(I agree with C. S. Lewis here – enthusiastically – insofar as languages make genuine or at least plausible distinctions. But what if, e.g., loving just is liking? Probably not; but the point is, languages might (a) encode different ontologies or inventories of acceptable concepts rather than (b) differ in expressive facility.
Anyway.)
Bembo is one of the oldest and greatest fonts. It’s common in books but less so in desktop publishing. I believe some text editing programs provide Bembo; if yours doesn’t, consider obtaining one of these free variants of the typeface:
Cardo/fbb is the closest thing to the above sample from Lewis. It’s not bad: I see it in some professionally typeset books, e.g. this book requiring lots of extra glyphs for the author’s (Nigerian) name. Tonight I learned that fbb has added a “swashed” Q to its character set. I once wrote a thirty-page research paper with Cardo, using Google Docs (which I don’t recommend for a paper of that length). The typesetting was arduous but, ultimately, successful; the paper wasn’t.
Ecuador has been playing in its second World Cup of this year: the U-17 World Cup. We made it through the group stage with one defeat, against Nigeria, and two victories, against Australia and Hungary. On Thursday, we’ll play our first knockout game, against the Italians; should we progress, our next opponents will be either the Chileans or the Brazilians (the hosts).
This tournament is hardly the most prestigious or the most predictive of long-term success. Still, it matters. It generates some lovely “human interest” stories, such as this one about a man who walked many miles, over mountains, so his son could play.
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Karin will continue staying at home with Samuel all through November. I’ve been learning to care for the boy. Often, when I hold him, he doesn’t cry. He listens when I talk – and sometimes smiles.
Karin has been leaving him with me for short periods. Today she went shopping and then to the zoo to see South Bend’s new rhinoceros. The rhino stayed out of view. At home, I watched Lina Wertmüller’s World War II movie, Seven Beauties; Samuel slept.
The one sad thing is that the Germans were KO’d while wearing their classic green “away” uniforms. I’d waited well over a decade for the Germans to bring back those uniforms. I hope that the color doesn’t fall out of favor with them again.
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The result developed as follows:
Sweden and Mexico weren’t scoring (their game was being played at the same time as Germany vs. South Korea).
Germany and South Korea weren’t scoring.
Up until that point, the Germans were on course to qualify for the second round at Sweden’s expense.
Then, the Swedes scored, leapfrogging the Germans and Mexicans in Group F and obliging the Germans to defeat South Korea.
Then, the Swedes scored again, for insurance, with a penalty kick.
Then, the Mexicans scored against themselves.
The Germans needed just one goal to go ahead of the Mexicans (they still would’ve trailed the Swedes).
The Germans sent all their players, including their goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, down the field to chase the victory they needed. The Koreans stole the ball from Neuer and launched it into the space he’d vacated. South Korea’s star forward, Son Heung-min, reached the ball first and tapped it in.
This lifted South Korea above Germany in Group F. Germany finished butt-naked last.
The Mexicans wept all over the field, grateful that the Koreans’ defeat of Germany had allowed them to qualify for the next round (in which they surely will be KO’d by Brazil).
The Germans tried hard not to weep, but some of them did.
The Swedes looked about the same as ever.
The Koreans celebrated as if they’d won the World Cup, even though Mexico’s failure to defeat Sweden ensured that they, too, were eliminated.
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At the beginning of the tournament, it was understood that Son Heung-min, who plays for Tottenham Hotspur, would have to leave that club to complete his military service – unless the Korean team performed especially well, in which case he would be granted an exemption.
Well, the Koreans are now disqualified. But they’ve performed a service to their country – and to the globe – by KO’ing the Germans.
I hope that the Korean government recognizes Son’s contribution and lets him off the hook.
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The Germans may have been KO’d, but the Argentinians raised themselves from the dead against Nigeria. Messi scored a wondergoal. Then, when the game had nearly expired, Argentina scored again to stave off elimination. (In the stands, Maradona celebrated both goals very strangely.)
When Argentina shows more grit than Germany, you know there’s something in the water.
Africa completed its World Cup qualification cycle. These are the five successful teams: Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia.
In Europe, the Italians were knocked out by the Swedes. This was notable but not surprising. Since 2006, the Italians have underwhelmed.
The Northern Irish lost heartbreakingly against the Swiss. For analysis, I recommend an excellent video – “This Referee is Terrible. Never a Penalty. 12 Man Switzerland Beat Northern Ireland 1-0” – by YouTube user Themadmistake. (Karin told me not to link to this video. It has filthy language.)
The Greeks also failed to qualify, having lost to the Croatians.
Tomorrow, the Republic of Ireland will host Denmark in the culmination of yet another playoff series. And on Wednesday, Australia will host Honduras. In both these series, the initial matches were goalless.
The same was true of Peru’s first match against New Zealand. This series also will be decided on Wednesday, in Lima.
In the first game, in Wellington, the Peruvians were the vastly superior team. A timid team will bring the ball out of its own half by booting it through the air, and a good team will bring the ball upfield by performing a sequence of short passes. But the Peruvians brought the ball out simply by dribbling. The Kiwis were powerless to prevent this.
And yet the game was scoreless because the Kiwis packed all their players in front of their own goal.
Also, both teams were without their best strikers:
(1) The New Zealander Chris Wood, who was injured. He did make a rather terrifying appearance late in the second period.
(2) The Peruvian Paolo Guerrero, who’d tested positive for illicit drug use. As they say in Peru, Hoja de coca no es droga.
Tragedy for the Bosnians and Herzegovinians. A goal by Edin Džeko was wrongly disallowed. The Nigerians scored, killed time, and won. The Europeans were eliminated. …
Against Argentina, the Iranians had the better chances — and then Messi made a wondergoal. …
In the most thrilling match so far, the Ghanaians led late. My heart sank when the Germans brought on Miroslav Klose. I knew that he would score.
Iran/Nigeria. … “Dreadful stuff,” the British commentator said. Afterward, Alexi Lalas, the U.S. commentator, apologized for the game.
The day got worse. …
The Ghanaians steamrolled over the U.S. players — I mean, made them look pathetic — only to fail, again and again, just outside the box. Bad cross after bad cross. Bad shot after bad shot. No self-belief. “Just bring the ball inside the box, on the ground,” I thought. “They can’t defend against that.” And that was how, at last, the Ghanaians scored their tying goal. Then they switched off their brains and allowed the U.S. to steal the victory.
