FROM JULIE JAMES: (our own Lakeridge resident)
IÂ''m leaving for Italy & the Olympics on Monday (January 30th). For those who may not know, I will be doing TV graphics for the Opening & Closing Ceremonies in Torino - they can be seen on NBC...
Days: ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TEN, ELEVEN TWELVE, THIRTEEN, FOURTEEN, FIFTEEN, SIXTEEN, SEVENTEEN, EIGHTEEN, NINETEEN, TWENTY, TWENTY-ONE, TWENTY-TWO, TWENTY-THREE
Click her to view Julie's Photo Journal!
Travel to Europe:
Air France is OK, but Delta has really lost it on the customer service front.
Boeing 777 not the most comfortable for those in coach, either. And the food
was questionable, to say the least. At least Air France still serves free wine
to people in coach on overseas flights, unlike its American counterparts. Air
New Zealand is still my favorite airline...sigh.
Arrival in Europe...:
#1 Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris SUCKS!!!
#2 Traffic signals in Italy are merely a suggestion. If you feel like stopping
when the light turns red, that's great...if not, oh well.
#3 My accommodations are remarkably similar to those of a nun...or a resident of
San Quentin. Photos to come.
#4 The public restrooms in the mall do NOT feature toilet seats, only the
toilet....ARG!!
Last night wasn't great as the walls are thin and all of the flooring is ceramic
tile. There are no cups or any convenience items in my room, either, so the
bottle of wine I bought last night went unopened.
Day One at work:
So far so good. I have found the restrooms, so no more mall nightmares. They
feed us breakfast, which helps with the budget. Torino is not the prettiest
place, so they probably won't show much of it on TV. It is in a valley, like
Knoxville, but the mountains are 2 to 3 times taller than the Smokies, and they
are the classic snow-topped Alps one would expect to see in Switzerland...which
is very cool...
I start rehearsals for the Opening Ceremonies Saturday. Today & tomorrow is
primarily administrative. I will be picking up my uniform later this afternoon,
too, so I won't stick out like a sore thumb any more. I am also learning lots
of bad words in Italian. They don't have the subtle phrases like "bite me"
here, only very offensive ones. The food has been good so far, tons of
chocolate everywhere doesn't hurt, and the cheese is amazing.
Jet lag has officially set in, and I am
brain dead. Thank goodness it is easy to find cheap & yummy cappuccino
easily....!! Apparently, there are both Italians and Russians working at the
McDonalds in the International Broadcast Center (IBC)...and apparently, the
Russians are about as good at Italian as I am, but their English is a bit
better...interesting experience going to McDonalds around here...among other
things.
It is also apparently normal behavior for bus drivers to read magazines while
driving around Torino. Either that or a newspaper. Did I mention that the
lines designating different lanes are also just a suggestion?
Last night when I returned to my room, there were no towels & no TP. They
seemed surprised when I requested these items be delivered to my room, like I
was making it up. When the guy showed up, he wanted to know where the "screen"
for my bathtub was - did I mention that I have no shower?! Anyway, I told him 3
times I didn't have one before he believed me - he told me that water would get
everywhere - DUH!!! This morning, they began paving the road/driveway in front
of my prison cell, or hotel room, or whatever you want to call it. Lots of
lovely sounds and odors, especially since it is right outside my window.
A Coke is ?2.50, which is about $3.00 - this is not a good thing.
Ciao for now!
Julie
There is supposed to be really good
security here - it's like getting on an airplane to get into the Olympic
compounds. We have to go through metal detectors, our bags go through X-Ray
machines, etc. But today, my boss brought her protein shake mix to work without
anyone stopping her. Why should this be a concern or seem odd? It is in a
large, plastic container with the lid taped shut, and it is a white powdery
substance.....they didn't even question it...the label was not in Italian,
either. It could have been drugs (not allowed), fertilizer (not allowed), etc.
Makes one wonder....
They also have many roads closed to local traffic, only authorized Olympic
transportation. They have had police blocking these roads for days. Today, no
police, so anyone & everyone was using these routes, driving around barricades,
without being stopped. Very odd.
I saw the largest block of Parmesan cheese today I have ever seen in a grocery
store. The weird thing is that it had its own knife attached to it, and it was
in a store in the International Broadcast Center, where knives are not
allowed.......hmmm.......
There was another strange situation/occurrence this morning, but I won't go into
details as I am hoping that I was just paranoid. Since nothing bad has happened
today, I think I was.
Today was also the first day I was at the Olympic Stadium. The venue seems to
be pretty good, but the broadcast facilities are borderline at the moment.
Hopefully, it will be better by the time the Ceremonies start. One of the
locals went with me to set up the graphics computer. On the way, I started
teaching him English bad words & phrases since they have been so kind as to
expand my vocabulary in Italian. After our more than slightly odd experience at
the stadium (which I won't go into details on because this is being published to
the Internet & the people involved just might come across this at some point), I
started teaching him more. He now has a list, which includes the phrase "Brown
Nosing." He liked that one. The rest, I won't repeat, but they involve getting
way too drunk, being exceptionally angry, and everything going horribly wrong.
Given the day we had, these were all very appropriate to the situation, though
not at all polite. But in TV production, particularly live sports, that
typically is the way that it is.
Tomorrow is day one of rehearsals. Keep your fingers crossed!!!
The closer it gets to Opening Ceremonies,
the weirder things get. But this is typical & it has been the same at the other
Olympics I have worked. People are getting hot under the collar, things that
aren't really a big deal suddenly are, tempers are short, blah blah blah.
I now know where the Olympic Village is, where the athletes are staying. It is
very close to the IBC & Stadium, actually. I am hoping to go the the Olympic
Superstore next week - there are usually loads of cool things in them...
The streets are lined with banners, people wearing uniforms are everywhere...and
again, I had no towels or TP when I got to my room last night. At least my TV
started functioning again. Of course, there isn't much on if one speaks
English.... Did I mention that I get Russian, Chinese, French, German, & Dutch
channels, as well as Italian? At some point next week, I'll probably start
getting Finnish TV.....
Today, I taught some of them "That rocks!" & "That sucks!" - I'm running out of
wacky American slang terms. Any suggestions??
Our bus was behind a BMW police car today
- I think it was a 3-Series, but I could be wrong....it was a couple of years
old. Still, very odd. There is no consistency to police cars, only the paint
job.
I have been having conversations with the bus drivers, too. I think they must
be beyond bored, but I have been pleased at how patient they are with my
Italian.
Last night was another rehearsal - this time with the top secret guest. It
didn't take very long, and John Lennon's "Imagine" had nothing to do with it. I
will say this: the special guest has the largest mouth known to man.....yikes!
I have also taken some photos of some wacky little cars - to come at a later
date. There is one car here that looks like a tick on the verge of exploding,
so I am waiting to get a photo of that. I am also going to get some stadium
photos today - the ones I took without a flash last night look beyond awful.
The sun is out, so I should be in luck. I also took a shortcut through the
Olympic Village last night...I think there will be some good pin trading
opportunities there next week.
By the way:
The non-marshmallow looking mascot is for the Paralympics........
I hope they aren't taking themselves too
seriously here, 'cause they are a riot!! Everything from sequins & lamé to
livestock...techno & house music to classical & baroque. Unbelieveable! Lots
of fire - I think one guy almost lost his eyebrows... I will say this: If they
make a mix CD of the music they play during the parade of nations, they could
have a real money maker on their hands - everyone in the production truck was
bouncing around & singing along. Never mind that the crew is made of people
from at least 4 different countries, speaking at least that many languages!!!
There will be a special guest, too. Not allowed to say who, but during that
portion of the ceremonies, they have stage hands on the stage, singing along to
John Lennon's "Imagine." Gotta love it.....! And I get to watch this over &
over all week. By Friday, I think I may have had enough techno to last me for a
while. Either that, or harpsichord.
The ceremonies are scheduled to last just under 2 & 1/2 hours - after NBC is
done with it, WHO KNOWS!!! My guess is closer to 4 with all of the
commercials...unless they edit out large sections of the parade of nations,
which is scheduled to last about 54 minutes, without commercial interruption. I
guess that's why they have everything from Gloria Gaynor & the Village People to
Frankie Goes to Hollywood & Depeche Mode...........keep 'em dancing instead of
falling asleep...!!!
So the guy who was really rude to me at
the venue is not being rude to me anymore. The other day, he asked me where I
was from. I told him Tennessee, and he asked in what part of Italy Tennessee
was!!! Ever since he found out I was from the U.S., he stopped treating me like
an idiot. Very strange! I get the feeling that he has issues with
Italians.......
Some guy refused to trade the Ijams pin with me today, so I had to trade one of
the Canadian ones....oh well. I'll try to avoid the hardcore pin collectors &
shoot more for the amateurs.
I got back to my room last night to discover that my bathroom had been altered.
I now have a shower curtain, and a longer hose with a thing to hang it from, so
I can actually take a shower now! Of course, nothing is perfect - they made it
so I cannot have the faucet running, only the sprayer. Also, no stopper for the
tub, so I can only wash my clothes in the sink.
I took loads of pictures yesterday as I walked from the stadium to the IBC.
I'll have to send some when I have a few minutes. The athletes have been
arriving, and I have seen many of them, particularly from the U.S. One of the
pictures I will be sending has a bridge on it that links the IBC with the
Olympic Village - some of the U.S. athletes are using this bridge for jogging -
there isn't much uninterrupted space to run around here, and the cars don't
always yield to pedestrians, so this is the safest way, really.
More later - must go to another
rehearsal.......
Grappa in a cologne sprayer...only in
Italy. Also, I saw a Hummer - very strange. It was so big, it was beyond out
of place. I have also found out about another surprise guest, but you will have
to watch to find out. This one is so top secret, there will be no
rehearsing...............
There was something else, but it is gone from my head. We are taking a break
from a rehearsal right now, so I have to be quick.
We now have a Brit on our crew, so that makes us Italian, Belgian, Canadian,
Spanish, USA, UK, and probably one or 2 others. And there is no language that
we all can speak the same.
I took a couple of more pictures in the truck - they will come later.....
We were at rehearsals all day yesterday -
there is a 3rd special guest who will be performing a duet with one of the other
special guests. It is so top secret, they are not having any of the special
guests at the rehearsals with anyone else. One of them won't be going to any
kind of a rehearsal at all. Apparently, there was a leak in Athens..... But I
know who they are, and big whoop..................................... Today I
am fixing the graphics for the Parade of Nations as tomorrow is D-Day. There
were so many other problems, I would think that my part would be the least of
their concerns.................!!!
A fire alarm went off at the accommodation at 5:30 this morning. We didn't even
get back until after midnight last night, so I am exhausted.
Nothing new to report, except that the non-existence of traffic rules around
here seems only to apply to Torino. Some of the other Italians have told me
that it isn't like this in other cities, and Torino has something of a
reputation. Regardless, I've only seen one very minor accident since my
arrival....the way they drive, I would've expected more......!
NBC will be extending the Opening Ceremonies from 2 1/2 hours to 4, so set your
video recording devices and watch it Saturday!!! They are actually not bad,
except for a few very silly parts that I just can't believe they are
doing.......unfortunately, I don't think they are doing the best job of
capturing it all on video. Oh well.
Pins aren't going over that well with the die-hards, unfortunately. I will have
to focus on people who are not as serious about it as others. I will hopefully
have more luck once Ceremonies are over & I can get out more.
I have actually had both towels & TP twice
in a row....I hope the streak doesn't end. They also gave me MORE shampoo &
soap - I already have 3 bottles of shampoo, 3 bottles of shower gel & 5 or 6
bars of soap. Are they trying to tell me something???
Ceremonies are in 6 hours for me, longer for you guys. Seriously, unless you
thoroughly enjoy watching commercials, you are better off recording the
thing....I am predicting that NBC will have close to 1.5 hours of commercials on
tonight. But I appreciate your support if you do watch. It is going to be
pretty good, but really silly....however, I don't think it is going to come
across that great on TV. Sorry.
Wish me luck! I'll try to get some more pictures.
The ceremonies went a lot better last
night than in previous rehearsals - I only hope NBC didn't destroy our efforts
in the end..... Now I can tell everyone the special guests without getting in
trouble, but it is probably too late. However, in case someone missed it due to
lack of interest, they were Peter Gabriel, Yoko Ono, & Luciano Pavarotti. In
rehearsals, they were preparing for the possibility of a duet with Peter Gabriel
& Yoko Ono, but that never happened.............
So, for a Spanish producer, Italian director, Canadian associate producer,
Belgian engineer, American graphics & audio (he is from Gainesville, Georgia),
and various other nationalities performing a multitude of other tasks, I think
our production went remarkably well.
After the show was over, several members of the crew and I went scavenging in
the stands for the audience kits - they contained a poncho, cow bell,
flashlight, and a seat cushion, all in a silver bag for the wave. I may check
on eBay to see if anyone has posted one. We spent at least 45 minutes in the
rafters, going row by row looking for these things through people's trash, but I
managed to get my hands on one - woo hoo!!
We probably got back to the accommodation after midnight. I opened my door to
find a present from the organizing committee - TOROC. They left a nice little
"Thank you" card and a bottle of wine with a cork screw. Never got anything
like that from an Olympic Games before....really made me feel good. Then the
producer, associate producer, myself and at least 10 members of the Italian crew
went to a so-called English pub to celebrate. We ate pasta, drank wine, and
communicated with each other in 3 different languages - it was hysterical! At
one point, the Spaniard & the only Italian to speak good English left. Since
the Canadian spoke absolutely no Italian at all, I found myself translating,
along with a couple of Italians who speak about as much English as I speak
Italian, which was even more hysterical! The thing is that, we actually
understood each other & had a blast. Of course, after that much wine, who knows
(I saved the label & will be looking for it in the supermarket as it was a quite
tasty local wine).
This morning, or should I say afternoon, when I left my room, 3 of the crew were
outside as I walked to the bus. We repeated some of the conversation from last
night, which made me feel better - I actually did understand them & vice versa,
even when not 100% sober. They are going home for a week, and they will see us
again on the 21st when rehearsals for the Closing Ceremonies begin.
Today and until the 21st, I will primarily be stationed at the IBC, but I hope
to get out some....keep your fingers crossed.
In the bus on the way to the IBC today, I saw so many of the "PACE" peace flags
hanging from people's balconies, it was amazing...not to mention all of the
Italian flags that had not previously been on display. I guess the Opening
Ceremonies do a lot to get people in the right frame of mind for an Olympics.
I will send pictures later - things are buzzing all around me & I think I need
to go get some cappuccino from our friends at McDonalds.........maybe I can
trade another pin.................
The lack of usage of deodorant is starting
to get to me. I almost got sick on the bus this morning due to the overwhelming
fumes from someone's underarms...... As for the rest of the day, my exposure to
such things has been steadily increasing.
I need to take a picture of the restrooms at the IBC. The men keep using the
women's restrooms, and it is getting on my nerves. They are bad enough as it
is, but this is ridiculous. It must be a European thing - it wasn't like this
in Atlanta or Sydney......
I am going to be on 100.3 FM today around 5pm Knoxville time. If anyone reads
this before then, tune-in and let me know if I sound like an idiot or not. I
have not been getting much sleep due to the noise at the accommodation, and am
relying heavily on caffeine to function throughout the day. It should be
interesting trying to function that late (it will be around 11pm here) on as
little sleep as I have had with my last caffeine intake being about 7 to 8 hours
earlier.
TOBO is right next to NBC. I just heard a ton of cheering & checked the various
venues to see why. The USA just came in 1st in Men's 500m Speed Skating - it
looks like he could medal...it was race 1 of 2....
It is another beautiful day today. I am glad that the weather is being unusual
for us - I like being able to see the Alps while walking from place to place.
Yesterday, we were placing bets on the USA vs. Germany and Canada vs. Russia
women's hockey games. It seems that the only decent women's hockey teams are
USA & Canada - both beat the pants off their competitors yesterday. The bets
were on whether or not they were able to score more than 20 points against the
other teams. Canada won 12-0, USA 5-0. Oh well. Look for these 2 in the Gold
Medal Match......
The free-skate in Pairs Figure Skating has just started. I don't think the USA
has a shot, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. More Figure Skating tomorrow -
Men's short program.
The Downhill Skiing is very disappointing - they are not allowing anyone on the
mountain to cheer or ring cow bells, which leaves it lacking in my opinion.
It is the women's turn in Snowboarding Half Pipe today....a Japanese athlete was
injured. I doubt if NBC will show that since the US won gold & silver, though.
The Russian's at McDonald's keep coming through for me, too. I traded 2 more
pins with them today! And their cappuccino is surprisingly yummy. I had a hot
chocolate there this afternoon. Hot chocolate in Italy is completely
different. It is thicker and not nearly as sweet. Still, it is VERY yummy!!
Some NBC on-air talent was at the store in the IBC today looking for
conditioner. But since Johnson & Johnson is a sponsor, and they are big on baby
shampoo, there wasn't any to be found. I told them they should check out some
of the stores outside the IBC, but they didn't know where they were & were too
flustered about the state of their fly-away hair issues for me to tell them
about the supermarket around the corner.
The market by the accommodation does not open until noon on Mondays, and most of
the cool places for tourists are also closed on Mondays, even during the
Olympics. Weird. I was going to buy some cheaper bottled water & Coke, since
it is a rip-off at the IBC, but no dice. They also close early, so I think I am
screwed until tomorrow evening.
I took some more photos, which I will forward later. They are of the TOBO
Production Office.....TV people, what can I say......
I am never eating food cooked at the IBC
again! Maybe McDonalds french fries.....but definitely NOT the pizza!!! I had
a slice Monday night, just plain cheese, and I woke up in the middle of the
night Monday night/Tuesday morning....yadda yadda yadda. After having to listen
to the Austin Powers-like bathroom behavior of my upstairs neighbor at least
twice a day every day, I don't really care. And of all the precautionary
medications I brought, Pepto Bismol was not one of them.....and ginger ale is
not as prevalent here as at home.....sigh.....
36 hours later, I am better, but still a little green.
The pairs figure skating Monday night just blew my mind - the Chinese pair that
skated last would've been enough to make me lose my dinner...yikes!
So I watched the Men's Combined at Alpine Skiing while in bed yesterday. Gotta
love Bodie Miller, eh?! Thank goodness the U.S. team has some sane members on
it. And the Men's Figure Skating Short Program - Johnny Weir maybe weird, but
he did a good job....more than I can say for 28 of the other 30 skaters.....
Tomorrow night will only be interesting if that Russian whose name I cannot
remember screws up. Otherwise, the best anyone can hope for is silver. Of
course, they will probably have him skate last just to keep up the suspense...arg!!
Having graphics issues with Nordic Combined today, so the graphics room is a
buzz with activity. The data and timing people have made a boo-boo, and it is
taking everyone here to explain to everyone on the mountain what to do to fix
it.
Biathlon for the U.S. was miserable yesterday.....the American with 1/2 a chance
totally blew it on the first round of shooting, and threw a little hissy fit.
Last I heard, he might be disqualified.....but it wouldn't really matter......
We might have a teeny tiny chance in Nordic Combined, though....it is the Team
event, and there is only one really good guy on the teem, so I don't know.
Italians won a gold in Curling - Knoxville's favorite sport, right?!?!?!! There
is more Curling today.....I heard that the Italian Curling team was made of of
primarily Canadians, or at least, Italians who have lived in Canada for the
majority of their lives. I overheard the Canadian Reuters guys today talking
about how no one on the Italian team was speaking Italian - he didn't think any
of them even knew how!! He said the game between Italy & Canada was actually a
Canada-Canada match up. That Curling is one controversial sport, eh?!?!!! I'll
have to pay better attention to it......!! ;-)
Women's Downhill at the moment - an American just came in 5th. I can't remember
if they get more than 1 run or not - it has been a long time since
Saturday........ And yesterday in Speed Skating Women's 500m, we came so close,
but were shut out by China & Russia.....it would have been cool to see someone
from Miami win a medal in the WINTER Olympics, dontcha think??
I think the U.S. is leading in the medal count. No - we are leading in gold
medals, but Norway has the most medals, followed by Russia.
Pin trading has picked up a little, but I still have a long way to go. The
Today Show has offered some, all I have to do is show up at their set by the
Medals Plaza.....I hope they give me tons! Even while I was sick yesterday, my
boss managed to get 3 pins for me - 2 from Japan and 1 from Omega (which is a
very pretty pin, I might add). I also need to make another trek across the
bridge to the Olympic Village and to the USOC area at the Main Press
Center......maybe they will help?!! Ijams needs more sponsors!!
865-577-4717!!!!!
I have just found out that I will be on
Live at 5 (NBC affiliate in Knoxville) tonight. Also, the U.S. just took the
lead in the Qualification round of Men's Freestyle Skiing - medal round in a few
hours... Canada is leading in their Ice Hockey match...duh.... Lots of delays
and related weather issues at the mountain venues today...it finally looks like
winter - dull & gray. But Friday, things are supposed to go back to being weird
- bright and beautiful! In the Women's Downhill, the U.S. came in 7th, 8th, and
21st, if I remember it correctly. Short Track Speed Skating and regular Speed
Skating scheduled for this evening....hopefully we'll get something in one of
those.
The McDonalds french fries went down ok......I hope they stay there!!!
OK, it looks like I will be on 100.3 between 3:30 and 4pm today, then I go over
to NBC to be on Live at 5. And the U.S. Women's Curling team bites (is that a
nicer term than sucks?).....they are in last place right now. Oh well. Canada
is in 2nd place, Great Britain 3rd. In the Men's Moguls, Austria is in 1st,
U.S. 2nd, Canada 3rd, U.S. 4th, France 5th, U.S. 6th...finals begin in a few
minutes, but I have to go to the Medals Plaza... Canada won their hockey game
vs. Italy...don't have the schedule for the other 2 matches this evening to see
if the U.S. is playing or not. U.S. in 11th place in the Doubles Luge after
Round 1...Round 2 just getting underway - not much hope there. U.S. 6th place
in Speed Skating Team Pursuit after the preliminary round - Quarterfinals start
in about an hour, but the Russians pretty much have a lock on it.... TTFN!!
I am at the Medals Plaza putting out
"fires" right now, so I only have a minute until later this evening..... I
found out that the reason it was so obscenely crowded and borderline maniacal
last night was because Duran Duran was doing a concert after the medals
presentation - they have a concert every night. Whitney Houston & Ricky Martin
& Lou Reed are upcoming performers......Kelly Clarkson was here the other night,
too.
Gotta run!!
Canada is beating Germany & the U.S. is
beating Kazakhstan in Ice Hockey at the moment. Men's Figure Skating Free Skate
- Hungary will not be taking home the gold medal. 2 groups have skated, 2 left,
but Johnny Weir and the Russian guy will be skating in the last group. In
Snowboard Cross Men, U.S. wins gold. In Speed Skating, Canada got silver medals
in both the Men's and Women's Team Pursuit.
Today I went to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist - I saw the box the Shroud
is in...... I also went to the Olympic Superstore. I did not go in as I was on
my way to Medals Plaza, but it is a tent! It is a temporary building in the
middle of one of the Piazzas.....weird. I also went to the Today Show. The guy
only gave me 2 pins...so I told him that the Canadian Broadcasting Company gave
me 11, then he said he would give me 20 tomorrow....!!! Woo-hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By the way, the Piazza where the Today Show set is located is like Madison
Avenue - all of the posh shops and stuff....Giorgio Armani, etc.... I did not
bother with window shopping around there.
OK, Matt Savoie just made a major boo-boo in the Men's Figure
Skating...........oh well.
The Chinese restaurants here serve pizza and pasta!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I took loads of pictures today, but the batteries in my camera are now dead, so
I cannot send anything until tomorrow. Oooooooo, the suspense.....!!!
I'm burnt out, so I am going to leave.....
Nothing new to report, really. Since
yesterday evening, things keep going wrong for the data & timing and graphics
end of things. Glad I am not in charge...!!
I got stranded at the Medals Plaza last night. They have buses that take people
to & from the Medals Plaza and the IBC, but NOT DURING THE MEDALS CEREMONIES!!!
So, after an extended period of waiting & wandering & making phone calls, I
finally found out how to get back to the IBC without taking the Olympic
transport. Exciting.
Today, I have been making silly composite pictures of staff members - the
funniest is of a somewhat bald staff guy over a picture of Johnny Weir. What
can I say....not much going on...people preparing for farewells in a
week...etc.....see attached. VIEW PHOTO JOURNAL
I just found out that there are a ton of pin-traders in the mall next to the
IBC. I think I will be heading over there with my handy little note in Italian
asking people to please trade pins with me.........Just got a Visa pin & 2 more
Omega pins, too.
Lack of deodorant on others a serious problem today. Arg.........do you think
air freshener would help???
I'm bored. The USA Women's Curling team sucks. Johnny Weir threw a hissy fit
after blowing it last night. And tonight - the Compulsories in Ice
Dancing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yawn.
Keep your fingers crossed that things are more interesting tomorrow. I may have
to take things into my own hands and go over to the Olympic Village. Emily
Hughes is here, though....big news at NBC....no one else seems to care....such
is international television.
I think the Romans have arrived...the
level of rudeness around here has quadrupled in 24 hours. The weather has also
been weird. Beautiful warm morning, then pouring rain, then beautiful sunny
afternoon - I didn't bring my coat, so I am paranoid about what the evening may
bring.
The noise that wakes me up at 7am every day has turned out to be a metal
security door for the underground parking lot next to my room. Also, the
jackhammers and saws start at 9 on Saturday mornings instead of 8. The cleaning
people still start between 7:30 & 8 in the morning........and Austin Powers
still shows up after midnight every night for his hour-long bathroom
visit..............
Nothing else to report at the moment, though I did trade 20 pins in the mall
next door. Today Show guy still hasn't come through for me, so I am getting
depressed about that......keep your fingers crossed.............
Mexican food in Italy!!!! WEIRD!!!! Not bad, but WEIRD!!!!!!!
The weather here sucks today. It was weird
yesterday, but today.....YUCK! Wet. Rain. Wind. But still no snow. Oh well.
I had my picture taken with a famous Canadian athlete today....I'll send it
later. Personally, I don't know him, but that's OK. I also took a photo of a
couple of Russian athletes yesterday. I don't know what their sport is,
though. Probably Curling.
Went to Short Track last night & saw Apollo Anton Ohno come in 3rd. In the
Semis, one of the U.S. guys named Rusty set a world record, which was pretty
cool. Doesn't make sense that he didn't medal. I guess that is the difference
between regular Speed Skating & Short Track - one is a race against the clock
while the other is simply a matter of who crosses the finish line first. Also
saw 3 Korean women sweep the 1500m, but the 3rd was disqualified, so the Chinese
chic who won gold in the 500m got the bronze.
The U.S. girl who was showing off at Snowboard Cross and came in 2nd as a result
disgusted quite a few people, and made a bunch of others laugh. Alpine Skiing
is being annoying. Both the weather and Bodie Miller are misbehaving...neither
is being a team player - ha!!
Found out all kinds of cool stuff about the next Games in Beijing. Could be
interesting. Also traded about 30 pins with a bunch of Canadians in the mall
upstairs - woo-hoo!!! And the NBC guy says he will be giving me the Today Show
pins this evening, which will get me even closer to 100 pins traded........keep
those fingers crossed!!!
There is a food thing going on at Italy House tonight, which could be
interesting. They gave everyone in the Media Villages notes about it, so it
could also be weird. Canada House is also giving away pins like water, so I
need to make a journey uptown.
Enjoy your Sunday - mine is wet & gray...!!
So I got to the IBC while it was raining
yesterday, only to find out when I left to go to be graphics police at the
Medals Plaza that the rain was now snow!!! Was I wearing a jacket? NO! Did I
have a hat?? NO! All I had was my stupid stinking umbrella & a fleece. Twit.
Oh well. By the time I was finished fixing the boo-boos, there was about 3
inches on the ground. Since it was above freezing, I got to walk around in
slush. Joy.
Got back to the accommodation, and one of the producers & I decided to go to the
faux British pub for fries & wine. Guess what? In the middle of the Olympics
when places like that are raking in the dough, they decided to stick to their
normal schedule & close on Sunday!!! ARG!! Or should I say, IDIOTS!!! Even
the Mexican restaurant was closed. We found a pizza place a little further down
the road that was open, and it was packed. The guys in there were also nuts -
they were blowing New Year's noise makers, wearing birthday party hats, playing
with balloons, demanding that customers take pictures of them while they threw
the pizza dough in the air - crazy guys! They even demanded that the producer I
was with take a video of them with her camera. They were so pleased with her
for following their "request" that they put a silly hat on her and blew the
noise makers in her face. Really crazy.
On our was back through the sludge and slush to our accommodation, we ran into a
couple of the crew from the stadium - Dutch & Belgian & Italian. They politely
demanded that we follow them back from whence we came, and beyond, to a bar that
they new would be open. Turns out, the Belgians had more or less taken over
this particular bar and were basically forcing them to stay open every night
through the end of the Games. They serve 300 brands of bottled beer & numerous
brands on draft. I think the Belgians must like beer. I've also been told by
the Belgians that the Italian chocolate is OK, but Belgian is the best &
purest. They said to go to Belgium & get chocolate there, and not to waste my
money on the Italian variety.
Meanwhile in the world of sport, things were getting canceled &/or postponed all
over the place because of the weather. Some venues even had power issues to the
TV compounds, so for a while we were worried about even being able to stay on
the air at all of the events.
USA Women's curling team is no longer in last place. Italy has taken over that
coveted position now.....USA 2nd to last.
Everyone is falling and crashing at Ice Skating - Figures & Ice Dancing. I hope
to go to Ice Dancing tonight since it will likely be my last opportunity to see
anything - rehearsals for Closing Ceremonies begin tomorrow.
Sara Hughes is supposedly here supporting her sister, by the way. She and some
guy from the Pittsburgh Steelers were going on the Today Show when I was there
picking up pins today. I am up to 100, give or take a few. Today Show guy gave
me an additional 18 to add to the previous 2 he had given me.....
That is it for now. Photos to come later.....don't really want to deal with
that right now....I am hungry.....
The Chinese food here is nasty. At least,
what I had last night was..... And the Italian food they serve at the Chinese
restaurant looked suspicious. Who ever heard of insalata caprese covered in
prociutto????? Whatever. I am starting to get over it.
The rudeness factor is multiplying daily around here. I don't know if it is the
locals or people from other areas, but it is getting bad. There is also an
obscene number of women walking around in fur coats here....particularly in the
over 50 age group, escalating in numbers as the age gets higher. And the
pollution seems to be getting worse, too. It has been bad the whole time, but
it is getting to where one can no longer see the mountains for the smog....there
was a brief window the morning after the snow, but now it is icky.
Rehearsals start tonight. Maybe they will decide they don't need me so I can go
do something fun!!!
Gotta run......I hope I don't have to eat Chinese......photos later.
So I am halfway to my accommodation last night after a meal involving wine when I get a call from the person at NBC telling me that WBIR wants me for their live shot last night. imagine a 30+ minute commute along roads that are about as easy to get through as the strip...halfway between points A & B at 10:30pm, I find out that, upon reaching my destination, I have to turn around and go back. never mind that it is raining, I am borderline coherent, I need to use the restroom (but won't have time to do so), and I am supposed to be on the air in an hour & 15 minutes.......ARG! so that was a joke. I hope everyone missed it.............!!!!!!!!!!!!