice a little deeper, but maybe that is only because of the (extremely) bad mixing. However I see a bright future here! The small free space on stage constricted them a little as I felt that they were more than ready to gallop away to the rhythm. I am honestly a great fan of prog and symphonic metal, so I obviously enjoyed Stillborn a lot.

Next up were Angelcrypt, after a long period of being out of the scene. This band have been, in their own words, in hibernation. The mixing was not very good again, but one can tell that there is real talent and work behind this band. Personally I thought that the guitarist and bassist are simply
awesome, chugging out riffs with a tight precision. Marvelous. Surprisingly for a thrash metal band, they had a keyboard player...and their compositions made allowance for the keyboards to sound really up-front. Good stuff. I think though, that the vocalist was nothing special. Again, this could be
because of the bad mixing, because on the official recorded demos from this band, I thought he was quite good. The two covers this band played were amazingly glorious...first up was 'Seek and Destroy' , my favourite Metallica track ever. They played this to perfection. One could close his eyes and think that the guys from LA were on the stage themselves. Their second and final offering was
the Lordi blaster 'Hard Rock Hallelujah'. Suck me sideways! What a rendition! Great stuff. People strolling around outide the area reserved for the festival were also stopping and taking a peek at what was happening. This band also has a group of fanatically loyal supporters who headbanged
their way into bliss.

Finally it was up to the mighty FIRE to take the stage. By this time the numbers in the audience had swelled to an admirable amount. FIRE have been around for a long number of years. Hell I remember going to Laurence, Robert and Pejxa's initial concert in 1981 in the old Orpheum at Gzira!!!

FIRE started off with 'My Sharona' ... and never looked back.

Kenneth, Laurence, Charles, Robert and Pejxa are building a fast-growing reputation as being THE premier rock band in Malta...I heartily agree!

The band covered the following tracks between their own (high quality) compositions.

My Sharona (Opening song). A crowd pleaser. Soon had us jumping.

Walking in the shadow of the blues (Gary Moore). My goodness what a song. Laurence the drummer was in his trademark shorts and barefeet, belting out the pounding rhythm on his drumkit.

Don't break my heart again (Whitesnake).Another great song by Whitesnake, and really performed well by the band. Kenneth really surprised me with his singing here as Coverdale is a notoriously hard man to imitate vocally.

Speed King (Deep Purple). Who's this dude Blackmore? Give me Pejxa anytime. the guy was going
absofuckinglutely nuts on his Strat. The crowd here went simply wild. Charles, the bassist was
magnificent. One could see that he studies a lot of RUSH. His playing is quite similar to Geddy Lee's.
Robert traded solos with Pejxa, showing their familiarity.

Play that funky music. I never heard this track in a heavy version, but I tell you it was great. A different kind of boogie, one can say.

Saturday night's all right for dancing(Elton John). Another song not usually associated with metal, but a great re-write nonetheless and a pleasure to listen to.

At this point the fuzz wanted the band to stop, since it was well past midnight. But the audience pleaded for more , and the band were granted another ten minutes.

Highway to hell. FIRE finished off their performance with this belter from AC/DC. I tell you we were past caring at that point. The crowd sang and chanted to this metal anthem as if we were at Wembley. Finally , the band regretfully gave us their farewell, and with another umpteenth reminder from Kenneth that their album IGNITE was on sale at a stall at the back, stepped down. I have been waiting for the album for a long time, and eagerly made my purchase.

I am listening to it as I write. Do NOT lose out on a piece of magnificent work. Well worth every cent of the cost. PLEASE do not copy this album. Give the band what they deserve! It is the fourth time that I have listened to the album, and each spin is better than the previous, as the tracks settle into familiarity. Surprisingly there are no filler songs in the album, as all the tracks gel into a complete listening experience.

So to the conclusion. Four bands that are easily up there with the best, and my only wonder is this. How come their music isn't heard more away from our shores? I think it is the marketing, as all of the mentioned groups are of the highest quality, and far better than some of the big names that have been hitting the metal scene lately.

I cannot imagine, for example, how much time, patience and money has been spent by Stillborn on 'Cross of Fire'. IGNITE is similarly highly finished production, totally produced locally, and the sound is far brighter and clearer than any sony or mercury production I have heard. Anyone who has heard the latest Ozzy and Metallica offerings know that they sound crap!

OK, I'm off to bed now, maybe that damned hunchback will cease his tolling, but I won't bet on it! Ah well, at least I won't hear my wife snoring! Metal rules!

Drinking is worse than eating!

2006-08-23T11:59:00.000+02:00

One involves chewing. The other involves sipping. But when it comes to calories, drinking can be the same as eating.

"Oh sure," you might be saying. "I know that. I've cut out soda, wine, and beer. All I drink now are healthy things like juice."

The problem, unfortunately, is that what appears to be healthy often isn't.

Some of the worst offenders are fruit-flavored drinks. These drinks are only 5 percent fruit juice, and because they're full of sugar, a 20-ounce bottle packs 300 or more calories (as much as a cream-filled doughnut)!

Another no-no? Nutritional energy drinks. Your body derives energy from calories, so (surprise!) that's what these shakes deliver: 240 extra calories a day, enough to make you gain a half-pound per week. Instead take a daily multivitamin to get the vitamins without the spare tire.

Remember to stick with what's real. A glass of 100 percent juice, skim milk, herbal tea or (best of all) good, clean, calorie-free water. Flavor it with a little sugar-free drink mix, if you need something sweet.

Back again!

2006-08-21T13:16:00.000+02:00

Well after a good long summer break, here I am again, with another instalment of 'Back to the funny farm!'...hehe.. as if!

A lot of water has passed under the bridge these last couple of months on which I was absent... but so much has happened that I am loathe to leave it all undocumented.

Number one has been the victory of the Italian national squad in Germany2006...what a night that was. And no less important was the demotion of Juventus to the second division in Italy after a 'match-fixing scandal'. Looking back on the court proceedings I can see that it is all a plot to discredit just the one team. Loads to say here, and it is not over yet. More on that as soon as I have some time to fill in the blanks in the diary!

Well , health-wise I am just a bit better, though not by that much. The pain is still lingering down my right leg. Thankfully, by doing regular exercise, and of course...a LOT of rest, especially in the afternoons, I can get to live a nearly-normal lifestyle. Thanks to my bosses at work for that. My fear is that I don't know how long they can keep up with my needs. A change in the time would nearly necessitate a change in job....aaaargh...can't even contemplate that! Simply too many friends and a nice job too!

Thankfully another drop in weight has also resulted following the dieting and training. Mostly walking you know, but still a big help.

Maybe another post tomorrow!

Italy - Australia 1-0

2006-06-26T14:03:00.000+02:00

An injury-time penalty from substitute Francesco Totti took ten-man Italy past Australia and into the last eight of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Totti, a 75th-minute replacement for Alessandro Del Piero, drove the spot-kick high into the net after Fabio Grosso had gone down under a Lucas Neill challenge just seconds before the final whistle.

Italy had been reduced to ten men following Marco Materazzi's red card five minutes into the second half and at that stage their followers might have feared a repeat of their loss to Guus Hiddink's Korea Republic at this stage four years ago. Instead, Totti's strike leaves the Azzurri looking forward to a quarter-final tie against either Switzerland or Ukraine in Hamburg on Friday.

As for Hiddink's Australia team, they can head for home proud of their performance in Germany, having reached the Round of 16 on their first outing on the world stage in 32 years.

Italy - USA 1-1

2006-06-23T18:17:00.001+02:00

What an incredibly rough and tough game. USA coach Bruce Arena, after the heavy defeat against the Czechs, declared this game to be a war...and go to war they did...but the Italians were no pushovers physically.

The first twenty minutes had an American mark to them as they shut-out Italy very well indeed. But from a free-kick, Gilardino powered the ball past a hapless Keller. Only 5 minutes had passed before Zaccardo sliced into his own net to score an incredible own-goal. I'm sure that if he tried it another hundred times he wouldn't manage to do it again.

Following that goal, De Rossi lost his head, elbowing McBride in the face while in a jump. Instant red, both for the Italian midfielder,and for Mc.Bride, who required three stiches before he could come on again.

A couple of minutes later, the USA continued its' rough play, with Mastroeni entering into a recklessly wild two-footed lunge at Pirlo. There could be only one outcome...Off to the showers lad!!!

The second half started badly for the USA again. Eddie Pope sprang wildly at Totti, earning him another yellow card....this was way too late.He should have been sent off in the first half.

The match continued with a string of saves from Keller, who did his best to keep out the blues. His final save on Del Piero was nothing short of spectacular and miraculous.

A score of 1-1 then, with USA enjoying early possesion, but the Italians, ever so cynic, were able to contain the Americans, then hit on the counter-attack. The second half was of an Italian stamp, not being able to score though.

Italy - Czech Republic 2-0

2006-06-23T18:17:00.000+02:00

Italy secured their qualification for the Round of 16 as Group E winners after beating the Czech Republic 2-0 in Hamburg on Thursday, 22 June 2006.

Marcello Lippi's side will face the second-placed team from Group F in Kaiserslautern on 26 June. The Czechs, who head home early after finishing third in the group, played the whole second half with ten men after the dismissal of Jan Polak moments before the break following a second yellow card.

Marco Materazzi, an early replacement for the injured Alessandro Nesta, put the Azzurri on course for victory when he headed past Petr Cech in the 26th minute and his fellow substitute Filippo Inzaghi sealed the three points three minutes from the end.

Italy - Ghana 2-0

2006-06-16T06:22:00.000+02:00

Finally, my favourites get to play the match. Had a few of my mates over to watch the match, and boy, was it a cracker. Surely one of the best so far. The emergence of the African nations in the football scene made this match more of a competitive one than should really be. In actual fact the Ghanans had an exceptionally strong midfield, with Essien, Appiah and Asamoha playing a holding game, but sadly for them, a weak forward line. 'The Black Stars' were effectively killed off by their one weakness in front of goal.

Italy on the other hand were rocked with another scandal, but I guess this only spurred them on to greater heights. Totti came back for the Azzurri instead of Del Piero, but despite playing some marvellous passes, he is still far from his brilliant form.

So it was up to Pirlo , and Perrotta, to provide the midfield genius. The Italians set up wave after wave of attacks, and it was only a matter of time before they scored....and what a goal it was from Pirlo.

He got the all on his left foot a good 10 metres out of the box, pulled the new Adidas ball to his right and unleashed a powerful curling kick right into the bottom corner of the net. WOW!

The Italians continued pressing, but they missed oh so many chances. Can't let that happen to often in the World Cup. Totti was taken off as a precaution, and Iaquinta scored again late in the match as he latched on to a Del Piero pass that had been wrongly controlled by a Ghana defender. The joy on the Udinese man was a pleasure to watch.

So the Azzurri are there after all! ALE ALE ALE!

Official FIFA match report

World Cup fever

2006-06-10T07:20:00.000+02:00

Finally it is here. I have waited so long for this to arrive. As a football fanatic I cannot be but overjoyed that we will be having 30 glorious days of football daily. So I will be blogging the matches the day after they have been played. It will not be a technical view of course, but rather the way I have seen the matches. Chin up mates and may the best team win...

Of course Brasil will be the favourites. Why? Simply because they enjoy the game so much. You can see the Italians putting in a good show, but since they are notoriously slow starters, they will have to sruggle to win their group, which means they would evade Brasil and probably come up against the hard-nuts of Croatia. Surely these two groups have been drawn rather harshly. But that is the luck of the draw.

Some groups have such easy matches that it is astonishing ow that could happen. But as happens with every lottery, it is not what you wish for.

The stories

2006-05-28T10:12:00.000+02:00

Hi Chantelle. I will post the stories here as soon as I manage to collect them all in one file okay? Maybe around 5pm tonight? I have just some correction to do on one of them, then I will put them here!

Here we go again!

2006-05-24T08:53:00.000+02:00

Following a really good diet and exercise regimen that I implemented last year, I lost quite a bit of weight. However the back problems that I have had meant that I simply had to reduce the amount of hours of exercise that I could put in. The fact that the medication required a certain amount of food to go with it, for safety reasons, meant also that I have slowly started to put in those little extra pounds here and there.

Coupled with the heat this summer is already bringing with it, I have neglected a bit of my training.

When I started in March last year I was at an all high 135kg...by the end of July I was at 109kg, and managed to see the double-digits on my scales on Xmas day. On the 25th I saw 99.8...which is the lowest I have been for years..the next day I was up at 100.6 again though.. Unfortunately with the lack of training, I have crept up to 103.6kg...and it shows. I can say that when I was at 109 I was slimmer..Why? Because I had loads of muscles on my arms, chest and legs. Now I fear thay are breaking down.

So where is this bringing us? I will be setting a new goal which I would like to reach by the end of July. And that is to see the 99-100kg figure regularly, not just a flash in the pan. How will this be done? First the amount is a meagre 4kg in 8 weeks...so that is around a pound a week...hardly difficult....AH! I say...'tis the season of beer..and of the World Cup. Thankfully there will be an hour's break between each of the three matches, which I will use to put in a cardio workout in the first session , and then a weight session between the second and third match. I might turn it the other way round since between 8pm and 9pm the weather will be far cooler for a run.

And lay off the 'bad' food..especially carbs. I will try to take these only in the morning. Hmm....I think that bread,butter,pasta...these must be really reduced. And none in the afternoons.How am I going to live? Protein, coupled with loads of fibre.

Finally the back problems seem to be easing up a bit, thank God.

Date:24th May 06 Weight 103.6kg

Summer is in!

2006-05-23T09:01:00.000+02:00

Well, summer has really started with a bang here in Malta. Time to head for the beach! The mercury has been hitting the 35Celsius mark for over 3 days in a row now. As one can imagine, the heat is incredible. The humidity doesn't help a lot either. So it's up to Mellieha for nice long nights by the sea. Well a lot of friends have been asking how I am doing with therapy. Thankfully things have improved a LOT since starting out. Thanks Luke! Much appreciated! Although I did promise him that once I am back to normal, I will happily throw him over the balcony into the pool. Alas..I have to take a ticket and wait my turn!

So, with just a few months of therapy left, I just have to take it easy and my health will come back!

Oh..and for those of you who sent me email about LORDI...I don't really care about all the other pop songs. they were crap anyway! I'm a metal lover, how else would I vote?

I suggest that anybody not understanding the power and faith that is heavy metal should see this documentary. It might not make you fans of the genre, but you will get a better understanding of what is, what should be, and what not to expect...

Take Care! And be happy with what you have!

Hard Rock Hallelujah!

2006-05-21T00:32:00.000+02:00

I am in state of ecstasy...why? LORDI , the heavy metal Finnish band, has just trounced all competition in the Eurovision song contest. There was just one real song in it...and LORDI sang it. As for Malta? Pah! The puny Fabrizio Faniente finished LAST!!! HOORAY!!!

So , my friends, embrace the true faith that is HEAVY METAL!! Hard Rock Hallelujah! And if you think that this was good, think again! Listen to the 'Get Heavy' album, and look out for track 3...Would you love a monsterman?

My kids (11 and 8!) go wild when they here it....they're going to wreck the damn house! And what do I say?

AMEN!

Let there be ROCK!!!

Hello Tony! This one's for you!

2006-04-11T10:59:00.000+02:00

Hi Tony, long time no see! It was nice to see your message yesterday. Well as you can see from my blogs I am not presently in the best of health (to put it mildly!). So as you can imagine, listening to good music helps alleviate the pain a lot.

So what am I listening to... hmm... silly question... Mela, I have this brilliant new album from Sonata Arctica , called 'For the sake of revenge'. It is a live album recorded in Japan, and soon to be released on DVD in May.

Another album that is driving me nuts with its quality is one by a band called Visions of Atlantis. The album is called 'Castaway'. You should really try to listen to these 2 albums as they are MEGA.

The Visions of Atlantis singer is (in my opinion) to replace Tarja from Nightwish, who has been sacked.

Tony, try also to look out for the new Judas Priest DVD , 'Rising in the East'.. it is absolutely awesome and an album no self-respecting metalhead should be without!

Obviously no collection would be complete without my beloved RUSH putting in a glimpse... and you know I especially love the older Rush albums.

Keep rocking buddy! At the moment I cannot drive too much, so you might have to do the visiting!

See you!

Still way too bad...

2006-03-29T09:38:00.000+02:00

Well, some time since I posted anything...but the sad fact of life is that the pain is all consuming and over-riding any hopes of any activity. The disc between L4-L5 is slightly pinched, causing me really bad hardship....but I wil not let this thing beat me. I will get better, and live anormal happy life again... happy? what the hell is that word anyway? And to make matters worse, Juve were well and truly trounced by Arsenal yesterday...ah well...

Away?

2006-03-11T06:53:00.000+01:00

Haven't written much lately. The beautiful weather here has given me a respite from my pain.Thankfully extensive tests inhospital have been made. Now only the results need to come in.Here's hoping. Meanwhile Juve have been drawn against Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Finally Metropolis is now!

2006-02-27T20:21:00.000+01:00

It has been a long time coming, but finally I have managed to lay my hands on Fritz Lang's Metropolis. A film of epic proportions, with science-fiction overtures and the never-ending fight of good against evil...between the head and the hands must lie a mediator...the heart. A gripping movie, a historical legend and worth every cent and every hour I have waited for it. And when you consider that this movie was made in 1927, it is stupenduous.

Same old stuff...

2006-02-25T22:36:00.000+01:00

Another difficult week for me...I'm waiting patiently for an MRI to examine what is really wrong... not much to say then... all my waking thoughts are pre-occupied with this pain!

Retro Gaming

2006-02-18T10:11:00.001+01:00

I forgot to add this. Lately I have started to re-program some games from bygone ages..games that had gameplay not the souped-up memory hungry monsters of today. Thanks to Blitz Basic, things are somewhat easier to do lately. Please click the link for the retro-page on the right. Games are available for download for free....aaaah...the bliss...I remember me and my brother Ken playing Blasto until late at night...and what about Bigfoot? Say no more.

Saturday!

2006-02-18T06:17:00.000+01:00

Well it's Saturday, but I still have to go in to work today...I don't mind because it's a bit of extra money that I could do with...yep! It will pay for the gym quarterly fee...well worth it then. But most importantly it is a day when I get a really large amount of work done. I guess it must be the quiet and peace. And no phones ringing either...thumbs up then!

This week has been a mad one, but finally I am getting the results I wish for health-wise. More later on.

Juve beat Inter ... again!

2006-02-13T21:54:00.000+01:00

Well it has been a topsy-turvy week...I have been unfortunately mostly bed-ridden with my back, but thankfully the end of the week proved happy enough when my Juventus beat the hated Inter 2-1. Del Piero scored the winner, after Samuel had cancelled out Ibrahimovic's opener. You can imagine this morning, I went to work with my Juve shirt and a big scarf around my neck...no offence to my mates though..it's only sport....NOT!

End of week today!

2006-02-09T18:19:00.000+01:00

It's a public holiday here in Malta tomorrow..the shipwreck of St.Paul. As long as it's a holiday I will cheer anyone on! Well yesterday night Juve didn't win, with our team missing a penalty in the dying moments of the match. Still on top though!