And the Gold Medal Goes to...

Well, maybe our client Vision Research won't be on the medal stand in Vancouver, but their technology will be helping American Olympians and the American viewing public to better understand just what goes into a winning performance.

NBC, which is covering the Olympics, has enlisted the Vision Research ultra-high-speed Phantom camera to "slow down" the action of Olympic athletes, giving them and their coaches information that can lead to a winning edge.

At the same time, the television viewing public gets to see amazing details and things that give a far greater appreciation to the physics of sport.

Check out this report (click here) from Lester Holt on the TODAY Show, breaking down how US Olympian Julie Chu generates so much velocity to her slap shot.

Vision Research cameras serve a wealth of important functions, slowing down even the fastest motion to allow the analysis of motion that is far too fast for the human eye, and even beyond the capabilities of traditional film and video cameras.

I don't know about you, but I think this stuff is REALLY cool! For a gallery of ultra-high-speed video shot with Vision Research cameras, click here.

Just WHO won that war anyway?

So, I was watching the Mets play the Cincinnati Reds, and Jerry Manuel went out to make a pitching change. My daughter (a recent college grad -- CONGRATS AGAIN!) grabbed the remote to flip on a show called "So You Think You Can Dance," a show that, it seems, is going to identify for us America's next great dancer.

Well, the cute host has a British accent. And (go figure) one of the "judges" is also a Brit.

It got me thinking: If one of our Founding Fathers came back to modern day America, and was watching one of the seemingly endless array of "reality TV" shows, they'd have to wonder if we actually LOST the Revolutionary War.

Why is it that America can't decide who our best singer, dancer, comedian, entertainer, etc. is without the "help" of some (usually curmudgeonly) British person?

Clueless School Administrator of the Year

Every year we get one of these stories.

It seems that the principal of Mainland Regional High School in Linwood, NJ, Mr. Robert Blake, interrupted the commencement speech of salutatorian Jennifer Chau, had her microphone cut off, and escorted her off the dais. Why? Because it seems that Ms. Chau was about to lambaste the school administration for some perceived wrong.

Leaving aside the question of whether or not this was the appropriate time or place for Ms. Chau to air her grievances (What does she think this is? Festivus?), and also notwithstanding the school administration's prerogative to allow whatever speech they see fit at one of their functions, it seems to me that if Mr. Blake had allowed the young woman to have her say, it would have been a story in, maybe, The Press of Atlantic City the next day. Probably on page C3 or thereabouts.

But no. A story about "the man" silencing the poor young schoolgirl who just wanted to express her perceived First Amendment rights is big news. The story hit the Associated Press, and was carried in newspapers all over the country. And on radio and TV stations. And the story lasted for days.

The lesson? Not every battle is worth fighting OR winning. Had Mr. Blake allowed Ms. Chau to make her point, it would have been a small, local, one-day story -- and he would be getting praise for being a big enough man to allow biting criticism in such an august forum.

So this year's award for Clueless School Administrator of the Year goes to Mr. Robert Blake, principal of Mainland Regional High in Linwood, NJ.

Discovery Channel's New 'Time Warp' Show Makes the Invisible Visible

There is a cool new show on The Discovery Channel, called "Time Warp." The basis of this show is to use ultra high-speed video cameras to "slow down" reality, and let our eyes finally see incredible sequences and events that happen in nanoseconds. Check it out here.

We at R&J Public Relations take special pride in this show, because the cameras used to capture and show us these amazing images are manufactured by our client, Vision Research. Vision Research is the world's benchmark for high-speed digital video cameras. The company designs and manufactures high-speed digital imaging systems used in defense, automotive, engineering, scientific and medical research, industrial and commercial, sports and entertainment, and digital broadcast and cinematography.

It was a Vision Research Phantom V-10 camera, operated by production company Inertia Unlimited for FOX Sports, that captured amazing footage of David Tyree's incredible against-the-helmet catch in Super Bowl XLII.