Tag Archives: 2010

Jogo Bonito

Completing my album

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I received a mysterious envelope with a return address in Germany. I wasn’t expecting it so quickly: My own myPanini World Cup sticker for my album. It’s finally (almost) complete:

Click on image to zoom in

Compared to the 2006 version, I look a lot happier and hairier. Most readers will quickly point out that I’m wearing an outdated 1994 Umbro jersey instead of the current one. You are right – but I guarantee that this photo was taken in 2010 next to none other than former national team legend Luis Roberto Alves “Zague”! (see original).

There’s already quite a long waiting list, but I do have a few extras. So if you want your limited edition Marcos Kirsch sticker, just ask nicely in a comment.

And if you know what happened to the mystery sticker shipment from Panama (you know who you are), please let me know.

Jogo Bonito, Keep Austin Weird

The World Cup at Alamo Drafthouse

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The awesome Austin institution Alamo Drafthouse movie theater decided to show all FIFA World Cup matches live in one of their beautiful screens. This is probably the next best thing to being there, so I headed out there today to check out Uruguay VS Holland. It’s great to watch the game like this, with our own pitcher of Firemans 4 and good food.

My only suggestion: Make it 3D the next time!

You think your 60" plasma TV is big? How about this 60 foot screen!
Around the world, Jogo Bonito

World Cup photos!

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It took a lot longer than I had hoped for due to unforseen technical difficulties, but I am finally done going through the ~1500 photos we took in the last couple of weeks, selecting and post-processing, and have posted them to The MKX® Photo Central.

I am really happy with how the photos came out. We used an Olympus E-PL1 Micro Four Thirds camera on the trip instead of the usual crummy pocket camera, which we occasionally paired with a Panasonic 45-200mm telephoto lens, which allowed for some cool closeups at the stadiums and in the safari. The main album is broken up by day:

  1. To the World Cup!
    Carrying a sombrero across the world is not fun.
  2. Egypt
    A 12 hour layover in Cairo. Let’s make the best of it.
  3. South Africa VS Mexico
    Opening match in Soccer City, Johannesburg.
  4. Argentina VS Nigeria
    Messi and Maradona, in front of me.
  5. Lory Park
    Awesome VIP tour in this beautiful animal sanctuary, courtesy of Sharon Salomon. Also, an encounter with former world champion Oscar Ruggeri.
  6. Holland VS Denmark
    At Ellis Park. Not the best match, but look at that crowd!
  7. Brazil VS N. Korea
    The jogo bonito. Also, Apartheid Museum, SAB World of Beer.
  8. Pilansberg Safari
    Extreme closeups of wild animals, and also of my flat tire.
  9. Mexico VS France
    If we are going to beat France, we should do it in style, flying private and hanging out with Figo and Zidane.
  10. England VS Argelia
    In Cape Town. Zague said hello.
  11. Cape Town
    Enjoying the waterfront.
  12. Simon’s Town
    Table Mountain, then drive to Simon’s town to see the penguins.
  13. Portugal VS N. Korea
    Jewish Museum, then see Ronaldo and friends kill the Koreans.
  14. Uruguay VS Mexico
    Not much luck in Rustenburg.
  15. Return to reality
    Another loooong trip through Egypt, where Mexico is famous for the wrong reasons.
Around the world, Jogo Bonito

Uruguay vs Mexico

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Jaco and I in Rustenburg
This guy jumped the field and ran for about a minute before getting tackled.

We lost 1-0 against Uruguay in a very tight match. Still enough to make it to the second round. We will be facing Argentina (again) in the Round of 16.

The game was in Rustenburg, near Johannesburg. Getting there was very painful… about three hours for what should have been a 1.5 hour drive. Coming back was even worse: 1.5 hours just to get to our car! (There was no parking by the stadium, it was all park and drive).

The stadium was all Mexican. Someone heard there were 30,000 Mexican fans and 2,000 Uruguayan fans. Too bad that doesn’t count in the tournament.

A freaky thing happened on the way out: it took us forever to find the car. That’s because we saw it but we ignored it, as all four of its doors were wide open. Yes, all four doors were wide open! We obviously didn’t leave them that way. We had left all sorts of junk inside the car and in the truk, but it was all there. Bizarre.