I'm kinda pissed that I'm not in Dallas for the Liukin rally this weekend. It's kind of a shame that Shawn Johnson seems to be getting more publicity and attention - Liukin won 5 medals, including gold for the all-around! I suppose it's all about personality though - Shawn's got the perkiness going for her, while Liukin seemed more focused (and honestly, a little pissed she didn't win the balance beam).
I went to the Carly Patterson rally back in 2004 and I still remember it pretty well. I wonder if she's play a prominent role in the one for Liukin.
I still think it's pretty crazy that out of the entire world, the past two female Olympic all-around gold medalists went to the same gym and trained together.
While the overall Olympic coverage was very impressive and amazing - to be able to cover that many events on every NBC-affliated channel as well as live streaming events online is no small feat - I think they could have done a lot more to emphasize the athletic prowess (for example, comparing the world record in the 400m to the average human's time) and spent more time portraying China as a country.
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I'm going to the US Open on Sunday with my dad and cousin. I've never been to a professional tennis match so I'm pretty excited. Oddly enough, I've visited 3 of the 4 Grand Slam sites, but not Flushing, NY.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Olympics Update
Well, you can get an update anywhere, but here's my take ;)
I'm glad that we got the 1-2 (Liukin-Johnson) in women's gymnastics - apparently it's the first time in history that taken both gold and silver. Although, I'm really shocked at the judging (Americans would nail perfect routines and the Chinese would literally fall on their asses and yet they both get the same score?!?) and the amount of times the judges needed to get on the phone to figure out some of the scoring. You'd think they'd get more seasoned judges for events like the women's finals all-around.
I was surprised that the Alicia chick was competing again. They interviewed her on NBC and I was also surprised that her voice was so high-pitched, I was expecting it to be deepr. Too bad she didn't medal though, even though this time she stuck her landing. Even worse is that she lost to the German chick who looked like a dude and is in her 30's. I feel bad for the Russian girl who got a 0 on vault because she didn't pay attention to the light. She suffered from Alicia syndrome too and messed up her floor routine right afterwards (although I'm not sure if they ever posted her score officially)..
It's really hard to gauge how good the atheletes are until you can compare it something you've done yourself. They were running the 100m and 400m today, and it's a little clearer. The women ran the 400m in less than a minute. That's one lap at the elementary school track. I'm pretty sure it took me about 2-2.5 minutes if I was running my fastest.
What's left in the Olympics? Swimming's done, as is gymnastics for the most part, yet we still have a week to go!
I'm glad that we got the 1-2 (Liukin-Johnson) in women's gymnastics - apparently it's the first time in history that taken both gold and silver. Although, I'm really shocked at the judging (Americans would nail perfect routines and the Chinese would literally fall on their asses and yet they both get the same score?!?) and the amount of times the judges needed to get on the phone to figure out some of the scoring. You'd think they'd get more seasoned judges for events like the women's finals all-around.
I was surprised that the Alicia chick was competing again. They interviewed her on NBC and I was also surprised that her voice was so high-pitched, I was expecting it to be deepr. Too bad she didn't medal though, even though this time she stuck her landing. Even worse is that she lost to the German chick who looked like a dude and is in her 30's. I feel bad for the Russian girl who got a 0 on vault because she didn't pay attention to the light. She suffered from Alicia syndrome too and messed up her floor routine right afterwards (although I'm not sure if they ever posted her score officially)..
It's really hard to gauge how good the atheletes are until you can compare it something you've done yourself. They were running the 100m and 400m today, and it's a little clearer. The women ran the 400m in less than a minute. That's one lap at the elementary school track. I'm pretty sure it took me about 2-2.5 minutes if I was running my fastest.
What's left in the Olympics? Swimming's done, as is gymnastics for the most part, yet we still have a week to go!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Bollywood show, Olympics
We went to a Bollywood show this past weekend in Atlantic City. I've been to Indian shows in the past, and I'll say I was pleasantly surprised that the audience actually behaved themselves for the most part.
The whole coordination with everyone was kind of ridiculous though. We met my sister there about 2-3 hours before the show started and met the other family at the venue like 5 minutes before it started -- it's a good thing the show started late - otherwise we would've been pissed since we had their tickets and had to go outside to get them.
The show itself was actually pretty good. 4 of the biggest names in Bollywood sang and danced to their most famous songs. They also mixed it up with Amitabh Bachchan delivering some dialogue from his movies. I'll admit that the whole Bachchan adoration was completely lost on me (and there was a LOT of it during the show), but I guess I didn't grow up watching his movies. I'm assuming he's something like Elvis or the Beatles here.
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Wow, the US women's gymnastics team really screwed that up. That Alicia chick will forever be known as the one who lost it for her team. One fall is acceptable, but another one on the floor exercise? You're in the fucking Olympics! Get it together!
Too bad she's not even competing for an individual all-around so she has no chance to redeem herself. I'm sure she's won all sorts of medals in previous competitions, but for millions of people who only watch the Olympics, she'll be the reminder of why we won silver instead of gold. Apparently, Nastia Liukin goes to the same gym as Carly Patterson (the Gold winner of the all-around in Athens). Either her or Shawn Johnson (who has a really nice ass by the way) better win the all-around gold tomorrow.
Phelps is ridiculous. Is there seriously no one else in the world who can compete with him? I also don't get how there's so many different events within swimming that an individual can enter. Do all individual sports have that many? It doesn't seem like it, which makes the whole "most Olympic gold medals" incredibly unfair. Kobe's pretty good too, but he can only get one medal per Olympics...
The whole coordination with everyone was kind of ridiculous though. We met my sister there about 2-3 hours before the show started and met the other family at the venue like 5 minutes before it started -- it's a good thing the show started late - otherwise we would've been pissed since we had their tickets and had to go outside to get them.
The show itself was actually pretty good. 4 of the biggest names in Bollywood sang and danced to their most famous songs. They also mixed it up with Amitabh Bachchan delivering some dialogue from his movies. I'll admit that the whole Bachchan adoration was completely lost on me (and there was a LOT of it during the show), but I guess I didn't grow up watching his movies. I'm assuming he's something like Elvis or the Beatles here.
---------
Wow, the US women's gymnastics team really screwed that up. That Alicia chick will forever be known as the one who lost it for her team. One fall is acceptable, but another one on the floor exercise? You're in the fucking Olympics! Get it together!
Too bad she's not even competing for an individual all-around so she has no chance to redeem herself. I'm sure she's won all sorts of medals in previous competitions, but for millions of people who only watch the Olympics, she'll be the reminder of why we won silver instead of gold. Apparently, Nastia Liukin goes to the same gym as Carly Patterson (the Gold winner of the all-around in Athens). Either her or Shawn Johnson (who has a really nice ass by the way) better win the all-around gold tomorrow.
Phelps is ridiculous. Is there seriously no one else in the world who can compete with him? I also don't get how there's so many different events within swimming that an individual can enter. Do all individual sports have that many? It doesn't seem like it, which makes the whole "most Olympic gold medals" incredibly unfair. Kobe's pretty good too, but he can only get one medal per Olympics...
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Video and Photos on the Internet??
Here are some pics from the coolest concert ever (stolen from the friend of the violist because I'm too lazy to post mine on Picasa):
Concert Pics
Ugh, I was trying to make it all fancy, but apparently you can only embed your own photos, so a link will have to do...
But here's a really cool video with Paris Hilton!
Concert Pics
Ugh, I was trying to make it all fancy, but apparently you can only embed your own photos, so a link will have to do...
But here's a really cool video with Paris Hilton!
Monday, August 04, 2008
Groupie for a day
Yesterday was the most fun I've had since I moved up here, and I have my friend in Delaware to thank for all of it.
We started out going to a Nationals game. I was a little worried at first since the forecast called for 100 degrees and it was outdoors, but our seats were in the shade so it was pretty comfortable. Oh, but they were also right behind the foul pole (or whatever it's called), so we decided to try and find better seats. The Nationals are the worst team in the MLB so it was only about half-full (like that optimism? ;) ) so we were able to get a much better view on the opposite side of the stadium.
Surprisingly, the Nationals actually won and they're now on a 3-game winning streak! Overall, it was pretty fun even though I didn't know anything about either team and there were only 3 innings where a team scored. I found it sorta interesting that the game length isn't determined beforehand. The Nationals were already in the lead, so the game ended after the top of the 9th.
After the game was the main event - the Flobots concert. My friend's girlfriend knew the only female member of the band and we were able to get VIP treatment throughout the show. I always thought that the band would be super-busy beforehand preparing, etc. but it turns out they mostly have downtime before they go on. The only times the band chick didn't hang out with us was when she performed! We got to hang out in the green room with some members of the band and a bunch of other groupies, and then got first-class viewing room on the balcony overlooking the stage (we even made a picture on an online review of the show - I'm the third guy from the left in the plaid shirt and beer bottle).
I didn't know too much about the band before the show, but they were really really good. I was also surprised about their whole political call-to-action message - particularly because all the band members we met before the show seemed pretty low-key. I really hope they continue to do well and we'll see more of them soon. I read somewhere that they're planning a "big surprise" during the DNC in Colorado later this month.
Yup, definitely best day ever since I moved up here.
We started out going to a Nationals game. I was a little worried at first since the forecast called for 100 degrees and it was outdoors, but our seats were in the shade so it was pretty comfortable. Oh, but they were also right behind the foul pole (or whatever it's called), so we decided to try and find better seats. The Nationals are the worst team in the MLB so it was only about half-full (like that optimism? ;) ) so we were able to get a much better view on the opposite side of the stadium.
Surprisingly, the Nationals actually won and they're now on a 3-game winning streak! Overall, it was pretty fun even though I didn't know anything about either team and there were only 3 innings where a team scored. I found it sorta interesting that the game length isn't determined beforehand. The Nationals were already in the lead, so the game ended after the top of the 9th.
After the game was the main event - the Flobots concert. My friend's girlfriend knew the only female member of the band and we were able to get VIP treatment throughout the show. I always thought that the band would be super-busy beforehand preparing, etc. but it turns out they mostly have downtime before they go on. The only times the band chick didn't hang out with us was when she performed! We got to hang out in the green room with some members of the band and a bunch of other groupies, and then got first-class viewing room on the balcony overlooking the stage (we even made a picture on an online review of the show - I'm the third guy from the left in the plaid shirt and beer bottle).
I didn't know too much about the band before the show, but they were really really good. I was also surprised about their whole political call-to-action message - particularly because all the band members we met before the show seemed pretty low-key. I really hope they continue to do well and we'll see more of them soon. I read somewhere that they're planning a "big surprise" during the DNC in Colorado later this month.
Yup, definitely best day ever since I moved up here.
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