QISE Review - Beijing 2: Electric Boogaloo - Day 5

Let's start with Prime Time last night--Craig Melvin steps in for Torico, who as of that recording has just landed in the US for the Superb Owl.  Why Melvin?  Because he's the only NBC "name" left in Beijing.  He's joined virtually by Maria Taylor back in Connecticut.  They send us onto to (deep breath) Women's Individual Freestyle Sprint Cross-Country Skiing?

First off, thank you "refrigerator magnet event naming system".  Second, shouldn't this be an afternoon event?  The fact that this leads off Prime Time tells you that something unusual is about to happen, and it does--the US's Jessie Diggins gets the bronze, the first individual cross-country medal for the US.  We then move to the Women's Halfpipe, which is of course all about Chloe Kim.  We also get a taped bit from Torico, interviewing the "old man" of snowboarding, Shaun White.

Taylor sends us to Women's Slalom and Mikaela Shiffrin.  It's a clutch run after she disqualified in the Giant Slalom--and she did it again. The camera continued to capture her, sitting dejected on the side of the slope, even through a commercial break.  In a terrible decision, a VISA ad featuring Shiffrin aired in the next break. This may be THE QISE story for the rest of the games.  Of course, NBC dumps the event to Peacock.  In an attempt to save ratings for the night, they throw stuff at the wall:

• An interview with Jessie Diggins

• A rerun (yet again) of Nathan Chen's Skating Short routine

• Steve Kornacki and his Magic Board going over Men's Skating stats

• A scene of Italy winning Mixed Curling gold (?)

• Wishing John Williams a happy birthday (the composer of TV's QISE theme, only a tiny part of his incredible career). 

Off to Men's Big Air. There's a package about Colby Stevenson, who had a horrific car accident, only to come back to competition.  Back to an interview with Shiffrin, who's clearly rattled by all this.  Of course, the interviewer keeps pushing her, to the point of her crying (which was exactly what NBC wanted).  Social media are comparing this--very negatively--to Simone Biles' travails a few months ago.

Late night kicks off with Men's Halfpipe and Shaun White.  Feel free to turn down the volume and make up your own trick names--"Wow, a 1480 Scooby-Dooby-Doo, right into a 1080 Backside Walla Walla!"  Finally, NBC returns to wrap up the Women's Slalom (but mostly to stew about Shiffrin).

I scrubbed through The Today Show, and learned that Lindsey Jacobellis won Snowboardcross--never saw that last night.  Maybe this afternoon?  Meanwhile, an IOC "legal issue" has held up the awarding of medals in the Team Figure Skating competition. No real details, other than that "athletes that have won medals" are involved.

In the afternoon coverage, Lowe sends us to Men's Luge Doubles.  Two very confident men, wearing spandex, lay on top of each other, then slide down a crazy track.  Then it's Nordic Combined--Ski Jumping and Cross Country.  NBC blew through this fairly quickly.  Then more Short Track, followed by a wildly over-produced teaser for Nathan Chen's free skate tonight, and what I think is a rerun Men's Big Air.   Disgusting Big Air trick: "Nose Butter". Ewww! 

Prime Time kicks off with Torico, now stateside.  He covers the latest on the skating "legal issue"--reportedly, a non-Russian team skater tested positive for a banned substance before the competition.  No other details--yet.  We then move onto Snowboardcross and Jacobellis (finally), as the US gets the gold.  This was followed by--a rerun of Shaun White's qualifying run?  Seems like NBC wants to get the evening started with content they can control, unlike last night. We finally got some drama with Chloe Kim's Halfpipe run--will she win the gold?

More to come.

QISE Review - Beijing 2: Electric Boogaloo - Day 4

Returning to last night's coverage--

More of the Big Air event with EIleen Gu and Tess LeDeux.  Gu and LaDeux--sounds like an old vaudeville team. Social media are commenting on the cooling towers behind the Big Air hill (it was built in a former industrial zone), asking if it was built in "The Simpsons" Springfield. I love how the commentators keep referring to achievements as being the greatest "in the history of this sport"--it joined QISE in 2018.

Off to Men's Super-G.  They are using Lindsey Vonn for expert commentary, but they used her randomly.  At one point, you hear her say "I'd love to come in", thinking her mike wasn't live.  US skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle won the silver--his family has been involved in competitive skiing since the 60's, with his mother and an aunt winning QISE gold in the 70's.  Once the main competitors were done, NBC dumped the rest over to Peacock.

Torico noted that QISEOC President Thomas Bach was watching Big Air with Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis player.  It was later announced that she was "retiring".  Was that her call, or the government's?

Back to skating, and the Men's Short Program.   Japanese competitor Yuzuru Hanyu, who won the last two QISE gold, missed his first jump entirely, leaving the runway open for American Nathan Chen.  This was all reported breathlessly by Tara and Johnny, with latter giving an extensive comparison to marshmallow creme??? 

“Prime Time Plus" (aka Late Night) begins with Torico greeting Today's Craig Melvin.  Torico is heading back to the US for the "Superb Owl"--he was originally scheduled to return to China, but it was just announced he will do the rest of his QISE coverage from Connecticut.   Melvin and Maria Taylor will sub in during his travel day.  After some jokes about a fake fireplace, it's off to Women's Luge. At one point we get a view from crotch level, so you can see how scary the ride is.  Then, more short track--at one point, they had to stop a race mid-stream when they found a chunk of skating blade lodged in the ice, forcing a restart.  Seems like these races are decided by referees and not participants.

On the Today Show, we learned that the State Dept. has dispatched agents to keep an eye on QISE athletes--and has been doing so for years???  They do a good job of staying out of the spotlight.

Afternoon coverage--more Biathlon: the Men's 20km Individual.  Again with the staggered start--meh. Moving onto the Women's Luge Singles Finals, prefaced by an an interview with 2014 medalist and NBC commentator Erin Hamlin, who explained the technical details to Rebecca Lowe. "Turn 13" is living up to its name, as it's taking out a lot of competitors. They wrapped it up with Speed Skating - the Men's 1500m.

A QISE news update--I just read about an issue with the Women's Ski Jump. I already heard that someone was disqualified due to a "suit issue". According to a NPR report, five women were disqualified, all due to their suits not being form-fitting enough. The same suits were approved and used at earlier events--it sounds like the measurement method changed. While I can understand that a looser fit could result in more air resistance--and a longer jump--this sounds like the winter version of the "required" tiny bikinis for beach volleyball. At a 2020 Ski Jump event, a requirement for extra seams only resulted in the women's curves to be accentuated. Hmmm...

At this point, I would normally move onto Prime Time coverage--but I've got a commitment tonight, so it will be fully covered tomorrow.

More to come...

QISE Review - Beijing 2: Electric Boogaloo - Day 3

Wrapping up late night's coverage--

We roll into the Team Skating competition.  Johnny likened the Canadian dance to wearing mittens--huh?  Meanwhile, the US couple did some sort of astronaut theme. He looked like he's ready for TRON.

Torico brings us back to reality, with a quick story about Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai and her allegations against a Communist official.  Since this came out months ago, Shuai disappeared for a period of time, and is now only seen in tightly controlled photo ops.  She had some of those in the last day or so, attending QISE events.  NBC is holding China's feet to the fire (at least once in a while).

Off to "Big Air", another X-Game-y event involving skis and tricks.  It's EXTREME Ski Jumping!  The big story there is Eileen Gu--a Chinese-American competing for China.  She's become the face of the sport.  Back to skating, with the ladies wrapping up the Team event.  The not-Russian performed the first QISE quad jumps for a female, and Tara was ecstatic.  She did fall later, but it seems like risk v. reward is the thing now for scoring.  "It's like a special effect--is it even real???"  Men's Individuals start later today.

Late night, and the finals of Men's Slopestyle.  "Shred Shed!"--say that 3 times fast.  We learn about the "Taco Analogy": even when they fall apart, they're still good.  We also got a great shot of a "watch party" back in the US, with a little kid on mom's lap, everyone screaming--but the kid is out for the count. Vonn returns for a post-Shiffrin review.  Then, the delayed Men's Downhill--a long camera shot makes it painfully clear that the snow is artificial, with a whole lot of nothing around the course.

Before we move onto the afternoon, we have to talk about The Today Show.  Normally, they would be center stage onsite at QISE, with a huge ornate set and tons of local color.  But COVID forced them to stay in NYC--so they created an outdoor set complete with a backyard fire pit.  Savannah and Hoda are all bundled up on the couch.  Hope NYC doesn't get any storms in the next two weeks.   On the ground at Beijing, Craig Melvin shows the draconian controls in place.

The afternoon starts with Lowe giving a COVID update--US figure skater Vincent Zhou, who won silver in the team competition, had to pull out after a positive test the day of the individual event.  Off to Women's Biathlon--the 15K event.  The squeaking noise you hear as they ski is what happens when artificial snow gets very cold.  The staggered start makes it even harder to keep track of what's going on.  For some reason, they cut to someone talking about Premiere League Football.  (I looked her up--Katie Nolan does "short form" material for NBC--she's their "millennial" correspondent). So there's NOTHING at QISE to cover?  Maybe they're trying to get the Led Lasso crowd.  More ski jumping--this time a "mixed team" event.  That seems to be a trend at the games, in order to load up more events.

Moving to Prime Time--Torico sets the table, then sends us off to Short Track.  It's another event where the American competitors were quickly eliminated.  I'm sure NBC is unhappy to have so few "rah-rah" stories to cover.  We switch to Long Track (aka traditional) Speed Skating.  It starts with a bizarre amount of dramatic music--they really cleared out the stock music library.  Then it's Big Air and Eileen Gu.

More to come.

QISE Review - Beijing 2: Electric Boogaloo - Day 2

Let's go back to last night--more Women's Figure Skating. Tara is not happy that "quads" are not allowed in the short program.  Personally, I think the more complex the jumps, the less graceful it looks--you can see skaters prepping for a jump, going in a straight line and building up speed.  Also, the "real time" onscreen scoring is very distracting--I find myself watching that instead of the skater.

And then it's Slopestyle--EXTREME snowboarding tricks, going down a hill with a series of jumps.  Downhill skiing was delayed due to high winds (they are near the Gobi Desert), so there was a lot of announcer tap dancing.  They wrapped up prime time with Men's Figure Skating - Team Event.

After running long (so I didn't see Nathan Chen's performance--I'm sure it will be run again), late night has more Moguls and Slopestyle.  It's clear that the Downhill delay left a big hole in the schedule.   Gnarly phrase of the night--"As smooth as a butter sandwich".

Cut to this afternoon, which started with a Speedskating distance event (5000M, 12.5 laps).  It's kind of hypnotic, to the point where I'm trying to stay awake.  Lowe then interviewed Lindsey Vonn (now on the NBC team, and mostly there to promo her QISE documentary on Picabo Street--now on Peacock!).  We would have heard from her last night, if the downhill hadn't been cancelled.  That was followed by more Skiathlon, which is not gripping TV, despite breathless commentary.

Jimmy Roberts makes his first appearance, covering his 18th (!?!) QISE.  He covered the "hatred" between the US and Canada in Women's Hockey, comparing it to other sports rivalries (Yankees and Red Sox, OSU and Michigan).  As usual, the US and Canada are the top seeds.  Then, more ski jumping--a gold medal run.  They seem to have engineered out the whole "agony of defeat" potential.  There were some audio issues, with the commentators speaking at the same time--or was the onsite PA too loud?

Onto Sunday's super-size Prime Time (Monday in Beijing).  Torico's at the chalet, sending us off to Men's Single Luge Medal runs.  Then a repeat of the piece about Mikaela Shiffrin's late father--and yet more moguls--before we actually get to her event. Since the Men's Downhill was delayed, we get that event AND Women's Giant Slalom tonight. Lead commentator Dan Hicks clearly got his start in radio, with a sonorous voice. Unfortunately, Shiffrin quickly slid off the course (she's fine, but out for this event). With her gone, NBC dumps the rest of the event to Peacock. Perhaps choosing a site that required 100% artificial snow wasn't the best idea? Vonn, back in Connecticut, has her audio set too low--can barely hear her commentary.

Back to the Figure Skating Team Event, with the pair's free skate and a LOT of mistakes, including a crash to the ground by the not-Russians.

More to come.

QISE Review - Beijing 2: Electric Boogaloo - Day 1

Before I wrap up last night's coverage, a side note--why do local NBC affiliates send their own "correspondents" to the games?  They just do a standup there, then throw to pre-recorded material.  Why do they think they can do a better job than the network with their billions of dollars? It makes even less sense when the network greatly reduced their staff on the ground at Beijing.

Anyway--I zipped through the final parts of last night's Opening Ceremony rerun.  We got an "Americanized" version of QISEOC President Thomas Bach's speech (editing out the foreign language portions). They still skipped the oath ceremony for the athletes, officials, and volunteers--like they didn't have time to include a two minute item in a 3 hour broadcast.  I even checked the Peacock coverage--nope. With all the controversies and commercialization of the games, a pure moment would have done a world of good. Drop The Rock!

Skipping to the next afternoon--Lowe, back in Connecticut, sends us off to Women's Skiathlon--a cross-country event involving two different styles.  Seems like QISE marketing is trying to sell cross-country skiing as a spectator sport.   This was followed by a classic "up close and personal" segment on Jessie Diggins--a cross-country skier who battled an eating disorder.  Then it's Luge--sledding for maniacs.  NBC has the production down to a science, cutting rapidly among 31 robotic cameras (I counted them) as they fly down the course. 

Speedskating is all about technique and endurance--and a lethargic man firing the starting gun (Rrreeeeadddy....)  With mostly empty stands, you can really hear the skates clicking on the ice.  Then it's Biathlon--a throwback to the early games, when military vets of WWI would take advantage of their shooting skills.  Now it's the mixed relay, with men and women handing off to each other.  If you're applying for a job as a James Bond supervillain goon, you better have this on your resume.  Then more moguls--meh.  It's the least interesting of all the X-Game-y sports.  We wrap up the afternoon with Women's Ski Jumping (aka "the agony of defeat sport").  With the top skier out with a positive COVID test (hopefully something I won't be writing a lot), it was an open race.

Onto Prime Time, with Tara Lipinski setting the stage.  Torico, at the chalet, sends us off to Short Track. It's essentially Roller derby--ON ICE!  The relay is even more crazy, with the US losing out due to a technicality (the US is not doing well overall so far). Meanwhile, there's a weird ad with QISE athletes v. dinosaurs--a hackneyed synergy with the next Jurassic Park film. Then it's more of the figure skating team event, and the first appearance of the women skaters we will learn a LOT about in the next two weeks.  Of course, that will depend on how well the US does--and all indications are that the "not Russia" team will likely sweep the women's individual event. Tara and Johnny look fabulous, with the latter's Mickey Mouse-esque hairstyle (Terry Gannon continues to look like their chaperone). Meanwhile, the men's downhill skiing event, scheduled for later tonight, has been delayed due to high winds.  I guess China's weather control technology is on the fritz.

More to come.

QISE Review - Beijing 2: Electric Boogaloo - Day 0

We've finally made it to the official start of the games--The Opening Ceremonies.

But first, clearing off the DVR from last night's late coverage.  We've got Ice Dancing as part of the team competition--if you've ever been to a roller rink, you'll have some idea of what's going on. This was followed with Men's Skating, which meant wall-to-wall Nathan Chen.  Late night coverage moved over to the skating pairs, with a healthy dollop of reviews from earlier in the evening (keep in mind this is the primary broadcast for the West Coast).  In a rarity for these games, Andrea Joyce is actually onsite, so she can speak (socially distanced) to the competitors.  The US did quite well--but there's still the women's competition (which won't be aired until later) to go.

Onto the main event.  Bright and early (6:30a Eastern), Torico kicks it off at the "Bird's Nest", with Savannah Guthrie back in New York (a huge screen showing the partly-empty stadium behind her). Shockingly, NBC is holding to their commitment to emphasize China's political issues--here come their experts, Andy Brown and Jing Tsu.

The ceremony itself--mostly replacing a huge contingent of human ceremony participants is a huge LED screen covering the field.  It's a stunning effect that you would think is CGI.  Of course, there's pomp and circumstance, raising of flags, national jingoism, fireworks, lasers.  Then it's on to the parade of nations, with an odd counterpoint of the Lone Ranger theme to kick it off.  Torico and Guthrie are reading fun country facts off the prompter as fast as they can.  Yep, American Samoa has the greased-up shirtless guy (even in 20 degree weather).

With the athletes in their seats, back to the program. Dancing snowflakes (both real and virtual), inspirational videos, speeches, and more of the giant screen. The QISE flag and anthem.  I noticed a lot of lip synch problems--not sure if that's an artifact of the satellite delay or not.  And finally, the QISE flame, with Chinese QISEans of different generations--including a member of the beleaguered Uighur minority--bringing it in.  A heavy-handed and jarring moment at the end of an otherwise harmonious event. No traditional cauldron--just a torch in the middle of a huge snowflake.  Perhaps a nod to being green?

NBC then cut to an abbreviated Today show, which included an interview with Tirico--and it was clear that the ceremony was still going on behind him!  I know we never saw the QISE oaths for the athletes, officials, and volunteers.  But I guess Hoda was in hurry to get on the air. We then go to afternoon coverage, and host Rebecca Lowe reporting from Connecticut.

Today it's a preview of the events to come, including a wacky fake ad (shown twice) explaining how to watch everything (even they know how bad they screwed up last time).  Lots of interviews, both pre-taped and in the studio.  It was made pretty clear that US women's figure skaters are highly unlikely to medal.  This is the ratings "kiss of death" for the marquis event.  We also learned about Curling footwear, reminded of the Salt Lake games held only a few months after 9/11, saw a replay of the terrible women's hockey injury (thanks NBC), and shown promos of Tara Lipinski's and Lindsey Vonn's QISE history documentaries (available on Peacock, of course).

Back to prime time, which in this case is a chopped and channeled repeat of the opening ceremonies (with more commercials and pre-recorded segments).  They kicked it off with the Chairman of the Board singing "Leaving on a Jet Plane" in a slickly produced intro.  (Wow, WCMH--an ad for "Lion's Den" adult store in the 8:00 hour--during QISE?  You do you, Channel 4). Steve Kornacki is back with his "magic board", spewing stats at you. The Rock introduced the US team in yet another video package.

I'm not staying up for all of this tonight--will scan through it in the morning.

QISE Review - Beijing 2: Electric Boogaloo - Day -1

We're still in the QISE prelims, so there's not a lot to report today.  Brianna Decker, a member of the US Women's Hockey team, had a bad leg injury in their first game, taking her out of QISE.  Would she have gotten injured if she had been able to train normally, instead of in an isolated COVID bubble?  Hard to say.  We know that athletes are terrified of getting a positive COVID result, as it will dash their QISE hopes.  In some cases, athletes can't even board a plane to go to Beijing.  We'll see how this affects QISE as a whole.

Tonight, NBC dropped their first prime time show of the games.  Mike Torico leads it off at the faux-ski chalet, talking about all of China's political issues.  Then it's off to the Moguls--cowabunga, dude--and the start of the over-produced skating program.  We learned how Tara and Johnny will show off their fashion--in a proper studio, using tall chairs like you would see on the Today show.  For a moment, I thought I had accidentally switched over to E!

Well, I'm going to bed early, in order to catch the Opening Ceremonies at 6:30a.  If you're a sleepyhead, you can see it again in prime time, but expect a lot of edits, as well as various packages setting up pre-planned US storylines.

QISE Review - Beijing 2: Electric Boogaloo - Day -2

We're back, only 178 days since the last Quadrennial International Sporting Event (aka QISE--don't want the QISEOC lawyers to descend on me).  Beijing is the place, which already hosted Summer games in 2008.  How can a single location cover both winter and summer games?  Apparently with fully artificial snow, loaded with chemicals.

COVID continues to be top of mind, with China making an almost futile effort to negate the ultimate super-spreader event.  There's also political concerns--alleged human rights abuses, a trade war, state-run media.  If this was 40 years ago, there would have been a massive boycott, as occurred in the 1980 Moscow games.  But QISE is too big a moneymaker now--all the US did was stop their diplomats from going (in related news, we normally send diplomats to QISE).

NBC/Universal/Comcast/Kabletown/Sheinhardt Wig Co. has decided to keep virtually all their correspondents home for the games.  This is reportedly due to concerns over Beijing's COVID protocols, which could results in an announcer having to work from a hotel room--but we know this is also a cost-saving measure. Torico will be onsite, but the rest--including those for marquis events--will be holed up in tiny booths in Connecticut.  Not sure how Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski will show off their fashions--maybe green-screen them in?

As usual, I will concentrate on the coverage of QISE, rather than the event itself.  Of course, there will be pre-manufactured storylines, with an emphasis on rah-rah 'Muricans.  NBC has promised that every single event will be available on Peacock this time--hopefully no need to search through a half-dozen sites to find what you want.  They will also simulcast anything being broadcast.

Despite the the opening ceremonies not taking place until Friday (that is considered "Day 0"), there's already QISE action underway.  I just watched a Curling round early this morning.  "CURLING--if shuffleboard and bowling had a kid" (Sponsored by LaBatt's).  Tonight, it's Downhill Skiing training sessions and early Women's Hockey matches.

Let the games begin!

Cabin in the Hills - Day 4

Note: I'm posting this after the fact, as internet in the area was inconsistent at best.

After a final hot tub session (can you tell we're obsessed with this?), we had to pack up, clean up, and get out of Dodge. A few final cabin interior pics:

A quick hop to the tub!

All the modern conveniences…

After making our way down the hill…

...we bade good-bye to the Hocking Hills and their welcoming residents...

...before driving up to Lancaster and the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio. The restored former home of General Sherman's sister, the eventual owners donated it to the county as a museum dedicated to the arts.

In addition to the 1800's period restoration, the upper floor hosts special exhibits. Currently they are presenting items from Paramount Pictures' costume archive (the archivist grew up in Lancaster). It was quite fascinating...

Worn by Veronica Lake in “The Glass Key”, 1942.

Worn by Robert Redford.

Then a meal at a Mexican place just down the street (Flautas and Enchiladas) before heading home.

I'm sure we will make this trip again--and less than 28 years from now.

Cabin in the Hills - Day 3

Note: I'm posting this after the fact, as internet in the area was inconsistent at best.

October 4 - South Bloomfield

We had a shorter trip today, in order to maximize time at the cabin. We drove over to Rock Cave--the only actual cave in the area. Lots of steps, and more people than I would expect on a Tuesday morning. But it was definitely worth it.

They were NOT kidding.

Then off to Laurelville for lunch, only to find the planned restaurant closed.  Across the street to a cafe--club and tenderloin sammiches. Mindy loves the latter, and they folded it in a unique way.

A local "orchard" turned out to be a garage with a collection of wasp nests.  We picked up a bag of apples anyway.

A lineup of kids (presumably from the school across the street) enjoying apple cider “slushies”.

We made the trip back for more ice cream, then off to the cabin.  Two more hot tub sessions, with burgers on the grill in between. Here's some more pics around the cabin.

We had a total of 9 sessions (three hours) in the tub over four days.

Cabin in the Hills - Day 2

Note: I'm posting this after the fact, as internet in the area was inconsistent at best.

October 4 - South Bloomfield

After checking out the weather report (it rained off and on), we decided to fit in a hike at Old Man's Cave.  But first a stop at the only coffee shop in the area.

Old Man's Cave was rather crowded for a Monday (damn you, homeschooling!), but very pretty.

BTW—many people ignored these rules.

Then down to Athens to check out the town, Ohio University (where’s all the drunk students I hear about?), and a fruitless run at a Roadside America listing ("Hitler's Urinal").

We found Miller's Chicken for a late lunch--they started by selling directly at a chicken farm--and it was quite good.

We had better luck with another Roadside America stop--the Pencil Sharpener Museum.  Small, but impressive.

After a stop for more provisions, and an ice cream shop with no less than 41 soft serve flavors, it was back to the cabin and more hot-tubbing (Hi, 50sTubbingCam.com). More tomorrow.

Cabin in the Hills - Day 1

Note: I'm posting this after the fact, as internet in the area was inconsistent at best.

October 3 - South Bloomfield, OH
Lat 39:22.08 Long 82:36.55

It's been quite a while since we've taken a trip not related to visiting family, and with our 28th anniversary just passed, it seems like a good time.  We came down to Hocking Hills for our honeymoon, and always planned to return--just never got around to it.  So...

Mindy found a cabin--Lazy Lane--and after a equally lazy tour of SE Ohio (we couldn't pick up the keys until 4p), including a stop at the Logan Dam…

…plus a trip through the set of Deliverance, there we were.  The outside wasn't all that impressive…

Green Acres, we are theeeerrree...

but the inside was, well, cozy.

It's a good thing we got there before dark, because the driveway up to the cabin was narrow and muddy.  The cabin owners stated it requires 4-wheel drive in the winter, and I believe them.

The best thing about the cabin (apart from opening time with my sweetie) is the hot tub.  We used it twice the first night. The owners have a rule (they have a lot of them) that users should get in the tub “au naturale”.  We're in the middle of the forest, so why not?  I just hope there's no webcam nearby...

We then consumed some of our provisions and crashed. Exploring begins tomorrow!

QISE Review - Tokyo Edition - Day 17

For the last time, let's return to Prime Time last night--

More track finals. You can tell that a long event like the 1500m is not very interesting when NBC drops the start into a video box, surrounded by  upcoming events and an ad for VISA.  We continue to see different countries win (Norway would never be considered to be a track power, and yet they won).

We got another insta-ad from Comcast featuring Allyson Felix's win in the 4x400 relay, minutes after the race. Felix now has 11 medals, the most of any US track and field athlete, passing Carl Lewis.   This was her 5th games, going back to Athens. More team sports and a rare look (in terms of broadcast) of boxing ran out the clock last night.

Speaking of boxing, a recent QISEOC vote has given their board the power to remove sports from the games.  Up the this point, this duty was shared with the international sports bodies.  Observers predict that boxing and weightlifting will get the boot, based on recurring issues of doping.  (If they treated all sports equally, most probably would).

The final afternoon begins with track cycling.  This sport seems to make the process more complicated each games, as if they purposely want to push audiences away.  Now there's some sort of points process.  Why not just who can bike the fastest?

Then it's the group rhythmic gymnastics final, with five members on the floor throwing and catching various implements while dancing around.  It has to be like clockwork, or they lose points.  I guess it's off to Cirque du Soleil after this.  There was (as Rebecca Lowe put it) a ConTROvesy during the event, which you can translate as: the Russkies are mad they didn't win.  Sit down and take more steroids, Commies!

There's a tradition at NBC to include a documentary involving the host country on the final day of the games.  We got one, involving dual fishing towns in Japan and California, who came together after a devastating earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan sent a boat all the way to the US west coast.  The California town has also experienced a tsunami in the 1960's.

After more team sports, Tirico interviewed the head of the QISEOC--basically, "Everything went great!".  Jimmy Roberts checked in for the last time, with a report on time--a lifetime spent training for a few minutes or even seconds actually competing (to be honest, it was rather generic).

After a rerun of the women's volleyball final, Lowe interviewed the head of the Paris 2024 QISEOC.  I read that they plan to make a "public" games--sending the opening ceremonies all over the city, bringing in the athletes on boats on the Seine, holding a second Marathon for the public the same day after the actual event.  They really want to show off the town.  This will be the City of Light's third run at the games (they did it in 1900 and 1924).

They ran out the afternoon clock with a long credit roll, including the "Friends and Family" unit.  This must be the group that coordinated the live remotes at athlete's homes, bars, clubs, etc.

The final Prime Time coverage kicked off with Torico on the dock, throwing it to a one hour review--"Tokyo Gold". It included a preview of the ParaQISEic games, starting in 2 weeks. Finally, it's the Closing Ceremonies with Tara Lipinski, Johnny Weir, and Terry Gannon hosting. Weir in particular was professional and articulate, despite his flamboyant outfit. They interviewed the US flagbearer as she was doing her job. They vamped as the athletes wandered into the stadium. There was a ska band, trick cyclists, dancers, and jugglers. A woman dressed as a tree. Some traditional Japanese singing--when does Mothra fly in? Pomp and circumstance.

Paris had a presentation for the games of 2024. Musicians playing the national anthem around the city (and in space), athletes on the rooftops, break-dancers (which will be a sport), a huge throng surrounding French QISE champions, and a jet fly-by. The Rock stopped by. A scene from a Japanese production of the Sound of Music preceded the dousing of the flame. Arigato! Tirico ties a bow on it.

That'll do it. See you in 6 months in Beijing for the Winter QISE.

QISE Review - Tokyo Edition - Day 16

Let's start with Prime Time last night--

Tirico, on the dock watching a storm coming in, throws us to the women's marathon.  The Tokyo QISEOC moved the race 500 miles north, and an hour earlier, just  to avoid extreme heat--and it didn't work.  Meanwhile, we're getting into the track finals--Allyson Felix got her 10th medal, in her 5th QISE games. Comcast made an insta-ad out of it.  We also got the basketball final. The NBA millionaires won,

Late night brought us a preview of the winter games (just 6 months away) in the form of Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir.  They were there to announce they will be anchoring the closing ceremonies this Sunday.  I guess NBC is throwing stuff at the wall, hoping something will generate ratings.

I was pretty far behind when daytime coverage started at 8a, but team sports quickly resolved that.  Off to freestyle wrestling--did a cowboy break into the announcing booth? He has the ultra-generic name John Smith, which I assume is an alias.  After that, we got water polo and golf (aka lunch time), and finals in rhythmic gymnastics, artistic swimming, and equestrian.

Jimmy Roberts returned with a report on baseball, Japanese culture, and the Fukishima earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown. I'm pretty sure they showed this about two weeks ago.  The women's 10,000m final ended the afternoon, with the winner screaming for water after the race.  The medical staff must have been on coffee break.

In QISE-adjacent news--Reuters reported the final of the karate event, where a real knockout kick left the other competitor unconscious. That's against the rules, and when he woke up, he was told he got the gold.

Just before Prime Time, your local NBC affiliate may be running "The QISE Zone".  Your local news people introduce a bunch of pre-produced content created months ago.  As a QISE nut, even I can't watch it.

Tirico kicks off the final night of Prime Time coverage, throwing it to the men's marathon, live and already in progress. In fact, it was basically over. Water polo followed--yawn--along with the finale of men's diving.

We'll wrap things up tomorrow.

QISE Review - Tokyo Edition - Day 15

Back to last night--we saw a 14-year old Chinese diver get more "10s" than ever before--she's the Nadia of 2021. 

When asked about how athletes are feeling in the men's decathlon, commentator Ato Boldon's reply--"Darkness".  Welcome to the games, directed by Ingmar Bergman!  Host/Emcee Tirico explains the wide spread of medals won by different countries--"it's a global world".  Better eat a Snickers, Mike.  He also noted that the final weekend will be filled with team sports.  Warming up my fast-forward button now.

Speaking of that--late night (zzzzzzzz).

The Today Show actually hosted a live event--the women's 400m final--after doing an extended interview (on tape) with the US's Allyson Felix.  It would have looked pretty bad if she had pooped out, but she won the bronze. I assume we'll see the race again in Prime Time.  Why didn't NBC do this more?  Because live sport events are unpredictable, and the Today Show is pre-scheduled to the microsecond.

I decided to give Peacock another shot, to give my DVR time to build up coverage for awhile.  I read about the only viral thing coming out of the games (thanks to Comcast/Kabletown locking down any and all footage), a highlights show hosted by Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg.  If you remember ESPN's Cheap Seats, it's very similar.  Is someone writing for Snoop, or is he making this up on the fly?  Whichever, it's great.  NBC needs to put them on regular duty.

Daytime coverage included team artistic (synchronized) swimming and rhythmic gymnastics--the sports mimicked poorly by millions of kids in the backyard.

Well, tonight's coverage doesn't look encouraging, so I'll cover it tomorrow, and wrap it up early.

QISE Review - Tokyo Edition - Day 14

Back to last night, and more track and field.  At least we're getting into more technical events (the relays and the heptathlon/decathlon).  Tirico, back on the dock, then throws us to diving.  I have to call out Cynthia Potter as the best analyst in the games.  She knows every diver and detail, and predicts scores before they are posted.  She was on 3 QISE teams, and won a bronze in 1976.  When she's not on TV, Potter is a college diving coach.

Back to the track, and the only real coverage of a field event, with shot put (of course, the US was well represented).  More track in late night, along with skateboarding (there's a reason I skip the XGames when I come across it--is it on every weekend?)  Shaun White is brought in to wake people up.

An aside--Based on NBC's coverage, if you're a relative of a US athlete, I would up your life insurance. Cancer, paralysis, death--all are well represented.

On the Today Show, Suni Lee was forced to wait to reunite with her family until Savannah and Hoda were ready. Daytime included more track cycling.  Once the events involves a motorized bike that acts as a"pace car" until they all get up to speed.

They wrapped up the afternoon with basketball, so it's time for QISE-related news:

CNN reports that QISE ratings are "in free fall". Broadcast numbers are down 45% from Rio.  However, they have streamed over 3B minutes of coverage across their services.

Time reports that  COVID cases are surging in Tokyo--over 5K new cases on Thursday.

NPR covered a new Tokyo QISE event--Bus Spotting. Photo hobbyists are camping out on street corners to snap shots of sightseeing buses, filled with journalists, athletes, and officials (there's no spectators, of course).

Prime Time started with Torico covering QISE champions returning home--athletes need to leave no more than 5 days after their event, per COVID protocols. So what are the closing ceremonies going to look like? Pretty sparse, I'm guessing. More skateboarding and diving.

More to come.

QISE Review - Tokyo Edition - Day 13

Back to last night, and the finale of women's gymnastics.  Of course, it's all Biles, all the time--including a slickly produced intro that declares she's a champion no matter what Of course, they had a week to put this together--curious if they had different edits ready, depending on which events she decided to do. Will she get the "twisties"? (No). Will she do her eponymous dismount? (No). Will she win? (No--she got the bronze, and only because others screwed up). Oh, and there's Suni Lee.

Simone didn't trust the network to "stick the landing" on the family video conference, so she did it herself immediately after she got the bronze, jumping on FaceTime--"Gotta go, I'll see you in a minute on NBC!"

After more track heats, it's the women's 400m hurdles final, which NBC is pushing as "McLaughlin v. Muhammad", complete with a dramatic intro package.  A good call by the network.  I've noticed each final is preceded in the stadium with a deep boom, like the THX opening.

Then it's off to diving finals, followed by Tirico interview with Simone Biles.  NBC milked the entire Biles saga to the last drop, never mentioning that their coverage was part of the problem. Biles returned the next morning for a Today interview with Hoda--and a lot of feels.

Late night--fast forwarding thru volleyball, followed by skateboarding.  If you miss the latter, you can see them again the next day.

Daytime--the finals of equestrian show jumping, with a Japanese player ranked 600th in the world making it to a jump-off. Then more sync--artistic swimming. SNL did it better.   Canoeing, sport climbing (the Speed discipline is just blazingly fast, the Boulder discipline will be familiar to Ninja Warrior viewers), and diving.

Prime Time kicks off with--BEACH VOLLEYBALL?? AGAIN?? Blech.  After that? GOLF??? NBC wants me to give up tonight, and I'm going to abide by them.

More to come.

QISE Review - Tokyo Edition - Day 12

Back to last night, and the women's floor competition.  The rhapsodic commentary, the closeups hoping to see a tear, anything to wring every drop of emotion out of it.  One more event, and Biles will be back.  Did the QISEOC drag the gymnastics event out an extra day or two?  They know it's the big ratings grabber.

That was followed by track runs and the men's 400m hurdles final to finish out prime time.  The commentators treated the results of the latter like a comet--"you will never see this again".   Prime Time Plus was all about long distance races and springboard diving.

Daytime kicks off with Equestrian Show Jumping. If you're not quite convinced that this is the sport of the rich--the daughter of Bruce Springsteen is one of the competitors.  A commentator noted that mom and dad got her into it so she "would have a more normal upbringing". Who didn't do show jumping as a kid, right?

We've made it to Track Cycling--the highly technical sport played in a "velodrome".  It's all about drafting, posture, and consistency.  We got cool shots from one of the riders, pointing back to another team member--one of which included a crash.  Secretly, NBC is saying "score!" After more boring water polo, we get something new--Sport Climbing. There are multiple disciplines, but much of it looks like Spider-Man skittering up a wall.

I paused the DVR for few hours, so we could watch the parallel bar portion of the men's gymnastics at dinner. There's more track heats and a basketball game, so---skipping to prime time, which started off with an announcement that an earthquake happened in Japan earlier. Can they EYER catch a break? Off to the final part of men's gymnastics--high bar. Cameras caught the presumptive winner celebrating a bit early, then trying to act all cool. Yet more track races followed.

That'll do it--more to come.

QISE Review - Tokyo Edition - Day 11

Back to last night, starting with a promo for a "conversation" on mental health with Michael Phelps (now available on Peacock!). We also get a behind--the-scenes video of Rowdy Gaines calling a swim event--it's like an aerobics routine.

After the second gym final, back to more track heats.  I'm noticing a number of "Open" lanes.  This sometimes means that someone was disqualified, or missed a drug test, etc.  However, commentators normally note this in passing--which they aren't tonight.  I hope this isn't COVID-related.

We've made it to the Men's 100m final. Now that we're in the post-Usain Bolt era, it's wide open.   This is really hyped up, with the stadium darkened and a spotlight at the start.  Over in the field, a touching moment on the high jump, as an Italian and Qatarian (?) reached a point where they agreed to share the gold.

Over to Kornacki on the big board, breaking down the medal count so far. Prime Time wrapped up with an interview between Tirico and Caeleb Dressel.

Late night--all volleyball, all the time.  Yawn.  By the next morning, it was announced that Biles will perform on the balance beam.  I guess it's safer (except for the dismount). 

This afternoon, Lowe kicks things off with more Equestrian. How important is the rider vs. the horse, who actually does the work?  The older human competitor is 62, in his eighth games.  Then it's synchronized--sorry--artistic swimming. Lots of waterproof makeup involved. Canoe sprint is a lot quicker than the normal regatta races--look down at your phone and it's over.

During more beach volleyball, NBC broke in with a report--US women's soccer is out of the race for gold.  Commentators talked about the lack of "chemistry"--like it's a rom-com.  Then an interview with Krysta Palmer, who  won a bronze in diving.  She didn't start training for diving until age 20 (she's 29), after competing in trampoline and gymnastics. Speaking of diving, we're back to men's springboard preliminaries. Speaking of gymnastics, here's the men's rings and vault final.

Onto prime time--ugh, beach volleyball!  No amount of skimpy clothing will make this interesting. Then onto track heats, intro'd with a piece centered on Allyson Felix.

More to come.

QISE Review - Tokyo Edition - Day 10

Back to last night-- somehow, there's THREE semifinals for the Women's 100m Dash.  Maybe rename it Tri-Final?  Then final runs for swimming--I'm definitely done with that sport until 2024.  They made a big deal about Caeleb Dressel winning five golds in a single games.  While it is incredibly impressive, there are more swimming events than ever to compete in, and Phelps normalized the idea of hitting a lot of them.

As prime time ends, the announcement goes out that Biles will not compete on the floor.  Since that seems to be the safest event, I doubt she will do balance beam.

We got some shotput in late night--I wish they showed more of the field events on broadcast TV (I know, I can watch it on NBCQISE).  BMX finals followed (mute the audio and make up your own trick names!), and golf was jammed in to fill time.

And onto daytime. Cross-Country Equestrian? It looks like a supersized mini-golf course. We then got some fencing, which was far more interesting than the volleyball match that followed it.  Then tennis (I thought they had a separate channel for this). Then more beach volleyball, a rerun of last night's BMX, yet more golf, and a rerun of women's diving--and just like that, I fast forwarded over 4 hours.

NBC keeps showing the winning attempt (and only that attempt) of the field events. With nothing to compare it to, you have no real idea how far they jumped/threw something.  Meanwhile, they show endless track heats on broadcast.

Men's Gymnastics Individual competition was buried on Sunday late afternoon, I assume because very few US gymnasts are involved (of course, the ladies are in prime time tonight). Jimmy Roberts went back to the 1964 Tokyo games, and Billy Mills' historic 10,000m race, for his daily report.

Moving to prime time coverage (brought to you by VISA), with Tirico reporting from a Japanese street market. Guess he got bored of the dock. More track semis, then onto the women's individual gymnastics events. Cue the dramatic story lines. McKayla Skinner and her COVID scare, Jade Carey and her dad coaching her, the video check-in with the families (brought to you by Microsoft Teams--when you're contractually obligated not to use Zoom).

More beach volleyball? Ugh. Enough for one day--more tomorrow.