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It's 08 08 08
Not just an auspicious day for some, also the beginning of the Olympics!
Who here will be following proceedings?
For someone completely out of the loop (ie me) which events are worth keeping an eye on?
I just found this out - just type in the name of a sport followed by olympics into Google and you get an updated score or the time it'll be on (if it isn't in progress yet)
So for 'football olympics' i got:
Olympic Football (Soccer)
Ongoing game: Men's Football (Soccer) - Group D
South Korea
0
Cameroon
0
en.beijing2008.cn
Last night's score:
Aus 1
Serbia 1
Australia were the first to score!! woo!!
And the first to lose a lead?
I'll have a look at the opening ceremony and probably watch some of the track and field, particularly the 1500 and 5000metres. (my old favourite distances), and I'll watch some of the top swimming races and that's about it.
Well that's what I'm saying at the moment..
gehh... don't like the swimming purely because it goes on forever and really, how exciting is it to watch people go back and forth over and over. It's like watching tennis but like with a pool....
The diving events are good though. And I'll be watching the gymnastics for sure.
Oh, I forgot about the gymnastics, I'll have a look in there as well. My daughter was a gymnast when she was young. (not that she's old now)
I kinda grew out of the Olympics....
that and the lack of time difference this time means that I'll end up watching even less than before I think
The athletics and swimming short races are always good for a thrill
i have only liked the olympics when i've been living in another country....then it's been fun to root for the usa.
I used to like it when I was young.
Now I just find it all too nationalistic.
That said, it's always fun to see the medal tally fight
Oh! I just remembered I like to watch weight lifting!
Why is the UK in 116th position? We should be much higher up than that regardless of the chinese language!
116th position of what?
In the opening ceremony.
btw, they just lit the cauldron, and I'm wishing I was there just for the fireworks!
I wish i was there to trip the guy over as he was running around the stadium to light it cos im evil muahahaha!
LOL!
Whoa.... me thinks those fireworks just added to the air quality problem
aha but could it get much worse?
huh?
The pollution/smog thing...
Isn't that what I said?
*scratching head*
Words confuse me. Thats why im here.
LOL!
You're at your comedic best tonight
ty I inhailed a whole lotta petrol fumes this morning that may be it.
oh.....happy is always funny........one of the reasons i like him.
Best to keep Happy away from the fireworks me thinks....
Oh I make my own!
Oh?
Yeh the one im planning will be powered by sugar and will be big so i can strap tourists to it.
hahaha why not just collect your nail clippings and use those? Sure to burn more explosively than sugar!
Now who's the insane scheming person? lol
Oh, you don't know the half of it!
We used to have this altar at home when I was young, with a perpetually burning oil lamp.
I used to get great joy burning my hair and nail clippings over it. Also used to spray my mum's perfumes and dad's cologne onto it. Whoosh! Now that was fun!
Until my mum figured out why her perfume supply was declining so rapidly....
steady on dek.....you'll be giving him ideas...
Oh, right....
oops
wot if I used a network of batteries exploding in series?
Or...
no wait its gone.
I shall leave you to come up with more bright ideas. Tis late here.
'Ave a good day!
I wont let u down!
Never thought you would!
I'm watching women's basketball now. I like the Russians' outfit.
Meanwhile, I'm now gonna support the underdogs. 18 of them:
So neither your country of birth, your country of ethnic orign, nor your adopted country of choice, rate your support?
But you will support some very wealthy countries, and some with terribly oppressive and dictatorial regime's??????????????????
Hey the only time Britain did well was when we rigged it...
Thats why Im supporting Bermuda!
12pm! or is it 12am?
its 12am!
Andro, as you know, I'm not nationalistic.
It's all about the athletes. All the ads I'm seeing on tv tell me that my support can make someone swim or run faster, throw higher etc....
I'm testing the theory.
I'm testing the theory.
As you are perefectly entitled to do, Deezee.
The tests are confusing me thus far.... All the winners have been winning without any input from me...
im moving to australia so i can be a 1337 swimmer
Where are you currently, bluek?
I live in Australia, and I avoid all bodies of water
im in chicago. i would go swimming but black ppl + water = disaster and lake michigan seems dirty to me. ymca isnt walking distance like at my house so screw that.
Black ppl + water = disaster?
Not according to the US olympic swim team!
I know so many people that live in Australia but can't/won't/don't swim. It doesn't make sense to me. YOU LIVE ON AN ISLAND!!! It would be an advantage to have this skill....
If it makes you feel better, I grew up on an even smaller island than Aust....
Water and I have a love hate relationship... what can I say?
i meant black ppl hair XD
I used to be able to motor down the 50m of the pool in a tick or two less than 30 seconds. Those were the days. I'm sure I would sink now.
... and I am not so much Nationalistic as I am Stateilistic ... as a result am looking forward to watching Queenslands medal tally (again) contribute to the bulk of that of Australia. Particularly in the pool.
A couple of the women in the office are going crazy about some medals that a some Brit girls have just won in the swimming. At this rate we (in the UK) might need more than a hand or two to count the medal tally on this time.
I can't help thinking about 2012 and the venues. At the moment there is still people walking their dogs and carving out illicit BMX tracks over the ground they should be building on...
Word to the wise - when the Olympic circus rolls into town, take a vacation.
I was glad I wasn't in Sydney when the madness ensued!
Meanwhile, I'm watching archery and wondering what Sir M is up to.
The Games are also a great time to be reminded of the more obscure sports. I watched this one where they have to kayak down rapids. Like skiing, but on fast flowing water instead.
Wonder how someone decides that will be the sport they'll have a go at...
... and I am not so much Nationalistic as I am Stateilistic ... as a result am looking forward to watching Queenslands medal tally (again) contribute to the bulk of that of Australia. Particularly in the pool.
Well said Ruski and I agree.
Last time I looked Australia had three gold medals and all of them were won by Qld swimmers.
Oh my. I've only now seen this, from the Sydney Olympics.
Eric the Eel
Yes. That was memorable.
The poor guy!
So about the little girl who was switched at the olympics... There's a huge drama about it, but Australia did the same thing with Nikki Webster. Out of the final three girls, they chose Nikki over the others for aesthetic reasons. She represented the "Aussie" blonde-hair-blue-eyes look that is associated with the country's 'beach appeal' nation.
Yeah, I saw that....
Seems to me the media tries even harder for joyous and tragic stories during the 'pics
still not as bad as kangaroos getting around on bicycles . . . .
I'll never forget the Aussie ceremony... I thought it was a riot!!
Not literally, but yeah..
Ummm.... what?
Riot as in ha ha not riot like chaos
No, I meant what was that about kangaroos and bicyles?
ohh... didn't you see?
No... I never watch ceremonies.
I'd rather take my brains out and feed them to snails
Oic..
The best thing about the Olympics is the number of Chinese in Sydney streets has dropped significantly
Don't call me racist, but anyone who comes to Sydney looking for Aussies is out of their mind... You really would think that you'd gotten directly off the plane in Beijing!
And the main train station is right by Chinatown too...
Well... yeah... but it's a good mix.
And I haven't noticed a change in the demographics here?
Eh?
i'm one of only five aussies in my department of 35. Mainly irish backpackers although the londoners are starting to outweigh them as the irish move on to travel (we are outsourcing our operations at the moment). And we have a team of six guys from india. Two people of asian decent but they've been here long enough to be called aussies now anyway so make that 7 out of 35 (5 of which were born in aus). Not to mention China is killing it in the medal stakes at the moment . . . . can i say drugs. (not for any particular reason, i just like to say the word every now and then)
I don't think I've noticed any Chinese on Tangler?
And being from Singapore doesn't count dek,
Unless you take some of Simon's drugs hehe
drugs.....hehe....
And being from Singapore doesn't count dek
Of course it doesn't! I'm indian! hahahaha
Hey, I'm learning Panjabi!!
Oh cool!
We can talk in Punjabi when we want to keep something from the rest of the folks here
Yeah, so far I know how to pronounce the vowels and some consonants.
Are you learning the alphabet n all, or just how to speak it?
I didn't know you spoke it?
It's similar to Hindi, and I have two Sikh sworn brothers
I understand it better than I speak it
Yeah, i'm learning the alphabet, writing, and both the Roman and Gurmukhi variants.
Mr Morgan K is also a Sikh, but he is actually punjabi himself, hence why I am learning
Sikh and Punjabi are the same... aren't they?
Sikh relates to religion, Punjab refers to the region he is from.
Chandigarh, to be specific
ahhh... I use both as a race signifier. Maybe cos we don't really use the word 'Sikh' in Hindi
It's ok, you are right to do so. I was just referring to them differently in the context. When you said 'sworn Sikh' I thought you meant as in "sworn buddhist" or "sworn catholic" - my guy is deeply into his religion, and is also from Punjab.
Oh no, I meant 'sworn bros who are Punjabi'
(Back to the 'Pics)
Oh oh, I've just found out that Phelps has won his sixth gold!!!
W00T!!
2 more!
drugs... oops
Why would a shooter need to take drugs?!
A Brazilian just won the 50 freestyle!
And Phelps has his 7th gold medal. 7 in one 'Pics.... this guy is amazing.
One more to go!!
Why would a shooter need to take drugs?!
This is not the first time that shooters have tested positive for drugs at an olympics.
Apparantly they use 'beta blockers' (anti hypertension drugs) to slow the heart rate and give them a steadier hand.
Ahhhh.... okay, that makes sense
Phelps has got 8 in total...
I think I can take credit for that.
Me too!
Oh, and I'm also taking credit for Usain Bolt's magnificent run. And the Serbian men's water polo and volleyball teams
Well my reasoning is that every sport I watch, the team I'm going for seems to lose.... And I flat out refuse to watch the swimming - therefore we're winning
HAHAHAHAHAHA
I can empathise... I went thru that phase some years ago
I'm taking credit for Can't Hackett finishing second to the Tunisian.
hehehehe How funny was that?
I see that GB has a nice little mini-haul of medals... That will change now that the so-called technical sports are done. I was really impressed by the "three blondes in a boat". Not only do they win a gold but are a fairly nice bit of eye candy.
lol.
...and it was really frustrating (earlier last week) to see the GB Archery team being beaten by the French. It seems they have come on in leaps and bounds since Agincourt..
hahahahaha
Maybe that was the catalyst...
mr. dent is in top form this morning.
I was reading something about the GB medal haul tonight in the trashy free paper they hand out at central station
Yes here is is ... "The drawback to winning is that a previously treasured token of sporting excellence ... the bronze medal ... has been devalued" .... by some Brit fellow named Martin Maher.
It goes on to say ... "now anyone who returns to the local velodrome boasting about a third place finish is going to face an embarrassing silence at best and probably some questions about what they've been doing with all that lottery fund."
... but back to the serious sport talk ... I swear I saw the neighbours cockatiel that I lost recently down the front of the pants of one of the rowing lads during the medal presentation. I surely hope he is OK.
It seems they have come on in leaps and bounds since Agincourt..
Those sneaky French... they've been preparing for BoA2 all this time... well we'll show them! We always have our secret weapon in reserve, something they'd never expect or know what to deal with...
Meanwhile, I watched GBR's team fast cycling ride (what ever it's called) and they smashed their opponents!
All the commentators could say during the ride was "I can't believe my eyes" and "they're absolutely flying"!
I also learnt that the last gold Great Britain won in that event was in 1906, and that the guys who won in then could now rest in peace....
It bothers me a little that basketball and football are Olymics sports. come to think of it ... basketball bothers me a lot anytime. That said ... it is a bit unfair that these two sports plus field hockey, water polo, baseball softball and the like have to endure a gruelling two week tournament for the chance of 1 medal where as at the gymnastic arena ... as good as they might be and all that ... they seem to hand em out willy nilly. I'm going to try out aiming to qualify for the ribbon routine at London 2012. I used to be able to flick a spent ciggy butt a fair distance. Can't see it being much harder than that.
You know what bothers me?
Shooting, Equestrian and Sailing
But most of all that Dressage thing. Makes no sense to me at all
And then you have the genius events like the Steeplechase in athletics.
I mean, seriously, what was the thought process there?
"Hmmm... lets see who can run the fastest"
"Oh wait! Let's make them jump over stuff and then see who is the fastest"
"No no, I got it! Lets get them to jump over stuff AND jump over stuff and into water and then see who is the fastest!"
Yes. The solution is to combine the shooting with the sailing to form some sort of naval piracy event and to replace the dressage with greyhounds.
Steeplechase though I have no answer for. Fill the water trap with boiling oil perhaps.
OOOOooooo
Love the sailing/shooting event.
Lets add archery to that too! And we can use flaming arrows!
I'm wondering why there is no longer a modern pentathlon. It had all those events combined. For memory there was horse riding, swimming and some sort of combat. Our young swimming chap who was omitted from the team on account of a successful pub brawl would have been the perfect choice.
LOL!
Btw, they still have it: http://en.beijing2008.cn/sports/modernpentathlon/index.shtml
... and the marathon runners should have to go through heats, semis and repecharges like everyone else.
kekeke! Evil Ruski
they still have it
Thats a relief.
The site says - it's been called the true Olympic sport
O...kay...
There was that american based campaign to make Eating an olympic sport. Oh how we all laughed.
LOL. And I thought the quad skulls meant you should have to down four pints at the halfway mark.
The commentators here keep calling Usain Bolt "hussein bolt'
Meanwhile, never has there been a more appropriate name for a sprinter
Might necessitate a change to the phrase to "take the bolt" but "take the Hussein" might be misconstrued by the uneducated.
heh heh
Heads up the steeplechase is on. Where are those flaming arrows.
Oh thanks! I'm there
(was watching women's football on SBS)
Spikes dipped in death adders milk on top of the hurdles would make it interesting.
No no! Make the hurdles electric
and a couple of eels in the water trap
There you go! Sounds more exciting already!
Instead of the bell on the last lap they should throw a toaster in the water trap.
Ought to get their attention
ROFL!
You're baaad!
In field hockey ... penalty corner ... the perpetrator should have to sit in the corner and face the wall and think about what they have done for 5 minutes.
LOL!
Hey, think up one for the football corner!
LOL... ^^^ Sailing and Shooting! Imagine one of those titchy little dinghies with a couple of 16" turrets. The competition would have to change it's format slightly. The boats would have to be split into two lines abreast. Each one would then fire broadsides until only 4 were left. They could then have shoot-outs for Gold/Silver from the two boats with the most rounds left and Bronze shoot out from the next count-down of rounds left. If there was equal numbers of rounds then there could be a count-back on number of boats sunk from longest to shortest range.... or something like that.
omg!
how did everyone miss out on commenting of ruski's dreams of competing with ribbons in women's gymnastics at the next olympics?
i'm starting to save my money now.........i will not miss seeing that.
happy- eating is a serious sport here in the u.s.......they actually televise some of these competitions (or at least they used to......i don't really watch tv anymore).....very exciting stuff.......you do realize that you are not allowed to vomit during the match?
and being the parent of a 3 year old.....i'm liking ruski's suggestion for the penalty corner......it's more effective than just sitting there thinking about nothing......and they aren't allowed to leave the corner until they show that they understand what it is they've done wrong.
i little while back......i started to, jokingly, threaten my daughter with having to sit in the corner and eat dirt. since my child has never been much affected by punishments.......and is also a bit of a wise ass.....she asked to try dirt.......after a week of her begging for punishments and laughing in my face at the thought of any discipline......i gave her some dirt......she took a big pinch of it and put it in her mouth.......chewed a little bit.......smiled up at me and said ...."mmmm.....crunchy!"
damn unique child 
.......who i love more than anything in the world........
I believe I've also heard tell of sitting competitions in the states... going on for massive blocs of time, just sitting in big special competition chairs. Short times each day where you can stand to go use the bathroom and prevent bed sores developing on your rear end...
The one I heard about was won on a bit of a technicality - one of the guys chose not to take some of his allowed breaks, so even though he gave up and got down sooner, the "winner" actually sat for less time. So the guy who got down second to last actually won.
i never heard of that.
i'd be good at that though.
Ok so... most useless/idiotic/pointless/dumbest "sport" in the Olympics is...??
The event I'd most like to combine wth shooting is synchronised swimming, that way if you're a dud shot, you at least might get the other person.
I thought they took synchronised swimming out?
so ruski....how is the ribbon training going?
i think it's going to be a long time before that image is out of my head.
I wonder if helium constitutes a banned substance in the ball routine of the rythmic gymnastics?
heheheeh I keep reading 'ribbon' as 'gibbons'
gibbon gymnastics!
Morgan - I really do think the most useless/idiotic/pointless/dumbest "sport" in the Olympics is dressage. And now that I've realised that the modern penthalon has it, I'm adding that to the list too.
I mean, seriously, why don't they add an event to athletics for people taking a walk with their dogs then? What's the diff?
how about cat bathing.......that takes some skill?
That takes serious survivor skillz!
There was some talk about GB medal haul earlier.
Looks like Australia isn't handling it too well? (I haven't read any local papers, so I have no idea myself)
Fishing...
The fat lady hasn't sung yet!!
hahahaah Well, it is the Aussie press which is up in arms....
No it's not, it's a pom correspondent in Aust...
He's just commenting on the Herald's headline!
And he actually defends Aust in that article. Looks like it at least
I remind me a guy who was speaking with a high voice on the belgium TV. The presentator had such a lauch that he has been fired tight after lauging at this handicap guy
This was in the olympics?
Nothing wrong with a spot of fishing...
Nick Bryant is the BBC's Sydney correspondent.....
And the fat lady still hasn't sung yet...
He's married to an Aussie shelia, so he can't say too much..
I've got to say that the only interest I have in the olympic medals table is that when I look at the top ten list I, can't see France listed. It wouldn't bother me if GB were next to bottom, as long as France were bottom. That's not to say that I hate the French, I just happen to know that it really winds them up to be beaten in anything by anyone from the UK.
If the Aussies go on to collect another 10 golds, good luck to them, the French also get wound up when the Aussies beat them. If I have to be dissapointed, it is with the Kiwis. The French also get wound up about being beaten by them as well...
Does it please you that South Africa is tied with Singapore, Estonia, Vietnam and Trinidad/Tobago among others?
No concern whatsoever with regard to South Africa and the others you list...
I reckon it's great the Angies are going well and will always provide support as long it is not the Penal Colony they are duking it out with. As previously stated ... in other places ... Great Britian are responsible for many great things ...
1. Land Rover
2. Andrew Symonds
3. Burns Guitars
4. Australia ...
to name a few.
5. cricket?
do the french really like anyone.......and would they like anyone beating them?
I like the French.... and the few French people I know seem to like me plenty...
i don't dislike the french....at all........
i don't dislike very many people......and certainly not because of their nationality.....
fuck....i'm american ......the whole world hates us.
ROFL!!
It's ok.... Michael Phelps is changing that. Everyone loves him!
it's true.....
well.....what's not to love about michael phelps?
He might have been why Thorpe retired?
did you know that i thought he was australian?
shows how much i pay attention.....
the one time i saw him compete.......he was competing against an australian....and i got confused when i recently tried to remember him.
might have been thorpe?
Yeah, might have been. They went head to head a few times (if I remember correctly)
and LOL at you thinking Phelps was Aussie! Priceless!
i gotta run.....good night dek.....
i think i might be having some nightmares about ruski's ribbon routine.....
hahaha that!
Nite nite bluegirl!
yeah.....ruski is actually the one who pointed out my mistake to me.
Your mistake?
*scrolls up*
about phelps.....