MetaFilter posts tagged with germany and argentina

The Taxi Gourmet

jontyjago — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:05:07 -0800

The Taxi Gourmet Every week, I get in a taxi, ask the driver to take me to his or her favorite restaurant. Layne Mosler tests the recommendations of cab drivers in Buenos Aires, Berlin and New York, where she is also a licensed cabbie herself. Want to cut to the chase? NY & Buenos Aires have a Top 5.

Nearly there....

marienbad — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 03:53:40 -0800

There are only 10 days of the World Cup left. The World Cup Final is on Sunday 11th July at 19:30 GMT. Today sees the start of the Quarter Finals, and with only 8 teams left, this is when the pressure really starts. A brief Preview of the Quarter finals: Netherlands vs Brazil - This could be one of the games of the tournament. Netherlands have held it together this time (Almost...) and not imploded. Brazil have gotten better as the tournament has progressed, the hard-fought 2 -1 win over North Korea seems a long time ago now. They beat Chili in the Round of 16, Bielsa was undone by poor defending at a corner, and Brazils rapid counter-attacks, utilising Kaka, Robinho and Fabiano. Ghana vs Uruguay - This could be a historic day for African football if Ghana win, as it would mark the first time an African team has made it through to the semi-finals. Asamoah Gyan is also one of the top scorers and could win the Golden Boot, as could Uraguay's Suarez. They will have their work cut out dealing with players like Diego Forlan, who has been the heartbeat of this Uraguayan side, and Luis Suarez, however Ghana has several players who either play or have played in the English Premiership such as Kevin Prince Boateng, John Paintsil, and their excellent goalkeeper Richard Kingson and who are used to dealing with top quality players. Spain vs Paraguay - This would appear to be the easiest one to call, but this is the World Cup and anything can happen. Spain is a team full of world class star players, Iniesta, Xavi, Alonso, Torres, however Torres has yet to find his shooting boots, and was replaced in their last game (vs Portugal) by Llorente, a much more physical player who held the line and caused problems for Portugal, and was involoved in the play leading up to David Villa's winning goal. Paraguay have had a strange time, beating both Argentina and Brazil in the World Cup Qualifiers, but then losing their way towards the end of qualifying, and after qualifying, drawing with the Netherlands and losing to Qatar in warm up friendlies. And in the round of 16 they only beat Japan (after a very dull game) on Penalties. Key players are their strike force Roque Santa Cruise and Lucas Barrios. Argentina vs Germany- This could also be another one of the games of the tournament. Germany are a young side with plenty of talent who play fast football and can attack like lightening on the break (I should know- I'm English!) Their key play-maker is Mesut Ozil, who is technically gifted and has a free role, playing left/right/central with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira covering his movement. Up front they have two excellent (at international level) strikers in Lahm and Podolski. And already they are taunting the Argentinians. Argentina are, as probably most of the world knows, managed by Diego Armando Maradona, a man who has been pure theatre at the World cup Finals. Their qualifying included playing around a hundred different players, before settling on their squad, which includes World Number 1 Leo Messi, as well a star strikers Higuain, Tevez and Milito. Maradona is also smart: he has, on his coaching staff, the talents of Oscar Ruggeri, Sergio Batistuta and Carlos Bilardo, the last of whom managed Argentina when the won the World Cup in 1986 with Maradona as a player. The Semi finals line up like this: Netherlands/Brazil vs Uraguay/Ghana Spain/Paraguay vs Argentina/Germany BBC sport team webpages: Germany Argentina Spain Paraguay Netherlands Brazil Uruaguay Ghana So who do you want to win?

Psychic octopus 1 - 0 everybody else

orrnyereg — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 08:49:55 -0800

Paul, an octopus in Germany, has made international headlines with his perfect record predicting the outcome of Germany's World Cup matches. On Tuesday, the cephalopod chose the national squad to defeat Argentina on Saturday. But it could be a tight game.

The House on Garibaldi Street

reenum — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:35:26 -0800

The capture of Adolf Eichmann is one of the more daring spy operations in the post WWII era. The story spans 17 years, beginning with Eichmann's clandestine escape from the Allied forces and the Nuremberg trial, and ending with his hanging in Israel. After WWII, Eichmann was able to escape the Nuremberg trials and the subsequent efforts of Nazi hunters in Europe. He worked as a farmer for 5 years, before he was able to gain passage to Argentina with the help of an organization that helped ex-Nazis defect to South America. However, Nazi hunters like Simon Wiesenthal never forgot about Eichmann and the crimes he had committed. After years of chasing false leads, the Mossad finally found Eichmann and assembled a team to capture him. This team included Rafi Eitan and Peter Malkin. The team followed Eichmann and planned his capture, which ended with the Israelis smuggling a drugged Eichmann aboard an El-Al plane and making two transcontinental flights that pushed the plane's limits. The operation caused embarrassment for some of the world's superpowers. But, the trial went on nonetheless. Subsequent generations have studied this capture and the impact it had on the world as a whole. You can find repositories of Eichmann related documents here, here, here and here.

Early Animated Films, Lost and Found

filthy light thief — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:02:23 -0800

While some might believe that Walt Disney had the first feature-length animated film with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in 1937, the Disney film is the fourth animated feature-length film, and was two decades late for first place. The first two animated feature-length films were directed by an Italian in Argentia in 1917 and 1918, though all prints of those films are presumed lost or destroyed. The third animated full-length feature, Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (The Adventures of Prince Achmed), came out the same year that the first two were lost to fire. This third animated film was a silhouette animation made by a German artist named Lotte Reiniger. The original negatives are considered lost, but a supposedly first-generation positive (from the camera negative) remains and the film has been restored from this stock (full film with limited subtitles, 5 minute preview with English subtitles and the full film viewable with Veoh plug-in). More information and videos inside. The first animated feature film was El Apóstol, followed by Sin dejar rastros, both written and directed by Quirino Cristiani. His career in film was limited to 27 years in film (1916-1943), but rather notable for early animation firsts. Cristiani's last major film, Peludópolis, was the first full-length animated motion picture with sound, presented with sound-on-disc. The only known prints of his first films were destroyed in a fire in 1926, and his final work was also lost to fire, this time in 1961, giving Cristiani two films on a list of Top 50 Lost Films of All Time. Lotte Reiniger was born in 1899, and she was fascinated by Chinese silhouette puppets from an early age (shadow puppetry previously). She created her first shadow theater at the age of six, and ultimately had a career that spanned 60 years (1919-1979, not counting her early credits going back to 1916) and some 70 film credits to her name. Her most recalled accomplishment was creating the first German animated film, Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed. The animation was made with cardboard and thin sheets of lead, and color tinting. Reiniger wrote about the process of creating and restoring the film (PDF, Google html cache), and she noted that the complete original Wolfgang Zeller accompanying score was preserved in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Silhouette puppetry of a sort lives on in a new mini-series, The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello. The series currently consists of four episodes (called "voyages") that are set in a the world of steampunk aeronautics, utilizing a silhouette animation style that has been likened to The Adventures of Prince Achmed. The first voyage, Jasper Morello and the Lost Airship is on YouTube in full (previously). Unlike Anthony Lucas' earlier stop-motion animation, the Mysterious Geographic Explorations are a mix of 3D computer graphics, photographic composition and miniatures. The Gothia Gazette has more information on the series. This rambling journey through early animation and silhouette work was set off by Tor Books, who have laid claim to October as Steampunk Month on their website. The Jasper Morello video was one of three animations, the other two being shorts (#2: The Aeronaut {also on mtvU with sharper sound, but also watermarks} by Nicholas Lombardo; #3: Komedi - A Gentelan's Duel, by Blur Studios, who were mentioned previously twice). Selections from the List of Lotte Reinger works 1920 - Das Geheimnis der Marquise (MP4) (The Marquise's Secret) for Nivea skin cream 1954 - Cinderella (10:29), The Little Chimneysweep (9:53), The Frog Prince (10:24) 1955 - Hansel and Gretel (10:32), Jack and the Beanstock (from the beginning, missing the first minute, and a bit of the end) 1971 - The Art of Lotte Reiniger (17:02), featuring Ms. Reiniger herself, creating silhouette puppets and describing the process Extra links Previously: steampunkery, Czech animator Karel Zeman, German animator Hans Fischerkoesen Etcetera: Bullet Bill and Bob-Omb as Victorian gentlemen Bonus video: Grand Drive "Firefly" (4:05), music video with shadow-puppet animation inspired by Lotte Reiniger, produced by Trunk Animation