OMG – the Brazilian commentary is hilarious! They were saying how much pain France has caused Brazil in previous Cups, and now are loving it, taking the p out of the French manager.

Thing is, you can be anywhere really and some amazing things happen. This is yours truely, who got up around 5am, and went to the 12 Apostles stone circle in Dumfries to do a ceremony, only to find there were cows in the field. I had to do a very quick change of plan, and ended up at Lincluden. It was cloudy, but just as the sun came up, I had an amazing window of 10 minutes, and took this photo among others.

Garry – did you watch Spain Switzerland? 🙂

When it comes to drumming, this is my yardstick to judge all other drummers

Been doing a lot of writing this month

So this is about as good as it gets

The only bee in my bonnet is having people encouraged to miss all the fun of winter riding

I cannot but help think that people are able to make up their own minds without needing Chipp's advice, or your own! 🙂

Excellent – it's a great city so enjoy 😀

No one seems to be talking about the issue of altitude. Did that affect us in the first game and is it still an issue?

OMG – it must be a killer being either Spanish or Swiss!! Off the bar again – end to end. Mental

I was wondering about the noise too. It's quieter on Brazilian tv too.

Good lord! Off the post. The Spanish have to score soon surely?

Well at least the Spanish have Torres' nice new hair cut to keep them happy 🙂

Ouch – watching the video seems that there some big crashes further down the field too. Hope everyone is ok.

Video is at the bottom of this link

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/4549/Tour-de-Suisse-Massive-crash-in-stage-four-finale-takes-out-top-sprinters.aspx

I like my mountain biking to be fun, not sub-zero sado-masochist. So sue me 😀

This piece on Dumfries' Facebook page is written by those who live there, but does contain mild swearing

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=5590218749&topic=3209

[It's my hometown and place of birth too! Oh, and I have often considered getting a pad there if I thought I could get work there.]

Looks like I will be celebrating in Belo Horizonte where I am living right now – there is a spot up on a hill that looks over the city and I should be able to see the sun from there 🙂

Yep – still here having just watched my first Brazil match in the country 😀

CG – There are simply tons of quiet spots in that region to enjoy the solstice. Why not go up one of the White Horses, say Uffington, and watch the sunrise in peace? 😀

Maybe our 1 – 1 result isnt looking quite so disastrous right now given that there are quite a few draws elsewhere? This could change in the next minute or so tho!

Dang – missed the match as I was trying to get a load of work done before the next game. Sods law. Oh well.

Well what are those of us who are not biking right now meant to talk about then? 🙂

I have not been married, but have been to a wedding of very close friends who had pretty much more budget at all for their wedding. My friend getting married made her own dress, and also made a shirt and some trousers for the groom. The reception was in their cottage, and everyone brought a dish for the meal, as there was no budget for food really (their financial circumstances were very problematic). But yeah, a great wedding, we had sunny weather, and the focus was just on the great love between two very good friends of mine.

LuckyJim

I don't think your calculation is fair. A person is not going to make 200 rides into the wilderness where only a helicopter would reach. If they are commuting by bike, if they get hit by a car they will need an ambulance as I assume most commuters do so on roads. Also, you will have other groups who have never had to call out an air ambulance, just the law of averages. I have been on a Boggies ride and will happily do so again, except my leg is a bit broekd right now (and no, I didnt call an air ambulance 😀 )

I am in Brazil and it's really interesting being here at this moment in time. Brazil is currently running a $250billion surplus, which my GF tells me is genuine, as opposed to there being hidden "off-balancesheet" fiddles. The economy is growing at 5% a year, and in terms of jobs, many corporations are struggling to keep hold of high flying graduates when they get their first jobs after leaving uni. Many older Brazilian companies are seen as conservative, stuffy and too restrictive compared to the sexy newer tech companies like Google for example.

My GF is pretty well connected in the business world and once I have completed my writing she has a lot of contacts lined up who have said they would like to meet me. It seems there is a lot of energy and creativity in Brazil, and so long as you have the contacts, looks like employment is not going to be an issue for me.

After saying that, there are downsides. I love the country, but there is poor infrastructure, and there are no nice suburbs to live, most living is in apartments in the centres of huge cities. There is still the well known problem of poverty here, and one wonders just how sustainable the growth is. It certainly is not sustainable for the planet.

Many consumer goods here are way more expensive that in other countries due to the high taxes (state and country-wide). There is nothing such as social security, and medical things etc have to be paid for.

So yeah, Brazil is a great country, but living here is very different to how you imagine it to be, for example living it up on the beach at Rio. The country is simply enormous, and most travel is by plane rather than train or car.

So yeah, I have nothing to moan about – should be able to get a job, but will be sure to miss many things in the UK despite it being up the toilet really.

Well Wilko maybe you are a troll, but maybe it's because 30 – 40 years olds seem to break more eaily, take longer to repair, and have a greater sense of their impending death than mentalist teenagers 😀

Ah well Crazy Legs – it's good that you are OK to be back here typing so that's good news. At least your spill wasn't half as bad as Robert Green's 🙁

Cheers RD – I did click before but didn't scroll down far enough to see that explanation.

Fek!

I was just wondering if you guys are getting the same video footage as we are. This being Brazil, I can only but think we are getting close-up footage of the crowd, and certain individuals in the crowd, from a Brazilian cameraman 😯 None of the this BBC nonsense with punters in a multimillion pound specially built studio – just voiceovers and video footage 🙂

Well yesterday didn't really get off to a good start for me. I sat down at a bar to watch France Uraguay and some bloke clocked my accent asking for a beer. He turned around, and asked if I was supporting France. I said not, and that I was English. I then proceeded to explain at length how I was supporting Uruguay for this match since France really cheated against Ireland, and how Brits will often support other British teams. I said France were a terrible team and just how awful they were.

He then proceeded to point out that he wasn't Brazilian as I had thought but French 😳

But he was a nice enough chap, and there with another French lass who was a nurse, and as he asked me to join them, I did an about face, and with a great deal of digging ended up supporting France and enjoying the game. Allez les Bleus!

Loving that mix – just wondered if there were any more like that but say 89 – 92?

Some great tracks here.

I am watching Tomb Raider and Leftfield's Song of Life has just kicked in as she arrives in Cambodia 😀

Well seeing as no one is around I dont need to embarrass myself but dropping these : )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmuCLF3msj8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMLUuv57l-E

That's a total killer tune and vid kimbers.

Seeing as it seems not too many people have found their way in here, I'll drop some 4Hero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgyEEf-0tfo

I think I get the meaning of the word Panda but can someone explain where it comes from and why it is used for self taken pics on bikes? Cheers : )

2)40

God darn it you facebook people are evil – now everyone knows I'm 40 😯

I would tell you but I am afraid you are going to use my personal data in a fraudulent manner and give it away to all sorts of undesirables 🙁

I swear to god if all the blokes who profess to not liking football and in particular the world cup were watching it in Brazil, I can guarantee the story would be a would different kettle of fish believe you me 😀

I thought the game started at 11.30 not 11 😳

I guess it meant I had a few more minutes to finish some work and can now enjoy the rest of the day, not being in gainful employment right now 😀

I should probably add that my own website http://www.simonralli.com is a blog which is focussed on my experiences, research and masters degree dissertation around human – plant communication and the world's most powerful natural plant hallucinogenics but to be honest I can't see that being much use or inspiration to you and your bike-related site 😀

Hey Taka

Looking at your site it does not seem clear exactly what the focus is. You have a link saying "All your biking needs" and this is quite a big claim for a website. Are you planning on setting up an e business? I would say do not have links that are not yet functional, and also if you do set up a biking business, set up a separate website, as right now, the business side looks very amateurish. That is not a criticism, just an observation from a marketing perspective. Also, think again about the claims you are making. Niche is often good, if you want to specialise in providing some biking needs that you feel other businesses can not provide.

Si