I think I've mentioned before how awesome voice actress Cristina Vee is. She's an actual anime geek & gets to work inside the industry itself. She even was lucky enough to play the lead in one of her favorite series (Louise in Familiar of Zero). Well now she's teamed up with another anime voice actor, Steve Racer, to host a new anime review video series titled the Anime Olympics. Granted, it doesn't have much to do with the real Olympics or sports of any kind, but they do keep the theme going.

Their videos themselves, four of which are up so far, are a bit rough around the edges. But they're entertaining with promise of getting better as the episodes go on. & let's face it, Cristina Vee is just too cute. In episode 3, she actually cosplays in a Bible Black outfit. You can't beat that! So give the Anime Olympics a chance & check out the rest of the eps so far here:

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The Olympic Games are officially HERE! The opening ceremonies might not be till Friday, but early first round events have just started a I type this. As we speak, NBC is currently streaming first round woman's soccer games right now at their official Olympics website. There are 3 games going on right now, where it's 4am here where I'm at. But thanks to NBC's new (& free) Olympic video player, we can watch up to four events at the same time live! They'll be showing dozens of events live on their website this year, a first of its kind. & that's not even mentioning the 24/7 coverage that's airing on TV over 7 different NBC Universal networks.

By the by, one of the three current games is the Japanese woman's team versus New Zealand, so therefor this post now fits with the theme of this blog. =b Along with anime, the Olympic games are one of my biggest loves & obsessions in my life. I'll be absorbing as many events as possible over the next 2 & a half weeks. Of course I'm torn how to cover this on my blog, if at all. For my long-time visitors, you may remember that I covered the 2006 games to a great extent. & even in 2004 before I had this blog set up, I did some coverage on the main site. But back then my blog was largely unfocused, with me basically covering anything that was of interest to me (with anime still being the main feature, of course). Now I've created a reasonably successful anime/manga/Japan blog over the years, so I'm not sure how my love for the Olympics can fit into that anymore. But, we'll see. Enough of that though, watch the first Olympic events LIVE right NOW over here:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player.html

By Karolos Grohmann

ATHENS (Reuters) - Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro were named on Wednesday as candidate cities to host the 2016 Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said.

Qatar's Doha, which was rated by the IOC's working group as the third best overall bid, Azerbaijan's Baku and the Czech capital Prague fell at the first hurdle.

"All the bids were of a very high standard," said IOC President Jacques Rogge.

"It is a tribute to the health of the Olympic movement that the field was so strong. I congratulate the candidate cities and I hope that those cities which were unsuccessful this time have benefited from the process."

The candidate cities must now compile an in-depth file of their Olympic project and submit themselves to a visit by the IOC's Evaluation Commission. The election of the host city will take place on October 2, 2009, at the IOC Session in Copenhagen.

"We wanted to make the next phase and we made a good bid but it is always a relief to hear your name read out," U.S. IOC member Bob Ctvrtlik, who was with the Chicago bid, told Reuters.

Tokyo, hosts of the 1964 Games, topped the IOC working group's overall technical evaluation with Madrid second. Chicago and Doha tied for third with Rio in fourth place, the report said.

"We are delighted with the evaluation but we have not seen it yet and we must now analyze it very carefully to strengthen our weak points and make our strong points stronger," Tokyo bid chief Ichiro Kono told Reuters.

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If you've been coming to NebsTV for the past 2-4 years, then you're probably aware that I love the Olympics. I also love Haruhi from "the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya." So what happens when these 2 passions of mine get combined? You get this image, taken from an informational kids pamphlet about this year's upcoming Beijing Olympic Games. Of course is not actually Haruhi, but the girl does bare a remarkable resemblance to her. But this is China we're talking about here. From their fake Disney Land theme park to their Vii video game system, they like to make rip-offs of everything it seems.

Source: http://zepy.momotato.com/2008/01/26/haruhi-in-the-beijing-olympics/

For the first time ever in history, Mario & Sonic are teaming up to create an awesome brand new game that's bigger than both them alone. The Olympic Games. The 2 historic video game icons, as well as other characters from their games, will be competing against each other on a new game coming to the Nintendo Wii & DS that's based off of next summer's 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mario & Sonic had been video game rivals for decades, but for the first time they've put away their differences & will be literally competing with each other now. Some of the all-stars include Mario, Sonic, Luigi, Knuckles, Yoshi, Tails, & more. There was talk about gaming becoming a sport at the Beijing games. Instead, the games became a video game. =b Both versions of the game will be out in time for this Christmas. According to the press release:

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Boy Saved from Grip of 16-Foot Snake:
http://www.comcast.net/news/strange/index.jsp?cat=STRANGE&fn=/2007/02/09/582787.html

Chefs Prepare $25000 Meal:
http://www.comcast.net/news/strange/index.jsp?cat=STRANGE&fn=/2007/02/10/583761.html

"CSI" Trio Enter Wrong Place:
http://www.comcast.net/news/strange/index.jsp?cat=STRANGE&fn=/2007/02/09/583275.html

Dog Eats $5000 Wedding Ring:
http://www.comcast.net/news/strange/index.jsp?cat=STRANGE&fn=/2007/02/08/582448.html

China- No Spitting at the Olympics:
http://www.comcast.net/news/strange/index.jsp?cat=STRANGE&fn=/2007/02/08/582093.html

Deputies Find Gator During Drug Bust:
http://www.comcast.net/news/strange/index.jsp?cat=STRANGE&fn=/2007/02/09/583511.html

Truck spills 40 Tons of Cow Intestines:
http://www.comcast.net/news/strange/index.jsp?cat=STRANGE&fn=/2007/02/10/583750.html

Grandma's Painting Sells for $600000:
http://www.comcast.net/news/strange/index.jsp?cat=STRANGE&fn=/2007/02/08/582557.html

Bears Fan Changing Name to Manning:
http://www.comcast.net/news/strange/index.jsp?cat=STRANGE&fn=/2007/02/08/582249.html

The Global Gaming League is in talks with China to bring video gaming to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, in order to attract younger audiences to the Olympics. Says GGL's Ted Owen:

You need to bring younger viewers back if you want to keep making money. To do that, you need to embrace non-traditional sports. They did it with snowboarding - and look how the popularity of that has surged in the Games. Video games deserve to be seen as a non-traditional sport.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/31/commentary/game_over/column_gaming

BEIJING (AP) -- Steven Spielberg will join filmmaker Zhang Yimou in designing the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Zhang, whose films include "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers," was named Sunday to lead a team that includes Spielberg.

"I've promised not to direct any films in the next two years so as to make full preparations for the Olympics," Zhang was quoted as saying in the official Xinhua News Agency.

Zhang said his hiatus will start after he finishes his latest project, "The City of Golden Armor," starring Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li.

He is to stage the world premiere of countryman Tan Dun's opera "The First Emperor" for New York's Metropolitan Opera later this year. It wasn't clear how that commitment would be affected by his new Olympics role.

Spielberg's films include "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan" and "Munich."

Source: Spielberg Joining Olympics Ceremony Team

After a little over 2 amazing weeks, the Olympic Games come to an end. But the sights we saw will remain with us forever.

Turin Bids Farewell to Winter Olympics
Sweden Beats Finland for Hockey Gold
Germany, US Finish 1-2 in Medal Count
Video: A Look Back at the Winter Games
Spectacular Closing Ceremony Photos

I really fell in love with Curling this year. The US Men's team competed for the Bronze match this morning at 6am my time. I watched it live. =b Pete Fenson is my hero.

US Men Win Curling Bronze Medal