more soccer...

G'day,

Now while the chicken is slowly roasting in the oven I find the time to complete the soccer blogging. The quarterfinals started with a promising game Brazil vs Holland and even though I was for Holland I had my doubts they could win that thing as well, Brazil is one of the biggest names in soccer and their performance during this world cup so far has not been too bad. We all know how it ended and I must say that the Dutch put up a great fight and deserved to win that game.

I went to bed then to find out the next morning that I should have watched the second game. In the aftermath of that game the discussions on FIFA rules reached the point where I couldn't understand it any more. Yes, I agree that there were pretty heavy referee mistakes this world cup and yes, the new ball has it's funny little ways and yes, maybe it's time for FIFA to view their referee policy in a different light but counting a goal that has not been scored? That's bullshit!

What happened was that in the last minute of the extra time one Uruguayan player prevented a goal by Ghana using his hand. The result: penalty for Ghana, red card for the Uruguayan player, all according to the rules. The penalty shot went on the crossbar and so both teams had to do the penalty shoot-out which Uruguay won. Such is life as well as soccer.

The next day people started to complain that this rules were not fair, that there are other sports like basketball in which a sure score that is prevented by an action against the rules will be counted never the less and that FIFA should consider this.

I don't agree completely with FIFA's position on technical aids when it comes to determine if a goal was a goal, that this would take the drama out of soccer but I think a goal that has been prevented by unfair measures should not been counted as a goal because that would take the drama out of the game. I mean, everyone who watched Uruguay vs Ghana will remember this exciting game for the rest of their life. If the goal would just have been counted, what a lame thing. And let's face it, if the same situation had happened in the first minute of a game Uruguay would have had to play the entire game with 10 people so I guess it's a fair rule.

Also who wants soccer to be more like basketball anyway? There is a reason I watch soccer and not basketball. That's a pussy game anyway nearly as bad as netball...

I was nervous all Saturday as I was convinced that Germany vs Argentina could go either way. I decided to watch the game at the German club in Windsor and picked up Dorje and his cousin around 11 to be in time for the game. When we arrived at the German club around 11.30 we were told that they won't show it due to "legal issue". I have no idea what kind of issues they were but we decided to watch at Steve's place in Brunswick. On the way there it became obvious that we'll be a little late and we were joking that if we come Steve would tell us the score is already 2:1 or so but when we arrived at 12.05 we learned that it was already 1:0 and I was quite happy to learn that it was for Germany. Watching the game was awesome. I have to say it again: this is the best German team I ever saw at a world cup, we can win this thing.

The late game was also quite funny, if Spain plays like that on Wednesday they won't stand a chance. The two penalties were extremely entertaining but I was quite glad that Spain scored the 1:0 so I finally could go to bed at 6.30 in the morning.

I am very much looking forward to watching the semi finals...well that's all for today...have fun, take care and cya laters

The importance of Australian politics

G'day,

Those of you who have a facebook page have probably noticed that facebook sometimes suggests people you may know, products you may be interested in or pages you may like. The results are often far-fetched, funny or inappropriate. For example my facebook suggests on a regular base that I should like the Australian army. Why would I like the army, if anything I like the navy, lot more homosexual activities going on there but anyway.

Saturday night my facebook came up with this:
*explanation for people who don't follow the news or are uninterested in either politics or cooking shows: Master chef Australia is a stupid cooking show following the concept of American/Australian/German idol, or "You think you can dance" with less singing/dancing but more cooking. Julia Gillard is the new Prime Minister of Australia.

I reckon this brief snapshot of popularity among the online community sends one message. If Julia wants to win the next election she should start appearing on stupid cooking show more often.

That's all for now...I'll write another entry on Saturday night later today...have fun. take care and cya laters

Old picture dump...(I am no Hippie even though I might be dressed similar!!!)

G'day,

Today I scanned have some old pictures...You'll probably laugh at most of them but please let me make one point: even though I wore strange garments, I never was a Hippie, I am no Hippie and I will never be a Hippie!!! I have even been kicked out of a Hippie festival for being politcally incorrect and I'm proud of that. Long hair and strange clothing are only proof of my lack of taste not my political, ethical or otherwise opinions! I hope that's clear...
Me age 19 in my first student home in Muenster (1991) my first electric guitar behind me
My flatmate Olli and me and the handkerchief of doom (approx 1993)
Gaby and me (1994)
dental hygiene in Lithuania (New Year's eve 1994)
New Year's eve 1996 in Holland
At Wiebke's and Yvonne's kitchen probably 1997
No idea where or when this pic was taken..
In my parent's garden 1997
The Holy Chao live at "g" in Stralsund summer 1997
The Holy Chao live at Sputnikhalle, Muenster
Another live shot, probably C.U.B.A. or Bennohaus...can't tell for sure
Practicing...1996 at Gleis 22
Danny D. and me during the recordings for "Use your confusion" 1997
Promo pics 1997
Promo pic 1997

New Year's eve 2003 in Finland

That's all for today...I hope you had a good laugh...take care, have fun cya later...

Soccer, Soccer, Soccer

G'day,

Well I did blog over the last weeks but the entries were either not complete or too weird so I deleted them. This is a mix from stuff I wrote over th last couple of weeks and some updates:

World cup group phase match 1

The soccer world cup is upon us and I am loving it. The soccer world cup in Australia is very different compared to Germany. The typical Australian knows that soccer exists but the game doesn't have the same significance as Aussie rules football or cricket. I remember the last cup in Germany when every second car was displaying the German flag and public life came to a hold during the Germany matches. Here public life is on hold anyway because the games are at night and I even saw two cars with the Australian flag...

Soccer is the domain of the immigrants here. Melbourne is the biggest Greek city outside Greece and we have a lot of English, Irish, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Ex-Yugoslavian, Russian and other European immigrants who brought their love for soccer with them. But for the true blue Aussie soccer is a pussy sport.

Well, as little as soccer plays a part in the public life it is nevertheless quite big in the media. And before the first Australian world cup game the media and public opinion here was kind of "the bigger the opponent, the harder they fall". Most Australian soccer fans I talked to before the game actually believe that Australia has a decent chance to get past the group stage or even win the group. I always replied that in my opinion it'll be a hard group and as I really like the socceroos I was quite sad when FIFA announced the group they have to play.

I watched Germany vs Australia with approx 25 Aussies and after 25 minutes the crowd was silent. All I have to say after I watched the German performance is: thank you Kevin-Prince Boateng for taking out Michael Ballack! This German team was the best I have seen in a long time. It might be due to the fact that Australia was not a strong opponent but still. After the first round I can say that from all the so called favorite teams only Germany played like a favorite. Spain lost, Portugal vs Ivory Coast was a lame kick, France and Italy were bad and Brasil wasn't good either. The Dutch won but it was not a very convincing victory.


World cup group phase match 2

Now that the second round is done I have to adjust my opinion a little. The dutch were still ok but the German loss against Serbia was shit. But Italy...hahaha...my dream might come through, please let them go home after the group stage. I went and watched Australia vs Ghana in the city.
Melbourne public viewing was kind of good but I have to say that summer is actually the better season for public viewing. Even though winter here is what we call autumn or spring back home but nevertheless 20+ degrees are better for watching soccer. After the first goal for Australia people were quite optimistic but when the game was over it as clear that that was that for the socceroos. It's a bit unfortunate as the Australian soccer would have benefited from a better performance at the world cup but this is also the problem. If it comes to soccer Australia is a third-world country. They are able to compete and beat other soccer third-world countries like Oman or China but if they have to play against teams from the first soccer world they don't stand a chance. It's not surprising if you watch the A-League here, any half decent team in the third league in Gemany could beat any team in the Australian A-league. The season is extremely short compared to Europe and the style of play here reminds of last millennium. Sorry my Australian friends but it's the truth.


World cup group phase match 3

Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! The fucking Italians are flying home. The highlight of this world cup. For me it is more important that the fucking Italians went home after the group stage than who actually wins the tournament. Fuck YES!!! The arrogant bastards actually thought they would win the cup and they got sent home as last of their group. Paraguay, Slovakia and even New Zealand were better. Hell, yeah! Fuck you Italian soccer, this world cup showed you were you belong! One word to my Kiwi friends: awesome! New Zealand unbeaten, that's a great efford and I hope we'll see you again next time around. Germany won against Ghana but it wasn't a great game and for 20 minutes it kind of looked as if the miracle could happen and Australia could reach the round of 16 but it was not meant to be.


World cup round of 16

One day afer Germany's last group game my jersey arrived.
I was ready to face England. What a classic and all my English friends and funny enough most of the Australians supported England. Well fair enough in the case of the English but regarding the Australian soccer fans I didn't get it. The Australians love facing England in sport (Cricket, Rugby etc) and they are ALWAYS against England which is understandable because as a former penal colony it's still great to show the former warders who's boss. But this time they supported their hated motherland. Well, what good did it do? I loved that game it was like witnessing history in the making. The highest German win against England ever and the equaliser for the Wembley goal in 1966. Of course some hopeless diehards still go on about that the referees stole Englands victory but that's just pathetic. Period.

I also had to pay the prize of having married a dutch woman
Only one person gave me a hard time but as he is a Bayern Munich supporter I could ignore his "expertise".

So now the exciting games are Holland vs Brazil (Fr) and Germany vs Argentina (Sa) and I am dreaming of a final Holland vs Germany which would also be a classic...which Germany could win...

That's all for today...enjoy the next two days without soccer, take care and cya later

Nazis vs freedom of speech

G'day,

Today's blog entry is an assembly of things going through my mind regarding the recent appearance of one of Germany's Nazi parties (NPD) on facebook and the reactions this has caused.

A little while ago I have joined the facebook group "No facebook for Nazis - delete NPD site" after I had read that the NPD (National Party of Germany) has started a facebook site in the wake of the election in North Rhine-Westphalia.

It's well known to those who know me well that even though I'm a very tolerant and generally peaceful person these character traits end when it comes to the stupid asshole fucker excuses for human beings who gather under the banner of "national socialism". Kill the whole bunch I say...

Shortly after I joined the anti-nazi-facebook-group Josara asked me how I could be for freedom of speech and against censorship on the one hand but would deny freedom of speech to the Nazis
and call for censorship in their case. Well, that actually is a good question and it reminded me of what Henry Rollins was talking about a few weeks ago when Dorje and me went to see him.

Rollins compared the U.S. model of freedom of speech to other countries. In the U.S. every opinion is protected, if you choose to believe the earth is flat you can publish books about it and if you believe the holocaust was a communist lie you are free to say so. In other countries such as Germany or the Czech Republic you get arrested if you carry books that proclaim the holocaust has never happened. Saying/publishing certain things like the old myth of the "holocaust lie" or wearing a T-shirt with the swastika are criminal offenses in Germany and many other European countries.

Well, if you think about it from a civil liberty point of view the repression of certain opinions by criminalizing them is nothing else than censorship. From this it follows that as I am against censorship in any form, I am for the freedom of speech/expression of the Nazis.

But I ain't!

I can take it even further: if you think about human rights from a humanistic point of view every human being has the right to live. From this it follows that I would grant Nazis the same right to live as I demand for myself.

But I don't!

Does the fact that I would like to give the Nazis what they want, the resurrection of the 3rd Reich i.e. put the whole rotten bunch of those stupid fuckheads into cattle wagons and give'em a nice Zyklon B shower and a last visit to the furnaces put me morally/ethically on the same level as the Nazis?

By denying them the rights I demand for myself I become ethical-morally speaking like the evil I fight?

Well, I don't fucking care. I can't explain in a logical debate why my point of view is right and their point of view is wrong. It just is.

There are no ethical, logical or moral paradoxes with which a sufficiently large ego can't deal!

Conclusion: democracy just doesn't work, same right for everybody is bullshit, what we need is a world empire with me at the top!

Well, lucky for some that we are not there yet...that's all for today, have a good one, stay safe and cya later...

Fungi, mushrooms and whatnots...

G'day,

Yesterday Josara, Buddy, Gilbert and me went to Mount Macedon (I am aware that "me" is wrong grammarwise but it sounds better than "I" and as beauty is truth and truth is beauty and grammar lies in the eye of the beholder and whatnot I choose to use "me" instead of "I").
Bush in autumn...gloomy, wet and cold...

same bush...still cold, wet and gloomy
Clouds all around...
Josara and Gilbert
Buddy and me
it got a little less gloomy while we were walking...
Kangaroo poo...
Fungi...Mushroom...
more mushrooms or fungi or even whatnots...
closeup mushies...
more mushrooms...
several mushies...different ones...
and another one...
white fungi...
brown fungi...
...you mght have guessed: mushrooms
and some more
wonton fungi...might taste good deep fried but possibly poisonous...
another wonton fungus...
yellow mushies...
brownish tree fungi...
and finally the last mushie pic...

Now, it would be interesting which mushrooms/fungi/whatnots would be edible, which are fatal and which are psychedelic. Judging from the fact that they are Australian mushrooms I reckon they are all extremely poisonous so I won't give it a try but if you wanna have a go just take the trail from the top of Mount Macedon and try for yourself.

I guess the mushies might be psychoactive and fatal, be high before you die sort of...
Flowers...
Spiderweb between the trees...
bush...
Same spot we were at the start of the walk but it cleared up a bit in the meantime
Me and Victoria..

Well once again that's all for today...have a good one, stay save and whatnot...

Picture dump...

G'day,

Today I have decided that it's time for another picture dump. So here we go
It's autumn in Melbourne now and some trees are blooming in autumn for whatever weird reason...
Strange tree flowers or fruits or whatever...
another blooming tree...
No digging here...
I'm a rebel...and I was cycling wearing roller blades whilst drinking beer when I took this picture...
In the back yard of this modern office buildings there was this old rest of a house
I like this old vs modern stuff
Flinders Street station...
Elisabeth Street, Adult book exchange...I tried to trade some of my adult books there once but they don't work that way...
The first fish I caught in Australia...tasty...
The colder it gets the cuddlier the cats become...
Gilbert...sone dogs just look extremely sad by default...
Buddy...some dogs are just idiots...
it looks soo cute on the picture but in reality Willem started biting Pixel immediately after I took that pic and it turned into a veritable cat fight...
I love that picture...relaxed menace...cuteness paired with evil...only cats can look like that...

That's it for today...have fun, take care and cya laters