Don't Mention The War

Now I know this is a contraversial topic but after the events of the last few days I just have to post on it.

Since time immemorial, or rather the last 65 years, the English have been harping on about The War. In case you are puzzled about which war this might be, it is the Second World War, 1939-1945. When I was little in the 1960's, kids and youths (those grown-ups of today) would sing "Two World Wars and One World Cup! doo-dah, doo-dah" at any opportunity. They were referring to the infamous 1966 Wembley Goal against Germany in the World Cup which gave England the game. Did I say when I was little? Last time I checked, they were still singing it.

One truly hopes that last night in the England/Germany game, this Wembley Goal was finally put to bed. In fact, everyone is already calling the non-allowed England goal of this match (which was clearly a goal, recognized by everyone's grandmother but not the referee) "Wembley II".

The English have an automatic aversion to everything German because over here we are all Nazis (poor political science education on behalf of the English school system) have no sense of humor (but I think that is because they do not understand the German humor!) and survive solely on a diet of sausage and kraut - which I beg to differ is possibly the preferred choice of meal in England rather than Germany - at least the sausage part!

Although I do everything conceivable to avoid the island, I am constantly coming up against the English, both in work and social situations. So it was that last summer I encountered a group of elderly Englishmen at our market festival - it was their first excursion to Germany, indeed they had never left the island at all. After their surprise that I "spoke the lingo" (well I have only been living here for 27 years!) they informed me that they were in fact being very enterprising - most English people would never dream of visiting Germany!

In my innocence I asked why? Because of The War of course!

It wasn't just the elderly Englishmen who were of this opinion. A couple of months earlier an old schoolfriend (so someone of my age) who had never left England visited me and shared with me that she was very surprised how normal everything was here, which she had not expected. I think she had truly believed that the Stormtroopers would be marching through every street and we would still be rationing food.

There have been photomontages in the Internet showing the SS logo over the German football team's logo, footballers appearing in steel helmets and a wealth of Nazi propaganda against the Germans. I hasten to add, not posted by Germans but apparently by the English.

Thank goodness this is only a one-sided rivalry and that, in the meantime, the Germans simply find it amusing.

The Battle of Bloemfontein

Germany has beaten the English 4-1!!! and are in the quarter-finals!

I had fully expected the English to win. In fact, I didn't know how I was going to get through the 90 minutes at all without a sedative. A friend reserved a table in a Turkish bar in an out-of-the-way suburb of Mannheim and 8 of us sat in very comfy armchairs directly in front of the large screen.

I don't think any of us expected Germany to win. Despite that we remained very chipper, joking and laughing and waving the German flag. After about 20 minutes I went out to the smokers' room for a cigarette - where all the Turkish people were watching a smaller screen TV - and bang! the first goal came for Germany! I jumped up, banged my knee (have a big bruise) and ran back to the main bar shouting Goal! Goal!

Barely 12 minutes later Germany shot another goal and we were incredulous. It seemed like Germany might actually win!

The English woke right up then and within minutes had their first goal. And just a few minutes after that, they had a second - while I was on another cigarette break - but when I came back to the bar it appeared that the referee hadn't noticed the goal.

This was not only a very bad turn for the English, whose second goal had been a valid one, but it left a very bad taste in the mouth. Germany shouldn't have to win like this! The only consolation might be that this is finally the answer-back to the famous 1966 Wembley Goal which was technically not a goal, but gave England the match.

The atmosphere perked up tremendously in the second half, when Germany shot another two goals. I have to say though, it was mostly our table making all the noise in the bar. That was because we were kind of the only people supporting Germany in there! There was almost nothing going on outside either. It was a bit funny to see how all the Turkish people didn't really seem to care one way or another.

Anway, I drove off about an hour after everything had finished as I was a bit worried that all the streets would be blocked and I wouldn't be able to get back home! It's funny, there's a lot going on out there, though it's not yet the craziness of last week, but maybe it will get that way later.

German football fans have given Germany a new name - Schland (an abbreviation of Deutschland). It continues to be a very exciting time.

National Bonding

You would never think I was a fan of football. Back in "the day" I was bored stiff by it. And I don't remember many of my friends being very interested in it either.

But in 1990, Germany won the World Cup and that was when I got hooked.

I can remember that my children were very small, 4 and 2 I think, and I was living on my own with them in a flat in the center of the city. I couldn't go out in the evenings, and I watched the football final alone on TV.

When Germany won, you heard whooping and fireworks all around. I opened my second-floor window and looked out, I could even see a couple of the fireworks over the tops of the other buildings.

Just a very short while later, the "two Germanies" were unified and, apart from a lot of celebrating going on in Berlin, I remember being surprised that not one firework went off in our city and you heard no whooping at all. I realized that the former West Germany was less excited about being unified with the former East Germany than they had been about winning the World Cup.

Germany had little success in the next two World Cup tournaments, but in 2002 the excitement started to take off again. Germany lost to Brazil in the final, but there were "football parties" and national feeling was starting to run pretty high.

It was only in 2006, however, that things really took off. Germany hosted the World Cup and lost to Italy in a very exciting semi-final. By this time, national pride had really started to develop. For the very first time, German flags hung from the windows of houses and appartments, every third car sported at least one window flag. National bonding had begun.

Probably for the first time since World War II, Germans were able to overcome their "collective guilt", proud to sport their flag and immensely proud of their country. And it was about time.

The atmosphere during this World Cup 2010 has exceeded all proportions. Almost everyone, regardless of nationality, has become a football fan - it seems that where perhaps war, and other national crises, in the past created the bonding factor for nations, it is now the football tournament that awakens these stirrings of national pride.

Last night Germany won the match against Ghana and have made it into the Last 16. Even in our small town, the atmosphere on the streets was electric. Several hundred, if not thousand, gathered shortly before midnight, in cars and on foot to celebrate. Horns were honked continuously, vuvuzelas blown. People danced on top of stationary cars. Nobody sat inside moving cars, but half-outside on top of the open windows - and drove! Enormous flags were flown. Traffic scarcely moved. Those on foot laughed, smiled, touched strangers in greeting, spoke to those they had never met. They danced and sang.

The police parked a car on the roundabout in the middle of the town and a couple of policeman stood beside it, smiling at all the craziness going on around them. They let themselves be photographed together with passers-by.

The celebrations continued for several hours. This was not the World Cup Final, it was not even the Semi-Final or the Quarter-Final. It was just the Last 16. It was absolutely wonderful, and I have not experienced anything like it my entire life. There was little alcohol in evidence, and it was very, very peaceful.

Alcohol was not necessary. Everyone is drunk on National Bonding.

Queen Scenes (Number Two)

Scene: Buckingham Palace, The Queen's Sitting Room, Thursday Evening.
The Queen is following the best World Cup goals in YouTube on her laptop.

Queen: I say, Philip, have you seen that chap Maicon's goal against North Korea?

Philip: I don't know how you find the time to pootle around in the Internet. One would think you would have your hands full trying to prevent your government from fiddling their expenses! And surely you mean South Korea?

Queen: One's decided to leave all that administration faffing to David Cameron. After all, he was at Eton and Oxford and he is a descendant of William IV.

Philip: Well, I'm sure that qualifies him to run the §$%&/ country!

Queen: Plainly it does, Philip. If you took the time to "pootle around in the Internet" like oneself, as you describe it, you could read on Wikipedia that Mr. Cameron's government is a coalition - the last coalition government being the one led by Winnie Churchill, who attended Harrow School and whose examination paper for Latin there consisted of one large blob of ink.

Philip: Well I'm damned. Do you think that Cameron chappie knows the difference between North and South Korea?

Queen: One hardly considers that to be an issue. One of them is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the other is the Republic of Korea. One is reminded of that film "Brian's Life" with the People's Front of Judea and the Judean People's Front. They are clearly both republics, they have people and one is sure they are all democratic. Anyway, have you seen that goal or not?

Philip: I downloaded that YouTube video to my Facebook profile yesterday. And in case you're wondering, no, I'm not going to add you as a Facebook friend! I don't want you publishing those photos of my Polo bloopers. Twitter all you want but don't poke me on Facebook!

Danke Deutschland

Today was Germany's first game in the World Cup, against Australia. I think it was pretty clear that Germany would win, but they won 4 -0!

A good friend of mine threw a "football party", which he does every World Cup, with food, entertainment, games and the match shown on a big screen. There were about 40 people there.

He had asked me to open the proceedings by playing a piano piece and I have been practicing Chopin's Nocturne Opus 9 No. 2 for weeks - only to forget my piano sheet music when I got there! And I can't play it from memory.

Fortunately my friend's mother was there, and she is an excellent pianist. She was playing 2 pieces by Schumann. I was desperate and before everyone arrived I played a few easy pieces by Burgmüller, which I can play from memory. My friend's mother said that one of the pieces was really good and convinced me to play one of them at the start of the entertainment instead of the Chopin.

So I did that, and after one or two false starts (everyone had come to watch and people were filming it!) it went OK.

The rest of the evening was wonderful, especially when Germany just kept scoring goals. Football seems to bring Germany together, and there is always a wonderful atmosphere when Germany wins. Even when Germany loses people are still happy.

On the drive home, everybody was driving around with flags hanging out of their cars, hooting their horns and everybody was waving to each other. When I got back to my town, all the people were on the streets and smiling and waving. It is a very good feeling. I really hope Germany continues to do well in the rest of the tournament.

Boobs

It was really hot today (over 30° C) so this morning I put on a t-shirt with no sleeves and quite a deeply cut V-neck. It is perfect for this weather.

Earlier this evening I went for a walk and put on my sunglasses as the sun was still really strong. I walked through the town and up to the park and back. I did notice that a lot of guys smiled at me and seemed really friendly. I'm not really used to having men look at me - OK, I'm not used to having men look at me at all! so it was quite an interesting and unusual experience.

The only thing I could think was that because of my sunglasses, they couldn't really see my face properly so might have assumed I look better than I do!

It wasn't till I got back to the appartment that I realized it was probably because of my deeply cut V-neck. I am also wearing a kind of push-up bra so it gives me quite a cleavage.

Honestly! Is that all they think about!

Britain's Got Talent And The Queen

Now "Britain's Got Talent" has got me hooked. I don't know why all those TV moguls and the like are complaining that "the pond has been fished dry" and "Britain's got no more talent" - I was addicted to that show this year like no other.

In particular, I am fascinated by the dialects (please see previous post about modern linguistics in Britain) and the popular phrases of your average British person today, as presented by "Britain's Got Talent" (sorry, "Bri'ain's Go Talen"), which is rife with intergalactic... sorry, intervocalic Ts (those are the ones that are now missing in the middle of words) and marked by a complete lack of Hs.

The point of "Bri'ain's Go Talen", as stated again and again and again in this program, is to find an act that is fit to appear before The Queen at the Royal Variety Performance, sorry that's the Royal Varie'y Performance. This will be the act that wins "Bri'ain's Go Talen", which incidentally also wins 100,000 of your best British (Bri'ish) sterling quids.

All the acts are asked (many, many times) what it would mean to win "Bri'ain's Go Talen" and they all reply without fail that it would be a dream come true to perform in front of royalty and there could be no higher honor.

I am almost sure there could be; but the thing is, noone ever mentions the money.

The other point of "Bri'ain's Go Talen", which was invented by Simon Cowell, is to find an act that Simon Cowell will sign up and make money out of, and of course the act will make money too. That's why the acts only ever care about what Judge Simon says, the other judges can tell them till they're blue in the face that they're "aMAZing" but if Simon says they're rubbish, there are often quite a few tears.

Ant and Dec are the names of the presenters, two nice young lads from Newcastle, very heavy on the intervocalic Ts, so it took me a long time to understand a word they were saying. They have to say the words "Royal Varie'y" about one hundred times every show, and they also have to mention the "Royal Varie'y Chari'y" a few times every show as well. They both seem to have a problem saying the "Royal Varie'y Chari'y", and I really think it would be easier for them to say the "Royal Variety Charity", but I don't think anyone has suggested it to them yet.

Apart from the "Royal Varie'y", there is one other word that you hear on this program so often you think that it might actually disappear from the language soon due to having been used too much. Everything is always "aMAZing". That's the response of each act after competing in the semifinals, at least. And also the response of each act that gets through to the semifinals of course. It was aMAZing and it would be such an honor to perform at the Royal Varie'y, it would bring me one step closer to my DREAM.

And what is The Queen herself thinking about all this is what I would like to know. Well the way I see it, there are two possible scenarios: either 1) The Queen is a total "Bri'ain's Go Talen" addict like myself, and has seen every single act 15 times already (she can call them all up on YouTube after the show) or 2) she is absolutely fed up with the whole thing and dreads having to go to the "Royal Varie'y".

In fact many of the people calling in to vote might be Queen-related or The Queen herself on several of her different phones.

Scene: Buckingham Palace, The Queen's Sitting Room, Saturday Night. The Queen is zapping through channels and hits the jackpot.

Queen: Philip! Get in here. That talent audition programme is on. Come on, you have to see what dreadful stuff they will be subjecting us to at that theatre performance. And bring your phone with you!

Philip: I'm §$%&/ damned if I will! It's bad enough having to be force-fed that turdwallop on the night, never mind having to sit through 75 hours of it before the §$%&/ event!

Queen: Those two young chaps look awfully pleasant but I do wish this programme would provide subtitles.

Where Has All The T Gone?

For a while, I have been observing a linguistic phenomenon in British English which I am sure was not prevalent when I lived in England (many moons ago).

It seems to have become fashionable for certain demographics to fail to pronounce the "T" in a word in well-nigh every dialect of British English, be it Cockney, South London, Kentish, Midlands, Newcastle, Cornish, Birminghamese(?), Mancunian, and all brands of Scottish and Welsh.

When I studied Linguistics at university (and I did!) we learned that the "T" that is omitted or rather swallowed from the ends of words, particularly in London dialects, is known as the "glottal stop", because it is articulated at the glottis. Thus you have words such as "didn" (didn't), "i" (it), "pla" (plate), "layou" (layout), "star" (start), and the wonderful "Gordon Benne" (Gordon Bennett), etc. The glottal also appears in other languages as a bona fide linguistic phoneme, rather than as a deviant in a dialect of the language.

Wikipedia informs me that this "T" that is omitted in the middle of words is an "intervocalic" T rather than a "glottal" T (for example, in the word "ci/t/y", or indeed, "Bri/t/ain"). Whatever it is called, it is missing presumed lost in extremely large numbers.

The missing T, combined with the H, which the same demographics seem to have deleted from their alphabet, and is similarly missing from the beginnings of words, must make it impossible for foreigners to understand what many British people are talking about. Throw in a bit of dialect vocabulary and current phrases and you might find yourself with one of the answers to why the British are becoming more and more insular.

The sad fact is that they are simply no longer completely understood outside of their island.

Blessent Mon Coeur D'une Langueur Monotone

66 years ago today, the Allied invasion of Normandy started at 00:15 hours. Paratroopers landed in the village of Ste Mère Eglise, where fighting ensued for several hours. At 4:30 hours the Allied forces took the village and the message went to the German command "Verbindung mit Ste Mère Eglise abgeschnitten".

At 6:15 hours, American troops landed on the beaches between Quinéville and Ste Mairie du Mont. This strip was known in code as Utah Beach.

The BBC sent messages in code to the French Résistance. The first line of Verlaine's "Chanson d'Automne" meant that the Allied invasion was to take place soon:

"Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne"

The second line meant that the invasion was to take place within 24 hours:

"blessent mon coeur d'une langueur monotone".

At 6:30 hours, American troops landed on the beaches between Isigny-sur-Mer and Port-en-Bessin. This strip was known in code as Omaha Beach.

At 6:30 hours, British troops landed on the beaches between Port-en-Bessin and Ver-sur-Mer, which was known in code as Gold Beach.

While the American beaches were largely flat with little protection, Gold Beach was more hilly.

British troops also landed on the beaches between Arromanches and Ouistreham. These beaches were known in code as Juno and Sword Beaches.

In all, nearly half a million soldiers died before Normandy was taken by the Allied forces. I cannot imagine being so brave that I would jump out of a boat and run directly into enemy fire. I also cannot imagine being so brave that I would remain at my post in a small shelter just behind the beach and fire at such an oncoming force. Both world wars were madness and I truly hope that our human race will never see the necessity to start another one.

Beyond The Future

When I was little, the Future was the 21st century. Although specifically, this Future was going to start in about 1987 and finish in about 2001. That was because people couldn't really see beyond that date, I think. So the Future was going to be a pretty short time. The 21st century itself wasn't really going to happen, because the world would have come to an end by then.

George Orwell had written "1984" back in 1948, and even though it was fiction, I think a lot of people were convinced that by the time 1984 rolled around, things would be very different and not necessarily "futuristic" in a positive sense. Then Stanley Kubrick made "2001: A Space Odyssey", so that set the bar very high for where we supposed to be by the start of the 21st century.

In the Future, we were all going to be living either in underwater cities, underground cities or in colonies on the moon. The moon was a big part of the Future, particularly after the role it played in the space race of the 1960's and now that it had been "conquered", it only remained to go and start building on it. What were they waiting for? We did indeed wait and expect, but somehow interest, like the moon itself, seemed at some point to wane.

We would have discarded conventional clothing by the late 1980's, and instead have donned shiny one-piece suits without any obvious buttons, zips or poppers. We would have devices that enabled us to talk with anyone, anywhere at any time (our mobile phones). Computers would be our friends, except for the rogue ones, which would try to take over the world, and if we wanted to know the answer to anything at all, we just spoke to our friendly computer and he or she replied in a charming male or female voice (the Internet, which of course doesn't speak).

The one thing I think everyone really expected to happen was that we would be driving cars in the sky. I think a lot of people who grew up in the 1960's are quite disappointed that there are still no flying cars. But at the same time, I think that most people who grew up in the 1950's and 1960's are surprised that we are actually here, now. Because we were still in the Cold War period and everyone fully expected a third world war to be just around the corner, the main reason that the future was so distant was because people really didn't expect it to actually happen. To arrive at the year 2010 was an impossibility in real life, and could only be achieved in science fiction.

So we are now living beyond the Future of the 1960's.

Victorian Books

When I was little in the 1960's it was the time when we were still kind of very influenced by the Victorian culture.

I suppose this was because our grandparents had been brought up in the Edwardian era, and they were influenced by the Victorians. I think that, especially in that period, it took a long time to move on to a new culture, things were very much passed down from generation to generation, whereas these days, social culture can change drastically within a decade.

For example, now in 2010, social and scientific attitudes, language, and even culture itself to a certain extent, have changed a lot since 1995. If you watch TV sitcoms from the mid or even late 1990s, you will find that they are a little bit dated. That was only 15 years ago. Back in the early 20th century, 15 years was not necessarily a long enough time for things to have changed.

So it was that I had Victorian childrens' books passed on to me by a neighbor whose daughter had outgrown them. The Victorians and the Edwardians seemed to have a habit of making large, thick books full of different stories and pictures for children.

I wish I still had them now. They were a treasure. I still remember some of the stories and the pictures, many of them were so full of life and hope for the future, and I occasionally have a flashback to how happy I used to feel reading them.