Chad at the Bird's Nest

OK, I officially had one of the coolest nights ever. We get off of work real late, but have tickets to Saturday's Bird's Nest session, which includes the now famous 100 meter dash. We got into a cab as soon as we could, and then practically sprinted from the cab stand to the stadium. PS, the cabs stop a really, really long way away from the Bird's Nest.

Anyway, we just get into the stadium when we hear "and starting in lane nine is," so we know that the 100 meter final is just about to start. I said that I'd be happy with going to the stadium even if all I got to see was the 100 meter final, and that, essentially, was exactly what I got. We got there right before the gun went off, with barely enough time to pull out my camera to get some very, very bad photos from very far away. I really wish that I'd gotten it on video, but I had no time to think about anything but snapping away. The crazy finish, with Bolt parading through the finish line on his way to a world record, was only seen after the fact by us, but it's pretty cool to be able to say that you were there.

We've got nothing else to do with the night, so we hang around for some closer pictures of the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. The Olympic Green was just ridiculous. I was tired as hell and hadn't eaten in about a day (true story, and if you know me you know that's a big deal), but I figured that I may never, far more likely will never, get another chance at an Olympic stadium. The whole place was ridiculous. The flame was pretty cool, and the different things that light up (the Water Cube, the light fixtures, the ground around the Water Cube, AN ENTIRE BUILDING) are really crazy. They have an entire building dedicated to the Beijing Olympic Broadcasting for the Beijing Olympics, which is the one in the pic with the diamond shaped lights that change.

Oh yeah, everything has different lights, which makes the 100 or so different pictures I took worth while. I swear the Water Cube and bureaucracy building are eight different colors through the night. The entire place is just ridiculous. I realize I've used that word that word a couple of times now, but it's really a cool place to be with everyone there. They even keep the subway open until early in the morning to get people home for cheap. I literally can't describe it all in that great of detail, so hopefully my pictures help it all out.