While the Democratic Convention* made headlines this week, there was another major event happening just up the road from Denver as the National Swooping Championships were taking place in Longmont, Col.Swooping is a more extreme form of sky-diving (is that an oxy moron, or what?). The difference is that one lands in water.
My brother-in-law Matt Lovell who was the spokesperson for the Dennis Kucinich campaign (that is a joke!) did not jump out of an airplane, but along with my sister Lale, he did take many photographs of this unique event.
As some of you know, I told this blog that I was taking a day off from teaching and going sky-diving in Orange, Va. (near Charlottesville). That was of course my April Fool's joke.
Many people fell for it!
My sister did not.
She knows me too well!
*- Among those present at this year's Democratic convention were Virginia's awesome governor Tim Kaine, our favorite Caddyshack actor Chevy Chase and members of the hip band Death Cab for Cutie. Alas, I was not there:(
Check out Matt and Lale's photos at:
http://matt-n-lale.smugmug.com/gallery/5838291_znPFN#362172405_2DamF
The photo used in this entry is actually from a swooping event in West Virginia. It was not taken by Matt.
Other useful links:
http://swooping.net (with info on where you can go swooping...they have a place in Orlando...)
http://www.skydiveradio.com
Yes, this ultra-conservative judge who is reportedly social friends with Rush Limbaugh may have qualified under the "well if I choose a black guy, blacks will vote for him" mentality. The problem is he has about as much interest in African-American affairs as outgoing Republican Mississippi senator Trent Lott.
What better way to appeal to the most loyal base of the Republican Party that is the Christian Coalition by choosing one of its own?! The fact that Swaggart compared gay marriage to bestiality during a televised sermon (now on youtube) will also help the GOP with their other loyal base, which is paranoid homophobes. (This photo is actually from Swaggart's official web site! Love those nails).
Hey, if you really want to connect with Hillary voters. Why not choose Hillary herself? Oh, the fact that she is a Democrat may pose a slight problem, but this move would be a bold one and prove that McCain is actually a maverick (newsflash: he's not). Rush Limbaugh hates McCain anyway, and this would actually help him win the retirement home vote in Florida. Alas, Sarah Palin will not!
He's still not gay! And, he has lots of experience in the senate. What more do you want?
"I think she is the most inexperienced person on a major party ticket in modern history," said presidential historian Matthew Dallek in an interview with Politico.com today in reference to John McCain's dubious selection of Alaska governor Sarah Palin.
Since Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is John McCain's running mate, I thought I'd dedicate this photo of Rocky and Bulwinkle to what now sincerely looks to be the losing ticket this November.
A few weeks ago I was reading a vast collection of the alternative comic strip "This Modern World" by political cartoonist Tom Tomorrow. The strip is more cutting-edge than "Doonesbury," but not as scathing as the even more outspoken cartoonist Ted Rall.. 
I will give Ms. Love, another friend as her running mate. Cenk Uygur is a fellow politically progressive Turkish-American, and he is the host of a liberal talk show (yes, there are such things!) called "The Young Turks." It once aired on Air America. Mr. Uygur was a Republican until the Dick Cheney administration came to power. To my knowledge, he has never run for office. But, he has stood firm against guests like Lou Dobbs, which proves that we could use more ex-Republicans in the Democratic Party.
I don't know if comedian Jeff Foxworthy (pictured here) has endorsed a candidate for office yet, but there is actually a group called Rednecks for Obama which has made its way to the Democratic Convention in Denver, which starts tonight with a speech from Michelle Obama.
We conclude our 2008 Beijing Olympics coverage with an entry about athletes who represented different countries besides their nations of birth. 
Russia won the bronze by beating the host China 94-81 (Team USA beat Australia for the gold).
American Olympic gymnast Alicia Sacramone, who was part of the silver-medal winning team in Beijing, arrived back home in Burlington, Mass., to a heroine's welcome according to "The Boston Globe."
There have been surprises in team competitions at the Olympics. These include the U.S men's water polo team as well both the U.S. men'a and women's volleyball teams which have reached the finals of their respective sports.
Well, it came as no surprise even though it was a well-guarded secret, but Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware is now Barack Obama's running mate.
The NPR series "Weekend America" will supposedly answer that question in a segment during their savvy show, which airs on Saturdays and is available through WUNC (91.5-FM) in Chapel Hill here in the Tarheel State.
I was watching the Olympics on NBC last night, and I saw during the diving competition that Alendra Croak of Australia, whose name sounded vaguely familiar, was in fact an Olympic gymnast as well.
If you watched the NBC coverage of the women's vault competition on Sunday, you may have seen the silver-medal winning performance by Oksana Chusovitina of Germany, who previously competed for her native Uzbekistan.
Several countries are struggling at the Beijing Olympics. Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Canada and Argentina are among the countries which seem to have borught in fewer medals than expected so far.
According to this fun little 'quiz'' I took at blogthings.com, the Oympic sport I should most try would be archery?!
When I posted my earlier entry today, I was unaware that my alma mater Radford University, a relatively small state university near Virginia Tech, had an athlete competing in Beijing.
Even though I was a Turkish-American as opposed to a student from Turkey and I went to nearby Radford University, I was a member of the Turkish Student Association at Virginia back in the mid-90s. 
It was a very exciting night of women's gymnastics tonight as Nastia Liukin, the daughter of a gold-medalist Soviet gymnast, won all-around gold in Beijing.
All of this, of course, brings back memories of a certain girl from West Virginia.........
.......who was, of course, Mary Lou Retton.
Some years ago when I was in college, I had a crush on a girl who was a member of the fencing team. Alas, like my crush on the girl who was on the gymnastics team (different school), it did not work out. 
In the final round, Olga Kharlan (we presume this is her picture) upset Tan Xue, who was ranked fourth in the world. China had a commanding 25-15 lead until Round 6 when Kharlan defeated Bao Yingying.
According to a story in the Sunday edition of "The Washington Post" from Scott Vogel based on a study by the University of Michigan, Denmark is the happiest country in the whole wide world. 
If there is one unique thing about the Olympics, it is that it gives one a chance to see sports that would otherwise NEVER be shown on television any other time. In the Winter Olympics, these sports include curling. In the summer games, they include fencing and water polo.
In other water polo matches today, Holland beat Greece 9-6. Mieke Cabout scored an impressive four goals for the Dutch team, while Kyriaki Liosi netted two goals for Greece.
Our American girls came in second and won a team silver medal thanks to the likes of Nastia Liukin (pictured, taken by Grace Chiu) and Shawn Johnson though expectations were higher. Some mishaps on the floor and beam cost the team dearly. One has to feel for the team's most experienced gymnast Alicia Sacramone who had a very disappointing night.
For those who actually read these blog entries, you may recall that I mentioned a certain Dutch beach volleyball player in an entry this past Sunday who just happens to be very attractive.
Mooren was a professional indoor player who kicked off her shoes and headed to the beach in 2002.
Kudos to Turkish female weight-lifter Sibel Ozkan, 20 (she was born on March 3, 1988- the day before my 18th birthday!) for winning a silver medal for my father's country.
I had a chance to see the surprisingly good Kevin Costner movie "Swing Voter" today while taking a break from my 'golf trip' (more on that later) in Durham, NC- where Costner's "Bull Durham" was filmed 20 years ago. (And, Costner was also in the golf film "Tin Cup"- which is better, but alas much less popular than "Caddyshack").
So far, I've watched less than two hours of coverage and that was a women's volleyball match between The United States and The Netherlands. And, that was partially because I thought the tall Dutch volleyball player was really hot! Perhaps, it's time to seek political asylum (well not that I live in Angola, but at times it does feel that way!).........
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