Category Archives: General

Gymnastics Is Turning Me Into A Crazy Woman

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I’ve been reminded of how much I love watching gymnastics the last few days, and I’ve noticed something.

It’s turning me into a crazy woman.

It’s entirely possible that I was already like this, and the crazy is just amplified by watching the Olympics.  But I’d like to blame it on gymnastics.

Vault.  OH.  MY.  GOD.  Completely speechless after MyKayla Maroney’s vault.  I’m curious as to what the deductions were, but it was a great vault.

I really liked the Romanians on beam.  Unfortunately, we only saw glimpses of the Romanians and the Chinese.  It’s too bad we didn’t see any of the other teams.  Seeing Great Britain once or twice would have been nice.  And Japan.  And whoever else competed.

Russia just fell apart on both beam and floor, and seeing them cry made me want to cry for them.  I really liked their leotards and the glitter in their hair.  What really did it was floor!  There are no words.  I cried.

That’s right, the seeing the U.S. win gymnastics team gold- for the first time since 1996- made me cry.  There was a lot of nervousness and excitement in wondering if it would happen.  (Of course it happened, I’d have been really surprised if it didn’t).  Lots of waiting while they posted the official score.  And then the jumping up and down screaming.  Then a happy dance.  And finally, crying.  It’s just so exciting!

All-around and event finals are coming up, and that will be exciting too.  I can’t wait!

Skeet Shooting Is An Olympic Sport?

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Every Olympics, I’m always amazed by some of the Olympic sports.

Like skeet shooting, weight-lifting and cycling.  I’m sure they all work really hard at their respective sports, but at the same time, I wonder why I spent an hour or so watching cycling.

I watched a little bit of water polo and men’s volleyball, but it was really more background noise than anything else.  And beach volleyball.  I was utterly baffled as to why the other U.S. team (the non Misty May/Kerri Walsh team) were wearing hats at night.  I get goggles, but hats?  I am so confused.

I have to say that I am really amused by the fact that there’s a beach volleyball court in England.  I don’t know why, but I am.

I have really good prediction skills too.  Sort of.  I was watching the qualification for women’s gymnastics, and correctly predicted that the U.S., Russia, China, Japan and Romania would be amongst the 8 teams in the final.  And Great Britain.  The first five, because those are the countries you would (rightly) associate with really great gymnasts and are the countries that tend to dominate gymnastics.  Great Britain, Italy and Canada, not so much.  But then again, the first 5 tend to overshadow everyone else, to the point that you tend to forget there are other countries competing.

And I do feel bad for Jordyn Wieber.  So I knew that she didn’t make it to all-around because of a technicality, but when I watched it, it was a little hard to feel sorry for her.  I know her dream was shattered but no one’s really talking about how Aly did make it to the all-around finals.  At this point, I feel sorrier for Raisman than Wieber.  Unfortunately, I can not figure out why there’s a two-athlete limit…I know it’s a rule, but how hard is it to explain why it’s a rule?  My thought is that it’s a way to even it out so some of the athletes from countries that aren’t gymnastic powehouses have a chance.

I also watched diving, and I’m always impressed with synchronized diving.  It’s amazing how the divers are in sync and everything.  And swimming!  You can’t forget about swimming.  Seeing Dana Vollmer break a world record was exciting.  Butterfly looks exhausting though.  And the men’s 1o0m breaststroke, where Brendan Hansen just barely beat out the guy from Hungary to get the bronze was exciting.  Especially since he did better than Kitajima, who he has a rivalry with.  And the guy from South Africa breaking the world record.  Swimming was super excited.

Actually, that’s the nice thing about the Olympics.  You get to see a lot of other athletes from a lot of different countries.  And you get to see a lot of sports that you otherwise wouldn’t think of, you know?  Like, when are you going to find yourself watching people riding bikes on t.v.?  Or getting excited over rowing?  Seriously, rowing was exciting to watch.  And then I was like, why am I excited about this?  It makes no sense.  But then again, it’s fun to be excited about things like rowing.  Because when else is this going to happen but the Olympics?

I’m still kind of sad that softball and baseball aren’t in the Olympics, but at least there are plenty of other sports to be excited about.  I suppose that’s enough rambling for today…but it’s not the last time I’ll be rambling on about the Olympics.

I LOVE The Olympics!

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Summer Olympics!  They’re here!  I’ve anxiously been awaiting the Olympics, because it’s one of my favorite events ever.  Here are my thoughts as I watched the Opening Ceremony.

I loved that there were children’s choirs singing songs from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and that each country had something special.  Seriously cool.

I also loved the homage to WWI.  And seeing the stadium change as England changed?  Also cool.  Forging the rings was pretty amazing.  It’s one time I wish I were there.  And that smell-o-vision existed.

I loved that entrance!  Very cool.  Seriously, James Bond and the Queen teaming up?  I wonder how they got her to agree to that.  The Peter Pan tribute, and actual doctors and nurses…a very nice touch.  As was the tribute to the military.

I LOVED seeing J.K. Rowling reading, and I screamed.  Seriously.  It confused my grandma, who I think figured it out a couple minutes later.  And a big balloon Voldemort!  And Mary Poppins!  I really should watch Mary Poppins again.

Loved the video with Rowan Atkinson- it made me giggle.  And then I laughed.

Great music choices.  Bad time to make cookies, but a great time to paint my nails.  Pink sparkles are awesome people.  Maybe I should take a picture…

The Who, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks…who’s next?  Oh, I know, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen!  Air guitar!

Spice Girls.  They should play them.  Rap and the U.K.?  Interesting.  Loved the bit with the internets.  I am slightly disappointed by the lack of Spice Girls.  Maybe they’re trying to forget them?  Oh, and I’m surprised it took this long for David Beckham to make an appearance.  You’d think he’d show up earlier in the ceremony.

I don’t get why Ryan Seacrest is interviewing people.  It’s just weird.  And honestly, doesn’t one of his 50 million other jobs need him for something?

Parade of nations!  It’s always cool watching it because of all the different countries and their outfits and stuff.

81 countries of 200+ have never won medals.  Interesting.  Argentina is a sea of blue but nothing spectacular about their outfits.

I love that all the flags are hanging out at Glastonbury Tor.  The people from Bermuda wearing Bermuda shorts?  Ironic.  Djibouti is a nice name for a country.  You’d think France would be better dressed.  I like what Guam’s wearing.  Very flower-y.  The independent Olympic Athletes seem to be having the most fun.  Seriously, they danced.  Everyone else seems kind of solemn.  Jordan and Kazakhstan had some pretty cool outfits.  Marshall Islands look pretty festive.  Mexico also had some colourful outfits.

I’ve never heard of Tuvalo.  That’s the cool thing about the Parade of Nations.  All the countries I’ve never heard of and all the countries I don’t think about…except for during the Parade Of Nations.  It’s going by so fast…and yet it’s taking a while.’

I still don’t like our Opening Ceremony outfits.  They’re a bit too sailor-ish.  Then again, they were designed by Ralph Lauren…And is it just me, or is it weird that pro basketball players are in the Olympics?  Because I think that’s a little weird.

And seeing the UK athletes enter was really cool.  The Queen doesn’t look too interested but maybe she’s tired or something.  Anyway, it’s always cool seeing the athletes from the host country come in.  You’d think they’d look more excited.

Fireworks were pretty awesome.  And you can’t forget about the flag, the cauldron, the torch relay.  It’s just so fun and exciting and I love the ceremony of it.  The lighting of the cauldron was just so cool, and I got goosebumps watching it.  Paul McCartney’s performance was just okay for me.

The final verdict: Pretty freakin’ awesome.  It was fun and quirky and I loved every minute of it.  I loved the literary references (the ones I caught anyway) and it made me even more excited about the Olympics.  Yes, that is possible (in case you’re wondering).

It’s going to be a fun 17 days!

Olympics!

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I know I’m deviating from my usual weekly post on music and podcasts.  But.  I need to talk about the Olympics.  They’re almost here!  Seriously, if I could watch the Olympics all day, I would.

Of course, I’m super excited about gymnastics, swimming and diving.  I’ll probably watch trampoline (yes, that is an actual event)  and volleyball.  Maybe equestrian, if I happen to catch it.  And probably track.  No more softball or baseball, which is sad.

I looked over the schedule, and had no idea what athletics was.  Apparently that’s what they’re calling track.  Seriously, you can’t call it track and field?  But the opening and closing ceremonies should be cool.  I doubt they’ll be able to top Bejing’s opening and closing ceremonies, but that is a really tough act to follow.

July 27th to August 12 will be a super fun time.  Plus, the Olympics are a great way to break up the boredom of summer.  And there will actually be something fun to watch.  I’ve never been a huge fan of the winter Olympics, so I don’t watch it to the extent I’ll watch the summer Olympics.

If anyone wants to check out the schedule for the Olympics, or to get your Olympic fix, check out the summer 2012 website.  You can be sure I’ll be talking about the olympics a lot!

Spam

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Sometimes, I get spam comments.  Sometimes, they are hilarious, and I have no idea why it just occurred to me to share some of them.

The first one is in reference to my review of Illuminate.

I’ll get my complaints out of the way. I hate resort fees. It’s so deceiving, you think you’re getting a good deal then you’re hit with a $25 or sometimes even more resort fee. Why can’t they just do a straight forward price? That’s why I like booking with Harrahs properties.The other bad thing? Our room keys stopped working after a housekeeper walked in at 10pm. Okay, first of all, if I wasn’t so tired from walking around and not having slept the night before, I would have flipped out and called management on her. She had no business in our room and didn’t even do a courtesy knock, just slipped her key in and let herself in our room. WTF?!This is also the first hotel I’ve stayed at where they don’t have a double lock on the door that will let you prevent such housekeepers from disturbing your privacy even though you already have the do not disturb sign hanging on the door knob.Now that that’s out of the way, here’s what I liked:- Newly renovated rooms! Comfy bed, oh my! Flat screen and rather beautiful decor. Love the shades, we left it open so when I woke up at the crack of dawn, I enjoyed the view.- Grand Pool: wow, wow, and another wow. Considering that this is the first time I’ve ever been to a Vegas pool, I was rather impressed. Multiple pools and a lazy river? Yes, please!!! We took a lap at the lazy river and it was really fun. We didn’t even have floaters, just walked and sometimes swam and floated. All their pools are 3 1/2 feet deep from what I saw.- Take the customer survey. Not only do they give you a 20% off on your next stay, you might even get a reply addressing your concerns from their management. Right now, they are undergoing renovations and are pushing reservations by offering 15% off and free buffets with two night minimum stays.Sorry MGM, can’t say I’m a fan of your resort fees!

I don’t even know where to start with this, but it amused me to see complaints about MGM.  Thank you, search engine marketing, for the few minutes of entertainment you have given me.

So, the other spam comment is this one, a comment on my Top 10 Beach Reads.

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If I didn’t know where to begin for the last one, I really have no idea where to start with this nonsensical comment.  Seriously.

I think I’ll be sharing random spam comments periodically.  And Happy July 4th!

Don’t Breathe A Word

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Book: Don’t Breathe A Word by Holly Cupala

Book Info: Published by Harper Collins Publishers; 320 pages; purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA/Contemporary

Find Out More: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Author Website

Goodreads.com Summary: Joy Delamere is suffocating…

From asthma, which has nearly claimed her life. From her parents, who will do anything to keep that from happening. From delectably dangerous Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out.

Joy can take his words—tender words, cruel words—until the night they go too far.

Now, Joy will leave everything behind to find the one who has offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. She will become someone else. She will learn to survive. She will breathe… if only she can get to Creed before it’s too late.

Set against the gritty backdrop of Seattle’s streets and a cast of characters with secrets of their own, Holly Cupala’s powerful new novel explores the subtleties of abuse, the meaning of love, and how far a girl will go to discover her own strength.

I really, really liked Don’t Breathe A Word.

I liked the flashbacks, and slowly learn why Joy ran away from home to live on the streets.  The runaway element was really interesting, and I thought it worked well.  It’s sad to think that running away made Joy (and the other characters) feel safe, that it was their only option.  The idea that living on the streets is safer than living at home?  It makes me feel so sad for all the people who are actually living that life.

I really liked Joy, and I get why she felt so suffocated.  I could definitely relate to that.  She was very vivid, as were all the other characters.  I liked some characters (how could you not like Creed) and others I hated (Asher and Jesse anyone).  They didn’t feel fake or cliche.  In fact, I really liked that they were all so different, and yet some of the characters had a lot of similarities.

I give it a 4 out of 5.  The runaway aspect was interesting and unique, and I loved the characters.

The Listening Continues

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Remember when I talked about how I downloaded a bunch of lectures from iTunes?  I finally started listening to some of them.  It’s about time, because they’ve just been sitting there, not being listened to.  Plus, I got through my podcasts pretty fast this week, needed to something to listen to, and then remembered I downloaded a bunch of stuff from iTunes U ages ago.

So, I’ve been listening to The Sociology Of Mass Communication.  It’s interesting, and since they’re all like an hour and a half-ish, it’ll take me a while to get through them.  Plus, I get to learn stuff.  It’s the only one I started listening to, but for now it’ll work, because it will take me a while to get through the entire class.  But it’s nice to have something to listen to when it’s a light podcasting week or I want something different.

Audiobooks!  For the longest time, I couldn’t get into audiobooks.  But I’ve downloaded a bunch from the library, and the one I’m listening to right now is pretty good.  I’m not sure if I’m an audiobook fan yet, but by the time I get done with the ones I have, I’ll have a pretty good idea.

Oh!  I liked last weeks experiement, where I hit shuffle and talked about the first ten songs that played.  I think I’m going to randomly do that, because it was a lot of fun.

That’s all the music “news” I can think of for now…have a wonderful Monday!

Random Thoughts

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I feel a little random today, so I’m sharing some of my random thoughts.

  • I got the most random piece of mail yesterday.  Somehow, I ended up on the mailing list for The Scooter Store.  Laughter and amusement ensued.
  • I’m super excited about Brave!  One more week!
  • I feel like re-reading The Baby Sitter’s Club.  The first 8 should be easy to get, because they’re available in the Nook store.  I’d have to track down the other books and various spin-offs, and that might be a little more difficult.  But do I really want to commit to re-reading it?  Maybe I should read the first 8 and go from there.
  • Speaking of books, I’d love to revisit a lot of books I read when I was a kid.  But there are so many books in my TBR pile that I feel slightly overwhelmed by doing a little bit of retro reading.
  • And another random book thought:  Last weekend, I sorted the books I read last year, and the ones I’ve read this year by author.  I’m kind of amazed at the number of books I’ve read (which really should be a topic for another day) but what was even more amazing was that I tend to read a lot of different authors.  I really should count the number of series I’ve “started.”
  • Game Of Thrones: I’ve only seen half of the pilot episode, but I already like it!  It’s one of the very few times I’ve thought it would be better off as a t.v. show than a book.  Actually, it’s one of two times I’ve thought that.  I think I’ll keep watching it.

I think I’m out of random thoughts.  At least for now, but I’m sure the randomness will continue.

Candyfreak

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Book: Candyfreak by Steve Almond

Book Info: Published by Algonquin Books Of Chapel Hill; 266 pages; hardcover; borrowed from the library

Genre: Non-fiction/food

Find out more at: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Author Website

Goodreads.com Summary: A self-professed candyfreak, Steve Almond set out in search of a much-loved candy from his childhood and found himself on a tour of the small candy companies that are persevering in a marketplace where big corporations dominate.

From the Twin Bing to the Idaho Spud, the Valomilk to the Abba-Zaba, and discontinued bars such as the Caravelle, Marathon, and Choco-Lite, Almond uncovers a trove of singular candy bars made by unsung heroes working in old-fashioned factories to produce something they love. And in true candyfreak fashion, Almond lusciously describes the rich tastes that he has loved since childhood and continues to crave today. Steve Almond has written a comic but ultimately bittersweet story of how he grew up on candy-and how, for better and worse, the candy industry has grown up, too.

Candyfreak is the delicious story of one man’s lifelong obsession with candy and his quest to discover its origins in America.

Candyfreak is definitely interesting.  Almond traveled around the country to explore a lot of the small, regional candy companies.  Honestly, it nice to learn about the candy companies I’ve never heard of.  Basically, you have Nestle/Mars/Hershey’s and then there’s everyone else.  It’s really sad that the smaller companies can only afford to be in small, local places.  How many candy bars have I missed out on because they’re not at one of the major companies?

This book definitely made me want a candy bar, and I loved Almond’s descriptions of the various treats he came across.  You can tell he has a love for candy and I really liked seeing his journey through the world of candy.

While I enjoyed the book, it was more about his experience than the actual history.  You get bits and pieces, but there isn’t as much history as I expected.  He also jumped around a little, and he sometimes went off-topic, which was slightly irritating by the end of the book.

Overall, I did like it, and it was interesting, so it gets a 3 out of 5.  It felt like there was something missing from the book, though.

Season/Series Finale Time

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Okay, season finale time has come and gone for me.  It feels like t.v. has been over for a while with all the re-runs.  Seriously, there were a lot of new episodes in the fall, and once Thanksgiving arrived, it feels like it’s been 1-2 new episodes of each thing I watch a mnoth.  Has it always been like this?

Anyway, I’m sad to see House and In Plain Sight go.  I jumped on the In Plain Sight bandwagon a little too late, so I’ll have to hunt down the previous seasons and watch everything from the beginning.  I thought it was a really good finale and I think I’m going to miss it.

Other shows that I watch that have been cancelled: Terra Nova, GCB and Pan Am.  Terra Nova was interesting, but I didn’t realize it only aired in the fall, and that the finale was back in December or something.  Which definitely explains why it wasn’t on after that.  GCB is funny, and while I liked it, it’s also not a surprise that it was cancelled.  The same goes for Pan Am.

Let’s see…I pretty much gave up on Revenge, Person Of Interest, and CSI, and I may have to get them on DVD.  But I have been watching Once Upon A Time, Gray’s Anatomy and NCIS regularly.

So, NCIS first.  They were building up to the finale, and that was a doozy of an episode.  I have no idea who’s okay, and who isn’t.  I’m assuming Jimmy had his wedding, which would have been nice to see.  I have no idea who will be okay, and who won’t be okay.  We know someone (or even multiple someones) dies, but I’m hoping it’s not Gibbs and his team.  I feel like it’s going to be a long summer, waiting, and wondering what happened.

Once Upon A Time: I definitely need to watch it again, because I’ve completely forgotten what I wanted to say about it.  But I liked it, even though they had to drag out Emma kissing Henry to bring him back.  And the mist at the end!  It’s another show where I know I have to wait to see what happens…even though I don’t want to wait, because I want to know now!  It was a good episode, though.   I can’t stop thinking about that mist and what it means.

Gray’s Anatomy: Oh.  My.  God.  At least the writers aren’t scared to do random yet horrible stuff to the characters.  Lexie’s dead?  What?!?!  And the plane crash and no one finding them!  They’d better be okay!  And I hope they get found by someone.  September really does seem so far away.  Will they all go their separate ways?  Will Kepner manage to find a job as a surgeon?  How will Mark deal with Lexie’s death?  Are they sure Lexie is dead?  Because I refuse to believe it.

HOUSE!  We need to talk about House.  Such a good way to end the series, and I’m glad they brought so many people back.  I really thought House died for a while there, but of course, he’s not going to die.  That would be too easy.  Such a good ending for House, and I’m pretty happy with it.  I do wonder what will happen to House after Wilson dies, but alas, we will never know.  I thought that the Wilson dying of cancer thing was a little lame, but at the same time, I’m surprised it was something that wasn’t done before.  I loved the retrospective they aired before the finale, and so true to the spirit of the show.

So You Think You Can Dance is back!  I’m excited, and I’m glad I started watching it last summer.  I think it’ll be a good season, if the first episode is any indication.

In other t.v. news, I got the pilot episodes of Game Of Thrones, Downton Abbey and Walking Dead.  After hearing several podcasters talk about Downton Abbey and Walking Dead, I finally figured it was time to see at the least the first episodes of each show.  As for Game Of Thrones…I didn’t care for the book, but I think it would be an interesting t.v. show.  So what better way to find out than to watch at least the first epsisode?  I’m definitely glad I can buy individual episodes of shows on iTunes.

I think that’s all the t.v. news for today.