Dal-Belġjani jġennuk. L-ewwel nett għandhom ġlieda kontinwa bejniethom fuq il-lingwi. Nofshom jitkellmu bl-Olandiż, u n-nofs l-ieħor bil-Franċiż. U ż-żewġ naħat jirrifjutaw li jitkellmu l-lingwa l-oħra. Tant li bilkemm tista' ssejjaħlu pajjiż, imma żewġ pajjiżi mgħaffġin flimkien kontra qalbhom. Anki l-aħbarijiet li jġibu jinjoraw għal kollox dak li qed jiġri fir-reġjun l-ieħor (sakemm ma tkunx xi ħaġa li turi lil tar-reġjun l-ieħor f'dawl ikrah). Għallinqas in-nies jadattaw ruħhom ċivilment bejniethom, skond il-bżonn.
Il-problema hi, sadattant, li l-korrispondenza uffiċjali kollha ssir bil-lingwa tar-reġjun, biss. Fil-prattika, jien li ngħix fil-Flanders fejn jitkellmu bl-Olandiż, nirċievi KULL ittra, tkun minn għand min tkun, bl-Olandiż. Li ma nifhmux. Allura, meta wara tant taqtigħ ta' qalb fl-aħħar waslu biex tawni karta tal-identità Belġjana (bħala konċessjoni l-ħaddiema tal-kunsill lokali hawnhekk ikellmuni bl-Ingliż, avolja mhux suppost), staqsejthom fuq il-possibbiltà li nitgħallem l-Olandiż, ħalli ma nkunx qisni illitterat ma nifhimx A minn B.
Hi, mela, u żgur li noffru lezzjonijiet tal-Olandiż! U veru. Bl-irħis, issussidjat, biex jgħinu lill-barranin jintegraw ruħhom fil-ħajja tal-lokal. Xi ħlew! Tatni panflitt fuq il-korsijiet li joffru biex titgħallem l-Olandiż. Ovvjament, IL-PANFLITT MIKTUB MINN FUQ S'ISFEL BL-OLANDIŻ.
Imma ngħid jien... Kieku kapaċi naqrah dal-imbierek panflitt - kieku m'għandix bżonn immur lezzjonijiet, le? Jew inkella - la ma naf xejn Olandiż, u għalhekk qed nitlobhom biex immur nitgħallmu, kif il-mitt marelli suppost nifhmu l-panflitt li għandi hawn quddiemi? Eh?
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
This young tree is all set and ready for the coming winter. Maybe, hopefully, eventually it will grow up to be a big tree like this: 
Sunday, October 18, 2009
"Black dust mystery unresolved" - Times of Malta
Imma kemm jifilħu jkunu ridikoli. Numru ta' bliet u rħula madwar il-power station tal-Marsa ilhom ix-xhur jekk mhux is-snin isofru minn xita ta' trab irqiq iswed, li min jaf kif qed jirvina saħħet il-popolazzjoni.
Issa l-MEPA qed taparsi jinvestigaw. Talbu biex jittieħdu diversi kampjuni minn postijiet differenti biex jiġu analizzati. Ir-riżultat? Il-kampjuni huma kkontaminati! U allura ma jistgħux jgħidu x'inhu l-kaġun tat-trab l-iswed...
Mela jistgħu jgħidulna jekk jogħġobhom l-għorrief (probabbli esperti wkoll dawn) tal-MEPA:
1. X'kien ir-riżultat tal-analiżi?
2. Minn xiex kienu kkontaminati l-kampjuni?
3. Kif jistgħu jgħidu li l-kampjuni kienu kkontaminati, meta għadna ma nafux x'suppost fihom?
4. Għax ma qalulniex x'kienet is-sustanza prinċipali fil-kampjuni, u jekk kienx hemm xi sustanza li tinsab komuni fil-kampjuni kollha?
5. Hemm bżonn ikollok kampjun 100% pur biex tkun taf minn xiex jikkonsisti t-trab?
6. Jew qed jippruvaw jgħattu lil xi entità importanti?
7. Se jdumu jippruvaw ibellgħulna r-ross bil-labra?
U sadattant ir-rati tal-ażma fost il-popolazzjoni jkomplu jogħlew, meta diġà huma fost l-ogħla fid-dinja. U l-Ministru tal-Ambjent (jeżisti wieħed?) b'rasu mgħaddsa taħt ir-ramel.
Mela ejja nkantaw flimkien: a one - a two - a one two three, "Konna u għadna ngħixu, f'pajjiż tal-Mickey Mouse..."
Issa l-MEPA qed taparsi jinvestigaw. Talbu biex jittieħdu diversi kampjuni minn postijiet differenti biex jiġu analizzati. Ir-riżultat? Il-kampjuni huma kkontaminati! U allura ma jistgħux jgħidu x'inhu l-kaġun tat-trab l-iswed...
Mela jistgħu jgħidulna jekk jogħġobhom l-għorrief (probabbli esperti wkoll dawn) tal-MEPA:
1. X'kien ir-riżultat tal-analiżi?
2. Minn xiex kienu kkontaminati l-kampjuni?
3. Kif jistgħu jgħidu li l-kampjuni kienu kkontaminati, meta għadna ma nafux x'suppost fihom?
4. Għax ma qalulniex x'kienet is-sustanza prinċipali fil-kampjuni, u jekk kienx hemm xi sustanza li tinsab komuni fil-kampjuni kollha?
5. Hemm bżonn ikollok kampjun 100% pur biex tkun taf minn xiex jikkonsisti t-trab?
6. Jew qed jippruvaw jgħattu lil xi entità importanti?
7. Se jdumu jippruvaw ibellgħulna r-ross bil-labra?
U sadattant ir-rati tal-ażma fost il-popolazzjoni jkomplu jogħlew, meta diġà huma fost l-ogħla fid-dinja. U l-Ministru tal-Ambjent (jeżisti wieħed?) b'rasu mgħaddsa taħt ir-ramel.
Mela ejja nkantaw flimkien: a one - a two - a one two three, "Konna u għadna ngħixu, f'pajjiż tal-Mickey Mouse..."
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Almost all couples want their marriage to succeed!
According to The Times of Malta, this earth-shattering revelation was uttered by an "expert" - theologian Aldigonde Brenninkmeijer.
This is how they entitled this incredible piece of news:
Almost all couples want their marriage to succeed - expert
Eureka!
I wonder where the world would be without the knowledge imparted to us by such wise experts. There I went, thinking that people went into marriage hoping that it would fail. Thank you, Mr theologian Aldigonde Brenninkmeijer. Thank you, The Times, for relaying this important information to us deluded ignoramuses.
This is how they entitled this incredible piece of news:
Almost all couples want their marriage to succeed - expert
Eureka!
I wonder where the world would be without the knowledge imparted to us by such wise experts. There I went, thinking that people went into marriage hoping that it would fail. Thank you, Mr theologian Aldigonde Brenninkmeijer. Thank you, The Times, for relaying this important information to us deluded ignoramuses.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Vaclav Klaus
Il-President tar-Repubblika Ċeka Vaclav Klaus ħadd ma kien jaf bih barra minn pajjiżu. Issa rnexxielu jsir famuż mad-dinja kollha. Sar famuż dan Klaus għax se joqgħod jilgħabha tad-diffiċli biex jirratifika t-trattat il-ġdid tal-Unjoni Ewropea. L-opinjoni personali ta' bniedem wieħed iżżomm il-progress ta' kontinent sħiħ, wara li anki l-Irlandiżi vvutaw b'mod ċar favur ir-ratifika. Qal li jrid idaħħal xi klawsola fuq refuġjati ta' wara t-tieni gwerra dinjija biex ma jinsistux li jieħdu lura xi proprjetajiet, xi ħaġa hekk insomma, li ma għandha x'taqsam assolutament xejn mat-trattat. Kemm jiflaħ ikun ridikolu. Dan f'liema pjaneta u f'liema seklu qed jgħix? Issa naraw kif se joħroġ minnu dal-isqaq li daħal fih.
Sadattant il-fama li akkwista bl-intransiġenza tiegħu wasslet biex ir-ritratt tiegħu jitfaċċa anke fuq blogg insinifikanti bħal ma hu dan.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Watermolen Cup 2009 - Epilogue
Success!
I have just checked the final classification of the Watermolen Cup competition, and I just managed to scrape through into the 20th position of my category, with 1574 points, barely two points ahead of my closest rival. It was the last position available for obtaining a prize - 16th to 20th place in the male veteran category - a 25 euro voucher from the Watermolen sports shop.
It was the prize I have been aiming for since the beginning of the competition, all the way since March at Dworp, that interesting but very hilly race through forests in that area, just a couple of weeks after the Malta marathon. Two points. Any slower in any one of the seven races (again, the minimum allowable to obtain a classification), and Francois Rotiers would have beaten me for the 20th position.
So, even the disastrous Kortenberg 12k turned out to be extremely important in the end. While, of course, the race for nut cases on a hot 15 August in mid afternoon, the Zaventem half marathon, was the decisive event that gave me the highest number of points in the competition. That was an incredible run!
These 13 races of the Watermolen Cup will from now on be the framework running calendar for my adopted home in Belgium. I intend to repeat the competition next year, just keeping wary of the possibility of having to negotiate some steep, narrow, slippery forest paths on certain occasions. Hopefully, I'll manage to run in those places where I was unable to participate this year.
So thank you, organisers of the Watermolen Cup. I'm keeping the number 5700 for the 2100 edition.
I have just checked the final classification of the Watermolen Cup competition, and I just managed to scrape through into the 20th position of my category, with 1574 points, barely two points ahead of my closest rival. It was the last position available for obtaining a prize - 16th to 20th place in the male veteran category - a 25 euro voucher from the Watermolen sports shop.
It was the prize I have been aiming for since the beginning of the competition, all the way since March at Dworp, that interesting but very hilly race through forests in that area, just a couple of weeks after the Malta marathon. Two points. Any slower in any one of the seven races (again, the minimum allowable to obtain a classification), and Francois Rotiers would have beaten me for the 20th position.
So, even the disastrous Kortenberg 12k turned out to be extremely important in the end. While, of course, the race for nut cases on a hot 15 August in mid afternoon, the Zaventem half marathon, was the decisive event that gave me the highest number of points in the competition. That was an incredible run!
These 13 races of the Watermolen Cup will from now on be the framework running calendar for my adopted home in Belgium. I intend to repeat the competition next year, just keeping wary of the possibility of having to negotiate some steep, narrow, slippery forest paths on certain occasions. Hopefully, I'll manage to run in those places where I was unable to participate this year.
So thank you, organisers of the Watermolen Cup. I'm keeping the number 5700 for the 2100 edition.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Awguri Obama!
Il-Premju Nobel għall-paċi li għadu kemm rebaħ Barack Obama skond ħafna nies ma ħaqqux jieħdu għax għadu kmieni wisq u għadu ma għamel xejn.
Ma naqbilx ma' dawn in-nies.
Obama għamel l-aktar ħaġa importanti. Daħħal xaqq tama wara snin twal ta' dlam u pessimiżmu. Daħħal sens ta' rieda tajba li kienet nieqsa prattikament fil-kwartieri kollha speċjalment f'dak li kien hemm qablu. Fejn qabel ħafna minna konna nqisu lill-Amerka, u speċjalment lejn min imexxiha, bħala arroganti u l-bully tad-dinja, issa qed inħarsu lejn Barack Obama bħala dak li forsi fl-aħħar idaħħal sens ta' rieda tajba fost il-ġenn ġenerali li taħkem f'tant postijiet madwar id-dinja kollha.
L-aktar ħaġa importanti Obama diġà għamilha. Biddel id-direzzjoni li kien miexi fiha pajjiżu. Biddel l-attitudni lejn il-bqija tad-dinja. Solvihom il-problemi? U żgur li le! Mhux dak il-punt. Naħseb ħadd minn min qatt irċieva l-Premju Nobel tal-paċi ma kien għadu solva l-problemi li kien hemm. Il-Premju mhux dwar ir-riżultati, imma dwar l-impenn biex jinkisbu r-riżultati. Li President tal-Amerka jiddikjara b'mod ċar l-ambizzjoni tiegħu li d-dinja ssir post mingħajr armi nukleari mhix xi ħaġa taċ-ċajt l-aħwa. Qatt ma naf li President Amerikan iddikjara dan daqshekk b'mod miftuħ. Li President tal-Amerka, unilateralment, jabbanduna l-programm ta' missili anti-missili fl-Ewropa, eżatt qabel taħditiet ta' summit mar-Russja, mhix xi ħaġa taċ-ċajt l-aħwa.
Obama issa sar il-mexxej li ħafna nies jixtiequ li kieku kien ta' pajjiżhom. Għandu kariżma u fuq kollox għandu viżjoni . B'xorti tajba nzerta qiegħed fil-pożizzjoni fejn l-iktar jista' jkollu influwenza qawwija. Il-Premju Nobel, minbarra r-rikonoxximent lil Obama talli daħħal it-tama mill-ġdid f'dinja mifnija bil-pessimiżmu, għandu effett ieħor importanti. Se jirresponsabbilizzah biex ikompli jaħdem ħalli jikseb dawk ir-riżultati li x-xettiċi qed igergru li għadhom ma waslux. Issa li qed iġorr dit-tikketta fuqu tal-Premju Nobel tal-paċi, Obama jrid jaħdem biex ikompli jiġġustifika t-timbru li ngħata. Voldieri l-premju għandu jservi bħala spinta oħra biex forsi 'l quddiem ikollna dinja inqas miġnuna minn din li hawn bħalissa.
Friday, October 9, 2009
"Deċiżjonijiet" li ħarġu bl-iskont
Ir-regoli l-ġodda jgħidulhom. Imma suppost mhux "Deċiżjonijiet fuq il-varjanti" kellhom ikunu? Mela ħa naraw x'kienu l-aktar deċiżjonijiet importanti li suppost qatgħu il-kundanna fuq hekk imsejħa "varjanti".
Nibdew biċ-ċelebrità l-kbira nett, dik li tant għandhom għal qalbhom.
Fil-fatt jien dawn insejħilhom deċiżjonijiet li ħarġu bl-iskont, u bl-iskont affarijiet ta' bl-irħis tistenna. Mela. Jekk għal ħajjitna kollha ilna dejjem niktbu skond, naħseb hemm raġuni. Ir-raġuni jagħtuha d-dizzjunarji kollha tal-Malti li hawn fl-univers: għax ġejja mit-Taljan "secondo". Din ma kinitx varjant! "Skond" ħadd ma (kien) jiktibha bl-ebda mod ħlief kif jien niktibha hawn. "Għax irridu nħaffu l-kitba għal min isib il-Malti diffiċli...". JITGĦALLMU! Għalhekk jeżistu l-iskejjel. Il-kliem bl-Ingliż safrattant ma nispelluhx kif jinħass, imma nitgħallmu kif niktbuh kelma b'kelma! "Għax hemm id-derivattivi skonti, skontok, skontu...". MHUX VERU. Skonti mhix kelma, imma aberrazzjoni. Bil-Malti korrett ngħidu "skond jien" u "skond inti". Skont ħaġa waħda biss tista' tfisser - roħs fil-prezz.
Imbagħad ammettewha allura, li bl-ossessjoni li għandhom li jinkiteb kollox kif jinħass, Sindku suppost saret Sintku. Imma tant "indrat" li ħallewha kif kienet, qalu. Allura "skond" ma ndratx! Morru qallbu ftit fil-liġijiet ta' Malta ħa taraw jekk indratx. Jew fit-testi tal-Vanġelu bil-Malti. U ħalluna tridu!
Aktar bużullotti: kasbar issa jriduha każbar. Din ma kinitx varjant lanqas. Kulħadd kasbar kien jikteb, ħlief min ma tgħallimhiex sew fl-iskola. Allura nġiegħlu lil kulħadd jikteb bħall-injuranti. Għafrid issa jriduha għafrit. U ĦALLUNA TRIDU!
Mela għiduli din. Għaliex inbid ma saritx imbit? Għaliex żrinġ ma saritx żrinċ, u żrinċijiet? Għaliex bodbod ma saritx bodbot u bdabat? Dawn l-ebda waħda m'għandha derivat minnha, u bir-raġunar tas-salvaturi tal-lingwa Maltija suppost jinkitbu kif jinħassu. Biex ma nsemmix it-tvalja, li jriduha dvalja. JAQQ! Maħmuġa naħseb id-dvalja.
Iċ-ċelebrità l-kbira l-oħra li ħarbtet il-korp sħiħ ta' mijiet u eluf ta' kotba li jiffurmaw il-letteratura Maltija kollha li hemm teżisti, u li issa ġew kollha miktubin ħażin, hi d-deċiżjoni li l-prepożizzjonijiet ta' u ma', quddiem kelma bl-artiklu li tibda b'vokali jew konsonanti silenzjuża, issa se jingħaqdu mal-artiklu. Mela għal ħajjitna kollha tgħallimna, kollha kemm aħna, niktbu "ta' l-annimali", "ma' l-artiklu", "ta' l-Olanda". Mur dur dawra ma' Malta, u ara l-ismijiet tat-toroq miktubin mal-kantunieri. "Triq ta' l-Inkwiżitur", "Triq ta' l-Għasafar", kemm trid tara. DIN MA KINITX VARJANT, imma regola li kien jafha kulħadd. Jew għallinqas kull min indenja ruħu jitgħallem il-Malti sew fl-iskola. Imma kien hemm min ma tgħallimhiex ir-regola, u allura? Allura nibdlu r-regola, u b'daqqa ta' pinna kull ktieb li qatt ġie ppubblikat bil-Malti issa qiegħed spellut ħażin. Bravi! Bravi tassew! Povri t-tfal li jġiegħluhom jistudjaw il-letteratura Maltija għall-Matrikola tal-Malti, fuq kotba spelluti ħażin.
Hemm oħrajn ta. Il-bieraħ saret ilbieraħ. Imma x'tathom f'għajnhom din? KULĦADD IL-BIERAĦ KIEN JIKTEB! Għalfejn dat-tidwir għalxejn jaħasra? Se nġennu 'l kulħadd! Jew l-oħra, "Ammenn", eh sori, "Ammen". U ejja! Amen, f'ġieħ kemm hemm. Kulħadd hekk jafha, kulħadd hekk jiktibha, fid-dinja kollha. Nixtieq naf x'qalu fil-Kurja meta raw dar-regoli. Ikun imfaħħar il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti! Allura jekk se taqli bajda, aqlija sew. Dik mhux Ammen tinħass, imma Ammenn. Jekk trid tispelliha kif tħossha, allura ħossha sew.
Ara, ħa mmur 'l hemm. Insellmilkom, u nixtiqilkom illejlittajjeb...
Nibdew biċ-ċelebrità l-kbira nett, dik li tant għandhom għal qalbhom.
Fil-fatt jien dawn insejħilhom deċiżjonijiet li ħarġu bl-iskont, u bl-iskont affarijiet ta' bl-irħis tistenna. Mela. Jekk għal ħajjitna kollha ilna dejjem niktbu skond, naħseb hemm raġuni. Ir-raġuni jagħtuha d-dizzjunarji kollha tal-Malti li hawn fl-univers: għax ġejja mit-Taljan "secondo". Din ma kinitx varjant! "Skond" ħadd ma (kien) jiktibha bl-ebda mod ħlief kif jien niktibha hawn. "Għax irridu nħaffu l-kitba għal min isib il-Malti diffiċli...". JITGĦALLMU! Għalhekk jeżistu l-iskejjel. Il-kliem bl-Ingliż safrattant ma nispelluhx kif jinħass, imma nitgħallmu kif niktbuh kelma b'kelma! "Għax hemm id-derivattivi skonti, skontok, skontu...". MHUX VERU. Skonti mhix kelma, imma aberrazzjoni. Bil-Malti korrett ngħidu "skond jien" u "skond inti". Skont ħaġa waħda biss tista' tfisser - roħs fil-prezz.
Imbagħad ammettewha allura, li bl-ossessjoni li għandhom li jinkiteb kollox kif jinħass, Sindku suppost saret Sintku. Imma tant "indrat" li ħallewha kif kienet, qalu. Allura "skond" ma ndratx! Morru qallbu ftit fil-liġijiet ta' Malta ħa taraw jekk indratx. Jew fit-testi tal-Vanġelu bil-Malti. U ħalluna tridu!
Aktar bużullotti: kasbar issa jriduha każbar. Din ma kinitx varjant lanqas. Kulħadd kasbar kien jikteb, ħlief min ma tgħallimhiex sew fl-iskola. Allura nġiegħlu lil kulħadd jikteb bħall-injuranti. Għafrid issa jriduha għafrit. U ĦALLUNA TRIDU!
Mela għiduli din. Għaliex inbid ma saritx imbit? Għaliex żrinġ ma saritx żrinċ, u żrinċijiet? Għaliex bodbod ma saritx bodbot u bdabat? Dawn l-ebda waħda m'għandha derivat minnha, u bir-raġunar tas-salvaturi tal-lingwa Maltija suppost jinkitbu kif jinħassu. Biex ma nsemmix it-tvalja, li jriduha dvalja. JAQQ! Maħmuġa naħseb id-dvalja.
Iċ-ċelebrità l-kbira l-oħra li ħarbtet il-korp sħiħ ta' mijiet u eluf ta' kotba li jiffurmaw il-letteratura Maltija kollha li hemm teżisti, u li issa ġew kollha miktubin ħażin, hi d-deċiżjoni li l-prepożizzjonijiet ta' u ma', quddiem kelma bl-artiklu li tibda b'vokali jew konsonanti silenzjuża, issa se jingħaqdu mal-artiklu. Mela għal ħajjitna kollha tgħallimna, kollha kemm aħna, niktbu "ta' l-annimali", "ma' l-artiklu", "ta' l-Olanda". Mur dur dawra ma' Malta, u ara l-ismijiet tat-toroq miktubin mal-kantunieri. "Triq ta' l-Inkwiżitur", "Triq ta' l-Għasafar", kemm trid tara. DIN MA KINITX VARJANT, imma regola li kien jafha kulħadd. Jew għallinqas kull min indenja ruħu jitgħallem il-Malti sew fl-iskola. Imma kien hemm min ma tgħallimhiex ir-regola, u allura? Allura nibdlu r-regola, u b'daqqa ta' pinna kull ktieb li qatt ġie ppubblikat bil-Malti issa qiegħed spellut ħażin. Bravi! Bravi tassew! Povri t-tfal li jġiegħluhom jistudjaw il-letteratura Maltija għall-Matrikola tal-Malti, fuq kotba spelluti ħażin.
Hemm oħrajn ta. Il-bieraħ saret ilbieraħ. Imma x'tathom f'għajnhom din? KULĦADD IL-BIERAĦ KIEN JIKTEB! Għalfejn dat-tidwir għalxejn jaħasra? Se nġennu 'l kulħadd! Jew l-oħra, "Ammenn", eh sori, "Ammen". U ejja! Amen, f'ġieħ kemm hemm. Kulħadd hekk jafha, kulħadd hekk jiktibha, fid-dinja kollha. Nixtieq naf x'qalu fil-Kurja meta raw dar-regoli. Ikun imfaħħar il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti! Allura jekk se taqli bajda, aqlija sew. Dik mhux Ammen tinħass, imma Ammenn. Jekk trid tispelliha kif tħossha, allura ħossha sew.
Ara, ħa mmur 'l hemm. Insellmilkom, u nixtiqilkom illejlittajjeb...
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Iċ-ċ bit-tikka
Naħseb l-espressjoni "ċ bit-tikka" hu l-uniku ġid li qatt ħareġ minn dik l-imbierka tikka li l-professuri tal-Malti kienu insistew, u donnhom għadhom qed jinsistu, li għandna npoġġu fuq is-c.
Żomm. Is-c? Jew iċ-c?
U hemm titfaċċa l-problema, u r-raġuni għala naħseb li jmissna nneħħu t-tikka darba għal dejjem minn fuq iċ-ċ. Billi l-ittra c ma teżistix fil-Malti, lanqas għandna mezz kif ngħiduha bil-Malti, u jinqalgħu ħafna u ħafna każi fejn niġu bżonn naqrawha, prattikament kull fejn ikun hemm sensiela ta' oġġetti li jingħarfu minn xulxin b'ittra differenti. Il-Maltin insolvuha billi naqrawha bl-Ingliż. Appuntu. M'għandhiex isem bil-Malti għaliha. U lanqas ma jkun korrett li taqraha "ċe", għax bla tikka ma hix "ċe".
Eliminajna mill-alfabett tagħna waħda mill-aktar ittri komuni fil-lingwi tista' tgħid kollha tad-dinja li huma bbażati fuq l-alfabett Latin. U għalxejn jaħasra! "Għax hemm storja warajha." Allura? Is-soltu tagħna l-Maltin. Ħloqna rota kwadra.
B'dir-rota kwadra, allura, "ċentimetru" fil-qosor jiktbuha "ċm" - li xjentifikament hija sagrileġġ! L-istandard internazzjonali tal-qisien jispeċifika ċar li l-indikatur ta' wieħed minn kull mija huwa "c", bħalma 1 minn kull elf huwa "m", wieħed minn kull miljun huwa "μ", miljun huwa "M" (mega-), eċċetra. Dawn l-istandards josservahom kulħadd l-istess, u ma jistax ikun mod ieħor ladarba l-istess xjenza hi pprattikata fuq skala globali. U allura ħadd ma joqgħod jilgħab bit-tikek "għal raġunijiet storiċi" - ċentimetru tinkiteb cm, bil-lingwi kollha. Full stop. Imma mur spjegaha din lill-iskoss professuri li għandna. Kull fejn tħares "ċm", left right and centre. Meta mhux ukoll jagħmlulek °Ċ għal Celsius, għax mingħalihom li tfisser ċentigradi...
Le, le, il-premju Nobel fil-fiżika għad nieħdu xi darba.
Żomm. Is-c? Jew iċ-c?
U hemm titfaċċa l-problema, u r-raġuni għala naħseb li jmissna nneħħu t-tikka darba għal dejjem minn fuq iċ-ċ. Billi l-ittra c ma teżistix fil-Malti, lanqas għandna mezz kif ngħiduha bil-Malti, u jinqalgħu ħafna u ħafna każi fejn niġu bżonn naqrawha, prattikament kull fejn ikun hemm sensiela ta' oġġetti li jingħarfu minn xulxin b'ittra differenti. Il-Maltin insolvuha billi naqrawha bl-Ingliż. Appuntu. M'għandhiex isem bil-Malti għaliha. U lanqas ma jkun korrett li taqraha "ċe", għax bla tikka ma hix "ċe".
Eliminajna mill-alfabett tagħna waħda mill-aktar ittri komuni fil-lingwi tista' tgħid kollha tad-dinja li huma bbażati fuq l-alfabett Latin. U għalxejn jaħasra! "Għax hemm storja warajha." Allura? Is-soltu tagħna l-Maltin. Ħloqna rota kwadra.
B'dir-rota kwadra, allura, "ċentimetru" fil-qosor jiktbuha "ċm" - li xjentifikament hija sagrileġġ! L-istandard internazzjonali tal-qisien jispeċifika ċar li l-indikatur ta' wieħed minn kull mija huwa "c", bħalma 1 minn kull elf huwa "m", wieħed minn kull miljun huwa "μ", miljun huwa "M" (mega-), eċċetra. Dawn l-istandards josservahom kulħadd l-istess, u ma jistax ikun mod ieħor ladarba l-istess xjenza hi pprattikata fuq skala globali. U allura ħadd ma joqgħod jilgħab bit-tikek "għal raġunijiet storiċi" - ċentimetru tinkiteb cm, bil-lingwi kollha. Full stop. Imma mur spjegaha din lill-iskoss professuri li għandna. Kull fejn tħares "ċm", left right and centre. Meta mhux ukoll jagħmlulek °Ċ għal Celsius, għax mingħalihom li tfisser ċentigradi...
Le, le, il-premju Nobel fil-fiżika għad nieħdu xi darba.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Post-marathon blues?
So what's next after last Sunday's marathon?
Medium term: quite a clear target here - the Vise Maasmarathon. This event, which is held in May, starts at Vise in Belgium, going along the Meuse (Maas) riverbank into Maastricht in the Netherlands, and back to the starting point. It's an interesting idea, and in fact the organisers market this marathon as an intra-European event, in full European integration spirit. It seems to be a pleasant enough, flat route, not too crowded. The month of May itself is attractive. Seven months is enough time to take a good rest from last Sunday and build up to the next marathon. Besides, I enjoyed Maastricht when I visited it last summer, and would love to include it in my next marathon. So, unless any unforeseen circumstances crop up, the Vise Maasmarathon it will be.
Long term: to run as many marathons as my health and well-being will allow. I have two targets in particular, but I won't spell them out yet... Make that three.
Short term: ah, there I get stuck. Nothing interesting in sight except for a long, dark winter, which one can hardly consider to be very interesting. They don't organise many races during winter here, at least, not any that I know of. I won't even be in Malta in time for my favourite Mdina-Spinola this year, so basically I don't have anything at all to motivate me, except the Vise marathon. Actually it might be a good thing as I can relax for a while. But will I have any motivation to do speed training? I don't think so!
Medium term: quite a clear target here - the Vise Maasmarathon. This event, which is held in May, starts at Vise in Belgium, going along the Meuse (Maas) riverbank into Maastricht in the Netherlands, and back to the starting point. It's an interesting idea, and in fact the organisers market this marathon as an intra-European event, in full European integration spirit. It seems to be a pleasant enough, flat route, not too crowded. The month of May itself is attractive. Seven months is enough time to take a good rest from last Sunday and build up to the next marathon. Besides, I enjoyed Maastricht when I visited it last summer, and would love to include it in my next marathon. So, unless any unforeseen circumstances crop up, the Vise Maasmarathon it will be.
Long term: to run as many marathons as my health and well-being will allow. I have two targets in particular, but I won't spell them out yet... Make that three.
Short term: ah, there I get stuck. Nothing interesting in sight except for a long, dark winter, which one can hardly consider to be very interesting. They don't organise many races during winter here, at least, not any that I know of. I won't even be in Malta in time for my favourite Mdina-Spinola this year, so basically I don't have anything at all to motivate me, except the Vise marathon. Actually it might be a good thing as I can relax for a while. But will I have any motivation to do speed training? I don't think so!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Mil-lum il-gallarija fetħet it-twieqi hawnhekk
Ħallejt jumejn bil-midalja tal-maratona żżejjen il-parti ta' fuq tal-blogg - issa wasal il-mument li ngħaddi għall-kumment li jmiss u allura nressaq ir-ritratt tal-midalja waħda 'l isfel.
Iddeċidejt li ma tagħmilx sens li mmantni tliet bloggs. Tan-naħa l-oħra se jibqa' hemm arkivju, mimli materjal li dehrli li kien interessanti meta ktibtu, u li dejjem insibu interessanti meta mmur inqalleb ftit fih. Imma mil-lum 'il quddiem se ngħaqqad kollox hawn: atletika, politika, sports, ritratti, kummenti fuq aħbarijiet u ħsibijiet oħra ġeneralment strambi li jgħadduli minn moħħi. Il-problema tal-lingwa solvejtha. Nippreferi nikteb bil-Malti, u allura bil-Malti se nikteb. Jekk ikolli xi ispirazzjoni bl-Ingliż, l-Ingliż jifhmuh ħafna nies, u nwaddabha bl-Ingliż.
Semmejt tliet bloggs - it-tielet wieħed se jibqa' l-uniku wieħed tematiku, u hu għal qalbi ferm - dwar foresta ċkejkna fiċ-ċentru tal-univers li jisimgħa Lilliput. Naħseb Marisa Micallef kienet tkun kburija kieku ħolqot id-dinja tal-goblins li ġbart hemmhekk... Imma l-materjal għal hemm hu rari, u trid vera taħkimni l-ispirazzjoni biex nirrakkonta xi ġrajja li sseħħ f'Lilliput.
Dik hi mela, l-aħwa. Mil-lum 'il quddiem il-blogg tiegħi hu dan biss. Nispera li jogħġobkom. Sorry - nispera li jogħġbok (lill-uniku qarrej tal-blogg). Anzi, naħseb inkun aktar korrett jekk ngħid - nispera li jogħġobni!
Iddeċidejt li ma tagħmilx sens li mmantni tliet bloggs. Tan-naħa l-oħra se jibqa' hemm arkivju, mimli materjal li dehrli li kien interessanti meta ktibtu, u li dejjem insibu interessanti meta mmur inqalleb ftit fih. Imma mil-lum 'il quddiem se ngħaqqad kollox hawn: atletika, politika, sports, ritratti, kummenti fuq aħbarijiet u ħsibijiet oħra ġeneralment strambi li jgħadduli minn moħħi. Il-problema tal-lingwa solvejtha. Nippreferi nikteb bil-Malti, u allura bil-Malti se nikteb. Jekk ikolli xi ispirazzjoni bl-Ingliż, l-Ingliż jifhmuh ħafna nies, u nwaddabha bl-Ingliż.
Semmejt tliet bloggs - it-tielet wieħed se jibqa' l-uniku wieħed tematiku, u hu għal qalbi ferm - dwar foresta ċkejkna fiċ-ċentru tal-univers li jisimgħa Lilliput. Naħseb Marisa Micallef kienet tkun kburija kieku ħolqot id-dinja tal-goblins li ġbart hemmhekk... Imma l-materjal għal hemm hu rari, u trid vera taħkimni l-ispirazzjoni biex nirrakkonta xi ġrajja li sseħħ f'Lilliput.
Dik hi mela, l-aħwa. Mil-lum 'il quddiem il-blogg tiegħi hu dan biss. Nispera li jogħġobkom. Sorry - nispera li jogħġbok (lill-uniku qarrej tal-blogg). Anzi, naħseb inkun aktar korrett jekk ngħid - nispera li jogħġobni!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Brussels marathon - 3h30:20
I have mixed feelings about this, my 11th marathon, that I ran today.
It's already a fine achievement, considering that the last three weeks have been disrupted by illness. As I waited to start, in fact, I would happily settle for simply completing the run, thereby adding another marathon to my collection. But the way it turned out I'm just a bit disappointed that I missed beating the 3h30 barrier by just 20 seconds, and more so considering what happened in the very final kilometre.
I started off well, as per plan, running at just under 5 minutes per kilometre, i.e. potentially sub-3h30. The cough that has been tormenting me for the past weeks was nowhere in evidence, and the only irritation was a large group of runners following the 3h30 pace-setter, who were often getting in the way in bottlenecks and especially at drinking stations. They would come marching past me, and then I would run past them. This happened several times throughout the marathon until eventually they took a commanding lead and left me alone. Tonight I'll probably dream of large yellow balloons...
The kilometre markers were erratic, but on average it was clear that I was gaining ground on my target time. Like in Malta last March I tried to avoid competing with other runners and concentrated on my own pace, but it was almost impossible to ignore the yellow balloons. As I approached the half way mark I started to lose ground on the 5min/km pace, but regained the pace up the hill towards Quatre Bras and then towards Tervuren Park. It really looked, then, that I was on my way to another memorable finishing time, similar to what I achieved in Malta (3h26).
Alas! Coming out of Tervuren, at around the 30km mark, I ran out of steam. Nothing too dramatic: I just couldn't run as fast as I had been running before. I looked forward to the long descent following the 32nd kilometre hoping to regain lost ground, which I didn't, and then I realised that I wouldn't be able to hold the initial pace until the finish.
So I decided to change tactics. At the foot of the downhill, at 35k, I decided to ignore the watch and just concentrated on reaching the end. This was at the beginning of a 2km long hill, at Woluwe park, where we were joined by the runners of the half marathon, and here I realised that I was running much faster than all these people who had run 21km less than me! This realisation gave me a strong morale boost, and I ran up this hill quite strongly, although I had now to take care to ward off a new peril - cramps - which I managed to (just) keep at bay by avoiding sudden movements and accelerations.
Beyond the Montgomery roundabout, into Cinquantenaire Park, with just 3km to go, I only had one thing in mind - to get to the finish, slightly disappointed at the loss of pace. The final stretch was Rue de la Loi, where I go to work everyday, and eventually descending into the centre of Brussels to finish at the Grand Place. 40km. 41km. With 1.2km to go I decided to look at the watch to get an estimate of my completion time. To my great surprise the watch said 3h24m and 5 seconds. I had a fighting chance of breaking 3h30 after all!
So here I threw all caution to the wind. The cramp had disappeared, I was still feeling strong, and I ran as fast as I could for the final 1.2km. A few hundred metres later there was an incident involving an ambulance, a man with a travelling case and several runners getting jammed up at a bottleneck, blocking my way and disrupting my mad rush to the finish. One lady runner became very angry indeed as I had to practically push her in the back while coming to an abrupt stop... In the end it didn't make a difference as it turned out that, yet again, the 41km marker had been placed too early and I was to miss the target by 20 seconds, a good deal more than the 2 seconds' delay caused by the blockage.
When you miss a target by a few seconds you tend to try to find where you could have done better. Could I have kept a better rhythm by looking at the watch at each of the final few kilometres? Maybe. Probably not. What I do know is that I achieved a first today - finishing a marathon at a sprint! It goes to show there's still a lot of power left in the good old legs... Ah yes, and another first - two marathons in the same calendar year.
The statistics are not bad looking at all:
400th place out of 1647 starters and 1569 finishers
65th male Over 45
Pace exactly 5 minutes per kilometre
And now, on to the 12th marathon!
It's already a fine achievement, considering that the last three weeks have been disrupted by illness. As I waited to start, in fact, I would happily settle for simply completing the run, thereby adding another marathon to my collection. But the way it turned out I'm just a bit disappointed that I missed beating the 3h30 barrier by just 20 seconds, and more so considering what happened in the very final kilometre.
I started off well, as per plan, running at just under 5 minutes per kilometre, i.e. potentially sub-3h30. The cough that has been tormenting me for the past weeks was nowhere in evidence, and the only irritation was a large group of runners following the 3h30 pace-setter, who were often getting in the way in bottlenecks and especially at drinking stations. They would come marching past me, and then I would run past them. This happened several times throughout the marathon until eventually they took a commanding lead and left me alone. Tonight I'll probably dream of large yellow balloons...
The kilometre markers were erratic, but on average it was clear that I was gaining ground on my target time. Like in Malta last March I tried to avoid competing with other runners and concentrated on my own pace, but it was almost impossible to ignore the yellow balloons. As I approached the half way mark I started to lose ground on the 5min/km pace, but regained the pace up the hill towards Quatre Bras and then towards Tervuren Park. It really looked, then, that I was on my way to another memorable finishing time, similar to what I achieved in Malta (3h26).
Alas! Coming out of Tervuren, at around the 30km mark, I ran out of steam. Nothing too dramatic: I just couldn't run as fast as I had been running before. I looked forward to the long descent following the 32nd kilometre hoping to regain lost ground, which I didn't, and then I realised that I wouldn't be able to hold the initial pace until the finish.
So I decided to change tactics. At the foot of the downhill, at 35k, I decided to ignore the watch and just concentrated on reaching the end. This was at the beginning of a 2km long hill, at Woluwe park, where we were joined by the runners of the half marathon, and here I realised that I was running much faster than all these people who had run 21km less than me! This realisation gave me a strong morale boost, and I ran up this hill quite strongly, although I had now to take care to ward off a new peril - cramps - which I managed to (just) keep at bay by avoiding sudden movements and accelerations.
Beyond the Montgomery roundabout, into Cinquantenaire Park, with just 3km to go, I only had one thing in mind - to get to the finish, slightly disappointed at the loss of pace. The final stretch was Rue de la Loi, where I go to work everyday, and eventually descending into the centre of Brussels to finish at the Grand Place. 40km. 41km. With 1.2km to go I decided to look at the watch to get an estimate of my completion time. To my great surprise the watch said 3h24m and 5 seconds. I had a fighting chance of breaking 3h30 after all!
So here I threw all caution to the wind. The cramp had disappeared, I was still feeling strong, and I ran as fast as I could for the final 1.2km. A few hundred metres later there was an incident involving an ambulance, a man with a travelling case and several runners getting jammed up at a bottleneck, blocking my way and disrupting my mad rush to the finish. One lady runner became very angry indeed as I had to practically push her in the back while coming to an abrupt stop... In the end it didn't make a difference as it turned out that, yet again, the 41km marker had been placed too early and I was to miss the target by 20 seconds, a good deal more than the 2 seconds' delay caused by the blockage.
When you miss a target by a few seconds you tend to try to find where you could have done better. Could I have kept a better rhythm by looking at the watch at each of the final few kilometres? Maybe. Probably not. What I do know is that I achieved a first today - finishing a marathon at a sprint! It goes to show there's still a lot of power left in the good old legs... Ah yes, and another first - two marathons in the same calendar year.
The statistics are not bad looking at all:
400th place out of 1647 starters and 1569 finishers
65th male Over 45
Pace exactly 5 minutes per kilometre
And now, on to the 12th marathon!
P.S. After the finish, we had to limp on for a long, long walk (they said it's 800 metres, but it seemed much longer than that) to collect our bags from the Far Far Away Sports Hall. What a shame! It took me forever to get there. This, and the erratic kilometre markers marred an otherwise beautiful route. I'll probably look elsewhere for my future marathons.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Marathon weekend
Before I ran the Malta marathon last March, I had decided to dedicate this year following that event to shorter races instead of concentrating on another marathon. But I did so well in the Malta marathon, and enjoyed it so much, that I quickly found a way to include a training schedule for another one, tomorrow's Brussels marathon, along with the various races that I would do throughout the year.
The combined shorter races plus marathon schedule went extremely well, even during the three weeks in the peak of summer in Malta, when I managed two runs, each at 2h45m, very early on Sunday mornings. Those two runs were quite an adventure, and were chronicled in this blog last July. The build up also included a half marathon on 15 August, on a hot afternoon this time in Belgium, three 3hr runs and another 3h15m run, all according to schedule. I was quite confident of achieving a result comparable to the 3h26m marathon in Malta.
But on 13 September, the day after the longest run exactly three weeks before the event, I received a nasty birthday gift in the shape of a cold. I was lucky, in a way. Any earlier and I wouldn't have managed to complete the build-up. Any later and it would have been too late to recover in time. As it turned out, I barely managed to recover, and my carefully planned tapering phase was turned literally upside-down. I had to be very careful if I didn't want all the hard training and preparations to go to waste. If I waited until I was fully recovered, I would enter the marathon with barely any running at all in the previous three weeks, or with sore muscles due to having resumed running after a long break - not a good idea. On the other hand, if I trained too hard while still not recovered I would remain sick.
So I had to look for a compromise somewhere, and kicked off after one week without any running, a fortnight ago when the worst seemed to be over. A short easy 6k on Sunday (in the afternoon to avoid the chill air of the morning), then a 10k on Monday, and a long run of two hours in an extended mid-day break on Wednesday. This was another compromise between the originally planned 2h30m at minus 2 weeks and 1h30m one week before the marathon, the two long runs of the tapering phase rolled into one. I did suffer some consequences after this effort - sore muscles and renewed coughing - but it was necessary to prevent my leg muscles from becoming too lazy... Two days' complete rest after that, then easy 10k's on alternate days, with slow but sure improvement in fitness and a decreasing urge to cough.
I now estimate my fitness to be at 90% of the ideal. Will it be enough for tomorrow?
My forecast is this. I'll manage to complete my 11th marathon tomorrow, which is what really matters in the end. Any less would be a huge disappointment, but it certainly wouldn't be through any lack of effort of mine. I won't try to compete with anyone, although I hope I'll still manage to run at 5 minutes per kilometre to beat the 3h30m target. I also expect a tough final thirty minutes, probably involving cramps in one or both calves, due to the missing 10% from my ideal level of fitness.
Two years ago, I ran the Brussels marathon without expecting to finish it. I just hope that tomorrow it won't be the opposite case. Maybe one day I'll take part, and I won't get a cold just a few weeks before the event.
The combined shorter races plus marathon schedule went extremely well, even during the three weeks in the peak of summer in Malta, when I managed two runs, each at 2h45m, very early on Sunday mornings. Those two runs were quite an adventure, and were chronicled in this blog last July. The build up also included a half marathon on 15 August, on a hot afternoon this time in Belgium, three 3hr runs and another 3h15m run, all according to schedule. I was quite confident of achieving a result comparable to the 3h26m marathon in Malta.
But on 13 September, the day after the longest run exactly three weeks before the event, I received a nasty birthday gift in the shape of a cold. I was lucky, in a way. Any earlier and I wouldn't have managed to complete the build-up. Any later and it would have been too late to recover in time. As it turned out, I barely managed to recover, and my carefully planned tapering phase was turned literally upside-down. I had to be very careful if I didn't want all the hard training and preparations to go to waste. If I waited until I was fully recovered, I would enter the marathon with barely any running at all in the previous three weeks, or with sore muscles due to having resumed running after a long break - not a good idea. On the other hand, if I trained too hard while still not recovered I would remain sick.
So I had to look for a compromise somewhere, and kicked off after one week without any running, a fortnight ago when the worst seemed to be over. A short easy 6k on Sunday (in the afternoon to avoid the chill air of the morning), then a 10k on Monday, and a long run of two hours in an extended mid-day break on Wednesday. This was another compromise between the originally planned 2h30m at minus 2 weeks and 1h30m one week before the marathon, the two long runs of the tapering phase rolled into one. I did suffer some consequences after this effort - sore muscles and renewed coughing - but it was necessary to prevent my leg muscles from becoming too lazy... Two days' complete rest after that, then easy 10k's on alternate days, with slow but sure improvement in fitness and a decreasing urge to cough.
I now estimate my fitness to be at 90% of the ideal. Will it be enough for tomorrow?
My forecast is this. I'll manage to complete my 11th marathon tomorrow, which is what really matters in the end. Any less would be a huge disappointment, but it certainly wouldn't be through any lack of effort of mine. I won't try to compete with anyone, although I hope I'll still manage to run at 5 minutes per kilometre to beat the 3h30m target. I also expect a tough final thirty minutes, probably involving cramps in one or both calves, due to the missing 10% from my ideal level of fitness.
Two years ago, I ran the Brussels marathon without expecting to finish it. I just hope that tomorrow it won't be the opposite case. Maybe one day I'll take part, and I won't get a cold just a few weeks before the event.
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