In our first night time game, we were able to do some touristy stuff: Newtown, the Apartheid museum, the SAB World of Beer museum. Then to Ellis Park for our last game in Johannesburg: Brazil VS N. Korea. It was a little bit like watching the Globetrotters. Fun to see. Sadly it was freezing cold, so the usual Brazilian eye candy was hidden under many layers of clothing. Maybe in 2014.
One thing I cannot complain about in South Africa, is how the World Cup (unlike USA 94) is being lived and felt everywhere. No matter where you turn, people have flags and Bafana Bafana shirts. Also, vuvuzelas.
Nothing special about them: They are just plastic horns, just like the one that my dad bought me at the stadium during a Mexico 86 match. However, they are everywhere!
During the opening match, the whole South African crowd had their vuvuzela and they used it nonstop. It got really, really loud… a high pitched buzz constantly in the background. It prevented the players from hearing each other and get organized. We struggled in the stadium to get some Mexican cheers organized, with limited success, due to all the noise. You could see Chicharito tell one of his co-players that he can’t hear him.
And this is all good, after all, they are the hosts and this is their home team advantage. It’s a South Africa match.
But why are people bowing on this damn thing ALL THE TIME? Before the game, after the game, on the streets, inside restaurants. Everywhere. It’s really annoying. I’ve been really close to sticking a vuvuzela up somebody’s ass for three days now and it’s not likely to get better. You know it’s especially bad when you are the Holland vs Denmark match and you can’t hear a single chant, which takes away a lot of the World Cup experience.
Update 6/15: Yes, ear plugs are always in my pocket but so far I haven’t used them (except to sleep, but that’s a different story). Tonight during Brazil’s game, the kid next to me had a vuvuzela. I hid his vuvuzela when he went to the bathroom. Oh well…
Hard to keep the blog up to date.
Here are some photos from yesterday’s game. I hope they are up to Jaramillo’s high standards. Today we went to see some wild animals, more on that later… Lots of partying in South Africa.
After a long long trip we arrived in Johannesburg, only to go directly to the opening match between the host and Mexico.
Today, Argentina vs Nigeria.
This is incredible. Driving stick on the other side of the road is a blast. Internet is spotty so updates will be to.
Loooong layover at JFK. G-d bless my iToys.
The adventure begins. Carrying those sombreros is going to be a major pain the ass.
I have learned my lesson. If I’m going to eat machacado, I’m going to do it right: on the road between Monterrey and Laredo (or make it myself). No more pale Tex-Mex wannabes. ¡Buen provecho!
As part of my many activities in the Bay Area last weekend, Shlomit and I went to San Francisco to check out the mythical Chinese New Year Parade that’s been an anual tradition there for many years. While many dragons took part in it, I was very disappointed to learn that they were not real: they are mostly cloth with people inside. What I did not expect at all was the brief but clear nudity. I did not know there was any in this event, nor am I sure that it was intentional. You can see it in the video I put together, embedded above.
I recently purchased a water squirting nickel for something like $3. It’s the best $3 I’ve ever spent: funniest thing ever. I took it to Monterrey on my most recent trip for my cousin Jaco’s Bar Mitzvah and entertained myself (wow, that sounded dirty) endlessly by squirting just about everyone there. The story: look for the telltale signs of a supposedly counterfeited nickel, which I swapped right before showing the defect to the victim.
I only taped a small percentage of the victims that night and posted it as a mind-numbing 1:46 minutes long YouTube video. Trust me, you had to be there, it was hilarious.
I feel like I can finally post this, even though it will ruin the joke in the future, because:
For the record, everyone I pulled this prank on fell for it. But only one person fell for it TWICE!!!
The MKX® received reports a few weeks ago about an Ugly Nun sighting in South Miami Beach late last month. Since this was the first time we ever heard of The Ugly Nun being outside of Austin, and there was no hard proof on the reporsts, we decided not to publish anything. After all, we receive hundreds of tips on unsubstantiated rumors every week and we can’t just post about them all.
We just received photographic evidence from an anonymous tipster about the affair. You can see it, as usual, in The MKX® Photo Central.
