Day 5 - I Love China

What a difference a day makes. Today I went and watched the China-Spain B-Ball game and it was off the chains. The big difference between yesterday's tennis and today's hoops was that the Chinese know and love hoops.

The guys in front of me loved Clyde "the Glide" Drexler and the old man in back of me said his favorite player was Dr. J. It was awesome. They booed the Spaniards and did the wave for the entire halftime. When Pao dunked on Yao and swatted away Yi Jian Lian the crowd cheered ... they clapped when the Spaniards did some alley-oops or smooth moves. They love the sport baby.

As for the game, I won't comment too much. It was a great game and China had it, but Pao did his thang in the end and Yao fouled out ... When Yao went, no one stepped to the plate. I like Liu Wei, he played awesome and he has a great heart. And that kid for Spain Nunio, the lil Thief ... dude had like 10 steals, but i think only 6 counted cause of fouls.

My floor is covered in cash and tickets. Kinda reminds me of the old days ... I have always loved the petty hustle. Its street level down low capitalism and its raw and i'm lovin it. Today I hustled my way into some serious cheddar and it feels good. I met an old Cuban today and we haggled to a standstill. He told me that the Olympics are always like this: scalpers on the streets, trades and back alley deals between sponsors, embassies and athletes' families ... its the whole point of this thing. You know Spartans and Thebians were placing mad bets back in the day ... talkin bout who was gonna win then trading tickets for each others' favorites ...

Peep the Chinese gymnasts ... they are out of control. I read a story in the times that said, On paper, the other nations had no chance before they even rolled in ... due to the vast difference in difficulty that the Chinese take upon themselves.

The Uighers are killin pigs in Xinjiang left and right. More than 20 police dead in one week and as many wounded. They are using suicide bomber techniques and going toe to toe with the security like never before. It seems clear that the group that claimed responsibility for the Kunming Bombings in a video, the Islamic Party of East Turkestan, has learned some techniques from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. So far all of the major violence has been far from Beijing, but there are still ten days left.

The security is blanket, but not necessarily tight. So anyone in Beijing reading this be careful and keep aware ...

I hear the Chinese used some special effects for the TV broadcast of the Opening Ceremonies, sounds like something they'd do, but it don't matter:

Check out these beautiful pictures.

Feelin for Liu Xiang and Obama

Yeah I been criticizing Obama a lot here, I guess its cuz I was so excited and inspired by his nomination run and then to see him do the necessary shuck and jive towards the center of American politics made me lose my fiery optimism. But there is a quote in this here tale that kinda lays it down:

“All of us coming down on him and criticizing him before we give him a chance, you know, that might hurt his campaign — let’s get him in there first,” the caller said. Mr. Ballentine responded, “Brother, I would never criticize him — until he’s in the White House.”

Same can be said for the Beijing Olympics. There is a special every day on Liu Xiang, the 110 meter hurdle champ from China. Not only is he held up as a genetic anomaly by the Chinese press -- unaccustomed to "political correct discourse" on race and sports and still clinging to outdated stereotypes in order to understand things -- but he is one of the symbolic representatives of Chinese sport in the world, like Yao Ming in B-Ball and Ding Jun Hui in snooker. The Chinese tend to have one dude break into a "non-Chinese" spot, then hold that person up as the flag-bearer of China's global presence. It must be hard for them cats. Liu Xiang faces a huge challenge this year in Powell, plus he is a bit injured and his countrymen demand a gold ...

got feel for these dudes, facing the world.