Random Pictures

I was going to say random excellence but modesty prevents me from saying that.

Crass Commercialism ...

Olympics, other than scandals, controversies and sure Michael Phelps, is all about crass commercialism. And there is no better way to say it than a Ralph Lauren blazer for the US Olympics Team, seen here as worn by basketball great Kobe Bryant.


Of course, crass commercialism is still better than say wearing a test feminine napkin alike tracksuit as demonstrated here by team Australia. Let's pour some blue liquid to see how absorbent the napkin is ... not too bad, mate, the liquid is trapped beneath the chest and we are safe from the neck up ... So it's a go. Apparently, Eric Wilson of The New York Times likes it. He goes on to say the design is inspired by Prada's 2007 collection. (Note: I think I actually read it some where about this feminine napkin thing)

All pictures from the New York Times.

China Pulled A Milli Vanilli In Opening

Image from telegraph.com.uk. Photo: Getty/AFP

China apparently pulled a Milli Vanilli in the Opening Ceremony. 9-year old cutie pie Lin Miaoke, above left, became instant sweet heart of the nation and a sensation around the world when she performed "Hymn to the Motherland." Well she might be actually singing, but the voice heard around the world was actually provided by Yang Peiyi who seemingly has a voice that can sing to the world but a face that's better kept unseen, of course, arbitrarily decided by some omni powerful big wig from the China Politburo.

Well, there you have it. Lie committed in the best interest of our beloved nation. The way to hell is paved with good intention.

Now for fuck sake, let the 7-year old Yang sing at the closing ceremony. Oh, never mind, it's reported that both girls were happy with the arrangement. So there is really no outrage ... except maybe we feel a bit cheated. But I guess I should have known better. This is a land that gives us fake Louis Vuitton, toothpaste, medicine and what have you.

Further reading from The New York Times.

Portrait of Mr. Harry

Alley Pond Park Camping

Racial Insensitivity: Olympics Proportion

I will sure show you some arrested development before showing you some arresting performance

This is reported from the Guardian and sighted on various sports blogs. It's disturbing to see that the photograph can be taken and run as an advertisement for a courier company and finally got the OKAY to appear in some best-selling newspaper. I guess there is simply no political correctness in Spain. Or people are just gleefully insensitive to racial stereotyping.

Hailstorm

Breaking: Hailstorm is pounding NYC. It's very inauspicious.

Lezak Saved The Day And Shredded Records

Jason Lezak, three-time Olympian beat the French by 1/800 second, or whatever, to win the 4x100 men's freestyle relay. The team was trailing the Australian, then the French right from the get-go and how Lezak, the last leg of the relay did it was just beyond me, of course, I don't know dickson about swimming. But what's important is he did it, for himself, for his country, for the Olympics, for the sports, for the human race and in some way for Phelps so his dream for 8 Olympic Gold can still be alive. Bernard, The French man who swam ahead of Lezak except for the last nano nano second cried a pool of tears at the Water Cube. No such luck for America's Katie Hoff who was in some odd way like the French beaten by Lezak, lost her Gold just by a touch of fingers to England's Rebecca Adlington.

This is the freaking Olympic, to be the best you can be, to give it all out. For those who don't like it, there is always Project Runway.

YouTube Love Songs

There are no songs like love songs except maudlin love songs. The more tear jerking the better. So here we go.





Personally I think the MTV don't do justice to the songs. I prefer a pure audio experience to the songs.

Wall Climbing

Olympics

I like Omega better and I am glad Omega is the official sponsor of the Olympics, actually why I am glad I don't know it's not like I can afford to wear an Omega. It's the only wrist watch that's good enough to land on the moon. Just like if you want some free Hasselblad, you can find some twelve bodies left on the moon.

I wonder if any photographers are shooting Hasselblad in the Olympics. I guess mostly Canon and Nikon.

I Heart Olympics

Say whatever you want, I heart the Olympics. The opening was mesmerizing, I was psyched. I mean what's not to like? You can't see any human rights violation? Or any cops beating up journalists. Can you? The communists are known to be cheesy but seriously the Opening was anything but cheesy. I am not a big fan of Zhang's Heroes, I thought it was cheesy .... But he did an excellent job in creating the look and feel of the ceremony minus the cheesiness. Yeah, at times, I thought I was watching Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon live, and Yuen Wo Ping's Wire Fu and that was a complement. The thing was just grand and cinematic. And mind you intimidating given the sheer number of people and the ingenious choreography, basically a show of force, a fuck you to all the naysayers, if you will.

The Opening Ceremony was a success if you disagree you are simply wrong.

WTF Is White Balance?

According to Destination Armchair Photography or dpreview.com, my bad, actually a consumer survey by Reevoo.com as reported by dpreview.com that more than a quarter of Britons don't know how to properly use their cameras and never bother to read the manuels. I think that's about right. For my brand of shooting, all I need to know is actually just f-stop and shutter speed. The rest of the parameters are there just to confuse me.

Olympics Delay Cast From NBC

I think this is the first Olympics in high definition. And I can attest that the broadcast is really good.

The opening ceremony is mesmerizing. OKAY, more commercials ....

The cheerleading women welcoming the athletes entering the stadium are WHITE HOT as in white baseball cap, white tank top, white skirt, white go go boots, and red neck scarf with matching red holster belt for a water bottle. I am dying to drink from one or two or three or four of those bottles. I am thirsty.

The opening ceremony has been stunning. OKAY, more delegations streaming into the stadium ....

The US delegation is marching into the stadium. The US Olympians are clad in Ralph Lauren. The jacket is three-buttoned. Why three? I always think two is better and the jacket could be a bit more fitted. I like the guy's shirt. The collar is just the right size, a bit on the small side, maybe a bit Thom Brownish in my mind, but that's about it. The pants are long and roomy. Nothing much not to like, overall the outfit is smart. Bush woke up, put on his jacket once again. Rose up with Laura and waved to the delegation.

Kobe Bryant, seen taking pictures with other athletes. Mr Bryant's style is buttoning up two buttons of his three-button jacket, shockingly the bottom two. That could very well be a fashion faux pas. (OKAY, I went back in time in my DVR to double check, it's true) The rule of thumb is you either button the middle one, like James Blake does, or the top two. Whatever, I am just nitpicking, some loser got nothing better to do.

Random Picture

Breaking: Edwards Male Perfidy Used As O'lamepics Counter Programming

ABC News, in a bid to counter NBC's O'lamepics Opening Ceremony delay-no-more cast, is having John Edwards to admit male perfidy and sanctimony to Americans today on Nightline.

Edwards denied daughter is his.

Previously, the affair was reported by serious tabloid par excellance The National Enquirer last October. The MSM has been silent about it until now, when they need to have programming to counter NBC's 2 million hours of delay cast Olympics programming.

News from the future, like 9 months later:
Edwards admits child is his to ABC News.

NBC's O'lamepics

NBC paid gazillion dollars to have some exclusive rights to broadcast the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Now they aren't even going to live broadcast the opening ceremony. That's just lame, very lame.

Random Thoughts

Two Original Calpico $2 x 2
A Dozen Beard's Papa Original Cream Puffs $21
Kids' Smile priceless.

Olympics

More Olympics (pseudo) controversies ...
Hannibal Lector US Olympic cyclists were spotted wearing masks in the Beijing airport and on board of the aircraft. So where's the outrage? They just want to play Hannibal Lector.

This is not gay Olympics so quit saying this is a "coming-out" party for China already.

Chinese police continues to beat up journalists on sight. Two Japanese journalists were roughed up by the police in the midst of reporting the terrorist attack in Xinjiang that left 16 police dead .... With this beat-up journalist on sight policy going on, I feel much safer reporting the event three thousand miles away, at the comfort of my home.

China is poking some holes on its firewall, at least briefly, so foreign journalists can enjoy all the porn and anti-reactionary websites they used to enjoy just like when they were at home. But I doubt one can see the tank man. Again, like CTGZ or Chang Ting Gong Zi, (what a name, I wish I have gotten it first), or other angry or not so angry youth from the New Yorker article, they can always bypass the Great Firewall of China by using some proxy server when browsing banned websites.

Chinese volleyball living legend Lang Ping is coaching the US volleyball Olympic team. And she has an English name Jenny.

Dragon Boat Race

This weekend was all about walking past the underpass.
Harry always likes to moon me whenever I point the camera at him. He has absolutely no faith in my brand of picture taking.
OKAY, we called it a day.

The obligatory dragon boat shot. I saw a lot of big guns. Sort of. But I know unless you have some 400mm otherwise forget about it. My 80~200 wasn't long enough for any conventional shot. On the otherhand if you are into fine art photography then anything kind of goes. I did shoot a few frames using my Yashica Mat. I could only hope something nice would come out. I didn't bother shoot with my D70 and 80~200 combination except for a few frames, just to show we were there.