I would like to thank you for tainting the 2010 World Cup. Because of your regulations, I have found myself yelling at my television set like a maniac. This is doing nothing for my stress level or my blood pressure. I know I’m not alone; your decisions have impacted teams from most continents.

What am I talking about? Goal-line technology. Or rather, a serious lack thereof. Any kind of replay would be useful really. But because you choose to remain in the stone age, we are left with referees having to rely on what they think they may have seen. And honestly, it’s just not working.

I’m not even writing as an angry American fan. Yes, you fucked over my team. Twice. TWO TIMES. Group play game 2: I’m still not sure what that penalty was. Offsides? A foul? You tell me. Then in game 3: Dempsey was perfectly even (or even a little back) with the last defender. That’s a goal.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

But again, I’m not trying to be an angry American. Let’s look at some of the other muffed calls:

• Italy vs. New Zealand: Smeltz is clearly offsides. No goal. No tie. NZ shouldn’t have gotten that point. Sorry Kiwis!

Click here to view the embedded video.

• England vs. Germany: I’m sorry, but that ball was at least a full foot over the line. There is NO question that was a goal. When your tying goal is disallowed that really changes the mentality you have in the game. It’s just not OK. You tell me – how did this not count?

• Mexico vs. Argentina: Mexico got FUCKED. This was clearly offsides. From here they self-destructed. I would like to at least dream that the game would have been much closer were it not for this terrible call by the referee AND line judge.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So there you have it. 5 solid examples of game-changing, even tournament-changing calls that would have easily been correct if replay technology were allowed. As a true fan of soccer, I urge you to maintain the sanctity of the game by allowing such technology onto the pitch. The status-quo just isn’t cutting it anymore.

Sincerely,

Caro

Typically I am anti- all things that tweens are into. These things tend to be so incredibly sappy, unrealistic, and generally extremely terrible. To top it off, I can’t stand large groups of twelve year old girls squealing together and thinking they own the place. It obnoxious and it drives me out of my mind.

Then Twilight came out. Not even going to give this a chance. It’s all the things that I just described.

Then New Moon came out. I kind of was interested from the previews. A lot of my friends are super into the whole saga, so eventually I broke down. I saw Twilight, then a week later saw New Moon (in theaters, and sweet Jesus there were SO MANY squealing teenagers!).

I’m not even going to try and closet my feelings. I <3 Twilight. I’m genuinely happy I gave it a chance, and I’m actually pretty surprised I liked it so much. I could watch it over and over (well maybe no more than twice a month lol) and not tire of it. Edward? Yes please.

But we also have to talk about the fact that it’s all of the things I traditionally hate. I’ll give the sappy, unrealistic-ness of it all a pass, since that’s part of what makes it enjoyable. But the acting is abhorrent and there is no excusing that. And I can’t get past the Morman undertones/subliminal indoctrination. To top it off, we’re talking about a SUPER unhealthy relationship here. Edward is kind of a stalker and Bella needs some self-esteem stat. I haven’t read the books yet, but I have a feeling that the quality isn’t going to be that great so I’ve been putting it off.

And then MZ introduced me to Alex Reads Twilight.

OMFG I haven’t laughed this hard in years. He points out all the nitpicky things that I would find problems with and makes fun of them. Whether you love or hate the Twilight Saga, I really think you’ll appreciate this series just based on his sarcasm, wit, and British accent.

So here it is: Chapter 1

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(note: he seems to only do ~2 chapters a month, and as of today he’s only up to ch. 14. it’s completely worth the wait)

Basically he choreographs some of the weirdest shit I’ve ever seen. It’s so strange, yet oddly captivating. I always love his routines on SYTYCD, though I find they are increasingly few and far between. (And as cruel fate would end up, he choreographed tonight’s opening routine, which I missed because the Fox HD feed was down – gonna have to yell at Fox or my cable provider for that one!)

Anyway back to the love. I just discovered that he’s Australian. How could I have overlooked that?! We all know how I feel about the land down under and the men produced there. HI I also discovered that he’s about my same age. That’s talent to be winning awards for doing stuff in your 20s!

There are so soooo many good routines to watch, but my favorite one (at least my favorite one that I can find) is the Cabaret Hoover with Sara and Jesus from season 3.

Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s one more:

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(and to clarify, yes, that is Mr. Robson in Ramalama)

slide

Seems pretty appropriate actually; today marks one month since my uncle died. I’ve been thinking about him a lot lately. I wish I could have spent just one more Sunday with him, playing dominoes and eating delicious sandwiches. I always thought I’d see him again soon. Not so much.

Thanks James Taylor.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Suzanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can’t remember who to send it to

I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you again

Won’t you look down upon me, Jesus
You’ve got to help me make a stand
You’ve just got to see me through another day
My body’s aching and my time is at hand
And I won’t make it any other way

Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you again

Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun
Lord knows when the cold wind blows it’ll turn your head around
There’s hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground

Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you, baby, one more time again, now

Thought I’d see you one more time again
There’s just a few things coming my way this time around, now
Thought I’d see you, thought I’d see you fire and rain, now

Click here to view the embedded video.

First cool guy is smokin a cig, then….well you saw what happened. YES!

Thanks MZ for the entertainment. I almost peed myself when I watched this.

This is AMAZING.

I’m almost never a fan of a guy with a guitar. but I could watch this indefinitely. Thank you Sim, for finding this!

Click here to view the embedded video.

(must have sound)

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the meantime, enjoy this:

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-He’s not that good looking. OK before you lynch me hear me out. There’s something about Edward that draws me in. Obviously it’s just the character in the movie, cuz his real life performance just was NOT doing it for me. Whatever – it’s less competition for all you over-the-top Twilight fans.

-I knew the man was British, but I had NO idea he had THAT thick of a British accent. More power to him as an actor, cuz he does a really good job covering it up on screen. However, accents = sexy, so +1 back to him for that.

-I wanna see Remember me. Again, for the character he plays. Something about the on-screen Robert Pattinson – wtf is it?!? Either way, I’ll probably see this movie during opening week. Hooray for braving the crowds of Edward fans.

Ok that’s all I discovered. Not too much, but in my defense it was only a 7 minute interview. For those of you who missed it, enjoy!

Robert Pattinson