Plenty of Nothing

Tilburg Trappers versus Füchse Duisburg

"You wanna dance? You wanna DANCE?" Source.

Tilburg Trappers host Füchse Duisburg. Tilburg are currently first in the Oberliga Nord, Duisburg eighth.

Füchse Duisburg was founded in 1971 as Duisburger SC. The club played in the DEL from 2005-06 to 2008-09, but then a financial crisis sent them down to the fourth tier. Füchse is German for foxes.

Canadians playing for Füchse: Matt Abercrombie, Steven Deeg.

Three Tilburg players are among the top ten scorers in the league. Mitch Bruijsten is second in total points with 31 goals and 26 assists. Danny Stempher is fifth with 52 points. Max Hermens is ninth with 46 points.

Duisburg is an industrial city at the confluence of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers.

Which teams in the top German leagues are located in the North Rhine and Ruhr Valley?

DEL: Düsseldorfer EG, Iserlohn Roosters, Kölner Hair, Krefeld Pinguine

DEL2: none

Oberliga: Füchse Duisburg, Moskitos Essen, Herner EV, Krefeld Pinguine U23

[Trappers win 5 - 2.]

Counting Waves

Why tears, honest friend? There's a deal of sense, I think, in that fable of Aesop's where a man sits on the shore by the water's edge to count the waves. When he fails he is hurt and takes it badly, until the Fox comes up to him and says: "Why are you worrying about those that have gone, my noble sir? Let them go and begin your count from here."

Lucius, "Herotimus" (Loeb volume 6, page 413).

Fox Spirit

Detail from a Fox Spirit Scroll by Otagaki Rensetsu. Source.

Dragon and Fox

Check out the line work in this 17th-century Persian dragon. You'd think that China and Northern Germany were next door neighbours. Source.

Fox Netsuke

The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco has netsuke too. This ivory fox has gradually achieved its fox colour over two or three centuries of use.

Hiroshige Foxfire

Did you know about the foxes who congregate around a certain tree on New Year's Eve and breath fire? You can read about it at the Brooklyn Museum site, and view the rest of Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo as well.

Fox Is a Cute Animal

Thanks to a incredibly generous giveaway at Strange Adventures, I'm reading my way through the first ten volumes of xXxHoLic, by the manga group Clamp. The drawing style is highly ornate, reminiscent of Aubrey Beardsley, and the stories swing between daffiness and old-school horror. But they really hit the cuteness bull's eye with the fox spirits. You just want to be kind and helpful to the next fox you meet. Anne of Green Gables could use some fox spirits. Douglas (I lifted the scan and post title from this site.)