Fine Tuning Your Olympic Perspective

A few days ago I wrote a post about seeing the Olympics from a global perspective. Then NBC shot me a note saying they'd like to give you a more local viewpoint -- just link to their page and enter your zip code.

Follow the 1-2-3 directions, type in your zip code and NBCOlympics.com will offer live video from the Olympics, their Olympic Zone (stories, video and slideshows from your hometown) and comprehensive TV and online Olympic Listings.

Check it out here. An embeddable TV & Online listings widget will be available later this week – which will aggregate all the latest information up-to-the-minute. Check here to grab it when it goes live.

Countdown to the Olympics: A New Perspective

Sure everyone is going to watch the Olympics but did you ever want to see the same event from a completely different point of view? This summer you can follow the games through the eyes of Americans, Australians, the British, the Canadians and the Chinese by clicking on the links below:

From the American perspective (NBC)

From the Australian perspective (Austrialian Broadcasting Company)

Olympic news from the British perspective (the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC)

The Canadian perspective (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC)

From the Chinese perspective (China Central Television, CCTV)

Countdown to the Olympics: "China Road"

How much do you really know about China? For most of us the world's largest country can be summed up with a few basic concepts: Communism, product recalls, and ancient Chinese secrets. In reality, China is an enormous place with a surprisingly wide variety of ethnic groups, beliefs, hopes and traditions.

In China Road, NPR's Rob Gifford travels the length of China's Route 312 -- their equivalent of our Route 66 -- from it's eastern origin in Shanghai to it's western end on the Kazakhstan border. In the course of covering 4,825 Kilometers (2,998 miles), Gifford introduces us to China's rich history, culture, and people. Interviewing everyone he meets (truck drivers, talk show hosts, prostitutes, Amway salesmen), he helps the reader build a new perspective into the country's past, present and future. I guarantee that after travelling with Rob, you'll never think of China the same way.

Countdown to the Olympics: Scenes from Beijing

In honor of the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing, I've added a new feature to this page. Check over there to the right, now up a little bit and you'll see pictures of Beijing. My sister and I spent two weeks in the Chinese capital and I have to give her credit for all the good shots (that would be about 90% of what you're seeing). As an interesting note, we didn't have bad weather but we did encounter a lot of pollution. All those pictures of very grey days are really sunny days mixed with car exhaust, construction dust and a lot of superfine debris blowing in from the Gobi Desert.

By the way, the picture in this post shows balloon versions of the Olympic mascots on display in Tian'anmen Square. If you'd like to see a larger (easier to see) version of the slide show, double click on any image and you'll be transported to my Beijing album on Picasa or click here.