Republican National Convention

Mitt Romney formally accepted his party's nomination for president last night in Tampa. Everybody was excited and they dropped lots of balloons as per usual. We'll see if they can maintain that enthusiasm to the election in November. It reminds me a bit of 2004 when John Kerry was the Democratic nominee. They hated George W. Bush and would vote for anybody running against him, but that was about all he had going for him and he lost. Romney never won more than 30% of the votes in any of the early contested primaries. He won by out lasting and out spending everybody. Nobody really liked him. Now the question is will the party finally warm up to him?

Kim Clijsters

Kim Clijsters  announced earlier this year that she would retire after the US Open. She didn't expect that the end to the tournament for her would come in the second round, but she lost yesterday to a young British woman 7-6,7-6. She had a wonderful career that spanned 15 years and had to be one of the nicest on the tour. Everybody seemed to like her, and she will be missed.

Isaac hits New Orleans

Hurricane Isaac hit New Orleans exactly 7 years after Katrina. This time however the levees and the pumps seem to have held. The storm isn't completely past, but it looks like the billions of dollars spent to protect the city actually worked. How about that?

Smart Phones

Here's an amazing fact, the typical smart phone has more computing power than Apollo 11 when it landed on the moon. Plus in many parts of the world, more people have access to mobile devices than to a toilet or running water. I know which one I'd choose.

Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong passed away on Saturday following complications from cardiovascular procedures. He was 82 years old. Meanwhile his legend lives on as the first man to walk on the moon. That used to be science fiction stuff, but on July 20, 1969, he did it and uttered the now-famous phrase: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." I was one of the millions who watched it live on TV. The picture was black and white and a little fuzzy, but still amazing to see.

Apple Wins in Court

In a major victory Apple won it's patent infringement suit against Samsung. The jury decided that Samsung copied the innovative technology developed by Apple and awarded them $1 billion. I have no idea what this will do to the smart phone market, but I do know it will certainly help Apple's bank account, not that it needs any.

Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong announced yesterday that "enough is enough" and ended his fight with the USADA over doping charges. Thus he will lose his seven Tour de France titles and be banned for life from competing. They claimed to have a strong case against him with at least ten witnesses, but he never failed a drug test and still maintains his innocence. Thus it's hard to know whom to believe. In any event it's shocking news and a very sad day for cycling fans.

Prince Harry in Las Vegas

I thought that what happened in Vegas, stayed in Vegas, but that certainly wasn't the case this time. Nude photos of Prince Harry partying are all over the Internet and the news. The royal family is aghast, but what do you expect a young single guy to do on vacation there? Play cribbage? He played strip billiards and apparently lost, although you could say he was also the winner based on the naked woman in the photo with him. Anyway I'm for Harry on this one. Have fun when you're young.

Diana Nyad

Diana Nyad failed in her fourth attempt to swim from Cuba to Key West. The combination of storms and jellyfish stings were just too much for her to overcome. She turns 63 years old today, and if she has any sense, she'll rule out a fifth try. Of course last year she ruled out a fourth try, so who knows what she'll do.

Augusta National

The Augusta National golf club announced Monday that the first women to be admitted as members are former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and business executive Darla Moore. Welcome to the 20th century guys. As a private club it can do whatever it wants, but when you hold a golf tournament that's attended by thousands and broadcast all over the world, you need to get with the times.

Todd Akin

Rep. Todd Akin is running for the Senate in Missouri and just made one of the biggest gaffes ever. He actually said that pregnancy could be prevented in the case of "legitimate rape" because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." Are you kidding me? There is certainly no such thing as a "legitimate" rape nor any way for a woman to keep from getting pregnant. Needless to say he has been widely rebuked, including by GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and President Obama. Akin however vowed to stay in the race saying that the outcry over his original remarks are "a bit of an over-reaction." You've got to be kidding me. This guy has just lost the financial support of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and won't get a vote from anybody with an IQ higher than a turnip.

Pussy Riot

The feminist punk band Pussy Riot were convicted of hooliganism and sentenced to two years in prison. That seems a little harsh for a political protest. I think a $30 ticket would have been more appropriate. Plus the Orthodox church has forgiven them. The USSR may have fallen, but suppression in Russia obviously hasn't.

Air Travel

There is no such thing as the "friendly skies" any more. Air travel is a major hassle nowadays with the seats so close together and all the security measures. Plus there are no amenities like food, pillows or blankets. Add in all the delays from bad weather and canceled flights, and you can understand why people stay home. Yesterday however there was a story that must have set a new record of sorts. An Air France flight from Paris to Beirut had to make an emergency layover in Damascus. That was bad enough, but then the passengers were asked to open their wallets to check if they had enough cash to pay for more fuel. That's amazing!

Perfect Game

Wednesday night Felix Hernandez pitched a perfect game for the Seattle Mariners. It was only the 23rd in baseball history, but the third this year. His nickname is "King Felix" and he certainly proved that against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Enough is Enough

After awhile you have to take action. Whether it's standing up to a bully or doing your taxes, at a certain point you just can't let things go on as they were. Well I reached that point yesterday. I've been trying for over a year to get my hot tub fixed. I've already paid New England Spas (the company that I bought it from) $1600 to repair it. Twice they have told me it was fixed, only for me to find a leak as soon as I refilled it. Their service rep has been unresponsive and unhelpful, so I officially filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the Consumer Protection Agency. Hopefully that will get this resolved. It's been long enough.

Johnny Pesky

Johnny Pesky passed away yesterday at the age of 92. He was a legend in Boston, not so much for his playing days with the Red Sox, but more as their goodwill ambassador for years. He came to symbolize everything that was good about baseball.

Weekend Wrap up

Lots of big news this weekend. Mitt Romney picked Paul Ryan to be his running mate. A move that was welcomed by both parties. (Go figure.) The Olympics ended with a bang and the US won the medal count thanks to the women. Finally Rory McIlory won the PGA championship going away. It was another resounding victory for him. Tiger stumbled over the weekend again.

US Women's Relay Team

The US women seem to be doing really well at this Olympics. The 4X100 relay team won the gold last night with a world record run. These are truly fast women.

Olympic Legend

Usain Bolt is now officially a legend after winning both the 100 and 200 meter gold medals. He is the first man in history to win both races in consecutive Olympics. Many had written him off when he lost both of them to his team mate Yohan Blake at the Jamaican trials, but he's definitely still the "world's fastest human".

US Women's Soccer Team

The US women won the gold medal in soccer for the third straight time with a 2-1 victory over current world champion Japan. The game was close and exciting. Carli Lloyd scored both goals and Hope Solo made some spectacular saves to preserve the win. In fact the entire team played well, and they all contributed to the victory.

Birthday Suit

Wednesday, August 8, is my birthday and I spent a very relaxing day at the Solair Recreation League (www.solairrl.com) in northeast CT. No cake, candles, or presents, but lots of sun, a fair amount of scotch, and best of all, no clothes. It was birthday suit all day for the birthday boy. No tan lines for me.

US Women's Beach Volleyball

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings won their third straight gold medal. They have been playing together since 2001 and have been virtually unbeatable. In the last three Olympics they have never lost a match and only one set. Misty is retiring, but Kerri will be looking for a new partner and preparing for Rio.

Mars

There was lots of excitement at the Olympics over the weekend, but the biggest achievement was the landing of Curiosity on the planet Mars. It's the largest and most advanced spacecraft ever sent there. It cost $2.5 billion and over 5000 people worked on the project. It's expected to revolutionize deep space science.

Jobs Report

The US economy added 163,000 jobs in July, but the unemployment rate also went up to 8.3%. Needless to say both parties are using the numbers to argue their points. The stock market however clearly decided that this was good news and the Dow Jones was up over 200 points.

Olympic Tennis

Serena Williams and Roger Federer are both in the Olympic tennis finals. It will be interesting to see if they both can repeat their victories at Wimbledon a few weeks ago. Roger has had some close matches, including the last one which he won 19-17 in the third set. He will also be playing Andy Murray again, so all of Great Britain will be rooting against him. Serena's opponent will be Maria Sarapova, so she'll have her hands full, too.

Olympic Badminton

Not sure that anybody really cares who wins the badminton gold, but 8 players just tried to lose their last match and were banned from the games. None of this makes any sense, but who knows. The standard shuttlecock is supposed to have 16 goose feathers plucked from the left wing. Maybe we're dealing with a bunch of right wingers.