i like motion pictures

polarising film. visually, aurally the standard bearer, thematically heavy and assured, but smacks too much of 'science geek' (albeit very, very good science). Nolan has astronomical imagination and intelligence, but this film is hampered by its writing, from character to dialogue, and with its attempts at heart smothered by science. the fact i wished it's shorter when objectively it should be longer says a little about Nolan's pacing and control of his material. also i'm sharing this article (The 7 biggest problems with “Interstellar”) cos it's so damn hilarious.

i like motion pictures

"Everything is a performance, everyone pretending to be something they are not, editing and rewriting themselves for the public – and for one another." (The Guardian)

watch Fincher if you wanna understand what people mean by auteurs. the stamp of his art embodies the film. this is Mr & Mrs Smith in Fincher's misanthropic style. constantly baiting and duping. beneath the fiction, a study on relationships, gender-based violence, and the media. not to mention that score - delicious. pity it was classic Fincher two-thirds the way, then went downhill.

i like motion pictures

《等一个人咖啡》. 第一念头一定是能否跳出《那些年》的影子. 不是高期望就是没期望.

《等一个人咖啡》. 无厘头 天马行空 乱七八糟. yet thoroughly disguised with twists and clues, peppered with baits and references.

《那些年》谈的是错过, 《等一个人》谈的是等待. 别人叙述的爱情是主动, 它叙述的爱情是被动. 爱情不仅仅是追求.

怎么说它成功? 当陈妍希在片尾客串, 观众最疼, 最支持的还是思萤. 这一定是它成功的代表.

Nanjing 2014 Young Ambassadors' Seminar

an exclusive customs counter. a hotel entourage of about 20 to receive us, including a guard of honour serving desserts and hot towels. too much. i felt bad for opening my own car door - hope i didn't get the suited man who rushed over in trouble. no Facebook in China. lunch with Vincent Defrasne. invited to an IOC-NYOGOC technical meeting. communicated to them that the Games news service shall have editorial independence and not be censored. conducted media training for 104 Young Ambassadors. helped screen the final two Nanjing 2014 Young Reporters. bumped into Gilbert Felli in the lift. earned mentions in the Chefs de Mission seminar and IOC Coordination Commission meeting. too pampered. addressed as 陈先生 everywhere in the hotel and served daily by visiting Capella Singapore restaurant staff. what was supposed to be a week-long assignment turned out to be one of my best experiences. shoutout to the IOC YOG CEP team, NYOGOC, Xinhua, Han Yue Lou Hotel and all the Young Ambassadors. how to adjust back to reality?

i like motion pictures

12 years a slave portrays a dark period of American history, has gorgeous shots, and has strong backing - all ingredients for success tonight. but even if it wins the statuette, Gravity was the best film of the year. because it achieved what filmmaking should - it constructed an unusual premise and surprised.

Olympic Record

has to be a personal record.

my flash quotes of luge gold medallists Tobias Wendl and Tobias Alrt were out 18mins after the medal alert. between them winning and reaching the mixed zone, they still had a podium ceremony. my quotes were filed before they were halfway through the broadcast pen, before they reached the wire agencies and the rest of the German media.

so, i've come a long way since the days i was told i was too slow.

我在最好的时候遇到你

宫二： 你在台下，我唱你看。想想那样的相遇，也怪有意思的。

叶问： 我怕到时候一票难求啊。

宫二： 您真捧场。你看戏，我送票。

叶问： 其实人生如戏。这几年，宫先生文戏武唱，可是唱得有板有眼，功架十足。可惜，就差个转身。

宫二： 想不到你把我当戏看。我的戏，不管人家喝不喝彩，也只能这样下去了。今晚请您出来，也是想把该了的事了一了，该说的话说一说。

叶问： 宫先生要出门？

宫二： 在北方有句老话：人不辞路，虎不辞山。这些年，我们都是他乡之人。我是真的累了，想回老家。临走前，有样东西要还给您。

六十四手，我已经忘 了。我在最好的时候遇到你，是我的运气。可惜我没时间了。想想说人生无悔，都是赌气的话。人生若无悔，那该多无趣啊。

叶先生，说句真心话，我心里有过你。 我把这话告诉你也没什么。喜欢人不犯法，可我也只能到喜欢为止了。这些话我没对谁说过，今晚见了你，不知道为什么就都说出来了。就让你我的恩怨像盘棋一 样，保留在那儿。你多保重。

叶问： 人生如棋，落子无悔。我们之间本来就没恩怨。有的只是一段缘分。你爹讲过，念念不忘，必有回响，有灯就有人。希望有一日，我可以再见宫家六十四手。
　　
宫二： 我爹常说，习武之人有三个阶段：见自己，见天地，见众生。我见过自己，也算见过天地，可惜见不到众生。这条路我没走完，希望你能把它走下去。

i like motion pictures

i went in assuming what many would - That Girl in Pinafore is a rip-off of 那些年，我们一起追的女孩.

i came out thinking: it probably is, but by looking past the obvious flaws, it's also a film with a lot of heart, and one that surely strikes closer to home than 那些年.


this post may be titled as such, but it's in fact less about a movie than about our way of life, the Singapore story. what do you remember about the 90s? whether you know it or not, Xinyao probably played some part in your story.

make no mistake, there's lots of shortcomings in this film. for a film, being called "lame" is probably one of the biggest insults. at the top of my list, the direction too is mediocre. yet you get a sense that Chai Yee Wei still might be the best person to lead the project. after all, i read the director's a huge Xinyao fan.

direction aside, his screenplay is commendable - or, using my synonym, unbelievable. how so? it's quite impressive how Chai squeezed so many nuggets of 90s life in. i can't say i relate completely to that period but since those that struck a chord were already quite awesome, i can't imagine how it is for someone who can relate completely.

the schooling days (surely more so than 那些年), the lingo (how every generation of youths speak differently), taking one too many buses (before the advent of map apps and gothere), phone calls (the landline sort) and boy-girl banter... so on and so forth.

the dark underbelly received airtime too - the strict, ambitious parent preaching an "English education", and underlying, passive racism, for instance.

and talking about Xinyao, that's where Chai (and Liang Wern Fook without a doubt) really comes to the fore. i also can't say i know Xinyao well, yet the film, its music, and its soul genuinely moved me.

just like how i would discuss this film with anyone, the plot is rightfully secondary to what is essentially an homage to Xinyao.

one nuance: when May asks Jiaming if he's singing his love for her, he instead says he's singing about the coconuts. as a student of Literature, i was completely blown away. between the lines, Jiaming seems to nudge May. Xinyao itself was very much poetry, wasn't it? when the masters of that era saturated simple lyrics with such deep references. it can be about coconuts, while it also can be about my love for you. by doing this Xinyao also captures, as it always does, an idiosyncrasy of that Singapore, when overt affection wasn't common.

what's not a nuance, at least judging from the moviegoers' reaction, was the turn of the plot and the lack of a happy ending.

i thought it's so apt, entirely consistent with Xinyao's DNA. Xinyao sings of a generation, of ideals balanced with reality. Xinyao is optimistic, but it's also life, and not all stories have a happy ending. its optimism celebrates the generation and life.

拍的是爱情 与友情 讲的是新谣. 新谣唱的是人生 而人生就是有起有落. 它唱的年代和理想 你怎么把握 只有今天的你知道. 新谣从未追求天长地久 只祝福你珍惜曾经拥有. 这应该就是细水长流的意思吧.

my final thought: there are great films that you can watch many times. and there are bad movies that you watch just once. then there are the rare films you can also only watch once - for the right reasons.

我身旁 我朋友

很奇妙地 你那天再次坐上我车 我旁边

好奇怪的感觉

那 又陌生 又熟悉

原来已经三年了

还能谈大家的感情事 你真的是和我散得最好的情人

虽然这让我感到更亏欠 但我也很珍惜现在的你

上有天堂 下有天台

当年写“屋顶”时 脑海浮现的就是推开门后 那个浪漫理想世界

六年前“不能说的秘密”的成功 大家关注周杰伦接下来导什么样的电影

就像“不能说的秘密”给你的惊喜 “天台”不是部普通的电影 它是部歌武片 不是歌舞片
“一般歌舞片 突然唱歌，我要让歌舞片合理化 符合逻辑”

找投资家时 很难解释周杰伦要拍什么 可是就像他的音乐 周式R&B就是跟西方R&B不同味道 你看了就知道周杰伦在拍什么
“我的重点就是要让大家没话说”

拍“天台”讲究保密 演员签了几个月 开拍前一星期才大概知道电影的故事 前一晚才收到剧本 到现场又收到更改的纸条
电影原声带提前寄给剧组 也得调频率和remix 因为周杰伦不管是编剧或编曲 都是他创作的一种

拍“天台” 一大前提是发扬华人片 吓老外 参展得奖 为华人争光的使命感
要国际化 就得拍外国人看得懂的华人片
“如果再不拍华人歌舞片 就会被别人拍走”
“不管做什么 一定要第一”

天才周杰伦 天马行空 日理万机 导戏 教戏 演主角 剪接 编曲 一切坚持自己来
有时候开完演唱会当晚 还筹备电影到两，三点
周杰伦的僵直性脊椎炎 常常半夜痛到睡不着爬起来 就开始构思隔天的戏 台词 编曲

周杰伦亲自保证 预告片剪的已经是最不精彩的 精彩的都留在戏院

“老实讲 没有所谓的平常心 我要做我就是要赢 不然我干嘛做”

本来好像没完全被“天台”说服 听周杰伦讲解之后 像他的音乐 就突然有了新一层的领悟于感动

看着指尖 已经如烟

one of the greatest song lyrics i've seen in Mandopop.

我坐在床前
望着窗外

回忆满天
生命是华丽错觉
时间是贼

偷走一切

七岁的那一年
抓住那只蝉
以为能抓住夏天
十七岁的那年
吻过他的脸
就以为和他能永远

有没有那麽一种永远
永远不改变
拥抱过的美丽都再也不破碎
让险峻岁月不能在脸上撒野
让生离和死别都遥远
有谁能听见

我坐在床前
转过头看

谁在沉睡
那一张苍老的脸
好像是我紧闭双眼

曾经是爱我的
和我深爱的
都围绕在我身边
带不走的那些
遗憾和眷恋
就化成最後一滴泪

有没有那麽一滴眼泪
能洗掉後悔
化成大雨降落在回不去的街
再给我一次机会将故事改写
还欠了他一生的

一句抱歉

有没有那麽一个世界
永远不天黑
星星太阳万物都听我的指挥
月亮不忙着圆缺春天不走远
树梢紧紧拥抱着树叶
有谁能听见

耳际眼前此生重演
是我来自漆黑
而又回归漆黑
人间瞬间天地之间
下次我又是谁

有没有那麽一朵玫瑰
永远不凋谢
永远骄傲和完美永远不妥协
为何人生最後会像一张纸屑
还不如一片花瓣
曾经鲜艳

有没有那麽一张书签
停止那一天
最单纯的笑脸和最美那一年
书包里面装满了蛋糕和汽水
双眼只有无猜和无邪
让我们无法无天

有没有那麽一首诗篇
找不到句点
青春永远定居在我们的岁月
男孩和女孩都有吉他和舞鞋
笑忘人间的苦痛
只有甜美

有没有那麽一个明天
重头活一遍
让我再次感受曾挥霍的昨天
无论生存或生活我都不浪费
不让故事这麽的後悔
有谁能听见

我不要告别

我坐在床前
看着指尖已经如烟

傻笑

今天

遇见长得很像你的她

那股情感又冲回来

失去自觉

看着她十分钟

她突然傻笑

我也笑了

因为她的傻笑和你一样

---

我因为笑了也才发觉

那股冲回来的情感

不再一样

已不是可惜

你的回忆

是微笑

i like motion pictures

what launched it to the summit of Singapore's box office is a Jack Neo trademark - a knack for themes close to Singaporeans' hearts. also typical are the to-and-fros - almost excessive - of idiosyncratic jokes and moving snippets.

it is not one of his better films - far from it. some parts are squirmingly cheesy and the fact that Mindef didnt subsidise costs doesn't pardon the blatant product pla
cements.

but once in a long while, we can make this snotty remark:

it is not a superb film but it is an important one. Ah Boys to Men, unlike Army Daze, is a compendium of military anecdotes, allowing those who haven't been there get intimate access. for those who have, it is a reminder of what NS is about. the lesson, overlooked by some, is important for all: it was never about stripes, bars or 'crabs', never about whether we'd go to war. your biggest enemy is yourself and victory lies in you standing up to adversity. 没有国, 哪有家. for those who slithered through NS, this is equally a reminder that for whatever success you've achieved the rest of your life, when the going got tough, you didnt get going.

put it this way: at the risk of advertising the damn film, if you haven't done NS you should watch it, simply to better empathise with the sacrifices and psychological battles of your boyfriend, husband, brother.

moments of the Games

Singapore, Innsbruck, London. in a short two years i've been to three Olympics. can't say there's another bigger fulfilment of my childhood sports reporting dream.

London 2012, my first main Games, outstripped the rest easily in terms of scale and emotions. here are for me the moments of this Games.

1.

if Beijing was remembered for two names out of the thousands of athletes who are world-class in their own right, London might just be as well. it wasn't quite Michael Phelps headlining Part One and Usain Bolt Part Two again. sure, Bolt did, but Phelps pulled away and cemented his Most Decorated Olympian status that will be here to stay for a while.

whether the Baltimore Bullet is the greatest is no doubt arguable, but six medals here of any colour put him at 22 all-time, easily overtaking Larissa Latynina's 18. Phelps had an average (by his standards) swansong, swimming to a wtf fourth place in the 400m IM and losing his pet 200m fly to 20-year-old Chad le Clos, but it just made his eight-gold milestone four years ago look sick.

he wasn't the star of this Games; he transcended it. mind you, Phelps' collection of gold medals alone equal Latynina's total.

2.

i'm not too impressed by Bolt's claim to be a "living legend", but the fact is he has become the first human being to achieve an Olympic sprint double, or sprint triple if you include his 4x100m relay golds. not even Carl Lewis or Michael Johnson managed that. he is now the world-record holder in all three events, so it is fair to label him the fastest man ever.

still, the big picture is, London provided possibly the greatest Olympic track event, which says a lot since athletics is the centrepiece of the five-ring movement. in a first, the blue-riband race featured the four fastest men in history -- Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Bolt -- plus Athens 2004 champ Justin Gatlin, and ended with all but one dipping under 10s. the eighth, Powell, did not because he pulled his groin.

two other track stars mentioned in the same breath as Bolt here were David Rudisha and Mo Farah, two Africans of slightly different distances and of vastly different journeys.

from that great lung-bursting territory of Kenya, Rudisha has been christened by world media "the greatest runner you've never heard of". he smashed his own 800m world record here in front of a crowd proud of their own middle-distance tradition, but what set the achievement apart was the difficulty of the race -- six of his seven foes that day ran personal bests, the last-placed fella was the quickest slowest ever. Rudisha overcame them all.

Farah was born in Somalia but moved to England at the age of 8. he's now as English as anyone. and with a vociferous crowd behind him, Farah did not capitulate, winning the long-distance double in style.

elsewhere, an almost-35 Felix Sanchez turned back the clock to beat a strong 400m hurdles field. the Dominican stuck a photo of him and his late grandma under his bib, and the motivation from the skies gave him extra legs. his granny raised him but died the day he was to race in Beijing. he crumbled then and vowed to win a medal for her eventually.

combined events are seldom big, but local girl Jessica Ennis captured imaginations with a field-crushing performance. her hurdles, especially, was a best-ever 12.54s. significance? this timing would have placed her 4th in the hurdles individual event.

captivating performances aside, the track also threw up some apt Olympic lore. American 4x400m runner Manteo Mitchell ran half a lap with -- you won't believe it --a goddamn broken leg. "It felt like somebody literally just snapped my leg in half."

yea that's the kind of pain, if you can relate. but Mitchell, his team's lead runner, didn't want to let his mates down. "I figured it's what almost any person would've done in that situation."

he completed his lap in 46.1s. Johnson's world record is 43.18s.

the other drama that one thought couldn't take another turn was Liu Xiang. champion in Athens, injured and couldn't start in Beijing in front of an expectant home support, and now in possibly his final Olympics Liu did go off but cleared not one hurdle. injury curse struck again. the great Chinese hope is no more. a lot of conspiracy theories swirling around now, but Liu did gain the approval of the London spectators -- he hopped the length of the track to a roaring ovation.

athletics did so much more for this Games. for the first time in history, there was no American in the men's 400m final. the relay quartet were then upset by the Bahamas. there was however some consolation for an overall underwhelming track performance by the US -- the 4x100m women's team broke a 27-year-old world record, while its likeable star Allyson Felix finally won a first and well-deserved individual gold. sprint powerhouse Jamaica were also ruthless in dominating the US -- it swept a 1-2-3 in the men's 200m.

3.

not all the "moments" took place during the Games or inside the arena. organisers gave the arriving world a worry when it was revealed mega security firm G4S could not deliver its promise of 10,000 personnel. as a result the military was activated to top up the numbers.

liberal democracy also gave a post-Beijing Olympic movement a rude awakening. for weeks up till the Opening Ceremony, there were striking threats from bus and taxi drivers to customs, tube and train workers. the government dug deep into its pockets to appease many of whom were opportunists.

midway through the Games, the military was given a new order -- attend the sports events. organisers were left red-faced after so-called VIPs did not turn up, leaving thousands of high-demand seats empty. it led to an outcry from the British public, and unable to solve the problem, organisers readied soldiers to sit in.

another sort of Guard-of-Honour for Tony Tan.

4.

lighting the cauldron has to be a "moment". this act at London's Opening Ceremony was even more anticipated as the ritual was kept top secret in a country known for its extreme transparency (plus David Beckham sort of lost his right after being dropped from the football team). but eventually, i don't know what to make of it -- Becks and Sir Steve Redgrave each had a part to play, but the Olympic flame was collectively lit by former Olympians and a bunch of youths.

5.

gymnastics managed to earn a few more inches in the papers this time. making the giant stride were five tiny girls, newly dubbed 'Fierce Five', for Americans Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, Jordyn Wieber and Kyla Ross whambammed opponents into surrender. they were simply too good, too superior, too perfect in a sport that was always much closer than this. someone probably mentioned "Dream Team" too much prior to the Olympics and the girls began thinking it referred to them.

wasn't all good news though. world champion Wieber didn't even make the final in the individual all-around. rules state only two per country can qualify. Wieber was as usual darn good, but she was fourth and ahead of her included Douglas and Raisman. no problem for the US -- Douglas proceeded to pummel Russians Viktoria Komova and 2010 champ Aliya Mustafina in the final.

6.

Oscar Pistorius became the first amputee to compete at the Olympics, running in the 400m and 4x400m.

7.

they won't beat the original Dream Team, but USA Basketball's 2012 gold medal-winning crop posted the heaviest defeat in history, brushing Nigeria aside 156-73. in the 40-minute game, Carmelo Anthony scored also a record 37 points in less than 15 minutes of game time. the team totalled another record 29 three-pointers, as star men Lebron James and Kobe Bryant sat out the second half.

8.

the blot on this impressive Olympics was one so big it questioned the whole idea of sports. after having taken an oath of "respecting and abiding by the rules... in the true spirit of sportsmanship", four pairs of badminton players attempted to rig the draw by playing to lose. they were all disqualified, but i feel for the Koreans and Indonesians, as they were merely reacting to the world number one Chinese, who wanted to lose so as to avoid their compatriots until the final. it's a shame the BWF never acted on China's scheming ways and it reared its ugly head here at the biggest stage of them all.

9.

of course local papers were all about Team GB, but taken in perspective, Britain did perform outstandingly, its 29 gold medals and third place overall the team's best haul for more than a century, despite a slow start.

if all the talk before this Games was of Redgrave, now it's about Sir Chris Hoy. the Scottish cyclist overtook the rower to become Britain's most successful Olympian, owning six gold medals.

 

Bradley Wiggins rode on his Tour de France high to grab another gold medal here, and with seven Olympic medals in all, is joint most decorated British Olympian.

the final shining light was Ben Ainslie, whose fourth gold makes him the greatest Olympic sailor, and the first-ever athlete to medal at five Olympic Games.

10.

minor alarm for everyone when a media bus knocked over a citizen cyclist and killed him.

11.

to a minor sport that isn't minor for powerhouse China, the nearest blow to its unsurprising medal sweep happened in the 4th round of the men's singles. Vladimir Samsonov is good, one of the best Europeans ever, but not many gave him a shot against the haloed world number one Zhang Jike. but the Belarussian came out fearless, made Zhang look ordinary at times, and was twice just four points from winning. as envisioned, Zhang destroyed everyone else in London.

12.

traditionally the partner to athletics as the Olympics' rah-rah sports, swimming didn't disappoint here. other than the imminent retirement of Phelps, most of the talk were about heir presumptive Ryan Lochte and the possible domination of the pool by the Australian nation.

interesting then that we are bidding farewell to Phelps and welcoming Lochte, who is actually 11 months older than his rival. Lochte has been around for a while, was at Athens and Beijing, but fact is he wasn't a 15-year-old Olympic finalist like Phelps. the New Yorker really arrived as the next backstroke king in 2007 when he set two world records within two hours, including beating legend Aaron Peirsol. he cemented that title at the following year's Olympics by beating Peirsol again. Lochte went on to be a key member of the US freestyle relay teams, but the challenge on Phelps really came when he proved his all-rounded excellence in the medley events. he first broke Phelps' world record in 2009, before defeating him in a competitive race in 2010. the next two years were basically 'Lochte time' as he consistently triumphed over Phelps.

as we know by now, Phelps took most of the headlines in London. Lochte managed a modest five medals. disappointingly, he lost the shorter medley race to his great foe, was third in his pet backstroke event and couldn't medal in the 200m freestyle. although his achievements make him the second most successful swimmer, observers have called his campaign underwhelming.

Down Under, it was sheer disaster. often cited as a proud swimming country, Australia put in their worst showing in 20 years, winning only one gold. there were none in individual swims, for a lineup boasting James Magnussen, James Roberts, Stephanie Rice and Alicia Coutts, and the last time Australia failed to do that, Mao Zedong was still leader of China.

the one they let slip that would be remembered was the 4x100m freestyle relay. despite being an extremely competitive event, the Australian men touted "Weapons of Mass Destruction" were expected to win it. eventually they were relegated to fourth, while the other plot was of France avenging their photo-finish loss to the US four years ago. this time a low-profile team anchored by the superb Yannick Agnel overhauled the Yanks.

elsewhere the meet was defined by youth. a pair of 15-year-olds gripped the world, Katie Ledecky smashing her 800m opponents by at least four seconds, unfancied Ruta Meilutyte winning the breaststroke sprint.

but the story of youth and swimming belonged to Ye Shiwen. the Chinese 16-year-old won both medleys, but it was in the 400m she wrote herself into Olympic lore. she beat the silver medallist by three seconds, broke the world record by more than a second, and in one Olympics chopped five seconds off her personal best. even more shockingly, her final freestyle leg was faster than Lochte's, the male champion. defeating stars like Alicia Coutts, Elizabeth Beisel, Stephanie Rice and Kirsty Coventry, Ye is the new face of China's explosive rise in the sport.

a season-defining summer market?

another transfer deadline, although for the EPL it was anything but routine. quite a blockbuster i would say. for some revolutionary, for others fiddly, but significant for all.

the following are for me the English clubs that mattered this window.

Chelsea

some media have highlighted them as somehow sneaking under the radar, and it is true, we need to pay attention. Eden Hazard was all the talk for a while, but as the Blues did most of their business some time back, people ignored them.

at your own risk though. Chelsea have probably come off this summer with the most valuable harvest. Belgian prodigy Hazard is making everyone excited with his performances, but while he is the only new name in the starting lineup, the club has also acquired the talented Marko Marin, who played for Germany at World Cup 2010, and another playmaking wonderkid Oscar.

Oscar, partner-in-crime to Neymar.

imagine the offence this side can put together over the next few years.

elsewhere, Victor Moses looks ordinary in comparison, while Chelsea also managed to steal ex Osasuna and Marseille rightback Cesar Azpilicueta, tipped for the Spanish national team soon.

all these inflow are after all to fill big shoes. perennial bogeyman Salomon Kalou switched teams with Hazard after six years and injury-ravaged powerhouse Michael Essien is loaned out. fringe player Jose Bosingwa has left too, but the biggest shoes are those of club legend Didier Drogba, who's quit after eight years.

"Nico, what am I doing in China?"

up-and-coming star Josh McEachran stays out on loan while Yossi Benayoun finally departs.

Manchester United

another championship lost, another reaction. easily United's heaviest expenditure in years, the last time we spent big was the £30m in 2008 for Dimitar Berbatov, who has incidentally just left for Fulham. for the last time we poured out £50m in one window was way back in 2003, then including a boy from Madeira.

Guess who?

over the years a lot of our income have been used to cover the owners' debt, as Sir Alex Ferguson pursued a buy-youth-for-less policy.

much of this summer's £50m have gone towards securing Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa, in moves perceived as the dawn of a new age at Old Trafford. Kagawa arrived in the aftermath of Hazard's rejection, but at half the price is good value as the Red Devils' latest playmaker. the acquisition to flaunt though is league top scorer van Persie. he may be 29, but £24m for guaranteed goals, no need to acclimatise, and moreover emptying rivals Arsenal, is unbelievable business.

Robin van Persie has struck four goals from just 12 shots.

with a refreshed attacking model, pushing even Javier Hernandez down the pecking order, it was no surprise former top scorers Berbatov and Michael Owen have been released. Fabio is loaned out to get him back to his best, but a tinge of sadness accompanies the departures of an old and a young -- Asia's hero Park Ji Sung and the talented Paul Pogba.

Arsenal

it's just fitting we go from the raider to the raided. like previous seasons, North London just got a few more mansions for sale. following van Persie out the Emirates door is another first-teamer Alex Song. not the most illustrious around, yet Song created 13 goals for the Gunners last season. Barcelona the suitor is puzzling though.

the arrivals are exciting any other time, especially compared to the panic buys of Mikel Arteta and Per Mertesacker, but it's dampened by the departures. i had commented i didn't know how Arsene Wenger would deploy them together, but a triumvirate of Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and RVP still sounded scary. that's not possible now, and suddenly Arsenal need Pods and Giroud to step up, always too much to ask from them.

they do however possess Santi Cazorla now, a squad member for Spain at both triumphant Euros, an achievement in itself. i had thought Santi wouldn't be game-changing, but he's been given a key role now and seems to relish it.

Santi Cazorla's joining a bigger club soon, just so you know.

Italian giants Juventus see something in delusional joke Nicklas Bendtner and have ended his England charade.

Nicklas Bendtner will soon fulfill his potential as the planet's best footballer.

Manchester City

snubbed over and over again, the champions finally stamped their oil-rich authority on deadline day. Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair are underwhelming for the defending champions, but then Javi Garcia, Maicon and Matija Nastasic happened. the latter is one for the future but already touted as the new Vidic. Maicon was after all one of the world's best rightbacks while Garcia has rejuvenated his career at Benfica.

the foremost question for City round the clock is how to keep a vast squad happy. the key departures are Nigel de Jong, Adam Johnson and banished frontman Emmanuel Adebayor. Garcia fits into de Jong's role, a position Roberto Mancini ludicrously calls 'desperately lacking', but Maicon has to challenge Micah Richards and Pablo Zabaleta, Rodwell may not be a guaranteed starter and Sinclair should be happy to make the bench.

Maicon joined Man City to be third-choice rightback.

Tottenham

Spurs are a bigger club than Liverpool, period. hahaha.

having got that out of the way, one worries if Andre Villas-Boas is again trying too hard to revamp a team. the former Chelsea boss shipped out Rafael van der Vaart, Niko Kranjcar, Vedran Corluka, Louis Saha, Steven Pienaar and Giovani dos Santos after only 180 minutes of this 2012-13 season. mind you, every of the above is still capable of peaking.

less to do with AVB's wishes, star player Luka Modric finally got a dream move to Real Madrid, while captain Ledley King retired.

end of an era for Luka Modric and Ledley King.

on the bright side for fans still reeling from idol Harry Redknapp's sacking, AVB's buys have been eye-catching. there is promise -- the exciting Belgian duo Moussa Dembele and Eredivisie player of the year Jan Vertonghen, and Gylfi Sigurdson. there is France number one Hugh Lloris. most of all and most surprising of all, there is Clint Dempsey guaranteeing goals from deep.

Redknapp's work is bearing fruit and Tottenham are attracting star names.

Liverpool

Spice Boys did better than Luis Suarez and his £100m mates.

what can get worse for the Kop? they will point to the start of Roy Hodgson's reign. then now a mixed emotion towards club legend Kenny Dalglish. then 8th in the league. currently, except for a creditable 2-2 draw with Man City, they've sucked bad and are lying in the relegation zone.

Brendan Rodgers tried. immediately Andy Carroll was publicly deemed surplus. other previous horrors Charlie Adam, Alberto Aquilani and Maxi Rodriguez were sold.

the grand plan to turn Liverpool into Swansea (what?) could start nowhere but by bringing Joe Allen and Fabio Borini with him. then, maybe if Real Madrid could upend Barcelona using Mesut Oezil and Sami Khedira, Rodgers could do with his own pair of Turkish-Germans -- Nuri Sahin and the prolific teenager Samed Yesil.

let's see. the transfer window already hasn't been kind. key members Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy are gone. Jay Spearing is also deemed not needed for at least a year.

Everton

across town, after finishing above rivals Liverpool, the Toffees are having their version of a revamp. biggest stars Tim Cahill and Rodwell are gone, longtime servant Joseph Yobo finally leaves.

but David Moyes is always dependable and their start to the campaign has been alright. the highly-acclaimed Kevin Mirallas looks set to be a hit, while Rangers star Steven Naismith represents a major coup after the Scottish club folded.

Swansea

lower down the table, one club worth noticing is the Swans. i mean, who doesn't, since they play some of the most attractive ball in this country. but Rodgers is out and Michael Laudrup is in. no one needs tissue for that.

some say the former merely continued a style implemented by Roberto Martinez, who continues to thrill at Wigan. but here we have Laudrup, a legendary player, a Barcelona alumnus, a coach roundly admired.

he's lost Allen and Sinclair, from the class of 2011-12, but that wasn't within his control. in come experienced Spaniards Michu, Chico and Pablo Hernandez. Jonathan de Guzman is also a fantastic addition to a team like Swansea, while Korean star Ki Sung Yeung brings a style similar to the team's.

already four goals in first three games for Michu.

these are exciting times for Swansea fans.

West Ham

if there's one lesser light busy this window, it's the newly-promoted Hammers. nothing new to the Premier League where teams buy to avoid instant relegation.

West Ham lost former England number one Robert Green, went out to purchase a bunch of goalkeepers, and now they have Jussi Jaaskelainen. but they have indeed considerably strengthened the squad. Liverpool flop Carroll seems to excel in a smaller club, joined up front now by ex Sochaux star Modibo Maiga. key Wolves winger Matt Jarvis headed here after his team's relegation, while James Collins returned.

the coup though might be Alou Diarra, a former France captain who's been to two World Cups and most recently Euro 2012.
 

West Ham now have someone who played alongside Zinedine Zidane.

key players released free in the summer include John Carew, Abdoulaye Faye, Julien Faubert and Papa Bouba Diop.

QPR

this piece would not be complete without the madness at Loftus. if Rangers couldn't compete with the most expensive signings, they did it with the most signings.

Spain's colonisation of England continues here, Esteban Granero becoming Mark Hughes' marquee acquisition from Real Madrid. the talented Junior Hoilett finally leaves Blackburn although QPR are expected to struggle equally, while Stephane Mbia adds quality as well.

a lot of experience gathered too. the decorated Park possesses the full set of medals there are available, Green and former Ballon d'Or nominee Julio Cesar replace number one Paddy Kenny in goal, then there are Ryan Nelsen, Andy Johnson and Jose Bosingwa, who add 95 years to the squad.

...while QPR's goalie once ranked behind only Iker Casillas and Gigi Buffon.

Hughes gets Fabio on loan in another friendship deal involving Fergie and a former player.

out the door go skipper Joey Barton, a class but problematic player, as well as top scorer Heidar Helguson. veteran Welsh international Danny Gabbidon has been released.

we'll miss you, Joey.