Virtual Postcard from Florida...(even though I'm not really there)

Though we are not in Florida, and certainly not at the 2012 Republican Convention in Tampa, which is 38 miles from Weekie Wachee where these real-life mermaids are from. Weekie Wachee Springs, which I visited as a teenager in 1984, was in danger of being closed, but it has become a state park in recent years.

I am cutting this tonight to hopefully watch some of Current-TV's coverage of the GOP convention with Cenk Uyugr, a fellow progressive Turkish-American, and former vice president Al Gore.

Michael Moore delivered a shocker today as the very left-of-century documentary filmmaker predicted that his fellow Michigan native Mitt Romney would win the election; hmmmmmmmmmm........At least, Moore is not in my home state of Virginia as we desperately need Democratic candidate and former Tim Kaine to win that now vacant U.S. Senate. I dislike his opponent so much that I refuse to mention him by name:)


We were actually hoping to see the Black Mormon Republican congressional candidate Mia Love, who is currently, the mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, speak, as she seems to be quite a novelty on the political scene, but we missed it. Though the likes of Bill O have made it seem like newspaper aside from "The Wall Street Journal" and "The Washington Times" are as far to the left as Radio Havana, the truth is that most newspapers in Utah appear to be giving Love very subjective love indeed.

Lastly, we heard today that Aly Raisman, the recent three-time medal winning Olympic gymnast, received an unwanted marriage proposal from some autograph seeker she didn't know; Raisman is only 18 years old!

And, finally we want to thank her teammate Gabby Douglas, who won all-around gold in London, and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn)., who will hopefully make Sean Hannity's head blow up live on Fox News one day, as they are now both following me on Twitter... so can you at:

http://www.twitter.com/Tilly70

http://www.visitflorida.com

http://www.weekiewachee.com

 http://www.current.com

Our Favorite Gymnasts_ Jordyn, Beth, Catalina, et al

Yes, Bob Costas fatigue has set in here at the offices of "The Daily Vampire" in Hartford, Connecticut*, USA (*-not the American city we're actually blogging from), but rather than watching the closing ceremonies with George Michael and pop/rock stars, we thought we'd blog about some of our favourite** gymnasts at the 2012 London Olympics (**-British spelling):

1) Jordyn Wieber, 17, USA, (pictured center) London: Won gold in team competition. Missed out on all-around due to controversial rule that only allows two gymnasts per country in the finals. Finished seventh seventh in the floor final with a 14.500 score. In total, Wieber has 14 career medals, 11 of which are gold.

2) Beth Tweedle, 27, Great Britain/England, London: To the delight of the home crowd, Tweedle won individual bronze on uneven bars, which is considered to be her specialty. Aliya Mustafina (Russia) and He Kexin (China) won gold and silver respectively on the apparatus. Prior to the 2012 Olympics, Tweedle had won three golds at individual events at two separate world championships. In 2006, she was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

3) Catalina Ponor, 24, Romania, (pictured below): London: Won team bronze and silver on floor at the Olympics, but she was denied another bronze when judges overturned an earlier decision that had her place third ahead of American gymnast Aly Raisman, who ended up with the bronze for the balance beam instead. Prior to London: Ponor arrived at the Olympics as one of the most-decorated gymnast in competition. She helped Romania win team gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where she won a total of five medals, three of them gold. Ponor retired in 2007, but she came back in 2011. She has reportedly told various media outlets that she will retire for a second time after London.

4) Victoria Komova, 17, Russia. London: Komova won all-around and team silver, but she told the press she was very discouraged with her Olympic experience because mistakes in the team and all-around cost her and her teammates potential gold. Prior to London: Komova won gold on bars and silver in all-around at the 2011 Tokyo World Championships.

5) Gabby Douglas, 16, USA. London: Douglas, who is known as the Flying Squirrel in reference to Rocky the Flying Squirrel who was Bullwinkle the Moose's sidekick in a 1960s American cartoon, won both team and all-around gold at the Olympics. She is on the cover of the current issue of "People" magazine, and she will be on Corn Flakes boxes this fall.

6) Brittany Rogers, 19, Canada. London: Rogers helped Team Canada finish fifth, the country's all-time highest result in team competition. Rogers scored a 14.666 on vault and 14.500 on balance beam; she finished eighth on the beam in event competition. After London: Rogers will compete for the University of Georgia, a traditional college powerhouse which has won 10 NCAA titles. Ironically, an American athlete with her name played softball several years ago for the University of Alabama, which is UGA's main rival in gymnastics.

http://www.jordynwieber.com

http://www.bethtweedle.com

http://www.romanian-gymnastics.com

http://www.victoriakomova.com.ru/english

http://www.rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.com

http://www.gabrielledouglas.com

http://www.gymcan.org

http://www.georgiadogs.com

Olympic Stories- Beth Tweedle of Great Britain

The age of 27 is a prime age for many athletes, including those who play basketball, baseball or soccer. But, that is not the case for women's gymnastics as American gymnast Alicia Sacramone, 24, and Nastia Liukin, 22, are likely finished with the sport after not qualifying for the U.S.A women's gymnastics team, which won gold at 2012 London Olympics.

Enter Beth Tweedle. The British/English gymnast reportedly wanted to hang in to compete at the Olympics in her home country. Tweedle is a three-time world champion on bars and the 2009 world champion on floor exercise. She is the most recognized British gymnast in her history, and one of the most famous female athletes in the entire United Kingdom.

Yesterday, NBC, which is televising the Olympics in the United States, focused solely on Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman, the two Americans vying for gold, which Douglas received as well as their two Russian competitors Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina, who won silver and bronze respectively.

NBC did not even show one event with Tweedle, who finished an impressive sixth in the all-around competition with a 170.495.

On Monday, Tweedle seemingly has a respectable shot at winning an individual apparatus medal on the bars, her specialty. And, according "The Daily Mail," an English newspaper, gymnastics icon Olga Korbut thinks Tweedle has an outstanding shot at winning gold on bars.

http://www.bethtweedle.com

Sports Desk- Former UCLA Gymnast is Alternate for Team USA

On Sunday, in San Jose, Calif., the United States Olympic women's gymnastics team was formally decided after the result of team trials. Among the pleasant surprises of the night was that former UCLA gymnast Anna Li, 23, (pictured top) the daughter of Chinese Olympic gymnasts from Las Vegas, qualified as an alternate to the team.

Li was a stand-out at UCLA, where she helped the Bruins win a NCAA title in 2010.

The other alternates are Sarah Finnegan and Elizabeth Price.

Since the Magnificent Seven, which included Dominque Dawes won the team gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, women's gymnastics now apparently only consists of five gymnasts.

Among those who are on the scheduled competing team are McKayla Maroney (pictured), Jordyn Wieber,  Gabby Douglas, Kyla Ross and  Alexandra Raisman, who at 18 is the oldest of the five regular team gymnasts.

Douglas, 16, from Virginia Beach, Va., edged out Wieber, who is considered to be America's strongest gymnast.

There was some controversy as some analysts believe Price, who came in fourth at the trials, should have been on the main team instead of Ross, who is strong on bars and beam.

Alas, the night of competition in San Jose brought an end to two great gymnastics careers as both Alicia Sacramone, 24, the oldest competitor who was also the captain of the 2008 Olympic team and a stand-out gymnast at Brown University, and Nastia Liukin, 22, the 2008 Olympic all-around champion failed to qualify for the team.

www.usagym.com

www.uclabruins.com