Sunday, August 24, 2008

Closing Ceremonies

What was with the outfits of the men singing the England national anthem? Grey with yellow?

Okay, the mayor of London, could he look any less posh? He needed his hair brushed, his jacket buttoned, and a little more practice about what his role was here.

Loved the double decker bus, but seriously if Mary hadn't told us it was the London skyline we wouldn't have known because it was so dark and it appeared military-esque. Also, if they were going to use people in wheelchairs it would've been nice if they actually needed them instead of using them as props.

It's a little sad when the flame has been extinguished, but it lives on in memories that float on lucky cloud strips to the sky.

And who knew Jackie Chan sang? And that there is such a thing as fireworks artists?

NBC seems to be confused, they think we want to see all of the singing but none of the actual people. Why didn't they show more of the Flag Bearers, I like learning about the people. Maybe the people who decided this were the same people who thought we wanted to see all of the women's and the men's marathon? I wish the mascots had a bigger role too, I love the mascots! Although we did get a shot of the green panda one, that's Jason's favorite.

Why are there all these old men performers with pretty young women? Opera boring! Just not fitting with the whole "party theme".

I loved the Opening Ceremonies, but the Closing just didn't have the same feelings, I was left going, why are they doing this, showing this, seems that it dragged out with fewer "wow" moments. That could also be due to NBC's coverage though, I get an NBC channel OKOR that's broadcast in Chinese I believe, they featured much more of the Olympians celebrating and meeting up.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Happy 7 1/4 Year!

Yes, it's our 7 year and 4 month anniversary today.

Typically we go to the State Fair on this day, but since Jason just had a week or so off in mid June and he's working 4 10's next week so we can leave for Arizona next Thursday we decided he shouldn't really ask for any time off. Originally we had planned to attend a program at the SF Cheese School but that got pushed to the back burner. (Obviously, the Olympics didn't come to mind. Besides I have a DVR now, so who cares.)

Jason got a new client yesterday and he met them today. I used the time to plan our route to Arizona. We got sandwiches at Togo's and had a quiet night in watching Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh win Olympic Gold. (Yes, it was on last night but we didn't watch it until today, it's that DVR thing again!)

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Really, that's all they could show us?

Seriously, did we really need to see pretty much the whole women's marathon? I'm so tired, this is just not holding my interest. Especially since the Romanian lady was so far out in front. Could we not see, I don't know: Athletics, Baseball, Badminton, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Cycling-Track, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Football, Gymnastics-Trampoline, Handball, Hockey, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Weightlifing, Water Polo or Wrestling, all of which were competition areas today.

I know some of these things were on the earlier broadcast and that they showed some yesterday and that more was to come. But seriously, why not just have a program that was just the marathon so those of us who didn't want to see it could watch something else.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

I love my DVR!

I got a DVR with my u-verse (cable and internet) service from AT&T, it's built in to the cable box. Initially I wasn't that excited, but I can tape up to 4 shows at once, which I thought I would never use, but I underestimated the amount of Olympics coverage NBC was showing. I've been able to record the shows that are on in the middle of the night and then watch them the next day. (No, despite the fact that I just moved a week and a half ago I have nothing better to do. Why would I unpack boxes when I could watch the Olympics?) I've been able to see all sorts of coverage, Rowing, Badminton, Cycling, an awesome Volleyball match between China and Cuba. Plus there's still more Olympics to come, a whole 10 more days!

So, I'm very happy with my DVR/cable box. Don't ask about my phone service with AT&T though, that's a complete disaster.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Men's Gymnastics Coverage Sucked!

First of all, NBC's coverage of the Men's Gymnastics Team Finals sucked. Talk, talk, talk is all they did! People tuned in to see the athletes, not listen to a bunch of blowhards pontificate on China's dominance, USA's surprising performance and wonder why everyone on Japan's team seems to be out of their minds. At the very least could we possibly see someone from each team do each apparatus? Instead we are interrupted with swimming heats and shots of China fixing the parallel bars. Then we are told how unexciting China's high bar routines are but we see them anyways!

Monday, August 11, 2008

I am not obsessed!

Seriously, I'm not, I don't care what my husband thinks. Besides, I did not spend all day glued to the TV, I put the Alden Family Gazette out and set up my organizational system for our new desk. I also went to Girl Scouts and tried to make the bookcase not top heavy.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Opening Ceremonies

Here are my, of course, random thoughts on the Opening Ceremonies.

Loved the firework footprints, that was so awesome! Thought the inclusion of children representing the ethnic groups of China was important. When the light up guys made the National Stadium it was neat, but when they zoomed in and you could tell that they were standing on each other's shoulders, just wow!

The Parade of Nations-I hate NBC's failure to show all the countries. Early on in the parade they mention that for most of these athletes this is their best or only Olympic moment and they go on to mention that one country said please show us don't cut to commercial, yet they continue to skip and hurry through countries. Maybe they should just skip their half an hour of commentary at the beginning of their broadcast and show us all of the countries. By the way, what was up with the outfits of Hungary's women! They looked like someone threw up all over them, sorry ladies but they did you wrong. El Salvador picked their flag bearer by a text messaging vote!

Why are we focusing so much on NBA basketball players! Please there are other athletes out there just as deserving of our attention. Could we focus on the hard work and dedication it took for people to get there instead of who plays on what NBA team?

I thought the inclusion of a child hero from the earthquake was touching. Loved the torch lighting, very different and unique!

Friday, August 8, 2008

Olympic Fever!

So, I haven't been blogging. Why, because no one reads this. But that is all about to change! It is Olympics time! I love the Olympics, I used to write nightly updates on fool.com under the name mneakrase, but since I don't frequent that site currently I thought, why not write them on my blog. Not that I use this currently either, but I thought it'd be a nice outlet.

So, Pacific Standard Time over here and there will be no spoilers! I hate spoilers, I hate when big companies on the internet don't take into consideration the fact that multiple time zones exist across the world. I'd like to be able to browse the internet without being bombarded with pictures, breaking news and updated medal counts all for things that haven't yet been shown on tv in my time zone.

So, stay tuned for Olympics thoughts, as well as pre-season football. (I've picked the Niners for tonight!)