Off-Topic Garden Café

shamr9pato wrote:I cant believe it either. It was great. he was just about to enter the departure terminal of Male' airport and I knew he was coming and i asked if I can take a pic. he stopped and Christian Maldini came upto me and said. "I can take the pic for you" but I already took the pic by then. one of my friends also took a pic with Cerci before he left Maldives too.

although incredibly late

lucky Shamr

Barca are going to hire Braida he made some mistakes, but he signed us TS, Ibra, Kaka, van Basten etc

Ganso wrote:Barca are going to hire Braida he made some mistakes, but he signed us TS, Ibra, Kaka, van Basten etc

He will do the same at Barcelona , get involved in 3-4 great transfers for them and then go on an undisclosed period of holidays , for both business and personal reasons . Meaning , he will go on holidays and in the mean time , go watch some football too

and for his last 5+ years everyone at Barcelona will be thinking how Braida is looking at the next big thing in South America , while he will be looking at the next big ass somewhere in a nice beach of Sao Paulo

Technically, teenage years are supposed to end on your 20th birthday. Technically.

Teenagehood (is that a word?), however, is less a period than a system of thought. Turbulence by the bucketload, insecurity out the yin-yang, fear of future lurking all over the place.

Mine took 5 injury-time years to finally pack the bags and leave me alone. At 24, I finally feel young. It's over. Come of age I did.

We can discuss the damn bittersweet years at length, but who cares now? By the end thereof, you are a stronger being; that is, typically. To feel at the peak of your powers is the second best thing in life, the first being peace of mind. I am not so sure whether I am capable of feeling things better, but confident that I can think better and cut a more resilient, indomitable, figure.

Naive love, indecision and fear could derail your life forever. It is up to you, my dear pals, to arrest the fall and claw back into the ****storm that is life and stand your ground. Back down, and the world will devour you before you can say... something.

Life is beautiful, isn't it? It is the best thing ever.
Weak or strong, poor or rich, happy or blue, I shall remain two things for the rest of my life: Curious, and grateful... Because I was blessed with life.

Isn't that enough?

Always good to see you posting Iras , i hope all is well for you . I really hope you post more often in between breaks , it's a pitty to read from someone like you only once or twice a year . Your Off Topic Garden Cafe was really missing your posts and something i remembered in particular one day , the movie reviews you used to make . I would really like to continue reading your opinion on movies again .



Anyway , had my first surgery last Friday , just got home yesterday. Nothing too serious , something with my nose . Usefull experience , the entire thing . I will go as far as to say i am glad i went through it , i took it pretty bravely from start to finish , can't but be a little bit proud of myself

Needless to say , being hospitalised for 5 days , you get to see things in a hospital , a lot of things which made me forget about my pain and boredom .. but i would say it really improved me , the whole experience , on a personal level . It was a bit strange staying 5 days and 5 nights in a hospital considering i've been 100% healthy since 14 years old , not even a severe cold , however it reminded me i am not superman and that i always need to be carefull anyway . Well , this reminder came mostly from what i saw from others . One could say i took the entire thing naively cool , but i know better really. Living with no fear is the only way to live , no matter the moment and the occasion. Fear makes everything so complicated and difficult . You're still going to get through it eventually and it would be a bad experience this way . For me , i can easily say i had fun even . Strange as it sounds , i regard it all as quite the positive experience for myself.

What doesn't kill you , it makes you stronger , we've all heard at some point . Whilst the phrase isn't to be taken literaly most of the time , it could certainly defeat me in the proccess . I saw it around me all the time . I am saying , yes you have a health issue , you can't be happy ; but letting it get to you , or letting fear take over you , it will make everything worse and unbareable . So , having went through this with such carelessness and calm , to surprise doctors even , i can't but be satisfied with myself . Instead of misery , sadness or hopelessness , i actually went through everything with a smile on my face and got out of it stronger. It really makes you stronger , IF you want it .

You know you're doing something right with yourself when you're joking with the doctor moments before being put off and cut open But anyway. My best advise to any of you who may experience a surgery and everything in the future is , reject fear . That's honestly all you will really need . The moment you realise you are strong , despite everything , it's incredibly satisfying really .

Wow, Dante, I really hope you're as OK as you tell us. It hurts to hear about anyone, especially a respectable, cool, fellow Milanista having the slightest of health issues.

Alright, here's a cautionary tale for Footballophiles like myself:

Last year, after an intense hard-court Football session, I felt such terrible knee pain when rotating my foot. So I go to this crazy-famous doctor, and it turns out excessive runnin, sprinting, and playing Football more than my relatively limited body allows, had damaged my meniscus, my ACL and my knee joint all at the same time.

So, the damn quack diagnosed me with ruptured ACL and tried to make an appointment for a lucrative surgery.

I do some research, find a young genius doctor specializing in athletes' knee injuries. He ordered another set of MRI and photography, and he actually SHOWS me a clear image of my perfectly stable ACL, which is only a bit pulled!

Could you believe that 60-something doctor wanted to operate my poor, banged-up knee for nothing? The young doctor gave me a wonderful gym program which I undertook as best I could, and while the knee still hurts a bit from time to time, I am regularly training, lifting heavy weights and playing as tenaciously as never before.

Moral of my story: Don't trust ONE doctor, however famous. Always seek second, third and fourth opinions.

I also recently injured myself playing indoor. I know I'll need to take a few weeks off, but I really want to play now.

Man, this is downright embarrassing.
I got an ass injury! And frankly, I am laughing IT off!

What a sensitive muscle these buttock muscles are. So big and strong, yet not resilient at all.

I was a legend with injuries; I've had tons of them and of all kinds, but this one effortlessly tops them all!!!

Don't make fun of me, or I will... Laugh harder!

The term "poet of this" or "poet of that" is so often and idly used in the world these days, it's become ludicrous and ineffective. To be a poet of something you have to transcend it beyond its ordinary existence so far. Tele Santana, for instance, was the poet of Football; for he never cared what result his team achieved but about the visual pleasure his spectators sensed, and how satisfied they left the stadium.

Richard Linklater, then, is the poet of American cinema's burgeoningly monotonous cinema.

Of course, American cinema stays at the pinnacle thereof in the world and such legends as Martin Scorsese, Wes and Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, Quentin Tarantino et al. are astute, commanding masters of the art and seemingly never fail, but it is the 54-year-old teenager from Austin who cares most about his creations i.e. characters, loves them like a father does his children and always, always seeks to give the audience something to think about at night, before sleep.

I have had the privilege to watch every single Linklater movie from his bizarre "Slacker" up to the groundbreaking cinematic miracle that is "Boyhood." The man, you sense, is always looking in fascination and love at ordinary people who rarely stand out, except for their terrifyingly sincere nature. Celine and Jesse, the world-famous duo in the "Before" trilogy, were (and are) two beautiful human beings who are as lost, confused, angry and wonderful as each of us. And listening to them talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, is never boring, because pure human intellect is infinite, just like the universe; and 10 more "Before" movies won't cover one percent of all the subjects there are to talk about.

His creations face situations in as bewildered a state as any of us may do, and they make decisions instantaneously as if hurrying to jump to another adventure. And always, always, there is this magical man looking from up close, following them with interest and care, and helps them keep standing up and not bend under the pressure of LIFE. For he is a poet.

He is the Fellini of our era because he breathes and eats and sleeps, and lives, cinema. He is the Kubrick of our era because he is the unquestionable God almighty in his films. He is the Frank Capra of our era because he is deeply in love with the common man.

He rises above such peripheral business events as the Oscar night, as did Orson Welles and Martin Scorsese. "Taxi Driver" and "Citizen Kane" did not need a small golden statuette to be enshrined down our memory lanes as masterpieces of cinematic power and originality, and neither did "Casablanca" and "the Godfather" to look as towering as they do.


And as for "Boyhood," Richard Linklater's magnum opus, what is left to say? It is dull, it is uneventful, it looks ordinary, it offers no heroes or love stories or action, and it is one of the greatest movies in Cinema's 120 year history.

"Boyhood" is that rare work of inexplicable wonder which, like "2001: A Space Odyssey" or "Apocalypse Now," suggests that this art is not over, and has a lot more in the way of originality to offer still.

Never has time been encapsulated inside one movie so succinctly, so effortless-lookingly, so palpably. As Mason, the bright little boy, grows up and moves from studying insects to girls, and from being in awe of clouds to being disgusted with media propaganda, we are witnessing something we are not familiar with.

The movie opens with Mason staring at the sky, as if to indicate how small he is (and we are) in the face of this world, and yet, how unique and important one small human can be. And it ends with one of those brain-smashing statements that I, for one, had to think about for a week before admitting my failure to fully grasp it; or that I am yet to be as good a thinker as Linklater is.

It is not with disappointment, but with relief, that I could claim Linklater could not top himself, because, most probably, it is not possible. It does not matter what this filmmaker will do from now on, though. Not one bit. He has left his mark on his profession, given it a new dimension, and could simply retire safe in the knowledge he has done the best he could.

How many of us, in the end, could boast that?

Excellent post .

For some reason i wasn't that eager to watch it so far , but I will watch Richard Linklater's magnum opus , as you say , tonight. Seeing that you're impressed so much with it , well . I know i have to watch it sooner than later now.

@Dante;

Man, you're starting to make me feel credible... Don't!
Seriously, pal, although Boyhood does not enchant everyone and there's a chance you may not like it, it riveted me so strongly I had to pinch myself to make sure it ain't no dream.

I didn't like the Lord of the Ring books, and I don't like the movies one bit. This sounds weird to %99 of people, but it's just how we are: each their own taste.

I watched Boyhood twice. I called my mother after the first time I watched it just to talk. Been a while since a movie affected me like this.

Richard Linklater is such a boss

I will be sure to watch Boyhood as soon as possible!

Absolutely loved the movie! Definitely up there with my favorites!

Where's Dante?

Was going to post that on the Wherefore Art Thou thread

Where's dostoevsky

Pretty sure the entire section is busy watching our 2006-7 CL campaign so they can be reminded we indeed used to play football

Mexes' recent upload on instagram

https://instagram.com/p/7Ygzj5saS7/?taken-by=p_mexes

Phrasing Philippe, phrasing.

btw, does anyone know when Menez comes back from his fake injury?

Lrn2google

http://www.football-italia.net/73865/menez-return-date-uncertain

Forgot that I used to post in here semi frequently a while back. How is everyone doing?

@Kick thanks, (i mistakingly posted in the offtopic thread instead of milan lab )

@Cspurs: Not bad myself tbh, uni life is stressful as per, crunch time coming up as i have midterms.

What about you CB, how has uni been treating you? Did you manage to decide on what you were gonna do?