sheffield wednesday were not able to muster much attack as they played out a goalless stalemate at selhurst park against an equally impotent crystal palace in the coca-cola championship division overnight.

the hosts dominated possession from the opening whistle but could not make anything of merit. wednesday came close as the in-form etienne esajas weaved his way around the palace defense and was brought down outside the box. on the half hour, a michael gray cross was snapped across the face of goal but no owls player was sharp enough to challenge.

the second half was a lot better by wednesday. leon clarke and luke varney linked up well to create a couple of very good chances. however, their finishing let them down and palace off the hook. substitute marcus tudgay had the best chance in the whole game. a free kick fell to his feet and with the keeper sprawling from an earlier save, had his shot cleared off the goal line by some desperate palace defenders.

the draw sees the owls slip to 13th as other results did not go their way.

dave seems to be taking an extra-long sabbatical on his liverpool updates, so i guess i should give a quick rundown. liverpool played hull city overnight and the premier league sophomores got thumped 6 – 1. fernando torres scored himself a hat-trick and ryan babel got a brace and steven gerrard scored one himself.

aside: torres has a superb record when playing at anfield. 33 goals from 34 games. he’s also scored four hat-tricks already, three of those in the premier league. he also has seven goals from eight games this year. that’s just madness.

liverpool have been having some defensive woes this year, allowing soft goals on basic errors. this would explain why they are only third in the league, behind perennial front-runners, manchester united and chelsea.

etienne esajas ran rampant on a cardiff city team that looked pedestrian by comparison as sheffield wednesday grabbed a 3 – 1 win overnight. wednesday’s early goal problems took a positive turn as esajas scored from a superb free-kick after just four minutes. city hit back with a penalty 12 minutes after that as owls keeper, lee grant, btought down striker michael chopra. the spot kick was duly dispatched to level the scores. half time: 1 – 1

the second half saw the owls assert their dominance and esajas was the conductor. he crossed for luke varney to easily head home. hitting the woodwork seemed to be the goal of the day as wednesday rattled it twice, one in each half. leon clarke hit the post minutes before cardiff had a man sent off for his second bookable offense. esajas finished his football clinic on 80 minutes with a fine pass to luke varney, who coolly slotted home. the near-19,000 strong crowd gave esajas a standing ovation when he was substituted late on, easily the man of the match.

the win lifts the owls two places to 12th on the table. heaveyweights newcastle, middlesborough and west bromich albion still lead the championship.

brisbane copped a huge dust storm yesterday. the boston globe once again has come up trumps with an excellent series in their big picture feature. in brisvegas, it was reportedly the worst dust cloud in decades as an estimated 400 million tonnes of sediment north. with a bright yellow disc in the sky and an orange haze that lasted all day, it made things pretty difficult. i’m still finding dust inside…

bit of bad news from the weekend as i found out that the school i had done all my pre-service and first major contract in was burned to the ground in what police are describing as an arson attack. being the first weekend of the holidays, it hasn’t taken long for the local dickheads to make a mess. this comes on the heals of other local fires to other school and soccer clubs. there are a couple of photo galleries; a queensland times gallery and a much better, courier mail gallery.

sillstone state school was well over a hundred years old and was undergoing renovations to the building that was gutted. all of the class and students’ things were out of the building, which i guess would be a small saving grace. i had taught in the building as a relief teacher, teacher in every room in the building. each classroom was quite big and had a lot of character. i hope they get the people that did it.

friday night action saw the 124th edition of the steel city derby. last year, sheffield wednesday did the double over their rivals, sheffield united, for the first time in 95 years. however, quick goals put wednesday behind and they could not recover, falling 3 – 2.

early goals seem to be an issue of late and yet again, united scored within the opening ten minutes to put the owls on the back foot. a corner being bundled in by jamie ward sent the red and whites on their way. the visiotrs couldn’t rustle anything together and fell further behind from a darius henderson poke-in. lewis buxton did not help the cause just befoe the break when he headed into his own goal. half-time: 3 – 0.

the introduction of winger, etienne esajas, in the second half livened the game up and help create more chances. marcus tudgay looked dangerous all game and was making a pest of himself with the defense. he deservedly scored from a cracking volley after a fine run and cross from esajas.

esajas scored a cracker himself  20 minutes later as he drove home a superb free-kick. the hosts were shaken for the last part of the match but were still able to hang on for the three points. the loss, plus the overnight results, sees the owls slide down to 14th on the table.

quentin tarantino’s take on world war two drives the plot for his latest movie, inglourious basterds. set in france, it, like most tarantino films, is more about revenge and the patience needed and glory that comes with its success. the trailer would have you believe that this is a story about brad pitt. in fact, it’s more of a story about shoshanna dreyfus (melanie laurent), a french jew, after germans kill her family in hiding, escapes a farm and when opportunity strikes, sets about her own vengence.

as always, tarantino’s script is beautifully written. it took him ten years to get it right and i think the effort has been rewarded. excellent characters, slick dialogue and tarantino’s own idiosyncrasy makes for an intriguing story. the use of french and german dialogue gives it some authenticity and the use of some of europe’s best actors, the aforementioned laurent and christoph waltz as plot fulcrum, hans landa, to name a few.

though gory and uncomfortable at times, it comes with tarantino’s territory but the action is non-stop.

YEEAARGH!

holy crap, what do you say about a movie that has next to no dialogue in the first ten minutes but still has your girlfriend bawling her eyes out??

disney pixar’s latest release, up, is essentially about an old man, carl, giving up the past and moving on. he’s recently widowed from his childhood sweetheart, ellie, and still lives in the house they first met in, despite developers moving in with high rises.

the graphics for this movie are simply stunning. disney is pushing its new 3d engine, which looks to me as if it’s just wrenched up the sharpening and rendering of the graphics. they certainly look 3d, without the dicky glasses. the previews were peddling a few other disney movies with this added feature, the pick being a jim carrey movie. back to the feature.

there’s plenty here for the kids; bright characters, cute dogs and snappy one-liners. but adults, me in particular, appreciate drama and cinematography and up has it in spades. the fine montage at the start aside, there are some excellent vignettes, especially within the house as carl struggles to come to life without ellie and the house. i was particularly moved by the scene at the letterbox, which epitomises the attachment carl has with the house.

enough of the heavy stuff. doug the dog is damn funny. russell the kid is annoying and hilarious but worthy of empathy and carl is kind-hearted no matter how hard he tries not to be. a little more could have been made with the disillusion carl has with his childhood hero, but that’s so minor not many people would notice. but i think it may have added to the epiphany moment.

i haven’t laughed so hard at a movie for a long time. as usual, the short before it was great. you could tell they were using it to practice the rendering of the clouds and their movements for the main feature, but who cares?

go see it. now. go.