Edelweiss Club Bazaar

The Edelweiss Club bazaar is on Saturday, November 29; I will be in attendance, upstairs, with video and games on display.

The bazaar runs from 10:00 to 13:00, please come by and have a look...join in a game, watch a movie or TV!

Deutschland: Ein Sommermärchen

Tonight's Fußballfreunde Deutschland presentation was Deutschland: Ein Sommermärchen.

This documentary from Sönke Wortmann (Das Wunder von Bern) provides a well-edited insightful look at the German national football team preparing and playing in the 2006 World Cup, held at home in Germany.

The camera gives us a unique look at the team's management and players working through the challenges, stresses and huge opportunity of the situation presented to them: only once in their lives would they have a chance to win a World Cup on home soil.

The in-game action sequences emphasized the duels on the field between the Germans and their opponents perhaps more so than the offensively-oriented game the team was playing. Also providing an excellent atmosphere was the attention paid to the phenomenon that the team became during the month: a young team with a dynamic coach playing exciting football and exceeding everyone's expectations. A team who the German public could love as much as they love the game.

Zitat des Tages Mailing List

Something I've enjoyed for years is Anu Garg's A Word A Day mailing list, and while I always find the words chosen to be interesting, I usually skip quickly down to the end of the message to read the quotation.

I looked for some time for a similar mailing list for German words and quotations. I haven't found one that offers both, but a list that offers an excellent presentation of a German quotation is Zitat des Tages.

I'm still looking for a mailing list that presents German words in an interesting way. By the way, another really interesting English-language mailing list is the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day, which provides a thorough etymology each day.

Schau mal nach!

Ginga, die Seele des Brasilianischen Fußballs

Tonight's feature at Fußballfreunde Deutschland was Ginga-die Seele des Brasilianischen Fußballs, a documentary film from 2005 produced by Nike to coincide with their marketing campaign in Brazil.

The Portuguese-language film was dubbed quite successfully into German and showed the stories of seven Brazilians and their relationship with football in their lives. The movie is several short sequences put together beautifully with slides of graffiti artwork from a pair of brothers.

A co-producer of the film was Fernando Meirelles, director and producer of City of God, possibly the most exhausting and exhilarating films I've ever seen. The scenes in Ginga were an interesting counterpoint to City of God in that they painted a picture of life and rhythm (the "ginga") of Brazilian life.

This is not a deep documentary, but instead is inspiring and uplifting with music, football tricks, dancing, and of course, the undefinable ginga of Brazil. I would be happy to present it again.