Dr. Filomena

Slovenian forward Nejc Pečnik’s ankle broken by Clint Dempsey.
(Source: Žurnal 24)

My Google alerts e-mails set to to send me links to interesting online articles pertaining to Slovenia have been filled with a single topic for the past few days. One could call it an analysis of the USA-Slovenia football match, but one could just easily summarize it as a long-winded American whine over the draw. This made for an interesting read the first day. Possibly. Now it’s just becoming annoying and very unlike what I imagine the American spirit to be. Call me naive.

The articles focus on the allegedly “stolen” match and on the third US goal being disallowed unjustly. Of course, none seem to mention that the US team played roughly throughout the ninetysome minutes, seemingly confusing real football with the American type thereof, or possibly rugby with certain elements of wrestling. None mention the fact that the US players got away with a lot while half the Slovenian team seemed to be given a yellow card. And I have yet to see a note to the effect that Slovenian forward Pečnik’s ankle was broken by one the the American players. I just read a headline that spells “Pečnik breaks ankle”. He didn’t break his ankle by tripping down a staircase. He had ample help. And not even a simple foul was called.

Look guys, this is sports. The Slovenian team did a great job in the first half-time. The US team did a great job in the second half-time by proving both psychologically and physically well-prepared. The whole thing was rough and the goal scored during a wrestling match in the penalty box was disallowed by the referee. His decision stands.

Now for crying out loud, would you stop whining, admit that the Slovenians played well and focus on the next match. Preferably on how to play real football and not on how to break the opposite team’s players’ bones.

Živčki, živčki, živčki (foto: dr. fil, New York)

Zadnje čase v avtomobilu najraje poslušam radio France Culture. V studiu se pogovarjajo o najrazličnejših temah, avtorji predstavljajo svoja dela, potekajo obsežni intervjuji. Zelo drugačen in zelo zanimiv program, čeprav priznam, da včasih zapaše preklopiti na postajo z glasbo. Dokler tam ne spregovorijo.

No in tako sem v preteklih tednih poslušala razglabljanja o vsem mogočem in se marsikaj naučila. O razvoju ponapoleonske Evrope, o izlivu nafte v Mehiškem zalivu, o šolskem sistemu, o politiki predsednika Obame, včeraj zjutraj pa nekaj malega o psihologiji/sociologiji nogometne mrzlice.

Poslušala sem o “futmaniji” in o “futfobiji”. Pa o tem, da je denar pokvaril svetost igre. Nekoč je bilo drugače, fantje so igrali s srcem. Nastopali so kot ekipa, srce jim je bilo isti ritem. Zdaj igrajo za denar. Nič drugega jih ne zanima in gledalci to občutijo. Nekoč so navijači dihali s svojimi ljubljenci, živo občutili njihovo razpoloženje in ob koncu tekme doživljali katarzo. Ob spremenjenih razmerah ta katarza ni več mogoča. Pravi radio France Culture.

Oddaja me je spomnila, da sem marca pozabila sestaviti zapis po navodilih egiptovskega taksista v New Yorku. Beseda je dala besedo in od vprašanja “od kod pa sta” smo kaj hitro prešli na nogomet. Gospodu alžirska reprezentanca ni preveč pri srcu, kar je razumljivo glede na to, da je v kvalifikacijah za svetovno prvenstvo izločila Egipt. Razgreta čustva so povzročila nasilna obračunavanja med navijači obeh ekip v štirih državah.

Vrli taksist se je med vožnjo obrnil nazaj in z vso resnostjo dejal:

“Zagotovo imata kakšen blog. Ko prideta domov, napišita, da bodo vsi vedeli. Alžirce poraziš tako, da jim požreš živce. Vaši fantje naj jim ne dajo miru. Ko se jih poloti nervoza, se ne znajo več umiriti in je konec zanje. To je vaša pot do zmage. Ostanite trdni in jih psihično izčrpajte. Ves Egipt bo navijal za vas!”

Sicer ne vem, kako nasprotni ekipi požreš živce, ampak izpolnjujem obljubo in, zdaj tudi kot vestna članica fejsbukline skupine Nogomet za punce, objavljam taksistov nasvet. Prav tako ne vem, koliko denarja “pravi slovenski žrebci” (nzp press) dobijo za svoje reprezentančne nastope, se mi pa dozdeva, da znesek ni tolikšen, da bi preprečeval katarzo navijačev ob njihovem uspehu.

Naprej!

We qualified… yeah! The movie above is more about the audio than the visuals, but you get the picture… err sound… err whatever, we WON!

Way to go, team!

Slovenians & friends rooting for the national team at a Luxembourgish bar last Saturday (photo by dr. fil)

Regardless of what most folks in the US and Australia may think, football (soccer for some) is the world’s most popular sport. Come to think of it, we met several enthusiasts in the US this summer, among them a young kid who’s on his school’s soccer team and never misses an important game on TV.

Tonight, Slovenia will be attempting to qualify for the Football World Cup 2010 in South Africa in a match against Russia. If you’re anywhere near Luxembourg, you’re welcome to come and join a group of Slovenia supporters at the Britannia Pub. Not everyone may end up watching the game very attentively, but our hearts will be in the right place

As I mentioned here, the recital of France Prešeren’s works by the best Slovenian performers is something to behold. It’s most enjoyable in person, but if you can’t be in beautiful Ljubljana on 8 February at noon, the second best thing is watching the event from anywhere in the world online live at:

http://www.radiokaos.info/ 

(Virtually) see you there!

Polde Bibič reciting Slovenia’s national anthem Zdravljica by France Prešeren (the lyrics are worth reading, click the link)
Courtesy of Radio Kaos

On 8 February each year, Slovenians at home and in communities around the world celebrate the Slovenian Cultural Day or Prešeren day as many call it is annually on in Slovenia and among Slovenian communities around the world in celebration of the rich cultural heritage marking Slovenians as a nation with a distinctly recognized identity.

France Prešeren is widely regarded as the greatest Slovenian poet of all times and on this date, the prestigious Prešern Award is presented to deserving persons in the area of culture with a lasting impact on our society.

For me, personally, the most enjoyable part of the day is the recital held on Prešeren Square in the centre of Ljubljana at noon. As I’ve moved to Luxembourg, I am even more thrilled that I can watch it and listen to it live on the internet.

Prešeren’s poetry is about love and peace. Hearing his works presented by the very best Slovenian and guest performers is a treat! So I’d like to invite you to visit http://www.radiokaos.info/ this Sunday at noon and catch glimpse of my beautiful home town and listen to our poetry. You may not understand every word, but you may very well “get” the atmosphere.

Cheers!

PS: If you have a Facebook account, you can keep up with the event here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=48908602146

About the World AIDS Day

“World AIDS Day is observed every year on December 1st. The World Health Organization established World AIDS Day in 1988. World AIDS Day provides governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community organizations, and individuals with an opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on the global AIDS epidemic.”

Source and further information: US Department of Health & Human Services

Titova pisarna (Hiša cvetja, foto: dr. filomena)

Tisti dan, ki smo ga nekoč tako glasno proslavljali, moji le nekaj let mlajši sodržavljani, ki vihtenje zastavic pomnijo bolj z že malenkost obledelih televizijskih posnetkov kot iz časov, ko so morda še nosili čepicoinrutko, pa ob njegovi omembi le še skomignejo z rameni. Razen tistih, seveda, ki se starih časov sicer ne spomnijo, prepričani pa so, da so bili zlati in se jih po njim toži. Mnja, držijo se pač trafalmadorske modrosti, da se velja spričo neizbežnosti vnaprej določenega zaporedja dogodkov, na katere nihče ne more vplivati, osredotočiti na najlepše, ostale pa enostavno odmisliti.

Kaj smo že proslavljali? Tale praznik ni bil od muh! Drugo zasedanje Antifašističnega sveta narodne osvoboditve Jugoslavije je v Jajcu potekalo 29. novembra 1943. Italija je že kapitulirala, četniška vojska je bila uničena, prihajati je začela prva pomoč zaveznikov, veliki trije pa so se prav takrat v Teheranu odločali, da bodo partizansko vojsko priznali kot edino legitimno vojaško silo na jugoslovanskem ozemlju. Sprejeli so Avnojsko deklaracijo, ki je med drugim AVNOJ razglasila za vrhovni zakonodajni in izvršili organ Jugoslavije, vladi v izgnanstvu odvzeli pooblastila, odredila revizijo vseh dogovorov, ki jih je ta sklenila, ter končno določila, da se bo Jugoslavija gradila na načelu demokracije in federalizma kot državna skupnost enakopravnih narodov.

Stara modrost (pa tudi Pengovsky v svojem odprtem pismu Borutu Pahorju) pravi, da nam poznavanje zgodovine pomaga razumeti sedanjost in v njej delovati. Učite se, učite se in še enkrat učite se! And since all of you are bound to be fluent in English (thanks to Hollywood, no doubt), here’s some more stuff you may want to peruse.

Aha, ne smemo pozabiti, da je bil Josip Broz (za prijatelje tovariše Tito) takrat imenovan za maršala. Slovenski spletni viri navajajo, da je naziv predlagal Moša Pijade (ki je, mimogrede, tri tedne pred tem sodeloval pri ustanovitvi tiskovne agencije Tanjug in ji dal ime), srbski pa, da je bil pobudnik ideje Josip Vidmar.

Nekaj spominkov v Hiši cvetja. Če nimaš bralne lupe, klikni za povečavo.
(foto dr. filomena)

Who ever said there was no night life in Luxembourg? Ever since I arrived here, possibilities to spend an evening at an interesting place and/or event in good company have been plentiful. One of such occasions was undoubtedly last Saturday’s “Museum Night”. Which, incidentally, partly clashed with another all-important event, the Luxembourg vs. Israel football match. Since some of my new friends had a vested interest in the event, they set out to the museums a bit later on. I especially missed my new pal Tom!

photo by M & R 🙂

The eight annual event organised by the association of “d’stater muséeën” drew a crowd of 16,000 night owls or 30% more than the previous year into the six participating museums, which opened their doors widely from 6 pm until 1 am for a one-in-all ticket of €12 or €6 and supplemented their regular exhibitions with additional programmes such as live music, dance performances, films, small-scale theatre productions and made sure nobody went hungry. Or thirsty for that matter. One of the museums offered wine tasting as a side activity.

To be quite honest, I expected an event such as this to be free of charge just as my beloved Ljubljana’s Museum Night is, but at least the workshops for kids did not require ticket purchase.

Each of the museums has its own “that little extra” to offer, but personally, I was most taken by the work of Philippe Jacq in the Luxembourg Casino (yes, the casino in question does double as an art gallery on a full-time basis). Jacq’s installation was part of the “Best of Robert Schuman”exhibition representing the nominees for the most prestigious award of the “Grande Région” that has been given by the cities of Luxembourg, Trier, Metz and Saarbrücken since 1991.

The feelings inspired by the mixture of grossness of stuffed chickens straight (or not) from Psycho, a fine sense of humour and an evident knack for making connections between pop culture and political affairs cannot really be translated into words very easily. But I can offer a few random shots to begin with.

Here’s to many happy returns for the Museum Night in Luxembourg! This town oozes awareness of the importance of art and culture. Even after passing the title of the European Capital of Culture on to Liverpool, Stavanger and Sandnes. Incidentally, something tells me I’ll be visiting Vilnius in 2009! Right, Monika and Indre? 🙂

just one of the jewellery shops in the old part of Skopje (photo: dr. filomena)

Just like in 2007 when the topic was the Environment (see post here), this blog will today play a tiny role, no more than a cameo appearance in a world-wide blogging event, the Blog Action Day. This time around, the topic is Poverty. 

In view of the current economic situation around the world, I am sure that fellow bloggers and bloggerettes will have much to write about and inspiration can be found on every step of the way to work. If one is lucky enough to have a paying job, of course.

With that in mind, I leave it to them to shed light on the various hot topics, among them perhaps the pressing issues driving an increasing number of previously middle-class people across the poverty threshold in the West, and to argue which US Presidential candidate would do a better job at pushing his country’s economy back in gear.

In Slovenia, the newly elected National Assembly convened its first session today. May the MPs new and not-so-new not forget too soon the platform they ran on, those who put them where they are this morning and who they ultimately answer to. Many of their constituents are living on the verge of poverty.

What I would like to mention here is that there are various types of poverty and one of them has to be the poverty of the mind. Poverty of the mind, the heart and culture that allows people to communicate and act without giving much thought to the impact their words and actions will have on those at the receiving end. 

Away with poverty! Of all sorts… 

Wish you all a wonderful day.