bex77

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There's a big sporting event going on in Africa. Not my thing, but I try to keep up with what the entire rest of the world is obsessing over, so here are a few snippets I found in my travels on the intrawebs during a quiet day at work yesterday:

Catchy theme song
"Waka Waka" sung by Skakira (whose hips don't lie)
video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRpeEdMmmQ0
lyrics http://www.directlyrics.com/shakira-waka-waka-lyrics.html
what the African words mean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamina_mina_%28Zangalewa%29

Just what is a vuvuzela?
If you listen to any of the games, you will hear this buzzing...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeotaq04JcE

The World Cup happens every four years. It's like the Olympics, except there's only one sport. It's what we call soccer, but everyone else calls football. This is the 18th World Cup final. They started in 1930, skipped '42 and '46. Seven national teams have won over the years - Brazil five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. Italy, the current champions, have won four titles, and Germany next with three titles. The other former champions are Uruguay, winners of the inaugural tournament, and Argentina, with two titles each, and England and France, with one title each. There a "geography thing" where European teams win when its in Europe, and South American teams win when it's anywhere else. It's being held in Africa for the first time, so no one is sure what will happen. Various pundits favor Brazil, Italy, Germany, Spain or Argentina to win in the end.

There are 32 teams in the final (out of 165 countries that play). They each play 3 times in the next two weeks. The top 16 teams advance. This goes on until the final final, Sunday, July 11.

The U.S. team plays its first finals match today, against England. There is a lot of history between these two countries, on and off the pitch (that what they call the field they play on).

The BBC has a fun interactive site with the entire schedule on one page. If you click a country along the bottom, it gives you a page with articles about that team and its matches.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2010/groups_and_teams/team/usa

And of course...Elephants!
South African Elephants join in World Cup
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10300702.stm

Enjoy!

Eight wicked cute photos of the first appearance of Bimas, a baby elephant born March 15 in Berlin.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/GALLERY-Asian-Elephant-Calf-Bimas-Makes-His-First-Appearance-At-Tierpark-Friedrichsfelde-in-Berlin/Media-Gallery/201003315577342

There was a great bit on CBS "60 Minutes" last night about people studying elephant language and behavior, trying to put together an "elephant dictionary." They've posted the entire 14 minute segment online, along with a couple of shorter videos. If pachyderms interest you, take a look!

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6050249n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

I recently discovered new Oreo Fun Stix, a profiterole-like tubular cookie with oreo outside and white stuff inside, that can be used as a straw to drink milk and then snarfed. They are too good. Don't try them. Habit-forming!

So it turns out that the commercial for them has a...wait for it...elephant! Too cute!
http://vodpod.com/watch/1501087-new-oreo-fun-stix

Pink Elephant is caught on camera

"A pink baby elephant has been caught on camera in Botswana. A wildlife cameraman took pictures of the calf when he spotted it among a herd of about 80 elephants in the Okavango Delta. Experts believe it is probably an albino, which is an extremely rare phenomenon in African elephants."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7951331.stm

Thanks, lillibet

Harvard is putting on a big to-do at Sanders Theater this afternoon to give our illustrious Senator, Ted Kennedy, an honorary degree. He didn't get it at Commencement in June because he was in N.C. recovering from brain surgery. Rumor is that Joe Biden is coming with a message from the President-elect! Should be political theater and Harvardiana at its highest. Previous recipients of such honors were George Washington, Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela.

We get to slack off work and watch it streaming live on the big screen in one of the classrooms. The News Office promises that a link will appear on http://www.harvard.edu at 4:15 pm. Join in if you want to witness the spectacle.