Blizzardheads

i've never been accused of being a great thinker.

I'm back at work, so I'm going to have to download and watch Blizzardheads some other time. I shoveled snow while listening to a Kurt Andersen divalog (I am spelling that right aren't I?) while snow shoveling and the level of mutual admiration, log-rolling and soporific insiderishness nearly caused me to drop my shovel in somnabuolistic overdose.

If I were Bob Wright I'd be a little miffed at being placed 14 places behind Dick Cheney.

Soporific insiderishness is BAD??????

Ruh-roh.

JA, we're all on tenterhooks --

Did the Weber survive???

Jk -- I misread that as

Sophia's spider is inside a fish.

And JA, to keep spiders inside fishes is a very good strategy especial if we are a wee bit afraid of spiders.

SN - my lil Joe Weber sent up a flare and I responded. He is fine!

I guess by featuring Bob Wright so prominently in your blog, this is your Valentine's Day heart-to-heart to him?

I'd say it's *always* good to have real, old friends to talk with, Valentine's Day or not.

Mudge, don't look now, but K-hammer linked to some of Joel's stuff in his latest anti-Obama screed. I mean really -- don't look. It's one thing to have a legitimate argument about such things, but it looks to me that K-hammer's dredged up facts and information purely to support his ax-grinding. I've never noticed him being interested in space exploration before, though I will admit that I don't read his stuff much. Too angry, negative, and polarized for my taste.

yello, thanks for following up on the Thor/werewolf thing last night, and I can't believe I missed "Sandkings" this morning. Drat. I'm looking at my ancient copy of Martin's original story on my bookshelf as I write this, may have to reread it soon. [I wonder if he'd write a sequel, "Snowkings?"]

bc

Just watching the torch relay in Vancouver, Arnooold has just accepted the flame, a little delayed as the crowd is very large - interesting comments shouted out to him by the crowd both positive and negative. He has a very plastic look to his face.

Speaking of Kennewick Man, the liberal white guy guest columnist from the Midwest, Kevin Huffman, has an op-ed this morning about whether Valentine's Day should become one of those holidays that goes extinct.

I admit that I was up around 4 a.m. with a very stuffy nose--allergies. One poster, a douglaslbarber, posted three hours earlier than I, in response to Huffman:

Nah. Let's keep the day on which we remember that the tired person doing your laundry and cooking your meals was once the object of your lust.

So I decided to have some fun with Mr. Barber by posting, shortly after 4 a.m. my time, this:

Nah. Let's keep the day on which we remember that the tired person cutting your lawn and taking out the trash was once the object of your lust.

And what would future generations think, going through our left-behind garbage middens, when they unearthed hundreds upon hundreds of empty red heart boxes with big red bows, and the remains of thousands upon thousands of teddy bears, of our St. Valentine's Day culture?

Thanks for the head's up, bc. I will avoid K-hammer with my usual diligence.

FYI to all hands: Soporific insiderishness is available as a Boodle handle, at our special Valentine's Day rates. Sign up a loved one now-- it makes a terrific romantic surprise gift thhat one will remember as long as one is signed in to WaPo. And -- for a limited time only -- you can have this special Boodle handle delivered to your loved one in a lovely periwinkle organza box, for the low, low, low shipping and handling rate of only $12.95. Be sure to order yours now. Supplies are limited.

bc,
I didn't set the DVR either, but I recall not liking the movie version the time I saw it, so it's no loss. I do have Blazing Saddles set to record on AMC this weekend. It's a major omission on my part that I have never seen it. My lame excuse is that I was too young for the theatrical release, having not entered the Mel Brooks oeuvre until the When Things Were Rotten/Silent Movie stage.

Morning all... off to Chapel Hill this morning to attend the 100 Years of UNC Basketball Alumni Game tonight. We'll try to remember last year's glory, not this year's well... you know.

Frosti... if you could see these plowed piles of snow, you'd realize that we'll be seeing the cherry blossoms AND the snow piles this spring. I predict the end of April before all of this stuff is gone.

one of the ledes on the charlotte observer's front page says that "Danica is bigger than Sea World". i always thought NASCAR was about the race.

Last time I was at Sea World, it seemed to be a pretty big place. If Danica is bigger, how does she get her butt in the little tiny F1 car?

Enquiring minds want to know.

forgot the link:

http://www.thatsracin.com/140/story/27483.html

yello, the Blazing Saddles cut that you need to record would be on the occasion that it airs on IFC. the saltiest parts of the script aren't censored.

As I am still home today, I have the luxury of watching the Blizzardheads in its entirety. I think I might be one of the few people who think these things are too short. I really enjoy both the great wit and intelligence on display.

First of all, I think if you specify it in your will, we will make sure that there is a Joel Achenbach Diorama at the Smithsonian. I can just imagine it. A skilled taxidermist would capture you sitting with a Carbucks mug typing on your porch. It would be epic, but, let me hasten to add, something far, far off in the future.

Assuming, of course, you stay off the roof.

I also found the family sounds coming through amusing. It was sort of a meta-commentary on that whole "home/work" dichotomy. (Man, I love it when I get to say dichotomy.) I could just imaging you wandering off and saying "Ladies! Could you keep it down? Dad's on the Internet..."

Most of the topics were familiar ones, of course. I think the Road Trip in Space is a reasonable position. I don't think you really need to go anywhere specific, although, if one insists, I think the Moons of Mars would be cool.

I also applaud your rejection, or at least discomfort, with the lifeboat Mars scenario. Your objections to this seem to beautifully recapitulate (another word I like almost as much as dichotomy) your thoughts on the future of America. Once one accepts the premise that demise of anything is inevitable, motivation to preserve and improve drops precipitously.

Besides, if we really want a back-up plan, why go to Mars?? Why not a subterranean city? Or something on the bottom of the sea? Both seem a whole lot more plausible.

I think Bob (I don't know him so I shan't call him Robert) makes an excellent point about Iran. The people of Iran, I assert, are just as concerned about national pride and autonomy as any other population. And, as an aside, right now there is a lot of pro-American feeling there. You wanna destroy that and unite the population against us? Try bombing them.

So another great conversation. I enjoyed it tremendously. You guys have great chemistry.

Which is why, of course, the prospect of poor Mr. Wright becoming nothing but a frozen gnawed-upon corpse is so tragic.

Yes indeed, roof shoveling is a distinct possibility today, once NukeSpouse returns.

I mean, someone's got to be around to call the paramedics, right?

jack,
I have a rule about not watching R-rated movies on basic cable. I have no idea how bowdlerized the AMC showing of Blazing Saddles will be, but at least I can check it off my must-see list even if with an asterisk.

I have no idea how I missed Chuckie K's rather disingenuous diatribe (dang these three-page Friday op/ed sections) since I was too distracted with Gerson's apologia for Gitmo complete with the claim that Dubya wanted to shut it down. Is it in the WaPo columnist contract that you have to support torture?

At least Robinson gave a ripping rebuttal to Broder's sloppy wet Palin kiss with real numbers to dispute the assertion that her popularity is climbing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/11/AR2010021103483.html

Loyal Boodlers, it is my belief that at the 12:30 mark in the above Bloggingheads schmoozapalooza, Joel gets up for a few seconds, thus giving us a view out his window and showing what I suspect to be the famous, indeed, the legendary Achenbach Porch, about which so much has been written about in song, saga and fable.

Joel, would you confirm? (There appear to be the two Adironack chairs we have seen snow-capped previously from the rear.)

I'm going to tell a story, one that I've been saving since Nov. 1, the last day of the last Texas Book Festival in Austin, so I've been saving this tale for three and a half months! It will cover both Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day quite nicely. I'm telling it now because I'm not sure what our plans for the two-day weekend are.

My husband and I both decided the last talk we wanted to hear on Sunday (Nov. 1) at the Texas Book Festival was Doug Brinkley's discussion about his biography of Theodore Roosevelt, "The Wilderness Warrior." Except that we hadn't eaten since our early morning breakfast in the Driskill Hotel on 6th Street. And we were starving.

I knew I wanted those pulled pork sandwiches from Ruby's food stand, the delicious fare we'd heard about the day before from San Antonio ABC News affiliate station's former news director and his wife, the ones with whom I chatted while standing in line on Saturday to hear the NYT's Gail Collins. So my husband and wolfed down a hasty picnic lunch of pulled pork sandwiches and a drink on the lawn of Capitol grounds.

We fully understood that we'd be late for Brinkley's talk. I knew it was useless to try to get seats on the Senate floor, far more limited than on the House floor. I knew to make a beeline for the Senate gallery, a U-shaped aerial perch above the desks and seats below. From previous experience, I also knew there was to be no microphone in the gallery, should a listener have a question.

To my great surprise, Evan Smith, formerly the editor of Texas Monthly and who had introduced Brinkley, said, at the end of Brinkley's presentation, that Brinkley would be taking questions both from the mic on the Senate floor and from the gallery. I knew that if I had a question, it would be a matter of being heard. So, I listened as a handful of people below came to the mic and asked their questions, not very good ones, not ones reflecting any knowledge of Brinkley's book or of Teddy Roosevelt.

-more-

Good morning, y'all.

Warm muffins, coffee, and OJ on the table.

I'm late to the boodle because I, like RD_P, watched the entire 46:21 bloggingheads video.

*spoiler alert is now in effect*

Interesting mix of mid-life, gainfully employed, white family man whining and insightful insights into some issues of the day. Mr. W's loss of electrical power near the end was one of those perfect moments that could never be scripted. Has he got power back, BTW?

RD_P did a magnificent write-up, as usual. I would add that the proposed JA Diorama will have to be large enough to include the back of the house (with Mr. Derring-Do clearing the roof), the garage, and the Weber. And that there will be no need for any serious planning for at least a few decades.

I was thinking there should be some sort of official gridhead organization. Gridheads or Die (GoD), Gridheads Anonymous Society (GAS), and Federation of Gridheads (FoG) were group names that first came to me. So I decided maybe the group thing needs a little work.

*end spoiler alert*

yello, the 'edited fr TV' version of Blazing Saddles pales in comparison to the original movie. It's almost like the 'edited for TV' version of George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can't Say on TV".

That was kind of a voyeuristic thrill, watching other people in conversation. The shocking revelation is how the states on the periphery of the Soviet Union have morphed from communist to benign little socialists. There is no question about who wore the white hats in the Cold War. Comparative body counts by the two sides will quickly establish that fact. As far as our supporting the mujahadeen in Afghanistan, that was a wise decision. The Soviets were a much more formidable, deadly foe. We often get in bed with miscreants in the service of war. After all, we even supported Stalin during the effort against Hitler.

The bloggingheads is interesting and just another example of journalists willingly cutting their own source of sustenance. We really need a new model to pay news gatherers and disseminators in this society since the old one is passing quickly.

So, I stood up in the gallery, indicating that I had a question for Brinkley. As a professor of history, Brinkley, I am quite certain, can provide an answer with many details, and can easily fill time. I realized that neither Evan nor Brinkey was looking my way. So, when Brinkley paused, as though he were finishing answering one of the questions asked of him, I shouted out, "Evan and Doug."

Evan heard me, but Brinkley continued answering. I sat down, at which point Evan Smith looked up at me and nodded. I knew then that I would be called on.

I was finally able to ask whether in George Bird Grinnell's relationship with Teddy, if Grinnell acted more as a mentor to Teddy or more as a brother. Included in my question was a mention of the college student Grinnell, motivated to pursue paleontology out West by professor Othniel Marsh of Yale.

What Brinkley said next came as a complete surprise, "Now there's a smart and sophisticated question from an attendee of the Texas Book Festival," and he proceeded to give a great answer, knowing, as he does, his material backwards and forwards.

What was also obvious is that Brinkley didn't recognize me from two years ago, when I approached him at the newstand on Congress Ave. and asked him to sign the small pile of books of his that I was carrying, at a time when he was less busy than in the signing tent. He didn't recognize me as the person to whom he gave a kiss two years ago after his talk about his then-latest book about the Reagan diaries.

I had not identified myself just a year before, when I asked questions of two of the panels in the panel he was moderating--one of author Jane Mayer and another of Clinton's former speechwriter Ted Widmer. James Traub and Fred Burton were also on the panel that Brinkley moderated last year, and my last question of the the three I asked on that early Saturday morning in 2008 was to Doug, simply asking him how his book on Teddy Rooseelt was coming along.

I was up in the gallery last Nov. 1, far away. I had grown out my layered haircut to a shoulder-length bob for my 40th high school reunion in October, but then had decided not to make the trip to Bakersfield. So there was no reason in the world for Doug Brinkley to recognize me.

-more-

Bloody cheaters.
"the Canadian athletes, who will be the only ones at the Games to wear the suits, had been “very, very positive.” "
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/sports/olympics/12speedsuits.html

To say the superheroe suits are body hugging would be a huge understatement. One can spot an appendicectomy scar at 20 pace.
The colours are quite ugly in my eye.

I stood in line to get my copy of "Wilderness Warrior" autographed by Brinkley in the signing tent after Brinkley's talk. I had sent my husband to get my old paperback copy of "Nickeled and Dimed" signed by Barbara Ehrenreich. Unfortunately, she spoke at the same time as Brinkley, so we missed her popular, well-attended talk in the House chamber.

As I approached the signing table, the attractive young woman seated next to Brinkley complimented me on the great question I'd asked her boss. (I mistakenly thought the woman was Brinkley's wife, because it had been two years since I'd seen Brinkley's wife. It was Brinkley's newest research assistant, and I say newest because the one who had assisted Brinkley on "Warrior" had died in a tragic automobile accident.)

When I understood that the attractive young woman was the research assistant, I tried to explain briefly my interest in George Bird Grinnell, not as a mentor to a young, fellow New Yorker who would become president, but as a sheep ranch partner with Hartford-born, dinsosaur excavator William Harlow Reed. I ever so briefly mentioned to her our trip to Wyoming in June.

Then Brinkley had my copy of his book in his hands and asked for whom should he autograph the book. When I provided my name, Brinkley instantly recognized it. Brinkley also shared that he is very familiar with the history of paleontology because his young son Johnny, who was playing nearby in the tent, wants to become a paleontologist.

While he was autographing my book, I jokingly explained, or reminded him, that two years earlier he had kissed my right cheek, that I hadn't washed it in two years' time, which caused my husband no end of consternation.

Brinkley shot up out of his seat, at exactly the very same time my husband arrived, to stand at my right-hand side, my dear spouse having come from Barbara Ehrenreich's signing table.

-more-

The low point in my viewing history was an edited for television version of Animal House that must have been a good 20 minutes shorter than the theatrical version since entire sub-plot had been excised for content.

There are internet sites dedicated to the truly creative and atrocious overdubs of different vulgar lines.

MsJS - thanks for the kind compliment!

Speaking of edited for television, have there ever been movies that were actually *improved* by editing for television? I imagine there must have been at least a few since not all potentially offensive material actually improves a film.

what you said, MsJS.

Yes, RD. MY Cousin Vinnie was improved on TV because of the replacement word "friggin'." there really was nothing lost in the translation. In fact nothing was gained by the use of the original word.

Posting from the car. Lots of snow even as far south as Richmond. Dr G is driving btw.

Brinkley started to lean toward my face to give me another kiss, and I was leaning toward him, an attraction like two magnets. However, I had hurriedly blurted out that after he had kissed me two years ago, I had come down with a bad case of the flu. Then Brinkley swerved. I swerved. The right side of my eyeglass frames went into the side of his face. We both gave airkisses.

We drew back from each other. Quickly, I blurted out, "May I kiss you?" All this happening as my husband watched. (Yikes!) Brinkley stood still, and I planted a tender kiss on his left cheek, taking my time, planting my lips above his beard line. It was a good kiss (at least, for me). And what a very soft cheek Doug Brinkley has!

It was thrilling to kiss Doug Brinkley, but I realize the kiss is meaningless, as we're both kissing our mutual love of history.

(I have no doubt, too, that Johnny Brinkley will one day grow up to be a fine paleontologist, if that's what Johnny still wants to pursue once he gets out of elementary school. *w*)

And I'm going to turn over the rest of the story, the Presdients' Day portion, to another blogger, Steve Popp, whose write-up of Brinkley and Roosevelt I inadvertently found at 4 am. this morning.

http://culturemap.com/newsdetail/02-08-10-teddy-roosevelt-the-bear-worst-valentines-day-ever/

Popp tells how Brinkley, in his book about Roosevelt, "Wilderness Warrior," provides a fascinating account of the history of the teddy bear (at which op-ed guest Kevin Huffman takes a Valentine's Day swipe).

Popp also shares how Theodore Roosevelt had the worst Valentine's Day. Ever. How young Teddy lost the two most important female figures in his young life on Feb. 14. And how after loss and grieving and healing, Roosevelt gave the nation a Valentine's Day gift that keeps on giving.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.
Have a "Great Presidents'" Day, too!

this is cool. a rapid fire laser that targets mosquitoes.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/using-lasers-to-zap-mosquitoes/?hp

i'm waiting for the squirrel sized model.

If you find that squirrel laser Jack let me know, dog is currently trying to claw his way through the class door to get to one, plus the squirrels keep eating all my flowers in the front of the house especially my spring bulbs. One that worked on rabbits (sorry RD and Ivansmom) would be great as well - too many around here.

I understand people do not like the Olympics but the protesters are currently attempting to block the ceremony at the Cenetaph in Vancouver, a ceremony requested by our veterans - unforgivable. Hoping they find a way to do an endrun around the protesters. As is peaceful though just a stand off. Big crowds all along the route today, don't think anyone in Vancouver is working today.

'round here, they chew on electrical wires, and of course, their nuts.

it's been so cold here that i recently opened the hood to my car and there was a squirrel pressing his nuts against the radiator to keep them warm.

Roasting chestnuts is was!

Enough about blizzards and sports! Let's try injustice and sad, sad irony today: http://rabbirami.blogspot.com/2010/02/ah-tolerance.html

Speaking of irony, there is this news story about a firehouse burning down in Baltimore.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/bal-firehouse0210,0,1600847.story

And if you like your irony tinged with a sense of deja vu, another one in Sykesville also went ablaze.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/carroll/bal-md.ca.sykesville12feb12,0,5146639.story

American cities were very prone to obliterate and move graveyards. A recent archaeological dig of a long-disappeared cemetery for blacks in lower Manhattan, for example.

San Francisco exiled its dead to Colma, which now has enough shopping centers to make me wonder how many of the dead might have been dispatched to farther fields.

Philadelphia's Woodland Cemetery, adjacent to the Penn campus and medical center, has been nibbled at.

None of which is necessarily relevant to the situation in Jerusalem.

dmd3: The protests--that's what happens in countries that practice free speech.

As distasteful as it seems to you, consider what would have been allowed 18 months ago in Beijing.

This is what happens to people who have too much tomb on their hands.

jack, the mosquito aerial defense system (MADS) is the coolest yet and may the other mosquito abatement systems out of business. Sitting outside in the summertime watching the little pests go down in flames certainly has more appeal than watching the indiscriminate zapping on the electro-grid.

Heck, here in TWC they want to move buried bodies to expand O'Hare.

My fave local story regarding cemeteries was a scheme to dump 'old' dead bodies into a mass grave and resell the plots. Summarized here, but it ran for weeks on local media as new info was dug up. (pun intended)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/08/nearly-100-bodies-dug-up_n_228181.html

There seem to be many reasons for unearthing cemeteries these days. The one SciTim has generously provided seems to part of a general trend.

I don't have any ideas as to why.

I know MsJS, it is just their timing for the torch run, that bothers me, they held up the torch reaching chidren at the hospital in Toronto and veterans today.

Looking at the lineup on the Post's Opinion page today:

Gerson, Mukasey, Samuelson, Krauthammer, Kristol...

And now, apparently, Fred Hiatt has decided that the Post doesn't have enough crazy right wingers on Friday, and has added Marc Thiessen, former Bush speechwriter and one of the loudest voices defending torture as an instrument of U.S. policy.

This has to be one of the worst headlines the WaPo has ever written (and it gets worse when you actually read the story): Rescued man 'did some praying'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/11/AR2010021105046_3.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2010021003553

And it took three people to write this story, which is pretty awful. And I lost track of the copy editing errors in it. And apparently somebody at the Post agrees, because they just took took it down. Somebody could try to explain why it held the No. 2 spot on the page, if ever so briefly.

Also, you could try to count all the dumb things this guy did while waiting to be rescued. Such as watching his cellphone battery slowly die while he updated his Facebook page. An excellent use of limited resources during a potential life-or-death emergency.

And, one might note that there are no State Police barracks in Frederick. There is only one, and it is called a barrack. As even the lowliest copy editor and the rawest, greenest police beat reporter ought to know. Sport utility vehicle (SUV) isn't hyphenated. Words and punctuation marks have spaces after them.

Mudge... Lou Rukeyser would have made us hyphenate sport-utlity vehicle, as he did real-estate agent and mutual-fund manager.

Mudge, I fear it will get worse before it gets better. And, "better" may be a shade of the former world of careful clarity and sound content you contributed to.

Simply, the people under 40 do not care too much about this nor does their training help them see the problems....wild overstatement here but more than a particle of it seems true.

Rashomon, I read the Mukasey thing this morning before coming to work, and posted a correction in the comments. He refers to the now-much-referred-to case of the German saboteurs in WWII (Operation Pastorius) in 1942. Mukasey repeats the error others have made, when he said they were "caught by the FBI" and "executed." In point of fact, they weren't caught at all by the FBI. Four came ashore on Long Island, and were spotted by an unarmed Coast Guardsman right away. They actually tried to bribe him, but he wasn't buying. They got away while he ran to find a telephone.

The other four landed unobserved in Florida. One of the eight, George Dasch, got cold feet and turned himself in to the FBI, who didn't even believe him at first until he dumped their operating cash, $84,000, on the desk. So only then did they take it seriously. Dasch told them where to find a guy named Berger, and the FBI followed Berger until he led them to two of the others. So that's four of the eight captured so easily Nancy Drew could have done it. Both Dasch and Berger cooperated and gave up everything they knew, but even so it took six weeks to round up the remaining four.

All eight were convicted and sentenced to death -- but only six were executed, not all eight (as Mukasey states). Dasch and Berger got their sentences commuted because of their cooperation, and because Dasch actually turned himself in. Dasch got 30 years, and Berger got life -- but in 1946 Harry Truman essentially reprieved them on condition they be deported back to Germany, which they were. They expected they'd get pardoned as well, but died before that ever happened (which it probably never would). So no, they weren't "caught" by the FBI, and they weren't "all executed." Turning yourself in isn't "caught." The word "arrested" is at least accurrate -- but it is highly misleading for the same reason. Arresting somebody who's already voluntarily in custody ain't exactly Sherlock Holmes.

One of the foremost cemetery movers in this country is the US Army Corpse of Engineers. Whenever these guys build a dam and create an impoundment aka "stump lake" they are required to relocate any burials out of the flood zone. Back when we were undergraduates and Dr. K was studying folklore, we researched a local legend in Bosque County, Texas involving relocated graves.

The Chisholm Trail passed through Bosque County and crossed the Brazos River at a place called Kimball's Bend on it's way north to Kansas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjRnp26jGYw

The story revolved around a romance between a cowboy and a local girl. She pledged to wait for him while he went on a cattle drive, but when he returned he discovered that her family had pressured her into an engagement with someone they considered more suitable. She walked out with him one evening and he shot her and then himself and "their blood ran together" as they fell. Her family claimed that it was not a suicide pact, that what happened was plain murder. They refused to allow the cowboy's body to be buried in the same cemetery as their daughter. They made sure that her epitaph included the statement that she was murdered. Her tombstone refused to stay upright and was always falling over, and eventually was struck by lightening and broken into pieces.

In 1951, the Corps built a dam on the Brazos and created Lake Whitney. Several small graveyards were consolidated and it came about that the cowboy and the girl were reunited by the move.

My wife first heard this story as a schoolgirl in the early 60's and ten years later we returned to Bosque County to try to determine the truth of it. We located two people who knew the story as well as the grave sites of the cowboy and the girl. Their death dates were the same. The epitaph on her broken tombstone claimed she was murdered. His stated that he was "where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." We attempted to talk to descendants of the girl's family but were rebuffed. A 100 year old family scandal was still too fresh to discuss with strangers.

Initially we were put off by the fact that the story did not vary from one recounting to another. However, many of the elements of the story which seemed so fanciful proved to be quite verifiable.

Now now. To be fair, Perry updated his page to ask for help of friends in the vicinity. I can assure you that lots of my facebook friends would see a post before I'd had a chance to call each of them individually (if I even knew their phone numbers).

The trend for cemetery relocation is pretty easy to understand:

(1) People used to keep burials nearby -- a few thousand years ago, they were buried below the floor of one's home: http://www.telesterion.com/catal3.htm

(2) Eventually, people decided upon burying the dead in isolated precincts of their own. To keep it practical, and to facilitate relationships with revered yet non-breathing ancestors, cemeteries were not TOO far from residences and places where one might like to put a residence.

(3) The ability to cover distance has improved over the millennia, making it practical to travel farther than used to be reasonable for a day's activities. This has enabled cemeteries to be on the outskirts of settled areas, but also enabled the growth of settled areas beyond what used to be considered their outer limits.

(4) The number of dead people is not getting any smaller.

(5) The number of living people also is not getting any smaller.

Put these things together, and it's easy to see why there is an increasing need to relocate cemeteries. The African-American cemetery that was located in New York City (not all that recently -- something like 15-20 years ago) did not excite outrage, as it was discovered while demolishing buildings on top of it in order to build a parking garage. The site already had been desecrated by the preceding century of ignorant treatment, so in fact the construction process enabled those bodies to be relocated and buried with honor.

Even given these logical factors, the boneheadedness of relocating a Palestinian Arab cemetery in favor of construction by Israeli Jews of a Museum of Tolerance -- well, honestly, no one would ever write such a thing outside a comic novel. And if you put it in a comic novel, it probably would be derided by critics as too ludicrous to be an acceptable plot point.

I favor the delivery of freeze-dried cadavers and cremains to the Moon. We're not going there, anyway. Landing is not too difficult if you have no interest in lifting-off later. Mausoleums of the Moon. It's the new way of death.

His wife could have done that for him, Yoki. He'd just gotten off the phone with her. He needed to conserve his phone. He should have made arrangements with his wife or whoever, that he would turn the phone off and onlu turn it on for five minutes once every hour on the hour, or some such system. You never just sit there with it on and watch it die.

SciTim: With your putting "Museum of Tolerance" and "comic novel" in the same sentence,I am reminded of the South Park episode featuring the Museum of Tolerance. Not exactly the same as what you're describing, but it popped into my head anyway.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/104220

Mudge: As of 3 minutes ago, the article there and still at #2. Want to bet that when they make the Snowmageddon TV movie, this will be a major part of the story line?

Speaking of which, you know there's gonna be one. Mr. A, are you listening? Write something up quick and start shopping it around before the studios get flooded with scripts.

Here is a very pretty picture of Space Shuttle Endeavor: http://twitpic.com/12sx3p

I am guessing it was taken from the ISS.

And, I have finally seen a Facebook group that made me laugh: "Were you dissing Canada? I couldn't hear you over my health-care benefits." But I'm still not going to "Become a Fan."

Who is the most famous Canadian?

http://trueslant.com/lorrainemurphy/2010/02/12/2010-olympic-torchbearer/

I have it narrowed down to Gretzky or Shatner.

All I know about moving cemeteries is that it is important to move the bodies and not just the headstones. Failure to do so may cause annoyed members of the spirit world to emerge from your television.

You certainly make the case for cremation, SciTim.

yello: Shatner's no athlete, though.

Can we cremate Shatner? Now? Please?

But MsJS, Denny Crane thought he was quite the athlete . . . .

And RD wins the Poltergeist reference sweepstakes.

If I were stuck in a snow bank and had called the police on my cell phone, I would keep it on just in case anybody wanted to call back and ask if I was still alive.

me!

But, you know, he could just turn it on once per hour and check voice-mail. "You alive, dude? Please call back."

ftb: Denny Crane sorta had to though, non?

Shatner would have to carry the torch in Capt. Pike's mobile chair, methinks...

Joel, you should have taken the opportunity to cover the Olympics and escape DC!

Hello everyone. My brother made it to work on Capitol Hill from Burke VA today. He said all middle-age folks are walking zombies from so much shoveling and TV watching.

For the record, I almost never do my husband's laundry and cooking duties are shared. Valentine's Day is overrated but a good excuse for passionate chocolate. I also have to fly to Kansas City on the 14th eve to be ready for an 8 AM 3-day conference. My work is never done. I am turning into a human bird. Which really is okay with me. For now.

Enjoyed the Joel/Bob bantering session. Joel's garage looks like a decorated gingerbread house. Just needs some cherries. Better than Bob's. Sorry Bob.

Just saw a replay of a horric crash in luge training, young Georgian racer faced with life threatening injuries - so very sad.

dmd: I just saw it too.

The idea of hurling myself down a steep incline in a tiny contraption does not leave me comfortable. TWC is blessedly flat.

Yes, just noticed that reports are now that the luger was killer, this is a very fast track, steep downhill (like the bobsled), safety officials conferring now.

Norman Bethune is the most famous Canadian IIRC.

I think this is the single most dishonest, reprehensible headline I have ever seen in the Post: "Is there a cure for heart disease?"

This is just shameless, shameless, shameless pandering -- and especially just to get one to read a chat transcript. (In which one of the docs basically says "no." His word was "rare."

Just pathetic. Pathetic.

MSNBC just reported that they finally took the crash off the jumbotron
Keep driving, don't look.

In defence of the rescued guy, just how was he supposed to keep his Facebook fish alive and his farm functioning if he didn't log in? Sheesh.

That story reminded me of an exercise I was in in the army. A driver and I were in an APC coming back from a range to the range staff area when we along came a blizzard. At one point I was out in front of the APC on my hands and knees feeling for the little dirt track that we were following through the featureless prairie.

We had a radio, but it would have been better to freeze to death than to ask for a search party.

My money is on Nancy Green. Gaétan Boucher said yesterday he was not contacted by Vancoc, so I believe Nancy it is. Good choice if you ask me.

Mausoleums of the Moon. Channeling Georges Bernanos there Science Tim?
(Les grands cimetières sous la lune) It's a pamphet against the Franquists written by a far right catholic man. A stunning piece of intellectul honesty. NOT the Krauthammer.

APC stands for "à pied colisse"/sh1t on foot again by the way.

Former Olympic winner, recipient of many awards incl. Canada's Female Athlete of the 20th Century, yep. Nancy Greene is an excellent choice, shriek.

Better'n Shatner, anyway.

Not "automobile pour des Canadiens"?

I can safely say there is NO way it will be Shatner. Not comfortable with Nancy Greene lighting the torch now, since she is a Senator, prefer a non political person, even though for her achievements she deserves it, but has been awarded with her Senate seat and all the perks that go with it.

I am hoping Betty Fox.

All-purpose Citroen ("Citroen polyvalent")?

It's also an armored personal/personnel carrier, depending on your relationship with the Queen.

Armored personnel croissant?

Auxiliary poutine caravanserai?

A pied collise was always my favorite. We usually translated it as "on foot, dammit"

More signs of the end-times: the WaPo front-page movie review for "The Wolfman" is from Bloomberg News Service. The quiet little barely-heralded review posted beneath it is by Ann Hornaday of the Post.

Given the events of the last few hours, having the mother of a dead Canadian athlete light the torch might be considered poor taste.

VANOC chief Furlong is on record as saying a last-minute change isn't out of the question.

Your translation is better Engelmann.

Would this be the critter? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ef2nV3BrrQ

Terry Fox was less known as an athlete, than as a person who raised money for Cancer research, his mom has continued that effort, each year the Terry Fox run continues to raise millions for Cancer research. The honour would be for being an extrodinary human, Canadian not so much for being the mom of an athlete.

SciTim, just noticed my daughter became a fan of the Facebook site "Were you dissing Canada" made me laugh - haven't even talked to her this afternoon as she went right to a friends after school - perhaps she is a secret boodle lurker.

Celine Dion is apparently unavailable as she is trying to conceive a baby, I kid you not (to use the Palinism). So there's a sigh of relief and a little TMI all in the same sentence.

Torrential rain, here. It's believable that all of Capitol Hill, and probably everyone from Washington to NY are zombies today, from all that shoveling. Sorry to hear of the Red Line derailment.

Engelmann's tale of prairie snow reminds me of a moment of carelessness. On an early spring day with a light dusting of new snow, a snowbank along a vehicle path beneath a power line was hidden by the bit of snow everywhere. I plowed into it. Power line blocked out the truck's radion.

While I drive home, the Boodle can study up on this clip and be prepared to discuss it after dinner. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qqE_WmagjY

I recognize that, dmd. Just saying that the tragic circumstances of the day may not align well with Terry Fox's story.

The Oly's like alumnae/alumni. I'm awed by what Terry and his mom have accomplished. Many oddsmakers say she's the one. I just think Nancy Greene can be better played before a global Olympo-phile audience.

But the person who lights the flame, is, while yes good to be known internationally, their primary purpose is to recognize a national hero.

The USA boat beat the Swiss boat in race one of three at the 33rd America's Cup race off of Valencia, Spain. This is more of a technical duel than anything else.

That said the last two Olympics we held the flame was lit by unknowns, Calgary 12 year old figure skate, Montreal young boy and female teen. Something similar has also been raised as a possibility.

For decorated Olympians - Cindy Klassen, winner of 5 medals in Torino would be a good choice but she is competing again this time so that might preclude her.

Any of the people mentioned would be great with the exception of Shatner :-).

The only Olympic flame lighting I remember was the archer shooting the flaming arrow.

dmd: The last time the flame was lit by someone who was not a current or past Olympic athlete was 1994. That year the honor went to someone whose father and grandfather were past Olympians (and who happened to be the host country's crown prince).

Recent history is not on Betty Fox's side. Not saying it wouldn't happen though.

Klassen is listed on many sites as a strong possibility. Current competitors have gotten the nod before.

Again, if she did not have a political position I would be in favour of Nancy Greene, but she does, if it is to be a former Olympian my personal preference is for someone not involved in politics. Nancy Greene is a great lady though so it would only be a minor grumble.

Well, looky there. Snow falling outside my window.

Chicken and dumplings for dinner. I credit Cassandra for the inspiration the other day. I was fascinated by this
http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2009/11/tex-mex-chicken-and-dumplings-recipe.html
but tonight I'm going Southern style. I'll do some cornmeal dumplings and fancy spices next time. Although I'm putting a little masa in tonight's just for curiosity. They'll be mostly flour though.

My son is home for a belated birthday celebration, and has raised an interesting question. Given that Canada is officially bilingual, will the countries in the opening ceremony be ordered alphabetically according to their French names or their English names?

English RD

Keep in mind country is officially bilingual, but the provinces are not, the only bilingual province is New Brunswick.

Thanks dmd! The wisdom of the boodle has amazed my son. And thanks for clarifying that bilingual distinction.

English is also the official language of the IOC; even in China the countries were ordered by their English names.

Getting ready to go do chauffeur duties. I think several Boodlers own a Prius. According to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, might be a good idea not to engage its cruise control for a while:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/11/prius.cruise.control/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Scary.

I think that might be a more recent policy Yoki, only because I have a clear memory of Canada marching in as Kanada - Yugoslavia perhaps and also didn't the US coverage miss their team in France when they entered as Etas Unis.

As I have mentioned before my brain is full of information that is pretty much useless most of the time, wish I could swap it out for useful stuff, but nope I remember seeing Kanada :-).

Forgot to state this before but the arrow to light the torch is still the coolest thing I remember, and yes that includes the man getting swallowed by the fire/water in Bejing - amazing but a little over the top for my taste.

I'm sure you are right, dmd. I do know that the IOC operates in English, but perhaps that doesn't mean the host countries do, too. I had a lot to do with the IOC in one of my incarnations, not so much the games.

Actually, according to the olympics.org website, English and French are both IOC official languages. Host city bids are supposed to be written in both.

Further, if there is a discrepancy between the French translation and the English on any official IOC document, the French version prevails.

I was just going to check Yoki, perhaps it is a decision of each host country.

Just saw CTV open their show with the crash, can't watch again, puts a definite pall over the events tonight - feel terrible for the young man's family, teamates and his country. Did see a very upset Jacques Rogge and John Furlong in the press conference both trying to hold on to their composure.

An awful reminder of how easy some of these sports can go from exciting to tragic.

dmd - I vaguely remember that "Etas Unis" confusion as well. But what I remember most about the opening ceremony of the Albertville Winter Olympics were that the signs were carried in by young ladies dressed as snow globes. This, to me, set the bar for opening ceremony weirdness.

LOL RD I remember that opening well, bizarre comes to mind - odd that the snowglobe fashion trend did not catch on.

MsJS you Rock!

SD, I know a pied is on foot.

But I can't find a direct translation for colisse. It's a swearword, I take it? Related to e. coli?

A pied colisse, que c'est du merde lisse, non?

Alpha order of the country names in the host country's language dictates the marching order, except for Greece (first) and the host (last).

Re Mudge's 1:36 PM.

The problem there is SpellCheck and the last election combined.

Barrack= barracks OR Barack.

Alas, my youth and the corruption of the American media makes me sadly insensitive to such plights of pain.

Don't know about that, dmd. In the past, I had need to learn a lot about Olympic tradition and protocol, that's all.

I was a veritable fountain of useless Olympics minutia during TWC's failed attempt to land the 2016 summer games. I find the IOC to be a fascinating organization.

I've been reading that at a speed of 90mph the luge basically becomes inoperable due to human reaction time issues. The luger in the accident today was clocked at a hair over 89.

Permit me to relive my 1968 Winter Olympic moment: neighbor John Misha Petkovich skated in Men's Figures (remember when they were called this? And, the set of mandatory 'figures' to skate? I LOVED those, especially the slow technical carving out of shapes)

Here is his interview with the Harvard Crimson in 1970:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/3/20/john-petkovich-finishes-second-in-figure-skating/

He skated to On the Waterfront by Bernstein -- an innovation at that time in music choices. I also recall commentary that he was flirting with disaster in his skating. I know that his response to reporters and in my family's living room was: I am having a great time and if I don't land the jump, well trying is the thing. Landing is good but to try!

He was older than I was. Perhaps he was my first crush. I recall that the world was large and amazing: men on the moon and hometown boy does good.

And he was 21, so his reflexes would be prime.

Can't do the conversion anymore Canadian TV stated 144 km/hr, as I said I saw the video, it was obviously to this amateurs eye that it was almost assuredly a fatality.

They also had a doctor on, who with the help of great animation showed the affects of the G forces on the blood stream and muscles - fascinating. The doctor by the way studies this.

I hope they don't show that crash again. Once was more than enough.

"young ladies dressed as snow globes" - Did they slosh? If you shook them, did little flakes fall? Did they do cartwheels, or stand on their heads to get the full effect?

What a charming anecdote CP!

Wilbrod, most French Canadian "swear words" are religion-based, so the most popular are the French equivalents of the following: chalice, tabernacle, host, sacrament.

Oh yes, Ivansmom. The young ladies made rhythmic motions with their hands. Perhaps this will jog your memory. Suppressed though it might be...

http://cache2.asset-cache.net/xc/89682294.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF878921CC759DF4EBAC47D09478C7BB6EFC00C248EED2A450E781D1057B90615632B8DB

Oooh they are showing the Peace Arch. Nice memories.

Nice tribute to us, from NBC - I am all teary eyed.

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Good evening, friends. And I know you folks don't want to hear this, but it's snowing to beat the band here. I've just come in from the store, and boy, is it coming down. I'm praying it does not stick, and moves on pretty fast.

What's it doing in your neck of the woods, Slyness? The weather folks say we're going to get a bit more of the white stuff than you folks in Mecklenburg County. I'm eight miles from the state line of SC, and was truly hoping for rain. Oh, well, no one ask me.

Hope all of you folks are finally getting from under the blizzard. It's our turn now.This is turning out to be some winter, don't you think?

I hope everyone gets to do something fun for the weekend, and away from home. I'm going to bed. Love to all. Night, boodle.

Flying Tomato was just interviewed on Canadian TV.

The tribute was nice. Of course, my great affection for Canada is well known.

Of all the places north of the US, Canada is certainly my top favorite, too, Padouk.

No love for St. Pierre & Michelon? :-) And yes I know I probably spelt that wrong apologies.

Trying to prep for clothing comment. I want to say that the Roots supplier to the US a few years ago struck gold with the clothing: form and fashion. And, Roots is Canadian? I think so.

I remember when the world was large and amazing. Thanks CP.

Take care Cassandra!

Mr. F wings his way home from Qatar around midnight our time. Keep a good thought that delays at Dulles have mostly worked out by tomorrow afternoon.

Off to watch blogging heads and back boodle-then to curl up with a book.
Sweet dreams boodle.

SeaSea and DR -- Rodarte and some knitted/crochet style ideas for pairs figure skating:

http://www.nitrolicious.com/blog/2010/02/05/rodarte-x-ryan-mcginley-for-the-nyt-winter-olympic-fashion/

just got back home from dinner at church. the yards and streets are covered with snow, at least an inch, no more than 2. it's supposed to keep precipitating until just past midnight. the dogs will be totally confused. i'm taking the truck out in a while to do donughts.

I did see the US team in the staging area, they looked warmly dress - hope they are breathable fabrics, they knew it was inside right. Beautiful sweaters though.

The US seems to be wearing the navy/red accented modified puffy waist-hip parka. Remember the Michelin man silhouettes when that style first came out? And, the Nordic style figures in the watch cap: classic.

Apollo has a HUGE soul patch....oh no, I predict a few of those in my classroom within the month.

I liked the stocking caps with the moose.

Killer Tim Horton's commercial on Canadian TV, story of a man bringing his family to the country - welcomes his wife with a coffee. I am such a wuss.

DMD -- I will look for sweaters....are they the classic Aran fisherfolk thingie of substance?

Here is the latest fashion alert: Kokubo was barred from attending an arrival ceremony at the Olympic Village. Why? the droopy pants thing: hanging off his trim but should-be-private bottom (covered by briefs, apparently, thank the gods and ancestors).

Hmmm. See the sweater. DR and SeaSea -- why they did not use the better raglan shoulder....too bad. Better for fit and function.

Cool troops in Kandahar painted the Olympic rings in the sky with vapour trails, live report from where the troops are watching the opening.

Beige cable knit turtle necks on the men, not sure about the women.

Not loving the Canadian jackets, like all their other gear (except Moose sweater), prefer the sleek quilted black jackets to the red light parka style coat. Love the retro logos though. We have a supply of Canada gear at home.

Oh my RD -- will look for a photo but the placement of that moose on the women's zip front sweater is a bit symmetrical and classical and sort alike hands on deck, if you know what I mean -- the antler shape is also hands like.

Reminds me of the bike shop tee-shirt that I politely refused one day, showing the lads that the wheels were placed very, well, strategically in a Freudian cigar way.

CP - CEO of Vanoc was born in Ireland! He is very sombre today and looks like the weight of the world is on his shoulders, much different than his joyous mood of two days ago.

Watch for -- later in the week -- US snowboarders in distressed fade denim. SIGH. Not the choice that elevates.

Dmd, what we have in common is scratch a Canooki or a USisan and what do you find? Sumbody is a Gael, at least in part. And if not, then they wanna be and we tell them to come on down and sit at the pub and lift a heart or perhaps a glass.

did i just see queen latifa? not sure about the rapping tho when they first starting singing i got goosebumps.

isn't jennifer hudson absolutely georgeous!!

mo

Ah, chalice= calisse. Thanks, got it, Engelmann.

I knew that about French-Canadian swearwords, but I don't actually know the actual words.

I deeply admire John Furlong; met him a couple of times and he seems entirely sincere in his 'all of us' view of the games.

And I loved that Timmy's ad!

DMD - do not like the US white knit jodpur style pants Why not navy apre ski pants?

Looking into the Canadian fashions....Hudson Bay company, natch.

Have we warned RD, our flag bearer is a red head? And a great person you will not find.

is it just me or are most of the american female athletes really pretty?

mo

Not sure CP, here anyways the better clothes are the everyday wear, podium and parade wear i am not as excited about.

HBC had a contract for several Olympics - this time they got it right after several questionable attempts - Beijing - Yuck. The Red Mittens rule.

uh oh - a red head? we are in trouble now!

mo

Best part of the winter olympics mo, male and female athletes are great looking (always loved the Iceland athletes).

so sad about nodar!

DMD -- you mean the Canadain Beijing pajama wear in psychedelic prints...yes. They will do better!

I am getting a bit over-excited here. Breath...

And a *canadian* redhead to boot!

CP - are those "grope" sweaters worn by the Americans? I just noticed the moose on the hats.

And the show begins!

Pictures of sunshine in case it doesn't appear over the next two weeks.

DMD -- the Icelandic athletes are Nords and Gaels at once...so, those Irish poets mixing with the Nordic pirates -- certainly a strategy.

yeah dmd - i gotta admit the red tomato and apollo make my heart flutter a smidge!

Wow, there sure is a lot of snow in the opening photos. Not so sure that is fact in Vancouver.

We are flipping between CTV and NBC. Live blogging twice! I'm so excited.

Cool suits CP.

Oh my....why cannot we just do this Oly stuff instead of the wreck we do to one another? The Olympics however imperfect, do remind us of what we are capable of:

fun, splendor, effort, competition, joy, .....

man i wish i snowboard like that! heck i wish i could snowboard period!

Aww, baby redhead.

GG is looking stunning.

Michele John (lovely suit, perhaps Shantung silk in a deep winter blue but woven on the woof with ice white)

A mountie and mountie, be still my heart. BEST UNI ever.

female mounties? i didn't know there were female mounties where's the read head?

Oh Canooki boodlers, I love this knowing we are online together. Thank you for hosting us.

And, your flag is only from the 60s? Perfect flag, too.

The girl who wil sing the anthem is great.

I didn't know that the maple leaf flag only dated from the 1960s. It's nice to learn something new this early in the broadcast.

The GG's dress is *gorgeous.*

Thanks, Mudge, just killed two hours getting ready for your discussion. Can't watch just one.

You guys are missing stuff when NBC goes to commercial, right now native welcome, ice totem poles.

And we can feel pretty confident that the young lady who just sang was really the one who sang...

i see the ice totem poles...

What's her name?

those statues look like they're sculpted from ice. cool.

Some of the first nations are also part of our history.
'Cause the border was a rather EUro thingie.

Yoki, the Piegan and Kootenai people are also Montanans. As you well know, dear one. The Piegan people had a band who lived in my town and went to my school; taught by Quebecois nuns who traveled to keep close to them.

No nap tonight before work,i am up in time to watch this.This very cool.

Glad the Inuit were included.

Jingle Dress!

The tribal wear is gorgeous and I am glad it is not color synched or too stylized.

This First Nations segment is just fabulous!

OK, CqP, you got your work cut out for you, describing those First Nation outfits. (I liked the Plains Nation costumes best.)

Yes, the Peigan and the Blackfoot territories run North-South; no artificial borders there

I wish "first nations" would gain some traction south of the border. Although my young friends all self refer in txt speak NDN.

The hands of the ice statues are in a blessing pose....sometimes called the epiclasis which is Greek for invocation...same gesture but that is the TBG-familiar name for the action.

Mudge, keep blanking on her name, but here is CTV's song for the Olympics which Niki also sings, and is the most downloaded song on ITunes here this week.

16 years old - Jazz singer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v0o27BPIIk

Mudge -- they are simply beautiful and singular and meant to be in motion. I am so homesick for this all.

GO Algeria in that fab limey green!!!

The Jingle Dress (of the plains and western parts of the eastern forest) is said to have originated near Our Fair City, circa 1900. The original maker saw it in a dream.

Want me one of them Andorran sweaters!

don't think there will be a panamanian team

LOL

I like the cute fur coat on the Armenian flag-bearer.

Agent tines in blue, 'natch. And, the contrast is silver not white.

Aussies...fun and interesting.

The open hands means all are welcome.

I am going to track all the small nations, the one or two athlete nations. Someone needs to cheer loudly for them too. It may as well be me.

The Austrian tie -- string -- is a Euro classic...the first suit jacket...formal as would one expect from them.

Oh my Peter Max slacks on the next one...FUNNNNYYYY

Love the Azerbaijan pants.

SHORTS....Bermuda....cute and classic and why not!

Bermuda shorts!! Yes!

Today, in Annapolis, I saw lots of men wearing shorts, including the Fed Ex man. With 3 feet of snow. Gotta luv'em.

Brasilia! Lovely green that is nearly spruce like

Mr. F has been to the old Olympic venues in Sarajevo. Much tragedy and evil there since those winter games.

Caymen wearing Aussie style hats....CayMAN, I guess

Chili -- wouldn't it be great if a Southie American won a medal?

Chile-reminds me, have we heard from Brag lately?

I remember the comments during the Sarajevo games, TV commentors saying how wonderful it was the various nationalities of Yugoslavia co-existed. Appearance can be deceiving.

HAH "a bunch of gringos"

Yes, Frosti and I always remember John Denver singing to us from those games, with his Slavic looking face and Colorado earnestness.

First winter games for Colombia! I am gobsmacked.

Yes frosty. It was like that was a light before a long dark night. Sigh.

Did you hear the announcer talk about the Cayman Island competitor? He said that he attends Brown and trains in Aspen. He said, "He has to bear all those deprivations," or words to that effect.

Funky Czechs

These athlelets are all such beautiful people.Happy and smiling,makes you feel so good about the world.

Czech pants are rather bold and zazzy too.

Fun Finns

It is not sah-na, it is SOW-na.

GO ETHIOPA...

Estonian stylizes snow flake is gorgeous.... ANd the Finns with their textile style....very Marimekko.

Etheopia. This guy is a cross country skier and trains at home. His family runs a little store. I don't know the distance he competes in, but he is my hero.

Sorry, the battle to teach everyone how to say sauna correctly is a losing one I fear.

lots of red this year

Gonna be very sad in a minute when Georgia comes out.

And, Macedonia's flag is a bit Japense like ....France France....like the blue -- French blue -- tocques that some sport

Georgia. Too sad. Standing ovation is so right.

We are enjoying the opening ceremonies, as well as a beautiful snow. Hopefully the roads will be okay tomorrow, we currently have about three inches on the ground.

Stay warm, Cassandra! I hope you don't get snowed in.

Nice to have snow instead of rain. It's sticking to all the trees, making the yard a wonderland.

Standing ovation for the Georgians. God rest that young man's soul.

Oh my. He was a warrior for peace. I hope his family takes a bit of comfort of what he loved .....

ok - i'm tearing up over here...

The Germans are wearing sherbet.

Germany -- adding the blue and hot pink of CMKY color checking...very odd color combo.

Go Ghana!!!

The competitor from Ghana is a testament to the globalization of the modern world. So many people are on the move.

GHana sporting stars...and my goodness, the Brits...wearing the beret...and suit coats...white is an unfortunate choice for the main article of clothing.

first MAROON in the bunch....a nice color.

Just for the record, let me say that Vancouver is one of the greatest cities on the planet. I love that place.

Tried to get to Hank Stuever and Paul Farhi's live chat - but the link goes to the article about the poor guy from Georgia. Oh, WaPo, I am sad for you...Also hope NBC is getting lots of feedback about tape delaying this in the Pacific time zone - grrr.

Sorry - carry on. (I cast on for my Olympic socks at 6 pm PST, will continue at 7:30 when I can actually see what's going on...or went on. Kind of like the Olympics are on a nearby star.)

whoa hong kong! canada, we'll give you our snow - you guys give hong kong some land!

Iceland and India -- I like the hats of the Indian luger and co.

Ireland is standing out - Holy Lime!

Alert RD!

Wow, that is lime green on the Irish athletes.

I guess those Irish pants are meant to be Emerald. As Himself says, "At least they won't get lost in the snow."

Well, there's Padouk's redhead.

liked the india hats

The brown --Hershey...odd for Iranians.
Irish -- winter Olys -- try hard...lime/lemon trim....Navy base... Israeli blue is very beautifu;..flags affixed to uni jackets.

Wow! Handsome Italian men in beautiful jackets!

RD, Did you notice that the Irish contingent included a gorgeous redhead?

SCC: I meant to say 'testimony' instead of 'testement'above.

Italians with odd and space age metallic stand away collars on classic loden jackets.

awwwww no cool runnings! i loved that movie!

Those Italian jackets were great. I want one.

Kashaks....BEST HAT EVER!!!!!! on the flag bearer...what a gorgeous blue with the lovely pattern.

hey - where's borat?

You guys are sooo fast! Panting to keep up!

Wow on the little L country's rate of metalling as a function of pop.

WOW Lithuania took the emerald isle green....

Lithuania-my other pale, hard drinking, peeps

The Lithuanians stole the Irishers jackets :)

Fur collared Mexican skier older than me. OK. Lets roll with that.

Harlequin red/white on Monocan sweaters/

The Mongolian flag-bearer is too beautiful.

oooooooo monaco - those guys looked great! why are the ppl on the border sometimes dancing and sometimes not - i'd rather they didn't - none of em have any rhythm!

I heart any Olympian older than us CP.

Mongolian skirt in gold lame is fab. Buy me one, OK? Thanks.

And, shout out to Moroccans...would have thought they woudl have green in the mix.

Loved those sweaters.

No ski runs in Nepal? Wow.

Here's the link for the chat...and it really is a chat-like thing:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/olympics/2010/02/live_chat_opening_ceremonies.html?hpid=artslot
If you want to multi-task even more. Half an hour to go.

interesting orange choice for the dutch

Dutch are always in orange...this is a pumpkin spice shade.

Really? I thought the Monaco uniform looked like royal servants' livery.

Norway -- they rule...always in these Winter Olies...

LOVE the feathers on the KiWis

Peru: retro-Euro ski-chic.

awwwwww no panamanians! shucks...

Morti, the Dutch royalty is part of the House of Orange.

Yay!!! I love it when the whole sane world comes together.

Poland....silver midriff is a bit odd, actually.

Getting close to the US and Canada.

Love the Russian jackets.

Russkies in red...interesing ethnic pattern on the baseball style jackets....

what are the russians waving?

Awww, Senegal (only not really).

A friend's 4th grade son just took up ski jumping. For those of you who just saw that commercial on NBC-that is what even the small jump looks like when a 4th grader is on it. He started the week before Christmas and has jumped in two competitions already. Then again our county has more ski jumps than Starbucks.

was it serbia or slovakia in the red and black - LOVED that - may be my fave

OK those Green coats on the Slovenian women - I want one - beautiful.

Three cheers to our Canadian hosts!

Peter Forsberg - big sigh!

holy smokes those spaniards were caliente!!

Bold yellow on the Swedes, matching their flag.

Do they allow anyone who is not gorgeous in Sweden, adorable hats too.

Swedish hats are crocheted I think ...big departure....Swissies in red....standard track suits...

Tajik with hair that is one part Bryronic the other part Spockian....and yes RED is the official color of these here Olympics.

The Ukraine's yellow might be a bit more Mustard thisyear than the electric yellow Swedie color,.

i wasn't crazy about the swede yellow and blue - too busy

US next!

Ukraine! Cheering is going n in the R house. Honouring recent adventure and family connection to that fair natin.

US!!!!

Tragically, I missed the Irish delegation.

Classic Ralph Lauren, young and health - perfect.

Is it bugging anyone other than me that Sacha Ovechkin is playing for Russia, not the US?

Don't like the white pants.

Still love the moose caps...

Did you say Michelin man puffy, CqP? Doesn't look great on TV.

White US pants --knit jeanS? DO not pass my sructinay... Mainics cheering on the Moosie emblem...

i like the moose - i think it's cute and funny

I want a MOOSE hat!!!!

Why would Ovechkin play for the US?

And here we are!

Shaun White, what gorgeous curly red hair!

hhhhmmm Us. not US, just us.

Love that shade of red.

CANADA!!!!!

Love, love, love the plaid scarf on the Canadians.

Go Canooickies....in red, natch...and I like the scarves....BUFFALO PLAID!

Long coats more Anakorak than jacket....hts are like the US people I think. Lots of letters....

I think the pants in black are way better than our white pants...I hope each athlete was issued a stain stick.

What a lovely happy moment when Canada came in.

Gordon Campbell looks awfully happy!

Harper looks like he sat on a pickle.

MITTENS...have the leaf that is amost like a heart. Bullseye great that is.

There is a matching plaid hat as well, that is worn slouch style - very nice.

Lots of redheads on the Canadian team.

That is as warm and happy as Harper ever gets.

Two million pairs of those mittens have been purchased - $10.00 a pair, fleece on the inside, wool outside. Available online.

They expect another 1 mil pairs to be sold, part of proceeds supports amateur athletes.

off to work,tonight I am Red and White with envy!!!!!

Enjoy the rest of the show.

Bryan ******* Adams!

Wow nice dress Nelly.

Okay, I am seeing the time-delayed version out here on mountain time. Just now beginning to see the outfits.

I believe the outfits worn by the celebrities for this and the closing were designed by D2 (I hadn't heard of them til recently Canadian fashion icons - twins, design out of Milan).

great dress...
awful song...

I wish the acoustics were better on television.

Mo-I didn't think it was as bad as the usual song for this kind of occasion.

oooo, is that Donald Sutherland?

Yes it is!

Yes Donald, have loved his voice in all the commercials leading up to the games, he asked to be involved.

Love the Aurora

Me too. Well done,sir.

Now that northern lights thing is awesome.

Now that's a really big bear.

I was just thinking this ceremony needed more bears!

Love the cheesy bear. I thought we'd get some disco, at least.

I really really love the killer whales.

There be whales!

The whales are cool.

For the weather weenie deep within...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100212/ap_on_re_us/us_united_states_of_snow

Like these totems more than the giant ice phalluses of earlier.

Totem poles, kewl!

Love the forest

wow. this is amazing.

That's quite the necklace.

Wonderfully trippy bit leading to Sarah.

LOVE sarah - didn't know she was a haute mainer!

Actually, I think Sarah is a bit petite to pull off such a distinctive piece of jewelry. It would look much better on someone of my size. Just sayin.

problem yoki is that you look great in everything!

i like the modern dance/lyrical jazz.

NBC took an odd time to break away. That is the Alberta ballet Yoki.

Love the fiddle/step energy

I love the music and dancing, but the giant leaves are freaking me out a little.

I'm with you on that, RD_P!

The tap dancer reminds me of the logrollers at Grouse Mountain.

wow riverdance and kilts - are we still in canada?

Ashley, Ashley. He's such a freak. I adore him.

Am I the only one thinking shoe bombers?

that's a lot of tappers - i didn't know there were that many left in the world!

Oh, that's Ashley, I thought Ashley was buddy w/ the mohawk.

Welcome to Saturday night in the Maritimes, mo

Maybe he *is.*

That is the cool thing. Yes, yes you are Mortii. We are everyman and woman, and every nation on earth.

I'm actually loving the way that this is showing the eclectic nature of Canada. I mean, my son didn't even realize that many people in Canada have roots in Scotland and Ireland.

But he's young.

Himself just asked, "When is the oil sands segment?"

See, there is a reason I have loved this man for 30 years.

Yanno, that is exactly what wheatfield look like in the fall. Lovely. And Joni Mitchell's song. She hails from my territory.

This is exactly how ND and Manitoba make me feel. Like you could jump right out of the wheat and into the sky. I will cry.

Yoki, now I love him too.

*clap clap clap clap*

I'm pretty sure you can see Dog River from there.

Joni Mitchell! YESSS!!

Is that a Corner Gas reference?

Oh look we are holding a blizzard just for you guys in DC. Isn't that nice?

Wow, more trippy transitions.

These red skiers are so cool...

I thought that too dr!

...although I think that's the mountain Richard Dreyfuss built in "Close Encounters."

Well RD there are a lot of mushrooms around Vancouver!

Dog River was that dark spot that flickered for just a moment...

Of course that wasn't nJoni singing. She seldom performs publicly, or so I read.

I love how this whole thing is choreographed. The stadium floor never too full. Gives the impression that Canada is a very big country, with relatively few, but fantastic, people.

Dear God, still nothing here. What time did NBC actually start showing something "live"?

Slam poetry meets Cirque du Soleil. But I like it.

The definition of Canada has to include Tim Horton's.

Canada is the what in what's new.

That's my friend Shane!

I'm out for the fancy pre-Valentine dinner.

Thanks for sharing this with me, dear friends. A good night.

That was really...wonderful!

That last image looked like a Tims and donuts am I wrong.

Loved the poem.

Toodles boodle and sweet dreams. Have fun Yoki!

I wanna see the torch dang it.

oh no - did you dc'ers just see that news clip - roads may be WORSE after pres day?? it took me 2 hours and 15 min to get home tonite! 9.29 miles!!!!

You know, it would have been easy to feel that they had to 'outdo' the Chinese magic, but it is so right, and I am so pleased that just did Canada. Really quite nice.

nice tribute to a tragic accident!

Those drums make a nice rumbling noise, but at first they were hard to interpret. Almost sounded like boos.

I agree dr. It was very welcoming and visually interesting without being overbearing.

k - i think i'm calling it a nite...

toodles boodle!!

*hugs* mo

kd singing, now I am crying.

Great song to end the ceremony.

It doesn't get any more Canadian than this.

As much as I love this song, and as much as I am in total awe of her performance of it....is this the right venue for it? A song about broken by a love affair?

Mischa is looking stunning this evening. And as ever, in fine voice.

Now that's a hairdo.

My husband will be crying big time at seeing his hero Bobby Orr.

Of course Mudge. Canada worked so hard to get the Olympics and she'll get her heart broken over and over by this Games.

It's just Canuck Kismet.

FWIW, Mudge, I was hoping Celine Dion and Anne Murray were going to sing Trooper's "The Boys In The Bright White Sports Car."

snort byoolin

wow I missed BFA?

Moment of silence and lowering the flag... appropriate and honorable.

I trust y'all are live-blogging the Games opening. Before I check I'd like to say the Ivansclan agrees that the opera singer did a good job of singing a bad song with a poodle on her head, even though she only got one money note at the very end.

I was thinking about that. In our musical history, these are a missing chapter.

dr, who is this?

I was just wondering. He is cute though.

Why is NBC skipping the song in French?

Very cute and nice vice. Great coat.

OK flame. Isn't it your turn yet?

Ok, Rick Hansen made me cry. It is so right that the Paralympians are represented.

My son is hoping the final torch bearer is Rush.

Hey, they are milking this.

Oh no, not a problem now!

"Open the pod bay door, HAL."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Wayne."

Oh, crap. Major snafu.

Oh, crap. Major snafu.

Oh, crap. Major snafu.

How Canadian we can't pick one person but shared!! Love it glitch and all.

They pulled it off anyway!

You recongnize what that is, don't you.

Campfire! And just like all campfires, sometimes they don't do what you want them to do.

Here is hoping the external cauldron works.

Excellent Boodle commentary. I just got to the epic fail. Poor torch pillar guys.

Random thoughts: The commercials for this were much much better than the Super Bowl commercials.

The Boy has discovered that the Olympics is full of hot girls.

The First Nations stuff was great.

I always forget how good kd laing is until I hear her.

Time for bed!

So it's a 75 percent solution. But it still looked cool.

Wayne is in an open vehicle going to the external caldron.

Is it a bright white sports car?

Ow! Tried backboodling here, and I think I detatched a retina.

Not sure I was in any postion to take medal in the Olympic TV Watch-a-thon Combined, anyway.

G'night, all.

bc

Oh, thanks, RD for the snow globe girl. I had successfully suppressed the memory. Now I can shudder again!

Jacque Villeneuve helped carry the Olympic flag bc, short synopsis for you.

No pick up truck, it is pouring he is getting soaked huge crown liniing the streets. Some running beside the vehicle.

Ok, here is the list of small teams, in case you feel compelled to cheer for the little places.

Small teams

Andorra
Bermuda
Cayman Islands
Ethiopia
Macedonia
Ghana
Hong Kong
India
Jamaica
Mexico
Morocco
Nepal
Pakistan
Peru
Portugal
Senegal
San Marino
South Africa
Tajikistan

I hope I didn't miss anybody. If you need a national alternative to cheer for, such as when no Canadians or Americans are competing, pick oneof these guys. And if that doesn't work, cheer for the Ukraine, family connection and all.

External flame lit. Verklempt.

Well, now that Canada's won the Olympics, I can go to bed.

Me too, byoolin. G'night all.

Sorry, ceded the computer to the next gen. DR>BRILL on the campfire call and the reality -- not a glitch, real. So practical and nonplussed with get-it-done subtle derring do.

God bless the Georgians and dear luger man-boy's family. Eventually, the sliver of comfort will come: how many of us die totally, totally, trice absolutely in pursuit of our loves.

A colleague, some years past, laid all his student projects on the table, then took a nap as was his afternoon Italian way. He then died, afterncompleting the semester's teaching. No grading that lucky, plucky Sicilian putti. He loved teaching; grading? Not so much.

G/Nite. Sumbodie? " Stand on guard for (me) Thee!" sung with a poodle on top.

I am off to bed, wishing all the athletes the best and wishes they all remain safe, and heart felt condolences to the family that lost a young athlete.

I am totally cheering for Ghana. I have a little ambivalent thing for West Africa anyway (Ghana in particular [thank you, Lloyd Quashie}), and I loved its athlete's cheery face.

Three good things yesterday (now). The opening ceremonies, reconciled with an always beloved but recently somewhat estranged friend, and a fabulously delicious and romantic but unforced meal with Himself (more reconciliation). How lucky am I? Very. Very.

I don't think the three pillars were a botch, as Coskes(sp) keep going on about. There are only three downtown. How 'bout Gretszy as the lighter?

Good old NBC caption had 'astronaut' as 'restaurant' twice during the flag ceremony.

Yoki, Is it on again or off?

OPPS, There are four outdoor pylons. Must be late and a little too much 'scratch'. Who knew the was a Canadian version of late evening poison'?

or was it 'screech'?

Coffee is on in the ready room. Strong, hot and black with a little rich cream and sweet stuff on the side for them what needs it.

Thanks so much, dr! We will all need it, after such a late night. Mr. T is still abed and I will NOT disturb him.

We have winter wonderland this morning, everything covered in fluffy white stuff and just beautiful. Hopefully it won't last long!

Good morning. Cassandra! You stay in, warm and safe, as long as the snow covers walks and roads.

I believe it will be Belgian pancakes with maple syrup on the ready room table. We need to vary the menu a bit, and celebrate winter and the Olympics.

Morning,

Good thing they designed that triple redundancy into the torch pillars, eh? My eldest kept asking where Great Big Sea was. Maybe in the St-John's olympics in 30 years.

Pretty sure it's screech bh72, would have to taste to be sure. White lightning has also been known to be consumed out of sight of prying officials.

Very sad to hear about the luger. I wish they could still report on the story and spare us the images, but sales before dignity I guess.

i came across a cache of maple sugar candy molded in the shape of a maple leaf. i think i got it in sudbury, but it was late and the signs on the queens highway were hard to read. left a cooler full of brador next to the tv. breakfast of champions.

Good morning, all.

dmd, thanks for the heads up on Jacques Villeneuve's carrying the Olympic torch. Always liked that kid - I met him in the mid-90s, with hair down to his backside and driving Formula Atlantics with considerable brio, just like his Dad (who was the most exciting race car driver I've ever seen). Went on to win the Indy 500 (won $100 for me on a bet for that) and the F1 World Championship, too. Sports Cars and NASCAR ain't workin' out for him, nice to see him front and center for a minute again.

Speaking of NASCAR, Mudge, there's clearly a bit of tongue-in-cheek as with those 'Danica's getting huge' headlines. Got a chance to talk with her in at Mid-Ohio several years ago (when she was still driving for Bobby Rahal) and she's a mere wisp of a person. Strong, and quite good at what she does, but not large. Some larger drivers used to complain that she had an unfair advantage because she weighed so little (yes, they publish driver weights in open-wheel racing), and that a 40 or 100 lb. difference is a big deal in an Indy Car (where the whole car may weigh 1,600 lb.). Ms. Patrick has never driven F1, though she did take that career path for many years and has had some moderate success in the domestic Indy Car series. She's typically at her best on longer oval races (even though her roots are European road racing) like the Indy 500, so if she gives in to the public and private pressures that the NASCAR and their media machines are piling on her (and lord knows they are), she will probably do well in the big events (including the pre-500 Nationwide series race today).

But enow of that for now. Sometimes I'm *way* too long-winded.

Have a good day, all.

bc

I think Great Big Sea is one of the band play at night around either Vancouver or Whistler. They would be fun in the closing which is always more relaxed.

bc, I saw Jacque run with the torch in Montreal, and he was so excited and trthrilled to be a part of the event, last night looked wonderful in the white suit, as did the other flag bearers.

Julie Payette, the astronaut spoke to the Canadian athletes to motivate them and wish them well.

A good piece on the loss of the luger by a favorite journalist of mine - not normally a sports reporter.

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=39621.html#ian+brown+a+dark

I brought a little dry cured, applewood smoked, bacon for everyone. Only break out the good stuff for special occasions, and the opening of the Vancouver Olympics is pretty special.

Today's distasteful task is to go shopping for a new winter coat. They are on clearance hereabouts, with plenty still to choose from, but it's such a commitment to an article of clothing. The one being retired was a gift from Mr. F, Christmas of '04. Alas, it is no longer fit for "in town" wear.

Good morning, y'all.

Missed the opening ceremonies last night, had to read about it and catch the boodlestream this morning. Thanks to all who contributed.

Warm muffins, coffee, and OJ on the table.

MrJS did watch a bit of the show. He especially liked the fiddlers. He lived for nearly 4 years in St. John's, Newfoundland in the 1970s and always liked the fiddle music at the local watering holes.

And fiddleheads, too. He was very fond of fiddleheads. Yummage!

Yum, Frosti, and thanks! Good luck with the coat buying. I hope you find one you like as much as the old one.

I swept the front steps and walk. The snow is already melting, and I was covered by what's falling off the trees. With the sun and temps around 40, we'll be fine.

Elderdottir called yesterday afternoon to ask about the weather, just about the time it starting snowing hard. The retail manager in her came out: Is it going to ruin my $30,000 day tomorrow? At this rate, people will be able to get to the mall without any problem after lunch.

Many thanks for the Opening Ceremonies coverage, folks -- had to take NukeSpouse to work first thing this morning and just couldn't stay awake.

Saw more than a few road crews hard at pre-dawn snow clearing, but there are plenty of rural roads with very narrow, high-walled passages...

In fact, I checked the local railyard, and even there they had to cut through parking lot plowage and snowdrifts to get the tracks open! :-O

*off-to-bake-NukeSpouse-a-little-Valentine's-Day-surprise Grover waves* :-)

Howdy y'all. Bright and sunny here, perhaps as high as 50 (F) today. Luxury!

My standard winter coat (long, cloth, buttons)I bought in about 1992. For many years I seldom had to wear it. The last couple of years it has begun showing real wear & tear. I acquired a long blanket jacket a couple of years ago which is proving a reliable stand-in.

An Olympics coverage comment: When Bob Costas came on, before it started, I said, "Oh no. It's that guy." I remembered how tremendously annoying he is. By the end of the broadcast Ivansdad was pleading with him to just be quiet. I think the network could make extra cash by offering a premium olympics broadcast with a "Costas filter" - you can hear the music, background noise, event, etc., but not the commentary.

I-mom: You aren't the only ones who feel that way.

The problem with football/baseball/basketball/sports wrap-up sportscasters is that they are used to filling the airwaves with their voices. They don't know how to let the images do the talking.

I'm guessing that Costas was given a sheet of talking points for every minute of the opening ceremonies and decided (or was encouraged) to use them all.

Glad I missed it.

MsJS, thought of you when I saw a beaming Nancy Greene with the torch in her hand.

Trying hard not to comment on the lack of my area from the landscapes of Canada (as pointed out by my daughter) - oops did I say that out loud :-). I mean I know the rest of the country hates us but did it have to be so obvious.

DMD -- so the red fishies are Pacific salmon? And the fiddlers are for the rough and ready maritimes?

I hear on the anti-East thing.....happens here too

DMD -- did they reference the lakes or Niagara? We might not get all the references....I don't recall any...did you see enough East First Nations robes? i know that the plains dance wear is visually magnetic...and the PacNorth totems and headdresses also catch the eye...

I think the Natives of the east included the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario, some of whom would be Mim Mac, Algonquin, Mohawk, Iroquois.

I am also teasing, i consider us in the modern, multicultural tribute done at the end.

Cool, one of those outbreaks of coordinated dance/music just broke out as a CTV reporter was about to give a report outside their studios, Sure it will show up on Youtube somewhere. Could be a rehersal as he reporters audio failed.

dmd, given the concept of the final four you figure if VANOC reeeeely wanted Terry Fox to participate it would have happened. This may be VANOC's show, but the IOC definitely had a hand in the cauldron-lighter decision.

I can see why she might not have been the 'final one', but for her not to have been in the 'final four' says a lot about whom the IOC likes to honor and why.

I completely agree with you about Costas (and others) Ivansmom. It's not just the "fillers" -- it's also the enormous ethnocentricity. I'm sure it happens in every country, but I'd like to see more competition from and between other countries -- not just Americans. That's also why I tend to watch the events with the sound muted or completely off.

I have other reasons not to like the Olympics very much, as approximately 20 years ago the USOC came after one of my clients in a trademark matter. The organization is (certainly was then, and I can't help but feel it hasn't changed by now) enormously predatory. The athletes themselves are the very *least* the games are about.

*alas*

And, now, let's see what's for lunch.

But she did light it MsJS, all four did. Wayne then proceeded to light the external flame solo.

ftb: I don't know about the USOC, but the IOC goes to great lengths to protect its turf.

http://books.google.com/books?id=qdVCq3JWTZQC

I just found a curious old book about Plains Indians' sign language there. Downloaded it for closer reading in a while. This was in part to see if I could find an article for my new site More Best of Wikipedia, which I'm mentioning not just to promote it but to mention that I could use some article suggestions, and where better than the Boodle to ask for knowledgeable opinion?
http://morebestofwiki.blogspot.com/

Jumper, this is first-rate, if you like that sort of thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera

CTV just release last nights ratings for the Opening, 13 Million, 1/3 of the nation - most watched event in Canadian history - Wow. Unlike the US the winter olympics is more popular here.

Jumper like the blog, well done, sorry I do not have any articles for you - like the inclusion of HBC a former employer of both my husband and I.

I'm watching the ski jumping, and can you imagine how terrifying the one's first jump must be? Right up there with sky diving.

Thank you for watching my back Engelmann.
I should have watched the Opening with the Boodle, it was fun. Our European guest was overwhelmed with the bilingual chatter, as we watched it on CTV (the french channel guys were AWFUL), but this was fun.

I'm watching young men flying through the air right now. Wow.

I was thinking something similar, it suddenly just occurred to me how far 100 metres in the air is. Also noticed despite their various ages, the competitors all have very youthful faces.

I think all that flying qualifies as anti-gravity therapy. No wonder they look young!

I cannot be sorry that the Swiss take gold. Switzerland is my other country.

Shriek, the male singer from Quebec - have you heard of him, he was great (a single name?).

That was quite the jump to win.

Ugh! Feh! Can't watch this event, not even the training runs. Good time to buy groceries.

Garou. He's good. His name is an hommage to Robert Charlebois, the original Garou.
Not a bad role model if you think 2 seconds about it. He's well over 60, a millionnaire, long-time married with a beautiful wife and has nice houses both in Canada and France.

I think the original singer who breaked out that song, Ginette Reno, could have been a better choice. Trucking the deuce and a half of her in and out might have been an issue though. Her voice is still good but her mobility is so-so.

I think I remember studying some of Charlebois' work in high school french. Manicougan? Mon Pays? Song names and writers a little mushed in my brain.

Good interview with Al Michaels and Wayne Gretzky.

Gretzky was very classy. Answered the question about the malfunction with apparent honestly, but didn't dwell on it.

Here's a bit of info. My son was curious how, precisely, the length of a ski jump is measured. This is a question that had never even occurred to me. It turns out that the distance is measured to a point between the skier's feet on landing, which means there is an advantage in hitting the ground with one foot in front of the other.

Isn't learning fun?

I have been fooled, and in the process, I have spread misinformation (or even disinformation) about the proposed Museum of Tolerance being built in Jerusalem. An opinion piece in the LA Times counters the blog-post to which I linked yesterday, arguing that the Museum is to be built on a former parking structure site NEXT to the former Islamic cemetery, which has reputedly been in disrepair for several decades.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-hier12-2010feb12,0,1420998.story?track=rss

This is why we need real newspapers and real reporters, because even seemingly well-meaning bloggers are persons with an agenda and lack the financial support or inclination to diligently research all aspects of a situation.

Back to your Olympics coverage!

First gold medal goes to a Swisskiterian, Yoki. Simon Ammann.

And did you guys hear about this? Jeez. "Rogue waves at Calif. surfing contest

"At least two dozen people are injured when two huge waves sweep away spectators attending a surfing contest in Northern California."

You like us, you really like us, or at least found us interesting enough to watch the opening. Hope NBC stops whining now.

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/02/13/nbc-ratings-for-2010-vancouver-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony-are-highest-ever-for-non-us-program/

Oh dmd -- really enjoying this. The strong X-lines of the Canadian speed skating suit are striking. And, my goodness colossus gracious these men -- and women -- will never need a thighmaster, will they.

Like the shot of the ref...or phtographer... Go CANADA! In third.

The Canadian speedskating suit is a bit like the controversial Speedo....many layers of fabric all laminated into an aerodynamically sound compression suit. Very hard to get into without help...

The Japanese suit strikes a gold lame look -- not at all a bee effect but a golden silver surfer look. The German is predicatble Teutonci black with flag striping...

Do the shorter legged do better on the stroked turns but loose a bit with that long lopped glide on the straights?

Ok -- the sidelined skakers are coaches....wow; they have access to shout....i wonder if they shout technical infor or just the words of encouragement or even the vaunted jock-threat taunts.

Shani Davis in a a French blue warm up, grooving to his tunes. I think the skater-tard is navy underneath.

You can see the chamois -- or more techie fabric -- on the inner thighs of the French skater. Must have a slip coating of some kind to reduce friction.

I am costume boodling solo. If a boodler posts in the woods to trees fall?

I can't think of any "short-legged" speed skaters, CquaP. I'm fairly certain longer legs are more efficient for each push-off. :-)

Think the shorter legged skaters go into short track speed skating :-).

I liked the Canadian outfit as well.

The gold lame not so much.

SN -- that Japanese skater was way shorter than the german dude.

Dutch up with thei electric orange leggings. The US went with french blue on what might be a navy body...the cross overs are so beautiful

OK, coaches do give pace info.....the ankles are not covered...but They are clearly warmed up....the dutch skater wears clear lenses rather than smoked ones.

The big-wave contest at Half Moon Bay (south of San Francisco) had a messy time, with the founder/director getting fired. He had the place to himself for some 15 years. After he recruited some company, one of the first at the spot (and a later contest competitor) was Dr. Mark Renneker, a San Francisco physician who was famously profiled by William Finnegan in the New Yorker ("Playing Doc's Games") and participated in at least one competion, when he was at least 50 years old. Wikipedia has a history of the spot.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/13/BATA1C1AAA.DTL

I suspect that after today's mess, there might not be more big-wave contests at the site.

Half Moon Bay was the place where, as a little kid, I was introduced to the notion of "going to the beach".

The Dutch skater sticks his tongue out when concentrating....neuro overflow move...lots of chapstick I would think... he is getting tired and you see it in how the old their backs.

Really good commentary by Catriona LeMay-Doan on CTV explaining the signs that the Dutch skater was fatiguing over the last laps, yet fought thorugh it.

The Dutch uni looks to have white hearts on the shoulder....fitting as the orange love for skating is unparalleled anywhere else.

Dave, I know that beach well, carnation and statice fields and all.

Pumpkins. Half Moon Bay is where the pumpkins grow.

Yes, D, pumpkins too. You know, the Great Pumpkin is from there....:)

de Jong makes me ache with exhaustion just to watch him. Ack!

Haven't seen the coverage, but I'd assume (perhaps wrongly, given my track record) the Japanese skater had somewhat disproportionately long legs. *shrug*

This is what I get for being a wise-A55 the other day in my drive-by posting. No shoveling required though.

Shout-out to TBG!

http://www.postandcourier.com/photos/galleries/2010/feb/12/snow-photos-post-and-courier-staff/

Lee's finish is lovely in that strong armed graceful way and such a surprise to all, including him. Love the unpredictable.

What a skate by the Korean athlete, love stuff like that.

Nice Russian uniform.

Italian skater in deep blue with a USA/French look...where is the orange and green of Italy?

And the Russian in similar colors....

RD_Padouk - Your hypothesis that there's an advantage to landing with one foot in front of the other is true only insofar as sticking one foot forward doesn't cause the other one (or the entire body) to go backward by a similar distance. If that's the way they're landing, I'll assume that they've gathered the data necessary to validate the hypothesis.

Ahhh... Bodega Bay -vs- Half Moon Bay. I miss the weekends when I was confronted with such choices.

You rock CP.

I am ashamed to admit this, but because of the pernicious effects of advertising I must struggle to view the orange uniforms of the Dutch skaters and not think of Rachel Ray Cookware.

DR -- note the the unitard arms are attached to the thumb and forefinger -- pointer or index only...functional and recalls the Victorian mitts of lace and etcetera....

Thanks, RD, I was feeling a little self conscious there. Am boodlng quickly and sloppily as I am keeping my eyes on the screen mostly...TEeVee that is.

USA has a stylized star on the hood. Hedrick seems to be wearing more Navy on his suit than Shani Davis...himmm... wish I had insider access to the equipment locker to look.

The Nordie has striped inner thigh chamois patches...cool I think...perhaps functional too. CROSSover is like waltzing!

Bokko! Paging our Bokko....oh wait, my stars.ARE THEY THE SAME?

I do love the Dutch orange. It flatters Kramer as if chosen just for him.

Dutch wearing orange aesics
Nord in Nike

And, the Dutch winner loves his family, hurddling over three gates....good bold boy!

Bia-athletes! CPBro1 is an amateur Master (over 45).

I think Biathlon is my favourite winter event. It seems, well, eminently *practical.* Real survival skills in a northern clime.

And speaking of northern climes, I just saw the first film I've caught of the snow in the Carolinas and Florida. Wow! Stay safe, local friends. Can be very dangerous when you are not used to it.

Nicely done CP!

The biathalon, I am led to understand, is something that evolved naturally in northern countries. Kinda cool to watch, even for those of us who aren't too keen on firearms.

Hah! Bread & Butter, RD.

But, RD -- what will you do when called upon to exercise your "license to kill?" Throw rabbit-doodies at your target until he is totally pooped?

I'll be back for prime time WInOlys. Form and function and fit and fashion....and FAST.

Hockey Night in Canada or the Olympics? Talk about a tough decision!

I finished all the cherry cobbler for a mid-afternoon snack after a bout of using a fine Canada-made product called a Roof Rake to clear some snow from my roofs. Now, what shall I have for a nice little treat, later? Banana-and-hot-fudge sundae?

Yes!

Prime Time for Winter Olympics has started on Canadian TV - an interview with Steve Yzerman to start.

Ment to mention loved the Slovenian uniform in biathalon, that shade of green I adore. As anticipation builds for the first Canadian gold keep wondering who I would like to win that medal - it will be so special first on home soil, Jenn Heil would be wonderful - great role model.

Can you expand on that, dmd? I don't know anything about her, except her name and sport. What makes her a role model?

About the foot placement in ski jump: I believe this is required, or at least scored, by the rules - it's not about distance. There are additional points for your landing and a 'clean' landing is done telemark style (one foot in front of the other). My knowledge may be a bit dated though. The v wing flight used to cost you style points last I watched, and everyone does them now.

Biathalon is one of my favourite events.

Closely related...or not, is an event being held just down the road from me.

I'm voting for this girl as most likely to get to a future Olympics

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Gallery+2010+Birkebeiner/2561791/story.html

and gee whiz.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Gallery+2010+Birkebeiner/2561791/story.html

qgaliana: The "v" wing flight stance provides lift to carry the jumper further down the hill.

Scoring could hardly be more complicated. It's a combination of distance, safety and style. This site provides a reasonably clear summary.
http://www.fuzilogik.com/index.php/Sports-Library/Ski-Jumping/Ski-Jumping-Rules.html

Ok, that didn't work. Look for the litte girl with the horns. And the last photo. You have to see the last photo.

She is a moguls skier, won the Gold in Torino, thrives on pressure, outgoing personality, McGill student (Economics). First athlete to be a part of the private business iniative to help promote elite athletes to the podium.

And she is from Spruce Grove!

I was selecting only on those first few athletes that have a possibility to medal.

http://www.jenniferheil.com/Flash.html

LOL. In Calgary we say she is from Calgary (typical!).

That picture is adorable dr.

And Jenn has worked with Birks to design a line of Olympic jewellery - it is very nice.

Ahhh, well. Tough break for Danica Patrick. But it's a long season, eh?

Ooops.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/13/AR2010021302237.html?hpid=topnews

Fun stuff, this:

"49 states dusted with snow; Hawaii's the holdout"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/12/AR2010021203097.html?hpid=sec-nation

Oh, the two babbies in horn-helmets! Too sweet.

Surprised not to see my friend A.H. (a leader in the Ukrainian community in the Edmonton area), since he has an impressive mustache that is more than photogenic.

Did the "agony of defeat" guy get any style points?

I think the underdog *always* gets style points; perhaps especially when he doesn't triumph.

Yeah Bob, we're the holdouts.

Women's moguls!

Be grateful for it, MotP.

We are left with ugly piles in corners and odd places. Though the temps only got to 40 this afternoon, full sun and low humidity ensured that most of the snow went away. There will be ice overnight as the temperature drops to the low 20's and wet spots do what they do.

Mr. T got his pressure washer out and cleaned his garage. A couple of O rings in the sprayer wore out, so he's trying to get the replacements to work. From the noise he's making, it's not going smoothly.

I knew the V gave more lift and distance MsJs, just pointing out that last I managed to see some ski jumping they were docking points for using it. They wanted to see parallel skis in the air. Good link, thanks.

Time to collect some vino and settle in for moguls and short track (my fave). Some of my younger beserkers are developing an unhealthy interest in moguls. I may need to keep an eye on this as there is a preety steep hill in my back yard.

I like women's moguls. Hills, bumps, mountains, whatever you want to call them. And I'm not against the valleys, lowlands, etc. Anyway...

This is a mildly disturbing extract from the above-mentioned piece about 49-state snow:

"At least in Washington, where snow is now measured by the yardstick, more snow may be coming soon. It looks like a little more snow on Monday and maybe a lot more about a week or so after that."

I'm not sure I'm ready to hear about a lot more just yet.

I just saw the view looking down the mogul course, my goodness that is steep, you don't noticed it when they film from the bottom of the course.

Let the short track mayhem begin.

I was a little disappointed, until now. Very few skiers heading right down the fall line and pivoting off the very top of the mogul. Looks like now we're getting competitive.

DuFour-LaPointe!

Oops.

Jenn!

Oh, this might be the one!

I thought the American Roark did fantastic, but don't know enough about how this event is scored. Speed counts the most then technique?

No. Felt bad for Rourke. She was flashy, but her technique suffered for it. It is 1/3 air, 1/3 turns, 1/3 posture. Rourke's knees wobbled and she had to recover on her landing after the 72.

Wow! Kearney! Perfect!

Mavericks - Last time I actually went to Mavericks in person - 5 or 6 years ago, the hill we all squatted on, sort of collapsed, small injuries, but also was an ecological disaster and from the on the event was available on webcast.

Some great pictures at http://www.sfgate.com/surfing/?tsp=1

Yes, when I saw the second American I understood, great run.

Oh, I am ashamed to be Canadian. The TSN commentator wanted to bring it back to Heil; begrudging of Kearney's and Rourke's accomplishments\. "Remember it is just the qualifying round."

Feh.

Will the Canadian Boodlers and USians be out of sink now?

NBC gearing up, and yes, BCostas is the VOICE of the Olys....and he is moderately irritating....

Roller derby begins. The US outer jacket has a thin fur strip on the collar...looks fake.

The Canadian suit layers are called Ombre technique: blurring, as in tie dye of the three stripes of color...and the simulated shoulder straps...the all wear the same regulation helmut.

I am flipping between Canadian Women's hockey game and the short track, first 2 Canadian competitors through.

US wearing French blue "vest" and navy bottoms. WHo is wearing the brown/creme get up?

DMD you get choices?

CP you do not want to know the choices I have, all events, streamed, at least 10? channels to choose from coverin different events, radio and then also the US feed. A gluttony of Olympics and I am not complaining.

roller derby? what coverage are you watching? couldn't find any great coverage here - am i looking in the wrong place? watching speed skaking on nbc - i find it wonderful...

who won the biathalon? was it the czeck woman?

oooooooooo apollo is next!!!

I am frenvious.

I think I see a glimmer of the Ruski suit...which I really like....

Morti RD is ST....AO has his blue bandana on....

man apollo is soooooo yummy - lovin the soul patch!!!

and guys don't start in on me - don't tell me you watch women's beach volley ball for the sheer love of the sport! :p

oh believe me cp - i KNOW which one is apollo! hehehehe

mo

OH MY GOD!!! DID YOU GUYS JUST SEE THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! APOLLO BLEW THEM OUT OF THE WATER!!!!!!

Morti -- bet you are pleased and such good theater, too.

Latvian in purple/merlot?

If anyone doesn't want to wait to NBC, here is the schedule and result page from Vancouver 2010, click each link will bring up live results, final results will show on the page, as well as athlete bios etc.

Times given are PST.

http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-schedule-results/

Oh dear. I don't know how to feel about this. The Slovenes are playing a beautifully technical game of hockey, and the Canadians look like brawlers. As though the Slovakian women learned how to play from a book, and the Canadians by playing shinny with the boys on the pond from kindergarten onward. Reminds me of the great Canada-Russia series (*swoon* - Ken Dryden).

Also, not very happy with the reffing. Surely not only the Slovenes deserve penalties? I'm pretty sure that hook wasn't unsolicited.

Oh well. It is awfully exciting!

oh! seperate coverage on cnbc... does nbc have exclusive american coverage - i went through all my channels, even my pay channels and nothing... canada currently winning women's hockey against SW.

dmd, satellite? Yes. Me too, only I cannot watch the hockey. Its 5 zip and it feels un-Canadian. I'm cheering for Slovakia.

mortii - Well, actually I don't watch beach volleyball - because I love the the sport of volleyball, and beach volleyball is something else entirely.

Having said that, it's not unheard-of for me to glance at a Sports Illustrated article about up & coming young athletes.

mrdr is mocking my discomfort over the score.

I *know* dr! It feels as though we should throw a few in the second period, or have a "everybody who plays is a winner" trophy... like elementary school. It seems overweening, somehow. Shades of the Great Salt Lake. Embarrassing.

dr, go to ctvolympics.ca all the events are also live streamed - to your phone as well if you wish.

Yoki - Canada is just to overwhelming for the Slovak team. It is the first time the Slovaks have qualified big for them to be there. I will have a soft spot for the Chinese women who I saw when they played here in town - we need to grow this sport beyond just the US and Canada (for Women) it is coming but slowly.

Minnesota student (Canadian citizen)!

(pst - y'all know that i'm mo right? mortii=mo)

Can't wait for our women to meet the US. Now *that* will be a game.

Glad Brian Williams just addressed the mismatch.

Good time for me to mention middle child is away with dmdspouse at a hockey tournament this weekend, so far they are undefeated, dmdspouse is coach. They are having fun, but it is his birthday and our family is apart :-(. Just recreational hockey, big girls hockey tournament of both recreational and rep (top tier) hockey ages 5-18.

We do know that, mo. And we love you.

ok - i'm going to have to tivo or go out and buy another tv or sumtin cuz i can multitask like the best of 'em but this is kicking my tuckus!

I'm pretty sure that ev'ryone who needs to know, knows.

I, on the other hand, am hoping to keep my identity secret.

Your secret is safe with me Mr. Sewell!

I hope you Canadians get plenty of practice being top dog during this Olympics, apparently you need it. (I don't care how the Slovenes are getting trounced.) Lots of Canadians on the Minnesota Wild NHL team. One player says in his bio for the official program "St. Paul is just like Canada." High praise indeed.

I'm going to take a stand and switch to short track speed skating on TSN. Methinks mrdr is just humouring me till hockey comes back on.

Mortii: Yes, NBC controls Ewe-Ess-Aay access. Viewer-unfriendly contract that severely limits what American viewers can view live, either via TV or Internet.

For example, there's only about 400 live hours available online and I think it's virtually all curling and hockey. Nice if those are the sports you like, not nice otherwise.

And even though the US west coast and Vancouver are in the same time zone(!), NBC is forcing its west coast TV viewers to watch everything on a 3-hour delay.

Go figure.

bobswell... bobsewell... i just can't place the name or face... hmmmm
*snicker*

HOLY SMOKES! the moguls are just blowin me away! i'm always amazed at top atheletes... how do they make their bodies do that??? just amazing!

Am I foolish for having just bought some snowshoes? I figure there's no way we can get a big snow any more, now that I have invested in preparing for it. Of course, they won't arrive for a week, so there's still time for big snow before they get here.

*Whomperjawed!*

Really? OMG, I think I need to lie down!

Mogul skiiers wearing white stars on a field of medium blue. Roark is 35; well, good for her, doing the gymnast moves.

you've just completely jinxed us *tim... thanks a LOT! why is it always about your...???

Well, I can take a black-diamond run with moguls with the best of them, I just don't do arial ballet in between. That would just be reckless.

St-Gelais (apropos, don't you think?) did great!

i had a skiing accident the first time i went skiing - blown acl - makes me cringe everytime i see then doing major anything!

Did you have a TPLO?

Hannah Kearny sports tiny pig tails pulled through spaces in the crash helmut. Fun!

Yoki - the lime green top of the bib is fabulous. You mentioned this earlier.

course the irony being that i DO love participating in extreme sports - level v white water... ski diving...

wow! usa just beat canada for moguls!

Jessica Gregg, Canadian shortracker is at the olympics with her brother - long track speed skating - Wow.

Some of the Canadians were a floral treatment on the pants bells...the others may have pulled gaiters over this. OR, they had a choice. FLoral or flames? Sort like a henna design.

tplo?

scc - sky diving

A quick food interjection - A few hours ago, for lack of any better ideas about what to eat, I made up a foil package of chicken parts, scallops, bacon, and an immoderate amount of garlic, and tossed the whole mess into the oven. I just walked downstairs. Wow! I've got no idea whether it's going to be edible, but I sure wish I could save the fragrance.

i thought the pig tails were cute too...

Oh yes. Kearny pwnd it. And yes, that lime dickey! CP, are we sisters separated in early childhood?

These 'lympics are cool, but I have it on good authority that William and Mary just defeated Northeastern. This is, evidently, a pretty big deal.

SnowshoeTim. Vr.gd.
BobS. Yum.

Gosh. Feel bad for the lowland ladies.

ohh bobs.. i'm an expert at foil cooking! LOL... since i can't cook any other way. i usually stick in a bouillon as well...

rd - i went to nyu - i don't think we HAVE a football team...

Garlic is always best when used immoderately.

I've never really understood the cowbells. But then, you can never have too much cowbell.

Yoki -- we are of the same clan, surely, when Ireland and Scotlland were just a coracle across the strait.

No comes the pink-blonde gal...and oh, we have not yet mentioned the cowbells! Yoki- that started in Switzi, didn't it?

And, I shall drop this name: saw Wayne Wong ski at Sierra Ski Ranch circa 1977...in bright screaming zonkers yellow.

never

usa
canada
usa
canada

in the women's final!!

I keep fearing a catastrophic crash!

more cowbells that is...

apollo coming up in the semi-finals!

can't wait to see the red tomato! he's apprently gonna just pwn everyone!

don't wanna jinx him tho....

Now I am slightly offended.

that announcer just called us "kids"

Wow, just saw that Apolo Ohno prelim. Smoked those other fellers.

why yoki?

shashashasha - i'm a getting goosey bumps!

Wow, that adjudicator has a gothic face.

Mo-still breathing?

he
was
shirtless.......

*gasping*

oh jeez - WHAT a cheezy intro!

are you offended i used pwnd? or cuz that dork called us kids?

No no no. Nothing at all that you said, mortii.

The collar trim IS FAKE. PETA peeps can now watch the Olys without guilt.

Paging TBG and Mudge: experts, shall we send a memo to Mr. Ohno and suggest the Grecian spelling of the god also known as Phoebus?

Just the implication that I am 'not Irish enough.' When all you need to do is take one look at me and see that I am pure Irisher (and, therefore, civilized), my Dad's offspring. I do not hold my mother's Scottish heritage against her, I just repudiate it for myself.

I am too nervous to watch.

I think the brown/buff combination unitard is Japan. Not as visually distinctive as the gold lame treatment for the Japanese speed skaters.

Ohno's gloves: one white one black....gold tips....a bit like the OTHER GLOVED ONE.

everyone SHUSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

And he was *huge* in Japan.

can you pass on the inside?????

Oh Yoki -- sorry much on that. Tis sticky sometimes, and I like both very right much. The northern corner is both Scots Gael and Irish Gael....scratch us and we are Picti/De Dannan all.
Mo are you breathing?

Wow! Ono!

OH.. he passed on the inside of the marks!

HE MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i think my heart stopped for a second!

I love it when a Belgian is in the running.

Is Olivier Jean dreadlocked? he has quite a hair chignon to arrange with the helmut?

Is the Belgian with the lion on his back?

Lion is Great Brit?

I think just curly pony-tailed. And he has those lovely long legs. Don't panic, Olivier!

Belgian in slate with red?

eep - sorry! no canadians in the final...

ok - not really THAT sorry... sorry, that i'm NOT sorry! teehee

My comments are now being held. And had such a trenchant thing to say about that fall.

i hate it when both channels are on commercials...

I had that problem last night, understand Olivier Jean may go on to the final?

Yes dreadlocks.

mo - I was confused about that inside pass by Apolo as well. But I just learned that they can go wherever they want in the straightways, where there are no marks, so long as they get outside the marks in the curves.

brokaw is doing a docu on babyboomers...

Yup, looks like Jean is going on.

Go Latvia -- merlot or shiraz or pinot noir is his color.

I think that lime green as a competition color was taken off the table because, as Yoki tells, is a major design element of Vancover Event.

Yoki, you KNOW that you outlanders are limited to just a few mild remarks per day.

Yoki/DMD -- I do think that NBC has focused on this...confirmed? The Samson-locked Canadian goes forth? Who was the foul on?

DO NOT think....

two half asians! that's the one think i love the most about americans - we are becoming so diverse, so mixed! i'm bi-racial - i LOVE that it's becoming so common and so encouraged!

that guys had to have cojones of steel to do that commercial!

not again... i keep crying everything they play this!

Peview of downhill US AND Canadian teams: garb from Spyder is very high tech. The racers will wear TWO separate layers....undergarment contains the padding. This permits the outer layer to be unmarked by stitching...is spun practically seamless. Some detail here:
http://www.theskichannel.com/news/skinews/20091028/Spyder-to-debut-slippery-suit-for-US-and-Canadian-Olympic-Ski-Teams

Bet Canadians are red and white webbing....and USians in Frenchie blue scheme.

hmmm.... I think it is now up in the air

Oh carp. Women's hockey. Canada 16, Slovakia 0. That is just wrong.

In the Dan Balz column for Sunday (did you note how I neatly sidestepped the problem of deciding whether I should use "Balz' column" or "Balz's column"?) he asks the question (referring to Sarah Palin), "Is she presidential timber?"

That's "timbre", right? I understand that folks like to play fast & loose with this stuff, but there is a traditional usage, and I didn't think it referred to wood.

But she just might be presidential timber. Crash and burn.

bs - i always thought timbre was sound related...

Dead wood?

does it seem fair that they changed the luge track today? i hope everyone had a chance to run it a couple of times...

the other georgian that dropped out was the fallen lugers close friend and next door neighbor since child hood. must have been tragic for him

LOL, dmd.

Does it seem fair? Heck yes it is fair. What else could they have done? At least some of the competitors have a chance of surviving. Otherwise they'd had to shut it down altogether.

What did Saakashvili say today? "No sports mistake is supposed to lead to a death."

I think timbre refers to the quality of voice. Let me look it up...

Ah yes, the Compact OED comes through:

timbre
/tambr/

• noun - the character or quality of a musical sound or voice as distinct from its pitch and intensity.

— ORIGIN French, from Greek tumpanon ‘drum’.

For the luge, they are starting from the women's start, wall has gone up along final turn, and slight grade changes made.

They held training runs this morning for all luge competitors, I think two runs each.

oh - i don't mean it THAT way yoki! i mean they should have moved the event back to give the athletes more time to get used to the new run! luge at any length seems incredibly dangerous to me - and of COURSE it's not supposed to lead to death... unfortunately, it often does... look at highschool football... not even remotely acceptable but happens...

A good book review to read during a commercial break.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/11/AR2010021103897.html

My name is MsJS, and I am a gadget.

bobs: Mirriam-Webster says it's timber ("a person or type of person qualified for a particular position or status"). Which begs the point, as this topic has been drooled on to death by the punditry. The very title is a yawn and a half.

but they also changed the pitch of one of the turns from the women's run. i just thought they shoulda had more time. for mental reasons and to change their game plan/approach. ya know?

There is a good article in WaPo on the dangers of sports and it mentions some of the deaths that have occurred in various sports, sadly often the necessary safety precautions result after deaths or serious injuries. Car racing is the best sport I can think of for this but it is not the only one.

Wow, MsJS

Timber? Seriously? The M-W is clearly corrupt.

i think that's one of the reasons why i admire elite athletes so much - b/c they really push their bodies to the very edge - the EXTREME edge of possiblity - maybe with fear - well, i don't know WHY they do it, but i have jumped out of a plane and i know that sense of adrenaline rush is amazing... but jumping out of a plane is almost passive... you are falling - these guys are ACTIVELY pushing the very boundaries of danger... we can only hope they do it safely...

Interesting about "timbre"/"timber". I'm pretty sure that when I've seen it used before, the metaphor in question had to do with quality & rightness of tone. ["She might be a fine wife for someone, but not quite of our family's timbre."] And I'm darned sure that I've usually seen it written that way.

But the metaphor works just as well, although a little more prosaically, if one refers to building materials.

The Latin and French 'timbre' refers to resonance, not pitch or tone. As of or pertaining to a drum.

Some of us know about resonance, and some of us, clearly, don't.

I still prefer Timber for dead wood.

woot!!! they already ended the cnbc broadcast for some stoopid reality show!!! ARGHHHHHHHHHH NOT HAPPY!

altho - guess what just cheered me up!!!!

Canadians?

that canadian is pretty hot too - lovin the dreads!!! how young is the other american? he looks 12!!!

ok - here we go.... GO APPALO!!!!!

um... him too yoki! *wink*

O
M
G

Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am appalled. But Apollo? Go dude!

OMG
OMG
OMG

In the whole history of sports, I don't think I've ever seen or even heard of something like that happening.

Breathe and unclench. And, maybe a down ward dog to take the heart about to stasis.

OMG

Changed channels after the race, assuming all is final silver, bronze US - congrats. You just never know in short track.

and the thing is the korean did it to his other team mate - apolo wasn't anywhere near him!!! and the kid who won bronze almost bled out on the rink from a collision w/another skater who managed to slice one of his main arteries with his skate? see???????????? these guys are playing russian roulette half the time!

*watching it again*

Why are we OMGing? I am editing a paper and listening to music, not watching the Olympics. And backboodling, of course.

It's an Olystorm! 690 comments when I popped in and started to backboodle.

I believe Presidential timber is the correct terminology -- we do not particularly care whether the candidate has the right vocal properties and resonance to sound like a President, we care whether the candidate is made of the right sort of stuff to BE (or to build) a President. Hence, "timber", an example of matter with certain engineering capabilities, rather than "timbre", a particular form of acoustic excitation.

Nevertheless, it is true that "timber" often is used when what the speaker really means is "timbre". Drives me batty.

Back to editing science.

You think that's dangerous? Try sperm racing. Lots & lots of entrants in every heat, everybody but the winner ends up dead, and most races have no winner. Rough sport, that one.

What happened to Apolo? I won't know for 3 hours.

I'm really missing the Canadian broadcast. So, so much better that NBC. Even NBC scattered over a few channels.

SCC - than NBC

Some of us do care about presidential timbre. I much prefer Obama's baritone to Perot's squawk or Palin's nasal sing-song. (heh heh)

I hate to see anyone fall, but there did seem to be a suspicion that the Koreans were team-skating, in violation of the rules. If this is true then there is a bit of karmic justice in the crash. But be that as it may, I am sure the Americans are just pleased to end up on the podium.

And did anyone else see the replay where the official moves serenely through the foreground calmly writing on his notepad while the two Koreans are in a tangle against the wall? Surreal.

I just love Americans! I want to talk to them.

I've talked to Americans. The novelty wears off quickly.

yeah - watching it again and again (thank the fsm for dvr!) - watching it closer the second skater physically BUMPED apolo and was wrapped up in a turn with #1 and #3 - only took down himself and #3 but was literally inches from taking down #1... never seen anything like it... they may have been disqualified regardless of losing...

I love the chairs the top three sit in at the bottom of the moguls run.

*Snort*

those americans are really over rated... always talking about themselves, thinking they run the world... loud, obnoxious... full of themselves... you know the type

Did Rourke's husband really get banned? Like, tried to get in unaccredited? Jaysus Gawd. Has he not been paying attention for the last 8 years?

torn acl!! *cringe*

Yes barred from the event and I don't believe he took it well. D'oh.

Regarrding presidential timber (ahem):

from http://blogs.reuters.com/gbu/2009/08/27/presidential-timber/

Presidential timber?
Aug 27, 2009 07:49 EDT
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U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy dies at age 77

The sons were expected to mature into presidential timber and were groomed for that starting with the oldest, Joseph Jr., a bomber pilot who died in World War Two.

“The sons were expected to mature into presidential timber….”

Wood that you had chosen the correct spelling of “timbre.”

Jen R.
English Teacher

That’s a clever pun – wood/timber – but I’m not sure what makes you think we used the wrong word. To quote from the dictionary.com definition of timber:

7. personal character or quality: He’s being talked up as presidential timber. GBU Editor

Comments under above posting:

I fear English Teacher is right.
The Oxford dictionary definition of timber can be found here — http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/tim ber?view=uk

And what does the Reuters style guide say? Or the AP style guide that Reuters uses in the States?

While some dictionaries do accept timber in this context, it’s always listed as the least used definition (Webster’s places it at the bottom of 5 options — http://www.websters-online-dictionary.or g/definition/timber).

A look at the roots of timber and timber show that timber is simply a lazy modern corruption of timbre.

But, then, I still believe decimate means, as it should, to reduce by one tenth.

Next, we’ll have mute replacing moot (apologies to the My Name is Earl skit).
Posted by Boot
Aug 30, 2009
10:35 pm EDT

Dear Boot,

I should have better things to do on a Sunday, but I guess your clear reference to the Waugh masterpiece “Scoop” gives me some obligation to reply. Heck, I’d probably even know you if I saw you in a pub.

To simplify this one, the question was not which is the better spelling of timber in this context. Ours was accused of being incorrect, which even by your account it was not.

In dictionary.com our version of timber is the only one that applies in this sentence; I see nothing like it under timbre. Nor do I see any reference to timber being a lazy modern corruption.

I don’t see timber or timber in either the Reuters or AP style guides, unless they are tucked in under some other category.

Regarding decimate, I too regret the loss of the original meaning, but languages do evolve, sometimes in ways we don’t like. Looking in the Reuters style guide for the word, I find:

decimate

Literally to reduce by one-tenth, loosely to reduce very heavily. Not, however, to virtually wipe out.

I guess I can live with that definition: GBU Editor

--------------

Further, we have "Presidential timber
a history of nominating conventions, 1868-1960. by Herbert Eaton Published in 1964, Free Press of Glencoe ([New York])

Don Hewitt, the legendary producer of 60 Minutes, had a TV show in 1948 called "Presidential Timber."

more

I don't how they do that under artificial light.

2

The term goes VERY far back, and it is quite clear both from early contexts as well as the usual, expected jokes and puns, that everybody from Day One has used the word timber to mean wood, trees, logs, and not timbre, tone of voice.

Viz.:

From the foreword to The Pogo Papers, Copyright 1952-53

"The publishers of this book, phrenologists of note, have laid hands upon the author’s head and report the following vibrations:

"Herein can be found that rare native tree, the Presidential Timber, struck down in mid-sprout by the jawbone of a politician. Pogo returns to the swamp from a couple of political conventions to find his unfinished business being rapidly finished, once and for all, by rough and ready hands...."

http://www.igopogo.com/we_have_met.htm

Life Magazine, 1964: "The Great G.O.P. Logjam of Presidential Timber" http://books.google.com/books?id=GFQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=%22presidential+timber%22&source=bl&ots=sJMru_kLQ5&sig=4S64ow3ciCrXWd6wTGbpSD7ZuIE&hl=en&ei=7nd3S8brFYzetgPt46G8Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CBUQ6AEwCDhk#v=onepage&q=%22presidential%20timber%22&f=false

i cannot believe roark finished! (i tivo'd back so i'm a little behind) 3 surgeries on each knee!!!

OK, I'm more than willing to say that it is a UK/US/Canuck usage difference. All I know, is, really, that timber would not be accepted in context in Canada.

That doesn't make you wrong. Just different. But you can see why I defended our position.

And now.

Kearny! Awesome.

Kearney beats Heil!!!!!!!

*Much* the best mogul skier on the hill today.

Moguls final was great, two people skiing their best and the best skier on the day one, US, Canada, US, fantastic.

SCC won, time for bed for me.

i know - these oly's go too late... have they always done? can't imagine my mother would let me watch this late when i was young...

Hannah pwnd it.

Oh, Hirsho Ito is presenting the medals!

Yes, mo, they always run all nite long. This one isn't too bad, since Whistler is just west coast time zone. But imagine Olympics in Europe or Japan, China, etc. In previous years, we watched events that were often taped and time delayed.

In Barcelona, all the day and evening events were long over and everybody in bed when they began to be shown here in prime time.

you gotta admit she rocked it! they must have gluts of rock the way they crouch down the whole way!

I strongly suspect that "timbre" was traditionally used when referring to a person's suitability for some station but, for various U.S./American historical reasons, was long ago replaced by "timber" when referring to political figures, and particularly U.S. presidential figures.

That works for me. It's not as elegant as "timbre", but it works.

G'evening, all.

That was a heckuva finish in the Men's short track skating. *That* should make for a quiet team breakfast for those guys tomorrow. Mudge, if you've never seen teammates take each other out trying to get to the finish line, you haven't seen enough auto racing. One of the most infamous -- Japanese F1 GP, '89. That was a doozy.

The women's moguls were pretty cool, too. As mo pointed out, that's some amazing body control.

bc

ahem
USA is currently leading in medal count...
just sayin...

slap shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZlBcIKf_-k

part of this was shot at the war memorial in syracuse when i was in high school. a few of my friends were crowd extras. we used to see the blazers play. my lingering memory was of a broome county dusters fan that wouldn't be quiet until a puck came over the glass and hit him right in the mush. it could have been me.

Slyness, I know now why you have a ceramic stovetop. I have hated mine, now I love it. I think it just saved our lives (or at least our house). I am very relieved and penitent that total disaster was averted.

Youngest was making french fries and decided to soak them in sugar water "the way McDonalds does" to make them crispier. I warned her that she would have to get as much moisture off as possible or the oil would sputter a lot. So we drained them in a colander, and shook them, then dumped them in the hot oil. Which immediately boiled up, over and across the cooktop and down the cabinet sides, pooling on the floor. And then caught fire.

Lacking a fire extinguisher (I know, mea culpa) I pulled the overflowing pot of oil to a cool burner, and (I know, I know) threw a towel on the flames. And the towel caught fire. I dragged it off and, luckily for all of us, it died out. Yay, no more fire. Now there's just a godawful mess to clean up, fire extinguisher to buy, etc.

But if that had been a gas stove I'm afraid we'd be standing on our front lawn right now getting blankets from the Red Cross.

I've always thought of myself as fairly intelligent. And yet, everything I knew about what to do flew out of my head and I handled everything poorly. And I'm still shaking.

see they just brought up what i was saying about dangerous sports!!!

for error, because of the ice string.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDosgkws0-c

WHEEZY!!!!!! omg!!!!! i would never have known what to do in that position either! i'm SOOOOO glad you are ok!!!! don't scare us like that ok! sheesh!!!

oooofff... i'm tivo'd way back now... don't expect me to catch up. i'll check in again tomorrow!

wheezy! be safe pls!!! *freakin out over here*

It's all OK now, Mo, thanks. Youngest is cleaning up the floor and the cabinets while we wait for the stovetop to cool enough to clean up there. One towel shot, that's all.

Gosh.

jack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2RNe2jwHE0

wheezy - couldn't you have used flour or baking soda or sumtin like that? i never remember!!!

Wheezy - Yowza!! I'm sure glad everything worked out... well, not OK, I guess. How about "untragically"?

i'm sorry - but next time let's do microwave kettle korn? at least if you mess up all you have to deal with is burned popcorn smell!!!

I would have used baking soda or salt (not flour). If I had been thinking.

first winston under the lights at cms (first turn seats). it was such a hard hit that the ems cut the roof off to get him out. i'd rate this third among the finishes at that event, second was wallace bumping waltrip on the last lap in '89 (saw that one, too), and the best (for this event) was the pass in the grass. listened to that one on the radio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVmpj-civ3w allison & petty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo4y7MJfeIs cheesy voice over, but showing the PITG.

cms always had their own crew to call events at their track over the rack sound system. amateurs. still are in the broadcast realm, imo. they were always at least two laps behind the action. barney hull, eli gold, dick brooks and the rest of the fellows from that era at MRN did such a good job.

This link is better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIIf6drhCfg&NR=1

for all you

http://www.dougsartgallery.com/images/ASCII-rose-flower-pink.gif

wow, omni, A Rose of Jericho!

Ah, yes. Happy V.D. to everybody!

(I'm not sure that came out right, but never mind.)

this is just how i remember the show, an admirable effort to preserve a piece of history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uJ6W_hVq-E&feature=related

Wheezy, glad you're ok! Fires scare the bejeezus out of me - I rarely give candles as gifts because it's so easy to forget they're burning. I bet slyness will lecture us on what to do in this case (I was thinking baking soda, but I would have panicked, probably).

What irritates me about these events running late is that I'm sure the scheduling is done at NBC's request for certain events to be in "prime time". I wouldn't mind so much if they showed them *as they were happening* in this time zone. Having to stay up till midnight when I know what happened is ridiculous. Have I mentioned how much I miss having the sane Canadian coverage?

I was there. It was more beautiful than the video would have you believe.

But our Error loved Bungle in the Jungle more. Remember his funny Monkey-Man vid? Amazing.

I love Bouree. As I told Error, I was a fan of the first 3 JT albums...after that, not so much, although I do like Skating Away. And Crest of a Knave.

And he understood, seasea.

passion play was the second or third concert i went to. the first was laura nyro warming up the fifth dimension at blossom music centre, i think the second was john denver at spac, when rmh and the eagle was big (first multi media show), then PP. my parents let me go because they had no idea what went on in concert arenas. this was just before i became a GTP. in my eighteenth year, particularly after my Mom passed, the succeeding decade, plus four, was interesting. glad to be on the other side.

Ha. My second concert was the ELO & the Edmonton Symphony (great album) because my Mum said to my older brother (14!) "You will surely look after your little sister." And he said yes.

Of course, we ditched each other at the ticket gate. And met up again outside our parents' front door, at about three ay em.

That was fine

j, m&j. glad you're ok, wheezy. something happened across the street from our house a couple of weeks ago, and a queen anne about the same age as ours nearly went up. they started to repair the damage to the porch and tore off all of the fretwork around the front door. i went to the pile by the street and salvaged the parts. i knew from an inspection of the damage that the worse those elements had suffered was a charring of the century plus accumulation of paint to the surface of the wood work. i'm going to strip those parts someday, and reinstall them. as it should be.

SCC: worst.

wurst.

liverwurst.

bratwurst.

in beer.

a beer, my dear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sETQvtGStbQ

oh. and no mustard. bugs won't eat it, so i won't eat it.

hat.

holy carp, there are over 750 posts on this boodle. just wanted to say hi. too lazy to backboodle. have caught a cold even though the weather has turned warm out here. seems wrong. glad for the long weekend.

'night, boodle.

*faxing valentine's all around*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlJ0UwHN3gc

Or it might be this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5QGDzRbQbI

I'm glad you're okay, Wheezy!

And with respect to what mo said about things to maybe throw on a fire: DO. NOT. THROW. FLOUR. ON. A. FIRE! Flour burns, and a cloud of flour will burn potentially explosively. I don't know about baking soda. I suspect you might could do that, but I don't think it would be of much help.

I await slyness' commentary on the subject.

more like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYarHymJjL8&feature=related

You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by.

And when two lovers woo
They still say, "I love you."
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by.

Moonlight and love songs
Never out of date.
Hearts full of passion

It's still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die.
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by.

Oh yes, the world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by.

I'm not that romantic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO9Lj0T93Xk

Well, if we're doing Country, we'll do Country-Torch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzq5X-p2C0Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG-8uZg2uV0&NR=1

The bummer part about being in the last timezone is that we get everything after everybody else (don't get me started on election results). So, I read through the boodle and saw who won all the medals but it really was okay because it helped me to know which sports to watch rather than having to watch through the whole thing tonight. So, thanks everybody! And while it's still 2/13 here I know it's 2/14 up there so Happy Valentine's Day!

Wow that is a lot of comments.

Happy Valentines Day everyone!!!! Spend some time today with someone you LOVE!!!!

Good morning everyone.

I hope everyone today can celebrate loves past, loves present, and loves yet to be.

'morning all. Watching the old WinOlys is sport in itself. The kids are watching 4 channels at the same time. Best analyst yet: Jean-Luc Brassard on the moguls. He's calling the points accurately before the judges hand in their cards.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

Morning all, hi Cassandra, happy Valentine's day!

Wow, Wheezy! Yes, a fire will shake you up. I'm glad you got it out without having to call the fire department.

Some quick stats:

93 percent of the hostile fires in the US do not come to the attention of the fire service (i.e., they are small and are contained before getting out of control).

Food on the stove is the most common cause of hostile fires in the US. (Imagine that!)

So you are in good company. Yes, get a fire extinguisher (a UL-rated ABC extinguisher will be best.)

Baking soda works, salt works (I think), flour does not. If you have a lid, put that on the pot.

You actually didn't do too badly, with using the towel. The issue is cutting off the air to the hot oil.

I am extremely grateful you and the child were not burned. That's even worse than the property damage.

If it makes you feel any better, I've done it too - overheated oil in a wok, when I was 38 weeks pregnant with the Geekdottir. I was yelling at the Elderdottir (age 3) to open the door so I could take it out, but she was scared and ran away to hide.

I like that phrase, "hostile fires".

I have not kept my love for my country or the olympics secret, if you have the opportunity watch the salute the fans gave the Slovakian woman's team at the end of the game, An extended ovation, to a team that lost big (18-0), Slovakia is not yet at the elite calibre but the fans showed the admiration for the effort - realy touching. These are the kinds of moments I love, not just the medals but the stories that make the games special. Thanks to the fans they made me so proud and for the Canadian women for leaving the ice to allow the Slovakians to take centre stage at a special moment.

Happy Anna Howard Shaw Day.

Thanks, DMD -- your prose means that i "saw" it. And, like you, I like these unscripted moments where fate asserts herself and we respond humanely.

Increasingly I am crabby about the corporate doling out of Costas-cized chunckules of these thar Olympics....I believe they belong to all of us...wish we had more viewing and reviewing options. I have been checking YouTUbe, but if moments are posted, NBC is paying minions to taken 'em down, forthwith.

Oh, and this option for Valentine's Day if it is not sold out. You could buy a cert for a future day's experience. Our local ice rink is selling 20 minute DRIVE- a -Zamboni experience. This seems fun and lovely and a Valentine's Day gift for the Winter Fairy who might be strong within. Now, I may be late to the party, here. But, new and charming to me.

And WB or Englesguy or Mudge, you may now begin the doggerel love poem. I give you
Zamboni
macaroni

Thank you.

The NBC Olympics coverage is so horrid the games are all but unwatchable. Did you know Bob Costas has been wearing his hair in exactly the same fashion for over 30 years? I know because I used to have mine cut just like it. However, I do not color mine to hide the gray as he does and have moved on to something a tad less helmet like.

Further superficial musings and blatant sexism alert- I do believe the medal winners in the 1500meter speed skating represent the finest looking male 1-2-3 finish we're likely to see on the podium in Vancouver. It's unseemly for someone my age to think they are so $%(#@ing hot.

Have the last of this batch of dry cured bacon out for them what wants some. Direct from the artisan who raised the hogs and cut the apple wood.

Happy AHS Day, may we all have someone who cares about us at least a little.

Paging DR and Frostie: Slovakian gal goalie Zuzana Tomcikova played in Regina,SASK for high school and now is at Bemidji State.

I want to drive the Zamboni!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkJbvv3pHg

CP-Here's the hometown paper story on the pride of the Beavers
http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/event/article/id/100015792/

Frosti, somehow it seems to me that the Lilihammer coverage was good....or do I just really like that entire snow-ice-is-not-Ragnorak-but-actually-Paradise feel of Norway in winter? And, the knitting there and even glimpses of real old style knitted garb on the people in the stands....You know, I lose my objectivity around all things knittical.

CP, I think Lilihammer is the gold standard for winter olympics, from the hosts, to the landscapes and the snow - no shortage there. Rumours sun may make an appearance in Vancouver today.

Thanks, Frosti. A song, even. Country-style, natch. The thing about the Zamboni, is that such little oddities of the perfect name for this technology are for me, evidence that God exists and she is really really really funny.

A Zambini also reminds me of classic Star Trek; you know, when we are beyond some of the filthy growth-rules economy and we are on to something more steady that allows for putting our brains to such usefulnesses as building other "zambonis"

Like Santa Clause machines (Shout out to Don/270 who knows about them.)

And, now to knit mobius strip scarves....klein bottle blowing....you know, really special box canyons of joy, technology applications....

Howdy and a happy Valentine's Day to Joel and the Boodlers. Love the live-blogging Olys - this afternoon/evening I'll try to bring the computer in where they're on, so I can watch n read in real time (keeping in mind that time is a construct, etc., as the West Coasters know from Oly coverage).

Yesterday it was bright, sunny and in the 50s. Woke up this morning to snow. Also I have what I strongly suspect to be a head cold. I plan to squeak out what I can in choir this morning then hibernate the rest of the day.

Steaming macaroni,
Cheese thick as zamboni-traps:
Dog romance beckons....

-Wilbrodog-

SCC:

Steaming is too long.
Dream, hot, cooked, take your pick,
Then eat it tender.

SCC:

Steaming is too long.
Dream, hot, cooked: take your pick,
Then eat it tender.

-Wilbrodog-

Ain't but a haiku
double-posting all the time
ain't no friend of mine...

-Wilbrodog-

Thank you for the pome invition, CqP, but I don't think any Valentine's Day love poem that uses the phrase "I want to drive your Zamboni" would ever be allowed to be printed in a family newspaper.

I have a fairly busy day, but I shall ponder the use of "macaroni" in a poem suitable for broad family viewing.

In fact, I have an idea already...

Happy Valentines Day to all my Boodle Valentines!!!!!

Sad news, however -- just read in the Daily Telegraph (UK) that Dick Francis died (at the ripe old age of 89). I've read all of his mystery/detective (sorta) books -- actually as sherbet to cleanse the palate between "real" books. Some of them were really quite good ("Bone Crack" comes to mind). Too bad.

As for the Olympic coverage -- grrrrrrrrrrr. Simply cannot stand it for the reasons I've given before, and for all the same reasons you all have given. Bob Costas is painfully narcissistic (as are all of his ilk). Just awful.

Bleah

So, the real question is -- who shall wear the tiara for picking which Boodler will post the 1,000th boodle-post? And when? Who will win that gold medal, eh?

My dearest African brother turned the ripe old age of 41 today -- and he seems to have recovered well from his latest stint of malaria. So, I sang him birthday greetings in English and in Swedish. I simply must learn it in his local language.

Saw somebody wearing shorts this morning at Trader Joe's. I stayed way clear of her. Didn't want to catch it. . . .

Cya later.

Uh, wait a minute. Gina Barreca may have already taken care of the macaroni thing, in Weingarten's mag column:

Gina: Valentine's Day cards are inane.

Gene: Okay, what game are you playing?

Gina: No game. They are dumb and formulaic, and we women love them dearly only because our expectations are so low. We know we are not going to get an original sonnet mounted on a collage of snapshots of ourselves secretly taken by you in adoration as we slept. We know we are going to get crap cards from Hallmark, and we will take them and be grateful, just as we were grateful in grade school on Valentine's Day. All the kids had to bring in boxes with slots cut into the top, and the girls' boxes were covered with festive wrapping paper and decorative buttons and pipe-cleaner hearts and macaroni with glued-on glitter, and the boys' boxes all said "Florsheim" on the side. And we girls gouged out chunks of our hearts and stuffed them into the Florsheim boxes, valentines upon which, with terrible vulnerability, we had scribbled in blood the rudiments of our feelings for the boys we really liked, boys whose valentines to us, deposited into our glittered and macaronied slots, said "With best wishes" and were obviously written by their mothers.

Gene: You seem to have some baggage.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/09/AR2010020902214.html?hpid=topnews

I want to drive your Zamboni
And smooth the ice of your heart
Of scratches made by that pony
Who romps when we are apart

(This is why I don't work for Hallmark)

There's nothing like good pony poetry.

Slouchin' on a pony
Heart pumping out my last blood
You shot me, dear-- why?

-Wilbrodog-

Good day, y'all.

Message from 'out there'.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28367496@N06/4356913214/

Wow -- that was very cool, MsJS!

Pony poems! Happy Valentines Day!

Oh, Dick Francis. I loved his books for the horse racing insider knowledge, and I could read one in a day. He also came up with some of the most horrible ways for people to die, or nearly so. Which I skipped over to get back to the racing bits.

Thank you for the valentine, MsJS! I loved it!

Back from lunch with my two favorite boyz, their parents, and Mr. T. Wonderful to have time with them, it does a mother's heart good.

Happy Valentine's Day, all.

I've been a busy man this weekend, but I'm a happy one.

Hope there's all the love in your life that you can stand.

And then some.

bc

Loving the Nordic Combined-so friendly to the Finns. If our fair county every produces an individual gold medalist it will be in this sport, or biathlon.

Will tear myself away though to run some errands. Headed to Tampa on Thurs. with too much to do between now and then.

My son says that 'mericans don't do well in the biathalon because most of the true firearm aficionados live in places where there isn't much snow.

Finn friendly!

And the sprint biathlon is underway.....organized sequential chaos...

I am just watching and hearing that your biathalon team is very strong - good luck.

Note to CP, just saw an interview with our three Canadian moguls skiers from last night, all in their red quilted jackets, cherry red just wonderful - I believe these are the exclusive jackets just for the athletes - a black one is available to purchase and I keep drooling over it - Jenn Heil will probably have it on at the medal ceremony tonight.

Ukraine up -- hi dr...he has a great unitard.

DMD -- will watch for this. Biathlon reminds us that at the heart of sport is military ability....that, and the taking down of moose, dear, elk and other hooved dinners.

I think I am adopting Slovakia to cheer for love all their uniforms and still want their parade coats, love that green. Well I will cheer when they are not up against Canadians :-)

Oh Go Canada!

BLue uni tards against the white snow -= nature's perfect combo...really. Finns know this.

I'm cheering for that Canadian as well!

This biathalon thing is more complicated than I thought, what with the tradeoff between bookin' hard and being calm enough to shoot.

Medicine for Peace Haiti blog update

http://medicineforpeace.blogspot.com/

FYI, some boodlers contributed to this group. Small relief berth, a good companion to "big relief"

(the French Canadian names made me think on this.)

Man, I think it bites that the latter competitors have to deal with worse weather.

RD -- add the snow! How real life, save for the people sweeping the target "yoga mats."

MSJS -- Thank you dear, so YOU are the Universe. Love you back.

Starlight is blue
Novas are red
Let's make wooo-whoo
Before we are dead

CquaP, please don't shoot at the dear elk!

NYT author remembering crash blossoms
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/magazine/31FOB-onlanguage-t.html?scp=1&sq=headline&st=cse

Thanks Nellie -- I blame the soft thinking and indolence of the day.

Commentators were just mentioning that this is a regular occurance for biathalon - the changing weather conditions that is.

Man, this is a tough sport. I feel really bad for the people who started later.

Mother Lise is a lovely woman.

Yoki -- very much like real life, isn't this. Not fair, that fickle finger of fate that Focks in a fickle feckless manner.

Great race by the Canadian, they are speaking to him now, pretty hot!

Loved (and continue to love) speed skating -- both long track and short track (man, was my heart pounding during short track -- what a sport!). Takes a lot of guts. The long track is very cool, as well, but the position the back has to take -- particularly during the long races -- cannot be good for it. Their respective core muscles must be made of steel. I've had to talk ever so softly to my own troubled back to calm it down during these games. The knees have been known to hide their eyes during the moguls. Geez -- these women and men have beaucoup arthritis in their futures.

Also love the ski jumping. I really don't like heights at all, so that's not a sport for me personally. I was at Holmenkollen ski jump outside of Oslo many years ago and I swear -- even though I was on solid ground and was merely peering down from the actual take-off point of the jump -- I almost fainted. Wow!

Since my TV set is in another room a way long way from my 'puter, I suspect I should go back to the other end and take a look at what's going on. With the sound off, of course.

Biathlon started as a Finnish military sport. So the black disks are standing in for some poor russkies.

That is not funny to try to shoot straight with all that wet mush falling.

CTV, let me review. JPL is the only Canadian in the 10km sprint, and his sixth place standing is the best ever achieved by a Canadian? Have I got that right?

Those guys must have said this 100 times in the last half-hour.

If it makes your feel better NBC has repeated the same refrain about the US 9th place finish, both are big accomplishments for the athletes, credit and repetition well deserved.

The women's hockey game between the US and China is fun to watch.

Ahhh, Dick Bottons, the Kasey Kasem or the Dick Clark of skating.....glad he is still alive, though someday in my universe he will hawk sewing notions on my yet-to-be-sold PBS off-hours show on Cosmo Piecing: The Fabric of the Universe.

Episode 28: Figure Skating Costumes, with special emeritus guest skater Dick Buttons.

Well, it *was* fun, but now the Americans are leading 5 to 0, at which point it becomes almost painful to watch.

Scratching the surface
Zamboni style did not reach
my love's icy heart;
I'm tying my valentine
to Marconi's dart

The RDS biathlon specialist is woman (Martine Albert, she retired after Torino). She's in love with the French guy Vincent Jay who just won the 10km. I wouln't be surprise if she proposes tonight.

The German hads a bad day even though they reportedly spend more on one of their guy than the whole budget of the Canadian federation. Heads may roll if the trend continues. They can't lose to those Franzooz, can't they?

Why is Joe Biden walking around in a sweat suit? It is as bad as Harper's fishing vest or Cheney's parka.

Not the best look was it.

Saw Harper hug Jenn Heil last night, and all I could think of this from the man who shook hands with his son on the first day of school.

Better him than Cheney in those sweat pants. I've seen the Dark One on one of the talking heads show this morning. The man has no shame. He doesn't understand the concept of going away. Still believes that him and his minion should still be in power, darn the constitution.

Very fine interviews of Jay and Leguellec at RDS. Both came out as pleasant, modest young men very pleased and surprised by their good performance. Very different than the inflated heads we sometimes get in the high-visibility events.

Great shots on goal by the US women!

Snowdämmerung?
Sigh.. days late and a dollar short.

Mudge, this story is for you, enjoy!

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/195/story/1246311.html

Color confusion: in the xcountry portion of the Nordic combined, the US wears bright red.....

The skiers in the Combined Nordic have an unnatural look to me. Almost like insects in that great strength is combined with fragile appendages.

And in an unrelated observation, there seems to be a lot of yelling in Germanic languages.

Oooh. Just checked out women's hockey. I feel a bit sorry for the Chinese women because I know they are under such pressure.

Who new Nordic combined could be so exciting.

RD -- they are small compared to other xcountry dudes because litheness is part of the jump piece. But, you know that being a dude of science, etc.

What is the score?

USA 12 Chinese 1. Not as brutal as some victories, but still overwhelming.

Good point CP! Those long shots of all the skiers moving together seemed oddly arthropodic to me.

Assuming arthropodic is a word.

But I agree with the dmd that the ending was very exciting. Even though the French fellow snuck by at the end, still a wonderful conclusion for the 'mericans.

Wow, you guys have been busy. comments are at 844. Are we going for a thousand?

Off to catch up.

I

think a thousand comments

think a thousand comments

would be cool.

Hope Joel likes the Olympics :-)

In preparation for the very *minor* snow that we anticipate on Monday night (which nevertheless will be atop the apocalyptic snows of recent vintage), Howard County schools already have been closed for Tuesday.

Unfortunately, I am down to just one snow shovel, of low quality and near-uselessness. My better snow shovel completed fracturing and split in two while I was shoveling off a part of the roof earlier today. Lowe's, Home Depot, and Sears all were out of snow shovels when I checked on Friday night, and when I checked today. Apparently, there was a brief shining moment in which Lowe's had some shovels yesterday, but they were all purchased immediately.

Perhaps tonight, I might watch some of the Olympics.

852 comments (including this one). Will we have 148 more today? The evening Olympics coverage seems to inspire a certain amount of commentary. Of course, really, it seems unfair to include comments that are commenting merely upon the state of commentary.

I shall try some more gratuitous clothing tech comments...

blue, French

Just checking in to see if there's anything but the Olys on the blog.

Thanks for the Charlotte Observer link, slyness. You figure the editor finally said enough already and set a deadline for the article.

CqP, thank you for the reminder of what's still very much a crisis in Haiti.

I now return the A-blog to its Olys programming.

CqP seems to be locked out for posting too many times. So here is her next post:

blue, Prussian
red, Scarlet
red, Cherry

yellow, Screaming yellow (jacket) zonkers
green, Limey-beats-Scurvy

**faxing SciTim a good sturdy shovel**

Save it for the figure skating tonight CP!

What else is on tonight's schedule?

Last night was really cool. Just want you all to know I love the live boodling.

blue, Prussian

Article about curling for dr:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/11/AR2010021103900.html?hpid=opinionsbox1&sid=ST2010021204767

And this for ftb and yellojkt:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/11/AR2010021104384.html

Good evening, all.

Only have a minute to Boodle, but I see they've stopped the Daytona 500 yet again in order to make track repairs.

Driving over a pothole at 190 mph in a pack of cars that are skittering and porpising all over the track is not a good thing. Driving over it in a pack of 40 cars, nose-to-tail and door-to-door, oy, there's a lot of seat material being clenched right there.

bc

Beagles in the grass.

Howdy y'all. I had a nice long nap and feel better. I thought about turning on the afternoon Olys but then fell asleep. I do look forward to this evening.

Our morning snow immediately melted and the sun shone, but the Vicious North Wind (Tm) kicked in to make a nice unpleasant afternoon. Good day for a nap.

Beagles in the grass,
alas. Nose is nose is nose
Then- that rabbit yelp!

-Wilbrodog-

The Canadian unitard has a treatment that looks like a plastic opaque layer over the thighs....

The German uni in black with elements of red and yellow remind me to tell you this: UMCP Terps were originally black and yellow....they became red later one. But, you can sometimes see a nod to the black and yellow, especially in the saw tooth effect on some of the basketball jerseys
How did the red happen: After WWWI, Clark Shaughnessy came to Maryland from Stanford to coach football. He brought a supply of that school's cardinal red uniforms with him. Combining those colors with the old black and gold yields the Maryland flag, which is based on British heraldry for the Calvert family of the Baltimore baroncy.

The Dutch suit is not fully seal sleek: sports a diamond or triangle texture woven into the polymide fabric.

I read that story, seasea. Söder is a very idiosyncratic part of Sth. I used to live (briefly) down there, and have made my way around it. I will admit that I know other parts of Sth much better, but I do like Söder a lot. Hörnsgatan is the main drag and there's much to see on it and off it. There are some obscure museums around, too. A great tourist attraction is to take Katarinahissen, an outdoor elevator just over Slussen to Söder. From the top (where there's a very nice restaurant inside) the view over Sth is really quite dramatic.

I'm now well into 100 pages of the third book (out of 700-some), and I like it better than the second one. After the first book, a fair amount of predictability comes into play, which put me off the second book. But somehow I can't picture George Clooney playing Mikael Blomqvist. George is much to pretty to play gritty. The Swedish actress (named Noomi Rapace) who played Salander in the Swedish film series of the books was simply brilliant -- just perfect. She's won all sorts of Oscar equivalent prizes over in Sweden.

It's pairs figure skating! Or, as my daughter puts it, tricks in sparkly outfits!

This should be comment 870...

Wow, I finally caught up! Today was the seventh of the last eight days to feature significant shoveling, so Boodling had to wait for after sunset and dinner.

And speaking of Valentine's Day (weren't we?) I managed to avoid burning down the house yesterday while baking two sets of cookies (one oatmeal, one triple chocolate) for NukeSpouse. Both sets were fairly legible in spelling out the appropriate German phrase for today.

I'm happy to report they were very edible, too. :-)

Managed to catch the recap for women's moguls (WOW!) and short-track skating, as well as the nordic combined -- my heartrate was seriously elevated at the end of the race!

Tonight, pairs figure skating short program, mens moguls. Currently watching the luge and monitoring skating online.

Saw the speed skating earlier - Yea!

Alas the beagles
squirmed on their backs in the grass
in the summer sun

I always respect the figure skaters for their amazing athleticism - but my goodness! That Chinese couple was amazing. Going first is a double-edged sword; one can encourage the later performers to better efforts, or one can strike fear in their hearts. I expect this was the latter.

Watching luge now. More cowbell.

My TV listings indicate something called the NBA All-Star game is about to start.

Anyone care to bet as to the total points scored? I'm going with 252.

Yes, the first pair was amazing! I think how much my grandmother would have enjoyed seeing their performance. We watched a *lot* of figure skating together.

Love the American flame-skirt.

boodling from a new laptop... (the massive olys boodling has fried my trusty old dell - not really, it was old...) i got a toshiba with windows 7. not hating it like i hated (HATED) vista but it's still frustrating to hunt for things that i use frequently. not sold yet on internet explorer 8 - seems buggy!

ok - the chinese were sublime! anyone know what that song was they were skating to? americans were good but i hated the song...

happy v day to all! mom and i went to the mall - boy, ppl must have had some serious cabin fever cuz it was PACKED! almost xmas level packed!

Wow. Watching the mogul competition reminds me why I enjoy the winter games so much. Lots of the summer games are basically versions of things people do - run, jump, etc. Many of these winter games competitions are just crazy. Very fit, young crazy people.

Somewhere up above I linked to the live results page for the Olympics, it has a function for figure skating that gives you all the points for each element, plus their music etc. Constantly updated.

Just saw Brian Burke on CTV, such a sad looking man now - heart breaking.

The mogul wear for the US is Under Amour -- UA man grew up in my neighborhood. He invented his gear while playing football at UMCP. He is Terp.

LOVE underarmour!

The blue star-patterned US mogul jackets and pants remind me of pajamas.

The ecru tone of the Aussie mogul guy looks dingy against the white snow....nice patch with the Aussie stars....so much that could have been done with that garb....apply the cowbell rule but modify thusly: MORE pigment into brown even or true cafe-latte but that ecru looks like a laundry disaster

Poor guy.

Lovely pink shift on the Russian girl. Looks like a sheer crepe.

I agree IM -- heightened contrast would avoid the faded flannel pj look

Russian tiny doll -- would give her lighter tights...too much contrast with that pale Pavlova pink...

I do wish the men's designers would forget they ever saw Vegas Elvis.

The Russians were very strong, I thought.

Her hair is without product sleekified uber control...little girl wings at her temples...refreshing actually.....he has applied his own makeup or she did for him...something touching about this...also means that the Russians are out of money...which, can be sad and scary....still, even in these times.

CP-spot on as usual. Less contrast on the tights would have made a better picture.

Paging TBG, the magenta and blue FOREVER will read to print gals of the old school as the four color process checks....what is this music?

Wow, you can just see this team gaining confidence, getting stronger instead of tired.

Her magenta -- and darker skin work fine with the darker tight....

Portuguese Love Theme

Oh, they look so happy and earnest....not the flare of the others but fine, fine, fine.....and pleased as they deserve to be.

White skates! I love white skates on the girls and black on the boys.

Go Canada in a dark teal.....he is wearing an asymmetrical shirt...and her one shoulder is asymmetrical....nice symmetry

---all safe music choices, nicht war? No punked out ska tonight?

Skating well for a young pair and love the steel blue.

Those Canadians can skate!

I like her bob and self-braided head band...i agree Frosti, the flesh tights to hide the white skates? Odd...standard but still odd

Yes, Yoki that blue has a metal edge....nice choice, should be on the ice more often...

Oh, YAY!!!!

3 doors down? really? cuz they rock so hard! (SCHA!)

CMV and counting. XCV to go.

I loved that Anabelle and Cody looked at each other like that, and hugged so genuinely, even before getting the score. The skate itself seemed really to be their reward.

Gold!!!

Hopefully NBC will tell the story of this young man, it will touch your heart.

hey - i'm stuck on moguls! owwwww last two american's just bit it!!!

Bilodeau??

I chose to watch the moguls live, thanks for updating me on Cody and Anabelle, what them, particularly Anabelle for years, glad they did well, now will watch.

Yes Frosti it was awesome

i don't mean i'm STUCK on moguls i mean that's the only thing i have an option to watch cept for hockey on cnbc

So we get to see the Americans that crash but we only get highlights of the Canadian in first place? That is lame jingoism.

WOw -- yellow and near-teal....lemon and blueberry skittles and of course this would be a Swede

Perhaps our porous boodle border has skewed my perceptions, but I do believe NBC could focus quite a bit more on Canadians. They wouldn't even have to take time away from US athletes-just get rid of those awkward Costas/Michaels fireside chats.

No yello, that's blatant jingoism.

yeah whomever is in charge of the american broadcast sux the big one! i seem to remember in previous olys to be able to switch between networks and watch several channels at once. was i dreaming?

Switch to NBC now mo.

i AM on nbc - moguls still...

That Swiss pair-spin was just plain awesome.

An interesting side note for NBC to think about, rating came out for Canada for day 2 (yesterday), thorugh all the various ways we can view the Olympics - viewship at 88% of the country 27 million people - mind blowing.

MAN!!! i can't see what you see!!! yello - can you?? is the tsm against me seeing figure skating? i mean, i know he has meatballs to think about so could he be that cruel?

Now I know why y'll all said Bill-a-doe who really goe(s). OR went...I am confused about live and replay.

I'm ready to bar the word 'bar' from Olympic coverage.

The French mogul skier is wearing orange crush....and has the fasted time....but not the jumps quite....You Cannockies already know....and we are missing the skating...

And so Bilodeau makes history!

Hey, nice resting futon cushie chairs for the post slope skiiers....

mo,
It's NBC tradition to spread the figure skating out all night to maximize viewership.

you canadians are CRAZED!!! that crowd - if i had ppl cheering for me like that my head would explode i'd be so full of pride!
canada take the men's moguls on home soil...

They take breaks between groups of skaters, can be quite long, with cleaning the ice then a warm up - should start again soon.

I believe the Canadians are watching the far superior Canadian broadcast - which shows events in their entirety, with minimal chatter. Sorry to be so cranky about this, but it's tres annoying.

They were the same at long track skating today, made me very proud - who says we are modest ;-)

Go Boodle Go!

CMXXXIII and counting.

**waving hands wildly and screaming at computer screen**

I'm happy for Alex, and for Frederic as well! Great story there, too.

I watch the Alex bio on CTV today, the bond between the brothers is special, two wonderful young men.

Bilodeau sports a goatee sans the lip caterpillar...I predict one or two in my classes over the semester...an homage to Canadian coolness....

another apolo tribute... *sigh*

nbc has just redeemed themselves

(even tho costas took a cheap joke shot at the kiss that the mogul winner got)

Best line of the night on Canadian TV, next flight of skaters warming up, one team in blue - Commentor says "channelling their avatar", you will understan when you see it.

Second Canadian pair will skate soon, if they can contro their nerves they are enchanting.

ok - just saw the russian bite it... she looks like she's gonna take his head off...

cpq - burnt umber?

Avatar!!!!

NOW i see the electric blue - niiiiiice

Oh, sad for the Russians...their red/white graphic is so striking on the outerwear....makes the buff/fawn/milky tea colors less meaningful.

DR, we now commence the postlude cheering for the Ukraines....we shall pretend that you do NOT already know the outcome.

I promise there will be a new kit first thing in the morning...

Feh.

CpQ, your "Under Amour" at 8:27 was a perfect bon mot for tonight, thanks.

bc

They kinda blend into the boards, except for the fall all else is good.

Oh my....I do not like the costumes...harsh and blue SevenOfNine effect...and my goodness, am I hearing the bleats of people on that music...you know, bleating people?

I do not like the House of the Rising SUn motif on her back either...

Anybody think this pair and the Russians both picked lame pieces of music? No excitement in either pair.

BC -- that was a truffle for you, dear Valentine. But, somebody else will take the lemon/blueberry skittle remark for a treat...

laaaaaaaammmmme.

cpq - i had to chuckle at your post - i was like "is someone moaning on their music?" sounded... well, questionable.

i thought SHE looked great - he... courageous to wear a unitard... dat's alllll i'm gonna say

Go Boodle Go!

CML and counting.

**doing wheelies in anticipation**

Canadian announcers, highly critical of the music and outfits of the Ukrainians, while praising their talent. Two of the anouncers are Jamie Sale and David Pelletier Gold 2002.

Swan Lake....nice classic costumes for the Russian ethos...I like her headband....the skirt is constructed of tipped lettuce feather overlays....I have made them. Lots of detail work.

This Russian pair are lovely, but wow is she tiny. Very enjoyable.

That was wonderful.

Morti -- I was thinking of the major plot elements of that french movie with Marlon Brando and some tiny muffet of a french girl...help, Mudge...OH

Last Tango In Paris...and Morti -- they were, you know, busy with mattress dancing....

Back to the Russian pair -- he is wearing a purpley brown and she is wearing the lighted hue of lavender...

Canadians next.

Beatrice seems to enjoy the figure skating.

Now, are we back to live and are we in synch with Cannoukis...?

final group warming up, very scary costumes.

cpq - never saw the movie but yeah, i get the reference and i was right there with ya babe! what the %^&*??? for the OLYMPICS? awful awful choice.

i thought the japanese/russian skater looked sooo lithe and airy. really enjoyed it! i think she could also do well as a solo skater

Is this the first time for mogol skiing? I don't remember that event in earlier O's.

Do you think that Bob Costas has a self portrait in his attic, a la Dorian Grey?

NBC is taking an 18th century French approach to coverage. Back then, the King's suppliers of interior decor would take a nice piece of ornamental porcelain and engulf it in gilt metalwork.

A present-day equivalent might be the soundtrack to this bit of alarming outdoor fun:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/02/video-take-a-ride-on-the-death-swing/

Orff's O Fortuna (part of Carmina Burana), with added drumming.

The 30-story condo in West Palm Beach was imploded uneventfully. No reports yet on dust problems in nearby buildings. A lot of taping and plastic-covering was done in advance.

*moan*

I recall Costas as a Bright Young Thing on radio, talking sports so interestingly that non sports fans like me would listen.

Not tonight for these Canadians.

Moguls has been in since (guessing) 1992(?)

Lots or jazz hands, which are not as graceful.......the color is not optic black, which is softer on the skin...but reads with the drama of black...could be darkest brown...like 88 percent bittersweet chocolate...

sad about her throw bobble/fall...that is so hard...

Love me some Pearl Fishers.

Thanks Yoki, I guess I haven't been paying attention.

GO BOODLE GO!

Sprint down that home stretch!

XXV to go!

**breaking out the party hats, noise makers, and champagne**

The Chinese costumer has one schtick...flutter flutter flutter and the peacock approach for both male and female. I think that flutter on the women is best balanced by restrain on the men: the clean line on him lets the flutters be flowers. He should be a branch or stem....and not the blooms.

lycra

spangled

moguls is a wfo version of hot dogging. think wayne wong.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1088292/index.htm

Harlequin and Peirot?,,,not Columbine..,odd as a couple....and bad for those with clown fears

Blech to the harlequins.

I find the harlequin/pierrot costumes vaguely disturbing. also clowns are scary.

Pagliacci?

Send in the clowns?

The are playing as music box characters...and glad she made her two bobble-prone moves well.

The Germans - Bravo.

Yoki and Iman -- you are spot on...they mixed up the characters and they really do not fit the music....goes to show us that we don't know our musical theater/opera/commedia del arte history...

Do I hear CindiLauper in the background?

wayne, on a pair of K2 four comps. same as the pair i have in the attic, 'cept mine are '95's, all the better for cruising fast.

http://icechewing.huddler.com/imgrepo/thumbs/5/58/Wayne_Wong.jpg/1000x600px-LL-Wayne_Wong.jpg

Bilodeau pulled an awesome Moebius on his qualifying run. if someone pulled a daffy, it would have been really old school.

My favorites are going to be the Chinese couple that were the opening act and the Russian/Japanese pair. The clowns were frightening. And I find "Send In The Clowns" just a little cloying.

How close are we on the comments?

Skating costume abominations slide show:
http://beauty.ivillage.com/slideshow/beauty-style/yuck-on-ice-the-tackiest-figure-skating-costumes/philippe_candeloro.html

Well, my only criticism of the judging is that the two Canadian pairs should have been switched, with A&C above J&B. Otherwise, spot-on.

CP, if Bryce and Dube wear the same costume for the final they wore at Canadians I think you will approve, Music 'Way we Were', costumes very simple forties style, classic and stunning when they skate their best.

DMD - we are just now seeing the women's mogul ceremony....and yes, the Canadian jacket beats the USA--denim fade puffy coat....

GO BOODLE GO!

7 more!

Need five more posts after mine!

That jacket rocks, the logos, retro chick, nice in black - a stand out in red.

Satellite bumped out, just in time. The rabbit & I must go to our respective beds. It's been a pleasure, y'all.

This be #998....

I can take a hint.

1,000!

We did it!

Thank you to NBC for showing Alex and Frederic together - how special was that.

6 more?

!!!!!!trhis is the boy final post hell yes
1

!!!!!!trhis is the boy final post hell yes
1

Sorry. The Boy has yet to learn that hitting "submit" twice doesn't make it go faster. Teenagers.

It was for a worthy cause.

I take it this is a first. Huzzah! Metal ceremony to commence immediately.

Ain't life grand!

and all on my brand new laptop - thanks guys for breaking it in!

catching up a little after running to the market...

can i say i'm not a big fan of the grabbed blade sit spin or death spiral...

Good night, my work here is done. On to catch that last costume moments of PBS SandS.

We are not getting SandS, rather Northhanger. Not that I am complaining.

snow emergency on effect again for DC!!!

I always sprint the last 1/2 mile to the finish. And here we go...

Going back to the Kit for a second, I finally watched the Bloggingheads Diaflog in its entirety, and had a good laugh about Wright's tongue-in-cheek rationale for endorsing an extra-terrestrial base/colony concept as a "contingency plan" for the human species.

Reminded me of my t-i-c rationale for having children: I like me and I think the world would be a better place if there were more me in it -- so, I am making more me.

Displaying wisdom beyond their years, my children had other ideas. And the world is certainly a better place for it.

bc

Good Morning everyone and Happy Presidents Day.Did you know William Henry Harrison was only president for 31 days?

Seems like we are setting the Olympic record for most boodle comments.

I was very happy to see the Canadian Skier to win the Gold for his country and his people.I have been enjoying the games whenever possible,but I must say NBC sure has alot of commercials.I wish I had cable so I could just watch the sports.

I don't have anything to say about the "S" word.

Have a great day everyone!!!!

I'm glad someone already mentioned the VERY noticeable (and remarkably unflattering) hair dye job on Costas.

I am so very unimpressed with the NBC Oly coverage, prime-time especially. We're agreed that we'd rather see more of the competition instead of the ridiculously jingoistic approach, yes? The companion Universal Sports channel (not in HD around here, dagnabit) is a little better with their roundup coverage on the off-hours. I do hope we see more of the Beijing approach with additional NBC/Universal channels being brought in.

I'm sure one of the resident Boodle historians knows the record for the Kit with the most comments, but I'm not caffeinated enough to try a guess. We outdid the Rovestorm, nicht war?

*needing-more-caffeine-and-naproxen-prior-to-yet-another-round-of-shoveling Grover waves*

I didn't take Wright's colony idea as tongue-in-cheek but as misguided utopianism. And I rather liked Joel's response that failing to take care of Earth is not an option. For anybody that wants the Mars colony/generation ship/deep stasis mission to preserve humanity, I say read Man Plus first.

The Russian ice dancers are NOT going to wear their aborigine and eucalyptus bodysuits in their routine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=IIze8qQqzek

Ya think a totem pole would have fallen on them if they had, yello?

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Good morning, friends. Just wanted to drop in and say hello. One thousands comments and more, too, too, much to read. It would take all day and part of the night!

I'm on my way this morning to the doctor's office for my treatment, at last. My daughter will take me. Hopefully we won't have a problem getting to and from there. The weather is not good, but mostly rain according to the weather person. Just need to rest after the treatment, no heavy lifting and just take it easy. For me, that's going to be like being on a diet. Hard work.

Pray for me. I'm such a chicken when it comes to these medical thingys. And enjoy your day.

Mudge, Scotty, Slyness, Yoki, Martooni, Lindaloo, and all the gang, love to all.

Travel safely and I know the treatment will go fine, Cassandra! *HUGSSS* :-)

Goood morning, all! A thousand comments, and I read every one of them! Thanks for the live blogging of the Olympics, I'm always happy to have you folks keep me up on what's happening.

Good luck with your treatment, Cassandra. I hope it goes well and yes, please rest. Do I need to send you a book or two? That always helps when I need to be quiet.

Ah, Presidents Day! I must remember that there's no mail. I am meeting friends for lunch to celebrate a couple of February birthdays.

Have a pleasant day, all. I hope the snow forecast for DC doesn't materialize.

'morning all. The fashion police is on its way.
The Norway curling team takes a fashion tip from John Daley. CqP, avert your eyes.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jTjQ5XwU_haHzOn1bTYI1cDlI1cQ

New Kit!!! :-)

'Morning, Boodle. New kit is up; I recommend we rendezvous over there for breakfast.