Nigeria v. France

So, unless I'm becoming even more chronologically illiterate ... the opening game of the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany, hosted by the current World Cup holders, Germany, is between ... drum roll, please ... Nigeria and France in some city somewhere named Sinsheim.

???

oh, yeah ... later on that day, Germany will be playing Canada in Olympic Stadium in Berlin.


Sinsheim, fyi, according to FIFA "lies at the heart of the Kraichgau region".

... uhhh...

I probably know more German geography than the Average American -- terrifying, considering how limited my knowledge actually is -- and I have not only no idea where Kraichgau is, I've never even heard of it, either.

To put this statement in perspective, I can't actually tell you exactly where Mecklenberg-Vorpommern is ... but I do know it's a state, I can spell it, and I'm pretty sure it's in the former DDR somewhere in the vague vicinity of Berlin. Okay, so just about all of East Germany was in the vague vicinity of Berlin, so sue me. And, yes, I picked that state at random after thinking "hmm, which state sounds the coolest & do I know where it is?" I didn't look at a list of states, I already knew it was one. Really. Being inveterately curious, I of course had to go look. It's in the north-west corner of modern Germany, north of Brandenburg, which is the state surrounding but not including Berlin.

Further on, from FIFA, I read that it's in Baden-Württemberg and is 22 km. SE of Heidelberg.

At least, unlike most Americans, I know what a kilometer is.

Who were the good guys?

God help me. I mindlessly told Jr.Gopher#1 that he couldn’t see some movie because it was a ‘war movie’. What, of course, did he say?

What’s a war, mom? uuuuhhhh...

me to self: ... pay attention to the road construction; being late to the dentist is better than needing orthodontic reconstruction surgery after a car crash ... oh, my god, what am I going to say?... pay attention to the road ...

uuuuhhhh...

I said something I hoped would avoid a more detailed answer, which included something along the lines of
‘when two countries get so angry with each other that they start fighting over it. Except in a war, the people also get killed. War is horrible.’

Thinking - stupid, stupid, stupid! - to put this in some sort of not-so-vague point, I said that Oma’s dad had been a soldier and had been in a really big war in Germany.

“Was he one of the good guys?” fuck

“Well, sweetie, sometimes it’s not so easy to tell who’s the good guys.” so much for wanting to avoid weasel-worded answers...

“Did he die?”
“No, he came home from the war. He died later.”

Yes, I avoided mentioning he came home in 1953 after enduring god knows what as a Soviet POW. I’m not totally stupid, thank you.

Jr.Gopher#1 was hung up on the good-guy vs. bad-guy idea. I tried to think of a way to explain to a 6 year old the difference between stupid governments and nice people who happen to get sucked into fighting as soldiers for them.

“Some times countries go to war over stupid things. America got into a war like that when I was a little girl.” wow, I’m batting almost 1,000 on the stupidity scale in a mere 20 minutes

Again stupidly thinking of putting a more direct face on the matter, because he’s actually met my father, I added,

“Grandpa Bob was a soldier and fought in a war.”
“Did he die?” huh?

“No. Your grandfather? You met him. He came to my party and went to the zoo with us.”
“Did he kill anyone?” uhh...

In all the years since I discovered he had been in Viet Nam, I have never once considered whether or not he had killed anyone.

“Well, you can ask him. I’m sure he’ll tell you.”
I’m really curious about the answer.


My child not only doesn’t know what a war is (thank God), he has a terribly absolutist view of good and bad, like most children. How am I supposed to explain within such a polarized Weltanschaung that his great-grandfather was a soldier in the German army during World War 2, when the Germans were the Bad Guys, while I assume still being a nice man? Or that Uncle Joachim’s dad had fought in the same war, and the two men in question were apparently both devout Catholics who didn’t want to be in the war. Or that Opa’s father and Oma’s father had both fought in yet another big war in Germany, where Americans said they were the Bad Guys. Or that the German government being Bad didn’t make all of the soldiers Bad?

That’s right ... don’t explain it at all!!

Damn. I should have thought of that.

Damn. I should have just stopped while I was ahead.

Damn.


I was also confronted with the realization that I’m not sure how I would have answered him, if the great-grandfather in question had been one of my grandfathers, i.e., American. Would I just off-the-cuff have said “yes, he was one of the Good Guys?”

101 Things To Do

101 Things (apparently) All Sports Fans Must Experience Before They Die:

Come visit us & you can do the following:

40. Town ball in Minnesota (summer, towns throughout Minnesota). Town ball (baseball played by amateurs for their local town teams) is the last pure sport in America. You know the diamond in "Field of Dreams"? There are at least a dozen such fields in Minnesota where the local teams play a couple of nights a week each summer. Many of them have a cornfield on one side and a cemetery on the other, which is a fitting arrangement: life and death with baseball in between.

66. U.S. Pond Hockey Championships (January, Minneapolis). How cool is this tournament, played the way hockey is meant to be played (on a frozen lake shoveled off by the players themselves)? Brian Bellows played in it after his 10-year NHL career.

82. Minnesota high school hockey tournament (March, Minnesota). As with Indiana basketball, this tournament isn't what it once was when all high schools competed together regardless of size (Roseau, with an enrollment of about 400, won the last single-class tournament). But it remains as much a part of state culture as Prince, tater tot hot dish and "Fargo."

Not here, but you could probably stop by and say hi to my in-laws while you're there:

101. Driving the Ring (daily, western Germany). There is no speed limit on Germany's autobahn (somewhat of an exaggeration, there are speed limits) and there is nothing quite like doing 100 mph only to have a family in a station wagon honking at you to pull over and let them pass. But if the autobahn isn't fast enough for you, try out the 14-mile, 170-turn Nurburgring. The former Grand Prix course was closed to Formula One racing for decades before returning this year (too dangerous) but it's open to the public to drive at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. Just promise one thing: That you won't attempt this until you've accomplished the previous 100.

So far, I have accomplished the following on this list:
#66 - Pond Hockey Championships. Went this year with the Jr. Gophers. Only got to see about 20 minutes of play before the games were called off due to the ice melt being too deep for the puck to slide.

#88 - Monday Night Football. Well, in all honesty, I can't recall if the Steelers-Dolphins game was on a Monday Night or not. The WVU Marching Band was playing for them. Not nearly as impressive as the WVU-Pitt or Penn State games, though

#101 - above - driving on the autobahn - I tried it in Baden-Württemburg, near Stuttgart, and got passed by 2 Porches and 1 Ferrari which were all doing at least 120 mph.


What's on the list that I personally really want to see?

#56 - an All Blacks game. I wouldn't even care if it was in New Zealand, but I'm willing to suffer if I'm already there. In which case, it might co-incide with #64, camping out for tickets to anything, because in this Age of Electrons, I'm not camping out anywhere other than at my laptop.

#20 - Stanley Cup Playoffs. Preferably when it's Detroit on the ice or here in St. Paul.

#11 - Premier League soccer. I will make the assumption that the author is not a complete idiot despite some of the items on his list, and further assume that what he actually meant was Professional European Big League Soccer, and therefore this includes the Bundeslige. In which case, I'll head with Mr.Gopher for a game at his favorite team, Borussia-Mönchengladbach (how's that for a name?) or Schalke/Borussia-Dortmund/Köln (which are vaguely near the in-laws). Although Jr.Gopher#1 would no doubt bounce around insanely lobbying for Werder Bremen, where Mesut Özil plays (#8, his totally favoite player from the Weltmeisterschaft this year).

#2 - World Cup. The US is supposedly considering lobbying for hosting the games again in 2018. If so, and if the Gophers are still here ...? Sign me up along with the other million people who want to see it. At least if it's here, it'll be a sure thing that we're playing. And I really can't imagine Germany not at least qualifying.


What's not on the list that I personally really want to see?

A - Women's Ice Hockey NCAA Championships
Face it, there aren't going to be any women playing in the NHL. Ever. If I want to see top-notch women's hockey, it will only be at a university/college. And I'll need to do it before we leave Minnesota. Luckily we have several teams in-state, increasing the probability of access to the championship games. I've promised Jr.Gopher#1 to take him to a Gopher's game this season. Given the price difference, it will be the Women Gophers. I plan for this to be a gender-identity-expanding event: i.e., women a big sports players, too. This should precede next years Women's World Cup. Expect and brain-popping insane rant if the U has a female-version of Goldie the Gopher.

B - Women's World Cup. Although I will accept that the author just ... uh ... forgot? that there are two of them and thus forgot to mention this in passing with #2

C - stupifyingly, I don't recall college hockey being on the list. Maybe it's just not as cool as the Stanley Cup (true) or Pond Hockey Championships (maybe). The men's NCAA championship is on my list, too. Cheaper than seeing the Wild [I think...?] or any game in the Cup playoffs [for sure].

D - I'm sure I'll think of something else...
.

World Cup, pt. 8, 1954

We're out. Germany is out. Jr.Gopher#1 is in tears. Mr.Gopher is disappointed. I'm resigned. It's not as if I expected the USA to get to the finals. No one is surprised that we qualified, nor are they surprised we made it out of the Group round. I would have been surprised for the to make it to the semifinals. No one, on the other hand, is surprised that Germany made it to the semi-finals; and once you get that far, I think it's simply a shot in the dark who's going to make it to the finals.

Bastian Schweinsteiger bekommt das Trikot von Andrés Iniesta. Er legt es sich um den Hals wie ein Handtuch, spricht lange mit Philipp Lahm. Dann geht er als letzter vom Feld wie ein Kapitän von einem sinkenden Schiff.-Der Spiegel
Bastian Schweinsteiger received the jersey from Andres Iniesta. He draped it around his shoulder like a towel, spoke with Philipp Lahm for quite a while. Then he left the field as the last one, like a captain from a sinking ship.

Not every year can be a miracle. Not edited well, but highlights of the '54 finals:

Deutschland 4 : 0 ...??

Argentina????

Ole! ole ole ole ole ... ole ... ole ...
Ole! ole ole ole ole ... ole ... ole ...
Ole! ole ole ole ole ... ole ... ole ...**(hear below if anyone I know doesn't actually know what this is)

Jr.Gopher#2 was standing next to me singing in the middle of the 2nd half of the game. He looked pleased that he could sing with the grown-ups. Which is good, because I'm not sure he quite understood why the adults had been going bezerk.

At the end of the game, after screaming themselves hoarse, the Germans looked at each other and wondered: "4 to zero! ... but, against ... them...??"

Maybe because I'm not German, or perhaps because I'm not a serious soccer fan ... I've noticed the Germans, almost uniformly, seemed stunned at the score. Rabidly enthusiastic, but stunned. I don't get it. Sure, Argentina is good; but did these people assume their national team wasn't all that good? Sure, even I'm surprised, but my non-German mind says "wow, we won, cool. Pass the pretzels."

Goal #3 was a thing of technical beauty.

Goal #2, however, I think demonstrates why Germany won: they simply never gave up once they got the ball.
From 66:50 until the goal, Der Mannschaft just passed and passed and passed and scored. Müller (I think) slips, goes down while the ball hits him, he spins on his butt on the ground to kick the ball while practically lying down, straight over to Podolski and then the video clips pick up letting you see the goal.

Messi might be the greatest soccer player in the world, but you don't win the World Cup by being the best player. Or by fielding the best players. Germany hounded him and simply kept him from doing what he does best; it interrupted Argentina's flow of play. Germany just ran them into the ground.

Ahhh ...

Jr.Gopher#1 got to sit next to another boy 2 grades ahead of him at the German school; they at least got to socialize a bit with someone their own age. One of the teachers @ the German School was there, as well.

I hear the jingle for the ESPN world cup highlights coming from the front room...

I can't find a short version with the chant/song - The first 20 seconds or so of this is all you would need to hear; the rest is icky.

.

Scary hairdos in the Reichstag on Election Day

Our political ally and cultural partner, the Federal Republic of Germany, is holding elections today for President.
BTW: the new president is Christian Wulff. Merkel looks relieved.





In order to promote and facilitate marital harmony, I recommend Mr.Gopher not read this if he's already in a bad mood. I would write this about anyone, not just Germans.
In fact, you probably shouldn't read this at all.










Really, sweetie, I'm sure you'll be offended on general principles.



























Has someone told this poor woman that blue eye shadow went out in 1963? Unless you're Dolly Parton.

















If Ms. Luc Joachimsen assumed office of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, it would be sociologically notable that a woman held office as the official mascot of the BRD. yup, Mr Gopher, that's fairly derogatory of the office. If we had one, I'd make fun of ours, too. In fact, if we have one and I haven't noticed because I'm American, please let me know so that I can do so. However, I don't particularly care if yet another 60-year old white man holds office, either. Now, tell me you elected a Turk of any age or sex, and I'll seriously think Germany has changed its social opinions.

Sure, but can you really see that hairdo standing next to Chancellor Merkel's?








I realize you can't control what your physical features look like ... but seriously, your hair-do is the singular aspect of your appearance over which you have almost total control.




Please note I didn't use Ms. Merkel's photo from Wikipedia or any other relatively 'official' source, just to be fair. These were taken on the same day in the same location, probably by the same person, credits weren't given. I also didn't use the scariest one of Ms. Joachimsen. I assume someone showing up for such a major event in the Reichstag** would be an more representative image, rather than air-brushed political propaganda. I still assume that one would make a point - on an election day?! - of looking one's best.

Despite the dearth of public restrooms in Germany, I'm sure the Reichstag has one. And a mirror.

In a short search, I looked for the least appealing hair-do photo I could of the current Chancellor:
wow - maybe its a wig. It never changes. I found some pretty unflattering pictures of her, but not her hair. Now, I think I'd have a pretty dazed look if Putin was talking to me. I'd be wondering where they planted the bugs in my hotel room. Or when he was going to change his middle name to Josef.
















Admittedly, I was surprised to find a Merkel Barbie:
"The flattering interpretation of the 54-year-old German leader..." flattering? What person in their right mind would even think this is Ms. Merkel?















I noticed that the majority of the political cartoon-caricatures of Chancellor Angela Merkel look like Secretary Hilary Clinton. Maybe they share a hair dresser?
The website actually has a clown-caricature of Clinton, too. And Cheney. etc.

If you had asked me who this was ... my first guess would have been Clinton.


















**There's a really cool picture of the interior of the Reichstag taken today. I've only seen the interior from the glass cupola on top.


















which is a distinct improvement of 1934:


.

@ Capacity part 2

Germany 4 : 1 England.

In the continuing saga of "boy, did you get fucked by FIFA's refs" comes the English soccer team. Who were totally robbed of a 2nd point. Totally. That was even more gross a failure than the off-sides disqualifications on us.

How gross a failure of referring was it? The crowd at the Glockenspiel looked at each other in confusion and said curiously "wasn't that a goal...??" and then a pair of the more rabid German fans looked at each other and said "but that was a goal, that was clearly a goal!"

Jr.Gopher#2 actually made it through 30 minutes of the game before he & I headed to the back of the restaurant. Which, conveniently, was still within sight - distantly - of the TV and yet much quieter. We read some German stories & looked at a picture book where we practiced on his German vocabulary. He then walked back up to our table and snuggled up with Mr.Gopher & Jr.#1 for the last third of the game. Admittedly, he was totally entertained by a mechanical dancing groundhog. video to come soon, as soon as I replace the batteries in the camera.

Now, how big is soccer in the rest of the world?
The G-20 summit was interrupted by Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister David Cameron taking a breathers to watch the game Sunday. Following the 'we were robbed' event, Chancellor Merkel is quoted:
But a major diplomatic spat appears to have been averted this time round. Merkel apologized for the phantom goal, telling Cameron she was "sorry about that," his aides said.

Reuters-Canada reported:
"There is an idea we might try and watch it together. I will try not to wrestle her to the ground during penalties, but we will have to see," Cameron told reporters.
and
A German flag was pinned to the UK room in the G20 media center. On it was scrawled: "See you on Sunday" alongside a smiley face.

up next: Saturday, at the Glockenspiel in StPl, 9 a.m. Germany - Argentina
Jr.Gopher#1 has started keeping track of the scores from the games.

Mr.Gopher is actually considering going over to see the Netherlands--Brazil game. If so, I'm going with him. It ought to be a good game - finally both of them are up against a rock-solid team.
.

Next Year

Tune in next year for the Women's World Cup.

[review] March Violets

March Violets, by Philip Kerr

Murder and disappearances are no surprise in the Summer of 1936, Berlin. These are the specialty of Our Hero, Bernhard Gunther. He’s a hard-bitten private detective who strategically quit the police force to set up business away from politics.

This is what it would be like for a non-American to read Ellory or Hammett. (I mean anyone not from here, regardless of their native language.) Kerr uses anachronistic/British English terms (braces, i.e. suspenders), as well as German titles (Hauptüberführergruppenvergnügen, you get the idea). These are both sparing. The military titles are generally irrelevant to the plot, so they provide a delicate spice you don't need to identify. However, the use of German slang directly translated into English is heavy handed.* These are frequent. Frequent enough to really interrupt the flow. This is my biggest compliant.

Famous people pop in and out both by name and in person. Again, a passing knowledge of German history would seriously benefit the reader. Goebbels v. Himmler? Sure, you recognize their names, but who are they?** One major (fictious) character is a steel magnate from the Ruhr, whose major competitors are Thyssen & Krupp - fine, but perhaps the story’s depth is more apparent if you know those 2 are the biggest steel manufacturers in Europe, rather than wonder why your coffee pot brand is misspelled.

Here and there the story seems to be steered from the passenger seat; driven more by the author than the inherent plot. One significant detour to Dachau is totally contrived to the point of annoyance.

Most of my complaints revolve around the author trying to demonstrate his vast personal knowledge of German history and geography. I’ve been to several places mentioned. Mentioning the burned out husk of the Reichstag is nice; I hadn’t realized it was destroyed before the war. Using major landmarks (Museum Island, the War Memorial, Unter den Linden, etc.) is enough orientation for the casual tourist or world-news aware. Anything more is too much.

All in all, a relatively ordinary detective-murder mystery set in a pleasantly different paradigm (not England or LA/NY). Nothing spectacular one way or the other. But the bumpy writing makes it ineligible for a rating better than "pleasant distraction".


*I was rather pleased I actually knew one of these (quite surprisingly, the slang for hangover).
No doubt my in-laws would be equally at a loss with bird, gumshoe, heat, sing (woman, private detective, police, confess).

**Sorry, in-laws & meine deutsche Freunde, but the vast majority of Americans don't know who they are.


Healthy Gopher's rating: - if it's lying around your friend's summer cottage, and you're bored, might as well read it.

The Surreal

Certain moments of my life stand out beyond easy description. Moments of joy, sorrow, beauty, dispair. The day Peter & I decided to marry. The day I decided to get divorced. The view from the top of the Grand Tetons. The view from the central court yard at Dachau.

During our last visit to Germany, we spent some tourist-time in Berlin. It was a pleasant opportunity for our friends to see things they normally wouldn’t (Pergamon Museum) or or hadn’t (Hohenschönhausen).

This last location is a notorious Stasi prison. It was the one location where I didn’t feel as though I was imposing my tourist wishes, since none of our group had been there before. It had recently opened to the public. This is like Dick Chayney’s house: it was never put on any maps, and no one publically acknowledged it. Yet - if the Stasi took you away in the middle of the night ... this is where you’d arrive.

At the time, Michael was 3-1/2 and Gregor was 6 months old. About 10 minutes into the tour (conducted in German), Michael couldn’t keep still. This isn’t Neuschwannstein, where my tolerance for pediatric noise would have been much higher.

So, I was the obvious choice (not my country's heritage; heavy Berlin accent) to depart with the boys. I apologized to the tour guide, and left.

Surreal point #1: walking through an infamous Stasi prison alone. Hoping I wouldn’t get lost on the way back to the entrance. My 2 small children were the only sound. I even stopped and listened ... not a sound.

I took the boys out to the visitor’s center to wait for our friends & Peter.

It was a broiling 90-95 degrees, humid, and painfully bright sunshine. There was no water (Germany=no water fountains). Every single thing in the visitor center/shop was in German (no English=no distraction). Michael wanted water. Michael wanted food. Michael wanted Papa. Gregor wanted to eat; that at least I could accommodate.

The center of the prison was this sun-parched area with not a single living thing, other than my children & me. It was 15 minutes past when I expected our group. It was 20 minutes past.

What should I do? my mind wailed. I was bored out of my skull. There was nothing to do. I was physically miserable. I was sitting in the middle of some god-awful prison. I couldn't get out since I had no car keys. I was sitting in the middle of a gigantic memorial to human misery.

It really is difficult to keep in mind the suffering of others when you're miserable yourself. Afterall, my family knew where I was; no one was going to take me back into the cells and torture me; I wasn't worried about dying. It wasn't surreal, but it was an unpleasant personal epiphany that I couldn't put aside my own discomfort, comparing it to the suffering of others. I'd like to think I could have, if confronted with the reality of it in front of my face. I'd like to ...

All Michael wanted was to run around and play.

I’m not German. I’m a tourist. This can't possibly have the emotional impact for me that it might have for my husband and friends. God help me, I’m an American tourist; not a group generally renowned for its cultural sensitivity. How could I explain to a 3 year old that this was an important part of his history as a German? (This was the first time I ever sincerely considered the fact that my child is also not-American.)

I was so bored and trying to be respectful of this place that is really serious. I finally lost my mind & told Michael that he was welcome to run around all he wanted, as long as I could see him. It's not as if he could have hidden in that wasteland of broiling sunshine. I decided that if anyone complained about it, I would inform them in no uncertain terms that they would just have to put up with it until the tour was over. As part of this plan, I decided to keep open the option of breaking down into tears. It worked once with Lufthansa staff in Frankfurt.

Finally Michael was happy; hot, but happy. Gregor was asleep. I was sitting on the steps inside a prison and wishing it was under 80 degrees.

The small building sitting in the interior of the prison opened, and an older man stepped out. As he strode across the courtyard toward me, I braced myself. He looked at Michael and offered a very paternal smile. He asked if Michael was bored, offering his sympathy when I said we were waiting for my husband & the tour. He smiled again as he passed by.

Surreal point #2: Sitting inside a Stasi interrogation/detention prison watching my 3 year old son running around laughing in total enjoyment on a sunny Summer afternoon.

A Night of Music - and what a night it was ...

Our friend, Dr.Nuke - a.k.a. Joachim - was the first person I ever met named Joachim. Not so surprising, since I'm American. Now I can't seem to get away from them. Some child who attends the same after-school group with Jr.Gopher#1 has a father named Joachim. I often see the last name before mine is Joachim-something. Some artwork I admired was from some other German guy named Joachim. And now, Joachim Neugart, the conductor for the Neuss Chamber Orchestra/Kammerorchestra.

He (and they) performed last night at the Germanic-American Institute in St. Paul. We attended. All 4 of us.

The St. Paul German-immersion pre-school is located on the property; the Institute opened it for the evening to allow parents like us to be able to attend something spiffy and not hire a baby sitter. Not really out of any warm-fuzzy hearted feelings, but more since some of the German School's students were performing, and in order to get *their* parents to come, some incentivization was required.

The Jr. Gophers had the opportunity to attend something cultural that children generally don't - the evening chamber orchestra with hors d'oeuvres and getting 'dressed up'. The evening started right about when we're usually telling the boys to put on their pyjamas. This was Michael's first exposure to life classical music, not just the radio in Papa's car.

Gregor departed fairly early to the child-care group. After winning the hearts and minds of every woman over the age of 50, i.e., most of the women there. He looked really handsome (sweetly adorable) in a white oxford shirt & slacks. I, on the other hand, took the opportunity again to wear my new elegant high heels, even if I'm quite certain none of these women noticed.

Michael lasted through the first piece: two movements from Haydn's Symphony No. 1 in D; his attention disappeared during something in Hawai'ian by a local choral group. He then went out to the children's enclave.

Peter & I had a lovely evening listening to lovely music - okay, so I liked Holst better and Peter liked Haydn. The conductor made a point that the St. Paul's Suite wasn't written for anyone in Minnesota.

The program was called "Ein Nacht voller Muzik" A night full of music ... Yes, opening at the GAI with
Twin Cities' German Immersion School student string group
Neuss City Chamber Orchestra playing Haydn (Symp. 1 D) & Holst (St. Paul Suite),
Rose Ensemble singing in Hawai'ian,
the chamber orchestra again, playing with the school children
and then in the car on the way home The Wailin' Jennies: Water from a Deeper Well
while Gregor belted out "Laterne Laterne Sonne Mond und Sterne, brenne ...." (currently his favorite song), then the boys wanted for bed-time songs the ABC-song, and Froggie went a-courtin'.

Let's hear it for eclectic music.


On the ride home, we asked Michael what his favorite part of the evening was, if he enjoyed the (grown up) musicians. He said yes, in a rather non-assertive manner, and then waxed poetic about the huge pretzels ...



Saturday's bed time lights out was 10 p.m. Central Standard time, or rather 11 p.m. Central Daylight Savings' Time.
Ein Morgen(morning) voller Muzik was neither advertised nor occurred. The Tobias men stayed in bed this morning while the Tobias woman went to St. Albert's and did *not* listen to music; unless you consider the wailin' 15-mo. old boy's 45 min cry to be music. It was our turn for during-Mass-child-care. At least one person from the German school noted that someone failed to consider Daylight Savings switch as part of the children's schedule. Although, serendipitously, the wailing boy's parents tried to buy tickets to the GAI concert, which was sold out... Maybe if they'd gone, the boy would have been home in bed, like mine.

good ... or not?

SPIEGEL: Polls don't interest you at all?

Merkel: I acknowledge them, but they do not determine my actions.

I'm torn ... is this good that she doesn't run her government based upon someone's limited statistically biased question surveys? Or does this mean she ignores the population?

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,726433,00.html

Latin, pt. 2

Dr.Nuke posted earlier, regarding Mass in Latin:
may help promoting the unity among those that do not share a common language during service/prayer.

I was in Vienna for Easter in 1975 (I was 9). I didn't want to go to Mass, and tried to argue with my parents that there was no need to go, since none of us spoke German & we wouldn't be able to follow anything. This is the point in my life where I discovered Latin.

My parents: when we were children, Mass was always in Latin.

Me: that's stupid

... fast forward to 2010 ...

Some one: I want Mass to always be in Latin

Me: that's stupid


We went to Mass that Easter Sunday. Mom told me later it was some Hungarian?/not-German/not-English congregation. Definitely not speaking the vernacular, Mom & Dad decided to see how much Latin they remembered.

So ... I got to listen to Mass in Hungarian, and my parents in Latin. I assure you, there wasn't any unification goin' on with me.

Conversely ...

The first time I was in Germany with Mr.Gopher, we went to Mass with his parents. Who do speak German :-) I thought "well, I speak German, sort-of" (having, courtesy of Dr.Nuke & Mr.Gohper, learned how "sort-of" it was)... I thought steadfastly, "I can do this". ha ha. I very quickly realized I couldn't: I just recited it all in English. My father-in-law thought it was cool that I did.

I agree with Dr.Nuke's point #3; which is likely the intent behind the person I quoted. It would be nice to be able to follow some of the service if visiting a foreign land (like Lake Street in Midtown). I don't know if this is the way to do it. After all, the reason I could follow the Mass in Germany is that it is the same. Even today, at the sign of peace, we both say to each other "Der Friede sei mit dir". Not that I think peace is any more effective in German ... it's just that it is German; an offering from me to him.

At our wedding in Gladbeck, the Mass was (obviously) in German. However, being cognizant of the mixed audience, we had the Gospel read in both German and English, that being the most important of the readings to understand. We also had the Lamb of God in - yes - Latin. Sung by a Frenchwoman. Why? I am particularly fond of the arrangement; we used it at St. John's.

Almost everyone at the wedding was Catholic. It was unifying, as an aspect of our Catholic cultural history. Basically, the reason many people argue we should keep doing it on occasion. And, the reason I don't object to doing it on occasion. I see it as similar to taking the kids to the Minneapolis Art Institute to look at Greco-Roman art. It's important to understand how we as Catholics got to where we are, in order to figure out which direction we should be demanding the Church take from here. (Yo, Your Holiness: call me; let's discuss bureaucracy & theology. The staff over at St. Albert's can give you my number.)

Anyway - the Agnus Dei in Latin at my wedding: Ultimately, it was a mass offered by us to our families and friends in celebration of our marriage; it wasn't next Sunday's liturgy. And there were quite a few people singing with it; Violaine sung it a capella while standing in the middle of the congregation - she couldn't get up to the front. It was particularly appealing, truly driving home the point that we all get together and we worship together - it's an audience participation event. (and something we can do without the priest)

which is which?

der Ausschuss / Ausschuß:

I - committee, board, caucus, panel

II - junk, wastage, spoilt, rejects

hmmmm....

Welcome to my world

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

Jr. Gopher #1 really likes this

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

... bored yet?

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.
Und als sie dann nach Hause kam,
da hatt´sie weiße Stiefel an.
ABC, die Katze lief im Schnee.

more out of date jokes

Mr.Gopher pointed me toward a similar style of East German jokes from Radio Eriwan.
here loosely translated by myself:

Could the catastrophe at Chernobyl have been avoided?
Sure, if the Swedes hadn't blabbed about it.


What is Chaos?
Questions about the State Economy will not be tolerated!


Can you clarify the difference between Democracy and the People's Democracy?
Sure. It's like the difference between a jacket and a straitjacket.

Of course, there are a couple I don't understand, or that just wouldn't be as funny in English, because the play on words only works in German. e.g. another joke about Chernobyl mushrooms & toilets. I don't get it. Maybe it's better that way.
Can you drive 120 km/hr [70 mph] in a Russian car on Russian streets?
Sure. Once.


Can we spread Socialism to Canada?
Sure, but then who would produce all our wheat?


Can we spread Socialism to Switzerland?
Sure, but it would be a shame do that to such a nice country.

Who's who

In English - an explanation of who's who in the new Germany government.

80 gallons of Legos

Really, this didn't start out being procrastination. I'm working on a class project that lead me to check popular media for some information. Of course, one thing led to another to another ... and this was the end of the procrastination trail of tears.

Mistranslations from German:

Schwanz ... or Schwanz ... ?

Visitors to a tourist attraction in Berlin have been making off with an unusual memento—the 30 cm long penis of a Lego giraffe.

The Lego phallus belongs to a six metre tall model that has stood outside the entrance to the Legoland Discovery Centre on Potsdamer Platz since 2007.

“It’s a popular souvenir,” a spokeswoman for the centre said Tuesday. “It’s been stolen four times now …”

The article (in its entirety) in Columbia Journalism Review covers several other mis-translations.
BTW: Schwanz is a tail. It's also a popular slang for penis.

Although, apparently in both translations, it was still €3,000.

$4,500 for 30-cm of Legos? That's only about 1-ft. Even if one assumes it was relatively round (the tail, not the reproductive appendage), how could it possibly be that much? The Lego store @ Mall of America sells Legos by the bucket; it's only $14 for a quart of Lego. Somehow, I don't see Legoland using a 80 gallons (305 L) of Legos to build a 1 foot (30 cm) tail.

The post concluded with: Relying on someone a few desks down in the newsroom, or on your memory from that year you went to Oktoberfest, is a sure-fire way to end up lost in translation.

Calligraphic attraction

There is an International Exhibition of Calligraphy in Moscow. Barring the mediocre English on their website (by both the exhibit and contributors), it looks like there is actually something in Moscow I would like to see.There are a couple of pieces in their collection which are stunningly breathtaking. A couple contributors are German. Their brief essay (2-3 paragraphs) were in a spectrum of opinions as well as English competency. At least one of which I wish I could have read in German, because it didn't make a lot of sense in English.

Two of the pieces I particularly liked:


Truth, texts from Demokrit, Aristoteles, Leibniz, Feuerbach, Goethe, Schiller, Lichtenberg, La Mettrie, Hebel, Berger, by Joachim Propfe
If you look carefully at some of the dark & light shadowing is actually text.





Psalm 25:7, Remember not the sins of my youth, by Avraham-Hersh Borshevsky
this is one which took my breath away.

Help! I've turned into a soccer mom!!!

written last week

There's a protest @ the Y on Lake Street tomorrow morning (10 a.m., if you're interested - the one near the Light Rail station). Some bunch of Nazis are planning to protest the Y's scheduled anti-racist seminar. (only 4 turned up) I asked Mr. Gopher if he wanted to go. The only reason I asked at all is because Jr.Gopher#1's soccer game is at 9:30. Political protest of right-wing assholes or our child's sports fun? Mr. Gopher replied with no hesitation that he didn't want to go, as he considered them a relatively harmless bunch of clowns.

I was quite shocked that he considered them harmless. Personally, while I don't see them as being an immediate danger to society, they present a real hazard. I didn't get a chance to ask if this was due to the fact we're in the States and not Germany. We see racism through different filters. The expression of racism has a very different history in our respective countries. The efforts chosen to eliminate it have also been very different.

His opinions on the NDP (the new incarnation of the Nazi party**) have been quite unambiguous about their potential danger to Germany being quite real. Maybe American Nazis aren't so much of a threat because the percentage of non-whites in America is so much higher than in Germany? Or just the specific and significant place in their history is absent here.

It seemed to me (filtered through a cultural chasm as well as trying to read a newspaper in a foreign language) that people in Germany seemed to be shocked that the NDP managed to get a few people elected recently. Whereas, I personally would not be surprised at all if quite a lot of people here got elected on a euphemistically defined platform of racist nationalism. (They're pretty much all called Republicans - not that Democrats aren't racist, but they tend not to be as nationalistic.) Why would I not be surprised? Because I can look at the government & see it has already happened. What else would one consider the last 8 years' policies, if not nationalism? Well, I guess arrogantly self-centered and self-righteous would be equally valid labels. I would sincerely like to believe that a group publicly espousing white supremacy wouldn't be able to be elected.

People like this are out making noise for self-serving attention-seeking purposes to just piss off sane people. Would it manage to undermine them if they got no attention? No media coverage; no counter-demonstration; no acknowledgment by passersby? I can see how it would fuel their ego if only a handful of people showed up, letting them try to paint their ideology as unassailable. If dozens show up (as I expect tomorrow) (it turned out to be about 200), it lets these social retards pretend to be some oppressed minority struggling against The Mud People or Race Traitors. But with no audience ...? How can they create some mutual self-identity without a social mirror?

I once heard a suggestion for deporting them all to Germany, if they're so much in love with the Third Reich's policies. Of course the same person was intending these people to run into a government who would - unlike ours - smash them like sociopathic cockroaches they are. Let them go see what oppression of their political opinions really is. I personally wouldn't wish it upon the German people.

Michael had fun at the soccer match. See photos here.

** thinking of providing a succinct explanation of this, I went to Der Spiegel's English pages; as expected, there's a page explaining the different major parties' platforms. There is no entry for the NDP - only the big 5 (CDU, FDP, CSU, & Greens). I guess they've taken the "ignore them" position due to their real minority.