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Sometimes I like to look at Wikipedia’s List of Sports page, which lists different sports and games from around the world into over 100 different categories. These categories range from the more common like ‘Cue Sports’ (e.g., pool, billiards) and ‘Basketball Family’ to those that are less common and obvious like ‘Kite Sports’ and ‘Mind Sports’. 

I could easily kill an afternoon or three trying to learn about every game and sport that’s ever been invented, but to start here are five I’ve chosen at random that I didn’t know about before:

Fistball

Origin/Where it’s played: Central Europe, although many nations around the world field national teams

What it is: Five-a-side volleyball played on a large outdoor field. The ball must be hit using the arm or a closed fist. Teams get three hits to pass the ball back over the net, however the ball is allowed to bounce once on the ground before each hit. 

Wikipedia fun fact: In 1927, almost 12,000 teams played organized fistball in Germany.

Racketlon

Origin/Where it’s played: Europe

What it is: It’s what the decathlon is to track and field sports, except with the racket sports of table tennis, badminton, squash, and tennis. In a match, players play one set in each discipline, moving from smallest racket to largest. 

Wikipedia fun fact: As of June 2016, the International World Tour contains 23 events divided into six challengers, 12 International World Tour tournaments, two Super World Tour tournaments and three World Championships (singles, doubles and national teams).

Pato

Origin/Where it’s played: Argentina

What it is: A horseback game like polo, except teams are passing what is essentially a basketball with handles to one another, trying to throw it into the opposing team’s basket.

Wikipedia fun fact: Pato was banned several times during its history because of the violence—not only to the duck [which was originally used instead of a ball]; many gauchos were trampled underfoot, and many more lost their lives in knife fights started in the heat of the game. 

Ekiden

Origin/Where it’s played: Japan

What it is: Similar to cross country running in the US, except the distances are much longer and it’s a team relay instead of an individual race. 

Wikipedia fun fact: One of the most popular modern ekiden in Japan is the Hakone Ekiden, which features teams of 10 male students from various Japanese universities of the Tokyo (Kanto) region. This race from central Tokyo along Tokyo Bay, past Yokohama to Hakone and back is held over two days at the New Year, covering 219 kilometers. It is a popular spectator sport that draws large crowds (a million or more) along the whole route and receives full network television coverage nationwide over the two days.

Swamp Football

Origin/Where it’s played: Finland, UK

What it is: 5-a-side soccer, except that it’s played in a muddy bog or swamp. There is no offside rule and the games consist of two 12-minute halves. 

Wikipedia fun fact: The first organised championship was the 1998 Finnish championship and was the brainchild of Jyrki Väänänen, nicknamed “The Swamp Baron”. There are currently an estimated 300 swamp football teams around the world.

When I listen to an album or a song, the mood doesn’t matter as much as the sincerity of the art. While I tend towards exploring what are considered negative emotions or experimental and alienating fantasy scapes, I do love a good pop tune and I like something happy and uplifting as long as it sounds sincere to me and well, isn’t awful annoying garbage that chases a trend for a short-term cash grab.

Here’s a collaboration between a couple of my favorite artists (the producer Clams Casino and R&B goddess Kelela) that I found to be uplifting after getting through a bit of rough emotional territory in the verses. Goosebumps when the clouds part!

Joe

I woke up at four in the morning to watch the final half of the very exciting World Cup semi-finals match between Belgium and France. I was not disappointed. A lot of people I know were cheering for Belgium – they are ranked third in the world after all, but I went for France. I’ll just say it was a gut feeling. The next big game is on early tomorrow morning between England and Croatia. I will try to get up early again to watch it, but I have no gut feeling on this one. I watched a couple of England’s performances, but not Croatia’s. I would love to see a France versus England match, but who knows. Who do you think will win? England or Croatia?

I was inspired to write today’s blog because of the small dog grooming salon near Amic’s Shigenobu location. The salon’s windows advertises the many extra services it offers dog owners including: training, nail clipping, day care, and boarding. There’s a large window that always has many cute dogs snoozing in the sun or playing together. There’s an abundance of small, brown toy poodles and a few white shitzus. It seems to me that many people in Japan enjoy smaller dog breeds because they are so “kawaii”, but there’s so many types of dogs out there! When I return to the U.S., I would love to get a dog as well! Of course I like small, cute dogs as much as the next person, but maybe there’s a type of quiz that could help me find the dog breed of my dreams….

Turns out there is! Many popular dog food companies offer quizzes to help people find their perfect dog. This quiz from Pedigree asks questions ranging from “How much are you willing to spend a week to feed your dog?” to “Do you want a dog that will protect your property?” These are my top eight breeds according to Pedigree:

 Wow! I have never heard of some of these breeds. I imagine they are all tiny and fluffy dogs because I stated that I live in an apartment with no yard. Let’s see what the next quiz offered by the American Kennel Club suggests:

I never pictured myself as a beagle gal, but, hey, the AKC is the American expert on dogs, right? 

While I’m not sure these are the right dogs for me, it’s nice to have options! Some of these breeds I would have never considered without these quizzes. Plus, it’s a lot of fun to take a quiz that leads to such cute results! I want a dog now!!

アミックブログを訪れていただきありがとうございます^ – ^

７月４日はアメリカの独立記念日ですが、

私がアメリカに住んでいた頃、様々な国の人たちに「日本の独立記念日はいつ？」という質問を受け困惑したのを覚えています。

独立記念ということは、どこかの国に侵略されたり占領されていて、その束縛から解放されて初めて「独立」したということになることを踏まえると、日本はまだ正式には独立していない？？と深く考え込んでしまいました

ここではその話は置いておいて、今回はfireworks （花火）についての話

日本では夏の風物詩の一つで、

夏になると買ってもらった花火を家の庭でクルクル回して遊んだ記憶がありますが、

アメリカでは基本的に違法です

日本のようにいつでもお店に行けば買える訳ではありません

（自分で書いておいてかなりショッキング）

私たちが家や海などでやるような、個人でする花火はアメリカでは年に一度しか出来ないんです

1年に一度限りの待ちにまった日・・・なんだか７月７日の七夕ストーリーみたいですね

７月４日の独立記念日（Independence Day）の昼１２時〜夜１０時までが、

年に一度花火が許される時間なのです

そう考えると、アメリカでの花火のイメージは「祝福ムード」というところでしょうか

夏や花火と聞いてイメージするものは文化によって違いますね。

場所によっては日本でいう春夏秋冬という季節がない所もあると考えると、

同じ人といってもそれぞれがイメージするもの、さらにそういうものに少なからず影響を受ける私たちの思考というのは千差万別ですね

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