World Cup and Burning Motorcyclist Effigies

To the left is what my Facebook updates looked like during one of the World Cup games (I'll let you guess which one). I am so enjoying the World Cup, particularly since there is interest in it in the USA as I have never seen before, not even when it was hosted here back in the 1990s. I love the commentary by Alexi Lalas (hilarious and right on!) and I love that so many friends are into it! It's been great to not feel so alone while watching the games, many of which are at 6 a.m. our time (yuck).

Alas, I am broken-hearted over the USA loss to Ghana -- at least we weren't denied a goal yet again!). I was oh-so-sad that Mexico lost/Argentina won (I hate Maradonna). I was ELATED over Germany's win over England (Stefan was too). I want a team that has NEVER won to win it all -- or Germany.

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We had a great time at our very first Burning Moto Man motorcycle rally in the Willamette National Forest. Eric and Gail live in the kind of space I dream of having some day -- a big comfy house in a gorgeous setting and plenty of room to host lots and lots of people, including lots and lots of motorcycle traveler friends. We did a presentation on our Eastern Europe trip in 2008. I didn't go on the Saturday ride, however... I stayed behind to watch the USA v. Ghana game. I appreciated so much that Eric and Gail let me watch it in their lovely, refinished living room. But I was about to kill one of the guys watching it with me ("What does the yellow card mean? Do you think those are LCD panels on the side of the field? When is the commercial break? Is that a foul? Why are you so upset that Ghana scored -- it's just one point! What do you mean they play 45 minutes with no commercial break? This game is a lot like American football, don't you think?").

Check out our photos from the Burning Moto Man event. It was a great time, though they need a place at the event for people to socialize past 10 p.m. It is a motorcycle rally, after all... we like socializing at night time, particularly around fires (perhaps a bonfire the second night as well, and tell those that want to go to sleep early to camp farther away?).