Having today off from work was awesome, because that meant I could party late last night at the Echo without the repercussions of being tired at work. I caught the Kick Out the Clots Benefit featuring a handful of artists that didn't necessarily go together, but I've wanted to watch.

Rocco De Luca is mostly a solo artist I've heard on KCRW. His voice sounds like Robert Plant's and his guitar playing is masterful. The ladies think he's dreamy too. I was impressed by his range of songs, and all the energy that came from him being backed by just a drummer. The crowd was very appreciative of his performance.

I missed Great Northern the last couple of times they played in town. I really like their latest album, Remind Me Where the Light Is. Their live set gave them an unpolished edge that might be the only flaw in their albums. Lead singer Rachel Stolte sounded great although I think her vocals could have been turned up a little louder, and the band was really tight. I was a little disappointed they didn't play one of their best songs, Home.

She Wants Revenge finished out the show. Their music tends to lure attractive girls and being in the middle of the audience was a great way to finish out the evening. Their hypnotic disco beats are very danceable and the audience was definitely moving to their sounds. She Wants Revenge does have a tendency to be a monotonous in their sound, but I don't think anyone cared as long as they kept playing.

It took me 29 years to figure out what kind of dancing I'm good at. Thanks to Tridi and Tulika getting married, I now know it's Indian.

I've known Tridi since 1998, when we were freshman in college. I was excited for his wedding and had no idea what was in store. I don't think Adrienne, Keith, Rachel, Roman, Violet, Miguel, Matt or Phil did either.

Indian weddings are exciting. There's a lot going on. First the groom's guests marched in behind him to the beat of a drum and the drone of a conch shell. There was some dancing and the women kept shouting "yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi." Eventually we got to the staging area for the wedding and waited for the bride.

Tulika was carried in with a big leaf over her face. I believe her brothers (or male cousins) carried her around Tridi seven times, then she unveiled herself, and the ceremony carried on. There was a literal tying of the knot, sacrificing of butter, toe rings, foot touching, and finally Tridi and Tulika were husband and wife.

There was a part where a sheet was pulled over Tridi's head and I suddenly realised why he used to play Half-Life in our dorm room that way. He was preparing for this day way back then. I'm glad that was the only Half-Life reference at the wedding.

The reception started a few hours after the ceremony and featured the typical stuff you see at a reception...the first dance, words said by friends and family, dances with parents, dinner, cake cutting, and finally dancing. It was a blast and I'm pretty sure all 450 guests had fun.

My pictures are here.

All the adjectives you could apply to an inspirational performances apply to the USMNT's handling of Spain yesterday. The Yanks went end to end, side to side, non-stop for ninety minutes. The most telling play of the match for me wasn't either of the two goals, but it was Ricardo Clark's sliding block on a shot destined for goal from Sergio Ramos. Watch Minute 8:50 this clip. The team really showed what The American spirit was all about.

The team also told me and all the other supporters not to worry about the past few weeks of shoddy performances. We've been reaffirmed that our national team is competitive when we want to be. I think the players have realized that they can't coast when they put the jersey on and go out to play teams like Costa Rica and Honduras. National team's of old didn't take opponents lightly, and this next generation won't anymore.

Let's all laugh at these guys.

Then let's thank Brasil for getting the job done.

After my last post, I called Coach Bradley's coaching decisions into question. I was specifically concerned with his personnel choices. Shortly after that post, my point was validated with an absolutely sad performance against Brasil. Then somehow we turned it all around against Egypt. The player selection was a little better against Egypt, but the main difference was our heart. We finally brought it out onto the field for a match. The stats showed it too. Our players ran more and finally connected on a significant number of passes.

Our reward for a great escape out of our group is a match against the world's current best team, Spain. That means in a one week period, we'll have played 3 of the top 5 teams in the world. Not bad at all. We'll also get to play the host S. Africa, assuming Brasil beats them and Spain beats us. Seems like we'll get a lot of good competition out of this tournament.

June 3 - WCQ - USA gets worked 3-1 in Costa Rica. Costa Rica couldn't replicate that today. Most of our squad had only been together for 3 days and some had just flown in from Europe. Our team was comprised of players who play in Belgium, Mexico, France, England, Spain, Germany and of course the USA. That's at least seven styles of play and sets of tactics that have to be forgotten in three days. There was no reason to expect any team chemistry. There wasn't much of a reason to expect a win. Costa Rica is very good at home and just about all their players are domestic so they know how to play together all the time. While I thank SportsCenter and other mainstream media for covering the match, they're just not savvy enough to know that a win was going to be a very difficult task. The sky was not falling as they'd have you believe. I wasn't that upset with the result because I sort of expected it. I think some players showed how far they've fallen off the international level.

June 6 - WCQ - Three days after Costa Rica, the Yanks were in Chicago to play Honduras. Somehow we self-destructed after 10 minutes and gave up a silly goal, but we dominated the match and fought back to win 2-1. It was weird how we dominated the match with so many poor performances on the field but our system of hybreeding English Long Ball and Germany discipline out worked the Honduran system of pass pass pass run. This was the second match in a row where player selection was not as good as it could have been.

June 15 - Confederation Cup - USA fights hard but, loses 3-1 to World Champion Italy. Like my friend Dan Loney said, "Turns out the champions of the world are better than we are." Our tactics were right, but a lot went wrong. Ricardo Clark was stupid and got sent off (I'd have sent him off too). Bradley and Altidore missed clear chances. The ref missed a blatant second penalty. Italy dodged a few bullets, and capitalized like they always seem to do. Our Yanks played hard and better than I thought they could at times, but once again, I think some of the personnel let us down.

The common issue that I'm seeing is Coach Bob Bradley's player selection. A handful of players consistently under perform and are rewarded with more playing time. DaMarcus Beasley, Ricardo Clark, Pablo Mastroeni, Sacha Klejstan, Benny Feilhaber and Clint Dempsey are the top candidates in this spot. They've all had absolute howlers and somehow always find time on the field.

Two players have impressed me a lot, only to stay on the bench. Jose Torres and Freddy Adu were both brilliant against Costa Rica but haven't seen much time on the field since. Somehow they're associated with that negative result despite being the bright spots.

The most puzzling player is Michael Bradley, coach Bradley's son. He has had great seasons in Europe (last year with Dutch side Herenveen he scored about 20 goals, and this year he lead Borussia Moenchengladbach away from relegation) but somehow can't figure out what to do with the USA. I think he's being told to do too much. Against Italy, he was seen going box to box and not really being too effective on either end. He missed his open chance on goal in the first half, and was absent on Italy's goals. The coach is his dad and can't figure out what to do with the kid. I'm getting the feeling that Bob Bradley is not the answer for the USA.

We can't expect to beat Brasil tomorrow in the 2nd group match of the Confederations Cup. No team since 1958 has expected to beat Brasil. However, I'm very curious as to what the player selections will be. I don't trust Coach Bob Bradley at the moment and if I'm not liking his picks for the Brasil match and Egypt match, I'm going to be part of the contingent calling for a change.

Two weekends ago, I was in New England to see my cousin Liza graduate from high school and to congratulate my cousin Cristina on graduating college. It had been 5 years since I had last spent substantial time in the region, for Cristina's graduation from H.S.

My mom and I flew out and spent our first night and my cousin Megan's house. She and her husband Jason showed off my 2nd cousin Jillian, who is about 6 months old now. She was so cute that my camera couldn't handle it so all my pictures of us turned out blurry. Fortunately Megan got her camera to work. Jillian's hair is punk rock red and adorable. I'd love to see it stay that color forever.

After a night in Wolverham, CT, we went to East Longmeadow, MA. I spent 5 nights there before heading back home. Each day we had a little adventure.

On Saturday we went to New York City. Uncle Peter took us through all 5 Boroughs, in what was my first real trip in the Big Apple that Never Sleeps. It was great to get a geography lesson. I'll definitely understand movies and television set in NYC a little better now. We stopped by some homes where grandparents, and many other relatives I've never met used to live. We also met up with some of my mom's cousins in Staten Island and Brooklyn. I was really enjoying the trip, but I unfortunately caught some kind of bug that made me useless for about 10 hours. I got to have a little side trip to the Mount Vernon Hospital, which is not a sight anyone should see.

Some of the Manhattan Skyline

Italian Pastries from Alba's in Brooklyn. I puked up my delicious cannoli shortly after taking this pic.

On the second day, I recovered from being sick, while Liza graduated. That day wasn't so great for me because I had no appetite and felt weak all day. It was great that Liza graduated, but I can't believe I flew 3000 miles and missed it. Apparently I missed a windy graduation in which everyone's cap was flying off.

On the third day we hung around East Longmeadow and took it easy again.

On day four we went to Boston. This was my first trip to the city of Tea Parties and Red Sox. I was surprised at how compact and dense the city is. It's surface area is really small and there's a lot packed into the city. We parked our car and followed the freedom trail around the North End. It's a red line in the side-walk that highlights all the historical monuments in the city. We also saw the Fens, Fen Way, and Fenway Park. Fens is a British word for a naturey garden, and the famous stadium got its name from those.

Another interesting tid-bit I overheard had to do with the New England accent that gets under my skin like finger nails on a chalk board. Apparently all the original settlers in the area were from East Anglia in England, and the accent from that region was never truly lost. A National Park Ranger at Faneuil Hall said this, so I'll believe it until I hear otherwise.

North Church, where Lanterns signalled the British were Coming, and about to get their ass kicked.

Faneuil Hall, the meeting place for revolutionaries like Sam Adams. It is still used today for events and civic meetings.

Paul Revere's Home, right in the middle of the North End Neighbourhood

A 250 year old Elm Tree, under which George Washington gave a speech (tree not shown)

I think I liked Boston more than NYC, but I don't think I could see myself living in either. Both are loud and too dense for my liking.

On day five, we hiked up Mt. Tom for a view of the Connecticut River Valley. Then we went to Springfield, MA for an Italian lunch. I'm still agonising over my inability to chow down after my sickness a few days prior to this. I had no appetite at all but this didn't stop me from buying a lot of top notch pasta to bring home. We finished off that day with a big German meal at Student Prince to celebrate Liza's graduation.

Top of Mt. Tom.


And that was that. Aunt Darlene and Uncle Peter showed my mom and me a great time in New England. Cristina and Liza made the family proud by graduating with honors. Megan and Jason made the family a little cuter with Jillian.

Two ingredients for a winning combination:

1. Obscure silent film clips provided by the Cine Family Organization.
2. Michael Winslow, the man of 1000 sounds, from such movies as Police Academy and Spaceballs.

I heard about this event on Monday and immediately got tickets. I was certain I'd have a good time and laugh, but my friend's weren't keen so I went alone. I understand there was potential for this event to be hokey and unfunny after 5 minutes. I'm so glad I attended.

Winslow got up on stage, and proclaimed his love of movies, and how his sound effect antics used to get him in trouble. Then he showed some old and obscure black and white silent clips and added his own soundtrack. The result was hilarity and all the cool kids at the Silent Movie Theater in Midtown were laughing hard. We were also amazed at his talent. He somehow provided an Euro-trance dance track to a film while injecting characters voices into the mix. He performed as an orchestra while Charlie Chaplain conducted. He even voiced over a rare, silent, Little Rascals clip with about 10 different character voices.

After the old clips, he moved on to some talkies, like Star Wars and Mad Max: Thunderdome. Winslow accurately redubbed the entire space battle from Episode 4 where Obi Wan has just died, while Luke, Hans, Chewy, and Leia make their escape in the Millennium Falcon.. It was incredible. Every sound effect and bit of dialog was accurately recreated, driving the packed theater nuts. Winslow's performance was one of the most impressive things I've ever seen. He finished up his set with an incredible Jimi Hendrix re-enactment and a cover of Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World, complete with Kenny G flute effects and animal sounds from the video playing behind him.

Winslow got a standing ovation and raucous adulation from the audience, who he graciously thanked. It was a great show and if he does it again, I highly recommend getting in on it. I also have to commend him for providing belly laughter with G-Rated material. That's not so easy these days.

Check the Silent Movie Theater Website for upcoming gigs.

English Premier League

Bundesliga

Italy - Serie A

France - Ligue 1

Netherlands - Eredivisie

Champions League

There isn't a good La Liga compilation yet, but here are the top 10 Messi goals.