HossC

Just a little stat that amused me when I heard it yesterday. Sunday was also the date of this year's All Ireland Senior Hurling final (Limerick beat Galway 1-29 to 1-18). I know the global viewing figures are hugely different, but attendance at the hurling final at Croke Park in Dublin was 82,300. Attendance for the football at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was only 80,663.

Kimi Antonelli took another pole at yesterday's Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen, George Russell and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. World Champion Lando Norris had to start from 13th after he got a 10-place grid drop for using too many engine components in a season. Max briefly took the lead on the first lap before dropping back to third, and Lewis hit George, ending George's race and earning Lewis a 5-second penalty. After the resulting safety car, Max got back to second and Oscar Piastri moved to third before both Ferraris got ahead of him. There were a couple of short VSCs (virtual safety cars) which mixed the order a little through the pit stops. Lewis failed to receive the front wing tweak he wanted and knocked over a mechanic as he left the pits. The mechanic was unhurt, and although the incident was investigated after the race, it didn't affect the outcome. Despite being shuffled back to third in the pit stops, Kimi retook the lead with 10 laps to go and went on to take another win. Behind him were Charles, Max and Lewis. Lewis' fourth place was enough to move him to second place in the Drivers' Championship ahead of the non-finishing George. The race highlights are here. Next week's Hungarian Grand Prix is the last before the summer break, and several teams will have upgrades for the race.

On at a more reasonable 8pm, I decided to watch the final last night. It was a long way from 10-goal thriller the night before, and the game was still goalless after 90 minutes. There were a few yellow cards and two of them went to Argentinian Enzo Fernandez which meant that he was sent off just before the extra time. He became the sixth player sent off in a World Cup final, three of whom have been from Argentina. Spain scored the winning goal in extra time against 10-man Argentina to claim this year's trophy. They are one of the co-hosts for the next World Cup in 2030. The action didn't end at the final whistle, and Argentina's Leandro Paredes also received a red card when a fight broke out between the players. Maybe they'd spent too much time in Waffle House while they were in the US. I'm not a big football fan, but I hope this marks the end of hydration breaks and half-time shows, both of which ruin the flow of the game. It would also be good if it was the end of highly inflated ticket and transport costs, and questionable choices by FIFA, but especially the latter seems unlikely.

I wasn't going to watch last night's third place play-off, but I switched over with about 20 minutes gone and found England were already 2-0 up against France. By half-time they'd doubled that to 4-0 and it looked like being a walk-over. The French coach must've given his team a strong talk during the break, because within 10 minutes of the second half they had pulled back two goals. It was a nail-biting time for England as France then made it 4-3. With three minutes of regular time left, France conceded a penalty which England's Bukayo Saka scored to complete his hat-trick - 5-3. France weren't done, and brought the score back to 5-4 in injury time. Then, with seconds left on the clock, late substitute Jude Bellingham scored an amazing goal for England to make the final score 6-4. It's shame that England missed out on tonight's final, but it was an action-packed way to end their 2026 World Cup. You can see all the goals in just over two minutes here.

Yes, they were released here and the DVDs are still easily available.

The BBC news website has a timelapse video of the World Cup final stadium almost disappearing due to the smoke in the air: https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c1w1nqwxgexo

I know the smoke has spread over a large area of the northern United States, but it hasn't made it across the Atlantic. It may, however, affect the air quality at Sunday's World Cup final in New Jersey.

Irish actress Brenda Fricker, who was the Central Park pigeon lady in Home Alone 2, has passed away at the age of 81. She won an Oscar for her role in 'My Left Foot' and was one of the original cast members of long-running British hospital drama 'Casualty'. Read more here.

Well, last night was the end of England's chances of winning this year's World Cup when they lost 2-1 to Argentina. The final on Sunday will now be between current European champions Spain and current World champions Argentina. England will play France for third place.

Book

Another Country song I'm hearing most days on the radio is 'Dry Spell' by Kacey Musgraves. I really like the innuendo-laced lyrics that treat the subject matter with a lot of humor without going too far. I've just watched the video for the first time, and it just adds to the fun. Maybe the British movies and TV shows I grew up with in the '70s and '80s make me appreciate it more!

After he scored both England goals last night, Jude Bellingham was serenaded by the crowd singing the Beatles' 'Hey Jude'.

And once more we let down the Scots. Another great result for England last night as they sent home Erling Haaland's Norway with a goal in extra time. Now England face reining champions and FIFA's favorite side Argentina in the semi-finals. At least that match is on at a more reasonable 8pm. I was up until 1am last night and I'm very tired this morning. BTW. When I googled Erling Haaland's name to check the spelling, a load of Vikings danced across my screen. I don't know if this Easter egg works in other countries.

That sounds fun. I've never seen a whole episode of Gilmore Girls, but I watched a few clips while researching the Hazzard Square thread.

Have you visited any of the filming locations?

Lewis Hamilton took pole for Saturday's sprint race, but got passed by Kimi Antonelli at about the midway point and had to settle for second at his home race. For the main race, Kimi took pole ahead of the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis, and the other Mercedes of George Russell. Kimi had a poor start and was passed by both Ferraris. He didn't get ahead of Lewis until lap 11. Kimi then stayed out while the other leaders pitted. That led to a great 3-way battle between Lewis, George and Max Verstappen. When Kimi finally changed his tires he came out behind Charles. The new tires helped Kimi catch Charles quickly, but then on lap 41 he got a loose piece of the car affecting his steering. By the time the team managed to clear it, Kimi was out of contention. On lap 48 (of 52) Max crashed out of third place bringing out a full safety car. Both Ferraris pitted for new soft tires, but sadly we were deprived of a last lap shoot-out as the race finished under the safety car. The cars in F1 don't refuel, so they can't extend the race like they can in NASCAR. At the flag it was Charles ahead George, Lewis and the McLaren of Lando Norris. Just like the sprint race, the British drivers could only manage second, third and fourth! Race highlights are here. There's now two-week gap until the Belgian Grand Prix (sorry, but I had to mention Belgium ).

Maybe Americans can now start to appreciate a famous quote by Bill Shankly who managed the English soccer team Liverpool from 1959 to 1974: "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that".

This sounds like a daylight robbery scheme that Boss would've been proud out. My brother gets autographs of actors in play programs at the theater when he visits. His collection includes some big names including knights and dames, and not one has ever asked for a cent! Thanks for the post, Webb, and I'm glad you got to meet John, but this feels totally against the spirit of the show.

And we let the Scot's down again by beating Mexico!

Say what you like about the UK, but we've created more independence days around the world than any other country!

I was 5, and I don't think it made it onto my radar being 3,000 miles away. I do remember dressing in red, white and blue a year later for Queen Elizabeth II's silver jubilee.

I've been to that place with the long name. It's on Anglesey, an island on the north-west coast of Wales not far from where the Irish ferry docks. It's mentioned in the 10 fun facts link that I posted above, which also translates what the name means. It's generally shortened to Llanfair PG.

I've just bought some of my favorite British tea (with tax). How are y'all celebrating? 🙂

For those of you not familiar with World Cups, all matches after the first round that end in a draw go to 30 minutes of extra time and then a penalty shoot-out if the scores are still level. This has happened a few times already, but I got to see my first of this World Cup last night and I'd forgotten just how tense they are. I wasn't even supporting either of the teams yesterday (I've watched England in many shoot-outs over the years), but the pressure on the players is immense. Five players take the spot kicks and the side with fewer goals goes home (they go on if they're still tied after five attempts).

The fact that the video is mirrored made me think it might not be the original. This slightly longer video was posted two days earlier, is the correct way round and has a different voice-over. The casting seems to be Jake Gyllenhaal as Bo Duke, Ryan Gosling as Luke Duke and Charlize Theron as Daisy Duke. While the cousin characters are the same as the TV show, Jesse and Boss have passed, and Leonardo DiCaprio plays Boss's grandson Jefferson Hogg. There's also no mention of Rosco, as Nicole Kidman plays Sheriff Lorena Dawson. There are three different General Lees: the original '69 Charger; a Charger Daytona; a modern Charger. I can't see the flag on the roof of any of them. I'm sure the caption "Except The Fight" should be "Accept The Fight". Most of the comments aren't positive.