Results

Though the Ecuadorians played hard, they lost, two goals to one, relinquishing their last chance of qualifying for next year’s World Cup.

They almost didn’t lose. The Chileans scored their winning goal because an Ecuadorian substitute, having just ventured onto the infirm playing surface, slipped. But the night’s other results would have sunk the Ecuadorians even if they’d drawn.

A draw also would have pretty well sunk the Chileans. Instead, momentarily, they’re vaulted into third place. I say “momentarily” because they must play their concluding game in Brazil. Whether they qualify may well depend on how few goals the Brazilians decide to score against them. The Brazilians may end up KO’ing Chile for the third consecutive World Cup cycle.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Argentina and Peru stalemated in Buenos Aires. Their fates depend upon their respective final matches.

Sitting pretty are the Brazilians (already qualified); the Uruguayans (assured of a playoff, at least; virtually assured of direct qualification); and, amazingly, the Paraguayans. GET THIS. Right now, the Paraguayans are in seventh place, i.e., three places from direct qualification, with a goal differential of minus-five. But if they defeat Venezuela at home, they’ll at least reach the playoff (they’d overtake either Colombia or Peru) and they might even qualify directly, overtaking Chile or Argentina (or both). This good placement is due to their superb comeback victory in Barranquilla. They scored in minutes 89 and 92, defeating the Colombians, 2–1. The Paraguayans are South America’s “cardiac” team.

Then again, I wouldn’t put it past them to fail to defeat the last-placed Venezuelans.

To recapitulate, this is the table (click to enlarge):

And these are the concluding fixtures:

Argentina at Ecuador
Bolivia at Uruguay
Chile at Brazil
Colombia at Peru
Venezuela at Paraguay

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

The best result of the day was Kazuo Ishiguro’s selection as the Nobel literary laureate. When it was announced, it made me so pleased, I almost wasn’t bothered about the World Cup. Ishiguro is a fine writer, and The Remains of the Day, his most famous novel, displays the sublimest English and Japanese virtues.

The new reading year

I see that my old reading year (May to April) has ended, and that I managed to get through a puny total of six books, i.e., one book every two months. This makes 2015–16 my most anemic (documented) year of reading. And one of the books that I read this year was Gillian Flynn’s The Grownup, just sixty-some pages long. The only full novel that I read was The Remains of the Day.

How is this possible, when I highly value reading? How, when I am surrounded by friends and family who are voracious readers? When everywhere I go, I carry one or two or three books with me? When I buy maybe ten books each month? When, when I check out books at IUSB, it takes a full minute for the librarian to print out the receipt with all of my borrowings? How?

I resolve, this new reading year, to read more.

Disaster

Well, during the hours I was at work, the floor of Mary’s & Martin’s basement endured another flood. M&M don’t know it yet. I won’t tell them until after they get home. Let them have a few more moments of bliss.

Karin – professional librarian, expert book-dryer – rescued some of my books.

Bianca has been staying the hell out of the basement.

We all thought the flooding problem had been fixed. Alas, no.

The Remains of the Day is unfolding nicely. I’d never read it. I’d watched the movie umpteen times, but the movie doesn’t include Stevens’s long, philosophical reflections on dignity and greatness. Stevens is lovable, not least because he puts so much consideration into his butlering.

The remains of the May

A Texan whose birth was in Arlington
Read all about Stevens of Darlington.
The Remains of the Day
Was the name of the play
She perused on her Kindle, in Arlington.

I wrote this because I wished to test whether it would be easier to write a limerick or to write my dissertation. The limerick was much easier to write. One can put any nonsense into a limerick. (I am now testing whether it is easier to write a blog entry, or my dissertation.)

The Remains of the Day is my choice for Prof. Robby P.’s book club, which I’ve intermittently attended since 2004. Joel, my old schoolmate, has been going to the meetings, and so have Prof. Cristian (the Romaniac) and Prof. Uncle Tim. (Come to think of it, Joel may also be a “Prof.”; I’m not sure what his title is.) Morgan, Robby’s frisky black Lab, died some time ago, but he has been succeeded by two frisky, young, black Labs who jump all over everybody like Morgan used to. The other attendees are young women who recently studied at Bethel College.

This morning I read The Remains of the Day instead of going to church. Martin & Mary and I all took the day off from church. We have really been dragging our feet at the end of this school term.