Monthly Archives: August 2008

Olympics

Chinese cheaters

10 Comments

I’ve been watching the Olympics, and whenever they show the women gymnasts, I can’t help but wonder if the Chinese girls really meet the age minimum of 16. Well, as it turns out, there’s good reason to believe they don’t. The New York Times reported back on July 27:

The Times found two online records of official registration lists of Chinese gymnasts that list [He Kexin’s] birthday as Jan. 1, 1994, which would make her 14. A 2007 national registry of Chinese gymnasts — now blocked in China but viewable through Google cache — shows He’s age as “1994.1.1.”

Another registration list that is unblocked, dated Jan. 27, 2006, and regarding an “intercity” competition in Chengdu, China, also lists He’s birthday as Jan. 1, 1994. That date differs by two years from the birth date of Jan. 1, 1992, listed on He’s passport, which was issued Feb. 14, 2008. […]

The other gymnast, Jiang [Yuyuan], is listed on her passport — issued March 2, 2006 — as having been born on Nov. 1, 1991, which would make her 16 and thus eligible to compete at the Beijing Games.

A different birth date, indicating Jiang is not yet 15, appears on a list of junior competitors from the Zhejiang Province sports administration. The list of athletes includes national identification card numbers into which birth dates are embedded. Jiang’s national card number as it appears on this list shows her birth date as Oct. 1, 1993, which indicates that she will turn 15 in the fall, and would thus be ineligible to compete in the Beijing Games.

But the smoking gun is to simply look at them. There’s no way they’re 16. No. Way. Not unless they have some sort of growth-stunting disease. Kinda sucks the spirit out of the Olympic games when countries conspire to cheat.

2008 Campaign

Obama expected to announce running mate as early as Wednesday

5 Comments

Via the New York Times (note: may require free registration):

Senator Barack Obama has all but settled on his choice for a running mate and set an elaborate rollout plan for his decision, beginning with an early morning alert to supporters, perhaps as soon as Wednesday morning, aides said. […]

Going into the final days, Mr. Obama was said to be focused mainly on three candidates: Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware. […]

If all goes according to plan, the announcement will be made with text and e-mail messages to supporters early in the morning, in time to capture coverage on the morning news shows and take advantage of a full day’s news cycle.

Mr. Obama and his running mate will begin, perhaps that day, a visit to swing states.

Comics

PJStar yet to get the memo about FBOFW

1 Comment

The Journal Star is getting ready to celebrate the ending of the For Better or For Worse comic strip, so they’re asking readers for their thoughts on it. Just one thing: the strip isn’t ending. Contrary to the PJStar’s statement that “its final, new-content installment” will be August 30, FBOFW creator Lynn Johnston has decided to keep adding new content after all, according to her website and the L. A. Times:

Calling the next phase of her comic strips “new-runs,” Lynn Johnston announced that beginning Monday, Sept. 1, her immensely popular “For Better or For Worse” will start over again. Using new comic strips drawn in the style she used 29 years ago when the Patterson family first appeared on comic pages, Johnston will begin retelling their story from the beginning, eventually blending at least half of the classic original comic strips with new material.

Not long ago, Johnston, 61, had planned to retire this year and offer mostly reruns of her 29-year-old comic strip. But her life changed when her husband fell in love with another woman and the couple divorced. “At this time in my life, I thought I would be on a cruise ship to Panama or the Mediterranean, retired with my Tilley hats, my sneakers. But I’m a single lady now, and I want to keep working,” she said in a video posted on You Tube.

Not that I care. I’m not a fan of FBOFW. I’m still waiting for Bill Watterson to come out of retirement.

City of Peoria

City wants your feedback on “convenience cash” stores

1 Comment

The City of Peoria is really digging these online surveys. They’ve got one coming out about every week now. The latest one is designed to gauge public sentiment toward “convenience cash businesses,” like payday loan and title loan stores. As you may recall, the City has put a moratorium on any new ones popping up until they can write some sort of ordinance restricting their proliferation.

So, if you want to provide some input, click here.

Nation/World

Beijing, not Beizhing

17 Comments

The hosts on a couple different NPR shows have been making fun of NBC commentators for mispronouncing China’s capital city and the host city of the 2008 Olympics, Beijing. You see, on NBC, they’re constantly pronouncing the “j” in Beijing as a “zh” sound, as in “Jacque” or “Zhivago.” It’s actually supposed to be pronounced like a “j” (go figure), as in “jump” or “Jo Jo Dancer.” Anyway, it’s funny to hear one network criticize another. You can hear it at the end of this story from NPR’s “All Things Considered” program today.

Also, if you want to see a funny little video on how to pronounce Beijing, look no further:

General News

Still plenty of time for Cubs to blow it

11 Comments

Since I’ve been getting some trash talking from Cubs fans (Anon E. Mouse and Billy Dennis), I’d just like to remind them that we’re only in August. There’s still plenty of time for the Cubs to implode.

Case in point, here were the standings on August 15, 1969:

NL East W L GB
Cubs 74 44 –
Cardinals 65 53 9.0
Mets 62 51 9.5
Pirates 60 55 12.5
Phillies 47 69 26.0
Expos 38 81 36.5

That year, by the end of the season, the Mets were in first place and the Cubs were eight games behind. (Yes, the Cardinals ended up in fourth place that year, just a couple of years after winning the World Series for the eighth time since 1908.)

Well, here are the standings today, August 15, 2008:

NL Central W L GB
Cubs 74 47 –
Brewers 70 52 4.5
Cardinals 68 56 7.5
Astros 62 59 12.0
Pirates 55 66 19.0
Reds 54 68 20.5

As you can see, both the Cardinals and Brewers are well within striking distance. Who will win the division this year?

Peoria Public Library

Library gets new microfilm readers, lowers copy prices

2 Comments

I do a fair amount of research in the microfilm section of the library. This has generally meant loading up the reel on their antiquated microfilm readers and scrolling through the film with a hand crank (their automated readers only have two speeds — blistering fast and dog slow — which I find unhelpful). Then, when I found something I wanted to print off, I rewound the reel and take it over to one of their microfilm reader/printers and loaded it up again. These are pretty nice, but there are only two of them, so they don’t want you hogging them if you’re not printing anything. Copies are 25¢.

But not anymore!

The Peoria Public Library has gotten six new microfilm reader/printers, and they are sweet! They print on plain paper instead of thermal paper, so the copy prices have dropped to 10¢ per page — but the even better news is that you don’t have to print them at all. Library director Ed Szynaka explains:
“They are all very much automated and can transfer images on to disk and storage sticks with great ease.”

Yep, we can now save a digital image of the microfilm! And, with OCR software, this will save me no small amount of typing, assuming the original image is good. And speaking of keeping the image looking good, Szynaka also told me that “the lens does not touch the microfilm thereby dramatically reducing scratching of the film.”

Kudos to the library for this fantastic upgrade!

Comics

Calvin & Hobbes

1 Comment

My favorite comic strip is Calvin & Hobbes, which hasn’t been published for about 13 years now. I was thinking about it last night and looked up some stuff on the internet on the strip’s artist, Bill Watterson. I found this site which shows a bunch of Watterson’s pre-Calvin artwork. He had some pretty funny one-panel comics. My favorite:

I wish Watterson would revive Calvin & Hobbes, or at least start drawing a new strip. The guy is a comics genius. Here’s another site I found of rare Watterson artwork — a lot of the same stuff as the first site I linked to, but this one has a few different items.