Picking Palin

As you know, Alas, Yorick is not a political blog. Our research team is focused on more important things, like exploding microwaves, AC/DC related research, and the Oscars.

But the Alas, Yorick staff thought I should weigh in on the momentous selection for the Republican Vice Presidential nomination.

Personlly, I think this is an inspired pick by McCain. Yes, Palin is a surprise - very definitely a non-traditional candidate, never having held any sort of job in Washington. But Palin will bring a fresh, outsider's perspective to governing.

I do think criticism of Palin for having no foreign policy expertise is unfair, though. After all, Palin was born in Sheffield, England, and has traveled all around the world doing TV documentaries like Pole to Pole and Himalaya. So clearly Michael Palin will bring experience AND humor to his role - and we all know how helpful humor can be for stress levels and health, so this will help John McCain stay alive for at least one term if he is elected.

Now, Palin being English, I didn't even realize he was eligible...

Wait, a member of my Alas, Yorick staff is coming in.

What's that? Yeah, Palin for vice president... SARAH Palin? Who's that? Governor of ALASKA? I didn't know Alaska had a governor, I thought whoever won the Iditarod ruled as the King or Queen of the Tundra for a year... You're SURE it isn't MICHAEL Palin?

Never mind.

Alas, Yorick Wraps Up the Olympics

The Olympics are dead I mean over! And in case you missed it, here are a few important points to consider, courtesy of the crack Alas, Yorick research team. And Google.

We’re Number 1! Maybe.

Who won? Depends on how your count it. The US won the most medals overall, 110. But China won more golds with 51. Who’s first?

China had the most gold medals since 1988. The all-time record is the US in 1984 winning 83. But that needs a big fat asterisk, because that was the year the entire Soviet bloc except Rumania boycotted the Olympics in Los Angeles – so the competition was much weaker than usual. In any case, China is the first country other than the US and the Soviet Union/Russia to lead the gold medal count since 1936.

Rule, Britannia.

Great Britain (as the UK is known in the Olympics) had a great games – finishing 4th in both gold medals and overall medals, winning the most medals ever for GB. The fact that they finished ahead of Australia (5th in overall, 6th in golds) has caused great angst with some in Australia about losing to the Poms... Wait till next time! In ... London.

Cheering for the Little Guys

I always like to see small countries do well. Especially Mongolia, since I lived there. Well, this time Mongolia won 2 golds and 2 silvers, their best Olympics ever and their first golds ever. Being descendants of Genghis Khan (possibly literally, something like half of Mongolians claim descent from the Big Guy), naturally all their medals were in he-man combat-type sports – a gold and silver in boxing, a gold in judo, and a silver in shooting.

It is ironic they did it in China, which still remembers the Mongol conquest (Great Wall of China, anybody?)… If there was an equestrian event involving five-year-old kids riding bareback on horses over a 30 mile course, Mongolia would be a lock for that one, too! And for that matter, they would be competitive if sumo wrestling ever became an Olympic sport.

Rugby!

So last weekend we went to watch the Canberra Raiders play the Newcastle Knights in National Rugby League action.

I've watched a fair bit of rugby league on TV, but this is the first game I've been to in person. A few observations...

For people raised on American football ("gridiron" in the local lingo), rugby league games go FAST. There are relatively few interruptions. The guy gets tackled, after flopping about a little to get the other guys off of him (if they stay on too long they get penalized, happened to the Knights several times) he stands up, rolls the ball under his foot to his team-mate, and play continues. In play, with the hitting and tackling and the shape of the ball, it more resembles American football. But in pace, it is closer to soccer.

Stadium food in Canberra was actually cheap and decent. I had a good and large roast beef and grilled onion on a tasty roll sandwich that ran me about US$7. Coffee (the usual high-quality espresso based coffee) was about US$2.80, roughly the standard cost for a good cup of coffee in Canberra. A beer was only US$4! I'm used to American stadiums really jacking up the prices.

The fans were like fans everywhere - yelling at the officials to call more fouls, complaining when a Raider made a mistake, the occasional obscenity wafting out across the scene. Though the fans left in a pretty good mood - the Raiders thrashed the Knights 38-18 (two late Newcastle scores made the game look closer than it was), winning their fifth game out of the last six.

But I'm sorry, the Raiders' cheergirls (as they call cheerleaders) were lame. The outfits were suitably skimpy (made me cold watching them on a day when it was about 50 fahrenheit/10 celsius) but they didn't do much. A little rah-rah routine at half time, but they actually sat on chairs during the game, occasionally waving their pom-poms. It seemed rather muted compared to American cheerleaders.

Oh - and definitely no MALE cheerleaders. We asked our Australian friend if there were male cheerleaders, and he looked as if we'd asked whether Australia had any space aliens in its government. By way of proving that there ARE male cheerleaders in the US, we mentioned that George W. Bush (pictured above) had been a male cheerleader in high school. Our Aussie friends laughed out loud. I don't think they were impressed by that factoid.

alas, forgetfulness

The couple who forgot their kid at the airport have been officially disqualified for consideration in the annual Alas, Yorick Parents of the Year Award.

They dashed thru the airport with their 18 bags to make a connection and lost their three-year old. Worse yet, they didn't notice she wasn't with them until they were told IN FLIGHT that the kid had been found back at the airport.