RWC 2007: The minnows close the gap

When I watched a rugby match for the first time the year was 1995 and the World Cup was taking place in South Africa. I didn’t have any idea about what the game was about, I didn’t know the rules, but I had a lot of fun watching the match on my telly. I can’t even remember what game it was, but a lot of points were scored and one team was dominating their opponents.
When I watched the RWC in 1999 I had a little idea about the game and the different levels of play on the world stage. There were very good teams, good teams and teams who just can’t keep up with the rest. I saw crushing defeats for smaller nations and close games between the top teams. So I noticed the huge gap between the first and the second row of rugby teams.
Then in 2003 the RWC was shown on German TV, at least some matches, and I was still able to see 100+ point matches of the big names against smaller teams.

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Bundesliga: Day Eight – Bayern keeps rolling, Bremen storms over Bielefeld

FC Schalke 04 – Hertha BSC Berlin 1:0
Werder Bremen – Arminia Bielefeld 8:1
Bayer Leverkusen – Bayern München 0:1
Hamburger SV – VfL Wolfsburg 2:2
VfL Bochum – 1. FC Nürnberg 3:3
Karlsruher SC – Borussia Dortmund 3:1
FC Hansa Rostock – VfB Stuttgart 2:1
Hannover 96 – MSV Duisburg 2:1
FC Energie Cottbus – Eintracht Frankfurt 2:2

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The Gaslight Anthem says goodbye in style

I was able to catch up with the guys one more time last night when they were playing Dortmund’s FZW with Turbostaat. It was great to see them again after what seemed to be a long time. We hung out before the show and had lots of fun. The concert itself was rather dissatisfying. All of the TGA’s were sick and tired from a month long tour and there were some minor mistakes here and there. But it seemed that a lot of people they had met on the tour were present yesterday and this made the atmosphere very friendly. Anyway, the boys seemed to have fun and so we decided to drive to a disco after the show. Still it was a long struggle to settle on one place and so it tooks us long minutes to get everybody moving. The venue we went to wasn’t that good, I was tired as hell and just kept sitting on a bench while the others were dancing all night long.

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Bundesliga: Day Seven – Ahead of the pack

Borussia Dortmund – Hamburger SV 0:3
Hertha BSC – Hansa Rostock 1:3
VfL Wolfsburg – Werder Bremen 1:1
MSV Duisburg – FC Schalke 04 0:2
VfB Stuttgart – VfL Bochum 1:0
Bayern München – Energie Cottbus 5:0
1. FC Nürnberg – Bayer Leverkusen 1:2
Arminia Bielefeld – Hannover 96 0:2
Eintracht Frankfurt – Karlsruher SC 0:1

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A Modest Proposal + Ultrafair – "Karnevalsmetropolentour"

A Modest Proposal played two shows this weekend with Düsseldorf’s finest Ultrafair. We kicked off on Friday witha a show at Cologne’s Bauwagenplatz, some sort of open air squat. The setting was nice and although not many people showed up the show was fun. Ultrafair were really good and we rocked as well. Kalle, our singer, even destroyed the microphone stand.

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Bundesliga: Day Six – Up and down

Hannover 96 – Bayer Leverkusen 0:3
Karlsruher SC – Bayern München 1:4
FC Schalke 04 – Arminia Bielefeld 3:0
SV Werder Bremen – VfB Stuttgart 4:1
Hamburger SV – 1.FC Nürnberg 1:0
Hertha BSC Berlin – Borussia Dortmund 3:2
FC Energie Cottbus – VfL Wolfsburg 1:2
FC Hansa Rostock – MSV Duisburg 2:0
VfL Bochum – Eintracht Frankfurt 0:0

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Documenta XII – A visit

I visited a good friend the past weekend and since she lives in Kassel I grabbed the opportunity to stroll around the art exhibition which was taking place. The Documenta is organised once in five years and because of that a lot of people invade the small city to have a look at the latest in modern art. This not only takes place in the museums but there are also installations all over the city, some even remain from former Documenta editions. E.g. German artist Josef Beuys planted a lot of trees all over the city as a work of art and Swiss musician and artist Dieter Meier made a plate which was build into the floor in the inner city which was saying that he would be standing there at a certain time on a certain day in the future. Which is what he did when the day and the time arrived. So this is Documenta and I took the chance to pay it a visit. This is what I saw…

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Bundesliga: Day Five – Big clubs in trouble

Borussia Dortmund – Werder Bremen 3:0
VfB Stuttgart – Energie Cottbus 3:0
Bayern München – FC Schalke 04 1:1
Bayer Leverkusen – VfL Bochum 2:0
1. FC Nürnberg – Hannover 96 2:2
Arminia Bielefeld – Hansa Rostock 4:2
Eintracht Frankfurt – Hamburger SV 2:1
VfL Wolfsburg – Karlsruher SC 1:2
MSV Duisburg – Hertha BSC 1:2

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Rugby World Cup: The gap might be getting a little smaller

So the first round of games was done over the weekend and tonight saw the start of the 2nd day of playing in the Rugby World Cup and so far there have been a few surprises along the way. It seems as if Rugby nowadays is a little bit like football on a world cup level 20 years back from now. The smaller nations seem to be able to keep up with the big names for the most of the first half. but after the change they seem to crumble because of the lack of fitness and strength. Wales was struggling against Canada who were carrying a lead to half time only to be shelled 42-17 by the final whistle. The “Eagles” of the USA were playing very well against England only to give in during the 2nd half. Samoa was holding firm against South Africa over a long time only to have their necks broken by the end.

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A day at the record store (I)

There usually comes a time – and it happens around every one or two months – when I just drop by at our local record store and flip through the stands of vinyl. I usually go there with the purpose of buying at least one particular record which has been on my radar for quite some time. But most of the time I buy some more, because I stuble across this one record I have been looking for for a long time. Or this other one which just came out and I just happen to have enough money to buy that one as well. So things keep piling up and I was lucky enough to escape the clutches of evenmore records that wanted to be bought. This is what I got today:

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