Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

First off, the question of the day: Did anyone ever notice that during medal cermonies, the flag for the silver medalist is raised opposite the bronze medalist and vice versa?

Now on to the interesting stuff.

Just saw this quote on CNN. It's apparently from the Russian newspaper Pravda and is offering its opinion about the Olympics so far:

"The utter incapacity of this country to host a major international event, due to its inferiority complex, [is] born of a trauma being the skinny and weakling bro to a beefy United States and a colonial outpost to the United Kingdom."

Huh. I guess the 29 medals the Soviet Union won in 1988 and the 125 they won in 1976 were all won by Belarusians, Ukranians, and Georgians.

For the record, here is a picture of a Cossack glove...



And the above quote was the sound of it hitting the floor. I've always wondered what that sounded like.

I'd love to see Evgeny Plushenko on Dancing with the Stars. And I cannot wait for Sochi.

What's online smut good for?

Scotty Lago won a bronze medal in men's halfpipe on Wednesday. A few days later, a couple of pictures show up on a tabloid website that cause a bit of a stir. One of them shows an unidentified fan kissing Lago's medal as it hangs just below his (fully clothed) waist. The other shows the same fan biting the medal as Lago holds it in his hand.

Apparently neither the USOC nor the USSA were amused. Lago formally apologized and left Vancouver shortly after the pictures were made public. But the tabloid that published the photos is crying foul. They're saying that Lago should have been cut some slack. More exactly, "He's a snowboarder for cryin' out loud. They should have cut him a break."

They should have cut him a break because what he did wasn't all that horrible....or because he's a snowboarder?

Does that mean that if a ski jumper or a figure skater did the same thing, they shouldn't be given any slack?

And does that mean that if the photos had been originally published elsewhere, the tabloid would still be indignant?

I don't understand how being a snowboarder excuses someone from inappropriate behavior. And I don't see why the tabloid is up in arms about it. First of all, no one is denying their right to post the photos. Nor is anyone denouncing the photographs, just the actions portrayed in them. Secondly, I might suggest to this tabloid that they check out the USSA's code of conduct, which, by the way, does not differentiate between skiers and snowboarders. And if the USSA has decided that the actions in the photos are in violation of said code, then they should have the authority to act accordingly.

*sigh.* If this were a print tabloid, I'd say my normal rule about tabloids being good for only one thing applies. As this is online, I'll have to come up with something else. Any ideas?

I Take it Back

Global Warming IS a myth. Because clearly, the four and a half feet of snow we've received this month would not have happened if it weren't. We have now received a total of about 6 feet of snow so far this winter, breaking all previous records. And there's still a month of winter left.

On to other things:

Bella is progressing rapidly. Although the pattern is not written out as clearly as I would like. Evidently, the solution to this is to take notes. But it will get done on schedule. (Probably ahead of schedule, actually.)

In my humble opinion, EP is being a sore loser. I wish I could tell him, "Dude. You just won a silver medal. So it isn't gold. Get over it. The fact is, you didn't skate as cleanly as EL. Even a muggle like me could recognize that. Be a man and accept it graciously."

I love watching sporting events on tv. It equates to great knitting time.