Heartbeat of the Olympics, Mariachis and Drums

Ahhh yes, Mariachis were the heartbeat of the Olympics '68 just as the drums of the opening ceremony were the heartbeat of the Olympics '08.

And the local drum beat of the '08 elections has me sidetracked so will continue more of the Mexico Olympics in November. Am off to volunteer again for Obama.

Received a few emails asking about my month long homebase in Beijing. It was located in the center of the busy city of Beijing, just north of the forbidden city, incredibly well-located, inside Ring #1. In 2007 it was one of the hostels that I checked out after my Hong Kong International School Reunion. Nanluoguxiang Hutong (Alley) is to Beijing what "the village" is to New York City. The management and staff of this hostel made sure everyone felt welcome. It was clean and according to incoming guests who switched from five star hotels, the mattresses were, yup, "superior".

So dudes, if you are headed for China, and only want to spend about $8.00 per night for an awesome place to stay which includes breakfast, check it out...Beijing Downtown Backpackers Hostel!!

Mexico Olympics 1968

Financially, Mexico '68 was profitable because of my work at CBS News. (How can I NOT discuss the economics of Olympic Games during t h i s October of 2008! Sheez all the graphs and charts this October look like the cliffs of Dana Point! Oh how I am reminded of the root word of "investment" and the root word of the word "credit". Investment comes from the Latin word of garment, thus something coming INto the pocket of the garment, and as most of you know, credit comes from credere to believe...credo...or I believe you will pay me back!)

Although I did not see or witness the student uprising prior to the games, it was incredibly serious and I believe over 200 hundred were killed just weeks before Opening Ceremony. These games came soon after Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were shot. Such sad times but again, I was living in Asia surrounded by joyous sixth graders at Hong Kong International School.   As the thousands of doves were released at Opening Ceremony the world was yearning for PEACE.

Getting hired by Bert Quint was awesome, working whether in the office or out of the office was totally enjoyable. In the office we had a teletype machine, busy phones, good vibes, and people coming and going often. I greeted them and assisted them with their needs. Heywood Hale Broun, American Sportswriter and "poetic" commentator and his wife were a joy to take around Mexico City. Marjorie Margolies, from Philadelphia, was another visiting broadcaster (who I should look up one day). When I worked the phones in the office I was most excited hearing Walter Cronkite's voice on the other end.  Our office was on one of main streets, Avenida Reforma, and quite often I would go off to the games. In those days we did not have credentials as we do today. We had a goldish medal and when wearing that around our necks we were free to go everywhere, opening ceremony, all the venues and of course inside the Olympic Village. The Village had great food, great fun and great everything.  The signage was artistically created and it was easy to spot from a distance. We just had to look for the big P for PRENSA, therefore learning logistics was easy.  Learning about Olympic Protocol was new for me but just being proper covered most of it and having parents like mine made that easier because they gave us the basics plus a bit of etiquette as well when we were young.  My "broken" Spanish came in handy and my craving for Mexican food was satisfied.

And ohhhh that MARIACHI MUSIC...it was everywhere...OLEY!!!