I've been meaning to write for awhile now but have always been derailed by something. I'm now going to try and bang out some thoughts even though I don't have anything too captivating on my mind. Enjoy!
10. The XXX Olympics are winding down and I've found myself watching much more of the competitions than I normally do. I usually watch the basketball and whatever the prime time coverage chooses to show but have seen a lot of the more obscure events this time around. Some thoughts:
-One of the other networks needs to pick up the coverage for the next Olympics. Bob Costas et al. need to go, the coverage has been exactly the same since the first Olympics I remember watching in 1996.
-The swimwear for various competitions needs to be addressed, starting with women's water polo. Before I offend anyone I'll preface this by saying that water polo, while not really fun to watch, seems like it would be absolutely brutal to play and the fitness of these athletes is to be admired. The water polo has been on in the afternoons at the gym and I have seen a lot of the games/matches, whatever polo calls them. Many of the competitors are...stocky? and the one piece bathing suits have an unfortunate tendency to morph into thongs as the women exit the pool. Probably not the best way for the sport to develop any following. The skimpy two pieces for most of the beach volleyballers (to be addressed later on) are completely impractical and while I understand the women's swimsuits for the swimmers are designed to maximize speed, they make the athletes look like anonymous robots when paired with the swim caps and goggles.
-I loved watching the Russian gymnasts collapse in the team event and subsequently cry over finishing second to the Americans. I have nothing against Russia but the coverage of the gymnastics was laughably anti-Russian and watching the girl that the announcers had deemed 'dramatic' or 'mercurial' (NBC-slang for bitch) break down was great.
-It was whitewashed in the American media but the second half of the USA-Canada women'sfootball soccer match was extremely dubious (Calling it soccer is still hard even after being back for 4 months in the US, not sure why). I've watched countless soccer matches over the past three years and have never seen that 'eight-second goalie' rule called. The subsequent hand ball call left the Canucks with a legitimate gripe. I'm glad the Americans prevailed and went on to win gold but fishy...and sports conspiracies are fun.
-Usain Bolt seems like the coolest guy ever. Exudes confidence and charisma and backs it up by smoking everybody in both the 100 and 200 for the second time in a row. If I could hang out with one athlete on the planet it would be him. Not sure how anybody can hate on this guy.
-Why do people bite their medals? They train so hard to compete, get the medal and bite it?
-I love watching the track events but find the swimming extremely boring. Not sure why but swimming just doesn't do it for me. The result is usually obvious toward the start of the last lap and it just seems kind of slow. Diving, however, is great.
-The men's basketball would be a really fun tournament if not for the Americans but I still love watching the USA just scorch teams. Lebron-Durant-Chris Paul are incredible to watch on the same team. I'm in the minority that think that the 2012 team could beat the 1992 team if they only had a little more size. Oh, and a big thanks to Nicolas Batum for reminding the world that the French are scumbags. (0:28)
Medal ceremony for worst Olympic sports:
Bronze: Fencing, at least the fencing that lasts no more than two seconds. The athletes are plugged in to detect the swords and they look ridiculous.
Silver: Beach Volleyball, go USA of course but it's a party sport that you play on vacation, as evidenced by the scantily clad competitors wearing bikinis and sunglasses in chilly London weather. Indoor volleyball is great but this is crap.
Gold: Dressage, I thought I was watching the horses warming up before running or jumping over stuff but it turned out that the trotting around was the event. Should only be an Olympic sport if the horse/jockey are of the same nationality, horse defecation is rewarded and the horses receive the awards in the form of bronze/silver/gold troughs.
* I really burned myself out on #10, the rest will be brief and/or pointless.
9. I don't think that I have ever been more annoyed by an American 'thing' than the recent Chick-fil-A debate. What better way to exercise one's freedom than by eating or boycotting fast food? I have kept quiet about Chick-fil-A until now but have decided to contribute my two cents to the conversation:
I think the waffle fries are grossly overrated. Everybody used to rave about the superiority of the waffle shape with the light dusting of salt but I always thought they were cold and gross. I would eat all the fries before going for the chicken sandwich, which truly is divine. I'm glad I became a vegetarian because avoiding Chick-fil-A out of principle would get annoying really quick. The #1 chicken sandwich was my go-to fast food for many years: a thick, lightly breaded chicken breast with pickles on a fresh bun. It's too bad the homophobes don't operate something terrible like KFC or Burger King.
8. This summer has been too hot. I haven't been able to run outside for almost two months as it never gets below 80 Fahrenheit, even in the early morning. The monotony of grinding out miles on a treadmill in a stuffy gym is getting to be too much. I try to position myself near a TV with sports but always find my eyes gravitating to the HGTV channel where they convince aspiring home owners to 'buy a fixer upper' as opposed to spending more on a modern home. It really is bad television and yet almost daily I find myself following closed captioned dialogue about home furnishings and window treatments. A step up from watching Dr. Phil but only barely.
7. I think that a huge contributor to American obesity is that we drive everywhere. I have gained about 10 pounds since being back in the States despite running ~8 miles a day and eating consciously most of the time. The only major change in my life has been my mode of transportation. The added walking really is advantageous to overall health and I can't wait to live in a city or country where a car is not necessary.
6. Why does summer seem to be the season where we dumb ourselves down? A 'summer' book, movie, album whatever is a euphemism for simple and light and usually means crappy. Why don't we shift the 'summer' products to the wintertime when the weather is awful and people just want to stay warm and not overly think? Just a thought..
5. Does anybody else have random countries that they're intent on visiting without really knowing anything about the country? Mine are Uruguay and Malaysia. Nobody seems to go to Uruguay even with Montevideo seeming fabulous. Sometimes the 'under the radar' countries are the best and I feel like Uruguay could be a sleeper compared to Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, etc. I still want to go to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) even after being dissuaded from doing so by Nepali people. There's some intangible that draws me to it.
4. I hate internet memes more than anything. The term 'meme' was coined by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (a nice read), basically defining them as a cultural entity that could be 'engrained' over time, albeit not genetically. Condescending Willy Wonka is not a meme, it's just a waste of time and in no way makes one more clever..
10. The XXX Olympics are winding down and I've found myself watching much more of the competitions than I normally do. I usually watch the basketball and whatever the prime time coverage chooses to show but have seen a lot of the more obscure events this time around. Some thoughts:
-One of the other networks needs to pick up the coverage for the next Olympics. Bob Costas et al. need to go, the coverage has been exactly the same since the first Olympics I remember watching in 1996.
-The swimwear for various competitions needs to be addressed, starting with women's water polo. Before I offend anyone I'll preface this by saying that water polo, while not really fun to watch, seems like it would be absolutely brutal to play and the fitness of these athletes is to be admired. The water polo has been on in the afternoons at the gym and I have seen a lot of the games/matches, whatever polo calls them. Many of the competitors are...stocky? and the one piece bathing suits have an unfortunate tendency to morph into thongs as the women exit the pool. Probably not the best way for the sport to develop any following. The skimpy two pieces for most of the beach volleyballers (to be addressed later on) are completely impractical and while I understand the women's swimsuits for the swimmers are designed to maximize speed, they make the athletes look like anonymous robots when paired with the swim caps and goggles.
-I loved watching the Russian gymnasts collapse in the team event and subsequently cry over finishing second to the Americans. I have nothing against Russia but the coverage of the gymnastics was laughably anti-Russian and watching the girl that the announcers had deemed 'dramatic' or 'mercurial' (NBC-slang for bitch) break down was great.
The blonde one looks like Vladimir Putin, no?
-It was whitewashed in the American media but the second half of the USA-Canada women's
-Usain Bolt seems like the coolest guy ever. Exudes confidence and charisma and backs it up by smoking everybody in both the 100 and 200 for the second time in a row. If I could hang out with one athlete on the planet it would be him. Not sure how anybody can hate on this guy.
-Why do people bite their medals? They train so hard to compete, get the medal and bite it?
-I love watching the track events but find the swimming extremely boring. Not sure why but swimming just doesn't do it for me. The result is usually obvious toward the start of the last lap and it just seems kind of slow. Diving, however, is great.
-The men's basketball would be a really fun tournament if not for the Americans but I still love watching the USA just scorch teams. Lebron-Durant-Chris Paul are incredible to watch on the same team. I'm in the minority that think that the 2012 team could beat the 1992 team if they only had a little more size. Oh, and a big thanks to Nicolas Batum for reminding the world that the French are scumbags. (0:28)
Medal ceremony for worst Olympic sports:
Bronze: Fencing, at least the fencing that lasts no more than two seconds. The athletes are plugged in to detect the swords and they look ridiculous.
Silver: Beach Volleyball, go USA of course but it's a party sport that you play on vacation, as evidenced by the scantily clad competitors wearing bikinis and sunglasses in chilly London weather. Indoor volleyball is great but this is crap.
Gold: Dressage, I thought I was watching the horses warming up before running or jumping over stuff but it turned out that the trotting around was the event. Should only be an Olympic sport if the horse/jockey are of the same nationality, horse defecation is rewarded and the horses receive the awards in the form of bronze/silver/gold troughs.
* I really burned myself out on #10, the rest will be brief and/or pointless.
9. I don't think that I have ever been more annoyed by an American 'thing' than the recent Chick-fil-A debate. What better way to exercise one's freedom than by eating or boycotting fast food? I have kept quiet about Chick-fil-A until now but have decided to contribute my two cents to the conversation:
I think the waffle fries are grossly overrated. Everybody used to rave about the superiority of the waffle shape with the light dusting of salt but I always thought they were cold and gross. I would eat all the fries before going for the chicken sandwich, which truly is divine. I'm glad I became a vegetarian because avoiding Chick-fil-A out of principle would get annoying really quick. The #1 chicken sandwich was my go-to fast food for many years: a thick, lightly breaded chicken breast with pickles on a fresh bun. It's too bad the homophobes don't operate something terrible like KFC or Burger King.
8. This summer has been too hot. I haven't been able to run outside for almost two months as it never gets below 80 Fahrenheit, even in the early morning. The monotony of grinding out miles on a treadmill in a stuffy gym is getting to be too much. I try to position myself near a TV with sports but always find my eyes gravitating to the HGTV channel where they convince aspiring home owners to 'buy a fixer upper' as opposed to spending more on a modern home. It really is bad television and yet almost daily I find myself following closed captioned dialogue about home furnishings and window treatments. A step up from watching Dr. Phil but only barely.
7. I think that a huge contributor to American obesity is that we drive everywhere. I have gained about 10 pounds since being back in the States despite running ~8 miles a day and eating consciously most of the time. The only major change in my life has been my mode of transportation. The added walking really is advantageous to overall health and I can't wait to live in a city or country where a car is not necessary.
6. Why does summer seem to be the season where we dumb ourselves down? A 'summer' book, movie, album whatever is a euphemism for simple and light and usually means crappy. Why don't we shift the 'summer' products to the wintertime when the weather is awful and people just want to stay warm and not overly think? Just a thought..
5. Does anybody else have random countries that they're intent on visiting without really knowing anything about the country? Mine are Uruguay and Malaysia. Nobody seems to go to Uruguay even with Montevideo seeming fabulous. Sometimes the 'under the radar' countries are the best and I feel like Uruguay could be a sleeper compared to Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, etc. I still want to go to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) even after being dissuaded from doing so by Nepali people. There's some intangible that draws me to it.
4. I hate internet memes more than anything. The term 'meme' was coined by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (a nice read), basically defining them as a cultural entity that could be 'engrained' over time, albeit not genetically. Condescending Willy Wonka is not a meme, it's just a waste of time and in no way makes one more clever..
The above isn't funny, nor are the millions of variants.
Don't post them!
3. My taste buds are no longer 'Nepalified'. I ate mere jalapenos on a sandwich today and had tears in my eyes from the spiciness. Bland foods have never tasted so good.
To be continued...(maybe)
