Category: Culture
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German word exports
So — is it true there’s no word in German for “fairness?” Der Speigel writes about the debate over English infecting the German language, following a recent study looking at German words being adopted all over the world. Letting languages evolve is better than trying to keep out foreign linguistic influences (a la the French),…
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String weekend
When passing through England for Bill and Karen’s wedding a few weeks ago, we saw posters for a festival of Sofia Gubaidulina’s work, put on by the BBC. We toyed briefly (very briefly) with the idea of coming back, but then realized it would naturally be broadcast and archived online. So this weekend we’ve been…
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We *are* in Mittel-earth
Spotted at the store, and of course taken home: Hobbit cookies. Or biscuits, it was unclear first exactly what they were. Bright orange wrapper, with “Hobbit” written in bold letters. And no, as far as we can tell that means nothing in German. Verdict: Oh, so delicious, for second breakfast AND Elevensies! Oatmeal cookie goodness.…
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Your writing always seemed a little mechanical…
And so at last, writers, journalists, reporters, call us what you will, we’re being replaced by computers just like everyone else. The Thomson financial media group is using software programs to automatically generate earnings stories, within .3 of a second of the release of a company’s earnings statement. No chance of a John Henry moment…
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Cup and community, the morning after
My first start-to-finish World Cup now just 10 hours and a fitful sleep past, and I am already melancholy, conscious of its absence. But its final moment’s mystery remains: Why did Zidane, one of the world’s best players, in what was probably the final international match of his life, at a critical moment, give way…
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Tuniermannschaft, flags, and chaos in the streets
Three weeks ago, whenever I talked to a German about their World Cup team, almost no one expressed much faith in their football team. They weren’t graceful like the Brazilians or the Argentinians, were young, had an inexperienced coach. Last night they beat Argentina in shoot-out. When we went to bed at 1 people were…
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Off to footieland, with Ghana jersey in hand
So. Tomorrow morning we get up early and take a bus to Dortmund, where we will see Brazil and Ghana play, with tickets care of Jim Hu. Needless to say, we’re excited. Overwhelmed. Brimming over with fussball anticipation! Here’s our lovely, green spielkarten:
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On football, nationalism and cantaloupes
There are probably other things going on in the world besides football/soccer. Wars, Zarqawi’s death, violence in Palestine again. But around us here every day is football, which provides its own lessons in international relations. A bit of texture first: All of Berlin, at least, is dedicated to watching as many minutes of the thrice-daily…
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The World Cup, and Europe’s race and racism problem
A piece in the New York Times today that echoes much of the soul-searching that’s been happening in German and other European newspapers: With the World Cup imminent, racial tensions here are being put on a world stage. Several ugly racial incidents have dominated headlines in the month-plus we’ve been here. A Ethiopian-born man was…
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Prenzlauer or Kentucky?
Nearly a week in. We’re looking for apartments, starting a round of open houses this afternoon. Our first, yesterday, was a large echoey white box with huge windows and zero furnishings, except a stainless steel sink shoved against a wall. We’re finding that we probably can’t afford the neighborhood we want, which isn’t a big…
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In the archives of the “militant mothers”
In the special collections archive of Harvard’s eduction library. The librarians here are going out of their way to be helpful, but agonize over each piece of material drawn for us to look at. Brad and I are going through the archives of Peggy Charren, a activist whose Action for Children’s Television was in large…