June 26, 2010

Madison, U.S.A.

It was a great day to stroll by the lake and maybe take a plunge:

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You could sail or wear a balloon hat:

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Eat a brat:

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But what's this? Inside?! The Rathskeller is packed. (As are many other locations around town.)

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All eyes are focused on that drop-down screen:

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It's the World Cup, U.S.A. versus Ghana:



It was great to hear chants of "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" in Madison.

35 comments:

Big Mike said...

"U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" in Madison

Is that because the average UW students and faculty members don't regard themselves as being part of the USA?

Anonymous said...

"U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" in Madison. Is that the "other" America John Edwards used to talk about?

Anyway, that sure worked out well: Ghana 2, US 1. No miracle on grass this year.

MadisonMan said...

Back in the early '80s I did swim in the Lake off that pier. No way would I do it now.

kjbe said...

"It was great to hear chants of "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" in Madison"

See, Madison isn't so bad.

I see clouds like that and always hum, "The Simpsons..."

Jason (the commenter) said...

I see your man in shorts and raise you a man in a mini-kilt.

WV: metermo

Unknown said...

Hey, I wanted to see Ann in a balloon hat.

Wince said...

Eat on the Brat... with a baseball bat.

What can you do?
With a brat like that (always on your back)
What can you lose?

tim maguire said...

Sure, they'll chant "USA! USA!" When the USA is doing something European.

Jason (the commenter) said...

One brat and two people...

I'm envisioning that scene from Lady and the Tramp, but in an entirely different light.

Anonymous said...

OK, but now it should be perfectly clear that whatever Jurgen Klinsmann wanted in the way of control should be agreed to and he should be immediately named as our new national team coach for the next 4 years.

Teams far more talented than USA have turned to foreign coaches, why oh why didn't we, when we had the chance to pick up Klinsmann?

mesquito said...

The Whitest Town in America, or what?

traditionalguy said...

Ok guys, where are the African-Americans? Just wait until Jessie Jackson sees these lilly white pics. Mandatory busing maybe the only remedy.

chickelit said...

Photo #1 A buddy and I used to grab a 12 pac of Special Ex or Old Style after work during college and go drink beer off that pier. Then we’d bike home.

Photo #2 That’s the very beginning of the bike path which was the first leg of the bike ride back to Middleton. I knew that path so well I could do it drunk in the dark.

Photo #3 I didn't eat many brats there. Brats were something I ate at family gatherings or we grilled ourselves.

Photo #4 Ah, the Rathskellar. Fond memories. I think I drank my first Spaten Pils there. I also have a very strong “smell” memory of the Student Union. Back in the late 70s – early 80’s it had its own unique odor. It's waned a bit over the years.

Photo #5 I watched a lot of bands play there and also outside and upstairs in the big hall. Strange but it looks like the walls got a makeover. Are all those cool German sayings and murals still up? How about the “War between Wine and Beer “:

Bier nach Wein, laß es sein; Wein nach Bier, das rat ich dir

Beer after wine, let it be; wine after beer I advise thee.

former law student said...

The Motto of the Rathskeller: Leichten Muthes bring herein, lass draussen die sorgen sein.

All Rathskellers seem more or less based on the one beneath Munich's City Council chambers. (Rat: counsel, advice -- German purged terminal h's off words like Rath and Wirth).

chickelit said...

Link describing some of the Rathskellar's original art and murals here.

Jason (the commenter) said...

traditionalguy: Ok guys, where are the African-Americans? Just wait until Jessie Jackson sees these lilly white pics. Mandatory busing maybe the only remedy.

You can spot at least two minorities if you watch the movie.

chickelit said...

FLS wrote: German purged terminal h's off words like Rath and Wirth).

See also Neandert(h)al. "Thal" or "Tal" is cognate with or word "dale" meaning valley. The neander is a river in Germany.

@FLS: Prost!

Trooper York said...

I thought the Rathskeller is where that Weasel guy said was where all the Republicans hung out.

I didn't know there were that many Republicans in Madison?

rhhardin said...

Vuvuzela-free soccer with flying red white and blue.

Ann Althouse said...

"One brat and two people..."

Meade went over to get some toppings for his. I like mine plain!

Trooper York said...

Touchy. Hee.

Rialby said...

Althouse - I wish you could say something nice and stop being a smartass.

As my whimsy leads me.. said...

The first 3 would make great jigsaw puzzles, but no more than 500 pieces, please.

Toy

Fred4Pres said...

I am glad Team USA lost.

This socialistic contagion needs to be controlled and managed (it is the HIV of sports). The United States and Canada unique in not following it as a primary sport. And that is the way it should stay.

Back to baseball (which is in full swing) and NFL preseason is quickly approaching.

Irene said...

As much as Madison can make me crazy, I do love it here.

Example: I overheard a local woman describing her "glamazon" future daughter-in-law. She turned to her friend and said, "I mean, she's *fancy.* She'll only eat at Culver's."

(Different end of town than campus.)

pm317 said...

The two goals by Ghana were just great and natural (not a penalty shot). They deserved to win.

Ritmo Re-Animated said...

I heard no chants in that video.

Whatever. I felt like blogging about the travesty that is Americans attempting to be cooperative, physically deft and capable of finessing a lateral movement, instead of obsessively trudging forever onward and through things. But then I found a picture of Obama eating hamburgers in Virginia with the Russian president and saved myself from the painful memory that is my country's inability to move around anything with a sense of style.

The waitress watching the game wondered, after the first goal by Ghana, why she was happy to see such a poor country scoring against us. I suppose socialists and the kinetically disinterested will see what they want. But after watching Brazil dance all over the Cote d'Ivoirians last Saturday, I realized how incapable Americans are of moving in a creative direction. The sluggish single-mindedness of purpose that defines America was on full display today, and that's what's caused us to be such graceless and tactless losers on the field.

Well, that, and the game doesn't allow for breaks in the action long enough for Budweiser and other piss-flavored beverage manufacturers to get the 30-second bang for the millions of bucks they care to spend.

Ritmo Re-Animated said...

This is what I call national pride. Some would run sideways, upside down and criss-cross to get to that. And then some people just shoot their load as far afield as their lackadaisical legs will allow them.

Soccer requires style. And America ain't got it. Yet.

Ritmo Re-Animated said...

And the only goal was from a free kick? Wow. I'm speechless.

Revenant said...

Soccer requires style. And America ain't got it. Yet.

Considering our national team did as well or better than 96% of the national teams in FIFA, claiming that soccer is something America just can't perform at is pretty silly.

KCFleming said...

I missed Althouse and Meade in The Rathskeller by 24 hours. Number 2 son and my favorite spouse were visiting the lovely campus, searching for his 2011 Fall Semester. He was favorably impressed. (The student tour guides were bright and shiny young people, unlike the bored U. of Iowa selection.)

We got a coupon for free ice cream, leading us to the previously unknown Union. I repeated my shopworn line from Forrest Gump about ice cream to no one in particular, while a contingent of 20 or so Chileans were cheering on their team as it (eventually) lost to the Spaniards. They seemed like fun.

It was a frabjous day in Madison.

KV said...

The photos are all pretty, but illusions are the order of 2010.
I will never step foot in Wisconsin waterways with swimmers itch, Ecoli, herbicides, feces, you name it, in the water!
The wealthy, who own the shoreline properties and cause much of the chemical pollution are to blame...
Eat the rich, take back the lake!

Titus said...

Sorry Madison isn't that liberal. Once you leave that tiny little space between the capital and State Street you find yourself at East Towne or West Towne or the North side or the Southside-all totally gross and very Wisconsin. Think strip malls, huge cookie cutter apartment complexes and fast food joints-not fab.

Now Cambridge, that is liberal and really fab. And very congested. We are literally on top of each other here. And you can't swing a cat without hitting a dyke.

Brad V said...

I heard, for the first time ever, the chant "1776!" at a bar in New Orleans.

It was amazing.

Ann Althouse said...

@Pogo You should have emailed me. We'd have love to meet you.