World Cup Off Day Open Thread

Here we are, down to the final four, and another two-day break before the first semi final.  So let's talk about random stuff!

1.  The post-World Cup shopping spree has begun in earnest, with the douchily-haired DeAndre Yedlin apparently heading to AS Roma after the MLS season, which will be nice as it will allow him to participate in yet another Sounder late-season and playoff collapse before leaving trophyless for Italy. In all non-Timber biased seriousness, though, I have always liked Yedlin and am really happy he's starting to get the attention he desrves - he's a hell of a player.

2. The semifinals are set, with Germany playing Brazil on Tuesday and the Dutch taking on the Argentines on Wednesday.  Who do you want to win?

3.  The third place game on Saturday is the most pointless, dispiriting game in all of sport.  Agree or disagree?  I mean, who really wants to play in it? They don't make the losing semifinalists in the NCAA Tournament play for third place, or the losers of the AL/NL Championship Series, or...you get the drift. If you lose a semifinal, you should be allowed to go home and rest.

4.  I was getting to a point where I was really jaded by live music.  I've seen so much of it in my life that I forget that at its best, it's transcendent and powerful and life-changing - I always love seeing shows, but I forget how amazing they can be. I saw Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds last night, and they, as usual, blew me away.

They've been together for almost 30 years now, and it shows - Cave absolutely owns the stage, prowling around with a ferocious mix of menace and glee, and the Bad Seeds have this amazing ability to imbue even their quietest moments with tension and dread.  Cave feeds off the crowd, and they feed off him - it's something to see.  This is the fifth time I've seen them, and was probably the best.  The setlist was the perfect balance of old stuff and new, and the show had a great energy toit that you don't get from a lot of bands.

Have you seen, read, or otherwise experienced something lately (outside the world of soccer) that has restored or reenergized your love of that thing?

As usual, if anything important happens, it'll get its own thread, but for now here's a conversation bucket you can fill with your word...wow that metaphor got lost quickly. Oh well. Go forth and discuss.