Kristin and David's Beijing Olympics Blog

Kim Kreiner Team USA Javelin

2008-08-28T23:00:00.001-07:00

Ok one more athlete I wanted to update our blog on.

It's Kim Kreiner, the Team USA Javelin member we took a picture of signing an autograph on the plane ride out -for those thrilled kids who (like us) had no idea who she was.

Kim Kreiner of Fresno, American record holder in women's javelin, competed for the U.S. at the Olympic Games in Beijing. This is her latest blog, after her competition on Tuesday 8/12---see if link below works.

And looks like she competed in the qualifying round on Tuesday and didn't make it. The results I found show she was 19th out of 26 in her group B and the top 12 qualify to move on. Too bad for her.

http://www.fresnobeehive.com/sportsbuzz/2008/08/kim_kreiner_from_beijing_aug_2.html

http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Kreiner_Kim.asp

On a side note: It's crazy how difficult it is to track down and find results for athletes you aren interested in.

Team Russia and the Bosco Club

2008-08-22T16:52:00.001-07:00

We saw several of these cars in one area of Beijing and wondered what they were.

Turns out ....
I found this description on the web.....

Team Russia has officially taken over Qianhai's norther edge, transforming the Xiao Wangfu restaurant into a flashy entertainment club. Sadly, only accredited Russian athletes and VIPS will be allowed inside to enjoy the scheduled Russian feasts and performances (and I would NOT recommend challenging the guards they have stationed at the door). The restaurant's unique glass room will also be the headquarters of Russian TV's Channel 1 nightly Olympic broadcast.

this had a cool photo

http://visualrian.com/images/item/328821

crazy fun

Reflections on our Olympic experience

2008-08-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

Just felt the need to write a few thoughts about my overall experience at my first Olympic Games.

In short, it was so amazing every step of the way. I have a whole new perspective on both a spectators view, a little view into the athletes Games and some insight into the infrastructure of running the Games.

The venues were all fabulous. Except, of course, for the food, bathrooms, and logistics to get between venues. The seats were good, helpers were always nearby. Being able to see an entire venue was fascinating to me, to see where the athletes entered, exited, practiced. Where the judges walked in, how the athletes equipment was picked up, all the details. I just wish I could have had some back stage passes or tours of the logistics behind the spectators eyes. I was dying to see the practice pool at the Cube.

A few examples of the unique perspective we saw as spectators at the events (and I have to admit, I haven't been to any high level competitions for any sports ever really so some of this was just probably newbie stuff):

At gymnastics, I was fascinated by the parade of athletes, the music and the crowds enthusiasm as the athletes move from each routine area. The place rocked. I now see that on TV they don't show this -a shame.

At the Cube, I was in awe, when we walked in and athletes were practicing and coaches were walking around. Then during the events, the logistics and formality that goes into the entrance of the swimmer, to their belongings being picked up in a box by the volunteer teams -they did this as though it were a military exercises all in sync.

As the host country, the Chinese always turnout in force at each venue. They filled the seats high up where we often were. Their home pride so enthusiastic, waving Chinese flags, decorated in clothes and face tattoos and doing stadium wide cheers -not sure what they said thought : ) They not only cheered for their team but for others too.

As I said, I was fascinated by the "running" of the Games. The infrastructure was amazing. On one of our long walks between venues we saw a huge area that was full of trailers, clearly a mini town where all the volunteers and hired BOCOG people lived, rested, ate. And on one fence there had been some laundry done and the "official" Beijing shirts were hung to dry on the fence -ok an only in China thing don't' you think? I think I took a photo, I'll look for but this. I have to say had it been the blue shirt that all volunteers wear I might have tried to steal it -I really wanted one of those -but trading for those won't come to the Games are over.

Speaking of trading... My first time Olympic spectator trip wouldn't have been complete without getting into the Olympic pin trading. I did wear some pins on my hat and once at McDonald's one of the girls working their asked to trade my Atlanta pin for her Beijing McD's pin, I declined- she was bummed. Going forward I got more prepared and gathered my give away pins and set out to get that Beijing McD's pin- after all McD's now represented the staple of my meals at the Games it had to be commemorated with a pin. A day later, I sat next to a nice volunteer on the subway and she had one. I was thrilled she wanted to trade and gave her three pins for hers. My real pin trading happened by accident. In yet another trek to a venue, we ended up walking right next to the IBC, opening a gate with a BOCOG reporter who was trying to help us get out of the Green and onto the surface streets in the direction we wanted. Anyway we entered a restricted area but kept going. As we exited right next to the IBC where there were a dozen pin traders -the serious ones. I had one pin left to trade: Sports Traveler (ticket broker we used) and I really wanted and IBC pin. I got it!

So, all and all, from a spectators view the Games were great. A tad hot, muggy, sticky with lots of walking. We really spent each day just getting to one venue, then walking to the next then going home happily exhausted.

From an organizational standpoint, I can't get over the size of the Green and the lack of food and souvenir stores. It was really frustrating to only have McD's really. I think there were great opportunities missed by food sponsors. And we were stunned that the store we found inside the Green was not on any map, printed or posted on the Green. Also frustrating was there you can't get there from here problem -from venue to venue the most direct way was never possible either by walking, subway or bus.

As for the Athletes, I can only summarize based on what we heard and read in the media while there and by what I saw at the venues and of the Olympic Village. I think BOCOG did a great job of providing the best venues for the athletes sports, and by providing lots of practice areas (both on site and off) and that the Olympic Village they created and secured was absolutely amazing -I really was dying to get in there somehow! The organizers also made sure athlete's and VIPs had an Olympic only lane on the main roads -just wished ticket holders could have used it :) As for the quality of air and the outside temperature.... well not sure it was ideal. But since we saw tennis at night -after it had rained and saw field hockey at night after a rain, I think it was good for the athletes (oh except for the bugs -the William's sisters did not like the bugs on their court :) -Did you know there are practically no birds in Beijing!? -No birds to eat the bugs. Also never saw a single squirrel or rats seen either anywhere -the streets are clean.

Not surprising, I think my favorite was the Opening Ceremonies. It was such a grand production and so moving to see the athletes come in and the Olympic Flag raised and the torch lit. But I also feel fortunate to have seen Team USA win the Gold in the Men's relay and to have seen so many athletes take their game to the highest level. Having been a competitive athlete I just got chills from being their in person watching each athlete give it their all.

Thanks for reading my thoughts. Kristin

Team USA Dawn Harper win's in women's 100-meter hurdles

2008-08-19T20:58:00.001-07:00

Harper strikes gold in hurdles

BEIJING (TICKER) —While there was a surprise winner for the United States in the women's 100-meter hurdles...

Dawn Harper completed a remarkable showing at the Beijing Olympics with a win in the 100 hurdles on Tuesday night.

...Harper came through with an unexpected win...

"The amount of work that goes on is amazing," Harper said. "But the person still has to win the race on the day - and today was my day."

The third-place finisher at the USA Olympic trials, Harper, 24, took advantage of a bad break by fellow American Lolo Jones and the absence of top contender Susanna Kallur of Sweden to win in a personal-best time of 12.54 seconds.

Anne hit the road running when she arrived Mon. Aug. 11th

2008-08-17T21:44:00.001-07:00

Just for fun I thought I'd post an email that Anne sent me after she arrived last Tuesday.... can't believe what she packed into the day -and I'm sure her days since then have been filled too. Needless to say we were two ships passing ... and didn't see each other.

from Anne....
Just arrived at 3pm today.. went to hotel, then to USA House, then to World Olympians Reunion Center, did TV interview, then back to USA House for Chicago 2016 press event.

Anne Warner Cribbs
President & CEO
2009 Senior Games LOC

Greg Massialas' fencer

2008-08-17T21:39:00.001-07:00

Oops, sorry, I made an error when I tried to post this last week..

Just an update on Greg Massialas' fencer

Gerek Meinhardt wasn't exactly dejected after his Olympics came to an end Tuesday night. In the past week, San Francisco's fencing prodigy has marched in Opening Ceremonies, gotten his picture taken with his favorite NBA stars and even made fencing history.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/14/SPIF12A993.DTL&hw=olympic+fencing&sn=001&sc=1000

Field Hockey - a few photos

2008-08-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

We captured a few photos at our Field Hockey match between New Zealand vs Korea. We sat in front of a raucous group of Kiwi's - the Chinese took more pictures of the group than they took of the actual match. Field Hockey was fun to watch - fast pace, a mix between soccer and lacrosse. The low scoring nature was a bit trying on David's need for scoring but we got into by the end of the match.

We definitely spent most of the match trying to figure out the specific rules with our fellow Americans - clearly the U.S. fans were more clueless than others...

A few more photos here.

Catching up on photos

2008-08-14T11:50:00.001-07:00

We're slowly catching up on photos from the various events we attended.

Tennis
Click here to see a gallery of our night at the Tennis stadium. Jelena Jankovic (#1 women's player) easily won. Williams' sisters struggled in the first set and then one easily in the second. Federer cruised. We finished the night watching James Blake start his match. It was about 11PM and we headed home midway through the first set.

Some upsets in Tennis today. Both Venus and Serena are out of the Singles tournament, still alive in doubles. Blake beat Federer for the first time in his careeer - exciting to see him move on.

Swimming
These go back several days - during our day at the "Cube" stadium where we saw the Men's relay team pull it out in the now infamous finish.

Click here for the album.

Headed home

2008-08-12T19:50:00.001-07:00

Our incredible adventure is coming to an end. We're at the airport and
plan to do some photo and blog catch up a bit on the plane and over
the next few days.

We'll post again soon with photos and more reflections on our
experiences.

All is good

2008-08-12T04:12:00.000-07:00

After warm up Venus was brought a white skirt and now all is good.
Game on. :-)

Venus and Serena

2008-08-12T04:08:00.000-07:00

We're back with the William sisters again - it's really like we are
basically very close friends now.

You'll read about this tomorrow -- there was an outfit controversy
with one of the sisters' outfits. We think it had to do with the non
matching outfits (one blue one white) or that Venus has here own
design on, vs the official USA outfit.

We chose to leave center court (Hewitt vs Nadal!) to visit the
sisters' on court 2. We are literally about 30 feet from them. Most
likely, they will invite us to dinner after the match...

It's on to tennis

2008-08-12T02:01:00.000-07:00

We have an incredible evening ahead of us (and of course we fueled up
on the only full meal option on the green - golden arches)!!

First match: women's singles Jelena Jankovic vs Bondarenko

Second: Hewitt vs Nadal!!!

Third: Federer vs someone (can't remember their name)!!!

Fourth: women's doubles with Chinese team

Oh, an out on court 2 Venus and Serena are playing doubles in an hour
or so.

The complex is quite nice, clearly built for the Olympics.

China wins Men's gymnastics

2008-08-11T22:12:00.000-07:00

Quite a scene to see the host country win a gold, the place erupted.

The US pulled off the Bronze, a significant acheivement given they
lost both Hamm brothers. They had Silver going into the 6th rotation
but had difficulty on the pommel (sp) horse. They were VERY excited to get the Bronze.

Some info about Gerek Meinhardt, the fencer in Greg's posts

2008-08-11T18:28:00.001-07:00

Gerek Meinhardt is the youngest USA male athlete competing in Beijing, youngest Olympic fencer ever, youngest Men's Foil competitor by over 4 years. He competes on August 13th, Men's Foil individual.

Some great posts from Kristin's friend Greg Massialas

2008-08-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

We've linked to some fascinating blog entries from Greg Massialas, a Fencing Olympian. They provide an incredible coach and athlete perspective.

Click here to the visit the posts.

Lines, what lines?

2008-08-11T02:40:00.000-07:00

We've become quite aggressive when it comes to standing in line. It's
clear in the Chinese (or just Beijing?) culture that cutting in line
is an art form or sport. During our first fewbdays we watched in
astonishment as person after person, no matter age, simply cuts in
line whenever possible. If challenged though, they retreat. So, we
have a new pastime as we queue in line (especially me, David) - do
whatever necessary to prevent anyone from taking your place in line.
It makes for good amusement as we wait for entry to events, food
lines, or the all time favorite, boarding the metro. The aggressive
side in me is coming out in spades! I kinda enjoy it.

About ready to watch Field Hockey, quite a crowd here to watch it.
We're excited to learn about the sport.

An Apple Store knockoff

2008-08-11T00:19:00.000-07:00

"DG LIFESTYLE STORE"

I like the name!

An official merchandise store

2008-08-10T23:05:00.000-07:00

A complete mob scene.

You must watch the men's relay final!

2008-08-10T20:34:00.001-07:00

We'll leave it at that.

Men's freestyle relay

2008-08-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

We're about to start the finals of the relay, Phelps going for second
gold. Bush and Romney are here.

More volunteers!

2008-08-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

Volunteers!

2008-08-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

Blue shirts.

The Peking Duck report

2008-08-10T16:10:00.001-07:00

The Peking Duck was absolutely incredible, nothing we've had in the
States comes close. The restaurant was quite fancy with a bar
downstairs next to the brick ovens. Upstairs (about 20K sq feet
literally) there are a series of hallways that lead to large dining
areas with grand tables. In addition to the duck we had tuna wrapped
in avocado, a grilled eggplant tower, and soy beans in a delicious
sauce.

They carve the duck at your table and the presentation is so pristine
(see photos in link below). While a table next to us ordered a half
duck (we didn't quick realize you could do this) for three people we
did polish off the entire meal on our own.

The entire meal was $72, including wine and a fancy ice tea raspberry.

We have some photos on our camera but haven't had time to download
yet. In the meantime, the Flickr community has some great shots that
are worth looking at - all very similar to what we experienced.

http://flickr.com/search/?q=beijing+dadong+roast+duck+restaurant&page=2

We just ordered a whole duck

2008-08-10T06:01:00.000-07:00

Whoops, didn't realize we ordered an entire duck, cut at our table.

Beijing DaDong Roast Duck Restaurant

2008-08-10T05:10:00.000-07:00

We are in line to eat at, by most accounts, one of the best places to
eat Peking Duck. Will report after indulging.

Volunteers

2008-08-10T01:48:00.001-07:00

We haven't had a chance to write about the volunteers throughout
Beijing for the Games. We'll use our intermission at the basketball
games to give you some observations.

There are literally thousands of volunteers at every venue and around
the streets of Beijing. We've heard the number 100,000 and it feels
entirely possible. The volunteers are extremely pleasant and very much
try to help. Even when they can't help due to language or lack of
training (there have been some examples where they clearly don't "get"
what to do from a customer service standpoint) they literally will
follow you to reiterate their thanks and/or apologies.

There are definelty those moments where you are waiting a security
line and look over and see groups of 10 volunteers in other lines that
are not accepting guests... and want to have a "here's a suggestion
for improving customer experience" conversation.

We also get the sense that,given the sheer population of the city and
perhaps the desire to employee as many as possible by the government,
the rule of thumb is to over staff in all situations. Examples:
volunteers for the Games, staff in the hotels, 3 staff members walking
around the hotel pool while you swim, personnel in the metro, and on
and on.

USA House

2008-08-10T01:30:00.000-07:00

On the way to another two games of basketball (we're between games
right now) we visted the USA House, a hospitality setup provided by
the USOC - a huge thank you to Anne Cribbs for setting us up with
passes.

The House is a great set up next to the football (soccer) stadium,
with great food, screens all over and free wifi. We have to admit it
was fantastic to eat salad and chicken pot pie. We now stuff ourselves
before any event given the food at all the venues - we owe you all a
picture of the universal menu as it's hilarious.

We just finished one bball game - Greece vs Spain. The fan support for
both teams was incredible. Imagine Greeks and Spainards trying to out
shout each other, loved it. Somehow a group of Greeks were able to
smuggle in a huge drum (two of us can't even get suntain lotion in)
which they pounded throughout the game shouting. At one point they
managed to get the whole arena shouted along. Oh, we have no idea what
we were shouting.

For the basketball fans, Kobe showed up for a while to watch hi
teammate, Pau Gasol lead his team to victory over Greece. We also
learned Pau has a brother Marc who also plays for Spain.

Next up is Argentina (Manu Ginobli of the Spurs) vs Lithuania.

We don't have tickets to the night games including China vs USA. If we
don't score any outside and/or get arrested trying we will head back
to USA House to watch the game.

The shear size of Beijing

2008-08-09T18:49:00.001-07:00

We are continually fascinated by the massive size of the city. Assuming Wikipedia is correct, Beijing is 6,487 square miles and NYC (all 5 boroughs) is 468 sq miles. It's incredible how much area theMetro covers - as we blogged about yesterday transit between venues can take hours and require walking, bus, and metro. Language issues aside, you can generally get from venue to venue as long as you leave plenty of time to navigate (for example, it's sometimes a complete mystery where an Olympic bus stop is actually located outside a metro).

Catching up on photo albums

2008-08-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

Forbidden City (visited the afternoon before Opening Ceremonies)
This was during our visit to the Forbidden City. As we blogged about before we never made it into the City as they quite abruptly closed the City and escorted thousands away with guards and bullhorns. It was quite surreal as it was wall to wall people and happened to be across the street from Tian'anmen Square.
http://gallery.me.com/dglickman1#100093

Wangfunjing Eats Market
An incredible outdoor food market with hundreds of food and gift stalls. Hungry for any insects?
http://gallery.me.com/dglickman1#100109

Opening Ceremonies

Hopefully these will give you a bit of perspective from inside the stadium

http://gallery.me.com/dglickman1#100088

Note: Check back if some of these albums don't have all the photos - intermittent net access at the moment.

Venue do's, don'ts and overall impressions

2008-08-09T04:51:00.001-07:00

It's amazing to be here but we just have to share some areas forimprovement.

It's 7 pm and we are at badminton where the stadium is a great design. Three matches go on at the same time, amazing to keep track of it all at once.

Venues can be very far apart. We came from basketball using the subway and then a bus - about an hour and a half total transit time.

Food is the same at all venues; photo to come. But David just got a package of bread for dinner. The vendor said all the concessions were out of all the other choices. We highly reccomend you eat before you attend. You can not bring in any food or drink - not even my gum :)

This brings us to security. Thank goodness at basketball they offered lockers for our food and items like hand cleaner, lipstick, sun block etc. Lesson, don't bring a anything like that.

So hope this helps others who are on their way here for the second week. We will now be ready for tommorow, for an even smoother day. Now if the could just make the humidity less :)

On to Badminton

2008-08-09T03:43:00.000-07:00

We've already had an injury timeout!

Hard to tell from the picture but there are multiple matches at the
same time, with the announcers talking over each other.

We have a US athlete in the next match - goin' for gold!

Our first event and a few lessons of life in Beijing.

2008-08-09T00:31:00.000-07:00

We scored some tickets women's basketball, China vs Spain. China is up
37 to 24. Tonight we have Badminton which should be incredible.

The trip to the basketball game was about two hours, all within the
city limits of Beijing. After taking the Metro (impecibly clean, air
conditioned, and probably the best way to travel) to get the tickets
at another hotel* we tried a taxi to the basketball venue as our time
was short. Lesson learned, usually best to use metro IF there is a
decent route. On the west side of Beijing the metro does not connect
north to south so we experimenting with bus vs taxi. The overall
lesson: the city is huge with traffic that rivals (exceeds) LA and
Manhattan and requires plenty of lead times.

Food: biggest challenge is the food in venues, it's, well, horrible.
Literally the choices are a muffin, weird small hot dog, and bread.
And popcorn. We're learning that all the venues might have the same
options. No food allowed in.

Security: really interesting to experience how varied the security is.
Frankly, at opening ceremonies we brought in food and water without
hassle. Then, today at the basketball venue we had to check everything
(lotion, gum, food, empty Camelbak, medicines). The Camelbak is
unexplainable to every checkin volunteer. We had to go through
security three times, finally I just started telling which things were
prohibitted. Unfortunately there was no pre-warning about lotion,
mede, etc. One theory we have is that security will be tightest here
at baskbetball venue due to NBA players.

Countdown to the start of the Opening Ceremonies

2008-08-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

A great picture of the scene before the start...

We're catching up a bit on uploading pictures and movies from the
Opening Ceremonies. I had to downgrade the quality of the movies so we
might only get a few posted. This one gives you the perspective of the
opening countdown from inside the stadium. Will also try to upload a
video of the closing flame lighting (absolutely incredible to watch as
I'm sure you have all seen now).

http://gallery.mac.com/dglickman1#100088/OlympicsCountdown-
desktop&bgcolor=black

The Games are open!

2008-08-08T09:12:00.000-07:00

An incredible evening, be sure to watch tonight!

Now Jackie Chan is singing as we all leave, we kid you not.

20 minutes and counting

2008-08-08T04:39:00.000-07:00

The stadium is coming to life, we've all be trained on our roles
throughout the evening (flags, noise makers, and a surprise dove
moment)...

We are sitting next to Scott Hamilton, Olympic skater

2008-08-08T02:56:00.000-07:00

Literally, Kristin is talking with his wife Tracie. Too funny and a
bit surreal.

2:20 before the Opening Ceremonies

2008-08-08T02:41:00.000-07:00

A great perspective of the stage before the festivities start.

We're into the Olympic Park area

2008-08-08T01:44:00.000-07:00

Entered through intense security, 3:30 hours early!

The Bird's Nest National Stadium is on the left and the tower on the
right we believe will hold the Olympic flame.

The entire Olympic Green area is three times the size of Central Park.

Mao

2008-08-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

Have you ever walked for hours with tens of thousands of your closest friends?

2008-08-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

Fascinating and CROWDED experience in progress. We happen to visit the
Forbidden City on a national holiday. Suddenly while in front of Mao's
picture the miltary started escorting everyone away from the area. We
are still walking with everyone an hour later.

They have closed all of Tian'an Men Square, rumor is for security or
fear of protests.

Randomness...

2008-08-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

Want a "foot message"?

Reminds us of "Mind the Gap" from the London Underground. This was in the 5 story "Pearl Market" shopping mall. Fake iPods, Gucci bags, Tumi luggage... endless knockoff of international brands.

The Great Wall photo gallery

2008-08-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

We're uploaded a gallery of photos of our trip to The Great Wall. We we fortunate to get there earlier enough to avoid too many crowds. We visited the Mutianyu region of the Wall. There is a cable car that takes you to the top or you can climb about 30 minutes up a series of stairs. We opted for the climb - and loved our DriFit clothes every step of the way.

Click the photo below for the full gallery.

Reflecting on the last two days

2008-08-07T14:42:00.000-07:00

SFO-Beijing
The flight over was exhilarating as the plane full of athletes from Team USA. We sat among members of the Men's Baseball Team, and Men's and Women's Wrestling. The Tennis Team was on board as well - though, not surprisingly, they were in 1st class. Kristin briefly met and chatted with Dawn Harper who will run hurdles next week. We sat next to Arizona State University Swim Coach Mike Chasson who has three athletes in the Games, representing Mexico, Kuwait, and Croatia. He had some great conversations about the inner workings of the Games and how the funding of athletes and coaches plays out.

The highlight of the trip was the walk from the plane to Customs as we found ourselves literally walking along with Venus and Serena Williams, James Blake and Lindsey Davenport—and several other tennis team members. It gave us a good glimpse of the constant limelight under which the Williams' sister live 24/7. All the other athletes, including Davenport and Blake, were left alone.

Beijing Airport
Incredibly well planned, modern, and immaculately clean. We've never seen such a pristine parking garage in our lives. The Customs experience, baggage, and getting to our car was smooth and painless, even with thousands of people arriving simultaneously.

The city of Beijing
We've had the chance to see the city a bit by foot and hours by bus (on our way to and from the Great Wall - the traffic lives up to its reputation!). It is evident all over the tremendous growth that has occurred in the past 6-7 years, much of it gearing up to the Games. As you drive along each street you'll see building after building housing businesses and, if you look carefully between the small alleyways, directly behind all this growth are the homes and smaller buildings (apartments?) where many people still live. Our impression is the government literally expanded the city in front of (or on top of) the existing residential infrastructure.

More later, it's 5AM, need to try and go back to sleep for a bit.

Greetings from the Great Wall

2008-08-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

This also gives you a sense of the permanent "haze" throughout the
region.

Venus, Lindsey, and Serena

2008-08-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

A fascinating flight over with about 50 athletes including the tennis team. We'll write more about the experience later.

A day behind on publishing

2008-08-06T15:39:00.000-07:00

An interesting discovery about Internet access...
We have broadband in our room, our iPhones work flawlessy, and we surf to almost anywhere. However, we're not able to login to blogger.com (our blogging service) directly.

So we are a bit delayed in updates right now (for the techies... I'm using VPN back to my office and then logging into a PC emulator to get access to the blog)

Ineresting, we can blog directly from our iPhones via email posting.

More later...

The kids are getting autographs

2008-08-05T11:11:00.001-07:00

A young fan gets an autograph from Kim Kreiner, Javalin competitor. And a rumor that Venus Williams is on our flight. We'll try to confirm that one.

We're on the way!

2008-08-05T10:16:00.001-07:00

Here's a guy at SFO doing a little guerilla marketing for himself.

We'll start blogging on 8/6

2008-07-31T21:21:00.001-07:00

We're heading off to Beijing on 8/5 so expect our first posts on the 6th!