30 June 2008
29 June 2008
27 June 2008
Tottenham's New Keeper
YES! YES! YES! Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Tottenham's new keeper, Heurelho da Silva Gomes!
(pending personal terms and work permit)
(pending personal terms and work permit)
A Welcome Awaits
If you're not familiar with our new hire, you should read the recent post on Dwight. Although I know nothing about him, he shares the same name as the "Assistant to the Regional Manager" on the show The Office. Since he starts next week or the week after, I and a few others have began the "welcoming" process in his cubicle.
26 June 2008
25 June 2008
That Old Familiar Tune
Every time I hear the national anthem of Germany or England I burst out in song. The thing is, although I'm singing the exact same tune, I'm singing a completely different song.
Consider the old hymn I grew up signing in church, "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken":
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He, whose Word cannot be broken,
Formed thee for His own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all thy foes.
Actually, the original tune was written in 1797 by Joseph Hayden as anthem for the birthday of the Austrian Emperor Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which became the Austrian Emperors' anthem till the end of monarchy in 1918. The song was chosen as the national anthem of Germany in 1922. The Nazis only used the first verse as their national anthem and ironically, added their own second verse. In 1952 West Germany adopted the third verse as their national anthem and after the fall of East Germany, it has continued as Germany's national anthem to present day.
Moving right along, you all should be familiar with the American song, "My Country 'Tis of Thee":
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring!
Our father's God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom's holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.
This one cracks me up. Not only are we singing about our own country, but of freedom and liberty. The fifth verse even states that God himself is the author of liberty, and that our country's new found freedom is holy and of God's hand. Why is this funny? It's funny because it's set to the exact same tune as England's national anthem. What better way to pour salt in the wound 50 years after the fact then to take their national anthem and change the lyrics to include words such as those mentioned above!
What's even more funny about this situation is that this was unintentional. Samuel Francis Smith wrote the lyrics to "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" in 1831, while a student at the Andover Theological Seminary in Andover, Massachusetts. His friend, Lowell Mason had asked him to translate the lyrics in some German school songbooks or to write new lyrics. A melody in Muzio Clementi's Symphony No. 3 caught his attention. Rather than translating the lyrics from German, Smith wrote his own American patriotic hymn to the melody completing the lyrics in thirty minutes. He had never heard Clementi's symphony before and had no idea of its derivation or associations with the British national anthem, "God Save the Queen." Smith gave Mason the lyrics he had written and the song was first performed in public on July 4, 1831, at a children's Independence Day celebration at Park Street Church in Boston. For much of the 19th century this served as our country's national anthem.
And last but not least, the "Star-Spangled Banner". Our own national anthem. Yes, the lyrics come from a poem written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, a then 35-year-old amateur poet. But did you know that the poem, and hence, our national anthem, was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song at the time, "The Anacreontic Song"?
Although the Star-Spangled Banner has different lyrics, humorously enough, the first three lines sound oddly like a reference to a drunken night out at the pub:
O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight...
These are the things we were never taught in school. So next time your hear the German national anthem, lift your hands in praise. Or, if you're in England, sing these alternate words when their national anthem is played and see how many people you can cheese off. Better yet, next time you're at a baseball or a football game and our national anthem is played, find a drunk guy in your section and go sing it with him. The tune sounds so much better with a beer in your hand.
Consider the old hymn I grew up signing in church, "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken":
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He, whose Word cannot be broken,
Formed thee for His own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all thy foes.
Actually, the original tune was written in 1797 by Joseph Hayden as anthem for the birthday of the Austrian Emperor Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which became the Austrian Emperors' anthem till the end of monarchy in 1918. The song was chosen as the national anthem of Germany in 1922. The Nazis only used the first verse as their national anthem and ironically, added their own second verse. In 1952 West Germany adopted the third verse as their national anthem and after the fall of East Germany, it has continued as Germany's national anthem to present day.
Moving right along, you all should be familiar with the American song, "My Country 'Tis of Thee":
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring!
Our father's God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom's holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.
This one cracks me up. Not only are we singing about our own country, but of freedom and liberty. The fifth verse even states that God himself is the author of liberty, and that our country's new found freedom is holy and of God's hand. Why is this funny? It's funny because it's set to the exact same tune as England's national anthem. What better way to pour salt in the wound 50 years after the fact then to take their national anthem and change the lyrics to include words such as those mentioned above!
What's even more funny about this situation is that this was unintentional. Samuel Francis Smith wrote the lyrics to "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" in 1831, while a student at the Andover Theological Seminary in Andover, Massachusetts. His friend, Lowell Mason had asked him to translate the lyrics in some German school songbooks or to write new lyrics. A melody in Muzio Clementi's Symphony No. 3 caught his attention. Rather than translating the lyrics from German, Smith wrote his own American patriotic hymn to the melody completing the lyrics in thirty minutes. He had never heard Clementi's symphony before and had no idea of its derivation or associations with the British national anthem, "God Save the Queen." Smith gave Mason the lyrics he had written and the song was first performed in public on July 4, 1831, at a children's Independence Day celebration at Park Street Church in Boston. For much of the 19th century this served as our country's national anthem.
And last but not least, the "Star-Spangled Banner". Our own national anthem. Yes, the lyrics come from a poem written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, a then 35-year-old amateur poet. But did you know that the poem, and hence, our national anthem, was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song at the time, "The Anacreontic Song"?
Although the Star-Spangled Banner has different lyrics, humorously enough, the first three lines sound oddly like a reference to a drunken night out at the pub:
O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight...
These are the things we were never taught in school. So next time your hear the German national anthem, lift your hands in praise. Or, if you're in England, sing these alternate words when their national anthem is played and see how many people you can cheese off. Better yet, next time you're at a baseball or a football game and our national anthem is played, find a drunk guy in your section and go sing it with him. The tune sounds so much better with a beer in your hand.
24 June 2008
Your-Owe 2008
I haven’t posted much on the Euros this year, mainly because I haven’t really been interested in the tournament until now. Part of the problem has been the time difference. I really didn’t have 4 hours after work to watch the pre-game and full matches during the group stage, and, in all honesty, didn’t really concern myself with that stage of the tournament since it doesn’t mean much. There were no big surprises in the teams that made it out of the group…even considering Turkey (see my previous post).
I was hopeful when the quarterfinals began, yet I only enjoyed watching 1 of the 4 quarterfinal games. I only watched the Russia Netherlands match in its entirety. That was a good match. Germany Portugal was entertaining, but I fast-forwarded through a lot of the game because Germany was leading by 2 goals for long stretches at a time. It took 2 hours for someone to score in the Croatia Turkey match, and the Italy Spain match was just plain painful to watch.
In all honesty, I’ve been a bit disappointed with this tournament. It’s probably a combination of the fact that I don’t have any connection to any of the teams and the fact that the football played has been sub-par in my opinion (or at least the way the matches have played out). The only team that has looked good so far has been Russia…well, and the Dutch, but we all know that playing attractive football for the Dutch is all show and no substance at the end of the day.
So I enter into tomorrow's first semifinal hoping for redemption. I would like Germany to win, as Turkey is a great story but not the best ending possible. The story for Russia or Spain, beating long standing world power Germany in the final would be a far greater tale. Russia deserves it for their current form and effort, as well as being a huge underdog from the start of the tournament. Spain, for their long-standing underachievement despite each tournament possessing one of the most talented teams individually. In the end however, I’d settle for any team as long as the 3 remaining matches are nothing like the group stage and quarterfinals.
I was hopeful when the quarterfinals began, yet I only enjoyed watching 1 of the 4 quarterfinal games. I only watched the Russia Netherlands match in its entirety. That was a good match. Germany Portugal was entertaining, but I fast-forwarded through a lot of the game because Germany was leading by 2 goals for long stretches at a time. It took 2 hours for someone to score in the Croatia Turkey match, and the Italy Spain match was just plain painful to watch.
In all honesty, I’ve been a bit disappointed with this tournament. It’s probably a combination of the fact that I don’t have any connection to any of the teams and the fact that the football played has been sub-par in my opinion (or at least the way the matches have played out). The only team that has looked good so far has been Russia…well, and the Dutch, but we all know that playing attractive football for the Dutch is all show and no substance at the end of the day.
So I enter into tomorrow's first semifinal hoping for redemption. I would like Germany to win, as Turkey is a great story but not the best ending possible. The story for Russia or Spain, beating long standing world power Germany in the final would be a far greater tale. Russia deserves it for their current form and effort, as well as being a huge underdog from the start of the tournament. Spain, for their long-standing underachievement despite each tournament possessing one of the most talented teams individually. In the end however, I’d settle for any team as long as the 3 remaining matches are nothing like the group stage and quarterfinals.
23 June 2008
22 June 2008
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Coldplay released their fourth album this week. I'm downloading it as I type this blog. I'll admit that probably most of their fans are women, but that doesn't stop me from liking their music. The title track single is #6 and the album is #1 on iTunes right now, so I guess I'm not THAT alone.
I haven't heard any of the songs, but the album is supposedly very good. Some experts (from what I've read) think it could be the best selling album this year. Considering that I also like U2's music, I also found the iTunes review very promising:
"Coldplay's choice of U2 producer Brian Ono to oversee the majority of their fourth album, doesn't alter their sound so much as refine it...eager with melody...the extra guitar shimmers and the elegantly programmed orchestrations...several tracks veer closely to U2 territory..."
I'm hopeful that this will be their best album yet. Maybe in a few days, after listening to the album, I'll post the song that I like the best.
I haven't heard any of the songs, but the album is supposedly very good. Some experts (from what I've read) think it could be the best selling album this year. Considering that I also like U2's music, I also found the iTunes review very promising:
"Coldplay's choice of U2 producer Brian Ono to oversee the majority of their fourth album, doesn't alter their sound so much as refine it...eager with melody...the extra guitar shimmers and the elegantly programmed orchestrations...several tracks veer closely to U2 territory..."
I'm hopeful that this will be their best album yet. Maybe in a few days, after listening to the album, I'll post the song that I like the best.
19 June 2008
Ever Wonder...
...what were they thinking? I pulled into the parking lot at work today and saw this. I can't figure out what the owner was thinking or what he was trying to say when he put these on his car. Current conclusions are:
1) Nothing says "fire-fast" like an AWD Subaru Forester wagon
2) My car was lame, but now that I put flames on it, it's cool. Oh, and I'm really tough.
3) My Forester was present at Pentacost
A wise Smokey the Bear once said, "only you can prevent Forrester fires".
1) Nothing says "fire-fast" like an AWD Subaru Forester wagon
2) My car was lame, but now that I put flames on it, it's cool. Oh, and I'm really tough.
3) My Forester was present at Pentacost
A wise Smokey the Bear once said, "only you can prevent Forrester fires".
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