I'm thinking that, yet again, the title name will lure impressionable, innocent, young Natalie Sin into visiting my blog. Y'know...all the talk of whipping.I have made little progress on my next flash piece (ie. none) since my last post. Sorry, but I just realized that the last sentence sounded a bit like being at confession. Must be the Ash Wednesday effect. Let me share a line from my next Fridayflash: "Small Victories"...
I don't think there was intentional malevolence, just a shortness of patience and lack of better judgement due to the excessive ouzo consumed that evening. *
*(note: author reserves right to delete and/or alter the crap out of this line prior to show time).
I blame the lack of progress on those darn Olympics. Perhaps this installment of the Games has more of a soap-opera-ish feel to it. Controversy after controversy. Perhaps you are not getting all the dirt at your location, but we in Canada are getting lambasted with information. Just in case you have missed some of the action, allow me to recap the past 6 days...
- The very sad accident at the luge track where the young Georgian died on the first day(I had wondered if this was the first death at an Olympics, but apparently it was the 4th).
- The Cauldron Malfunction at the opening ceremonies when one of the four legs couldn't get it up...
- The warm temperatures and lack of snow at Whistler and Cyprus Mountains. Vancouver Olympic Committee boss John Furlong noted that the temperatures this year are unprecedented in over 100 years (some locals are referring to it as the Summer Games).
- The unsightly 10 foot high chain link fence stopping the public access to the cauldron. I understand that they have, today, found a solution to this.
- The leaky, environmentally friendly ice machine at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
- The anti-Olympic rioters on Saturday who smashed in windows of stores selling Olympic items. This led to 11 arrests. Note that these knuckleheads should not be associated with the protesters of the previous day who marched peacefully, as is their right.
- An automobile accident on Sunday involving three vehicles of VP Joe Biden's motorcade, sending former Olympians Peggy Fleming and Vonetta Flowers to hospital.
One more Olympic item. It's not controversial, more annoying. The Canadian media's OCD-like focus on the fact that Canada was yet to win a gold medal on home soil. Note, we had not won a gold in either the Calgary or Montreal Olympics. The media were here were harping on about it as if they were teenage boys, wondering when they would eventually lose their virginity. Thank God that Alexandre Bilodeau won gold in the Men's Moguls on Sunday to shut the press up. Appropriately on Valentine's Day. I just hope that the athletes and visitors to the beautiful city of Vancouver are still managing to have the time of their lives. Despite what the media thinks.
14 comments:
Man, the Olympics make me want to be Canadian. The opening ceremony was so freaking cool.
Media, schmedia.
As long as Korea, China, and Japan continue to put their athletes in tight, bulge-hugging outfits, I'm happy : )
I haven't been paying enough attention-- I've totally missed all the dirt! I never give the winter games enough. Which is dumb since there are so many awesome speed-filled things. Shame on me!
I started my Olympic boycott with China, because of Tibet, and I'm continuing it with Canada because of rampant commercialisation and aggressive trademark and copyright enforcement of what is supposed to be a millennia old tradition and that was re-established in modern times as an ideal of amateur competition. They've lost sight of that.
You know the 2004 Olympics is what's left Greece all but bankrupt.
Pfft.
I like Aaron's comment the best!
The thing about being Canadian is, Canadians think it's freaking cool to be us, too, but we're so full of self-doubt that we can hardly ever appreciate that coolness.
Events like the Olympics let us shy little wallflowers strut our stuff.
Alan, there is still plenty of time to come up with a ff this week... heck, I haven't even got an idea yet ... maybe somethng a little patriotic would be suitable.
Oh, Anton: I bet you don't like Christmas either, you cute little curmudgeon, you!
And I'm with Natalie on the outfits. Purrrrr....
I watched Vonn win last night. The course looked terrifying. I don't know how skiers take those spills and not die.
One of my daughters and I watch the Olympics. Between lots of comments like "That American guy is totally arrogant, I'm rooting for Finland this time" and "Who would win if all the countries had to train the exact same way with the exact same funds?" and "Oh my god, do they have to pick some emotional story of a contender to focus on in EVERY event?" -
we enjoy the hell out of it.
I figure we like the Olympics because many of the events are easy to understand, we don't have to invest an entire season (like football) and can be instant fans for a couple of weeks then go back to our normally nonsportfan-like behavior.
Aaron, All of America are welcome to be Canadian for a couple of weeks. I liked a lot of the opening ceremony. There were parts, I think, that made Canadians cringe with their corniness.
Nat- Rest easy, I'm sure they will dress the boys like that for years to come.
Katey- I love the speed-filled events like the luge and bobsled. I think the race where the 4 snowboard people race each othere is pretty cool as well.
Anton-I like the principle of bringing nations together in peaceful sports. I don't like the commercialism or the use of professional athletes in the Olympics. And to protest China in Nepal, I think N. America should stop buying all of the crappy little toys, etc. that are manufactured there.
Cathy-It's odd, isn't it that the only time Canadians overtly demonstrate patriotism is during the Olympic Games (and during international hockey tournaments).
Becca- She lived up to all the hype we heard about ahead of time. You wouldn't catch me going down that hill!
CJ-Yeah, all of the emotional background stories get a bit much (a lot like American Idol). Get on with the events! It's nice to cheer on these odd little sports we only see once every four years.
I was so relieved when we got that first gold medal and we could stop hearing the endless statistics of how we'd never got a gold medal on home soil.
Let me say it's magic here in Vancouver. Everyone is wearing red and white. Flags are everywhere. The sun is shining again today. It's wonderful.
"some locals are referring to is as the Summer Games"
:))))))))))
I'm glad that Canada finally got some--um, gold. :)
I prefer the summer games, myself, because the only event I like to watch is the equestrian events and horses don't ski.
I would watch the Winter Olympics IF they had horse-skiing.
I'm betting the people in charge of those Olympics consumed a little excessive ouzo too.
If they didn't, they should.
Elspeth, I'm envious of you getting to be so close to the action (chaos). I'm sure the city is electric.
Dez, I wish they would send some of those warm days to the east coast of Canada.
KC, We shall suggest that to the IOC as a demonstation sport for 2014.
Anton, I'm thinking that the PETA folks would put their hoof down about that activity. I'm sure that someone would get a pie in the face over it!
Carrie, I'm sure that the ouzo would make their job more bearable right about now.
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