Olympic Stories

[Capt. Slo-mo]

If ya got 'em, post 'em!

Long flight today, but full of USA-festooned athletes. I saw Venus Williams and Decathlete Tom Pappas wandering around the plane. (OK, Venus was safely cloistered up in the "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" seats) but she was hanging out with the other athletes immediately off the deplaning area.

Heavy representation from women's wrestling. There was one young lady who has a huge future ahead of her in the martial arts movie industry...she was buff with a capital "B". Several pentathletes and even some fencers & families were lining the aisles.

Of course, given that United seemed to have crammed the entire US population west of the Mississississississippi (I can never remember how many "S"s in that name) onto this flight, it's not surprising I saw someone I recognized.

Visibility not so great, but the air doesn't immediately burn your lungs like a couple of months ago. It is hot, and humid enough to wring water out of the air...if I only had a sponge.

Big press conference with the fencers tomorrow, and hopefully the draw.

[epeemike81]

Obviously, I don't have an Olympic story, but I do have a request for a little investigative journalism...

After seeing the picture in yesterdays NYT, I'd appreciate it if you could find out what the athletes' band name was in Rock Band. Inquiring minds want to know!

-m

[KD5MDK]

What airline?

EDIT: United is the obvious guess, but if you did a US-Japan hop first, AA and Northwest have major operations on that route, not to mention JAL etc.

[epeemike81]

Originally Posted by Capt. Slo-mo

Of course, given that United seemed to have crammed the entire US population west of the Mississississississippi (I can never remember how many "S"s in that name) onto this flight, it's not surprising I saw someone I recognized.

Originally Posted by KD5MDK

What airline?

EDIT: United is the obvious guess, but if you did a US-Japan hop first, AA and Northwest have major operations on that route, not to mention JAL etc.

It's the obvious guess for another reason, too...

-m

[KD5MDK]

Doh.
Interestingly, outside of travel for the Olympics airline traffic to China has plummeted as they stopped issuing business visas.

[Craig]

Sitting in Seattle right now waiting for Hainan Air. I don't think I'll be there in time for the press conference tomorrow but I am still wrapping my head around the International Dateline.

Ready for some serious jetlag...

Craig

[teacup]

Originally Posted by Craig

Sitting in Seattle right now waiting for Hainan Air. I don't think I'll be there in time for the press conference tomorrow but I am still wrapping my head around the International Dateline.

Ready for some serious jetlag...

Craig

Actually, you will have jet lag but it's not as bad as the jet lag going from the west coast to Europe.

It's too late now but the best thing to do before you go is to stay up late and sleep in, then it is easier to adjust.

(Coming home will be the killer jet lag.)

[telkanuru]

Originally Posted by epeemike81

Obviously, I don't have an Olympic story, but I do have a request for a little investigative journalism...

After seeing the picture in yesterdays NYT, I'd appreciate it if you could find out what the athletes' band name was in Rock Band. Inquiring minds want to know!

-m

I am equally curious on this point.

[Capt. Slo-mo]

"Twisted Sisters and the Boy?"

Naw...too '80's.

Funny...both parents of one of those band members were either music majors or played an instrument for years. Yet, the fencer showed very little musical interest...until Rock Band.

Gotta love technology.

Actually, I'm going to try and crash the news conference...I'll see if I can get the inside scoop.

[Capt. Slo-mo]

Here's my best picture so far of the Bird's Nest on the Olympic Green. Why, you ask, does there appear to be two rows of barriers between myself and the National Stadium?

That, Good Reader, is the crux of the story.

As they say in New England (and certain isolated pockets of the Idaho panhandle): "Ya can't get they-uh from hee-uh." The Olympic Green, that giant melting pot where individuals from all over the world come together in the joyous harmony of Olympic aspirations and glorious pop culture celebration, is only accessible to credentialed athletes and officials, and those people with an event ticket. For that day, and that day only.

No riff raff need mingle. Nor try to walk past the outposts of ramrod-stiff officers in army greens. The absolute paucity of people on the Green and the 43,098 people with cameras lining the fence line should have been a clue.

So: no credential, no event for today, no chance of getting onto the grounds to attend the news conference. I'll stay in the air-conditioned apartment and turn on the lovely Toshiba HDTV. One problem: no HD programming on the cable system.

Well, I'll just log on to www.nbcolympics.com and watch streaming video. You guessed it: no video provided to viewers outside the USA, even after being asked for and registering all my local programming provider information.

But am I allowed to watch every single video commercial immediately preceding each forbidden video clip or video stream on www.nbcolympics.com?

No problem!!

[epeemike81]

Originally Posted by Capt. Slo-mo

Funny...both parents of one of those band members were either music majors or played an instrument for years. Yet, the fencer showed very little musical interest...until Rock Band.

hmmm.... wonder which band member you're talking about...

-m

[Capt. Slo-mo]

His/her initials may or may not begin with Cody, Becca or Sada.

Hope that narrows it down.

[Peach]

Wired's advice on ways to watch the Olympics online.

at http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Watch_the_Olympics_Online

[Capt. Slo-mo]

Originally Posted by epeemike81

After seeing the picture in yesterdays NYT, I'd appreciate it if you could find out what the athletes' band name was in Rock Band. Inquiring minds want to know!
-m

I'm told the computer rejected their initial request for their choice of band name, and instead, they selected the pro-offered "Faceless Blood."

Now you know.

[DJ Apostrophe]

What was it that got rejected?

The only one that I've had XBox Live not like was "Your Mom". It told us that some may consider it inappropriate.

Me, I thought it was funny for a band to come on stage and say, "We are, Your Mom", "Your Mom loves Chicago" "Your Mom is here to party!" etc.

-w

[KD5MDK]

They probably tried something from here.

[Capt. Slo-mo]

So...traffic:

If half the cars are missing, I'd hate to be here when it's everyone Bao, Li and Chang for themselves on the road. However; in about three hours of cab riding yesterday, I only saw a single car violating the odd/even license protocols. One.

Can you imagine the carnage if the mayor of LA issued an odd/even vehicle proclamation? There would be antifreeze on the streets. The riots would make the Rodney King incident look like a PETA "Puppies are Forever" rally.

There are some thorougfares that are nearly vacant, but others are totally crammed, especially around traffic diversions for Olympic Security. And believe me, there is a lot of security. Several times my cabbie ran into trouble trying to approach the Olympic Village. Not at the gates, mind you, but miles away.

Long drawn out conversations between the police officer and the cabbie would erupt. You'd think it would be something like:

Officer: You may not drive down this road.
Cabbie: Thank you sir, for this most auspicious information. How might I best approach the Village?
Officer: Take this road, and turn right.
CAbbie: Heaven's blessing on your many grandchildren.

But no. Right in the middle of the street...long, convoluted arm waving exchanges. At one point, it appeared to me that the two were taking turns quoting entire chapters of "War and Peace" from memory, with special attention to acting out the battle scenes. Three times I had a translator at the Olympic Village on the phone talking to the cabbie. They seemed to be discussing whole volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica to each other. The word "mollusk" kept cropping up. I'm hoping that wasn't aimed in my direction.

The security at the Village is understandably tight. One has to file a request for a "day pass" 24 hours or more in advance...and then go through several tiers of security before handing over your passport to get the pass. They hold onto it until you leave.

The Village is quite a sight. Some of the teams go everywhere in groups with matching outfits, some just mingle at random. There does appear to be a running battle among the many buildings housing athletes as to which team brought the most ginormous national flag to hang from their balcony. It can't be much fun to be the team from Lichtenstein and spend the entire Olympics looking out through the back of the 30 foot Norwegian flag covering your entire balcony from two floors above.

[edew]

If you're from Lichtenstein, a 3' x 5' flag would probably be bigger than the country.

[Fencergrl]

I'm pumped about getting to watch the Olympics tonight. In passing, I mention to my husband "I'm so excited about tonight, I can't wait for this evening to begin." He immediately has a look of panic on his face, then he's looks really concerned and asks "Did I forget our anniversary?"

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Originally Posted by Capt. Slo-mo

Three times I had a translator at the Olympic Village on the phone talking to the cabbie. They seemed to be discussing whole volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica to each other. The word "mollusk" kept cropping up. I'm hoping that wasn't aimed in my direction.

Just checked with Mrs. Gustafsson, who is Chinese. She does not recognize "mollusk" as sounding as any Chinese word. Can you provide any context?

BTW: How is that knee holding up?


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson