Hello Brian,

I completely agree that this collective USA swim team is terrific.  Competitive swimming is ridiculously tough.  So glad that you appreciate the hard work of the USA swim teams.  Truly a fantastic group of athletes.  I hope that everyone takes time to check out the sights and sounds of Beijing.  Hopefully, the swimmers will do their walking around  after their collective events so as not to tire their legs!!   Thanks again for a fine broadcast. Your coverage of US swimming is appreciated!

Hey Brian,

Awesome story tonite!  Loved the cab driver story yesterday and also loved the Tobaganning the Great Wall story on the web today.  It's too bad they couldn't go any faster ~ after that long walk.  I was surprised to hear that you have no Springsteen on your ipod....where's The Boss?

Good Evening Mr.Williams, Great broadcast from Beijing this evening! I will say the United States is doing GREAT with 22 medals so far. And 7 of them Gold! Go USA! I wish I could sit with all of you people of NBC at the swimming venue to watch Michael Phelps race. I'm sure it will be very exciting! And being there with all of you people would be a real treat! First of all it was nice te hear from Rowdy Gaines speaking about the swimming and all the records being broken. Technology has played a role, but the sport has changed and these swimmers are certainly working even harder than ever. I do enjoy it when Rowdy Gaines calls the races because he has so much enthusiasm for the sport and makes it fun to watch.
Now on another note the report by Ian Williams concerning the earthquake and the loss of so many children was heartbreaking. I feel so very sad for the parents who lost their only child to the eathquake and are receiving no answer from the government as to the possible bad construction of the schools. All the officials have done is seal off the schools and haul away debris offering no consulation to the parents in their time of tremendous grief and anger. Just move on the governement said to them. And offering money to the parents seems so wrong. I really hope the parents get the truth someday as to why the buildings crumbled so much. My heart goes out to all the grieving parents who lost their children.

Finally, the piece by Ann Curry about Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson showed such determination and dedication to this sport by a great young girl. It was nice to hear from her parents and how they didn't push her into the sport at all. She has so much talent and her parents will definitely not allow success to go to her head. She seems so very nice. A great gymnast! And her coach seems great too! GO USA GYMNASTS! And CONGRATULATIONS TO THE MENS TEAM FOR WINNING THE BRONZE MEDAL! They did a marvelous job!
Thank you for the broadcast Mr.Williams! Glad you enjoyed the Forbidden City. Nice to know your listening to your favorite music! Peace to you and to all!

Lots of Love to Laurel,Jackie,Stephanie,Claudia,Celine,Anna and Matt!
Be Well Always!
Stay Safe and Well Richard! Hope to see you soon on Nightly News with one of your reports! Hope you have been enjoying Beijing!
XOXO  

Hi Brian
I'm so caught up in the Olympics I decided to let all the troubles rest for today. I visited a friend in Newark and all people are talking about is Cullen Jones. Yes I know Michael Phelps is the top swimmer but at every store I went to Jones was the talk of Newark. I know Maryland is so proud of their home town hero too as is the rest of the USA.

Stephanie: I laughed about you phone call on the election. I just never seen to get any of those calls.

Best to all and my friends Lisa, Laural, Stephanie, Claudia, Celine, Anne and Matt

We would enjoy the Olympics much more if we did not hear so much background noise. No matter which TV in the house we watch, the commentators cannot be heard because of background music, crowd noise, etc. This occurs especially in the volleyball competition. Hope this gets addressed.
GO USA!

Brian-- Since you are "doing" music, a couple of questions come up: Did you see Adrienne Mong's World Blog post "Beijing's Explosive Music Scene"? Any plans for checking it out? Interesting stop to make before work! You might still be rocking on air! Then there is today's Page Six news and my question is: Have you gotten your Super Bowl tickets yet? NBC broadcasting it and Springsteen performing at half-time! Seems the perfect combo for you!

What caught your eye in the Forbidden City? And what happened to Subrata's photos? (I'm assuming it was Subrata--and she takes great pictures!)

Josh-- I went to China during the reign of the First Emperor! Actually it was a bit before the Brits left Hong Kong. I found Hong Kong to be the closest place to NYC I've experienced. It had the same relentless energy, pizazz and verticality as well as business acumen--and like NY, it never slept. The city was alive and its exuberance was infectious. I often wonder if that changed when it became part of the PRC.

Speaking of the first emperor--Emperor Qin--I hope you all have seen Peter Alexander's video "Discover China's ancient warriors" on Today's videos, and his post from Xian on Mon. 8/4 on World Blog. The terracotta warriors awed me more than anything else in China. They just blow you away. Every face is different! When I was there we were not even allowed to photograph them. Peter was allowed to walk among them and film. Unbelievable! The comments on the post note that the History Channel has been showing a 3 hr. program about the First Emperor.  I watched. Most interesting, but I would advise recording it so you can FF through the overly dramatic re-enactments and focus on the images of the warriors and the experts discussing them and their bronze weapons. One of the most fascinating features is just how advanced China was in 200 B.C. The posters also noted there is a museum show featuring the warriors that will appear in 3 U.S. cities--NY being one. I'm definitely going when it comes in 2009! BTW, Emperor Qin also built the Great Wall, among other notable advances. But what a ruthless tyrant!

Was also interested to read posts about Xian's city walls which are really impressive and that the dumplings are still great. They were the best in the country when I was there.

Brian, they're going to have to give you some time off while you are there--so why not try to get to Xian and see the warriors. With you interest in matters military, I think you would find them fascinating as well as awesome. It would be a memory you would take with you the rest of your life.

I worry about Brian and the NBC gang. I know what they are going through in terms of weather. For the two weeks I was there, it never went under 90 degrees or under 90% humidity, and it was the humidity that killed. It was absolutely enervating. It was the worst trip I ever took in terms being exhausted upon return. Yes jet lag was a factor, but I think it was largely due to weather. Brian and NBC's problem is that the Olympics end on the 24th and the Democratic convention begins on the 25th in Denver. I don't know how they will be able to handle that.

Josh, are congratulations in order?

Hello to all the regulars and do take care--    

Brian, I have to mention the great John Williams' music that NBC uses during these games.  Not only has Williams written the theme for NBC News, he has composed great olympic themes for these games and games past for NBC.  Whenever I hear Summon the Heroes or The Olympic Spirit, I get chills.  Great work in China, as always.

Brian:

The athletes and some of the other stories coming out of China are impressive and heart warming,  I have a son who plays quad rugby and is our US Developmental team for the 2012 Olympic/Paralmpic games so I understand the hard work and commitment it takes to get there.  Our US athletes are exceptional!

But there is other information coming out of China that sickens me... the little girl who wasn't "cute enough" to sing... or the fact that the Chinese athletes are taken from their families as young as 3 years old so they can be "groomed" for the Olympics.  Isn't that nothing more than child slavery!?  There's been discussion as to the age of a few of the girls on the gymnastics team - - their passports indicate they're 16… but if the Chinese government can take these "babies" from their homes one would think that same government can doctor their passports so they are any age they need them to be!  It's appalling!

Ann Curry really should stick with the fluffy Today Show, rather than being given any serious consideration on the Evening News. When she was interviewing the young gymnast and asked her, "Who are your angels?", I nearly gagged. Rather than asking the question in a more sensible way, like "Who inspires you?" or "Who motivates you?", she resorted to a sappy, sentimental, pseudo-theological way of posing the question. Leave your personal beliefs at home, Ms. Curry!

As to the NBC news coverage of the Olympics in general, don't the games get enough coverage without eating into the supposed news time slot? Are there not enough events of substance happening in the world that warrant your coverage more than athletic events? It's painfully obvious that the games are nothing more than a huge commercial enterprise that benefits your parent company, and gives you all a working vacation in an exotic location (with choice seats at the events, no doubt), so therefore it's all Olympics coverage, all the time with you folks. I can't wait for this farce to end, so we can get on to the (hopefully, keeping idiotic talk of flag lapel pins and supposed arrogance and elitism at a minimum) serious wall-to-wall election coverage that will ensue.

Hi Brian,
I am enjoying the nightly broadcasts -- especially hearing about your travels around the city. Thanks for sharing the highlights of your trip (especially enjoyed your cab adventure!).  I also enjoyed Ann Curry's piece on Shawn Johnson -- an impressive young lady!

I have to say I am worried about the conflict between Russia and Georgia -- I hope there is a resolution soon -- so many are suffering.  

You and the team stay safe.

P.S.  You have any Doors on your ipod?

Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps, Michaels Phelps.  Congratulations need to go out to ALL the athletes competing this year, especially to all those respresenting the USA.  

I realize that athletes and singing often do not go hand in hand, but I would like to see our athletes singing, or even mouthing, the words to our national anthem when they are being awarded a medal and representing our country.  

And now that we've seen Michael at several ceremonies, is it necessary to continue to show every one of his ceremonies during prime time when we are not showing the ceremonies for other gold medal winning athletes during prime time, namely A. Piersol?

If Phelps isn't going to honor our anthem I'm going to choose that opportunity to step away to freshen my drink, take the dogs out or see what's on Nightline.

Otherwise, keep up the good work.  Go USA.

To Dolly,

Brian has posted before that he has over 2,000 songs on his iPod and I'm almost sure The Boss is on there. What he listed there were his current favorites, which obviously change over time and also, especially when your dealing with 2,000+ songs, don't always have to include Bruce.

Brian Williams - Why has there been no coverage of Judo during these Olympics? Rhonda Rousy just won a Bronze Medal  - the first USA medal in Judo since it's entry into the Olympics. Is this not newsworthy? There are uncounted numbers of Judokas and their families in the US and accross the world who feel slighted because of the lack of coverage.

Wow.
Mad props on the music selection. It's awesome you keep up with music enough to know The Republic Tigers (The Fight Song is one of my favorites). But I nearly choked when I saw you're listening to Grits. That is a rarity.
I am impressed.

I agree about singing our National Anthem.
These athletes train hard for 4 years or even more if it's not their 1st Olympics.  Can they not learn the words to our National Anthem and sing them proudly?
We are so proud of all of the athletes and of our United States of America!  
We know that these athletes are the best of the best, and feel very  honored to represent our country in their sport...Let's make sure that they stand proud and tall on the podium with pride and sing our National Anthem with all of their heart!
I am very sure it is a very moving moment, but I know I would def. rather see singing with tears and emotion from our men and women than a non-chalant look.  
Remember millions of Americans are watching and are beaming with pride and so excited that they have won!!  
Congratulations to all of our 2008 athletes!

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