Random thought I

So I'm looking for a regular feature, and this sounded as good as any. Besides, da wife says, "Good idea honey. You have plenty of random thoughts." Touche.

Anyway, today's random thought is this: I'm trying to cure my battle of insomnia by watching the Olympics basketball channel. I figure if this doesn't do it, I have no shot except for some sort of severe prescription medication that will be the center of some lawsuit within five years.

I turn it on, and Latvia's women are facing off against the beauties from Belarus. Now, while I have no clue where Latvia is, I am pretty sure Belarus is in Europe, and fairly certain it is near Russia. (I was never good in world geography.)

This, though, has nothing to do with the direction I am headed. After taking a long circle around my random thought, I come to this: Just who picked out the sound for the horn? You know, the signal that there's a timeout or a substitute beauty is entering the game.

In most high school gymnasiums across America -- or college games or the NBA, for that matter, buzzers have a pretty universal sound. It's sort of like one of those annoying horns you might hear in your head. You know, "bommmmmmmmmmmmmp." Well, true, I have a lot of things flying around in my head. "Did I pay the DirecTV bill? I think it's due on the 10th. Oh yeah, I think I paid it. I wonder what's for dinner. I could almost eat right now. I have GOT to get a new battery for this computer. I said I was going to do it today, but now I really don't feel like it. I need to get my eye exam, too."

Sorry for the digression. Hey, I warned you.

Anyway, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, this horn at the Olympics.

So, this horn is completely different from the horns one might hear at an American game. It's like a truly annoying high-pitched squeal that you'd blow in your son's ear after he asks his 16th question in the past 40 seconds. (Not that our son would do that, noooo.)

And I was just wondering if some Chinese dude was trying to be different, or if that's the horn they usually use in China. I mean, this is probably something that would even be hard to Google, and I am almost positive you can't find anything about this on Wikipedia.

Knowing how governing boards work, I also think it's entirely possible that there was a three- or four-hour meeting on the horn. The tail-end of the meeting might have gone something like this:

(Translated into English, of course)

Bing Bong Ho: You know, we have to make everything about these Games special, so that no one ever forgets Beijing.
Ring Hurt Yow: Yes, I think you are right, Bing. We make loud annoying horn so that people's ears will hurt, and they never will forget us.
Bing: Sound good. Let's get some lunch.
Ring: Great. I hear they have good hamburger special at American Palace. I just hope they don't make me use fork. Last time, they were out of chopsticks.

The point is this: When watching the Olympics late at night and you're trying to fall asleep because you can't think of anything more boring, tune to rhythmic gymnastics or rowing or archery. Or if you do decide to doze off to the women's hoops game between Mali and New Zealand, do it with the mute button on.