Posts from August, 2008(2)
The quick brown fox jumped over the good, but lazy Parker family.
fortunately, no one scheduled any meetings for me this Friday, so i was able to take the day and bike down to Haines Point and back. no where near as far as my last trip, but the 83 degrees (and low humidity) certainly made up for it …
exxon is all over the new nationals ballpark: their logo covers the left field wall, are regularly featured on the scoreboards that circle the stadium, rotate through the television ad behind home plate, and are the “official sponsor” of the seventh-inning stretch.
normally, this wouldn’t raise an eyebrow (especially if the ballpark was in Texas) but considering that nationals park is the first stadium in the country to be certified (LEED) by the U.S. Green Building Council, there are more than a few allegations of green-washing.
so, here’s the comedy of this good will campaign … tonight, in the break before the 8th inning, the stadium P.A. guy announced each ticket holder in one of the 100 sections would get a $50 gas card courtesy of Exxon/Mobil. people (obviously) rejoice.
so, the stadium camera (which powers the 4,500 square foot high definition scoreboard in center field) zooms in on one of the lucky winners, but he’s *refusing* to take the card … and when the very confused stadium attendant persists, he finally takes the card and chucks it across the stadium. truly a moving sign of protest, right?
well, mostly. right before the camera guy comes to his senses and turns away for this P.R. fiasco, in the background you see a group of people lunging for the air-borne gas card like it was a home run ball.
but the olympic moment i remember the most? it was the summer of 1996, and i was in moscow for a summer abroad program.
it was horrifying.
i missed much of the games, but happened to check into a moscow hotel during the opening ceremonies. we walked into the lobby, where a handful of russians were gathered around a tiny black and
whitegreen television.suddenly, on the tv a fleet of pickup trucks roared into Atlanta’s Olympic Stadium, with their truck beds filled with scantily clad cheerleaders. the russian men started howling, and we were looking for any rock, log, or carpet to crawl under.
not an olympic ceremony goes by that i don’t marvel at how little culture our young nation actually has.