A little something for me...

I've been tracking this online for weeks. I have journeyed to Oxnard in search of it in a store. Today my day came and found that circuit city had it available to order online. After debating all morning and a majority of the afternoon I broke down and decided to treat myself. What is this treat you ask? It's a Nintendo Wii!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait! My Wii is to arrive on Monday with Wii sports and Mario Galaxy. I am so freaking excited! I also plan on getting a Wii Fit, so I can workout at home.

Who's up for a game of tennis and bowling?

Opening Ceremonies

All I have to say is that the Opening Ceremonies were simply amazing! What they were able to accomplish with people power was awe inspiring and beautiful. My favorite part was the Chinese moveable type segment. In the beginning I was thought it intraquet patterns was achieved by a complicated computer program. As I watched in awe I began to notice people underneath the moving blocks. I began to put two and two together and realized that this magnificent feat was in fact performed by people. The performance was perfectly executed and simply amazing. I also enjoyed the drummers in the very beginning that did the count down!

Well played China, well played indeed!

Here are some of the images I was able to find:

A much needed break

Well things are beginning to look up. We hired our newest staff member and he got into town yesterday. With the arrival of Justin; a duck by the way!, Women's Soccer is officially out of foster care. Justin is crashing with me till he and our other new staff member Leah find a place to live. Justin rolled into town at about 3:45 yesterday and then we were right off to our team orthopaedists house in the hills of Montecito for a BBQ.
The BBQ was awesome filled with good food and company. It was nice to have the whole staff together for the first time. We were all able to get to know the two new staff members and watch some Olympic action.

Arts and Lectures Series

Ok first I apologize for it taking me so long to post on this one, but hey I've busy as hell, so lay off me. Last week my co-worker Nina, David, and myself went to Campbell Hall to see "Up the Yangtze". I went in with some high expectations of what I thought this film was going to be like. I was a little disappointed to be completely honest. The documentary was about China completing the Three Gorges Dam and how it was going to affect the lives of those who live by the massive river.

The documentary focuses on the plight of one family that is forced to exploit their daughter to be able to live after the Three Gorges Dam is completed. Their daughter goes to work on a river boat that tours the Yangtze washing dishes. One of the sound bites that really stuck with me is how some families in China live on two dollars a day. Unfortunately the narrator always seemed to talk at some of the most awkward times that it made the underlying story disjointed at times. Overall the film was interesting, insightful, and had some very moving images.

Craziness at work

The past week has been a bit crazy at work. Last week our Women's Soccer ATC decided that he wasn't going to be able to live in Santa Barbara on what he was going to be paid and decided to quite. Mind you this whole thing went down exactly one week before Women's Soccer begins double days! So after some scrambling by the staff Women's Soccer has officially become a team effort. Our Women's basketball ATC and myself are basically becoming what we have coined "Foster parents" of the Women's soccer team till a suitable home can be found for them. We already have some great lines planned; "Go talk to your father!" and "Did your mother say it was okay?"

In the meantime we've offered the position to three people. The first one had already accepted a job, but was not going to be working with athletics, so we thought we could lure him away from there, but alas he had already moved himself and his family, so one down. The second guy had also already accepted a job, was definitely tempted, but ended up turning us down; strike two. We are waiting to hear back from guy number three tomorrow. If we strike out tomorrow then we'll be opening up this position and seeking applicants and soccer will remain in foster care.

Needless to say, on top of all that Basketball has begun conditioning and lifting again, so their keeping me somewhat busy. We are also transitioning to a computer based injury documentation system. This new computer based system kind of sucks because we have to input all the data for all our athletes into the computer. It took me the entire day to get Men's basketball done and there's only fifteen of them right now to worry about. My eyes were so dry and tired from staring at my computer screen and my contacts were not helping. I have to input Women's Soccer tomorrow which will be a feat in itself since there is over thirty of them.

Today was quite busy and definitely signaled the end of summer. Fall is starting to kick into gear. Basketball season is going to be here before I know it ready to kick my butt again. Wish me luck!

Out to the Movies: Mongol

This afternoon I went to see the movie "Mongol". I was quite surprised to turn around at the ticket booth and see my team physician and his wife also going to see Mongol. It was a pleasant surprise.

The movie is about the rise of Genghis Khan. The movie was beautifully shot and had a feel very similar to "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and "300". There was plenty of blood to be seen throughout the movie and quite a bit of foreshadowing. Over all the movie was very good and interesting to watch. The movie begins when Genghis Khan is nine years old and his Father is taking him to another clan on Mongols to pick a wife. The movie then follows the course of events that shaped his life up till the time that he united the Mongols. Over all the film was entertaining and interesting. It had piqued some interest in me on the subject, so I'll probably add something about Genghis Khan to my reading list.