Tick Tick Tick Tick

Somehow, we only have two days left until our Saturday night show at Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon. We had rehearsal last night, but Cheon (our bassist) didn't make it. He had one of those horrible work dinners that Koreans are often obliged to attend (and get wasted at, whether they like it or not) and just couldn't make it on time. It's hardly ideal, but it happens. I have been known to miss entire rehearsals myself or show up unbelievably late so I certainly can't go casting any stones. The three of us managed to get through quite a lot of material and Cheon tends to know what he's doing anyhow, so it's not a disaster. We have two hours to go over things one more time on Saturday but then it's crunch time. Honestly, I think we're still a week or two away from being 100% ready (if such a state can ever be attained), but we should be tight enough to get by. We needed this date as a deadline to motivate ourselves. We did the same with U R Seoul. Things always seemed to come together. If they don't, we still have to make sure it's a fun night for us and everyone in attendance. I'm a bit nervous and apprehensive, but I really can't wait!

Jim, Darragh and I headed to Shamrock n' Roll to watch as much of FC Seoul's visit to Seongnam as we could before we had to tear ourselves away for band practice. It was a good, strong line-up, which showed that players must have been rested last weekend against Busan with this encounter in mind. Lee Seung Ryeol put us 1-0 early on with a fairly fortuitous but well-worked goal. Unfortunately, the lead didn't last long as Seongnam leveled things before the 20-minute mark. Up step Jeong Jo Gook to stroke home what turned out to be the winner, after excellent link-up play with Choi Tae Wook, who has been sensational for us since his mid-season arrival from Jeonbuk for his second spell with the club (previously from 2000-2003 when we were Anyang LG Cheetahs). Jeong has been stepping up recently and, if we can overcome Daejeon on Sunday at home and clinch top spot, it will be largely down to him and his recent match-winning performances. The match highlights are here (although I'm not sure they're working right now). Huge game on Sunday to book our place in the play-off final on December 1st and 5th. 3pm - Sangam World Cup Stadium.

I have my language-exchange in 5-minutes so no time to chat about the Stoics, Socrates, Seneca and global citizenship, which I was reading about this morning for my MA dissertation. I'll bet you're devastated! I will leave you with my 'fact of the day'. In ancient Greece, small genitals were a plus, being a symbol of manly self-control. Large genitals, on the other hand (!?), were symbolic of weakness and a lack of self-restraint. So, there you go.