Important Olympics/Orangutan News

Dutch Olympian to Teach Orangutans How to Swing -- Reuters

This is exactly what it sounds like. The Netherlands built a new enclosure for their orangutans, one that will allow them to swing around to their hearts' content. The problem? They've apparently forgotten how to do that.

The solution?

This guy.

No, really. The solution for this is to have Dutch gymnast Epke Zonderland enter the enclosure on Friday and, I am not making this up, swing from branch to branch, from tree to tree, in an effort to make the orangutans catch on.

Looks like it's working already.

My first born? Totally named Aoyun.

I can't allow the day to pass without mention of an AMAZING BBC article my friend sent me: Chinese Babies named 'Olympic Games'

To be fair, in Chinese the name is actually "Aoyun," which is not a terrible name, all things told. Also, China has a much stronger tradition of naming tykes after attributes or other random but powerful nouns than the US does. (Insert standard Hollywood-baby names-those folks are CRAZY joke here.)

And really, of all the things to be named in the world, Olympic Games is not the worst. It's a name with a longstanding tradition, closely tied both to the modern and ancient world. It denotes tenacity, fortitude, speed, grace, courage, and dignity (except, of course, where mascots are concerned). It's a name a small Chinese baby could be proud of.

An ADORABLE small Chinese baby! Just look at him!

Daaaaaaw. For you, little one, I Heart China too.