Just 3½ more weeks until I'm home and I can play it... :tired:
My heart... great match in terms of tension! I'm glad I'm not a heart patient.
I have no idea what I just watched!
This is just what the sport is. Suarez is world class not only because he can score goals, but also because he can disrupt an entire game with his behaviour. At least I'm glad I won't have to look at his face during the semi-final game, I just hope the Netherlands won't play dumb with their eternal understimation syndrome and lose the game... they should formally apologise to 200 million Brasilians if they can't defeat Uruguay now, which is basically a bee without stinger next match.
On a different note of unsportive behaviour, I do think the FIFA should be less hesistant to hand out punishments post-match; Melo deliberately attempting to hit Robben's previously injured hamstring (or still recovering hamstring, I should say) was not sufficiently punished by a red card. The man is mental and such grotesquely unsportive and unprofessional behaviour ought to be punished much more severely. This is a non-contact sport after all, not a mixed martial arts match. Attempting to wound a man in a game...
On a different note of unsportive behaviour, I do think the FIFA should be less hesistant to hand out punishments post-match; Melo deliberately attempting to hit Robben's previously injured hamstring (or still recovering hamstring, I should say) was not sufficiently punished by a red card. The man is mental and such grotesquely unsportive and unprofessional behaviour ought to be punished much more severely. This is a non-contact sport after all, not a mixed martial arts match. Attempting to wound a man in a game...
the Netherlands was far from great, especially in the first half, but on that field stood a team that didn't lose a bit of focus after falling behind, while Brasil started losing massive amounts of focus and discipline after the 1-1, and then after the 2-1 they just went ballistic. The Dutch team really needs to start punishing mistakes though, especially at the end there it should have been 3-1 or even 4-1 with the insane amount of space left by the Brasilians.
In terms of quality of play the Netherlands should not have won, but in terms of professionalism and discipline they certainly did.
In terms of quality of play the Netherlands should not have won, but in terms of professionalism and discipline they certainly did.
I think a properly disciplined team will break down Argentina far more easily than most people think. We'll see what happens when they face Germany, but I'd be very shocked if Argentina win this World Cup. If Lahm plays better than he did against England (he was really the weak link in Germany's defence today, I think) and the team is able to disable Messi then it should be a very decisive victory for Germany. I could be very wrong though 
Shame about that blatantly obviously blind linesman, but this has so far been by far the best game at this WC. I mean, if you count all other games together, this game would have been twice as good, and that's just one half.
This is going to be very, very painful for England
Hahaha, good sense of humour on the Red Bull mechanic there...
"Well done Sebastian, Germany's best result of the day!"
"Well done Sebastian, Germany's best result of the day!"
I'm not really interested in the discussion, but I have an obsession with checking sources: you know that your given source claims it cures AIDS right? Sounds a bit dodgy...
Drugs are illegal in the Netherlands.
The only subtle difference is that the Dutch government does not punish use of soft-drugs (and the selling of soft-drugs by coffeeshops) within certain limits. Full-on legalisation is a whole different ballgame than the Dutch model, and needs to be talked about in a different sense than the Dutch drug policy!
The Dutch government attempts to seperate hard and soft-drugs by partially tolerating the use of soft-drugs and focusing a strong effort on tackling the use and trafficking of hard-drugs. In doing so they try to minimise the "gateway" effect that some other members talked about (eg, step to soft-drugs is small and very common, step to hard-drugs is much larger and belongs to a decidedly different category in the minds of users)
It's hard to talk about policy making in the space of <5000 words, especially when it regards something like the Dutch drug policy, but what it boils down to is that full-on legalisation of soft-drugs without carefully assessing other parts of the policy would only lead to more trouble than keeping it illegal. You would still have all the problems associated with soft-drug use, but none of the perceived benefits of legalising it; remember that if you legalise the purchase, selling, ownership and use of soft-drugs you will still need to deal with the trash products and resulting health bills, but you will have no way of legally controlling or tackling these issues.
It's not as simple as flicking a switch and watching all the problems go away, we could all be government policy makers if that were the case :P
I originally felt happy with my rant and wanted to let it rest for the good of the topic, but I do have to object to some of the quotations you listed.
I agree with you on two parts: 1. It's indeed good to keep your hearing, and 2. I did put my statements down a bit black & white, and quite intentionally so!
The Wikipedia article (and normally I am not a fan of Wiki bashing, because I believe it can be much more accurate than conventional encyclopedia's on topics that require regular updates) is quite obviousy written by, and for people of Western origins. It even mentions in the introduction of the entry that the vuvuzela is annoying, satanic, atmosphere killing and all other accusations it gets thrown at it - all from non-African sources, by non-African commentators, written for non-African people to accept as the truth. Ouch.
Furthermore, the quote you gave from the article is interesting, because although it is referenced in-text, the original sources of the quotation contain no such text, although it does speak of confusing opponents on the field, and one of the sources given even links to a completely off-topic article
(of course, this is all as-of-writing, being a wiki it could be updated the second I finish this post with proper links!)One of the sources 'used' for that quote does, however, speculate on the origin of the Vuvuzela, and how it is a part of ancient traditions in Africa, so that effectively kills off any idea that it doesn't have any traditional origins.
To the arguments that it's horrible to sit next to someone blowing on a vuvuzela... well, I don't have an honest answer to that which I can honestly back up. I certainly would not want to get my hearing damaged, but I would get earplugs and just go with it for 90 minutes. I could use the argument that spectators going to South Africa for the World Cup knew about this tradition beforehand, and thus should have decided beforehand if they wanted to get up close and personal with a vuvuzela army. However, I realise that this is a bit of a silly statement to make, as it is 'rather annoying' to face hearing loss just to watch a game. Still, by all means ban the instrument in Europe, but I stand by the statement that it should not be touched for this tournament.
Anyway, back to Spain - Switzerland... already missed too much of it now
Spain 0_O
Now I don't feel bad about the Dutch team anymore at least
Now I don't feel bad about the Dutch team anymore at least
Note: this is aimed at noone in particular 
This whole vuvuzela issue is one big line under the intolerance and incomprehension of people toward other cultures and habits. "it does nothing for the atmosphere, it's just noise" and "they should ban them from the tournament!" - I hear those lines every day and ask myself if the people saying actually realise that every game of football in that country is supported by an army of vuvuzelas? It's not as if the African supportors had a conference meeting before the world-cup and decided "yes, let's get these big horns and blow on them for 90 minutes to piss everybody off, just for the world-cup!"
This is how these people enjoy football, and to me they seem to be a bunch of people that enjoy the hell out of the game, because you can host a world-cup wherever you want in Europe but you will never see dancing, celebrating people outside of their cars on jammed highways and in every street of damn near every city.
Take the moment to widen your perspective of what is atmosphere-enhancing. I know that's scary and different to just slamming down the cold hard fist of imperialism, but if a whole country gets riled up to the sound of a couple of thousand vuvuzelas there's nothing wrong with the fact that they want to keep that part of their way of enjoying football alive in their tournament.
Besides, I'd rather sit next to a bunch of cheerfully dancing people with genuine joy for the game of football (it still exists!) and a vuvuzela in their hands than a drunken lot shouting racist slurs and calling the referee a cock every 2 minutes, because that's the reality of our enjoyment of football these days.
Just open up a little bit, and don't be so eager to call a ban on something because it's different to what you're used to.
RANT OVER!
This whole vuvuzela issue is one big line under the intolerance and incomprehension of people toward other cultures and habits. "it does nothing for the atmosphere, it's just noise" and "they should ban them from the tournament!" - I hear those lines every day and ask myself if the people saying actually realise that every game of football in that country is supported by an army of vuvuzelas? It's not as if the African supportors had a conference meeting before the world-cup and decided "yes, let's get these big horns and blow on them for 90 minutes to piss everybody off, just for the world-cup!"
This is how these people enjoy football, and to me they seem to be a bunch of people that enjoy the hell out of the game, because you can host a world-cup wherever you want in Europe but you will never see dancing, celebrating people outside of their cars on jammed highways and in every street of damn near every city.
Take the moment to widen your perspective of what is atmosphere-enhancing. I know that's scary and different to just slamming down the cold hard fist of imperialism, but if a whole country gets riled up to the sound of a couple of thousand vuvuzelas there's nothing wrong with the fact that they want to keep that part of their way of enjoying football alive in their tournament.
Besides, I'd rather sit next to a bunch of cheerfully dancing people with genuine joy for the game of football (it still exists!) and a vuvuzela in their hands than a drunken lot shouting racist slurs and calling the referee a cock every 2 minutes, because that's the reality of our enjoyment of football these days.
Just open up a little bit, and don't be so eager to call a ban on something because it's different to what you're used to.
RANT OVER!
Probably made out of rare, illegal materials such as ivory...
Just as a precautionary thing... any spoilers in there? Some zero punctuation reviews had em, so I just need to make sure it's coast clear
I recently watched Airplane! with my lady, as she had never seen it before. The most awkward 90 minutes of my life... she didn't laugh once! I was shocked, and worried that it was my humor that was broken instead of hers, tell me it isn't so!
Everytime I re-watch that movie I have forgotten that line, and it gets me again every time
A PC with 128mb of ram isn't compatible with the modern world anymore.
Just 2 more months until I'm reunited with my xbox...
Yeah, I read some of the mythical creatures/conspiracy threads where that pic was included some times, cool stuff! Regardless of whether or not it's true, the idea that there are people forming hunting parties to chase down what could be a figment of some creative troll's imagination is awesome. I hope once I can finally play this game, that people will still be out exploring the world
Wouldn't want to win a WDC, that would suck!
What is that?
Bugged manbeast?
Also, I can't wait until August... when I can actually play this damn game. Anyone in Central Finland that is willing to house a Dutchman for 2 weeks so he can play DRD? Won't need bed, will bring beer.
The top 4 close together in a Formula 1 race after 10+ laps? THIS IS MADNESS!
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG