Takin' the Blog for a Walk
Join Waukesha resident Brien Lee and his blog, Sir Fido, as they explore the city and report on the interesting things they find.
Email Brien at howlinblog@yahoo.com.
running low on gas
The 2008 Olympic flame has run out of gas. The games have been like a broken record ... world and olympic records broken over and over. There was much to see and enjoy these last 16 days, but I could fill this spot with all I would've liked to see but didn't. Didn't because of my own schedule, but also because coverage of the less popular sports was, again, often hard to find. Five channels with at least some Olympic coverage and often there was either nothing or some lengthy event like a two hour marathon or nine inning baseball game. My attention span isn't that long.
Even so, I enjoyed these games more than others. I enjoyed the selection NBC chose for me to watch and the Chinese did a fantastic job in hosting the Olympics. It's been said that possibly close to a million volunteers helped with the games and I believe it. Everywhere I looked I saw volunteers doing something or guarding something.
The air pollution didn't seem to be as big a factor in the outdoor events. Maybe some of the Beijing factories were closed for two weeks? Maybe everyone with cars were told to park them? I've heard stories about trouble makers being kept out of Beijing during the games, but what about the others? Over a billion people in China and you'd think there would have been more spectators lining the streets and canals for the races. I couldn't help but feel we were presented with a certain image, and after learning some of the fireworks from the opening ceremony were digitally inserted I couldn't watch the closing ceremony the same way.
Of the many controversies with these games, one of the biggest has to be the supposed ages of the Chinese girl's gymnastics team members. Basically, they were supposed to be 16 by this year and several looked a couple years shy of that. A bigger controversy should have been the Chinese gymnastic training itself, where, often, three year old girls are removed from their families to begin training and, we are told, aren't allowed to quit and go back home if they don't like it.
Ran low on gas this morning. Was up to hot air balloon crew at 4:45 and met the others by 5:45. Two balloons launched from Monches, on the northern border of Waukesha County, and floated south at a rather swift 20 or so mph. Even though we had four crew members, the breeze dictated a large landing spot next to a road - not that easy between TT and DT south of Hwy. 18. Finally had to bring it down south of Sunset on Wren Way, in chest high soaking wet grass, before the propane totally ran out - approximately 25 miles from where we began.
Driving all the way back to Monches for a champaign toast - the woman had given this balloon ride to her husband for a first wedding anniversary gift. Didn't get back home until about 9:45, five hours after I woke up.
After a parish picnic at Minooka Park at noon I was the one running out of gas. I did finally get my first glimpse of the dog area in the park though and I was very impressed. I saw very many happy people on benches in the shade, throwing things for their pets and generally having a good time. I also saw very many happy dogs. I left with a very positive feeling of the place.
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