The Robot Boys and Old-Time Baseball

A couple of weeks ago we watched the finale of Denmark's "Talent 2008" program, another in the continuing series of reality shows and "Idol" spinoffs that have swamped the world. The thing about doing these in Denmark is that it's such a small country that there's a good chance that the people on these programs are only 2-3 degrees of separation away from most people in the country. Given that Danes are generally modest, I'm surprised that they got as many volunteers as they did. Anyway, the winners "Robert Drengene" (The Robot Boys) put on a good show and came away with 250,000 kroner. This clip is worth watching (from their semifinal performance). This clip is from their first performance in the competition. I like watching the judges' and audience's reactions. Another participant who didn't make it past the semifinals is pretty amazing with the hand flute (starting at 1'15").

Today I listened to game 5 of the World Series. I'll tell you who won... it was the Yankees taking the series by winning the final game 10-6. Oh, did I forget to mention this is the 1949 world series? Since we can't watch the games from 2008 here, I've had to satisfy myself with some baseball history which I came across on the internet. The full game is online complete with Gillette razor ads and every pitch from start to finish. I was struck by how evenly matched the teams were: Berra/Campanella, DiMaggio/Snider, Rizutto/Reese, not to mention Jackie Robinson at the height of his career. Also, it was a treat to hear Mel Allen and Red Barber call the game, bringing it to life over the radio and even a device that they would never have imagined in their day (my iPod). It was also the first World Series game played under lights (turned on late in the game which runs just over 3 hours).

Anya is having fun playing the "Uh-Oh" game where we give her something and she drops it to the sound of Mommy saying "Uh-Oh". This is good for 15-20 minutes of good fun. She's also sitting up in her new Norwegian high chair to eat her meals.