Cugalabanza

Happy Birthday! Can you give us your impressions of what it's like to be a 68 year old?

I used to like Mercury Rev a lot. Especially the album Yerself Is Steam. I lost interest when David Baker left.

Damn

Yeah, that was pretty messed up. The whistle to end regulation should have blown long before then anyway. Then, I couldn't believe it when the ref pointed to the spot. Worst call I've seen in a while. I feel bad for the Ticos.

USA vs Jamaica tonight in one of the semifinals, at 6pm ET. The other semi is Mexico vs Panama at 9pm.

USA vs Cuba Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinal knockout round. I'll be disappointed if the USA doesn't score at least 3 or 4 in this one.

I think the next step is for you to buy a diamond ring. That should help, at least until it turns brass.

I don't know much about Pluto, but the girl in these videos is devastatingly adorable.

New York Dolls

It's sad to watch, but sometimes I can't help laughing. Everything just seems to fall apart for Tiger. There was that moment where he got his tooth knocked out, then Lindsay Vonn broke up with him and then he injured his wrist or something... right around that time I noticed that he's losing his hair very rapidly... And his game just keeps sinking lower and lower. He's just got the stink of death on him.

I'm not losing any sleep over nipples one way or the other, but it never ceases to amaze me how violence gets glorified in popular culture while simple body parts can be so stigmatized. I heard Will Ferrell talk recently about movie ratings. Anchorman 2 was trying very hard to get a PG-13 rating, but getting tons of grief from the MPAA about some poopie and dicky doo type jokes. They had to cut a lot of stuff to get the PG-13. Meanwhile, the Hunger Games movies are filled with graphic images of children murdering other children for sport, wrapped up in some very adult themes of oppression, fascism, mass murder, etc... And Hunger Games had no trouble with the MPAA and gets the PG-13 rating. I know this argument gets brought up all the time and has become a cliche, but there's something very important there. A lot of people have a lot of weird fear and repression about not only sex, but the human body.

I heard that, after she brushes her teeth, she sometimes leaves water droplets on the edge of the sink.

Even Timmy Chandler doesn't know why Klinsmann keeps calling his number...

Turning into a very wild, Entertaining game in the second half. I think the ref is losing control a bit at this point. USA starting to find a rhythm. The subs are positive so far. I love Bedoya's energy in this one.

USA looks really really bad in that first half. Chandler is just god awful. Please, get him out of there and never ever bring him back. I hate this player.

That's awesome. I have yet to see a national team game in person.

Great job!

I like Yedlin too. I've read some stuff that has been critical of his game, but I don't get it. I think he does what he's asked to do and he gives the opponents' defenders fits trying to keep up with him.

Yeah, they're starting slow. But 6 points says you got the job done. Part of it is that they're still kind of dicking around with the roster. I'm ready to say enough on Tim Chandler and Greg Garza and Graham Zusi, but Klinsmann seems to love these guys. Also, Jozy has been sluggish and bringing the whole thing down. The other part of it is that both Honduras and Haiti played very good games. Both teams suprised me with how much they have improved with fast, skilled attacking players. CONCACAF is no joke and when these guys play the USA, it's hero time for them. It's their superbowl. I loved the flow they got going with Bradley, Diskerud, Dempsey, Johannsson and then Zardes. I think right there is where the good stuff happens. You can throw in contributions from Yedlin and Fabian Johnson on the wings and I'm happy.

USA vs. Panama tonight 9:30pm on Fox Sports 1, from Kansas City

I think he's out of shape a bit right now. When he's not at his best, he stifles their attack somewhat. Better to have Aron Johannsson (man, it's hard to remember where the extra letters go) maybe to get better movement and flow from midfield to attack. I get bored sometimes when Jozy is just the target striker with his back to the goal. He made one nice play in the Honduras game, which resulted in a goal, but apart from that he was not doing much.

USA vs. Haiti tonight. I'm hoping they sit Chandler and maybe Jozy too. I'd also like to see Mix Diskerud replace Kyle Beckerman.

I'm kind of liking Wayward Pines too. It started losing some steam for me around episode 3 or 4, but then season 5 introduces some super crazy stuff that makes it fun again and takes it to a new level. I like that it will just be a 10 episode thing with a complete story arc. It's kind of guilty pleasure because it's a little bit cheesy in a Twilight Zone kind of way and there are elements where plausibility gets stretched, but it's executed well and it's fun.

I guess so. Although, I'm not 100% sure that I'll root for the Atlanta team. The new NYCFC is compiling an interesting team with some of my favorite players: David Villa (Spain) Andrea Pirlo (Italy) Frank Lampard (England) Mix Diskerud (plays on USMNT) I'll wait to see how Atlanta Utd. FC plays out. At this point, it feels like little more than a corporate endeavor. If it starts to feel fun, I'll get into it.

By the way, the Atlanta MLS team (starting in 2017) just unveiled their new logo... I'm not too crazy about it. Seems pretty generic. Nothing fun about it. Also, it feels a little old school fascist, like some pseudo-Nazi imagery from 1984 or The Wall. I wish the Atlanta Silverbacks (of the NASL) could have been promoted to fill the MLS slot. The Silverbacks have a cool name and imagery, with the silverback gorilla thing going on. I live in Atlanta and I've been excited about having an MLS team here, but from what I've seen so far, it's feeling kind of lame.