A Few Things

A few things:

-I’m hearing a lot of talk lately about certain nations possibly boycotting the Beijing Olympics this summer. This is, of course, because of the recent violent protests in Tibet that have resulted in about 140 protesters (so far) losing their lives. I have mixed feelings about this call to boycott. While I find the Chinese government’s treatment of the whole Tibetan situation to be deplorable and certainly censurable and worthy of protest, I still feel for the athletes that would be affected by a boycott.

Of course, no nation has had the gallantry to pull out of the games altogether as of yet but it may indeed happen. French president (and noted drunk public speaker) Nicolas Sarkozy has said that he still hasn’t ruled out boycotting the opening ceremonies of the games, which is kind of an empty gesture if you ask me, but at least it allows the athletes to compete while still making a statement. Surely, economic sanctions would make a much bigger statement but that isn’t likely to happen.

My concern for the athletes is that some of these people have trained their entire lives for the Olympics and sometimes the window of opportunity to acchieve the gold is so small that a four year delay is not viable for them. It would be a shame for all their dedication to go to waste.

You’d think that China’s laundry list of human rights violations would have factored in the International Olympic Committee’s decision to allow Beijing to host the games, but I guess it was overlooked for obvious economic reasons, as usual.

The Olympics have a long history of exposing political undercurrents, from Jesse Owens defying Hitler’s propaganda of Aryan racial superiority by winning four golds in the 1936 Berlin games to the USA’s boycott of the 1980 games in Moscow because of (ironically enough) the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. These games seem poised to be no different.


-Meanwhile, in Luca news: I’ve been running myself to the point of certain incapacitation as of late. I’ve really stepped up the abuse on my body in a last desperate attempt to get fit. But as painful as it has been, I gotta say that it seems to be working. I’ve lost a bit of the beer belly and I’m actually (gasp!) developing some muscle mass.

I’ve been running about 25-30 miles a week for the last three weeks and have also been lifting weights with much more tenacity. Needless to say, I make it through the day with the help of Excedrin (and if cortisone shots were an option, I would certainly be sticking myself with needles as well). I don’t know how well my knees will hold up in the long run, but I hope to keep rolling.

-1/3 of the cast of Saved By The Bell currently hosts dance competition shows on television. Elizabeth "Jesse Spano" Berkley is hosting the insanely titled Step It Up And Dance on Bravo and Mario "A.C. Slater" Lopez hosts MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew. I have nothing to add to this, except that I’m pretty sure that this is a sign of the apocalypse.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Of course, with moves like these, we should have seen it coming:

Sexy.