25 Random Things with Video

1) I take way too long to say THANK YOU because I want the thank you to measure up to the generosity and love shown. Candace Brooke Silva, for example, took the time to send this wonderful gift, and I'm nearly 10 days behind on my thank you:

2) I love my wife more than when we married 10 years ago. I missed her (and my daughter) terribly at the Olympics in Beijing this past summer. I made this video when I was my loneliest:

And I made this video on the Great Wall of China when I felt okay, almost elated thinking about my wife (and daughter) because I knew I'd be home soon:

3) Chris LaBianco (Chief of the USA Swimming Foundation) has become a close friend. When I met him, November, 2007, at Golden Goggles, he was still interviewing for the job. I had no clue what 2008 had in store, but I knew he was talented and great things would follow if USA Swimming made him a part of the team. I couldn't put into words what it was about him, but in Beijing, the first day he arrived, I figured it out. He landed after the long flight, got to the hotel within 40 minutes and said "We're going to Tienanmen Square." We were there within a half hour. He's pure passion! That's what I sensed about him. Passion for life means everything!  Here's what happened: 

4) My father was the assistant to the first evangelical TV star, back in the 1980s. His name was Jim Bakker. His wife was Tammy Faye Bakker. Their ministry, PTL/Heritage USA, was the biggest Christian TV empire that has ever been. I do not like mega-churches, or the present waning evangelical movement. I lived through Bakker's rise and fall. I grew up on the grounds of PTL's Heritage USA, an enormous Christian City. I saw everything first-hand. Faith has nothing to do with money. God, in what ever form you conceive it/he/she, is absolutely free. If anyone tells you otherwise, pressures you to give them money, stokes your emotions, taps your spiritual-center and inspires you to pony it up--think twice before you do. (I've written the first draft of my memoir about my childhood growing up there.) Here's a video of me as a teenager. I had gotten into boarding school, gotten out of PTL--right before Bakker was incarcerated and eventually imprisoned. 

5) I still love Jim Bakker, in a way. He was kind to my father, who followed him with absolute loyalty. When Bakker went to prison, my father continued to work at PTL/Heritage USA for free. When it was clear the ministry was dead and gone, my father never really recovered. He worked a few part-time jobs, or worked odd jobs for friends. His health went pretty fast and he died 6 years later at the age of 56. This is the only video I have of him. 

6) I believe in aliens. (If someone tells me they don't, I, rather condescendingly, judge their basic understanding of astrophysics.) 

7) I think I saw a UFO Jan 27th of this year. (My mother-in-law saw it too.) It was a huge orbit, miles wide, moving faster than any airplane or rocket I've ever seen.    

8) I used to read continually. I don't now. Social-networking has consumed me. I think my IQ is going down day by day.

9) Theoretical physics is it, the study of it is the rock-star career-path of the 21st century. If you think or say you don't understand it, you simply haven't tried. You should try. You should know. 

10) Michael Phelps, despite the overwhelming fame and 8 gold medals, is underrated. I think he's faster. I think he has more greatest in him. Prepared to be wowed between now and London 2012.

11) I think Ryan Lochte is going to surprise people in the pool. Beyond the pool I think he's going to mature into a long-term global star. Reezy will become iconic over the next 4 years. No doubt. 

12) Swimming needs a pro-series, a hardcore series filmed like the X-Games. The tired old productions we've seen for the last 30 years--which have remained essentially unchanged--need a serious facelift. The Olympic production should be more traditional, but all other productions need to be pitched on their ear, taken to the edge. (If bull-riders can have a pro-series--as a close friend told me--swimming can.)  I've been vocal about this for 20 years, but I wasn't the first. Tom Jager and Matt Biondi were. Here's Biondi, who I love and respect. He's the godfather of all swimmers who now earn a living swimming. 

13) I'm happier now working for the USA Swimming Foundation, raising money for "learn to swim" programs, than when I competed at the Olympic level. 

14) I was an arrogant ass and mean when I competed. No question about it. I still don't know if it was necessary to be that way back then, to win. I'd like to think I could've been nicer, more easy-going, but I'm unsure. Mostly, I think I should've internalized all the anger that fueled me--not exposed it to anyone else.

15) I love flowers. 

16) I love drawing and painting flowers. 

17) Whenever I draw or paint, I only draw or paint flowers.

18) My favorite video of last year was a wild, child-like ride down the Great Wall of China. Here it is: 

19) My wife is sexy. I don't think it, I know it. 

20) I make videos of swimmers because I never got the appreciation I felt I deserved, or swimmers in general deserved. I am desperate to tell their stories, to promote them, to prove that people care about swimming.

21) As Michael Phelps received global recognition for his 8 gold medals, I cried, several times. On a deep level, I feared no one would care.

22) I don't watch sports. Period. Sports bore me to death. I think watching sports is a mindless waste of time. HOWEVER, I think watching people go through the drama of training, competing and achieving is the best entertainment on earth.... Does that even make sense? 

23) I love cheese. 

24) I eat way too much cheese. 

25) I have tried and failed at a yogurt diet, a diet driven by the consumption of active-cultures.  I gave up after one day. 

Comments

[Gayla]

Hi,
I came across your blog and youtube channel looking up stuff on Cullen Jones. You seem like a cool guy with a good heart. I'm a Christian, so I watched PTL as a child and remember it vividly. I just really became a fan of swimming during the Olympics. I think what your foundation is doing is great! Oh and I eat way to much cheese too. Lol. I've added you and your family to my prayers. God bless you!

[caroline]

wow, great list. matt biondi was always my fav swimmer. i still have a poster of him on my office wall, it is the victory one. i remember i also had a pair of arena goggles that were called the matt biondi .

[Bianca]

Your just the best. I'm stuck at home with back problems.. your keeping me amused.... THANK YOU!!!

#12 #12 #12- that would be the best thing EVER. If they can show the xgames and all the sports associated with it. Why can't the sponsors step up and do the same for the swimmers. That would be the best way to bring more attention to the sport every year. Focus on all the athletes- not the same ones over and over again. I think that's what bothered me the most during this olympics. The special interst pieces are my 2nd favorite thing to watch and this time they were all on Phelps.The interviews - Phelps. Now I am a huge fan but lets spread it out some. Everyone knew what he was trying to do and most were rooting for him. They just went over board. If I wasnt home sick on the first Wed, I would have missed: The World According to Lochte. That so should have been on prime time. The fact the Peirsol won back to back golds in the 100back, Natalie and all her metals.. they deserved more attention.

Mel I found the piece they did on you in 92. hysterical! The past few weeks I have had nights when I couldn't sleep so I looked at old videos from past olympics. They did any where from 2-3 per night for swimming all on different athletes and not just the americans. This year there was one a night on Phelps and maybe one other. it was sad. I like learning about the other swimmers.
ok i wrote a book .. sorry

[Ahelee]

RIGHT!
Don't eat the active culture - become the active culture!

You are so on the right track Mel. Keep it going strong. If you get tired, then call out on your thousands of swimmers.

Love you and most anything you come up with to promote the sport I love with a PASSION!

(ahelee from california)

[Dean Hutchinson]

Mel
This was ausome...for the insight into you...into swimming...Labi...all of it...and biondi...one of my swimmming heroes...well done...tell the family hi

[Mary]

Oh my gosh, the slid down the Great Wall looks so. much. fun!

Thanks for posting all this! I love learning more about people, and your firsthand experiences and this footage is really interesting. #20 really stuck out, but I disagree completely with #22 (UNC v. Duke men's basketball - make sure to catch it this year. It may change your mind!). I'm biased though, since my college experience has revolved around sports.

I can safely say every true swim fan appreciates everything you're doing. Thanks Mel! :)