it's never just about us, right?

The World's Fair : Beach Volleyball and the Public Understanding of Genetics:

But if a Jamaican wins a race and everyone says its because of genes, then why isn't anyone asking if American women have the Beach Volleyball gene? Why isn't everyone asking if the Chinese have the gymnastics gene? Why isn't everyone asking if the Kenyans have the non-skiing gene? Why are Kenyans so god-awful at nordic events? Why oh why could that be? Is it the non-skiing gene? Given the reasoning advanced in the comments to Razib's post, I'm left to conclude that this must be the case. And while we're at it, why isn't everyone asking if the Orioles have the bad-pitching gene?

I do note that - whenever American's win something, it must be due to hard work, personal sacrifice, and a bit of Good Ol' American Luck. Except when it's American technology, like the swimsuits, but that's still "America's system (in this case, pure get-ahead capitalism) just being better".

But whenever someone else wins, oh it's due to everything BUT the hard work of the athlete who really wants to win - it's the genetics, it's the intense state-sponsored training, it's the fact that they're paid for each medal, it's some innate advantage in the nation's geography or weather (nevermind that our athletes move to where the weather is suitable for what they do, often taking their families with them), or, well, they must be cheating in some way.  Or it's a sport that just "sucks" so why do we even bother with it.

It's never due to the idea that just like American athletes, the competitors from other countries just really, really want to win and work really, really hard to get there.  No, it can't be that.  There's no way the rest of the world can actually be just like us, right?

I don't know what's worse, that this egotism continues in the commentary and coverage, or that there's such a large portion in this country that still buy into that crap.

We have, this week, seen the ideal American in many contests, not least Beach Volleyball, Gymnastics individuals & all-around, women's soccer, several track&field events, and much more, including Bryan Clay who's actually doing damn well in the Decathlon.

But for all of those ideal Americans, I got two words that should flat-line those smiles and remind us what most Americans are really like: Bode Miller.

Stand tall.

Besides, sometimes positive genetics can have negative side effects, as this comment shows: Oddly, I now hear that in the US there is strong linkage disequilibrium between the genes for sprinting and not being able to hold a baton.. :)

"aren't you excited!?! aren't you excited?!?"

To quote Shelby from Sound & Fury, "I get that a lot..."

Seriously, am I excited 'bout opening day/weekend?

No, not really.  I let that kick in over the 3 day weekend.

The entirety of opening day for me is logistics.  Nothing but logistics.  Props here, props there, figuring out when shows are, figuring out where crowds will be that will make movement difficult, figuring out what to do for the inevitable prop left behind, figuring out if we'll get any new material, figuring out what collaboration requests will come along to fill in our unscheduled 3rd half-hour, figuring out if HMT will have new tambourines or other nifty things to budget for, figuring out which shows and acts are gone in order to answer the inevitable "what happened to ...", figuring out what shows are new and determining how into the "recommended" list they go, figuring where the "10 foot rule" will most affect my partner*, answering over and over again, "yes pub sing is back all season long and yes Hell Froze Over 'cause Jack Rackham is back today", and much more.  Oh, and then there's seeing everybody for the first time in 3 weeks, 3 months, 3 weather seasons, or even 3 faire seasons!

In short, I ain't got time to get excited.  I'll be lucky if I find time to eat.

And closing weekend is worse.

* oh - the answer to that is "everywhere".  duh...

who needs editors...

Bolt goes 3-for-3, adding relay gold to 100, 200 - Olympics - Yahoo! Sports:

Usain Bolt loves the cameras, the cameras love Usain Bolt

that's nice. now tell me why this article, entirely about Bolt, has only one picture of him (a screen-cap for a video link, so not even a good one), and 4 pictures of Tyson Gay who's not even mentioned in the article???

To coin a phrase: FAIL

On the not so failing side, congrats to Bryan Clay, only the second American to win the Decathlon since Bruce Jenner's Wheaties Box moment of glory, 32 years ago.

some political insults are appropriate, or at least harmless, but others aren't

Respectful Insolence: John McCain: A "crazy cancer-ridden dishonest madman"?:

[...] but to me it doesn't matter what you think of John McCain politically or personally. As I've said before, I lost my enthusiasm for him after he decided to start kissing up to the religious right in the wake of the election of our current President. What matters to me is that there's no reason to throw around the term "cancer-ridden" in describing McCain as though it were an insult. Ditto on all the age-based insults as well. Throwing around such rhetoric reveals far more about the bloggers who use the term "cancer-ridden" with the same contempt that they use terms like "cheater," "madman," "troll," and "loon."

And none of what it reveals is good.

shakespeare and off-screen women's deaths...

So, what is it with him and killing off female characters off-screen just before the big finish?

Two I can name at the top of my head, Lady Montegue (R&J), and Nell (Mistress Quickly/Pistol) in Henry V, but I'm pretty sure they're not the only ones.

It is interesting that in some R&J productions, they just sort of cut out the L.M. death (including the Zefferelli film), making me wonder that it wasn't so much a plot requirement as a pragmatic one for the actors - the actor (male) who played the character was needed for another role, and with today's use of women to play their parts, and sometimes playing men's roles to balance things better, that's less necessary.

Just a thought that occurred to me.  There are other off-screen "announcements" of deaths, some plot-related (Rosencranz and Gildenstern, of course), others not, just before the finale as well, again leading me to think it's a # of actors thing for the original production.  :)