The games over the weekend didn't give the level of brilliant excitement I was looking for, we did however get plenty of tension in the Germany - Argentina, England - Portugal games. I thought that apart from a 5 minute dodgy spell Italy looked very good, although who knows how good Ukraine really are. The stars of the show for me though were the French and Zidane in particular. From the 1st minute of the game he was in complete control, every inch the master craftsman. What a joy it is to watch someone playing the game with such style and zest.

I've had a go at picking my team of the world cup so far:

Lehman (Germany)

Sangol (France)
Cannavaro (Italy)
Neill (Australia)
Zambrotta (Italy)

Zidane (France)
Gattuso (Italy)
Riquelme (Argentina)
Ballack (Germany)

Henry (France)
Ribery (France)

Several people came close to making the final cut, Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand from England, Ayala and Crespo from Argentina, Rosicky and Nedved from the Czech team, Bufon from Italy, Gusin from Ukraine, Klose from Germany.

Away from the World Cup , we enjoyed a very nice Sunday afternoon with a few friends in St Andrews Park. Using the copious coverage from the magnificent trees, we managed to avoid getting too hot in burning sunshine. Strangely at around 5:30 we were caught in a major hail and thunderstorm in South Bristol, it was so bad that we turned the car round and came home, of course 5 minutes down the road, the pavements were as dry as a bone

We've spoken to lot's of people who are as appalled as us at the current state of play with the Ashton Court Festival. As mentioned here in the past, we've decided to boycott the event as it has become a travesty of the community festival that it started as. So as long as the weather is ok, we've decided to gather with a few friends in St Andrews park from around 1pm on Saturday July 22nd for our own alternative Ashton Court gathering. Not sure if any music will be involved but we will be able to take advantage of the wonderful little cafe that has opened in the park, enjoy lovely surroundings and hook up with friends old and new, without having to battle to get into the site, get past security, pay £7 (or £9 on the day), and pay over the odds for food and drink. All welcome.