Field of...Death?

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

It's no Madrid. It's no Milan. It's no Manchester. But in Manti - yes, that small town in central Utah - soccer is a matter of life and death.

No, the town's toddlers are not necessarily dribbling balls or flinging headers before they're out of diapers. But they do play soccer at the city cemetery.

"Soccer has grown so much, we just needed a place that we could play," said Michelle Francks, Manti's city treasurer and former director of youth sports, including the Manti Youth Soccer League. "There was part of the cemetery that wasn't platted out yet. It seemed like a good solution, so we decided to put the field there."

Read the rest here.

Did you forget to buy a pumpkin like I did?

Then here's a virtual jack-o-lantern for you to carve instead.

I think I need help.

I spent $569 on soccer crap this weekend at the Eurosport yard sale. Granted, I did get 8 pairs of shoes, one pair of really cool puffy soccer ball slippers, and three shirts, but still. What was I thinking???

At least it wasn't all for one kid.

Talk about having someone by the balls!

From Reuters:

Bulgarian premier league side Litex Lovech have ordered striker Ivelin Popov to get married in the coming year in the hope that it curtail his wild living.

"I accept the order and I promise to do it," said Popov who is a key member of Bulgaria's under-21 squad. "My bosses are right to want such a thing from me because they know my temper."

Popov, a Levski Sofia trainee who turned 19 this week, had an unsuccessful spell at Dutch club Feyenoord before joining Litex last year.

He is known for his countless girlfriends and volatile temper and upset the Litex fans on Friday when he made a gesture towards them after scoring in a 2-1 victory over Rodopa Smolyan.

However, he is promising to curb his volatile temperament and settle down with his current girlfriend.

Not a cat wearing food!

No, thanks to Dooce, this is a *dog* wearing food. The most patient dog ever.

Watch the video.

This is me in a week or two (sniff)

From a Colorado newspaper article:

Reality stepped in midway through the second half late Wednesday afternoon in Denver, and I began to realize I was probably never going to see my son play high school soccer again.

The Tigers were down 3-1 in their first postseason game. Despite all the hope and optimism in the world, the outcome of the game seemed pretty obvious when their opponents knocked in a final goal.

As a senior and captain on the Cañon City Tigers squad, Bobby saw his high school career nearing its end.

What does LDSM stand for?

• Lake District Summer Music (these folks aren't very friendly in my opinion; I wrote to them asking if they had any LDSM t-shirts for sale and they didn't even bother responding.)
• LANDesk Server Management It's kind of freaky that the woman in the picture on this website looks a lot like me. At least we have the same hair color and glasses...
• Linking Science and Decision Making (yawn.)
• Landscape Dynamic Simulation Models (another yawn.)
• Love and Drugs and Sex and Music (yeah, my favorite...)
• and of course, me!

Football Poets

Poems about soccer are here:

it's a site for all football poets, lovers of football and maybe even lovers of (alternative)poetry. We're actively looking to sign more poets and will be delighte to discover unknown's in the lower leagues right on down to the school playground.

Here's my favorite so far: The Referee.

Wasting away again at work...

...while my friends are at the 28th Annual Fantasy Fest in Key West. Sigh. This is the second year in a row I haven't been able to go. I hope to be there again next year, eating cuban cheese toast and arepas off of Duval Street, drinking margaritas and bloody marys at the Green Parrot, frozen drinks of all kinds at the Flying Monkey, and watching old fat semi-naked people of almost every sexual persuasion make fools out of themselves for a week straight (it's a lot more fun than it sounds...)

Watch some Key West webcams here and here. But preferably not while you are at work.

Found Film

So there's this photographer, and he apparently finds old cameras at yard sales and such, and then if there is old film in the camera, he tries to develop it. Then he posts the results on his website.

This camera was found in a box with about ten rolls of film in it, and the pictures that resulted are simply wonderful. It's a shame that the person who took them never got to see them.

Think Before You Pink

Many people like the idea of supporting breast cancer research, but some of the newest products that appear to be helping the cause may not be giving money at all.

Items such as pink-labeled potato chips, paper towels and even Campbell's tomato soup are in the grocery stores and consumers are eager to support the fight against breast cancer.

A recent report in the Wall Street Journal raised questions about some pink ribbon products.

Read the rest here.

(Personally, I wish someone would sell a Pink Ribbon soccer ball. I would buy one for my daughter and I'm sure a lot of other moms would, too.)

The Top 49 Men?

According to AskMen.com, that is.

My favorites:

• 41
• 29
• 22 (just for his quote about his mom)
• 19
• 12
• 10 (the person I'd love to meet most, ever)
• 8 (of course)
• and #1, whom I guessed without peeking!