Blog Action Day - October 15th

Published by
Steve
at August 16, 2008 in Blogging, Holiday and thoughts. 2 Comments

Have you ever heard of a “Blog Action Day”?  I’ll admit, it’s new to me.

The idea is for a bunch of people who blog to write a blog post on the same topic on the same day, thus raising awareness.  The upcoming topic is “poverty”.  Here’s a video that talks about it;

 
Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

 

The video says poverty is the issue of “most pressing importance.”  I disagree, but that’s the cool thing about this, I don’t have to agree to participate.  Many voices, many perspectives.

Do you have a blog?  Want to jump in with your two cents?  Go ahead, I’ll be posting too!

 

Breaking News from Georgia

Published by
Steve
at August 14, 2008 in USA, funny and news. 1 Comment

Two U.S. hunters are claiming they found the body of a giant ape-like “Bigfoot” creature and plan to prove it at a news conference.

Oh My!

Florida Gator Football 2008

Published by
Steve
at August 14, 2008 in Football, Gators and Sports. 2 Comments

 

  • Aug. 30th   Hawaii 12:30 P.M.
  • Sept. 6th   Miami (Fla.) 8:00 P.M.
  • Sept. 20th   at Tennessee 3:30 P.M.
  • Sept. 27th   Ole Miss
  • Oct. 4th   at Arkansas
  • Oct. 11th   L.S.U. 8:00 P.M.
  • Oct. 25th   Kentucky (Homecoming)
  • Nov. 1st   Georgia (at Jacksonville FL)
  • Nov. 8th   at Vanderbilt
  • Nov. 15th   South Carolina
  • Nov. 22nd   The Citadel (Senior Day)
  • Nov. 29th   at Florida State 
  • Dec. 6th   SEC Championship Game (Atlanta Ga.)
  • Jan. 9th   BCS Championship Game 

 

It’s not the toughest schedule out there, but it certainly is no walk in the park either.  It will be interesting to see what the BCS ends up ranking their “Strength of Schedule” at.

It’s great playing in the SEC where there are so many caliber football programs!

Priceless

Published by
Steve
at August 12, 2008 in Family and Kids. 5 Comments

Hong Kong Disney Tickets = $122 usd

Cheeseburger = $8.32 usd

Making two girls’ wildest dreams come true = Priceless

The “Redeem Team!”

Published by
Steve
at August 11, 2008 in China, Olympics, Sports and USA. 1 Comment

I just finished watching the USA basketball team (aka The Redeem Team) finish off Yao Ming and the rest of China’s team by the score of 101 to 70.

Despite this being China’s ‘home crowd’, the cheering seemed enthusiastic for both teams. China put up a spirited fight in the first half, but just couldn’t keep up in the second half.

I was personally impressed by how ‘clean’ everyone played, I’ve been so turned off by the NBA, because of all of the “thugs” who seem to do whatever they want with little or no consequences, that I was very pleasantly surprised by the sportsmanship shown by both teams.

08.08.08

Published by
Steve
at August 8, 2008 in China, Olympics and news. 3 Comments

Well, the big day has arrived…  The day of the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

I feel like I should tell my Chinese friends, “Ok, everyone can breathe now.”  This day has been so highly anticipated for so long, I’m afraid there is going to be some let-down when things don’t live up to the unrealistic expectations many have manufactured for the 2008 Summer Games.

     With the Olympics finally coming to China, tens of thousands of young people have rushed to marry or deliver babies.

    The Games are due to open on Friday, or 08/08/08. “Eight” is a lucky number among the Chinese, and many couples plan to tie the knot on the “triple 8 day.” Civil affairs authorities have predicted that Friday could set a one-day record for marriages since 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded.

As a lucky day, 08/08/08 is also a favorite for many pregnant women. In central Chinese city of Changsha, Hunan Province, several hospitals have increased the number of beds for expectant mothers.

    ”I want to have an Olympics baby on Aug. 8. It is such a special day worth remembering,” said a 38-year-old woman surnamed Xie at the Hunan Provincial Maternal and Children Health Hospital.

    At the request of Xie and several other expectant mothers, doctors will help them undergo Caesarean births on Friday, said a head nurse surnamed Li at the hospital.

    ”We advised them that natural births are better, but they are eager to have Olympic babies,” Li said.

If all of this strikes you as a bit over the top, well it may be, but it’s also exactly the way the Chinese want it to be.

It appears that the Chinese are not the only ones taking advantage of “triple 8 day”, President George Bush attended the dedication of the 600,000-square-foot US embassy in Beijing with his father, former President George H.W. Bush. The elder Bush once served as U.S. ambassador to China.

As many of you know, thanks in part to the 2008 Olympics, I am in Hong Kong right now working on getting visas for my family and I to live in China.  What would have normally been a simple process, has become a bit of a red-tape nightmare.

It’s not all bad though.  I LOVE Hong Kong, so if I have to be ’stuck’ somewhere, this is the place!

Oh, and there is a bit of Olympic spirit here, nearly 1,000 miles south of Beijing, as the equestrian events of the Olympic games are all being held here in Hong Kong.

We Made It!

Published by
Steve
at August 5, 2008 in Olympics and Travel. 6 Comments

 What a Beautiful Sight!

My absolute favorite city in the world.  (Of course, I’ve never ‘lived’ here, I’ve only visited.)

 

BTW, for my horse lover readers - the equestrian events of the 2008 summer olympics are being held here starting this weekend.

Internet Addiction

Published by
Steve
at August 4, 2008 in China, Culture, Health, Internet and news. 2 Comments

Medill News Service reports that the Internet has become an out-of-control habit for more and more people. In fact, experts say that Internet addiction is a growing psychological and behavioral problem.

It’s estimated that 5% to 10% of Americans may be addicted to the Internet – that could mean as many as 30 million people. And, it’s an even bigger problem in other parts of the world. As many as 30% of the people living in China, Korea and Taiwan may be hooked.

Rubber DuckieSounds like ‘quackery‘ to me. An additional revenue source for psychologist who make their living convincing wealthy people they are sick in one way or the other and that they can get better by coughing up some cash and sitting through some ’sessions.’

I don’t deny that some folks may have issues, my guess though is that it’s a problem that goes deeper than “the internet.”  

The percentages don’t even make sense.  The report from ‘experts’ say that “30% of the people in China” are suffering from internet addiction…  Based on the number of people in China who use the internet (38% according to the Pew Research Center), that would mean just about every person who uses the internet in China is also addicted to it…  I don’t think so.

I guess with $4 dollar gas, everyone has to find new ways to get by.  Airlines do this by charging for things you thought you already had paid for, it seems psychologists do this by inventing new ‘illnesses.’

200th Post

Published by
Steve
at August 2, 2008 in Blogging and Internet. 3 Comments

Since I started this blog here at SteveWebel.com (after Erica took over my original blog!)  I’ve posted 200 posts…

 

Whew!

Gators are number One! Ooops!

Published by
Steve
at August 1, 2008 in Gators and funny. 0 Comments

Seems the Gators have made it to the #1 spot again… on Princeton Review’s list of top party schools that is!

This is the list according to Princeton Review’s survey of 120,000 students.

1. University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.

2. University of Mississippi, University, Miss.

3. Penn State University, University Park, Pa.

4. West Virginia University, Morgantown, W.Va.

5. Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.

6. Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Va.

7. University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.

8. University of Texas, Austin, Texas.

9. University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Calif.

10. Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.

11. University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H.

12. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.

13. University of Colorado, Boulder, Co.

14. Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.

15. Tulane University, New Orleans, La.

16. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Ill.

17. Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.

18. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.

19. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

20. Loyola University-New Orleans, New Orleans, La.