Wordless Wednesday – Sunrise From Mars

Sunrise From Mars by Dale

Click for a larger version. Image courtesy of JPG Magazine.

Premier League Opening Weekend

Saturday was the start of the Premier League season but we are none the wiser as to the likely outcome this year. What we are sure of is that this season could, and probably will, be closer than last year’s thrilling race. Where last season it was a three horse race (just four points between the top three), this should be a four way tussle as long as Liverpool don’t capitulate as usual.

Starting with last year’s Champions, and although Manchester United failed to win, their start last season was actually pretty abysmal and they still won the title. Newcastle could be facing a tough season ahead and United really should have won.

Chelsea may have won 4-0 but the result was a little misleading. Portsmouth were truly terrible in the Community Shield and look like a different side. Last year, they were very hard-working, and played some excellent football at times. This season they look like a side believing their own hype from last year and simply not trying.

Chelsea will play better football this year. They’ll score goals. Scolari’s teams always do, but their real tests will come at the other end. When you play open football, you rely on pace at the back, as your defence is more exposed to counter-attacks. This is not their strongest suit. Against the better sides this could yet be exposed.

The midfield unit that played against Portsmouth also lacked a quality defensive player (no, Mikel is not quality) and a similar criticism could be levelled at Arsenal. Although he is clearly better than Obi Mikel, Denilson is still unproven and Eboue is just not a natural midfielder (he shouldn’t be on the wing either). Still, West Brom have a couple of decent players, and could well stay up if they play like that all season.

Liverpool were fortunate to come away from the Stadium of Light with a victory, but they won, and on the opening weekend that’s all that matters. They’ll need to perform better if they have real ambitions of winning the title but a win’s a win.

It looks like we’ll have a tight title race in prospect. Bring it on!

Monday-Meme – Reader Wins First MTC

One of the things that drew Mr President to blogging was the idea that he could actually influence others. Being read is one thing, but we’ve all read things only to come away no different to when we sat down to read it. Persuading others is his entire raison d’etre, it is why he became a lawyer. Textual Relations merely serves as a vehicle whereby his pearls of wisdom can reach a wider audience.

Regular readers will have seen that he often plugs the Mystery Topic Challenge, hoping, seemingly in vain, to persuade all of you that don’t already to take part in it. Such pleas looked like they were falling on deaf ears until Stella took part last week. Lo and behold, she not only took part but won, which just goes to show that you never know.

So why not follow her example and take part? You’ve got to be in it to win it.

The Gift Of Childhood Abuse

Is Mr President weird? Ok, silly question. The reason he asks is that recently he was watching an advert for a children’s charity and had strange thoughts. Not those kinds of thoughts you sick freaks! He may be weird but not that weird. A pervert he may be but he draws the line at little kiddies. Besides, they’re more high maintenance than women. At least women cook and clean for you.

No, the sorts of thoughts he meant were “good”. Not that kids deserve abuse, but rather it prepares them well for life and toughens them up. He suffered abuse as a kid, many of his friends did too, but all of them are stronger for the hardships. We have learnt that to trust anyone else is always a mistake. Trust is too easily abused. DTA.

Children that are neglected (rather than abused) learn self-reliance, something which is all too rare in our society today. Too many kids today have an entitlement complex. The ones that don’t (often the product of broken homes) will reap the rewards of that. They will prosper immensely from their peers’ inability to fend for themselves.

Is it wrong to contend that childhood abuse can be a (albeit cruel) gift in disguise?

Wordless Wednesday – There was a time when dreams were not real…

There was a time when dreams were not real. These days they might be real. Dreams are dreamt by the ones that dream. They are real. by Corne Lategan.

Click for a larger image. Image courtesy of Flickr.