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Monday, August 11, 2008
Olympics start with a bang; Austinite heading for NBC reality
I spent almost the entire weekend watching the Olympics, starting with the most spectacular opening ceremony I’ve ever seen (and I’ve been watching Olympics a long, long time) and concluding with last night’s gold-medal relay by the American male swimmers.
I’m not even a little bit ashamed of this sedentary weekend. Maybe I should be, but I’m not. The opening ceremony left me slack-jawed with wonder. How the heck did they do all that? Where did they keep all those costumes, and where did the performers go after each of their numbers? The whole thing was a logistical miracle.
Was NBC’s coverage perfect the whole time? No. There’s quite possibly too much hype about Michael Phelps, who looks like he’s definitely going to bust Mark Spitz’ gold medal record and bring home the projected eight bling things. But I’m not sure we need to hear about Phelps in the middle of a road race or during Chinese weightlifting.
During last night’s (taped) coverage of women’s gymnastics, the cameras spent waaaaaay too much time lingering on the giggling six pixies after they had had a semi-disastrous round that nonetheless boosted them into contention for the team finals. They were having some sort of circle pep rally, cooing at each other and squeaking positive things. About 10 seconds would have been fine; the camer lingered for well over a minute. The bobbing pony tails made me queasy after that long.
Can we stipulate that President Bush is in Beijing having a fine time? Do we need to focus on him at every event and interview him at every opportunity? Seriously.
And the promised on-screen NBC viewers’ guide, which was supposed to keep us posted on what’s coming up and when (an important perk in 4-hour coverage) rarely appeared.
Otherwise, I’m a happy camper. More swimming and gymanstics tonight. Can’t wait.
Hays High teacher to be on NBC reality show
Look for another Austinite to compete in a prime-time reality show soon.
Sandy Gabriel, 26, an algebra teacher at Hays High School, will be among the competitors on NBC’s new “America’s Toughest Jobs,” which premieres Monday, Aug. 25 at 8 p.m.
NBC describes “Toughest Jobs” as “an extreme competition series” that will shove 13 people out of their comfort zones and into “challenging, dangerous and demanding” jobs — such as logging and oil drilling. The annual salary of each contestant will be thrown into a pot and awarded to the winner in the finale. (Too bad Michael Dell isn’t one of the contestants.)
Gabriel, originally from Winnie, says on her official network bio that she’s looking for a new, more challenging career. If she survives “Toughest Jobs,” maybe she’ll get one in Hollywood. Stay tuned.
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