Run 42k

Ernest Ellis' marathon

2011-09-12T22:22:00.000+02:00

Ernest Ellis used to play football for the Scottish team Hearts. In 1914 he "volunteered" along with ten of his teammates to serve his country in what was at that time labelled 'the greater game', which several decades later came to be known as World War 1. Seven out of eleven players, including Ellis, never made it back home and died, along with millions of other young men, fighting the war games of a handful of megalomaniacal dictators.

Close to a century later I was proudly wearing Ernest Ellis' name on my race number at the start of the 'In Flanders Fields marathon', in which every year hundreds of runners run from Nieuwpoort to Ieper (Ypres) in West Flanders, Belgium, in support of peace. Ellis and I were twinned across 9 and a half decades, and in spite of nursing a long-standing injury in my left hamstring I resolved that Ernest Ellis would run this marathon, in the region where he died.

My twelfth ever marathon had been planned for 18 months earlier, but it didn't happen then because of the injury. After a forced break of seven months, treatment involved stretching, massage and so on, plus a gradual resumption of jogging. The pain had subsided a bit, although it never went away completely. But my running distance was increasing, until I was doing long distances, with the natural consequence that I contemplated going the whole way to a full marathon.

Which is how I ended up at the starting line in Nieuwpoort, sporting Ellis' name, on the blustery morning of Sunday 11th September 2011. A moderate to strong wind was blowing from the SW, generally against the direction of our run. I didn't have much expectation for an exceptionally fast marathon, and this wind put an end to any such wild hope. But I did try to mitigate some of the effect of the wind by catching up with a large group of runners, who happened to be going at about my target pace of 5 minutes per kilometre, and staying behind them for shelter. It's called drafting and is illegal in cycling, but in running it's allowed so that's what I did.

From about the 5th to 22nd kilometre I stayed behind the group. We ran along well-kept country roads, with large fields on both sides, then next to a river, underneath bridges, entering small villages, back to fields with grazing cattle... It was so peaceful. There's something about grazing cattle and sheep that exudes such serenity. It was hard to imagine how it was, in these very same fields, during the worst fighting at the Western Front of WW1. I remember thinking: 95 years ago many thousands of young men were killing each other here. Today here we were, people from different nations running a marathon, with farm animals quietly grazing in fields on both sides. It's the way it should be!

We passed underneath a bridge, where the first ever poison gas attacks were carried out. Today there was a crowd of Flemish locals cheering us on. Just after the half-way mark at 21.1km, my adopted group of runners started to disband. The leaders went on at their own pace, and soon I found myself practically on my own. I realised that I couldn't possibly hope to achieve 3h30m, not this time with my precarious hamstring condition anyway, so I concentrated on advancing without too much unnecessary effort.

The In Flanders Fields marathon isn't one of those large mass marathons. We were about 320 finishers, and in the latter parts of the race we were spread out widely. The final stages of the marathon were characterised by long, lonely straight stretches on a smooth road next to a river. I concentrated on keeping a good rhythm, while being careful to avoid cramps by shortening my stride. By the quick, short stride method I overtook several rivals. Every so often a brief spasm of cramp in the calf would be quickly neutralised by a flattening my step. And so it went on. 36km...37... 38 ... 39... Suddenly we left the parkland and entered the town of Ieper. I have to say it was an anticlimax here - just the marshall showing me the way, and the next rival up ahead. I slogged on, turning corner after corner, another corner, a straight, another turn. It seemed like it would never end, but finally we entered the Grote Markt of Ieper, full of spectators here, including the organiser, André Mingneau, who was at the finishing line to congratulate and greet me personally by my name.

I'd made it! 3h39:10 wasn't a great finishing time, but I was still happy for achieving my 12th marathon. I'd had no choice. I was representing Ernest Ellis, and I certainly didn't want to deny him his marathon run, In Flanders Fields.

Zaventem Half Marathon - 15 August 2011 - 1h40:18

2011-08-15T17:24:00.000+02:00

I was doing quite well up to 16km, when suddenly my steam ran out, and I barely managed to jog the final 5km. So, then, the big question is this: how will I be able to run a full 42km in less than four weeks' time?

Golden Oldies - 4 - road races in Malta that are no longer

2011-07-04T21:38:00.003+02:00

A good while ago I embarked on a nostalgia trip, describing some road running events that used to be very popular among the Maltese running community, but that are now, sadly, only a part of history. I had started off with the summer fun runs, some more fun with the St Patrick's summer league, the Balluta 5 miles race and here, to conclude, some other events that are no longer part of the Maltese running calender. So, here goes...

The Paola Half Marathon

I have fond memories of this short-lived 'sister' of the Malta International Challenge Marathon, for the simple reason that here I obtained my best time ever at a half marathon - exactly 1h30:00 (1h29:59 on my watch).

The Paola half marathon used to be held on a Sunday morning in mid-May. The start was at Paola Square, and the route went through Santa Luċija, Luqa, all the way through Ħal Far to Birżebbuġa, Marsaxlokk and up towards Bir id-Deheb, along the Tal-Barrani Road and back into Paola.

It was just my type of route, but for some reason the event did not gain in popularity. Perhaps the running calendar had already grown saturated, or athletes didn't like the idea of a long distance race in May, when the temperature's already considerably hot in Malta, especially for this type of long distance. Maybe there were complicated traffic considerations, financial viability... whatever. Too bad, because I used to like this race.

The Zurrieq 10 miles

A well-established fixture of the Maltese road running calendar is the Zurrieq half marathon in November. This is an offshoot of an earlier race that was very popular, and used to be held in October: the Zurrieq 10 miles. I remember gaining a couple of very good times in this event. Of course, in those sub-40-years-old times, most of my times used to be very good compared to what I'm achieving as a get ever closer to 50... (goodness, even writing it feels so odd, I can't bear even to look at the number).

Perhaps, this was a bit too close to the end of summer, so runners were still unprepared for a relatively long distance, following the summer break. October in Malta is for all intents and purposes still part of summer, and therefor hot. In all honesty, I've forgotten the route of this race. I have to look up my old running diaries, a couple of thousand kilometres away, to get a few clues. Dear, oh dear. Time is flying, and memories are fading...

The Thomas Cook Charity 6

The route of this event I remember very well, as it was very straightforward. We used to start at Għar id-Dud in Sliema, go to Qui-si-sana, towards Tigne' (this was before they dug the whole thing out) and along the coast towards the Ferries, along the Strand, towards Ta' Xbiex, always following the coast, up to the then Manhattan, now Mamma Mia, Restaurant, and back. Going up back into Tigne', we entered inside toward the Tigne' tower (I don't know if this exists at all anymore), went round it and kept on towards Qui-si-sana and on to the finish at Għar id-Dud.

Here I used to achieve some incredible timings, including a memorable 38 minutes for six miles on one occasion. I was young, and the course was flat... One image that is still sharp in my memory is my good friend Victor's grimace as he ran out of Tigne', while I was still entering in there, before embarking on the final sprint towards Għar id-Dud. It was my same memorable 38-minute six miler, and Victor beat me on that day by close to one minute!

The Birkirkara 10k

On 24 June, or thereabouts, the St Joseph institute or something like that in Birkirkara used to organise a 10km race, in the evening. These would, of course, be held in hot weather, a fact that has some bearing on what happened to me on one occasion.

It was an interesting route, but also very tough for a good part of the way. It would start from next to the institute, close to the Mitħna ta' Birkirkara. We would go up to the Birkirkara bypass, then along that road and eventually taking the left turn into San Ġwann industrial estate. Up till there the route was mostly uphill, but at the industrial estate the road becomes steeper, always uphill. We would go up to the San Ġwann bypass, and on to the Tal-Balal road (even further up) towards Naxxar.

You can imagine how we would be feeling as we approached Naxxar. But, from then on, it was downhill all the way. It was down from the Naxxar church towards the Mercedes showroom. And further down through the main road to Lija, back towards the start. It was a really fast finish.

In my second participation it was particularly hot. As we puffed our way up Tal-Balal road I saw a small crowd on the side of the road, and with a shock realised there was a lady athlete who had fainted. The tough hills and the heat had gotten the better of her. I couldn't just go on and ignore her, so I stopped to help. Except that there wasn't much I could do. Someone was wetting her face and so on, and eventually she recovered. I resumed my run, but finished very late because of the stoppage.

They used to give a prize to the most improved athlete, comparing times between successive editions. The following year I did the race at my normal pace, without any stoppages (there was no one lying unconscious at the roadside in that edition), and lo and behold... I was the third best improved athlete, and received a trophy for it!

So, did I deserve a medal for an act of kindness in sport when I stopped to help a fellow athlete in distress? Or should I be censored for accepting a prize on not exactly the fairest of premises?

This race was eventually taken over by the Birkirkara local council, changed route, distance and date several times, and I believe has now morphed into a series of 5k races, although I stand to be corrected. Slowly, but surely, I'm losing track of what's happening in the homeland. It's getting on to seven years since I left, there are new events, and so many new runners that nowadays I almost feel like a stranger when I run in an event there...

Machelen 9.8km - 24 June 2011 - 0h43:53

2011-06-28T20:44:00.000+02:00

The main feature of this edition was the heat. The temperature was in the high 20s, the sun was shining bright, and hot!

The warming up phase included the usual routine for hot weather racing - drinking lots of water and pouring some more on top of my head. I seem to have learned the lesson from Huldenberg very well, because after the Sterrebeek 16k I again managed to get the race just right - not too fast in the beginning, and chasing the next runner ahead during the second half. It's actually easier when a race consists of two repeated loops, because in the second part you know exactly what to expect.

Well, 'easier' doesn't really describe today's race. This being a relatively short distance, the pace is inevitably faster, and more so since it's almost completely flat all the way. Again, I managed to hold on to my position in the final sprint - I seem to be getting good at this! Besides which, I overtook a good number of rivals and can't recall anyone overtaking me after the initial few minutes of settling down. It was no surprise that I ended up running at the fastest pace in this year's series.

At a price... soon after crossing the finish I simply rolled onto the ground and lay there full length, gasping for breath. But I wasn't alone in this. It really was a hot, gruelling effort!

Before we went home, all finishers received a deserved prize for our efforts - a bottle of Farnese, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo d.o.c. - denominazione di origine controllata... Cheers!

A great race!

2011-06-13T15:30:00.000+02:00

Sterrebeek Scottloop - 15,6km - Sunday 12 June 2011 - 1h12:07

I doubt if I could have run this even one second faster. It's the first time, post-injury, that I've run a race faster than on a previous occasion. Of course, one important reason was that the previous occasion in November 2009 the weather conditions were much worse - the ground was slippery and there was a strong wind that in some parts slowed me down almost to walking pace.

This time the conditions were practically ideal - sunshine, 16 C or so and a fresh breeze. The route... is what it is. It's mostly in the countryside along paved paths surrounded by large fields, very picturesque. Then, almost inevitably in Belgium, you hit the unpaved paths. One, in particular, was so tricky. It was a lane in between fields consisting of a higher strip in the middle covered by vegetation, and two lower narrow strips on the sides, mostly soil or gravel, that had been formed over the years by the wheels of farming vehicles. You need to stay behind the runner in front of you, or switch 'lanes' to overtake, but do it fast as the space is narrow. Sometimes you need to switch simply because the ground gets too uneven. I do hate this type of terrain! You can't run properly, you can't overtake properly, you feel 'obliged' to keep up the pace not to hold back runners behind you, and you risk getting injured. Later there was second rough stretch, not as long as the first, which even had a warning sign indicating treacherous ground caused by exposed roots.

Typically for Belgium, the race consists of two loops, which is not such a bad thing since at the half way mark you then know exactly what to expect in the second part. It was at the half way point that a young lady passed me. Nothing unusual so far, it happens (too) many times. But it was the point where I had planned to speed up the pace, which pace, although cautious so far, had not been leisurely at all. After a few minutes I caught up with her and overtook her again. A few more minutes, and I started to feel the effects of the strong pace. But since in my previous race I had had to stop running and walk for a bit, giving up this time was absolutely out of the question. I simply had to go on running. I took heart from the fact that I was still overtaking other runners, which could only mean that I wasn't slowing down in spite of feeling tired.

When the second stretch of treacherous ground was over in the second loop we were getting close to the finish. Now it was just one final kilometre of flat ground and proper road surface. Time to prepare for the final sprint! I heard the sound of hard breathing getting louder behind me (my own breathing wasn't too relaxed either...) and without looking I was sure who it was. She wasn't prepared to give up without a fight, but then neither was I. I lengthened the pace and ran flat out, especially after the final bend.

Made it! I've recovered the ability to win a final sprint! It was so competitive that we had to be physically stopped at the finishing line to allow for barcode scanning for the official time.

Thank you for a great race, young lady. Thank you Sterrebeek. I look forward to coming back next year.

Running like a baby

2011-05-20T22:30:00.001+02:00

Scott2Run: Felix Sohieloop, Hoeilaart 11.2 km - Friday 6 May - 0h51:00

Back to one of my favourite races, after two absences due to a cold and then my injury. This year I'm quite sure that the distance was slightly longer - we ran a wider path in the wooded patch in Groenendaal, plus a strange detour into a carwash station on the way back to the sports centre. It may be part of the reason why I finished close to 3 minutes later than my last participation in 2009. The main reason, of course, is that I've slowed down somewhat due to not being able to run normally because of the not-completely-healed pain in my hamstring, and due to another two years of inexorable deterioration as I grow older... cheery thought...

This is one of the runs where I really run flat out, and this edition was no exception. Pity it starts so late, at 8pm. Even in the first loop it's already quite dark under the thick foliage in Groenendaal. In the second loop it's worse, and with my short eyesight and the pain in my left buttock with each step, the uneven ground at the steep uphill narrow footpath was really treacherous.

There were no incidents, however. I raced in and all-in-all finished in a decent time of exactly 51 minutes - exhausted!

Scott2Run: Huldenberg 10.7 km - Sunday 15 May - 0h49:32

I should have known, in fact I did know, that Huldenberg lies in a hilly area, and any race starting here would involve a lot of going up and down hills. But I was more concerned with achieving a good placing, and avoiding getting bogged down in a crowded start as has been happening in my recent races.

So I sprang enthusiastically into action from the start, forging a path for myself immediately up a long uphill stretch that I had once done on my mountainbike. After the first 10 minutes I had already expended too much reserves, and yet I kept up the pace. We then dropped downhill, no problem here, and back into the valley. It became clearer that this wasn't going to be the usual double loop, so popular in these areas, so the remaining 5 km were unknown to me - not a good omen. We were running along footpaths in the forest, with brooks and streams and so on, really beautiful. I should go exploring the area again.

I sensed a steep hill right round the corner, so to speak, and sure enough... there it was, going up and then curving further up... I suddenly stopped. It happens sometimes in my races. I walked uphill while others jogged past - a good few. I walked on for what must have been close to 5 minutes, until I approached the top of the hill. I had recovered my breath to be able to run, and even race, again.

I wonder what went on through the minds of those who had gone past me, a spent force trudging uphill, when this same spent force overtook them once again at the top of the hill and beyond :-) After a short while we started a sharp downhill, really fast and competitive. The injury in my hamstring was shouting out loud now, with each step, but I didn't care anymore and just kept racing.

It's a good thing, in fact, that I resumed racing in spite of having slowed down to a walk. I had run so fast in the first stage of the race, and probably also in the last bit, that it almost made up for the time lost while walking. The finishing time was a quite decent 0h49:32, and the fact that there were not so many participants in this race resulted in a high number of points for me in the Scott2Run general classification.

Now that I know the route I won't repeat the same mistake if, hopefully, I give it another try next year. My young son Gianluca likes to say, when I play badly on a computer game, that Papa is playing like a baby. At Huldenberg I made the classic mistake so common for beginners, that of starting too fast. Gianluca would be right to say that I ran like a baby.

Perk 10k - 17 April 2011 - 0:45:11

2011-04-17T22:15:00.000+02:00

It was rather chilly this morning at the extensive sports grounds on the outskirts of Perk, a few kilometres north east of Brussels.

This region, close to the Zaventem international airport, is very flat and in fact the sports grounds consist of large areas of grass, mostly football pitches next to each other, with a clubhouse close to the entrance from the street. This street leads further out into the flat countryside, towards another obscure Flemish village. Across the street from the sports centre is a wooded park, the dominant feature of which is a castle.

The race consisted of three loops inside the park, followed by a dash towards the sports centre and a rather large final loop there. As usual, in the beginning, the running was a bit crowded, the path being no more than 3 metres wide or so. It got worse, and for a good part of a whole kilometre we had to run in Indian file, unable to overtake, unless we wanted to risk injury on the uneven, muddy ground hidden by a thick layer of fallen leaves mixed with tall grass.

Considering that for three longish stretches I couldn't do any overtaking - going faster in the other bits doesn't quite make up for it - I can say that my final time of 45 minutes and a few seconds was a good performance. In my pre-injury post-40 years of age era my standard good time for a 10k was 44 minutes. I'm back in 13 point something km/h territory again, and my recovering hamstring only 'protested' at two particular spots in the triple loop, where it was so muddy we had to waddle through like penguins.

Silly route. But a good race for me.

Which marathon in October 2011?

2011-04-15T22:41:00.001+02:00

Which marathon in October 2011?

Well, for someone being based so close to the Belgian capital, Brussels on Sunday 2 October 2011 is the obvious choice! I've done this marathon twice, and I consider it to be quite a pleasant event.

The marathon starts in a park close to where the main offices of the EU institutions, the much maligned "Brussels" that dictates everything, are situated. The start takes you straight into the heart of the EU quarters (and for good measure participants go past it again at the 39th kilometre). After a brief foray into the centre of the city, skirting around the king's palace, the route goes out of the centre into greener pastures, eventually leaving the city to enter Tervuren, which is a Flemish town just outside of Brussels. A brief tour of the beautiful Tervuren park is followed by a long straight haul that takes the runners back towards the city. The route goes back through the starting point at 39 km, and leads on towards the heart of Brussels, the famous Grand Place.

I like this route, and I could even consider doing it again, even though... it's considerably hilly, with rather a tough hill of about 1 mile in length at the half way mark, and another similar hill at exactly the point where runners risk hitting the dreaded "wall", at 33 km. However, on both occasions when I ran this marathon I can't say I found it particularly hard to run up these hills.

What I DID find very hard, after the end of my second marathon here, was having to stumble on, on dead tired legs, for what seemed an eternity until I could get to where they had taken our clothes bags. It was pure torture! If you do choose Brussels for your marathon in October, and I would recommend it because it's quite fun, not too crowded and with lovely route, I suggest you have someone waiting for you at the Grand Place. My dear wife did exactly that back in 2007 when I did my memorable first Brussels marathon.

If you think Brussels is too boring and grey (which it isn't, although I admit it's not the most exotic place on earth), a good idea for a marathon in October 2011 would be the Lago di Garda in Italy. It runs for three quarters of the perimeter of the lake, along the bank of the lake. With the backdrop of the mountains on all sides, this must surely be a spectacular marathon. And it's not even a hilly affair, for the profile is very nearly flat - to be expected since most of the marathon runs close to the water's edge. The date of the Lake Garda Marathon will be Sunday 9 October 2011. Interesting prospect!

Staying in Italy, two weeks later, another majestic marathon is on offer, the Venice marathon. This, too, has quite a flat profile, starting from a small town outside of Venice and following a scenic countryside route before entering the famous historic city itself. It's only the last 4 km that are actually inside Venice, and here you'll have to cross a few bridges - it's the very nature of the place. They provide ramps so (they say) it's not a problem for the runners. The finish is in the world famous Piazza San Marco, hoping that it's not flooded on the day. It's also an interesting prospect, although at 85 euro or even 100 euro for late comers, well, it's a bit on the expensive side...

Internationally, October is a very busy month for marathons. We are literally spoilt for choice, in most parts of the planet. But I guess I'll probably end up doing the Brussels marathon after all. Boring, disappointing, least exotic choice. It's so convenient to get into the car from home and be at the start in 20 minutes!

Vilvoorde Sparta Parkloop 12 km - 0:55:40 - 26 March 2011

2011-03-27T18:37:00.000+02:00

To my mind, Vilvoorde is best known as the locality that provides the third letter in the Belgian political issue known as BHV - Brussel/Hal/Vilvoorde. It's an extremely complicated regional argument involving court jurisdictions, linguistic rights, and whether you have the right to vote to Flemish or Francophonic parties. In real life, it's a suburb lying to the north of Brussels, and today I discovered it lies underneath the high-level overpass that is part of the northern section of the Brussels ring road.

They have a sports centre named Sparta Vilvoorde at the outskirts of the locality, right next to the river that flows into Brussels. It's a well-kept football pitch with running track at the edge of a rather extensive park, and this is where the Sparta Parkloop was held.

There was a notice close to the registration that gave very accurate data about the course - 411 metres + two loops of 5700 metres + 112 metres for a total distance of 11.923 km - although it's very likely that in this case theory and practise to not exactly coincide, as I'll explain further on... There was also an altitude chart, where it was clearly shown that here, too, runners would need to climb a good bit, come back down and go back up for the second loop.

The run was as tough as expected. I adopted the same race strategy as the previous week at the Tervuren Furaloop 16 km - a moderate pace in the first half followed by a stronger second half where I would overtake as many rivals as possible. I was quite anxious about how my leg muscles, especially my not-yet-healed left hamstring, would react to two strong efforts in the space of one week. During the race it felt as normal as I've become used to expect, and in fact in the second loop my main problem was that I felt tired due to the previous week's strong effort, not because of any recurring injury. In the final downhill, when I was trying to go really fast, I still ended up being overtaken by several others. Too bad. I'm not doing any fast interval training, so I'm still unable to push hard and sprint at the end of a race. Besides, it certainly wasn't worth the while to risk getting injured again. Running fast down a twisting narrow path would be simply asking for trouble.

For the time being, I'm more than satisfied with having achieved two races, with seemingly no lasting harmful effect, at a respectable though still substandard (compared to my standard) pace. There's still a lot of time to achieve a better pace. Here I ran the "11923 metres" in 0:55:40. Quite OK, and slightly faster than the previous week... except that I have strong doubts about the distance. In some sections the painted arrows followed zigzagged gravel paths, but everyone was running straight on the grass cutting across the zigzags. I would have been a fool not to follow suit!

Scott2Run (1) - Furaloop 16 km - 20 March 2011 - 1h15:43

2011-03-20T22:25:00.000+01:00

At long last, back to real racing for the first time since more than 13 months.

It's the start of a brand new Scott2Run season here in Flemish Brabant, and the first of the series was a 10 miler starting and finishing in Tervuren today afternoon. We had close to perfect weather for the event, mostly sunny, not too cold at around 13 degrees, no wind at all. The sports complex area was teeming with youngsters and not-so-youngsters enjoying a lovely March Sunday afternoon, including of course hundreds of runners eager to debut in this second edition of the Scott2Run competition, which from 2010 has replaced the old Watermolen Cup.

The Furaloop 16 km is not a walk in the park! (Of course not, silly, it's a run in the forest...). Indeed. After a kilometre or so of running in residential streets, the route heads straight into the Foret de Soignes. I had done some research about the event, and I knew that it's quite a hilly affair. The run is almost entirely along forest paths, luckily wide enough for comfortable overtaking, on good gravelly ground that's not muddy at all.

I wanted to be careful to avoid the error of going too fast in the beginning. I'm still recovering my best form, the distance is rather lengthy, and after 13 months without any racing I'm a bit of a "beginner" - and beginners' most common mistake is that of being carried away and using up too much energy in the first half of a run, to end up exhausted in the second half.

So I chose an old tactic of mine, going at a moderate pace up to the midpoint, generally keeping my position and if necessary overtaking anyone who seems too slow, and then increasing the pace for the second half of the race. Many years ago I overheard an old running friend of mine (hello Tony Dimech, who knows, maybe you'll get to read this some day...) remark to his companion as I overtook them in the second part of a race in Malta, 'There he goes switching on his turbo engine'. I liked that, and 15 years later it's the same expression that I keep in mind when thinking of accelerating during the second half of a race.

The tactic worked, on the whole. It was a good thing that I had known in advance about the hilly nature of the route, so I wasn't taken by surprise there. It was quite satisfying that, although I have hardly done any hills at all during training for my comeback, I held my own very well in the (relatively mild) uphill stretches. It felt like it's always done during races. Fantastic! And after passing the 8km marker I did, indeed, switch on the "turbo engine". I started overtaking rivals. As I approached each successive "victim" I would say to myself, this guy normally ends up behind me in races (since I'm running slower than my standard pace), so he's no super runner, I can beat him. And beat them I did, quite a few of them.

It came to a point that I had moved up the field to reach other runners who were running at a pace that I couldn't beat. So during the last 3 km, when my legs started to tire out, I had to settle for maintaining my position, an objective that was, also, largely successful. The hamstring injury, which has still not healed completely, was beginning to make itself felt, and in certain uphill stretches now it was also affecting my gait.

The final couple of kilometres, back in built-up streets, I had become tired, but I managed to keep my pace nonetheless. True, I was overtaken by two or three rivals, but kept more or less the same distance from a fellow in blue who I had been following for a good while. I haven't been doing any speedwork involving intervals yet, so I lack the punch to carry out a sprint in the final run-up. It seemed like it was never going to end! But end it did, at a very respectable 1h15:43. Very good, considering the long stop due to injury and the fact that I still have to recover and regain my best form.

Let's just wait for the consequences in my hamstring the next few days. Hopefully, it should be OK.

I'M BACK "IN THE RUNNING"!

Au revoir, Maroc!

2011-03-09T21:23:00.002+01:00

At a few minutes past 6 in the morning, I would get out of the bed in my hotel room, and 'sneak' out through the pool area into the wide promenade that runs along the sandy coastline of Agadir in Morocco.

It would still be dark, and surprisingly cold. The promenade is lit during the night by floodlights. You can see seagulls flying around in their light. There's a permanent noise created by waves coming in from the Atlantic ocean and breaking up on the beach. Far away perched on top of a hill lie the ruins of the old kasbah that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1960. On the slope going up the hill, huge, well-lit Arabic lettering proclaims, as a talisman against any further disaster, the three entities that are most dear to Moroccans: "God, the King, the Country".

This was the setting for early morning runs that I used to do when I spent a few splendidly wonderful days in Agadir with my family. I made it a point to run almost everyday, to make up a bit for much too many calories that I was consuming at the hotel. I have to say the strategy worked well, as I hardly gained any weight at all during my stay there...

The unusual ambience gave rise to a couple of memorable runs. I wasn't alone. Morocco is a bountiful haven of long distance runners, and Agadir has its good share of afacionados. That's apart from many foreign visitors who like me wanted to keep up their training schedule while on holiday.

The promenade runs for several kilometres along the seashore. I would run all the way towards the yacht marina, along the quays for the marina, up to a point where it was impossible to go any further, and turn back. Sunset and sunrise are very rapid affairs close to the tropics, with hardly any twilight to speak of, so even though I would start my 10km run in pitch darkness, on my way back the lights would be switched off, the road clearly visible, and by the time I reached the hotel the sun would already have come up.

Some stretching, good morning to the guard sitting at the beach front entrance to the hotel, a quick shower, breakfast, and another enjoyable day exploring this region of Morocco.

Au revoir, Maroc!

Les Hivernales de Boitsfort 20km - 6 February 2011 - 1h47m plus something

2011-02-08T21:43:00.000+01:00

One year exactly after my last competitive event, following a long injury saga, I managed a fourth successive participation in Les Hivernales de Boitsfort - not bad, considering I've only been in Belgium for six years...

I was still not ready to race, so I went in with the intention of doing my standard weekend long run here, at a slow pace. In the beginning it was in fact slower than I had bargained for, having placed myself too far back from the starting line, so much that the first three kilometres took up no less than 18 minutes. At that rate I would take up close to 2 hours! OK, the finishing time wasn't important, but I still wanted to do a decent run, which is why I increased the pace to make up a bit for lost time.

I ended up doing my usual routine of trying to catch up with and overtake a long succession of runners. It was almost like a typical long distance race, and even though the pace was slow by my normal standards (and I certainly hope to achieve better speeds as I recover my fitness), I rediscovered the thrill of racing for a long distance.

The pain in my thigh? I was aware of it all the time. I'm always aware of it whenever I run now, but it's not really bad. There was a point close to the end of the run, with a sharp, fast downhill stretch on uneven ground where I became a bit scared of losing my footing, but otherwise I was OK.

This was my longest run after the injury. For most of it I ran faster than training pace, and my concern was whether I would suffer any consequences. Well, I'm happy to note that two days later I have done my normal 10km weekly run, with the good old tendonitis ticking away vaguely exactly as I've become used to it - not any better, but certainly no worse than before.

I may even recover sufficiently to race properly one day.

Which marathon in September 2011?

2011-01-16T10:50:00.000+01:00

Now it really looks as if I may recover completely from the injury that has been holding me back from proper running for close to a year. In which case, a marathon in September would be quite a realistic possibility. Which marathon?

A quick browse reveals that I'm quite spoilt for choice, but... wherever I choose I'll need to travel. I haven't found any marathon in Belgium planned for September 2011. But wait a second... I had an idea there was one somewhere in Oostende. Let's have a look... Of course, the 'In Flanders Fields' marathon! I've been eying this ever since relocating to Belgium, and this would be the ideal occasion to do it.

Ever since I read Ben Elton's 'The First Casualty', set in the midst of World War I, I've wanted to visit Ieper (Ypres in French, or Wipers as the English soldiers used to pronounce it), which has become a sort of shrine for the mass of humanity that fell victim to that utter folly. In Flanders fields is where countless thousands of soldiers from both sides faced each other behind trenches, living in squalid conditions, periodically having a suicidal go at enemy lines, in full sight of enemy fire, and falling down like flies. Never again, one would have thought. Yeah, right.

I feel strongly about war, and now that I live in Belgium Ieper is a must-go place for me. The possibility of a marathon there, at exactly the time when I should be ready for one, makes it even more a must-participate event. The reviews in marathonguide.com are also very good, so the 'In Flanders Fields' marathon seems to be the people's choice.

There are a couple of disadvantages. A marathon in September means that I need to do several three-hour runs, and one 3h15 run, right in the peak of summer in August... I would probably need to give up the Zaventem half marathon, to which I have been looking forward. But one needs to look at the positive side. Being able to choose between a marathon and a half marathon would be a luxury, considering that for several months last year I was fearing having to give up running altogether!

Of course, it's nowhere as exotic as the Petra marathon (Jordan, 9 September), or Maui (Hawaii). Neither is it a big time event like Berlin (25 September - a tour of this major city, along with another circa 40,000 participants). I could choose to go to Vilnius (Lithuania), Tallinn (Estonia), Stockholm, Odense in Denmark, Oslo, Warsaw. There are local marathons in places like Wolverhampton (England) or Dingle (Ireland). The choice is really quite enormous. There's a Bacchus marathon in Surrey, England, with "voluntary" sampling of wines along the route (health warning: alcohol dehydrates the body...).

I could be in the mood for going uphill all the way, except for (mercifully) the very last kilometre, and do the Jungfrau marathon starting in Interlaken, Switzerland (a beautiful place, by the way). Well, when I say "do the Jungfrau marathon", I should really say try, and fail, to do the Jungrau marathon: a 2,000 metre rise is not for ordinary mortals.

One never knows, of course, what circumstances and opportunities may arise. Maybe I'll settle for the most straightforward possibility of a marathon around this period, after all - boring old Brussels. But that comes in the following month, October, and in my next post in the series "Which marathon".

Which marathon in August 2011?

2010-12-03T21:49:00.005+01:00

Starting to build up training distances now, without too much extra hurry, we would be ready to do a marathon the coming August. That's the easy part... the problem is, where?

It will be the peak of summer, and in most places it's too hot to run a marathon, unless of course you cross over to the southern hemisphere. In fact, while searching the web I found two marathons that will be held in Australia in August 2011 - Alice Springs and Adelaide.

This side of the world, to escape the heat of summer we need to move north: Helsinki, Reykjavik, Siberia in Russia, Greenland! Let's have a look at some of these.

If you had an idea of taking your pet to run the Reykjavik Marathon, forget about it. No pets are allowed to take part. Neither can you run the marathon pushing your baby in a pram: only helpers of disabled participants are allowed this type of equipment. But otherwise, if like me you wish to visit this fascinating country and do a marathon while you're there - Saturday 20th August is the date. They boast temperatures of around 12 to 14 Celsius this time of the year, "ideal for running a marathon". There's bound to be some rainfall, of course, since the way it works in Iceland is: "if you don't like the weather, go inside and come back 15 minutes later". It's bound to have changed by then, and they say it's true too!

The course is a single loop, with a small stretch at the end that almost repeats the part at the beginning. The course is not completely traffic free. It's flat for 60% of the way, and rolling the remaining 40%. The change in level is 30 metres overall. Looks quite OK - I could even try it out one day. To relax my sore muscles after the race, the following day I'd look for one of various public baths with naturally heated water that they have peppered around the country. It does, indeed, look like an interesting prospect.

If 12 to 14 Celsius is too warm for your liking, you might prefer to opt for our Icelandic friends' neighbouring land, Greenland. In the capital Nuuk (population 15,500), in early August, you should expect a temperature of around 7 to 11 Celsius, although a look at the pictures of the starting line of the Nuuk marathon shows participants wearing short sleeves, or even vests, normal shorts and no gloves at all. So at least on that occasion it wasn't really freezing cold. As interpreted from their website in Danish by Translate with Live Search, they say it's a demanding, hilly affair. "The hills is one of the toughest for marathons in the world", but the map of the course includes contour lines, and the route doesn't seem to cross so many of them. Apart from which, one tends to get used to superlatives used by most everyone, whatever the occasion.

This certainly qualifies, to my standards, as an exotic marathon in unusual surroundings. It's not too crowded at all - a couple of dozen participants - so you could very well achieve a good placing. In the 2010 edition, at my standard 3h30m I would have placed fourth. The winner came in at 2h40, and captured a prize of 7000 kroner (compared to 450 kr. for participation). The runner-up receives 5000 kr., and the third placed finisher gets 2000 kr., which means I would have missed receiving a prize by a whisker...

If, for you, this seems like a good idea - enjoy your trip to Greenland!

But, maybe, this is too extreme, or too cold, for your liking. In that case, voilà, how about a marathon in much warmer conditions? How about... why, the Siberian International Marathon of course. In early August the expected temperature range there is 18 to 22 Celsius. I've read a review of this marathon where the participant actually complained of the heat!

Or, if you like your marathons to be challenging, with lots of hills, you will enjoy the Monschau Marathon, in Gernmany, close to the Belgian border - on Sunday 14 August - with a difference of 250 metres in altitude between the lowest and the highest point along the route. In one particular stretch, from the 12th to the 14th kilometre, there's a hill that rises by about 150 metres. If you don't mind going up and down hills, even for a marathon distance, and you would like to do this in a forested area surrounding a beautiful German town hidden down a valley, the Monschau Marathon is definitely worth looking into.

We're now much closer to home, and in fact, for a Belgium-based runner, a more logical place to run a marathon in August 2011 would be the Guernsey marathon in late August.

Guernsey is the second largest of the Channel Islands, lying 70 miles from England and 30 miles off France. The marathon runs along a picturesque route, only slightly undulating in the beginning, but generally flat, entering "9 out of the 10 parishes" in Guernsey, consisting basically of a round tour of the island. Guernsey boasts a long history of marathons. The one in 2009 was 100 years after the first marathon there, but also 17 years since the previous one. In 2010, there were 141 finishers, but today, in December 2010 there's still no mention on their website of the next edition, which I should hope will be in 2011 since I could even consider taking part.

Running in a freezer

2010-11-28T22:46:00.000+01:00

In March earlier in 2010, at the end of a long, harsh snowbound winter, just when I was about to start enjoying the first days of spring and later on summer running, I had to give up due to injury.

Many weeks and months of frustration passed, while I grew less fit and put on weight.

Now I'm making a tentative comeback, running slowly, using small steps, paying extra care not to get injured again, and hoping the nagging pain will slowly subside. Today I've managed my longest run since close to eight months - 70 minutes, almost a long run. It went quite well, actually, better than expected considering the nagging pain refuses to subside.

So it's back to Sunday long runs - and back to frozen weather. For me it seems long runs have become synonymous to freezing weather, as if the warm season never was. Mercifully, the ground is not yet covered in snow, although that will most likely change, too, in the coming few days. Welcome, to a long, cold winter of long, frozen runs.

Which marathon in July 2011?

2010-11-10T21:23:00.004+01:00

If you're aiming to build up to a marathon, starting now from a solid regular training schedule, this would normally take up about 8 months if you don't wish to rush things.

So, starting this month, we can aim for a marathon in July 2011. Where? Let's look around a bit...

Everyoneweb.com is a useful resource for this.

At first glance, the most exotic looking marathon in July is surely the one in Hovsgal Lake in Mongolia, although the name, Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset Marathon gives a clear indication that this is beyond the reach of 'mere' marathon runners: it's "the world's most beautiful 100km run". If you're into ultra-distance... enjoy!

No, let's look for something within the reach of common mortals. Hold on a minute... they do in fact also include a standard marathon, so let's take a closer look. Well, even the marathon is still for the very adventurous. It's trail running in "pristine" natural surroundings, mostly mountains, lakes and wide open spaces, close to the Siberian border at an altitude of about 1600 metres, so you also need a few days of acclimatisation. The challenging nature of this event is evidenced by the timings obtained, with the winner of the 2010 edition, Zolsaikhan Enkhjargal, dashing in at 5 hours and 3 minutes.

So how about the Frank Maier Marathon and Half Marathon? This seems a much more regular marathon, an "out-and-back, sea level, moderately hilly, marathon run on the lightly traveled two-lane paved Douglas and North Douglas highways". The only snag is that it's in Juneau, Alaska, which for some of us may be a bit too far away. But you may wish to combine this marathon, on 30 July, with a summer holiday in this spectacular American state. Could be quite interesting...

But do we really need to travel to the other side of the world to run a marathon in July? No, not at all. Closer to home, i.e. Europe, the choice includes the following events.

On the same day, 2 July 2011, there are two different marathons in Finland - the Rovaniemi Marathon, with a Santa Claus / Arctic Circle / midnight sun theme, and the Paavo Nurmi Marathon, in Turku.

Also on Saturday 2 July, on Achill Island, a small island in the west of Ireland, there's the 2011 Achill Marathon, starting at 11 a.m. Now that looks really interesting! Just look at this picture, and the others in their gallery of photos.

Those who like to run uphill have a choice between two marathons, or, since they're held on different dates, they may even wish to do them both... starting on 2 July in Brixen, Italy, in the heart of the Dolomite mountains. In Italian the town is called Bressanone, but this is the Sud-Tirol, and it's a German speaking region. You start the marathon at 500 metres altitude and breeze in at the finish at an altitude of 2500 metres, the steepest part of the course being the 40th kilometre, so if you really like running uphill you will certainly enjoy this. Then a four-week recovery, and on to the next hills session on 30 July, the Swiss Alpine marathon in Davos, Switzerland, "the highest high altitude marathon in Europe", consisting of a 1890 m climb followed by a 1710 m descent. The course is spectacular, rough and challenging. But maybe two mountainous marathons within one month could just a bit too much...

So many marathons, too many to cover in just one blog post. But who said I couldn't write other posts in the near future, on even more exciting marathons? This blog may be about to embark on an interesting trip.

Autumn

2010-10-21T22:48:00.000+02:00

Up till now we're only aware of autumn because of the chill in the air. Suddenly, a week ago, it became biting cold. But soon we'll be able to enjoy the colourful side of the season. This is what we're looking forward to:

"Flanders will never let go of Brussels"...

2010-10-17T08:36:00.001+02:00

... because Brussels is also the capital of Flanders, according to the Flemish prime minister Kris Peeters as reported in flandersnews.be.

Ah, yes, indeed. So that's why, I suppose, the great majority of the Brussels population are Flemish speakers, isn't it? Or let's put it another way. The Flemish intend to have a French-speaking city as capital of The Great Independent Prosperous Nederlands-Speaking Republic of Vlaanderen.

Go to Rome and ask the people there which nationality they consider themselves to be. Go to Moscow, Prague, (avoid London...), Paris, Berlin, etc. Then go to Brussels "the capital of Flanders". According to Meneer Peeters the Bruxellois are Flemish. Ha!

Which marathon in June 2011?

2010-10-07T21:21:00.065+02:00

Just finished a marathon? Wishing to build up to a marathon in around 8 months' time? Not sure which one you should do? Following is a selection of interesting marathons that will take place in June 2011.

Pride of place goes to the Santa Claus Marathon on 18 June 2011, in the Arctic Circle: Rovaniemi, Finland (Lapland)

Lapland in the north of Finland is not the place one would most associate with June, and certainly Santa Claus is definitely more closely linked with December rather than the beginning of summer. But... in this period the sun never sets inside the Arctic Circle. Besides which, although the fruits of Santa Claus's work are delivered on Christmas, he still has a home and an office where he works all year round, and these are situated in Lapland.

The logical conclusion of this is that a marathon is organised at around the summer solstice, starting "next to Santa Claus's office". The marathon starts at 6pm, and there's a half marathon starting at 8pm, with Santa himself watching. Soon after you will cross the Arctic Circle (66'32'35"), which earns you a 'Diploma of Arctic Circle Crossing', and you get a picture at this point, which you may "keep for posterity".

The route is easy and very scenic, going downhill for the initial part and then quite flat for most of the remaining part. It's not crowded at all, and a look at previous results indicates that you could easily obtain a good placing in your category if your standard is just above the general average.

The marathon finish is at Lordi Square in the town centre, and presentation of prizes is at midnight, under the Arctic midnight sun.

Sounds interesting, doesn't it?

Closely related to the Santa Claus Marathon is the Midnight Sun Marathon on 25 June 2011, also in the Arctic Circle, this one being in Tromsø, Norway. In fact, there's an offer for a 'combined' half plus half marathon, one following the other on successive Sundays, first in Finland and then here. The principle is much the same, although here the theme, as may be observed from the name, is the midnight sun itself. Santa Claus is allowed to enjoy his residence in Lapland.

Here are a few of the more interesting looking marathons for June 2011:

Big Five Marathon on 25 June 2011, in South Africa, among the wildlife of the African savannah
Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon on 5 June 2011
Utah Valley Marathon on 11 June 2011
Laguna Phuket International Marathon in Thailand on 12 June 2011
Kona Marathon, 26 June 2011, on the Big Island of Hawaii
Safaricom Marathon, 25 June 2011, organised by the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.

Closer to home, then, there are:

The Night Run - the ING Europe Marathon in Luxembourg starting at 7pm on 11 June 2011
LGT Alpin Marathon on 11 June 2011 in the Alps in Liechtenstein
Marathon de Vendee in France - held on 4 June 2011, in conjuction with a 100 km race for those of a more robust make-up...
Europa Marathon on 5 June 2011 in Gorlitz, Germany - "running across two countries"
Amersfoort Marathon on 12 June 2011 in Amersfoort, The Netherlands
And finally, this one not for the faint-hearted, starting at altitude 1000m and finishing at 2010m, with a 2201m peak along the way, is the Marathon du Mont Blanc at Chamonix in France, on 27 June 2011.

And there are many others... For a more comprehensive list see the website Worldmarathons marathon calendar.

Which marathon?

2010-10-06T22:05:00.001+02:00

In my 'How to run a marathon' series (see the Subjects list) I had suggested a period of 8 months as the optimum interval between successive marathons, or to build up comfortably, i.e. without undue pressure, from an easy training schedule to a marathon.

So, in this new series, Which marathon?, I will do a bit of research about those marathons coming up in 8 months' time and feature one of them in some detail. This takes a bit of time, and soon it will be time to go to bed, so the first article in this series will have to wait just a little bit more.

In the meantime, until I carry out the research for June 2011 on your behalf, dear reader, I suggest you start training for it. You can pick up the schedule in How to run a marathon, starting from your present level of fitness. Number 15 in that series contains the entire suggested training schedule.

Enjoy your running, and do your best to avoid getting injured!

About this blog

2010-09-29T22:25:00.001+02:00

Change of theme, change of language. From now on this blog will live up to its url, focusing mostly on 42km long runs, running in general, but also including forays into other subjects that may be completely unrelated to running. My native Malta will only feature insofar as running is concerned, otherwise Run 42k from now on is based in Belgium, or shall I rather say in Europe.

This blog already features a beginner's schedule for building up to a marathon: one of the links on the left under "Subjects". It's quite interesting, I have to say... I intend to include articles on running from a personal perspective, therefore including accounts of my more important runs (I'm being optimistic here, since my return to running after a six-month stop - and still counting - due to injury is very much in the balance...), plus uploading and hopefully continuing a series of articles on 'Exotic Marathons' that I had researched a good while ago.

Malta and the many interesting goings on there will feature in my other blog, in the Maltese language - "Mill-Gallarija".

Malta: 46 sena nazzjon

2010-09-20T22:07:00.000+02:00

Is-sliem lil Malta indipendenti, il-veru u l-uniku jum nazzjonali ta' pajjiżna. Tal-biki li l-jum meta Malta saret nazzjon hi l-okkażjoni biex nenfasizzaw il-firda ta' bejn iż-żewġ tribujiet. Iridu jibdew tal-PN - Jum l-Indipendenza MHUX il-ġurnata meta għandek torganizza mass meeting partiġġjan!

Eroj nazzjonali...

2010-09-14T21:12:00.000+02:00

Meta jmut xi ħadd b'inċident tat-traffiku ma jmurx il-President ta' Malta għall-funeral, u lanqas il-Prim Ministru jew il-Kap tal-Oppożizzjoni.

Meta jmut xi ħadd b'overdose tad-drogi ma jmurx il-President ta' Malta għall-funeral, u lanqas il-Prim Ministru jew il-Kap tal-Oppożizzjoni.

U lanqas ma l-President ta' Malta, il-Prim Ministru jew il-Kap tal-Oppożizzjoni ma marru l-funerali ta' bosta nies eżemplari li naf jien, li ddedikaw ħajjithom kollha għall-familja tagħhom li tant kienu jħobbu.

Imma mbagħad xi ħadd li kapriċċożament iħalli 'l martu armla u wliedu ltiema biex joqgħod jilgħab bil-bombi... dak eroj nazzjonali, kważi l-ekwivalenti ta' funeral statali jagħmlulu. Fuq quddiem nett tarahom il-President ta' Malta, il-Prim Ministru u l-Kap tal-Oppożizzjoni.

Le, le, veru qegħdin sew. Għandhom il-prijoritajiet f'posthom l-għeżież mexxejja politiċi ta' Malta...

Viva l-festa

2010-09-08T18:28:00.000+02:00

Minn hawn nixtieq nawgura lill-Kappillan u lill-kumitat tal-festa tax-Xagħra Għawdex li jkollhom festa sabiħa, mimlija briju u divertiment, u li llejla jidħlu jorqdu b'moħħhom mistrieħ u l-kuxjenza safja. Nawguralhom ukoll li l-eluf ta' ewri li ntefqu għall-festa tax-Xagħra "ma jkunux intefqu għalxejn", kif qal kummentatur fit-Times. X'nitmellħu mis-sitta min-nies li nqatlu jumejn ilu u splodew l-eluf l-oħra li kienu ntefqu għan-nar tal-istess festa...

Dawk kollha f'Malta li jgħidu li huwa "inimmaġinabbli" li jkun hemm festa tar-raħal bla nar (kif kien hemm fl-editorjal tal-Independent ilbieraħ), jistgħu jmorru sax-Xagħra biex jistimulaw ftit l-immaġinazzjoni.

U jaħasra setgħu użaw waħda minn dawn il-fabbriki minflok għan-nar...

Nies bla sinsla

2010-09-06T22:27:00.000+02:00

Il-pulċinelli ddeċidew iwaqqfu bord ta' inkjesta biex jinvestiga l-materjali li qed jagħmlu l-bombi tal-festi bihom.

Isma' din, mela. Għandna suspett li l-materjali li jagħmlu l-bombi tal-festi bihom huma difettużi. Qed isiru splużjonijiet kbar fil-kmamar tan-nar, regolarment kull ftit ġimgħat. Kull darba qed imutu n-nies: ilbieraħ mietu erba' jew ħamsa, u tnejn oħra maħruqa ġisimhom kollu jilagħbuha mal-mewt. Familji sħaħ devastati. Ir-raħal tal-Għarb b'ħafna mid-djar ġratilhom ħsara strutturali. Il-gżejjer Maltin ġew f'sitwazzjoni li tixbah stat ta' gwerra, jew taħt theddida terroristika, ma tafx fejn imiss tfaqqa' splużjoni ġo nofs il-kampanja. Għandna suspett li l-kmamar tan-nar li għadhom ma splodewx jistgħu jisplodu huma wkoll, għax il-materjali li jagħmlu l-bombi bihom difettużi.

U x'inhi t-tweġiba tal-mexxejja għorrief li għandna? Waqqfu l-produzzjoni tal-logħob tan-nar sakemm tiġi stabbilita l-kawża tad-devastazzjoni? Jingħalqu l-kmamar tan-nar, għax perikolużi wisq, sakemm jitneħħa l-materjal kollu difettuż?

Le, ma tarax! Trid jissugraw jiksruha mad-dilettanti tal-kamikaże tradizzjonali? Ma tafx li dawn NIES BLA SINSLA?

Iparlaw fil-vojt fuq il-valuri. Jidhirli l-ħajja valur importanti. Jidhirli s-sens ta' sigurtà għal min għaddej jgħix ħajtu għall-affari tiegħu valur importanti. Jidhirli li l-fatt li t-tfal ma jisfgħux iltiema minn missierhom hu valur importanti. Imma għal dawn in-NIES BLA SINSLA, l-uniku valur huwa l-vot.

Sinjuri NIES BLA SINSLA. Għandkom il-voti tal-fanatiċi tal-bombi assigurati, dejjem jekk jinzertaw jagħmlu parti mill-istess tribù tagħkom. Imma l-vot tiegħi tliftuh.

Don't read this post

2010-09-01T21:54:00.000+02:00

Don't read this post. It will be a pathetic whine from start to finish.

Last winter, that's seven months ago, I was preparing for my twelfth marathon, scheduled for May 2010 in Prague. Training was going reasonably well: I've gained enough experience by now to know exactly what training I need to run a marathon.

The winter weather was particularly harsh this year, with lots of snow and sub-zero temperatures resulting in snowbound surroundings for a good number of weeks. I had to keep training to maintain my fitness, but the extra effort to stay upright in slippery conditions may have been too much of a strain for my leg muscles. This didn't show at all in a 20k race in the beginning of February, which I ran exceptionally well, establishing my best time in three participations in this race.

Little did I know it was to be my last hurrah for a long spell. One or two weeks later the ground was snowed under once again, and at the very end of one particular Sunday long run I suddenly felt pain at the back of my thigh as I was going the short uphill stretch back home. Two days later I went out for a speed session on a snowbound Cinquantenaire Park close to the office, but I couldn't proceed because of two simultaneous pains: a sharp pain with each step in my right achilles tendon, and another pain in my left hamstring. The alarm bells had sounded: I had to take a break from training until I recovered.

But the pain never went away. Three weeks later, after several false starts, it was late March - just six weeks before the marathon - and my training nowhere near good enough to undertake such a strenuous event. I had to face up to the fact that it was bye-bye Prague marathon. It wasn't easy to accept, more so since all had been booked, and I actually went there with my loved ones for a (still greatly enjoyable) spring holiday there. On marathon day, from the roadside next to the Vltava river, I encouraged some of my fellow competitors who, unlike me, had made it to the start, and as I saw them slogging along in such beautiful surroundings I promised myself that in 2011 I'd go back to conquer the Prague marathon.

That was last May. Now it's four months later, and that's how long I have been planning my comeback, postponing it by a month each time. For a while I tried cycling, which went very well, but the injury persisted. So I stopped cycling, waited a while, then while in Malta in July I took up swimming. This, too, was very enjoyable, but the injury persisted. So after that I decided not to do anything at all, just allowing the injured muscle to rest. Back in rainy Belgium I was given anti-inflammatory medication, and the situation improved dramatically. I would wait a few more days after the end of the medication, so as not to rush things, then it would be time for my much-awaited comeback, this coming Sunday.

Except that the few more days (so as not to rush things) have revealed that the medication was only masking the pain, and today it feels as if I back to square one. It's a bitter blow. I'm beginning to fear that my running days are over. I don't want to even contemplate not doing any sport at all. Maybe I'll take up cycling and swimming again, and to hell with the injury. Complete rest didn't result in any progress, so I may as well do those activities that I can do, while I can, instead of becoming a couch potato.

So why am I writing all this, a cri de coeur as a dear hierarchical superior would call it? Well, I needed to. A few days ago I saw people jogging along merrily in the pretty Bois de la Cambre in Brussels, enjoying the mild temperatures of the late Belgian summer under the shade provided by the trees there. I saw pictures from back in Malta, where friends of mine undertook a 'Hellfire triathlon' last Sunday. I would love to start doing these activities again, but I cannot, which is why I feel so frustrated at my situation. As I've just remarked to a friend of mine on Facebook, seeing those pictures made me want to cry.

Let's say this is a way for me to vent my frustration. I did warn at the beginning not to read this, didn't I?

P.S. the funny thing is that the label I'm attaching to this post is "My runs", when it actually refers to the exact opposite. Let's say I'm placing it in this category in the sense of "my running chronicles"...

Ħarġet il-proklama: "Sono pronto a giocare"

2010-08-30T21:45:00.000+02:00

Del Piero xeħet l-għeruq fil-Juve, u ara min ifettillu jheddidlu postu fit-tim għax itellquh 'l hemm bil-garanzija.

L-ewwel vittma tiegħu kien il-ġenju tal-futbol Taljan per eċċellenza Roberto Baggio. Aqtagħlu rasu. Għal mal-Milan.

Ftit wara kien imiss lil Thierry Henry, li dam b'kollox tliet xhur mal-Juve qabel ma rregalawh lill-Arsenal, fejn kellu karriera ta' suċċess straordinarju.

Filippo Inzaghi kien qed jiskorja wisq gowls mal-Juve, ħafna iktar minn Del Piero li bilkemm kien qed isib ix-xibka. Mela tajru 'l hemm! Irregalawh lill-Milan, fejn għaxar snin wara għadu jiskorja l-gowls...

Aktar vittmi ta' Del Piero... Fabrizio Miccoli, sar ir-re ta' Palermo. Diego Ribas da Cunha, ma setax jaqbad art, u għax dis-sena fl-aħħar sabulu post tajjeb fejn seta' jilgħab tajjeb, proprju minflok Del Piero - ĊLAQQ! Aqtagħlu rasu. F'affari ta' ġimgħa eżiljawh għall-Ġermanja.

Is-sena l-oħra, diżastruża għall-Juve, kienet bdiet mhux ħażin. Del Piero kien imweġġa', u minfloku kien qed jilgħab Sebastian Giovinco. Sa Jannar kienu fit-tieni post ftit punti biss wara l-Inter. Imbagħad ħarġet il-proklama tal-Prinċep: SONO PRONTO A GIOCARE. Prattikament kienet sentenza tal-mewt għal Giovinco li spiċċa bilkemm lagħab logħba oħra wara. Minn dak il-mument bdiet il-kriżi - telfa wara l-oħra wara l-oħra - spiċċaw fis-seba' post, u tim bla logħob u bla karattru.

Lil Giovinco, żgħażugħ promettenti Juventin minn tfulitu, dabbrulu rasu wkoll. Issa sab lil min jafda fih, il-kowċ tal-Parma, u fl-aħħar jista' joħroġ it-talent pur tiegħu dal-plejer. Għall-ġid tiegħu, ħadt gost li telaq u mar fejn jista' jesprimi t-talent kbir li għandu.

U l-Juve kuntenti għax għandhom in-nannu Del Piero jikser ir-rekords, li għandu naturalment dritt sagrosant jilgħab għad-90 minuta sħaħ, anki jekk kull ma jagħmel hu li jaqa' mal-art kull meta jkollu l-ballun f'saqajh.

Iblah

2010-08-30T21:18:00.000+02:00

Jien iblah. Noqgħod ninkedd u ninkwieta fuq ħaġa li m'għandix kontroll fuqha u li bl-ebda mod ma tista' tirrifletti ikrah fuqi.

Ilbieraħ il-Juventus kellhom l-ewwel logħba tal-kampjonat. Wara sena diżastruża konna qed nittamaw li dis-sena se tkun differenti. Għamlu rivoluzzjoni fit-tim, xtraw kważi biex tgħaqqad tim ġdid, ħlief għan-nannu Del Piero li sfaw vittmi tiegħu żewġ rivali oħra għal postu - il-Brażiljan Diego u t-talent żagħżugħ promettenti Sebastian Giovinco. Issa Diego bagħtuh jilgħab il-Ġermanja, u skorja fl-ewwel logħba li lagħab hemmhekk, u Giovinco tellquh mal-Parma, fejn l-ewwel logħba tiegħu wera logħob tal-meravilji u rebbaħhom il-logħba waħdu.

U l-Juve? Bir-rivoluzzjoni kollha fit-tim, bil-plejers ġodda kollha li ġabu, il-kowċ ġdid, id-diriġenza ġdida... kważi kollox inbidel, barra Del Piero u r-riżultat. Reġgħu tilfu kontra l-Bari, u telfa mistħoqqa wkoll.

Kemm irrabjajt! X'saħta waqgħat fuqna, ktibt fuq il-Facebook, fost kliem baxx tat-tip &*^$€ kontra l-awtur tal-konfoffa li ġabet lill-Juve fi stat tal-biki li donnhom ma jistgħux iqumu minnu. Imma issa, qed ngħid... għaliex għandi noqgħod ninkedd jien minħabba fihom dawn? Dawn il-paga xorta qed joħduha, u paga tajba wkoll. Kollha miljunarji.

Mela ħallihom iħawdu kemm iridu. Jien x'għandi x'naqsam?

Awwissu

2010-08-27T21:24:00.001+02:00

Ma nistax għalih 'l Awwissu. Qatt ma kien jogħġobni, u lanqas issa ma biddilt l-idea.

Meta kont ngħix Malta, f'dax-xahar dejjem kont irrid naħrab minn hemm u mir-riħ isfel umdu mħallat mas-sħana, insopportabbli. Kont inkun imxarrab bl-għaraq fuq bażi permanenti, anki wara li nieħu xawer u nixxotta, sekonda wara nerġa' għarqan kolli nwaħħal ma' kullimkien. Għallinqas ħlist minnha dik.

Imma hawnhekk fil-Belġjum mhux li hawn xi pjaċir esaġerat bħal daż-żmien... kulħadd jitlaq 'l hemm bil-vaganzi, fl-aħbarijiet ma jiġri xejn, futbol għadu ma bediex proprja, u x-xogħol l-uffiċċju vojt, ma tara kważi 'l ħadd. U minflok sħana u umdità għandna ġranet griżi kważi kuljum, bil-monotonija tinkiser biss b'xi bexxa xita kultant...

Qatt ma ħmiltu Awwissu. Iġri jgħaddi.

Il-Barrakka ta' Fuq

2010-08-22T20:50:00.001+02:00

Issa apparti d-divorzju u l-isplużjonijiet tal-logħob tan-nar. Hemm postijiet wisq sbieħ f'Malta, u wieħed minn dawn huwa l-Barrakk ta' Fuq. Il-veduta fuq il-Port il-Kbir minn hemm hija tal-għaġeb. Imma ftit napprezzaw il-ġnien innifsu, u hawnhekk dawwart dahri lejn il-port, u rajt jitfaċċa qamar ġdid f'sema qed ibexbex, sfond perfett għall-obelisk li jinsab eżatt quddiem fejn kien - u forsi, nispera, se jerġa' jkun - il-lift tal-Barrakka.

Poġġejna nitkellmu, min xtara krips, min ħa sajder jew luminata, ftit karawett, it-tfal ħadu ġelat... nitpaxxew bil-frisk tas-sajf Malti filgħaxija. Aħna u ħerġin mill-ġnien biex immorru d-dar laqtitni xitla kkulurita mixgħula bi spotlajt. Għoġobni r-ritratt kif ħareġ:

It's a sin...

2010-08-20T22:28:00.002+02:00

Ara x'qalilna wieħed Anton Gouder, imlaħħaq sew fil-Kurja, kif irrappurtat fit-Times of Malta tal-bieraħ:

"A convinced Catholic who voted in favour of divorce would be going against Christ’s teachings and this was a sin, the Curia’s Pro-Vicar said during an interview on church radio RTK."

Dan apparti skoss argumentar pwerili ieħor, inkluż diversi drabi meta rrefera għal "pajjiżi li introduċew id-divorzju", daqs bħallikieku hemm xi pajjiżi li fil-fatt ma introduċewhx. Sur Gouder, nimmaġina m'intix injurant, u allura jkolli naħseb li qed tipprova tqarraq bil-fidili, għax fil-fatt id-divorzju fid-dinja kollha daħal!

Imma ħa ngħaddu għall-argument ta' seħibna li l-aktar laqat l-immaġinazzjoni tal-Maltin - il-biċċa xogħol li min jivvota favur id-divorzju jkun qed jagħmel dnub. U jikkwota lil Kristu dan. Erġajna, wieħed għandu linja diretta għal moħħ Alla, issa dan qed idaħħal lil Kristu fi kwistjoni fejn m'għandu x'jaqsam xejn.

Kristu kien għamilha ċara, li r-reliġjon u l-istat m'għandhomx jindaħlu wieħed lill-ieħor. "Agħti lil Ċesare dak li hu ta' Ċesare, u lil Alla dak li hu ta' Alla." Hawn m'aħniex qed nitkellmu fuq iż-żwieġ nisrani. Dik ċara, iż-żwieġ nisrani ma jinħallx. Voldieri, kieku jidħol id-divorzju fl-aħħar rokna li għad fadal fid-dinja fejn dan għadu ma jeżistix (taqta' barra r-repubblika tal-banana magħrufa bħala l-Filippini), huwa ċar li ħadd ma jkun jista' jiddivorzja biex imbagħad jerġa' jiżżewweġ bir-rit nisrani. Dik ovvja. (Almenokè ma jkunx ħa d-divorzju - sori! l-annullament - mingħand il-Kurja stess...).

Mela fuq xiex qed nitkellmu eżattament? F'għajnejn l-istat, iż-żwieġ huwa patt ċivili bejn żewġ persuni, f'Malta bilfors ta' sess oppost minn xulxin. Bid-divorzju dan il-patt ċivili, iż-żwieġ ċivili, jinħall. Wara li jsolvu bejniethom it-taħbila ta' x'isir mit-tfal u mill-assi tal-koppja - taħbila li teżisti diġà bħalissa meta koppja jisseparaw - iż-żewġ naħat ikunu liberi li jerġgħu jiżżewġu. Ovvjament, nerġa' ngħid, dan it-tieni żwieġ impossibbli li jkun żwieġ nisrani, għax f'għajnejn il-Knisja l-iddivorzjati xorta jkunu għadhom miżżewġin. Imma f'għajnejn l-istat dawn issa m'għadhomx miżżewġin, u jistgħu liberament jiżżewġu bir-rit ċivili.

Mela fejn jidħol id-dnub f'dan kollu? Għax jgħixu bħala koppja miżżewġa (kif fil-fatt ikunu) mingħajr ma għamlu s-sagrament taż-żwieġ? OK, veru. Imma dan id-"dnub" ilu jsir f'Malta minn meta fl-1975 daħal iż-żwieġ ċivili. Jiġifieri bid-divorzju fejn konna bqajna fejn jidħlu dnubiet - l-istat diġà jippermettihom. Is-separazzjonijiet diġà qed isiru, u l-ebda Kurja ma tista' twaqqafhom. Bid-divorzju, l-isseparati jistgħu jerġgħu jiżżewġu bir-rit ċivili. Fil-fatt dan ir-rit ċivili diġà ntuża minn eluf ta' koppji f'Malta. F'għajnejn il-Knisja Kattolika dawn kollha qed jgħixu "fid-dnub", imma dik affari tagħhom, bejn il-kuxjenza tagħhom u l-alla tagħhom, jekk għandhom. Affari tagħhom, u tal-ebda Gouder.

Issa dal-povru votant, li qed jiġi mhedded b'eternità fl-infern (sakemm ma jqerrx, issa ngħaddi għaliha din), jekk jivvota favur id-dħul tad-divorzju f'Malta, x'inhi eżattament il-ħtija tiegħu? Dan mhux qed jiddivorzja, mhux qed jgħix ta' miżżewweġ bla sagrament, qed jgħix ħajja ta' nisrani eżemplari, imma... qed jagħmilha possibbli lil min irid jgħix ħajtu mod ieħor biex ikun jista' jagħmel hekk, legalment. Jew issa wieħed mill-obbligi tan-nisrani saret li jrid iġiegħel lil kulħadd jgħix ħajja ta' nisrani bħalu? Kien mingħalija li tgħix ħajja tajba nisranija hija għażla libera, imma mhux skond is-Sur Gouder...

Imma għad fadal tama għal dan il-povru votant: "If a person repents and goes to confession, all sins can be forgiven. If someone steals from his workplace and during confession promises to stop doing so and redeem the stolen goods, I will absolve his sins and he will be able to receive communion".

Voilà, problema solvuta! Jista' jivvota favur id-divorzju, u mbagħad iqerr. Dnubietek maħfura. U b'hekk neliminaw il-biża' ta' xi ġlieda politiko-reliġjuża oħra, meta fis-snin 60 lin-nies kienu jiskomunikawhom għax jivvotaw lil-lejber. Ejja, wara nofs seklu għamilna pass 'il quddiem. Jaħfrulna dnubietna.

Ġidra irresponsabbli

2010-08-18T22:43:00.000+02:00

"Fireworks are my addiction... and we are all at God's mercy", qalilna wieħed minn dawn il-fanatiċi tal-isparar tal-bombi, li tant iwerwru tfal u trabi, u joħolqu miżerja għan-nies morda u inkonvenjent għan-nies normali li jixtiequ jgħixu ħajjithom bil-kwiet fi djarhom.

Das-sinjur miżżewweġ, u martu qed tistenna tarbija. Imma għalih l-importanti d-delizzju, anzi fi kliemu stess vizzju, dipendenza bla kontroll, fuq l-isparar tal-bombi. Lest jissogra ħajtu, iħalli lil martu armla u lit-tarbija li għadha lanqas rat id-dawl iħalliha ltima - basta jissodisfa l-vizzju tal-isparar tal-bombi.

U jekk hu jew sħabu jħawdu xi waħda, u jispiċċa mtajjar m'għola s-sema b'xi splużjoni milli xbajna nisimgħu? Ma jkunx tort it-traskuraġni, l-injoranza u n-nuqqas ta' responsabbiltà tiegħu u ta' sħabu. Le, it-tort ikun ta' Alla, skond dan.

Ara x'raġunar bażwi ħarġilna bih. Jaf li qed jissogra, imma anki min isuq karozza qed jissogra. Anki fuq ix-xogħol hemm min imut, imma xorta jibqgħu jaħdmu n-nies, u jsuqu l-karozzi. Jiġifieri skond dan l-għaref in-nies imorru x-xogħol u jivvjaġġaw bil-karozza biex jissodisfaw vizzju bla rażan, għal kapriċċ. Nistgħu ngħaddu mingħajr ma mmorru x-xogħol jew nivvjaġġaw minn post għal ieħor, skond dan l-għaref.

Prosit eh. Imbagħad injorant ġidra irresponsabbli bħal dan jafdawh u jagħtuh liċenzja biex joqgħod jilgħab bl-isplussivi u bil-bombi.

L-aqwa li nsalvaw it-tradizzjoni.

Naqra sinsla, xi ħadd?

2010-08-14T17:18:00.000+02:00

Kull ftit xhur il-logħob tan-nar qed iħalli l-vittmi. Irġiel, missirijiet fl-aqwa ta' saħħithom qed iħallu lin-nisa tagħhom romol, lil udielhom iltiema, familji mfarrka, ħajjiet devastati, kollox għal ġieħ id-'delizzju', it-tradizzjoni, u għall-festa tar-raħal.

Kull sena, kull sajf, kull weekend, il-logħob tan-nar u speċjalment il-murtali tal-bomba jwerwru lit-tfal żgħar, iġennu lin-nies morda fi djarhom jew l-isptar, jaqtgħu minn ġewwa lil nies normali li qed jgħixu ħajjithom bil-kwiet bla ma jagħtu fastidju lil ħadd. Kollox għal ġieħ il-festa tar-raħal.

Ma nafx jien. Iparlaw tant fuq morali... Dawn l-affarijiet ma jarawhomx immorali l-awtoritajiet tal-knisja? Fetħu kruċjata kontra d-divorzju għax se jkisser il-familji (meta l-familji diġà jkunu fil-fatt imfarrka); it-tifrik tal-familji kkaġunat bil-logħob tan-nar, il-ħsad ta' ħajjiet fl-aqwa tagħhom, kollox f'isem il-festi reliġjużi, dawn ma jtuhomx fastidju? Ma jqisuhiex immorali l-miżerja li qed tinħoloq b'dawn il-misħutin bombi?

Il-festi sbieħ, imma m'hemmx għalfejn imutu n-nies minħabba fihom, u jkunu ħafna isbaħ mingħajr dan l-istorbju u splużjonijiet vjolenti bla sens.

Ejja Pawl, minnek tiddependi din. Kuraġġ, urina li għandek aktar sinsla mill-awtoritajiet ċivili ta' Malta kollha kemm huma. Meta kien hemm bżonn il-knisja ġieli ħarġet digrieti li fit-tali u t-tali post ma ssirx festa esterna. Bl-istess mod tista' toħroġ digriet li l-logħob tan-nar ma jiġġustifikax dan it-telf kollu ta' ħajjiet, u għandu jinqata'. Forsi fl-aħħar tkun għamilt xi ħaġa għall-ġid, għax s'issa ħlief daħq u tbissim għadna ma rajniex mingħandek.

Viva t-tradizzjoni

2010-08-13T21:19:00.002+02:00

Splużjoni enormi llum heżżet lil Malta. Mhix ċajta din, l-aħwa: Malta, kollha kemm hi, pajjiż sħiħ minn tarf sa tarf, mheżża minn splużjoni kkawżata mill-misħuta "tradizzjoni" tal-logħob tan-nar.

Ma jistax ikun nibqgħu sejrin b'dal-ġenn. Imma kulħadd jaf li fil-fatt se nibqgħu sejrin b'dal-ġenn. Issa skoss paroli, forsi noħolqu xi kummissjoni oħra biex tistudja s-sitwazzjoni tal-logħob tan-nar, "waqt li niżguraw li jibqa' salvagwardat id-delizzju tradizzjonali Malti tal-logħob tan-nar", ħafna talb u appelli għall-moderazzjoni, u nkomplu għaddejjin eżatt kif konna qabel, nistennew sakemm tasal l-isplużjoni li jmiss.

X'marru jagħmlu fuq il-post l-aġent prim ministru, l-arċisqof emeritus, id-depjutilider tal-lejber, skoss segretarji parlamentari, il-wipp tal-PN, u kwantità kbira ta' dinjitarji oħra? Ġabru t-tifrik tal-isplużjoni u qegħduhom lura f'posthom? Misshom baqgħu jieħdu s-sjesta d-dar jew fl-uffiċċju, mhux immorru WARA li seħħ il-fatt, wara li ħadd ma kien għamel assolutament xejn biex tiġi evitata traġedja bħal din, immorru biex isemmuna fil-gazzetta u nidhru fuq it-television.

Issa qed jaħsbuha għandhomx iħassru l-festa tal-Mosta li suppost kienet se ssir fil-jumejn li ġejjin. Għadhom lanqas minn dik m'huma ċerti. Ħeqq, jintilef ħafna biżnis hu...

Grazzi Guido

2010-08-12T22:08:00.002+02:00

L-ewwel darba li sirt naf bi Guido de Marco kien fil-bidu tas-sebgħinijiet. Kellu xi 42 sena, u kienu ġabu ritratt tiegħu fil-gazzetta, qed jiġi kkunslat mill-kap tal-PN Ġorġ Borg Olivier wara li l-pulizija qasmulu rasu b'daqqa ta' lembuba... talli kien qed jieħu sehem f'ċelebrazzjoni ta' Jum l-Indipendenza. Dak iż-żmien, biex tiċċelebra l-indipendenza ta' Malta kienet kważi xi ħaġa klandestina, semi-illegali, sfida kontra r-reġim. Kienu jgħajruk xewwiexi, traditur, għadu tal-ħaddiem. U tissogra li taqla' xi xebgħa, bil-barka jekk mhux ukoll bis-sehem attiv tal-pulizija.

Kienet immaġini li baqgħet stampata f'moħħi, u għadha hekk sal-lum. Minn dakinhar, u għal bosta snin wara, għalija Guido kien jissimboleġġa r-reżistenza għat-totalitarjaniżmu tal-gvern ta' Mintoff, u wara ta' Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici.

Għall-ewwel kien iddispjaċieni meta laħħqu lil Eddie, u mhux lil Guido, bħala kap tal-PN. Erħilha li wara biddilt fehmti u l-istorja żvolġiet kif jaf kulħadd.

Niftakar kif kien jindirizza lill-folla f'dawk is-snin memorabbli tar-reżistenza kontra r-reġim. Kienu jitkellmu ġeneralment tlieta wieħed wara l-ieħor - l-ewwel Louis Galea, imbagħad Guido u fl-aħħar Eddie. Guido kien jitla' fuq il-podju, u għall-ewwel ftit ma jgħid xejn, jibqa' għal kollox sieket. It-tgedwid ġenerali tal-folla jibda jonqos ftit ftit, u kulħadd jinduna li se jibda jitkellem Guido. It-tgedwid jispiċċa fix-xejn, u fis-silenzju kulħadd jistenna biex jisma' dik l-għajta kbira li għadha tidwi sal-lum f'moħħ tant eluf ta' Maltin:

"NAZZJONALISTI!"

U l-folla twieġeb, b'għajta li ttarrax! Għadu s'issa jaqbadni t-tkexkix meta niftakar.

Kif għadda ż-żmien. U maż-żmien inbidlu l-personaġġi, inbidlu ċ-ċirkostanzi, u nbdilna aħna. L-ideali, il-ħolm, il-viżjoni, saru parti mill-istorja. Konna għadna żgħar, u tkun żgħir tara kollox iswed u abjad. Imma wara tinduna li l-iswed u l-abjad fil-fatt huma griż skur jew aktar ċar, u mhux biss anzi hemm anki tant kuluri differenti...

Il-kelma nazzjonalist lili ddejjaqni. Inqisni minn kollox barra nazzjonalist. Li kien għalija d-dinja pajjiż wieħed, u ma jeżistux nazzjonijiet. Imma jibqa' l-fatt li politikament trabbejt u ġejt imsawwar fis-snin sebgħin u tmenin, u dawk is-snin għamluni Nazzjonalist, fis-sens ta' membru kburi tal-ġlieda għal-libertà u d-demokrazija f'Malta. U wieħed mill-figuri ta' quddiem nett ta' dak il-moviment kien Guido de Marco.

Grazzi Guido. Minn hawnhekk insellimlek.

The swin(e)dle of the century

2010-08-11T21:50:00.002+02:00

Swine flu pandemic officially over, according to the World Health Organisation, said the Times of Malta today.

Ah, yes, we may go out and about again, without fearing catching the "deadly" virus that has a lower fatality rate than normal influenza...

The relief!

Indeed.

I loved the following reader's comment: "Over the past decade we've covered cows, birds, pigs...I think the next one should be about horses, sheep or goats. We could give it a catchy name like mad-cow, so that gullible people will be even more impressed as they watch the news updates every evening about this new thing they are being told to fear and waste money on. I was thinking something in the lines of Sheep Armageddon F1H2. News reporters could even do things like say 'Folk, its looking really baaaaaaaaaaaaad so far'. Perfect." (David Captur)

I loved the following reaction to the above comment even more: "You are being most probable sarcastic."

Now was he really, I wonder...? It made my day :-))

Min qalilhom lil dawn?

2010-08-04T21:06:00.001+02:00

Kif semmejt diġà, ma rridx nidħol fl-argument favur jew kontra d-divorzju. L-argument ilu li ġie konkluż fis-sekli l-imgħoddija, ħlief għal f'żewġ repubbliki tal-banana, li fortunatament huma insinifikanti f'perspettiva dinjija daqs kemm hi qatra fl-oċean. Anki l-Knisja Kattolika saret tikkonċedi d-divorzju formalment, imma ssejjaħlu b'isem differenti - annullament.

Li xtaqt nikkummenta hawnhekk hu dwar żewġ spunti fost il-ħafna li tqanqlu permezz tal-famuża Private Member's Bill ta' Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando.

L-ewwel waħda hi l-kwistjoni tar-referendum. Esponenti għolja tal-gvern - li mhux b'kumbinazzjoni huma qatta' bla ħabel kontra d-dħul tad-divorzju f'Malta - qed jagħtu x'wieħed jifhem li l-kwistjoni għandha diġà riżolta b'referendum. Probabbli jxommuha li, anki minħabba l-influwenza kbira li għandha l-Knisja Kattolika fuq l-elettorat Malti, il-maġġoranza tivvota le.

Imma din l-idea hi demokratikament skorretta - ikun referendum fażull ieħor! Għaliex liġi li tirregola s-sitwazzjoni ta' żwiġijiet falluti għandha tkun soġġetta għal referendum? Bl-istess raġunar allura kull liġi li toħroġ fil-pajjiż għandha tgħaddi b'referendum. Mela allura l-parlament għalfejn qiegħed, jekk mhux biex japprova l-liġijiet f'isem il-poplu? Dawn wara kollox rappreżentanti tal-poplu huma.

Allura, ngħid jien, id-dekriminalizzazzjoni tal-adulterju u tal-prattika omosesswali għaliex ma saritx b'referendum? U x'kien jiġri kieku fil-fatt sar referendum dwarhom? Ovvja! Kienu jibqgħu atti kriminali, għax il-maġġoranza ma taqbilx magħhom, u għax ir-reliġjon Kattolika ma tippermettihomx.

U hawn joħroġ tant ċar il-konfużjoni ġenerali, anki fost uħud mir-rappreżentanti tal-poplu, dwar id-distinzjoni bejn reliġjon u stat. Ħafna Maltin jippretendu li r-Repubblika ta' Malta għandha ġġib ruħha bħala xi kolonja tal-Vatikan. Ma jistgħux jifhmu li l-parlament Malti għandu jilleġisla f'isem l-istat u għall-poplu ta' Malta, u mhux f'isem xi reliġjon jew oħra. Kristu stess kien qal: "Agħti lil Ċesare dak li hu ta' Ċesare, u lil Alla dak li hu ta' Alla".

U dan iwassalni għat-tieni spunt. Appuntu. "Id-divorzju: Alla ma jridux". Hekk kitbulna b'ittri daqs dinja fuq kartellun f'Ħaż Żebbuġ. U kif jafu dawn? Kif jista' sempliċi bniedem jiddikjara daqshekk bla tlaqliq li jaf x'inhi r-rieda ta' Alla? Din x'megalomanija hi? Ma narax kif xi ħadd, hu min hu, li huwa inqas minn nitfa mqabbel ma' Alla, jista' jiġi jipproklama l-opinjoni ta' Alla b'daqshekk ċertezza.

Ma nafx, milli qaluli fuq Alla fil-fatt naħseb jixtieq il-ġid u l-kuntentizza għall-ħlejjaq tiegħu, u ma jixtieqx li n-nies jibqgħu priġunieri ta' żwiġijiet falluti għal ħajjithom kollha. Imma dak x'naħseb jien, u mhux se mmur inxandarha bħala r-rieda ta' Alla.

Wara kollox, la qbadniha fuq Alla, seħibna li kiteb fuq il-kartellun, għandi nifhem, jemmen li Alla tana moħħ biex naħsbu u nirraġunaw, u allura d-deċiżjonijiet li jaffettwawlna ħajjitna rridu noħduhom aħna b'mod raġunat, u mhux b'xi digriet ivvintat.

Nostalġija

2010-08-04T11:25:00.001+02:00

Kwieta l-qiegħa bħalissa fil-gallarija, anki għax għaddejt l-isbaħ ġimagħtejn bla internet, u daż-żmien jekk ma jkollokx internet tkun qisek maqtugħ mid-dinja.

Terġa' kont (u għadni) bil-muża tal-vaganzi, u ftit li xejn ma qed jiġru affarijiet li jġiegħluni nikkummenta. Li noqgħod nargumenta fuq id-divorzju naraha ħaġa tal-mistħija. Inkredibbli li fl-2010 f'Malta għadhom jiddiskutu suġġett daqshekk skadut - mhux kif għandu jkun allura ta, imma jekk għandhomx jippermettuh... Pajjiż ridikolu mmexxi minn politiċi ridikoli, u jiddispjaċini ngħid bl-appoġġ ta' poplu... li ma jafx aħjar...

U allura, bejn kif għidt għax kont 'elettronikament' maqtugħ, u bejn għal nuqqas ta' muża, li għandi x'nista' nitfa' hawn huma ritratti ta' wħud mill-postijiet idillijaċi li mort ingawdi f'dawn l-aħħar ftit ġranet.

Hawnhekk id-Dwejra, probabbli l-aktar post spettakolari fejn wieħed jista' jmur jgħum fil-gżejjer Maltin. Ma nafx tistax issejħilha bajja, għax imdawra kollha bl-irdum ħlief għal dir-roqgħa li tintlaħaq bit-taraġ u għall-bokka li tagħti għall-baħar miftuħ, parti minnha magħluqa bil-famuża Blata tal-Ġeneral. Tkun tgħum f'nofs din il-wesgħa ta' baħar ċar, frisk u nadif u mdawwar b'dan ix-xenarju hija sensazzjoni tal-għaġeb!

Il-pensinsula ta' Delimara fiha, mhux wieħed, imma tlieta jekk mhux aktar bajjiet ukoll mill-isbaħ. Ibda mill-favorita tiegħi l-Ħofra l-Kbira fi Xrobb l-Għaġin, tkompli b'St Peter's Pool, kif ukoll din tar-ritratt, Delimara proprja (magħrufa wkoll bħala l-Kalanka). Kollha diffiċli biex jintlaħqu - ħaġa komuni għall-postijiet kollha li qed insemmi hawnhekk, forsi għalhekk baqgħu daqshekk sbieħ, u għalhekk issib daqshekk kwiet u serħan. Did-darba sibtu terġa' aħjar mis-soltu hawn, għax il-bokka magħluqa minn naħa għall-oħra b'ħabel biex ma jidħlux bċejjeċ tal-baħar 'il ġewwa fejn jgħumu n-nies. Prosit u grazzi lill-Awtorità Marittima.

Waħda mill-isbaħ ġranet tagħna bħala familja dis-sena. Hawnhekk fejn jiltaqgħu id-daħla ta' Mġarr ix-Xini, erġajna Għawdex, u daħla żgħira maġenbha, imsejħa Ta' Kantra. Għal darb'oħra, sħana tremenda, baħar lixx kważi ħġieġ, ilma nadif, bram xejn (bram? bram x'ikun?). Ġurnata qabel kont għumt sal-blata u lura. Ġennata, għax fil-fatt ħafna aktar il-bogħod milli tidher. Wara r-ritratt, birra u snack, qabża oħra l-baħar, u lura Ta' Ċenċ nistrieħu. Ah xi ġmiel!

X'nostalġija diġà, lanqas ġimagħtejn wara. U mhux bilfors nostalġija? Id-data l-4 ta' Awwissu, it-temperatura 16-il grad, u nieżla x-xita. Fil-Belġjum, naturalment...

'L-element uman'

2010-07-18T17:45:00.000+02:00

Lanqas għadha għaddiet ġimgħa sħiħa mill-final tal-Werld Kapp, u qisha memorja mbiegħda diġà. Ilħaqt ġejt nikwi hawn f'Malta, dort skoss bajjiet u għumt ħafna, biex inpatti għall-fatt li ma nistax niġri, u x-xjatika jew ma nafx xi x-xjafek għandi f'koxxti reġgħet bdiet tinħass. Issa naqra naqra qed nibda ninkwieta li vera se jkolli nerfa' għal kollox mill-ġiri!

Imma ġejt nikteb hawn issa mhux biex noqgħod nibki. Ġejt biex naqla' minn fuq żaqqi dan l-argument kontra l-ħrafa li jħobbu jsemmu tal-'element uman', dawk kollha li jappoġġjaw lill-FIFA meta tinsisti li ma nużawx teknoloġija biex jonqsu drastikament l-oxxenità ta' deċiżjonijiet tar-referis li jkollu jissaporti kulħadd waqt il-logħob tal-futbol.

Dan tal-element uman hu argument bażwi għal kollox. Sakemm jibqa' jintlagħab il-futbol l-element uman hemm qiegħed u hemm se jibqa'. L-element uman huma t-22 plejer, is-sostituti, il-kowċis, il-ġurnalisti, il-miljuni ta' sapporters iffissati mġienen li jkunu qed jarawhom. IR-REFERI, KIEKU NISTGĦU NGĦADDU MINGĦAJRU GĦAL KOLLOX, IKUN ĦAFNA AĦJAR!

Jekk hemm xi referi qed ibati minn illużjoni li n-nies hija ffissata fil-futbol għax ikun hemm ir-referis... ta' min veru jitħassru. F'dinja ideali, logħba futbol tintlagħab bla referi. Din mhix xi ħaġa inkonċepibbli, għeżież żewġ qarrejja. Il-maġġoranza kbira tal-futbol fid-dinja jintlagħab bla referi. Pereżempju jien u numru ta' ħbieb tiegħi, għal 10 snin sħaħ, kull nhar ta' Sibt konna niltaqgħu f'biċċa grawnd u qatt, imma qatt, ma kien ikollna problema biex il-logħba tintlagħab normali, ovvjament bla referi. Kulħadd jafhom ir-regoli, u rraġuna minn hawn u minn hemm dejjem konna naslu għal qbil jekk kienx penalti, ħendsbol jew fawl.

Nissuspetta, anzi, għalkemm minix ċert hawnhekk, li l-ewwel logħob tal-futbol fl-istorja kien fil-fatt ikun bla referi, u d-deċiżjonijiet kienu jittieħdu b'sens komun bejn il-plejers. Inħass il-bżonn, eventwalment, li f'partiti akkaniti tajjeb li jkun hemm persuna newtrali biex deċiżjonijiet diffiċli jkunu jistgħu jiġu rreferuti (u għalhekk it-terminu 'referi') lilhom. Fil-fatt issa għadni kemm ikkonfermajt li veru dak kien il-każ. Tajjeb li wara li taqraw x'għandi x'ngħid jien fuq is-suġġett tittawlu f'dan il-link, għax hemm rakkont interessanti ta' kif il-figura tar-referi evolviet, minn litteralment xejn għal persuna maħtura minn kull tim biex tissorvelja l-logħba, bla dritt li tintervjeni fil-logħba (wisq sabiħ dal-kliem!), għal appuntu persuna li tiġi kkonsultata għal deċiżjonijiet diffiċli, sal-mument traġiku meta ngħatalhom l-awtorità jibdew jindaħlu u jordnaw ħendsbol, fawl eċċetra. Minn dak il-mument, din il-figura bdiet dejjem tassumi aktar ir-rwol ta' dittatur. Issa wasalna fl-estrem tal-lum il-ġurnata, meta qed niġġustifikaw kull forma ta' deċiżjoni żbaljata, li twassal għal riżultati assurdi u foloz f'kompetizzjonijiet importanti, biex nissalvagwardjaw il-preżenza ta' primadonna dittatur fil-grawnd.

Ħa ngħidha fi kliem ieħor. Fil-bidu tal-istorja tal-futbol inħoloq ir-referi biex deċiżjonijiet diffiċli jittieħdu tajjeb minn persuna newtrali. Issa r-referi m'għadux il-mezz biex jintlaħaq l-għan, imma sar l-għan fih innifsu. Ninsistu li d-deċiżjonijiet diffiċli jittieħdu ħażin, basta jkollna l-'element uman'.

Persuna li għandha awtorità hija rrispettata. Imma persuna b'awtorità, li kulħadd jista' jara li m'hix tħaddem l-awtorità tajjeb, minflok rispett tattira d-disprezz. Dik hi l-pożizzjoni ta' dawn id-dittaturi f'għajnejn in-nies. Biljuni ta' nies raw li l-ewwel gowl tal-Arġentina kontra l-Messiku kien offsajd ċar. Biljuni, prattikament in-nies kollha tad-dinja. ĦLIEF l-aktar żewġ persuni fuq il-pjaneta li kien importanti jkunu jafu eżatt x'ġara - ir-referi u l-linesman. F'sekonda r-raba' uffiċjal seta' jibagħtilhom messaġġ fuq il-headphones seksi li jkunu libsin: "offsajd kien". Dak kollox. F'sekonda tittieħed deċiżjoni korretta u ġusta. U n-nies tirrispettahom ħafna aktar lill-uffiċjali għax jafu li d-deċiżjoni tkun ibbażata fuq il-fatti, mhux fuq impressjoni.

Isiru robots ir-referis, imbilli ntuhom l-għodda li għandhom bżonn biex jagħmlu xogħlhom sew? U żgur li le!

Imma s-Sur Blatter tat-toqba t'għajni jrid l-element uman.

Għal min forsi kien qed ifittixni...

2010-07-15T18:52:00.005+02:00

Skużawni, id-darba l-oħra qarraqt kemmxejn bil-poplu meta wrejt ir-ritratti fejn kont se nqatta' l-eqqel tas-sajf.

Fil-fatt hawnhekk kont qiegħed:

U hawnhekk:

U mument minnhom hawnhekk:

Ah, kemm hemm sabiħ!

L-eqqel tas-sajf

2010-07-12T19:32:00.001+02:00

Dħalna fl-eqqel tas-sajf. Għalissa, min jixtieq isibni, tkun idea tajba jekk jipprova waħda hawn:

jew hawn:

jew anki hawn:

Imma żgur mhux hawn:

Never a dull moment

2010-07-06T18:59:00.001+02:00

U proprju fil-mument li ddeċidejt li ma nibqax nibbloggja, jew għallinqas nillimita l-ibbloggjar għal minimu, hekku jitfaċċa Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando bil-bombxell tas-sena: private member's bill fil-parlament biex jidħol id-divorzju f'Malta!

Ir-reazzjonijiet tiegħi:

1. Never a dull moment f'Malta.

2. Issa naraw kemm vera huma 'progressivi' l-Moviment ta' Progressivi u Moderati ta' Joseph Muscat, magħruf ukoll bħala l-Partit Laburista.

3. Sakemm ma joħroġx xi diktat mill-Isqof Gonzi, se naraw ukoll kif inhuma mqassmin bejn il-partiti l-elementi liberali u dawk konservattivi fil-parlament Malti. Avolja, ikolli ngħid l-Onorevoli membri se jivvutaw kif jaqblilhom biex iġibu l-aktar voti, u mhux kif vera jaħsbuha fil-kuxjenza tagħhom.

4. Li rnexxielu jagħmel ukoll JPO, u ma nafx kinitx (ukoll) dik l-intenzjoni tiegħu, hi li jtajjar il-karrotta li qed idendel Joseph Muscat biex jikkonvinċi lill-eletturi b'tendenzi liberali jivvutaw lilu - dik tal-vot ħieles fil-parlament dwar id-divorzju. Issa m'għandniex bżonn aktar nistennew lil Muscat isir Prim Ministru biex jippreżenta l-famuża private member's bill li kien qed iwiegħed - u li se jispiċċa ma jippreżentaha qatt...

Prosit JPO. Jista' jkun li kont għaxxaqtha bid-diskoteka fil-Mistra, imma b'din għamilt mossa eċċezzjonali li tpatti għaliha sew.

Ispirazzjoni

2010-07-04T22:46:00.000+02:00

Rafa Nadal reġa' għamilha! Wara li s-sena l-oħra ma setax jieħu sehem f'Wimbledon, minħabba wġigħ f'irkopptu li ħafna bdew jaħsbu se tirrovinalu l-karriera, dis-sena ġie lura b'saħħa tremenda. Kaxkar ir-Roland Garros, u issa Wimbledon. Il-ħasra li ż-żewġ finali li huma kienu kemmxejn bla storja - fi Franza kontra Soderling, u llum kontra Berdych. Donnha l-istilla ta' Federer jew bdiet tbatti, jew (nisperaw) battiet għal ftit taż-żmien. Nixtiequ nkomplu naraw aktar battalji bejn dawn iż-żewġ tennisti kbar, u mhux logħbiet finali one-way traffic...

Bħal daż-żmien sena kien hemm sportiv ieħor, inqas famuż, li wkoll għadda minn diżgrazzja sportiva. It-triatleta Malti Fabio Spiteri kien qed jipprepara għal Iron Man - avveniment li jien nista' biss noħlom li qatt nagħmel. Kien lest u kollox, imma fl-aħħar xahar qabel it-tellieqa waqa' fl-isprint finali ta' tellieqa bir-rota, u kiser spalltu. Addijo t-trejning kollu li kien għamel - u għal Iron Man trid tagħmel ħafna, ħafna trejning. Kellu jagħmel operazzjoni fi spalltu, u jagħmel żmien twil jirkupra saħħtu.

Illum, sena wara, il-ħolma ta' Fabio saret realtà, u rnexxielu jagħmilha l-Iron Man.

Fuq skala aktar umli... f'Hoeilaart, il-Belġjum, hawn maratoneta jħarbex dawn l-erba' kelmiet ilu x-xhur ma jistax jiġri, minħabba wġiegħ stupidu fil-koxxa li donnu ma jrid jgħaddi qatt. Hija esperjenza mill-aktar frustranti. Jien ukoll dis-sena ppjanajt biex niġri l-maratona ta' Praga f'Mejju, u kelli nieqaf mill-ġiri, għal żmien indefinit. Anzi, anki stajt nixxennaq nara lil sħabi l-maratoneti l-oħrajn jieħdu sehem f'dan avveniment li diġà kont inktibt u ħallast għalih.

Rafael Nadal, famuż, miljunarju, tennista straordinarju, ammirat fid-dinja kollha. Fabio Spiteri - Iron Man - atleta Malti b'rieda u saħħa straordinarja. Qatt ma nista' noqrob għal-livell tagħhom, imma t-tnejn għalija jservu ta' ispirazzjoni. Praga hemm se tibqa', il-maratona se jibqgħu jorganizzawha, darba fis-sena, u mhux se naqta' qalbi kif ġieb u laħaq milli xi darba mmur lura hemm u niġriha.

Refereeing farce

2010-06-28T20:16:00.000+02:00

Fifa: "No goals on stadium screens". Maybe Fifa should go one further. No goals on any TV screen in the world. They might even consider if all football matches should be played behind closed doors, so no one would witness the refereeing farce that Blatter insists we should have. In fact, the teams involved shouldn't even bother playing the matches - the referee will decide the match result, after consulting the linesmen and the fourth official.

Bqajt tgħaxxaqha sal-aħħar, Monsieur Domenech

2010-06-26T17:06:00.001+02:00

Apparti l-vuvużeli. X'ingħidu għall-futbol li rajna s'issa? Tal-għaġeb hu? Vera, aqta' barra lill-Arġentina kollha għaxxquna bil-logħob.

L-Arġentina... kont għidt qabel bdiet il-Werldkapp li jekk imorru tajjeb tkun il-prova li mhux importanti min ikun kowċ jekk il-plejers ikunu tajbin. Fis-sens li "anki" b'Maradona, li bħala kowċ ma jiswa xejn, ikunu marru tajjeb.

Imma jkolli ngħid li għalaqli ħalqi. Bit-tħarbit u l-gwaj li għadda minnu, l-eżempju mill-agħar tal-istil ta' ħajja li kien qed jgħix, ma stajtx nifhem kif fdawh bit-tmexxija tat-tim nazzjonali. U sakemm ikkwalifikaw bil-ħniena bqajna ma nistgħux nifhmu. Issa bdew jilagħbu, u stajna naraw li Maradona rnexxielu jdaħħal fit-tim spirtu eċċezzjonali - konvinzjoni, grinta, entużjażmu. Tarahom fir-reazzjonijiet kull meta jiskurjaw, kollha ġirja waħda għal ħdejn il-bank tas-sostituti, kollha jifirħu flimkien. Rari naraw daqshekk tim spirit fil-futbol. Ovvjament, il-fatt li għandu sett ta' plejers mill-aqwa dejjem jgħin...

It-tim spirit. Ħmmm, pereżempju... Franza? X'effett jagħmel eh t-tim spirit? U x'ingħidu għal Raymond Domenech, mela? Kellu jispiċċa l-karriera tiegħu mat-tim ta' Franza bl-istess mod bħal Franċiż ieħor ċelebri - Zinedine Zidane - bi brutta figura. L-aħħar ħaġa li rajna 'l Zidane jagħmel bħala plejer tal-futbol kienet li joħroġ 'il barra mkeċċi wara d-daqqa tar-ras stil tat-toru fuq sider Materazzi. L-aħħar ħaġa li rajna lil Domenech jagħmel bħala kowċ ta' Franza kienet li rrifjuta jieħu b'idejn il-kowċ tas-Sawtafrika. Sportività eżemplari. Tgħid kien qara fl-oroskopu li ma jaqbillux jieħu b'idejn nies dakinhar, għax iġġiblu l-bedlakk?

Franza għamlu fjask. U dan iġibna mill-ewwel għall-Italja. Fjask kbir, dovut għal raġuni sempliċi ħafna. M'għandhomx biex jilagħbu. It-timijiet Taljani mimlijin plejers barranin, u l-plejers żgħażagħ promettenti jħalluhom jistaġnaw u jrabbu l-għanqbut fuq il-bank tas-sostituti. Dik kollha. Anki l-gowlkipers issa l-biċċa l-kbira barranin. Weġġa' Buffon u qishom kienu qed jilagħbu bla gowler.

Qbadtha fuq il-kowċis illum. Lil Lippi ma tantx għandi grazzja miegħu - narah arroganti wisq. Imma ammirajtu ħafna fil-konferenza stampa li ta wara li ġew eliminati. Emozjonat għall-aħħar, ma qgħadx ifittex l-iskużi, la għax tħassrilhom gowl għalxejn u lanqas għax kellhom l-aktar żewġ plejers importanti - Pirlo u Buffon - it-tnejn imweġġgħa. Bla ebda tlaqliq qal li kien it-tort tiegħu u ta' ħadd iżjed, għax ma rnexxilux joħroġ l-aħjar kwalitajiet mit-tim. Probabbilment, kellu f'moħħu wkoll allura li meta rebħuha erba' snin ilu l-mertu kien tiegħu... Imma jibqa' l-fatt li, għall-kuntrarju tal-kollega arċirivali tiegħu Domenech, Lippi ħareġ mix-xena b'mod dinjituż.

Forsi sinifikattiv il-fatt li waqt li l-Franċiżi u t-Taljani, iż-żewġ finalisti tal-2006, diġà marru lura d-dar, bħalissa qed tintlagħab il-logħba tat-tieni rawnd bejn l-Urugwaj u l-Korea t'Isfel. U għad jonqoshom jilagħbu, fit-tieni rawnd, il-USA, il-Gana, il-Ġapan u s-Slovakkja. Mhix kumbinazzjoni li f'dawn il-pajjiżi ma tantx jilagħbu plejers barranin. Issa naraw kif se tmur l-Ingilterra, fejn ukoll trid tfittex b'nemes biex issib plejer Ingliż jilgħab fil-kampjonat tagħhom.

L-aħħar rimarka fuq il-kowċis. Il-kowċ tal-Ġapan, karattru interessanti li qed jagħmel suċċess ħafna iktar milli kien mistenni bit-tim tiegħu, qal li wara l-Werldkapp se jirtira u jsir bidwi. Nawguralu sinċerament, l-ewwel nett li jirbaħ il-Werldkapp, u t-tieni li jagħmel suċċess mill-karriera l-ġdida li bi ħsiebu jaqbad.

Ħassrulna nofs il-gost

2010-06-20T15:04:00.001+02:00

Ġimgħa u nofs tard, nista' nibda nikkummenta fuq il-Werdkapp tas-Sawtafrika: l-ewwel Werdkapp li qed issir fil-kontinent Afrikan, b'rispett għall-politika tal-FIFA li l-ikbar kompetizzjoni tagħha ddur l-erbat irjieħ tad-dinja.

Prosit! Huwa anki rikonoxximent għall-progress kbir li wettqet l-Afrika fil-futbol, tant li bla dubju saru t-tielet forza fid-dinja fejn jidħol futbol. Bosta pajjiżi Afrikani huma ffissati fil-futbol. Hemm tant plejers Afrikani ta' livell mondjali li jilagħbu mal-aqwa klabbs fid-dinja, u ngħid ma tkunx sorpriża kbira kieku xi darba mhux fil-bogħod ikun pajjiż Afrikan stess li jispiċċa jsir iċ-Ċampjin tad-dinja.

Imma x'impressjoni qed jagħtu lid-dinja? X'idea qed jieħdu dawk il-miljuni u miljuni kollha ffissati fil-futbol, u li għalihom dan hu bla dubju l-aktar avveniment importanti, mhux sportiv biss, li jseħħ fid-dinja? L-Afrika qed torganizza l-Werdkapp, għajnejn id-dinja qiegħda fuqhom, imma tista' tgħid l-unika ħaġa li laqtitna mill-avveniment s'issa kienet... il-vuvużela!

X'ħasra. Fejn hi l-allegrija tradizzjonali Afrikana, fejn huma n-nies libsin ikkulurit jiżfnu u jdoqqu t-tnabar? Xejn. Minflok għandna żanżin monotonu kontinwu li joħnoq għal kollox kull emozzjoni mil-logħbiet. U jgħidulna dik il-Werdkapp tagħhom, ma niddettawlhomx kif għandha ssir, tradizzjoni, blablabla... Ħalluna tridu? Il-Werdkapp hi ta' kulħadd, tal-pajjiżi kollha fid-dinja, u mhux tas-Sawtafrika. Lis-Sawtafrika tawhom id-dritt biex jorganizzaw il-logħob, mhux biex iħassruh!

Tradizzjoni hux? Iddaħħaqnix trid! Kull użanza bla sens jew ħażina fid-dinja jiġġustifikawha bl-iskuża universali ta' "tradizzjoni". Il-vuvużela mhix tradizzjoni, imma hija sempliċiment l-agħar reklam immaġinabbli għall-futbol Afrikan.

Bejn Werd Kapp u eżamijiet tal-Olandiż...

2010-06-12T19:38:00.003+02:00

Dal-wikend għandna l-elezzjoni hawn fil-Belġjum. Ħafna issa qed jitkellmu fil-miftuħ fuq il-possibbiltà li l-pajjiż jinqasam, imma ma naħsibx li jiġri hekk. Il-pajjiż tista' fil-fatt issejjaħlu pajjiż għax għandu:

1. Isem
2. Re
3. Belt kapitali li ż-żewġ naħat iriduha għalihom, għax hemm il-pappa pprovduta mill-Unjoni Ewropea

Il-bqija anki l-partiti politiċi mifrudin f'żewġ settijiet. M'hemmx partit wieħed li hu wieħed pan-Belġjan. U ma nafx eżatt x'mingħalihom se jsolvu billi għamlu elezzjoni, għax il-problemi eżatt l-istess se jibqgħu u n-numru ta' Fjammingi u ta' Frankofoni mhux se jinbidel. Nistennew, u naraw ikomplux ikarkru bħala pajjiż wieħed kif ilhom għal snin sħaħ.

Sadattant jien għadni ma nistax niġri, u issa bdejt niddejjaq nistenna sakemm jgħaddili. Ħeqq, paċenzja. Kważi sena sħiħa ġiri moħlija se tkun.

U sadattant ukoll issa ġiet il-Werd Kapp, li diġà toħodli l-biċċa l-kbira tal-ħin liberu. Żid ix-xogħol, ix-xogħol tad-dar, u kemm jifdal ħin? Forsi biżżejjed biex nistudja għall-eżamijiet tal-Olandiż li se jkolli fi ftit ġranet oħra. Għax biex ġejt ngħix hawn, mhux lingwa waħda ġdida qed ikolli nitgħallem imma tnejn.

Jiġifieri mħabba nuqqas ta' ħin il-Gallarija jkollha titbexxaq naqra għalissa, għeżież żewġ qarrejja. Se nħalli ritratt sabiħ iżejjen il-faċċata u nibda nistudja. Aktar tard, nispera qabel l-aħħar ta' Ġunju, nerġa' niġi nkompli nħarbex. Nispera ma timmissjawnix iżżejjed...! Ok? Moħħkom hemm. (Ġastinkejs - innota l-bandiera mgħollija bil-kitba fuqha: "Ironija")

P.S. Ir-ritratt kien meħud f'ġurnata sħuna immens waqt mixja f'bosk ġewwa Spa, is-sajf tas-sena l-oħra.

P.P.S. Jekk vera ma tgħaddix mingħajr il-bloggati tiegħi, għażiż qarrej, tista' tqalleb fil-kitbiet l-antiki (il-links fuq ix-xellug). Hawn massa kitba mhux ħażin, u jkolli nammetti li dejjem insibha interessanti nerġa' naqrahom. Mhux biex niftaħar ta, imma sempliċiment biex niftaħar naqra :-)

You don't have to be a religious fanatic to be a Labour MP...

2010-06-09T19:47:00.000+02:00

... but it helps! According to the Times of Malta, "Labour MP Adrian Vassallo would rather live in Iran and riot in the streets to defend his religion than live in a country where pornography is available in hotel rooms."

I wonder. Does he belong to the moderate or to the progressive faction of the Malta Labour Party?

Ridikoli!

2010-06-07T08:04:00.002+02:00

Ara kif jgħawġuha aħbar it-Times of Malta dot com. Waqgħu għal-livell tas-Super Wann.

"Labour MP 'acknowledges' corruption under pre-1987 Labour governments"

Hekk ħarġu jgħajtu b'titlu prominenti dalgħodu. Qisha l-ammissjoni ġrat ilbieraħ. Dħalt naqra, u skoprejt il-qerq sfaċċat ta' dat-titlu li għoġobhom jużaw. Fil-fatt l-aħbar hi li l-PN irrisponda għall-allegazzjonijiet fuq korruzzjoni li għamel ilbieraħ il-kap tal-lejber Joseph Muscat, u mhux dak li hemm fit-titlu. L-"aħbar" li l-MP laburist Chris Cardona ammetta (fl-aħħar, inżid ngħid) li taħt il-gvern ta' Mintoff/KMB kien hemm il-korruzzjoni kienet ġrat ix-xahar li għadda!

Imma l-qarrejja li jaraw biss it-titlu għax ikollhom affarijiet aktar importanti x'jagħmlu (mhux bħali) kull ma jibqa' f'moħħhom hi l-mea culpa tal-lejber, u assolutament xejn dwar l-allegata korruzzjoni li hemm bħalissa.

L-oħra s-sabiħa hi li l-PN iridu li Joseph Muscat, il-kap tal-Oppożizzjoni, jinvestiga lill-eks ministri laburisti sħabu għal korruzzjoni. Sinjuri tal-PN, safejn naf jien intom qegħdin fil-gvern, u għandkom il-mezzi u l-opportunità kollha kieku tridu li tibdewha intom din l-investigazzjoni.

Ridikoli! Lil John Bundy ma tantx għandi grazzja miegħu, xejn personali, kwistjoni biss ta' gosti, imma tal-kanzunetta li ħareġ ħaqqu jagħmlulu monument.

Now who could ever have thought otherwise

2010-06-05T18:10:00.001+02:00

"PL not holding personal data - Commissioner" (Times of Malta, 5 June '10)

No, of course not. Definitely not. Quite sure they're not. And neither are the PN. No doubt whatsoever. Why would they? Surely no one's so gullible as to believe they're holding personal data...!

"As Europe freezes..."

2010-06-02T21:25:00.002+02:00

Ma' Xrobb l-Għaġin qbadt. Qed inqalleb ftit ir-ritratti biex intella' xi wieħed minnhom hawn, u rajt dan, il-"qoxra" tal-album fil-Picasa li semmejt As Europe Freezes.... Kienet ix-xitwa meta ħadtu dan, kif anki jindika l-isem tal-album. F'Malta kien żmien il-Milied, imma kien qisu r-rebbiegħa. Insomma, malli rajt dar-ritratt għidt, ma jistax ikun ma nżejjinx il-blogg bih, u hawn hu infatti!

Xi ftit wisa'

2010-05-30T09:07:00.000+02:00

Din Chiara m'għandhiex xaba', għandu jkun. Mhux biżżejjed ħadet sehem fil-Eurovision darba, tnejn, tlieta... Issa għax ma ħaditx sehem bħala kantanta ġiet timlilna l-iskrin biex taqra l-voti ta' Malta.

Dik figura li qed naqtgħu! Jafu n-nies li bagħtuha, li l-mument li jinqraw il-voti ta' Malta hu l-uniku f'sena sħiħa li l-maġġoranza l-kbira tal-Ewropej qatt jiftakru li teżisti Malta u li jaraw persuna Maltija? Li qed nagħtu l-impressjoni li aħna poplu ta' nies... (kif naqbad ngħidha?) "Alla jberikhom", jew li l-popolazzjoni ta' Malta tikkonsisti minn persuna waħda biss?

Bl-Ingliż għandhom l-espressjoni "hogging the limelight" li tispjega eżatt is-sitwazzjoni. Chiara, prosit, ġejt it-tielet imbagħad it-tieni, imbagħad l-aħħar. Issa min jaf kieku tħalli xi ftit wisa' għal ħaddieħor, eh?

Sports comeback

2010-05-29T14:02:00.000+02:00

Since two months I've had to give up running due to a pulled hamstring. I therefore had to take up a different sport. I've tried bodybuilding...

Not bad for a beginner, is it?

Ġurnata sħuna fl-eqqel tas-sajf

2010-05-25T21:03:00.001+02:00

Xrobb l-Għaġin. Jogħġobni wisq dal-post. Għandi numru ta' ritratti ta' dan wieħed mill-aktar postijiet li nħobb f'Malta, u tkun ħasra kieku ma nżejjinx il-blogg bihom.

Ir-ritratt ta' fuq juri l-bajja kif tidher int u nieżel. Irrid noqgħod attent jien u nieżel bil-karozza, biex inħares lejn it-triq u mhux lejn din ix-xena. Ara kemm kien kalm l-ilma! Dar-ritratt qisu għandu miktub b'ittri jlellxu fuqu - "ġurnata sħuna fl-eqqel tas-sajf". Itik aptit taqbeż dritt fir-ritratt biex tgħum.

Hawnhekk ftit aktar 'l isfel. Il-blat tal-irdum f'dawn l-inħawi magħmul minn ġebla tal-franka bajdanija, u wkoll ratba tant li meta jkun imqalleb il-baħar jiġi kollu abjad. Imma ma kienx il-każ meta ġbidt dar-ritratt!

Tinżel minn taraġ dejjaq, u tasal fuq il-blat ħdejn il-baħar. Allaħares kellu jsir popolari hawnhekk, għax ftit li xejn m'hemm post lixx fejn tpoġġi. Fortunatament, ftit jafu nies b'dal-post, u ftit nies jaqrawh dal-blogg (tnejn b'kollox...), jiġifieri se jifdalli biżżejjed spazju fejn nintasab meta mmur hemm is-sajf li ġej.

Semmejt li żmien ilu konna għamilna ftit ġimgħat naħdmu fuq mina li tagħti mill-power station għall-Ħofra ż-Żgħira, eżatt maġenb dil-bajja. Fil-brejk ta' nofsinhar ġieli kont niġi ngħum hawn. Naturalment, kont nitla' fuq il-blata li tidher f'dar-ritratt. Naturalment, kull darba li mmur hemm, jiġifieri kull sajf, immur nitla' fuqha.

Iġri jasal!

Il-Ħofra l-Kbira fi Xrobb l-Għaġin

2010-05-24T11:48:00.004+02:00

Dan wieħed mir-ritratti favoriti tiegħi, ta' wieħed mill-postijiet favoriti tiegħi f'Malta. Kemm jista' jkun nagħmilha punt li darba fis-sena mmur ngħum hawnhekk. 'Il bogħod mill-massa tan-nies, u allura għall-kwiet. L-uniku ħsejjes li tisma' hawnhekk huma ta' xi dgħajsa, jew ta' xi lanċa tgħabbi jew tħott l-affarijiet għall-fish farm li hemm ftit 'il barra mix-xatt.

Din fir-ritratt tissejjaħ il-Ħofra l-Kbira. It-tieqa li tidher fit-tarf l-ieħor tal-bajja tagħti għall-Ħofra ż-Żgħira. Flimkien magħrufin bħala l-Ħofriet, u l-inħawi jissejħu Xrobb l-Għaġin. Hija dik il-parti tal-kosta ta' bejn il-Bajja ta' San Tumas u Delimara. Tal-għaġeb sabiħa dil-parti ta' Malta.

Naturalment, l-għorrief li għandna jmexxuna sabu mezz kif iħassruha - bil-power station, li anki fir-ritratt jidhru żewġt iċmieni tagħha. Iċ-ċumnija l-mostru tidher ukoll minn hawn, imma fir-ritratti li ħadt hawn ippruvajt kemm jista' jkun nevitaha. Fil-fatt, fil-Ħofra ż-Żgħira kont anki ħdimt jien stess fuq biċċa sfreġju hemmhekk - bnejna l-ħruġ ta' mina li mill-power station ta' Delimara jwaddab l-ilma msaħħan li jkun intuża biex iberred il-magni tal-impjant. Kien probabbli, anzi kważi żgur, l-isbaħ post li qatt ħdimt fih. Avolja ġieli ppruvajt, tant hi mwarrba u diffiċli biex tilħaqha li ili minn dak iż-żmien, qrib l-20 sena ilu, ma jirnexxieli nerġa' naraha l-Ħofra ż-Żgħira, li nqisha terġa' isbaħ mill-kbira.

Ir-ritratti qegħdin f'album fil-gallarija tar-ritratti li għandi fil-Picasa, 'Malta beaches'.

Inter - insult għall-futbol Taljan

2010-05-23T10:18:00.000+02:00

L-Inter huma insult għall-futbol Taljan. Biex jirbħu ċ-Champions ramaw tim kollu kemm hu barranin, mingħajr plejer wieħed biss Taljan. Waqt iċ-ċelebrazzjonijiet rajna bnadar tal-Portugall, tal-Kamerun, tal-Maċedonja... imma l-ebda waħda tal-Italja. U l-boloħ ġurnalisti (il-ġurnalisti biss) Taljani jifirħu għax iċ-Champions League intrebaħ minn tim "Taljan".

L-istorja ta' dat-tim hi mibnija fuq dnub oriġinali: id-distruzzjoni tal-konkorrenza permezz ta' konfoffa vili li sejħulha Calciopoli.

Kwalunkwe tim ieħor kont ngħidilhom prosit tar-rebħa taċ-Champions League. Imma mhux l-Inter. Aħna l-Juventini qatt ma naħfrulhom tad-deni li għamlulna Moratti u l-klikka tiegħu. Iktar u iktar issa li qed jinkixef dak li ilna nissuspettaw - li huma kienu parteċipanti attivi fl-istess xibka ta' ħbieb tal-ħbieb li akkużaw biha lil ħaddieħor, speċjalment lill-Juventus. U aktar ma jgħaddi żmien aktar nistmerruhom, almenu sakemm jibqgħu hemm Dracula u sħabu.

Il-mossa tipika ta' Del Piero

2010-05-21T08:30:00.000+02:00

Hemm hu, arah waqt it-training Del Piero. Mossa li tgħallem jagħmel b'perfezzjoni, u li fil-logħbiet (li jinsisti li għandu dritt jilgħab bilfors, għax inkella jdendel geddum sal-art) narawh jagħmilha kull darba li jidħol fl-azzjoni. Jaqa' mal-art.

Qabel kien famuż għax-xuttijiet à la Del Piero. Issa se nibqgħu niftakruh għall-waqgħat fl-art à la Del Piero.

Vizzju misħut

2010-05-19T21:59:00.002+02:00

Fiż-żu ta' Praga hemm rokna ddedikata għal dawk li jpejpu. Jidher li apprezzata għax hemm skoss truf tas-sigaretti użati ġmielhom. Jien apprezzajtha wkoll, speċjalment it-tpinġija fuq it-tabella.

Nawgura lill-vittmi kollha tat-tipjip li jirnexxielhom jaqtgħu dal-vizzju misħut. Nawgura wkoll lil dawk li ma jpejpux li ma jkunux huma wkoll vittmi tat-tipjip... ta' ħaddieħor. Tama fierħa, naf.

Praga (3)

2010-05-16T22:34:00.000+02:00

Fl-aħħar irnexxieli nissortja l-pataflun ritratti li ħadt fi Praga, u nippubblikahom fil-Picasa. Dan fuq ix-xellug jinkludi ż-żewġ veduti probabbli l-aktar magħrufa ta' dil-belt - il-kastell u ċ-Charles Bridge.

Sabiħa Praga, għalkemm kemmxejn 'turistika' żżejjed. Kull fejn tħares pjazez, monumenti, knejjes, palazzi, torrijiet, briġġijiet (minn ċerti bnadi tista' tilmaħ xi ħamsa jaqsmu x-xmara Vltava). Tant hemm x'tara li ma jaqbillekx tipprova tara kollox għax litteralment hemm wisq. Lanqas ma ppruvajt nifhem liema imperi, prinċpijiet u rejiet kienu hemm matul is-snin. Rimarka waħda ftakart li qalulna fuq il-ġita ta' Martin's Tour, li l-president Ċek hu l-uniku kap ta' stat Ewropew li jokkupa l-istess bini li kien jintuża elf sena ilu - il-palazz li qiegħed fil-kastell li jiddomina l-belt ta' Praga. Aktar milli kastell, din nistħajjilha ċittadella fuq skala kbira, b'katidral, basilika, il-palazz, ġonna - anki hawn ukoll tispiċċa titfixkel fil-ġid.

Nieżel 'l isfel mill-kastell tista' tgħaddi mill-vinja ta' Wenċeslas u tara panorama taħtek tax-xmara sserrep madwar il-parti l-antika tal-belt fuq naħa waħda, u l-parti hekk imsejħa ż-żgħira fuq in-naħa tal-lemin.

Fuq wara tal-parti ż-żgħira hemm park fuq għolja li hu moqdi minn tramm/funikular. Dan hu l-Petrin Park, ġnien sabiħ u kwiet mnejn tista' tara aktar veduti spettakolari. Hemm torri qisu verżjoni żgħira tat-Torri Eiffel, u minn fuqu ġġib anki l-kastell ta' Praga taħtek. Gianluca infatti rrimarka meta tlajna fuq li konna qegħdin 'ogħla minn kullimkien'. Fl-istess park hemm ukoll kappella, osservatorju astronomiku, u labirint tal-mirja, minbarra l-ġnien innifsu.

Sabiħa Praga, nerġa' ngħid. Ma niddejjaq xejn kieku kelli nerġa' mmur...

Praga (2)

2010-05-14T20:45:00.000+02:00

Konna drajniha r-rutina fi Praga. Biex nibdew ikla zalzett, bejken u bajd fost ħafna affarijiet oħra, niġbru xi affarijiet, mapep, liflits, ġakketta kontra x-xita, kamera u ktieb, u noħorġu 'l barra.

Dawra ma' kantuniera waħda, u f'affari ta' ħames minuti nsibu ruħna ħdejn il-metro. Nixtru biljett kull wieħed - li b'4 ewri jtik id-dritt tirkeb għal ġurnata sħiħa, kemm trid u fejn trid fuq in-netwerk eċċellenti ta' trasport pubbliku li jkopri tista' tgħid il-belt kollha - u ninżlu bl-eskalejter biex nirkbu l-metro li jmiss lejn iċ-ċentru.

Aktar mill-veduti, il-bini monumentali, il-knejjes, u l-atmosfera tal-post, kien l-effiċjenza tat-trasport pubbliku l-aktar li impressjonani hawnhekk. Kull m'għandek bżonn ikollok hija mappa bil-linji differenti tal-metro (tlieta - il-linja ħamra, is-safra u l-ħadra), tat-tramms u tal-karozzi tal-linja. Lanqas hemm bżonn tkun taf il-ħinijiet daqs kemm huma spissi. Anki wara nofsillejl jipprovdu servizz kull nofs siegħa. Tista' tixtri biljett għal vjaġġ wieħed (inqas minn ewru), jew diversi possibbiltajiet għal żminijiet itwal. Karozza kull m'għandek bżonnha biex tagħmel ix-xirja. Mhux li kienu l-awtoritajiet Maltin jistudjaw u jikkupjaw is-sistema li hemm fi Praga, bil-metro b'kollox...

Bis-serjetà, kien għalija parti mill-gost kemm domt hemm li nuża n-netwerk tat-trasport li għandhom biex immur minn banda għall-oħra. Parti mill-attrazzjoni għalina kienet logħba li ħloqna għal waqt li nkunu telgħin jew neżlin bl-eskalejter. Dawn it-turġien huma ġeneralment twal sew, m'għola xi 4 sulari jew aktar, u jekk tiċċassa fiss fid-direzzjoni tal-mixi faċli timmaġina li fil-fatt miexi orizzontalment minflok tiela' jew nieżel. Fuq l-eskalejter tal-maġenb sadattant ikun hemm nies oħra mexjin fid-direzzjoni l-opposta, imma dawn tisħajjilhom qishom mgħawġin lura, jew 'il quddiem, f'anglu impossibbli. Nogħxew konna bid-daħq!

Fir-ritratt ta' fuq tidher waħda mill-ewwel xeni li rajna malli xrifna fiċ-ċentru ta' Praga, mill-ewwel fil-pjazza ta' Wenceslas, għaċ-Ċeki wieħed mill-bnadi fejn seħħew fost l-aktar avvenimenti storiċi, speċjalment dawk reċenti. Dan hu rappreżentazzjoni, f'nofs il-pjazza, ta' xena fost l-aktar komuni li tara fi Praga - it-tramm. Jista' anki kien tramm ta' veru xi darba, li issa dawruh f'kafetterija. Ir-ritratt tax-xellug ħadtu minn fuq il-Henry's Bell Tower. Dehrli li jkun xieraq nistenna sakemm jitfaċċa tramm qabel niġbdu. Ma tantx kelli bżonn nistenna!

Imma mnalla ma domniex aktar minn ftit ġranet, għax baraxx kolesterol kull filgħodu mhix idea daqshekk tajba...

Praga (1)

2010-05-11T21:34:00.001+02:00

Aħna u nesploraw Praga u nammiraw il-bini monumentali li hawn f'dil-belt, f'daqqa waħda xegħlet f'moħħi realizzazzjoni li fil-fatt kienet ilha fis-subkonxju. Imma kellha tkun żjara f'waħda mill-kwantità kbira ta' knejjes sbieħ li hawn, fi Praga u f'tant postijiet oħra anki f'Malta, biex mis-subkonxju r-realizzazzjoni tgħaddi għall-konxju.

Li rrealizzajt huwa dan. Il-knisja parrokkjali f'Tal-Ibraġ hija probabbilment, anzi kważi fiċ-ċert, l-aktar knisja kerha li hawn fid-dinja.

Il calcio italiano sul satellite: stendiamo un velo pietoso...

2010-05-06T18:35:00.000+02:00

Ilbieraħ kien hemm il-final tal-Coppa Italia. Bħas-soltu f'dawn l-aħħar snin kienet bejn ir-Roma u l-Inter. Il-logħba ntlagħbet erbat ijiem biss wara li l-Inter prattikament rebħu l-Iscudetto, a spejjeż tar-Roma. Dan billi rebħu kontra l-Lazio, b'dawn tal-aħħar jitilfu apposta biex żgur l-Iscudetto jirbħuh l-Inter u mhux ir-Roma. Tista' timmaġina allura f'liema atmosfera ta' sportività ntlagħbet il-logħba tal-bieraħ. Eluf ta' aġenti ta' pulizija kontra l-irvellijiet, it-toroq kollha lejn l-Olimpico ta' Ruma magħluqa għat-traffiku, tiftix fl-inħawi ta' madwar l-Olimpico. Partijiet mill-istadium vojti biex it-tifosi jkunu l-bogħod minn xulxin. Atmosfera ta' gwerra.

Il calcio è un gioco, jgħidulek. Lo sport più bello del mondo. Il campionato più bello del mondo. Għas-superlattivi ħadd ma jgħaddihom kieku.

Il-final kienet mimlija daqqiet ta' sieq, provokazzjonijiet, kien hemm invażjoni tal-grawnd. Spettaklu tal-mistħija. Il-logħba ntweriet diretta fuq ir-Rai Uno, imma fl-Italja biss (u, ma nistax nifhem kif, f'Malta wkoll). Bis-satellita, bħal ma jiġri spiss meta juru xi logħba football, it-trasmissjoni kienet kriptata - skrin iswed.

Ma ttihomx tort. Spettaklu bħal dak ħasbuha tajjeb li jiċċensurawh. Bit-Taljan jgħidulu "stendiamo un velo pietoso".

The hardest part of a marathon

2010-05-05T22:21:00.001+02:00

Marathon day is now just four days away. All that remains is a thirty minute easy run on Friday, just to keep the good old leg muscles going. Then I can look forward to the next run, which will be the big one on Sunday in Prague.

Except that this time the good old leg muscles have failed me. Since several weeks I have an injury in my left hamstring, and it seems it will last forever. It's so frustrating, more so now that the days are getting longer, the weather is ideal for running, the racing season is well under way, and all I can do is rest, wait until I'm completely recovered, try not to gain too much weight, and hope I don't lose all the fitness achieved through such careful build-up and so many long, long runs,.

All the while, the registration is still in place. We're going to Prague. I could theoretically take part in the marathon; in fact I'm still receiving emails on the event from the organisers. But I have hardly run at all since several weeks, and it still hurts whenever I do try to run. So there's no point in turning up at the start - it would be a painful experience, it would only make my injury worse, and this time, unlike October 2007 in Brussels, I'll never pull off a miracle and complete the distance. No. I'll stay at the hotel, eat breakfast and gain a bit more weight.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the hardest part of a marathon is getting to the starting line.

There's a silver lining. When I start all over again my motivation to do well will be double what it was in January.

Mamma mija!

2010-05-04T18:59:00.000+02:00

Kont qed inqalleb fuq l-Internet u ttawwalt fil-Malta Today. Hemm ritratt ta' dak li jrid fi żmien tliet snin oħra jsir id-deputat Prim Ministru ta' Malta. Ngħidilkom, għeżież żewġ qarrejja, impressjonajt ruħi.

Ħsibtha anki li naqsam magħkom din l-impressjoni qawwija li ħalla fuqi r-ritratt. Imma mbagħad ħsibt, bejni u bejn ruħi... għadni wisq ferħan bid-dehra l-ġdida tal-blogg, u tkun ħasra jekk wara r-ritratt li tant għandi għal qalbi ta' taqbida ta' għeruq fix-Chateau de La Hulpe, li qed veru jsebbaħ il-blogg malli tidħol fih, ikolli npoġġi minfloku xi ħaġa li, bir-rispett kollu... ħmmm.

U ddeċidejt li aħjar nillimita ruħi għal-link.

Il-Parc de La Hulpe

2010-05-02T16:22:00.001+02:00

Hawnhekk il-Parc de La Hulpe, fl-aħħar parti tax-xitwa, meta kienet qed tbatti l-morsa ta' kesħa u borra li fix-xitwa li għaddiet damet ix-xhur. Meta l-pajjiż ikun miksi bil-borra nħobb immur niġri l-ġirja t-twila tiegħi tal-weekend hawnhekk. Ikun hemm pajsaġġ spettakolari, imma għad ma rnexxilix nieħu ritratt tal-post miksi bil-borra. Kont naf li qed idub kollox u mort nipprova niġbed xi ritratti qabel ma jkun tard wisq. Imma diġà kien tard wisq għax is-silġ kien dab ħafna minnu, u li sibt minfloku kien it-tajn. Issa jonqosni nistenna mill-inqas sena biex niġbed ritratt tal-Parc de La Hulpe taħt il-borra. U frankament, m'għandi l-ebda għaġla biex tasal ix-xitwa.

Minflok irnexxieli niġbed dan, wieħed mir-ritratti favoriti tiegħi. Minbarra taħt il-borra, għad irrid ninzerta wkoll il-ħarifa bil-kamera hawnhekk, speċjalment jekk tkun xi għodwa biċ-ċpar ħiereġ mill-ilma tal-għadajjar. Wisq sabiħ ikun.

Waqt li l-Belġjum qed jikkollassa...

2010-04-23T22:08:00.006+02:00

Ilbieraħ reġa' waqa' l-gvern tal-Belġjum. L-estremisti Fjammingi, li jridu l-Flanders jinfired mill-Belġjum u jsir pajjiż indipendenti, fil-parlament kantaw l-innu tagħhom il-Vlaams Leeuw (l-iljun Fjamming), waħedhom fil-kamra tal-parlament federali Belġjan. Kienet l-ikbar sfida s'issa għall-istat Belġjan. Ħadd ma waqqafhom, u xxandret diretta fuq it-television. Tant ilhom jitqanżħu biex ikollhom gvern li jirrappreżenta l-pajjiż kollu, u tant ilhom dawn il-gvernijiet ta' ftit xhur ħajja jfallu, li ħabtu bdew jaqtgħu qalbhom. Issa aktar minn qatt qabel qed jistaqsu fil-miftuħ - imma worth it dal-inkwiet u t-taħbit kollu? X'inhu l-iskop? Teżisti xi identità Belġjana wara kollox?

Donnu l-ħsieb li qed jikber fil-pajjiż hu li: la jridu jagħmlu pajjiż għal rashom, jagħmluh u naqtgħuha darba għal dejjem. Igawduh il-Flanders tagħhom.

U waqt li l-pajjiż jinsab fix-xifer ta' kollass, fil-periklu li ma jibqax jeżisti... il-ġirien tagħna hawnhekk f'Hoeilaart qed jagħmlu barbikju f'lejla ta' temp mill-isbaħ, jixorbu l-inbid u jiċċaċċraw. X'jiġu jaqgħu u jqumu mill-Belġjum u r-Re Albertu u l-Prim Ministru u l-Vlaams Belang.

Dak hu l-kobor ta' dal-pajjiż u n-nies tiegħu. Jekk irid il-pajjiż jista' jisfaxxa. Il-ħaxix tal-ġnien ittrimjat, is-sema ċar, it-temp sabiħ, u l-inbid nieżel għasel. Dik l-importanti!

Għajn Tuffieħa u l-Ġnejna

2010-04-13T19:43:00.009+02:00

Nieħdu r-ruħ tiġi r-rebbiegħa. Daqs kemm kont nistenna t-tmiem tas-sajf f'Malta sirt nistenna t-tmiem tax-xitwa issa li qiegħed il-Belġjum. It-tmienja ta' filgħaxija u x-xemx għadha qed iddawwal il-kamra. Fil-ġnien tista' toħroġ liberament, mingħajr ma tinġazza wara ħames sekondi. Mhux biss, hemm diġà arja verament pjaċevoli.

L-istess arja pjaċevoli kienet tinħass fil-bajja ta' Għajn Tuffieħa meta morna s'hemm waqt il-vaganzi tal-Għid, għal darba darbtejn, u bassart li forsi tkun l-aħħar bastjun ta' ambjent naturali f'Malta, wara li l-bqija tal-pajjiż ikun inkesa fil-ġebel u bil-konkos. Allaħares, imma tant hu miżmum tajjeb u mid-dehra protett minn għaqda ambjentalista, il-Gaia, li tieħu r-ruħ u tgħid, ejja, hawn post f'Malta li mhux mhedded mill-għedewwa tal-ambjent.

Wisq sabiħ Għajn Tuffieħa. L-ewwel darba poġġejna bil-qiegħda fuq ir-ramel, tliet koppji ħbieb antiki, u qgħadna npaċpċu għal sigħat sħaħ hemmhekk, taħt xemx qawwija mhux ħażin, imma b'żiffa friska tpatti għaliha. Dakinhar osservajt lil xi nies jixxabbtu fuq għadd ta' passaġġi fuq it-tafal aktar 'il ġewwa, fil-parti bejn Għajn Tuffieħa u bajja ta' maġenbha, il-Ġnejna, u tħajjart li l-ewwel ċans li jkolli darb'oħra mmur nittawwal s'hemm. B'hekk ġiet it-tieni okkażjoni fi żmien ftit ġranet li morna Għajn Tuffieħa, did-darba naqra aktar 'avventuruża' għax tlaqna jien u Sue nimirħu fuq it-tafal ta' bejn iż-żewġ bajjiet.

Ara xi ġmiel hemm:

Ħasra li meta tħares lura tara dik il-monstrożità ta' bini qed jiġġarraf, dak li (mingħalija) kien xi darba r-Riviera Martinique. Mamma mija xi kruha, x'kuntrast ikrah għall-ġmiel li hemm madwaru. Imma, proprja proprja, x'inhuma jistennew l-'awtoritajiet' (in)kompetenti biex iwaqqgħuh darba għal dejjem? Hemm xi ostakoli legali? Jew sempliċi inerzja infinita? Nispera li immaġinazzjoni żbaljata tiegħi, imma jien u tiela' lura mit-taraġ maġenb ir-rovini stħajjilt li l-arkati qishom qed jiġu rranġati. Ma jmurx se jirrestawrawh hu? Anqas naf ikunx aħjar jew agħar. Kif inhu ikrah, imma limitat u mill-bogħod ma tantx tagħti kasu. Jekk jerġa' jinbena min jaf kemm jespandi? X'biża', tgħid ġej xi Golden Sands Hotel ieħor? Xejn m'hu sagru f'Malta? Lanqas l-aħħar roqgħa ta' ġmiel naturali?

Komplejna għal għonq it-triq u malajr insejnih it-tiġrif. Wasalna sal-promontorju tafli ta' bejn Għajn Tuffieħa u l-Ġnejna. Infexxejt niġbed ir-ritratti u Sue tistennieni aktar 'il quddiem, imma ma ddejqitx. Mhux it-tip ta' post li tiddejjaq tistenna fih! Is-sett sħiħ ta' ritratti ħarġu tajbin ħafna u tfajthom fuq il-Picasa. Hemm wisq biex inġibhom kollha hawn. Dan ta' hawn taħt juri l-bajja ta' Għajn Tuffieħa min-naħa l-oħra li s-soltu mdorrijin narawha. Il-bini monstru jidher fit-tarf ħdejn it-taraġ. Mill-bogħod kemm kemm m'għandux ċertu faxxinu, qisu xi rovini ta' minn żmien l-antik.

Dorna mal-promontorju, ixxabbatna xi ftit minn fuq partijiet goffi bi blat imwaqqa', sa ma nżilna qrib l-ilma fejn hemm skoss blat li min jaf kemm ilu li tgerbeb 'l hemm isfel. Erġajna tlajna u komplejna d-dawra minn fuq passaġġ dejjaq maġenb żurżieqa twila tat-tafal li tibqa' nieżla l-baħar, in-naħa ta' barra tal-Ġnejna fejn jintlaħaq biss mill-baħar... jew miż-żurżieqa.

Għidna kos, kieku dat-tip ta' pajsaġġ naraw bħalu f'xi Ċipru jew l-Iżrael, ngħidu oooh kemm għandhom sabiħ. Imma dal-pajsaġġ qiegħed f'Malta, u qatt ma naraw dat-tip ta' ritratti li jirreklamaw lil Malta, dejjem l-istess xeni tal-katidral tal-Imdina, it-tieqa tad-Dwejra, u xi ritratt ta' xi festa. Sbieħ, imma fejnha l-varjetà? Għandna mijiet ta' postijiet sbieħ biex nistgħu niftaħru f'din naqra ta' ġebla li għandna. Mijiet. U safrattant anki ta' Għajn Tuffieħa, dawn l-inħawi meraviljużi, affaxxinanti, juru dejjem l-istess ritratt li xbajna naraw. Forsi għax tista' tiġbdu minn erba' passi 'l bogħod mill-karozza...

Daqshekk, iddeċidejt issa. Ir-ritratt tal-bini mġarraf se nneħħih, u minfloku npoġġi wieħed sura! Hekk aħjar, lanqas ħaqq kien se jħassarli l-paġna jaħasra. Ara xi ġmiel minflok. Din dik ir-ramla żgħira n-naħa ta' barra tal-Ġnejna, li tintlaħaq biss mill-baħar jew miż-żurżieqa tat-tafal:

U din il-veduta li stajna napprezzaw b'ħarsa 'l fuq mill-birra u l-Kinnie li ħadna wara l-mixja:

X'ċuċ huma s-Sejxells u l-Kanarji?

Il-Bojler Numru 7

2010-04-05T14:53:00.003+02:00

Għal min jgħid li aħna l-Maltin nieħdu lilna nfusna wisq bis-serjetà, u li m'għandniex sens ta' umoriżmu jew ta' ironija, issa għandna l-prova li dan mhux veru.

Wara li nqata' d-dawl f'Malta kollha għal bosta drabi, kaġun ta' ħsara f'dak li ġie identifikat bħala l-Bojler Numru 7 fl-impjant tal-enerġija tal-Marsa, mid-dehra antik u ma jiflaħx għal iktar strapazz, eluf ta' Maltin iffurmaw fan club fil-Facebook, li l-membri tiegħu jgħidu li huma "ammiraturi" tal-Bojler Numru 7. Il-bojler li għandu personalità. L-uniku bojler fid-dinja, skond Daphne Caruana Galizia, li jinsab "on first name terms" mal-popolazzjoni.

Fir-realtà din mhix xi ħaġa taċ-ċajt. Dal-bojler difettuż qed jikkawża ħsara sostanzjali lill-ekonomija ta' Malta kull darba li kaġun tiegħu l-pajjiż jintefa' f'kaos meta jinqata' d-dawl, bl-inkonvenjenza enormi għal kulħadd marbuta ma' dan.

Imma, wara kollox, aħna l-Maltin ukoll għandna sens ta' awtoironija, u dan jispjega għaliex eluf minna ddikjaraw li huma "ammiraturi" ta' xi ħaġa li ma taħdimx sew. Inħossni kburi ngħid li malli sirt naf b'dal-grupp isseħibt miegħu jien ukoll.

Kemm paroli fil-vojt

2010-04-03T10:35:00.004+02:00

"POWER AND EASTER", qalulna fit-titlu tal-artiklu minn Dottor Jason Azzopardi, parliamentary secretary in the Finance Ministry.

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=104013

Dehrli li kien f'waqtu, l-għada li mar id-dawl f'Malta kollha, għat-tieni darba f'inqas minn ġimagħtejn, li jirreferi għas-sitwazzjoni tal-biki tal-provvista tal-elettriku f'Malta fil-21 seklu. Speċi ta', fil-Ġimgħa l-Kbira ma kellniex dawl, imma għallinqas (nisperaw...) fl-Għid il-Kbir se jkollna provvista normali.

Bdejt naqra, imma mill-ewwel intbaħt li Dottor Azzopardi kien moħħu kompletament fis-sħab, u miljun mil 'il bogħod mir-realtà tal-ħajja hawn isfel. Silta mill-għerf tal-ħabib tagħna Jason:

"Power is the search for the truth. A temporal and existential truth. The transcendental truth that one reaches with a well formed and well informed conscience."

Eh? Jew, kif iħobb jgħid iż-żgħir, WHAT? X'il-mamma mija qed igedwed? Ħeqq, sori, nammetti naqra gażżu u injurant jien, imma dal-intellettwaliżmu finta ma nifhmux. Ngħid għalija power tfisser li nagħfas is-swiċċ u jixgħel id-dawl, mingħajr ma jkolli bżonn immur infittex ix-xemgħat u s-sulfarini bl-għajnuna tad-dawl mill-monitor tal-laptop, li jkun baqa' jaħdem fuq il-batterija...

Ċerti nies tajjeb kieku jinżlu xi ftit 'l isfel mill-istratosfera u jħarsu aktar fil-livell tagħna l-baxxi hawn isfel.

It was not to be

2010-04-01T11:49:00.007+02:00

My twelfth marathon was planned for 9 May, the Maas Marathon that goes from Vise in eastern Belgium, crosses the border into The Netherlands, goes into Maastricht and returns to Vise, all the way along the Meuse (hence "Maas") river banks.

It was not to be.

In the beginning of the year I received an email promoting the Antwerp marathon and 10 mile races, at the very end of which it was mentioned that on exactly the same date, i.e. 9 May, there was another marathon, in Prague. Now I've been wanting to visit this city since a long time, so I thought this would be an excellent occasion to combine my marathon with a short holiday there. Within a couple of days we had booked the hotel room and I registered and paid for the Prague marathon.

It was not to be.

Training was going well, in spite of heavy snow making training much more difficult through most of winter. I did an excellent 'Hivernales de Boitsfort 20k' in the beginning of February, but that was to be my last hurrah for a good while. A few days after that, the trouble started.

My right achilles tendon and my left hamstring began to hurt while running. The achilles was probably due to running long distances on slippery snow; the hamstring strain may have been caused by the strong effort in the 20k, combined with the snowy long runs. Whatever the reasons, I had to stop training to allow the pain to ease away. One week of rest later the pain wasn't so bad, but it hadn't gone away altogether either. I managed a couple more long runs of 2h45m each, then I caught a cold.

Actually it was a throat infection, quite nasty, that stopped me for another week, and just when it looked I was going to resume training... gastric flu, and a further week of stoppage.

Now it was clear that, with just 6 weeks to go, after so many stoppages in training it would be quite impossible to aim for a normal marathon on 9 May, and the best I could hope for was a 'very long training run' of 42.2 km, similar to my memorable 8th marathon that I ran in Brussels in 2007. Then I had a crazy idea. I would use this 'very long run' (maybe it would also count as my 12th marathon if I managed to go all the way) in preparation for a postponed marathon, which would then be my 13th, in Bruges in July. That would really be a case of turning adversity into opportunity, achieving two marathons in just two months!

Alas, it was not to be.

If there was one positive outcome in the forced stoppage due to throat infection followed by the flu, it was that my achilles tendon and the hamstring injuries had ample time to rest and recover completely. That's what I thought, so imagine how disappointed I felt, after a full two weeks without any running at all, to discover during a short 30 minute comeback run that both the achilles tendon and the hamstring were still hurting a little bit.

This morning, one week later, I've had to resign myself to the inevitable as it became clear that, far from getting any better, my thigh was hurting with every pace. Running has become a painful, rather than enjoyable, experience, and quite simply this will not do. If I want to enjoy running again I'll need to take a long break to allow enough time to recover completely from this injury.

It's a bitter disappointment for me. I was so looking forward to the Prague marathon and the joys of running in spring after the awful winter that we have just endured. For a good while, now, there isn't any target or event, to which to look forward. So I need to make one up, one that doesn't involve running, and that preferably uses up large amounts of calories...

Ir-ritratt tax-xahar - April 2010

2010-03-27T21:27:00.001+01:00

Kull filgħaxija kienu jiġu jinnamraw, dejjem fuq l-istess fergħa fil-ġnien tagħna. Ġiet ix-xitwa u ma rajnihomx aktar. Issa x-xitwa spiċċat, u reġgħu tfaċċaw. Kemm huma ħelwin! Sabiħa wisq ir-rebbiegħa.

Moviment tad-Dilettanti Moderati u Progressivi

2010-03-26T19:53:00.005+01:00

Mela llejla malli xgħelt il-kompjuter nilmaħ email mhux solleċitata - spam - mingħand "The Maltastar Team". Dal-aħħar bdew jimmiraw għalija, qed jaraw fija materjal potenzjali tajjeb biex ningħaqad mal-Moviment ta' Moderati u Progressivi li Saru Jistħu Jgħidu li Huma Laburisti.

"BLACKOUT MONDAY". Anzi t-titlu spellewh sew, ma nafx kif.

Kont se l-aħħar nittikkjah u nassenjah fil-gadget tar-"report spam", ġentilment offrut lili mill-gmail. Imma fettilli ġietni l-kurżità u ddeċidejt li naqrah. Mela ma temminx li kkonvenċewni ningħaqad mal-Moviment! Mela, veru ta!

Le, mhux proprja.

Tal-biki fil-fatt. Biex iħaddmu websajt li suppost trid tikkonvinċi lin-nies jivvutawlhom, l-organu uffiċjali elettroniku tal-"Moviment" li m'għadux partit iqabbdu nies li bilkemm kapaċi jiktbu sentenza li hi waħda sew. Tliet snin oħra dawn iridu jibdew imexxu, mhux websajt, imma lil Malta.

Ara x'kitbuli The Maltastar Team [il-kummenti bil-bold żidthom jien]:

On Blackout Monday we all found out how the 2438 who had their electricity supply cut off in 2009 feel [what's Blackout Monday, and 2438 what?]. This figure is a national disgrace, as was Blackout Monday. How dare the PM boast that the recession is lifting with this appalling human statistic [as opposed I suppose to an animal statistic]? No wonder Joseph Muscat talks so rightly of this human recession [What quality makes a recession human? Maybe it's because it's human that Joseph isn't talking wrongly about it ]. That is not lifting at all [Eh? What? WHAT?].
It is not only this country that was blacked out yesterday. It seems the entire government is, and has been, suffering from a collective blackout as to what is really happening on the ground, how expensive life is, how unsustainable our water and electricity bills are, and how impossibly expensive a trip to the pharmacy has become? [Is this last sentence a question or a statement?]
And it's not just families and individuals who are suffering [no, it's also us recipients of insipid, badly written spam from The Maltastar Team]. A not so grand total [so it's not a lot then?] of 10,657 businesses are more than 45 days late in paying their bills. They owe around 44,000,000 euros to this country, but cannot pay [The fact that they haven't paid doesn't mean that they cannot pay, it's just that they thought the rates would be revised. And by the way, in the plural "euro" remains the same].
This is a government in denial of the collapse of basic services which it has brought about through weak management, or management that has the most blatant conflict of interest. The name Alex Tranter illustrates this [What's so conflicting in the name Alex Tranter? Seems quite a sensible name to have]. He must be glad he is leaving [Why? Maybe he received a hefty electricity bill himself?]. Having improved little of substance. Having overseen a contract given to his boss of 200 million euros? Having to stand near another Minister to explain away another blackout? [Hey, Maltastar Team, a sentence by default ends with a fullstop NOT with a question mark]
Let's now look at how people are reacting to the government's handling of key and essential services to this country. Let's look at the true track record which comes out so clearly in answers to questions tabled in Parliament? [Another question mark. Perhaps they're a bit unsure of themselves...]
A grand total of 51,500 complaints have been received by ARMS, the company which processes water and electricity bills, since its inception last January. [They seem to like the word "grand". Maybe they think it gives the write-up a grandiose aura. Instead, it creates further confusion. Here it feels as if it's used in sarcasm, as if a larger number was expected. If they can't write properly in English, why don't they stick to Maltese? Or can't they do that, either?] Worse around a hundred people a month are now, in 2010 also having their supply cut off [ignorance of punctuation rules renders this sentence into perfect nonsense]. This is before we all get the higher bills! These presumably didn't notice the blackout yesterday. Almost two thousand are trying to pay off their bills in installments. [Logical sequence? What's that?]
Not surprisingly, amidst all this, Gonzi PN chose to tell us this last week that the recession is lifting. How ironic. Instead of this kind of spin which is all about playing with numbers, and does not reflect in any way how bad things are, why doesn't Gonzi PN concentrate on what the people are so worried about?
For such a huge percentage of the population to complain something must be terribly, terribly wrong. [What? Where? Which huge percentage? None have been quoted]
Nobody's salary has gone up to take account of these bills, unless perhaps you are one of the senior executives at the Lotto and Gaming Authority, who we hear, have been awarded bill cushioning increases lately, or you are one of these newly appointed Parliamentary Assistants who are getting an allowance which they can, if they wish use to help them to pay these bills at least.
Mind you since they all voted in favour of the increased bills they probably didn't need this allowance ! [In fact, they also enjoy paying taxes, which is why they haven't outlawed them]
This government is past it's sell by date. Blackout Monday brought this home to even some PN diehards. [It should be "its" without an apostrophe, meaning "belonging to it". With an apostrophe it means "it is". Zero for grammar. Zero for clarity of expression. Go back to school and learn how to write properly, maybe you'll rise above primary school level. By the way, I do agree with you about the sell by date. The only problem is that the alternative would be you - UTTER AMATEURS!]

Ara naqra wkoll min għandna alternattiva biex imexxi 'l Malta minflok l-Arċisqof Gonzi...

Mistoqsija retorika

2010-03-25T08:19:00.006+01:00

Aktar ma naqas l-interess tiegħi fil-futbol, aktar qed jiżdiedu l-kitbiet fuq il-futbol hawnhekk (jew kif iħobbu jgħidulhom tal-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti, il-"ktibiet"). Din bħal tal-post ta' qabel dan, fejn ikkritikajt il-format attwali ta' Quelli che il calcio, u malli waqaft nikteb mort nixgħel it-television biex narah... Jista' jkun l-interess tiegħi fil-futbol, jew in-nuqqas tiegħu, hu proporzjonali għas-suċċessi li jkunu qed jiksbu l-Juventus...

U la ġejna għas-suġġett. Mistoqsija retorika, li ma se jaqraha ħadd (ħlief iż-żewġ qarrejja ta' dal-blogg, voldieri jien xi darba fil-futur, u int, għażiż qarrej). Hawn hi d-domanda:

Hemm xi liġi tal-fiżika li tgħid li l-Juventus iridu jirbħu bilfors?

Donnu l-fatt li qegħdin fis-sitt post fis-Serie A, dis-sena tilfu 10 logħbiet tal-kampjonat (imma rebħu aktar), u nqalgħu miċ-Champions League u wara mill-Europa League, qed jitpinġew f'termini apokalittiċi, inkluż minni, ħa ngħidha wkoll. Ħeqq, paċenzja. Il-klassifika fiha 20 tim, hemm min jiġi l-ewwel, u hemm min anki jiġi d-dsatax jew l-aħħar. Anzi, is-sitt post mhux daqshekk ħażin!

Quelli che il calcio...

2010-03-21T13:55:00.003+01:00

Kien ikun hemm programm fuq ir-Rai Tre nhar ta' Ħadd waranofsinhar, waqt li qed jintlagħbu l-logħbiet tas-Serie A. Tgħidx kemm kienet trasmissjoni ħelwa u simpatika.

Quelli che il calcio.

Dak il-ħin it-TVs Taljani li jinqabdu normali ma jistgħu juru logħob tal-futbol. X'kienu jagħmlu? Kienu jagħmlu kollegamenti diretti u minflok ma l-kameras ikunu ppuntati lejn il-logħob, kienu juru n-nies li qed jaraw il-logħob, anzi kienu jibagħtu hemmhekk personaġġi magħrufa u li jżommu ma' kull wieħed mit-timijiet li jkunu qed jilagħbu, biex jikkummentaw fuq dak li qed jaraw. Fl-istudio kien ikun hemm xi ħaġa simili - imma l-mistednin kienu jaraw il-logħba tat-tim tagħhom fuq skrin żgħir quddiemhom.

Il-personaġġi. Kien hemm nies li saru famużi permezz tal-programm stess. L-aktar tnejn popolari kienu Idris u Suor Paola. Idris (ismu proprja Idris Sanneh) hu Senegaliż iswed faħma bbażat fl-Italja, u iffissat fil-Juventus. Il-mutetti li jagħmel waqt mumenti ta' tensjoni fil-logħbiet tal-Juve 'l kulħadd kienu jdaħħqu. Kienu mutetti ġenwini imma, mhux sfurzati biex għat-taparsi jdaħħqu.

Suor Paola, kif jidher minn isimha hija soru, u żżomm mal-Lazio. Aktar moderata minn Idris fl-atteġġamenti tagħha, kif titlob wara kollox il-vokazzjoni tagħha, imma akkanita ħafna wkoll. Tieħu sehem f'inizjattivi ta' karità, u fl-Italja hija popolari ħafna.

Kienu jiġu mistiedna, fuq bażi regolari, kultant, jew għal darba biss, personaġġi magħrufa li ma għadhomx jidhru aktar, forsi għax bidlu l-attività jew għax irtiraw. Pereżempju kien jiġi l-mibki "Tonino Carino da Ascoli", li ħalliena ftit ġranet ilu, eks ġurnalist ta' Novantesimo Minuto maħbub u famuż għal kif kien iħawwad il-pronunċja tal-ismijiet. Kienu jibagħtuh bħala "ġurnalist" jikkummenta fuq waħda mill-partiti prinċipali. Everardo da la Noce - ġurnalist irtirat li qabel kien jagħti l-aħbarijiet finanzjarji, iżomm ma' Spal imma fil-futbol ma jifhem xejn, u l-istess kien il-mibgħut ta' xi waħda mil-logħbiet - iħawwad ma ngħidlekx kemm.

Is-sabiħ tal-programm kien li tista' ssegwi r-riżultati kif qed jiżvolġu, imma fl-istess ħin il-programm kien magħmul b'mod li dak kollu li qed jiġri jieħdu kollu kemm hu biċ-ċajt. Kien jiġi dak il-buffu Teo Teocoli jilbes ta' xi ħadd famuż bħal Adriano Galliani, u jmur f'xi stadium jikkummenta fuq il-logħba tal-Milan u skoss affarijiet oħra li m'għandhom x'jaqsmu xejn.

Kollox, imma, b'mod pakat, bla malizzja u mingħajr eżasperazzjoni la fuq ir-riżultati tal-logħbiet imma lanqas biċ-ċajt innifsu, immexxi b'perfezzjoni minn Fabio Fazio. Kien l-isbaħ riklam għal dak li hu tajjeb fl-Italja. Ħafna drabi kont nippreferi nara Quelli che il calcio, voldieri r-reazzjonijiet u l-bużullotti tan-nies li qed jaraw il-partiti, milli l-logħbiet stess li jkunu qed jintwerew dak il-ħin stess bis-satellita.

Fl-2002 Quelli che il calcio spiċċa. Fabio Fazio ddeċieda jibda xi ħaġa ġdida, u minfloku daħlet tippreżenta Simona Ventura, u daħħlet magħha tim ta' nies għal kollox differenti. L-idea bażika tal-programm baqgħet l-istess, imma r-ruħ spiċċat. Ċajt imqanżaħ, artifiċjalità mill-bidu sal-aħħar. X'ħasra. Sar eżatt bil-maqlub ta' li kien qabel, riklam did-darba ħażin għall-Italja. M'aħniex 'il bogħol milli qed jiġri fil-kampjonat tal-futbol stess wara kollox.

Issa se mmur nixgħel it-TV biex narah allura...

Lokali ma tfissirx Malti! Grazzi

2010-03-17T11:54:00.005+01:00

Kemm ma nistax għalih l-użu ħażin tal-kelma 'lokali'.

Il-kampjonat lokali. It-temp lokali (anżi, It-Temp Lokali. - peress li t-temp mingħalihom proper noun, u ma ninsewx il-fullstop...). L-aħbarijiet lokali. Tiela' u nieżla, kull meta jirreferu għal xi ħaġa nazzjonali, jew ta' Malta.

Il-kampjonat MALTI jekk jogħġobkom. Jew sempliċiment il-kampjonat Premier (la bilfors kull bassa rridu nagħmluha bħall-Ingliżi).

It-temp jekk jogħġobkom. M'hemmx għalfejn tispeċifika ta' fejn. Hija ovvja li fl-aħbarijiet tal-istazzjon nazzjonali ta' Malta r-rapport tat-temp se jikkonċentra l-aktar fuq it-temp ta' Malta, u mhux fuq tal-Mawritanja.

L-aħbarijiet jekk jogħġobkom. Aħbar hija aħbar kemm jekk ġrat f'Malta u anke f'dak il-baħħ tal-biża' li nħobbu ngħidulu "barra", ċjoè l-aħbarijiet internazzjonali. Jew għallinqas, jekk vera rridu ninsistu bl-iżolament "l-aħbarijiet ta' Malta".

Tinduna kemm hu ħażin l-użu tal-kelma "lokali" kieku ddawwarha bl-Ingliż u timmaġinaha użata fuq pereżempju xi BBC One:

The local football league... the local weather... the local news...

The Premier League (iva din proper noun), La Serie A, The weather, Il meteo (immaġina kieku "il meteo locale, jew "il tempo locale" - daqshekk ridikola "It-Temp Lokali."), The News, Le notizie, Il Telegiornale.

Naħseb din tirrifletti naqra l-fatt li l-mentalità kolonjali f'Malta għadha ma spiċċatx. "The locals", fis-sens ta' "the natives" kienet adatta biex jużawha biex jirreferu għalina l-Ingliżi meta konna parti mill-imperu Ingliż. Imma issa ma tagħmilx sens li nirreferu għalina nfusna bl-istess mod! Hija anki kwistjoni ta' awtorispett.

Tajjeb li jżommu f'moħħhom, dawk li permezz tal-mezzi tax-xandir qed isawru l-mod kif jitkellmu l-Maltin, li meta jgħidu "l-kampjonat tal-futbol lokali" din proprja tfisser ngħidu aħna xi Summer League tal-Fgura United. Dak hu futbol lokali. U "L-Aħbarijiet Lokali" fuq il-Leħen il-Fgura jkunu, u mhux fuq l-istazzjon nazzjonali ta' Malta.

Forsi l-aħjar mod kif nista' nispjega xi tfisser dil-kelma hu fil-kuntest tal-pulitka. Meta ssir elezzjoni biex intellgħu gvern li jmexxi lil Malta, mhux elezzjoni lokali tkun, imma elezzjoni ġenerali. L-elezzjonijiet lokali jiswew biex jiġi ffurmat il-Kunsill Lokali tal-Fgura, u ta' lokalitajiet oħrajn.

Imma naf li ħanqa ta' ħmar qatt ma telgħet is-sema.

Nagħlaq b'din il-konklużjoni miġjuba mill-Malta Today ta' xi sena ilu, imbagħad immur nistrieħ għax dar-riħ li għandi se jġenninni. David Friggieri jgħix fi Brussell, u jikteb artikli interessanti fil-Malta Today. F'artiklu minnhom kiteb fuq grupp mużikali li jogħġbu. Fl-aħħar tal-artiklu, b'ittri żgħar, kien hemm din-nota dwar l-artikolista:

"David Friggieri lives in Brussels and is a fan of the local band Insejtxisimhom."

Illustrazzjoni perfetta tal-kelma użata ħażin. Għalija din is-sentenza tfisser li Insejtxisimhom huwa grupp Belġjan, anzi aktar speċifikament, grupp minn Brussell. Hija kwistjoni ta' perspettiva. Il-gazzetta hija Maltija, u tinbiegħ f'Malta, allura l-kelma "local" maġenb l-isem ta' belt fil-bogħod tfisser li qed tirreferi għal dik il-belt, u mhux għal Malta.

Immaġinaha mod ieħor. Id-Daily Mail tal-Ingilterra ġġib artiklu ta' artikolista Ingliż li jgħix f'Malta, John Ross, fejn jikteb fuq Robbie Williams u fl-aħħar tal-artiklu jiktbulna din-nota: "The author, John Ross, lives in Malta and is a fan of the local singer Robbie Williams." Nimmaġina kieku li Robbie Williams huwa Malti mill-Ħamrun li nhar ta' Sibt filgħaxija jmur ikanta f'xi pizzerija l-Qawra.

Hekk, fl-aħħar. Ili biex naqlagħha minn fuq l-istonku din.

Tonino Carino da Ascoli

2010-03-09T17:03:00.003+01:00

Ħajjitna hija vjaġġ fiż-żmien, li matulu nsiru nafu u nħobbu numru kbir ta' persuni u personaġġi, li wħud minnhom eventwalment nassoċjawhom ma' parti minn ħajjitna li niftakru b'ċerta nostalġija.

Għalija wieħed minn dawn kien Tonino Carino, jew, kif inhu magħruf minn kull min għandu 'l fuq minn 40 sena u jsegwi l-futbol Taljan, Tonino Carino da Ascoli.

Ascoli Piceno hija belt żgħira Taljana fuq in-naħa tal-Adrijatiku, u għal numru ta' snin fis-70'ijiet u t-80'ijiet kellhom tim ta' ċertu kalibru li dejjem jilgħabha bejn is-Serie A u s-Serie B. Meta jkunu fis-Serie A, il-ġurnalist li fuq in-Novantesimo Minuto kien jirrapporta l-logħbiet 'home' tal-Ascoli kien Tonino Carino, li kien "jiffirma" t-tmiem ta' kull kollegament bi frażi li saret kważi leġġendarja "Tonio Carino da Ascoli".

Kien personaġġ simpatiku, qatt kontroversjali, maħbub minn kulħadd. Issa ħalliena, u miegħu mietet parti minn tfuliti. Jgħaddu s-snin, u mal-milja taż-żmien aktar jikber iċ-ċirku ta' nies u personaġġi li nsiru nafu, u allura aktar tibda tiġri ta' spiss li tmut persuna li nkunu nafu. Apparti li kollha kemm aħna qed nikbru fl-età...

Immaġina kieku xi darba jitfaċċalna fuq l-iskrin u jgħidilna "Tonino Carino dal paradiso".

Addio Tonino, e grazie di essere esistito!

Awguri

2010-03-09T07:44:00.006+01:00

Ġurnata tard, għax kelli wisq x'nagħmel ilbieraħ - nawgura lin-nisa kollha fl-okkażjoni tal-jum iddedikat għalihom.

Tgħid xi darba ma jkollniex bżonn niċċelebraw 'Jum il-Mara'? Ma ngħidx. Naħseb li Jum il-Mara se jibqa' għal dejjem, u r-raġuni ma tkunx għax għandhom drittijiet inqas mill-irġiel. Għall-inqas mhux għalhekk biss. Jgħidu li m'hemmx 'Jum ir-Raġel' imma hemm 364 minnhom kull sena. Imma jien ma ngħidx hekk. Anzi, nispera li Jum il-Mara jibqa', u xi darba minflok tkun okkażjoni biex infakkru fl-inġustizzji li jsofru ħafna minnhom madwar id-dinja - u anki fostna - għall-fatt biss li huma nisa, tkun okkażjoni biex niċċelabraw in-nisa bħala tali. Huwa aġġettiv stramb għal grupp ta' persuni li jiffurmaw il-maġġoranza tal-umanità, imma n-nisa huma 'speċjali' u għalhekk għandna niċċelebraw Jum il-Mara.

Din għalikom Sue u Roberta. Intom terġa' aktar speċjali. ;-) xxx

Semmejt l-inġustizzji. Kull sena f'dal-jum jiġuni f'moħħi dawk il-miljuni ta' nisa li huma kostretti jaħbu sbuħithom b'velu. Hemm min jgħid li huma stess jixtiequ hekk. Iva, tgħid mhux hekk. Naħseb huwa l-istat naturali għal tifla li meta timmatura u ssir mara tkun trid tgħatti rasha, jekk mhux ukoll wiċċha... Il-velu huwa viltà, tebgħa fuq l-umanità, soġġezzjoni ta' nisa li f'bosta soċjetajiet għadhom meqjusa bħala proprjetà.

Manna ġejja mis-sema

2010-03-07T21:17:00.004+01:00

Din tal-prezzijiet tad-dawl u l-ilma naraha xempju ta' dak kollu li hu ħażin fl-isqaq politiku, hekk imsejjaħ demokratiku, li daħlet fih Malta.

Mela, l-ewwel prinċipju bażiku. Id-dawl (interessanti din kif l-enerġija elettrika f'Malta nsejħulha dawl, imma insomma) u l-ilma ma jistgħux jitwasslu fid-djar tal-Maltin qishom il-manna ġejja mis-sema. Jiswew il-flus, u l-istess ħaġa, il-flus ma jaqgħux mis-sema bħall-manna, imma jiġu mill-bwiet tal-Maltin. Parentesi oħra, fil-fatt l-ilma veru jaqa' mis-sema b'xejn bħall-manna, imma tant kellna mexxejja għorrief matul is-snin li, minflok niġbruh u nużawh, ksew il-widien bl-asfalt biex dan l-ilma jibqa' nieżel dritt fil-baħar, u jgħarraq xi skosst idjar fil-proċess.

U allura, kif konna qed ngħidu, id-distribuzzjoni fid-djar tad-dawl elettriku u l-ilma ħelu jiswa l-belli ewri, u dawn il-belli ewri ma jista' jħallashom l-ebda benefattur providenzjali. Irridu nħallsuhom aħna.

X'ġara imma? Ġara li ż-żejt beda jogħla fil-prezz, u allura għolew ukoll l-ispejjeż biex nipproduċu d-dawl u l-ilma, imma biex ma jidhrux koroh u jitilfu l-voti l-gvernijiet li kellna żammew il-prezz tal-konsum tagħhom mid-djar baxx. Il-Water Services u l-Enemalta spiċċaw allura joħorġu b'telf kbir li kien jagħmel tajjeb għalih mill-fondi dejjem aktar limitati li kellu l-gvern, li sadattant kien qed jiġma' dejn ta' mijiet ta' miljuni ta' (dak iż-żmien) liri. U sadattant in-nies fid-dar jikkunsmaw l-ilma u d-dawl bl-addoċċ għax hekk jew hekk kienu rħas...

Meta tela' Alfred Sant fil-gvern induna li dil-biċċa xogħol ma kinitx tagħmel sens. Min jaħli ħafna elettriku u ilma jrid iħallas il-prezz għalihom, u ħa l-passi li kien hemm bżonn biex il-prezzijiet tagħhom jirriflettu aktar kemm fil-fatt jiswew. Ma sabx x'mar jagħmel. Rewwixta. Kemm għajruh kiefer, bla kuxjenza soċjali, minn kollox. Għajruh, naturalment, in-nazzjonalisti dak iż-żmien fl-oppożizzjoni. Il-laburisti għalqu ħalqhom u belgħu l-kanna bil-kwiet, u bdew jiġġustifikaw lil Alfred Sant u jwaħħlu fil-gvern ta' qablu għax kien ħalla ħerba fil-finanzi tal-pajjiż. Hekk kienu jgħidulhom fuq is-Super Wann.

Wara ftit il-gvern ta' Alfred Sant waqa' b'tisbita kbira, u żgur li dil-biċċa xogħol tad-dawl u l-ilma kellha sehem importanti fil-waqgħa ta' dak il-gvern. Il-gvern ġdid nazzjonalista reġa' raħħas xi ftit il-prezzijiet (imma mhux għal kif kienu qabel...), u l-poplu kompla jikkonsma bl-addoċċ. Elezzjoni waħda wara l-oħra n-nazzjonalisti baqgħu hemm, sakemm fl-aħħar anki huma kellhom iċedu għall-inevitabbli - id-dawl u l-ilma jridu jogħlew bil-goff għax m'hemmx biżżejjed flus biex nibqgħu nipproduċuhom mingħajr ma nkomplu niddejnu u nlaqqtu xebgħa sanzjonijiet mill-Unjoni Ewropea minħabba d-defiċit.

Ħupp. Il-folja kienet inqalbet ta' taħt fuq. Eżatt bil-maqlub. In-nazzjonalisti issa qed jippruvaw inessu xi plejtu kienu għamlu meta Alfred Sant għamel eżatt dak li qed jagħmlu huma issa. Il-General Workers Union ta' Tony Zarb komplew juru kemm fil-fatt kull ma huma sempliċi estensjoni tal-lejber. Dak iż-żmien l-ebda protesta, issa joħorġu l-eluf tan-nies jipprotestaw fil-Belt u jgħajru u jinsulentaw lill-membri parlamentari tal-gvern. Għaliex dawn l-istess nies ma ħassewx li kellhom bżonn jipprotestaw fi żmien Alfred Sant?

Sadattant issa n-nazzjonalisti wasal il-mument tagħhom li jagħlqu ħalqhom u jibilgħu l-kanna tal-ilma bil-kwiet. U issa qed jiġġustifikaw il-prezzijiet għoljin, addijo kuxjenza u boxxla soċjali. Is-sabiħa hi din. Jitkażaw b'dawk li llum qed jipprotestaw għax fi żmien Alfred Sant kienu qagħdu kwieti, u ma jirrealizzawx li huma stess ħatja ta' eżatt l-istess inkonsistenza loġika, frott il-fanatiżmu partiġġjan li ħarbtilna għal kollox il-fakultà li nirraġunaw b'moħħna minflok b'moħħ il-partit. Ngħajru lil xulxin bl-istess dnub li qed nikkommettu aħna stess.

Le, le, tal-għaġeb kemm qegħdin sew.

Wied iż-Żurrieq, 30 ta' Diċembru 2009

2010-03-02T20:35:00.004+01:00

Dar-ritratt jagħmel parti minn album jismu "As Europe freezes". Kien fi żmien il-Milied, meta l-Ewropa kienet miksija bil-borra u mifnija b'temperaturi polari waqt li Malta kienet qed tgawdi minn temp qisu tar-rebbiegħa. Gergirt ftit meta rajt dik l-istruttura pparkjata eżatt quddiem Filfla, imma spiċċat ħolqot kuntrast interessanti mal-elementi spettakolari tan-natura.

Kien inżul ix-xemx memorabbli. Ix-xemx nieżla ħadet lewn ħamrani aktar mis-soltu, ksiet l-irdum ta' taħt iż-Żurrieq b'dawl ħafif ruxxan, waqt li minn wara l-irdum kien tiela' qamar kważi kwinta. Tal-għaġeb kien sabiħ.

Lura soqna mit-triq li timxi mal-kosta lejn Għar Lapsi u s-Siġġiewi. Inżul ix-xemx kien quddiemna, u l-ħmura qawwija li kien hemm fis-sema quddiemna qatt ma rajt bħalha.

Sabiħa Malta.

Qed jeqirduh il-futbol

2010-02-28T19:34:00.003+01:00

Aktar ma jgħaddi żmien qed joħroġ ċar kemm sar impossibbli li referee u żewġ assistenti (it-tielet wieħed biex jirrita lill-kowċis biss qiegħed hemm) waħedhom ma jistgħux ilaħħqu mal-pass tal-logħba moderna. Qed naraw dejjem aktar żbalji kruċjali f'ħafna mil-logħbiet. Il-logħob aktar mgħaġġel, l-importanza tar-rebħ, l-isteriżmu esaġerat tal-protagonisti u d-diriġenti qed iġiegħlu lir-referees jitilfu ħafna mil-luċidità, bir-riżultat ta' ammont dejjem jikber ta' deċiżjonijiet ridikoli li jaffettwaw riżultati ta' logħbiet importanti.

Jekk iridu li l-futbol ma jitlifx il-kredibilità tiegħu, ikollha bilfors tiddaħħal it-teknoloġija. U mhux jiġu jgħidulna dik l-ereżija li l-iżbalji tar-referees jagħmlu l-futbol interessanti. Altru li le, anzi l-iżbalji tar-referees qed bil-mod il-mod ikunu r-rovina tal-futbol. X'fiha interessanti li final ta' Champions League tintrebaħ b'gowl minn offside? Ġrat din. X'fiha interessanti li final ta' Champions Cup titrebaħ b'penalti għal fawl żewġ metri barra l-kaxxa? Ġrat ukoll din. X'fiha interessanti li final tat-Tazza tad-Dinja tintrebaħ b'gowl li lanqas biss daħal? Anki din ġrat.

Sinjuri Blatter u Platini. Sur Platini, għandi rispett kbir għal dak li kont tagħmel bħala plejer tant li nqisek probabbli l-aqwa plejer li qatt rajt jilgħab. Sur Blatter, m'għandi l-ebda rispett għal dak li kont u għadek tagħmel... Sinjuri Blatter u Platini, il-futbol sabiħ għax ikun hemm logħbiet eċċitanti, għax ikun hemm azzjonijiet, ġesti atletiċi, salvataġġi tal-goalkeepers u gowls spettakolari. Dawn l-affarijiet il-plejers u l-kowċis huma responsabbli għalihom, mhux ir-referees. Ir-referee qatt u bl-ebda mod ma jista' jagħmel il-logħba aktar interessanti. Ir-referee jista' jkollu żewġ tipi biss ta' impatt fuq logħba - jew wieħed newtrali, jew inkella impatt negattiv, voldieri b'deċiżjonijiet żbaljati li jipproduċu riżultat falz.

Sinjur Blatter u Platini, jekk tridu li l-logħba tal-futbol tibqa' kredibbli trid bilfors tiddaħħal it-teknoloġija biex tgħin lill-uffiċjali tal-logħba. Irid ikun hemm replays għal kull meta r-referee jkollu dubju fuq x'ġara (x'fiha ħażin b'daqshekk? Kemm mingħalihom huma tajbin dawn li jistgħu jiddeċiedu kollox fi kwart ta' sekonda?), u anki numru limitat ta' opportunitajiet biex il-captain jew il-kowċ ikun jista' jikkontesta deċiżjoni, bħal ma jiġri fit-tennis. Wasalna fi stat fejn kważi kull logħba tiġi influwenzata f'direzzjoni jew oħra minn deċiżjoni żbaljata. U dejjem nisimgħu l-ilsna ħżiena ta' nies li ma jafux jieħdu telfa jgħidu li r-referees imbagħbsin. Ejja naqtgħuha darba għal dejjem din għax ħsara biss qed tagħmel. Jippruvaw kemm jippruvaw, ir-referees waħedhom m'humiex ilaħħqu. Tuhom l-għodda ħa jkunu jistgħu japplikaw ir-regoli tal-logħba kif suppost!

U kif qegħdin fiż-żifna, tajjeb nintroduċu xi ftit bidliet fir-regoli:

1. Dal-ħafna tkeċċijiet għal sempliċi fawl jew penalty hemm bżonn jinqatgħu. Fawl fuq l-aħħar raġel fil-każ agħtih penalty. Li tim tħallih bi plejer inqas tispiċċa tħassarha logħba. Penalty ismu miegħu - kważi gowl ċert. Kastig biżżejjed.

2. Agħar minn hekk, il-karti sofor fuq plejer li jkun sofra fawl, imma għax ir-referee injorant jew għajnejh difettużi (jew ma jikkonsultax ir-replay...) ma jindunax li kien penalty u minn fuq lill-plejer iffawljat jeħodlu ismu! Inġustizzja aktar minn hekk...

3. Is-sistema tal-karti sofor u l-iskwalifiki hemm bżonn tinbidel. Għal kull daħla kerha plejer għandu jitkeċċa għal 10 minuti. It-tielet darba jitkeċċa għal kollox. Il-fatt li jitkeċċa għal 10 minuti huwa diżinċentiv mill-ewwel kontra l-fawls koroh. U l-kastig jieħdu dak il-ħin stess. Skwalifiki jingħataw biss għal imġiba gravi, jew fawls partikolarment vjolenti. Il-bqija jekk plejer jitkeċċa l-kastig qed jieħdu dak il-ħin stess, u m'hemmx għalfejn jerġa' jkun skwalifikat logħba oħra.

4. Sostituzzjonijiet isiru bħall-basketball, il-waterpolo u l-ice hockey - kemm iridu u waqt li għaddej il-logħob. Jista' jieħu ħsieb jikkontrollaha r-raba' uffiċjal, għall-inqas ikun qed jagħmel xi ħaġa għall-ġid. U mhux qisha ċerimonja tal-ħatra ta' president sempliċi sostituzzjoni. Hekk jinqata' l-vizzju misħut tas-sostituzzjonijiet waqt l-injury time biex jaħlu l-ħin! U l-waqfien kontinwu fil-logħob sakemm il-plejers sostitwiti jimxu t-tul kollu tal-grawnd... Dawn għandhom ikollhom l-opportunità li jerġgħu jidħlu jilagħbu, ħalli jħossuhom għadhom jagħmlu parti mil-logħba, u mhux daqs li kieku sfaw imkeċċija. Għandhom raġun bħalissa jkunu ddiżappuntati u rrabjati meta jqaċċtuhom ħesrem 'il barra mil-logħba!

5. U x'ingħidu għall-passaġġ tal-ħin, u l-ħela tiegħu? Imma din daqshekk diffiċli biex titħaddem li l-ħin jgħodd biss waqt li jkun għaddej il-logħob? Jitħaddem f'daqshekk sports differenti! Żewġ taqsimiet ta' 30 minuta kull waħda, bil-ħin jieqaf ma' kull waqfien fil-logħob, u daqshekk xeneġġati u brutti figuri biex jinħela l-ħin.

6. Aktar regoli ġodda li hemm bżonn. Ballun ħabat ma jdejk - handsball dejjem. Jekk mhux intenzjonali, paċenzja. Kemm jonqsu kieku l-handsballs "mhux" intenzjonali! Azzjoni ta' attakk jitwaqqaf għal offside f'każ ovvju ħafna biss, il-bqija jekk ikun dubjuż il-logħob jibqa' għaddej, u jekk isir gowl jikkonsultaw ir-replay.

Kemm jista' jkun aħjar il-football. Naqra żiffa ta' arja friska kull ma hemm bżonn, imma naf li aktar hemm ċans tinżel il-borra fid-deżert milli tinħass xi żiffa qalb il-poteri mmuffati tal-FIFA.

Żewġ realtajiet

2010-02-26T22:44:00.003+01:00

Dan l-aħħar qed nirrealizza kemm is-soċjetà Maltija qed tgħix żewġ realtajiet paralleli, totalment opposti, inkompatibbli, imma li jibqgħu jeżistu flimkien għax waħda ma tirrikonoxxix l-eżistenza tal-oħra.

Għandna r-realtà konvenzjonali. Malta pajjiż Kattoliku b'valuri tradizzjonali eċċetra eċċetra. L-uniku pajjiż fid-dinja minbarra l-Filippini u l-Belt tal-Vatikan fejn m'hemmx liġi tad-divorzju. Ngħożżu l-għaqda tal-familja, poplu ultra-konservattiv u l-ebda partit ma jissogra jeħodha kontra dan l-istatus quo għax jibża' li jitlef l-elezzjoni li jmiss.

Dik realtà waħda - il-verżjoni uffiċjali u sostnuta bil-qawwa minn min qiegħed fil-poter.

In-naħa l-oħra tal-munita, sadattant, hija eżatt bil-maqlub. Miżżewġin jaqilbuha lil xulxin bl-addoċċ. Separazzjonijiet bl-eluf, koppji mhux miżżewġin jiffurmaw familji ġodda. Bażikament l-oppost totali tar-realtà konvenzjonali. Imma fil-fatt ir-realtà 'konvenzjonali' aktar ma jgħaddi żmien qed jirriżulta ċar li hija biss illużjoni.

U donnu min qiegħed fil-poter għandu interess qawwi li jsostni din il-faċċata. Avolja ssib ħafna minnhom stess li jafu li hija illużjoni, anzi qed jgħixu stil ta' ħajja totalment f'kontradizzjoni mal-ideal tal-valuri tal-familja blablabla. Mhux każ wieħed jew tnejn hemm minn dawn fost in-nies fil-ħajja pubblika. Imma kif kont qed naqra dal-aħħar il-partiti għandhom ftehim taċitu li jagħlqu għajnejhom it-tnejn għal dawn is-sitwazzjonijiet, għax jafu li hemm minnhom fuq iż-żewġ naħat. U sadattant ikomplu jsostnu l-pożizzjoni uffiċjali li tirrifletti s-soċjetà Maltija kif kienet ħamsin sena ilu, soċjetà li spiċċat għal kollox.

Ħlief li mbagħad hemm massa kbira ta' poplu li din ir-realtà ma jridx jirrikonoxxiha. Jaħbu rashom fir-ramel u joħolmu li s-soċjetà Maltija ta' ħamsin sena ilu għadha l-istess, u l-liġijiet li kienu jgħoddu għal dik is-soċjetà għadhom jaqdu tajjeb ir-realtà attwali.

Minħabba din il-massa li ma tridx tammetti li Malta nbidlet, u l-fatt li l-politiċi jibżgħu jifqgħulhom il-bużżieqa li qed joħolmu biha, irriżultat din is-sitwazzjoni ta' skizofrenija u ta' ipokresija sfrenata magħna nfusna.

Il-veru tal-biki.

P.S. on Will Power

2010-02-23T19:15:00.003+01:00

My achilles tendon did not appreciate last Sunday's tough workout very much at all. It felt OK at the time, but soon it became very evident that I need to give it a complete rest lasting at least a few days before I can resume training. Too bad... I just hope this will last a week at the most, in which case there will still be enough time to recover and proceed according to plan.

Will power

2010-02-21T21:36:00.002+01:00

If I do manage to run a marathon on 9 May - Visè or Prague, the latter depending on having my leave application approved - today's long run of 2h45m will have been a major milestone in the build-up for it.

The past week I had to stop for a couple of days due to a painful achilles tendon, a strain that was probably caused by running in the snow for the past several weeks. I had rested enough to be able to run my standard 10km on Friday, and this morning it was still touch and go if I would be able to run at all, let alone keep up my scheduled 'upgrade' to a 2h45m weekend run.

So I decided not to venture too far from home, just in case the pain suddenly flared up and I might need to abort the run. In fact, for the first couple of minutes it didn't feel like I could go very far... but it wasn't so bad either, and the first out-and-back sortie towards the Overijse bus station, total 30 minutes, went reasonably well. After that I proceeded in the opposite direction, along the main axis of Hoeilaart towards the forest at Groenendaal. I could have gone on into the Foret de Soignes, but the pain was still there so I decided to backtrack again to a safe distance - another 30 minutes gone.

One and three quarter hours still to go. I decided to do my two standard weekday 10km runs, one after the other. The first goes to Overijse, taking the road that leads to Huldenberg, and then runs back home. My heel was holding admirably well, and in fact it was hardly hurting at all. Maybe the pain was camouflaged by various aches that were spreading throughout my leg muscles as I approached the end of the first of these two 10km loops.

This would inevitably be the toughest part of the run. The later part of a long run is always tough on the body. It's here, after all, that the long distance runner gains in endurance. Moreover, today I was increasing the length of the run by another 15 minutes, using leg muscles that were already strained in various parts. It was a risk that I had to take to stay on schedule for Prague (or Visè), and I'm still anxious to find out the consequences the next couple of days.

Normally, at the later stage of a long run, after close to 2 hours running, with each step I'm getting closer to home sweet home. But not today! I was just four minutes away from home, tired and aching, and I still needed to go for a full 10km loop. I could have contented myself with 2 hours and come home to rest, and do a full 2h45m next weekend. I almost did just that. But then I realised that this overwhelming temptation was only due to being close to home. If I'd done my normal 1h23m out and 1h23m back long run, on the way back I would simply keep on running the whole distance until I reached home. So I decided to ignore the fact that with each step I was getting further away from home. It was a supreme act of will power, but it worked! I ran on, all the way to Groenendaal and back, a full standard weekday 10k on tired, aching legs.

To finish off a most difficult run today there was a further 'sting' at the finish, because I still needed to run on for an additional 3 minutes to notch up my 2h45m. I remember thinking that it would be a pity not to go the whole hog, having gone through all that trouble for so many kilometres...

I have mentioned before that, apart from races, here I only chronicle my runs that are remarkable for one reason or another. Today's run certainly qualifies for that description.

Użurpaturi

2010-02-21T08:05:00.004+01:00

Ipprotestaw ħej, l-użurpaturi. Jippretendu li jiksru r-regoli kollha, jissalvaġġjaw u jibqgħu jagħmlu li jridu bir-referi jħalli kollox għaddej.

1. Samuel iffawlja lill-attakkant tas-Sampdoria li kien tiela' waħdu biex jiskorja. Tkeċċija ġusta.

2. Cordoba ddobba karta safra ġusta wara li ħareġ mill-barriera u mblokka freekick - u pprotestaw ħafna fuq hekk ukoll... - u wara għamel fawl ikrah f'nofs il-grawnd. Karta safra - barra. Forsi ħaseb li jekk ikun urih karta safra tfisser li jista' mbagħad jagħmel li jrid għax mhux se jissogra jurih oħra, peress li plejer tal-użurpaturi.

3. Fil-fatt hekk irraġuna wkoll Milito li fit-tieni taqsima daħal bil-qiegħ taż-żarbun fuq il-qasba ta' sieq Palombo tas-Sampdoria. Ħallielu farrett ta' xi 6 pulzieri. Minflok keċċih ir-referi beża' mill-atmosfera ta' intimidazzjoni maħluqa minn Mourinho u l-użurpaturi sħabu, u taparsi ma rahx. Lanqas biss ħadlu ismu.

Fir-realtà r-referee ffavorihom lill-iscudettati tal-kartun. L-interċettaturi lbieraħ bi tmien plejers kellhom jispiċċawha l-logħba.

Wara kellhom il-wiċċ vili jipprotestaw. Isa, qabbdu lit-Telecom Italia jirrekordjaw xi telefonata biex ipinġuha li r-referi mbagħbas issa wkoll. Jew inkella minflok, għallmu lill-kowċ u lill-plejers li lill-avversarji trid tirrispettahom u li trid iġġib ruħek bħan-nies waqt logħba futbol.

Sad day

2010-02-15T18:46:00.005+01:00

Tragedy

What a sad day today for Belgium. Two trains collided head-on during the rush hour at 8:30 this morning in Halle, a pleasant suburban town to the SW of Brussels. The outcome - many passengers dead; the number is still undetermined, an early estimate being about 20. Even as I write this evening, there are people trapped inside the trains that literally drove into each other. People needed to have limbs amputated under the snow to be released from the wreckage. They had just set off from their loved ones at home for a normal day of work. How awfully terrible.

The cause of the accident is yet unestablished. The most likely, as reported in various news bulletins, is that one driver didn't see a red light and kept going.

I only hope it wasn't due to the pig-headed linguistic pride that resulted in several deaths in another train crash a few years ago. That was criminally insane - ignoring the risk of people dying for the sake of a stupid language.

Michael Jackson

I've just been watching a news item, where a lawyer representing the Jackson family is claiming that Michael's doctor, who is currently facing charges of manslaughter related to his patient's death, deliberately murdered Michael Jackson.

I'm astounded. Now why should Michael Jackson's doctor want to kill him? I suppose he was earning good money off him. The way I see it, it was already a miracle that the poor fellow lived to be 50. He was a walking skeleton. It was painful to watch.

Anthony Mifsud

Back in Malta, in the dark days of the Mintoff regime a prison warder was falsely accused of allowing two inmates to escape. He was tortured in the process. He lost his job, his health, his wits. He became an invalid. For many years after Mintoff and KMB were sent packing Mifsud sought compensation for this inhuman treatment from the Maltese government. A few months ago, after much delaying tactics the Maltese courts finally awarded him 180,000 euro in damages. Today the Times of Malta reported that now Mifsud has had to file a judicial letter in the Court, claiming that he was never paid his due.

What an utter shame! This is a government that claims to be inspired by Christian Democratic values. CD values, my arse.

Enrico Preziosi

Enrico Preziosi is president of the Genoa football club. Six years or so ago he was caught red-handed bribing officials from another club to lose so that his Genoa would gain promotion to Serie A. Police agents found a briefcase literally full of cash provided by Mr Preziosi. Genoa did win their game, but were then demoted to Serie C.

This same Enrico Preziosi is now accusing Alex Del Piero, who was yesterday tripped by a Genoa defender as he entered the penalty area, earning a penalty for Juventus, of cheating. Whether he was tripped inside the area or not is irrelevant here - it was the referee's job to check where the offence took place. This accusation of cheating, coming from the scoundrel Enrico Preziosi, is indeed rich.

Bersani and Emilio Fede

It had to be these two political arch enemies, at last, to make me smile this evening. Emilio Fede, a journalist and news director of Rete 4, Berlusconi's most ardent and outspoken supporter in the Italian media, invited Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the opposition and the Italian ex communists, the Partito Democratico, for a live TV interview on Fede's evening news programme. The discussion was heated, but civil. Both men of diametrically opposite political opinion clearly enjoyed the debate. So did I enjoy watching their repartee, an exhibition of civilised disagreement, the way it should be.

"Culture of death"

2010-02-14T14:14:00.002+01:00

L-Independent, Pamela Hansen illum:

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Tonio Borg: “Malta needs to fight the ‘culture of death’ prevalent in today’s
society” makes one wonder.

To what culture of death was he referring? Wars?
Terrorism? The death penalty? People dying from starvation and disease because
not enough people care?

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=101650

Le, probabbli kellu f'moħħu l-mijiet ta' Afrikani li jmutu mgħarrqa meta jippruvaw jaqsmu bil-baħar lejn l-Ewropa.

X'tisħon id-dinja...

2010-02-12T20:09:00.006+01:00

Jgħidu li d-dinja qed tisħon.

Ma nafx. Kultant jiġuni d-dubji. F'Diċembru kellhom il-konferenza ta' Kopenħagen fuq it-tibdil fil-klima waqt li l-Ewropa kienet qed tiffriża, litteralment povri nies imutu bil-kesħa. U t-tibdil fil-klima li kienu qed jiddiskutu ma kinitx il-kesħa, imma s-sħana kkawżata mill-gassijiet li qed inwaddbu fl-atmosfera.

Imma fejnha dis-sħana kollha? Jannar li għadda hawnhekk fil-Belġjum kien l-aktar xahar fi kważi mitt sena, mill-1917 'l hawn eżattament, li kien fih ġranet meta niżlet il-borra. Altru mhix is-sħana. Kuljum kesħa taqsmek, għal ġimgħat sħaħ waħda wara l-oħra. Qażżitna. U x-xitwa ta' qabel ma ċċajtatx lanqas...

Jgħidulek imma s-sajf ara kemm qed tagħmel sħana. Iva, imma x'fiha daqshekk stramba? Nafuha u drajniha din: fis-sajf tagħmel is-sħana. Skoprejna l-Amerka? Meta ma kienx ikun sħun is-sajf?

Ħeqq, nimmaġina ġabru skoss statistika, kejl ta' temperaturi u tal-ħxuna tal-kappa tas-silġ fl-Arktik. Ma nimmaġinax li vvintata dil-biċċa xogħol tad-dinja li qed tisħon. Imma bilfors jidħolli d-dubju. Jekk allura d-dinja qed tisħon u l-klima tinbidel u ġej diżastru fuqna... iva allura mank ingawdu naqra minn xitwa li ma tkunx daqshekk kiefra bħala kumpens?

Ranieri għalqilna ħalqna

2010-02-09T20:33:00.006+01:00

Ikolli ngħid żbaljajna fuq Claudio Ranieri, meta ddeċidejna, jien fost ħafna oħrajn, li kien hu li jaħti għas-sensiela ta' riżultati ħżiena li kienu qed iġibu l-Juve.

Dis-sena mar mar-Roma, u ġabhom nies.

Mela għaliex mal-Juve ma rnexxiex, u sadattant il-Juve sejrin mill-ħażin għall-agħar? Mid-dehra hemm xi ħaġa mhix qed tikkwadra fil-Juve. Ma kienx Ranieri, u lanqas dawk li ġew warajh: kowċ wieħed wara l-ieħor wara l-ieħor u ħadd minnhom ma jista' jsib irkaptu. Imma jekk mhux it-tort tal-kowċ, allura fejn qiegħda l-problema tgħid...?

...

...Tgħid?

Keystone Cops

2010-02-08T17:23:00.003+01:00

The Times of Malta, today Monday 8 February 2010:

Monday, 8th February 2010 - 14:27CET
Police drop request for names of bands
The police in a statement today said they had not asked to see the lyrics of songs entered for a Carnival activity in Nadur this weekend.
In a statement in reaction to a story in The Sunday Times, the police said they had, through the Mayor of Nadur, asked to see the names of the bands and the titles of the songs so that they could assess the size of the crowd they could expect.
The police said that after reconsidering their decision, they had decided not to insist on its request for the names.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100208/local/police-drop-request-for-names-of-bands

What a ridiculous statement. So, pray, how did the Keystone Cops think they were going to "assess the size of the crowd they could expect", from the titles of the songs? Eh? They should instead have apologized for acting just like the Taliban of Afghanistan. This is what was reported in the same Times of Malta website yesterday. As I write, the news items are still there, although I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually magically disappear altogether:

Sunday, 7th February 2010
Police to vet Nadur carnival song lyrics
Christian Peregin

Rock bands booked to perform during the Nadur Carnival have been asked to submit their planned 'repertoire' to the local council and police in an attempt to eradicate offensive or vulgar lyrics.
The Sunday Times was alerted by a concerned band member who said the council was requesting to vet lyrics before the event. [...]

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100207/local/police-to-vet-nadur-carnival-song-lyrics

and this:

Sunday, 7th February 2010 - 16:49CET
Nadur carnival, quo vadis?
[...] Rock bands set to perform in this year's carnival have been asked to submit their planned 'repertoire' to the local council and police in an attempt to eradicate offensive or vulgar lyrics.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100207/local/nadur-carnival-quo-vadis

Altogether now. A one, a two, a one, two three:

Konna u għadna ngħixu, f'pajjiż tal-Mickey Mouse...

Les Hivernales de Boitsfort - 20km - 1h26:48

2010-02-07T18:08:00.005+01:00

This is where I warmed up for today's 30th edition of Les Hivernales de Boitsfort 20km:

It was much greyer, and more wintry, as the name of the event implies, but the misty charm of Les etangs de Boitsfort was, if anything, even more beautiful.

At three successive participations this has now become the race that I have done most times in Belgium, one more than the Brussels marathon and the Hoeilaart 11,2km.

Various factors combined so that I would achieve an excellent performance today. I'm currently running 2h30m long runs each weekend which, endurance-wise, seems to be the ideal preparation for 20km: enough to give me the stamina to last the distance without getting too tired, but not so long as to render me worn out at the starting line. For several weeks now I've managed to put in a good speed session each midweek. I've also done a mini-tapering phase the week ahead of the race, cutting out the speed session and running for just 6km on Friday.

Then today I happened to hit on the ideal pace. I didn't get involved in the frenetic jostle for space at the crowded beginning, and simply moved along with them while seeking empty spaces. A strong but moderate pace as we entered the Foret de Soignes and the field thinned enabled me to overtake many rivals, and I managed to keep this up for practically the entire race. The Foret de Soignes, sometimes referred to as the 'lung' of Brussels, is my favourite Sunday long run haunt, which is another reason why this is fast becoming one of my favourite races.

At 1h26:48 - 260th out of 925 who finished the race - I finished two and a half minutes faster than 2009, and exactly one minute ahead of 2008.

Overall, it was a great race for me. Thank you, Royal Racing Club Bruxelles. I hope we'll meet again on 6 February 2011 at 10h30, as you have suggested in your email with the unofficial results, received barely 5 hours after the end of the race.

Gaffy Gagazza and Gonswelo

2010-02-03T21:33:00.000+01:00

Things were getting boring in Lilliput. Nothing whatsoever was happening. The goblins would go out, meet the same goblins, over and over again, walk along the same broken forest paths...

They got on each others' nerves. One goblin invented a story about another goblin. The latter retaliated, with an even more outrageous story, so that within a short while it seemed as if the whole of Lilliput was engulfed in a war of slander and mud-slinging.

Gaffy Gagazza, a posh, sophisticated goblin who eats Imps for breakfast (and claims that the Imps' leader Gasket is an ox), was heavily involved in the battle. In her glog, which is read by one and a half billion goblins every day, she was rather critical of a certain Gonswelo, who recently organised a party for some goblin friends. Quite critical, in fact. She certainly wasn't very complimentary in Gonswelo's regard.

Gaffy became very proud of her one and a half billion readers. What she didn't realise was that these were the equivalent of the crowd of curious onlookers who gather around, sniggering, to watch a brawl between goblins of, shall we say, not very sophisticated upbringing.

Sirna qisna l-Inter...

2010-02-02T18:55:00.003+01:00

... u aktar fil-baxx minn hekk ma tistax taqa' fil-futbol.

Kull sajf nixtru xi plejers u ottimiżmu m'għola s-sema, se nkaxkru kollox. Jgħaddu ftit ġimgħat, u nkeċċu l-kowċ. F'erba' snin, minn meta d-diriġenti l-ġodda TALBU biex nitwaqqgħu fis-Serie B, kellna lil Didier Deschamps (dam sena), Claudio Ranieri (sentejn), Ciro Ferrara (8 xhur), u issa Alberto Zaccheroni, u dan bid-dikjarar għal sitt xhur biss. Anzi aċċetta. Wara jridu lil Rafa Benitez, li marbut b'kuntratt mal-Liverpool għal xi 4 snin oħra. Għandhom raġun jipprotestaw il-Liverpool. Issa l-isbaħ dan l-unika ħaġa ta' sugu li qatt rebaħ kienet b'ċikkatura, purament diżgrazzja li f'mitt sena oħra ta' futbol qatt ma terġa' tiġri: il-famuża final mal-Milan fejn kellhom jaqalgħu sitta imma minflok spiċċaw 3-3 bil-penalties. Il-league tal-Ingilterra f'xi 20 sena kemm ilu jikkowċjahom qatt ma rebħuħ.

Imma lilu jridu, m'hemmx x'tagħmel, avolja marbut b'kuntratt. Probabbli għax mhux Taljan.

Sadattant Del Piero qed ikompli jurina kemm għadu plejer kbir. L-ewwel qabeż qabża għal rasu fil-kaxxa l-kbira, u r-referee qallu terġax. Imbagħad żelaq minflok ixxuttja, u r-referee vvinta penalty. Kieku jien kont immur fuq ir-referee u ngħidlu li żlaqt. Minflok tgħidx kemm iċċelebra, qisu għamel xi opra kbira għax skorja minn penalty vvintat.

Nistgħu mhux noqogħdu kull darba nibdlu l-kowċ, għax qabel ma neħilsu minn dak l-ankra, li donnu ħadd m'għandu l-kuraġġ jgħidlu jibqa' bil-qiegħda mas-sostituti, indaħħqu n-nies bina se nibqgħu. Eżatt kif kienu jagħmlu ċ-champions tal-ispjunaġġ u tal-iscudetti tal-kartun.

U xi ngħidu mbagħad għal Amauri? Kemm għandu xagħru lixx u sabiħ hu...? U dak Diego, dak x'ikun proprja? U Buffon, min jaf kieku kultant jilqa' xi xutt tgħid?

Zoff, Gentile, Cabrini, Furino, Morini, Scirea, Causio, Tardelli, Boninsegna, Benetti, Bettega. Kowċ: Trapattoni (mhux sena dam dan, imma 10 snin). Dak kien tim. Il-formazzjoni għadni niftakarha bl-amment iktar minn 30 sena wara.

Dehen minn min jaħkimha

2010-01-31T20:14:00.006+01:00

Mill-gallarija hawnhekk ftit kien jidher li qed jiġru affarijiet f'dik l-art ħelwa, l-omm li tatna isimha, ħlief li student żagħżugħ li kien editur ta' fuljett fl-università qed jissogra jeħel il-ħabs talli ppubblika storja...

Imbagħad, f'daqqa waħda, bdew ifaqqgħu stejjer u diskorsi mimlijin dehen minn min dik l-art ħelwa qed jaħkimha. Jaħkimha? Jew imexxiha? Skond dak l-innu monotonu, tad-dwejjaq u ikrah li jdoqqu fuq it-television lejliet il-Milied u lejliet l-ewwel tas-sena, u meta jilgħab it-tim nazzjonali tal-football f'Ta' Qali, hemm xi ħadd li qed jaħkimha. Min? Ħeqq, nimmaġina l-President u l-gvern tiegħu, le? Avolja, l-ikbar dehen dal-aħħar qed nisimgħuh mingħand min għadu għalissa jixtieq imexxiha. Jew jaħkimha. Ngħiduha, jekk mhux b'wieħed ikollna nitqannew bl-ieħor. Ħakma tiġi. Kien jaf x'qed iħarbex Dun Karm.

Mela ħa nibdew mill-kbir nett. Il-ħakkiem, skond l-innu Malti. L-Eċċellenza Tiegħu l-President ta' Malta, li għandu jkun beda jitfixkel x'kariga tawh u mingħalih sar l-Eċċellenza Tiegħu l-Arċisqof ta' Malta. Għax l-E.T. l-President ftit jiem ilu ddikjara bla tlaqliq x'jidhirlu li hi d-definizzjoni ta' familja. Raġel u mara li jgħixu flimkien bl-intenzjoni li jagħmlu t-tfal. Dik, ċumm bumm. L-oħrajn mhux familji. Ġenituri waħedhom li jitbażwru biex irabbu tifel, tifla jew tfal, dawk mhux familji. Aħwa jgħixu flimkien wara li mitulhom il-ġenituri, dawk mhux familja. Koppja li jadottaw tfal, dawk mhux familja. Koppja mhux miżżewġa li għandhom tfal u jgħixu fl-istess dar, dawk mhux familja. Bir-rispett kollu: żgarrajna hawn, Eċċellenza.

Smajna biha l-aħħar fuq Arnold Cassola fl-elezzjonijiet Ewropej tal-2004. Kaċċa għas-sħaħar kontra min (forsi) jaqbel mal-abort. Erħilha li dan kien qal li ma jaqbilx. Issa l-mira daret fuq Toni Abela tal-Lejber, li mid-dehra f'xi programm tat-television kien qal li f'ċerti każijiet estremi l-abort jista' jkun ġustifikat. U ara l-irwiefen tal-kundanna dlonk jibdew jonfħu, bil-vittma l-ġdida jagħmel mhux pass wieħed imma erba' passi lura. Qalilna, Dottor Abela, li mhux talli huwa kontra l-abort, talli bħala avukat kien irnexxielu jġiegħel lill-qorti ta' Malta twaqqaf waħda mara milli ssiefer, għax skond hu kienet se ssiefer biex tagħmel abort.

Ħmmm. Idea interessanti din. Forsi ta' min jissuġġerixxi li ntellgħu purtiera tal-ħadid madwar il-gżejjer Maltin. U kif inkunu fiż-żifna naqtgħu l-linji kollha tal-komunikazzjoni ħalli nrażżnu l-mewġ tal-ħażen li qed iħabbat fuq ix-xtut ta' Malta u se jispiċċa jħassar is-soċjetà u t-tradizzjonijiet tant għeżież tagħha. Ara kemm tkun idea tajba, lanqas klandestini ma jibqgħu jidħlu f'Malta.

Rari jonqos milli jipprovdilna perli ta' dehen il-Kap tal-Oppożizzjoni Joseph Muscat. L-aħħar waħda nebbaħna biha wara li tħabbar li Louis Galea kien se jiġi nnominat għall-Qorti Ewropea tal-Awdituri. Nesa kemm kienu għajruhom b'xorti lil Galea u lil John Dalli. Issa f'daqqa waħda dawn it-tnejn saru tnejn mill-aħjar elementi tal-gvern Nazzjonalista, imwarrbin u mormijin minn Gonzi. Tajjeb, allura x'suppost nagħmlu? Nibagħtu 'l xi ħadd inkompetenti u medjokri jirrappreżenta 'l Malta fl-istituzzjonijiet tal-UE? Jaqaw hekk se jibda jagħmel meta jilħaq il-ħolma li jsir Prim Ministru Progressiv ta' Malta? Mill-ewwel jiġuni f'moħħi xi eżempji ta' nies li kieku "jlaħħaq" seħibna Joseph. Diġà rajnih juża l-istess prinċipju fil-partit tiegħu...

A long way

2010-01-27T20:32:00.007+01:00

An average of three runs of 10km each - that's 30km - per week.

An average of 18km - the long run - each weekend.

It's probably more for both. That's an average of 48km run per week for 50 weeks per year, making a conservative estimated total of 2400km of running per year.

Multiplying that by 18, which is the number of years I have been running at more or less the same amount per year, gives 43200 km.

That's all the way around the circumference of the earth, plus another 3000km for good measure, i.e. quite a long way. Who knows, maybe I'll do another round trip...

Upholding the morals in Lilliput

2010-01-26T22:20:00.002+01:00

The Rectum at the Lilliput Institute for Spoonfeeding ordered the Morality Police of Lilliput to lock a young goblin in a dungeon as punishment for publishing an outrageous story, replete with references to goblin pudenda and possible usages of such pudenda.

It was the same sort of story that goblins can freely buy and read in Lilliput, but only if the stories are written in other forests, outside Lilliput, by goblins who do not live in Lilliput, and in a language other than Lilliputian.

There was an uproar following this Fatwa, with writers saying that had a right to write whatever they thought was right, and others saying that it was not right that writers should have this right. So, the Great Leader Gobbi set up a Group of Wise Goblins, which was to decide once and for all what Lilliputian goblins should be allowed to say, write, hear, read and see.

The Group of Wise Goblins embarked on their task with great enthusiasm, and when their work was finished they drew up a list of words that would be forbidden and which, if written in any publication in Lilliput, would entitle the Morality Police to throw the publisher into a dungeon.

The list of forbidden terms included expressions such as Gobb, Gosh, Oggja and other words that, according to statistics, are used on average once in every sentence that is spoken in Lilliput. It was published in the Goblin Gazette, and the following day all members of the Group of Wise Goblins were rounded up by the Morality Police, and thrown into a dungeon for publishing obscene material and thereby breaking the Obscene Publications Act.

Jannar

2010-01-24T17:34:00.005+01:00

Ikrah Jannar. Il-ħin kollu d-dlam, jew kważi, u meta jisbaħ jurina griż u mċajpar, u siġar li saru zkuk bla weraq.

Kuljum.

Kesħa, mit-tip li tippenetra l-ġilda u tidħol fl-għadam. Il-festi ta' żmien il-Milied għaddew u spiċċaw, id-dwal ikkuluriti żżarmaw, u l-uniku prospett għalissa huma xahrejn oħra ta' ksieħ u arja umda - taqta' qalbek toħroġ naqra barra għax trid iddum kwarta tipprepara biex tinkesa minn rasek sa saqajk. Mank tista' tmur vaganza, għax it-tfal bl-iskejjel u għadna kif ħadna l-vaganzi tal-Milied. Xejn, tissaporti jkollok. U tirringrazzja 'l Alla li (u mhux dejjem ikun il-każ) l-art mhix miksija bil-borra, u tista' timxi normali fuq il-bankina u ssuq karozza mingħajr ma tissogra li tibda tiskejzja u tiżżerżaq għal ġo xi arblu.

Ftit ilu kont qed nipprova naħseb jekk hemmx xi ħaġa li tiġbru lil Jannar, u kkonkludejt li m'hemmx. Imbagħad ftakart fl-uniku vantaġġ li nista' naħseb fih. M'hemmx għalfejn ngħaddu l-ġnien bil-lonmower, għax il-ħaxix fix-xitwa ma jikbirx...

Iġri tasal ir-rebbiegħa ħa nieħdu r-ruħ.

Infern

2010-01-17T19:13:00.004+01:00

Kien hemm pajjiż, kien jismu Ħaiti. Issa m'għadux pajjiż, sar infern. Naħseb din l-ewwel darba li terremot mhux biss qered belt u ħalla ħafna vittmi, imma tista' tgħid qered pajjiż sħiħ. Dak li konna ngħidulu l-Ħaiti, almenu għalissa, jidher li sar territorju bla gvern, bla ordni, f'kaos totali. Popolazzjoni sħiħa li diġà kienet fqira, issa bla djar, bla tama, iddisprata, dak kollu li għexu għalih meqrud, litteralment ma jafux fejn se jagħtu rashom. Eluf għadhom mirdumin, issa stess qed imutu.

U jien hawn, komdu komdu, nikteb. Komdu fiżikament, imma l-kuxjenza skomda. Kull ma nikteb ftit jista' jkun ta' sugu. Ftit li xejn ma nista' nagħmel biex ngħin lill-povri nies tal-Ħaiti. Ma narax għaliex m'għandix nibqa' nikteb fil-blogg. Imma ma nistax naqbad u nikteb fuq affarijiet oħra u ninjora d-diżastru li qed iseħħ issa stess.

Tirrealizza kemm għadna lura milli nkunu fil-kontroll tad-destin tagħna, kemm għadna vulnerabbli għall-forza tremenda tan-natura. Għamilna ħafna biex ħloqna dinja fejn inħossuna fil-kenn, komdi, fil-kontroll. Imma għad jonqos ħafna x'naqdfu. Xi pajjiżi huma xi ftit jew wisq attrezzati għal kontra terremot. Fil-Ġapan u fl-Amerka jibnu fis-sod biżżejjed biex terremot, ġeneralment, ma jikkawżax diżastru kbir iżżejjed. Imma l-biċċa l-kbira tal-pajjiżi għadhom lura, lura wisq, u kull ċaqliqa tal-art toqtol l-eluf.

Hemm bżonn li n-Nazzjonijiet Uniti tkun organizzata b'mod li tista' tidħol u tgħin mill-ewwel meta jinqala' diżastru xi mkien. Il-biċċa l-kbira tan-nies qalbha tajba, u tixtieq tgħin, imma jiġri wisq drabi li l-għajnuna li jixtiequ jagħtu n-nies tkun frustrata bid-diżorganizzazzjoni kważi inevitabbli maħluq mid-diżastru. Povri nies, nerġa' ngħid.

Wied iż-Żurrieq, 30 ta' Diċembru 2009

2010-01-13T19:34:00.008+01:00

Waqt li l-bqija tal-Ewropa kienet qed tiffriża, Malta konna qed nitpaxxew bi ġranet mill-isbaħ. Kultant veru qisha gżiritna qiegħda fi pjaneta differenti.

Hawnhekk Wied iż-Żurrieq, inżul ix-xemx tat-30 ta' Diċembru 2009. Irrabjajt naqra li waddbu rigg taż-żejt eżatt ħdejn Filfla, imma fir-ritratt lanqas biss għamel ikrah! Imbagħad iddur in-naħa l-oħra u tara l-irdum taż-Żurrieq, fejn jispiċċa Wied Babu. Hemmhekk kien tfaċċa qamar mimli, kważi qamar kwinta:

U x-xemx kompliet nieżla, u s-sema jiħmar. Mamma mija xi ġmiel:

Grazzi Malta. Wisq sabiħa!

Tliet paragrafi bla sens

2010-01-09T22:01:00.004+01:00

Naħseb kienet biss kumbinazzjoni, żewġ bloggati waħda wara l-oħra, qabel din tal-lum, bit-titlu bit-Taljan. Kumbinazzjoni, għax terġa' miktubin bil-Malti, imma dehrli l-espressjoni li tiddeskrivihom l-aħjar kienet bit-Taljan fiż-żewġ każi.

Din bloggata oħra minn dawk 'per la cronaca', iktar minn ta' qabilha, u qed indaħħalha sempliċiment biex indaħħal titlu bil-Malti. Iġri nlesti skoss intietef li għandi x'neħles, ħa nkun nista' nerġa' nibda nibbloggja bis-serjetà.

Fissazzjoni tiegħi din, li kitba b'żewġ paragrafi tidher kerha għall-għajn? Spiċċajt żidt dat-tielet paragrafu biex ma jkunx blogg b'żewġ paragrafi. Iva, tabilħaqq, ikolli nammetti, waqa' lura dal-aħħar l-istandard ta' "Mill-gallarija...".

Per la cronaca

2010-01-08T20:38:00.003+01:00

Il-morsa tal-kesħa qawwija li ħakmet l-Ewropa minn Sqallija 'l fuq ma jidhirx li trid tħallina. Illum kont qed niġri f'mument minnhom kont fil-bosk, u litteralment ma kont tara l-ebda kulur ħlief abjad u griż. Stajt faċilment kont f'film black-and-white - sema griż, art bajda, friegħi u siġar griżi, forsi tikka kannella taz-zkuk minn taħt il-ġlata, u ftit linji rqaq blu fuq iż-żarbun tiegħi, il-bqija anki l-ħwejjeġ tiegħi kienu bojod u suwed.

Spettakolari, veru, imma mhux għal min irid jivvjaġġa... anzi l-vjaġġi tiegħi għalissa lesti. Anki biex titfa' l-pass diffiċli bl-art miksija bil-borra. Issa nistenna l-ġirja t-twila li jmissni l-Ħadd li ġej. Nipprova nirrepeti l-ġirja memorabbli li kelli s-sena l-oħra x-Chateau de la Hulpe. Issa nara x'ġej, għax milli qalu kisja ħoxna borra ġejja fuq il-pajjiż kollu. U sadattant Malta qed igawdu l-iktar xitwa sħuna fil-memorja ta' kulħadd. Xemxi kważi kuljum b'temperaturi qishom tar-rebbiegħa! Kultant veru jkollok tissuspetta li pjaneta differenti...

Iż-żewġ qarrejja ta' dal-blogg għalissa qed ikollhom jikkuntentaw bi ftit kliem 'per la cronaca' - tal-lum tipika. Għandi skoss affarijiet x'neħles u ftit qed iħalluli ħin. Waħda ddeċidejt, eżatt sena wara li kont inqbadt... daqshekk Facebook għalissa - qed jaħlili wisq ħin għalxejn. L-iżjed forsi ntella' xi ritratti, meta xi darba jirnexxieli nipproċessahom.