This is not America

Hey,

I thought that Tims last post about America being on track of becoming Brazil of the 21st century in football was rather funny. Though it was funny I have to 'take a piss' about the FIFA ranking list. A few years back people were saying that Iceland was doing bad because they went to down some 30 seats in the ranking list. Well the reason was that we were losing but there were other reasons too.

First the list goes for 5 years so lets say England looses to Norway but on the same day 5 years before they won France, then they go down. So it says very much who you played against so far back.

Second, because of that it depends on how many matches you play so if America and England play against the same 5 nations and get the same result but America plays also against 5 poor countries and win them all they are so much higher.

The relative difference in strength of Las Americas and Europe is incredible. America may have Brazil and Argentina but the other nations are so equal and also Mexico and America are overrated. Iceland went I think two years ago to America with a reserve team and played Mexico as a farewell game for the colorful goalie Campos. There were around 3 players who had played more than 10 games. Mexico won 2-1.

Well I guess Tim depended on my response to his post.

I just discovered googles earth and it's amazing. It's a series of six month old satellite pictures in good quality. The best pictures are of USA but like for China which I'm most interested in they aren't so good but ok though. I checked Montgomery and I bet if I had kept looking for a bit longer I would have found Tims house.

Also we joked that we should find out where Pamela Anderson lives and check out her... Watermelons.

Later,
Úlli

Chicago Fire v. AC Milan--A moral victory

I went to watch my hometown Chicago Fire of the MLS take on AC Milan last night. We dominated the game, though the 3-1 score (in favor of Milan) does not show it. Christian Vieri struck first in the 21st minute, scoring on a rebound off keeper Zach Thornton, who had to hit the ground to save a Bobo header off a Paolo Maldini cross. But the fans erupted as the Fire answered a minute later, off the foot of Chris Rolfe (who has magical feet, often putting together a combination of 3 or 4 moves to dance across the entire field), who got Maldini back on his heels, then beat the keeper on the ground into the side netting. We went into the break tied 1-1. The Fire came out dominant at the start of the second half, with shots by Samuel Caballero and Chad Barrett ricocheting off the woodwork, making the keeper spin in confusion at the Fire onslaught. The Fire's Herron blew two breakaways and 2 unmarked follow-ups on rebounds off the keeper before Alberto Gilardino, newly acquired from Parma for 30 million, took back the lead for Milan in the 76th minute. By this point, the Fire had put in their reserves, with US National Team captain Chris Armas taking a seat on the bench, and Milan began to exert their dominance in the midfield. The Fire reserves were no match for the mighty Milan, and Serginho put the finishing touches on with a goal against the Fire's reserve keeper with a mere 10 seconds remaining in stoppage time. He fired a shot over the keeper's head which struck the crossbar and bounced straight down, called a first a no-goal by the referee, but later reversed after a brief conversation with the line judge, making the final score 3-1 AC Milan. But the Fire played well throughout, despite only 21,000 turning out for the game. I only wish more could've seen it. Go Fire!!

Tim

Heat Wave

Well, I know I am wont to comment on the weather, perhaps much moreso than any other blogger, but yesterday was truly a scorcher here. We hit 104 F (40 C), with heat index readings (a combination of the heat and humidity) up to 109 F (43 C). Needless to say, I was soaking up the A/C yesterday and moving with unusual torpor when I did venture outside.

I'm sure Ulli will pass his tests in flying color...the syphillis results might be a bit troublesome though (only kidding). Ulli's referee story reminds me just how small of a country Iceland is. It seems that Ulli is, in some way or another, connected to EVERYONE. If you are a mother, ever want to be a mother, or ever even had a mother, then I'm sure you know Ulli. :)

Reading about this morning's bombings in Baghdad and Saturday's bombings in Egypt, I was struck by how de-sensitized I've become to the whole thing. Sad really, but it seems like we've been reading about it for so long now. I thank George W.'s insistence on invading Afghanistan and Iraq. But enough political drivel.

Heard Sergio of Kasabian in an interview on the radio yesterday (they performed at Chicago's Lollapalooza music festival yesterday, in near-fatal temps for Brits). He quite reminded me of Adam, especially with the vocab, although he was markedly more difficult to understand with a thick, sort-of uneducated sound. Elsewhere in language news, Irish (Gaeilge being the native name for it) is now an official language of the EU. Out to conquer the world again, those Irish, but this time without use of the English language as the prime medium of communication.

slan go foill, do chara,
Tim

Happiness and madness

Yesterday was strange. In the morning I got my "finish uni loan" accepted which lowered my interest substantially. For the first time in a long time I went to my internet bank and saw only blue numbers opposite to the regular red (negative) ones. So for the bigger part of the day I was very happy.

In the night I went to see my team play. I thought that they played very well but the referee was horrendous and I was infuriated on my way home. Took my ipod and found something load and angry to plat. The thing was he gave a red card to one of the players in my team but failed to do the same when the other team made the same foul.

Tim do you remember the mom I have been with and I made the mistake of telling you... Well the referee is the kids father (he's very young for a referee). I hate him so much.

Also I had to go to the doctor for a check up because China wants an examination for everybody who stays there for over six months. I had to go through serious trouble, the list is as follows.

Blood presure
Listen to lungs
Pulse
Heart scan (of what ever it's called when the "graph" your heart)
Lung Scan (take a picture of your lungs)
"Sciphilis" test
Aids test

Also I was questions like "Do you have a mental disorder?". Much to your surprise I guess I answered no.

Well that's it for now.

Later,
Úlli

Political Islam

I've been reading quite a few articles and commentaries following the horrific events in London one week ago. On multiple occasions I have seen mention of "political Islam," a philosophy that espouses Islam-dominated politics in the traditional democracies of Western Europe. According to my reading, political Islam feels that secular democracies are not compatible with Islam and encourages followers to de-secularize their adoptive Western societies. However, I must admit that the whole philosophy confuses me. Many of the most radical followers of political Islam are 2nd generation inhabitants of countries like France and the UK; these are people whose parents often immigrated from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. For the most part it seems that the immigrant parents are content to live in the democratic society that they chose to immigrate to (at times having immigrated from hard-line Islamist republics), but their children attribute hard times and a perceived lack of national identity to the secular nature of their birth-countries. In an effort to regain a sense of cultural identity, these young people often travel back to their parents birth-countries and attempt to re-discover Islam, the Arabic language, and Arabic culture. But the confusing part for me is that they then return, newly radicalized in many cases, to their birth countries in the West, intent on imposing Islam upon the secular democracies of their birth. Apparently they love their birth-countries in the West enough to return to them.

As a Catholic, I often hear the Vatican's lament about the increasing secularization of society. While I in fact would not mind a slow to social secularization, I wholeheartedly support political secularization. That's one of the reasons I do not support George W. He makes everything an issue of Christians vs. Them, while America was founded on the idea of separation of Church and State. At one point, centuries ago, all of Europe was dominated by Vatican-influenced monarchies. While that worked when all of Europe's citizens were of one faith, difficulties obviously arose with increased globalization and schisms within the Christian tradition. Political secularization became a necessity so that all faiths (or lack thereof) might be represented. And so it makes me a bit wary (and angry even) when radical, political Islamists try to enforce the idea of an Islamist state on their adoptive Western European homes.

I realize that this radical group includes a small fraction of Muslims, and I mean no offense. Just wanted to express an opinion I've been developing.

Also, I would just like to ask Adam about last week's events. Being Pakistani-born, does your dad still have ties to the Pakistani community in Britain? If so, what has been their reaction to the revelation that it was likely members of their community who were responsible for last week's events? What has been the reaction of other Britons towards ethnic Pakistanis? We have seen increased scrutiny of the entire Muslim community in the US following 9/11, and I was wondering what was occurring in Britain. I realize Adam's situation is a bit different due to the fact that his mother is English and I believe his paternal grandmother was as well, but regardless of whether he has any Pakistani ties at all, I would be interested in his take. Of course we'll have to wait for UBS to give him a breather.

Anyway, must get to work now.

Tim

I thought I could organize freedom... How Scandinavian of me

Hey ya'all,

This is Iceland calling. Just few hours ago we heard about London never a good thought to hear about these things. Currently there are two dead and many injured and I hope those numbers won't increase. Other thing I hope that Adam & Svana and other friends in this great city are all right. It would be nice to get a line from them as Constance did after 11th of Mars in Madrid.

Although these terrible things have happened I'm going talk about something else.. Myself. I have been working in the bank now for almost 3 weeks and it has started to get fun. My job has changed a bit and now I'm calculating interest in the banks deritive contracts. It is kind of strange to do this since sometimes the amounts are just huge. You all must know much a decimal can do on the right amount. This is great fun and I'm really learning a lot, I'm busy and interested which is I think all I want to get from a job. I wouldn't want to do this all my life but for now it's great.

As you may have heard I'm going to China to take Vegards position as a English professor. I am very much looking forward to going over there since it's so exotic. I'm also going to try to get some contacts over there for future jobs and possibly I could go work in a better position afterwards. The Chinese though are pissing me of since everything has a bit of communistic thinking and pace. For example I can't really get a date when I'm off the clock for the last time. And the girl I'm talking to suggest that when I get over there I talk to the president (of the school) face to face. Also they are on vacation so they can't send my invitation for my VISA and I'm not willing to book my flight ticket before I get that confirmation. They will eventually pay me for the ticket but not until the end of the semester so I will have to fund it in the mean while.

I have a rather glorious idea in my head right now. Going for a little trip around America on my way back. Visit a few friends and then come back home to Iceland and pay off the debts. It's all on the drawing board right now and it won't get much further until I get when I'm finished with the meeting with the president.

Well I better get back to the job. Not much happening since London is down.

roller bLATER,
Úlli

Perezoso

I've been lazy about keeping up with my postings, and I really have no excuse. I sit in front of a computer for 8 hours every day with little or nothing to do. There is a marked difference between the work level during this internship and that of my winter internship. They expect NOTHING of me now. Nice to have time to catch up on my e-mail and news, but you can only read the newspaper cover to cover once, and I've been through every picture on Walker's site by now. I beg for work, but it's slow in coming, and what they do give me is the most droll material they can find--read this, edit this, peruse this, etc. Never thought I'd be so glad to get back to schoolwork! Am quite jealous of Walker's patio setup as my skin has reached a new level of pale this summer. Living up to my Irish background, I guess.

No interesting travel plans this year. I'm jealous of Constance's trip to Africa after looking at her pics. The good thing is I've begun to discover much more of what the city of Chicago has to offer now that I'm not jet-setting around the globe. I know Barcelona infinitely better than I know Chicago, but that is beginning to change finally. I was lucky enough to have you clowns scouting out the hot spots and cool haunts for me in BCN, but I've been forced to take over those responsibilities for myself here at home. There's now Walker going, "I heard about this cool place in El Born..." Only problem is I've had a bit of a problem dragging my friends out to some of the more interesting places. Quite a few of my friends are hardcore working class and are absolutely opposed to paying more than X dollars/night on drinks/cover/etc. So it's been a challenge to find the cheaper spots with the best specials. Now you'll all have to come visit and test my knowledge :)

Anyway, hope all is well with everyone. I'm trying to recover from the 4th of July weekend--I should really be allowed to nap at work if they've got nothing for me to do. I'd better at least pretend to be busy, though.

Enjoy the summer,
Tim