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November 17 The World GameThis evening, after 32 years of trying and failing, after 32 years of heartbreak after heartbreak, Australia has made it to the World Cup for a second time. The feeling for me is indescribable. Don't get me wrong, I love the Bombers and I love our cricketers but those two sports just do not compare for me. The feeling I get when I see the Socceroos go through to the World Cup is like 5 AFL Grand Finals, it's like 10 Ashes campaigns...
I was watching when the Socceroos threw away a 2-0 lead to lose to Iran in 1997 and I remember vividly as the Aussies got annhilated 3-0 in Montevideo in 2001, after eking out a 1-0 lead in Melbourne. But for me, it's not just about the many losses that have happened in the lead up to this tremendous victory, for me its more about the nature of the sport.
You see, soccer has largely been known in Australia as a game for migrants. Working-class migrants from Europe are the ones that have built the game in this country and to see 82,000 screaming fans at Telstra Stadium and a whole nation watching at home get behind this group of players that has never felt such amazing support before. A group of players, mainly made up of migrants or children of migrants, that has always been generally shunned by the Australian soccer community has suddenly achieved the greatest Australian sporting victory since Cathy Freeman in the 2000 Olympics.
It seems, the only thing Australia loves more than a winner is a winner that triumphs over adversity, the underdog, the "battler". That great Australian cliche comes back to us every single time. And for 120 minutes (plus penalties), it didnt matter where the players were from and it didnt matter where the supporters were from, everyone was aiming towards the same thing, that ultimate goal. Glory.
It is true, that Australians have a deep, possibly unnatural and definitely crazy obsession with sports. Someone once said that if an Australian saw two ants crawling up a wall they'd probably start cheering for one of them. But this obsession is what unites us as a country. It makes us forget our colonial, violent past and our partially segregated, less-than-tolerant present. Truly, as the song says, in these moments of sporting success... "we are one, but we are many... and from all the lands on earth we come"
But let us not forget that, by birth, I am a European and soccer is the sport of my parents and grandparents. I too am a migrant, like many of the players on the pitch for us this evening. Seeing this country unite around a sport that has always been considered foreign and a group of players with foreign names and backgrounds is an amazing feeling. This is where I can truly see the mix of my European heritage and Australian identity come to fruition. This is where I can truly see the integration of migrants into Australian society. So for me, there is only one true game that I love, the world game, the round-ball game... and for this game, I am a Socceroo for ever.
Alex
PS. Thanks to Huy and the rest of the gang for a great night at the Chau manor. Such moments of passion could only come from AIESECers and Australians. Thanks to the trainees for taking part. :) October 19 Sage Francis - Makeshift PatriotFrank, what's up man? October 17 Melbourne in OctoberFirstly I'd just like to rant about how my space is pissing me off. I usually have to use shitty IExplorer to blog because Firefox isn't compatible with it and when you edit blogs or comment in Firefox it doesn't include paragraphs in your blogging. How annoying. But now it's happening even when I use IExplorer! There are no paragraphs unless I type html code and I so hate typing html code (but as you can see I do, dutifully, for you, kind reader). I don't get it. MySpace Help says that any version of IExplorer above 5.5 will work but I have 6.0 and it still doesn't work. I've filed a bug report but they still havenv't gotten back to me. I HATE MICROSOFT. GO GOOGLE. Oh dear they're probably going to come and assassinate me.
Anyway, the purpose of this entry is to record a random thing I saw today, *sigh* isn't Melbourne great?
Random Thing
A kid that looked about 14 sitting outside Young & Jacksons on the cnr of Flinders and Swanton with a guitar, absolutely yelling the following things at the top of his lungs: "I hate John Howard!" "John Howard is a fucking dick!!!" "John Howard should be killed... let's shoot him in the head!!!" and various other obscenities directed at our dear leader and Prime Minister. It's a pity the public who actually have the power to vote don't echo this kid's sentiment. Then some guy comes up to him and says: "sing that John Hunt is a Coward"... so the kid says... "John Howard is Coward!!!!" and the guy says... "no.. no... John Hunt is a Coward"... so the kid says... "OK... John Hunt is a Coward!!!! Who the Fuck is John Hunt?" and the guy says... "Just sing it, you'll get it..." So the kid starts singing... "John Hunt is a Coward!!! John Hunt is a Coward!!!" and then maybe 1 minute later he's like... "Ohhh... John Howard is a Cunt!!! John Howard is a Cunt!!"... I thought it was the most hilarious thing I'd ever seen! To see a man and a boy, strangers, bonding over spoonerisms and the terrible state of our Government was truly a wonderful moment. It made my day.
Alex September 07 Don Bushote and Sancho BlairI
decided to go to the Spanish lecture discussion class today instead of
tomorrow because I'm going for lunch with Moe to Yu-u tomorrow
(momentous, I haven't been back to yu-u for a long time and am greatly
looking forward to the glorious food). The lecture discussion class was on Don Quijote, the most famous Spanish literary character from the most influencial piece of Spanish literature (by Cervantes). For those that are not familiar, Don Quijote is a man mesmerised by the stories of glorious knights that he read as a boy, he strives to emulate them and goes a little crazy in the process. Where Don Quijote sees violent miscreants, everybody else sees harmless merchants. Where Don Quijote sees evil pixies, everyone else sees benevolent monks. Where Don Quijote sees ginormous giants, everbody else sees windmills. So Don Quijote, with his faithful squire, Sancho Panza and his reliable steed "Rocinante", goes around ridding the world of evils that only he perceives and puffing himself up in the process. He kills lots of innocent people and windmills and is never brought to justice. Of course, I already knew the story of Don Quijote, he is so famous, but upon reading the synopsis we were handed in Spanish and really thinking about it, something clicked. The parallels between this fable and the modern day are striking! Imagine there is a man who is mesmerised by stories of American cowboys who take care of evil-doers and seeks to emulate his father. Imagine that man is given the reins to the most powerful military machine in the world, a mass media capable of extreme brainwashing and a compliant populace. Sounds pretty damn scary! Where President Bush sees a would-be aggressor possessing horrible WMDs, the educated observer sees the poorest country on the Arab peninsula incapable of attacking anyone. Where President Bush sees an imminent threat to security, the educated observer sees a country crippled by a decade of the harshest economic sanctions. Where President Bush sees strong links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, the educated observer sees polar differences in ideology and no possible link whatsoever. So with his faithful squire, Tony Blair and his reliable steed, The United States of America, President Bush continues to wreak havoc among defenseless countries while blowing up his ego and establishing himself as a "war-time president" and is never brought to justice. Cervantes could not have predicted it better when he wrote "Don Quijote" hundreds of years prior. Alex PS. I think I should start a "Current Affairs" category in this blog! June 29 UpdateOK a short update on the author. Still living in the front two room in Brighton, although the house is on its way to completion, should be done 100% by the time I return from Sydney but not before I depart, I don't think. Have been going to work and doing AIESEC stuff mostly and chillin' out, playin' pool, etc. Abbie beat me at pool last nite at Princes, beaten by a girl - it was my darkest moment. Well not really, after we decided that first to 4 games wins, it went to the wire where we were both on 3 games and both on black in the last game. But to the victor go the spoils, lucky I didn't bet my house ;-).
A side-note, to the stupid blonde Brighton soccer-mum bitch who fucked with me today in the cafe. If I see you on the street, I'm probably going to spit on you or your shitty Discovery/Cherokee/RR. I miss my train this morning, come inside to sit down and drink my take-away strong latte at the usual bench where I can see the train coming so I can dash, sit down and see next to me on the bench a (most-likely) fake LV wallet covered by a Herald Sun (typical). And the bitch says: "excuse me, I'm already sitting there". Where, bitch? There are two freakin' seats here! So I said: "which one?" she said: "that one" and I said "sure thing, ill just sit here" and parked my ass on the seat between 'hers' and the woman on the end (three seat bench). She was so pissed off that I dared claim a spot when she so rightly deserved 2 that she turned her back to me, crossed her arms and took her fake china crap and left. BITCH. Thanks to the nice lady next to me on the left for agreeing with me about this cow. Btw, AIESEC Monash awards nights was great, congratulations to all awards receipients, thanks for the pizza and thanks for letting me clean y'all out in the poker. ;) I wouldn't have left so early if it werent for...
The fact that I'm sick as a freakin' dog! I'm lying in bed right now with a fever of 40 degrees and sweat dripping down my forehead. As I said to Heidi, "I'm sweatin' like a pig in an abbotoir!" but hey at least it rids the body of toxins. So if you don't see me this week it's because I'm officially dying, but hopefully I can still do posting from my bed to ease the pain.
Speaking of which,
Read my Initial D review!
Word.
Peace Out.
Alex
PS. Vickey, babe, dont worry about it. There is life after AIESEC and a great and hassle-free life it is, the life of a regular student, not some superhero 'saving the world' through endless meetings. No regrets, babe, remember that - no regrets! June 06 Ogden NashI think that I shall never see A billboard lovely as a tree Indeed, unless the billboards fall I'll never see a tree at all. - Ogden Nash
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