Chaos is right. My Brazil-Portugal final is terminado.

Ah, but you're still a frontrunner.

A France-Germany final would have plenty of pathos.

Put away "Girl from Ipanema." Tonight, it's fado music!

Tough day for the British fans. I just hope it doesn't drive them to drink.
Although I touted Wayne Rooney during this tournament based on being a Manchester United fan, I was extremely unimpressed with his behavior today. Let's hope the other player can adopt children.
However, I also mentioned Christiano Renoldo as an impact player from Portugal so that worked out.
I thought Brazil waited too long to put in Robinho today, but France won a lot of fans with their play. As far as the French people are concerned Zidane is amost as big a hero as Jerry Lewis.

It's VivA la France! One awesome win, mais oui?

And while I've NEVER seen a picture of Jerry Lewis ANYWHERE in all my trips to France, Bill...George Bush's picture is everywhere in the good ol' USA. (Want to see something really scary? Walk into a VA hospital in Florida and there's George's picture next to his hapless brother's. Talk about BIG BROTHERS looking over you.)

But...non! I won't be distracted from this awesome win.

Up next...Germany! Good thing there's no historic baggage THERE...

France has got to get past Portugal to get to a showdown with Germany.

A Brazil-Portugal matchup would have had some pathos as well...

Portugal...bah! England might have given France some competition, but with Beckham gone, Potugal got a break, and is advancing on luck.

Now Germany...they're scary. Let's get real here, the French have never been great at fighting on German soil. (And I say that as a Francophile...my Polish roots and French name earned by some distant relative's desertion from Napolean's assault on Russia.)

I still predict the French will take the whole shebang, but Portugal? Une petite annoyance and temporary distraction at best. C'est vrai? C'est vrai!

A French-German final would be a bonanza for comedy writers, although Leno's off next week so what do I care. But I've been wondering how far you should go with historical references? A comedy friend pointed out that if Germany had lost to Argentina they would have had to flee to Argentina. Does saddling the German team with a bunch of Nazi jokes, violate good taste or is it a comedic way of never forgetting? Would it be wrong to say the German goalie had a bunker mentality? Or if a French player had an own goal against Germany would he be accused of being a collaborateur? Where's the line here?

Where's the line here?

I believe that would be the Maginot Line?

We took a long Sunday drive in the country today -- a drop-dead beautiful Oregon Sunday and we saw Llamas and vineyards and great small towns and we drank wine and talked with many interesting folks and we marveled at a small town that still has a municipal swimming pool and tennis courts and -- obviously newer, a skateboard park.

We were winding around some mountain road, not sure if we knew where we were going and not quite caring, when Frank told me about posting the above.

I laughed, some might quibble, immoderately at that.

Then I felt bad about laughing.

I get what you're asking about, Bill. The humor "line" is tough on this one.

I’m tempted to say f**k ‘em if they can’t take a joke. But as a mother of boys the Maginot line is for me a tragic, heart-rending historical lesson that I pray will not be repeated in my life, with my boys. But, I laughed. And, I know Frank understands every shade of every boy lost in those trenches, when he tells the joke. So, I guess the answer is - what is the capacity of your audience to understand and appreciate the blackest of black humor?

If they are not there, this may not be the time for it.