MAYWALSH!!!!!!!!!!

It's absolutely no secret that I'm a huge fan of Misty May and Kerri Walsh. I've been following them since probably 2002, attending most of the Southern California AVP events. Tonight, they defended their 2004 Olympic gold medal in a great match against the Chinese. I will most likely be spending all day tomorrow surfing the web for pictures from the game, but for now, here are a couple of my favorite pictures. One is when I met Misty in 2004, the other is from a Time magazine article right before the Athens Olympics.

One World, One Dream

What did I tell you? Massive amounts of people, fireworks, and a blend of historical and contemporary themes made for the most amazing Opening Ceremonies, ever. Zhang Yimou supposedly has even more planned for the Closing Ceremonies, and I can't begin to fathom how he'll top Friday's showing. Which brings me to London, 2012. I can just picture London's Olympic Committe muttering a collective, "Oh, bloody hell" while watching Beijing's show. How will a country that's perpetually drunk and eats mashed peas with everything compete with that?

Opening Cermonies

While the Opening Ceremonies have already concluded in Beijing, we Californians won't get the NBC broadcast for another 9 hours (damn you, NBC). I can't begin to tell you how excited I am. I love the Opening Ceremonies in general, but I'm especially excited to see what the Chinese have in store. Oftentimes, what makes these celebrations so spectacular is the sheer volume of performers on stage. If there's anything China has a surplus of, it's people. Remember the scene in Mulan where there's a thousand people in front of the Imperial Palace bowing to the Emperor? Remember the scene in Hero where there's a thousand archers shooting at Jet Li? There will be no CGI in Beijing. This is the real deal, and it's going to be epic. And don't forget fireworks. We fucking invented them. People + fireworks + over 5000 years of history and culture to draw upon make for very rich ingredients to the world's newest Chinese dish, ready for the world's consumption. Go, China! Make me even prouder to be Chinese.