Strollerderby : inspiration

Why the puppy games are better than the Olympics

Brett Singer — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

OK, that's not true. But if you haven't seen this dopey show on Animal Planet, you're missing out on something very cute.

Here are a few highlights:

1. Commentary: "It's going to be tough to impress the judges." True – because they're goldfish. "This is like a chess match." Indeed – if chess opponents gnawed on the pieces and sniffed each others' butts. Bob Costas doesn't get lines like these.

2. No controversy: As far as we know, the opening ceremonies were real, no protesters, journalists or grandmothers were arrested, and no one is complaining about the puppy's potentially sexist costumes.

3. Who won? Who cares?: They're, you know, dogs. They have no idea where they are or what they're doing. You can still cheer for your favorite breed (the Cocker Spaniel is really cute) but at the end of the day, it's all up to the judges… who are goldfish.

4. Two words: Waterbowl Cam.

Not sure if they're going to air this again or not, if so, I highly recommend watching it. There are a bunch of video clips on Discovery.com; here's one of the Gymnastics event.

source/image: Animal Planet

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Olympic Athletes To Be Tested . . . For Gender

Jon Stewart Tackles Olympic Controversies

Michael Phelps father in Baltimore, not Beijing

33 year old mom wins silver medal, saves son from leukemia

Dara Torres inspired two current Olympians

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Protesters and journalists arrested in China (video)

Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

Shawn Johnson more mature than her coach

Volleyball hasn’t come a long way, baby

Other Old Olympians

Brett Singer — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Dara Torres is 41, and Oksana Chusovitina is 33 (and saved her son from leukemia), but they aren't even close to the oldest Olympic athletes in history, or even this year. Most aren't in the more physically strenuous events, but competing in anything at their age is pretty impressive.

* Iain Murray is on the Australian Olympic sailing team, and at age 50 is making his Olympic debut. Murray is Australia's oldest Olympian; Andrew Palfrey, a teammate, is 41 and also competing in his first Olympics.

* Luan Jujie was 50 years old in 1984 when she won a Gold medal in fencing for Canada.

* Susan Nattrass is 57 and currently in Beijing on the Canadian shooting team. In 1976, she became the first woman shooter to compete in the Olympics.

* Hiroshi Hoketsu, a Japanese equestrian, made his Olympic debut in 1964 and is now back for a second time – at age 67.

* Oscar Swahn (Shooting) competed in his last Olympics in 1920 at the age of – are you ready for this? – 72. (He was planning to go in 1924 but he got sick. Wimp.) Over his career, Swahn won three gold medals, two bronze, and a silver in 1920, making him the oldest Olympic medallist ever. Fun fact: his son competed with him in 1908, 1912 and 1920.

For more, see NBCOlympics.com

Image/Source: nbcolympics.com

Dara Torres inspired two current Olympians

Some Parenting Lessons From Michael Phelps's Mom

Gold (OK, Silver) Medal Girlcrush: Dana Torres

Volleyball hasn’t come a long way, baby

Baby survives tornado

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Egyptian woman gives birth to septuplets because she wanted a boy

Protesters and journalists arrested in China (video)

Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

Team more mature than coach

Jon Stewart Tackles Olympic Controversies

Olympics Opening Uses One Girl's Voice, Another Girl's Face

Do All These Chinese Gymnasts Look 16 to You?

Like father like son

33 year old mom wins silver medal, saves son from leukemia

Brett Singer — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Dara Torres is an inspiration to many, competing in the Olympics at age 41, and winning. But I think the story of Oksana Chusovitina, a German gymnast, might be even more inspiring.

Here's the deal: Oksana is from Uzbekistan. Her son was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 3. There were no beds for him in her home country. Because of her gymnastics ability, she was able to move to Germany and join their team, while also getting her little boy the treatment he needed.

He seems to be doing better now, and to make the story even better, she just won a silver medal. She's also 33 years old in a sport where 22 is considered really old. Congratulations to her, and to her son.

Source/image: Detroit Free Press

Olympic Parenting: Oksana Chusovitina and Alisher

Gold (OK, Silver) Medal Girlcrush: Dana Torres

Volleyball hasn’t come a long way, baby

Baby survives tornado

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Egyptian woman gives birth to septuplets because she wanted a boy

Protesters and journalists arrested in China (video)

Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

Team more mature than coach

Jon Stewart Tackles Olympic Controversies

Olympics Opening Uses One Girl's Voice, Another Girl's Face

Do All These Chinese Gymnasts Look 16 to You?

Like father like son

Dara Torres inspired two current Olympians

Brett Singer — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Back in the year 2000, Dara "Superwoman" Torres was at a swimming camp in California. Two sisters, Sandra and Danielle Fong, were fascinated by her, and the medal she had just won at the Santa Clara International Invitational. So she did what anyone would do: she gave them her medal.

OK, that's not what everyone would do. But it is what Dara did. And now, eight years later, both of the Fong sisters will be competing in the Olympics, although not in swimming. 18-year-old Sandra Fong is on the U.S. shooting team. Danielle Fong, 17, has cerebral palsy and will shoot for the U.S. at the Paralympics in September.

Torres, in case you didn't know, just won a Silver medal – at the age of 41. So yeah, we like her.

Image/source: nytimes.com

Read more:

Gold (OK, Silver) Medal Girlcrush: Dana Torres

33 year old mom wins silver medal, saves son from leukemia

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Protesters and journalists arrested in China (video)

Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

Team more mature than coach

Jon Stewart Tackles Olympic Controversies

Hunka hunka burnin Barbie

Olympics Opening Uses One Girl's Voice, Another Girl's Face

Matthew McConaughey keeps placenta

Do All These Chinese Gymnasts Look 16 to You?

Birth inspires lottery ticket purchase

Retarded movie boycott

Awesome Photos Draw From Kid Art

Kelly Mills — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:03:00 GMT

One of my favorite things about the internet, aside from the easy availability of porn, is seeing how amazingly creative people are out there in the big wide world. I've found some of my favorite art ever this side of the Louvre by browsing through people's sites. And currently I'm very enamoured with Yeeondo Jung, who takes inspiration from children's drawings.

Jung stages photographs based on kid art, and the results are clever and wonderful. Bright colors and a faithful recreation of the shapes and textures in the original drawings make these pictures cartoonish and sweet and strangely touching. Check out my favorites, like "Modern Wedding" and "Rabbit Family Hopping Around". Good times!

Male Artists, Female Muses: Exploitation or Symbiosis?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:30:00 GMT

In the wake of a heated debate Down Under on the line between art and child pornography, thanks to Jezebel for pointing out a fascinating piece by Guardian writer Kira Cochrane on the power dynamics at play in the relationship between model and artist. The discussion was launched by the recent sale (for 17.2 million Pounds) of Lucien Freud’s “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping” (pictured). Although the painting obviously involves a male artist depicting a female nude, Cochrane argues that this is hardly a case of exploitation. Even the model’s posture depicts unself-conscious ease.

But Freud’s teenage daughters posing nude for him? That could be a different story, though both of the women report nothing but fond memories of the experience. We can all guess what Sigmund would say….

Cochrane further points out that almost every well-known muse/artist relationship involves a female muse and a male artist, which inevitably puts the male in a position of power and fame, while the woman passively supports his work behind the scenes. I would not argue that this relationship is inherently exploitative—many women have surely reveled in the role of muse—but it definitely has the potential to be so. In several infamous cases, this relationship has destroyed the lives of potentially great artists (Camille Claudel and Elizabeth Siddal, to name just two examples).

Most interesting to me was Cochrane’s citing of stats by the feminist artist group the Guerilla Girls, who found that less than 5 percent of the artists represented in the modern art sections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art are women, but 85 percent of the nudes are of females. At the risk of getting booed out of the feminist blogosphere, here’s my take on these stats: while the dearth of female artists represented at the Met clearly indicates a female disempowerment that is too far-reaching to get into here, I don’t necessarily see a problem with the fact that the majority of nudes are women. I’m a straight woman, and I would rather look at naked women than naked men any day. I know I’m not alone in finding their bodies far more aesthetically interesting—and pleasing. Whether or not this preference is a result of cultural conditioning, I can’t say. I just know that I would not be pleased if half of the breasts in the Met were replaced with pectoral muscles.

Photo: Martin Goodwin

You Might Be a SAHD If ...

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:56:00 GMT

You know all those annoying "You Might Be a Mom If ..." emails that clog your inbox and take precious computer memory away from important things, like all those "Only a Mother Could ..." emails?

(My personal favorite has always been: You might be a mom if ... your heart now beats on the outside. Oh. my. god. That is the most disgustingly syrupy sweet load of sugar sap I have ever heard. Does anyone actually say that?)

Well, sadly, stay-at-home dads have them, too. Only instead of precious miracles and escapist internal organs, we have beer. Beer and Noggin.