Rants and raves

So unless you were hiding under a rock, you probably are at least peripherally aware that the FIFA World Cup just finished. Yeah, the soccer thing. It was a massive event, and one of the few cups that actually warrants the "world" part: 48 countries, 104 games, 6.8M stadium attendees, 6B viewers around the world, and an expected economic footprint of more than $40B (I thank the Source of All Wisdom - there, I capitalized it, that makes it true). By-and-large it has been a lot of fun to watch, with unexpected surprises, like islands nobody can point out on a map holding their own against worldwide soccer powerhouses. Scrappy Norway got props for sending Brazil home, which almost made up for their creepy lettering on their uniforms. England beat Mexico at home and ended their aspirations, and weirdly I ended up rooting for them to do it but then I had party remorse after the fact. Paraguay somehow sent four-time winner Germany home, in a surprising development that made Germa...