Many of you probably remember the 29 footprint fireworks during the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony.  Apparently on Slashdot, there's this big hoopla with half of the audience talking about media conspiracies by Dick Cheney and corporate America while the other half pointing out how the NBC announcers clearly pointed out that they were rendered CGI, even giving the name of the animator who put the sequence together.  I was perplexed as to why this story was such a firestorm overseas while in the US, it's a side column story or a mocking one talking about crazies with tinfoil hats.

Then, while reading over the Slashdot hysteria, I stumbled across a comment about how the ceremony video came across a single international feed and had an epiphany: did the foreign broadcasters fail to point this out to their viewing public?  This would explain why so many foreigners were pissed about this story and casting stones while most of us in the United States scratch our heads wondering what all the fuss is for (except for the the small handful of angry Americans who weren't paying attention to the commentary and would later write of conspiracies and the evil American media machine in their newspapers and blogs).

Just a thought.

2008 Beijing Olympics - The Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony was quite impressive to say the least.  As my Rick put it, it was probably one of the best opening ceremonies he's seen.  While their torch lighting effort can't beat the flaming arrow of Barcelona, the beautifully choreographed display of cultural depth, technological prowess, and the sheer will of a mostly-unified people speaks a lot about the modern People's Republic of China.

A few observations of my own: the heavy emphasis placed on the traditional Chinese philosophical trinity of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism should lay to rest any remaining doubts that Communist or even Maoist ideology is dead (if decades of rampant capitalism wasn't enough...).  Sure, the government still has the outward trappings of a Stalinist state with its Politburo, network of party cadres, and never ending dialogue of Marx and the Proletariat Revolution, but in the end, the traditional Chinese culture that Mao worked so feverishly to stomp out has not only survived but is reexerting itself across the mainland.  Another viewpoint is that with the bankruptcy of the Communist ideology in China, the central government has shifted to good ol' fashion Chinese nationalism in hopes of both holding on to power and holding the country together.

The other rather odd thing was the use of a PLA Honor Guard to raise the Olympic flag.  Kind of odd I suppose seeing uniformed military raising and saluting the five rings.  The words of one of my professors crossed my mind about how the relatively "clean" Chinese government organ left is the PLA and how its probably the only thing left holding that country together.

Yay for Korean Women's Archery who once again crushes the hopes of female archers in all other nations.  South Korea has swept every single gold medal in women's archery since 1984.  No real inherent cultural or genetic factor, though one BBC journalist speculates that whatever makes Korean female archers tick also explains Korean female golfers.

As for the United States, I really liked their uniforms.  I found it interesting how it was probably the most prominent uniform that so obscured the difference between males and females, even compared to fellow Western nations.

Oh for the love of all the birds that fly through the sky.  The Dokdo protests have become so commonplace that I've come to ignore the regular flare ups.  Yet they've hit a new low recently.  Responding to the latest poke by the Japanese government on the whole Takeshima issue, a group of Korean military veterans decided that the best way to show their displeasure was to go before the Japanese embassy, hammer to death live pheasants (the national bird of Japan), eat their internal organs, and throw the carcasses at the embassy.

Yes, you read that correctly.  I didn't believe it either until I saw the photos.  I mean, what the hell?  I know you're upset about the issue, and I support your cause, but why execute a group of poor birds and consume their livers in public?

I'm still trying to figure out this aspect of Korean psychology because outside of nations in extreme political duress, these sorts of protests normally don't occur in stable, democratic states.  The only one possible thing I can think of is that this is an attempt to convince the Japanese that the South Koreans are utterly psychotic, and that they're just crazy enough to go on a bloodthirsty killing frenzy over the issue.

To be fair, the guys who went through with this are your typical far-right militant ultra-nationalists they are commonly found in most nations, so you can consider this the far end of the spectrum.  This was the same group that killed themselves a live "Koizumi pig" a few years back.  Also, the civilized portion of Korean society usually sticks with peaceful, nonviolent candle-light protests and marches.  Still, its a reflection of social tolerance for a very violent protest culture: you've got the far-right sacrificing animals while the far-left prefers running street battles.  I wonder if the group who did this was the same group that rigged the homemade flame throwers to battle police with a few years back.

My thoughts: no need to kill the birds, I could have told you the Korean government might actually do that without the need to sacrifice our avian friends.  When a government buys a brand new, state-of-the-art fighter jet and decides to deploy it in defense of that barely inhabitable island over the 1.1 million armed communists who regularly talk about turning Seoul into a sea of fire, you know they just might do it.

On the flip side, it only reaffirms my belief that no one can top South Koreans in protest showmanship (my favorite was the funeral dirge in Hong Kong a few years ago).

My phone has been killed by software.  Never thought I'd see the day, especially from a company like Google.  However, the latest version of Google Maps slowly ate away at my phone.  Each time I loaded it, it would take longer and longer until finally, the last time I tried, my phone just froze up.  Now, whenever I tried to reboot it, it just sits there on the boot up screen for hours on end.

Going online, I find that my poor model, the SPH-A900, is pretty prone to this with a very long litany of complaints about the subject.

So uh yeah, if I don't answer your call for the next couple of days, I'm not ignoring you.  Scout's honor!

Days like this, I really regret not having purchased a land line.

I don't consider myself one of those who rant about the cult of political correctness, but I found this one pretty funny.

Is "black hole" a racially insensitive term?

A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.

County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.

Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.

Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole."

That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.

Mayfield shot back that it was a figure of speech and a science term.

I'm sorry, but it's too funny.  I mean, its one of those WTF moments where the vast majority in that room must have had their brains slamming into an intellectual brick wall, double checking to make sure they really heard what was just said.  I wonder if Commissioner Price even knows what a white hole is.  Ignorance always makes for quality entertainment.