four.seasons

Nope - this is not the hotel, in case you are wondering.
This is the new Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, by Diamond and Schmitt Architects, Inc.

"Most [traditional] opera houses had a grand staircase rising to a piano nobile," says A.J. "Jack" Diamond, principal of Diamond and Schmitt Architects. "Here, the entrance is at sidewalk level. It's transparent, so creates a welcoming facade. You can see in from the outside, and the inside frames the city anew."

Dressing rooms, dance studio, box office, rehearsal space, and lobbies all line and animate the street, while giving it continuity.

One front-of-house space is particularly notable: the four-story City Room encourages the public to experience the artistic life of the building. Crystalline and transparent, the City Room encloses what can be seen as an extension of the sidewalk. The glass facades, of low-iron glass from Germany, are custom-designed. Large, point-loaded, double-glazed panels are supported by suspended steel crosses and laterally braced by horizontal glass shelves.

In another design innovation, the main west-facing facade has an exterior shade, which is computer controlled and linked to weather sensors to greatly reduce solar heat gain.

Traffic flow to and through the upper levels of the City Room is designed to make the path to each balcony level gracious and exciting. The Aerial Amphitheater is a component of this experience. A glass staircase appears to float in the airy City Room, bringing the audience up through the space to the upper balcony levels.

A daring feat of engineering, the staircase is a self-supporting glass truss with small steel chords running at the top and bottom of the guards. The translucent treads and risers are pinned to the glass web of the guards and illuminated by tiny hidden lights. The effect is a ribbon of light rising gently through the space.

Awwwwww.
I LOVE architecture.

fat.boy.les.bleus

"Why are the gods shining so favourably on us?"
That was probably what was on Ronaldinho's mind.
Even when the Ghanaians, in my humble opinion, were the better team who played extremely mouth-watering football, with precise passing and dazzling dribbling. However they paid the price at the end of the day with their sorry shooting. Whereas at the other end of the pitch, fat-boy Ronaldo, Adriano, and Ze Roberto made the most of their chances and sent the Africans packing. 3-0, the scoreline says at the end of the game.


We can see that there is superb elasticity in the fabric that the French don.
France managed a 3-1 comeback victory over Spain, much to my heartbreak.

Once again, I have lost my direction for support now that Netherlands and Spain are out of the competition.

the.italian.job

This face speaks of relief, triumph, pride and joy.
That's Totti - the Italian captain who scored the decisive penalty in the 5th minute of injury time after being held goal-less for 90 minutes by Australia. A worthy mention is the fact that the Azzurris had been reduced to 10 men after Materazzi was sent off 5 minutes into the 2nd half.
Imagine the shock and dismay for the Socceroos, having played their hearts out for the entire game in anticipation for extra time when a rash challenge from a defender presented Totti with the perfect gift in the last minute.
This is perhaps a Renaissance of the little dark men - their destiny lies ahead.

Forza.Azzurri!

oranje.squashed.queen's.glory

That is one of the most gifted Dutch players ever - Arjen Robben - and from that very expression my heart bleeds. Netherlands are out. Ousted out by a solitary goal from Portugal.
The scoreline certainly does not say anything about the match. Here are the statistics:

Portugal ---------------- Netherlands
6 - Shots on Goal - 9
10 - Shots - 20
38% - Ball Possession - 62%
9 - Yellow Cards - 7
2 - Red Cards - 2
This is a black day for the Oranje indeed.

On another note, England's most favoured footballing son David Beckham captained his team into the Quarterfinals with a superb signature free-kick against Ecuador.

Long live the Queen.

red.hot.news

Craig Bellamy has signed for Liverpool.
This is good news indeed, considering the fact that Cisse is out with a broken foot.
The 26 year old Welsh international is feisty and will definitely be a choice attacking partner option for the likes of Fowler, Crouch, and Garcia upfront.
I hope he tears the other Premiership defences apart.


On another note - Kewell has propelled Australia into the final 16 with an all important equalising goal to secure a point in a 2-2 draw with Croatia.

The days whizz past with loads of soccer action.
Perhaps this is what life should all be about... haha!

lamborghini.murcielago

That's what I am - a Lamborghini Murcielago.

This is what they say about me -

"You're not subtle, but you don't want to be. Fast, loud, and dramatic, you want people to notice you, and then get out of the way. In a world full of sheep, you're a raging bull."

How about finding out which sports car you are?

world.cup.panda-monium

This is getting out of hand.
I am getting really deprived of sleep and starting to look like a panda.
Anyway, looking at all the matches/teams up to this stage, it seems that Argentina are the strongest contenders to lift the trophy. Afterall, they did demolish Serbia & Montenegro (previously better known as Yugoslavia), giving them a 6-0 drubbing.

Perhaps this man shall relive the glorious days through his younger fellowmen.

england.inglaterra.i'angleterre.イギリス.英国

A face that says it all.
England scored 2 goals in the last 10 minutes to ensure entry to the knock-out stages.
So far, Germany, Ecuador, England have booked their places in the final 16.
Who will the rest of the 13 be?

españa!

Spain overran Ukraine 4-0 in their 1st group G match.
Woohoo!

socceroos

This is my team of the moment:

The boys from down under gunned down the slack Nippon within the last 10 minutes of the game, slamming 3 goals to overturn what seemed like a certain 0-1 defeat.
Way to go, kangeroo bushmen!
Czech Republic did well to dismantle the USA team as well - I do believe they will go far in this competition.

Results from last night's matches:
Australia 3 - 1 Japan
Czech Republic 3 - 0 USA
Italy 2 - 0 Ghana

world.cup.2006

The event of the year.
Or rather - the event of every 4 years.
It has started.

3 nights. 8 games out of 78 played. 17 goals scored.

The past weekend (and the month ahead probably) has been (and will be) spent following the matches closely. So far the scores are as follows:
Germany 4 - 2 Costa Rica
Poland 0 - 2 Ecuador
England 1 - 0 Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago 0 - 0 Sweden
Argentina 2 - 1 Ivory Coast
Serbia and Montenegro 0 - 1 Netherlands
Mexico 3 - 1 Iran
Angola 0 - 1 Portugal
Way to go - Deutsch gave the tournament a deserved cracker for an opener.
So far after 3 nights my favoured teams are doing ok (but not exactly very well) - Netherlands and England are both edging slim victories. Next we'll have to see how well Espana does, as well as Brazil. These 4 teams are my picks for the semi-finals! (even though Germany has been really impressive...)
We'll see about that in the upcoming days ahead!

(Notice that my Adidas World Cup 2006 countdown timer has run down - the brand looks great so I'll be keeping it up for a while haha)

wheezer.geezer

Just noticed that all my recent posts were about soccer!
Well so is this entry...
Last Friday I finally got back onto the court for some football action after something like 1 month's absence and recovery from the previous week's fever episode. Still plagued by bouts of chronic cough, I managed to last out the 2 hour session, half the time wheezing and gasping for air.
The aftermath was something that I had not expected - my calves and thighs were in semi-states of cramp all the way till Monday! Age is catching up I guess... and fitness level is doing down. =(
World Cup starts in 4 days!!!
Woohoo!!!