England 1 - Italy 2
Maybe it was me, but I thought the Italy v England game was slower and less intense than the other games I've watched so far.
England didn't press and so Pirlo ran the show...again. Rooney fizzled. End of story.
.jpg)
If you want to know what the FIFA World Cup means to ordinary Nu Zilders here's a story:
I watched the game wearing my old Umbro England shirt (one star above the three lions - that one) and stuck with it for the rest of the day. When I was out and about in Waipukarau (service station, New World foodmarket etc) I got lots of comments:
"Didn't help ya last night did it mate" (The All Blacks played the second test against England in Dunedin)
When I pointed out it was a football shirt and I was supporting the English against the Italians this morning they looked at me with a billion questions in their eyes.
"Football? You mean soccer?" No I mean football.
Oh nevermind.
In this part of the world rugby is King and the All Blacks are the anointed ones; football is soccer and, ipso facto, soccer is supported by fanatical passionate tribes of weirdos elsewhere in the world.
The gathering of the tribes happens every four years.
And here we are again - watching England at a World Cup finals, hoping like crazy we can have our very own 1966.
But then the Prince Valiants fall at the first hurdle and we're in familiar territory.
Love and peace - Wozzinho
Mexico 1 - Cameroon 0
Holland 5 - Spain 1
Wow! Sport is wonderful isn't it. I still can't believe that score line.
What an amazing game the Netherlands played but..can they sustain it?
What a shocking game Spain played and Iker Casillas in particular but...can they come back like they did four years ago?
In some ways this was like the under performing Spain of old - fragile and blunted in attack (Torres missed an open goal from indecision and surely that's him done); Holland were the flying Dutchmen of old - they do tend to peak early in tournaments and fizzle in the end.
I still rate Chile against these teams so this group is wide open.
Love and peace - Wozzinho
The long four year vigil was lifted this morning. Wahoo!
I'm not huge on opening ceremonies of anything but I did enjoy checking into it every few minutes while I was getting ready for school (the thing kicked off at 6 am this morning). Plenty of dancing and young Brazilians having fun, what's not to like?
It did get a bit surreal watching it this way though - at one point I walked in to see J Lo in a skimpy outfit and some beefy rapper guy doing their thing. What the hey??
When the game finally got underway Brazil did the business against Croatia and looked like they were full of goals at both ends. That's fine with me - I like that philosophy of - doesn't matter - we'll just score than you!
The penalty will be debated I guess (by Keegan and me at least). Watching it live I didn't think it was one but the subsequent camera angle from a side view showed Fred being pulled back and that's all it takes in the penalty area. For me - stone cold penalty.
So - my picks to progress from the group stages? Glad you asked.
Group A: Brazil / Mexico
Group B: Spain / Chile
Group C: Ivory Coast / Colombia
Group D: Uruguay / Italy
Group E: Ecuador / Switzerland
Group F: Argentina / Bosnia
Group G: Germany / Portugal
Group H: Russia / Belgium
So the quarter finals I'm predicting will be:
Argentina v Portugal
Ecuador v Germany
Uruguay v Colombia
Ivory Coast v Italy
Spain v Mexico
Brazil v Chile
Yes, that's right - I don't think England or the Netherlands will make it out of the group stage. Not that I don't support them - I'd LOVE England to go all the way, but they are not like Italy who scrape results together and Uruguay are almost playing at home.
As for Holland - they are in a tough group with Spain, who will beat them again, and Chile, who are almost playing at home.
Love and peace - Wozzinho
I've just heard that my friend and mentor and your fellow whanau member, Colin Prentice, passed away today.
I have been very lucky in my life. I've known quite a number of genuinely good people.
Amazing people who see the good in others, see wrongs and try to right them, see suffering and try to heal, act with integrity, are genuine and nice people. Inspiring people.
My parents, Jacky, my friends.
I try to be good. To be of good character. To live well and serve. But I have often fallen short.
In terms of male role models I can immediately make a list of five whose example I have admired over the years, looked up to and tried to emulate. Some are younger than me.
They are the one's I think - what would ---- do/ think?
Colin Prentice and my father (Graham Purdy) are the topper most of that list.
Lucky old me. I got to thank them many times for what they'd done for me. And, certainly, I was lucky enough to do that shortly before they each passed away.
Colin sent me back a lovely message last week, thanking me for my beautiful words. Humbled me incredibly.
He was fond of this poem by Langston Hughes. Used it a lot when he was a Principal. So much that I know it off by heart. I always hear it in his distinctive voice.
It seems appropriate to leave you with it.
The World Cup is one sleep away. I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!
Hello happiness - hello football World Cup.
My sweep stake entry has been lodged at school and I am pumped and ready for the action to start!
Before I get to the football though, here's a dose of happiness.
A colleague at school alerted me to this Coke advert which I have to share on the blog as well.
Keegan suggested I put my picks on the blog and I'll do that tomorrow at school while I'm waiting for 3.15 to roll around so that I can drive home and see the game (Brazil to beat Croatia by 3).
Breathe Warren, breathe.
In the meantime - check out this link sent to me by Adam. Hilarious and SO EXCITING all at the same time.
Love and peace - Wozza
Welcome back to poetry corner boys and girls. Here's one written in 2006, two years after the event.
Anyone with a passing Wozza knowledge will be able to guess which crossing this alludes to.
The Crossing
A transcendental journey this, from the tube -
a navigation, a direction finding exercise.
I follow the sentimental star that hovers in the east
along the manicured grove to the end, past
a school, a hospital, and neat Georgian homes. I rest
on a wall for a time,
to get my bearings, and
take a cool sip
from a water bottle bought from the coffee cafe in exalted mood.
Warmed by the pleasant April sun I immerse myself
in the good morning sunshine of London Town. And so it is
that I find myself here, alone
but for the tourist guide and the belief that
I'm close.
The crossing has ever been a fix ed mark
on my internal map, its location -
close to my heart, for many years I've tended and watered
the warm trees that border it, ancient automobiles,
blue sky and above all,
far away mythical figures negotiating that crossing.
I'd lingered at the coffee cafe by the St John's Wood station,
rededicating myself to the warm nostalgic glow
of that constant mark, that youthful holy place
of monks and lofty imaginings, it was very heaven.
How appropriate, I mused, that the abbey lived nearby
and provided the sacramental shadow to this holiest of shrines.
Daily come the penitent to wash away the trappings of modern folly,
pay homage to heroic youth, and meditate on solitary pursuits.
At Grove End Lane I turn the corner,
the clouds part, the sun hits me with a spotlight,
that beam of radiance stops time and traffic and pulse and mood.
Distant church bells peal and choirs glory to Their name and the buildings
slowly stop spinning in a heady vortex of motion.
I am
standing
at
The Crossing.
Love and peace - Warren Ono Purdy
June's quote (from my prized 2004 calendar) comes from Vernon Howard - an American spiritual teacher, author and philosopher.
Howard (1918-1992), from Massachusetts, began his writing career in the 1940s. He began speaking on the principles of personal development in the late 1950s while living in southern California. In the 1960s, he began writing books that focused on spiritual and psychological matters. These writings emphasized the importance and practice of self-awareness. By the early 1970s, he taught spiritual development classes.
I really like the title quote. It's similar to the one on the left that I found on Brainy quote.
In 2004 I used the title quote as inspiration in our move to the UK.
I analysed what I really needed during that process and it wasn't much. Basically it was a will to change and embrace a new start in England with SWMBO and the chuldrun.
In terms of material possessions - we sold a huge amount of stuff we didn't need and couldn't take with us (house, cars, beds etc). We decided that it was basically clutter that we could do without.
We did store a load of stuff in a self-storage facility in Cambridge NZ (a lot of which we threw away when we returned to NZ). These were irreplaceable things like my record collection, photographs, and personal items - the stuff that we cherish.
And the things we needed to take with us? That managed to fit into one large suitcase for each of us.
When I look around Abbey Road Two (the ART room) the only things I can see from that period are those records, books and photographs. Everything else has been accumulated in the years since then and will go into storage or be shed when we move again.
Hmmm - come to think of it, maybe it's getting to the point when we need to exfoliate some dead skin again.
Love and peace - Wozza
.jpg)
