NBC’s Olympics color is pathetic, awful. I finally turned The Games off when they announced that an in-depth interview with Michael Phelps’ mother was “coming up”.
If I had seen Debbie Phelps one more time, I think I would have thrown something at the TV.
Given, the woman deserves a point or two for raising her kids, one of whom is the greatest Olympic swimmer in history, on her own (their Dad walked when Michael was seven), but come on, she’s not exactly June Cleaver. In fact, it’s been reported that Michael’s sister, who is also a swimmer, took up the sport as a refuge from the yelling.
I’m used to the networks making otherwise intelligent people look like incoherent idiots, e.g., CNN’s regrettable lobotomy of political “reporter” Candy Crowley. But poor Bob Costas: his babbling fits right in with the cacophonous chatter of the B bus’s special needs patrons.
I don’t know much about Costas except that he’s been a sports reporter for almost 30 years. He could be a bona fide genius, but you’d never know it from the vapid pap he continuously spewed during last week’s interminable filler in between actual events.
The Cost of Engineers
According to Business Week, the total cost of employing a full-time Indian engineer
James’ First Fish
I bought a reel for the extra fishing rod that Robert won a couple of years ago and which he’s agreed to let James use.
It’s a push-button type that we were told might be easier for James to use than Robert’s traditional spinning reel.
Yesterday, we went to Waquoit Bay and a couple of spots on John’s Pond so he could practice his casting. James did extremely well, and when he saw me today after Peter and I did the transfer station run, he asked if I could run him down to their beach on Santuit Pond so he could practice some more.
More Collective Nouns
Last night, the question was posed, what is a group of jellyfish? The answer, “smack”, was incomplete: it is also a “fluther”:
http://www.ucgc.org/terms-for-collections.htm
Best Day Ever
That was James, about yesterday.
We went to game 2 of the Cape Cod Baseball League playoffs. It was just about picture perfect weather, and we got to see one home run and two broken bats.
Fairly late in the game, and after downing an order of cheese nachos, James told me that the main reason he wanted to go to the game was to collect autographs.
And I thought it was all about the junk food.
Winding Down
Falmouth road race weekend is over, and it’s cool and overcast today, so it really feels like summer is winding down.
There’s a playoff game at Cotuit this afternoon, weather permitting.
I missed a couple of events I probably would have enjoyed, the Cape Verdean Festival at Onset on Saturday and the Bourne Historical Society Summer Soiree at Briarwood in Pocasset yesterday. Just didn’t find out about them until it was too late.
Emme and I had a nice afternoon, though. We poked around Home Depot, then had a snack and picked up some books at Border’s. We stopped at Cape Leisure in Cotuit and bought a Hatteras hammock to replace the rope one that had been vandalized.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon in the backyard, either in the hammock or reading in the surprisingly comfortable chairs belonging to the new outdoor dining set.
The Stupidest TV Commercial Ever Made
Maybe you’ve seen this ad, in which the consistently disgusting Charmin’ bears reach a new level of poor taste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBNcQgkXEWE
Head For the Hills
From now until Sunday evening, I’m not planning to go near Falmouth Center or points South – it’s Road Race weekend.
I should have known something was up yesterday afternoon: it was the first time, ever, that I didn’t enjoy being in Woods Hole. I couldn’t wait to leave, the unfamiliar intensity of the crowds made me extremely uncomfortable.
By evening, when we went back for the CSS open house, things seemed to be back to normal.
CSS
The Children’s School of Science ends its 2008 summer term today, concluding its 95th year of operation.
Bonnie, Peter and I attended the open house with James last night, and they got to meet his teachers and bought him a very cool black jersey jacket with the school logo.
To round out the evening, we attended an ice cream social at the MBL Club, where James hooked up with one of his classmates and played various summer games, like water balloons and egg toss.
All in all, a great time and a fitting end to a terrific 3 weeks in “the Hole”.
Magic Age
James has attained the magical age, 8. I think he’s hit the peak of childhood, which in my opinion happens between 8 and 10.
People at that age are no longer babies, they are able to start thinking and articulating in a more mature way. They are not yet old enough to be cynical pre-teens; rather, they are immeasurably curious and delighted with the world around them.