"Club 27"

Amy Winehouse is dead - and that's tragic, but also a bit immaterial for me, because on the one hand I never heard much of her and her music in the first place and on the other hand you could argue cynically that she was dead years ago. But everyone is talking about it and this will not change till the next big pop-news comes along, if this hasn't already happened. The real tragedy is rather the age in which she died.

And that's why everyone is talking about the "club 27" - the magical age of 27 in which influential musicians with great talents have died all to early. This list contains artists like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin or Kurt Cobain.

I don't think Amy Winehouse was that much of an influential artist, nor do I think she belongs (except for her age of dead) on this list, but it makes me wonder anyhow. I'm now nearly that age too and I haven't done anything awesome or memorable till now. That makes me feel a little bit sag.

What about you?
How old are you and what are the plans for your life?

Board Games II

I got quite a bit of feedback regarding my Board Games Post from yesterday, so I liketo add a question.
Nearly every time me and my family here in Germany come together, we play a game that's called "Mensch Ärgere Dich Nicht". It looks like this:

I looked for title in a translator, but the only suggestions were: "Ludo" or "Parcheesi" which I unfortunately never heard before. The goal of the game is to get your 4 gaming tokens into the safe zone first - without getting them knocked back to the starting zone by the other players.

Do you know and play this game, too?

Board Games

I just visited a few blags and forums of my fellow friends and I realized something. Where did all the board game players go? I was a huge fan of games like Monopoly or Risk when I was young and I know for a fact that many of my friends liked them, too.

Sure, there are a lot of games and a lot of players still out there, but with the continuous progression in technology and the increased focus on video games and online play, more and more players are turning away from the old and traditional custom of sitting together on a big table and playing a board game together.

When I visit my family we still play these games and when I wander through a few of the stores in town there are still a few of new board games every month, but is the majority of players really playing them or are these games just an anachronistic hobby for a minority group?

What's up with: Women's Soccer Event-Marketing?

All right, I'm from Germany and before you say something crazy or complain about my really bad English grammar, let me tell you about our own crazy-tongued poeple here - and no, I'm not talking about Nazis; at least not for the moment

We are really nuts about soccer. I mean really, really nuts. Maybe the whole European continent is. But Germany is a bit of a special case: You see, because of the war and the evil past we had to endure (and no, I'm not denying anything, we were a nation of mass-murderers, it was very, very bad and we know it) - because of all that: we can't be happy or proud for our country anymore. We can't salute the flag or say anything even mildly positive about our own nation and you will probably say: that's a good thing and what we deserve - and I would even admit that's maybe correct.

But there's a problem: Big sporting events like soccer can serve as an excuse to undermine that introverted behavior. It's an excuse to win and be proud of it without the constant fear to earn a bad reputation. And because it's a one time every 2-4 year thing within an expiring time period it's okay, I guess. Everybody has a little bit fun, can celebrate and drink (the real important thing here) and goes home afterwards No harm done.

The real problem is simply the media, that pushes these events to maximize their earnings. And even if there isn't an event in that the people are really interested in, they set something in motion.

In this case: The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

And don't get me wrong, please!
My predicament with all this doesn't have anything to do with Women's soccer per se. I'm pro feminism and I know we have a good team and the home-field adventage, but seriously: nobody over here seems to care.
But the media can't have this, so they have to push and push it with stupid articles in the newspapers, uninteresting interviews in every corner and full-body photos on the front page; the whole deal. An maybe it's just me who doesn't get it.

At the time I'm writing this the World Cup is over. Japan won against the USA. I didn't saw the game and I don't anyone who did. I think many Germans did neither, because we lost against the japanese team early and that's normally the last point that stops all euphoria.

And I want to congratulate Japan for winning the cup. It's a really great thing.

But I don't think anybody would give a shit about it, if the media here hadn't tried to hype it that much.
Maybe I overstate the situation a little bit, maybe it's a good thing that the event got a bit of exposure, even it's just for selling more useless stuff. Maybe there isn't such a thing like bad press.

New - July - 2011

I hate first posts; but then, who doesn't?

Now I definitely need something witty to say before my potential 15 seconds of fame and my arbitrary 15 minutes of time allowance are over. Let's get started!