happy independence day

Germans refuse to drink "king of beers" Budweiser at the World cup

Anheuser-Busch paid $40 million for "pouring rights" at 12 stadiums across Germany, something Germans and tourists have had trouble swallowing.

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ds lite = crack

from joystiq

soothing soft pop

there were a number of songs i heard in my childhood that sonically resonated with my young soul and led to much singing-along and making of merriment. Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall, Christopher Cross - Sailing, Genesis - Invisible Touch, Jefferson Starship - We Built This City and many more my mom could probably remind me of.

this morning a song popped on during the ipod commute shufflefest that stirred deep memories, Crosby, Stills & Nash - Southern Cross. i didn't even know it was on this thing but i think i've listened to it 42 times in a row now. the thing that's really tripping me out is the lyrics. as a child i probably sang along with the chorus, but nowadays it actually has meaning. makes me wanna get on a yacht and check out some carribean islands and be all melancholy and relaxed and feeling content with life, love, loss and crap like that.

here's to major key harmonies and world-weary optimism...

death in the morning

thoughts on the last match:

dempsey, onyewu, keller, mcbride, convey, pope and cherundolo can all come home with heads held high. don't really know what to think of the rest of that lot...

reyna *finally* gets subbed and the US scores a wicked goal...

if this is how badly donovan and beasley decline in four years i want them nowhere near the next world cup squad...

if the conservative style of play was a result of the manager's decisions, he deserves to lose his job...

we need an overhaul in the midfield, badly. the current roster is simply outclassed in international play...

no, seriously, where was beasley this tournament? my only memory of him is serving that ball to dempsey...

i still hope they sell those primadonovan shirts...

i'm pinning my hopes for US soccer on dempsey and onyewu. they're young and they want to play, play hard. dempsey's goal was an absolute thunderbolt and onyewu will get better at avoiding ridiculous prejudice about his size from referees in time. here's to them inspiring more young, skilled, hungry americans...

finally, can ANYONE look me in the eye and tell me seriously that the penalty kick call was actually a foul? i hope US soccer files a protest and i hope this terrible international conspiracy to keep the US out of the next round is exposed for all to see. exactly why do the referees need headsets? just curious...

good effort

here's to the US, fighting hard, in spite of what had to be the worst referee in human history. i can sleep much better tonight after watching the lads put genuine effort into a match. they deserve great praise for managing to hold off italy with just nine men for a large portion of the game. attacking play, better defense and most importantly a midfield that was involved at both ends.

but about that referee... a man who has been suspended for what the president of the Uruguayan board described as "irregularities that were denounced by other referees." this only reinforces my theory that the world cup referee assignments and the group draw are COMPLETELY rigged (germany, the host country, can't possibly see brazil until the semifinals? preposterous!). of course it doesn't help anyone's case against my allegations when it is perenially revealed that FIFA is helmed by a corrupt den of miscreants, led by the creepiest snake of them all... some food for thought, my friends...

lost and found

indeed, the ipod was discovered hiding under the seat in my truck... to celebrate: a song!

sound off

apparently i've lost my ipod. this definitely made the flights yesterday a tad less enjoyable. doubly so, as i forgot to charge my PSP the night before. it just occured to me to look under the seats of the truck before officially declaring the trusty pod truly MIA though...

they bumped me into first class for the flight from ORD to MKE yesterday to make room for more standby passengers in economy. in case you know nothing of midwestern geography and have never seen mention of it on this weblog, that flight is a whopping 15 minutes. it also usually takes place in a plane that holds 30–60 people. any extra comfort that might have been afforded by the upgrade was immediately doused by the bodily odor emanating from the good gentleman sitting next to me. in an attempt to lower olfactory offense on my behalf without simultaneously causing obvious social offense on his behalf, i pointed my air conditioning nozzle at him. he seemed to be more in need of its functionality.

sign the petition!

i've made a petition demanding an apology from US Soccer. the link to sign it is at the right, under an ad... send it to all your friends!

and another thing...

i think we should demand an apology from the starting 11. their spineless waffling on the field of play has set soccer in the US back 16 years, now critics outside the states can point to this match as further evidence of american inferiority at the world's game and critics here at home can continue to malign the sport as childish and weak. freaking great. i have to think those lads are lucky they aren't anywhere near any of the american fans tonight...

absolute embarassment

this was flat out one of the most infuriating mornings of my recent life and it quickly spiraled into one of the most depressing afternoons of my recent life... after months of hype from US soccer and Nike we, the american people, were subjected to one of the most pathetic displays in this world cup thus far. just disgusting. i stayed home from work for this?! absolutely gutless. utterly and amazingly inadequate. i don't know if they were overcome by the spectacle or if they simply had been so puffed-up by the media and nike's ad campaign that they had taken it all for granted... no matter the cause, they stunk. they stunk to high heaven. as a fan and supporter of US soccer i am deeply and personally offended and outraged by the total lack of heart or self-respect exhibited on the pitch this morning. what a joke.


US soccer attacks... BAH! they didn't attack a single thing. and why on earth was josh wolff brought in as a sub instead of clint dempsey? i have a huge headache now and i can't bear to speak with other human beings that aren't soccer fans.

what kind of team goes down 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 and never tries to strike back? i haven't seen so much back-passing by a losing team in my entire life. what in all of eternity would possess them to play so conservatively? what were they afraid of? losing worse? i could have handled a 1-0 loss to the czech republic if they had shown at least some attempt at attacking. ridiculous. the only positive i've seen on the day is bruce arena's comments after the game. i hope the players listen closely to what he has to say, take responsibility for their unsatisfactory performances, show some pride and come roaring back against italy. they can not play the way they did today and expect anything other than being laughed off the field, into infamy as the most talented team US soccer had ever assembled to choke spectacularly in front of the whole world. france 2002, anyone?

laughter induction

click the handle, please:



and then go to the site.

proof, brad, proof...

sittin' on the bench by the dock o' the bay

this fella was having a good snore and, yes, those aren't shorts, it's a t-shirt! maxin' and relaxin'...

turfin'

SEVEN DAYS 'TIL US SOCCER ATTACKS!

...an important message regarding footwear.