Wednesday
Another workday that was over far more quickly than I had anticipated.

Talk of the Nation spent the first hour talking about the upcoming World Cup tournament. The primary focus was: Why hasn’t soccer caught on in the U.S. as it has in (most of) the rest of the world? The callers and guests made a few interesting observations/comparisons.

  • One likened soccer to poetry, as opposed to the prosaic nature of baseball.
  • Someone else said that soccer’s pacing and tempo reminded them of jazz.
  • Another observer said that soccer had one attribute that made it stand out from many, if not all, other sports: Anyone can play. Unlike basketball (tall is good) or football (big and/or fast) or boxing (BIG), one does not have to have a certain body type to be able to play soccer.

I just finished watching the anime Metropolis. It was interesting, to say the least. It was set “in the near future,” but there were parts of it that seemed quite retro. And, in an unusual twist, it had a jazz and ragtime-ish soundtrack. It also featured Ray Charles’ version of “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” which caught me totally by surprise… but integrated seamlessly (and rather poignantly) into its scenes. This definitely merits another viewing… or two. In fact, this has renewed my desire to watch the 1927 movie of the same name (different plot) again.

Peace.