And so it begins, June 9 2006, the World Cup kicks off. Eight years ago we had "uno dos tres, allez allez allez", but this time it's a promise of being "the time of our lives". Can Toni Braxton keep that promise?

In the land of samba they call it "the Brazilian Cup", starring "the 3 R's", Ro-Ro-Ro, and "the two K's", Ka-Ka. On the guest list, there is a wide representation of European nations, Germany being the only permanent guest. But in Brazilian charitable fashion, they accept that the inherently Brazilian tournament is hosted all around the world, even if they're not thrilled about some of the regulations that have come into effect. The first R explains: "half my moves are gone in these moon boots, why can't we play barefoot, are there no beaches in Germany?"

But the Germans have a different tradition. In an undisclosed location somewhere in the Reich, a dark concrete basement is lit up by free standing lamps. In the very center of the room is a large table populated with chairs, where "coach" Klinsmann labors over big blueprints of the Allianz Arena battlefield, surrounded by engineers, drawing and sketching on the paper. Behind them on the wall is a big steel frame holding a life size portrait of the legendary Kaiser the Bunkerbuilder. The World Cup organizing committee has taken steps to avoid any misunderstandings, every participating stadium carries the official sticker in the player tunnel: "No tanks".

On the banks of the river Seine, a far cry from the German military tradition, a late night vigil in Notre Dame is underway. The congregation joins in chant "lord, without you we are nothing, bless us with your splendor". Among them, a pair of young men, David and Thierry, join hands in the final prayer and repent their sins. Behind the altar, a short, gray haired man in glasses holds up the chalice and then drinks from it. Behind him, a great banner of our lord, Zizou.

The Italians have different ideas altogether. Like the valedictorian who worked so hard on his speech and then forgot his notes at home, Italian coaches have a proud tradition of throwing away their notes before the tournament and "going with what's familiar". That is stocking a tight defence, crowding the midfield and sending the Big Man up front to score. A tactic that brought one Egil 'Drillo' Olsen so much fame and admiration. Meanwhile, the Azzurri faithful is almost done preparing their support banners to go on display in Germany. This time they have united under a common theme, choosing different ways of expressing the same sentiment to the world: "stop cheating us!"

Don't miss it, kickoff tonight at 18:00 CET.

I saw the HBO special "The Beginning" and unfortunately it wasn't very good. The material isn't bad but she doesn't perform well. Sometimes she will be so brief about it as to suggest that this stuff is so good, I'll just say it and you'll laugh at that, I don't need a performance. Another problem is being too gentle, if she would push the envelope on some of her ideas, it could be much better.

As a follow up to the great email message, here's a status report... :dielaugh:

Juventus - Milan 1 - 0
89' Dhorasoo o.g.

The game dominated by dull, unspectacular football by Juventus who kept
tight at the back while Milan had 65% ball possession and fired 16
shots on goal, 3 absolute cannons denied by Buffon, 2 others deflected
inches wide of the post. At the other end, Zlatan was twice denied with
thundering shots from the corner flag in true Rivaldo fashion while
Nedved had 8 shot attempts, all of them blocked by Nesta/Maldini. Most
dominant on the pitch was Kaka, who outsmarted Emerson on several
occasions, one of them leading up to a controversial situation in the
box when Sheva chested down the pass and was clipped by Zebina from
behind. The referee booked Sheva for passive diving. Shortly
thereafter, a corner kick in favor of Milan, cleared by Cannavaro, who
launched a long ball for Ibrahimovic, the latter being 20m offside at
the time. The linesman was playing tetris on his mobile phone and was
caught out. Ibrahimovic pulled 7 fakes on Dida before the latter gave
up and stepped aside but he did agree to lob the ball for Ibrahimovic
who wanted to score from a bicycle kick. The lob was good but the kick
was less good, the ball was taken home by the young Milanista in the
uppermost row of the stadio. In the closing moments of the first 45,
Crespo came one on one with Buffon thanks to a gorgeous through ball
from Rui Costa but squandered it as he beat Buffon but not Chimenti.

In the 2nd half, Milan kicked off with a more offensive mentality,
effectively playing 2-3-1-4 as Cafu and Serginho pushed forward but
failed to track back. Taking advantage of the positional supremacy,
Kapo raced into the box and crossed for Del Piero who failed to connect
with the ball. At the other end, a cross from Serginho was received by
Sheva who powered a header on goal. But Buffon was equal to it and as
the rebound fell to Kaka, the referee inadvertently cleared the ball
into row z. Another corner kick was given for Milan moments later when
Cafu's header hit the post. The rebound was struck by Gattuso but it
was no good as Zlatan positioned himself in the air upside down to take
the ball down elegantly and pushed it out wide for Zebina. He then
tripped over Rui's foot as he was walking away for which the Portuguese
was sent off. Rui at the time was on the floor in agony after Cannavaro
clattered into him in an aerial challenge. In the 74th minute,
Camoranesi outfoxed Cafu and skipped into the box where he was
confronted by Nesta and fell under the challenge. Del Piero's spot kick
was saved by Gattuso who raced into the box. The referee booked Gattuso
and signaled a retake. Dida covered his eyes as Del Piero hit the post.
Precise on 80 minutes, Capello swapped Del Piero for Zalayeta, who
greeted all the Milan players on the pitch. Moments later, Zalayeta
played a back heel to Kapo but the Frenchman arrived late and the cross
was stolen by Maldini who launched Gattuso. Gattuso fed Crespo who
missed his ball reception but recovered as Thuram struggled to control
it as well, and fired between Canna's legs, hitting the bar. 5 minutes
from time, on the speakers in the Delle Alpi came "the Final Countdown"
to which Buffon started dancing. On 86 Zalayeta controlled a pass from
Thuram before he dribbled Nesta and Maldini but his lob was saved by
Dida who never came off his line. The goal kick was received by
Serginho at the corner flag but no offside was called. The Brazilian
crossed into the box as Tomasson was in route but the Danish striker
missed the ball. Instead it was recovered by Zambrotta who launched a
final attack before full time. Tacchinardi to Emerson, Emerson to Kapo,
Kapo to Nedved, Nedved to Ibrahimovic. Milan's defence was shattered as
Zlatan stood face to face with Dida. As he was about to take the shot,
Dhorasoo raced in to clear but inadvertently played the ball past his
own keeper. Ancelotti came running up and tried to strangle Dida but
Maldini pulled them apart. The 14 minutes of injury time saw Milan in
possession without exception, as Juve lined up inside their own penalty
box. 23 shots were fired, all of them off target, Buffon was still busy
getting his groove on.

Questioned about his team's performance, Capello was moderately
satisfied. "We struggled a lot through Milan's offensive pressure but
we showed strength in scoring the winning goal just before the whistle.
Ancelotti should learn to relax, those young people are too hot headed."

Disclaimer: For those of you bilingually impaired, I guarantee this text is actually quite brilliant. But translating would distort the tone and language, so I'm not going to. :P

Fikk denne i posten i dag, var så bra at jeg bare måtte ha den med her! TIHLDE er forøvrig en linjeforening på HiST..

TIHLDE HAR NAKNE DAMER!!!

Men, og det er alltid et men! For at vi skal få de til å komme til dere må dere alle hjelpe oss litt. Tihlde har nå satt ut et par tomme bruskasser rundt omkring på bygget. Disse står der for at dere skal få en anledning til å putte flaskene deres i disse kassene, fremfor å la de stå på pulter rundt omkring eller kaste dem i søpla. Dealen er som følger...

1) Panten for de flaskene som kommer inn fra kassene er øremerkede penger til sosialen. De pengene skal brukes til en ting, og bare en ting: På slutten av vårsemesteret samler vi alle pengene, stikker ned på Dreams og leier STRIPPERE!!! Så jo flere av dere som klarer å dra den late ræva si bort til kassene og legge fra seg flaskene sine der istedenfor å kaste de gjennom hele rommet og bomme på søppelkassa, jo flere strippere og bedre show får vi råd til. Og showet! Det blir selvfølgelig for dere!

2) De flaskene som havner utenfor kassene tilhører vaskedamene. Man kan si mye pent om vaskedamene våre og de holder det rent og pent rundt oss, men har du lyst til å se de strippe?

Enn så lenge er det begrenset hvor mange kasser som er satt ut, av den enkle grunn at vi ikke har flere kasser. Men fortvil ikke, det kommer flere. Det var flere kasser, men på mystisk vis begynte de å forsvinne. Vi kommer derfor til å bytte ut de bruskassene som står rundt omkring med kjedelige pappesker etter hvert, men inntil da, vær så snill! Du får ikke så jævlig mye igjen for å pante en stakkars bruskasse, men vi taper masse på at vaskedamene får alle flaskene som ikke havner i den bruskassa som ikke er der!

For øvrig så er det jo sånn at Tihlde er der for sine medlemmer og man skal nyte godt av å være medlem. Det vil derfor være en stor fordel for deg dersom du er medlem når du står der i køen utenfor og har buksa full av kontanter, klare til å putte de i nærmeste bh. Når du kommer til døra vil vi nemlig nappe mindre penger ut av lanken til de som klarer å vise frem medlemskort, enn fra de som ikke klarer det.

Er du ikke medlem ennå så kan vi informere om at du ikke trenger å banke opp noen for å få tak i medlemskortet deres riktig ennå. TIHLDE skal nemlig ha en NY INNMELDINGSFEST i januar, så alle som ikke kunne komme i høst får en ny sjanse til å skaffe seg sitt eget.

Tihlde er heller ikke snauere enn at de lar du, deg og dine skolevenner velge hvilke smekre babes som skal kle av seg i deres åsyn. Når tiden nærmer seg vil det bli lagt ut en poll på www.tihlde.org <http://www.tihlde.org/> hvor dere kan stemme på deres favoritt. Hvis du har lyst til å smugtitte alt
nå kan du finne utvalget her <http://www.dreams.no/gallery.htm>

Kos dere!