Some Random Things

2008 Beijing Olympics
I’ve been immersed into the Olympics this year. China has been a great host thus far which started with an unforgettable opening ceremony.  All I see is greatness everywhere as world records get broken left and right.  Michael Phelps is Superman going for his 8th gold medal tonight.  USA Basketball is on  a tear with intense play from standouts like Lebron and D.Wade.  Go Redeem Team!!  Track and field has started and the fastest man in the world will emerge. The Jamaican Usain Bolt is looking great breezing through the semis. I can’t wait to watch the finals.

On a darker note Spanish basketball teams are a disgrace.  The pose they did for an advertisement was poor in taste and offensive to a whole country.  Talk about a moment of bad judgment, come on think about it.

I want to give some recognition to Glenn Cowan and Zhuang Zedong and share the story of accidental diplomacy.  It was a US ping pong player by the name of Glenn Cowan that likely sparked a path to a new China and USA relationship in the 1970’s.   Glenn had missed his bus and got on the bus with the Chinese team where a Chinese player Zhuang Zedong offered Cowan a gift of a silk-screen portrait of Huangshan Mountains and that’s how it started. Cowan compared it to a quote from Mao Zedong, “It only takes a spark to start a prairie fire” because it was him and Zhuang who started the prairie fire.  On the bus is where Zhuan Zedong offered him a gift in a time where it would be unlikely to see an US athlete and Communist Chinese athlete befriending one another created lots of press which started a chain of diplomatic events leading to Nixon’s visit to China.  An common thing like missing the bus was an act of diplomacy, it really only takes a spark to start a fire.  For more see Ping Pong Diplomacy on Wikipedia.

Mythological Creatures
There’s been a lot of buzz going on recently about Big Foot and Chupacabra.  There’s a new video of Chupacabra and some hunters have claimed to have a Big Foot carcass.  What are the chances that both these mythical creatures are discovered within weeks of each other, I doubt it. Maybe we’ll see the Lochness Monster next week.

GO WORLD and I can’t wait to see the Lochness Monster!

Also a shout out to my buddy Evan out in L.A., check out the video he cut for the new Vin Diesel movie Babylon A.D.