Who Is Lauren Jackson?

Now it is down to Australia-USA in the Finals of Women's Basketball in Athens. Five years ago, Lauren Jackson was regarded as the one that will be regarded as the best player in the world. Even better than Teresa Edwards, Lisa Leslie (she's just stupid overrated girl!) and Diana Taurasi (too much publicity does not make her the best player, lezzies!).

I heard about Lauren Jackson about five years ago as she completely dominated the whole continent down under. As a teenager, that is. She is gorgeous, blonde at 6'5 who can dribble very well, can pull a fadeaway shot, can drill a 3-pointer from anywhere. She is not skinny. She is lean player who can crash the boards when she wants to.

Lauren Jackson did not go to US schools to play its collegiate women's basketball, considered to be one of the most competitive fields for collegiate women's basketball in the world. Facing the USA team for the first time 4 years ago in Sydney, Lauren Jackson fared very well but her teammates did not. So the USA team won the gold medal.

Since then, Lauren Jackson opted to go straight to the WNBA and played for Seattle Storm for three seasons. Not even Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson or Yolanda Griffith can stop her as she averaged 20 points per game and 9 rebounds per game. She is only 23 years old.

Now Lauren Jackson is going to play the USA team in the finals. As much as I wanted the USA team to win, I suspect Lauren Jackson is going to dominate the USA and win the gold for the Aussies. They had no problem handling every opponent, no game was very close. They just beat Brazil to get in the finals, 88-75. Jackson had 26 points and 13 rebounds. She is ready for the USA team.


Lauren Jackson, never mind the odd uniforms -- it's the way Aussies do it.

Go Lauren! Go USA!

On other hand, I'm glad that Swoopes and Staley signed "3" correctly. Leslie needs to be slapped for signing the wrong one.


Swoopes said 3! Leslie said .... ? Staley said 3!

R-

The Calm Before The Storm

This month is very surreal. August is normally the hottest and humidest month of the year in Manhattan. But it is cool. I even had sex with someone else without getting too sticky. I even slept with a thick blanket. Something is up in the air.

Which brings me to mention this -- there was an episode of a fight between Dominique and Alexis on a nighttime soap opera TV show called Dynasty. It was reported that Joan Collins refused to participate in physical fights because of her age, so the producers decided to insert a stuntwoman, but forced Diahann Carroll (who played Dominique) to stand facing the camera while the back of Alexis' hair was only showed.

What happened is that Dominique slapped Alexis after she got offended by what Alexis said. Alexis retaliated by pushing her on the bed. Dominique fell on the bed, but pulled Alexis down as well -- then they went rumble onto the floor, picked up the lamp and tossed it towards Dominique (always missed, though!) and crashed on the wall, causing the large frame to crash on the floor as well. In the process of a struggle, they broke a vase then fell on a coffeetable, breaking it in two.

All in all, when it was done ... you could see the lingering effects of chaos in the room after a rumble between Dominique and Alexis. The bed damaged, the wall ripped, the frame broken, the vase gone, the lamp destroyed, the coffeetable damaged ...

I suspect that something will happen like this next week during the GOP National Convention here in Manhattan. Somebody needs to tell these freaks that they are NOT welcomed here in this town. Nobody wanted them here. Nobody liked them here. Nobody wanted to deal with the Republicans here in this town.

Such a drama. Can't wait, of course.

R-

Coach Brown, you are pitiful

With the USA Basketball Team up by 11 with 23 seconds left, USA Head Coach Larry Brown called a timeout. What was that for, Coach Brown? Was that one of your tactics to rub the salt in the Spaniards' pride, who went 5-0 before losing to USA, knocking them out of medal contention?

I was glad to know that the coach of Spanish National Team had some words for Coach Brown.

Coach Brown's comments regarding the timeout with 23 seconds left was lame. Coach Brown, you coached for many years -- and it is new to you? Please don't give me that excuse. You did this to rub the salt in their pride. Anyone who coaches in this sport for more than 20 years knew that routine -- it is to prolong the game in order to stroke their egos and to rub the salt on the losing team.

You are pitiful, Coach Brown.

R-

Here is an excerpt of what Coach Brown said:
Brown said: “Hopefully I’ll learn to handle these situations, which are new to me, a little bit better.

“It was like having an argument with my son. I tried to explain but he just wouldn’t listen. I called the time out and then saw the clock and tried to cancel it, but (the officials) wouldn’t let me. I tried to explain this to (Pesquera), that I meant no disrespect.”

A Brief Visit

Last night, a certain friend flew in from Louisiana and spent 11 hours with me before hopping on the Chinese bus service down to Washington. That girl sported a brand-new hairdo that surprised me. Tabitha looked gorgeous. No more curls, no more dye smats all over her hairdo.

Of course, we caught up with each other about everything else. We went to few bars just to sit and chat. It was nice to come in a bar with Tabitha who just turned 21 recently with *no* problems at all.

This morning, I bid her farewell as she rode the Chinese bus to the District, to resume her studies at Gallaudet.

Good to see you, Tabitha!

R-

Assortment of Subjects To Talk About

You know, some Russians whined that the gymnastics were already decided before they competed in which the hunky Aleksei Nemov (Remember the famous shirtless photo in Atlanta '96?) and the anorexic Khorkina complained to the press and federation about what happened with the gymnastics. Well, I should mention that what they sow, they repent. Remember the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City? It was found that a French Judge were pressured by the Russians to help them to win the gold medals over the ones who deserved the most -- the Canadians. So it makes sense this time to do this back to the Russians. The karma can be so cruel, Russians. Deal with it. Next time, don't start it. Oh, Khorkina, pop some depakote tablets.

To keep your mind light for the day? Read Dan Savage's column this week -- this is hugely hilarious. I thought I had it much worse. IN my case, my parents were pretty deadly blunt. My father did not like to talk about sex, but my mother was different. She slammed her hands on the table to get my attention. She said, "YOU KNOW YOUR PENIS??? YOU KNOW HOW TO GET A GIRL PREGNANT??? YOU PUT YOUR PENIS IN A WOMAN'S VAGINA -- NO NO, NO GIRL HAS PENIS! ONLY VAGINA! ONLY VAGINA!! YOU UNDERSTAND ME? WHEN YOU'RE 12 OR OVER, WHEN YOU PUSH YOUR PENIS IN A GIRL'S VAGINA, YOU CAN CAUSE HER PREGNANT. THAT IS WHY YOU CANNOT DO THIS! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT!! YOU WILL MAKE ME FURIOUS AND DISOWN YOU, YOU UNDERSTAND ME????"

But I care less. At that time, I knew I liked boys. I think the females were put on Earth by mistake (and still do, hee hee!).

But there are other funny stories. Masturbation stories. One time, a friend told me that we need to use something to jerk off. He suggested the Dial soap -- I did it -- when I spewed, I had to restrain myself from screaming in pain -- the soap went inside the hole and it fuckin' burned.

Later, my friend warned me not to overdo the lotion because it will make my dick ... soft and impotent! What am I supposed to do? Using my spit? That is a good idea. Not.

Ahh, there is famous tale that often happens at deaf schools. The joke goes, "My doctor said that if I jerk off all the time, the palm that I used will grow hair on it!" Often, we would look at each other's palms to make sure that we did not grow hair on it. It was a prank. Very good one. Remember, guys?

Teenagers.

R-

Internalized Homophobia?

I love Shane. He's intelligent and calm. When I am erratic, moody or prissy, it is always nice to talk with Shane even for few minutes. He has a blog of his own at www.happilystuckinithaca.com. However, he mentioned something on his blog earlier in the week which I brought it up -- he commented, "It is internalized homophobia, you have to route it out."

I was set back by what he said. The more I think about it, he is right. I have an internalized homophobia. You see, when I get sick, I immediately get worked up and wondered if it is the one I dread all along -- HIV/AIDS. I do not like it -- yes, I get tested routinely but it still makes me paranoid. You never know. And Shane said it is internalized homophobia.

You see, internalized homophobia occured when a person that gets the message that considered gay sex to be wrong. That gay sex is associated with HIV/AIDS. That gay sex is bad. More of when one grew up with the notion of the message -- it hindered a healthy relationship between this particular person with anyone else in particular. I grew up having to deal with my parents, misguided educators, misguided preachers and misguided conservatives who went out so hard to define what I feel is bad, is always bad.

So when I get sick, I get worked up, assuming that this is the one that I will get it. But the reality is that today, I still combat the internalized homophobia. It's all inside my mind and soul. Like Shane said, "You have to route it out," and I have to find a way or something to route it out. Any suggestions?

Oh, by the way, Shane, sorry about the bird thing. It happened to me when I was in San Francisco. God, I was horrified, mortified and embarrassed.

Last night, I saw a cute guy. He stared at me like a cat on a mouse. He introduced himself. I stared at him. He's Martin. From Johannesburg, South Africa. Has six abs. Asked him if he chose wrong person? He laughed and shook his head and pointed at my chest to confirm that it is me he is after.

We chatted. He's smart fella. A professor at UVa. Umm. Small world because I am quite fond of UVa. He got a solid body. He mentioned that he played rugby. Oooo. I mentioned that I got a soft body. He nodded and said, "That's why I... [pointed his finger at my chest]."

Ok, ok. I get it. He is young, but his eyes reminded me of Ed Harris. Hot. Very hot. He mentioned that he got out of a long-term relationship and realized that he does not believe in heteronormative relationship any longer.

Heteronormative? Oh, one that imitates heterosexual behaviors.

Whatever works for him. And me. Suffice to say, I had a good time with Martin. It is rare that I get to meet and chat with intelligent guy with common sense.

R-

4:45 AM EST

As bright moon shined in the middle of the night, I groggily woke up at 4:45 AM. Whoa, I fell asleep at 9:30 PM last night. Suddenly, I knew why I woke up at 4:45 AM, it is because my body was shrieking for a glass of water.

I pushed myself out of bed -- landed my feet on the floor in the darkness, searching for flip-flop shoes. Found it, and walked over to the fridge to pull out the large bottle of water and poured the water into a plastic cup. I quickly gulped down my throat. Again, I poured the cold water into the cup and drank it fast.

I headed back to the bed, I saw the bright moon on my right. I looked around the buildings that surrounds my bedroom on 6th floor. My eyes widened when I saw one particular window with all lights on. Four naked guys. Fucking each other. I blinked my eyes to make sure that I'm not crazy. No, I'm not crazy. They are over there. I watched for a minute or two -- they're all pretty bois. Not my type. Very ugly -- actually, I mistook them for women because of smooth bodies. But I realized that they probably shaved it -- absolutely gross.

I was too tired to videotape or jerk off -- so I just went back to bed. I dozed off until the sun replaced the moon in its place.

Ahh, welcome to New York.

R-