I've always loved the Olympics, because it's always fun being able to watch your country kick the snot out of another one without having to pick up a gun.

The Men's 4×100 Freestyle Relay (swimming) had belonged to the United States for considerably longer than I have been alive until the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.  We also lost in 2004.  Coming into these games, the French team was favored, and their athletes didn't take that position lightly, saying they were going to "smash" (their words, not mine) the U.S. team.

In the words of Bob Costas, "au contraire, mon amie."

The captain of the French team would have had plenty of reason to celebrate — he was part of the team that held the previous record, and their 2008 Olympic team broke it Monday morning in Beijing by nearly four seconds.  Unfortunately for him and his teammates, history doesn't care about second place when it comes to records.  What will be remembered from these games, much to the chagrin of our arrogant "allies" across the pond, is the fact that the United States came from behind in the final 25 meters of the event to take the gold in 3:08.24, just .08 ahead of the French.

All that got "smashed" was a record previously held by the Parisian team.

As a former swimmer (one season, but it counts, dadgummit) and a participant in several of these relays, I can attest to how difficult the event is.  The problem isn't normally the swim itself, but rather your dive for your leg of the relay.  Races can be won and lost by how well someone comes off the blocks (in my case, I didn't "dive" so much as I "smacked").  Monday, though, it was pure guts, as Jason Lezak came from half a body length behind at the final turn to win by about a knuckle, and turned in a leg of just 46.06 seconds — nearly .6 faster than the next best in the entire race, and a swim that ranks as one of the best single legs in 4×100 relay history.  This single event could be the national rallying point to unite two sides of a horribly policially-divided nation, even if just for two weeks.

And, since Bob Costas can turn a French quote around and smash it in their faces like a cream pie, I am going to do the same: Hey, you Frenchies — your mothers were hamsters, and your fathers smelt of elderberries!

InvertedMind is looking to get a new car.  As much as a love (read: lovelovelovelovelove) my Mazda6's Zoom-Zoom,that second Zoom costs too much money in the gasoline department.  So I'm getting myself a new vehicle.  I'm quite fond of the styling of the 2008 Focus (although I'd love to have the luxury of waiting for the 2011 model when they finally — finally — bring the European version across the pond), so I'll be picking one of those up as soon as the right incentives come along.

That being said, my heart just skipped a beat when I saw the pre-release shots of the 2010 Mazda3.  We're talking BMW-quality styling at fully-loaded Focus prices.  I just wish these were about $3,000 cheaper, and also here now.  I give you exhibit A:

P.S. - About the Focus for a minute, in case anyone is looking at buying a smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicle: about $13,500 gets you a base model (manual windows, single CD in-dash with an auxiliary input jack, nothing fancy).  That's with no incentives.  Do your homework and wait for the right time, and you could be as lucky as the one guy who got $3,500 off between dealer and factory incentives.  Why is it worth it?  Does advertised 25 city/35 highway miles per gallon speak to you?  How about the actual achieved mileage results people have managed: most people seem to be getting between 38 and 43 miles per gallon.  For me, that makes it seem like I'm paying $2.50 per gallon again.  Sounds like a good deal to me.

There are few things in this world that I know of that are more adorable than what I just witnessed: a two-year-old talking in her sleep.

Ahh, the little pleasures in life.

EDIT: It's May 15th, as noted in the comments.

They're at it again.

Last year, it was on the first day of spring.  A little early in the year if you ask me, especially if you live in the north (as I did until last June), and it seems they realized that.  What am I talking about?  Why, it's Dunkin Donuts' Free Iced Coffee day, of course!

Just stop in to your local DD from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. for a free 16-ounce iced pick-me-up.  Dunkin's coffee on ice…it's like a slice of Heaven served cold.

This is pathetic, I know.  But, since most of my faithful readers are either family or friends, I thought I'd take a moment to remind you all in an incredibly-not-subtle manner that I write elsewhere: check out my fairly regular ramblings, along with fellow Raleigh resident Jim Pete, at The Steel Tradition (a Steelers blog) on the Most Valuable Network.  And, no, I'm not getting paid for this advertisement.

Apparently, all that time on beautiful beaches has fried their brains.

A Bahamian jury determined that Anna Nicole Smith's son died as a result of an accidental drug overdoes.   The kick in the crotch here is that a jury was responsible for determining "fact" regardless of what was actually documented by a coroner.  Clearly, what is fact and what is fiction now requires the deliberation of our peers, rather than hard scientific evidence.  Pretty soon, a medical examiner's decision that a person is dead will be overturned by a jury — even with the person six feet under.  "Nope, Bob is still alive, by a vote of 11 to one."  Mark my words.

Her Cuteness has never been what I would call a "normal" child.  She is, after all, offspring of InvertedMind.  And she's my first-born, too, so she probably came from the most potent of my…uh…you know.  She inherited my sense of humor, too, and that can only be described as frightening.

The one thing I thought was normal about her — until today, that is — was her preference for food.  She always seemed to like the usual suspects.  She's a pizza fanatic, and she loves sweet stuff.  I did think it strange that she just completely stopped eating chicken fingers, though.  And my concerns became quite well founded today, when — 24 hours after shunning said chicken fingers — she ate three helpings of fresh pasta primavera.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically pasta and sauteed vegetables.  The girl was thrilled to eat broccoli.  Yes, she's my child, and I loved it growing up.  But I was totally unprepared for the possibility that God would make such an exact copy of me.  I mean, really, is the world ready for two of us?

I have a Nintendo Wii.  I bought it in October on a whim, and it was one of the best purchases I've ever made.  Not long ago (as in, the beginning of the month), my sister was visiting me for a week during her spring break.  One night we got really bored, so we started creating some random Miis for no real reason.  One of the critters I created was a bald-ain't-beautiful Britney Spears.

I point this out for a reason.  Someone else has now come up with a much, much more creative use for a bald Britney.  And, because this has simply rendered me speechless, I give you exhibit A:

I just saw a commercial for Lunesta, and now I have a question: how can "drowsiness" be a possible side-effect of a sleep aid?!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!  I hope everyone has a great day, and I hope we can all look past the presents and the decorations and the commercialism for a little while today to remember what this day is truly about.  And if you need reminded about the true meaning of Christmas, read Luke chapter 2.

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."