Archive for August, 2008
Arizona Lightning
Aug 29th
Last night Phoenix was treated to a lightning show! During the hour that I made the photo below, the weather service counted over 4800 lightning strikes. This is called constant lightning and it’s really really cool. The night sky is just full of flashes and is almost never dark because of it. Take a look at the video I took below from my bedroom window. Also, there’s a photo gallery below for your enjoyment as well. After taking these photos and the video, I ended up losing power (for 5 hours!) because the monsoon that was following this lightning show finally hit. It was what I would imagine a hurricane is like. The wind was blowing and the rain was falling horizontally. Some crazy stuff, but I love Arizona weather!
The View
Aug 28th
I was adjusting the curtains in my room and looked out the window and realized that I’ve never really looked out of my bedroom windows and checked out the view to the north of my house. I have lived here for almost 3 years and never really appreciated what I can see. Of course, this view isn’t directly out my window, you kind of have to be looking from the side, but it’s still there. That’s probably why I’ve never really noticed it before. I took a picture and you can see it below. In the distance, above the roof tops of the other homes in my neighborhood, you can see the control tower at Sky Harbor and Camelback Mountain. It was a pretty clear evening so the view was excellent. I don’t know about the rest of you but I am a sucker for a good view.
A Special Surprise at the Movies
Aug 27th
I attended the movies with Erin Mead last week. I had to use the bathroom and did so before we entered the theater. See the image below to see what I found in the bathroom!
DNC Crisis Averted
Aug 26th
Hillary Clinton spoke longer than expected tonight at the DNC on CBS. That pushed all the shows back 15 minutes the rest of the evening. I was alerted to this by Mike, but unfortunately, too late to change the recording on my TiVo. Big Brother suffered on my TiVo this evening!! Luckily the full episode was available to view on CBS.com by 10.30pm Phoenix time. Crisis Averted!!
On another note – 500 posts baby!!
A Year Ago Today
Aug 25th
It’s been a year today since my father passed. It’s kind of strange how quickly time goes by.
Anyway, that’s all for now. Posts will start becoming more regular now that the Olympics are over.
Matthew Mitcham Wins Gold
Aug 24th
Congrats to Matthew Mitcham from Australia (and only openly gay athlete in Beijing) for winning gold in the men’s 10m platform diving event last night. The event was amazing and came down to the last dive of the night. He scored 112.10 out of a possible 114.0 points on his last dive, propelling him past the Chinese favorite. To read more about Matthew, check out his profile located on NBCOlympics.com. You can watch the final dives here. Video below of Matthew taking with reporters outside the diving venue in Beijing.
USA Relay – WTF!?!?
Aug 21st
Seriously?!? Both the US Men and Women drop the baton during the qualifier race in the 4×100 relay!? This doesn’t happen!!
Maybe it was the handmade country tags that both teams were wearing on their chests? Seriously, what the hell was that about? Does Beijing provide those or do the teams themselves?
NBC Olympic Interviews
Aug 21st
Okay, so I just got done watching the Olympics on NBC this evening where they had women’s platform diving semi-finals. Why do they have such crappy interviewers in Beijing? Andrea Cramer interviews the 15 year old Haley Ishimatsu who just missed making the finals and asks her what’s going through her mind given she “just managed to miss the finals”. Um, duh, she’s devistated. Her Olympic dream is over. Haley breaks down during the interview and Andrea just stands there, like an idiot, staring at her. Haley apologizes and Andrea says “It’s your first time, we understand this” with, in my opinion, an uncaring tone to her voice. Anyway, she asks Haley some other stupid question about “what she will take away from this experience” and Haley barely can get a complete sentence out she’s so emotional. I was watching the interview thinking “For crying out loud, hug her already! She’s sad for not making it and now embarrassed that she’s crying on national television. Do you even feel?” Why can’t Cat Deeley be doing the interviews for the Olympics? At least she is good at showing that she cares when someone is hurting or is at least really good at faking it.
Wow, I must really be suffering from lack of sleep if I felt it was important to write about this before going to bed tonight.
Olympic Update
Aug 14th
Okay, the sheer number of Olympic hours on TV have won! I’m so far behind there’s no way I can catch up. I am fast fowardeding through many items. I stop and watch a bit of canoeing/kyaking, wrestling, shooting, etc. and then I move on. It’s kind of sad but I guess I can’t really complain. These sports used to never be seen on the TV and now they are here for everyone to see. Anyway, I’m thoroughly enjoying my Olympic viewing. Maybe I can catch up this weekend, but who knows. Okay, now I have to go back to watching my recordings – Team Badminton!!
Late Las Vegas Post
Aug 14th
Really, this isn’t a post about Las Vegas but I had to put up a photo of the TV in the hotel room. One of the channels is supposed to show Kino or some such game so you can play from your room. See the image blow? Looks like someone needs to tend to that Windows machine!
