Odds and ends

A lot of sort-of-weird stuff happened today. I wanted to write something about it all, but it just wouldn't coalesce. Seems to be a theme these days. They say a change of scenery is always good for the creativity. Maybe that will be so when I settle into my own living space, get my cameras back, and establish a regular routine. For now, all is jumbled.

In no particular order:

1. A man whose obituary I wrote today was married on my birthday, about 40 years before I existed. With so many dates passing in front of me every day, the chances of such a coincidence were hardly slim, although that makes it no less disconcerting.

2. Later, on the scanner I heard: "...an animal-control call at ... (I zoned out) ... The animal is lying in the front yard, not moving. Complaintant isn't sure what it is. Describes it to KPD as looking like a monkey with a beak."

I snicker, there's more unrelated chatter on the channel.

Then: "(Some number), do you copy or have you stopped laughing yet?"

3. Bored at work, I read the 23-year-old British journalist's own account of his abduction and the mock executions his captors subjected him to. I felt a twinge of shame when I realized that he was in Iraq and I was chasing brush fires.

Then, a few paragraphs later, he writes that he had been determined to be a journalist even as a child, "but the prospect of covering stories about golden weddings and missing kittens on a local newspaper did not really appeal."

Ouch.

4. I just saw a Bush campaign ad that talked about nothing but the day of September 11th. The closing message left lingering on the screen: "George W. Bush: Moving America Forward." What the fuck?

5. Jim Caple just dropped Anne Coulter's name in a column about USA basketball. Weird.

6. Manu Ginobili brought the lasagna for Argentina and hit a buzzer-beater. Sweet. When I was in S.A. I saw this awesome glossy insert from the paper taped on a restaurant wall. It had a three-picture montage of Ginobes and said in big bold letters, "Manu, Here to Stay!"

7. Finally, I've never understood all the people who bitch and moan and deride the Olympics. Whatever they may not be, they're a hell of a lot of fun, and I don't see a damn thing wrong with that.

Where else do you get to see so many people who passionately care about what they do putting their heart and soul into it? Where else do you get stories like the Iraqi soccer team improbably winning two games to make the quarterfinals.

I saw a replay of their first goal in this last game. It was something else. Shot, bouncing rebound, swivel-kick volley from 18 yards out, side of the net. Incredible. I let out an "Oh!" Then I read this:

Within moments, a couple of Iraqi fans jumped out of the crowd to join the celebration. About two dozen others followed, running around the field. Police and security personnel took about three minutes to clear the field of fans and debris.

Shortly after the ensuing kickoff, Mohammed took the ball down the left side and crossed it to Mahdi Karim, who scored on a header -- prompting several fans to storm the field again.

One jumped around Costa Rica's goal and tossed an Iraqi flag into the net. Another ran to midfield and hugged an Iraqi player. After another short delay, the game resumed.

Iraqi Olympic Committee president Ahmed Al Samarri did not approve of the disruptions, but he understood them.

"They were very excited," he said. "Especially for the Iraqi people, they miss such happiness."

The men's quarterfinal is Saturday the 21st. I wish I had a TiVo to set.