Postcard Wars

With this classic shot of Benedikt and J-Ho in Washington.

And I thought goalie goals were the domain of Ron Hextall…

This amazing video would suggest otherwise. And makes me pretty psyched that Poland is in Germany's group at the World Cup.

And here's a useful guide for how to "do" Germany (including currywurst). It's authentic.

The BBC’s World Cup Predictor is a useful tool.

Silvio Berlusconi is godfather to Andrij Shevchenko’s son. Godfather, folks.

ESPN the magazine reported this week that the notorious Serbian war criminal Arkan (now dead) recruited his militia partly from the supporters of Red Star Belgrade. Holy crap!

The same magazine also raised the possibility of an appearance at the World Cup by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadenijad — possibly in Nuremberg, site of the Nazi war crimes trials that followed the Holocaust, which Ahmadenijad denies ever happened. That should go well.

What’s the deal with Rooney? Can he make the first round or not? I seem to have read conflicting accounts. Not that it matters. England is advancing from that group with Sweden, though I’ll be pulling for Trinidad and Tobago.

Finally, this headline is awesome: Huge increase in flat-screen TV sales ahead of the World Cup

Another new feature of Postcard Wars will be the flag of the day. It’s up to you to decide which flag it is. I can’t believe what a dork I am! It’s shocking!

The New York Times is running a great World Cup package today. Here is a city-by-city guide to the tournament, and here is a story suggesting that Cologne is the best of the 12 host venues. Read and enjoy. Amazing factoid of the day: Berlin will erect a 10,000-seat REPLICA of the Olympic Stadium downtown. It will be a concert venue and general party attraction where folks can get in for 3 euros and watch the games on a big screens. Word.

By the way, today is my parents' 40th wedding anniversary! Have a great anniversary and enjoy Deutschland!

OK, the panda cub is cool. This is irrefutable. You can access the famous Washington Panda Cam here if you want to watch the thing sleeping in a tree or chowing on some bamboo.

Photos: JPG

Ladies and gentlemen,

The postcard season is approaching us full-steam! Memorial Day weekend is on the horizon — in fact I'm looking out over it right now from my porch. The warm weather and pleasant atmosphere makes for promising postcard-sending weather, so Postcard Wars is getting pretty psyched for what will surely be a terrific season. Looking forward also to writing a great many postcards during halftime of the games I'll be watching in Germany, and sending those postcards while good and hung over the next morning.

Auf geht's!

A regular feature of this blog will be POSTCARD UPDATE! POSTCARD UPDATE! will provide an update on postcards received, in real time. Tonite, upon arriving at home from my local dive bar (which, since the last time I visited, has had its front window smashed in), I found the following postcards awaiting me:

Big Bend National Park, Texas

Lefkosia, Cyprus

Thank you very much to the senders of these postcards! Your efforts will be recorded on The Postcard Tally page.

The stars at night / Are big and bright / (Clap clap clap clap) / Deep in the heart of Texas!

The Cypriot capital.

Here are all the postcards received to date at Postcard Wars World Headquarters in Washington, DC. These will be part of the end-of-year Best Worst Postcard of the Year competition.

S’Aeffle und’s Pferdle

Virton, Belgium

British Columbia

Cascades, Oregon

Snow Flower Condos, Park City, Utah

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Mexico

Cal-ee-for-nee-ah

Switzerland: Hopp Schwi’z!

Romania 1

Romania 2

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

The Green Zone, Baghdad, Iraq (!!!)

Self-Portrait, The Netherlands

Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

Epe, The Netherlands

Tallinn, Estonia

Hawaii, USA — A winner! (Compare with New Jersey Sunrise)

Human Flesh, The Netherlands

Chinatown, San Francisco, California, USA

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Russia

Vltava River, Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The Netherlands

Yoho National Park, Canada