August 2008

I found these pretty amusing.

I found this clip while doing some research on music in the Olympics.  If you’ve watched any of NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, you’ve heard it a hundred times already.  It’s John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare and Theme written for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

This clip is of the premiere of the Olympic Fanfare and Theme during the Opening Ceremonies of the 1984 Olympic Games.  It’s nice to hear the voices of Jim McKay and Peter Jennings again.

After watching the 2008 Opening Ceremony in Beijing, the LA Opening Ceremony looks like it was put on by a high school marching band.  The bar for the Olympic Opening ceremony has been raised, perhaps too high.

From NYTimes.com: Two Women Sentenced to ‘Re-education’ in China

Two elderly Chinese women have been sentenced to a year of “re-education through labor” after they repeatedly sought a permit to demonstrate in one of the official Olympic protest areas, according to family members and human rights advocates.

…

At least a half dozen people have been detained by the authorities after they responded to a government announcement late last month designating venues in three city parks as “protest zones” during the Olympics. So far, no demonstrations have taken place.

It totally blows my mind that the IOC and the international community allows this to happen especially with the Olympics going on.

There have been zero protests in the designated protest areas because not only has China not approved any permits, they’ve arrested and thrown into jail some of those who tried to register.

Meanwhile the international community sits back and enjoys the games.  World leaders need to to take a stand to ensure the release and the guaranteed safety of these individuals.

T-Shirt from the Hotness Factory

The good news, Taipei has made the International Monopoly edition.  Bad news, if you choose to look at value of the property it has on the board, it’s the second lowest, just above Gdnyia, a city in Poland.  The top twenty were selected from list of 70 cities.  The last two, Taipei and Gdnyia were selected during a runoff vote from a list of 20 cities that were written-in.

Here’s the list:
It seems like not everyone is happy with their positioning.
From Evening Standard: New Monopoly board puts a poor value on London

Thanks to Judy for sending me the link to the International Monopoly

From ESPN.com: China’s Olympic ceremony features sacrifices

In the Olympic ceremony segment showcasing the Chinese invention of movable type, the nearly 900 performers who crouched under 40-pound boxes donned adult diapers to allow them to stay inside for at least six hours, Beijing organizers said.

…

While in Beijing, the constant exposure to the dizzyingly hot summer resulted in heatstroke for some students, particularly during one rain-drenched rehearsal that stretched on for two days and two nights.

The students were kept on their feet for most of the 51-hour rehearsal with little food and rest and no shelter from the night’s downpour, as the show’s directors attempted to coordinate the 2,008-member performance with multimedia effects, students and their head coach told the AP.

Pretty shocking article.  It seems like the IOC should have been checking it’s own opening ceremonies for human rights violations.

Photos from SI.com: Bolt’s World Record Run

This race isn’t even close.  He doesn’t even seem human. Amazing.

From Bengals.com: Henry returns

How hard is it to stay home and keep out of the way of trouble?  We’ll find out, because the Chris Henry show is rolling into town again.

The bar for success is so incredibly low, that it seems like it should be a slam dunk for him to make it back.  But, who knows.

As Forest Gump said – “Stupid is as stupid does”.

Here’s Michael Phelps wearing his 8 gold medals on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

There is no Mark Spitz post Olympics Sports Illustrated cover of him wearing his seven medals because of the attack on the Israeli athletes at the Munich games.

Missed this interesting NYTimes article on Michael Phelps

He knew that prepubescent children can, through training, increase the size of their hearts and lungs in ways that are no longer possible later on. “The larger the heart and lungs,” he has noted, “the bigger the aerobic engine.” Beginning when Phelps was 12, he worked the swimmer seven days a week, guided by the assumption that competitors who rested on Sundays were at least one-seventh less conditioned. “Michael has a pretty easy life,” he would joke, “if you don’t count the five hours a day of torture I put him through.”

The commitment and work ethic to become Olympic champion is something that average person can not comprehend.  That’s why we’re the average person.