Brazil out

So on the 295th last day of my 20s, I watched Brazil lose to Holland in the quarter finals. It's a shocking result, because I've been banging on about Brazil winning the World Cup for a few weeks now. It's a bit embarrassing when they concede two weak goals against Holland and get knocked out. Oh well, at least now I can focus my attention fully on Argentina.

I thought Brazil played really well in the first half. I thought they lost it in the second half after two really weak set-pieces and Melo's red card. Holland did alright, but if Brazil had played as well in the second half as they did in the first, Holland wouldn't have had a chance.

It's a pity. I like Brazil. I like the Netherlands as well, but Brazil play a bit better. It means that the Netherlands have a really good chance to reach the finals (up against Uruguay, I think), if their defence can keep up with Suarez. I'm not sure they can do that, but it'll be interesting.

It's strange to think that one half of the final will now feature either the Netherlands or Uruguay. It's like the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea, which featured Korea and Turkey in the semi-finals. I like how these "neutral" World Cup locales seem to favour underdog teams. It's more exciting than watching Germany 2006, when all the games went pretty much to tradition.

My nurse set me up on a blind date with someone she doesn't know. Went along with it for the hell of it. It was bad, so very, very bad. So bad it was funny, and it was so funny it was even worse. She was a mainland Chinese girl, and we had nothing in common except politeness and awkward silences. Spent a hour or so at dinner, drove her home and didn't look back.

Back home watching Ratatouille at the moment. It's one of my favourite films. It started the minute I came home. So I guess there are some compensations for a incredibly awkward, terrible, blessedly short blind date.