Tag: germany

Vuvuzela Dogpound?!?!

So here we are … the morn of the 2010 World Cup semifinals.

For football fans, this is the week we relish when it comes along every four years. For World Cup haters, it means the torture is almost over (and I’ve got a special treat for you, just to get you through.)

The Netherlands – my pre-tournie pick to win – is going to square off on the pitch against spunky Uruguay and my new football fave Diego Forlan. Tomorrow Germany will face off against Spain.

The first match will hurt no matter what, because I want both teams to win. The second is clear cut – Spain all the way. (Though to be honest, the Germans are looking mighty tough so far.)

There have been some seriously amazing – and some not so amazing – moments during this tournament that will keep football fans talking until the next World Cup. I’m thinking:

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Lessons from the World

What I’ve learned so far from the World Cup ….a.k.a. a primer for Yanks

 

  • It’s fooball, futbol, the world’s sport ….. NEVER soccer (even if the U.S. commentators or desk jockeys say “soccer” regularly)

 

  • Fluorescent yellow or orange colored footwear is very distracting.

 

  • The Germans still look like a well-oiled machine. This is a World Cup standard that never seems to change.

 

  • Football players are pretty good actors. Their ability to roll around on the pitch (that’s the field), writhing in agony, only to jump up again when they realize the ball is still in play is quite often award worthy. See the world’s best hambones here.

  Continue reading Lessons from the World

Systematic Failure: Perils of Living in a Fast Food World?!?!

So a few not-so-random thoughts as a follow-up to my post: Perils of Living in a Fast Food Nation.

 According to this Der Spiegel article from Germany, governments across the European continent are examining legislative ways to trim the fat out of their nations’ diets. Like residents in the U.S. and other regions, Europeans are seeing an explosion of expanding waistlines. Proposals on the table reportedly include more taxes on chocolate in Denmark and fast food in Romania, limits on the use of trans fat in Spain and an end to advertising of sweets to children under 12 in Germany.

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Angela’s Attire Focus of Political Fashion, Again

I wonder if we are ever going to get past inane discussions about female politicians’ wardrobes as a story in the media in favor of continued focus on more important things like – oh, I don’t know – health care, nuclear nonproliferation,  the international arms trade and climate change.

 Recently German fashion designer Wolfgang Joop told a German magazine that German Chancellor Angela Merkel should don more low-cut attire, and that if anyone makes snide comments about her more revealing outfits “she can always slap them on their fingers using a fan from her clutch handbag.”

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World’s economic woes no cause for celebration

I guess Rick Newman’s article on the state of global economies was intended to give Americans something to feel good about as the U.S. economy continues to stumble along on crutches. But the idea that we should be elated to learn that the International Monetary Fund now predicts at least 11 major economies will fair worse than ours in 2010 is naïve at best.

Rejoice, Newman writes, for “when times are tough, one thing that tends to raise the spirit is knowing that somebody else has it worse.”

The reality is that economic distress brews a nasty stew of undesirable societal ills – extremism, militancy, xenophobia, jealousy, crime, authoritarian leadership and violence.

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