That Other International Sports Competition

The final celebrations of an international athletic contest filled with drama, sportsmanship, and record-breaking were held right in the Hagget Dorm on the University of Washington campus last night.

Teams from as far away as Switzerland, Japan, and Australia and representing more than 10 different countries, celebrated after five days of competition in the World Boomerang Championship, organized by the International Federation of Boomerang Associations.

During the competition, the teams left their dorm rooms early every morning to return, exhausted, in the evening from a long day of throwing at the fields next to the Intramural Activities Building. Both Team and individual competitions were held.

Though the boomerang may be better know for its recreational or hunting uses, the IFBA Web site explains just how intensely athletic it can be as well. Take the Team Endurance Relay as an example:

Each thrower sprints 20 meters to the bullseye of a circle. Throw and catch a boom as many times as possible for one minute. Sprint back and tag the next teammate.
- IFBA Web site

Winners took their trophies yesterday evening, with the German team B-motions taking first place in team competition, followed by Americans Rad Revolution in second place and the Swiss Team Skandal in third.

The dorms stairs and elevators filled with a mix of languages as the revelers made their way to a ively and alcohol-infused party in the third-floor lobby of Hagget Dorm's North Tower.

The lobby itself was permeated with a feeling of success and the smell of beer as people mingled and joked.


Everyone seemed to be holding some sort of brightly colored award—the "default" awards after the real ceremony—explained Arnaut, a member of one of the French teams.


Almost no one wore their own team's shirt, and a few people seemed very intent on getting everyone's signatures on their World Championship T-shirts.


Peter Hansch, 38 (left), came with one of the three German teams and won the "1988-2008 Vacation from Boomerang Award" for coming back after 20 years away from the sport. Hansch said that he played for one year but then quit in 1988 because other things got in the way.

He's glad to be back now, he said, and he likes the the Boomerang community because, even though it is small , it is also tight-knit. Most throwers also make boomerangs, and recently, only the children of well-established throwers and returning throwers have been joining, so the sport is not really growing, explained Hansch.

The Italian team, Young and Old, were a perfect example of this trend with a 57-year age difference between the the youngest, 13-year-old Alessandro Scarpellino (pictured right, far right), and its oldest member, 70-year old Valentino De Chiara (second to left). Alessandro came with his father, Antonio Scarpellino (third from the left).


The IFBA was also well represented, with President Maurizio Saba and Treasurer Andrea Sgattoni (far left and second from right) also participated.

Several times the noisy room quieted to hear happy announcements, like one young woman's birthday, and also to watch a young man's team initiation ceremony (pictured left).


Today, the teams are scheduled to attempt to beat world records at Greenlake until 6p.m.


They will return home August 27 and 28, after a solid 10 days of boomerang, and will have to wait until the 2010 World Championships to compete again.


To find out more about competitive boomerang or to view videos and information about the 2008 World Championship, visit: http://seattle2008.ifba-online.com/smf/

Sunset from Red Square

George really has a great view sometimes.

Presidential- Sweet!

Ever wonder what kind of view the President of the University of Washington gets?
Well wonder no longer folks, cause here it is:

Yup, that's SR-520 and a corner of the Husky Stadium. I bet he can see the Cascades on the right day too. Well, he will be able to, when he moves in.
These pictures were taken from the 22nd floor of the newly christened University of Washington Tower, formerly the Safeco Tower.
The building is still under construction in some places and the 22nd floor is mostly desks, chairs, and empty cubicles. The building hints at the grand company Safeco Insurance once was. Wood panels cover the walls, floor-to-ceiling windows line every floor, and the lobby has a two-story tall ceiling.

The school bought the building in September of 2006 for $130 million along with a few other properties, like the parking lot that used to house an IHOP at Northeast 44th Street and Brooklyn Avenue Northeast.

The southwest corner of the 22nd floor faces towards an complex urban landscape with crisscrossing veins of transit. The University District's Sound Transit station was to be built near the tower, but it will instead be built near Husky Stadium.

Liberty Mutual, an insurance firm based in Boston, bought locally owned Safeco Insurance in April of this year. Despite the merger, Safeco CEO Paula Reynolds said that Safeco Field will retain it's name "for some time to come" in a July 29 article in The Seattle Times.

The First Issue

Hello future, imagined readers!

Welcome to my personal realm, where I publish what I like, edit myself (poorly), and write about what I find interesting!

Step inside for a quick peek at some terribly cute little ducklings that someone threw in Drumheller Fountain at the University of Washington this morning.

A representative of Facilities Services said that ducks nest all over campus, and sometimes leave their ducklings resting in the shade. The ducklings swam laps around the fountain because they couldn't climb up the walls of the fountain and were in danger because of the strong sun.


When I arrived there were only two ducklings still in the fountain — and the one pictured above right had just been found by its mother. The facilities man put out a ramp on one side of the fountain and a little floating platform on the other, so that the ducks could rest when they wanted to and escape when they figured out how to. Two men in a boat followed the two ducklings in a circle pretty ineffectually, holding their net up waiting to get close enough to nab one.


A few people stood and watched, while some went up and talked to the facilities man. A man in medical scrubs stood by, net in hand, ready to spring into action if needed. It turns out they had rescued most of the ducklings already, and they were resting in a box next to the exit ramp. The facilities man cautiously let me take a few quick photos. Thanks facilities man!

Here they are, all hunkered down:

Facilities man said they would probably relocate the duck families to Portage Bay, where they would be far away from mischievous college students.