Plenty of Nothing

Der Wilde Mann

A 25-pfennig notgeld from 1921. Source.

Unser Sandmännchen in Space

The East German children's program Unser Sandmännchen would begin with the little Sandman arriving in some kind of vehicle to watch television with the children. Above we see the arrival happening in orbit. See another orbital sequence here and listen to the theme song.

When East German cosmonaut Sigmund Jähn visited Salyut 6 in 1978 he took along a Sandmännchen figure.

Sources: 1), 2).

Berlin Street Art

Mural from Berlin's Moabit district. Source.

Residenzschloss Darmstadt 1866

By Ernst August Schnittspahn. Source.

The Borsig Mechanical Engineering Institute

Sources: 1), 2).

Mathildenhöhe

The spirit of the world exhibitions of the 1890s lives on in Darmstatd, Hesse. Source. The Wedding Tower has everything you could want in a tower: a clock, a sundial, an observation deck, and a lot of Art Nouveau style. Source.

Neither Mostar Nor Hildesheim

Hildesheim, not Glasgow. Source.

Morton travel to Firhill to meet Partick Thistle.

After half a season Morton have 5 wins, 7 draws, and 6 losses, 20 goals for and 27 against, for 21 points and 6th place. At this rate they'll finish the season with a negative goal difference, and with 42 points which would have put them in 8.5th place in last year's Championship.

Partick are in 9th place with 14 points.

Player movements: Gary Harkins has been released by Queen of the South. He had his best year since 2009-10 with Morton last season. [Signed with Partick!]

Ross MacLean is set to transfer from Morton to Falkirk in January.

Also.

Current winless streaks (league + cup):

0        Ross County

0        Dundee United

0        Alloa

2        Ayr United

2        Inverness CT

2        Partick Thistle

3        Queen of the South

3        Dunfermline

3        Falkirk

4        Morton

How have Morton fared in Match 19 this decade?

2018/1/6        Brechin 1 - 1 Morton

2017/1/7        Morton 2 - 1 Dumbarton

2016/1/2        Morton 0 - 1 St Mirren

2015/1/3        Morton 0 - 1 Airdrieonians

2014/1/4        Dumbarton 2 - 0 Morton

2013/1/5        Cowdenbeath 1 - 1 Morton

2012/1/14      Morton 1 - 1 Raith Rovers

2011/2/12      Falkirk 1 - 0 Morton

2010/1/4        Partick Thistle 1 - 0 Morton

1 win, 3 draws, 5 losses.

How many points did Morton have at the midpoints of the last ten seasons?

2017-18        27

2016-17        28

2015-16        24

2014-15        31

2013-14          9

2012-13        35

2011-12        25

2010-11        21

2009-10        15

2008-09        22

Other Championship matches:

Alloa (8th) [2 - 1] Dundee United (3rd) [Alloa's first league win against Dundee United since 1960.]

Falkirk (10th) [2 - 4] Dunfermline (7th)

QoS (5th) [1 - 1] Ayr United (2nd)

Ross County (1st) [2 - 1] Inverness CT (4th)

[Morton win 1 - 2. Goals by Tiffoney and Telfer.]

How many games have Partick Thistle played against the other 2018-19 Championship clubs?

220        Morton

216        Falkirk

135        Ayr United

119        Dundee United

118        Queen of the South

104        Dunfermline

  55        Ross County

  36        Alloa

  35        Inverness CT

1951-52. Morton were at home to Partick Thistle and lost 1 - 2. Morton ended 1951 in 12th place with 14 points and a 0.8611 goal average.

Arthurlie versus Morton. Both clubs were founded in 1874. They met in the Scottish Cup twice in the 19th Century. In Round Two of the 1879-80 Cup Arthurlie won 8 - 3 in a game played in Barrhead. In Round Two of the 1896-97 Cup Morton prevailed 5 - 1 in a game also played in Barrhead.

Arthurlie entered the Scottish League in 1901 but never made it up to Division One. Meanwhile Morton were enjoying a run of success and did not drop down to Division Two until well into the Twenties, the result being that they only had two seasons against Arthurlie, 1927-28 and 1928-29. In their four games Morton won three and Arthurlie one, and the Greenockians outscored the Barrhead men 9 to 6.

It's in the Renfrewshire Cup that you get the largest body of results. The county cup began in 1878, and still goes on, more or less. Arthurlie won the cup in 1880-81 and 1881-82. Morton first won it in 1892-93, and have won it again over fifty times since.

1879/10/18        Morton 2 - 3 Arthurlie

1885/2/7            Morton 2 - 2 Arthurlie

1885/2/14          Morton 2 - 2 Arthurlie

1885/2/21          Arthurlie 1 - 1 Morton

1885/3/7            Arthurlie 3 - 2 Morton (yet it was Morton who advanced)

1889/10/26        Arthurlie 4 - 3 Morton

1892/10/29        Morton 5 - 2 Arthurlie

1895/11/16        Morton 4 - 1 Arthurlie

1905/4/15          Morton 2 - 0 Arthurlie

1905/4/22          Arthurlie 1 - 2 Morton

1906/4/21          Morton 2 - 2 Arthurlie

1906/5/5            Arthurlie 0 - 0 Morton

1906/5/12          Morton 4 - 3 Arthurlie

1912/3/30          Morton 2 - 0 Arthurlie

1912/4/23          Arthurlie 1 - 1 Morton

1914/4/?            Morton W - L Arthurlie

1922/4/10          Morton 4 - 3 Arthurlie

1923/10/1          Arthurlie 0 - 1 Morton

1925/8/25          Morton 2 - 3 Arthurlie

 Source.

But wait, there's also the Renfrewshire Victoria Cup:

1928/9/17          Morton 2 - 0 Arthurlie

1928/10/1          Arthurlie 2 - 4 Morton

Source.

And the Greenock Charity Cup:

1891/4/18          Morton 3 - 1 Arthurlie

Source.

Angus: Forfar [2 - 0] Brechin

Montrose [1 - 1] Arbroath

40th Empress's Cup, semi-finals:

Match No. 45: Nippon TV Beleza [1 - 0] Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies

Match No. 46: JEF United Chiba Ladies [0 - 1] INAC Kobe Leonessa

West Germany and Yugoslavia: two postwar countries of similar size and shape. Which was the greater soccer power?

West German clubs versus Yugoslav clubs:

1962-63         OFK Belgrade 4 - 1 Bayern Munich              IFC GS

1962-63         Bayern Munich 4 - 4 OFK Belgrade              IFC GS

1962-63         Rijeka 2 - 1 Rot-Weiss Oberhausen              IFC GS

1962-63         Rot-Weiss Oberhausen 4 - 3 Rijeka              IFC GS

1962-63         Velež Mostar 9 - 1 VfV Hildesheim                IFC GS

1962-63         VfV Hildesheim 0 - 2 Velež Mostar                IFC GS

1963/3/?        Bayern Munich 1 - 4 Dinamo Zagreb            ICFC QF

1963/4/?        Dinamo Zagreb 0 - 0 Bayern Munich            ICFC QF

1965/11/9      Partizan Belgrade 3 - 0 Werder Bremen        EC R1

1965/11/17    Werder Bremen 1 - 0 Partizan Belgrade        EC R1

1966-67        Karlsruher 2 - 1 Olimpija Ljubljana                  IFC GS

1966-67        Olimpija Ljubljana 2 - 1 Karlsruher                  IFC GS

1967/?/?        Eintracht Frankfurt 3 - 0 Dinamo Zagreb       ICFC SF

1967/?/?        Dinamo Zagreb 4 - 0 Eintracht Frankfurt       ICFC SF

1970/10/20    Dinamo Zagreb 4 - 0 Hamburger SV             ICFC R2

1970/11/4      Hamburger SV 1 - 0 Dinamo Zagreb             ICFC R2

1974/11/27    Partizan Belgrade 1 - 0 Köln                          UC R1

1974/12/11    Köln 5 - 1 Partizan Belgrade                          UC R1

1975              Eintracht Braunschweig 2 - 1 Vojvodina Novi Sad    ITC

1975              Vojvodina Novi Sad 3 - 1 Eintracht Braunschweig    ITC

1975/10/22    Red Star Belgrade 1 - 1 Hamburg                 UC R2

1975/11/5      Hamburg 4 - 0 Red Star Belgrade                 UC R2

1977/10/19    Red Star Belgrade 0 - 3 Borussia Mönchengladbach EC R2

1977/11/2      Borussia Mönchengladbach 5 - 1 Red Star Belgrade EC R2

1979/11/28    Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Red Star Belgrade        UC R3

1979/12/12    Red Star Belgrade 3 - 2 Bayern Munich        UC R3

1980/3/5        Hamburg 1 - 0 Hajduk Split                            EC QF

1980/3/19      Hajduk Split 3 - 2 Hamburg                            EC QF

1980              VfL Bochum 2 - 1 Napredak Kruševac           ITC

1980              Napredak Kruševac 2 - 0 VfL Bochum           ITC

1980/9/17      Hamburg 4 - 2 Sarajevo                                 UC R1

1980/10/1      Sarajevo 3 - 3 Hamburg                                 UC R1

1981/9/16      Hajduk Split 3 - 1 VfB Stuttgart                      UC R1

1981/9/30      VfB Stuttgart 2 - 2 Hajduk Split                      UC R1

1982/4/7        Radnički Niš 2 - 1 Hamburg                           UC SF

1982/4/21      Hamburg 5 - 1 Radnički Niš                           UC SF

1986/9/16      Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 - 0 Partizan Belgrade UC R1

1986/10/1      Partizan Belgrade 1 - 3 Borussia Mönchengladbach UC R1

1987/10/21    Borussia Dortmund 2 - 0 Velež Mostar          UC R2

1987/11/4      Velež Mostar 2 - 1 Borussia Dortmund          UC R2

1988              Karlsruher 2 - 3 Vojvodina Novi Sad              ITC

1988              Vojvodina Novi Sad 0 - 2 Karlsruher              ITC

1988/10/26    Dinamo Zagreb 1 - 3 VfB Stuttgart                UC R2

1988/11/9      VfB Stuttgart 1 - 1 Dinamo Zagreb                UC R2

1989/11/22    Red Star Belgrade 2 - 0 Köln                         UC R3

1989/12/6      Köln 3 - 0 Red Star Belgrade                         UC R3

1990              Bayer 05 Uerdingen 2 - 1 Olimpija Ljubljana    ITC

1990              Olimpija Ljubljana 1 - 1 Bayer 05 Uerdingen    ITC

1991/4/10      Bayern Munich 1 - 2 Red Star Belgrade        EC SF

1991/4/24      Red Star Belgrade 2 - 2 Bayern Munich        EC SF

West Germany 23, Yugoslavia 20, plus 8 draws.

(IFC = International Football Cup; ICFC = Inter-Cities Fairs Cup; EC = European Cup; UC = UEFA Cup; ITC = Intertoto Cup.)

Velež Mostar are currently top of the First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is one of two leagues that make up tier II in Bosnia Herzegovina. In 2003 VfV Hildesheim merged with Borussia 06 Hildesheim to become VfV 06 Hildesheim. They are currently 6th in the fifth-tier Oberliga Neidersachsen.

Mostar, not Greenock. Source.

Toy Museum, Nuremberg

Source.

Ceramic Map of Höhr-Grenzhausen

Höhr-Grenzhausen in Rhineland-Palatinate has been a hub of ceramic production for hundreds of years.   Source.

Stony Berlin

I wonder if Jason Lutes took some of the inspiration for his Berlin trilogy from Werner Hegemann's critique of Berlin tenement housing, Das Steinerne Berlin, which translates as Stony Berlin. Hegemann was chased out of Germany by the Nazis.