These Olympics sure have been entertaining. That swimming is like horse racing, but short enough (generally) to keep my attention span. You're all like "there's no way. he lost it, and than BANG outta nowhere one of bursts past the field. That Michael Phelps is doing it! Six medals so far, and six world records smashed.
The women's gymnastics is a highlight, as usual. The women's all around competition for individuals just wrapped up, and if you weren't watching it, you missed out. When that Shawn Johnson landed that triple duple duple shuple she did, having added an extra duple to the mix, at the last minute, to give herself a fightin chance against teammate Nastia Liukin, who was spectacular, I was all like "YEAH!" pumping my fist like I shoulda been whilst watching the Eagles game, which I sadly missed (they won!), and I was thrilled to see her secure the second place trophy.
(I really tried to keep that one sentence paragraph grammatically correct throughout, but it kind of fell apart at the end.)
Throughout the entire first half of the competition, it seemed like the Americans were getting GYPPED! All their scores were just a tad bit lower than what it seemed like they shoulda been, whist their Chinese brethren were getting scores slightly higher than what one would think they deserved.
Enough with the cheating and deception! Of course, we all enjoyed the two pretty little girls who took turns singing at the opening ceremonies. Well, I guess they sang at the same time, or something like that. One was just hidden in the corner with a bag over her head.
I enjoyed reading this report, which documents the fact that earlier in the past year, one of the Chinese gymnasts was profiled in a story that said she was 13, a full three years younger than is allowed.
But its all good. Those American gals showed EVERYONE. They just dug deep and didn't even flinch on the drama landing maneuver after maneuver and really earning their one and two spots on the winner's podium.
Great night. China won the team comp a few night previously, but the two American girls really laid it out tonight. The medal count is pretty close, with the US taking a big jump today in the overalls, bypassing China nicely. The US is still 8 golds behind the Chinese total of 22, but it is way early yet. There are still nine days before the closing ceremonies.
I think the ceremonies will be remembered positively, overall, despite the Russo-Georgian War that broke out literally in conjunction with the opening ceremonies (my sense is this was done on purpose) and the general dark cloud that remains over China. I had a friendly argument with a friend who feels that our participating in the Olympics is an abomination, due to the Chinese tradition of repression and violent authoritarianism.
I argued that, despite this, it has nothing to do with the Olympic athletes, and once the Games start, you have to put all of that aside. Still, I was glad to see all of the protesting during the torch relay, and feel that by highlighting China overall, you bring all the ugly stuff out into the light. I argued that although China still has a long way to go in terms of allowing its people "freedoms," it has come a long way in the past thirty years, thanks in no small part to our being willing to engage them back then. In retrospect, I have had this discussion with a few people who have disagreed with my sentiments. So that tells you what it tells you.
After the Olympics, the "NBC 10" News comes right on, and they are ALL about the drama. A tire jumped off a tractor and into the opposite lane on I-95, decapitating a 64 year old gentleman. As terrible as this is, man can they ratchet up the suspense and excitement. Every night must be a parade of poetic histrionica. Mike Strug is the new Wilfred Owen.
Brendan, where are your mobile pics of the big Conshohocken fire??? I was, um, there.
Oh, and by the way, you can expect me to retaliate fully on your aggressive, practically OUTRIGHT DECLARATION of a cover war. Ossetia will be mine!
It's getting late, and since I am just learning what I'm trying to do, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to play it through without the assistance of garage band editing magics.
UPDATE: I recorded the jam, and didn't do it too bad either, but am having trouble getting the sound to work. What do I need to do to rectify this???
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