A little football news

Manchester United 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2



Manchester United won the 4th Round English Carling Cup ties with Wolverhampton after goals by Bebe (56'), Park Ji Sung (70'), and Javier Hernandez (90'). Chicharito has done it again, saving United from the possibilities of humiliating defeat at home. A nice goal too. Perhaps this little fellow can be a serious contender for the striking options, leaving Rooney lots to think about. Kudos to Bebe on his first starting line up. Seems to be promising. A lot of work still need to be done in the back four. We'll see.

Paul the Octopus dies


The oracle has died. After maintaining a 100% correct prediction in the 2010 World Cup, the octopus is dead. RIP Paul. We'll miss you.

Shortlist for FIFA Ballon d' Or 2010


Xabi Alonso (Spain)
Daniel Alves (Brazil)
Iker Casillas (Spain)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Didier Drogba (Cote d'Ovoire)
Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon)
Cesc Fabregas (Spain)
Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)
Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Julio Cesar (Brazil)
Miroslav Klose (Germany)
Philipp Lahm (Germany)
Maicon (Brazil)
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Thomas Muller (Germany)
Mesut Ozil (Germany)
Carles Puyol (Spain)
Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
David Villa (Spain)
Xavi (Spain)

Hauntingly beautiful

There are many ways to describe a music, or a song. So many ways, that I won't bother in naming a few examples here.

But there is an example which I would like to amplify today: Hauntingly beautiful.

A 'Hauntingly Beautiful' music is a description (which I uses) to describe musics which, literally, can gives you goosebumps. It is a music or a song which can lift the hair on the back on your neck when you listen to it with your eyes closed. You can almost imagine the notes dancing in the air, whispering soft yet strong message into your head. Or an eerie feeling, but somehow beautiful up to a point that you feel every notes and every words belong. In other words, it's indescribable. Haha. I digress.

So here is my Top 3 list of songs which I personally find hauntingly beautiful:

1) The Mantovanni Orchestra - Speak, Softly Love (Theme for 'The Godfather')



What else can I say. I am 100% obsessed with the trilogy, so it is inevitable that I like the song too. But this is, in my humble opinion, the most hauntingly beautiful song. Just close your eyes and listen to melody. I mean, truly listen to the way the melody waives and flows. The lyrics of this song, sang by Andy Williams or Al Martino, are beautiful too:

Speak softly, love and hold me warm against your heart
I feel your words, the tender trembling moments start
We're in a world, our very own
Sharing a love that only few have ever known

Wine colored days warmed by the sun
Deep velvet nights when we are one

Speak softly, love so no one hears us but the sky
The vows of love we make will live until we die
My life is yours and all because
You came into my world with love so softly love

Wine colored days warmed by the sun
Deep velvet nights when we are one

Speak softly, love so no one hears us but the sky
The vows of love we make will live until we die
My life is yours and all because
You came into my world with love so softly love


2) Guns N Roses - November Rain



The guitar riffs from Slash, the piano melody from Axl Rose, the accompanying orchestra in the back; that alone is enough to make me labeled this song as hauntingly beautiful. You can almost sway along with the progression of the melody, giving you goosebumps along the way. At times, I nearly drooled while listening to the song. True story. But I have to say, the punch line or the deadly blow which effectively raised this song above any other started when Slash climbed that piano.

The lyrics? Well written:

When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained
But darlin' when I hold you
Don't you know I feel the same
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change
And it's hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain
We've been through this
Such a long long time
Just tryin' to kill the pain
yeahh..
But lovers always come
And lovers always go
And no one's really sure
Who's lettin' go today
Walking away
If we could take the time
To lay it on the line
I could rest my head
Just knowin' that you were mine
All mine
So if you want to love me
Then darlin' don't refrain
Or I'll just end up walkin'
In the cold November rain

Do you need some time
On your own
Do you need some time
All alone
Everybody needs some time
On their own
Don't you know you need some time
All alone

I know it's hard to keep an open heart
When even friends seem out to harm you
But if you could heal a broken heart
Wouldn't time be out to charm you

Sometimes I need some time
On my own
Sometimes I need some time
All alone
Everybody needs some time
On their own
Don't you know you need some time
All alone

And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain
I know that you can love me
When there's no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
Even cold November rain

Don't ya think that you
Need somebody
Don't ya think that you
Need someone
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one
You're not the only one

3) The Smiths - There is a light that never goes out.



The melody of this song is simple. So simple, that it turns out to be one of the best I've ever heard. The idea is kept simplified and straight to the point. Unlike some songs nowadays where they tried stuffing many ideas into a song, making it rubbish and losses its essence. Simplicity is better, hands down. The melody is moving to me, but what makes this song hauntingly beautiful is the lyrics. Read it, have a sing-along, you'll see what I mean:

Take me out tonight
Where there's music and there's people
Who are young and alive
Driving in your car
I never never want to go home
Because I haven't got one anymore

Take me out tonight
Because I want to see people
And I want to see life
Driving in your car
Oh please don't drop me home
Because it's not my home, it's their home
And I'm welcome no more

And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well the pleasure, the privilege is mine

Take me out tonight
Take me anywhere, I don't care
I don't care, I don't care
And in the darkened underpass
I thought Oh God, my chance has come at last
But then a strange fear gripped me
And I just couldn't ask

Take me out tonight
Oh take me anywhere, I don't care
I don't care, I don't care
Driving in your car
I never never want to go home
Because I haven't got one
No, I haven't got one

And if a double-decker bus
Crashes in to us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well the pleasure, the privilege is mine

There is a light that never goes out
There is a light that never goes out
There is a light that never goes out
There is a light that never goes out




Seven Evolutionary Leftovers in the Human Body

Wings on a flightless bird, eyes on a blind fish, and sexual organs on a flower that reproduces asexually—the casual observer might ask, what’s the point? But these vestigial organs and structures, once useful in an ancestor and now diminished in size, complexity, and/or utility, carry important information and give us clues to our evolutionary past.

Though humans often think of vestigial organs as useless little fixtures that sometimes, as in the case of the appendix, cause us extreme anguish, we wouldn’t know nearly as much about macroevolution as we do now without their presence. In On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin used vestigial organs as evidence for evolution, and their presence has helped define and shape our phylogenetic trees.

Why the Leftovers?
Contrary to what most think, vestigial doesn’t necessarily mean useless; in some cases, we may just not yet know exactly how the organ is used in its current incarnation. (The human thymus was once thought to be vestigial). Because these structures can be traced back through the ancestors, they essentially serve as a marker of evolution; no organism can have a vestigial organ that hasn’t been found in its forefathers. For this reason, you won’t ever find feathers on a mammal or gills on a primate.

Similar in concept to vestigial structures are atavisms, which are the reappearance of a structure or trait that isn’t found in the immediate ancestors. For instance, whales and dolphins have been found in nature with hind limbs; this rare occurrence is due to the reemergence of a trait they inherited from their terrestrial ancestors.

Humans also contain structures that mark where we came from and perhaps, which structures’ evolution will take care of over time.

Human Tail (Bone)
One striking example of an atavism is the human coccyx, or tailbone, which is a relic of the mammalian tail. Useful for mammals that use tails for balance, species-to-species signaling, and support, the tail is missing in apes and in humans. However, all human embryos initially have a tail. Normally, they regress into four to five fused vertebrae (the coccyx). However, there have been numerous case studies of human children being born with an extended coccyx—a tail—that was removed without incident. Ranging from one inch to five, the gene that normally stops vertebrae elongation is decreased and the human tail remains at birth.


Wisdom Teeth
Our ancestors, known to be herbivores, needed strong molars for mashing up and chewing plant material. This relic is why many of us will develop wisdom teeth, also known as third molars. Theoretically, they could still be used for chewing, but in one third of people, they can come in sideways, impacted, or can cause pain and infection. This is why these vestigial structures are almost always removed when they begin to come in.


Appendix
Another leftover from our plant eating ancestors is the vermiform appendix, which is an organ attached to the large intestine. A similar sac is much bigger in other animals than it is in humans and is used to aid in digesting high cellulose diets.

While appendicitis can be a potentially fatal condition, and removing the appendix has no adverse effects, some researchers think that the appendix might have an auxiliary function, such as aiding the immune system.


Vitamin C Synthesis
In humans, vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy, and can eventually cause death. We can’t synthesize vitamin C (ascorbic acid), but our ancestors, save for the guinea pig and primates, were able to do so. Therefore, it makes sense that we have a vestigial molecular structure, now defunct, that manufactures the vitamin. The gene required for vitamin C synthesis was found in humans in 1994, but it was a pseudogene, meaning it was present but unable to function. The pseudogene was also found in some primates and guinea pigs, as expected.


Male Nipples
Male nipples are sometimes referred to as vestigial, although they aren’t truly, because they were never functional in our ancestors. Instead, they most likely occur because in the embryonic stage we are essentially sexless, only differentiating into male and female with the presence of hormones.



Goose Bumps
When we get goose bumps, it’s the action of muscle fibers called erector pili, which cause the hairs in follicles to stand to attention. In animals, such as a cat, this causes a larger appearance and can be used to thwart an attacker, as well as trap air between feathers and fur for insulation. However, humans, with our minimal coating of fur, don’t really need the raised hair; we use jackets instead. It is therefore thought that goose bumps don’t really serve much of a purpose. However, the small expenditure of energy used to contract the muscles could, perhaps, cause a tiny release of heat. Or, because goose bumps are associated not only with cold, but emotional responses as well (listening to a good song, seeing a scary movie) they could now serve as a form of communication with others.


Vomeronasal Organs (VNOs)
In mice and other animals, the tiny vomeronasal organs (VNOs) are thought to be responsible for pheromone detection, helping to pick up the chemicals that signal a potential mate, reproductive status, and other social cues. Although similar structures have been found in humans, they’re largely thought to be vestigial and inactive, having lost nerve connection to the brain.

There are other vestigial and atavistic structures in humans, especially when you consider the potential leftovers in our genomes. And if they don’t require too much energy or resources to make, chances are they’ll stick with us for the long haul.

(taken from DivineCaroline)