August 27, 2008
August 26, 2008
August 24, 2008
Olympics 2008: The Year of Chinese Cheaters
With the olympics coming close to wrapping up, I have to say that I've enjoyed watching the olympics this year. Katie and I hooked up the HD antenna in the back yard and enjoyed everything from the opening ceremonies to the last day of the olympics in crystal clear *FREE high definition.
The one thing that's been gnawing at me each time I sit down to watch NBC's coverage is that of host nation's behavior. Let me enumerate the things that bothered me:
1) The fireworks being faked (NBC: thanks for not mentioning this)
2) The lipsyncing singing girl from the opening ceremonies
3) The empty stands in a country with 1 billion people
4) The chinese "women's" gymnastics team (14-16 yrs. old in a year)
5) Judge's scoring in all gymnastics routines... suspiciously favoring Chinese toddlers
6) Mongolian flyweight boxer throwing the match (in my opinion) to China. Doctors evaluate him in the morning, nothing wrong. Suddenly his shoulder hurts with a light bump from the other boxer, they throw in the towel, then he refuses medical attention immediately afterward. China gold, followed by another china gold with questionable scoring by judges in the welterweight (again, just by my viewing).
Basically, these things bothered me enough that I didn't really enjoy watching the gymnastics, opening ceremony or the boxing. I hear the shooting was also somewhat questionable with the Chinese judges and a Chinese shooter, but I didn't see that personally, so can't attest to the credibility there (but won't hesitate to mention it here :-) ).
The positives of the games were sports without judges - phelps in swimming, USA Basketball, track and field, were all great to watch. There's no possibility of bias affecting score. You score, and it's obvious... or you beat everyone else's time. Simplicity is king.
So, it basically boils down to a decision to forego watching any olympic sports with judges next time around. I'll also probably mute the NBC commentators... how much can you say during a marathon? I'll watch almost anything in HD, but when the commentators are annoying and the games seem rigged (or are at best poorly judged), it makes the olympics hard to watch.
August 15, 2008
Dirty Labrador
Pluter wants nothing more than to go outside and play... all the time.
Here he is, at his happiest - feet, ball and tongue covered in random yard matter. Waiting for me to throw the ball for him. Nothing but lab puppy here.
My stomach problems - the "too much information" post
Those people who spend a lot of time with me know that I have problems - stomach problems, to be exact. Some time in college, I started developing these Irritable Bowel Syndrome type problems... and they've become more of an impediment to normal thought about long trips, camping, vacations, morning commutes... basically everything. Symptoms would appear for several months, then I'd be somewhat normal, then a few months later, reappear - just after I'd decided things weren't inconvenient enough to see a doctor.
To be honest, it's frustrating that everyone else can eat what they want, put off going to the bathroom until its convenient, and have normal bowel movements without fail. It takes no planning, no concern about being out of reach of a restroom. Even my dog takes a hearty, normal poo once a day in the back yard. That's just not right.
Normally, I wouldn't post on my blog about the frustration, because talk of bowel movements is usually enough to turn anyone off. However, I'm abnormally frustrated today. I took the day off work because my doctor and I are trying to figure out what's wrong with my GI functions. I spent four hours being poked, gave 8 different little vials of blood (only got poked 4 times, but I was told the first, largest vial "is basically just waste"), and had to drink the most sugary drink ever devised after having no breakfast or coffee - all in a room right next to the bacon scented cafeteria.
The test today was a glucose tolerance test, and is basically the last step in my general practice doctor trying to diagnose my problem before the GI doctor gets a shot. For the test, you don't eat after midnight the night before, have blood taken upon arrival, drink a sugary drink, then have your blood glucose monitored over the next three hours to see how your body responds to sugar.
The first suggestion my doctor had was to get more fiber in my diet. I worked chewable fiber in to the diet, soluble fiber, and oatmeal for breakfast. Nothing really seemed to help. So, after a long while, I made an appointment for a follow-up visit, and here we are today seeing the last steps in the latest testing phase.
So, now I wait until next week to see what the results of my GTT was, and if those results don't give a clear indication of what's at fault in my belly (or lower), I'll have to have a camera in my bum. Let's just say I'm hoping my body has problems dealing with sugar.
August 13, 2008
I love me some Mario Kart: Wii
I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it on here - which means that I could've made this very post two months ago with nary a recollection of it - but, management at our company was wise enough to buy us a big screen TV with a Wii, a few games, furniture, snacks and cubicle walls to keep gameplay, relaxing and semi-private. All this was done to provide us a place to go during lunch or on a quick break to relieve stress and bond with each other...
To date we've had three wii tournaments (all take place on Fridays, with games lasting about 2-3 minutes). The first was wii bowling (I ended up in the Semi Finals), the second was Mario Kart: Wii, which I dominated, and the third was whatever that shooting game is in the Wii Play game (I dominated there as well). No matter what new game is introduced, I still go back to Mario Kart.
I probably spend 15 minutes a day (on my own time) playing Mario Kart, feverishly trying to beat the 150cc lightning cup - or whatever cup I've unlocked from the previous day. For the last couple of days, I've been playing the lightning cup... and it's tough.
On 150cc, the computer cheats like a Chinese olympic gymnastics team. You get out in front of the pack, they use a special item that targets the player in first place. When you think you're doing well, you're not. You're only a shell away from being in 10th place. They smack you with one item, then two other people smack you with other things as they fly by. It's frustrating, but ultimately just challenging enough to require obsessive daily play from me.
I mentioned that we rented it a while back, and that I beat on some kids online whose motor skills have yet to develop to elite functionality that has graced these hands and eyes. It's not fair, really... but that's no reason not to shame a toddler.
The game is still pretty hard to find (I've only checked Target and Wal-mart while grocery shopping), but I did find one a few weeks ago at Wal-mart... which ended up being our company copy (with 4 wheels!). So, I'm pondering whether to buy it again for the house. I'm not sure that I would enjoy it as much if I could play it all the time, or whether the work "fun zone" would have the same effect if I owned all the games that were there and could play them at any time.
It's quite a quandary. Will buying the game I like make me like the game I buy less? Maybe 15 minutes a day is the optimal time for continous enjoyment of Mario Kart: Wii...