lately, it seems...

i've not been interested in posting to this site. perhaps it was the accumulation of trauma--self-inflicted, of course--from the recent bumpin' uglies series, perhaps it's male menopause, perhaps it's too much sobriety, perhaps it's just i've been nietzchian in my nihilistic and oh, so, cynical outlook of things at the moment.

then again, maybe not.

perhaps it's just a simple thing as this: i'm too caught up in the upcoming world cup to pay attention to much else. actually, while this is said partly in jest, it is absolutely true. in fact, it's so true--and has been for weeks, now--that i've forgotten such things as relatives' birthdays, eating, how to use proper grammar and vocabulary in everyday speech (okay, so that's quite often the case just on general principles), how to dress properly (my wardrobe consists these days of nothing but futbol shirts), brushing my teeth, wearing matching shoes, people's names, etc. in addition, i'm working on a top secret project that i hope will see fruition in july or august, but you'll have to stay tuned for that.

so, based on all of the above rambling, you're going to have forgive me over the next five weeks because this historical place in aetherspace is going to revert to a world cup edition of being korean.

starting today, up until first kickoff next friday (very early saturday morning here in the orient), i'll give my own unique, dumbasstic preview of teams, matches, group winners, and more, complete with photos as yours truly and my band of merry friends and mates turn ourselves loose on an unsuspecting korean public and embark upon a month-long tour de force of watching as many of the 62 matches as we possibly can.

now, i know there are a fair amount of you who could give a hamster's scrotum about sports, but this is the world cup i'm talking about, this is the world's most popular sport putting on a show with its biggest and baddest tournament to determine who will be world champs until we all get together again at the bottom (south africa) of the forgotten continent in 2010 to do it all over again. this is more than sports, it's life for so many hundreds of millions of people around the world; this is more than just futbol, it's a transcendent religion that brings mere men and women to their knees in ecstacy or agony; this is more than just winning a tournament, it's a chance for the poor to overcome their lot, for the rich to become more humane and aware, for cultural and language barriers to dissolve in a common bond of harmonious adulation of the famed round ball played nearly exclusively with the feet; this is more than anything you can imagine because colour lines are also blurred, save for the bright and beautiful kits the players will wear, and you realise that the person next to you at the pub or at the stadium or at the park watching on an outdoor screen is feeling the same as you are, is as anxious as you, is as enraptured as you, is as capable of the same emotions in the course of the next 90 minutes, two weeks, or month as you--but for the fate that gave birth to each of you in separate lands, he or she will would be cheering for the same team(s) as you.

this is a time to cheer for the underdog in a match not involving your team, to be humble about your team's chances, to be gracious in defeat and modest in victory, to remember that we are all the same--deep down, regardless of the colour strip we might be wearing--and to understand that there are no "losers", just one team only that will be standing at the end as champion.

i hope it's your team if it's not mine.