I've been watching a lot of the men's Olympic swimming events on TV. The reasons for this are varied but un-important. Two thoughts:
1. I don't really like Michael Phelps.
The guy irritates me. I don't like his perfect physique. I don't like how INVINCIBLE he is. He's won something like 4 gold medals now, and is expected to win 4 more, and he's beginning to look BORED with winning, which strikes me as narcissistic somehow. At the start of a relay race yesterday he rocked up to the platform LISTENING TO HIS iPOD. God. I've never liked heroes. I prefer anti-heroes, hardened and embittered by fate. If he fucks up and doesn't win the eighth gold, it would transform his entire character, make him more complex, and believable I guess. (Note, in case his mom is reading this: I'm not bashing Michael Phelps the MAN here but rather Michael Phelps the MYTH, the MACHINE. I've read interviews with him and he seems quite nice. I like the positive things he had to say about carbs.)
2. On the other hand ..... Japan's Kosuke Kitajima is an athlete I have only recently become aware of and whom I'm quite prepared to wed.
When he won his first gold medal a few days ago, he SCREAMED. Bear in mind this is a shy, reserved Japanese man. He immediately caught himself and was the picture of subdued at the medals ceremony, hardly even smiling, and I love the fact that he seems to have this volatile -- and rich -- inner life to him. He screamed at the end of the race, he cried during the post-race interview, he glared during the medals ceremony ..... Which are masks? Which is the true face of Kosuke Kitajima? Apparently he lives near here, at the same station as my friend Hiro. This awesome Australian girl I drank with on Tuesday night once approached him at an area Family Mart and they exchanged pleasantries.
In related news: Canada has not won a SINGLE MEDAL at the Olympics yet!! Not that I care. It's only the summer Olympics, after all.
Hmm? What? Oh, sorry, I was just momentarily distracted by Michael Phelps's pelvic lines.
I always forget about your strange, soap-opera-derived appreciations for Olympic athletes. Well, non-figure-skaters, I mean. Figure skaters are part and parcel of the Joy Experience(tm).
Posted by: ben at August 14, 2008 6:58 PMI just spaced out thinking of Colin's long-winded monologue in that movie you made with him and Morgan, about the figure-skating. Oh Game Over.
Posted by: ben at August 14, 2008 6:59 PM"And of course there was Sale and Peltier in the '02 Olympics, whose ONLY MISTAKE in the long program was not being Russian ...."
Seriously though. How beautiful is Kitajima!
Posted by: joy at August 14, 2008 7:24 PM