I love the Olympics. I get very excited and even start screaming at the television (like they can hear me in China).
Television: The Olympics
Still. There have been some excellent moments this Olympics, especially for women who are breaking the age barriers. A 41-year-old swimmer, Dara Torres from the US, won three medals. At 38, a Romanian won the marathon by over one minute. (Apparently that is huge in marathons.) And last night a 33-year-old German woman won the silver in the vault. Most gymnasts retire at 20. Rock on athletic chicks! I also still hate the announcers. After the men won the relay Saturday night to give Michael Phelps his last gold medal, the announcer poolside asked one of the swimmers something like, "What do you think Phelps's gold medal means and how does he feel?" Why not just ask Phelps? Why completely negate the man's contribution to the TEAM win? Announcers are dumb. Now we're on to track and field which amazes me. Those runners make it look so easy.
Film: Death at a Funeral
There is nothing better than British black humor. The 2007 film was directed by Miss Piggy (Frank Oz). A family is holding a funeral for their father/husband. A little person (played by the always brilliant Peter Dinklage) shows up to blackmail the sons by claiming that he and their father were lovers. A cousin's fiancee (Alan Tudyk from Firefly and Serenity sporting a convincing Brit accent) is accidentally given strong hallucinogens by his fiancee. Hilarity ensues when said drugs are then given to Dinklage's character in an attempt to keep him quiet. I laughed so hard at one point that Porthos actually came into the living room and stared at me. He was like, "What the hell is wrong with you?" Tears came pouring out of my eyes. All I can say is little people look funny jumping on a couch, poop humor can get to me, and a naked man on a roof is hours of entertainment.
Book: The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club
Valerie lent be Laurie Notaro's first collection of short stories and I loved them. I didn't laugh out loud quite as much as I did with Autobiography of a Fat Bride but the stories were still excellent. I especially liked "A Morsel from the Garden of Eden" and the pairing of "Waking Angela Up" and "Angela's Revenge." I don't know how Notaro has lived as long as she has - by all accounts she should be dead from severe alcohol poisoning - but I hope she lives a lot longer and keeps writing. As a woman, I can relate with almost every scenario she presents. Truth be told, I really hope I am an Idiot Girl instead of a Smart Girl because the Idiot Girls seem to have tons more fun.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
I completely agree with you about Death at a Funeral. That is a hysterical movie. It's a little slow to get going, but once the secret about Dinklage comes out, it's so, so good. And Tudyk does do a very convincing accent.
However: I think Krista would not approve of you doing a write-up about DaaF without ONCE mentioning Matthew McFadyen. Heresy! :-)
Heather, I saw the final Phelps win too, and I also thought that question was idiotic. It's like the interviewer was trying to think of something, anything she could ask the other three guys!
Most commentators suck, and unfortunately, what with technology if we muted the television, we'd see the bloody captions! It's so, so wrong.
I agree, Heather. Here's to the athletic chicks--they're kickin' butt and takin' names. They're awesome!
But did you see the marathon winner sniffing something during the race? Even the commentators didn't know what it was--maybe smelling salts was their guess. Not a huge fan of the Olympics--probably because it brings up so many issues, but I have been catching some of it. Anyone catch Michael Phelps and his mom with Bob Costas? The EL-HS teasing thing got my attention. Pretending not to know a kid who was mean to him once, they threw his hat off the bus (horrors!). I dunno, but the mil from Speedo kinda makes all that irrelevant, right? Funny how things stick in your craw even after you're an gold-medal winning Olympic athlete.
I missed the interview. Drat!
I loved what the runners were pulling out of their skimpy little outfits. Apparently it's legit. Several of the pack women were pulling out stuff. I didn't know you could take snacks with you on the marathon! :-)
Did anyone else see the American gymasts get robbed two nights in a row???? The bronze vaulter from China completely blew here second vault. And last night the tiebreaking computer - stupid thing - gave Nastia the silver even though her routine was better than the Chinese girl who may or may not be 16 (she is SO not 16!). I'm not saying that the Americans should win everything, but when someone blows a vault and the experts agree that Nastia's routine on the uneven bars was better than the girl who got gold, something is going on.
Absolutely, absolutely agree on the age of the Chinese gymnasts. That situation infuriates me. How come the IOC can strip athletes of their medals if they are found to have used illegal drugs, but they don't investigate obvious age discrepancies? I mean, if a gymnast looked 8 years old, would they still accept it because "it said she was 16 on her passport"?
When you look at the photo of Liuken standing next to the "gold" medal winner, it's really obvious that the Chinese girl is not 16. And you're right--watching the two routines, even I could spot the Chinese girl's flubs.
Death at a Funeral - Love love love Matthew MacFadyen! It is heresy!
The whole cast is really good. I like the old uncle especially.
The Olympics and bad officiating go hand and hand like butter on toast. Asside from the occasional Michael Phelps like feat, after a few years the the things people seem to remember most about the Olympics are the bad calls and weird rulings For example, Roy Jones Jr. in 1988, US Men's Basketball in 1972, etc. I don't remember anything else about the 1988 Olympics and I only know about the 1972 Olympics because HBO did an hour documentary on how the men's team got cheated out of a gold metal by the officials. And except for Marion Jones' role in the BALCO scandal, who has a real profound memory about US Womens Track and Field...ever? Or will the other (non-Phelps non-Redeam Team) big story from this Olympics be that this was the final year for softball because the IOC wanted to get back at the US? Its why I don't watch, much. The umpiring at the Little League World Series is much more on the ball, which says it all no pun intended.
Yes, but some kids at the Little League World Series always look FAR over the age limit! (So I don't think they're immune from scandal.)
I remember Flo-Jo! Does that count? Yet I could not tell you what she ran or how well she did. I tend to remember personalities rather than actual moments. Of course, I do remember crazy moments like the gymnast who won gold on a broken (twisted?) ankle and was carried by Bella Karoli. By the way, I love Bella's enthusiasm. :-)
Moxiecat: Indeed, there was that kid from Florida five or so years ago who turned out to be 16! I think he is in some team's minor league system right now, actually. But that's one big memorable scandal for an annual event, as opposed to perpetual controvercy for something that happens in a multi-year cycle.
Post a Comment