I Could Totally Do That

Watching the Brazilian women's volleyball team beat up on Russia this morning was a great way to start the day, and this video of an easy point they scored in 2006 raised a bunch of questions in my mind:
It's not that she hit the net. It was nowhere near the net. She hit the pole that holds the net.
How unskilled do you have to be not to make the Uruguayan team? Is volleyball like jury duty there? Maybe they just shouldn't field a national team if they're not confident about their talent pool.
Ms. Galusso certainly doesn't seem like she's going to be jumping up and blocking shots at the net. Shouldn't she concentrate on her killer serve? What is her forte?
Maybe she's more of a beach volleyball player and serving on a floor threw her.
I couldn't tell you word for word, but I have a pretty good idea what the commentators were saying.
Why did the Brazilians congratulate each other after such a gimme? Is that nicer than just standing there and laughing?
The Brazilian lady preparing to serve next is #13 Sheilla Tavares de Castro and I'm almost positive her serve cleared the net. She's bringing the hurt for Brazil right now in Beijing. I'll be tuning in.



Update 8/21/08: I saw gold medal-winning beach volleyballer Kerri Walsh hit the net on a serve against Brazil, so I guess it happens. Even the aforementioned Sheilla Castro hit the net with a weak serve in the 3rd set of Brazil's match against Italy. But it didn't hit the pole holding the net! Plus, Sheilla had 14 points in that match, which she ended with a rather violent spike. If anybody can direct me to Ms. Galusso's highlight reel I'll apologize.

Fourth of July - Brit Bashing Day?

Last month a Peace Corps friend of mine joked that her British husband would be spending the Fourth of July drinking gin and tonics and hiding from the inevitable anti-British backlash one associates with the holiday. It inspired me to write a sketch about an otherwise sensible Brit describing his misconceptions about how we Yanks celebrate our Independence Day. It's called The Fourth of July and I posted it on the sketches page at my site.

The Dress Code Sketch

I've posted a sketch entitled The Dress Code on my site at http://www.farrellpolymath.com/sketches.htm. I post sketches occasionally to www.zhura.com so people can view them, rate them and leave comments. That's where the folks at the Improv Asylum in Boston saw The Ex-Tutor and decided to perform it. I have a few more in the works, so stay tuned!