Thursday, July 31, 2008
Enough already....
Okay, I KNOW that Marion Jones did a bad thing by taking steroids. I understand that she had to give back her Olympic medals. I even understand that she had to serve prison time. I appreciate what a bad example she set for young athletes and for other people in general by what she did. But come ON! She was as public with her admission/confession as she was with her previous athletic accolades. I think we need to move on and leave the woman alone. One of my biggest arguments for leaving her alone is to point out that she is FAR from being the only one. How many athletes have been caught and had their hands slapped and haven't had the public humiliation that Marion Jones had? How many athletes haven't been caught?
Yet, when I stopped at the mechanic today I noticed a copy of today's USAToday on the counter. This photo caught my eye on the front page. The woman has a beautiful face. And this photo is a fabulous photo. But, of course, the story immediately beneath the photo was about doping and the Olympics. It's not even an article about Marion Jones. For crying out loud. Is she the new poster child for Athletes Fallen from Grace?? Enough already. Leave her alone now to put her life back together. We all make mistakes. Some are worse than others. But most of us don't have to live them out over and over again on the front page of USAToday!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Tim Zimmerman and the King's Brass
Wow! I thought I was going to be bored, sitting at a concert with a brass ensemble dressed in tuxes. Well, they were dressed in tuxes (for part of the concert) and they were a brass ensemble (yet with no French horn players....) but it was ANYTHING but boring!! In fact, it was a BLAST! The group was Tim Zimmerman and the King's Brass. The group consists of a pianist, a drummer, three trumpets, three trombones, and a tuba. They had a few classical pieces, and several religious pieces, but almost everything was done with a touch of jazz and lots of humor and exceptional musicianship! They had the most amazing arrangement of Yankee Doodle (no kidding ... a whole variations-on-a-theme approach ... it was amazing!) and played jazz standards like Somewhere Over the Rainbow and In the Mood. In several of their songs they worked in several different related melodies. It was just so much fun! If you ever hear that they're in your town, you MUST see them. Here's a clip (it's Christmas music, but it was the best video that YouTube had....) Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Beijing 2008!!
Are you looking forward to the Olympics? I am. I've always been a fan of the Olympics. Just the idea that the whole world sets aside their differences and comes together in a spirit of sportsmanship and competition - to support and encourage one another - it's so profoundly meaningful!
This year, I feel even more strongly about the spirit of the Olympics because they are being held in China. Many of us will have to think outside the box to embrace the idea that we can enjoy the experience of the Olympics in China!
Recently I discovered a fabulous photoblog at Boston.com called The Big Picture, News Stories in Photographs. They always have fabulous photo essays tied in to current events. This morning I discovered that their latest photo essay is about the upcoming Beijing games. You can see all of the images in this essay at http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/. I especially love the building shaped like the Olympic Flame.
Go USA!!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
The trees make noises!
When I first moved to Northern Virginia back in 1996, it was late July. I noticed that the trees make really loud noises. It was the strangest thing - because in the North, our trees don't make noises. At first I thought maybe I was going crazy. Hearing things, ya' know. But then after a couple of years, I realized that it happened coming up to the hottest part of the summer every year and lasted for a few weeks through those really hot months. Eventually, someone told me that those sounds are actually the sounds of bugs who live in those trees. (Whew! I'm not actually hearing the trees make loud noises ... it's BUGS!)
Well, this morning was the first time this year that I heard those really loud sounds consistently while walking out of the house to my car. Maybe today isn't the first day of the sounds ... but it's the first day that the sound was so loud that I was conscious of it. Hmmm... I'm in the South now!
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Gasoline Prices (AGAIN!)
I drove from VA to Buffalo today. I paid $4.13/gallon to fill up in VA, saw gas priced at $3.95/gallon in Pennsylvania on the way up. And in New York it's $4.33. Come on, folks - that the heck is this kind of discrepancy all about!? Oh, yeah - it's TAXES!! (UGH!!)
