Blog Break

All, Bob here. For those of you who have not heard, I lost my father this morning. He was a tremendous man who led a tremendous life and that is to be celebrated. I'm headed back to the States to be with family. The blog will return, but taking a break for now.

Medal Count

Its coming down to the wire on which country will take the overall medal count. The US press seems to focus on the total medal count while the local Chinese media concentrates on the number of gold medals won where clearly the host country has a huge advantage.

Much has been made about the US and China competing in separate Olympics as there is little/no overlap in the medal events, unlike in the olden days when we battled the Soviets in all the major sports. But someone's got to devise some sort of BCS strength of schedule scoring system as they've got in college football. Perhaps a system that would equalize a USA Olympic basketball gold with 4 Chinese air rifle golds or 2 synchronized diving golds. I suppose this argument undermines my constant defense of the Sears Cup that Stanford wins every year....

A very cool graphic medal tracker can be found at the following website. Thanks Pat.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/08/04/sports/olympics/20080804_MEDALCOUNT_MAP.html

Buzzkill

A vulnerable heel brought down Trojan War god Achilles and today in Beijing the namesake injury felled another national hero -- Chinese 110m hurdler Liu Xiang. Liu pulled out of today's race with hamstring and heel injuries, dashing the hopes of the Chinese people and disappointing all those who looked forward with anticipation to the Olympic's last great subplot. And then there is the disappointment of those who paid big bucks for tickets to the 110m final....

Travesty

No matter that the USA baseball lost a tense extra-inning match-up against nemesis Cuba that included beanball and typical Cuban bush league tactics. But I'm just coming to learn about the new extra-inning rules that have been put in place by the IOC for the Beijing Games. Any inning started past the 10th begins with runners placed on first and second bases and the batting teams may start the inning at any point in their batting order.

Purists who hate the DH and eschew All-Star - World Series home field advantage rule must really be out of their skulls on this one. The IOC has neutered baseball of its most beautiful things -- that there is no clock and that the game play itself out as it began. A rule like this makes me happy this is baseball's last appearance on the Olympic stage. Grrr...

Olympic Equestrian in HK

Hong Kong is a city that is obsessed with all things action on one hand, but also highly sleep deprived on the other. So the city's hosting of the Olympic Equestrian events brought the two dynamics together, and thus far sleep is winning. The local paper ran some classic quotes from fans who attended the early dressage events:

"I was deeply bored. The horses just walked from one side of the arena to the other and then back again"

"I thought they were just going through their warm-up exercises but the commentator said the round was over."

"My wife bought the tickets and dragged me here. I was totally surprised when the competition started because I had expected to see horse racing. I have to say that this is the most boring thing I've ever seen in my life."

"To be honest, I don't think equestrianism is an appealing sport visually.

"I thought the event would be like a carnival. But it was so boring,"

I've caught a bit of it on television and i can attest that it's a bore. I think I made the right call in not spending a fortune for tickets and braving the crowds and sweltering temperatures to achieve my Olympic moment in HK. I far prefer the couch where I can snooze in style through the boring stuff.

Beijing Olympics - a trap?

funny bit from The Onion...

The Greatest Show on Earth

Many in Hong Kong and China limp into the Beijing Olympics with the same anticipatory fatigue that Americans feel about the upcoming presidential election. The main event has always been so far off in the distance and the hype has almost become their reality of the real thing. Well, now the real thing is upon them. China will host the world over a two week period that has taken it 8 (appropriate) years to prepare for. I, for one, hope its a smashing success for China.

UPDATE: Just finished watching the Opening Ceremonies. They are not to be missed, particularly the first 90 minutes.....the rest is the parade of the athletes which is entertaining but lengthy. Particularly if you're watching a local Hong Kong television station like I was. Instead of showing all the countries that come out, they showed the HK delegation and then followed them all the way around the track and into their docking station for like 40 minutes......times like these when I get homesick for Bob Costas and the NBC crew....But do watch the opening 90 minutes -- incredible.

8.8.08

The eighth day of the eight month of 2008 is a most auspicious one in Chinese culture because the number ‘8’ is phonetically identical to the word “prosperity,” so those with a superstitious inclination see today as the day of all days. Fitting that the Olympic Opening Ceremonies will be held today (starting at 8:08pm of course). Many have arranged their weddings for today. And hospitals are overcrowded with expectant women who have scheduled C-Sections today in hopes of birthing their child into wealth – hospitals are reporting that some mothers have scheduled it up to 2 month before the actual due date! Yikes….

However, there is a competing school of superstitious thought. It just so happens that this year’s 8.8.08 coincides with the lunar event known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, which begins on the thirteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. The Gates of Heaven and Hell open up and spirits roam the earth. The world of the living offers food and burns paper for the visiting spirits. But fear of death seems to stronger than hope of prosperity as it’s caused many would-be married couples not to rush to the altar during 8.8.08.

In the name of prosperity, I will celebrate by having 8 glasses of wine tonite, sleeping 8 hours and then watching 8 hours of Olympic coverage from the couch tomorrow.

Sergei Akmudov

In light of all the recent Olympic weightlifting DQ's and those who've mysteriously been 'left off' global Olympic squads, I harken back to a classic Saturday Night Live (Kevin Nealon and Phil Hartman) bit.

Typhoon Signal 8!

The Signal 8 has been raised and Typhoon Kammura is battering Hong Kong with strong winds and horizontal rain. The city's services are shut down, no busses or ferries or taxis are running, and office workers stay at home until the government weather service lowers the signal. I look out of our windows and can see whitecaps in Victoria Harbour, a rare sight.

It's pretty intense, more so by how sustained it is rather than how violent it is at its peak moments. It's not as though you see debris flying through the air and cars being picked up and dropped upside down. All of the boats in the harbor are not stacked atop each other in a corner. But I spend 40% of my day on the 21st floor of a building and 50% on the 43rd of another, so it is fine by me not to be swaying back and forth under the stress of a Cat 5 'Cane.

Meet the Fuwa

With the Opening Ceremonies only days away, I thought I'd introduce you to some of the imagery that you'll no doubt be subjected to throughout August's Olympic broadcasts. These are the Fuwa, mascots of this summer's Beijing Games, each carefully designed to symbolize the following attributes:

Colors: Each fuwa draws inspiration from the color of an Olympic ring
Phonetics: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini are all 2-syllable words for addressing small children in Chinese
Animals: Four of them represent China's most popular animals -- the fish, panda, swallow and Tibetan antelope
Elements: Their headpieces represent the Sea, Forest, Fire, Earth and Sky
Names: If you combine the first syllables of their names you get "Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni" or "Welcome to Beijing"

China embraces cartoon images more than most countries I've come across (JPN excepted). And the love of 'toons isn't just from children. I'm willing to bet any of you that at some point in the coming 3 months I will be in a serious business meeting across the table from a seemingly austere middle-aged Chinese businessman. At some point during the meeting his mobile phone will ring and when he lifts it to his ear, a wimpy little charm bearing the likeness of one of these Fuwa will dangle from it. This is money in the bank, it will happen, check back for updates.

Here is the individual fuwa for the Olympic shooting competition.....a bit hostile

And if you've got the time to waste in checking past Olympics mascots there is a good rundown on this site. I think we all remember Sam the Eagle from the '84 Games in Los Angeles.... http://inventorspot.com/articles/the_top_10_coolest_olympic_mascots_16307

Back to the Desert

Lizzie and Ingrid have left China to visit family in the States over the next couple of weeks. Trading the wet and humid HK swelter for the dry scalding heat of Phoenix, AZ. Trading typhoons for monsoons. You could fry an egg on the sidewalk in both places, but you'd probably only dare eat it in Phoenix.

Anyway, with my source material on the other side of the world, blog readers will notice the site's content will lean toward non-family related blather. Like the posting directly above this. I need material and I do take requests, so don't be shy.

Happy Birthday Lizzie!

The three of us rang in my new year with a cruise of the harbor and a dumpling dinner. Watching the sunset over Victoria Harbor and the lights of Hong Kong's skyline brighten was a real birthday treat. Ingrid loved it all too. The feeling of wind over her hairless head and the hustle-and-bustle of a chinese restaurant. We might have to do it all again for her birthday next month.

It is strange to celebrate a birthday 7,000 miles from family and friends, but as I start this next year it is a warm and wonderful feeling to have Bob on one side of me and little Ingrid on the other.