Random Information with a bit of Life Sprinkled In

My thoughts are the teams most likely to make a run are

Spain
Portugal
Netherlands
Croatia
Germany

I'm putting my vote in on the Netherlands to take the whole thing.

After the Germany - Croatia game, it's hard to say whether Croatia is a real contender or if Germany is either overrated or just had an off day. After the thrashing the Netherlands gave Italy in a game I predicted correctly, I don't think Italy has enough to make if far in this tournament. It is even possible that they won't make it out of the first round.

However even with the impressive win over Italy, the Netherlands still have a long road just to make it out of the round. Their next game is against France, who didn't look great against Romania, but it is still France. They seem to start slow in most major tournaments, but I suspect with the way the Netherlands smashed Italy, France will be ready to go.

Quick group predictions (I should have done this way earlier since it is now into 2nd matches of groups, but I won't change my original predictions)

Key - 1st** 2nd*

Group A
Portugal**
Czech Republic*
Turkey
Switzerland

Group B (obviously this group has changed since the Croats dominated zi Germans, and now they have to battle it out with Austria to make the quarterfinals)
Austria
Croatia*
Germany**
Poland

+PREPARE FOR A GERMANY VS PORTUGAL QUARTERFINAL!

Group C AKA Group o' Death
France*
Italy
Netherlands**
Romania

Group D
Sweden
Spain**
Russia*
Greece

Spain looked ridiculous against Russia. Villa and Torres are a fucking deadly combo. Russia missed a lot of opportunities however, and it could have easily been a 3:3 game. I think Russia will be able to deal with Sweden and Greece, but it definitely isn't a given.

I've decided once again to do something with this damned journal, and I think I may have come up with a way to keep me interested in blogging. Pretty much this will be a review page and just other random stuff on my mind. Maybe a story here and there if shit goes down.

Sigur Ros just recently put a live stream of their new album entitled


Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (English Translation: With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly)

They've had their first track on the album up for a couple weeks and free to download and I was surprised but loved it the first time I heard it. If you haven't listened to Sigur Ros before then you probably wouldn't understand why I was surprised.

Here is why:
Usual Sigur Ros: "Hippola" - Takk




New Single "Gobbledigook" - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust



The new single is ridiculously upbeat in comparison to older Sigur Ros songs. You could guess that I was quite interested to give the entire album a listen. After I found the stream at work I opted to wait til I got home and download the album and grab my recliner and just listen to it from start to finish. I must say that this album does not disappoint. While it's not all as upbeat as the single the album definitely has a different pace from normal Sigur Ros albums. After their Heima DVD and tour around Iceland, the band loved the acoustic sound. As it was the first time the band had done anything in acoustic, you can tell it opened a whole new world of music to them, and we are reaping the benefits.

My favorite track thus far has got to be "Inni mer syngur vitlevsingur" which is the second track on the album. It will more than likely be in the top 5 Sigur Ros songs after I listen to a few times more. The album slows a bit after track 5 and drifts back into Takkish territory, which definitely isn't a bad thing. My least favorite song is probably All Alright, which is their first song written in English. This doesn't mean it isn't a good song, because the entire album is great, it just didn't catch me like the other songs yet.

Now after listening to this album non stop for two nights, I get the privilege of seeing them live for the 2nd time at the Uptown Theatre in Kansas City, MO tomorrow night (Thursday June 12th). I must say that the Uptown Theatre is the perfect venue to see Sigur Ros live.






I will probably give the show a review and get some pics up this weekend.

Other News:

I won two tickets to the Adrenaline Show in Chicago on the 14th. I may or may not go, I just couldn't turn down a contest I could actually win.