invo.nyarango.me

Author: Invo

  • Wait, Which one is You Again?

    by Ben Ayuko

    {image by TheScientist}

    If you haven’t finished “the Boys” season 4 (and you intend to), then go watch it first then get back to me. If you generally don’t care about the Boys, then allow me to pick your brain.

    If you don’t know the Boys, well then let me introduce you. “The Boys” is one of the most family friendly, light-hearted and at times even hope-filled television programs currently on air. Adapted from a comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, it was brought to life on the screen by Eric Kripke, the same mind that brought you “Supernatural”.

    “The Boys” is about a ragtag group of acquaintances challenging the status quo that is orchestrated by the powers that be. A story about how important family is, and that if you have family, everything will always work out in the end.

    In season 4 of “the Boys“, Annie January, aka Starlight, is kidnapped and subsequently replaced by a shape shifter. This shapeshifter assumes the identity of Annie seamlessly. This is made possible by the fact that, when it assumes her identity, it also assumes her memories. Now, what this means is, should anyone try to question her under suspicion of being an imposter, every answer that it would give is an answer that Annie would have given. Because not only did it copy her body, but italso copied her mind.

    This becomes an issue when it, the Shapeshifter, goes to Annie’s home where she stays with her Boyfriend, Hughie, and decides to propose to him. Hughie, elated with joy, accepts the proposal and even gets, unbeknownst to him, the Shapeshifter a ring. They stayed together for 10 days before the Shapeshifter’s ulterior motives came into play, forcing itto reveal itself. When Annie resurfaced and found out what had happened, she was, understandably, very cross with Hughie.

    Which lead me to my question. Did she have a right to be angry? I mean, sure, she obviously would be considering she came home to find that, not only did her partner not even realize she was gone, but he had also got engaged to another woman. But even so, does the fact that he thought it was her account for anything? Remember, this person is the exact likeness of the person he knew, down to the memories they shared. Heck, even her ambitions. The imposter may not share the same burning desire, but it at least knows what the desires are.

    And it isn’t as though he spotted another lady who he deemed superior to his partner. The person he vowed to spend the rest of his life with was, at least in his own head, effectively, his partner.

    So, at what point does it become a betrayal? When he couldn’t tell the Forgery from the Original? I mean, he only had 10 days to work with. Why would he even think his partner had been replaced? I mean, what if I told you, reader, that the person you are currently living with was actually a clone of the person you actually lived with? Isn’t it such a ridiculous concept to even entertain? Yet, cloning is a real thing in our world today. Obviously not to such a sophisticated level, but as early as 1996, the first animal to be cloned, Dolly the Sheep, was born. Who knows what kind of level of cloning human beings could achieve before the sun burns out, if it hasn’t been achieved already.

    How would you even react, if you found out your partner had an exact copy of themselves? Would you feel the same way about their copy as you do them? Keep in mind, they would react in exactly the same way, share the same goals, suffer the same trauma, remember exactly the same experiences they had with you…how would you tell the difference?

    Can you accept one while simply ignoring the other?

    If you had to, could you eliminate one to ensure the other’s survival?

     

     

     

     

  • The New Season Kicks Off

    by Ben Ayuko

    {image by DAZN}

    Pre-Season friendlies are officially underway as the premier league look to get back into gear ahead of the opening game of the new premier league campaign.

    Manchester United took on Norwegian side Rosenborg. It looked to be a dead rubber until Noah Emmanuel popped up in the box in the 93rd minute to win the game for Rosenborg as Man United kicked off their season with a loss.

    Aston Villa took on Walsall. It was relatively new signing Morgan Rodgers who take center stage as his first half brace gave the Aston Villa the lead into the break. A second half goal from Louie Barry sealed the win for Aston Villa, A good way to start the season.

    Tottenham Hotspur demolished Hearts in their first friendly. It was a tale of 2 halves as Spurs struggled to break down their opposition. They went into the break lucky to have a 1-0 lead. At halftime, manager Big Ange changed the whole team and introduced some of the academy products. They completely dominated the game, winning it 5-1. Some peculiar questions for Ange Postecoglou to find answers for.

    West Ham came back from 2 goals down to salvage a draw against Ferencváros. Key moment a classy free kick from Danny Ings and a wonder goal from Alexandre Pešić.

    Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest comfortably beat Chesterfield 3-0 while Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Italian side Como 1907 1-0.

  • FPL is Live!

    by Ben Ayuko

    {image by FPL}

    Fantasy Premier League is back, and we can barely contain our excitement.

    Many changes have been made for this season’s edition in order to make the game more competitive and we can only give a nod of approval to the organizers for doing so much.

    First off, the price changes. Erling Haaland comes in at £15.0m which makes him the most expensive FPL asset ever. Mo Salah maintains his value at £12.5m after another decent outing last season.

    Cole Palmer perhaps has the biggest price rise after he burst onto the scene last season, more than doubling his value as he moves up from £5.0m to £10.5m. Saka also moves up to £10.0m while Heung-min Son moves back up again to £10.0m. Defenders like William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Virgil van Dijk and Joško Gvardiol all come in at £6.0m while Trent Alexander-Arnold keeps his place as the priciest defender at £7.0m

    This makes it very difficult to pick the same players as the £100m budget cannot be spread to cover every single valuable player. Some decisions will have to be made along with regrets realized.

    The Bonus Point System has also been revamped, admittedly, favouring the attacking players more than the defensive. Additional points in the Bonus Point System for occurrences such as Number of times Fouled, Shots on target, etc. will surely only benefit the forward players while making life difficult for the Goalkeepers in particular.

    Goalkeepers, though, have had their own upgrade as should your chosen Keeper pull an Alisson and score a 90th minute winner, he would receive 10 points rather the usual 6. This, in turn, is intended to give you more of a headache when choosing your players as more variables have been added to the player criteria.

    With the transfer window still very much wide open, there’s still a lot of movement yet to be done. So, who knows what kind of headaches we are going to have by the time the season is kicking off.

  • Frawley’s Fantastic Foot wins it for Ireland

    by Ben Ayuko

    {image by Sportsfile}

     

    Ireland met South Africa in the second round of their test match series looking for revenge after they lost their first round.

    And they quickly flew applying pressure on the South Africa defensive line, pushing them back further and further into their own half. A collision left South Africa veteran Eben Etzebeth with a gash in his forehead meaning he had to be substituted in order to take care of it.

    It was 13 minutes when Ireland got points on the board. Neat interplay between the Irish backs saw them break through South Africa’s defensive line. There was some decent ball juggling by fullback James Osborne and 2 offloads later, the ball was in the hands of scrumhalf, Conor Murray as he sailed over the South Africa try line for the first points of the game. Some traded penalties between Ireland’s Jack Crowley and South Africa’s Handre Pollard meant that the scores read 16-6 to Ireland going into the half-time break.

    South Africa came out of the dressing room with fire in their belly like they had something to prove to their home crowd as they firmly took control of the game. An early offense by the Irish captain of the day, Caelan Doris, saw him sent to the sin bin which only aided South Africa’s efforts in asserting their dominance.

    Some more traded penalties saw South Africa wrestle the lead from Ireland with the score at 24-19. Needing some inspiration off the bench, Ireland introduced Ciarán Frawley. And he did just that.

    First, he received the ball off a 22-metre drop out by Pollard near the halfway line and wasted no time in returning the drop kick straight through the posts to bring the score to within 2 points.

    Then, for his final trick, with just about the final kick of the game, he lined himself up for another drop goal attempt at around the same mark near the halfway line, this time to snatch back the lead for Ireland and win the game. A sensational recovery after being under pressure for majority of the second half and somewhat of a punch in the face for the World Champions after doing so well to wrestle back the command of the game.

    What a moment from one of the next in line to take over from Retired Legend, Johnny Sexton.

  • The Resolve of the Mumen Rider

    by Ben Ayuko

    {image from the anime}

     

    One of the deepest, most underrated characters in Anime…in my opinion. I mean, i’m not exactly an anime junkie, but i’ve seen my fair share and this man is one of the characters that stood out. And why is that?

    Well, to understand this we have to think about the universe that he comes from, i.e. One Punch Man. One Punch Man is a story about the strongest man that ever existed. He was assaulted by monsters (as in, literal monsters) one day and the resultant epiphany he had led him to adopt an arduous training regimen aimed at making him stronger than any monster he would ever encounter. In his exuberant enthusiasm, he overdid it, and not only did he become stronger than any monster he would ever encounter, but he also only ever needed one punch to completely annihilate his opponent (hence the name). This became a problem.

    Now this is a world where monsters emerged from the underground to roam free in the streets with the people. They will see you. They will grab you. They will eat you. They are impossible to fight. It would be an incredibly hopeless ordeal to find yourself unfortunate enough to be caught in one’s eyeline.

    This is where the Hero Association comes in. A tax-funded government operation that deploys heroes in every town/ city/ suburb to protect the people from such occurrences. Naturally, these people all possess some sort of ability, i.e. telekinesis, superfast, superstrong, flight, invulnerability, etc., which enables them to fight on power with the monsters and even overpower them. To become a hero, you need to possess peak physical condition as well as display competent aptitude. Once testing is done, you will be sorted into S, A, B or C class hero, S-Class being the highest.

    Mumen Rider is ranked number 1 among the C-Class heroes. Try as he may, he just doesn’t seem to possess the strength required to graduate into the higher tiers. And while this does break his heart, it doesn’t break his spirit. In fact, he just might have the most unbreakable spirit among all the heroes. His power level is relatively low, meaning he can only be assigned to run of the mill gigs, e.g. help an old lady cross the road or “Help, my cat is stuck up a tree!“, that kind of thing. But he is always ready to run into action provided there is a civilian in need of help.

    Even when A/B-Class heroes would rather run away from the danger for fear of being decapitated, it is the Mumen Rider who always stands his ground. It can, honestly, be heartbreaking to watch at times. He would ride up to a monster on his Bicycle and unleash his ultimate, most devastating attack: The Justice Crash, where he would hop off his bike and use the momentum to launch it into his opponent. Because of its impenetrable skin, the monster would barely feel the tyres and pedals scratch at its skin. Feeling around the impact area as if trying to determine whether something had actually brushed it, or it was just imagining things. Only to wheel around and see Mumen Rider charging at it at full speed. It would swat him away like an annoying little pest and you would watch as he rag-dolled over to the side having broken a few bones. Just as it was turning away to continue spreading terror, Mumen Rider hops back to his feet and beelines toward it again. He would surely die from a second blow.

    But, for some reason, it doesn’t seem to register. Or at least, it does register but he chooses to ignore it. How can one ignore survival instinct? Even the other heroes ran away. And they were stronger than he is. But that doesn’t seem to matter in the slightest. Mumen Rider’s resolve is unshakable. Because, in his words, being a hero isn’t about winning or losing, it’s about facing down the opponent, “Right Here, Right Now“. This is, by no means, the ideal way to live. I would advise anybody to run in the opposite direction of where death dwells. But it is admirable. To have such control over your own emotions that you can elect to stand your ground knowing only unimaginable agony awaits. And to do it by choice as well.

    I don’t know, it seemed as though there was a lesson to be learned in there somewhere.

    Anyway, if you looking to get into anime, try One Punch Man. It’s worth the watch.

     

     

     

  • Southgate Steps Down

    by Ben Ayuko

    {image by thetimes}

     

    Gareth Southgate already said that it might be his last tournament as England manager. What a story it would have been had he managed to sign off with that ever-elusive trophy for the England National Team. Alas, what was looking to be a fairytale ending has quickly fizzled out into an unceremonious hobble off the stage whilst spectators, in unison, toss rotten eggs and tomatoes at his head (his own people no less).

    There was a lot of mixed emotions in the England camp as they progressed through the tournament. At first, it was ruthlessly unaccommodating in the group stage, e.g. “Southgate out!“, “What kind of Football is this?“, “Not my manager“. This evolved through the knockout rounds to a more positive tone in the knock-out rounds to “He should get Knighted if he wins it‘, “Nobody cares about the football“, “It’s Coming Home.” This level of optimistic enthusiasm was rife throughout the fandom up until the final whistle of the final game of the tournament, sending sentiment straight back down to; “Southgate out!“, “What kind of Football is this?”, “Not my manager“.

    He has managed to split the English fanbase completely in half. One side thinks that despite not winning anything, he has been the 3 Lion’s most successful coach, while the other thinks he should have been able to win something if he is so good.

    Well, as it turns out, he wasn’t going to wait for the higher-ups to ring him up. He decided to go out on his own steam. And who can blame him? It must be a difficult job for one to try to attain the unattainable- year in, year out- all the while receiving a steaming pile of hatred from the people who you are trying to attain it for. It must take a lot of spirit to keep going for so long, falling just short every time, then receiving the barrage of abuse that comes with failure.

    Southgate has had a fine run, getting to 2 European Finals and a World Cup semi-final.

    And well, after 8 years, now he can rest as he hands over the baton of abuse to yet another poor unfortunate soul.

    “As a proud Englishman, it has been the honour of my life to play for England and to manage England. It has meant everything to me, and I have given it my all…” 

  • All Blacks Triumphant Again

    by Ben Ayuko

    {image by AFP}

     

    The AllBlacks prevailed over a determined England side to win the 2nd test match in Auckland, New Zealand.

    It was a straight fight from the off as both teams took turns counterattacking each other right after kick-off. Swinging and missing, they were like 2 enthusiastic boxers still trying to find their footing properly. It was as early as the 10th minute when New Zealand opened the scoring, winger Mark Telea, sneakily picking up the ball from the blindside of the ruck and lunging to score a try at the far end of the try box. The angle proved no challenged for flyhalf Damien McKenzie, as he then stuck it between the uprights for the conversion. England, not to be outdone, needed only 3minutes for their riposte. Some ingenuity from flyhalf, Marcus Smith, saw him launch the ball across the pitch with an accurate kick right into the arms of the awaiting Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. The winger’s fine footwork saw him dance between 2 defenders before touching down for England’s first points of the day. A conversion by Smith leveled the score.

    A couple of penalties from McKenzie saw New Zealand stretch out their lead. England, however, hit back just before the halftime claxon. They say, “If ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This was the case as Marcus Smith, once again, sent a long diagonal over everybody’s head to the sideline, this time, right into the hands of Tommy Freeman. The winger beat Mark Telea in the air, catching the ball and crashing into the New Zealand penalty box for a try. Smith added 2 points to give England the lead going into the break.

    England came out of the dressing room with vim and vigour as they took the game to the home team. A penalty conversion saw them stretch out their lead as they kept pushing the New Zealand further and farther back into their own 22metre area. New Zealand was in desperate need of some inspiration. Step up Beauden Barrett from the bench. The New Zealand veteran came onto the pitch and introduced some more speed and ingenuity in attack. He changed the whole course of the game as whenever he had the ball, New Zealand looked to pirce through the heart of the English defense. This was evident in the try New Zealand scored as Barrett received the ball in space and simply powered through the English defensive line. He then offloaded the ball to Telea who touched down near the sideline once more.

    McKenzie did miss the conversion, but he later slotted in 2 penalties to put New Zealand out of reach. England tried to hit back but they ran out of time. 24-17 it ended with the All Blacks taking their 2nd victory in the test match series.

     

     

  • LES DÉMONSTRATIONS AU KENYA DE LA GÉNÉRATION Z

    Par Lilian Ruth

    Aujourd’hui, il y a des manifestations à plusieurs lieux comme Nairobi, Mombasa,Kisumu, Machakos. Depuis l’annonce de Finance Bill 2024,, les jeunes Kenyans étaient très frustrés et ont décidé de faire les démonstrations. Aujourd’hui le 16 juillet, beaucoup de Kenyans marchent à Nairobi. Ils veulent aller à parlement pour exprimer leurs préoccupations et leurs demandes qu’ils ne veulent plus le président en raison des changements économiques observés au Kenya. La situation semble très intense et la participation est énorme depuis le matin. Les taxis Uber sont également en grève, se plaignant du fait qu’ils paient aujourd’hui trop peu et qu’aucun Uber ne peut transporter un passager. Ils se dirigent vers le centre-ville à NTSA et se joignent aux manifestations provoquant une circulation dense sur la voie universitaire. À Nairobi CBD il n’y a pas les les violences jusqu’à presque midi. Le président avait demandé un dialogue pour règler les manifestations mais les jeunes Kenyans (Gen Z) ont refusé insistant les protestations contre le gouvernement avec le slogan “Ruto doit partir”.

    Le pays est actuellement dans un dilemme car les jeunes ne semblent pas satisfaits malgré tout ce que le président a fait pour assurer la paix et l’ordre dans le pays, notamment : ne pas signer le projet de loi de finances et licencier tous les secrétaires du cabinet. Il a également promis de fournir des emplois aux jeunes et a déclaré qu’il participait au projet visant à rendre le pays meilleur. Certaines personnes soutiennent les manifestations tandis que d’autres s’y opposent en soulignant les dommages et les pertes causés jusqu’à présent.

    Est ce que vous pensez que les Kenyans ont raison de protester contre le gouvernement ?  Existe-t-il une meilleure solution aux défis auxquels le pays est confronté que les manifestations, car on constate qu’il y a eu des pertes et des dommages depuis le début des manifestations?

  • Stylish Spain See Off Stumbling England

    by Ben Ayuko

    {image by AFP}

     

    Spain were finally crowned champions at the European Championships 2024 to put a thoroughly deserved seal on the otherwise perfect tournament they had. England really did put up a fight, but Harry Kane and co. will have to fight another day to win a continental trophy.

    It was a very tentative first half as neither team looked to give anything away very early on. Both teams were tiptoeing around the occasion, almost as if trying not to be noticed by the other until later in the game. England’s tactic of hitting the opposition on the counterattack was working a treat as they opted to let Spain have the ball and pounced on any mistake they made. Spain, however, showed their resolute defense and were not so easily penetrated. 0-0 at the break in an enticing deadlock of a game.

    Whatever team talk La Roja were given at halftime probably sounded like the Sermon on the Mount because Spain came out flying at England. They more or less caught the 3 Lions by surprise by immediately upping the tempo from the first half and could have easily scored 2 goals in the opening 5 minutes of the second half. Alas, they had to settle for just the one. Neat interplay between Dani Carvajal and youngster, Lamine Yamal allowed the latter to drive into the box and set up Nico Williams on the far side of the penalty box. Williams, one of the players of the tournament, sent a low drive shot off his left foot, past Jordan Pickford, and into the England net to give Spain the lead just 2min after the break.

    Spain then proceeded to lay siege to England goalmouth. It was such a dramatic shift from the more tactical approach in the first half. This was all guns blazing and the spectators were loving every minute of it. This shift in tone prompted Gareth Southgate to make 2 changes. First taking off Captain Harry Kane, and second introducing Chelsea’s star boy, Cole Palmer.

    Southgate’s long-standing tradition of having substitutes who make a difference once again paid dividends as Palmer ran onto a setup by Jude Bellingham and, rather gently, place the ball in the bottom corner of the Spanish net. Unai Simone stretched as much as he could to try to save it, but to no avail. With 73minutes of the clock, the score was now 1-1.

    It looked as though this thrilling game was destined for extra time. That was, for sure, what every neutral fan wanted given. It was therefore a little melancholic to see Spain take back the lead with mere minutes to spare in the game. 4 minutes in fact. This is because Spanish substitute Mikel Oyarzabal latched onto a low cross into the box by Marc Cucurella and converted it into the England net from close range, breaking England hearts.

    Without enough time to mount a riposte, 2-1 is how the game ended with La Roja lifting the coveted trophy yet again.

  • Argentina Again!!

    by Ben Ayuko

    {image by Getty Images}

     

    It took Extra-time for Argentina to put Colombia to bed and retain their Copa América title.

    Messi and co. were made to wait to get proceedings under way due to the unrest caused outside the stadium. In fact, the game was delayed by a whole hour just so the organizers could get a hold of the situation at hand. The passionate fans outside the stadium seemed to spark something in Colombia because as soon as the game started, they flew straight out of the box. They may have been the underdogs, but they sure did not look like it. They were brave and front footed, taking the game to Argentina and putting pressure on them from the onset, clearly showing their intent as the spectators gleefully cheered them on. Jhon Córdoba, the Colombian centre-forward, probably came the closest after his volleyed effort bounced off the right-hand post.

    After a halftime performance by the indelible Shakira, spirits were certainly high in the stadium and both teams upped their levels to try and steal a march on the other. There were many stars on show on the day, the likes of James Rodriguez and Angel di Maria showing their quality for their teams. The former in particular being at the centre of his teams every move. Spirits in the Argentina camp, however, definitely took a hit after their talisman and star man, Lionel Messi, went down with an innocuous injury. He could only break into tears as he was being substituted out of what may be his final appearance for his national team. They held on, though, without their Captain as the game ended 0-0.

    Extra-time is always a tentative occasion as both teams are very aware of the fact that all it takes is one mistake to lose an entire tournament. And that is exactly how it went, until the inevitable happened. Kevin Castaño was driving forward with the ball, trying to lead a one-man counterattack for Los Cafeteros when he was intercepted by Rodrigo de Paul in the heart of midfield. Being out of his position, he could only watch as 2 passes later, Giovanni lo Celso had played in Lautaro Martinez through on goal one-on-one with the keeper, who made no mistake placing the ball into the top corner and sealing the victory for Argentina.

    1-0 the game ended as La Albiceleste maintained their period of international dominance, winning their 3rd trophy in 5 years.