Soccer update-- more on recent cancellations

We recently reported that Real Madrid's match at Rayo Vallecano had to be cancelled due to acts of sabotage to the electrical system. (See photos of the damaged electrical equipment above and below) 

The match was finally played today, resulting in a 2-0 Real Madrid victory.

Below: Karim Benzema celebrates after scoring for Real Madrid

In other news, due to the recent cancellation of AS Roma's match at Cagliari, Serie A officials have decided to award a 3-0 victory to Roma. Cagliari have announced that they will appeal this decision.

Soccer update-- cancellations and more

Today's La Liga match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano was cancelled due to sabotage. (Apparently an electrical cable was cut.)

Above and below: Workers attempt to fix the lights 

Below: Fans outside the Estadio de Vellecas

In Italy, today's match between AS Roma and Cagliari was cancelled due to a dispute between Cagliari and Serie A authorities about whether home fans would be allowed to attend the match.

And finally, Milan's disastrous season continued with a 2-1 loss to Udinese. Highlights included two Milan players sent off with red cards (Cristian Zapata and Kevin Prince-Boateng) and continued speculation about whether Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri will be fired.

Below: Milan players after the match

Friday fashion report

Friday at my school is Free Dress Day, and nothing says "Free Dress Day" like a Mesut Ozil Real Madrid jersey...

...unless it's a counterfeit Mesut Ozil Real Madrid jersey. 

For Mesut Ozil's official website, click here.

For an unofficial Mesut Ozil website that has actual photos and information, click here.

For highlights of Mesut Ozil's 2011-12 season, watch the video below.

AC Milan's season so far

I have tried several times to write a post about how incredibly disastrous this year has been for AC Milan so far, but I just can't do it.

Above: Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri urges his team on

Below: Anderlecht goalkeeper Silvio Proto

Picture of the Day

Maybe you've seen this one already, but here it is, just in case-- an angry Pittsburgh Steelers fan throwing her beer at a Denver Broncos fan as the Broncos wrapped up last Sunday night's 31-19 victory.

Go watch this movie right now.

Other than a very successful baseball team and the alleged invention of both the hot dog and the ice cream cone, there was little to be proud of about St. Louis when I was growing up there. Imagine my surprise when I grew up and discovered that, for many historians, political scientists, public policy experts, architects, and others, St. Louis's Pruitt-Igoe housing project had come to symbolize all that was wrong with public housing and government anti-poverty programs. For years, I knew little about Pruitt-Igoe other than that it was demolished in the early-1970s leaving behind an large series of completely empty blocks. This movie did a fantastic job in getting past the myths and uncovering the system of racism, oppression, and neglect that resulted in Pruitt-Igoe. Go watch this movie right now.

Abandoned books and/or movies #12

These are the books that I started and then stopped reading over the summer.

Maggie the Mechanic-- Jaime Hernandez

Two Love and Rockets books was probably more than I needed to read. This one-- the third in a row-- was definitely too much.

Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label-- various authors and photographers

This is a coffee-table book about Def Jam by Def Jam. The pictures were pretty good (such as the one of LL Cool J above), but I wasn't all that interested in reading the text.

 The Clay Machine-Gun-- Victor Pelevin

I've read this one before but not recently. When I started reading it again, it seemed like a good idea to re-read a novel that mixes the Russian Revolution, Buddhism, and Arnold Schwarzenegger (among other things). After about forty pages, it didn't seem like such a good idea anymore.

Here are some of the movies that I started watching but did not finish this summer.

Repo Man

I love this movie and have seen it many, many times. This time I watched about forty-five minutes and then decided that, instead of finishing it, I would go to bed.

Continental Divide

I had heard for years about how terrible this movie is-- it's a romantic comedy starring John Belushi as a big-city newspaper reporter trapped out in the wilderness. I finally decided to find out for myself. I made it twenty-one minutes before I had to turn it off.

Six Degrees of Separation

I have seen this one a few times and always liked it. This time around I couldn't get into it, though. I'm not sure why. It did inspire me to re-read The Catcher in the Rye, however (or maybe that was the other way around).