Greatest World Cup goals

Soccer is my life. Or a small part of my life. Or maybe just a passing interest in someone else's life.

Go USA! And Andorra!

Andorians are horrible soccer players -- the horns keep them from heading the ball properly.

That's incisive sports-related commentary, that is. I guess.

I watched Portugal and the Netherlands play on TV last week, in a sports bar in Leipzig. Yanno, I think I could get into this. It's a lot more energetic than football, with none of the offense team vs defense team. The guys on the field have to do it all. I like that in a game.

Now here is a soccer column I can relate too.

Very amusing Joel - well done.

Blood pressure low? Read some of the commentary on Obama's Oval Office speech and take a gander -- a gander, sir! -- at the comments on the commentary. Not too much hard thinking going on there, and that includes both the usually-stupid people (meaning people with whom I do not typically agree, politically) and the folks who are nominally "on my side." Please, dudes -- don't be on my side. It makes me look bad.

News of the world, adsorbed as it was over the surface of mindfulness, caused me to go outside. Why does paying attention seem to matter, when mostly it just hurts?

Back in, I dashed off a line to Candide, something about tending the garden with my own hands. Feeling better, I looked up the boodle, saw this and laughed. Thanks boodle.

I wonder whether the North Koreans will be assigned the sorts of jobs where you have to show up, but don't get paid, but are allowed to pay a fee to the employer to be excused from showing up, so you can find something to do that generates a bit of income or food. Maybe the South Korean propaganda balloon folks could send seed potatoes or zucchini seeds instead of propaganda.

No wonder the Brazilians were flummoxed.

This was truly brilliant.

I reminds me that while I don't assert that soccer is intrinsically uninteresting, I am terribly ignorant of it. Watching World Cup Soccer reminds me of being six and staring at the incomprehensible maelstrom of football my father used to watch every Sunday afternoon. Except with World Cup games I hear more buzzing and less barely-suppressed profanity.

I have no doubt that with enough time and effort I would come to fully appreciate the nuances and aesthetic sophistication of soccer. Sort of like what I plan one day on doing with Cricket. And, maybe, Lacrosse.

But there are just so many hours in the day. I already feel that I devote far too much time and emotional energy to watching spectator sports. Why seek out more? Especially since the American team is so poor. I mean, is there not enough suffering in life?

Although, unlike most other sports, with soccer I can occasionally find myself relating emotionally to the players. By which, of course, I mean moments like when the British goalie totally bullocksed that save against the Americans.

I have *so* been there.

Like all commie teams, those PRK guys were juiced, they had legs like tree trunks, looked like Floyd Landis' legs. It's not their fault though. When Dear Leader is taking care of your kids, you'll do just about anything for His glorification.

Here's something I've been wondering -- if we stopped burning all fossil fuels in our electrical power plants and automobiles and trucks, how much could we reduce our total need for petroleum? Here is a list off the top of my head of things that we currently derive from petroleum or coal that might be rather costly to obtain from renewable sources:

(1) lubricants
(2) hydrogen -- it is much more energetically favorable to derive hydrogen from chemical processing of oil than from electrolysis of water
(3) aircraft fuel -- can ethanol cut the mustard for energy density? Liquid natural gas or liquid hydrogen both are cryogens that pose storage problems in flight. I don't think we want nuclear-powered aircraft. And LNG has to come from somewhere...
(4) plastics and resins
(5) bunker fuel -- transoceanic vessels are not going to be solar- or nuclear-powered. You might be able to burn ethanol, I suppose, or liquid natural gas. But where will you get the natural gas -- is there enough fermented pig flop for the purpose?
(6) ammonium nitrate fertilizer. My understanding is that the world agricultural product is presently at about twice the carrying capacity of the Earth, with the limits having been expanded by the use of chemical fertilizers.
(7) A variety of consumer products, like smelly coal-tar extracts in my anti-dandruff shampoo (TMI?).

The majority of oil usage is for fuel, with some of these other products derived from what is essentially waste from the refining processes that produce enough fuel. What will happen if the demand for oil-as-fuel is eliminated? These will become the dominant factors in driving oil production. How much can oil production really be reduced without even more fundamental changes in how we do things? Like, reducing the human population by a factor of several, which would reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers. *That* is an unhappy prospect, but still it is by far the most effective concept for reducing our fossil-fuel usage.

Hiya -- I don't know if anyone else has posted this, but here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AAa0gd7ClM

It's pretty funny.

I was thinking about the "Insane Cheerleaders On My Side" phenomenon just yesterday, Tim. They seem to do about as much damage to the home team morale as to the opposing team's.

"...reducing the human population by a factor of several..."

This is something you are not allowed to talk about. Streng Verboten

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Morning, friends. Just wanted to stop in and say hello. The g-girl is here, and I'm babysitting. Getting ready to prepare for the Bible study here, and that means doing the last part of the cooking. Everything else is ready. Now if they will just show up.

The tomatoes are not looking good. I think they're doomed. We've had plenty of rain, so don't know what the problem is, unless it's the cats. And that just might be it. I love cats, but I want to strangle them for killing my tomatoes, and we have so many. One of my neighbors feed them out of her back door, thereby producing more of them. Her own cats died so she has taken in strays.

Have a great day, folks. Are you folks getting much rain? We get a thunder boomer here just about every day, and boy, is it hot before the rain. Yesterday, 99!

Slyness, you okay? Are they behaving in your fair city? I saw on the news where you guys are having a lot of fires, and many of them from lightening.

Love to all!

Perhaps Dan Snyder will now trade Albert Haynesworth to Andorra, in echange for a flugelhorn and a third-round draft pick.

I look forward to two weeks of interminable, tedious Boodling trying to caculate the flow rate of sound coming from all those leaking, uncapped baloozzahorns.

If you want to achieve energy Nirvana,
just keep contemplating this company's website:

http://www.jouleunlimited.com/

Who is to blame for Robert Green's historic blunder in front of his net? But Canada of course.
Or at Canadian lingerie model who dropped him just before the mundial.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1286411/WORLD-CUP-2010-Robert-Green-split-Elizabeth-Minett-just-weeks-ago.html

Good morning, all.

Watched a lot of the World Cup four years ago, and caught some of it last weekend while in Montreal. We Americans don't seem to go much for "moral victories," so the tie with England probably didn't get as much press here as it could have. But then, I'm an American who traveled to a semi-foreign country to watch a Formula 1 race, and don't watch Glee, Dancing With the Stars or American Idol.

Speaking of those vuvuzuela (or whatever they are) horns, I hear horns of all kinds at F1 races when the leaders go by the grandstands, and believed them to be them de rigeur at euro-sporting events. Remarkably, they can still be heard over a field of cars revving at an unmuffled 18,000 RPM.

No idea how some of those folks get alphorns or digidigeroos through the turnstiles, either.

Yes, I brought earplugs.
I'm stupid, but not *that* stupid.

bc

"One of my neighbors feed them out of her back door, thereby producing more of them."

I would call animal control, I really would.

At first I figured the Colorado guy detained while hunting Osama bin-Laden with a sword and a pistol was perhaps a bit unbalanced. But it occurs to me that the recession's been pretty tough on a lot of folks, and there's a good bit of reward money floating around out there.

Maybe it was just good ol' American entrepreneurial spirit in action.

A bit unbalanced and good ol' American entrepreneurial spirit ride together into the sunset.

Bob, I blame it all on Ronald Reagan privatizing the military assassination business.

"...if the players learn how to score more points."
---Mr. A

Being an American sports enthusiast I grew up believing that the scores of the matches helped define the relative capabilities of the various teams involved.

I've tried many times to get enthusiastic about futbol, but in the end I am always challenged by how much better one team is supposed to be versus the others after a string of ties and 1-0 results. After 15.5 2010 WC matches, 11.5 meet those criteria.

And, as a former vuvuzela owner, I submit it takes some skill and lots of practice to get the thing to produce noise. Take heart that those who play the vuvuzela are diligent and goal-oriented, in addition to being in possession of quality ear plugs.

At the Potomac Nationals games in Woodbridge for five bucks you can buy a three-foot long plastic horn (looks like a vuvuzela to me) that's made of two pieces that slide over each other for easy storage and (with some practice, trombone experience is probably helpful) allows you to play tunes. A heck of a bargain.

Man, is it raining out, with occasional thunderbooming. I'm so grateful now that my lunch meeting was cancelled.

I must say that soccer bores me. I've tried countless times to follow it, but perhaps one must have been born to it. That being said, I went to bed after the first half of the basketball game last night. I suspect the Celtics were caught by jet lag. They played *terribly* and Rasheed Wallace (whom I remember not so fondly from the Pistons) was still up to his old tricks of fouling catastrophically. At least it'll all be over soon and one of them will win it all and I won't have to care. Well, truth be known, I don't much care now, but, you know . . . . .

I occurs to me that with the Osama bin-Laden reward money ( http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/laden.htm ) you could buy enough vuvuzelas to give one to every child in Slovakia, Slovenia, Uruguay and Paraguay, with a few left over for deserving kids in Honduras. I'm sure that their parents would be delighted.

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. *sigh*

from Milbbank's column:

"Jerry Brown, the Democratic candidate for governor of California, has apparently received an errant moonbeam. First he said the campaign of his Republican opponent, Meg Whitman, was "like Goebbels" in its propagandizing. He apologized..."

Another 1-0 win, this time by the Swiss over the Spaniards. Based on what little I've read, this is an upset.

Now that we have Xe neighborhood outlet stores (can Assassains-R-Us™ be far behind?), I wonder what happens to veterans of foreign wars who have even fewer services (none, for example) available to them than armed services vets are entitled to receive? I wonder if they get mad about that or was the money they got while they were part of the private army somehow sufficient? Got to stop worrying and get back to the garden I suppose. There are Turnips out there that would make Hank and Hetty jealous.

L'Équipe has the very sober "Switzerland Overturned a Mountain". So I guess Espana was the favourite.
Great day for the offence today,
Chile and the Confederatio Helvetica combined their efforts for 2 goals and two victories.

Brag must be happy! I'm sure Witch no.1 will report on the festivities in Valparaiso.

//A bit unbalanced and good ol' American entrepreneurial spirit ride together into the sunset.//

it's in our genes.

Daydreaming of swimming in iced coffee. It might kill me, but I'm sure I'd wake up first. Upgrades resume @ 1. Off to lunch.

SCC insert "headline" somewhere

Soccer is so popular in part perhaps because China, Russia and the United States not only do not dominate, they are mediocre, to say nothing of India and Indonesia. The only country with a large population on soccer's A list is Brazil. It seems like it is the sport in which the little countries have a good chance. Wondering why that is...

O yes, my friends, THAT was THE upset of the tournament so far! Switzerland will take that ugly goal and run right to the top of their group... *L*

"...it's in our genes..."

Yes it is isn't it; when kindly considered, it is often referred to as
rugged individualism.

Indeed a historic occasion for Switzerland. Why, it's the biggest news since that proud day in 1990 when women in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden were finally (by a Swiss Supreme Court decision) given the right to vote in the canton elections. Of course, they knew it was only a matter of time, since Swiss women had had the right to vote in federal elections for nearly twenty years at that point.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,971935,00.html

Thanks, fellow boodlers, for watching World Cup so I don't have to. There's something for everyone, and futbol just isn't it for me. But the U.S. Open (golf, RD, golf) starts tomorrow, so I shall be ingesting my fair share of televised sporting events.

Spain was favoured to win the whole tournament by many, so this is a major upset. I have Spain and two of its players (Villa and Torres) in the office pool (which I think is me and two others) so I'm hoping they'll turn it around. I definitely should not be counted on for any soccer advice, however. I think I also have Ronaldo, and I just heard that he was scratched for Brazil's team, so my problem may be that I don't know Kaka.

Do I smell a "Tiger at Pebble Beach" kit in our future?

Shrink, I'm assuming it's because fancy equipment doesn't make any difference in soccer which basically just tests the ability to run like a bird dog all day while kicking a ball.

Therefore, rural areas can produce as good or better soccer players than urban areas-- likely better, if pollution is lower and there's more ground to bird dog over.

A little light reading for those of you (like me) with nothing to say about team sports. A sign of the times:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2012126896_danny16.html

Sigh! I really hesitate, but here goes...

Cassandra, I don't know your area, but calling animal control in most parts of the country is a drastically hostile step and not humane either for your neighbor or for the cats. A locally-based humane group that does trap-neuter-release (TNR) will produce a better long-term outcome. Unfortunately, because I don't live in your area, I don't know who to send you to. You might start by googling and emailing Alley Cat Allies or Alley Cat Rescue to see if they have contacts in your area. (That is if you decide you need to take action.)

Animal control usually will view the problem as pure law enforcement and if action is legally required simply kill as many cats as they can trap, which won't be all of them in any case.

I hesitate to comment on this because TNR is a subject on which people have strong opinions pro and con and is ripe raw material for a boodlestorm. (Nor do the various animal groups all agree on this.) So I'll leave it at that.

On the Bin Laden hunter, I've been continuous surprised that there isn't more of that kind of thing, frankly.

Also, if someone wanted to do a stunt that ended in a book deal and minor celebrity status this guy's miles ahead of the 16 year old sailor.

L'Équipe must monitor the Boodle. They have a piece on the low score at the Mundial.
After 16 games:
France 1998 2.31 goals/game
Korea-Japan 2002 2.88 g/g
Germany 2006 2.44 g/g
RSA 2010 1.6 g/g

They theorize that many teams are afraid to lose and play for the level score late in the game. They give Portugal/Côte d'Ivoire (0-0) as an exemple. The Éléphants didn't try a shot on the goal on a corner in the last minutes of play but made sure to control the ball until the final whistle.

Cassandra, I'd echo what Woofin said -- try and get a local rescue group to talk to your neighbor. She needs to understand she's hurting the feral cats more than helping them.

All I know about Kaká is that he doesn't hit the fans.

"TNR will produce a better long-term outcome...TNR is a subject on which people have strong opinions pro and con and is ripe raw material for a boodlestorm. (Nor do the various animal groups all agree on this.) So I'll leave it at that."

Strong opinions pro and con, yep, that is for sure, we agree on that...deep breathing...steam pressure dial...back to green...

This place is so civilized, a civil crucible, it can hold opposing views sans personal attacks. Remarkable. The promise of the www may be realized! Does Joel know?

So, has there ever actually been a boodlestorm? I gather backing over the line is frowned upon, but I'd like to see an example of one or two, for research purposes only, of course.

Madrid's El Mundo headline: "Una pesadilla para empezar".

Gary Larson summed up my feelings about felines many years ago-

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/carls064/freealonzo/FarSide-CatFud.gif

While I personally favor Confoederatio Helvetica, unfortunately the advent of Microsoft Windows has brought about a huge upswing in support for Confoederatio Arial.

Shrink, the most recent example would be the Confederate kerfuffle in April:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/achenblog/2010/04/confederates_in_the_statehouse.html

457 comments, research away! :-) The Abby Sunderland maelstrom was a bit atypical, IMHO.

I shall be watching the US Open when I can, on our new HD flat screen, Pebble Beach will never have been so beautiful.

And, speaking of televised sporting events, Raysmom, tonight is the "official" kickoff of SYTYCD. Although I've been increasingly irritated at the judges/choreographers acting the way they do, I'll still watch it. But I don't know for how long.

*trying not to let a nascent irritability take over my day*

I'm with Raysmom on the World Cup, the US Open is so much quieter and easier to nap during. Even if I cared about soccer I'm not sure I could withstand the noise from those horns.

Cassandra, is there any way you could put a small fence around your tomatoes? It might discourage critters.

Looks like the $20B escrow is all set:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/16/AR2010061602614.html

ftb, thanks for the reminder. I'll tune in to SYTYCD, but if they start the personal profiles/tongue-bathing of choreographers/other irritating, non-dancing sidecarp, I will disappear. At least Mary Murphy and her Hot Tamale Train scream is no more.

Guess I'm feeling a little cranky, too.

The costs of this leak are pretty far-reaching, into places that most likely can't be renumerated.

For example, restaurant kitchens are having a hard time already with seafood prices. A chef I recently spoke with told me that, while he understands why shrimp prices are going through the roof, other seafood prices are rising high as well.

Are menus substituting salmon for Gulf seafood, for example? Is that why prices are rising across the board?

Wow. That was some intense research (yeah, I read that fast and even worse, it sticks).

You could call that boodle: Flypaper for trolls.

Mudge schooling Ichristian was worth the PoA.

The whole thing was this Faulkner snip:

"The past is never dead. It's not even past."

The prize for ugliest involved so many entries, intense competition right there at the bottom, but I think there was a winner:

"Run along blacks! Don't you have some people that could use a little help finding a job or learning how not to get pregnat out of wedlock. Or at least ditch the no snitch...and tell somebody why Rasheed shot Juwon..."

GOOOOOOOOAAAALL!!!!!!!

Sorry. I'm just entering into the spirit of the Kit. I'm not watching the futbol, if any is being played right now. I have no idea whether any team playing may have scored, though statistically it seems unlikely. I didn't mean to get anyone's hopes up. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!

When I was growing up in OK, soccer was a communist sport. Twenty years later as my toddler son was swept into the social maw, every little kid played soccer. It was and remains the common denominator of kid sports. Go figure. I've really only ever seen bad kid soccer, but I had a friend who refereed for a long time. She was in great shape. Run up the field, run down. Run up the field, run down. Rinse, repeat.

shrink, most events like the confederacy swarm are really Rovestorms - drive-bys and single-issue commenters. One might distinguish a Boodlestorm as a more internal disagreement. They seldom happen, and there's usually a few people on the sidelines to talk folks down if things get heated. As you say, we're shockingly civil. As to your question, yes, I think Joel knows.

We have pictures of my favorite two year old boyz in soccer uniforms. Now theirs would be fun to watch, just for the laughs.

Google Rovestorm, shrink2, and see what you find. IIRC, that's when we hastily constructed the bunker, as a place of refuge. It's been upgraded since then into its present country-club atmosphere. Actually, now that I think about it, it's really more like a high-class marina club.

Many Boodlestorms are brought about when an area of low pressure, commonly referred to as a "loomis" forms a squall line as it encounters Boodle reality in the form of yello or mudge or tim or ...

Slyness, two- and three-year-olds are really fun to watch at soccer because virtually none of them grasp the concept. They'll stop, sit down, pick flowers, look at bugs, wander around the field, and run run run run whichever way, all without any real consciousness of the game. The whole "offense" and "defense" is pretty much a lost cause. You can separate out the handful of kids who want to play actual soccer, or who even understand the basics, pretty quickly.

Present company excepted, of course. I'm sure all the Boodle children (other than my own), being brilliant and talented, are in that latter category.

Ivansmom, on Telemundo it is pronounced

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!

(hombre proves circular breathing is not just for wind instrument players)

But seriously, I kinda figured that kind of dust up was not what was worryin' woofin.

Besides, when the post posts the confederate battle flag alongside the kit banner, on the front page to boot, you know you are going to get the best and the brightest from all of America's nooks an crannies. I'll bet some of those crackers even clicked away from Stormfront, just to set the record straight.

It is pretty amazing, isn't it shrink? Every once in a while I read the comments on WaPo articles just to see what is slithering around in the ooze out there. It isn't pretty, and generally involves the Caps Lock key.

My eldest figured out soccer quickly, a) if you are goalie you do not have to run, if you take the pilons that mark the goal and put them close together it makes it easy to defend and when not playing goal, pick dandelions or fake an injury so you don't have to run.

It did not take us long to realize soccer was not the game for her.

Younger sibling found it amusing to kick the ball as hard as possible and see if she could out run everyone else on the field to it - much more fun than scoring.

She doesn't play soccer anymore either :-)

Really, I think Rovestorm was the mother of all of them.

We've had several since and some larger, but that was the real Cat 5 eye-opener.

And soon we realized a need for the Bunker...

bc

The Bunker or the Boat Club Lounge?

As I was doing the research, I laughed when someone came up for air (no one farts in the bunker, surely), realized it was survivable, then asked for an iced tea and got one!

Not exactly Der Kessel at Stalingrad.

Regarding Ivansmom's implied favorable categorization of the ScienceKids as born athletes: um, no. Nor has any evidence surfaced to suggest a change in this analysis.

slyness -- a high class marina club with Kinkeads?

*rubbing the migraine just from **thinking** about it*

Woofin, Scotty, thank you for beating me to the punch.

Cassandra, I'd be pleased to help you look if you decide to go the trap and release/rescue route. There's a feral cat colony outside my building kept in check by this method and it can work well.

shrink, if you feel safe enough, write ka8wp at comcastdotnet. I won't be insulted if you use an alias account, as I am.

And, Beetlejuice!

Uruguay leading South Africa 1 - nil, closing in on the end of the first half.

It's baseball, not soccer, but the mention of taking the opportunity to pick dandelions made me think of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXVnb0wveRg

Peter, Paul and Mary: Right Field

ftb - ROTFLMAO.

Fresh Wilson & Achenbach story on the BP $20 billion and the new oil containment system.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/16/AR2010061602614.html?hpid=topnews

Soccer is the best method ever devised to get people to run wind sprints, children included. It is an excellent sport to maintain or achieve fitness. Watching it, not so much.

Cassandra, I have learned of wonderful bargains in the Mexican food sections, such as a big jar of dried cayenne pepper powder, which was so cheap one could use it to dust around the base of those tomatoes. The kitties will learn it's just a bad place to hang around. They do, after all, lick their little feet often.

We use massive doses of vayenne pepper, too, Cassandra. Keeps away chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels. To keep away deer, try using big clumps of human hair (obtainable at the barber shop).

MsJs: don't know if it means much, but 1% of everyone who picked the match had the Swiss beating the Spaniards.

Good to get out of the box and evaluate your position on issues every once in a while. I tend to think the escrow account is a good idea. Both sides save face. Do I really KNOW it is a good idea? Well, Dick Armey hates it.

Good enough for me.

There is a large neighborhood adjacent to our small one that is our adopted "community" for things like sports, playgrounds, parades & fairs, etc. They have a soccer league that is pure fun for everyone.

If you're serious about the sport, join another league. But if your kid wants to hang out with other kids and you want to hang out with other parents one night a week and Saturday mornings, this is the group for you.

The field is next to a large lake (around here we use retention lakes for our drainage) and it is a beautiful setting for said evenings and Saturday mornings. I know I made my kids play at least two seasons beyond their interest just because I loved it so much. But it was so low-key, they enjoyed it, too, nonetheless.

(Daughter has been wearing her team shirt from when she was 5 years old. It looks waaay different on her 16-year-old body than it did on her then, when it reached her knees.)

One of the cutest sights I'll ever see is two teams of 5 year olds, lined up and ready to play soccer... the coach yells, "which way are we going?" And all the kids point and scream, "THAT WAY!!!"

If World Cup soccer teams did that, I think I would enjoy the games more.

Good point TBG, and at least once during every world cup game should be a point where the crown scream - you are going the wrong way.

Steve, normally I don't agree with people from New Hampshire, but I'm right there with you on this one.

Frowning at this...

"Both sides save face."

Will that just plug the hole?
End global warming?
Eliminate cat ladies?
Save Joel from a Bazoozalas excused drug habit? [don'choo lie to me Joel, you know you know that 30 minutes to bliss]

But even if it has nothing to do with the price of tea in China, if Dick Armey hates it, I like it, its good enough for me too.

Report from Switzerland via DNAGuy:

Whereas the flushing of toilets past 10 pm is forbidden, the playing of the bazoozalas appears to be acceptable on certain nights. Tonight, to be specific (and maybe during fasnacht). Tomorrow you may be slapped with a 100 CHF fine.

Good night, South Africa -- Uruguay scores again, now 2 - nil.

Does this mean Matt Damon's been eliminated?

Rugby's scrum was invented by someone who had watched too much 5-years old playing soccer.

What do you need to keep the bears away? I starting to think the crossbow idea I floated last year makes more and more sense.

I think the vuvuzelas will drive the bears away...

Poor South Africa. Isn't that, like, an insurmountable lead?

I just realized that I may be in Germany before the World Cup is in order. This may affect my choice in apparel. Where can I get one of those spiffy USA Ralph Lauren soccer jerseys? And perhaps a Uruguay one just in case.

Well, a 3-0 lead with mere seconds left sure is, I-mom...

"Poor South Africa. Isn't that, like, an insurmountable lead?"

Don't feel bad, they don't even know what insurmountable means. After all, they eliminated apartheid without a civil war.

The bear usually comes around between 04:45 to 05:30. The neighbours may not appreciate the vuvuzela concert at potron-minet.

The Swiss got the keep the floaters around 'til 8 O' in the morning DNA Girl? They're not the cleanliness-obsessed Helvets I thought they were.

Finally, some action. "Man charged in $1.9B scheme tied to downfall of Colonial Bank" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/16/AR2010061603438.html?hpid=topnews

From Solutions (journal of sustainability)
"The Perfect Spill: Solutions for Averting the Next Deepwater Horizon"
By Robert Costanza, David Batker, John Day, Rusty Feagin, M. Luisa Martinez, Joe Roman

http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/629

This article presents the position of ecological economists who work on valuing the non market contribution of ecosystem services to our social and economic well being.

Miami Herald's Andres Oppenheimer has analyzed the possible impacts of the World Cup on South American politics. Like Colombia having its presidential runoff election on a day with two big games (Brazil-Ivory Coast and Italy-New Zealand). Should make for a lousy turnout.

Scottynuke, I'm afraid if shrieking denizen takes your advice he may be overrun with bears. According to my Pooh (the authoritative ursine reference), buzzing means bees. Bees mean honey. Bears like honey. Therefore, bears follow buzzing.

I strongly encourage you to revise your recommendation, to forestall any possibility of legal action dependent on an undesirable outcome should S.D. attempt to discourage his current bear with any loud buzzing noise.

DNAGirl, has DNAGuy told you about the doughnuts called fasnacht? (many spelling variations). In MD, you used to be able to buy this on Shrove Tuesday but they were called KINKLINGS.

Read about Kinklings in Frederick, MD here:

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?storyid=101427

If you have bears, someone is feeding them.
This is a recurring theme.

I will be sure to devour some kinklings when I go there in Aug CqP!

Kinklings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h1oRP7FfBw

The Sprink Kleen for the June Kween.

*poke*

It's not moving, TBG. Shall I call 911?

I just now figured out Jumper's post.

Poking back TBG; just resting my eyes, my eyes.

Watch out for thunderbumpers near you. Off to try to swim before mal-weather arrives.

*rushing in from the kitchen*

It's fajitafest chezMsJS. BYOB(everage) or BYOC(hair).

*rushing back to the kitchen*

*poking my head around the corner*

Must be Mexican night. I'm in the middle of making chili rellanos. Have enjoyed reading today's various and sundry postings. Join you all later . . . . .

You poke me I'll tell you why *we* never should have invaded Iraq AND how we should have cut and run, yes cut and run from Afghanistan after the Tora Bora debacle. But you did not poke me, so I won't even bring it up, won't even mention it.

Right now, I am finding Lego pieces (thanks a lot Denmark, hope your World Cup is missing a piece too), the monster turnips are peeled and I am trying to figure out how much butter and sugar it will take to introduce them back into my kids' diet.

Another great PR day for BP:

"We care about the small people"

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9GCKNAO6

Well, I guess that doesn't include me, engelmann, cuz I'm tall.

*sigh* *can't catch a break*

I am equally fed up with the full page ads in the WaPo by BP. *That* must have cost a pretty penny, so that means there will be less coinage going to the escrow account ("But we don't *have* that kind of money, sir!" *whine*).

I was thinking...(I know, stand back)...

These attempts BP made to cap the well early on...considering they were plugging some number into their equations like two teaspoons instead of a couple zillion gallons, what are the chances one of those 'fixes' would have worked (or could still work) if they just plugged the right numbers into the formula? I mean...the size of the dam I'd need to build would be different for the gutter running down the side of my property than for the Susquehanna, so it stands to reason (why doesn't reason ever sit? or dance? may gambol?) that the top hat they were trying to get to work was a better fit for Jerry (of Tom & Jerry fame) than for a noggin on Mount Rushmore. Had they used better numbers then, would we be where we are now?

Also, real nice of BP to suspend dividend payments. They're betting we don't notice that 1/they'll pay 'em, just a little later, and 2/they're still expecting to turn a profit.

A few of my "winging it... don't know any real details" on the escrow.

I bet it will NOT be set aside in any lump sum. The 20 billion is over many years. Logic says it will take years and years to quantify damages and have them sorted out legally.

I bet it will serve as a grab bag... to be eliminated completely BEFORE BP has to pay anything else out of pocket.

It will in essence serve a a time-release capsule for the medicine BP is made to take. It will drag out things and ensure their near- and mid-term solvency.

I have no real problem with any of the above if they turn out to be true.

Five billion a year over four years if Joel's reporting is accurate. Since BP can make 6 billion in profit in a quarter, this is hardly draconian. And since they were so quick to agree to $20B, my guess (using oil well math) says the real damage is $40B or more, that is if you put a price on destroying an entire already impoverished region of the country. The litmus test is if BP stock goes up or down tomorrow.

I also hope that there will be a carve-out set of provisions to ensure that BP won't get a get-out-of-jail-free card in case it decides to file for bankruptcy.

Not my area of legal specialty, so I raise that flag for those who know so much more than I do about it.

Hey... where's butlerguy been lately? You out there, butlerguy? Hope all is OK.

That's a very good question LiT. In theory, these approaches were supposed to be independent of flow rate - hence all the arguments that there was no need to release the vids.

What a better understanding of the flow magnitude might have done is force BP into making a more realistic assessment of just how unlikely it was that these techniques would actually work. I mean, in retrospect, I don't think with this much oil it was realistic to expect *any* kind of feasible "top kill" to work.

That said, I think they would have probably still slogged through all of them because they *might* have worked, and were still less risky than cutting the riser.

What they most certainly would have done, or at least should have done, had they better understood the flow magnitude is make sure that they had the proper processing capability closer by.

Coulda shoulda. Man. I've been there.

Being as simple-minded as I am, the thing about this whole disaster that still strikes me is that a relief well should have been drilled at the same time as the exploration/production well. There is nothing esoteric about that. It is established offshore protocol and best practice. So the experimental R&D nature of every other little thing they did is moot. There was a simple (but expensive) front-end measure that could have been taken, and wasn't.

So I'm less distressed that none of the back-end even more expensive emergency responses haven't worked particularly well, and very that BP's well-established propensity for shortcuts was indulged by regulators. Not even indulged, but encouraged. Feh!

You wanna know why Dick Armey is so mad? Well, besides the obvious point that no matter what happens, Obama got $20 billion in the kitty.

It puts a price tag on the risk of deep water wells. It sets a standard for costs due to negligence. It makes it more likely that oil companies and the oil industry will be held accountable for their misdeeds.

It makes the cost of doing business higher for the oil companies. All oil companies.

I bet other oil companies work quickly to get any agreement thrown out. I bet Armey lobbies as hard as possible to make that happen.

Big Rich is peeved right now. Big time.

At this moment, a certain baseball team located in a city known for its heavy manufacturing is beating the Nats 5-3 in the 3rd. This team is beloved by my favorite Judeo-Swedish attorney, who shall go nameless.

You know who you are.

"Had they used better numbers then, would we be where we are now?"

Sure. They knew the numbers then.

Many weeks ago people knew* the official flow number peoples' numbers were ridiculous**.

It is hard to argue with lyin' eyes.
But of course, there is no point to going back there to the woulda coulda shoulda.

From the day it blew***, reality was and will be generated by "professional crisis managers", pundits, judges, pushy personalities, historians, magic thinking and the noosphere.

*its an epistemology thing
**20% max bop chop flow increase meme
***yeah, the big bang, from the day the first human was conceived.

Yes, she does.

Yoki - you are quite right. The relief well is the equivalent of the concrete containment dome used in nuclear reactors. A *true* failsafe.

I-mom, I would riposte (see what I did there?) that the buzzing is an artifact of the broadcast process, and that an up-close-and-personal vuvuzela serenade would be highly unlikely to remind a bear of honey.

But I've been wrong before.

:-)

We need to glom on to this vuvuzela thing.. but make it American.

I say that they hand out plastic recorders to the entire gallery at the US Open and have them constantly play Hot Cross Buns while the golfers are playing.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaactually, RD_P...

The relief well would be the equivalent of the backup coolant sources and pumps in case the normal coolant paths are interrupted. I would say the collection effort is the closest analog to a containment building -- but nowhere near as effective, of course. :-)

Duly noted Scottnuke sir!

The point, of course, is that the nuclear industry takes back-up plans and failsafe systems extremely seriously. It's time the deep water drilling industry does as well.

A good Top 10 goals recap from the 2002 World Cup.

I'll disagree with the ranking. The #3 is just sick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3tnIF65EhM

"up-close-and-personal vuvuzela serenade"

...and another googlenope bites the dust.

Well, I'm certainly not going to step in between two beaootiful Boodle-men while they are up their hind legs, but the point is every industry has protocol, and in this case it wasn't followed.

Ye gods, I am terrible. The #2 is the sick goal. I gotta fire my editor. The reverse-direction header was also very pretty.

Although I note that "vuvuzela serenade" by itself has a number of instances. People are strange.

shrink - you might be right. I do not claim omniscience when it comes to those involved.

My concern, though, is that fixating on what a bunch of lyin' thievin' el bastardos them BP folks might be misses the point. There were specific policy choices that led to this disaster, and dealing with and correcting those policies is the most important thing. Hence my admiration of Yoki's point.

Look, to me this is sort of like when a kid is playing with his pappy's gun and accidentally shoots his sister in the foot.

Sure, maybe he tries to hide it. Maybe he tries to minimize just how much blood he sees seeping out. Maybe he even tries to fix it himself before fessing up and calling in a grownup to help. And all of these are unacceptable behaviors.

But the big issue is that maybe, just maybe, he shouldn't have been playing with firearms to begin with.

'zackly, RD_P. The gun should have been in a locked case, and the ammunition stored far away, divorced from the gun.

Of course, there is no reason to have a gun in the house in any case.

It is right *here* that Error Flynn would start arguing with me. I miss him, and think of my friend every day.

Oh yes. I am sure that EF would point out that when guns are outlawed, only Groundhogs will have guns.

Or something.

I miss him too. Three years gone this fall.

The musical accompaniment makes the 1998 goal montage better.

Like the Bergkampf (sp?) goal the best here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m88Ql9w5rJQ

S2, yeah, they knew the numbers were bogus. But that's different than getting the right number at the get-go. Or as soon thereafter as possible.

Reality is the well is still leaking. Pundits aren't robbing that train. We all care greatly that the past efforts didn't work as well as expected. I find it a bit of a stretch to think that a whole bunch of people decided that it was prudent to do several somethings at great cost with no chance at success just for a bump in public image. One thing BP knew the day it blew was that whistleblowers are going to come out of the woodwork. They're not looking to add to that.

The point of going back to coulda woulda shoulda is to not do it again. Drilling a relief well at the same time seems like a good idea, but is it best practices the way it's best practices to check the air in your tires every time you go to take a drive? If not, treble damages sounds fair.

Nicely said, RD and Yoki. That's a very neat point. It is easy, particularly for legal nitpicker types, to get so caught up in all the subsequent mistakes that we accept as past history the initial error. They shoulda followed protocol and best practices, and drilled the relief well contemporaneously. It is hugely important that BP be held accountable for this, to reinforce the lesson for other oil companies working in deep water or just offshore. Don't skip the early, obvious stuff, even if it is time-consuming and expensive.

Scottynuke, I suppose the only way to settle the vuvuzuela/bear attraction question is with a live test, but I don't volunteer. Anyone?

More bears.

Steveb, I like the kazoo thing. Blame it on Tiger.

Used to be, no matter what time or day I was working, I could scare up a school friend who was also working. Tonight, not so much. I will suggest to the Ops manager tomorrow that scheduling the new guy alone on a security patching night is not a best practice.

I think the rapid establishment of the escrow account makes last night's speech better. I'm hoping more action items are in progress.

I drive by Error's exit once in a while. Remember SNL's "you're from Jersey? Me too. What exit?" I miss seeing him here.

Have there been enough goals in the 2010 World Cup to compile a Top Ten?

SCC: recorders.

I have only one thing to say

Gooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllll.

well 2 things Hello everybody

Gooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllll.

"I find it a bit of a stretch to think that a whole bunch of people decided that it was prudent to do several somethings at great cost with no chance at success just for a bump in public image."

Yes I agree. No one thought doing the wrong thing was right. The problem was, there was no one to say No! Echo chamber etc. But this has all been argued other places. The die is cast.

I said this to one of my best Boodle-friends, on the weekend.

"I'm enchanted by all my A-blog friends' disappointment in low-scoring games. It just seems so American!" Goal-oriented or what?

"But this has all been argued other places."

Sorry to bother you.

Good evening, all.

Good discussion of the Gulf situation this evening.

Is the $20B escrow is going to be enough? My confidence in BPs ability (and possibly motivation) to provide even ballpark estimates involving scale and scope and volume is quite low at the moment.

Interesting comparison to an accidental shooting, RD.

Sorry -- just got queasy there, thinking of Tony Hayward asking, "Who's your Daddy?"

bc

dbG, I was going to suggest kazoos earlier myself. So much easier for everyone to play, doncha know.

"when a kid is playing with his pappy's gun and accidentally shoots his sister in the foot"

Who is the kid, who is the pappy and who is the sister? Don't bother, unless you, lost in thought want to, do you want to argue about this?

Wow. And I apologized. No good deed goes unpunished...unless it's in some alternate reality with pundits and magic.

Have a happy night all.

Boodle-note to a noob: yes, probably, shrink2. I deeply love and admire LiT and always have, but that's a feisty one. When that human punches you (Punch! Punch!) you know it is taking you seriously.

It is when LiT ignores you that you should watch your back.

And LostinThought is the loving full-time parent of the delightful DC. So you know it is good.

ripples in a pond
are but a stones throw away;
still, loaded stones sink

Thank you Yoki. Honest to goodness, I have a real question in there that I probably didn't convey all that well, didn't realize was covered previously (sorry), and really didn't appreciate being flipped off about it. Oh well. Bigger things happened today. (DC took a spill off her bike today...first time with a fair amount of blood gushing out of her arm (and a nice road rash on her thigh) without crying. My little girl is growing up!!!! (The grown ones call on Sundays/when they need something (T1 a decent meal, T2 tuition.))

Planning on hitting this bottle of wine again. Can I pour you a glass?

I may be quick to throw a punch (some habits die a slow death), but I'm pretty fair.

LiT passing you my metal tall glass from my house growing up. Poor me a tall white one, and I will kiss your feet.

I want to feel the condensation sweat up the glass and truly feel cool.

The fireflies this night and last are not on the lawn; they are in the trees! Sourwood (Tupelo) and the huge craggy white oak....and a flawed locust but I shall forgive the thorns this evening.

Thanx.

You are most welcome, dear LiT! #2 usually calls for money, too.

As fair as fair can be.

LiT, I'm sorry for DC's spill. When the Boy injured himself, especially when he was little, I'd always comfort him by pointing out there was no blood. This helped him get perspective, but made it difficult when there *was* blood.

LiT, I'm sorry for DC's spill. When the Boy injured himself, especially when he was little, I'd always comfort him by pointing out there was no blood. This helped him get perspective, but made it difficult when there *was* blood.

CqP, funny, you don't know how much I needed to read your last mention about the fireflies. So many people talk about "the way it used to be" as they tell you of social engineered fantacies, but I like those really simple and natural impressions that we have had in the country.

I live with way too much cement in my life. Cement and clocks.

Whoops. Sorry.
I realized that our tree frogs (cicadas) are so loud that they resemble a vuvazuela. Good thing we don't have any bears here.
Or else Scottynuke is right, and the buzzing discourages bears.
It is all in how you look at it.

Holy smokes!

"And I apologized."

When you said you were sorry to have bothered me, I thought you were being sarcastic. Now I am the sorry one.

Keep up the good deeds.

And I'm sure we agree, loaded stones sink unless you believe in alternate reality and magic.

CqP, I also have tall metal glasses and use them to feel cool in the hot summers. We've had fireflies here for a month at least, June bugs too. When the Boy was small and his city friends slept over, I'd chase them all out to catch fireflies. Poor kids, we had to do a tutorial first. They were also startled by the tree frog noise.

When the Boy was very small, and tended to worry about the Unknown, I told him that good witches lived in our trees to protect us. When I was a girl we left them milk in acorn cups (kind of like cookies for Santa, I suppose).

shrink2,
LiT always means exactly what she says, nothing more and nothing less. And when she speaks, you should listen. She is the E. F. Hutton of the boodle.

Well, thanks for telling me...too late for then but soon enough for tomorrow. I am going to have to unlearn some habits...

IMom, I guess the recent floods really set off the frogs. You know boy looking for girl except there are several hundred boys.
When I was young the low lot next to our house used to flood. Spring nights were kinda like a vuvazuela except lower tone.

Fireflies will keep me back East. All the charms of Montana do not touch the flitting and flash of these gentle and endangered creatures. Look up, young ones; Look UP.

----
Poem of looking West and longing and a bit of the macabre in it too:

Luke Havergal

Go to the western gate, Luke Havergal,

There where the vines cling crimson on the wall,

And in the twilight wait for what will come.

The leaves will whisper there of her, and some,

Like flying words, will strike you as they fall;

But go, and if you listen she will call.

Go the western gate, Luke Havergal—

Luke Havergal.

No, there is not a dawn in eastern skies

To rift the fiery night that's in your eyes;

But there, where western glooms are gathering,

The dark will end the dark, if anything:

God slays Himself with every leaf that flies,

And hell is more than half of paradise.

No, there is not a dawn in eastern skies—

In eastern skies.

Out of a grave I come to tell you this,

Out of a grave I come to quench the kiss

That flames upon your forehead with a glow

That blinds you to the way that you must go.

Yes, there is yet one way to where she is,

Bitter, but one that faith may never miss.

Out of a grave I come to tell you this—

To tell you this.

There is the western gate, Luke Havergal,

There are the crimson leaves upon the wall.

Go, for the winds are tearing them away,—

Nor think to riddle the dead words they say,

Nor any more to feel them as they fall;

But go, and if you trust her she will call.

There is the western gate, Luke Havergal— Luke Havergal.

E.A. Robinson

LiT and Imom, your consoling words for your young ones' reminded me of what I used to say when boo-boos and blood appeared ----- "It'll feel better soon". I wasn't a lie and, with hugs and bandaids, seemed to work miracles.

CqP, we had zillions of fireflies in the trees tonight, too. We called them lightning bugs when I was a kid. I can still feel those warm evenings of chasing them barefoot in the grass to capture them in jars. We always wanted to keep them as bedside nightlights but Mother convinced us to release them humanely.

Fireflies in Kansas were jigger bug decoys.

I miss the fireflies (we called them lightning bugs too), but I love the West too much to want to leave. Now when I visit back East, I'm surprised by the humidity, the bugs, and the birds. And the noise and the traffic and the congestion. Along with the vast undeveloped areas that still exist.

I am *so* frenvious of the fireflys. Those were some of my best childhood moments, capturing. Napanee, c. 1965.

Yanno, guys, not any one of us has the exact same relationship to any other of us.

I'm sure shrink can figure his own way around (and we around him as well) without a lot of translation. Just like almost all of us did.

I think a lot of us like shrink and want to avoid misunderstandings, but that's life. We'll deal with it.

Maybe. [Redacted.] I'm very proud that I deleted that.

Now this nails it. How could I have not know where it is.
Greater Napanee (2001 population 15,132) is a town in Lennox and Addington County in the Eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada and is approximately 40 kilometres or 24.8 miles west of Kingston. It is located on the eastern end of the Bay of Quinte. The present municipality known as Greater Napanee was created by amalgamating the old Town of Napanee with the townships of Adolphustown, North and South Fredericksburgh, and Richmond in 1999.

Yoki, write what you want. If you need to write you redacted, that's not really redacting.

I could have told you that, bh. I have a place in Riverside Cemetary, in old Napanee. But only when the time comes. Not for a long while yet.

My Grandma was the country clerk for Lennox & Addington.

I expect Loomis to show up any day now. And stab me through the heart.

That's what you redacted? :)

That's what you redacted? :)

I'm standing on the edge of a cliff listening to the echoes.

pish posh, yoki. i have a doll that is purposed precisely to keep bad spirits away. i'm not called voodoo jack for nothin, yanno.

Not very successfully, obviously.

Voodoo jack!

I like that.

No worries -dbG- less is sometimes more.

True:

"If you need to write you redacted, that's not really redacting."

But it is a lot better than not redacting.

No one wants to say something they might later have to regret or deny. I'll leave Reality to the experts at toxic message flow control, but still, I'd said, if you cut off the crimped redaction pipe, the toxic message would increase a whole lot more than 20%.

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/html/Enterprise_ROV_2.html

Letting it all out is a mistake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhKHAopx7D0

Good night, Boodle.

Anybody read anything by Clay Shirky? I heard him on the local NPR station today, talking about the age of the internet, and about how much TV Americans watch, even now. He's got interesting ideas about social media, groups - but I'm too tired to do more than skim right now.

Y'all have a nice night, don't let the fireflies bite...

a moniker from a years ago when i first moved to the QC. back in the mid eighties, when the Cubs were hot, my roommate and i would put up a display of Cubs cards and do a ritual bowing in honour of the good guys. then, we'd take turns driving push pins through key players on the opposing team; pitcher's elbows and te like. it worked. the Cubs were NL champs in '84. i continued the practice after moving to clt, and came into the circle of people that collectively manned the helm at wgsp, rock n' roll radio. even had the occasional guest seat as voodoo jack, and garnered a feature in the observer for my troubles. this song has been running through my head, and i can't even dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjsN7RbrsU0

"toxic message flow control."

There you go.

*getting one of those Magic Erasers and backBoodling a bit to remove that "L" word*

:-)

bc!! *waving*

I don't recall being up on my hind legs earlier (nor do I recall being beautiful, but nevermind), that was more my "Cliff Clavin" impression. RD_P and I have an understanding, donchaknow.

I-mom, perhaps we could drop Mr. Hayward into a bear preserve with a vuvuzela as a test. Although I think 'Mudge might prefer Ann Coulter.

How's rainforest doing, anyway?

Error in '08, always. *SIGH*

*it-really-is-too-early-for-all-this-but-whadda-ya-gonna-do Grover waves* :-)

Scotty, here is your chance to design a deepwater well emergency fill system. Automatically pumps pressurized drilling mud into the well in the event of loss of the BOP. Heck, you could even borate the mud.

Of course, you could just design a better emergency shutoff valve at the top of the BOP. That would make the emergency fill redundant and only in need during an.... emergency?

Raise your hand if you thought the first team to basically punch its ticket to the next round would be.... Uruguay. They are basically through due to goal differential.

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Good morning, friends. About the kitties, thanks a bunch for the suggestions. I've used some stuff I bought at the store to try and keep them from the tomatoes and other plants, but with so much rain, it simply washes it away.

I hesitate to call animal control because the neighbor's health is not good, and the only joy she seems to have is taking care of the cats, and I'm just hard pressed to take that away. I love cats too, and don't want them to die. I like tomatoes, but have never been able to really grow them. Nothing has changed.

Thanks again for your help. We'll work something out. One neighbor does have a fence around her plants. Doesn't really help because cats can walk the ramp and still get in. They're looking for soft dirt, we mostly have grass.

Have a great day, folks, and love to all.

Slyness, it is hot, hot, here. Everyday.

Frankly, steveboyington, I'd rather design a rig that could hit those offshore deposits from ONshore, yanno? :-)

Good morning all

Ivansmom you call cicadas tree frogs, I have not heard that before, cicadas will be busy here on the weekend as the heat and humidity are moving in - working outside Saturday expected humidex 104 - not to self bring water.

Tonight is my venture to the city to see Rufus Wainwright should be interesting I am only a little familiar with his music, it will also be interesting to see the prep for the G20 up close. We are taking the commuter train into the city, the same public transit they have been advising people take during the summit due to the expected traffic chaos, however said transit is advising people pack a snack and drinks due to expected delay in service due to security and closures, just not too many drinks as the washrooms on the trains are closed to the public during the summit for security purposes.

I really believe that events like this should be held in places where they won't interfere with the general public - who are fenced out and have no access anyways.

Lit, hope DC is feeling better today.

And can we please give Svanberg the non-native English-speaking benefit of the doubt about the "small people" comment? *SIGH*

'morning all. This bear preseve on toast is tempting Scottynuke.

Jeepers. Don't you people sleep? Heck. If I don't get in at least eight hours I end up all cranky. Of course, sometimes I end up cranky anyway, but at least it is a well-rested cranky.

And poor Joel is probably wondering why he even bothered with a whimsical kit when we all end up kvetching about the oil spill anyway.

But back to Soccer. I am told by my son that the odds against a Swiss victory over the Spaniards was 250 to 1. Wow. Just goes to show that things everyone thinks are really unlikely still happen.

You know, like a BOP failure.

So Scottynuke, that would be drinking your milkshake from really, really, *really* far away.

Egggggggggggggggggggggg-zactly, RD_P. :-)

Korea strikes back and we have a good soccer game.

Good morning, all.

It's hot here, too, Cassandra. I pulled weeds yesterday, in the shade, until I was so wet that I was slipping off the rubber mat I was sitting on. Coming inside was a good feeling.

My favorite twin boyz are coming for lunch, I've got to toddler-proof the house.

And I have just learned that the sound of a vuvuzela is dominated by 465Hz and 235Hz signals. (From an acoustics standpoint it is interesting that these aren't exact multiples. This might explain why this sound is so grating and insect-like.)

Anyway, if you can manage to feed your audio through something with an equalizer and can notch those two out you are supposed to be able to greatly attenuate the sound.

But then, of course, you won't be getting the full South African Soccer Experience

And Argentina's still up 2-1 over S. Korea with about a half-hour left.

LET'S GO LAKERS!! !!! by 5.

Scotty, do you actually follow futbol or are you posting scores as a public service for those of us who are soccer impaired? Just curious ;-)

A better than expected day here, the sun is out and the humidity is rising. I think I should get out and weed the veggies today as the weekend promises to be hotter.

Absolutely I follow it, Sneaks. Played it for years growing up, lived in Germany through a couple of World Cups. I enjoy the matches, even the scoreless draws.

:-)

A very nice article on redundant safety measures:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/16/AR2010061605325.html?hpid=topnews

Now 3-1 Argentina.

Yes, RD_P, I agree, nice article. :-)

Good morning, y'all.

Warm muffins, coffee and OJ on the table.

Jack, regarding your 1:10. The Cubs were NL East champs in 1984, but lost to the Padres in the League Championship round. Not that it mattered who won the NL pennant that year cuz no one was going to beat the Tigers in the World Series.

I'm gratified that the second matches of the round robin phase are higher scoring. I fully admit to the need for more points.

Any of you wandered over to check out WaPo's cartoonist contest? It doesn't have a front page link (ahem, Mr. A, is there a good reason why?) but some of the entries are kinda cute.
http://views.washingtonpost.com/cartoonist/

Good morning, Boodlies!

Yesterday morning Chile played agsinst Honduras at 07:30 local time.

Restaurants and schools opened early, businesses opened late. On a frigid, rainy morning people gathered outdoors to watch the game on giant TV screens.

The noly people remaining on their jobs were thousands of police ready to quell riots.

President Piñera traveled south to watch the game together with earthquake victims.

The TV screens at the Metro stations showed the game.

Chile won 1-0. Street celebrations were brief as people went to work.

Next game is Monday against Switzerland. This time at 11:00. Restaurants again will open early.

Brag

Argentina is finally getting its futbal legs, 4-1 over South Korea. Hat trick for Higuain. The South Korean who scored in his own goal is probably happy not to have to return home and face his Dear Leader like his Northern cousins would have to.

Having back-boodled a bit, I can *definitely* say to Mudge that, indeed, I *do* know who I am and can proudly (yet, somehow, respectfully (*snort*)) say: GO TIGERS!

So, did anybody see SYTYCD last night? I mean, it is what it is, but there was some pretty fine dancing going on. The younger ones couldn't quite pull off the emotional parts of the routines, but the standout was clearly Alex. Other than that, really, it's become pretty boring.

My African brother has informed me that instead of staying with me for two days next week, it will be for the entire week. Gotta go get food!!!!

That would be the Canadian Alex :-).

Hey we are terrible at soccer must cheer for something.

S'nuke,
On slow experiment afternoons I'll be wandering over to find a classroom with cable feed that I'm sure international grad students have taken over to watch games.
I love my job!

Good morning all.

S2, No harm no foul on my end. Hope yours too. Dusted myself off and moved on. (Standard around here...DC was on her bike before 8 am).

Have a happy day all.

Watching the hearings with Tony Hayward, in his opening statement some dufus congressperson named Barton apologized to Hayward for the 20 billion dollar 'shakedown' our government imposed. I should not be surprised, he's from TX and he's a rethuglican, but he apologized to BP for pete's sake. Grrrrrr!

Good morning, all.

I do feel a little bad about my Tony Hayward comment last night - he's a guy put into a tough situation, and every misstep he's made has been magnified. And Svanberg - I agree, Scottynuke - my Swedish will never be as good as his English, and his clumsy word choice wasn't all that bad compared to what I'd probably deliver were I trying to say the same thing in Swedish. Probably end up on a 'no-fly' list or something.

Not trying to say BP isn't wrong, made tragic mistakes, and may in fact be liable both civilly and criminally, but I'd rather encourage these guys to communicate and talk, rather looking to parse every syllable, looking for fresh meat. Seems to me that this kind of thing will make them communciate less rather than more.

My $.02.

bc

PS, I'm really digging the fireflies this year, though they're making interesting patterns on my windshield during night transits... like my own personal temporary planetarium.

Nigeria leading 1-0 over Greece early in the 1st half.

My understanding is Nigeria has a reasonably competitive team.

BP's wrongheaded perps allegedly took these shortcuts and perversely adhered to a casing and cement program obviously insufficient when overtaken by the incidents and conditions actually seen while drilling. To then begin to speak about "the schedule" was simply murderous. I remain enraged. Dear lord, let me remain free from ever working for such vicious criminal punks. Right now, though, I'm working under the impression that nowadays even blatant murder - far beyond mere negligence - is now legal if big corporations do it. This is madness.

Dmd, you always make me laugh.

Who do you like in Toddlers and Tiaras? (it's so horrifying yet I can't look away when I put it on by mistake.)

Although I love, love going into work late, I'm less fond of working late the night before. I'm with RD, sleep is underrated in my view.

Thanks for breakfast. It was great.

Morning all...

I don't know what amazes me more here: that there's such a thing as Colored Bacon or that there's a website called Bacon Today...

http://bacontoday.com/colored-bacon/

While I am always sympathetic to those who attempt to communicate in some language other than their native tongue, BP could have done many things along the way to have made the understandable gaffe more forgivable.

Hmm. Scrapple only comes in one color.

Maybe someone just likes owning websites? :)

Did anyone just hear Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) quote BP saying they would "focus like a laser"?

It did NOT sound like the world "focus" if you ask me. I was shocked at her language at first, but then realized it's exactly what BP's doing right now.

Jumper, I agree with you and LiT that those working the problem - BP and contractors, the US Government, etc. - probably took some actions (or didn't in some cases) that were inappropriate or incorrect if the real volumes, flow and conditions at the Blowout Preventer and riser were known.

bc

*looking for a tissue with which to clean my keyboard after reading TBG's 10:47*

Nigeria and Greece tied 1-1 at the half. Wonder if they're serving Bacon Explosion in the locker rooms?

:-)

*wondering if this World Cup update will make it past the Wirty Dird Filter*

Shittu fouls Kyrgiakos

:-)

Wonder if coloured bacon will be as popular as purple and green ketchup, which make a brief appearance here, not unlike "New Coke".

Re Toddlers and Tiaras, haven't watched that much recently - saving for a day when I am having a less than stellar mom day, in comparison I am sure I will look better :-)

Actually, I was referring to the entire sequence that led up to it, since one could barely engineer an unstoppable spill as effectively if one tried to do it on purpose. I'm not right no top of this like I was in past days, but leaving out the centralizers knowingly, (which I learned about only recently) in a weak geological formation, with a skimpy cement program, poorly performed, with new cement formula, not allowed to set the proper time, and no ensuing bond log, following a half-immobilized BOP from the getgo, further followed by inadvertent casing movement through the BOPs and rubber from it seen on the mudscreens, and no pit volume measurement when offloading mud which was protested in the first place by some on the rig.

But the schedule was the important thing.

I have a similar list of what happened after they lost it.

They will botch the relief well kill effort as well.

Good morning, y'all.

My focus this day is decidedly un-laserlike as residents of chez talitha move in rarely converging orbits. A badly constructed venn diagram seems more like it.

I took MsJS's advice and spent considerable time over at the comics contest. The commentary was more fun than most of the entries. I'm pleased that my favorite accords with someone (ahem) whose opinion I value highly.

Wishing a peaceful boodle day to all . . .

Badly Constructed Venn Diagram is still available as a Boodle handle, BTW...

Not showing an iota of interest in Botched Relief Well, though.

The motivations of those who caused Chernobyl were, in the last analysis, "to see what would happen."

talitha, I'm glad you popped over to take a peek.

Since the contest is staged to attract new readers, it's basically a popularity contest. I'm hoping my fave, who is a college senior, can mobilize her college networks to vote in her favor.

Greece leads Nigeria, 2-1, about 15 minutes left.

TBG, control yourself, please. :-)

She's the one, MsJS. Can't wait to see the second round.

I'd remove my last bombastic Chernobyl remark if I could.

Bailey's dog was finally located by me last night, down at the junkyard, locked in with the other junkyard dog. "Well, if his goal in life is to be a junkyard dog rather than live with me, c'est la vie" is how Bailey put it after I told of finding him and we walked over there to say hello to him behind the fence.

Of course he was recovered this morning when they opened the gates.

The Dear Leader is no doubt lecturing his beloved people about the degeneracy of the South Korean team as compared to the Democratic People's Republic team.

In the book department, it was fun using Google Preview to check out Massimo Pigliucci's new "Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science From Bunk"--really nice discussion of methodological naturalism.

"The Everglades Handbook: Understanding the Ecosystem, Third Edition" is out. It quickly resolve a pesky question: the Everglades as a sheet flow ecosystem fed only by rain (not by streams coming from adjacent uplands) is unique. By comparison, Okefenokee Swamp in southeastern Georgia also has very little input from uplands and is an extremely low-nutrient peat bog, but it mostly lacks sheet flow.

Sad note, the passing of a famous Canadian, Maureen Forrester.

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/theatre/story/2010/06/16/maureen-forrester.html?ref=rss

Maureen Forrester was an awesome contralto. Breathtaking.

Contralto? Isn't he on Brazil?

This latest thread reminds me of a weather scroll I saw on a local news station the other day:

"Tuesday: Scat showers/t-storms with high winds, 80/66."

I'm not sure I have an umbrella strong enough to withstand something like that that. Would probably want a suit of armor, preferably washable.

Caught a few highlights from the Greece/Nigeria match and noted that the Nigerian keeper mishandled a ball, leading to the go-ahead goal. Maybe that's the story of this first round, The Importance of Being Goalie, or, Wrap That Rascal.

bc

Many wildlife biology people think washing oiled birds, using them for photo (pr)ops and returning them to "the wild" is unethical since the survival rate to breeding (the only outcome that matters to the birds) is ~1% and the terrified/suffering rate is of course 100%, particularly for the 99% that don't make it. Yes, the alternative is to put them down, but that wouldn't fit the prepared for the worst, focused like a laser, we care about the creatures, doing everything we can ad nauseum narrative.

In this case in particular, there is no more "the wild" as these animals are territorial and they will try to return to the same place and do the same things that got them oiled in the first place. They do not relocate as a result of learning a lesson.

LiT, that problem happens all the time between strangers using keyboards. I really didn't want to waste your time. Why? I can get very screedy very fast and that, I have been told, is tiresome. Then, when you said, sorry for wasting my time, I thought, huh? someone here actually wants to get into the weeds on who knew what when about flow rates, etc? I was flippant. You felt flipped off, then I knew I shat the bed, sorry for the miscue no worries at all.

Back to the screed...I am continuously offended by the UC web site propaganda.

There is Salazar cheerfully mugging at the "local" fisherman with "his catch".

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deepwaterhorizonresponse/4704921680/

Turtle rehab?...echt zum kotzen*.

*truly, it makes me want to puke

Go ahead, TBG, you know you want to say it.

bc

bc, I'll get to work on that washable suit of armor right away. (CqP collaboration?)
Perhaps knitted ultrasuede-strip chainmail with a dash of lame thrown in for reflectivity?

I'm glad the Greeks won, the Greeks haven't won much on the world stage in a long time. Too bad for Nigeria though, talk about oil spills, Shell in Nigeria makes our BP charlatans look like pikers.

I liked the same cartoonist, dmd and MsJS. It was the only one that consistently made me laugh. I especially liked Fancy Humour.

What horrible navigation for that contest, though. I never did find the judges' commentary on the strips.

Opa!

Hayward: "I don't know", "I was not involved in that decision", "I don't recall" - good grief he's a British Alberto Gonzales!

They're not liking Mr. Hayward much at this hearing.

Patterns, patterns

http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/04/migration-moving-wealthy-interactive-counties-map.html

LTL

Soccer is one of those 'journey not destination' sports. It translates poorly to stat obsessed north americans. You can walk off the pitch with your head swimming with the memory if dribbles, traps, tackles and nausea inducing sprints to the point you can't remember the score.

One of my fondest game memories is watching (Dutch) Marc Overmars battle (Italian) Paolo Maldini up and down a touch line for 45 minutes. There were no goals, just pure speed skill and effort foccused over and over again on getting a cross in or stopping it.

So much of the fine play is in the build up that teams can almost forget to or how to score (see Spain yesterday). The only serious complaint of most fans is that the scoring is so rare that simple luck can turn the final result sometimes, but for some, the underdog having that faint hope is part of the beauty.

Sit and watch (like curling or cricket) don't read about it is all I can recommend.

TBG, navigation on the comic contest gave me fits, too. Try this ---

1- Under "meet our top 10" click "check out their work"
2- Click boldface name to get to their page
3- Click underlined title of their comic
4- Click "what the judges had to say"
(civilian comments should be under judges' comments)

My navigation skills are pedestrian at best but that worked for me.

You rarely get a chance to see a real honest-to-goodness fool in his element. Thank you, Joe Barton.

I bet his popularity skyrocketed today in his district. Vive la difference?

The vive la difference is NOT intended to be a shot at women; in my mind, the difference is between vertebrates and invertebrates.

Reporting that RDP is alive and able to take nourishment. Met for lunch. And, now I understand entropy in both closed and open systems. Enthalpy is up next.

DNAGirl, this PhD comic on desk entropy is for you:
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=575

Yep, we're an enthalpic bunch around here, very attuned to each other...

Oh, wait...

Is there a futbol game I can sit down and watch?

I survived the onslaught of the boyz. They were really good, both ate a good lunch (Chic Fil A) and ran around the den and sunroom happily. The only bad moment was when P stumbled and fell, about four inches short of the raised brick hearth. Whew!

Onward to make chocolate cupcakes for the eldest niece's graduation party. It will be nonstop family all weekend.

Tony Kennon, mayor of Orange Beach, AL, on today's livechat speaking to the "small people" remark -----

"He can call me small, he can call me a midget, he can call me a tiny dancer, I don't care, just write the check and get it in our pockets."

CqP & RD - I can appreciate desk entropy, and am an active participant in systems that appear entropic but are actually geologic formations for accretative accumulation and storage of information. I can sift through the layers quickly and retrieve what I want in moments.

Paper plate tectonics? Maybe.

Also somewhat reminiscient of black hole information theory and entropic conditions there, and controlled Hawking and other radiation releases.

bc

qgaliana, I've tried watching. Sound on, sound off, it doesn't matter. Still can't get into it. If I'm a stats-obsessed North American, so be it.

Slyness, I'm glad the twins had fun. We had bleu cheeseburgers here. Yum!

qgaliana, 62.4 percent of Americans disagree that we are stats-obsessed, and have a 16-3 record to back them up. Meanwhile, 28.7 percent agree, but they are only 3 for 13 in their opinions. Another 6.8 percent replied "Don't know/don't care," as they have in a shocking 19 percent of all surveys and questionnaires. The remainder replied, "42," an answer that appears in approximately .036 percent of all surveys giving open-ending choices.

I am in the 17% undecided.

Too funny Mudge.

Mudge.. you know, of course that 47% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

Just because. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SnxaNt64PE

47 percent? Really? Who would do such a thing?

So it is the Mexicans versus the French.

Who do the conservatives want to lose more?

And you forgot the respondents who gave 110% effort.

80% of the made-up statistics are made by 20% of the respondents.

What MsJS said, even though soccer is basically hockey played on foot with no sticks and no checking. Re: the lack of scoring--do they have the neutral-zone trap in soccer?

They should have played the Mexico-France game early last month.

:-)

And now the Miami Herald's Argentine columnist Andres Oppenheimer is hopeful about Americans' increasing enthusiasm for soccer. He also points out potential diplomatic benefits:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/17/1684902/at-last-americans-becoming-soccer.html

The Supreme Court ruled that Florida rules providing for state ownership of renourished portions of beaches don't constitute "taking" in terms of the US Constitution. But Justice Scalia's opinion seems aimed at identifying every possible situation where there might be a taking. Guidance, I guess, for whoever wants to bring the next takings suit.

Oh, there's checking in soccer, Raysmom -- generally called tackling. *waving*

Is that legal, Soctty?

*channeling Lou Grant: "Wanna call a cop?*

Here's video of Rep Barton's "shakedown" remarks. Even Tony Hayward is looking like, "Is this guy for real?"

Mike Weir (a Canuckistani) leads the U.S. Open.

It's very early in the US Open (golf), but Canadian Mike Weir has the lead after 16 holes at -3.

Mr. Woods tees off @ 1:16pm Pacific time. Phil Mickelson is at +4 through 14.

*feeling very smug about getting that in before the inevitable golf kit*

SCC: Scotty

*pasting the big "L" on my forehead*

I'm not aware of any anti-waving ordinance, Raysmom. :-)

Actually, a bad tackle will draw a foul and sometimes a free kick -- sorta equivalent to minor hockey penalties. Serious fouls draw a yellow card, perhaps like a game misconduct? Red cards (ejections) are for two yellows in a game or truly dangerous fouls. Not sure what the hockey equivalent would be.

Mike Weir is a big hero in my family, good luck to him, a fine representative of this country, and has a great winery in the area as well.

France and Mexico scoreless at halftime.

The Republican dumpster fire, yep, still burning, still stinking...

"The top Republican in the House, Representative John Boner* of Ohio, has also disavowed Mr. Barton’s comments that the president’s meeting with BP this week was a “$20 billion shakedown.”

Under questioning at his weekly briefing, Mr. Boner said he was pleased that the oil company was being held accountable for the spill, before declaring that he did not agree with his counterpart from Texas."
NYT

*Man Tan's silent letters removed, this is America, we speak English.

The Franco-Mexican War!!! Now there was a war you could sink your teeth into. I missed all but the last two years, due to the American Civil War. And Empress Carlota! Now there was a Brussels sprout I liked (she was Belgian, yanno). I got invited to the coronation, but couldn't go since I was tied up covering Banks and the Red River Campaign (you never saw such a mess in your life). Don't get me started.

Oh yeah.. I can't believe I forgot the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvKZh3EY9S4&feature=player_embedded#!

Yeah and if it weren't for that war and Benito Juarez, the first of many Mexican citizen soldier/liberators, we wouldn't have an obscure excuse to get soused on Sauza on Cinco de Mayo. His army crushed crazy Carlota's legions in 1852. You want to hear about how crazy Charlotte was (that was her real name, changed after Napoleon III installed her and her husband as Mexican Empress and Emperor)?

Well, she was crazy about me, shrink2, but that's all I'm gonna tell.

*laughing* shrink... that's what we call him in our house, too.

Mexico scores first.

That link is one of most devilish things you have done in a long time, Mudge. I may have to (NO... must.. fight..) (sigh) watch Glee.

In case anybody gets upset about my speak English joke, it was a send up of this Republican's position on the topic.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/28/we-speak-english-ad-watch_n_555928.html

Don't worry, I've already been to (mandatory of course and yes, I've got my pdf certs to vouch for my attendance, if not my wakefulness) Diversity and more recently, Inclusiveness trainings.

2-0 for Mexico on a penalty. Domenech is soooo gone.

Politics: the last arena for name-calling, bullying, and general buffoonery.

If we brought back the old insult comics, maybe we wouldn't have so much rank amateur talent out there running for office.

Diversity and inclusiveness. Good ideas, but I still wonder how Sonia Sotomayor managed to catch the attention of the admissions staff at a university that had just ceased to be all-male and seemingly mostly country-club.

c'mon, jumper hold on! it's ok to live in a glee-free zone.

After her McEmpire began to fall apart, Carlota went crackers. Balmy I tell you.

In Rome (there to beg for help from the Pope) she decided an organ grinder on the street was a Mexican Colonel in disguise and from then on, spies where everywhere, trying to poison her. For awhile, she ate only oranges and nuts, checking the peels and shells carefully for evidence of tampering. She made her coachman stop at Trevi fountain, to obtain water that could not have been poisoned. In her hotel suite, she had chickens tied to the furniture for a day or so to see they were healthy, then had them killed and prepared never out of her sight. She stuck her fingers in the pope's cocoa, blurting out that it could not be poisoned.

Euro royals, so crazy they make today's Republicans look like amateurs.

I'm watching last night's Colbert Report and he just said he focuses like a laser beam. I'm going to love that expression from now on.

I have to say that Ribery looks like an extra from Papillon.

No, it isn't jumper.

And I thought the Boodle was the last arena for general buffoonery. I even had box seats.

Old Frank isn't Beckham handsome that's for sure. He got in a car accident as a toddler and facial injuries gave him this weird asymmetrical look and scars. The buck teeth are probably curable but he doesn't seem to care.
2-0 for Meheeeco, final score. Domenech may have to walk back or pay his own ticket.

The perfect accessory for a World Cup kit- vuvuzela! Warning - sound effect:

http://www.vuvuzela-time.co.uk/voices.washingtonpost.com/achenblog

Or go here and add a vuvuzela to any of your web-browsing:

http://www.vuvuzela-time.co.uk/

Wow, another nightmare for a former soccer powerhouse. Stick a fork in France. Poor Spain too, not to mention Italy.

Germany, Brazil and Argentina, any fearless predictions, which of the three take the cup? Before the first round, I thought Brazil, but they looked, I dunno, poorly coached?, or was it the scourge of bourgeois individualism? against the Communists.

Now Argentina is my darling but Germany looked pretty good, like they had a lot more where that came from.

Scotty, is Focus like a Laser Beam available as a Boodle Handle?

MsJs I kind of know what you mean. Modern hyperdefensive systems have spoiled the game for a lot of potential fans because it looks like a lot of unrewarded effort (it actually is rewarding, for the defending team), or pointless motion while the defense is probed. And like any sport some teams are just boring or plain stink. Sometimes there is nothing to 'get'. It helps to have a fan let you know when time is better spent on cold refreshments.

If you ever do give it a try again, the world cup is a good place to do it (especially the later rounds). If the camera work allows it, try looking more at the players without the ball (unless someone like Messi is carrying). A lot of the action happens away from the ball to set up (or shut down) the play.

This is a good primer for appreciating passing in soccer and what it looks like done well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS1TgoF8htg

Mudge, I'm somehow dissapointed that 42 doesn't come up more often. A clear flaw in the western education system.

*giggle*

Could Brazil have been made lethargic by the cold temperatures? Wasn't the matchtime ambient temperature about 1, with wind chills close to ten below?

How many hectares in the pitch, anyway?

This game is so "inclusive" they get to fool around with the size of the pitch. The minimum size is 82.5 hectares. I don't know whether the pitches in SA are different, they may have a change up.

SCC: maximum

"In international matches the dimensions of the field of play shall be: maximum 110 x 75 metres; minimum 100 x 64 metres."

My memory is falling apart!

"do they have the neutral-zone trap in soccer?"

I had no idea the Romulans were even in the World Cup.

Changeup, shrink? I hear Strasburg has a great one of those...wait, what sport are we talking about? :P

I'm one of those 'mericans what needs points to capture my attenshun.

Hence, my beloved Or-e-os are not getting much airtime in the M household, and I couldn't care less about soccer.

Bill Clinton said he would "focus like a laser beam" on the failing economy during the 1992 campaign in an interview on PBS's American Experience.

I had been trying all day to remember which president I had say it. My common sense told me it couldn't have been the shrub.

SCC: I had "heard" say it.

Bubba and I kilt the boodle.

Hey, the White Sox get to play Strasburg and the Nats tomorrow! Woo-hoo!

I'll have to move into 'schizoid long-distance loyalty' mode for that game!

Hey talitha!

Hey Yoki!

*despite teddymzuri's love of the Lakers, I'm still rootin' for the Celtics*

*also wondering who's gonna be the first to get kicked off from SYTYCD tonight*

And, well, other than that, what can -- I mean, what *CAN* -- I say?

I am glad the World Cup is taking place in South Africa, but somewhat amused that it's just as Winter's closing in that part of the world.

Will cooler weather favor teams like Germany, the Netherlands, England? Perhaps, perhaps, not.

bc

bc, I remember hearing that the European teams had a dismal record winning the cup outside of Europe. Would a southern hemisphere team have an advantage? One in the southern end of the southern hemisphere? Argentina?

I am now pulling for Uruguay. They fall into the category of teams that should be used to the weather.

See the results by location at the bottom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup

The euros have never won outside of europe. Seems once they move out into the hinterlands, they can't adapt. Very brave new world.

I've just installed 30' of fascia with nary a bulge nor wave.
I'll be revisiting the other 90 tomorrow.
42 I could handle.

Joel needs an intern.

The kind that jams the copying machine or the kind that wears the stethoscope?

*scratching head*

but . . . but . . . bc, winter solstice is on June 21st in the southern hemisphere so winter's just beginning rather than drawing to a close, right? ;)

Maybe bc meant to say closing in on...but what is winter like in South Africa? Not terribly cold, is it? Must go check a climate map...

http://www.southafrica.info/travel/advice/climate.htm

The kind that does all the work.
I need one or two too.

Probably that's what bc meant, and I didn't mean to be
"little miss fix-it". I just had to double check myself when I read that. :o

Hmm. According to this "winter" is considered May to July down there.

http://www.southafrica.info/travel/advice/climate.htm

I guess they are referring to the "meteorological" summer based on weather.

Way ahead of me seasea! And I mean meteorological winter, of course.

I jam the copy machine. I never touch any of that stuff. Every year the new one comes in and it does everything, of course. Takes 20 minutes to figure out how to make one copy of something that won't fit in the feeder.

Anyway, Boston is going to win. Inasmuch as the whole world that loves basketball hates Rasheed Wallace, he'll be the difference, unless he loses it, then the Lakers will win.

Bestsellers of the past
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/reading/what-americans-used-to-read.html

Ha! I've read two of the books on the 1920 list; maybe three... I'll have to check!

I found a better resource than she had linked to, jumper...

http://www3.isrl.illinois.edu/~unsworth/courses/entc312/s99/

SCC: 'closing in on,' indeed.

That's what I get for not taking the time to preview.

Granted, South Africa's not exactly the most frigid place on Earth (best I leave that line alone, as tempting as it is to say something flip), but I think temperature can make a difference for athletes, as does altitude. I know all of the teams acclimated their players to the conditions to some degree, but I wonder how many (including the coaches and trainers planning) *really* prepared?

Kinda rooting for the Celts myself, though I won't be upset by a Lakers championship.

bc

thanks, bc and seasea!

And thanks to TBG. I really wanted to see the booklists for the "off" years and you found it! I feel better knowing that many of my favorites are there.

Jeez. Read:

1990s: 0
1980: 1 fiction
1970: 6 fiction, 2 nonfiction
1960: 5 fiction
1950: 2 fiction, 1 non
1940: 2 fiction
1930: 1 fiction
1920: 1 fiction
1910: 0

Meanwhile, Olbermann and Maddow have been really outstanding tonight in taking Joe Barton and Sharron Angle apart at the seams.

Kirk: You mean the profanity? That's simply the way they talk here. Nobody pays attention to you unless you swear every other word. You'll find it in all the literature of the period.
Spock: For example?
Kirk: Oh the neglected works of Jacqueline Susann. The novels of Harold Robbins...
Spock: Ah. The Giants.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092007/quotes?qt0444270

Indeed, Mudge. I'm waiting to see if Stewart and Colbert put their spin on Barton & Co. as well.

Had a discussion on tonights game 7 before I left my office. Lots of passive Celtics fans were involved. We were in general agreement that what we wanted was a game that would help the NBA. We didn't really care who won, but we wanted a classic, entertaining, rollicking game. Final score well above 100 for both teams. The Boston Big 3 should all score 25 or more. Kobe should have 40. There should be lots of up and down offense with highlights galore.

People should say tomorrow "That was awesome."

57-52 or thereabouts after 3 quarters. Not at all what we were hoping for. Hope for a good 4th quarter.... since lots of people are watching.

Or, Flanders and Swann, "today, you can say in public what the rest of us would hesitate to say in private!"

Pooh po belly bum drawers.

Seconds remain in the Celtics/Lakers game. The score is 79 - 82.

Well, it was a close game for the NBA Chamionship, but the Lakers pulled it out in the last period.

1990s: 3 fiction, 2 non-fiction
1980s: 2 fiction, 2 non
1970s: 2 fiction, 2 non-fiction (though some would suggest "Ball Four" belongs in the other category)
1960s: 2 fiction and 1 non-fiction
1950s: 1 fiction and 2 non-fiction
1940s: 2
1930s: 1
1920s: -
1910s: -

I'm sure this is indicative of a bias or some flaw in my psyche.

bc

Damn. Lakers win.

Meant to add - congrats, Lakers fans.

New piece from Joel and Farhenthold re. What Not to Do in the Gulf.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/17/AR2010061705808_2.html

Hmm. Not having enough container ships to hold all the oil being captured is certainly an issue...

bc

Thanks to dbG and bh. I wonder why? But have reaped what I sowed. Thanks, both.

That was a doozy.

1990 - 2 fiction, 3 non
1980 - 2 fiction, 1 non
1970 - 6 fiction, 4 non (huh!)
1960 - 2 fiction, 1 non
1950 - 2 fiction, 1 non
1940 - 6
1930 - 1 Ferber
1920 - 1 Grey
1910 - 0

Interesting exercise.

1900s - 1 F, 1 NF
1910s - 2 F
1920s - 3 F, 1 NF (Boston Cookbook, which was my mom's and I still have and use!)
1930s - 7 F
1940s - 10 F, 4 NF
1950s - 16 F, 4 NF
1960s - 24 F, 6 NF
1970s - 26 F, 5 NF
1980s - 10 F, 6 NF
1990s - 3 F, 1 NF

I'm such a nerd! The 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s read like a list from my family's house, which is why I read so many of those, I guess...

http://joebartonwouldliketoapologize.com/

seasea, I only counted books from the years ending in 0s!!! ;D

just for gp's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_WVPoWNYLs&feature=related

thanks -jack-

Good night all.

thanks -jack-

Good night all.

Yes, I went through the entire decades...because I'm such a nerd...

Congrats, LA fans.

From TBG's list (just the fiction):
1990-1994: 3
1980s: 9
1970s: 15 (man, did I read a lot of trash in middle and high school, but the list does include three Vonneguts)
1969s: 6
1950s: 2
1940s: 1
1930s: 1
1920s: 4 (3 by Sinclair Lewis)
1910s: 0
1900s: 0

Most these lists by boodlers form interesting bell curves.

So I was walking to the Dawn Patrol airstrip and I heard what sounded like a large firecracker going off. I look up and a transformer on the corner is sparking. I then note start-up smoke from the emergency generator at the volunteer ambulance company on the same corner. Not seeing anyone coming out of the station, I play the good citizen and call 911, clearly explaining no fire, etc. The transformer is 200 feet away from the volunteer fire department, so I plug my ears as the rooftop siren goes off.

And I wait, as requested by the 911 operator.

Nothing.

Finally I see a couple of ambulance personnel coming out of their building, one on the phone. They've also called it in, and off I go to Dawn Patrol.

The siren goes off again as I'm approaching the hangar.

Nothing.

It's while I'm idling on the runway that I finally see a fire truck responding -- FROM THE TOWN ACROSS THE RIVER AND 10 MINUTES AWAY. *SIGHHHHHH*

Now then -- the 10 a.m. U.S.-Slovenia game, or the 10 a.m. important office meeting. Decisions, decisions...

*TFSMIF-and-what-a-wonderful-TFSMIF-it-is Grover waves* :-)

You're welcome, Yoki, for whatever it was. Taking in Prosecco for the 30th bday of one of the few male analysts in my department, so thank you too!

So what's Yoki's day?

Morning, y'all.

Whoa, Scotty! That sounds eerily familiar to the overlapping volunteer emergency outfits around here. Either noone shows up promptly or they come running from all directions and miles away.

yello, I noticed those bell curves as well. I just had to recount ala seasea for 'all' the years. Feel free to scroll past . . .

00s - 5 (3 Whartons)
10s - 2
20s - 16F, 4N
30s - 13F, 4N
40s - 22F, 5N
50s - 21F, 7N
60s - 25F, 15N
70s - 23F, 12N
80s - 19F, 15N
90s - 7F, 6N

I started reading a lot of obscure history in the 90s llRC. I also never realized how much of what I studied in college had been on bestseller lists. Interesting.

Busy day around here. Hope you all have a great Friday. Cya later.

In an attempt to keep people from streaming the World Cup game on their computers, management has decided to show the game on the really, really big plasma screen in the conference room. There is a tacit agreement that people will be allowed to loiter a bit. As long as it doesn't get too disruptive. And vuvuzelas are, sadly, right out.

*waving back*

Thanks everyone for the report on the game. You watch so I don't have to.

Off for the dog walk, then personal maintenance work (teeth, hair, eyes). Cya!

Saw Rufus Wainwright last evening, very interesting to say the least, the first have was dark and artsy, clapping not allowed and he just sang but did not speak, second half much different he was chatty and upbeat. Quite enjoyed it.

As for the atmosphere when you exit from the train station and are almost hit in the head with a 3 meter fence and very visible police - yikes. Not exactly a festive atmosphere near the security zone. We played spot the cameras.

Lovely old theatre though built 1918 gaudy glamour.

Read the teaser headline about the Spaghettio's recall and thought that someone was reminiscing about 15M pounds of the stuff. I think that I am tired. I will also note that the food product in question was manufactured in 2008 and is just now expiring.

It was also pointed out that children eat the stuff.

Owwwwww... Germany already down to 10 men and Serbia leading 1-0 at the half. :-O

'morning all. Serbia leads the powerful German team 1-0 near the half and the German will play one man short from now on. The referee loves to wave that yellow card.

We had lovely weather for the company picnic yesterday. The menu was a bit odd, even for gunmint provided grub. This was large-submarine-chain-loved-by-Jared sandwiches that you had to garnish yourself from cartons of shredded lettuce, tomatoes, olives, hot peppers and jars of mustard, dressing etc. We sure live grandly in the public service.
It turns out our little shop (62 bodies) can almost field a full team of experienced soccer player. Times have changed.

Sounds like an interesting night, dmd.

I hesitate to post my reading list after reading Talitha's, yikes! In my defense I can only say that a lot of what I read never makes the 'best seller' lists.

20's 1 F
30's 3 F - 1 NF
40's 2 F - 1 NF
50's 4 F - 3 NF
60's 6 F - 4 NF
70's 12 F - 15 NF
80's 13 F - 4 NF
90's (to '94) F-9 - NF 5

I tweaked my back this morning so I am iced and valium'ed and will spend the morning resting to see if I can make a miraculous recovery! Too mellowed out to do anything else ;-)

New NOAA/NASA EOS portal on tools that track the oil spill
http://www.geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse/

(posted June 15)

GIS -- geographical information systems are amazing tools for analysis and decisionmaking. The visuals are beautiful in a nerd-driven, data-gorgeous way. If I were a young en, this is what I would study in college.

Good morning, all.

Ah, had to go back and see TBGs post of the more expansive list than WaPo's - was wondering how some folks read over 20 books in sections that only listed 10 in what I'd seen...

Peeked into the Germany/Serbia match, things not looking good for the German team, as Scottynuke points out. Good on ya for calling in and for waiting out the fire dept, sir.

bc

Germany missed a penalty shot... *SIGH* Good night, Irene. Or Edel, as the case may be.

Good morning, y'all.

Warm muffins, coffee and OJ on the table.

Yellow cards a-flyin' in Port Elizabeth.

Congrats to the Lakers and to Phil Jackson on another NBA championship. I used to watch a lot of basketball, but my tastes are morphing and I missed the entire post-season.

Gonna be hot & humid in TWC today. Going to head out soon to enjoy the day before it gets too intense.

So what's an oil-industry-money-receiving politician to do these days?

Ahoy! New kit off the starboard bow!

And Serbia takes it, 1-0.