Last Olympic Post
Well the Olympics are finally over. They kind of dragged this year and there didn't seem to be that many exciting olympic moments like we have all come to expect. The best thing this weekend was Apolo Anton Ohno's gold medal in the 500M. He seems like a decent guy and a good sport, and the fact that he is Shani Davis best friend further bolsters my position on Speedskater Chad Hendric: that he is a douchebag. Early on in the Davis-Hendrick fued, I thought that both were being selfish, but now I'm leaning more towards thinking that Shani just wanted to run his race and Chad is a douche. Chad Hendrick reminds me Rachel McAdams's boyfriend in "Wedding Crashers".

Oh, speaking of Rachel McAdams I saw "Red Eye" on Saturday. I could probably watch Rachel McAdams for hours while she was explaining accounting rules and call it a great performance, so take this for what it's worth. "Red Eye" is a thriller and it was pretty good: 3 stars out of 4 I'd say. It felt a little underdone in places, like it was the TV "movie of the week", and I usually complain about how long movies are but this one only clocked in at about 80 minutes or so. But Rachel was great and the creepy-eyed Cillian Murphy did a nice job.

Mr. Belvedere
I woke up this morning with the theme of "Mr. Belvedere" playing in my head(?), which actually is a step up from that Kelly Clarkson song that's been getting a lot of unsolicited airplay in there. I think Leon Redbone actually did that one. Anyway that got me to thinking of that Saturday Night Live skit, "The Guy Who Plays Mr. Belvedere Fan Club". Here is a transcript of it. It may be one that you have to see to get because it doesn't read as funny as it played.

Here's the part I was thinking of, where they are going through an exercise that helps them clear up the line between fantasy and reality in the way they interact with the guy who plays Mr. Belvedere:

Cheryl: Okay. I should want to shake hands with Mr. Belvedere, I shouldn't want to grab a lock of his hair.

Mr. Chairman: That's good, Cheryl. And, even though it would be really neat to have a lock of his hair, we know that's not right. Someone else?

Mike: Yeah. Okay. I should want to send him a fan letter telling him how good he was in the episode where he teaches everyone how to cook, but I shouldn't want to type the letter on a death certificate.

Mr. Chairman: Yes! But, then, you learned that one the hard way, huh? Okay, so let's keep going. Come on.

Adam: I should like watching "Mr. Belvedere" a lot, but I shouldn't have to masturbate at the end of every episode.

Mr. Chairman: That's right. That is right. Discipline. Next?

Melanie: Uh, yeah! I should want to cook Brocktoon a simple dinner if he truly accepts the offer, but not if I sense that he accepts it telepathically.

Mr. Chairman: Yes, okay.. but let's keep the exercise in the form of "should" and "shouldn't", okay? Next?

Phil: I should want to cook him a simple meal, but I shouldn't want to cut into him, to tear the flesh, to wear the flesh, to be born unto new worlds where his flesh becomes my key.

Mr. Chairman: [ considering ] Good.

Doug: I got one. I should want to say hi to him nicely, I shouldn't want to keep him in a big jar in my basement.

Mr. Chairman: Alright, Doug, that's great, we understand that now. Go on, though. Why shouldn't you put him in a big jar in your basement?

Doug: Because.. his breath would fog up the glass, and I wouldn't be able to see him..?

Mr. Chairman: Well, now, there is that, but..

By the way that guy who played Mr. Belvedere, Christopher Hewitt, died 5 years ago.

Bob Marley
Mildly annoying Slate article here on Bob Marley and how suburban white college students have ruined his legacy. This article was written by one Field Maloney, a Princeton grad who would know! His point: Bob Marley is more than his greatest hits "Legend" and middle-class white kids can never understand his work the way he meant for it to be heard. So? Has that really ever been a requirement to listen to something?

Unless Maloney is just making fun of the white kids with dreadlocks playing hacky sack and listening to Buffalo Soldier. Then I'm with him on that.

Boring Olympics
I don't know why these olympics seem kind of boring this time around. I remember really enjoying the 2002 Salt Lake City ones, but I just can't seem to get into these. I'm not alone with these thoughts and some have suggested it may be the fact that the Salt Lake City games played out in real time. Admittedly, whenever the news says "if you don't want to know the results, turn your head now", I look, so that does take away some of the excitement.

I've noticed that Ice Dancing is getting a lot of coverage this year, which is odd because I've always considered it to be the equivalent of Rythmic Gymnastics (the one with the ball and the ribbon): a sport, but not quite the same thing as it's more athletic cousin. But there is a good reason for all of this coverage. There is a really, really, really hot chick competing.

Sammy Sosa
Is Sammy Sosa going to retire? This article says probably. I still consider myself a huge Sammy Sosa fan, despite all of the bad things he's done: the corked bat, the steroids, the phoniness, etc. But it probably makes sense for him at this point just to fade away.

Olympics
This morning on the Today show I saw Bob Costa's exclusive interview with Michelle Kwan...for the the fifth time. These guys need to come up with some new material. We get it, she pulled her groin. It's too bad. So now, straight from band camp by the looks of her, this this Emily Hughes is going to take her place, but she's stuck in the snow. I've seen that interview three times now. Either I'm watching too much TV or NBC needs to get some more content.

Pets
I'm sporting a fat lip today after being outsmarted by my dog. We were playing tug-of-war with this old shoe that she has while I was lying on the couch, and she pulled the old "Italian Arm Wrestle" trick on me. She let go at precisely the right time and the right angle and I smashed myself in the face with the shoe. It was pretty startling and it took a second for me to realize what happened, and then I felt really, really stupid. She gave me this concerned look like "What the hell are you doing?"

Super Bowl
I'm not a big Steeler fan, but I guess I'm happy with the outcome. I guess I was supporting the Steelers for the sake of the only Miami University (Ohio) football player to make a name for himself, Ben Roethlisberger, and since we both were coached by Terry Hoeppner at Miami.

For me, the most interesting part of the game was at halftime when Mick came out and said, "We could have done this one at Super Bowl One" and launched into "Satisfaction". That's a pretty amazing thing.

Karma
Got a call at lunch yesterday from the Frateral Order of Police looking for donations and I replied with my standard, "I don't support the Police", especially not after seeing that cop shoot what appeared to be an innocent guy yesterday. So wouldn't it figure that on my way home from the gym at about 7PM, I get pulled over. Turns out my tags had expired last September. So I got a ticket and have to go to court to get it expunged.

All of which goes to prove my point, that I don't support the police, financially anyway. There are too many laws, too many cops with nothing to do and too many non-violent people in jail.

New Additions
Just 18 1/2 more weeks until this one arrives. These 3D ultrasounds are pretty cool. More pictures of Zoey here. She already has her Mom's big hands, and looks like she has her Dad's mouth.