The pictures of pets dressed as humans.
The musings and rantings online and off.
The actions we celebrate and mourn and pretend to not know happen an infinite number of times over the course of humanity and that we're not important enough to feel shitty about it. None of us are.
Nor are any of us not. It isn't that we aren't important enough to feel one way or the other, it is that we're using spoons to describe laughter in terms of biochemistry.
The thing is that our feelings are nothing. My statement that our feelings are nothing is itself nothing. And yet this is all we have, this nothing. And we have an awful lot of it. It is more of us than we are of ourselves. Just like those microbes. Just like that soul and spirit and mind and all that we can't get pin down.
Some say emergent phenomenon. This is another phrase for elaborate nothingness.
The diamond is not more than the leaf. They are both more space than they are solid.
It is the structure that is the existence. It is the pattern that makes the repetitions of the pattern itself possible.
And yet this is all there is. This is more than there needed to be. This is all we asked for and more because we never asked for it an never could. Before it was, we weren't. Before we were, it wasn't. Unless there is some other awareness out in existence. Ohbut wait there are many other awarenesses even on this planet. There are animals and plants and... who is to know that a rock lacks awareness? It seems to us to lack agency... but so too does water and water seems to act.
Seems seems seems. This all seems like so much and yet it is so little. It is elementary. Children think this way because this is the way of the world. The curiouser and curiouser you get, the more and more there is to explore. The more and more you don't know. The more you try to grasp the whole, the more you are burdened by the minutiae. You are sure you don't understand toothpaste, let alone the components. And if there is toothpaste, how many things that I don't even know exist do I lack the capability to explain?
What sort of things are the sort of things that I can't know? There must be truths which surpass my current imagination that in mere years will seem like commonplace knowledge. My failure is the success of humanity. The failure of humanity is non-existent as humanity is not a monolith.
Except that it is. It is a monolith which does not self-recognize. We lack the awareness of what we are because if we ask all humans what all humans are, they will all give different answers. Even the ones who pledge to have an identical reading of the world through religion or science will not give identical answers. To expect that there is some full-scale meaning or purpose or the like is too much. But there is no meaning or purpose to lava. That makes it no less monolithic. Nor the seas. Nor the next hantavirusebolachickenofheseafluenza.
That there is no purpose to us does not mean that we will not have some obvious to an outside observer path of least resistance which we will inevitably follow if given a long enough time to hang ourselves. I mean uplift ourselves. I mean our whole. I mean... I do not "mean" well.
I mean, I mean well, but I do not do direct meaning well. I write to understand, to explore, to challenge. Not to tell, convince, believe. I exist to write. I write to exist.
This is a lot like food.
The above, I am told, could for many people be better understood if I use a different form:
Examining the relationship between writing and existence for me is as instructive as examining the relationship between eating and existence for humans.
Think of all the food you've eaten over your life and all of the food you'll eat in the future. How do you feel now?
Think of all the steps you've ever taken in your life and all of the steps you'll ever take in the future. How do you feel now?
Think of the breaths. How do you feel?
Think of the thoughts. How do you feel? Think of all the thoughts of all of the people you've ever known. Think of all of the thoughts that all of the people you know know. Of the people they've known. Of all of your ancestors. Of all of theirs. Of all humans. Of the thoughts all humans have thought others were having. Of all the thoughts that overlapped.
This number is not infinite.
How do you feel?
Remember, the world is spinning, tilting, circling around something which is tilting, spinning, circling, swirling, circling around something spinning, careening, tilting, wobbling, circling around near something else that is rotating, expanding, cooling, ...
If I think of a baseball and then think of a moon orbiting a planet, how many thoughts have a thunk?
If I put it into words is that another discrete thought? If I think it in one language and then another are those separate thoughts? If I think it is more than one language at once? If I think it in a symbol and a picture? What of a framed picture of a baseball orbiting a moon orbiting a planet with rocky rings of debris?
How much is that doggy in the black hole?
Is it even a dog? Has anything actually entered the black hole?
Is there an inside and an out?
What is it we're trying to figure out, as a humanity? If we can identify meaninglessness... what does that mean? Is either meaning or meaningless unavoidable?
I "meaning" itself again lacking in meaning?
If meaning can neither have meaning nor lack meaning, what is meaning?
We attribute meaning to so many things. What has intrinsic meaning? Is there intrinsic meaning?
I'm sure there's more attempt to express meaning, but then there is likely more failure and thus more meaningless as well. If there is more meaningless is there less meaning?
If there are more meanings rather than one, doesn't that diminish all meanings?
20141027
The Meaninglessness Is Accelerating
20141024
Run the Jewels 2
No edits, no takes.
So the idea here is that I'll just do a first-through read of Run the Jewels 2. And attached to it, I'll publish my many-times-listened review of Run the Jewels which I never managed to release, but... was planning to release when RtJ2 was out. And I was on schedule to do that. But... then these fat motherfuckers put RtJ2 in my inbox (and released it in general) a bit early.
That is, fuck it.
To set the scene, I learned of the release this morning in an email from "Jaime and Mike". Which I thought was cool. That Jaime can't fucking spell his name right is a different problem. I have a Jamie as a brother. You in the wrong, bro. Er... not-bro. No, no... not that you ain't my bro... I mean... No... Mike... I'm just a little guy. We can use words, man.
My point is that I've been all-in on el producto since fantastic damage. I caught up on his stuff before that right quick and all, but fantastic damage blew my rap face off. I learned a lot and expected a lot more from emcees and producers and everyone else after that record (And a decent amount of def jux for that matter... take no prisoners.).
As for Mr. Mike aka Mr. Killer.... he showed up on The Whole World. I kept up with him on an doff from then... but not close-like. Great voice, stright aggression.
I have just enough time before I need to leave that I can type and listen.
Here we go.
Track 1.
"I'm gonna bang this bitch the fuck out"
Okay... I'll go turn it up.
We're opening Mike-heavy... with a threatening whisper... a beat... with some mess, but definitely some low-end stank and some high end spirally madness...
Let's just say... we're no less threatening than last year.
And now el... with just those... pivots that lie and sleep with the beat without a moment of seduction... That's the same beat that Mike was on.
Not the same beat though. They bring out different spaces and images...
Track 2.
This is more challenging territory.
That last album was like "FUCK YOU."
This album is like "You want us to prove it? We can rap to anything. Jamie can produce a killer track out of fucking lunacy. And Mike can anchor it without shanking it."
El is still showing growth as an alphabet acrobat. more fluid when he wants to be. More variety in his vowels.
Killer is getting more proficient at extending his menace straight out through a double-time consonant onslaught.
Track 3.
oh. The Drop.
This is the newbanger. This'll make the kids throw furniture.
Ohlord. the bang-bragger is a favorite of mine. And el can do a line for when the beat disapears with the best of them. Mike is one of the best of them.
Track 4.
A quick-temp... hot-takes and phrases... the notes say this is with de la Rocha... does that mean they're gonna do him like they did Big Boi last year? Is Zack gonna be the walking corpse?
This is another fucking "I'll show you what we can rap and/or make a fucking dope track out of"... Now Killer is slaying this fucking track... the second time through though? With that jackhammer timing? and finished by el with a punch? I'm all Clay Davis on this Shiiiiiiiiiiit.
Zack is up... he battin' cleanup... I'm not familiar enough with his voice (at least not since Bombtrack and that incredible timeless album from RATM) to follow that well... but he does the sonics well enough... only further listens will tell the tale.
Trakc 5.
And now we're listening to a track that asks for storytell... This is the first track that sounds like it would have been at home on RtJ1.
While the transitions are far from jarring on this record, they are nowhere near as smooth at RtJ1... but that's not a shock nor a rip... most of the Beatles catalog pales in comparison w/r/t smooth transitions to that one half of Abbey Road...
Track 6.
I get the feeling we're gonna get into some dark territory here.
No joke... el-p leads off. And accelerates as the madness deepens.
Oh... and the chorus from Killer? It makes his name seem tame.
The thing with these two... is that their voices are so contrasting and complimentary...
They come from such identically different worlds. Such crossover. Such meandering route-determining sameness in their difference.
Ohhhhhshit mike... with the who the fuck double time stuttertalk... I bet when I go back he's challenging the shit out of someone here.
"Everybody doin' it"
Track 7.
An off-beat-finishing beat... oh with a second piece... a developing-by-verse beat... Mike getting in on the boys in blue with all due respect again.
Fucking... cops man... one abuse rightly paints doubly or triply against any man with the law on his side. You have to be so right that you are beyond reproach by even those who disagree with your existence let alone title... can you live up to that?
Now el is getting just as thick and multi-leveled as Killer. The thing about both of them is that they, through whatever process, have become individuals with such complex lenses that their narratives are not linear. Nor, would I argue, that a linear narrative is even a worthy goal. But their aggressive layering of thoughts upon thoughts reaching out to thoughts upon thoughts of their partner's totally ... parallel but non-identical experience of America?
RUN THE JEWELS IS AMERICA.
Track 8.
Fuck. Mike. Leave me alone. I don't want you to punch me in the shit again.
This is that all-out-assault track. I dare you to find a duo of emcees who obliterate the aural landscape like these two in unison. Just... What the fuck the jewels the fuck? Take it. Leave me alone.
And please give me some free audio.
I'll prolly buy a show ticket.
Just... put that finger gun down.
Run the Jewels was like the joyous robbery in which both parties are happy to have been there.
Run the Jewels Two is like when those fat jolly motherfuckers turn out to be Olympic sprinters.
Track 9.
Ohno... they gettin dirty again... this is always where they, while they're well within that range of things you know about if you've had sufficient NYC and ultimate and drug experiences, go a step or two past me.
But... that happens in every sports locker room I've been in.
But... that's because there is a verbal world and a thought world.
But... that's what artist reach past. Or through. Or with. Or... is this relevant anymore? the point is... you talk type write ramble on what you do what you do.
I want these songs on these records. But that doesn't mean I'm the man to write about them.
And this track ain't shy.
Track 10.
Enter contemplative... this is a side both Jaime and Mike have and have used to worthy effect. this has a little funk to it also... staying in the background with a vibe to move to.
And Mike starts Jaime's verse... There has not been much of that baton-passing in this album.. this el verse is one of those that just echoes already in my head. This is... this is the is, man. This is reaching...
I'll wager there are some Mike verses in there I've missed that reach out like this... he's never shied from it.
There is a space we reach into in others when we art.
Track 11.
And el opens the closer. With challenging counter-attacks to his own counter-arguments.
Mike steps in to clarify. We're on a drippy trippy haze. But we're not ungrounded.
There is danger and menace in both of these men. That is what we love about them.
That is what rigns true. Their visions of something greater than themselves.
Their visions of something greater and more cynical than the USA.
Their love of what they have and yet... acknowledgement of what can't be...
Their fearful march toward the future they wish for rather than the dangerous world they ream of in their heads.
This is a distrustful rush of angel dust. Speak these sounds and build this rush to dangerous.
Rip this scene and torch this house, the roar itself issues from this mouse.
---
This album is very very good on first listen. It is challenging. It is forcefully identifiably of both el&Killer. I'll wager it comes in a half-note below RtJ1 *Solely because I knew what I was getting*. That is, this observer is biased. That shit last year was a revelation. This is a second book of a promising author. To mix metaphors. Which is something I like.
That is... There is no way this was going to be RtJ0. This is RtJ2. It will be a staple of my audio world for the foreseeable future. I'll look to unpack it, ride it, and move on from it.
But I'm not there yet. This is another dope free record from Jaime and Mike. Go download and then buy a ticket to a show. Then we'll all be even and happy.
Run the Jewels
I didn't edit at this before I posted it. I typed it last year... and never got around to putting it out. I hope it holds up.
Is your slackin'ass looking for a Christmas Gift at the last possible moment? All hard up and the like waiting on something to occur to you since you don't think about the folks you know aside from at the last minute, just as a birthday or a holiday or a wedding or some anniversary of something sweeps through and makes you reconsider your life in full view of theirs? A place, a time where you can go back and know all that you need to know about some other poor soul wandering through the world? Or at least enough to buy some simple damn gift that, even if it falls short of perfection, it still mages to capture something of the person, or the moment or the place? Let alone the time. The time the time.
That Christmas Time of Year.
That Christmas time is near.
That "Christmas Fucking Miracle" is here.
"Oh no, what the fuck have we here?"
"Its alive and its hungry as fuck."
Well, sir, what the fuck we have here is Run the Jewels. What is "Run the Jewels"? It is the hardest thing you've heard in years. And it doesn't just rip your flesh like weasels, it does so via wholly non-similar pathways.
Pathways. Pathways.
Pastways. This is the rappity-rap you've been missing. You've been seeking. You've been hoping might not find you safe in your home so that you and your ugly sweater contest can comfortably finish last in the land of life, liberty and the pursuit of imperfection.
They know it themselves. Mike tells us. Jaime tells us. Just listen. To the words: "Run the Jewels, Jewels, Jewels."
While the beat(s) drop(s) to explode(s) like megaton bombs.
They push the envelope, rip it to shreds, douse it in 151, light it on fire and eat it so you'll never be able to bite the style.
This is challenging music.
They are challenging music.
They challenge you. They challenge each other.
They challenge the challenge to push you to the brink and forget the rest. "We the villains."
One of the fuckers drops the mic, walking off the beat like they know that the look on your face yelps "HOLY SHIT. THAT GUY DROPPED THE MIC." or
"That boy good." or
"Yessir." or
"Yup."
Then the other (not-)fat bastard picks it up, keeps the pace, continues the race and spits in your face.
El-p treats the motherfuckin' beats with the same ste-removed disdain. (Yes, the beats will fuck your mother. And any other "rapper" [Where is Lil' Wayne's attempt to murk Run the Jewels on their own beats?] ill-equipped to deal with the illest hyper-realness.) I want to put a line here, make an analogy so you'll understand, but Mike already killed that mess: "Producer gave me a beat, said 'it's the beat of the year' / I said 'El-p didn't do it so get the fuck outta here."
It starts with "36" Chain" -> "DDFH".
For appetizers, you're hit with the first couple of tracks to tntroduce you to the style-at-ear and whet that hip-hop monster appetite you've been hiding from your friends. "Oh, okay" you think "This sounds pretty dope."
Then Big Boi, all unawares, is invited to lay a verse over this sick twisted techfunk. He sounded like to midgets in the trunk when he drops a solid verse over some future-alien-invasion beat. Displays all characteristics of an emcee you should never incite on a whim because that ATLien will leave you bleeding from your face.
Then they #RuntheJewels on that little bitch.
Their verses beat his ass, leave him for dead and steal his pretty-boy custom socks too.
Then the beats afterward kicked that beat's ass. It all starts with the ascending quick intro hit of "36" Chain". Wait... didn't we hear the exact counter to that when we started "Banana Clipper"? Yup. That beat descended on you from a higher pitch to take you to the depths of the dungeon. This one? We lift you up only to smash your face on the elevator trip to the glass ceiling.
Then they dropped BIG BEASTIER verses on Bigger Badder beats.
That's a strong verse from a half of OUTKAST that just got laid flat and outlined in chalk.
This is the exact opposite of Andre 3MF000 w/ T.I..
Then, the fat black motherfucker and the angry sci-fi whiteboy were sitting around thinksmoking about "What other rap duos can we rob and steal from?"
Yup: Fuck Those Niggas in Paris.
Watch the Throne?
Watch this, bitch.
Eiffel Tower Motherfucker?
Grassy Knoll Motherfucker.
#REALBADGUYSHIT
#YALLGOTKIDS
We got sneers and jeers and not thuggish king or kingish thug or mainstream pusher hiphop. Not even Trap-set Pusha-T chrak-hop. Just reallife ripp'emup for the check and the glory. Not one set of analogies, metaphors and talking points. We're all over the map. " We got the whole map on lock".
(This is my job this is what I do.
We're not ball-playin' owner types, we're takin' drugs to find out what the world's like types.)
"I never did that and I never did you
But it come in a pack baby, I'm a do two"
Oh you want to know how this could translate to the next generation? "Run the Jewels is not for your children". That said, it might be for our children. It might be for the next generations' children. It might be for the children who grew up destroying beats, destroying friends over beats, wondering how that fantastical unicorn of the powerful group ever got started in this singular world of find-YOUR-voice hip-hop. Well, what about finding who pushes you to find your bestest voice? Who stretches your mind to the point of breaking the bank for the future shit.
That's right, the group that accepts you only because they can't beat you.
Your boys who know you've proven yourself because they tired to pull your innards out and hold them infront of your face while your heart beating rampantly to get blood to your severed head hastens your passing.
Not only that, but who'll kill your bitch-ass live, in-concert every night you're on tour? Only the strongest. Only he maddest. Only he biggest killers.
And who has a bigger stage presence in all of hip-hop muhfuckin Killer Mike?
He makes El look so small and white.
And El steps to the plate and spit some sick shit. Some slick shit, some outta control shit. His beats are his property, Mike. El don't give a fuck what you spit, but he'll make the beat fit himself and we'll see where that leaves you. You think you know paranoia? Feel this quicksand shift.
Think about the paranoia of the world collapsing upon itself. All into blackness in years or moments of more. I laced our blunts motherfucker, whatchu wanna say now? Get comfortable with expression of depression, 'cause this is a long ride down. We're all living forever now. How much pain can you handle?
Oh, fuck you, El. I'm Killer Mike. I'll eat it up, chop it up, bring the pain from above. I'll drop these lyrics with no compunction, this junction is me driving through like I ain't got a clue.
We're so different. We're the same.
We see the same from different angles,
What the fuck do you have, leaders?
Listeners? Congress? USA? Other countries?
This is our craft, we'll kill you with it. We'll hang our hats on it. This is what we know. What do you know? What do you do? Where is your excellence?
So what?
I want to see this double-album.
"Run the Throne,
Watch the Jewels."
For Christmas 2014?
Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey are Black Stars.
Summer 2015?
Outkast.
Yeah.
Bring the Duos Back.
Clipse did it right.
Is there no one else?
Run the Jewels lights the way. What else does rap have to say? Rap is the people. "If the people are smoked out, hip-hop is gonna be smoked out." (I see you, the Roots.)
What are the people, Hip-Hop?
Tell me WeezyFBaby.
Tell me GiftofGab.
Tell me SnoopLion.
Tell me Kendrick.
Tell me Eminem.
Tell me Redman.
Tell me Kanye.
Tell me Wale.
Tell me Jay.
20140701
World Cup Volume 12
Tue Jul 1
An Irregular Series
USA v BEL
A Broken Nose is an American Injury.
Stick your face where it don't belong.
Cut your face to spite
your
GAME ON!!!!!!!!
I am still not impressed with DaMarcus Beasley.
12 minutes in and not too much pressing from one side or the other.
Every Single Time BadTouch Bradley misplays the ball going forward, remember that in those moments he's supposed to be Clint Dempsey playing to Jozy Altidore.
Every Single Time Bradley makes a play or closes a space on defense, remember that he's supposed to be one level back.
USA is playing without Plan A(ltidore) and have done very well considering. Which other team in the 16 is playing without Plan A? Most of them non-A-plan-having Mofos went home after the 32.
Yikes on that BEL break at about 22min. This is why we need Howard as GK.
Of course Beasley gets back to make that goal line save.
Mr. Dark: You say that USA has been second-best in the first half as if there is no second half. Or as if all 0-0 games are not all 0-0.
BEL #5 still scares me.
Eden Hazard is really good but consistently short of transcendent in any&every way.
Two paths here:
BEL gets the goal on USA's stout defense.
USA hits the break on the tied from-attacking BEL team.
Rope-a-dope.
At least I hope.
58 min gone.
Despite their possession, BEL's best shot was just then on the touchline playback.
60 min gone.
This USA team is not nearly as wide-open as they were in the group stage.
Bradley is playing much deeper now, no?
66min gone.
Like this Wondolowski Sub. This is the time, now is the moment, Wondo has done the work, time to see if Fortune favors him.
I like the way we've moved Dempsey and Bradley back to take some breth while Wondo gets to be aggressive in the front.
More possible combinations if Extra Time happens as well.
Yes, we still demand a top-shelf GK for USA success. There is no other way. 76min gone.
Nice defense, Morales.
The USA roster is deep and versatile, though not every individual USA sub is versatile.
It looks like due to a possible Omar Gonzalez injury that USA will truly have to suffer.
HOWARD STOPS
HAZARD. yay.
Silver Surfer Bradley is so so so much better in defense. He turns into Badtouch Bradley in attack.
USA has changed tactics. I like this versatility. Yedlin is doing everything he needs to do. Pure Adrenochrome?
Fantastic, Besler,..
Wait... USA has never been in a shootout in the World Cup? I mean... I'm not surprised, exactly, but still...
Beasley is attentive and exerts energy... he is a strong defender... but I just don't ever feel comfortable... is it just me?
Wondolowski... if you ever played HS US soccer... you know exactly that guy.
92 min gone.
BONUS SOCCER.
fuuuuukin Lukaku.
Don't do it Lukaku... ohno.. De Bruyne.
BEl 1, USA 0, 92 min gone.
Now... we shall see who USA brings in... at least this is not late in the second OT...
Fuuuuuuuuking Lukaku.
BEL 2, USA 0. 105min gone.
It would take a miracle.
Julian Green scores or "comes up trumps" according to the announcer. BEL 2, USA 1, 107min gone.
OH JJones! Unlucky! Nearly there, Sir!
Interesting USA Free Kick here... 112min gone.
Excellent design with a lack of finish for USA.
Excellent Excellent playcall from Klinsman!!!
And yet, that is not enough for USA to win.
This was a fantastic team, with a coherent style and gameplan and counterattack.
I am sorry to see USA bow out, but the thing is that I'm sure USA Soccer is on the rise.
---
---
Here's the thing, Soccer. I love you. We love you. But in a part-time sense. That is, we Americans can also watch other sports. The NBA. The NFL. WE like excellence, and those two leagues are the most in graceful athleticism and powerful athleticism that we will find on the planet.
So, we watch them.
And, for those of whom among us love gambling? We watch baseball. If we crave speed action, we have the NHL. And we have MMA And we ahve and we have and we have...
We love sports here in America, and soccer is worthy.
But it will never be more worthy than Basketball, Football and the like. At most, it can be tied.
And that is a hell of a thing.
We are THE sporting nation on the earth.
But the soccer season is too long.
I watch UEFA Champions League every year. I work for MLU. I watch as much as possible of the NBA season every year. So too the NFL. How am I going to watch BPL? La Liga? &c?
That's about it. Plus the World Cup, every four years, and some pieces of Olympics.
It isn't that we wouldn't want to watch more of you, soccer, it is that we don't want to watch less of our other significant others.
I hope this doesn't mean you'll want to have that "friends" conversation. I don't want to give up what we have, I just want to have my cake and eat it too because "Cake or Death" is too damn French.
World Cup Volume 11
Sun Jun 29 - Tue Jul 1
An Irregular Series
COL dispatched URU over the whole of the game without too much trouble. Not particularly interesting, but this is a better piece on the win from a more informed COL perspective.
---
---
NED v MEX.
Been excited for this match for a while.
In the early going, MEX is having the best of it, making more threatening runs and generating actual shots on goal while NED needs to take an early sub for De Jong and has been unable to generate fulfilling attacks. Also, the NED GK is looking like crap getting caught out of the goal at all the wrong times, missing clears and generally looking... uh... nearly unqualified.
However, Robben is still so damn dangerous. He's built up a couple of one-man forays into the attacking area.
I'm a fan of Dutch Football. Have been for a long time as they purport to have a philosophical bent in their tactics and a sense that this is what they do. Their players are consistently compelling and often brilliant.
NED is holding in attack, up until a FIFA mandated cooling break which is leading to an unexpected commercial break in a World Cup game.
MEX messes up in the backfield... and NED fails to capitalize despite it being RVP and Robben! Needed a better result there, even though the announcers seem to think it should have been a PK (as does Robben).
Lotta empty seats on the sunny side of the stadium .
---
Yes, after halftime, the announcers seem to have noticed the empty seats in the sun... and then MEX scores on a wonderful strike from just outside of hte box, although the GK should have gotten a piece of it and he failed. I understand that he was screened and it was a wonderful shot... but this GK has been ripe for the picking all day.
MEX 1, NED 0. 48 min gone.
Interesting game afoot!
Heckuva strike, Dos Santos. Very creative use of space also.
Holy Ochoa with that save!!
Is this gonna turn into the NHL w/ MEX riding the hot GK???
I have not been impressed with Sneijder in this tourney. I've always liked him, but he seems so complacent thus far through 3.5 games or so.
And Huntelaar enters the game for NED! The secret weapon forces RVP to the bench!
Is RVP suffering from the heat? He is no Michael Bradley, willing to suffer the most.
Coach Herrera getting warned on the sideline about something. He reminds me of NY Rumble Head Coach Anthony Nunez for some reason. Despite Nunez's far more stoic demeanor.
8 minutes to play... does NED have a chance? a trick up their collectively Oranje sleeve? CAn MEX hold on to this win? It would be a surprising but not shocking to see MEX win this. They are a very strong side, and were it not NED (or USA), I'd be cheering for them.
And as soon as I type a while on Sneijder, he rockets the shit out of a bouncing ball to tie the game! That's the type of strike that I loved practicing and prayed that I would get to blast in a game, but my skill wa snot high enough. Only in the back yard and in practice...
MEX 1, NED 1. 88min gone!
Ad ROBBEN GOES ***RIGHT*** TO DRAW A PENALTY! 91 min gone!!!!!
If there is a keeper who can save a non-shootout PK... Ochoa... might be the guy...
And another yellow on this interaction for MEX.
HUNTELAAR to take it...
Huntelaar makes it! Buries it into the sidenetting, and jump-kicks the flag like a Double Dragon character! Holy Holy Holy hell!
MEX 1, NED 2, 92 min gone!!!
And NED wins!
Survive and advance, as THE Jimmy Valvano would say. No matter how many strikers needed, no matter how many minutes. No matter. You win, you win.
---
---
Watching this CRC v GRE game has been an experience in the wholly boring yet engulfing world of the World Cup. It has been a couple of opportunistic goals in a morass of poorly connected play. GRE started just lobbing balls into the box as soon as CRC lost their 11th and went down to 10. CRC tried valiantly to defender, and succeeded in preventing GRE from converting on any of their near-chances.
That CRC lost a player was depressing to watch happen. Their attack has been enjoyable to watch the whole of the game. And GRE, like they have been this whole time, were incompetent on attack in the run of play as well as on set pieces.
Now to PKs without the GRE coach! Who seems to have been sent off in the interregnum between the end of extra time and the start of PKs. Wild and wooly stuff.
CRC Borges: Top of the goal, dead center. CRC 1, GRE 0.
GRE Mitroglu: Little stutter, finishes in side netting to the left. CRC 1, GRE 1.
(This is already brtter than BRA v CHI)
CRC Brian Ruiz: High slightly off-center to the right. CRC 2, GRE 0.
GRE #16: Buries it in the side right. CRC 2, GRE 2.
CRC #3: Slight lift to the left side, that midrange height that can get over the GK. CRC 3, GRE 2.
GRE #20: Same as CRC above, but opposite side. CRC 3, GRE 3.
CRC Campbell: Cheeky finish. Slow roller finish after GK commits. CRC 4, GRE 3.
GRE Gekas: SAVE BY NAVAS!!! To the left, and the GK gets it with his trailing hand!
CRC #4: Buries it top left!
CRC advances on one save!
Happy to see CRC advance over GRE. GRE is not at all pleasing to watch. CRC can be... however, when they play against NED, it will likely be unbalanced.
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FRA v NGA
Good attacking w/o dominance from either side.
NGA now scores on offsides goal (Called back).
FRA now misses an open offsides chance.
Pogba sould have scored on that beautiful cross (which would not have happened has Pogba not made a lovely traipse upfiled to accelerate past most of the NGA line.
This has been a fun end-to-end game in the first 23 min.
Nice save on the almost-bicycle kick from the FRA GK.
Still into extra time in the first half, neither team has been able to build through the center of the field when attacking. It has been all wings and crosses, with maybe one exception when Pogba got off on a break for a moment. Which *still* ended with a cross before a shot. This width and then in is strong, but they are failing to spread the defense out enough to create some gaps int eh center.
And *THAT* is why you are not allowed to challenge with your studs up. The FRA dude was really walking the line. Clearly unintentional, but that does nothing to protect the players. Nor does it bring the NGA player back in.
NGA is not attackng in numbers, but they are still generating some chances eitehr dead on or via crosses. FRA... we'll see yet.
NGA has had a handful of near-crushing goals scored on them. That they have NOT is an indicator that they might well be the winner. If NGA can get one in, FRA may have already had too many good chances by the 78th minute to generate any more.
EXCEPT that POGBA SCORES!!!!!!!!!
FRA 1, NGA 0. 79 minutes gone!
The GK needed to come out and actually clear it!
Now, the reverse is the mentality.. FRA has been pressing and has converted! now NGA needs to prove themselves in the final 20min!
And the game is over. FRA scores their second on a NGA owngoal.
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C'mon ALG Head Wound Harry! You gotta cross that ball in front of the goal mouth! You're shooting at a target which doesn't exist!
The thing about the GER side is that they know that, despite their aesthetically pleasing style of play, no one likes them. And they feed off of that. They are the Contras. The opposition. The Big Boss.
That ALG is pressing well is troubling for Zee Germans. That they just scored and offsides goal is likely to prove either a warning shot which wakes GER or a harbinger of ALG's brilliance.
Another dangerous ALG attack! This ends in a shot which should have been a far-post-cross.
ALG is no joke. I haven't been able to look away from the game enough to type. So tense. GER is on the ropes, simultaneously with ALG. I have no idea at all what will happen. It is like both teams are constantly under siege yet not truly able to threaten the other. AH! SO SOCCER!
Dude, it is a FREE kick. Y'ain't s'pos'ta fall down.
The ALG GK has been above competent.
And what the fucking goal is that for Churrle??? he was blindly kicking to a blindspot on the goalface! So good at soccer are all these players.
This is possibly the most interesting early result. Now ALG has to press which, while they are not against it, it is still not their best facet.
This ALG attacker laying on the ground is the worst part of the game so far.
Unless, of course, his brain has melted under duress.
"The lead tenuous and far from impressive." is what the announcer says just before GER buries the clincher in the 2nd OT.
This ALG squad is just out of gas. They are very very dangerous. GER was a terrible matchup for them.
OH!!! And *Now* ALG scores. Great far-post run. Still no chance. Riiight? But they're in the box again! Nope!
There is the whistle.
GER advances.
Again, ALG is a fantastic squad this go-round.
FRA v GER should be... free of crazy historical associa... wait... no it isn't. i'm excited!
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And finally Shaqiri generates a beautiful opportunity, the first of the game, on the whole.
This is shaping up to be the most conservative of the knockout games thus far.
now ARG generates a great crossing opportunity off of a cross.
30 min in and there have been two legit chances. This seems destined for PKs. OR just a Messi goal, of course.
This Drmic non-goal on the breakaway could spell the end for SUI.
Scoreless at half.
ARG is laying siege to the SUI right now out of half. This is the moment that they believe they will score, yeah?
And yet, here we are in the second extra time with ARG still not-scoring and SUI still not-scoring. It seems like Messi is always covered by three and that Shaquiri (the only SUI able to create on his own) is... well... the only SUI able to create on his own.
111 minutes gone, 0-0.
Di Maria is SO FAST. (No Gareth Bale... but still)
AND MESSI CREATES THE CHANCE FOR DI MARIA!!! DI MARIA FINISHES!!!!!!!!!!!!
118 minutes gone!
Oh my, #15 SUI... that is not good at all for you... that could've... anything could have happened there. And the only thing that did happen was you missing. Once by a post's distance and once by a rebound's caprice.
How is the SUI GK so slow after coming out? He's been standing around for 120+ minutes.
SUI should've been playing like this whole time!
SUI free kick just outside of the box due to Shaquiri!
20140628
World Cup, Volume 10
Sat Jun 21
An Irregular Series
And BRA has scored first off of a corner!
BRA 1, CHI 0. 18 min gone.
CHI will still be attacking, but now possibly even more furiously. (Why is it curiouser and curiouser but not furiouser and furiouser? Just because of Alice in Wonderland?)
Not only are the knockout rounds generally better because of the skill level of every team, but these two teams specifically are very technically proficient individually and well organized at the team level. This is a good fun attacking game to enjoy.
The crowd is awesomely pro-BRA. Unsurprising, yet still impressive. It gives a real sense of home field advantage and is spurring the BRA players on.
That Neymar is just so so fast when he wants to be.
I am not enjoying this Neymar diving experience. I am enjoying the rest of his game.
The BRA side looks unhurried yet fast. Elongated speed even. CHI looks more frantic and choppy. Either team can put it together to mount an attack at any moment, make no mistake about that. The predominant characteristics of their offenses beyond "very skilled" vary, however.
AND ALEXIS SANCHEZ PUNISHES THE ERROR.
(The CHI fans are all cordoned off from the rest of the fans. That has to be an intimidating experience. They show no signs of being unenthused, however.)
1-1 32 min gone.
Madness in the attacking box for BRA as CHI cannot clear... and now a near-break for CHI... but not to be.
Neymar is so good guys. He's got hops taboot.
WOAH!! If CHI keeps pressing the backfield like this, BRA might well give then un regalo soon enough. Almost like BRA can't believe CHI is pressing like that.
Hulk score by accident off of knee.
Hulk carded rather than scoring.
That CHI feller up high is quite excited. That's like... NFL Defensive Back excitement. CHI is getting into attack attack attack mode and realizing tha BRA is nothing too too special. No reason for them not to press everyone and make them PROVE their abilities. Yet again to make a frisbee analogy, it is like pressuring the openside throws of great throwers. You're not looking for the handblock (though you'll take one) but rather you've making them execute at the highest level over and over again rather than letting them relax and complete passes.
That CHI attacking sequence was glorious. That the BRA GK saved it? great positioning and GK-level reaction speed. You can't ask for more.
CHI generates another short field to attack by pressing the backs of BRA.
SANCHEZ got skills on display, yo.
Even this disjointed second half of play (as of 71min) has been enjoyable.
Jo probably shoulda scored on that perfect cross from HULK.
This CHI coach misordered his polo with little boy sized sleeves.
Excellent Hulk effort. he looks fresh. That hamstring injury from early in the tourney seems to have done him well. Rest?
Hulk is still creating in this extra time. And Neymar is still jumping way up over folks.
This could be a incredibly meaningful foul on Dani Alves now. I assume it is for his silver hair.
Happy that Willian is coming on now in the extra extra time for BRA. I think he's not getting enough time on this BRA squad in large part b/c I feel OScar is overrated.
And CHi could have won it there if not for that pesky crossbar! Now BRA with a counter and corner.
Fucking PKs.
AAHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHHHH. So much anticipation.
David Luiz buries it. BRA 1, CHI 0.
#9 for CHI drives it into the GK. BRA 1, CHI 0.
Willian for BRA misses wide. BRA 1, CHI 0.
(on the town the beast is loose)
Alexis Sanchez gets stoned bt the GK. BRA 1, CHI 0.!!!!!
#6 for BRA puts it through the GK hands. BRA 2, CHI 0.
CHI #20 BURIES it. BRA 2, CHI 1.
HULK gets blocked despite crushing! BRA 2, CHI 1.!!!!!
HOLY CRAPTASTICALITY!
CHI #21 sends it home with just enough rise. BRA 2, CHI 2. !
Now, the Neymar strikes...
Neymar of course uses his theatricality to send it home. SO GOOD. BRA 3, CHI 2.
Jara for CHI... bones it off of the post. Such pain. Such remorse.
Unreal that penalties end 3-2.
This might be the kick in the ass that BRA needs to show their next level... If they have it at least. I'm not sure that they do. The rest of the draw should be so so so happy that CHI was matched up against BRA. Had they not been, they would have eliminated some other country.
World Cup, Volume 9.
Thu, Jun 26
GER while not looking comfortable are still generating chances
And USA is not possessing well.
Now i'm in a bar with a ton of uneducated soccer fans... yelling and getting upset about all of the wrong things...
Happy they aren't in the stadium...
The field condition are clearly suboptimal. Will likely be a low skipping power shot that makes the difference.
Jurgen looks dumb in his hat. It is just rain and yer hair ain't that wonderful to begin with.
USA gets a legit shot from Zusi.... coulda been a cross... but that was a whistler of a shot.
Theroblem is that this GER attack is like a deathmarch. It is only a matter of how many miles are traveled before something terrible happens.
Bad touch Bradley has returned.
Beasley makes a great run... his best play of the tourney if you ask me.
I like these dark GER jerseys.
Aaand the GHA own goal! POR 1 GHA 0.
The slick turf is playing games with players on GER and USA. JJones was the most recent victim.
The folks who yell "terrible call" after an obviously correct call are the worst fans in the world.
Badtouch Bradley.
Half at 0's.
Half at POR 1, GHA 0.
USA seems intent on pushing forward and hoping either for brilliance or a bad bounce. It could well happen, but GER is developing attacks and maintaining dangerous possession for longer periods.
The funny thing is that USA does not at all seem outclassed, just... not wholly coherent.
I do not like the practice of players pulling their socks up over their knees. That is ridiculous-looking.
Enter the Klose.
Great work tracking back, Gonzalez!
And, thanks in part to the insurance provided by one Christiano Ronaldo, USA advances with GER to the knockout stage!
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There were other games later that day, but I did not watch them coherently. Too much work and too much fresh Loose Cannon IPA at the bar.
Now, I am already mentally preparing for the BRA v CHI game. This should be a blast to watch. However, the Suarez-less URU taking on COL later today will not likely be a great game unless URU takes the advantage and scores first by hook or by crook.