Olympics Stories NBC Isn't Showing You, Part 2

Here's another story you'll probably never see covered on NBC. She's not American, she's in an obscure sport, and she's pregnant - three reasons we'll probably never hear more about her. Nur Suryani Mohamad Taibi is eight months pregnant making her Olympic debut in the 10-meter air rifle event. She is also the first woman to represent Malaysia in Olympic shooting.

Pregnant athletes have competed at the Olympics before, but Nur Suryani will be the nearest to giving birth. Her biggest concern about this is that the baby won't kick when she pulls the trigger. To be able to compete, she is required to still squeeze her very pregnant body into a heavy body suit and jacket worn by all the competitors to provide stability.

How did she do you ask? She placed 34th out of 56 shooters.

When asked if she felt any pain during the morning's competition, Suryani cocked her head, raised her eyebrows, and answered the question with one of her own: "Is it pregnant women will feel pain?" The gaggle of male journalists suddenly stupefied into silence, Suryani responded to herself. "I don't think so," she said, "or, not yet." (Sports Illustrated.)

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/david_epstein/07/28/Nur-Suryani-Mohd-Taibi/index.html#ixzz22phwc37b

Today's Olympic Moment

Yes, medals were won, races were run, obstacles overcome, and many great achievements .... Achieved today. You can catch up on those from any news source. I am not that source.


Here is my favorite moment from today's events. This was in a crowd shot of the fans at the indoor cycling track venue, just after the athlete from Great Britain won the men's sprint gold medal.

Olympics Stories NBC Isn't Showing You

I LOVE the Olympics! I have since I was a kid. Back in the day, there was only prime-time coverage available. As technology has advanced, there are more ways to watch the Olympics. I have tried to not look at Facebook or other online sources so as to not avoid getting spoiled - I wanted to watch the coverage in my own timezone, savoring each moment.

NBC has let me down. They spend more time covering the 1996 USA women's gymnastics team than any of the other countries' teams for 2012. There's also apparently this guy named Michael Phelps who's winning a few medals.

Thanks, NBC. 1996 was 16 years ago, and Michael Phelps has been winning medals for three Olympics. We know about him, how much he eats, what size shoe he wears -- everything. I don't need another biopic on him.

I could go on and on, but it just makes me frustrated. (I have started watching more events during the day on my portable devices, though, knowing that table tennis, shooting and synchronized swimming will not get covered during prime time because the USA doesn't have any medal contenders in those sports.)

So here's an interesting story you may not know about because NBC, who maintains exclusive rights to USA Olympics viewers, isn't showing you:

South Korean fencer Shin A-Lam provided one of the indelible images of the 2012 London Olympics when she staged an hour-long, tearful protest after losing to Germany’s Britta Heidemann in an individual epee semifinal match. Shin’s coach claimed Heidemann’s winning hit came after the final second on the clock, which was being controlled by a 15-year-old British volunteer, had elapsed. Shin was required to stay on the piste while the judges considered–and ultimately rejected–her appeal. After Shin lost the bronze-medal match, the International Fencing Federation offered her a special consolation medal, which she reportedly refused.

Settling vs. Waiting and the Bechdel Test

Aunt Louise has brought something to my attention called The Bechdel Test. There is more information about it here, but essentially it is a litmus test to gauge the strength of women characters in movies. ]

There are three things necessary to pass the "test:"

1. The movie has to have at least two (named) women in it.
2. They have to talk to each other...
3. About something besides a man.

I recently saw the movie "Brave," (Disney/Pixar's new animated film) and thoroughly enjoyed the fact that there was a strong female lead in it. Even with a strong female lead, though, it wouldn't pass the Bechdel test, as the two main women, Merida and her mother (named, though I've forgotten it) talk to each other about Merida's prospective husbands. She's a princess and tradition dictates that she pick a husband from one of the other clans. The three options available to her are, in modern-day vernacular, losers, and she doesn't feel like she's ready to get married.

The film has come under some criticism, rather, Merida as a character has been criticized and labeled by some as gay, because what Disney princess doesn't end up with the prince at the end? "She must be gay," say some people (idiots, in my opinion), "because she didn't end up with a prince." Apparently they don't take into consideration that it's okay for a woman to hold out for something better. Why do we have to settle?

For all those nay-sayers (gay-sayers?) out there who think that woman MUST be with a man for her to matter, I say, "pffft."

It also reminds me of a song by Sara Bareeilles called "Fairytale," that says in part:

Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom
Man made up a story said that I should believe him
Go and tell your white knight that he's handsome in hindsight
But I don't want the next best thing
So I sing and hold my head down and I break these walls round me
Can't take no more of your fairytale love

(Full lyrics here.)

I'm Confused...

Moby Dick

We went whale watching on Saturday. We saw a mama whale and her calf. The captain of our boat was very good to tell us which side of the boat to look (and used non-nautical terms like "to the left, or 1:00," as opposed to port and starboard for all us landlubbers. Besides the two grey whales, we saw a dolphin, a shark (basking shark), and he took us out to a buoy to have a gander at all the sea lions doing their own basking.

This is the dolphin we saw as we were headed to the whale site. He frolicked for a good long while, swimming underneath the boat, as though he were leading us to where we needed to be. Very cool.

Here's the first sighting of the whale. Too far off to see anything than the puff of water from her blowhole.

Look how close they're getting to that scuba diving boat!

And can you imagine being that guy on that paddle board? "Whale. WHALE!"

I'm pretty sure that's both the mama and the calf together. Generally the baby would surface first for some air, followed a few moments later by its mama.

Eternity?

Seeing the horizon when on the open seas can make you think about eternity.

Or falling off the edge of the world.

But this picture really does make something look like it never ends.