weltschmerz

So I was browsing through my Bloglines account, while stuck on a philosophical difficulty in my dissertation, when I discovered that I have a subscriber! It's Jeff McIntire-Strasburg over at sustainablog, and I reckon I ought to big him up (i) in order to encourage this kind of fine behaviour (subscribing to my blog, that is), and (ii) because he does a great job in covering sustainability issues (how does he find time to sleep?).

 

Bloglines is also highly recommended; it aggregates feeds from your chosen blogs to save you checking each one individually. The only danger is information overload, to be honest.

General update on various things:

• First draft of dissertation is done and under my supervisor's consideration. Fingers crossed that I won't have to change/rewrite/add much.
• Taking a break from the Discworld series to read His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. Most of the way through the first book now, and it's fab! Could those in the know please tell me how it compares to the Harry Potter series, which I've somehow avoided (in book and film form)?
• Picked up Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers and I Am Kloot's self-titled at Fopp today. Pleasant surprises all round: I hadn't realised that the latest New Pornographers album was out in the UK already, and it was only a tenner.
• The British music press seems to like Stars' Set Yourself On Fire. From the songs I know, I think I prefer Heart (2003), but hopefully they'll perform a mixture of old and new at their gig on 7/9.
• Made my first mix in over a year, and it seems to have got a great response -- which is nice!
• Started playing regular tennis again.

Congratulations to Liverpool FC, champions of Europe.

Un-frikkin'-believable. Shevchenko should have scored in extra-time, and later, in the penalty shootout.

My hayfever is horrendous.

Edit: Thanks for the kind thoughts.

South Africa have taken an unassailable 3-0 lead over the West Indies in their ODI series, after a frankly astonishing victory in Barbados.

There was no doubt as to the Man of the Match: former prison warder Charl Langeveldt delivered a nerveless final over, completing a hat-trick and dismissing the opposition with the penultimate ball of the match. The Windies had looked to be sitting pretty, thanks largely to Gayle's 132. They needed just 4 runs off the last 7 balls, and with 4 wickets in hand, it seemed as though (even) they couldn't lose. But up stepped Langeveldt with a virtuoso performance to silence the Kensington Oval crowd.

For more details, go to Cricinfo.

Who says cricket is boring?

Congratulations to Liverpool and AC Milan, who'll be meeting in the Champions League final on 25 May in Istanbul. I'm glad the not-so-anonymous benefactor's millions didn't buy Chelsea the trophy, and even more pleased to see the supercilious smile wiped off Mourinho's face. And if it stops Gerrard swapping Liverpool for Chelsea — the lad bleeds red, literally and metaphorically — then good on him, I say.

It was heart-breaking to see PSV go out though. I can't stop raving about (i) Cocu's second goal, a superb volley across Dida executed at full stretch, which sadly turned out to be no more than a consolation, and (ii) Young-Pyo Lee's attacking forays from left-back and unerring ability to cross accurately with both feet. Beckham could learn a few tricks from him.

Tonight also saw the conclusion of The Apprentice (the UK version), won by Tim Campbell. Well done, buddy. There will be a second series, so get your applications in.

It was sweet how Tim kept going on about his mum, which leads nicely on to a reminder: don't forget Mother's Day (the non-UK version) this coming Sunday. And just as importantly, don't forget to vote tomorrow!

I've come down with a bout of gastroenteritis, but I shan't elaborate, lest my 'readership' declines even further.

Edit (15/4/05): I'm much better now. Thanks, madwoman and homie.

weltschmerz, n. Sadness over the evils of the world, especially as an expression of romantic pessimism.

Yes, I've finally given in to the overwhelming peer pressure and got myself a blog.

If you're willing to stretch the definition a little, I suppose I've been keeping a 'blog' of sorts since August 2003: my song of the moment. But SotM is a bit limited (in terms of content, functionality, etc.), and not updated as often as I'd like. I'm unsure as to whether I'll incorporate SotM into this blog, and whether this blog will eventually render my entire site obsolete. Time will tell.

A note on the name. I set my heart on Blogger/Blogspot, but unfortunately someone beat me to weltschmerz.blogspot.com (and they're not even using it, dammit). blogSpirit looks pretty funky so far; I'll fiddle with the settings and add some bells and whistles in the next few days, when I find time. In the meantime, comments and suggestions for improvement are most welcome!