Chris the Human

Do you support a particular ESL team? I've always been partial to Leeds, and I've got a soft spot for Castleford as well.

I know what you mean, AH. For a while now I've been wanting to see Australia slip up in one sport - just so I'd be able to cheer for us without knowing that victory was a foregone conclusion. Then suddenly our Union, League, and even test cricket sides begin to suck the big one. Next thing you know our soccer (football) team will start being good - and the world will be completely upside down.

Whoa, they did it. Not only did New Zealand hand Australia their first series defeat in over twenty five years - they also held the Kangaroos scoreless for the first time since 1985. The New Zealanders outshone the Aussies in cold conditions on their way to a big 24-0 win in the final - sending the tri nations trophy to New Zealand. I must say I'm rapt with the result. Not only does it give international RL much needed credibility - but it should also spell the end of Wayne Bennet's obsession with picking the same guys every year regardless of their form.

Still undecided about whether or not I'll get up at 5am for the live telecast or just catch a replay on cable. The latter is tempting after the day I had. As much as I'd love to see NZ get up - I think it'll be Australia 22 New Zealand 14.

I've got a bunch of that cards for that CCG. My somewhat misguided aunt bought them for me under the impression I liked Star Wars (which I do now, but didn't then). Anyone want them?

Well, I bit the bullet and did the buy today. For $258 (US) I picked up a new PS2 with an extra controller, 8mb memory card, Gran Turismo 3, Devil May Cry, GTA 3, Fire Warrior, and Final Fantasy X. Not a bad deal, I feel.

Ouch, what a disappointing end do the regular series. Truthfully, I wasn't expecting much from Great Britain. Every year they set themselves up for this kind of heartbreak by talking up their fairy-tale, and every year the Australians bring them to a shuddering halt. Personally I'm praying that New Zealand get up in the final. Does anyone know if Stacey Jones is playing?

I should be the proud owner of a Playstation 2 (new or used, I don't care) twelve hours from now. My pay is in, and I'm off to spend it all on something that will eat into what little spare time work allows me. I can't wait!

The Corpse Bride Not on a par with The Nightmare Before Christmas, in my opinion, but a fine piece of fantastical storytelling all the same. Burton brings his usual magical charm to the film. 8/10 Se7en A classic. David Fincher's finely tuned thriller is always a pleasure to watch. 9.5/10

I'm a huge fan of it. A mate of mine showed it to me during college, and I loved it immediately. There's been talk of a sequel (called All Saints Day) for practically ever, but the director is a notorious asshole and nobody wants to work for him. He's largely the reason that Boondock Saints went straight to video. I bought it on Amazon.com last year for next to nothing, btw, so it might be a good place to look.

Yeah, that's true. That said, a lot of nations at least have a strong national league in which some of their players play. Australia's A-League is only a year old, and aside from Aloisi and Thompson - none of our representatives play in it.

The point I was making initially was that Australia are a better side than their rank indicates, as evidenced by the results listed above against sides ranked higher than us (except Iraq, I just included them coz they're Iraq). Our rank isn't low because we underachieve, it's low because we so rarely play internationals outside of World Cup qualifications (most of which are, as I stated already, against sides considerably lower than us given the nations in Oceania) and when we do, we don't field a solid side due to European commitments from our players. Hence, I'm saying that people seriously underrate the Australian side. Assuming we have a full strength squad (which would hopefully be a certainty) we'll surprise people in the Cup.