OakMonster’s Den

I am sad to inform you that my cousin May and her partner Eva lost to the Singaporean team. Eva also lost women’s single earlier, so the US Badminton girls are all out of the running.

ETA: USA Network is now re-broadcasting May’s match with commentators. Of course, I was waiting to hear how badly they would butcher May’s long last name, Mangkalakiri. That’s pronounced Mang-ka-la-kee-ree, folks.

But the commentator went crazy there with. Mang-gala-CARRY.

Carry? Really?  How did the “I” become “A”?

The former USA Badminton president is the one going with the safe way, having known May, calling her May instead of trying the last name.

I am also sad to inform you that Thailand’s golden badminton girl also lost her match against China. It was expected that China would mow her over, but she actually won the first match and gave that lady the run for her money before losing.

Also in the news, the two hopes of Thai female weightlifters were quickly squashed. Not to mention that while one of them was competing in Beijing, her apartment in Thailand was gutted, killing her two dogs. Talk about a tough day!

Brandon and I watched the Korean swimmer kid redeemed himself from having disqualified as a 14-year-old. Remember the kid that fell in before the start? Yep, he’s not only back, but won the first ever swimming medal for South Korea. And it’s a gold. I was screaming for that kid.

More fun than watching Michael Phelps actually competing was watching his reaction during his first medal ceremony. The U.S. national anthem came on missing a few notes. At the end of the first verse, there was an awkward skip and it started over again. Brandon thought I was losing my mind, but I was singing along in my head there. I KNEW there was an extra verse in there. That little glitch didn’t register on Phelps’ face.

However, as we approached “o’er the land of the free”, the music suddenly was cut off. The camera was up close on Phelps. One second after that, he burst into laughter, along with the crowd–President Bush and the family included.

That, my friend, was an awesome Olympic moment. He sure as hell is not going to mix that one up with all the other medals he could be winning in this game.

The Olympics had begun, y’all.

I was at Katie’s wedding last night so I missed most of the celebration during the first broadcast.  However, I did catch the US and Thai national teams marched into the stadium.  And I tivo’ed the rerun to watch again this morning.

“Cousin” Nicky is reporting prolifically from Beijing on their adventures so far.  And tonight, May takes the court.  So please tune in on the computer at 9 p.m. PST (California time), Thais and Americans everywhere, to cheer her on.

LA Times Olympics Blog also got to talk to May a bit as she recap Uncle Noi’s harrowing near “great fall down the Great Wall” as well as her experience so far.

Now, back to the opening ceremony.

Holy. Mackerel!  As Brandon summed it up best, “Nobody can out-pomp the Chinese!”

The LED screen on the floor is amazing.  Performers, brilliant and are you sure they’re human?  I mean, that kind of precision for that big a group is INSANE!

This would mark the 2nd Olympics of my life time that I actually would remember how the torch was lit.  There’s the 1992 Barcelona with the archery and then this running up the wall thing in Beijing.

Suddenly, I think I heard the Londoners let out the resounding, “Aw, shit. Now we have to top THIS?”  You poor, poor Brits.

As much as I enjoyed the ceremony and I quietly accepted the delay broadcast, I must say that someone should slap a piece of tape over Bob Costa’s mouth.

The tidbits about each country marching out is great.  Good to know. Thanks, guys.  The cultural commentaries about the ceremony are also helpful.  Again, thanks.  But Bob’s “Hey, I’m a witty sports commentator guy! Hear me make what I think is hilarious injection!” not only wasn’t funny, it was disrespectful.

There were too many moments to count but notably, as the 2,008 Tai-chi masters ran into formation around the stadium, he blurted out something along the line of one misstep and that’s a cranium wreck.  Come on.

And there was more of those little comments that he made that would’ve been funny during an NFL game, but seriously, not here at the Olympics.

Talk about comments, I was also bothered about the politically laden commentaries throughout the broadcast. I understand that there are a lot of controversies. I’m sure everyone see this differently, but I thought all the political analysis and comments from Tom Brokaw before the show started was enough right there.  But not for NBC apparently.

They kept saying that the Olympics opening ceremony is one of those moment when you put everything aside and celebrate the world coming together.  But throughout the show, they kept throwing in the political tidbits.

Oh yes, here’s Sudan.  Oh yes, here’s Thailand where President Bush made that speech the other day (instead of talking about the fact that Thai female athletes won first medals in the country’s history, a fact they pointed out with other countries).  Oh yes, here’s Iran and its nuclear program.

How is this supposed to be a UNITY event when the newscasters keep bringing up the controversies every few minutes?

Oh, whatever.  We’ve all moved on by now.  After all, that was so 12 hours ago.

At this moment, it looked like the Chinese already out-gold-medaled the U.S.  NBC is keeping tabs on the total medal count, but to me, the only medal count that matters is the gold.

Thailand is coming in pretty strong this year with returning champs.  Let’s see if we can beat our records last year!

Y’all, I once again bought a bike.

This is my new baby, Electra Townie, souped up with a cargo rack, a makeshift cargo hold (container bin and bungee mesh), and, of course, a bell. Brandon also scored his new cross-country bike, replacing his undersized cheapy that’s been killing his back and, more importantly, his bad knee this whole time.

While Brandon’s purchase was planned as he’s taking the riding a bit more seriously now, it was a slightly impulsive buy for me. But I’m tired of being left behind when the boys go out to ride. Sure, they can do the rides on their own, but at least Brandon and I can do something together in addition to just playing games, watching movies, or driving around.

So, Brandon and I went on a test ride today to, where else, Fresh & Easy store. My goal is that I could ride there on my own to do some shopping before it gets dark. And eventually, we’ll ride all the way to James & Aurora’s house. And eventually after that, all the way to Seal Beach and back.

Finally, my “cousin” May (her mom is one of my mom’s best friends) is acclimating to Beijing. Her brother Nicky is blogging about it here. I will leave the link up for you on the right column through the entire Olympics.

My dad is all excited about the Olympics too. It’s always been big deal for us growing up, watching the coverage and sometimes live broadcast of the Olympics. The opening ceremony was never missed in our household, no matter what time it came on. The 2004 Olympics were especially good for Thailand, most medals ever won. I hope we repeat ourselves here. Come on, Paradorn. Bring us home some bronze, at least, bro!

And speaking of the games, does ANYONE know where we can watch the opening ceremony LIVE? NBC’s schedule shows that they will broadcast at prime time. But Beijing is 15 hours ahead of PST therefore that can’t possibly be live! If we want to see it live, then we should have to resort to the internet? Seriously, any lurkers with the knowledge, could you please de-lurk for the day and clue me in, I’d really appreciate it.

Well, at least I found out that USA channel will broadcast badminton live. At least we can try to catch May there.

Hope everyone’s weekend was great!

Water on Mars!  WATER ON MARS!

I am such a geek.

Oh, and the alien in my eye also hatched today.  The corner of my eye by my nose is still swollen and red but virtually painless at this point.   Yeah, tear duct infection turned out to be more of the infection of my eyelid by the same alien that used to live in my nose, it seemed.

Let me see how many times I have been on antibiotics this year.  There’s the the original nose alien in January, but I actually didn’t go to the doctor for that.  Then there’s the February flu and sinus infection.  And then another nose alien in April.  I’m starting to wonder if I have a weird bacteria living on my skin or something.

Anyhoo.  I’m off to be a third wheel at Beachwood BBQ with Paul and Lupe unless Aurora shows up with Dresden, that is. 

BBC News reports:

Rabbit ripper shocks Germany

…Rocco and Felina are among the 30 pet rabbits killed in the towns of Witten and Dortmund since last summer.

Many of the rabbits have been decapitated and the blood drained from their bodies…

…It is also unclear how the killer has been locating his victims.

Most of the beheaded pets were hidden from public view, locked away in back yards or back gardens.

It has raised the possibility that the killer has been using satellite images on the internet to find houses with rabbit hutches…

…Fear is driving German rabbit-owners to hide their pets away in the woods, like Julia, or in their garages, or in cellars.

The pet rabbits of the Ruhr Valley are being forced to go to ground, while the killer is still at large.It is also unclear how the killer has been locating his victims.

Most of the beheaded pets were hidden from public view, locked away in back yards or back gardens.

It has raised the possibility that the killer has been using satellite images on the internet to find houses with rabbit hutches.

People are sick. SICK!  Killing hapless little fluffy creatures who all they do is hop around, poop, eat grass, and look incredibly adorable.  How could you!

And wow, I didn’t know bunnies are popular pet in Germany.

My friend Lily must be screaming her little head off last night as Nadal beats Federer at Wimbledon.

About damn time, dude.  We’ve been waiting.

My eyes are half opened but I want to post this before I go to bed.

My fantastic adventure as a humble blogger attending the Fresh & Easy store grand opening.

Highlights include meeting the CEO Tim Mason and finding out that all their execs know the Temple, and me taking a swan dive outside of the store in front of like a hundred people.

I should be proud that that was possibly the biggest crowd I’ve ever tripped and fallen in front of…

Oh wait. No.  There was always that one night of performance of the Nutcracker at the National Theater where I tripped on my unraveling ballet shoe ribbons as I landed a cartwheel and ate it on stage…

Why, good morning to you too, David.

Well, San Francisco is THE place to be, really.

George Takei got his marriage license today.

“Congratulations to all of us: May equality live long and prosper.”

Indeed.

We gather here in California today and onward to witness the joy of MARRIAGE FOR ALL.

[Image from the LA Times]

Hooray!