I am fortifying myself with Digestives before making my way to the place of viewing.

i was brushing my teeth last night before bed and realized that i may have neglected to lock the house down. "hey," i shouted to my wife before she went upstairs, "ecuador."

Did she shout back "Heck! What door?"

Nothing like starting the day with a really bad pun.

Dammit! Where can I watch or listen to England v Paraguay online??? Stupid BBC Five Live isn't carrying it, and my cable system no longer seems to have Univision!

Never mind... I found where Univision was hiding. They moved it!

I was so thrilled by the England-Parguay game I slept through the second half. I had a dream. The Flea was in the street in a speedo, an English flag one, running with a flag through the streets of an non-existent English ghetto in Toronto. He wore spats, too, and was drinking gin from a pitcher. He was singing this song: [<a href="images/music/04 England, Half English.wma">2.3 MB .wma</a>]. Everyone sang along. It was weird.

This is almost exactly what happened. We <i>do</i> have an English ghetto in Toronto, actually (we call it "the Annex"). Flag flying from my backpack I was cheered on by little old ladies and other locals and I made my way by St. George's prep-school and Albion Square en route from Flea Towers to the Sister of the Flea's place. There we drank tea (Scottish Breakfast, I am sorry to say) and waved flags.

I almost fell asleep in the second half too.

I was kind of rooting for Ecuador. I spent a year there one summer (long ago) as a foreign exchange student. No, I jest...it was a pretty nice place and the people were great, even though at the time they were claiming a 200-mile limit (rather than the usual 12) to their territorial waters, enforced it by closing their aqua-doors -JEEZ!- and hauled in scads of U.S. fishing boats. Being there growed me up some, though apparently not much. Anyone who speaks ill of the place is a Guayaquil.

Oh Joy! Portland returns, and once again Flea puts on the Speedo.