studiokairoro

[studiokairoro]

in honour of Rafael Nadal's retirement, here are some of my favourite quotes from his biography:

"Losing always hurts, but it hurts much more when you had your chance and threw it away. I had beaten myself down and I hated that. I had flagged mentally, I had allowed myself to get distracted; I had veered from my game plan. So stupid, so unnecessary. So obviously, so exactly what you should not do in a big game." p. 3.

"...I cannot bear the thought of squandering an opportunity that might never come again." p. 3.

"I bore the single-minded conviction that I had it in me to win. Tennis against a rival with whom you're evenly matched, or whom you have a chance of beating, is all about raising your game when its needed. A champion plays at his best not in the opening rounds of a tournament but in the semi-finals and the finals against the best opponents, and a great tennis champion plays his best in a Grand Slam final. I had my fears- I was in a constant battle to contain my nerves- but I fought them down, and the one thought that occupied my brain was that today I'd rise to the occasion." p.7.

"And of one thing I have no doubt: the more you train, the better your feeling. Tennis is, more than other sports, a sport of the mind, it is the player who has those good sensations on the most days, who manages to isolate himself best from his fears and his ups and downs in morale a match inevitably brings..." p. 8.

"You have to cage yourself in protective armour, turn yourself into a bloodless warrior. It's a kind of self-hypnosis, a game you play, with deadly seriousness, to disguise your own weaknesses from yourself, as well as from your rival." p.11.

"Nothing exists but the battle ahead." p.12.

"Don't lose sight of the game plan. Do what you have to do... So be alert, be patient, don't be rash." p.15.

"Being concentrated means keep doing what you know you have to do, never changing your plan, unless the circumstances of a rally or game change exceptionally enough to warrant a surprise. It means discipline, it means holding back when the temptation arises to go for broke. Fighting that temptation means keeping your impatience or frustration in check." p. 16.

"I build a wall around myself when I play, but my family is the cement that holds the wall together." p.18.

"My immediate family, my extended family and my professional team stand in three concentric rings around me. Not only do they cocoon me from the dangerously distracting hurly-burly that comes with money and fame, together they create the environment of affection and trust I need to allow my talent to flower. Each individual member of the group compliments me where I am weak, boosting me where I am strong. To imagine my good fortune and success in their absence is to imagine the impossible." p.19.

"The nerves are working for you, not against you." p.33.

"I am not a model of healthy eating, not for a professional athlete anyway..." p.33-34.

"But I learned to internalise that anger too, not to fret at the injustice, to accept it and get on with it. Yes, [Toni Nadal] might have gone too far, but its worked very well for me." p.39.

"And to think straight, you have to keep your cool." p.52.

"...but all the fun I had then can't make up for the pain I'm feeling right now. I never want to feel this way again." p.54.

"You put that failure immediately behind you, clean out your mind. You do not allow your mind to dwell on it." p. 55.

"Because its all in your head, in your attitude, in wanting more, in enduring your rival... Look you've got two roads to choose from: tell yourself you've had enough and we leave, or be prepared to suffer and keep going. The choice is between enduring and giving up." p.59.

"[Rafael] knows his place in the world. Everybody should know their place in the world." p.64.

"...it is more important to be a good person than a good player." p.66.

"The greater the effort, the greater the value." p.67.

"You can't let yourself be demoralized; you have to remember- or you have to convince yourself- that he cannot possibly sustain that level of play game after game, that... he is human too, that if you stay cool and stick to your game plan and keep trying to wear him down and make him uncomfortable, then he'll leave that zone sooner or later." p.70.

"It's a question of concentration, of putting everything out of your mind beyond the game itself... the adrenaline of competition helps kill the pain." p.75.

"I can never repay my parents for what they have given me, but the best thing I can do for them is try and remain faithful to the values they've instilled in me, try to be 'good people,' because I know that nothing would hurt them more or make them feel more betrayed than if I were not... Because a victory for me is a victory for [the family]." p.87.

"Everybody tries to take lessons from defeat, but I try to take them from my victories too...At the moment of triumph, yes, drink in the euphoria. But later on, when you watch the match you've won, you often realise- sometimes with a shudder- how very close you came to losing. And then you have to analyse why: was it because I lost concentration or was it because there are facets of my game I have to improve, or both?" p.99.

"If you give your opponent more credit, if you accept that he played a shot you could do nothing about, if you play the part of the spectator for a moment and generously acknowledge a magnificent piece of play, there you win balance and inner calm." p.100.

"It is possible to do everything, I believe, but always keeping a balance, never ever losing track of what's important." p.105.

"...first, that you must enjoy what you do; and second, that the chances that come your way once won't necessarily come your way again, so you squeeze the most you possibly can out of every opportunity, every single time, as if it were your last." p.110.

“When that happens, you become afraid to let fly, you don’t give rein to your natural game, and everything becomes much more complicated.” p. 142.

“…and I understood immediately that, for all the years of hard work I had put in, this victory had not been mine alone… however great your dedication, you never win anything alone. The French Open was my reward, and my family’s reward too.” p. 144.

“I had tasted victory at the highest level; I had liked it and I wanted more.” p. 144.

“Because from that time on I saw that I would never know entirely for sure whether a match I was playing would be my last. This understanding led me to one conclusion: I’d have to play each one, and train for each one, as if it were my last.” p. 155.

“But it wasn’t the fear of losing that was causing it. It was the fear of winning.” p. 162.

“Enduring means accepting.” p. 175

“I had learned my lesson and felt capable of putting it into practise.” p. 176.

“I’m never satisfied, I always want more. Or at any rate, I want to push myself to the very limit of my abilities.” p. 179.

“…however small the possibility might be of victory, fight to the very end. The reward is too great for you not to make the effort. So many times, due to dismay or exhaustion, players don’t put up the battle circumstances demand, but if there is one chance, just one, you must fight on until all is lost.” p. 185.

“I had to beat myself before I could beat Federer.” p. 196.

“Federer learned in that final that to beat Rafa you have to stomp him not once, not twice, but many, many times. You think he’s dead, in a point or in a game or in a set, but he keeps on coming back.” p. 202.

“…your emotional state is paramount to success. The better you are within yourself, the better your chances of playing well.” p. 212.

“So its up to you whether you rise above the pain and the exhaustion and summon up the desire to win… anybody who digs enough can always find the motivation they need for anything.” p. 226.

“…you always have to hang in there, that however remote your chances of winning might seem, you have to push yourself to the very limit of your abilities and try your luck.” p. 230.

“…if your head is in permanent stress, you sleep little and your mind is distracted…the impact on your body is devastating.” p. 245.

“The expression on your face conditions to a significant degree your state of mind and…the functioning of your body.” p. 259.

“Some players explode with anger when their opponent is dominating them. But there’s no point. It can only do you harm. You just have to think, “I can’t do anything about this, so why worry?”” p. 277.

“Weather the storm…If I can’t come back on the next point, I will on the one after that.” p. 278.

“…bow before the inevitable and move on.” p. 278.

“I’m making calculations all the time as I play, trying to judge the best tactic considering how I am feeling at a given moment, my sense of the opponent’s morale and how the score is going.” p. 279.

“…the will to win and the will to prepare are one and the same.” p. 282.

“I’d made it as far as I had because I had never lost sight of my priorities.” p. 283.

“…if you make an effort in training when you don’t especially feel like making it, the payoff is that you will win games when you are not feeling your best.” p. 287.

Gracias Rafa for everything. Forever my idol in not only sports, but in all facets of my life.

[studiokairoro]

finished the crochet blanket yay (it took 9-10 months to finish)

[studiokairoro]

Suncorp Super Netball Squad Lists 2025

Adelaide Thunderbirds:

Romelda Aiken-George- GS, GK

Lucy Austin- GS, GA

Lauren Frew- GA, GS

Matilda Garrett- GD, GK

Kayla Graham- GA, WA, GS

Georgie Horjus- WA, GA

Hannah Petty- C, WD

Shamera Sterling-Humphrey- GK, GD

Tayla Williams- C, WD, WA

Latanya Wilson- WD, GD, GK

Head Coach: Tania Obst

Assistant Coach: Cathy Fellows

CHANGES: Laura Scherian (retirement) replaced by Kayla Graham

Melbourne Vixens:

Keira Austin- GA, GS, WA

Kate Eddy- WD, GD

Rudi Ellis- GK, GD

Sophie Garbin- GS, GA

Lily Graham- GA, GS

Kate Moloney- C, WD

Hannah Mundy- WA, C

Zara Walters- WA, C

Jo Weston- GD, GK, WD

Head Coach: Simone McKinnis

Assistant Coach: Di Honey

CHANGES: Emily Mannix (maternity leave) replacement not announced  

West Coast Fever:

Jess Anstiss- WD, C

Ruth Aryang- GD, GK

Sunday Aryang- GD, WD

Shanice Beckford- GA

Jordan Cransberg- WA, C

Katie-Ann Dehaney- GK, GD, GS

Mwai Kumwenda- GS

Alice Teague-Neeld- GA, GS, WA

Fran Williams- GD, GK

Olivia Wilkinson- GS, GA

Head Coach: Dan Ryan

Assistant Coach: Sara Francis-Bayman

CHANGES: Kelsey Browne (released) replaced by Ruth Aryang, Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard (maternity leave) replaced by Mwai Kumwenda  

Sunshine Coast Lightning:

Reilley Batcheldor- GA, GS

Ava Black- C, WD, WA

Courtney Bruce- GK, GD

Mahalia Cassidy- C, WD

Ashleigh Ervin- GK, GD

Steph Fretwell- GA, GS

Tara Hinchliffe- GK, GD, WD

Cara Koenen- GS, GA

Leesa Mi Mi- WA, C

Liz Watson- WA, C

Head Coach: Belinda Reynolds

Assistant Coach: Jenny Brazel

CHANGES: N/A

Melbourne Mavericks:

Eleanor Cardwell- GS, GA

Tayla Fraser- C, WA, WD

Sasha Glasgow- GA, GS

Kim Jenner- GD, GK

Shimona Jok- GS, GA

Molly Jovic- C, WA

Olivia Lewis- GK

Maisie Nankivell- C, WD, WA

Amy Parmenter- WD, C, WA

Lauren Parkinson- GD, GK, WD

Head Coach: Tracey Neville

Assistant Coach: Nicole Richardson

CHANGES: Gabrielle Sinclair (released) replaced by Shimona Jok

Queensland Firebirds:

Imogen Allison- C, WA

Ashlee Barnett- GK

Ruby Bakewell-Doran- GD, GK

Mary Cholhok- GS

Tippah Dwan- GA, GS

Lara Dunkley- WA, C, WD

Macy Gardner- C

Emily Moore- GA, GS

Isabelle Shearer- GK, GD

Hulita Veve- WD, C

Head Coach: Kiri Wills

Assistant Coach: Paula Stuart

CHANGES: Donnell Wallam (released) replaced by Mary Cholhok, Remi Kamo (released) replaced by Ashlee Barnett, Kim Ravillion (retirement) replaced by Imogen Allison, Bec Bulley (stepped down) and Katie Walker (stepped down) replaced by Kiri Wills, Lauren Brown (stepped down) and Roselee Jencke (stepped down) replaced by Paula Stuart

New South Wales Swifts:

Sophie Fawns- GA, GS

Paige Hadley- C, WA, WD

Helen Housby- GA, GS

Sarah Klau- GK, GD

Sharni Lambden- C, WD, GD,

Grace Nweke- GS

Teigan O’Shannassy- GK, GD

Allie Smith- WD, GD

Maddy Turner- GD, WD

Head Coach: Briony Akle

Assistant Coach: Dylan Nexhip

CHANGES: Samantha Wallace-Joseph (released) and Uneeq Palavi (released) replaced by Grace Nweke, Lili Gorman-Brown (released) replaced by Sharni Lambden, Maddy Proud (maternity leave) replacement not announced, Natalie Avellino (released) replaced by Dylan Nexhip

GIANTS Netball:

Gina Crampton- C, WA

Sophie Dwyer- GA, GS

Jo Harten- GS, GA

Maddie Hay- C, WA, WD

Matisse Letherbarrow- GS, GA

Matilda McDonell- GD, GK

Erin O’Brien- GK, GD

Jamie-Lee Price- C, WD

Amy Sligar- WD, C

Jodie-Ann Ward- GD, WD

Head Coach: Julie Fitzgerald

Assistant Coach: Jenny O’Keeffe

CHANGES: Samantha Winders (released) replaced by Gina Crampton

[studiokairoro]

birthday gift for my sister’s 19th

[studiokairoro]

Transformers One Movie Review

RATING: 8/10

General thoughts: I am not a Transformers fan by any stretch of the imagination, and my knowledge starts and ends with the Michael Bay movies that I , but this movie was a wonderful introduction to the story of Optimus Prime and Megatron. I was incredibly invested with their friendship, and even though I knew how the story would end, when it finally transpired, it was no less devastating. To see two best friends divided by ideology kept me up for hours that night after leaving the cinemas. I need a second movie so badly, I beg you all to please go to the cinemas and watch the movie.

Notable thoughts (Spoilers mentioned):

Animation: The animation was spectacular. This is the most that I have seen 3D utilised to its absolute potential. The texture of the Cybertronians, the Quintessons and the Quintesson ships were incredible. The landscapes were brilliant and I felt so immersed in this world that I had no knowledge of. I also really loved the unique look of the deer-like creatures roaming on the Cybertron surface world. Their ‘ears’ glowing red at the sense of impending danger from the Quintesson ship was a masterful touch. In a similar vein, the positioning of characters in a shot was done exceptionally well. At no point did it feel like something was missing or someone was out of place.

Megatron/D-16: Even though Optimus Prime/Orion Pax was the main character of the movie, I felt that D-16 stole the show. His character arc was so fascinating to see the faithful worshipper of Sentinel Prime to a disillusioned, betrayed fighter dedicated to revenge. Brian Tyree Henry really made this character his own and the blinding rage in his voice sent goosebumps over my skin. The revelation of Sentinel Prime as the ultimate traitor to his people destroyed D-16 ten times over than Orion Pax, Elita-1 and Bumblebee combined because he was so completely devoted to Sentinel’s words. With that stripped away, what did any of that toil he put himself through mean? Nothing. It’s crushing though, when he stands up to Sentinel Prime and says that he has nothing to lose. What about his best friend, Orion? D-16was everything to Orion, but what was Orion to D-16? Even at the end, Optimus’ heart still bleeds for Megatron, even after what he has done. With hindsight, I can say that Megatron was correct in killing Sentinel Prime. Unfortunately, there is no peacefully dealing with someone like that. To leave him alive would be to only symbolically change things, and Iacon needed real change. However, Megatron’s bloodlust could not be quenched and though I disagree with Optimus’ equating of Megatron and Sentinel Prime’s actions, Megatron’s rule would have eclipsed Sentinel’s evil in sheer brutality.

Favourite scene: My favourite scene is most definitely towards the end when D-16 is trying to kill Sentinel Prime and Orion tries to stop him, but in doing so, he is mortally wounded. The climax comes when Orion hangs over the mouth of the void, grounded only by D-16. D-16’s confliction boils over- revenge or his friend? In the end, he makes his choice to become a worshipper of violence and bloodshed, and he lets Orion fall to his assumed death in a moment of violent divergence. The next three minutes are a brilliant display of birth. No words are spoken, only wonderfully dramatic music covers two parallel events: The fall of Orion into Cybertron’s core and D-16’s predator hunt for a wounded Sentinel Prime who cowers away in awesome fear. There is no stopping D-16 as he battles through Sentinel’s remaining guard and lifts Sentinel high into the air above a crowd and rips him into two. D-16 has died, Megatron is born the moment he rips Sentinel Prime’s stolen core out of his chest and places it into his own. At the same time this occurs, Orion’s broken body falls into the arms of the Original Primes and of his God. He is born with the help of the mystical Matrix of Leadership into what we know as Optimus Prime.

Other thoughts:

I noticed in the movie the use of the terms ‘arise’ and ‘rise up’ and how each term is attached to the Autobot and Decepticon groups. Though the terms are essentially the same, the connotations of each term can give another layer to the conflict. Optimus Prime uses the term ‘arise’ and when he is being reborn he is told to ‘arise.’ The definition of arise is to ‘emerge’ or ‘start to happen; exist.’ It suggests something natural, such as the assumption that every person (or Cybertronian) has the right to autonomy, or something peaceful. Optimus Prime in this movie chooses the role of a peacemaker, someone who seeks lawful justice and to unite his people. The term ‘rise up’ which Megatron chants out to his crowd of followers after defeating Starscreen and Sentinel Prime respectively invokes a sense of force or purpose. What is occurring is not natural and requires effort to ‘rise up.’ Effort and sometimes violence, which Megatron preaches. Aggressive force to overturn the system that Sentinel Prime has put in place. Not that this changes things, the use of these terms runs concurrent to the ideas that each group is trying to convey.

[studiokairoro]

na fuck that *completely redoes essay*