Michael Phelps's last Olympic Games

found pic @tippett.org

Michael Phelps is an American swimmer who has won 16 Olympic medals. He was born June 30, 1985 in Maryland to a mother who is a middle school principal and a father who almost made a professional football team. Phelps won six gold and two bronze medals at the Olympics held in Athens in 2004, plus eight gold medals in Beijing in 2008. He holds the record for the most gold medals won in a single Olympic year, breaking the record of American swimmer Mark Spitz who won seven gold medals in Munich in 1972. His total record is second only to Soviet gymnast Larissa Lalynina who won 18 medals over three Olympics, including nine gold ones. Phelps has won many awards including World Swimmer of the Year six times and American Swimmer of the Year Award eight times. He has taken part in many international competitions and has won 59 medals from these competitions. Of these, 50 were gold, seven silver, and two bronze. In addition, Michael Phelps received the Sportsman of the Year Award from Sports Illustrated magazine. Phelps heads the Michael Phelps Foundation which was established to promote healthy lifestyles and the sport of swimming. He is regularly tested for drugs since he is a member of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and their “Project Believe” program. Testing is to ensure that his body is free from performance-enhancing drugs. During the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Phelps was suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs because of his superior performance in the competitions, but he tested negative nine times.

In  Michael Phelps Fansite (abridged)

                                                                      A cartoon by Dave Granlund

According to ESPN, Michael Phelps won't equal the record eight gold he won four years ago, in Beijing, as he dropped the 200 free. In addition to that, Phelps confirmed that he will retire after his last swim in London. 'I won't be coming back,' he said. 'Put it on record.' Read more... As a Michael Phelps's fan I can only hope for a dazzling performance one more time, before his retirement!

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The Brits vs the Yankees

The Brits vs The Yankees

In spite of speaking the same language, there's an ongoing rivalry between the two nationalities, which has its roots in the timeline of History. I found a very interesting text in the Urban Dictionary that reports what's going on between the Brits and the Yankees. By the way, the Brits, also referred to as the British, Britons, or informally as Brits or Britishers, are citizens or natives of the United Kingdom; whereas the term Yankee, sometimes shortened to Yank, has several interrelated meanings, referring to people from the United States. I must add that outside the United States, Yankee is slang for anyone from the United States. The truncated form 'Yank' is especially popular among Britons, and may sometimes be considered offensive or disapproving.

Alright people. I am getting sick and tired of this whole 'England vs America' thing. The English need to stop insulting Americans. And Americans need to stop insulting the English.

1. England is not full of gay, posh, snobby, tea-drinking people with awful teeth. Many of us are perfectly normal. And not all Americans are fat, mcdonalds guzzling, greedy, lazy slobs.

2. If you try, you CAN get along. I'm English, my boyfriend is American, and I love him a lot.

3. Don't have a go at each other because of wars, sports or anything like that. America beat England, England beat America. You're supposed to be allies?

4. Stop calling me 'British, European or Eastern' And I'll stop calling you a 'Yank.' England, is not Britain. Britain consists of Northern Ireland (not the Republic), Wales, Scotland and England. I am British, but I am not technically from Britain, I am from England.

5. I may sound like I'm bashing America here. But I'm not. Please, please, please. Don't correct me when I spell color 'colour', don't tell me 'It's mom, not mum' Don't tell me that it's 'Soccer, not football.' And don't, don't, don't tell me 'You have a weird accent.' Because you are speaking ENGLISH, folks, and I'm afraid you have a much stranger accent to me. Although many English accents are strange, most of ours are normal enough. (...) Read more @England vs America

A cartoon by Andy Davey

I couldn't finish this post without publishing the video 'Englishman in New York'. This is a song by Sting, from his 1987 album 'Nothing Like the Sun'. The 'Englishman' in question is the famous eccentric and gay icon Quentin Crisp. Sting wrote the song not long after Crisp moved from London to an apartment in New York's Bowery. Crisp had remarked jokingly to the musician '...that he looked forward to receiving his naturalization papers so that he could commit a crime and not be deported.' The song illustrates many of the contrasts between the British and the American: 'Ooh, I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien, I'm an Englishman in New York. You drink coffee, I take tea, my dear...'

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