If you don't let Rory watch THE game :)

Shin Kicking

Beside Cheese Rolling British have another funny passtime activity: shin kicking. In this sport competitors wear long trousers cushioned by straw. They hold their opponent by the shoulder and kick each other's shinbone. The one who first hits the ground loses. Pretty simple:) The one I feel pity for is the winner...:P

Manchester United

A short video from the film "Eurotrip", about the Manchester United football hooligans :)

Plan for 4 May and 11 May

4 May
Topic: The revival (?) of fantasy

What I plan is really just a loosely structured talk on the genre, which seems to me to be a genuinely British invention, or at least a literary branch made popular and largely dominated by British authors. The genre was lifted to an international appeal by the massive literary hit The Lord of the Rings, first published in the middle of the fifties. Mind you, the most popular book worldwide written in the English language ever since. Probably the most popular ever, after the Bible and the Qur'an. I added the question mark because I am not sure if the boom of the genre we experience nowadays, which is of course largely due to the epic film adaptations is really a revival, or a mere continuation of the style that was ever flourishing even before the 90s. I am sure you are all well acquainted with at least one section of this subject; therefore, I would like to ask you, if you have the time, to prepare with, not really with a presentation, rather just a 'contribution' to the talk on one aspect of fantasy literature. I am not binding your choice neither in the book, nor in the nature of your contribution, which can be anywhere within a frame ranging from academic observations on the genre's roots to expressing your detailed opinion on Alan Rickman's rendering of Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies. I give you some ideas, examples so that you see what I mean:

Where did fantasy literature come from? How did it evolve?
Differences between sci-fi, horror and fantasy
Is the medieval setting a compulsory element of fantasy? Why? Why not?
What explains the huge appeal of the Harry Potter series?
Social critique and morals in fantasy books
Christian elements in The Chronicles of Narnia
Your favourite character in Alice in Wonderland
Fantasy and role-play games
Fantasy films as sure bets for box-office hits
J.R.R. Tolkien, the linguist
Private lives of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Ruppert Grint (if you never heard of them, better start googling right now)
The effect of fantasy on other art forms
I hated/loved the Hungarian translation BECAUSE...
Fantasy in the post-Harry Potter era
My favourite scene in...

So, these are a couple of topics I could write now off the top of my head, you're welcome to use them, but much better, if you can come up with your own ideas. Please put in a comment what you would like to mention. AND what is immensely important is that please bring in some stuff with you - your own books, dvds, posters signed by Ian McKellan, whatever. I myself am going to my parents' this weekend and will be able to retrieve quite an amount of relics, in the form of nice edition Tolkien and Rowling books and an extended cut fancy-box DVD of The Return of the King, among others.


11 May
Topic: Food & Cuisine

As the last occasion, it is going to be sheer fun, nothing else. Please go for a hunt (for example) in Tesco and see what English products you can get that you can present in class. You know, tea, ginger biscuits, Cadbury chocolate, beer, apple tart, small bottle Scotch whisky, cider, parsnip crisps, gravy sauce, ... whatever that is available. Small things, I do not ask you to spend lots of money on it, of course. Better still, if you can cook something British - I would actually encourage those of you staying in the Collegium to try to dazzle the class with some bites of fish&chips, for example. As for myself, I definitely will try to cook something, but I'd rather keep it as a surprise (lest I couldn't make it :) ). The idea is that we'll heap all the stuff we collected, talk about it and have a taste if it is possible. After the feast, I will be glad to have a talk with each of you individually about the term and to sign your markbooks.

A rare moment: when it's good to be Hungarian because of football

From The Times

April 30, 2010

Simon Davies produces magic moment before Zoltan Gera sparks scenes of wild celebration

Fulham 2 Hamburg 1 (Fulham win 2-1 on aggregate)

(Marc Aspland/The Times)

Cottage industry: Davies caps a delicate piece of skill to elude the defenders by guiding the ball past Rost in the Hamburg goal, laying the foundations of a Fulham fightback completed by Gera

Tom Dart

They pinched themselves as they partied at Craven Cottage last night, because a season that began nine months ago today and has encompassed 18 European ties amid 59 fixtures will end in one grand final.

It hardly looked likely on July 30, when Fulham took on FK Vetra, of Lithuania, in the qualifying rounds. It did not even look feasible with 25 minutes left in this match.

We already had our script, or thought we did. A long-range goal from Mladen Petric had finished Fulham. Sigh: Petric again. You will remember him. He is the Croatia forward whose late, skidding strike from distance did for England and Steve McClaren on a rainy Wembley night in November 2007.

Petric’s fine free kick midway through the first half meant Fulham needed to score twice and Bobby Zamora, their totem, had been substituted when the pain from his swollen Achilles tendon had finally proved too much to bear. Brave effort from the underdogs, but destined to be in vain.

Yet soon after the effects of Zamora’s pre-match painkilling injection had worn off, something powerful entered Fulham’s collective bloodstream. They surged, scored twice and held on.

It was resilience worthy of champions, a sudden hurricane of willpower that blew through opponents who had looked almost comfortable, who had been almost there. And with one more win on the Continent, champions are exactly what Fulham will be.

Roy Hodgson’s side did not even afford the Europa League their full attention until Barclays Premier League safety was as good as assured. But a tournament that had enhanced the team’s season was certain to define it once Juventus had been crushed, 4-1 at Craven Cottage, in the round-of-16, second leg.

That night, all those prosaic but necessary virtues that Hodgson has instilled in his players, their organisation, solidity and determination, were joined by a kind of craziness, a mad defiance of the odds, a refusal to accept a defeat staring them in the face.

This, remember, a loss that would not provoke anger or accusations of failure, because everything that has happened in Fulham’s continental adventure has been a gigantic bonus. And clubs such as Fulham are expected to lose to clubs such as Juventus.

But Fulham fight and scrap and persist and win, even when they do not need to, when they have already exceeded expectations and defeat would be no disgrace. And that may be their most extraordinary triumph of all.

The same conviction and imagination that made the Juventus win possible was on show again last night once Zamora had succumbed. He did start, Hodgson having argued in the build-up that the 29-year-old is as important to Fulham as Wayne Rooney is to Manchester United.

Zamora has suffered with a swollen tendon for much of the season and the injury flared up and forced him off in the second half of last week’s first leg, although the player and his manager had expected it to heal more quickly.

Zamora missed training on Wednesday and Hodgson said Fulham would decide at midday yesterday if his leading scorer could play. Even as late as two hours before kick-off, he appeared to be undergoing a fitness test on the pitch. He was not moving fluently — nor did he once the game started.

The visiting team, under new management having dismissed Bruno Labbadia after a 5-1 defeat by Hoffenheim on Sunday, were more focused and forceful in the first half last night than they were on their own patch. Gone was the caution of the first leg: both teams went for it from the start.

Zamora scored after twenty seconds of the quarter-final, second leg in Wolfsburg, but did not show the same lethal early touch yesterday. Sent clear with two minutes gone thanks to a smart one-two with Zoltan Gera, he miscued his shot straight at Frank Rost, the Hamburg goalkeeper.

That sparkling chance could not mask the reality of the first twenty minutes, which was that Hamburg were the sharper side. They took the lead midway through the half. Petric’s fierce free kick was stunning and sudden, like a lightning bolt from a clear blue sky.

Over the wall, curving and sinking into the top corner when until the last milliseconds the trajectory seemed to be taking it high into the Hammersmith End. Mark Schwarzer, the goalkeeper, should have done better; Petric’s execution was faultless.

Zamora was replaced after almost an hour of bravely refusing to listen to his body. Quite why Jerome Boateng was still on the pitch five minutes later was a mystery. The centre back, expected to join Manchester City in the summer, inexplicably launched into a two-footed lunge at the ball near the corner flag that might have seriously hurt Gera, yet was given only a yellow card.

“Stand up if you still believe,” the home supporters bellowed. They were on their feet and fervently keeping the faith after 69 minutes when Simon Davies levelled the scores with a superb goal. The winger controlled Danny Murphy’s lofted pass with the back of his heel and flicked the ball inside Guy Demel before lashing past Rost.

With 15 minutes, left, the ball broke kindly for Gera and he turned and fired Fulham into the lead from seven yards. Bedlam. This old ground has probably never been noisier. A couple of scares followed as Hamburg tried to respond, but Fulham stood firm to reach the final. What comes after Hamburg? Hamburg. Hard to believe, but true, wonderfully true.

Fulham (4-4-1-1): M Schwarzer — J Paintsil (sub: E Nevland, 75min), A Hughes, B Hangeland, P Konchesky — D Duff, D Etuhu, D Murphy, S Davies — Z Gera — R Zamora (sub: C Dempsey, 58).Substitutes not used: P Zuberbühler, B H Riise, C Smalling, J Greening, K Dikgacoi. Booked:Hangeland.
Hamburg (4-4-2): F Rost — G Demel, J Boateng, J Mathijsen, D Aogo — R Tesche (sub: T Rincón, 56; sub: J Guerrero, 79), D Jarolim (sub: D Rozehnal, 90), Zé Roberto, J Pitroipa — M Petric, R van Nistelrooy. Substitutes not used: W Hesl, M Berg, T Arslan, K Schulz. Booked: Boateng.
Referee: C Cakir (Turkey).

John Lennon lyrics 'to fetch $700,000'

We all love the Beatles. But someone will take it to the extreme and spend a fortune on Lennon's handwritten lyrics! So be it. I'd like to call your attention to the part which says BBC banned the airplay of the track, because the line "I'd like to turn you on" alluded to drug use. Seriously, which song does not contain these words nowadays? (Retrieved from the BBC website)

John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to the Beatles song A Day in the Life are expected to make up to $700,000 (£460,000) at auction.

The double-sided sheet of paper with notes written in felt marker and blue ink will go under the hammer at a sale in New York on 18 June.

The lyric sheet also contains some corrections and some other notes penned in red ink.

The song is the final track on the band's 1967 Sgt Pepper album.

Rolling Stone magazine listed it at number 26 in their compilation of the greatest 500 songs of all time, while the album went on to win four Grammy awards.

The BBC banned airplay of the track in 1967 because of the lyric "I'd like to turn you on", which was interpreted as a reference to drug use.

John Lennon died in 1980

This also led to several Asian countries to release Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band minus the song.

The lyric was apparently a later addition by Lennon.

Sotheby's, who are auctioning the lyrics, called A Day in the Life "the revolutionary song that marked the Beatles' transformation from pop icons to artists".

According to the auction house, the current record for the sale of Beatles lyrics is All You Need Is Love, which fetched $1m (£655,450) in 2005.

Rugby Vs. American Football - a scientific study to find out which hurts more :)

Maybe not the most typical british sport..

Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards, a respectable british sportsman's ski-jump at the Winter Olympic Games, Calgary 1988; 59 m. Maybe in feet he would get a better result...

How could one miss such an important sport? Especially when it's World Championship time :))

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooker Watch video, fastest 147, eva' :)

Uncyclopedia

Fun facts about the English language some of us may not have been aware of. Entries 'French', 'German', and 'American English' are not completely awful either. ¡WARNING! Taste for sarcasm is essential. http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/English#British_English