in an opening round World Cup game goes to …
Again!
(Or is that, “as usual”?)
Author Archives: Doug Merrill
World Cup Cliche Watch, Pt. 3
I don’t know if these are also soccer cliches in English, but they are widely repeated bits of wisdom in German.
First, for our friends from Japan: “The game lasts 90 minutes.” Das Spiel dauert 90 Minuten. Bayern Munich learned this most famously in 1999, when the game lasted a little bit longer.
Second, for les Bleus and la Suisse: “The round one has to go into the square one.” Das Runde muss ins Eckige. Otherwise, it’s hard to win.
Any other good cliches out there, regardless of language?
(And Brazil looked eminently beatable last night. Who’s looked really good in the games that I’ve seen so far? Croatia, Czech Republic, Argentina. Germany may be better without Ballack, as they then have to spread the offense more evenly. The Ecuadoreans look like surprise overachievers. I didn’t see Mexico, Portugal or Netherlands win, so I can’t say much there.)
World Cup Cliche Watch, Pt. 2
“Thirty years of hurt
Never stopped me dreaming.”
I don’t think that England can count on own goals from all of their opponents, though.
(Comments in the main thread, pls.)
World Cup Cliche Watch
We’ll get the first one out of the way early: Twenty-two men played. In the end, Germany won.
(Over Costa Rica, 4-2 just for the record and so anyone who pulls this post out of the archives years from now will have the context at hand.)
Predictions for Poland vs Ecuador?
While We’re Away
Before we all get caught up in World Cup and ignore everything else for a month, a few items that will be calling for our attention when we get back.
* All of the problems that the EU Constitutional Treaty was supposed to solve are still there, and they still need to be solved. A rotating presidency that a given country holds once every twelve to twenty years is no way to run a railroad.
* Germany and Finland will likely have joint initiatives for EU approaches to Russia, which they will pursue through the year that the two countries hold the Union’s presidency. Expect more of these. In fact, the EU may well develop something like the OSCE’s various troikas, in which the previous, current and incoming officeholders work together to build continuity into rotating positions.
* Ukraine still wants to be a member. As does Turkey. And a passel of smaller countries.
* Belarus is in a “pre-1989 situation,” according to a former Slovak foreign minister who has been active in democracy promotion throughout the region. For his pains, he has been banned from travel to Belarus. Orange methods are not going to topple Lukashenka; it’s time to study up on the Solidarnosc playbook.
* What Lisbon Agenda?
Any other suggestions from the floor?
Kickoff
Anyone taking Costa Rica tomorrow? For the sheer perversity?
Just wondering.
Overdue Evaluation (The Prize, by Daniel Yergin)
There is not much market for reviews of books published almost a decade and a half ago, so without further ado, my thoughts on The Prize, by Daniel Yergin. This evaluation is overdue because I started reading the book when I bought it, back in 1997. I put it down around page 400 (which is a little more than halfway), so this review is likely, very likely, to be stronger on the second half of the book.
Yergin’s subtitle is The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power, which gives both theme and thesis. The title, if I am remembering an early part of the book correctly, comes from a statement made about oil by Winston Churchill: “The prize was mastery itself.†The argument is that understanding oil is central to understanding the twentieth century and, by extension, the world today. To complaints that the war in Iraq is “all about oil,†the only proper answer is “Of course.†The last century’s major conflicts, and many of its smaller ones, were driven by oil, determined by oil, or both. Without an understanding of oil, much of the period will remain opaque.
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Zombies Finnish First
Krrrrushing the opposition in the Eurovision Song Contest!
Monster hard rock heavy metal zombie mask wearing whatever group Lordi from Finland dominated the contest, though some Russians think it’s a sign of European conspiracies against Russia. Like everything else in the world.
I used up my snark quota for this week already, so I don’t have anything to say about the contest, but those hardy souls at Manolo’s Shoe Blog even watched some of the semi-finals. So we didn’t have to.
(533kr1t m3554ge 4 4m3r1c4n5: Next time a European gets shirty about his or her sophisticated culture and your supposed lack of same, just mention the time five Finns in monster masks became songmeisters of the whole continent…)
UPDATE: “Sadly, No!” gets it. And points to a YouTube of the performance, plus an interview with someone who has magenta hair and claims that naked people were running in the streets of Helsinki, bars were offering free champagne and 100,000 people will greet Lordi when they land in Suomi. Monster Finland r00lz! 1!!
Signs of Summer
The first banners for the coming World Cup have been hung here in Munich. The stadium that will host the opener on June 6 has been finished for more than a Bundesliga season; the autobahn enlargement is done; and I think even the renovations on the main subway station will be finished on time. Teutonic efficiency strikes again.
Apparently, World Cup is something of a big deal, though as an American I’m obviously predestined to be completely ignorant about all of that. In fact, I’m so ignorant that I’m not even telling my friends and colleagues here that the US team is currently fifth in the FIFA rankings. The only European teams ahead of them are the Czechs and the Dutch. Rounding out the top five are Brazil and arch-rival Mexico.
Where does Germany rank? Funny you should ask. I’m not sure, I sorta quit looking after a I got to Cameroon, Egypt and Japan. It’s that famously short American attention span. I’m sure they’re on the charts somewhere.
Don’t Throw the Bums Out
For the first time since the fall of Communism, a national election in Hungary is not being followed by a change of government. Eszter points to a useful graphic from Népszabadság, a Bdapest daily newspaper, that shows the compositions of all of Hungary’s post-1989 parliaments. There’s an ebb and flow of parties (particularly the growth of the former youth party into the largest conservatice party), occasional independent membes and a gradual consolidation into the present four parliamentary parties. There’s also a change of government after every election. Not this time.
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