Well, it's raining here today. Pretty hard, which makes it difficult to get outside and explore the city while I wait for Ian Crocker to make his Olympic debut tonight (this morning, your time) in the 100 butterfly prelims.

He's scheduled to hit the water at about 8:15 p.m., or a.m., depending on where you are. (And I'm not sure where I am anymore!)

So I thought you'd like to know, and see, what the Main Press Center, where I spend a good chunk of time, is like.

First off, you have to get to the center by shuttlebus from your hotel. Now, you have to pass through security in the hotel lobby (going through a scanner and all) and then wait in the lobby until the bus arrives.

Then you get on the bus, which passes through the security fence, and into the MPC. Thus, you only go through security once, and you're clear. The entire Olympic complex is surrounded by a white metal wire fence. Once you clear security, you can go anywhere within the fence.

Here's what the media workroom looks like, kinda. It's really much larger than you can see. This photo represents about one-tenth of the space it takes. Yes, that's a big screen TV in the back.

Now, if you're off some place and something happens somewhere else that you need to cover, you can get your results here. These rows of bins curl around the room, holding results and news from all 302 events.

The MPC has a vast cafeteria, serving foods from around the world. You can get Mediterranean, Asian, Western or International, which is a mix of them all. The food is actually pretty good. I'm trying different things. I had lamb for the first time the other day. Not sure I'll have it again but . . . it was better than the chicken stew I had. I'm not sure exactly what kind of chicken it was.

Or you can go here, as many media types do:

The MPC is open 24 hours and some folks seem to literally spend all their time here. And I mean all:

The organizers have tried to make it friendly. So they've decorated the MPC with some traditional Chinese flavor.

This is a mural I particularly like, from the Qing Dynasty of the Potala Palace of Lhasas, Tibet, showing people swimming, probably because of its juxtaposition to the mural of the Olympic swimmer.

I like this one of the Great Wall, especially since I'll be going there next Monday.

And these birds "fly'' over you as you take the escalator to the second of three levels:

And finally, I find this sign very intriguing:

I mean, obviously they don't want you to open the door. But if you do, you're supposed to call that number. To say what? I ignored the rule? Heck, if I opened it, I'd be running.

And now I have to be off.

Have a nice one.

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