Well, the Closing Ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympics didn't disappoint anyone.

Spectacular, stunning, exhilerating.

Anna Goodale, the gold medal-winning rower from Camden, said, simply, "All I know is that it was absolutely spectacular.''

Now I don't want to give away too much, so I won't say too much beyond showing you some photos.

But things you should know:

Yes David Beckham is/was there (he was also at the U.S. men's gold medal basketball victory earlier, drawing huge cheers when his face showed up on the scoreboard). I guess you could say we were hanging out together in Beijing.

So is/was Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. And British pop star Leona Lewis. What a duet!

And a double-decker bus.

And a human tower.

And upside-down drummers.

Got your interest?

Well, then, here are some photos:

Security was tight, starting two blocks away. And these guards were ever-vigilant:

Maybe I just miss home too much. But as I was walking, I looked down and, boy, does this stone on the ramp leading to the stadium look like Maine or what?

You know me with mascots. Here's Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini:

We started with a bang. Fireworks, what else?

Yes, those drummers are suspended, some upside-down, over more drummers:

The flags of over 200 nations circle the platform in the middle of the stadium:

Then the athletes came out:

London made its appearance with this double-decker bus, a common site on its streets. Wait till you see what it turns into and who comes out:

Yep, him. Becks, I call him. You know him as soccer great David Beckham. This is as close as I got to him, though.

At 9:25 p.m. Beijing time, the Olympic flame went out:

This tower is people, acrobats, wonderful to watch:

From the tower, this ribbon rose into the night:

And the night ended with more fireworks:

That's it folks. Hope you enjoy watching the Closing Ceremonies. And I hope you enjoyed my words and photos from the other side of the globe.

Next time I talk to you, I'll be back in Maine.

Zai jian.

That's good-bye in Chinese.

Well, counting down the hours until I return home to Maine. Never thought I'd be looking forward to a 14-hour flight, but I am.

Not that this hasn't been grand. But it is time to go home.

I'll catch you up on a few things.

My German buddy, Wolfgang, from Dresden, flew out Sunday morning. I met him Saturday afternoon in the cafeteria at lunch (I had the roast Peking duck, very interesting) and we exchanged addresses and hopes to see each other again. Then we shook hands, hugged and he left.

Apparently, a lot of foreign journalists left Sunday morning, before the upcoming Closing Ceremonies. Not sure why.

My flight is Monday afternoon. And I've been told to get to the airport at least five hours ahead of time, it will be that chaotic.

When I get home, there are a few things I need: a cold glass of milk, a cheeseburger on the grill and a hot fudge sundae (the ice cream here is like thick Cool Whip).

Today, Sunday, I went to the men's basketball gold medal game. What an atmosphere. The crowd was electric, the play was fast and furious. Very physical. The U.S. built the lead, Spain cut it to two midway through the fourth, then the U.S. pulled away, 118-107. The stars # Kobe, LeBron and DWade # were too much down the stretch.

I'm heading over to National Stadium for the Closing Ceremonies. I'm sure they'll close these Olympics in style.

Later.

OK, some business first: the men's mountain bike finals, featuring Maine's own Adam Craig, have been moved to 3:30 a.m. (East Coast time) from 3 a.m.

Now, here's a shout-out of congratulations to my son, Alex, who's going to be a freshman at Thornton Academy this year. Alex made the TA junior varsity golf team. He's been working hard this summer trying to improve his golf game. This is my handshake and hug with him.

And kudos to his classmates, Dylan Dunbar, Joe Ferrante, Connor Shaw, Sean Doran and Mike Reynolds, who also made it.

I'm sitting in the stands at Wukesong Arena, waiting for the men's basketball semifinal against Argentina to begin.

Spain beat Lithuania in the first semi to advance to Sunday's finals.

It's very interesting how the U.S. has become adopted by the Chinese fans. They came onto the court to a rousing cheer and every warm-up dunk was greeted with oohs and aahs.

And Kobe Bryant, for some reason, still gets the biggest cheers. Huge cheers. He's a rock star here.

When I get back to my hotel room after the game, I'll try to put some videos up on my blog. I attempted earlier in the day, but had some trouble.

Later.

Well, I met Adam Craig, the mountain biker from Exeter today, and was almost stranded at the Laoshan Mountain course.

Let's backtrack a little.

The rains came here early Thursday morning, drenching, purifying rains that actually eliminated the odor that hangs in the air almost every day.

The U.S. Mountain Bike Team had scheduled a press conference from 11 a.m. to noon, following their training session on Laoshan Mountain (right, it's a big hill, that's all, with a great view of the city), but the rains changed that.

Instead, I got an email at 8:38 a.m. - while I was in the shower - that the press conference had been moved to 10 a.m. Now that not might seem a big deal to you, but when you're at the mercy of shuttlebus service to and fro everywhere, it's a big deal.

Scrambling to get there, I caught the 10 a.m. shuttle, which would get me there at 10:45. On the bus, I got a call from Andrea Smith, the U.S. PR person handling the cyclists, telling me not to hurry, that Craig was on a training run.

Good, I thought. So I took out the Pistol Pete Maravich biography I'm now reading # Pistol, by Mark Kriegel, highly recommended # and knocked off a couple of chapters.

Little did I know that, because the BMX finals had been postponed because of the rain, I was taking the last bus out to Laoshan for the day. NO ONE SAID ANYTHING!

So I get there, do my thing, interview several folks, snap some photos (not very good, it was raining really hard) but here they are:

Craig stopping to talk …

Craig completing a run …

And then I head back to the shuttle bus stop. And wait.

Fifteen minutes later, I'm joined by another writer. While we wait, a young Chinese girl comes up to me and presents me with a pink Chinese knot, which is for good luck (and which now dangles from my credentials). And though we don't speak the same language, we both know something is amiss when, 20 minutes later, no bus has arrived.

All week, the Chinese have operated their shuttle bus service to the second. So he went off looking for another bus and I went into the media center.

They found someone who speaks English and he took me outside and said, "There is no race today, so there is no bus.''

"So,'' I say, trying not to become upset, "how do you suggest I return to the MPC?''

"Taxi,'' he says, "or the subway.''

So we look at the subway map # Beijing's subway is reknown for its speed and service # and no one can figure out how to get to the MPC.

The nearest taxi cab stand is about a 20 to 30-minute walk. In the rain.

So I call Andrea to see if there's another shuttle bus at her building, which would go to the Athletes Village. I could hook up a ride there.

She isn't sure. She's stranded too. So I start back when I notice an Anglo-looking man getting behind the wheel of a car.

"Are you going to the MPC?'' I ask.

"IBC,'' he says in a French accent.

"Close enough,'' I say, knowing the buildings are neighbors. "May I hitch a ride?''

"Sure.''

"Merci, merci, merci.''

So Eric, that's his name, is a television technician who has been setting up the cameras and microphones for French TV all morning.

He drives like the Chinese, weaving in and out of lanes, running red lights, laughing (quite madly some times). He drives one-handed while smoking, answering his phone. Sometimes he says, "Drive like Chinese,'' as he cuts people off. Other times he says, "Drive like French,'' when he pretends to not know the traffic rules.

But you know what? I didn't care.

I was wet # here it is four hours later and my shoes and socks are still soaked # and I was stranded.

Eric, wherever you are, you are the man. You got me back here!

Now it's off to cover the U.S. softball team in the gold medal game vs. Japan.

Today (Wednesday) I went to the Forbidden City. And they let me in.

I'm not going to go into much detail of my excursion, accompanied by my German buddy Wolfgang Dreyer of Dresden. You can read about it in the Press Herald.

Instead, I'll give you photos. (I did take some videos, but they don't really capture the enormity of the Forbidden City so unless there's a public outcry to see them, I will spare you)

Much like going to the Great Wall, walking through the Forbidden City is a spiritual experience. You are walking through courtyards and on steps that were once walked upon by 24 Emperors of China.

You are touching some of the very statues and doors that they touched. These 980 surviving buildings were constructed between 1406-1420. America had not even been discovered by Christopher Columbus yet!

We don't have this kind of history, which is why it was important to see it and feel it.

Like the Great Wall, it is something I will never forget.

Before I give you the photos, I must tell you about the taxi ride we took over. Drivers in Beijing don't follow rules. They swerve in and out of lanes, they ignore traffic lights often.

(Yet, until today, on the way back, we hadn't seen an accident)

Anyway, we took a cab from the Main Press Center to the Forbidden City. He was a cool driver, considering that he was cutting in and out. Traffic was heavy and then other drivers started cutting us off.

Several times, while continuing to accelerate, our driver would turn to us in the back and laugh, taking his hands off the wheel to point out a driver that had cut us off.

He did about 60 down a side street, beeping his horn to let everyone know he was coming.

We made it, and here's some photos:

Upon entering the Imperial Garden, we were greeted by this:

Then we came across the Thousand Year Pavilion, where the Emperor would pray:

You immediately notice the roofs:

They may look the same, but each one is different. Each corner has a number of statuettes on it. And the number of statuettes determines the importance of the building. Twelve is a good number to have. This one wasn't very important:

As we walked, we came across some scary creatures, such as this:

And a guard lion that really frightened me:

We also came across this amazing Nine Dragons Screen:

Eventually we reached the Palace of Heavenly Purity …

and the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the most important of all Halls, where the Emperor would spend most of his time.

Finally we came to the Gates of Supreme Harmony, which open to the huge courtyard leading to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Try as I could, I couldn't budge them.

So we left, heading out of the South Gate, or the Meridian Gate. This is the most famous gate, and you can tell it was quite busy:

We headed over to Tiananmen Square when we were done, but to tell you the truth, it isn't anything special.

Yes, some of China's most historic moments happened in it, but it is really just a large town square.

A little disappointing to find that out.

But the Forbidden City was very special.

It's always nice to hear a familiar voice, or at least an accent.

When I reached the highest point of the Great Wall on Monday, I was talking to my buddy Wolfgang when someone said, "I can't believe I'm at the top of the Great Wall, and I'm hearing an American. Based on the accent, you're from Boston.''

Close.

Anyway, he was from New York, so we hit it off immediately.

Where am I leading with this?

Well, it's much better to actually run into some Mainers.

Introducing: Jenna Lebel and Randy Visser.

Lebel is a 23-year-old Biddeford High graduate (2003) who works at the Main Press Center here in Beijing. She is a grad student at Emerson College in Boston -- she'll get her Master's degree in Marketing in December -- who just happened to be in the right place at the right time to get her summer job at the Summer Olympics.

"Every Olympic year they pick five U.S. schools to send volunteers to the games,'' said Lebel, who has a communications degree from Stonehill College. "Emerson happened to be one. I applied on a whim.''

Lebel, who played softball and soccer at Biddeford, went through two rounds of interviews, then was one of 30 students selected to come to Beijing. She's been here for about six weeks, working at the Help Desk in the Photo Lab in the basement of the MPC.

Her job is to help the photographers in any way she can, setting up transportation, helping secure lockers. Many of her fellow volunteers are working at National Stadium getting "flash quotes'' from athletes after they finish their event.

"I'm really fine,'' she said. "I'm not homesick at all, which is surprising. And there really hasn't been much culture shock either.

"I think the fact that I can speak a little Mandarin helps. The people here appreciate it when you try to learn their culture.''

She saw Michael Phelps swim, she's been to beach volleyball and rowing, she watched Jamaica's Usain Bolt set a 100-meter dash record. She's also gone to the Beijing Opera and to the Summer Palace.

"It's been great,'' she said. "The whole atmosphere is pretty cool.''

Visser is a Southern Maine Community College professor of communications and new media. He's working for NBC and has been in Beijing for about six weeks as well.

He was brought on to help set up NBC's HD-IPTV system for NBC's clients -- the folks who bought ad time in the Olympics -- at the St. Regis Hotel.

Here he is, sitting in front of some of the TV screens he helped set up:

HD-IPTV is, essentially, HD-TV over the internet. It's crystal clear, especially when broadcast on high-quality HD televisions.

"You can stream the video on your computer,'' he said. "But this is taking it to the next level.''

He helped set the system up and is now a trouble-shooter, being contacted when something goes wrong. Most of the time, he is on his own, and Visser has had plenty of time to explore the city.

"I'm a lone wolf doing my thing,'' he said. "A lot of it is just staying out of the way.''

He rented a bike at one point and rode into its various neighborhoods, seeing first-hand how most Beijingers live.

He also had a thrill on the night of the U.S.-China basketball game. Visser used his pass to get a spot next to NBC's camera platform high above center court. Little did he know that President Bush and his entourage would be sitting in front of him.

It's an experience he won't soon forget. But the 49-year-old Visser, who lives in Gray with his wife Janis, is looking forward to going home on Aug. 28.

"I'm dying to get back to some fresh air and a dip in a lake,'' he said.

And finally, today was a day to do a little exploring of my hotel's neighborhood. I found it had a nice park nearby and that the Olympic wrestling venue was within a 15-minute walk.

I also found this:

It was tucked into a corner, behind a Starbucks and a Subway. Yes, I had lunch there. I had to. You understand, don't you? Just a chicken breast, potatoes and gravy and an ear of corn.

The chicken was pure nectar. The potatoes were OK. The corn was delicious.

There's something about homecooking, even if it's fast food and it's half a world away.

Later

Today was an off-day for Maine's athletes at the Beijing Summer Olympics. Good thing.

The organizers of these Games had put together a media tour of the Great Wall of China, in the Badaling section, which was built to protect Beijing from the north.

The first thing that struck me, other than its size, was the fact that it simply flowed with the mountainside: up, down, around. It is mind-boggling that this wall. some 4,000 miles long, was built by hand back in the early 16th century.

Any way, if you want to read about my walk up the Wall, look to the Portland Press Herald.

Here's some videos (it's my first attempt to load videos on the blog, so be kind) and photos.

Here's a warning: don't be worried about me, even though I may sound like I'm about to keel over in the second video. I was. But all I needed was a rest. It's a looooooooooong, steeeeeeeeeep walk.

At the beginning:

Somewhere on the wall:

Finally at the top:

Now that you've seen the journey, here's some more photos:

Our tour guides, Li and Jessie:

A daunting task to walk this wall:

The Olympic spirit lives, as seen through the window of this turret:

Somehow I don't think this sign was here when the wall was first built:

Steep? Let me tell you about steep:

"Gonna fly now, flying high now …''

These two guys, Sean Jensen of the St. Paul Pioneer Press on the left and Wolfgang Dreyer of Dresden, Germany on the right, kept me going to the top:

The view from the top:

Noticed this on the way down -- they simply built the Great Wall around the mountainside, leaving rocks as part of the foundation:

There, isn't that a good way to begin your day?

Anna Goodale of Camden and Elle Logan of Boothbay Harbor became Maine's latest Olympic gold medal winners Sunday evening when they were part of the U.S. women's eight crew team that blew away the competition.

Their story, however, was just part of a long, long day that I thought I would share with you, starting with:

8 a.m.: Alarm goes off, out of bed.

8:40 a.m.: Catch the shuttle bus to Main Press Center. Sit with Wolfgang, my German journalist buddy who tells me there is still an East and West Germany when it comes to sports. I like him. His big story of the first week was finding out that two divers, one male and one female, from different countries were secretly in love. Tabloid stuff. Why can't I get stories like that?

9 a.m.: Breakfast with Wolfgang, who insists his English is poor, but it's better than my German! Eat waffles, bacon and hash browns. First big breakfast in a week. Got a long day, need the energy.

9:45 a.m.: Arrive at the National Aquatics Center, hopefully to meet with Ian Crocker and discuss his future, while also watching the Michael Phelps show. U.S. officials say they don't have time to get Crocker, so I simply watch Phelps when his race begins around 11.

Noon: Michael Phelps press conference. The guy is superhuman and humble. Hard combination to beat. Great moment when an older Finnish writer says to him, "You know, my country has never won a gold medal in swimming since 1896.''
Not sure what the question was, but it broke everyone up.

1:30 p.m.: Lunch at the MPC. Ribs, mashed potatoes and peas w/mushrooms. (Everyone knows I won't eat mushrooms, so I pick them out. I love peas. And yes, George, the ribs were spectacular!)

2:30 p.m.: Hop shuttle bus to Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park where the U.S., and three Mainers, will go for gold in the women's and men's eight. Drive is about an hour through some beautiful areas. I read my several chapters in my latest Dean Koontz book, "Velocity'' on the ride.

5:10 p.m.: Women's race starts. U.S. takes lead in first few strokes, blows everyone away, including three-time defending Olympic champ Romania. How great is the win? Take a look at the lead as the women enter the final strokes:

5:40 p.m.: The men's race starts. U.S. gets the bronze, with Portland's Wyatt Allen getting his second Olympic medal to go with 2004 gold.

5:55 p.m.: Write news update on the rowing championships.

6:05 p.m. Enter press conference room to wait for U.S. women, which is supposed to begin immediately. The men's fours are still inside. Once press conference ends, the the Italian team and media take over the room. They refuse to leave. Talk, talk, talk. Finally, at 6:30 p.m., they are escorted into the courtyard, where the interviews continue. How much can you write?

6:35 p.m.: U.S. women's eight gold medal team enters room for press conference. Actually the silver-medal winning Netherlands team enters first and is announced as the U.S. Oops.

6:45 p.m.: Press conference ends. No one asks a question of the Netherlands. Get phone numbers from Goodale and Logan so I can catch up with them later in the week as they start to really begin their Olympic experience.

7 p.m.: Catch shuttle bus back to MPC. Totally packed, sitting with backpack, which weighs about a zillion pounds, on lap. Can't move.

7:58 p.m.: Arrive at MPC. Have to be at National Stadium for 9:30 p.m. women's steeplechase finals, which includes Greenwood's Anna Willard. Time to eat? Heck yeah. Menu hasn't changed since lunch. Could eat out of comfort zone and try some Asian dish that looks like it could be good … or it could hurt me. I stick to more ribs. This time with white rice and summer squash. (Yes, George, still yummy). Eat with Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe and a couple of U.S. AP writers. Finally, dinner conversation. We talk about the Globe stealing Tony Massorotti from the Herald for its web site and hiring Adam Kilgore -- a former Press Herald stringer -- as a writer.

8:30 p.m.: Start 15-minute walk to the National Stadium.

8:45 p.m.: Arrive, start transcribing my digital recording of all the rowing interviews.

9:15 p.m.: Go into stands to watch the steeplechase.

9:30 p.m.: Race starts like clockwork. Willard finishes 10th.

9:45 p.m.: In the mixed zone, where reporters interview athletes as they walk off field. They really don't want to talk, but most stop because, well, they have to. Willard is good, says she's already hungry for next year. For some reason, she keeps saying she finished 11th.

10 p.m.: Write news update on Willard. Finish transcribing tapes, write two stories. Very loud in the workroom. Share the pretzels I brought from home with writers around me. They are a welcome snack. There's nothing here but bottled water.

Midnight: Finish up. Backpack feels even heavier. Start walk back to MPC. As I'm leaving, the scene is like it would be at Disney at closing time. People leaving the stadium, stopping to pose for photos, music playing, lights flashing. Very peaceful. I see one family in particular, the wife is taking a shot of the husband. I motion to him that I will take a photo of the two of them if he would like. He is delighted. Suddenly, their teen-age son comes running into the scene.

I take two photos and as I go to leave, the son says, "Please, take one with me.''

OK, so I do. Then the father wants his picture taken with me. We both flash the peace sign.

He says "Thank you,'' in English; I say Xiexie (Shay-shay, which is Chinese for thank you). We shake hands.

My spirits are lifted. That might be the best moment that happened to me in a couple of days.

12:20 a.m.: Catch shuttle bus to hotel.

12:30 a.m.: Sit down to write blog.

1:20 a.m.: Now it's time to sleep.

Tomorrow, I am taking a day off from Olympic coverage. It's off to see the Great Wall at Badaling.

Before I go, I wanted to leave you with this scene. A full moon rose over the National Stadium tonight. I don't know if the photo does it justice but it was a beautiful sight. That's the Olympic flame on the upper left of the stadium.

When I first found out that I was coming to Beijing to cover the Olympics, I immediately began to think about what I had to absolutely see.

The first was the Great Wall, which I'm going to on Monday.

The second thing was ping pong, or table tennis as the Olympics folks call it.

So Saturday night, with no Mainers competing, I headed over to the Peking University Gymnasium and watched China, the ping pong dynasty of the world, play Korea in the semifinals.

I had to see first-hand what this sport was all about. The NBA stars here on Team USA like to say that basketball is the biggest sport in China. Maybe it is, in terms of growth.

But ping pong remains the lifeblood of China's sports. Here in the U.S., we may have basketball courts and baseball diamonds. In China, they have ping pong parks, where fathers teach sons how to play the game.

And remember, ping pong plays a very large part in America's diplomatic history with China. Ping pong diplomacy anyone? Back in 1971, the U.S. sent a ping pong team to China, the first time that country opened its borders to the West in 22 years.

That led to the resumption of diplomatic relations, led by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger.

Enough of the history!

China may not have invented ping pong -- England is supposed to have done that -- but its people have sure perfected it.

Having never quite grasped the concept of hitting that little plastic ball accurately, I wanted to see what the deal was.

I was amazed. You know how you go to certain ballparks, like Fenway, and there's a hum in the air all the time, like everyone is anticipating something great? Well that's what it was like in the gymnasium.

And talk about a home table advantage! Between each serve, the partisan crowd was shouting, "China, China, China.''

There was plenty of nationalism as well, with flags flying for both teams.

In the end, China won, 3-0, to advance to Monday night's gold medal game. The Koreans had a great chance to steal the first game when Sang Eun Oh was up 2-1 on Ma Lin. But Ma Lin came back to win it in five games, the crowd erupting in pure joy.

Then when Wang Hao, who seems to have rock star status, made it 2-0 in dominating fashion and the Chinese doubles closed it out.

I was amazed by the skill of the players from both teams, their ability to stand 15 to 20 feet back of the table and return shots with hard hits or spinning drops. Their serves were sneaky, spinning here and there, never going where they looked like they should.

All in all, it was time well spent.

Now I know what real ping pong looks like.

Good morning Maine. Well, got a little surprise today. The sky was blue. The sun was high. And I discovered Beijing is surrounded by mountains!

I've been here eight days and this was the first time I've seen the mountains.

I've been telling you that citizens here love to ride their bikes. Well, this is where they leave them.

Long bike racks are set up throughout the city. And when you get to a busy spot, the line of bikes just stretches and stretches.

And finally, today's good weather really brought out the pin traders. They set up in front of the Main Press Center and barter about their pins.

It's really an interesting sight to watch. You'll be reading more about it in a future Press Herald.

I was told to make sure I got some pins to trade. So I did. And I made a couple of trades today, getting a Great Britain team pin from the 2000 Games for a 2008 IOC pin and getting a Bank of China pin for a Washington Post pin.

But my most popular pin is by far this one:

It's by Coca Cola and everyone wants it because it is limited edition.

Sorry, keeping it.

Off to watch Anna Willard of Greenwood compete in the steeplecase.

Later

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.

It was kind of a light day here in Beijing, with no Maine athletes competing, or available for interviews.

I spent the morning watching Michael Phelps prove he is, indeed, Superman. He is incredible.

Then I took a walk along the Olympic Green, which is really the Olympic concrete and steel (and glass) for the most part as all the big sponsors have these huge venues scattered amidst trees and flowers.

(Johnson & Johnson has the best spot, their venue surrounded by bamboo trees.)

Here's some things that caught my eye.

The Olympic Flame, still burning brightly against the smoggy Beijing sky:

I was taken by this piece of public art. The folks here love it too, judging by the amount of posing they do around it:

Then there's this traditional Chinese statue, entitled "Big Dapple.'' :

Yes, this building is covered in grass (which I guess is appropriate on the Olympic Green). I touched it. It's actually pretty cool. Needs to be mowed though:

And these folks are lining up (the line snakes around the building, with a 30-plus minute wait) to get inside the Coca-Cola venue.

You know what? Even if Coke wasn't my favorite drink, and even if I didn't have this media pass that gets me in without waiting, I would have stood in line.

You know why? There's this cool vending machine inside that really, really chills the Coke. And when you take it out and shake it a little, then open it, ice forms at the top. And that's important because they don't have ice anywhere here. Most drinks are not as cold as I'm used to. Even the milk is a little warm.

Off to watch Team USA play Korea in baseball. Have a good one Maine.

Good morning to my Maine friends. It's a smoggy one here in Beijing. I wonder how many blue-sky days they actually have a year here.

I feel like I am caught in a time warp these days. For some reason, my body has yet to adjust to the time change, being 12 hours ahead of the East Coast. I find myself awake at all hours of the early morning. It'd be nice to have a real sleep.

Then again . . . imagine this: you're in a sleeping bag, on your living room floor. That's how soft my mattress is.

Anyway, the biggest difference is that I keep getting days confused.

For instance, when I wake up in the morning, I turn on my computer to check the major league baseball scores from the previous day, looking in especially on the Red Sox -- and some of the games haven't even started yet! Most are just beginning or in the middle innings.

It's crazy I tell you. I'm having no luck keeping up with my fantasy baseball team. Thank goodness I left my son Alex in charge of it.

And when I go to bed, most of my colleagues are just starting to work. I could conceivably cover an event, go to bed, then wake up and write the story and I still wouldn't miss deadline! (Ah, if only that were true all the time.)

Thursday/Friday is going to be interesting. Thursday night (my time)/Thursday morning (Portland time) Ian Crocker makes his Olympic debut in the 100 butterfly prelims. I will cover that, go home and sleep and then come back Friday morning (my time)/Thursday night (your time) and cover the semifinals -- this being on deadline.

Well, in a few minutes, Michael Phelps will dive into the pool. Later, I hope to take in Team USA's first baseball game.

Enjoy the day, er, night, er, whatever.

The day started gloomy and humid, but changed for some reason. The sun came out, the wind picked up a little and it was a pleasant afternoon/evening here on the other side of the world.

I got to talk to Ian Crocker in the evening, and he's ready for his 100-meter butterfly race on Thursday.

I watched the U.S. men's eight crew, with Portland's Wyatt Allen in the fourth seat, win their repechage and earn a spot in Sunday's finals to defend their Olympic medal.

I got a press ticket to watch Michael Phelps swim in the 200 butterfly on Wednesday morning.

And I got to meet Jingjing, one of the five mascots of the Beijing Olympics. Isn't he cute. (I couldn't resist. I'm a sucker for animated animals).

This is the first time I've ever covered rowing, and I've got to admit, I think we're missing something. It was stunning to see the U.S. come back from nearly a second down to beat Australia. The U.S. crew really bore down and pushed through the pain.

Here's a look as they pass Australia in the final strokes:

After the race, Wyatt Allen got together with his family, which was obviously quite proud that he's in another Olympic final. Here's a shot of them all together, L to R, brother Bree Allen, dad Ray Allen, Wyatt Allen and mom Katherine Allen.

You know, I've been to the Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park three days in a row now, and each time I see something different. This time it was flocks of sheep grazing along the side of the highway. I would have taken a photo, but our bus driver was determined to break the sound barrier on the way back to the city.

And finally, I told you the other day that security was tight. Well, today it jumped a notch. This here was waiting for us when we arrived at the Main Press Center today.

Have a good day. Hope the sun comes out for you.

Well, it's been a long five days and the Olympics have just begun! Time to rest for the night.

But before I sign off, there are a couple of things I'd like to share.

One is this photo. It's of the water cube where Ian Crocker will be swimming Thursday night. It changes colors and this gives it a Rubik's Cube look. Across the street from it is the National Stadium, with the Olympic flame at the top. I tried to get a photo of the two together, the Cube and the flame, because it's a spectacular sight at night, but it just wasn't happening. So here's the Cube in all its color glory:

Now I once again spent my day at the rowing venue. And I've got to share a couple of things I noticed on the drive out.

We passed a wetland area and there were several cranes flying or just hanging around. Beautiful, beautiful birds.

Then, I saw a bird which I can't name of that was stunning. Maybe you can help. It was about the size of a hawk. Its feathers were pitch black, except for the tips of the wings. They were pure white, as white as I've ever seen. If you can tell me what it is, I'd appreciate your help.

Now, the Chinese apparently are big into symbols for their highway signs. Every sign has one. I found two that were particularly funny, one for height restrictions, the other for weight restrictions.

On the height restriction sign, it has a picture of a giraffe sticking its neck/head out of the top of a car, with a crossed-out circle on the giraffe's neck. Obviously, you need to buy a shorter giraffe.

For the weight restriction, it is a picture of an elephant getting into the back of a pick-up truck, lifting the front end. Again, you obviously need a smaller elephant.

Finally, I'm no sports photographer. I'll leave that to guys like John Ewing and Greg Rec and Gordie and Jack and JP and Doug (did I get you all, guys?)

And admittedly this isn't a great photo. But it was shot from the press tribune and I wanted to give you an idea of how much the U.S. women's eight crew, with Mainers Anna Goodale and Elle Logan aboard, dominated their heat race on Monday. Here they are, just strokes from the finish line, with the second-place team barely in the picture:

Have a good night Maine.

Okay, the men's and women's eight crew heat races will now be held beginning at 2:50 a.m. (your time) on Monday. That's when Camden's Anna Goodale, Boothbay Harbor's Elle Logan and Portland's Wyatt Allen will make their first foray into Olympic competition this year.

So after getting soaked in a driving rain as I headed back to the Main Press Center . . . I hopped on the shuttle bus and am now sitting in the corner of the Wukozone, for the USA-China men's basketball game.

It's the most anticipated sporting event of the host nation, pitting their players, including Yao Ming, against the Kobe Bryant (who's huge here, huge!) and the rest of the Gold medal favorites. It's easily the toughest ticket in China.

And there's quite a host of dignitaries here, including President Bush, dressed casually in a blue oxford shirt.

BTW, LeBron James threw down the sickest dunk I've ever seen in pre-game warm-ups. Floating the ball toward the hoop from the 3-point line, then racing in as it bounced over the rim, catching it in his right hand and slamming it down.

Just thought I'd share that with you.

Ming just hit a 3-point for the first basket of the game and I can't hear myself think anymore.

Later.

Well, it was a nice drive anyway.

But the rowing heat competition for the men's and women's 8 was postponed because of thunderstorms.

As soon as they have a make-up time, I'll let you know.

Well, we're in a rain delay at the rowing competition, just before the women's 8 crew was set to race in its heat.

While the race could continue in a downpour, it has been stopped because of lightning.

Thunderstorms are forecast for the rest of the day, so it will be interesting to see if they get the race in.

We're out at the Shunyi Rowing and Canoeing Park, about an hour north of gloomy Beijing.

Yep, no sun again. In fact, it might have rained overnight because everything was wet. But then again, the air is so saturated, I'm not sure. I do know if the sun were shining, it would be unbearable again.

It was a nice drive out here. The highway was lined with willow trees and mountain ash, as well as an assortment of flowers, including the ever-popular Cosmos.

It is amazing to see how the Chinese take care of their roads. We passed several groups of women who were taking care of the trees and flowers.

We're here for the men's and women's eight races, which feature three Maine rowers: Anna Goodale of Camden, Elle Logan of Boothbay and Wyatt Allen of Portland.

We'll let you know how they turn out.

Before I get into the opening ceremonies, I want to caution you that I might spoil something for you with the photos I'm about to present.

If you don't want to know anything about the Beijing Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies, that you can watch on NBC, then don't read any more. You should know, however, that you'll have to slot a pretty large amount of time, if NBC shows the unabridged version.

Okay, so here's the thing: they were spectacular, a stunning combination of sounds, colors, images, music and special effects that allowed you to forget that you were sitting in a seat of sweat (which everyone in National Stadium was, it was that hot and humid).

If ever an opening ceremony captured the cultural essence of its host country, this was it.

Here are some other observations before I get into photos:

The scroll plays a very prominent role in China's history and, thus, the ceremonies.

I need to take a Geography lesson because, frankly, there were far too many countries that I had never heard of. Okay, there were 204 nations introduced, so it's unlikely anyone, outside of a teacher, would recognize them all. But . . . Uzbekistan? Mauritius?Eritrea? Burkina Faso? Azerbaijan? Cote d'Ivoire?

Enough already!

Nice outfits for the most part. The U.S. was nattily attired. Israel went for the casual Friday look, and I don't think it worked. And then there was some nation (sorry, won't mention the name to protect the innocent) that must have had Cruela DeVille design the women's clothes. You'll know it when you see it. Yikes!

The grand finale, the lighting of the torch, reminded me of Peter Pan. You'll understand when you see it.

Okay, here's some photos:

Ah, the Olympic Rings.

This caught my attention:

A reminder of all the children in the world:

These drummers, all 2008 of them, were incredible. You'll see:

Team USA marching in:

Every athlete gathered on the field:

The flame:

I've got a couple of videos I'll try to get to you later, but I've got something else to do first.

Later

Well, another smog-enshrouded day in Beijing. The heat and humidity are oppressive and it's probably going to be uncomfortable at tonight's Opening Ceremonies.

But there is a noticeable excitement around the stadium and fans began lining up early in the afternoon.

I still haven't caught up on my sleep, so I hope to take a mid-afternoon nap (that's early-morning to you) before heading back for the Big Show.

So you want to see how I spent my day?

Okay.

First I got my ticket to Opening Ceremonies from the USOC. That's a very big deal. Then I hit some press conferences.

The U.S. tennis team was actually entertaining, from James Blake joking around to the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, looking at each other like they just said the craziest thing ever.

The team will participate in the Opening Ceremonies march. As Blake said, "At 28, there aren't many firsts to my career, and I am a first-time Olympian. The memories I'll have from this will last forever.''

Serena Williams said playing for the U.S. means more to her than any Grand Slam title. "For me, of all the medals I have, the Gold I won is my favorite.''

The U.S. then brought out flag bearer Lopez Lomong, a naturalized citizen who was originally from Sudan, taken from his family by soldiers at the age of 6 and, after escaping his kidnappers, raised for the next 10 years in a Kenyan camp.

Many believe this is a political statement by the U.S., aimed at China's ties with the Sudanese government and the conflict in Darfur.

Lomong, who was selected in a vote of team captains, sidestepped the politics, saying he simply hopes some child watching will be inspired by his story.

And finally we had the U.S. men's basketball team, in what quickly became a circus. The players spread throughout an auditorium, and then the media swarmed whoever they could get. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James drew the biggest crowds, as you might expect.

James said the team is ready and confident, but won't overlook anyone. They're not calling this the Redeem Team for nothing.

Let's hope the sky clears for the Opening Ceremonies.

Well, I finally arrived in Beijing, a little over 30 hours before the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games.

The flight wasn't too bad. The 14 hours and 7,047 miles seemed to fly by, no pun intended.

I had my choice of 338 movies, numerous TV shows (including Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and several other oldies), HBO specials and music.

So I watched an episode of 30 Rock, an episode of The Simpsons and a Lewis Black comedy special. Mostly I read. And caught about three hours of sleep.

Now I don't know how many of you are Lewis Black fans, but the guy is funny, even if he seasons his comedy with rapid-fire F-bombs. And his skit included him talking about his flight to New Zealand for a show.

His took 22 hours and he finished it by saying, "If the people of New Zealand want to be part of our world, they should get off their island and push it closer.''

I felt that way too.

Anyway, Tuesday was not a blue sky day in Beijing. Olympic organizers had to be cringing when they woke. If Beijing were on the Maine coast, we would say it was fogged in. This wasn't fog. It was nasty stuff.

A couple of quick observations, since I've had three hours sleep in the last 40 hours:

On entering the airport, besides being greeted by a couple of the Olympic mascots, Huanhuan the Olympic Flame and Yingying the antelope, you're overwhelmed by a huge sign of Michael Phelps. I guess he's popular here too.

Their highways are immaculately clean. The guard rails even have flower boxes on them.

Heavy police and military presence. Seemed like every exit off the highway was guarded. And in some cases, the policeman was standing under a huge blue umbrella.

Bicycles are everywhere.

The city seemed awfully quiet around the Olympic Green. Maybe I missed something, but the excitement just wasn't there.

More tomorrow.

Time to sleep.