Dear Kate, Soccer Edition: A Reply

My sister, Kate, has a blog (you can click the link you find the one over there on the right). She did a special post for the Eurocup, which is being hosted in Poland. Granted, she is focused on the whole 'pretty-boy-soccer-player' aspect of these things, and I am not, but that doesn't mean I can't post a rebuttal.

You see, we Darowskis are of Polish descent. And I spent two years in Poland serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. There are some solid reasons that we should be rooting for Poland in this thing. And I am. I even got all my team swag out while I was writing this post. I'm also going to shamelessly advertise the Polish national team, and the amazing goal that their captain scored in the game against Russia a few days ago. (And, just for Kate, I'll try and get a good picture of him on here. I don't know if he holds up to her pretty-boys, but she can decide for herself.)



You can see videos of the goal and the reactions here and here. And here's the classy fan-made video:

Here's a picture of the captain who scored that goal:

His name is Jakub Blaszczykowski. Goes by Kuba for short. Fun fact from Wiki: After every goal he scores he looks up to the sky to dedicate that goal to his mother, who died when he was eleven.

GO POLAND!!!

No One Does it Quite Like Hayao Miyazaki

One of my brothers (John) has an affinity for sharing slightly obscure media. Not the really weird stuff, but he has been responsible for introducing more than one thing into the family that we wouldn't have come across otherwise.

In any case, one of the things that he introduced was the various works of Hayao Miyazaki. (I guess the verb and noun don't agree in number in that sentence, but what the hey!) Mr. Miyazaki is a master of his craft. And his craft isn't exactly limited to one form. He is a Japanese animator, writer, director, and artist. I read that he has been compared to Walt Disney.

Recently, John provided one of Miyazaki's films for some nightly viewing. "The Secret World of Arriety" was pretty much exemplary of Miyazaki's style, and reminded me how much I enjoy watching his films.

He creates such fine characterizations. Also excellent stories. And the animation is exquisite. Oh yeah, there's also the backgrounds. Let me just put some pictures up:

"My Neighbor Totoro"

"Howl's Moving Castle"

"Princess Mononoke"

(oddly enough, even though this one contains the word "princess" in the title, it is one of the few of Miyazaki's films that does not follow the proceedings of a fairly young female protagonist)

"Castle in the Sky"

"Porco Rosso"

"Spirited Away"

All of his stuff is great, but if you have to watch one it should probably be "Spirited Away." It's pretty much his masterpiece.