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| Faster, Higher, Stronger |
Hello my Valentines! Let me start by apologizing for not posting last Thursday. I met a new friend at a pub in Notting Hill in the afternoon and just did not feel the blogging juices flowing by the time I made it back home. Note to self: cider does not a great blogger make. So here we are, back on track. Today I bring you a special Valentine's Day/Winter Olympics edition.
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| I am no Hemingway. |
I thoroughly enjoy holidays. I think it may have been one of the driving factors in my becoming a teacher (outside of the whole educating the nation's youth thing). I couldn't wait to be a part of a profession that celebrated almost every insignificant holiday in existence. Of course, by the time I became a teacher recognizing most holidays was frowned upon and you couldn't have parties in your classroom. So... there was that. I think that Valentine's Day is a fun holiday. If you have a "someone special" you get flowers, drink wine, have a fancy dinner, and maybe a special desert. If you don't; you can stay in, watch an old movie, order a pizza, and eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's. A hands down win-win in my opinion. There's no valid reason to get depressed about it because it has become a manufactured commercial holiday, so there is so little value to it. But, it does give you a reason to celebrate in February. And the way things have been going for most of you this winter, weather-wise, you NEED something to celebrate!
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| Oh sweet baby Jesus, Pocono Palace here I come! |
Speaking of things to celebrate, this year is special because it is an OLYMPIC YEAR!!! I loooooooove the Olympics. I am a complete Olympic junkie. I have mentioned before that I enjoy a bit of pomp and circumstance, a little show, and what better embodiment of pomp, circumstance and show mixed with competition, and death defying acts of skill & bravery is there than the Olympics? I have been completely dedicated to Sochi this year thanks to the BBC's never ending coverage. They have programming on BBC1 and BBC2 as well as this Red Button on the remote that allows you to access other sports that are occurring live if you don't want to watch whatever is on the main channels. I find this incredibly useful during curling. I can switch away from BBC2 to live coverage of the men's figure skating short program, even when that looks like this:
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| Zamboni time!!! Infinitely more appealing than curling. |
Let's look back at the Opening Ceremony shall we? When it started it went like this:
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| Славься, страна! Мы гордимся тобой! |
And I was like, "Hmmmm...". Images of this flashed through my brain:
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| Sean Connery... my favorite Russian. |
I was born in 1981, I literally cannot help it.
But in all seriousness I learned that the State Anthem of the Russian Federation is beautiful. The Sretensky Monastery Choir's performance was impressive and brought a depth to the composition that a single voice could never do. Putin loved it:
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| He is absolutely ecstatic. |
Then came the Parade of Nations and 'Muricah!! 230 strong. USA USA USA!
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| I cannot even explain how much I love this sweater. If it did not cost $600, I would buy it and wear it everyday. |
I so appreciate the American exuberance. Yes, you are here to represent your country, it's important in that respect, but this is basically a massive party. I am so glad that many of Team USA seem to embrace that.
Then Sochi did what Russia does best:
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| Ballet representation of War & Peace. |
I was so in love with the ballet portion of the ceremony. The way that an intimate experience was created in a stadium setting was truly beautiful.
I am also SO SO happy for the return of a proper cauldron.
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| Nyeht! (London) |
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| Da! (Sochi) |
This year has been very interesting for me because it is my first non-NBC produced Olympics. As I have mentioned above I can see almost any sport that is occurring in real time, and coverage, in general, is comprehensive. I think one of the reasons for this is that Team GB doesn't really dominate anything. So the focus on their athletes alone is much less than coverage in the US. I really appreciate this. I can watch full cross country races, hockey matches (well, no, but I COULD), the entire men's downhill field, you get the picture. Sometimes there is just dead air on the Red Button, or a qualifying run of an event with very little commentary.
The big news for Team GB is Jenny Jones, a snowboarder who won Great Britain's FIRST snow medal. Ever. She won the Bronze, but in this country Bronze is looking like Gold. The other big focus has been the curling teams which is unfortunate for moi, because when I see curling it makes me want to... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Personally, I am totally enthralled by the cross country skiing. I have never seen a sport where virtually every single finisher throws themselves on the ground and looks like they are going to throw up and/or die. I mean, I'm watching it right now and I think that medics should just be waiting at the finish line with stretchers.
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| In the words of my cousin (once removed), Ian, "Something strange is going on." |
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