Saturday, June 30, 2012

Duck on the balcony. Hatching eggs

Moa Hjelmer: Swedish 200 and 400 Meters

Sweden has a young woman who will compete in her first Olympics this year in London.  Moa Hjelmer won the European Juniors last  year and will compete in the 200 and 400 meters.
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When I think of Swedish Athletes I usually think of Sonja Henie - who, as it turns out is a Olympic Skater from Norway.  I don't usually think of 200 or 400 meters.
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She might not do well when stepping up in class in London, but I bet the young lady will have a great time and give her fans something to cheer about.


Friday, June 29, 2012

Cri-mee-nutly

Tie Breaker for Federer and I am stuck listening to Radio 5 on BBC.com because I can't get the TV picture in here.

Just like the rest of us...


So, in response to a question from Perron (how do people get started in Javelin), I asked Andreas on his twitter feed.  I also saw his twit-pics.  I have to say this, once you leave the cold for Southern California, even Olympic Athletes rub it in.
Temp (in C) between San Diego (Chula Vista) and Oslo Norway
Fame is weird.
Hanging with himself.

Who had Five Years in the Pool?

Who had 5 years?
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Not me.  I figured it would go 9 years like the Mimi Rogers marriage.  Ending right before the pre-nup time cute off in California.
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He turns 50 on July3rd.  So the question is (are)?
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Mid-life crisis, end of shame marriage, Scientology finally too much for Katie, or was 5 years the contract period she had to stay with him?
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Or was it, you know, a real marriage and this is a terrible sad thing.  Which I don't think so, and is much sadder if true.

Salon's Movie Pick of the Week - Ted!

So Salon's Movie Pick of the Week is (drumroll please.... ) Ted.  After the great review of Magic Mike and Beasts of the Southern Wild.  They went with Ted.  Here is his thinking....
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But in a universe of Hollywood comedies that seem determined to insult the audience and pander to the basest form of post-adolescent fantasy, “Ted” feels almost sophisticated. Its funniest gags are verbal or conceptual, it winks at the audience without betraying its essentially likable characters, and it pulls a startlingly high proportion of laughs without ever making fun of fat women or gay people or going deep into toilet humor. (OK, there is that one prostitute in the Truth or Dare scene, who … never mind.) Sure, this isn’t my usual Pick of the Week fare, and this week also offers several outstanding upscale alternatives, including “Take This Waltz,” “Magic Mike” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” all of which I’ve covered or will cover. But, dammit all, the healthcare law survived the freakin’ Supreme Court, and it’s time to celebrate with a blissfully idiotic summer comedy, don’t you think?

Did you think I would forget Andreas Thorkildsen

Kids, a count down of non-US athletes at the Olympics wouldn't be a Scooter original if it didn't include Andreas Thorkildsen.  He is the Norwegian 2 time defending Gold Medal holder of the Javelin (from Athens and Beijing).
In Athens
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Eddie and I saw him in Beijing - where after every throw he would change from his jersey to his lucky shirt.
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Andreas has a smile to like the place up.
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He has even more riding on this particular games though, as he is now pretty much Norway's only Gold Medal hope.
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Norway's 100 Meter Breaststroke World Champion, Alexander Dale, died while training two weeks ago.  He had a hereditary heart condition that people didn't know of until he died in Arizona, training for the Olympics.
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As Andreas and Alex were friends (both trained in the US, Dale in Arizona and Andreas in San Diego), Anderas was questioned about it a lot.  He has responded that at Alexander Dale died doing what he loved.
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In Beijing
And Andreas said he would continue to compete as long as it was fun and he could compete at the level he expects to.
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How he looks now.
Andreas seems to have a great attitude about sport and life.  I hope for the best for him.  He has made me enjoy watching the Javelin.  I just hope he brings his lucky shirt again.
Andreas in Italian Men's Vogue in 2011

Thursday, June 28, 2012

exactly


The Two Sides of Magic Mike

I admit, I am as amazed as anyone that Magic Mike might have more to it than a bunch of hot guys stripping.  But it is Soderbergh and so I guess I shouldn't be surprised there is more.
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The two sides are abled shown in these two articles out today - both in Salon.
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In the first article ("Magic Mike's Lessons")  it is all about the dancing, waxing vs. shaving , how to wear a thong and what women look for in a strip club as opposed to me.  (For the record, apparently - 1. Channing Tatum CAN dance, 2. Channing and Matthew McConaughey wax - Alex shaves (neither like doing either) 3. Thong wearing is inherently funny when guys do it and 4. Women want to ogle and go - unlike men who want to save and marry the strippers.)  It is your basic fluff piece with a chance to show the men shirtless.
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The second article is actually a review of the movie, which loves it ("Channing's Stripper Romance").  The reviewer loves the romantic story played out against Tampa post-housing crash.  The author sees Soderbergh looking at .. well, let me quote a bit.
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 In many ways the strongest element of “Magic Mike” is its offhand social portrait of the working-class strugglers and strivers and hard-partiers of the Gulf Coast, with its crappy, overbuilt real estate and its mortgaged-up visions of glitz and glamour. Not many American filmmakers would show that landscape honestly, and fewer still would grasp that in that environment a strip club is less like a tawdry escape fantasy than an exaggerated version of reality.
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All in all, it sounds great.  And, even if it sucks, it still has Matt Bomer in a thong.

It is a TAX only if you don't have Health insurance

I have no faith in the pro-Health Care people to get in front of this.  The Supreme Court has essentially said the Mandate is legal as a Tax.
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The first comment I heard from someone across from me in a cube (a smart young lady with a college degree) was "great, another tax".
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It isn't a new tax on people for Health Care!
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There is ONLY a tax penalty IF you don't have Health Insurance.  She (and most everyone else at my company) have Health Insurance through work.  So the pro-Health Care message has to be that there is no penalty for currently insured people (including Medicare, Medicad, etc.).  People are only taxed if they DON'T have Health Care.
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I see the spin coming a like a twister...

I make fun, but I am right there

I make fun of the need for IMMEDIATE INFORMATION...
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And yet, here I sit, on the  Scotusblog (Supreme Court Of The United States blog) to find the opinion the second it comes out.
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What a complex creation... man.

Pentathlon: Oscar Soto from Mexico

Oscar Soto qualified for the Modern Pentathlon by winning the Pan Am Games.  He is a Mexican Athlete and all around stud.
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After winning the Pan Am Games

And by all around stud, I mean not Stud - as in hot (although he is a looker), but Stud as in amazingly versatile.  This is what the Pentathlon is at the London Olympics
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Modern pentathlon contains five events; pistol shootingépée fencing, 200 m freestyle swimmingshow jumping, and a 3 km cross-country run.[3] These will be the first Olympic Games in which the running and shooting events are combined; athletes face three rounds of shooting each followed by a 1 km run. Each of the three rounds of firing, athletes have to shoot five targets, loading the gun after each shot; they may then resume running. Misses are not penalised, but exceeding a maximum total time of 70 seconds will result in a penalty.
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That is a lot of stuff to do.  And Oscar seems to pull it off easily.
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Pistol Shooting
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Jumping with the Horse
200 Meter Swim

Getty Glamour Shot of him getting ready to Fence.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

"fun." is Fun

Eddie and I went to a fund raiser for the Trevor Project this past Monday.   We lucked into great seats (about 20 feet from the stage) and saw Linda Lavin, Debra Messing, Eric McCormick, Bobby Cannival, Adam Rapp (who I met at our reading and we talked), Judy Gold, Stanley Tucci and Susan Sarandon.
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But a presenter I hadn't heard of was a group called "fun.".  Like I said, I hadn't heard of them, although since then I found out they have the first alternative song that went to number 1 in the United States (and UK) in over 4 years.  Probably due in large part  to the fact it was sung on Glee.
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Anyway, I purchased their album (actually I purchased and downloaded the songs - I don't know what you call that anymore).   And it is really a fun album.  I like it a lot.
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Ladies and Germs.. "fun."
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Singing "We Are Young" from their album "fun."
I never really here music anymore since I don't drive.  You know, and I am an old poop.
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ps. taken with no zoom from an iPhone.  Like I said, great seats.

See this is why the Republicans didn't kill Bin Laden

"If Obamacare is not deemed constitutional, then the first three and a half years of this president's term will have been wasted on something that has not helped the American people," Romney told a crowd of some 1,500 supporters here today. "If it is deemed to stand, then I'll tell you one thing. Then we'll have to have a president, and I'm that one, that's gonna get rid of Obamacare. We're gonna stop it on day one."
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Yes, I know Romney is an idiot, and any attempt to convince anyone that is on the Romney Bandwagon is teaching a pig to sing.. but really, first 3 1/2 years wasted?
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- Saved General Motors
- Saved Chrysler
- Killed Bin laden
- Pulled us out of Iraq
- Changed focus in Afghanistan to match the Military's directions
- Signed the Lilly Lebetter act
- Repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell

That's off the top of my pointy little head.  And all done while Republican's chief aim was (in their own words) deny this President a second term - screw the economy or Americans.

Why didn't we see this coming (Euro Crises Version)

In retrospect, it seems obvious that the Euro can't work.  13 or so different countries using the same currency, but not the same taxation rates, regulation or even retirement programs...  It seems destined to fail.  So why did everyone think it would work?
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Well, I think the mobility of labor was kind of assumed to be the biggest brake on possible problems.  The United States has a similar system in miniature.  Sure, the vast bulk of our government spending is at the Federal level, but each state also has an economy that uses a currency they have no control over.  And, each state has different taxation rates and some marginally different regulations.
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So why does it work in the US and not in "Europe"?  Well, the states are legally required to balance their budgets - which the national governments in Europe are not. But, more important, there are few barriers to labor movement int he United States.  As the current race into North Dakota or out of West Virginia shows, people can move to follow jobs - and the state economy has to rebalance to adjust to the changes.
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I think the expectation was the same in Europe, but some serious cultural barriers have cropped up.  First and foremost is probably language (and culture).  It is hard for a Greek person, using a different language AND a different alphabet to effectively produce at a job in Germany or the Netherlands.  I mean, a Greek secretary that doesn't know how to use a latin keyboard isn't particularly useful.
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I am also not sure the national regulations are close enough.  A Doctor or Dentist in Texas can practice in Vermont with very little extra effort (lawyers are different, but they make the laws - so they are ALWAYS different).  Even beyond the language problem, I am not sure a contractor from Portugal could legally build a office complex in Finland - even those they both pay in Euros.
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Finally, the US Legislature has national parties.  There is a European Parliament, but the people in individual countries don't really see or appreciate anything they do.  There isn't a buy in at the personal level to the nationality of "European".  As the recent European championships show, Germany and Greece  root for their national teams.  In the US, we have regional favorites (Green Bay Packers or Seattle Seahawks) but not state only champions for every state (even though we all hate Texas).
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So it seems like Germany keeps putting the paddles to the patient - but I am not sure the patient will ever make a full recovery - but he might be able to stay on life-support for a long time.  It might be time to prep the hospice.

Quiet at Night

One of the things I find I really miss about LA is a quiet night.  Here are three types of quiet nights I grew up with or got used to.

The night view above Hollywood.  When we used to walk the dogs at night in the hills, you saw all the lights, but it was eerily quiet in the Hills.  Now, compared to Montana - there was the constant hum of the freeway and the drone of the helicopters (gawd - I miss the helicopters), but compared to New York City, it was blissfully quiet.


The Queen's Necklace or the ocean looking down from PCH.  Even when I was 16 living in the outskirts of LA County or in the depths of the County of Orange, if I was having a bad night I would drive up Pacific Coast Highway and stop somewhere this side of Malibu proper and watch the lights.  You could sit on the rocks, just  below the road, here the ocean crash and watch.
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I used to do that on bad nights after the bar.  Nothing is as peaceful as sitting there at 4:30 AM, when you have zoned out so long the sun comes up.
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And, because it is the Pacific with the Alaska Current, it is always ALWAYS cool at the Ocean.


The night sky in the desert.  Almost no description needed.  Palm Springs was full of stars.  Sometimes I would sit in the Jacuzzi - without jets - and just watch the sky for hours.
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Don't get me wrong.  New York is very cool.  But there are times I miss home.

Olympian from New Zealand: Michael Arms Rowing 8s

Team rowing is an interesting event.  I think it is a little odd because the lead often changes on each stroke.
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Anyway - today's athlete is Michael Arms from New Zealand.  He is on the 8 man rowing team.  He has been working to get to the Olympics for a while, including moving up to the 8s.
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Good luck Michael.
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Michael at the qualifying competition
Michael in 2008, when he was a junior - he set his eyes on the 2012 Olympics and moved up to the 8s

The New Zealand 8s - Michael is 4th from the right

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Beautiful Sky Tonight

This is an unretouched picture, snapped through my window with the iPhone.
It was a beautiful sky last night.

Faeroe Island Picture of the Day

From National Geo...
Very Cool

Vasilij Žbogar: Solvenia's Sailor going for the Hat Trick

Vasilih Zbogar is a cutie.  He will compete for the Solvenia Sailing Team for the 3rd time.
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In 2004 in won a Bronze medal and in 2008 he won a Silver medal.
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In Beijing and LA (the 2 Summer Olympics I attended) I never got the chance to see Sailing.  I don't know where they were in Beijing, but I think they were up in Ojai at the 1984 games.
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He doesn't really look like a "Vasilij" does he?
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It is an awfully little boat, right.  I think he is competing in a larger one this time.


UCLA'a Year End Wrap Up

From our new Chancellor (who is no Chancellor Chuck, but he's OK in my book)...ps How LA is UCLA when the Academy Award winners are listed behind academics, but ahead of our 108th NCAA Championship....
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This is how I remember UCLA - relaxing at Royce, overlooking Powell.
I probably never did this, but it is how I remember it...


Dear Bruins and Bruin Families,

Our commencement exercises earlier this month marked the ceremonial end of a year filled with outstanding accomplishments by UCLA’s students, faculty and staff; and the conclusion of my fifth academic year as our UCLA’s chancellor. During that half-decade, which has coincided with one of the most challenging periods for public funding of higher education in our nation’s history, our campus has thrived. As we prepare to close the book on 2011-12, UCLA is stronger than ever. Today, our campus enjoys unprecedented respect and acclaim around the world.

Thanks to our planning of the past several years and an extraordinary collective effort that is not only campus-wide but also extends to parents, alumni and donors, UCLA is well positioned to continue our upward trajectory toward our centennial in 2019 and beyond—despite the state of California’s continued disinvestment in our great institution.
Recounting all of our campus’ important achievements of the past 12 months would be a near-impossible task, but these were some of the most noteworthy.

Academic and Research Excellence. UCLA’s reputation, nationally and internationally, continues to soar. Although third-party rankings are inherently imperfect measures of a university’s excellence, they do illustrate the regard in which an institution is held, and I am especially proud of our standing in three recent surveys. The Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities places UCLA No. 12 internationally. London’s Times Higher Education rankings places us at No. 13 in the world. Washington Monthly, which publishes rankings based on cutting-edge scholarship, commitment to service and access for low-income students, places UCLA No. 2 in the U.S.

With one week remaining in the fiscal year, UCLA faculty had received $950 million in competitively awarded grants and contracts, following two years in which our campus received more than $1 billion per year. This three-year performance would be an extraordinary achievement in any environment, but it is particularly so in this era of declining federal funding for research.

Monday, June 25, 2012

We can't tell you How Many Americans we are spying on, it would violate their privacy

File Under: WTF
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Western Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall asked the NSA how many Americans had their pone conversations picked up as part of the NSA's broad new anti terrorism powers.  NOT WHO, mind you, just a ballpark number
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After a good long think about it, the NSA Inspector General said (and I have to quote here becaue you wouldn't believe me otherwise.... NSA leadership agreed that an IG (IG = Inspector General) review of the sort suggested would itself violate the privacy of U.S. persons
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Welcome to the Monkey House.  We can't learn how many of us are having our privacy violated, because it would violate our privacy.  I would love to blame Bush, but this was passed by Congress and implemented by Bush 2 and Obama.  I can only remember Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich voting against it.

But the good news

Kenny's new album is nice.
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He puts me in a good mood.

North Carolina Outlaws Science

Sweet.
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If you aren't from the US, you might not have heard of North Carolina.  It is a very low lying coastal state on the East Coast.  They have a huge "barrier island"  system that has been hammered in recent years by Hurricanes.
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North Carolina is also home of "Research Triangle" a tripartite of cities with major research universities, Duke, Univ of North Carolina and North Carolina State.
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Well, the state commissioned a few studies on sea level rise.  The findings came back to plan for a 3 foot (1 meter) rise by 2100.  It included information related to Global Climate Change, and increased Sea Level rises recently.  Well, that pissed off the newly Republican House of Representatives.  So they introduced laws that said you couldn't base any projects on Science, only on historical changes.
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But recent history supports accelerated Seal level rises according to climate change.  So the legislature has outlawed projections over 15 ins (.35 Meters), unless the coastal counties agree.  Because, you see, a rise estimated over 15 inches would be detrimental to the development of the coastal counties.
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And yes, all American's tax dollars pay to rebuild those damn islands after every Hurricane.
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Link to Charlotte North Carolina article.
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This is also the state that decided laws against Same Sex Marriage weren't enough, so they changed their constitution to outlaw what was already outlawed.  This is also where the Democratic Party will hold their convention.

Politics and the Supreme Court

See, I don't want to say the Supreme Court is overly political.  Mainly because I don't want to believe it.  I mean, I want them to try to hide their political affiliation.  But in his dissent from the Arizona Immigration decision, Justice Scalia read from the bench - and he complained about President Obama's decision to grant work permits to children that were brought to the USA by their parents, have lived here more than 5 years, never got in trouble, and graduated high school, college or were in the military.
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This decision on Arizona Immigration doesn't have anything to do with this, per say.  He just decided that he has the world's attention as they wait for him to screw up ObamaCare - and so he will take this opportunity to bash the President.
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And no, it doesn't happen all the time.  And no, they didn't do it to Bush 1, 2 or Reagan.  And yes, it does denigrate the Supreme Court which we expect to arbitrate fairly.  Does anyone think that Justice Scalia will have an open mind when this comes before him?  Or that he doesn't have President Obama?

One For The Home Team: Chris Hoy

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Chris Hoy is a cyclist.  Not just a cyclist, but an amazing cyclist.  I suppose if you watch cycling, you have heard of him.  But I never have (either watched my cycling or heard of him).
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In 2008 he won three gold medals (the first Briton to to this in 1908).  He won in Men's Keiren, Team Spring and Men's Individual Sprint.


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He is a Scot that seems like a nice guy.  But I think his thighs are a little scary :-).
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He is now Sir Chris Hoy, having been made a Knight Bachelor by the Queen.  He leads the British Cycle Team in London 2012. And the new Veledrome in Scotland (being built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games) is being named after him.
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He will be popular with Lisa for the thighs and Eddie for the dimples.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Trevor's Favorite Thing To Do...



This is Trevor's favorite thing to do.  He loves to sit and watch the ships on the river.  That is what he is doing here.  
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The new couch, which goes right up to the window, is like the catbird seat for him.