Germany managed to make it through another match today, this time against Sweden (2-0). I have the windows open in my hotel room and can here the people screaming and the cop sirens blaring as the town celebrates its victory. Franky I think they have been so repressed with the need to celebrate their national pride that they would have been out there going crazy if they had won a spelling bee.
Tracy got here yesterday and has been trying desperately to fight jet lag, but I fear she is losing the battle. She's kind of like hanging out with a 3 year old... 3 hours up, nap time, 3 hours up, food, nap time. Right now she is up, so I am optimistic we can make it to dinner. Now, dancing, that remains to be seen.
Regardless of this, I can honestly say that this is the first time since I have been here that I am experiencing some semblance of normalcy (is that happiness?). First I have a day off. What a novelty. Secondly, I get to spend it with Tracy, much better than wondering the streets alone like a homeless person.
Yesterday she was a stud, getting off the plane from new york and going to watch the Ukraine Vs Tunisia match with me and sipping beers the entire time. By the time we made it to the Turkish restaurant I was ready to crawl uder the table and go to sleep, so I can't even imagine how she felt.
I think the naritive thread got a little disjointed here, so I apologize. I've been trying to type, watch the Arg/Mex game and discuss tonights plans with T-dog all at the same time and its getting a little splintered. More later when I can concentrate.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Monday, June 19, 2006
Light weights
If I haven't mentioned it yet, the sun rises and sets differently here in Berlin. Typically it will stay light out until almost 10:30 pm, then start getting light again at 3:30 am. This picture was taken at 5 am... not noon.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
The proof is in the numbers.
The average number of views on my flickr photos was around 7 before the world cup. Then I published this particular photo that I took at the fan fest of 2 cute Korean fans. I just checked it today, almost 10,000 views on this picture. I better start taking more girly shots.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Brazilian Fans
Made it to my first match yesterday, can you guess who played? The game was not nearly half as entertaining as the fans. I have to say, if the croatian economic machine was as strong as their nationalism, they would be ruling the world. It was friggin scary the way they were chanting these somber croatian football songs.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Seiheon and Jason
Sittin' in a beergarten... This guy is crazy. He seriously needs a monicle and an army to boss around.
Hitler is turning in his grave
Here we are tossing the friebee around in front of the Olympic Stadium. Tracy bought the frisbee just before I left and I can't help enjoy the fact that it has an american flag in it.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Wascheliste
4 t-shirts = 28.00 €
6 pairs of underwear = 18.00 €
5 pairs of socks = 17.50 €
Having your penny pinching company who dramatically cut down on bonuses, raises and stock grants in the name of cutting costs pay 63.50 € to clean my socks and underwear? = priceless.
6 pairs of underwear = 18.00 €
5 pairs of socks = 17.50 €
Having your penny pinching company who dramatically cut down on bonuses, raises and stock grants in the name of cutting costs pay 63.50 € to clean my socks and underwear? = priceless.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Fifa/Yahoo World Cup team
Yesterday was the kickoff of the world cup, so they brought in a photographer to get a team shot. Try and find me.
I didn't realize when I came in to work yesterday that the bulk of my work happens after the match, so I was here till midnight (having got in at 10:30 am), so it was a pretty long day. I plan on being here late tonight as well, but this time I didnt roll into tent town until 3pm.
I didn't realize when I came in to work yesterday that the bulk of my work happens after the match, so I was here till midnight (having got in at 10:30 am), so it was a pretty long day. I plan on being here late tonight as well, but this time I didnt roll into tent town until 3pm.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Jason on the pitch
I managed to get into the stadium and had a security guard take this. Turns out, I wasn't supposed to get in there. :-)
Beware all ye who enter
Now that the weather has improved, it easy for me to look back at pictures like this and understand why we were all so damn miserable. I mean seriously, not only is it cold and rainy, but our "office" is surrounded by the four nudist hoseman of the apocolypse.
Hitler Stadium: The Arena
This is the arena where the will be playing the finals matches for the cup.
Quark? Quark!
This is quark. Now, I always thought that a quark was a tiny particle. Shows you how much I know. As it turns out, its Strawberry shortcake, without the cake. Just a big ass bowl of cream and strawberries and flakes of chocolate. Mmm.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Vietnamische: German Style
Yesterday everyone on the team was scattered to the winds and we ended up doing our own thing for the evening. I had planned on going to see Zur X-men, but ended up spending an hour trying to initiate a video chat with Joel out in California. We thought that Norton was the issue as it kept telling Joel that his computer was an intruder. Sounds like it needs therapy. Then when Norton was taken out back and shot, we gave it another go. That didn't work either, so clearly the issue was on my end. Hey, Steve Jobs, thanks for the iChat and built in video camera, now can you make it work with the rest of the computer using world?
As much as I like watching a mini version of myself on the computer, I decided to shut the computer down and go out for dinner. After strolling aimlessly for a while I stumbled upon a Vietnamese restaurant. The idea of eating some light asian food immediately appealed to me since we had all eaten a pound of whipped lard for lunch. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. I think i might go back just so I can take a picture of what I had. Imagine a bowl of noodles, covered with grilled chicken and steak and some other kind of meat, then topped with fried pork spring-roll things, topped in som vegetable spring rool like things in slightly different shapes. Now, when I say fried, I mean funnel cake at the fair fried, none of this candy-ass "lightly fried" stuff. The vat they cooked these things in has more gristle clinging to it than Dick Cheyney's aorta.
As much as I like watching a mini version of myself on the computer, I decided to shut the computer down and go out for dinner. After strolling aimlessly for a while I stumbled upon a Vietnamese restaurant. The idea of eating some light asian food immediately appealed to me since we had all eaten a pound of whipped lard for lunch. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. I think i might go back just so I can take a picture of what I had. Imagine a bowl of noodles, covered with grilled chicken and steak and some other kind of meat, then topped with fried pork spring-roll things, topped in som vegetable spring rool like things in slightly different shapes. Now, when I say fried, I mean funnel cake at the fair fried, none of this candy-ass "lightly fried" stuff. The vat they cooked these things in has more gristle clinging to it than Dick Cheyney's aorta.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Cure for the Berliner blues
Frisbee. 1/2 hour outside tossing a frisbee around and I feel good as new. Maybe all the beer and braatwurst just needed to get pushed through the old arteries.
Perhaps I'll start an Ultimate Team.
Perhaps I'll start an Ultimate Team.
Sick Puppy
I'm starting to feel like one of those puppies that you get from a puppy mill. All wired up, but with a sickly, unhealthy look in its eyes. Maybe its the fact that the weather has been sucking, maybe it's residual jet lag.
Perhaps I am just allergic to the guy sitting next to me, I can't say for sure. What I do know is that my face itches, my back hurts and I can actually see myself getting fatter as I sit here typing. Whoa! There goes the buttons on my shirt. Soon I'm going to pop like an overstuffed tick.
Perhaps I am just allergic to the guy sitting next to me, I can't say for sure. What I do know is that my face itches, my back hurts and I can actually see myself getting fatter as I sit here typing. Whoa! There goes the buttons on my shirt. Soon I'm going to pop like an overstuffed tick.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Eight Days a Week
So, a little bait and switch over here. When we all signed up, no one bothered to mention that we had to work EVERY DAY. Thanks bastards. This blog may end up being a very detailed account of hotel living and web design. Hmmm, perhaps there is a market for that. I could sell ad space to Avenue A/Razorfish.
Something about this drain...
Staring down at my feet while showering I noticed the drain on the floor. Something about it struck me as strangely familiar...
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Pork free dinner
Tonight I had my first non-pork based german meal and it was quite refreshing. We ate at a "pan asian" restaurant called Shima (note, it was mostly Thai and Indian influenced). As is most things that extend beyond the provincial realm in Europe, the food seems to be an approximation of what it claims to be. Typically this results in less than satisfying, uh, results, but in this case we were all pleasantly suprised. Having eaten at all types of asian restaurants in New York, I can't say I've ever seen or heard of any of the dishes that were on the menu, but I guess we can just chalk it up to a creative chef rather than simply calling is "winging it". We did have a laugh at the first item on the menu, being an old punchline of a particularly juvenile joke: Cream of Sum Yun Gai.
Anyway, as a result of the meal and the fact that I picked the joint, I have now been nominated as the official concierge of the team. This should prove to be an easy position to manage since I just used the power of the internet.
Anyway, as a result of the meal and the fact that I picked the joint, I have now been nominated as the official concierge of the team. This should prove to be an easy position to manage since I just used the power of the internet.
Fifa Media center tent city in the 1936 Olympic Stadium.
When we first got to the tent city, I had no idea that it was the site of the 1936 olympics. The place exudes a creepiness that is hard to describe. Once I found out it was commissioned by Hitler, it all started making sense. Those towers are all over the place and I find myself imagining snipers peering down at us as we pass by...
Hotel sweet hotel
This is mi casa for the next 6 weeks. It could be worse, I could be sleeping on a blow up mattress on the dirty floor (sorry tracy).
I keep having really weird dreams
the first thing i see in the morning and the last thing i see when i go to bed.
My workspace
I sit in a room that kind of resembles a hangar, but instead of planes or alien space crafts, it houses computer dorks.
Fire drill
Nothing like a guy in a uniform. Nothing like a guy in a uniform with a thick german accent. Nothing like a guy in a uniform with a thick german accent telling you to "GET OUT NOW!!".
Apparently some gardener came across a suspiscious object outside our tent and it setoff a bomb scare. The 60 year old bomb shell was a remnant of german artillery from WW2.
Apparently some gardener came across a suspiscious object outside our tent and it setoff a bomb scare. The 60 year old bomb shell was a remnant of german artillery from WW2.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Berlin, Day 1
After many months of anticipation, I'm finally in Berlin, sitting in the Fifa media tent, not doing work. I do plan on doing work, but first things first. I need to start a blog on my experience here that I will probably never update again. Once I get my camera recharged I will start uploading photos which I am sure will prove much more interesting than anything I have to say here.
Currently we are all sitting in a giant tent, part of a larger complex of tents, where all the media folks sit all day and look busy. It features a t-mobile booth (which helped me change the language settings on my new phone), a McDonalds Cafe' and a Gillete booth (not sure what we can get there, perhaps a shave). Apparently the tent was freezing cold yesterday due to the inclement weather. Today it is hot because it is nice out. It should be a wonderful summer of freezing and sweating.
The tent city is actually in the infamous 1936 Olympic stadium that the Nazis hosted the games in. It certainly is creepy enough. It is surrounded by towers which seem suited for snipers and has lots of scary statues. Here is a link to some
photos.
Currently we are all sitting in a giant tent, part of a larger complex of tents, where all the media folks sit all day and look busy. It features a t-mobile booth (which helped me change the language settings on my new phone), a McDonalds Cafe' and a Gillete booth (not sure what we can get there, perhaps a shave). Apparently the tent was freezing cold yesterday due to the inclement weather. Today it is hot because it is nice out. It should be a wonderful summer of freezing and sweating.
The tent city is actually in the infamous 1936 Olympic stadium that the Nazis hosted the games in. It certainly is creepy enough. It is surrounded by towers which seem suited for snipers and has lots of scary statues. Here is a link to some
photos.
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