It always surprises me what commentators at baseball games talk about over the course of nine innings. Obviously there is enough time to go through all kinds of topics while the two teams are playing since there isn't much happening. So they talk about all these statistics that baseball fans seem to be obsessed with, but at some points they talk about different things. I really like the commentators who cover the games for the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. Those guys sound like they're having a hell of a good time at the matches. They talk about all kinds of stuff. I really like that. From what they did on their days off to the colour of their jackets to what they are doing at home. You name it, anything.
So while watching the Mariners vs A's game today I heard the commentators talking about football. Not that American thing but European football. And they are going on about what impact David Beckham will have on "Soccer" in the USA compared to Pélé in the 1970s and 1980s. They said one good thing. Beckham will not have such an impact because he is not a playmaker. He won't score many goals and his presence on the pitch isn't as great and shining as Péle's was. I think so, too. While I have to acknowledge that Beckham is a great winger who can shoot great passes into the penalty box he isn't the extraordinary player who can lead a team. Players like Maradona or Zidane were able to do that, a player like Ronaldinho is able to do that. Beckham isn't. Which is why the English national team is struggling for the past years, I think. They lack a playmaker. Someone who is able to give the team a push in rough times during a game. The German team has Michael Ballack, the English have Frank Lampard, but somehow he isn't able to perform on the national team.
So it is fascinating what you hear while watching a baseball match. Boston lost to Tampa Bay, by the way. Matsuzaka Daisuke gave up a homerun in the 7th. And Alex Rodriguez is still waiting for homerun #500. And the whole of the USA is waiting for Barry Bonds to hit #755. The Giants are playing right now, maybe it's up tonight.
Sunday 29 July 2007
Saturday 28 July 2007
Yet another boring test match labeled a competition aka The German Liga-Pokal
For quite some time now the German Liga-Pokal officially starts off the new season. Rising from the ashes of the Fuji-Cup, a 4 Bundesliga-team competition which took place in small towns and villages it was established to promote the Bundesliga in the 1990s. At first 4 teams competed, then they changed the rules to six teams with two quarterfinals, semifinals and the final. There was no regular ground where it took place at first, then they gave it to Leverkusen, if I remember that correctly, it was also played in Mainz and now it's situated in Leipzig.
Honestly, this thing is straight out ugly...
So this year's final was between Bayern Munich and Schalke 04. Both teams looked really convincing in their semifinal matches, Bayern beating VfB Stuttgart 2-0 and Schalke defeating 1. FC Nuremburg 4-2. So everything was set for the final ... and yet again it was a huge disappointment. Let's be honest, this competition is just another chance for the teams to test their lineups before the season starts. Does anyone actually take this seriously? It's just another thing you can write in the headline of a letter of the club.
Right now they are thinking about changing the rules again, one thought even going in the direction of having around 30 teams to participate. This is hilarious.
Honestly, this thing is straight out ugly...
So this year's final was between Bayern Munich and Schalke 04. Both teams looked really convincing in their semifinal matches, Bayern beating VfB Stuttgart 2-0 and Schalke defeating 1. FC Nuremburg 4-2. So everything was set for the final ... and yet again it was a huge disappointment. Let's be honest, this competition is just another chance for the teams to test their lineups before the season starts. Does anyone actually take this seriously? It's just another thing you can write in the headline of a letter of the club.
Right now they are thinking about changing the rules again, one thought even going in the direction of having around 30 teams to participate. This is hilarious.
Competitive football at last. The 3rd division starts.
The summer break is over, at least on the lowest level of professional football in Germany. 3rd division teams played the first round of this season today. This contest will be a very special one since after this season there will be only one 3rd division ("3. Bundesliga") instead of two which we have now. Because of that almost half of the teams will be relegated into the new "Regionalliga" which will have three conferences. Saying this it is obvious that there will be a lot of competition for the first 10 places in each 3rd divison this year.
Here's how they played today:
Regionalliga Northern Division
RW Erfurt - RW Ahlen 6:3
RW Essen - RW Oberhausen 1:4
Wuppertaler SV Borussia - VfB Lübeck 2:1
SV Babelsberg - Borussia Dortmund II 0:0
Eintracht Braunschweig - Kickers Emden 0:1
Union Berlin - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:1
Hamburger SV II - Dynamo Dresden 2:0
Energie Cottbus II - SC Verl (Sunday) -:-
Werder Bremen II - 1. FC Magdeburg (22.8.) -:-
Regionalliga Southern Division
Sandhausen - Ludwigshafen-Oggersheim 3:0
Pfullendorf - FSV Frankfurt 2:0
VfB Stuttgart II - SV Elversberg 2:0
SSV Jahn Regensburg - Spvgg Unterhaching 2:1
Bayern Munich II - SSV Reutlingen 0:0
KSV Hessen Kassel - VfR Aalen 1:3
Karlsruher SC II - Wacker Burghausen 0:1
FC Ingolstadt - Stuttgarter Kickers 2:3
Sportfreunde Siegen - 1860 Munich II 1:0
Especially the teams who played first division football back in the days like Düsseldorf, Stuttgarter Kickers, Dynamo Dresden, 1.FC Magdeburg, Spvgg Unterhaching, RW Essen or RW Oberhausen are longing to play in the 2nd division again and just can't afford to go down to the new 4th division. That's why they spent a lot of money on new players and hope that their efforts will pay off by the end of the season. It has to be expected that there might be clubs who will go bust if they don't make it to the new 3rd division.
Another thing why most clubs are wishing for a single 3rd division is the number of reserve teams. As you can see there are 8 reserve teams playing now, four in each conference. Reserve team numbers will be limited to 4 for the single 3rd league but I just don't see the point why they can't have a reserve league for the teams. Most 3rd divison clubs complained that some of the first team players were sent to the reserve teams and by playing there distorted the outcome at the end of the season. Because some clubs had to face tougher reserve teams than others. Let's wait and see how things will turn out. I for my part am looking forward to a single 3rd division.
Here's how they played today:
Regionalliga Northern Division
RW Erfurt - RW Ahlen 6:3
RW Essen - RW Oberhausen 1:4
Wuppertaler SV Borussia - VfB Lübeck 2:1
SV Babelsberg - Borussia Dortmund II 0:0
Eintracht Braunschweig - Kickers Emden 0:1
Union Berlin - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:1
Hamburger SV II - Dynamo Dresden 2:0
Energie Cottbus II - SC Verl (Sunday) -:-
Werder Bremen II - 1. FC Magdeburg (22.8.) -:-
Regionalliga Southern Division
Sandhausen - Ludwigshafen-Oggersheim 3:0
Pfullendorf - FSV Frankfurt 2:0
VfB Stuttgart II - SV Elversberg 2:0
SSV Jahn Regensburg - Spvgg Unterhaching 2:1
Bayern Munich II - SSV Reutlingen 0:0
KSV Hessen Kassel - VfR Aalen 1:3
Karlsruher SC II - Wacker Burghausen 0:1
FC Ingolstadt - Stuttgarter Kickers 2:3
Sportfreunde Siegen - 1860 Munich II 1:0
Especially the teams who played first division football back in the days like Düsseldorf, Stuttgarter Kickers, Dynamo Dresden, 1.FC Magdeburg, Spvgg Unterhaching, RW Essen or RW Oberhausen are longing to play in the 2nd division again and just can't afford to go down to the new 4th division. That's why they spent a lot of money on new players and hope that their efforts will pay off by the end of the season. It has to be expected that there might be clubs who will go bust if they don't make it to the new 3rd division.
Another thing why most clubs are wishing for a single 3rd division is the number of reserve teams. As you can see there are 8 reserve teams playing now, four in each conference. Reserve team numbers will be limited to 4 for the single 3rd league but I just don't see the point why they can't have a reserve league for the teams. Most 3rd divison clubs complained that some of the first team players were sent to the reserve teams and by playing there distorted the outcome at the end of the season. Because some clubs had to face tougher reserve teams than others. Let's wait and see how things will turn out. I for my part am looking forward to a single 3rd division.
Friday 27 July 2007
Just in: Kommando Sonne-nmilch "Jamaica" LP
There are certain bands that accompany you for a long time of your life. Most of the time those bands are the ones' you heard in your childhood. Those were the bands who played the first tunes you listenend to. At some point you get bored of those bands, in my case that would be Die Toten Hosen from Düsseldorf, one of the bands that sparked my interest for punk music. In the early 90s their sound was just too plain and common so I left them for good. There wasn't anything left and I just didn't see any point in buying their new records and up until this very day I don't think I missed a thing. They are mainstream music nowadays, still important for the kids who might get into punk music via their records, but it's just not my thing anymore. I still like the old records, but I just can't get along with the new stuff.
At around the same time I abandoned them I stumbled across a band called Dackelblut from Hamburg and instantly fell in love with them. I think the first show I saw was in Neuss where they were selling strange stuff at their merch table called "Dackelblutique". The second time I saw them at the "Tunnels" in Cologne, I show I especially remember because of what their singer said before the show: "Hi, we are Dackelblut. We are going to play 13 songs, 8 off our old record and 5 off our new one. The show will be 50 minutes, there will be no announcements in between the songs and no encores". And that's what they did. Great.
Since then I followed what Jens "Jensen" Rachut, their singer, was doing. The previous bands and their records (Angeschissen and Blumen am Arsch der Hölle) as well as the new projects (Oma Hans). The music sounded the same, well, most of the time. What really got me was the way the lyrics were sung. It was a mixture of a melody and just reciting a poem. Also the way the lyrics were written was great. A great reflection of what was happening in the "scene", comments on police surveillance, major label success and "sellout" suspects, everything. They even did a song in Japanese with Dackelblut.
There was only one project I always ignored and that was Kommando Sonne-nmilch. I think someone played a few of their songs from their first record to me at one time and I just didn't like it. This was no punk sound, it was pure electronic stuff, something I just can't seem to cope with. But their new record is a complete turnaround. They just sound like any other Jensen band. Which is great. This time he teamed up with former Slime drummer Stephan Mahler who also sings a few lines on this record "Jamaica". Wonderful stuff. I guess this is how you age with style in punkrock.
At around the same time I abandoned them I stumbled across a band called Dackelblut from Hamburg and instantly fell in love with them. I think the first show I saw was in Neuss where they were selling strange stuff at their merch table called "Dackelblutique". The second time I saw them at the "Tunnels" in Cologne, I show I especially remember because of what their singer said before the show: "Hi, we are Dackelblut. We are going to play 13 songs, 8 off our old record and 5 off our new one. The show will be 50 minutes, there will be no announcements in between the songs and no encores". And that's what they did. Great.
Since then I followed what Jens "Jensen" Rachut, their singer, was doing. The previous bands and their records (Angeschissen and Blumen am Arsch der Hölle) as well as the new projects (Oma Hans). The music sounded the same, well, most of the time. What really got me was the way the lyrics were sung. It was a mixture of a melody and just reciting a poem. Also the way the lyrics were written was great. A great reflection of what was happening in the "scene", comments on police surveillance, major label success and "sellout" suspects, everything. They even did a song in Japanese with Dackelblut.
There was only one project I always ignored and that was Kommando Sonne-nmilch. I think someone played a few of their songs from their first record to me at one time and I just didn't like it. This was no punk sound, it was pure electronic stuff, something I just can't seem to cope with. But their new record is a complete turnaround. They just sound like any other Jensen band. Which is great. This time he teamed up with former Slime drummer Stephan Mahler who also sings a few lines on this record "Jamaica". Wonderful stuff. I guess this is how you age with style in punkrock.
Tuesday 24 July 2007
Vampires on bikes playing khazakhian roulette: Yet another case.
So yet another bomb exploded on the scene of the Tour de France today with Alexandre Vinokourov being tested positive for blood transfusion. Vinokourov won last week's "contre la montre" and yesterday's stage through the Pyrenees. His team Astana had two cases of doping this year with Italian Eddie Mazzoleni and German Matthias Kessler. With the discussion circling around the current leader Michael Rasmussen and 2nd place Alberto Contador this race is a good as dead.
I started watching the Tour de France in the 80s, looking at riders like Hinault, Fignon or Lemond. Hell knows what those guys injected into their veins, but cracks in the wall became bigger in 1998 when the scndal around the Festina team surfaced and riders like Richard Virenque were suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs. Since then every now and then a case came up, but the biggest one came last year when Tour de France winner Floyd Landis was exposed. Gee, I would have loved to have seen a positive test for Lance Armstrong, I mean, just look at this year. The two leaders Rasmussen and Contador simply fly up a mountain way faster than Armstrong and he wasn't slow either.
This whole sport is rotten to the core and maybe the only way to purge it from doping will be to drive it back to a time where there is no professional cycling. Up to this point I see no rider who is "clean". The one thing that keeps me watching though is the pure curiosity on who will be next. I have to admit that's a thrill.
I started watching the Tour de France in the 80s, looking at riders like Hinault, Fignon or Lemond. Hell knows what those guys injected into their veins, but cracks in the wall became bigger in 1998 when the scndal around the Festina team surfaced and riders like Richard Virenque were suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs. Since then every now and then a case came up, but the biggest one came last year when Tour de France winner Floyd Landis was exposed. Gee, I would have loved to have seen a positive test for Lance Armstrong, I mean, just look at this year. The two leaders Rasmussen and Contador simply fly up a mountain way faster than Armstrong and he wasn't slow either.
This whole sport is rotten to the core and maybe the only way to purge it from doping will be to drive it back to a time where there is no professional cycling. Up to this point I see no rider who is "clean". The one thing that keeps me watching though is the pure curiosity on who will be next. I have to admit that's a thrill.
Sunday 22 July 2007
Did anyone say the "E"-word? House & Parish @ Blue Shell, Cologne
Last Thursday saw some sort of a class reunion. House & Parish were set to play at the "Blue Shell", a small club located in Cologne's Bermuda triangle were a lot of clubs are. With their background featuring ex-mambers of The Promise Ring, Mineral, Texas Is The Reason and New End Original I thought that, well, a few people might show up, but as it turned out around 50 came to the show.
We were all hanging around the club on the streets since the weather was so fine. That's why probably a lot of people missed The Data Break who opened up the evening. Their DC influenced sound wasn't anything for me although I liked what I heard when me and some friends set up a show for them at the "Juz" in Hürth a couple of years ago. So as for this evening I was enjoying my beer on the streets talking to whoever I met and there were quite a few people to meet as I mentioned.
When House & Parish finally climbed up on the stage I have to admit that I was a little drunk already. But what I got to hear from them was satisfying. Nothing special and nothing like the band their members previously played in. But solid indie rock that doesn't get too annoying. If I get the chance I might get the record.
So that was a very nice evening. The only thing that kind of made me feel miserable was that I drank a little bit too much. I was supposed to get up early the next day to attend a wedding (that one was cool! Aaron and Silke looked great. Congratulation, folks!) so I had some headache when waking up. I tried to chase it away with lots of beer in the evening and surprisingly it worked, hehehe...
Hey, Envy will play in Cologne in November!!!
We were all hanging around the club on the streets since the weather was so fine. That's why probably a lot of people missed The Data Break who opened up the evening. Their DC influenced sound wasn't anything for me although I liked what I heard when me and some friends set up a show for them at the "Juz" in Hürth a couple of years ago. So as for this evening I was enjoying my beer on the streets talking to whoever I met and there were quite a few people to meet as I mentioned.
When House & Parish finally climbed up on the stage I have to admit that I was a little drunk already. But what I got to hear from them was satisfying. Nothing special and nothing like the band their members previously played in. But solid indie rock that doesn't get too annoying. If I get the chance I might get the record.
So that was a very nice evening. The only thing that kind of made me feel miserable was that I drank a little bit too much. I was supposed to get up early the next day to attend a wedding (that one was cool! Aaron and Silke looked great. Congratulation, folks!) so I had some headache when waking up. I tried to chase it away with lots of beer in the evening and surprisingly it worked, hehehe...
Hey, Envy will play in Cologne in November!!!
Sports Round-up: Tour de France, MLB, Football
Lots of things happened over the past few days and weeks. First and most important, the Tour de France had its first doping case this year. German rider Patrick Sinkewitz was tested positive for Testosteron while staying at a training camp with his Team T-Mobile in June. Sinkewitz had to drop out of this year's tour because of a crash with a spectator after a stage in the Alps. Although it is only the A-test and the B-est has yet to be opened chances are he will be suspended for at least two years and he will be the first rider to pay a fine of his complete one-year salary.
This being just the facts right now a huge discussion is going on in Germany on how to handle this case. German public television stations ARD and ZDF who covered the Tour dropped out immediately. Now the private broadcaster SAT1 is showing the stages. You always have to keep in kind that while there were no German doping cases German broadcasters were always pointing the finger at everyone else for their weak approach on doping. ARD at one point was also one of the sponsors of then Team Telekom. When a number of riders from the 1990s Team Telekom admitted using performance-enhancing drugs in May this year it caused a huge storm and even back then their were voices demanding that ARD and ZDF should not broadcast live coverage of the Tour de France. The interesting thing will be to wait and see what will happen during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. It has to be expected that there will be cases of drug abuse and then we will see what German publich television will do. If they decide to pull out of the broadcasting this will be a huge blow to sports in Germany. Especially the disciplines that don't get that much of media coverage like track & field.
Meanwhile there were news that the Danish cycling union suspended the current Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen because he missed four tests for doping. He is still on the peleton of the Tour but nobody knows what will happen over the next few days. He performed unexpectedly well in yesterday's "contre la montre" still clinging to a one minute lead over Australia's Cadell Evans.
In Major League Baseball the Boston Red Sox are losing some of their double digit lead over the New York Yankees in the American League East. With Curt Shilling out of their rotation the turned to left hander Kason Gabbard who pitched extremly well. Yesterday he held the Chicago White Sox to just one run and three hits over 7 innings. The Red Sox went on to win 11-2.
Boston was struggling a bit over the past weeks. Their pitching seemed to be okay but their offense wasn't really helping them.
Elsewhere the Chicago Cubs closed the gap to leaders Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.
The one thing that the whole of the baseball community on America seems to be interested in right now is when Barry Bonds will hit his Homeruns No. 755 and 756. Yesterday Fox was switching to Milwaukee for all of his at-bats but it didn't really pay off since he struck out, grounded out and was intentionally walked. San Francisco nevertheless who 8-0 with their starter Tim Lincecum pitching eight shut-out innings.
In Football David Beckham made his first appearances for Los Angeles Galaxy in a friendly against Chelsea FC. I didn't really follow this but it seems to have been a rather disappointing performance.
In Germany the League Cup, a completely useless competition before the start of the season, kicked off yesterday. Noone really understands the rules of the competition. In the past the champion of last year, the cup winner and the places 2-5 of last season took part, this year it seems the winner of last year's 2nd division season is allowed to play. So Karlsuher SC, the 2nd division champions played against Schalke 04 and lost by only 0-1.
The 2nd match that day at Düsseldorf was played between FC Bayern Munich and SV Werder Bremen. This was especially interesting because it was the first match in which Miroslav Klose was playing against his former club. The row over Klose was thrilling all of Germany during the summer break and after the deal was done there were some harsh words from his former team mates in Bremen. Midfielder Torsten Frings e.g. said that "Miro wanted to play for a european top club and now he is in Munich". Bremen lost the match 1-4 which might have its reasons in Diego, Naldo, Owomoyela, Hunt and Almeida not being able to start for them. Bayern meanwhile only had Luca Toni on the disabled list. this reminds me of the 95/96 season when the Bayern Munich team was considered to be the dream team of German football winning the first 7 matches of the season. Their coach was Otto Rehagel who came with a superb record to Munich. But in the end they lost the championship to Borussia Dortmund who went on to dominate the league for another year. So it will be interesting to follow this season.
In the AFC Asian Cup Japan won the rematch against Australia who defeated them in last year's World Cup group match. japan clinched the victory by beating the Aussies in a penalty shoot out 4-3. John Aloisi put Australia up 1-0 and Takahara Naohiro equalized. So Japan are still in for the title. If they win it this would be their third time in a row.
This being just the facts right now a huge discussion is going on in Germany on how to handle this case. German public television stations ARD and ZDF who covered the Tour dropped out immediately. Now the private broadcaster SAT1 is showing the stages. You always have to keep in kind that while there were no German doping cases German broadcasters were always pointing the finger at everyone else for their weak approach on doping. ARD at one point was also one of the sponsors of then Team Telekom. When a number of riders from the 1990s Team Telekom admitted using performance-enhancing drugs in May this year it caused a huge storm and even back then their were voices demanding that ARD and ZDF should not broadcast live coverage of the Tour de France. The interesting thing will be to wait and see what will happen during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. It has to be expected that there will be cases of drug abuse and then we will see what German publich television will do. If they decide to pull out of the broadcasting this will be a huge blow to sports in Germany. Especially the disciplines that don't get that much of media coverage like track & field.
Meanwhile there were news that the Danish cycling union suspended the current Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen because he missed four tests for doping. He is still on the peleton of the Tour but nobody knows what will happen over the next few days. He performed unexpectedly well in yesterday's "contre la montre" still clinging to a one minute lead over Australia's Cadell Evans.
In Major League Baseball the Boston Red Sox are losing some of their double digit lead over the New York Yankees in the American League East. With Curt Shilling out of their rotation the turned to left hander Kason Gabbard who pitched extremly well. Yesterday he held the Chicago White Sox to just one run and three hits over 7 innings. The Red Sox went on to win 11-2.
Boston was struggling a bit over the past weeks. Their pitching seemed to be okay but their offense wasn't really helping them.
Elsewhere the Chicago Cubs closed the gap to leaders Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.
The one thing that the whole of the baseball community on America seems to be interested in right now is when Barry Bonds will hit his Homeruns No. 755 and 756. Yesterday Fox was switching to Milwaukee for all of his at-bats but it didn't really pay off since he struck out, grounded out and was intentionally walked. San Francisco nevertheless who 8-0 with their starter Tim Lincecum pitching eight shut-out innings.
In Football David Beckham made his first appearances for Los Angeles Galaxy in a friendly against Chelsea FC. I didn't really follow this but it seems to have been a rather disappointing performance.
In Germany the League Cup, a completely useless competition before the start of the season, kicked off yesterday. Noone really understands the rules of the competition. In the past the champion of last year, the cup winner and the places 2-5 of last season took part, this year it seems the winner of last year's 2nd division season is allowed to play. So Karlsuher SC, the 2nd division champions played against Schalke 04 and lost by only 0-1.
The 2nd match that day at Düsseldorf was played between FC Bayern Munich and SV Werder Bremen. This was especially interesting because it was the first match in which Miroslav Klose was playing against his former club. The row over Klose was thrilling all of Germany during the summer break and after the deal was done there were some harsh words from his former team mates in Bremen. Midfielder Torsten Frings e.g. said that "Miro wanted to play for a european top club and now he is in Munich". Bremen lost the match 1-4 which might have its reasons in Diego, Naldo, Owomoyela, Hunt and Almeida not being able to start for them. Bayern meanwhile only had Luca Toni on the disabled list. this reminds me of the 95/96 season when the Bayern Munich team was considered to be the dream team of German football winning the first 7 matches of the season. Their coach was Otto Rehagel who came with a superb record to Munich. But in the end they lost the championship to Borussia Dortmund who went on to dominate the league for another year. So it will be interesting to follow this season.
In the AFC Asian Cup Japan won the rematch against Australia who defeated them in last year's World Cup group match. japan clinched the victory by beating the Aussies in a penalty shoot out 4-3. John Aloisi put Australia up 1-0 and Takahara Naohiro equalized. So Japan are still in for the title. If they win it this would be their third time in a row.
Monday 16 July 2007
An interesting final: Brazil vs Argentina 3-0
Brazil beat their archrivals from Argentina in the final of this year's Copa América by 3-0. When reading this one might expect a hullaballoo of offensive football, nice attacking and brilliant and fast passing. But that wasn't the case. Brazil stood firm in the defense waiting for the Argentinian attack just to stop it with cold blood. When taking over the ball they tried to put it up front as fast as they could. This was how they scored first after 5 minutes. A long pass by Elano (who had to leave the pitch due to an injury only minutes later) to "The Beast" Julio Baptista and Brazil was in the lead. Argentina tried to strike back quickly, but after a nice combination between Messi and Véron Riquelme only hit the post. And just as everyone was settling for half time Ayala scored an own goal giving Brazil a 2-0 half time lead. After the break it was the same picture, Argentina pressing for a goal and Brazil defending firmly. And then the got the neckbreaker. A wonderful and fast attack by Wagner Love found Dani Alves with a brilliant pass and it was 3-0. After that there was no answer from Argentina.
Most people will see this final as boring and uninspiring given the names of the participants. But to me it was wonderful to watch. Right from the start both teams went at it without giving up their defense. And it was interesting to see a Brazilian side who was willing to defend a lead and not run up front all the time. Argentina on the other hand played the most beautiful football of the tournament without losing a single match but they found their masters in Brazil this time. Still with talent like Tevez or Messi there is nothing to worry about for the future. Except maybe that Brazil rested their two main players by not taking them to the tournament. When Káká or Ronaldinho are in that squad as well it should be very hard for opponents to stop them.
Most people will see this final as boring and uninspiring given the names of the participants. But to me it was wonderful to watch. Right from the start both teams went at it without giving up their defense. And it was interesting to see a Brazilian side who was willing to defend a lead and not run up front all the time. Argentina on the other hand played the most beautiful football of the tournament without losing a single match but they found their masters in Brazil this time. Still with talent like Tevez or Messi there is nothing to worry about for the future. Except maybe that Brazil rested their two main players by not taking them to the tournament. When Káká or Ronaldinho are in that squad as well it should be very hard for opponents to stop them.
Sunday 15 July 2007
Drug Stores On Bikes Through France
The "Tour de France" was started last week in London and this weekend the riders finally came into the territory that always decides who wins and who loses. Yes, it's the Alps now and just a few moments ago Michael Rasmussen won the stage after a solo escape for a few hours. He will now wear the yellow jersey but he also took over the polka dot jersey after climbing all those mountains by himself. Now honoury category mountains on this stage, but I believe on Tuesday the Galibier will be up, so there you go.
German commentators finally had something to smile about yesterday when young German rider Linus Gerdemann won the stage and took the yellow jersey. You could almost hear the sigh of relief by thousands of media people after a long drought and lots of discussions and confessions about drug abuses in cycling. In May almost all of the mid 1990s Telekom team members admitted that they used performance enhancing drugs in their career. Some said they only used it once, some declared they used for their entire career. With a huge blast Jörg Jaksche who was with professional teams in Italy, Germany and Spain gave an interview to German magazine "Der Spiegel" in which he relvealed the methods and cover ups of continous drug abuse in the world of cycling.
Since then nothing has been the same. German reporters jumped at all the riders, everybody was a suspect and all the broadcasting contracts were questioned. but now that the Tour is rolling through France again it seems that all the smoke has cleared up and we are back to normal. Just as I like to believe that a young rider like Gerdemann is clean and not involved with performance enhancing drugs there always is a little bit of doubt left.
German commentators finally had something to smile about yesterday when young German rider Linus Gerdemann won the stage and took the yellow jersey. You could almost hear the sigh of relief by thousands of media people after a long drought and lots of discussions and confessions about drug abuses in cycling. In May almost all of the mid 1990s Telekom team members admitted that they used performance enhancing drugs in their career. Some said they only used it once, some declared they used for their entire career. With a huge blast Jörg Jaksche who was with professional teams in Italy, Germany and Spain gave an interview to German magazine "Der Spiegel" in which he relvealed the methods and cover ups of continous drug abuse in the world of cycling.
Since then nothing has been the same. German reporters jumped at all the riders, everybody was a suspect and all the broadcasting contracts were questioned. but now that the Tour is rolling through France again it seems that all the smoke has cleared up and we are back to normal. Just as I like to believe that a young rider like Gerdemann is clean and not involved with performance enhancing drugs there always is a little bit of doubt left.
Saturday 14 July 2007
Austria advances to the semifinals of the Under20 World Cup
Spot the words that don't seem to go along in the headline. Hello?! I mean, Austria?! You have to be kidding me. Austria's biggest success was beating the reigning world champions Germany in the 1978 World Cup at Cordoba. A match that the still remember down south. Since then they haven't achieved anything. They qualified for a few World Cups and Euro Championships, but always crashed out in the group stages. Since being named the co-hosts for next years Euro 2008 they played more like the team that lost to the Faroer Islands in some Qualifying rounds for some major competition in the 1990s. A huge shock to Austrian football. The last major players to emerge from there were striker Toni Polster who played in Spain and Germany or midfielder Andreas Herzog who was nicknamed "Alpen-Maradona".
So now the Austrian Under 20 team beat the USA in this years World Cup and has now advanced to the semifinal against either Spain or the Czech Republic (who will play later). This was quite a surprise to me. I was only able to watch the 2nd half of the extra time, but it seemed that they play a very nice football there. This will be interesting.
So now the Austrian Under 20 team beat the USA in this years World Cup and has now advanced to the semifinal against either Spain or the Czech Republic (who will play later). This was quite a surprise to me. I was only able to watch the 2nd half of the extra time, but it seemed that they play a very nice football there. This will be interesting.
Two Days, Two Shows
There were two brilliant shows over the past two days in Cologne. First up were Walls Of Jericho, who played a rather uncomfortable club called "MTC". The only advantage that venue has to me is that it is located only a few minutes footwalk from where I live. The place was packed although I don't know if it sold out. Zero Mentality from Germany were up first but although I liked their first record what the performed on stage wasn't really to my liking so I decided to stay upstairs and catch a few breaths of fresh air. Or smoke another cigarette. The club "MTC" is at a very crowded street in the centre of Cologne which is considered to be the heart of Cologne's student night life. So it was always fun to watch who is passing by. Lots of different people and obviously there were the certain someones who were annoyed by the ausdience of the concert. The audience itself was very youn so I was really happy when I met some people of my age. Me and a friend (who is running a wonderful bar in Cologne-Kalk, by the way. Pay him a visit if you are here) were standing up front just at the bar and when Walls Of Jericho started without moving an inch we were dripping of sweat.
The show itself was a very routine performance although the band seemed to enjoy themselves a lot. The audience did so, too. There were people flying all around, one annoying guy was even jumping off the bar. There were the usual hardcore lines ("we are all one scene, blah blah blah"), but hey, that's what the kids want to hear, right? When I left I was drenched with sweat and I had an early shift at my job ahead of me.
Some pictures of the show can be found here.
So the next day saw Quest For Rescue and the Sonic Dolls play at the "Sonic Ballroom", two bands who have been around for a very long time. Quest For Rescue have always been labelled a BMX punkband because their guitarist is a pretty good BMX rider. The show was set up on that day to kick off the BMX World Cup that takes place in Cologne every year. So some of the contestants and visitors came to the Ballroom. But there were also a lot of people who I hadn't seen in a long time, especially the guys of Free Yourself, a great band from Düsseldorf who I had the pleasure to accompany on quite a few occasions. It's so nice to see that the guys are doing fine. There were also a lot of people of the Blurr Fanzine.
Quest started the show and the crowd was really into it. I'm really looking forward to their new record. The release show will be in August. Wonderful. A record I have been waiting for for almost 8 years, I think. If you ever get the chance to pick up one of their records, do so. You won't be disappointed. They play a wonderful melancholic punkrocking sound.
I just caught a small glimpse of Sonic Dolls, a Ramones type-of-sounding band, also from Düsseldorf, because I had to get up early the next morning to help my grandmother moving to her new apartment. And that's why I am sitting here at home right now very exhausted, but very happy at the same time since I had the pleasure to watch to brilliant shows in two days. Something I hadn't done in quite a long time.
The show itself was a very routine performance although the band seemed to enjoy themselves a lot. The audience did so, too. There were people flying all around, one annoying guy was even jumping off the bar. There were the usual hardcore lines ("we are all one scene, blah blah blah"), but hey, that's what the kids want to hear, right? When I left I was drenched with sweat and I had an early shift at my job ahead of me.
Some pictures of the show can be found here.
So the next day saw Quest For Rescue and the Sonic Dolls play at the "Sonic Ballroom", two bands who have been around for a very long time. Quest For Rescue have always been labelled a BMX punkband because their guitarist is a pretty good BMX rider. The show was set up on that day to kick off the BMX World Cup that takes place in Cologne every year. So some of the contestants and visitors came to the Ballroom. But there were also a lot of people who I hadn't seen in a long time, especially the guys of Free Yourself, a great band from Düsseldorf who I had the pleasure to accompany on quite a few occasions. It's so nice to see that the guys are doing fine. There were also a lot of people of the Blurr Fanzine.
Quest started the show and the crowd was really into it. I'm really looking forward to their new record. The release show will be in August. Wonderful. A record I have been waiting for for almost 8 years, I think. If you ever get the chance to pick up one of their records, do so. You won't be disappointed. They play a wonderful melancholic punkrocking sound.
I just caught a small glimpse of Sonic Dolls, a Ramones type-of-sounding band, also from Düsseldorf, because I had to get up early the next morning to help my grandmother moving to her new apartment. And that's why I am sitting here at home right now very exhausted, but very happy at the same time since I had the pleasure to watch to brilliant shows in two days. Something I hadn't done in quite a long time.
Thursday 12 July 2007
What to do when the domestic leagues take a break?
Summer can be one of the most boring seasons during the whole year since there are almost no football matches taking place. Fortunately there are international competitions elsewhere to get one over the summer. In South America the Copa América is on at the moment with Brazil and Argentina playing the final on Sunday. In Canada the U20 World Cup has entered the knock out stages. And in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam the AFC Championship has kicked off last weekend.
Now all of those competitions are hard to follow since the matches are started either in the middle of the night or during lunch break so it's almost impossible to catch a complete match. Fortunately there are replays on TV so I was able to get a glimpse at some matches.
In Canada I was very impressed by the performance of the japanese team who came out on top of their group after the first stage. The match against Scotland was brilliant, their passing und ranning play with their wonderful technique was a pleasure to watch. The USA also played some nice matches, but they ran into trouble when the played against South Korea who play a similar style as Japan does. Brazil also looked fine but lost their first match against Poland which was the surprise of the tournament.
Meanwhile Japan lost their 2nd round match against the Czech Republic 5-6 after penalties. They led the Czech 2-0 after 70 minutes but lost it in the closing minutes after two penalties and were taken to extra time. That ended scoreless so they had to find a winner on a penalty shoot out which the Czech Republic won.
Surprisingly the Austrians also advanced to the quarterfinals. The senior team who will be the co-hosts of next year's Euro Championship have been the laughing stock of European football for the past few years. And now the U20 team is having a great campaign at the World Cup. Interesting.
This is the match-up in the 2nd round:
Austria - Gambia 2:1
USA - Uruguay 2:1 a.e.t.
Spain - Brazil 4:2
Japan - Czech Republic 5:6 a.p.
Chile - Portugal
Zambia - Nigeria
Argentina - Poland
Mexico - Congo
A little bit down to the south in Venezuela the oldest international competition, the Copa América is taking place. Brazil, who are the defending champions, started poorly into the tournament by losing 0-2 against Mexico, but they got up on their feet again and with a grand performance by Robinho in the quarterfinal against Chile the stormed into the final where they will meet their archrivals from Argentina. The Albiceleste hasn't lost a match in their campaign and kicked Mexico out of the competition in the semifinal (3-0), a rematch of last years World Cup 2nd round match-up and what I still consider to be one of the best matches of the 2006 World Cup. Mexico certainly had one of the top players in their squad. Nery Castillo, who play for a Greek club, left his mark on the scene, especially with his goal against Brazil.
Apart from the matches Chile caused some concern when their players celebrated to hard and where caught a little bit off guard in their match against Brazil. Perhaps they should have waited with their celebrations until after the tournament.
The final will take place on Sunday.
And last but definetely not least the Asian Championship has started last Saturday. This year there are four co-hosts for the tournament with Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. Defending champions Japan started their campaign with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Qatar. Striker Takahara Naohiro said after the match that the team left out too many chances.
An interesting fact is that Australia is taking part in this year's competition looking for more fitting opponents, something they don't have with their Oceanian Federation. They also drew their first match against Oman 1-1.
It's hard to make any predictions on who will win the whole thing. Japan's coach Osim has complained that the J-League didn't give him enough time to prepare for the Championship. China made it to an emotional final against Japan in the last tournament and started their campaign with a convincing win over Malaysia (5-1) but I'm not sure of their actual strength. Iran could be in there as well. There are a lot of teams I never even heard any results of. Co-hosts Vietnam started with a 2-0 win against the United Arabian Emirates. So this could be an interesting competition.
And on Monday the Uefa U19 Championship will kick off in Austria. So there should be enough football ver the next weeks. Thank god, we're saved...
Now all of those competitions are hard to follow since the matches are started either in the middle of the night or during lunch break so it's almost impossible to catch a complete match. Fortunately there are replays on TV so I was able to get a glimpse at some matches.
In Canada I was very impressed by the performance of the japanese team who came out on top of their group after the first stage. The match against Scotland was brilliant, their passing und ranning play with their wonderful technique was a pleasure to watch. The USA also played some nice matches, but they ran into trouble when the played against South Korea who play a similar style as Japan does. Brazil also looked fine but lost their first match against Poland which was the surprise of the tournament.
Meanwhile Japan lost their 2nd round match against the Czech Republic 5-6 after penalties. They led the Czech 2-0 after 70 minutes but lost it in the closing minutes after two penalties and were taken to extra time. That ended scoreless so they had to find a winner on a penalty shoot out which the Czech Republic won.
Surprisingly the Austrians also advanced to the quarterfinals. The senior team who will be the co-hosts of next year's Euro Championship have been the laughing stock of European football for the past few years. And now the U20 team is having a great campaign at the World Cup. Interesting.
This is the match-up in the 2nd round:
Austria - Gambia 2:1
USA - Uruguay 2:1 a.e.t.
Spain - Brazil 4:2
Japan - Czech Republic 5:6 a.p.
Chile - Portugal
Zambia - Nigeria
Argentina - Poland
Mexico - Congo
A little bit down to the south in Venezuela the oldest international competition, the Copa América is taking place. Brazil, who are the defending champions, started poorly into the tournament by losing 0-2 against Mexico, but they got up on their feet again and with a grand performance by Robinho in the quarterfinal against Chile the stormed into the final where they will meet their archrivals from Argentina. The Albiceleste hasn't lost a match in their campaign and kicked Mexico out of the competition in the semifinal (3-0), a rematch of last years World Cup 2nd round match-up and what I still consider to be one of the best matches of the 2006 World Cup. Mexico certainly had one of the top players in their squad. Nery Castillo, who play for a Greek club, left his mark on the scene, especially with his goal against Brazil.
Apart from the matches Chile caused some concern when their players celebrated to hard and where caught a little bit off guard in their match against Brazil. Perhaps they should have waited with their celebrations until after the tournament.
The final will take place on Sunday.
And last but definetely not least the Asian Championship has started last Saturday. This year there are four co-hosts for the tournament with Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. Defending champions Japan started their campaign with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Qatar. Striker Takahara Naohiro said after the match that the team left out too many chances.
An interesting fact is that Australia is taking part in this year's competition looking for more fitting opponents, something they don't have with their Oceanian Federation. They also drew their first match against Oman 1-1.
It's hard to make any predictions on who will win the whole thing. Japan's coach Osim has complained that the J-League didn't give him enough time to prepare for the Championship. China made it to an emotional final against Japan in the last tournament and started their campaign with a convincing win over Malaysia (5-1) but I'm not sure of their actual strength. Iran could be in there as well. There are a lot of teams I never even heard any results of. Co-hosts Vietnam started with a 2-0 win against the United Arabian Emirates. So this could be an interesting competition.
And on Monday the Uefa U19 Championship will kick off in Austria. So there should be enough football ver the next weeks. Thank god, we're saved...
Friday 6 July 2007
Against Me! + A Modest Proposal @ Underground, Cologne
So we finally played a show after almost two years on a hiatus. And to top it off this one must have been the biggest one we ever played so far. The "Underground" is a(if not the) guitar/live show club in Cologne. A lot of bands played, even our little band was out playing on that stage two previous times in 2000 and 2002. I have seen a lot of memorable shows there, bands like Pennywise, The Offspring, Kill Holiday, Isis, Cave-In, you name it.
So, we were supposed to play with Against Me! from Gainesville, Fa. yesterday and we got the support slot because of our good friend Martin who knows almost every small punkband who tours Germany since he is the driver! He gave us the address of one of Against Me!'s bandmembers, we sent that guy an mp3, he forwared that to the American booking agency, they forwared it to the German booking agency and they said we're in.
About a week before the show we heard that the evening was sold out, I guess that was partly because the price was very low. Only € 7,90 in advance. So we got to play a sold out show for the first time in our career. We had a short rehearsal before we drove off from our rehearsal room and packed our cars since we had to bring along all the stuff. At least that was what we were told. But when we arrived there the Against Me! guys were so king to let us use their stuff. Tough luck. The soundcheck went smootly and by 8 pm we were on stage playing to what looked like an enormous amount of people standing in front of the stage. The two previous times we played the "Underground" were before they rebuild the whole place. Before it was rather small and cozy, now it's more like a huge room that can fit 450 people. The reactions from the crowd were warm and pleasant, we played a short and fast set with almost now pauses and breaks because of broken guitar strings. Something that we rarely do, because we have at least one broken string per show. And by the time we realized it the whole thing was over.
We were so damn nervous before the show me and Pascal, our singer, were talking to each oter before we kicked off that we are not used to this staff anymore. My heart was beating very fast and it was only until after the show that I got to drink a bottle of beer to relax. Some of our friends showed up as well and some were disappointed because we started so early and they dropped by so late they only got to see one or two songs by us.
So with this we are back in business and we are planning some show in september. Until then, when I get them, I will post some pictures of the show here.
So, we were supposed to play with Against Me! from Gainesville, Fa. yesterday and we got the support slot because of our good friend Martin who knows almost every small punkband who tours Germany since he is the driver! He gave us the address of one of Against Me!'s bandmembers, we sent that guy an mp3, he forwared that to the American booking agency, they forwared it to the German booking agency and they said we're in.
About a week before the show we heard that the evening was sold out, I guess that was partly because the price was very low. Only € 7,90 in advance. So we got to play a sold out show for the first time in our career. We had a short rehearsal before we drove off from our rehearsal room and packed our cars since we had to bring along all the stuff. At least that was what we were told. But when we arrived there the Against Me! guys were so king to let us use their stuff. Tough luck. The soundcheck went smootly and by 8 pm we were on stage playing to what looked like an enormous amount of people standing in front of the stage. The two previous times we played the "Underground" were before they rebuild the whole place. Before it was rather small and cozy, now it's more like a huge room that can fit 450 people. The reactions from the crowd were warm and pleasant, we played a short and fast set with almost now pauses and breaks because of broken guitar strings. Something that we rarely do, because we have at least one broken string per show. And by the time we realized it the whole thing was over.
We were so damn nervous before the show me and Pascal, our singer, were talking to each oter before we kicked off that we are not used to this staff anymore. My heart was beating very fast and it was only until after the show that I got to drink a bottle of beer to relax. Some of our friends showed up as well and some were disappointed because we started so early and they dropped by so late they only got to see one or two songs by us.
So with this we are back in business and we are planning some show in september. Until then, when I get them, I will post some pictures of the show here.
Wednesday 4 July 2007
In The Backyard Of The Record Collection (5): The 'Tone
Now this one is a band a friend of mine introduced me to way back in the days. He was doing a mailorder then and had three singles of The Tone in his crates of 7" EPs. I bought all three of them and I can't remember why. He was very good in talking people into buying stuff they had never heard of. Maybe it was because I mentioned I was listening to The Clash a lot lately.
The 'Tone are (were? Are they still around? Update: HAH! I just found their website!. Seems they are not around anymore...) clearly an English band. Straight from the very first note you know what the songs will be like. And then there's the genuine british accent, not the fake one by that some American bands try to copy. The have this very melodic yet aggressive touch to their punk sound. Might have come straight from the 70s yet they were a band from the 90s. I think I saw them live once when they did a support show for Discount, a female fronted band from Florida who had numerous records out. Quite a few 7"s and four LPs if I'm not mistaken.
Anyway, listening to The 'Tone's records really gets me in a good mood. Haven't done that in a long time. There's the "I Know It's Alright" 7" which features the brilliant Ska-Punk Song, an ode to the lead singer of the 2Tone Legend The Selecter, Pauline Black.
I have two more split 7"s, one with Annalise, one with Lovemen, but I think the band put out at least one full length record. The Lovemen Split features another wonderful song, very catchy and poppy, named "Bloody". Ah, this feels great. I think I need a beer... The Annalise Split has another hit as well. "I don't want to talk about it" is one of those punk anthems you just want to shout along. Great verses, great chorus, great bridge, great backup vocals, this one's nearly perfect.
When searching for the band I came across some mailorders that still have their records. You might want to give it a try. I promise, you won't be disappointed.
The 'Tone are (were? Are they still around? Update: HAH! I just found their website!. Seems they are not around anymore...) clearly an English band. Straight from the very first note you know what the songs will be like. And then there's the genuine british accent, not the fake one by that some American bands try to copy. The have this very melodic yet aggressive touch to their punk sound. Might have come straight from the 70s yet they were a band from the 90s. I think I saw them live once when they did a support show for Discount, a female fronted band from Florida who had numerous records out. Quite a few 7"s and four LPs if I'm not mistaken.
Anyway, listening to The 'Tone's records really gets me in a good mood. Haven't done that in a long time. There's the "I Know It's Alright" 7" which features the brilliant Ska-Punk Song, an ode to the lead singer of the 2Tone Legend The Selecter, Pauline Black.
I have two more split 7"s, one with Annalise, one with Lovemen, but I think the band put out at least one full length record. The Lovemen Split features another wonderful song, very catchy and poppy, named "Bloody". Ah, this feels great. I think I need a beer... The Annalise Split has another hit as well. "I don't want to talk about it" is one of those punk anthems you just want to shout along. Great verses, great chorus, great bridge, great backup vocals, this one's nearly perfect.
When searching for the band I came across some mailorders that still have their records. You might want to give it a try. I promise, you won't be disappointed.
Sunday 1 July 2007
JDrama: The season wrap up (spring)
So the current season is coming to an end this week and it's time to get in shape for the next one, the summer season.
I wasn't really thrilled with what was shown in the past three months, maybe I am a bit spoiled by what was offered in the past seasons. There was so much quality that there had to be a letdown sooner or later. Let's face it, you won't get series like "Hana Yori Dango" or "Haikei, Chichiue-sama" in every season. So this is what I thought of the past one:
Watashitachi no Kyoukashou
Not that bad, since Kanno Miho and Ito Atsushi were starring in the leading roles. It's yet another school drama, but this time not with an ex-gangster-turned-teacher type of story but with an attorney filing a suit against a school in which a student supposedly killed herself. This drama looks into the darker sides of school, although it has its funny moments every here and then. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, since the polt has way too many obscure turns and twits that are a little bit too unlogical when they occur. But it's decent. Not a classic, but good.
(6/10)
Hanayome to Papa
A father who is a little too caring for his daughter who just wishes to break free from the rules of her home. The father always causes trouble, be it at her new workplace or when interfering with her love life. Ishihara Satomi is always fun to watch and the whole cast is really fun to watch. Still I have the feeling that those boygroup brats are just not born to be actors. Sometimes those guys just seem to be too ... well, in German one would say "wooden", if you know what I mean. Taguchi Junnosuke just can't keep up with the rest of the cast, I think.
This one's your average happy-go-lucky drama with a few nice ideas here and there.
(7/10)
Tokkyu Tanaka San Go
I liked this one and the cast totally contradicts what I wrote previously. Tanaka Kouki is really good in this drama. He plays Tanaka Ichirou, a guy with an overwhelming self esteem who causes trouble whereever he goes. But he's a good pal and always cares about his friends. At his third rate university he meets up with two train fans, played by Tsukamoto Takashi (of Kisarazu Cat's Eye) and Akiyama Ryuji. Those two are just hilarious with their excitement for everything that's involved with trains. The bar they use to visit is a theme styled train bar with seats in a model of a train waggon. Extremely funny.
The love story is fun to watch with Kuriyama Chiaki playing the female leading role. She gets stalked by Tanaka and he is really getting on her nerves. But during the course of the series she finds out what a nice guy he is and blah blah blah. Still it's very funny, I was laughing out loud at some points. The train scenery is perfect and I can totally relate to that since I really like to travel by train. Although I wouldn't go so far to memorize timetables or make models of trains.
(8/10)
Seito Shokun!
Yet another school drama and this time there she is again. The vigilant teacher who faces all the hardships of here students with a lot of energy. Uchiyama Rina plays the teacher who goes up against a class of students who lost their faith in the teaching personel (once again). Horikita Maki and Hongo Kanata play the students who as "3TD" terrorize every new teacher for their class since they think they don't need teachers anymore. I haven't watched this to the end up until now since the subs are not there yet, but I guess it will end as always (a.k.a. GTO- or Gokusen-style). The teacher will win over the class one by one and in the end they will be the best of friends. This one has also a slightly darker touch than the other series, so I think I'll see it through to the end.
(6/10)
Proposal Daisakusen
The best drama of this season. Yamashita Tomohisa plays a miserable guy who has to attend his childhood friend's (Nagasawa Masami) wedding who he is still in love with. While watching a slideshow of pictures from memorable moments of the bride's life a fairy appears and offers him to go back in time to change his fate. Of course he fails in his first attempt, but there are a lot more chances because there are a lot more pictures in the slide show.
This drama has a good story and great actors. The supporting roles (Eikura Nana, Hiraoka Yuuta, Hamada Gaku)are wonderful and the ideas the writers had with the timetraveling are not as worn out as one would suppose they are. It was fun watching this series until the end.
(8/10)
Kaette Kita Jikou Keisatsu
The sequel to Jikou Keisatsu starring Odagiri Joe once again. There isn't that much progress in the series since every episode covers one story at a time. Kiriyama-kun is still researching old and closed cases as his hobby and he is still giving out his "I won't tell anyone" card at the end of each episode. This drama is just hilarious with so many unexpected ideas that just leave you laughing and laughing. And I am still convinced I have seen Asou Kumiko in some other drama, I just can't remember which one it was...
(7/10)
Hotelier
Hm, a story based around a hotel (a remake of a Korean drama, it seems) and the staff who work there. Ueda Aya is the main character and has to confront the looming takeover bid by an opposing invenstment group. The cast is huge but there were only 9 episodes. Seems like this series didn't get that many viewers in front of the screen. I think it's because the story is a bit off. It's a little too cliché. The main characters fall in love, then find out they are syblings and in the end they are not? Give me a break, that's a little bit too much. Nice scenery, but I'd trade a good script for an uglier scenery anytime.
(5/10)
Bambino
Matsumoto Jun as a chef in an Italian restaurant in Roppongi Hills? Why not. Seems to be yet another manga-turned-drama and I like it. The kitchen action look thrilling and you can get hungry easily watching the crew make a lot of delicious meals. Still sometimes Matsumoto goes a little bit over board with his acting. That was okay in "Hana Yori Dango", but here it feels like it's a bit out of place.
The rest of the cast is decent with the different level of telling the story from the point of view of the top staff of the restaurant like the chief waiter (Kitamura Kazuki), the manager (Uchida Yuki) or the kitchen chef (Sasaki Kuranosuke).
Still there was something missing but I haven't figured out what just yet.
(6/10)
Sexy Voice And Robo
Wonderful drama with a little girl at the centre and lots of strange things that happen around her. Hayashi Niko (Ohgo Suzuka) has the talent of mimicking voices and also of telling apart different sounds and voices. She meets Sudo Ichiro/Robo (Matsuyama Kenichi), an otaku who collects figurines and all sorts of stuff of one particular anime series. Somehow they get involved in strange cases and become "spies" for a lady who owns an antiquities shop.
This drama is very strange and has lots of Japanese styled jokes. I really like to watch it but then again it becomes very exhausting to watch because you have to pay attantion all the time and some jokes get missing because they can't be translated, I think. Still I'd really recommend this one, especially because of the otaku-factor. It's not as high as in "Densha Otoko", but then again, who cares anyway...
(7/10)
Two dramas I only watched the first two episodes of were "Joudan Janai!" and "Liar Game". Both seem to be too cliché with "Liar Game" clearly being aimed at a younger audience (Toda Erika and Matsuda Shota starring as the main characters). Toda is way too afraid and Matsuda is way too cool. It's all a little bit too much. maybe I'll give it a second try when there is another season break.
"Joudan Janai!" looked very promising at first with almost all of the first episode being set in southern France. But I can't help it, it just looks like another triangle love comedy thing to me.
So that's it for the spring season 2007. Let's enjoy the summer.
I wasn't really thrilled with what was shown in the past three months, maybe I am a bit spoiled by what was offered in the past seasons. There was so much quality that there had to be a letdown sooner or later. Let's face it, you won't get series like "Hana Yori Dango" or "Haikei, Chichiue-sama" in every season. So this is what I thought of the past one:
Watashitachi no Kyoukashou
Not that bad, since Kanno Miho and Ito Atsushi were starring in the leading roles. It's yet another school drama, but this time not with an ex-gangster-turned-teacher type of story but with an attorney filing a suit against a school in which a student supposedly killed herself. This drama looks into the darker sides of school, although it has its funny moments every here and then. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, since the polt has way too many obscure turns and twits that are a little bit too unlogical when they occur. But it's decent. Not a classic, but good.
(6/10)
Hanayome to Papa
A father who is a little too caring for his daughter who just wishes to break free from the rules of her home. The father always causes trouble, be it at her new workplace or when interfering with her love life. Ishihara Satomi is always fun to watch and the whole cast is really fun to watch. Still I have the feeling that those boygroup brats are just not born to be actors. Sometimes those guys just seem to be too ... well, in German one would say "wooden", if you know what I mean. Taguchi Junnosuke just can't keep up with the rest of the cast, I think.
This one's your average happy-go-lucky drama with a few nice ideas here and there.
(7/10)
Tokkyu Tanaka San Go
I liked this one and the cast totally contradicts what I wrote previously. Tanaka Kouki is really good in this drama. He plays Tanaka Ichirou, a guy with an overwhelming self esteem who causes trouble whereever he goes. But he's a good pal and always cares about his friends. At his third rate university he meets up with two train fans, played by Tsukamoto Takashi (of Kisarazu Cat's Eye) and Akiyama Ryuji. Those two are just hilarious with their excitement for everything that's involved with trains. The bar they use to visit is a theme styled train bar with seats in a model of a train waggon. Extremely funny.
The love story is fun to watch with Kuriyama Chiaki playing the female leading role. She gets stalked by Tanaka and he is really getting on her nerves. But during the course of the series she finds out what a nice guy he is and blah blah blah. Still it's very funny, I was laughing out loud at some points. The train scenery is perfect and I can totally relate to that since I really like to travel by train. Although I wouldn't go so far to memorize timetables or make models of trains.
(8/10)
Seito Shokun!
Yet another school drama and this time there she is again. The vigilant teacher who faces all the hardships of here students with a lot of energy. Uchiyama Rina plays the teacher who goes up against a class of students who lost their faith in the teaching personel (once again). Horikita Maki and Hongo Kanata play the students who as "3TD" terrorize every new teacher for their class since they think they don't need teachers anymore. I haven't watched this to the end up until now since the subs are not there yet, but I guess it will end as always (a.k.a. GTO- or Gokusen-style). The teacher will win over the class one by one and in the end they will be the best of friends. This one has also a slightly darker touch than the other series, so I think I'll see it through to the end.
(6/10)
Proposal Daisakusen
The best drama of this season. Yamashita Tomohisa plays a miserable guy who has to attend his childhood friend's (Nagasawa Masami) wedding who he is still in love with. While watching a slideshow of pictures from memorable moments of the bride's life a fairy appears and offers him to go back in time to change his fate. Of course he fails in his first attempt, but there are a lot more chances because there are a lot more pictures in the slide show.
This drama has a good story and great actors. The supporting roles (Eikura Nana, Hiraoka Yuuta, Hamada Gaku)are wonderful and the ideas the writers had with the timetraveling are not as worn out as one would suppose they are. It was fun watching this series until the end.
(8/10)
Kaette Kita Jikou Keisatsu
The sequel to Jikou Keisatsu starring Odagiri Joe once again. There isn't that much progress in the series since every episode covers one story at a time. Kiriyama-kun is still researching old and closed cases as his hobby and he is still giving out his "I won't tell anyone" card at the end of each episode. This drama is just hilarious with so many unexpected ideas that just leave you laughing and laughing. And I am still convinced I have seen Asou Kumiko in some other drama, I just can't remember which one it was...
(7/10)
Hotelier
Hm, a story based around a hotel (a remake of a Korean drama, it seems) and the staff who work there. Ueda Aya is the main character and has to confront the looming takeover bid by an opposing invenstment group. The cast is huge but there were only 9 episodes. Seems like this series didn't get that many viewers in front of the screen. I think it's because the story is a bit off. It's a little too cliché. The main characters fall in love, then find out they are syblings and in the end they are not? Give me a break, that's a little bit too much. Nice scenery, but I'd trade a good script for an uglier scenery anytime.
(5/10)
Bambino
Matsumoto Jun as a chef in an Italian restaurant in Roppongi Hills? Why not. Seems to be yet another manga-turned-drama and I like it. The kitchen action look thrilling and you can get hungry easily watching the crew make a lot of delicious meals. Still sometimes Matsumoto goes a little bit over board with his acting. That was okay in "Hana Yori Dango", but here it feels like it's a bit out of place.
The rest of the cast is decent with the different level of telling the story from the point of view of the top staff of the restaurant like the chief waiter (Kitamura Kazuki), the manager (Uchida Yuki) or the kitchen chef (Sasaki Kuranosuke).
Still there was something missing but I haven't figured out what just yet.
(6/10)
Sexy Voice And Robo
Wonderful drama with a little girl at the centre and lots of strange things that happen around her. Hayashi Niko (Ohgo Suzuka) has the talent of mimicking voices and also of telling apart different sounds and voices. She meets Sudo Ichiro/Robo (Matsuyama Kenichi), an otaku who collects figurines and all sorts of stuff of one particular anime series. Somehow they get involved in strange cases and become "spies" for a lady who owns an antiquities shop.
This drama is very strange and has lots of Japanese styled jokes. I really like to watch it but then again it becomes very exhausting to watch because you have to pay attantion all the time and some jokes get missing because they can't be translated, I think. Still I'd really recommend this one, especially because of the otaku-factor. It's not as high as in "Densha Otoko", but then again, who cares anyway...
(7/10)
Two dramas I only watched the first two episodes of were "Joudan Janai!" and "Liar Game". Both seem to be too cliché with "Liar Game" clearly being aimed at a younger audience (Toda Erika and Matsuda Shota starring as the main characters). Toda is way too afraid and Matsuda is way too cool. It's all a little bit too much. maybe I'll give it a second try when there is another season break.
"Joudan Janai!" looked very promising at first with almost all of the first episode being set in southern France. But I can't help it, it just looks like another triangle love comedy thing to me.
So that's it for the spring season 2007. Let's enjoy the summer.
Under21 World Cup: USA vs South Korea
Eurosport is broadcasting the Under21 World Cup in Canada at the moment so I caught a glimpse of USA vs South Korea, who were playing against each other at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. The US team is always considered to be somewhat of a "sleeping giant" with so many young people playing football (yeah, well, I know they call it soccer) over there. And they have one of the top prospects in international football with Freddy Adu. German newspapers were hailing him as the future superstar a few years ago, when he was only 14 years old.
But South Korea kept him in check and although the US took the lead in the first half Korea dominated the game. In 2002 the national team was one of the surprises of the World Cup when they reached the semifinal against Germany. Back then people were always talking about the effort the "Reds" were making during a game. They were running and running and running and running. They did the same yesterday but at the same time they were creating wonderful chances. In the first half there was a long pass almost over the whole pitch to the left side were the winger only had to stick out his foot to touch the ball. A brilliant pass, something I hadn't seen in a long time. This had a touch of Bernd Schuster, the maestro of long passes back in the days. And the Koreans had good chances in the second half when they could have outscored the US boys by tow or three goals. That seems to be their big problem. They have to score goals to win. They have the technique for sure.
I was a little disappointed with team USA. But at least the play the tournament, the German team didn't make it to the final round again. And that really is a pity.
Tonight Japan will play against Scotland, let's hope Eurosport is on that one as well...
But South Korea kept him in check and although the US took the lead in the first half Korea dominated the game. In 2002 the national team was one of the surprises of the World Cup when they reached the semifinal against Germany. Back then people were always talking about the effort the "Reds" were making during a game. They were running and running and running and running. They did the same yesterday but at the same time they were creating wonderful chances. In the first half there was a long pass almost over the whole pitch to the left side were the winger only had to stick out his foot to touch the ball. A brilliant pass, something I hadn't seen in a long time. This had a touch of Bernd Schuster, the maestro of long passes back in the days. And the Koreans had good chances in the second half when they could have outscored the US boys by tow or three goals. That seems to be their big problem. They have to score goals to win. They have the technique for sure.
I was a little disappointed with team USA. But at least the play the tournament, the German team didn't make it to the final round again. And that really is a pity.
Tonight Japan will play against Scotland, let's hope Eurosport is on that one as well...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
