Medal watch

Olympics continue to bring dazzling finishes and big upsets and I continue to watch. I think it has been too long since my last update to cover everything so I wont go over what has happened except for one thing. The women's softball team. In my last Olympics oriented blog I brought up an article that stated that the team was much too good for their own good, and yes they are yet they couldn't reach gold. The Japanese team played a great game and overcame the US powerhouse team 3-1. Wow, just wow. Hats off to them. It is just like team USA basketball all over again, yet there will be no chance for a redemption team in the near future because softball is not an Olympic event after the Beijing games.




Isn't it crazy that USA and China have nearly the same medal count (95 vs 83)? I still have trouble viewing China as an international powerhouse. They have some great athletes and they will only get better. Thanks to archery and Judo, South Korea had vaulted into the top 5 early on. However there was some slippage and are currently in 8th place. Not bad for half of an appendix of Asia.


My Oakland A's stink. I admit that. Beginning in the year I expected the worst from my Athletics, yet they suprised many playing really efficient baseball. The pitching staff was excellent, the players were squeezing out runs to bring up the A's into 1st place in the American League division. That is all history now. After trading Blanton and Haren, we haven't been the same. The pitching is still good, but checkout the lineup. A whole bunch of scrubs. Nobody can hit! Sad. One bright spot, a very bright one at that is sidearm wielding and current closer Brad Ziegler. He broke a record for consecutive scoreless innings to start a career that was held by a George McQuillan in 1907. It's good to see something like this coming from a struggling team. I had a chance to see this wonder make magic on a game versus the Tampa Bay Rays, thanks to my friend who had box seats at McAfee Collesium. Suprisingly we got a win and Ziegler closed off the game for us. Awesome. I was not expecting much but got to see a great game including a 2 run homer by Bobby Crosby. Good job BOBBAY!

Automobiles: Best Fuel Economy... a Honda Fit?

The Honda Fit was introduced in other regions before the US as the Jazz.

Well it depends on how you look at it. Consumer Reports announces that the Honda Fit is the best "price per MPG" car out there. No I didn't say best MPG rated car. I'm sure this report only includes cars that use gasoline including hybrids. It doesn't mean you should go out there and buy a cute Fit strictly from this report but it is something to consider because we only look at the gas mileage. From this report the Fit is #1 and #2. #1 being the manual/stickshift model that comes as the Sport trim, and #2 being the automatic version.

There are several other factors many don't consider including the cost of ownership. Some people figure "hey I got a nice bonus. I feel good so I should go out and buy a nice and shiny Benz" to replace their ancient 2004 Honda Accord EX not realizing that their $35 oil change from the dealer is now a $120 commitment, the car demands premium (and often), and the fat ass tires requires a payment plan. Anyway take a look.

Custom Mugen Honda Fit. Mugen is a tuner company closely associated with Honda.

Top 10 in Price Per Mpg

Model
Price - MPG - PPMPG
#1 Honda Fit Sport (manual)
$15,765 - 34 - $464

2. Honda Fit (base)
$15,245 - 32 - $476
3. Toyota Prius (base)
$23,780 - 44 - $540
4. Mazda3 i (manual)
$17,290 - 30 - $576
5. Toyota Prius Touring
$24,803 - 42 - $591
6. Nissan Versa 1.8 SL
$16,675 - 28 - $596
7. Honda Civic Hybrid
$22,400 - 37 - $605
8. Honda Civic EX (manual)
$18,810 - 31 - $607
9. Hyundai Elantra GLS
$17,555 - 27 - $650
10. Scion tC (base)
$17,115 - 26 -$658



The hybrids are in the top 10 but the Fit seems like the clearcut winner in the short term. If you plan to buy a car based primarily on fuel economy you should consider 2 things. Do you plan on having it short term (3-5 years) or long term (5+ years)? I say the Prius for the long term and the Fit for short term. That is unless gas prices EXPLODE. Then go out and get a Prius, or better yet one of these e-bicycles... siiiiick.




The battery pack on the rear rack.

Changes to the Olympics

This will be the last year softball will be an Olympic event. I enjoy recreational softball and although it is a bit different in women's professional softball (slow vs fast pitch) I don't want to see it go. I then do what I always do, try to think from a universal perspective. Maybe as an American... err United Statesman, I enjoy seeing highlights of my country's dominance over the other countries as they get gold every single year so this is why I am sad to see it go. I "wiki"d softball to see if it is popular internationally, and surely it is. That rules out softball being only popular in the US as a reason they are removing it. Then I come across this article: Too-good U.S. team hurt softball's future

Cat Osterman receives a high-five from fellow pitcher Jenny Finch.

We're too good for our own good. Well YEAH. The US no-hit Australians yesterday and they're the clear cut favorites. The competition is a tournament for the silver medal for other countries. Does that mean that every competition that Michael "Aquaman" Phelps swims in should be cancelled too?



Softball's big brother, baseball, will also have it's last showing in the Olympics indefinitely. I'm not exactly sure of the reason they're removing baseball from the Olympics, but I'm sure it isn't because the US is dominating. They got beat by the South Koreans 8-7 in an exciting game with a little of everything. Perhaps the introduction of the WBC (World Baseball Classic) lead to the removal of baseball. Ehh... well I don't care as much about baseball being removed because we aren't using our "finest" anyway. But then there is the Soccer *ahem* the Football World Cup and football is still and will most likely always be an Olympic sport. I'm confused.



First things first. Gymnist is spelled gymnast. I had to use a spell checker to make sure because it didn't look right. Have you ever spelled a word and it doesn't look quite right? Why do we pronounce it "gymnist" yet pronounce "gymnastics" this way?

China's age controversy of its gymnasts are all over the internet. A simple search on google about US team captain Alicia Sacramone (known for her choking during the olympics and this youtube video) or the results of the team gymnastics will somehow lead to the top story. I tried to defend China because Asians look so much older than they really are (hey I get 19-24 years old but I'm almost 31), but it seems a few of the gymnasts had different ages listed (2 years later) on their profiles a while back but on their passports their birth years showed up as 2 years earlier. I don't want to go further with this but for the moment I say China deserved the gold, but they should pursue this speculation to see if they truly deserve the gold. And I'm not just saying this as a bitter American, but to keep the integrity of the Olympics true and fair.

Team China celebrate after confirming their victory for gold.

Call me paranoid but I suspect this one might not quite be 16 years old. She also has fingers growing out of her body.

A story slightly off topic. Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai dislocated his right elbow attempting to lift 148kg (~325lbs) and then having the weight fall on him. You heard right, it fell right on him crushing him and sending him to the hospital. It seems he will be alright but daaaaaamn. That's gonna leave a mark. Just look at the photos, holy crap. I've left out the more graphic ones.





Helpless Baranyai crushed by the weights.

Baranyai as the Olympic staff tend to him


Poor guy. I hope he sticks to the sport and makes an appearance in the 2012 London Olympics.

While on route to the Oakland A's game yesterday when the A's outplayed the Rays 2-1, we discussed going to the Olympics some day. I was planning on going to the Bejing Olympics as a post-graduation trip, but I wasn't on track instead graduating one semester later. Anyway my friend proposed that we buy advanced tickets for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Wow, talk about advanced commitment. I really want to but my budget isn't too flexible right now, plus it is 2 YEARS from now. Vancouver is close enough to drive to (casual 2 day drive), the beer is strong there, and it would be my first Olympics. To go or not to go?

I got a new old Curve

Blackberry Curve taken with my SD500. My main photo-blogging weapon of choice.


So I bought my friend's old cellular phone from him replacing my aging Samsung Blackjack 1. I really want a touch-screen phone but I really don't feel like forking up too much money when I don't have steady cash flow. $85 for a slightly scratched Curve, not bad especially when I can sell my old phone for the same price. The scratch is only on the back battery cover. I can buy a replacement cover and *BAM* good as new. I'm going to miss playing Solitare on my Blackjack, time to move on to BrickBreaker (Arkanoid knockoff).


Is it weird to buy a phone like the Curve without the Internet plan? I use smartphones so that I can sync it with my PC and use it as a calendar. I told my friends I got the Curve, and they all say "why the hell do you get it without an Internet plan?" My response... "the same reason why I got the Blackjack without Internet!!! Have you forgotten???" Being a forgetful person, having a calendar on my phone can be a lifesaver. And no, the calendars on the flip phones suck. I have already tried that.

RIM Blackberry Curve 8300
World Phone Quad-Band GSM
2MP camera
Bluetooth

Pros:
Nice clear display
Aesthetically pleasing, sleek and symetrical design
Full QWERTY keyboard. The one thing the iPhone doesn't have.
Nice strong flash for camera.
3.5mm audio jack for regular headphones, doesn't need special connectors/adaptors.
Cons:
Trackball can be a little iffy. A little annoying, nothing serious.
Don't like the 10-key to one side. It should be in the middle so it can be more easily utilized with both hands.

Canon ELPH SD500

My well used SD500 still going strong along with the high speed 1GB card. LOL!






How it looked new: Canon PowerShot ELPH SD500 sold as IXUS 700 elsewhere

7MP
3x Optical Zoom
2 inch LCD monitor


I've had my digitial camera for a couple of years now. I bought it mainly because I wanted to upgrade my camera for my trip to Vietnam. Every time I buy a camera I tell myself, I'll splurge and get an expensive one so I wont have to get another one for another 3 years. When I bought it, 7MP was still relatively new for the ultra compacts but ever since I bought it I've only used it at 5MP. I feel 7MP is overkill for someone like me who isn't out there to capture stunning scenery photos, rather just to capture memories.




Anyway the SD500 is a solid camera. Not awesome in any one way, but very good in photo quality and video. The ultra compacts usually don't get awesome categories except for size. My biggest gripe about this camera and previous models is occassional blurry photos, especially in low light situations. The new IS (Image Stability) models are supposed to drastically reduce this problem. I'm sold. I think I need to upgrade my 1GB SD card as well... I think. OK I must.






Sleek new Canon SD870 IS.





Even newer Canon SD890 IS

Well it has been almost 3 years and I want another one. No suprise. I've always loved Canon's ultra compact cameras so it will be another updated model. Right now I'm eyeing the SD870 IS or even the very new SD890 IS (5x optical zoom!). If you aren't familiar with digital cameras, 5x zoom is awesome for an ultra compact. However I don't know if I can justify paying so much for this camera when I can get the SD870 IS, which has a 3.8x zoom for a bit less. I don't like the aesthetics of the SD890 anyway. It curves where you hold the camera and I read a review that the reviewer didn't like the feel of it because it should be thicker, not thinner where you hold the camera. The SD870's black/silver color scheme is quite nice. Kinda manly no?

Beijing Summer Olympics 2008, Bye bye Xanga

Moving on from Xanga to Blog was a strategic move. I enjoy blogging from time to time, but I also enjoy reading feedback. Writing to yourself isn't as fun as talking to yourself. I tend to do that from time to time. I had a lot of friends on Xanga but they slowly lost interest, and with that I lost readers and eventually enjoyment of having a blog. Also I'm not a very good writer, but writing about my favorite things and current events is fun. Having some patience. I'm still getting used to blogger, especially the formatting of the text in conjunction with the pictures.

I'm using my first entry to blog about the Olympics, my favorite sports event. There is something really special about an international event that the world watches and becomes engaged in. It signifies peace, unity and mankind's spirit of friendly competition. The Olympics come every 4 years, specifically the summer games (2008, 2012...) and the winter games (2006, 2010...). I look forward to each and every sleepless day of watching the event. Being an American-born Korean, I root for two main countries... South Korea and the United States. So far China is dominating with 14 medals, 9 of them being gold! Wow. The US follows closely behind with 12 medals but only 3 golds. In 3rd is South Korea with 8 medals, 4 of them being gold. Not bad for a small country the size of... Iceland? I couldn't think of any states in the US because I'm a Westcoast boy and the smaller states are in the Eastcoast. I got a perfect on my 50 states test but that was like over 15 years ago. Argh.

"Fortune Dolls" the official mascots of the Beijing Olympics

"Whatizit" mascot for the 1996 Atlanta US games. More like "WTFizit"

"Hodori" the mascot for the 1988 Seoul Korea games.

FIVE mascots?! China always has to out-do the other countries don't they? LOL. The mascots are interesting though. 1000x better than the Whatizit, the mascot designed by a mental patient. This is all the US can come up with? Hodori the Olympic tiger is still my favorite mascot. Complete with the peace sign and all, how fobby hehe.

Photo credits to Bob Bukaty of the Associated Press
Lezak trailing Bernard moments before the miraculous finish

I just witnessed what is already being called one of the most amazing, if not THE most amazing moment in US Olympic history last night. The Men's 4x100m relay made a miraculous comeback. The team's captain Lezak running the anchor was far behind France during the last lap. I didn't think he could come back and catch the favorite French swimmers, but about halfway Lezak turned on his nitrous and catapulted himself tenths of a second ahead of the smack talking French! Well I think it was actually only one cocky French swimmer, but in the end the US handled it well as well as the French team.

Photo credits to David J Phillips of the Associated Press

Michael Phelps and Alain Bernard shake hands on the ceremonial stand.

During the medals ceremony the French smiled and accepted their medals with pride and seemed to have no hard feelings. Kudos to Phelps for taking initiative and shaking hands with the French team. I hope that was the end of it.

2000 Sydney games

My other memorial Olympic events involve Korea. During the 1988 Korean Summer games I remember my dad popping in a videotape into our VHS player of the opening ceremonies that he had recorded overnight. We were watching the opening ceremonies together and I could sense pride in his homeland, yet I couldn't help but sense a bit of sadness. I could feel that he needed to be there and his longing for his country that he lived in for more than half of his life. Sometimes I feel the same way when I see videos or pictures of Korea having lived in Korea when I was very young. It is a weird feeling that cannot be truly explained except by those who can sympathize with me. The same emotions were evoked in me when I saw the opening ceremonies in the 2000 Sydney games when North and South Korea marched as one unified country. That was an amazing site to see, unfortunately they chose to march separately this time.

An unusual moment came during the Women's 53kg (117lb) weightlifting competition. Thanks to NBC, we can watch virtually any game live on the internet. You don't even need to sign up for an account! No commercials! I noticed that Youtube has these unusual popup advertisement ads incorporated into some videos now. Ugh. Probably Google's doing since they own Youtube. I was watching because I was rooting for Korea's Jinhee Yoon, or 윤진희. Yeah that's right, I was watching weightlifting. I love to watch almost any sporting event, especially if Korea or the US is involved. Scratch equestrian and shooting off that list however, these sports induce narcalepsy. Shooting you say? Yes, I thought it would be exciting maybe because I thought it involved bullets but the guns are airguns and quite unexciting to watch as a spectator. OK my ADD kicking in.

Back to weightlifting... so this specific match was quite exciting at times. A Thai woman by the name of Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon (no kidding, Thai names typically span an entire line) smashed the Olympic record in her weight class lifting 126kg over her head. For us stubborn Yanks, that is over 278 lbs!!! Wow is right. In second place was the happy Korean, and in third... and this is where I found something amusing, was Belarus' Nastassia Novikava. During the medals ceremony her eyes were red and had a sad look on her face. I thought she was so overwhelmed with emotion that she looked this way.

From left to right Yoon, Ms. J, and Novikava.

After they stepped down, they were asked to pose together and lift up their medals for the camera. Natassia didn't look at the camera nor did she lift up her medal and her flowers were dangling down with her arms like Molly Shannon's character that doesn't swing her arms in Seinfeld. I was really intrigued to see this kind of reaction. I've never seen someone so upset that they couldn't even try to crack a smile for the camera. So what I did was do a little bit of research and here is what I came up with:

"Yoon and Novikava tied at 213kg, but a 0.15kg-difference in pre-Game weigh-in handed the silver medal to Yoon."

I seeeeee said the blind man to his deaf daughter. Damn that does suck. Silver is very shiny and pretty while bronze is like tarnished dirty gold lol. I dunno I'm just trying to empathize with Natassia. Sorry, if you expected something funny... maybe next time. And if you're from Belarus, I meant no harm. Just pointing out something most people will never hear of because weightlifting is such an unpopular sport.

Afterwards I decided to watch the men's team archery game... ok enough already. I don't think I've written so much, nor will entries be so long. Long story short, Korea dominated archery like they always do.

I have no life. Time to watch more Olympics.