yippee

It's February 7.

Yesterday was February 6.

Yesterday, on February 6, Tegan and Sara played a show (with Broken Social Scene) in Vancouver for the 2009 Cultural Olympiad, or something like that...apparently it's this...celebration(?)....anyway it precedes the 2010 Winter Olympics to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and this other little town near it whose name I can't remember (but it does start with a W).

It's ok Tegan, we're all getting old...:D=happiness/smilingness[sic]

also it makes me really sad that after this, they have to go record (which makes kind of happy actually), but that means they won't be doing a whole lot of other stuff in that time period, which means I'll be really...bored...

Now, on to the shit people care about...

ummm....well...i don't have much to say here...

Let's just see if we can get out of the 8-12 range this month...

and someone said we actually have lives...well...just for the record..we..must not mean me...I'm just too lazy to post stuff because then I would have to think about stuff to think about what to write since I can't just write something because I don't have anything interesting to write or say, or that would be interesting to read, I guess.

-digitaldelay

Two-Week Unity

Backtracking through my recent previous articles...the IOC has now commanded an official investigation on the age issue (jeez, I care wayyy too much on other people's business...[I can't believe I just insulted myself]). And no, I am in no way against China—I respect China. I just want things to be proper and fair, that's all. If China wants to save some of their pride, they shouldn’t be covering something as childish as this (no pun intended).

(Hmm...where has everyone else on the blog gone?)

It's hard to believe the Beijing Olympics are going to end in just three days (actually two days over there in Beijing). Such oxymoron—it felt short, but at the same time, it felt as if it took forever (Miss mourning glory, in the distance: "OXYMORON!" ...please ignore that). So many records were broken, so many dreams came true, and so many hearts were shattered.

What's my opinion of how the games went? Overall, excluding all the controversy, the Swedish wrestler, and the horrendous judges who scored the gymnastic routines...I think the games went very well. Many of us had expected a great display at the Opening Ceremony, but China exceeded expectations and absolutely blew us away with such raw talent. We all knew Michael Phelps would be able to accomplish his task (but hey, you can't deny having at least some thoughts that doubted he could do it). Some countries weren't able to defend their gold, but without new gold-medalists, how are we going to have new champions?

I've waited for four years since the 2004 Athens Games to watch the Summer Olympics again, and I have been totally satisfied. I ended up making myself stay up until 1 AM in the morning just to watch the late night competitions—with the thought in my head: "...it comes once every four years. I should make the most of it..." Yes, I care more about it than most other people, but that's just a personal preference :).

Okay, off to go do other stuff. I suggest you do that also, unless you prefer to stay right where you are and browse through other Acquired Minds articles...*cough*

-the clam.

Locked Outside

(thanks to kasport.com and vagabondish.com for the images, respectively)

As the Olympics progress, everything else doesn't seem to "progress". I shouldn't worry about the world's business, but I'm still irritated by it. The IOC is just trying to avoid embarrassing the host country, for the sake of peace and humility. I understand throwing an investigation itself is enough to humiliate China, whether it turns out good or bad (because if a situation is so bad to the point where an investigation is needed, it must be pretty horrible), but things still need to be resolved.

That's why I absolutely hate humiliation (whose side am I on?). Humiliation for the right of everyone else—that's okay. Humiliation for one's miserable purposes—that's wrong. Who doesn't love seeing villains in shows and movies get mortified? Certainly, you wouldn't want the innocent person be the one that suffers.

My aunt (no, another one this time) once recounted to me stories of her teenage days. She was new at her high school—she knew no one, and no one knew her. Her English wasn't great, and she hardly could follow her teachers' orders. Then, P.E. arrived. It was time for them to run. My aunt ran, as they had supposedly instructed. Around they went, jogging around the entire block in the vicinity of the high school (which, may I say, is pretty giant). She started to lag behind, along with some other students. By the time she was on her last lap back, it was only her and another girl, jogging for their lives (more like grades). Suddenly, the door to the school closed, and once my aunt had arrived, there wasn't an entrance back into the school. Everyone else was already inside, and as they looked out, they held their stomachs and laughed and gagged at how stupid my aunt and the girl was. She was absolutely humiliated...and tired. She managed to gasp back all the air she had lost, but the girl next to her—well, she collapsed (no, for real). The school eventually had to call the ambulance to check on the girl, who was completely knocked out. Turns out, there was an additional instruction—run 3 huge laps within 20 minutes, or be locked out. For those who missed the memo, too bad.

I really cannot understand how the school can do such a deed. For one thing, pushing a person to run in a set amount of time (a very tight amount of time, that is) is ridiculous. Unless this was for the track and field team or cross-country team or something, this is unreasonable. Since it's a normal P.E. class, you should allow the students to run at their limits, and give them verbal support. Soon enough, they'll improve as they go on.

Secondly, closing the door in the failing person's face isn't going to help their self-esteem, or improve anything whatsoever. Your students are laughing at the humiliation of another student—does that seem human?

Anyways, my point is, being locked outside of yourself is going to make things worse. You're not controlling who you are, or what kind of person you are. And you know what—if the other people won't stop hurting you, they'll just get hurt themselves someday. Isn't that right, Miss Karma? ;-)

Aid the rest...and gain a lot.

-the clam.

Broken Hinges

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

That is half of a wonderful little poem by J.R.R Tolkien. I remembered the poem faintly from mind, but a part or two did strike me as oddly familiar. I really do think it’s magical, whether or not Tolkien intended for it to be allegoric or not. Every line in this poem speaks for itself, yet the meld together as one.

Sometimes the things that are most important, most valued, are not always so apparent and blunt. Sometimes you just have to look a bit deeper, and you’ll find a wealth of what you were seeking in the first place. But maybe we just get lazy, we get too carried away, and we don’t realize what those things really are.

If you wander, you meander, you search, it doesn’t have to mean you don’t know what you’re doing. Maybe you just have nothing to do, maybe you really are searching. The lost are distracted, desperate, despondent, those who wander are not always so. You wander, because you have yet to find what you want, what you desire, or what you need. You wander to grow, to learn, to mature, and etc.

What is strong does not break. It’s as simple as that, almost, kind of, definitely, maybe… But it doesn’t if you’re old, weak, broken, withered, the strong are strong. It’s like something that sounds nice, an instrument, or anything. It may look ugly, feel terrible, but it sounds good. It can apply to people too, if you think someone is a great person, then sure, they’re great then.

A person can kind of be compared to a tree, which is a terrible metaphor; it flusters me to use it, but oh well. You start with your roots. These are the morals, the lessons, the values, you gain as a kid. This is where you become, well, you. You roots are who you are, and while what’s above may affect those roots, you roots generally remain. When you get older, it will be your family, your parents you (many of you I should say) look towards, even if you don’t realize it, it won’t be the others around you, at least not as much. Blood is thicker than water? Your branches are everything else around you. You soak in everything else, and they do affect your base, who you are, as well. But, strong roots, shouldn’t be affected by storms above.

That was an odd and bad poem dissection…no idea what I’m talking about…

Ah… and the Olympics…a magical event

This one event can bring the whole world together and connect people more than anything else almost. Athletics, oddly, does better than music, art, and etc. in that category. The others still vary, people from different places will like different kind of music, different kinds of art, literature. But anyone, anyone, whether from Africa, North America, Asia, and the other continents I didn’t mention (no offense meant to them in anyway…), can marvel at their accomplishments, and try to mimic them. Anybody can try to run, or swim, as long as they have a pool, and some ground. The same goes for the Paralympics.

Go World right?

-digital delay

Right from Wrong

(credit: http://ice-frog.home.insightbb.com for image!)

First off, I would like to announce the release of the Info-Center's Blog Mechanics Guide. Technically, it was released August 5, but I haven't had the chance to actually announce it until now :). Also, the History page has been re-done, and more images have been added.

Okay, back to my article.

Impressions and impressing...

Sendak, I see your point. I know things can get monotonous, and that's why I won't actually be writing an article on impressions. Rather, I'll just talk about recent events.

Like I've said previously before in my past article, leaving an embarrassing impression is the most dreaded impression you can leave. But, as M.G.E. has stated, leaving good impressions will stay with people just as long as an embarrassing one. Many years into the future, just as people know you as the one with the nightlight, they'll know you as the one with the generous personality. Either way, impressions are impressions. -shrug-

*****

So many prideful things are associated with the Olympics. The monthly theme of 'Pride and Prejudice' has long passed, but the subject of the Olympics is too good to pass.

As you may already know, the Olympics only come around once every four years (well, two years if you consider both Winter and Summer). Athletes from all over the world compete to be named "Champion of ___". A very worthy title indeed. A great flood of pride showers you whenever you win something as big as that. Not only do you feel it, but your entire country will feel it as well. I'm sure Michael Phelps is very proud of what he has done, but I'm also sure his mother is very proud as well—to have such a son is a pride well-earned.

One very discussed subject—whether the Chinese women gymnasts' ages are credible—keeps on arising. I agree with the blogger on Yahoo!'s Fourth Place Medal blog. The IOC (International Olympics Committee) should throw in an investigation on this matter. Why? If, truly, the girls are 16 and are valid, they don't deserve all this suspicion and evil gossip. They should enjoy their gold medals happily. But, if in fact, they are not 16, than the competition should play fair, and the gold medals should be rightfully awarded to the Americans. See? Either way, an investigation would bring truth and honesty to all. But everyone is still wondering why the IOC hasn't done this sooner. Is it a sign of pride and respect to China, the host nation? Is it because of money? One thing's for sure—this is the Olympics, and fair play should be expected no matter what.

Oh, and that Swedish wrestler that stormed off the podium and threw his bronze medal on the floor—shame on him. I'm not afraid to say that, because seriously...some people dream of getting to the Olympics, and dream of even getting any medal at all. You should respect the medal, its competitors, and everything that you earn. You were blessed to get this opportunity, yet you threw it away as if it was yesterday's trash.

Ah, that was a nice ramble from me. It's just some topics that were bugging my head the past couple days.

Cheers,
-the clam.