So I was reading this article in today's New York Times titled "Is Italy Too Italian?" about how Italy's ossified labor rules and lack of economic dynamism is pushing it into stagnation but not into crisis, and all I could think was how you could replace the words "Italy" and "Italian" with "Argentina" and "Argentine" and the story would be equally true, and then I came across this paragraph:

“Before World War II, Argentina was rich,” [Professor Giavazzi] says. “Even in 1960, the country was twice as rich as Italy.” Today, he says, you can compare the per capita income of Argentina to that of Romania. “Because it didn’t grow. A country could get rich in 1900 just by producing corn and meat, but that is not true today. But it took them 100 years to realize they were becoming poor. And that is what worries me about Italy. We’re not going to starve next week. We are just going to decline, slowly, slowly, and I’m not sure what will turn that around.”

Ouch! Because it's so true...

As everyone knows by now, Maradona is gone, gone, gone, either fired or pushed or not renewed, whatever floats your boat. Me, I'm torn about the prospect of a Maradona-free team. You'd have to be a lobster-brained booster or a hook-line-and-sinker sucker to say he was a great coach. But he was an inspiring sideline presence with his multiple watches and rosary and passion. And no one can deny he was a great player. With a strategic-minded assistant behind him, a real x's-and-o's man taking charge of the gritty planning, Maradona could be a great leader. That said, I should applaud AFA Prez Julio Grondona for demanding that El 10 dump his assistants and take a more titular role. But whenever I see, hear or discuss anything to do with Grondona, all I'm left with is the intangible inkling that he's a mafioso figure with vaguely nefarious motives, thus leading me to wonder what's really behind Maradona's departure. Though it should be noted that such conspiratorial imaginings on my part may just mean that I've been in Argentina too long.

On a happer note, I do like Olé's imagining of the perfect Argentine DT.

As I've been wrapped up in writing my book about the history and boom of Argentine wine, I've been (happily) spending large amounts of time in Mendoza, Salta and their wineries. The only downside, if there has been one besides liver damage, is that I've been spending almost all my time at the larger wineries because they tend to have longer histories in the Argentine wine scene. Not much of a downside, but a minor complaint. And so, when GoodAirs friend Daniel Karlin asked if I'd check out one of his Anuva Wines tastings and give my read on it, I took him up on the opportunity. Anuva specializes in promoting, exporting and selling boutique Argentine wines, which are often incredibly hard to find otherwise (oddly, because of the efforts of people like Daniel, they're often easier to find in the U.S. than down here).

The tasting took me to the Rendez Vous Hotel in Palermo Hollywood, a sleek sort of post-Philippe Starck hotel whose only superficial downside was its reliance on the safety-cone orange color. Besides Daniel and his assistant there were six of us tasters and we went through six wines, ranging from a Hom sparkling wine to a Mairena Bonarda and a Cavagnaro Malbec Reserve. Each was paired with a complementary hors d'oeuvre and explanations from Daniel. It was an enjoyable experience, not only because it exposed us to relatively unknown wines, but also because it got things right that wine tastings often miss. Daniel himself proved to be an able guide, explaining the peculiarities of Argentina's Andean wine zone--its aridity, altitude, etc--in ways that made sense both to the neophytes and the knowledgeable (we were a mixed group), and mixing pre-planned commentary with free form Q&A. This was pleasant, as I find a lot of wine tastings a bit too rigid, either newbee "How They Make Wine 101" workshops or pretentious master classes of trivia one-upsmanship. Also, the food was varied and excellent (from empanadas to chocolate); considering none of us were professional tasters and matching wine with food is important, this was a vast improvement on water crackers. And of course you have to mention the wine--the Hom sparkling was fabulous, all apple tingles and fine bubbles, and the raspberry and chocolate Don Juan Reserva from Las Perdices was supple and rich. Really a lovely tasting.

The World Cup's not over, but it's over for us, and too early. After two days of pain (and a little ray of hope for neighbor Uruguay), it's time for a quick roundup of what's been said.

1) Here's a fairly concise breakdown of the tactical and strategic mistakes Argentina made against Germany. Like not playing defense. In the words of GoodAirs friend Petre (the artist behind the image above), "Sinceramente no me gustó cuando hace casi dos años lo propusieron a Diego como DT de la selección. No tanto por saber de fútbol y poder refutarle cuestiones de táctica y estrategia, sino más bien porque sentía que se lo elegía más por una cuestión emotiva, irracional y de culto a la personalidad, que por sus reales aptitudes como director. Una vez que asumió el cargo, listo, ya está, no dije más nada y le desée la mejor de las suertes. Sin embargo me sorprendió en toda la previa del mundial (a excepción de sus exabruptos luego del partido con Uruguay el año pasado), su actitud sobria y educada en contraposición con lo que me esperaba. Y mucho más me sorprendió durante los partidos en Sudáfrica, donde brilló lo mejor de su lado emotivo (estimulando y apoyando en todo a sus jugadores, con paternal y solidaria entrega) y en cierta medida sus competencias como director técnico y estratega." At the end, though, motivation and magic fell in the face of good strategy.

2) A New York bar packed with Argentine fans watching the World Cup quarterfinal between Argentina and Germany were shocked when a man walked in dressed up as former German dictator Adolf Hitler. Responding to their, well, complaints, imitation Hitler Steve Staso said, "You don't tell people in Hell's Kitchen what to do. The point is to have fun. You can't have fun anymore?" (link)

3) When the enemy's not Hitler, it's Uruguayan player Luis Suárez--i.e. the guy who batted the sure Ghanain goal out of the arc with his hands, only to see his less-than-kosher move rewarded when Ghana's Gyan missed the penalty kick. It's interesting to see how objectionable Suárez's move was to the US press and how little reprobation it seemed to get elsewhere (save, presumably, Ghana).

When I saw that Paraguayan patriot/superfan/poledancer Larissa Riquelme was urging her World Cup side to greatness with the promise of a nude-save-for-bodypaint streak through the streets of Asunción if the guaraní team wins the tournament, I could only think of another loyal lady patriot who led her own country to the promised land: Delacroix's Liberty, aka Marianne.

Meant to post this before but that work thing keeps getting in the way. Anyway, here's a sort-of recent story by GoodAirs friend (and WSJ correspondent) Matt Moffett on the origins and future of "Pato", Argentina's official sport (though perhaps not for long). "Pato?" you ask. "Why is it called 'Duck'?"

Well, here's the short answer. It's...

...an equestrian competition that was designated Argentina's national sport in 1953, and remains so today, though few people play it. The sport pits four-rider teams against each other in a contest to fling a ball, rigged up with six leather handles, into a tall, butterfly-net shaped goal. The gauchos who pioneered the sport in the 17th century used a live duck, or pato in Spanish, instead of a ball.

Questions?

As we noted in 2006 and 2007, in the annual ranking put out by the HR consulting firm Mercer, Buenos Aires regularly scores among the least expensive world cities to live in. This year is no exception: in the 2010 ranking of 214 world cities, Buenos Aires ranks 161, the third cheapest South American city behind only Bolivia's La Paz (211) and Asunción (204) in Paraguay. Brazil's cities are damn-skippy expensive (Sao Paulo, 21; Rio, 29) in large part because of the appreciation of the Real against the US Dollar. Regarding our fair city, the report notes:

As the real estate market in Buenos Aires is quite healthy, property rentals have been quite stable, even increasing slightly at the end of 2009. It is expected that in 2010 the real estate market will show more activity. There is a good choice of both furnished and unfurnished accommodation.

And here's a La Nación article on the subject.