Favorite Thing #12: Michael Phelps

Picking an athlete as one of my favorite things probably seems weird to anyone who knows me, even remotely, because I am probably the least athletic person in the world. I regularly trip over my own feet, bang my shins and give myself concussions. As a kid, I was always the last person picked for any sport because I was likely to injure not only myself, but anyone around me. (Boy, I sound an awful lot like Bella. Unfortunately, I never had a hot shapeshifter/werewolf and an even hotter vampire fighting over me.) Back to the point - while I am a horrible athlete, the one thing I was good at growing up was swimming. I spent most of my childhood in the water and took competitive swim for 8 years. I never mastered the butterfly (I looked like a fish flopping out of water) because it involved way too much coordination, but I was always one of the best at the breast stroke and back stroke. If my school had a swim team and if I wasn't as lazy as I am, I could have been pretty good. I have a great deal of respect and awe for Olympic swimmers, especially Michael Phelps.

His record breaking ability is amazing.
I remember 2000 when he made the US Olympic team at the age of 15 for the 200m fly and came in 5th overall, which is a huge accomplishment for anyone, let alone a kid who had only been swimming 8 years compared to the decades some of his competitors swam. Just 5 months later, he became the youngest swimmer ever to hold a world record, again in his specialty the 200m fly.

Fast forward to 2004 and his 6 gold medals and 2 bronze which tied him for the most Olympic medals of one type in one Olympics. He raced in 8 events, and was on track to match Mark Spitz's record of 7 gold medals in one Olympics when he was beaten by two other swimming greats, Ian Thorpe (the Thorpedo) and Pieter Van Den Hoogenband. Then the 4*100 freestyle team took bronze and the 4*100 medley team was disqualified due to a false start.

Fast forward again to 2008 where he becomes the greatest Olympic Athlete ever by holding 11 Gold medals (with 3 races still to go). He is once again on track to beat Spitz's record of 7 Golds in one game.

He is built for swimming
Like most good swimmers, he is tall (6'7") but what is even more impressive is that his arm reach is three inches longer than his height, which helps him pull through the water and also gives him the advantage of being able to touch the wall that much sooner. It also helps that his size 14 feet act as flippers...


I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in his remaining three events (100m fly, 200m IM, and 4*100 medley) Hopefully he can fend of his main competition (Ian Crocker, Ryan Lochte, and the Australian team) and get the 8 golds he needs to beat out Spitz's record.

Favorite Thing #9: Kevin M. Doyle

I was sitting at work today, trying to come up with something to write about, when I had a brilliant idea: Doyle! Doyle is my BFF at work and if he did NOT work at Pfizer, I would probably have to quit. Since I have OCD and LOVE making lists, and also since I LOVE the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, I thought I would instead make a list of 10 things I love about Doyle (in no particular order):

10: He plays retarded games at Six Flags to win the world's most hideous dog just so I can give it to Roo and laugh when it is bigger than her.

9: He is the only guy I know who COMPLAINS about being manhandled by three girls.

8: He is even less photogenic than me.

7: He does Civil War re-enactment and gets old-time photos taken which he then gives to me and Katie which enables us to make the best buttons ever!

6: As previously mentioned in my Ewan McGregor entry, he totally rocks the tuxedo!

5: He takes me to Taco Bell.

4: He supports my Edward Cullen obsession by getting me a t-shirt that says "Edward Cullen, breaking hearts since 1918" for my birthday

3: He doesn't mind when I pass out at the beach for over an hour.


2: He makes Seersucker Suits and boater hats cool again (see below)

1: He throws the greatest theme parties ever!

Favorite Thing #8: Ewan McGregor

Have you ever seen anyone as handsome in a tux before (besides Doyle?)

Oddly enough, I started this blog at work and then went home to watch Moulin Rouge! with the Trifecta....

My obsession with Ewan McGregor began in high school when a friend of mine and I watched Trainspotting. The movie itself was very well written and different from anything I had ever seen. Here was this amazingly gorgeous guy with an accent who was actually a really good actor. (And as an added bonus, this movie allowed me to discover that Ewan has absolutely no problems with nudity). Fast forward a few months, and I see on TV a preview for Emma. As I am a huge Gwyneth Paltrow fan (Sliding Doors anyone?) and an even bigger fan of Jane Austen, I immediately knew I HAD to see this movie. As I am sitting in the Niantic cinema back in the day when it cost $1.75 for a matinee, watching my movie, I gasp as who should be playing the character we all love to hate, Frank Churchill, but the guy I had seen in Trainspotting a few months before. It was at this point that my true obsession began. I had to see everything he had been in, so I rented The Pillow Book, and Nightwatch. I cursed the mainstream movie theaters in my area for not playing Brassed Off or Shallow Grave, but years later found them on Netflix. THEN, Ewan hit mainstream with A Life Less Ordinary. This movie was absolutely horrible, and not just because Ewan had no sexy accent. Cameron Diaz was abysmal and the story was lame. BUT, it gave us obsessed fans the first glimpse into Ewan's fantastic singing voice that would win him the adoration of many, many women in Moulin Rouge years later. He starred in a few other smaller movies that got critical acclaim but not many viewers (Little Voice and Velvet Goldmine where he dazzles us with his voice, and lack of clothes in the case of Velvet Goldmine). While I maintain the fact that he sold out to take the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the three lame Star Wars prequels, he managed to nail the mannerisms and speech pattern of the original Obi-Wan perfectly. (Plus, how cool is it that his Uncle was Wedge Antilles in Empire Strikes Back). Also, due to this movie, there was a huge variety of merchandise that you could purchase. The year Episode I came out, I had a Ewan McGregor birthday party complete with plates, party hats, etc, a Ewan slap bracelet that I wore every day and even an air freshener . The thing I love about him is that he is able to take absolute cheese and make it good (see also: Down with Love). I would see anything he is in, just on the basis that he will at least put in a stellar performance. Rather than re-count every movie he has been in (and I have seen 95% of them), I figured I would list my top five favorite films based on his performance. If you haven't seen them, shame on you! You should immediately run out and rent them (or ask, as I probably own half of them).

5. Down With Love - While I do agree that this movie was pure cheese wiz, McGregor gives a perfect performance as Catcher Block, (ladies man, man's man, man about town). He oozes charm and sexiness in the roll. While it may not be the most though provoking movie in the world, it is definitely entertaining and features great music (including a song sung by Ewan and the horribly annoying Renee Zellweger).

4. Big Fish - This whole movie is amazing. It centers around a son trying to put together the stories his father told of his life and figure out what was real and what was a fictional story.

3. Velvet Goldmine - Unofficially based on the relationship between Iggy Pop and David Bowie, McGregor plays the fictional representation of Iggy Pop It also features the incredibly handsome talent of Johnathan Rhys-Meyers as the David Bowie character along with Batman himself, Christian Bale and the talented Toni Collette (who also stared with Ewan in Emma). This film has awesome music, with Rhys-Meyers and McGregor singing their own songs, and even more awesome costumes.

2. Trainspotting - the movie that started it all. It's kind of disturbing though, so don't watch it if you have issues with graphic drug use, hallucinations of babies crawling on the celling or swimming in toilet.

1. Moulin Rouge - singing, dancing and sexy accents. What more could you want?? Plus, everytime he cries when Satine dies, it gets me.

Runners up would have to include Brassed Off, Nora, and Young Adam.