"Tell me all your thoughts on..."

...the olympics!

I've watched more summer olympics this year than I have in my whole life. And I'm actually loving it!

I'm officially a Phelps phan!

And I'm in love with the mens gymnastics team, esp Jonathan Horton. I love the sportsmanship they showed and the fact that they graciously accepted scores well below what they earned in some events, and didn't complain when other countries (particularly China) scored higher than they should have (the same could be said for the womens' team as well). I loved how they rallied behind each other and how Horton constantly encouraged his teammates, took every opportunity to speak excitedly to the cameras, and thanked God for getting them on the medal stand. I loved how they didn't blame a teammate for making a mistake; they each knew they could of easily been the one in that position. Most of all, I loved how they joyously celebrated the fact that they won the bronze! Absolutely no disappointment for not medalling higher or for losing the lead they had early on!

Going back to Phelps: I love watching his mom and sisters as they watch him race. His mom is a nervous wreck every single time. And one sister in particular is balling her eyes out before he even finishes the race! And I don't get the feeling that he's arrogant about all his wins (a total of TEN career gold medals so far!!!); it's almost as though he's racing against himself, seeing how far he can push himself and not necessarily overly concerning himself with his other competitors. Granted, I'm positive he knows they're there! But his goal isn't to grind them to dust . . . or since he's a swimmer would that be "feed them to the fish?"

I love the Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh volleyball duo. Specifically the deep friendship and obvious love and concern for each other.

I think it's funny that every time she pulls her goggles down around her eyes before a race begins, Katie Hoff has deep circle lines around her forehead where her goggles had just been. And then she always rubs along the bottom of the goggles as a nervous habit. At least, I think it's Hoff; they all look completely different once those swim caps come off!

The absolute best moment was the mens 400 freestyle relay. Especially after the French were talking crap about demolishing the Americans! This video is British, but even the American commentator was going on and on and ON about how every way he worked it out there was absolutely NO WAY the Americans could win, the French were just too good. Every American (and non-American) needs to see this, even those of you reading who aren't into the Olympics at all (Bird). Seriously. And I'm posting the 4 minute version, not the 8 minute version you could only see on the [be warned] extremely shady site here. I love how in the 8 min version the French guy with the big mouth stays in the water, stunned, for a solid 5 minutes! And oh, how the Americans celebrate! Quick, go watch before You Tube bans the video: TOO LATE! But I replaced it with the longer version:



Eight one-hundreths of a SECOND, people.

Amazing!

Love It or Hate It?

As I type Bird's making me watch Dances With Wolves, and is even threatening to cut off the internet if I don't put the computer away. I have two minutes. So I'll make it quick.

I've never seen it before and Bird & Brandi finally decided to sit me down and make me watch. I wasn't allowed to watch it when it first came out and then it just didn't seem appealing to me; it sounded boring. So, I figured it's time I give it a try. Will I love it or hate it? I'll let you know, so stay tuned . . .

Dancing

While I'm working on Report Cards at one table and my mom is working on her grade book at another, my dad is sitting in the living room, working on his computer, with Dancing with the Stars on t.v. Hmm . . .

He's free to change the station, put in a movie, play some music. But he said he'll leave it on for us, even though HE was the one booing the judges when they gave Steve Guttenberg low scores.

He never ceases to amaze me!

I enjoyed the season premiere last week, esp since I had plenty of time to watch it. In the past sometimes I voted, sometimes I didn't. And I don't know how I'd vote this year. There are some dancers I really like who are with duds. Then there are some awesome "stars" with dancers I'm meh about. But how sad is it that I know the dancers by now and was even bummed when one or two weren't cast this season? Silly, I know.

Ok, enough procrastination!

So exciting!!!

Doesn't this look AWESOME?! It makes me want to read the books again! Yes, I did watch Anne of Green Gables last weekend and felt the same about those books.
*sigh*
I miss the days of curling up with a good book and a hot cup of coffee and not feeling guilty. Oh, for it to be summer again! Or even Christmas vacation!



Thanks to Dani for the link!

I'm with Rose!

I just finished watching the season premiere of Lost. So good!!! As usual, we only have bits and pieces of the answers we all crave. But after three seasons, we're all used to it.

I'm not too concerned about who the Oceanic Six are or what their big secret is (sure I want to know! but it can wait for now). The most significant thing for me was Rose's statement to her husband when the line was drawn: "I'm not going anywhere with that man!" Before that I was torn between Jack and John. It would be easy to go with John in honor of Charlie's sacrifice, but John's too much of a weirdo. Rose has been the one with the most keen discernment throughout the whole series, so if she sees it too, I'm with her! In fact, she felt such a strong conviction that she chose to remain in the group wanting to leave the island despite the fact that her cancer would return and she would soon die. Now that ought to mean something!

Why is it called "Cloverfield?"

Yesterday was Dad's birthday, so we celebrated with dinner out and a movie. I took him to see Cloverfield. All I knew about the movie was that some people loved it, some people hated it and it was a film about NY being destroyed. I had completely forgotten about the camera action/movement until we were watching the opening scene. Oops!

It was at that point I remember briefly reading that people suffered motion sickness because of the constant movement. I'm not one to get easily ill, but because we had just had a HUGE dinner and it was in my head that even some of my guy friends got sick, I was a bit worried. I did ok, actually. A bit queasy but not bad. However, the girl down the row from us had to be helped out of the theater by her boyfriend. She was practically in tears. And some other people left the theater halfway through the movie. We all did have headaches by the end, though.

I'd like to see it again so I can catch some of the things I missed while being distracted by the audience, the constant camera movement, the slightly sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and the dull ache in my head.

***SPOILER ALERT***SPOILER ALERT***
DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!!!

I'm a sucker for a good story. The way J.J. Abrams and crew framed the story with Rob and Beth's day at Coney Island was brilliant. And Rob and his friends literally risking their lives to go back for Beth was heroic, and maybe would have had a greater emotional impact (on me) if it weren't for the distractions. Even though I was captivated by the story I didn't get very emotionally involved. The camcorder feel made it more real but at the same time caused me to distance myself from the character's struggles.

And the camcorder was like the little engine that could! It not only survived the initial attach, it survived being dropped numerous times (like when the parasite things attacked), it survived a helicopter crash, it survived Hud being half-eaten by the creature, it survived numerous bombings, AND it survived being buried under a bridge at the end. I need to find out what brand that sucker is and invest in one!

The thing I found least believable was not the probability of a giant monster attaching NY and playing ball with the Statue of Liberty's head. Nor was it that venom from the creature's parasites' bites causing one's torso to explode. It wasn't even that someone would adamantly run into uncertain danger to find the girl he loves (that was sweet, actually). What bothered me the most was that when they did find Beth, skewered by an iron rod, they pulled her free and she didn't bleed to death! Then, she proceeded to run with them through the streets of Manhattan like she wasn't half-dead just minutes before! I know adrenaline can make you do some crazy things, but still!

I read up on the movie online and there's speculation that the creature might have survived. That's possible, 'cause like the camcorder, it just wouldn't die! But since the camcorder was recovered from "the site formerly known as Central Park," then it must've moved on. Otherwise, how else would the camcorder have been found? That creature (and its parasites) seemed to be everywhere! There's no way someone could sneak into the attack zone and sift through rubble to recover a camcorder they didn't even know was there!

I also read that there might me a sequel. Not going the route that the creature is still alive, but the unfolding of events through another's eyes. That will be cool, actually. And next time I'll be more prepared -- no big dinners beforehand and anti-nausea medicine!