Hollywoodland

My DSL modem is still dead in the water, so to speak. I strongly suspect it’ll have to be replaced. I hope the phone company who supplied it doesn’t argue about it. It won’t be pretty if they do…. (she said ominously). But my neighbor told me I could use her wi-fi as long as I needed, so I don’t feel guilty now.

Well, the Summer Olympics are almost over. It’s been a great games, overall. Michael Phelps’ amazing record-breaking career! The amazing Dara Torres! The German gymnast who won a medal at age 33! Our gymnasts! All the athletes who won first-time medals for their countries! The pride I felt every time I heard our National Anthem.

But was it really necessary to air so flippin’ much of the marathons??? BORING!!! The first TWO AND A HALF HOURS of last night’s broadcast were nothing but the men’s marathon. It was so boring I fell asleep!!! The only excitement came when somebody got a cramp or some other ailment and fell over on the side of the road! Which sounds a lot funnier than it was, I’m sure. Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya got the gold (their first ever in this event), Jaouad Gharib of Morocco took silver, and Tsegay Kebede of Ethiopia got the bronze.

Men’s platform diving final: China was so darn sure they’d sweep the diving medals. Hah! Arrogance meet Matt Mitcham of Australia, your gold medal winner!!! This was the first gold medal for Australia in this event since 1924! Zhou Luxin of China got silver and Gleb Galperin of Russia took the bronze. The wildly cheering (for China) audience was stunned into dead silence when Matt got four 10s. Matt’s final dive truly was a thing of beauty. The Chinese dude who’d been in first place the whole time’s… was not. *g* He apparently cracked under the pressure.

Women’s 4x400m relay final: Yes!!! The U.S. got the gold!!! Russia took silver and Jamaica took the bronze.

Men’s 4x400m relay final: The U.S. won again!!! WTG, guys!!! The Bahamas took silver and Russia bronze.

Men’s 800m final: Wilfred Bungei of Kenya got the gold, Ismail Ahmed Ismail of Sudan got the silver, and Alfred Kirwa Yego of Kenya got the bronze.

Women’s 1500m final: Nancy Lagat of Kenya got gold, Iryna Lishchynska and Nataliya Tobias of Ukraine got silver & bronze respectively.

Women’s high jump final: Tia Hellebaut of Belgium won the gold in what was apparently a major upset, Blanka Vlasic (now I’m suddenly thinking about pickles… ) of Croatia got silver, and Anna Chicherova of Russia took bronze.

Men’s 5000m final: Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia got the gold, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya took silver, and bronze went to Edwin Cheruiyot Soi of Kenya.

Women’s mountain biking final: Another event that doesn’t seem quite right for the Olympics… Sabine Spitz of Germany won the gold, Maja Wloszczowska of Poland took silver and Russian Irina Kalentyeva got bronze.

Men’s mountain biking final: Julien Absalon of France won gold, Jean-Christophe Peraud of France took silver and bronze went to Nino Schurter of Switzerland.

Men’s javelin throw final: Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway got the gold (and what a hottie he is!), Ainars Kovals of Latvia took silver and the bronze went to Tero Pitkamaki of Finland (another hottie).

I didn’t see either game but I read, also, that the U.S. “Redeem Team” won the men’s basketball gold medal by beating Spain. And the U.S. men’s volleyball team won gold, too. I’m glad. Their coach deserved something good to come out of the Olympics after his father-in-law was murdered there.

Tonight we have a few final events and the closing ceremonies. Also, it’s a new Inspector Lynley Mystery tonight. Then tomorrow I start catching up on all the shows I missed during the games. *g*

Reading: Now I’m reading Calamity Jayne by Kathleen Bacus. This is the first book in the series.

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