July 2008
168 posts
Shitty Day
Why did everyone have to remind me of my team’s loss in Euro 2008…. It was already tough enough. And those who were cheering for Spain were mainly “fair-weather fans”, cheering for Spain only because their teams either didn’t make it to the Euro Cup (i.e. England) or spectacularly crashed out (i.e. Holland, Italy), and felt sorry that Spain hadn’t won a cup in 44 years, whereas Germany collected 2 World Cups and 3 Euro Cups in that time span. Granted, Spain played brillantly during the tournament, but come on, that’s not a real fan. You support your team and only your team through thick and thin…I supported Germany when they sucked big time in World Cup 94/98, Euro 2000 and 2004, and when they shone in World Cup 2002/06 and this Euro.
An email from my cousin in Berlin in response to my email pretty much sums it up:
»EM SCHEISSE Schade, dass wir wieder veloren haben…. Fucking Spainards.
»Aber: WM 06 waren wir Dritten. EM 08 waren wir Zweiten. WM 2010 sollen »wir Erste?!?!?!?!
ZUM KOTZEN !!!!!!!!
Erst fangen Sie gut an. Dann verlieren Sie gegen die Kroaten.Österreich war so lala…..
Gegen Portugal war Weltklasse yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gegen die Türken war die Erlösung in der 90. Minute, obwohl die Türken echt gut oder sogar besser waren.
Und gestern die grande Katastroph…..
Aber 2010 holen wir den Pott .Wird auch mal wieder Zeit nach 1990.
June 2008
96 posts
Finger Pulling Championships in the Alps →
spiegel.de
It may sound funny, but for some Bavarian and Austrian men finger wrestling is no joke. They take it very seriously: For them it’s about prestige and honor.
In the old days, people say, it was used to settle disputes. Today it has the standing of a national sport in the Alpine region of southern Germany and neighboring Austria.
But anyone who thinks Fingerhakeln — “finger wrestling” — is some kind of amusing time-waster Bavarian men engage in after a few too many beers down at the village inn is very mistaken. The sport’s practitioners take it very seriously.
So seriously, in fact, that before a major contest they subject the finger they intend to do battle with — most chose their middle finger — to a punishing training regime. Some of the wrestlers like to crush tennis balls with their hands; others will do pull-ups with only their middle fingers; and some have even been known to make their digits lift weights of up to 50 kilograms.
Yet, regardless of the training program, all the finger wrestlers share the same goal: to have a finger that is as strong as humanly possible.
The contest works as follows: Two contestants, usually men, sitting on opposite sides of a substantial table, thread their fingers into a strap. Once in position, they wait for the referee to give a signal, before pulling as hard as they possibly can. The winner is the person who manages to pull the other contestant across the table, using only his finger.
“We are not upset by events of the past. Instead, we are upset because of the attention we are giving to those past events - here, in the present.”
—My inspirational day-by-day calendar for July 29th. How fitting, as I am upset about Germany’s lacklustre performance in Euro 2008 final…
“I am suffering from Euro 2008 hangover big time….”
—Myself
Down Goes Germany →
sportsillustrated.cnn.com
To my friend Patrick’s dismay, Germany lost the Eurocup finals to Spain. Much like World Wars I and II, Germany just couldn’t finish.
Yeah, in all three, we started out strong, and then fizzled….
Alone again
My french friends have finally moved out and now are in their new apartment half a block from me - they’ve been here 4 weeks now - wow. Doesn’t feel that long - the time really flew by - its been a lot of fun, even in a cramped 2 bedroom condo, with 3 adults and a 1 1/2 yr old baby. Honestly that was my first time really living with a toddler and it was defintely an eye-opener for me - not that its a bad thing, but wow, having a kid really is a lot of work ( knew that, but boy, that girl, even as calm as she is, is quite energetic at times) and I had to “babyproof” my place beforehand and hid all my spears and knifes, and other breakables. But in all it was a lot of fun and I ate a lot of good food cooked by my own “personal French chef” and it’s kind of sad seeing them leave. But they’re just down the street, so we’ll have plenty of fun in the coming months for sure!! It was not even planned to happen that they’d just be down the street, but fate led them to this great apartment which even has the same floorplan and unit number B1….
Tubing tomorrow
Going tubing for the first time. There are two waivers so apparently its on par with parachuting and juggling live hand grenades. Hope I survive.
yeah right…
Weekend's here!!!
Tubing tomorrow at Harper’s Ferry, Euro 2008 Final on Sunday at the Austrian Embassy in DC… And then next week’s only 2 1/2 days long and then I jet off to the Rocky Mountains for a week’s vacation….mmmmm Let the fun start!
