Confessions of an Academic Pseudo-Giraffe
(By the way, there's a great air guitar clip from Conan O'Brien's show on the Air Guitar USA website.)
Berlusconi stew and chicken à la Chirac served at Finland's swamp soccer event
12.7.2005 at 12:47
As the fifth swamp soccer world championships get under way on Friday in Finland's remote Hyrynsalmi, the contestants are sure to face a fearful mountain of washing at the end of the weekend, but never fear: at least the will not go hungry, for they will be served by Ristorante Berlusconi.
The around 6,000 swamp footballers are to enjoy dishes such as Berlusconi stew and chicken legs à la Chirac, named after the Italian and French leaders who have recently joked at the expense of Finnish - and, in the case of the latter, English - cuisine.
"Our championships restaurant is surely the worst in Europe. Berlusconi stew has some sort of kebab meat and the Chirac chicken legs are, in the French style, as small as possible," Jyrki Väänänen, head of the games and the 'Swamp Baron', told the Finnish News Agency (STT) on Tuesday.
The organisers of the championships were originally planning to have a frog dish named after the French president. However, Mr Väänänen was sorry to report that the scorching temperatures of late had not been good for frog hunting.
Furthermore, the prospect of the famed weather forecast frog, used by the Hyrynsalmi Frog Professor, ending up in the pot did not bear thinking about, said Mr Väänänen.
The organisers have had to curb the number of players as the capacity of the peatland venue is limited.
A total of 25 foreign sides are to compete for glory. Parallel to the world title, the swamp soccer champion side of the British Isles is to be known on Sunday.
/STT/
