My Brush with Olympic Greatness

Now that the XX Olympic Games are drawing to a close, I just thought I’d share my brush with Olympic Greatness.

At the 2004 Special Transplant Olympics in Minnesota, my wife won a Gold Medal in tennis.  So rather than skipping out early (as we had done in ’02), we stuck around for the closing ceremonies with a special sense of pride.  At these ceremonies, Olympic champions Chris Klug and Carl Lewis were among the speakers.

While my wife would have liked to have met Chris for sure, we did not see him after he left the podium.  However, as we were leaving the (kinda lame-o) dance party at the end of the event, I noticed a tall, slender-but-ripped man in a very snug shirt approaching us in the hallway.  It was none other than 10-time Olympic medalist Carl Lewis.

He seemed engrossed in conversation with a small entourage.  That didn’t bother me one bit.  I walked right up to him with a cheery "Hey Carl!  How ya doin’?!"  I was greeted with a lukewarm response.  Still (naturally) undeterred, I motioned to my future sister-in-law Cathlin to get ready for a photo.  I turned back and asked Mr. Lewis: "Can I get a picture, Carl?!"

His response?

A stern "Reeeal quick."

And so it was.  I wrapped my arm around his back (probably the most musyular I had ever touched), smiled, and Cat’s quick trigger finger captured the moment!  The look on his face says it all — this is truly an athlete who adores his fans.

And one with perhaps the cheesiest. web site. evar.

Loading… Loading… Loading…

If you’ve ever played a video game and sat around staring at a Loading… screen while the game, well, loaded, you’ll appreciate this.

It’s a video of a wrestling game that you don’t get to play for over 6 minutes after you turn on your PSP — a handheld game!!

The Benny Hill theme song (which I brush my teeth to, BTW) makes the viewing quite enjoyable.  Watch for the hilarious snarky comment in the middle, a great shot at the game maker.

Idol Wild

… that just about describes the "O" Household these days!
(erm… not really)

OK, the show’s starting in a few minutes.  So here’s a quick summary of my picks for the final four on American Idol.

Girls
Paris: a given – this girl’s immersed in entertainment and it shows
Lisa: a voice bigger than her years (yuck did I just say that?)
Katharine: beautiful girl, beautiful voice.  My out-of-the-gate pick to win it all
Melissa: the dark horse.  Not there ’cause she’s a smokin’ hottie (plenty of those), but the most original voice. This girl knows how to sing

Boys
Chris: taking the gravelly voice thing way too far, but I think people like him and he’ll go far
Ace: I couldn’t believe the fawning comments he received for his mediocre performance last night, but since he’s prettier than most of the girls… welcome to the Top 8
Elliott: now that boy deserves his props. Should be Top 4 IMHO
Taylor: a novelty act, and I would never be this guy’s friend, but there is no doubt about his talent.  Unfortunately, it’s just not fitting for this competition

So who’ll get the boot tonight, Sean?
Mandisa (doesn’t fit the mold)
Brenna (just nothing there)
Bucky (why is he here?)
Bobby (looks like a fun kid, but give me a break)

Opinions?  If you watch the show… of course you do!  Let your voice be heard (eesh!) in the Comments below…

Tanith Tanith Bo Banith…

In an Olympics that has thrust Bode "Brett Favre Jaw" Miller and Apolo "Is he Crasian?" Ohno into the limelight (not to mention the Flying Tomato for the tweeny crowd), it’s about time we got a peek at a real babe for once!

Welcome to Hottiesville, Italy.  Population one: Tanith Belbin.

The dame with the funny name came to the Games to stake her claim to fame.  Ain’t no shame in their game!  (OK, that was lame ) She & her partner Ben won USA’s first ice dancing medal in something something years. (wasn’t really paying attention)

What… a… babe!

Read her team’s blog.


I can read your mind

In a story that I actually broke over 6 months ago, 6ABC went to the streets to blow people’s minds.  Resident Pretty Boy Matt O’Donnell had ladies "laughing, shrieking, and demanding answers."  He then interviewed them for this story.

Appallingly desperate for ideas in the middle of Sweeps month, Channel 6 "news" (which, by the way, has become wholly unprofessional in the last 3-4 months — has anyone else noticed?) bought the excellent 20 Questions game and gave it to Matt.  He then traveled all the way to Rittenhouse Square and worked through lunch to bring us this hard-hitting story.

Of course, if you listened to Sean 101 or Sean 100 news, you’d have already known about this cool little device (and the parent web site, which is even more accurate thanks to its ever-growing database) that really does seem to read your mind!

More Music, Less Talk!

OK, I think I’ve found the Divine Trinity of Music sites.  No matter what type of music you’re into, it’s out there on the Net somewhere.  Bookmark these three sites, and you’ll never be at a loss for tunes.

  1. First is the aforementioned RadioBlogClub.
    Know the song you want to hear?  Just search, and there’s a great chance you can listen to it instantly.  All kinds of awesome.  I had a hankering for some Ugly Kid Joe today, and boom! there’s the classic I Hate Everything About You.

  2. Discover more music that’s like what you already… like!
    Then check out Pandora.  Pandora is a "music suggestion" player.  Just enter in any song you like, or your favorite band, and Pandora creates your own "station" full of music that is similar to that song/artist.  It’s quite a novel idea, and in just a few short days has turned me on to a half-dozen tunes I’ve never heard before.  Set up a free profile and save multiple stations you enjoy.
    Thanks Chris D!

  3. Finally, do have a melody in your head that’s a real earworm?!  One that’s stuck in your head and you just can’t place?  Well, try tapping it into SongTapper, a site that claims to identify the song by you tapping the notes on your keyboard!  This one’s a bit hit or miss, but it identified Welcome to the Jungle on the first try.  A fun diversion.