Very much a downer... Syd Barrett has died. Well anyway... my new job has started and I am getting used to the place, so that is good news.

OK, I know this is a serious issue, but I just can't help myself, so here goes:

"Arrrggh, avast ye mateys, gimme your sushi and replica samurai swords, arrgghhh, avast ye!"

Suppose this uptick in piracy has something to do with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies? I'll bet it does. I'll bet we can trace this problem's rise to the very day the first Pirates movie was released. It's all Johnny Depp's fault!

Arrggh, avast ye!

What do you suppose Martin Landau's reaction was to seeing them shoot this scene, assuming he was even there? One of four things I am sure: deep amusement, serious nausea, "get your hands off my wife you weirdo", or perhaps all three. Mine would be all three.

I must confess I have secretly been hoping that England and Germany both make it to the last game of the World Cup, just to watch the madness and marvel at the sheer amount of nationalistic violence large crowds of 'unarmed' people can create with enough beer in their bellies. (Sick, I know, but I have so few hobbies!) Normally, I don't care a whit about soccer ("futbol") or most other spectator sports, but I just had to watch today's match between England and Portugal.

Alas, after today, my hopes are dashed. Portugal beats out England, after two overtime periods, on penalty kicks. Penalty kicks! I can't believe it. And poor David Beckham-- he had to leave just after the first half from injuries, and the poor guy was in tears, because (I guess) he knew that they were evenly matched and that they would go to penalty kicks-- and that the English team would need him to make the one or two points they would need to at least tie Portugal. And that's exactly what happened. Alas for England, the Portugese goalie was too damned good and the Portugese team equally good at making penalty kicks.

To add insult to injury, the French team is going on to the semi-finals!

It's a sad, sad day for England today. My heart goes out to them. What happens if the final match is Germany v. France? Who do you root for? Or do you just pretend it's not there? That'd be the answer: sheer denial.