Mainzer Dome
Last thursday the weather was perfect and I spent it walking around downtown Mainz. They have flags for every country in the World Cup lining the main street. Here’s a couple pictures.
I also toured the Dome and took a few pictures. It’s quite amazing and is one of the few buildings that dates back to the time of Gutenburg. Here’s some pictures of it.
And here’s the courtyard in the center of the Dome.
In FI FA WM news, the US tied Italy 1 to 1 on saturday. They played much better this time. It was a brutal game full of bizarre plays. There were three red cards given out (one against Italy and two against the US) and despite having to play almost the whole second half with only 9 players against 10 as a result, the US was able to keep the game tied. Since the Czech Republic lost to Ghana, if the US beats Ghana on thursday they will advance to the next round. Nevertheless I have to admit that the US doesn’t have much of a chance to advance very far in the World Cup. But in the true spirit of capitalism if you can’t win at the game why not just buy it? Apparently McDonalds and Budweiser bought all the food and beverage rights for the entire World Cup. That means that at every stadium (and the area next to the stadiums) and every game there’s only McDonalds food and Budweiser for sale. Despite the fact that Germany is hosting the World Cup there’s no brats or Wurst, or good german beer to be found anywhere at the World Cup. Needless to say, most of the fans are pissed about it and feel pretty embarrassed about the whole thing. I have to admit I find it pretty embarrassing too.
posted by Zarathustra at 9:34 AM
5 Comments:
Your analysis of US soccer and commerce seems about right to me. In place of the home country, I have been pulling for Brazil thus far . . .
Still waiting for some post-game chaos videos.
Oh, and how about a translation of that song? Are the lyrics as creepy as they seem (Masterplan? Weltmeister?)?
Anyone but Brazil! I'm not a fan. They have the biggest egos in the world. It seems like all the hype has really gone to their heads. They talk like they've already won the Cup. The commentators over here have really been critical of the way they've been playing. They seem to lack heart and instead of a team they play like 11 superstars. Of course they have enough talent to get by like that for now but later on their big heads could cost them a trip to the final. Du sollst unbedingt für Deutschland jubeln (you should root for Germany).
I took some videos of the game today and I'll post them as soon as google video approves them. Not quite as crazy as the last game but that's because it was all over about 5 min into the second half. Germany played a really good game.
As far as the song lyrics, it's not as bad as it sounds. 'Weltmeister' means world cup in german (i.e. FI FA WM). The lyrics come from this song that is on constantly and played after every game. If I could figure out how to get music to work on my blog page I'd play it. If you know of anything else I can try to get it to work let me know.
Oh, and congrats on the Augustana offer... although I'm sad to hear you and Emily will be leaving Lawrence. I actually visited Augustana when I was a senior in high school. What I remember most is hills and more hills. Aside from that a great school though.
But 'Masterplan'? Just a bit creepy, no?
How about this: you send me the mp3 in an email, I'll put it online & send you the URL--all I ask in return is some tolerance of my rooting for the Canarinhos. If nothing else, you have to agree that the Brazilians play a 'jogo bonito': especially in comparison to the German defense-oriented style, Brazilain soccer is a 'beautiful game' . . .
You're right about their play thus far though; indeed, no German could be as critical as my Brazilian friend Rodrigo, who so far just seems pissed about the whole Cup (this despite Brazil's advancing to the 2nd round . . .).
Ah, and thanks for the congrats about Augustana; we're pretty excited--I have a job, and the area seems pretty cool . . . it does look, though, like we'll have to drive down to Lawrence sometime in the fall to see your pretty face again.
Hey, I thought 'World Cup' was 'Weltmeisterschaft' . . .
Sounds like a fair deal. I'll email you the mp3 later today. Oh, and you're right "Weltmeisterschaft" means the world cup but "Weltmeister" (world master) is the winner of the cup. So the lyrics in the song are "we will be world champions".
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