President Bush at the Olympics, Rafa & Roger do Tennis, the Lancome ‘Whoops’, Manly Makeup?

Hello-Hello and Happy Monday to everyone! We do hope all enjoyed their break from the weekday world, be it at home or away at the coast, the cottage, the cabin. Even if only in the mind, an escape is so vital.

So much has been going on at the Olympics *and* elsewhere, it is hard keeping track of it all, at least for The Princess! Has anyone seen any of the photographs of President Bush in Beijing at the varying functions and then the actual sporting events? From an etiquette perspective, it would appear that being Commander-in-Chief is fairly easy at most venues. As always, the First Lady is perfectly attired, gracious and graceful.

President Bush Opening Ceremony

First Lady Laura Bush

President Bush & USA Softball Team

It occurs to us however, it’s tough looking Presidential when you decide to do the Beach Volleyball appearance. Did we mention it was the Women’s Team?

And then the difficulties grow exponentially when it comes time for the picture-taking, for you know everyone wants their photograph taken with the President. Oh dear. This is where we ask, just who in the Protocol office thought this would be manageable?

President Bush with Kerri Walsh (L) & Misty May-Treanor

President Bush with Kerri Walsh (L) & Misty May Treanor (R)

Okay, the President with women in bikinis, not frequently seen, but acceptable. Until this.

President Bush & Team USA's Misty May-Treanor

You can tell by the look on his face and awkward placement of his arms he knows this is going nowhere good.

President Bush & Misty May-Treanor, Team USA Volleyball

Not. A. Good. Idea. Life’s a beach. Indeed.

We also had tennis today. After yesterday’s disastrous weather conditions.

SPOILER ALERT

***The next portion of today’s post features photos and RESULTS from Tennis matches played today, Monday, 8.11.08 ***

Let’s talk a little tennis shall we? They have just been dropping like flies when it comes to the Women’s Singles Tennis competition at the Beijing Olympics with yesterday’s withdrawal of top-seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia because of an injured right thumb.

In a news conference announcing her withdrawal Ivanovic said she hasn’t even hit a ball since arriving in Beijing. Her withdrawal comes in addition to those of Russian Maria Sharapova (seen below in Montreal below prior to withdrawing from that event) and American Lindsay Davenport (below, 2nd photo), the 1996 Gold Medalist. Ms. Davenport, an original prep by birth (First clue? Dad’s name is Wink), is still hoping to play in the Women’s Doubles Championship.

Lindsay Davenport, Team USA Tennis

American James Blake won his first match, but the rains delayed most others yesterday, including Roger Federer’s opener. Mr. Federer made up for any lost time today, handily beating Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-2.

Roger Federer vs. Dmitry Tursunov

The fan favorite said afterward to a UPI reporter:

“This tournament is the one I base my year around so I hope I can play well here,” Federer said. “It would mean as much as winning a Grand Slam. I’ve won so many Grand Slams and the Olympics only comes around every four years. I love playing for my country, so this is a great start.”

After the match Federer was congratulated by one of the spectators, LeBron James from Team USA Basketball. Rafa Nadal did not have as easy a go of it, dropping one set to Italy’s Potito Starace, but still winning his match. One of the spectators watching his match was Prince Felipe of Spain.

Rafael Nadal, Spain

In a story in today’s Times (NY) it’s clear the weather had an impact on the Spaniard:

Nadal was far from comfortable in the clammy air. After the match he was asked the standard question about pollution. “The problem is the humidity,” he said, “I haven’t felt the pollution.”

The big surprise was Andy Murray of Great Britain being upset by Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan in the first round. In Women’s Singles, American Serena Williams made it to the second round besting Olga Govortsova 6-3, 6-1 in a match that was interrupted on Sunday because of the rain.

BTW, the ITF evidently has a heart, or at the very least a thermometer. ITF President Francesco Ricci Bittis announced this weekend that if the weather reaches “… an unacceptable level” players can take breaks.

“The conditions are not the best, but our players are very strong. What is important is the health of the player.”

Currently the ATF does *not* allow male players to take breaks either regular tour or Grand Slam events. As is so frequently the case, it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. We are already wilting.

Because of the Olympic news usurping so much space in the blog a number of things have been languishing out there in the virtual ‘Pending” file, so we’ll share a few. We start with the following email we received from Lancôme:

Oh. Well then, never mind. In the event you don’t have your name on the list to be notified when the Lancôme Oscillation Mascara is back in stock, just go to the page and provide your email… if you don’t mind being updated on all other things Lancôme in the interim.

Gentlemen, as we are speaking of mascara, TP wants you to know we don’t discriminate here at Preppy Princess InterGalactic HQ, no sirree! (No, that is not the misspelled name of a toddler.) Here is your chance to pop on over to the other side of the pond and grab your own tubeof the aptly named “Manscara” from the good folks at Superdrug.

“‘Manscara’ an eyelash and brow gel for men. With it’s totally clear formula, manscara gel subtly defines lashes and tames wayward brows.”

This, of course, is not a joke, nor is it something we made up and asked The Princess Consort to Photoshop for us in his spare time. We only wish we could name the blog where we originally saw this mentioned in order to give proper credit where it is due. At any rate, if the Manscara doesn’t do it for you, or if you want to enhance its effects, then you should go for the Guyliner. By all means, don’t hold back on account of the exchange rate, buy both. At only £4.50, you can do it, c’mon.

This soft, smooth kohl pencil can give an accurate, subtle defined look to the contour of the eye, making them appear larger, more distinct and seductive, is he or isn’t he wearing it? Or smudged, it can be more dramatic for a grungy rock-star look.

Indeed. This one is peaking the AntiPrep-O-Meter in the red zone and TSU (The Spousal Unit, aka TPC, The Princess Consort) has broken out in hives.

BTW, there is some not insignificant chatter about the Ralph Lauren Polo pony logo on the Team USA Opening Ceremony Uniforms. We’ll be back later with a bit on that….until then, grins & giggles.

**SPOILER ALERT** Olympics Opening Ceremony Coverage Special Edition

IT IS ONE BIG “WOW”

SPOILER ALERT

***Today’s post features photos and editorial copy of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies***

Hello, Happy Friday and welcome to a special edition of the Preppy Princess!

This will surprise no one that is a regular reader: The Princess Consort found multiple live feeds of the events going on over on the other side of the world. He also also took the “Sharing is Caring” sentiment to heart. Concentration is impossible. Therefore this post will be short and hopefully a bit better than bittersweet after yesterday‘s tirade measured comments about the air quality in Beijing. It will however, be about the Opening Ceremonies, so if that is something you don’t even want to hear about, you should skedaddle away until they have aired this evening.

First off, a few shots of the Ralph Lauren Olympic Summer Games Parade Uniform as worn today by our athletes in Beijing at the Opening Ceremonies.

Tyson Gay

Shortly after this international Parade of Athletes aired on the Consort’s computer in real time, we received email correspondence from Polo Ralph Lauren “Presenting the Official Parade Uniform of the 2008 US Olympic Team.” If interested in purchasing pieces from this Collection, you can head to the Polo site through the links in the previous sentence or use the USOC’s site for most of the Opening Ceremony items.

The Princess learned several lessons today whilst working:

1) Silly girl! Trying to sit and write a blog and conduct other business with the Opening Ceremonies going on one desk over is futile. Utterly pointless. Cease. The Preppy Princess will survive while for an hour until this ends, so stop. Now. Give it up and go watch. (Take Kleenex.)

2) As discussed on other blogs last night, for reasons unknown to us, human spectacles like the Opening Ceremonies provoke an emotional response. (Yes, I know, how very dreary.)

3) The US Team looks very sharp in their uniforms. As anticipated, the Ralph Lauren designs are stellar and the Chinese execution of them also outstanding. The caps, or berets, are a nice touch and not at all foppish as some feared.

Looking at each nation’s uniforms is a blood sport for some, but not TP. That however, does not prevent a running commentary on the looks worn by other countries, enhanced only by the fact these are being viewed on a 24″ inch iMac monitor, not a large television. Thoughts? Japanese-snappy. Argentina-casual. Great Britain-this one is a TBD, requiring further attention. Bolivia-elegant. France-disheveled. Canada-slightly wacky motif that needed better definition

Parade of Athletes - Japan

Parade of Athletes - Argentina

Parade of Athletes - Bolivia

Parade of Athletes - France

Parade of Athletes - Canada

The NY Times Olympic Blog had some fabulous fashion commentary. We don’t have pix to pick up on their critiques of certain looks, so you will simply have to watch the television tonight or go hunting on the internet if you want photographic references to their commentary.

The Lithuanian team, led by flagbearer Sarunas Jasikevicius of the basketball team, is clad in shockingly lime-green polo shirts.

While some teams look like they have wilted a bit in the heat, the Spanish team, oh so colorful in their yellow and red suits, came in waving their Panama hats to the crowd.

Spanish basketball star Pau Gasol, however, is not waving but chatting on his cell phone.

The women of Hungary’s team are unfortunately dressed in skirts and jackets that appear to have been doused in splotches of red paint.

The Cuban team, always surprisingly large for such a small country, comes in wearing khaki suits, followed shortly by Burkina Faso athletes in pointy straw hats and Burundi women wearing grass headdresses and carrying spears.

It is a small miracle those got through security.

For more commentary, all of which is simply excellent, go to Lynn Zinser’s Olympic blog at the Times online site.

It seems no one can execute ceremonial occasions on a grand scale with the precision the Chinese can, with the possible exception of the Russians. Majestic barely describes some of this, and we only saw about forty-five minutes of the event.

(Yes, that was Kung-Fu in the photo above.) As we mentioned we really only viewed perhaps forty-five minutes or so of online 4″-frame-on-the-screen video and it was dazzling. We have elected not to show you more photos, of which there are hundreds, because they really would be “spoilers” in our humble opinion, detracting from one’s spontaneous reactions to the events as they unfold on NBC’s taped broadcast this evening.

We can tell you some of our favorite tennis players were on hand:

Roger Federer carries the Swiss Flag

Parade of Athletes - Rafael Nadal

Mr. Nadal looking slightly more relaxed than he when he was swarmed by media upon arriving at the Beijing airport; such a throng formed that some referred to it a stampede.

Truly one of the most emotional images of the day, and one part of the ceremony you probably want to be sure you’re watching, is the moment when Chinese flag bearer Yao Ming enters the stadium. Because Yao leads the athletes from the host nation, they are the last in the Parade of Athletes to make their entrance.

Parade of Athletes - China

It becomes immediately evident he is accompanied by a child; it turns out the child is a nine-year-old boy who saved the lives of two classmates during the killer earthquake that rocked Sichuan province a few months back. When this giant of a man (he is 7′ 6″ tall) reaches down to take the child’s hand your heart may skip a beat in wonder at the sight.

And on that extraordinary image, we will leave you for the time being.

Olympics Special Issue: What are they Wearing? Plus New Ralph Lauren Olympic & “Create Your Own Flag Polo”

Hello-hello and happy Thursday to everyone! The Princess remains flabbergasted by the fact the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympic Summer Games are tomorrow. Barely 18 hours away. And the summer went where…..?

Because TP has bored you to tears previously shared photos and information ad nauseum about the Ralph Lauren uniforms for the Olympics…

… we thought it might be fun to peek at some of the other uniforms being worn. However, before we do anything else, there are some recent additions to the Polo Ralph Lauren Olympic Games Collection online site that may appeal to you, including the new “Create Your Own Flag Polo.”

This process works almost identically to that used for simply ordering a standard “Create Your Own” product in any other group, be it an oxford shirt or a Men’s tie. Below are just a few of the flags offered; there are more than thirty that we counted available in this line.

Once again, these do not appear to be offered in Women’s sizes. Ahem. Apparently one must determine the closest approximation in a Men’s sizes, cross their fingers, and hope for the best. It’s somewhat challenging to “…Wear your pride in a style all your own..” if the shirt isn’t sized for the ‘fairer sex’ to start with. Harrumph. (Ooooh, did we just see Crankenstein Princess poking her nasty head out of her horrid little cave?!)

Another Ralph Lauren Olympics fashion update: it appears you can now purchase the same belt the US Team will wear with their uniforms for the Closing Ceremonies.

This is the red, white & blue striped grosgrain belt at Polo Ralph Lauren, and TP can’t actually tell if it is offered separately in both Men’s and Women’s sizing.

Recently introduced to the Ralph Lauren Men’s Olympic Games Collection is the Men’s Passport Polo, seen below. You can select from Japan, Russia, Great Britain or the United States for your shirt.

Our memory isn’t entirely clear, but we don’t believe we featured (or even mentioned) the Big Pony Flag Polo for Men in both the Slim and Classic fit; this is the one with the national flag on the back with the number ‘3’. One may select from several countries other than the USA, including two colors for England and one for the UK, Italy in both green and blue, Japan in Black, Korea in red, and others.

Now on to some uniforms. Let’s start with China’s outfits for the Opening Ceremonies. Oh my. Where does one start?

The uniforms were revealed last week, and met with an almost universally negative response; some of the harshest criticism coming from within China’s own borders. The colors mirror the country’s national colors; many are calling these the “tomato scrambled egg” uniform, referencing their likeness to the popular Chinese food dish. (See AP photo montage above.)

Yao Ming has been chosen as Flag Bearer for the host country, but still no word on who will light the torch. If Yao looks familiar, it’s because he plays in the NBA with the Houston Rockets. For those not familiar with Yao, this is a human being with an extraordinarily generous heart who has made substantial donations to multiple philanthropic endeavors. Most recently Yao gave a not-insignificant donation to assist with Chinese Earthquake relief. We are a bit confused because in the photo below Yao’s uniform is red with a white shirt, while in the other shots of the oh-so-bright uniforms the colors are obviously red with yellow. (Have you heard who has been selected as our flag bearer?)

Yao Ming, Chinese Flag Bearer

Here are the USA Track & Field uniforms… how cool are these? Wow! As you can see from the swoosh, Nike is responsible for their creation, and they have that distinctive graphic look in a rich blue. Beneath, the Chinese Track and Field Team uniforms.

These days with the sneaker craze it’s simply not possible to talk about Olympic uniforms without looking at some of the shoes the athletes will be wearing. Behold the Nike Dunk Gyrizo Men’s BMX Shoe. Don’t tell anyone, especially not The Princess Consort, but we do lust after it. Ssshhh! Yes, I know it’s a little over the top, but the red, white and blue are appealing to my patriotic side. A shame it only comes in men’s sizes as best we can tell. Sigh.

Next we move on to the Team USA Basketball look.

US Men's Olympic Basketball Team

This next shot doesn’t show us uniforms, but it does show the the US Women’s Olympic Basketball Team finish their huddle before practice Thursday in Beijing.

USA Women's Basketball Team

Here is a quick shot of the Australian Team’s Opening Ceremonies style with what appear to be classic lines, and heels for the women. Of course, heel height (or lack thereof) is always a topic for chatter during the evening whilst watching the Parade of Athletes.

Below we have a shot of Team USA as they enter the Flag Raising Ceremony yesterday. Now despite all of the minders and ministrations and memos and scurrying about it seems someone participated in an event carrying an item clearly not from one of the major sponsors. Oh no! Did we all spot the errant Burberry bag? It appears to be what we call a messenger bag, possibly the Men’s Haymarket Messenger, if we’re not mistaken.

DANGER AHEAD – FAIR WARNING – PRINCESS SOAP BOX ALERT – FAIR WARNING – DANGER AHEAD

Stand back.

This is the part in those TV medical dramas where the paddles are applied to the victim’s chest and a matinee idol scans the room, then bellows authoritatively “Clear!”

The Princess is discreetly sharing that sentiment shrieking that very word now: C – L – E – A – R!

At the very least have Nanny remove the children from the room, then consider having that conversation with the teenagers about the hazards of speaking loudly in public. About political issues. And be advised The Princess is about to engage in the unthinkable here, at least it would be unthinkable at any social gathering we hosted, and that is how we view our little online get-togethers.

But honestly, things seem a wee bit out of control. We can natter on about uniforms and fashions and heels and colors and all of that; you know and I know it is intended to be nothing more than nonsensical fun.

However…if anyone still wants to criticize some members of the American cycling team for wearing their masks getting off the airplane, they might want to take a look at this shot from an ESPN reporter, taken Thursday, Beijing time:

ESPN Smog Photo Thursday

Yet what did US officials do? It seems they helped the cyclists decide the air was not as bad as they thought it was and they Did. Not. Need. Those. Masks. Presumably that would make the apologizing for wearing them all the easier. Here’s a portion of the story’s coverage in the Times:

They were the first athletes at these Summer Games seen wearing masks publicly to combat the effects of pollution, and the sight of them drew considerable attention and criticism from United States Olympic officials.

This must be the USOC’s version of a wardrobe malfunction, or worse.

Granted, Tuesday’s air pollution was not as bad as it was in the photos of Thursday’s air seen here. TP asks the question: how bad is it supposed to be? We looked for a non-biased view in the matter and  selected a UK viewpoint from the Times (of London) in an online story yesterday about Tuesday’s incident. This is as best TP can calculate the International Dateline! (Oh where is The Consort when he is *really* needed? On the back nine, that is where.)

Four US Olympic cyclists who caused an outcry when they arrived at Beijing airport wearing smog masks have today apologised to Games organisers.

As the Chinese capital remains shrouded in smog today, Jim Scherr, the chief executive of the US Olympic Committee, revealed that the four had said sorry.

“It probably wasn’t the most opportune time for these athletes to wear these masks,” he said, adding they had written an apology to Beijing Olympic Organising Committee (BOCOG).

Here is another photo of the air quality from ESPN’s Arty Berko:

Here is a statement from an official with the Beijing Organizing Committee:

“We have all along said that it is not necessary for the athletes to wear masks because the air quality in Beijing has improved,” Sun said. “We have to explain that looks can be deceiving, and that it looks like fog, but actually the air quality is good.”

You know, I always feel so much better when someone else helps me grasp this sort of thing. TP is truly beginning to feel like she’d best have Cook mix up a Prozac Latte. (On the rocks. With one of those little umbrellas.) More from the NY Times.

“They told us that the Chinese were mad and that this is a politically charged issue, but we didn’t mean to offend anybody,” Friedman said. “When they handed us these masks, they never said, ‘Here they are, but don’t wear them.’ ”

If you really want to get your blood boiling, go to the USA Cycling home page to read the Statement from U.S. Cyclists Michael Friedman, Sarah Hammer, Bobby Lea and Jennie Reed. Seriously.

For a great perspective on an “average Joe” exercising in the air seen above, check Will Pavia’s story in the Times of London.

This is the Princess Consort stepping in to restore some semblance of order to this situation. It is rare to see The Princess so exercised. I happen to have a close chum marching in the Opening Ceremony Parade and I’ll get some back-channel information from him. Until then, I must apply a cold compress to my lovely bride’s forehead. Enough for now.