if the ioc ruled the world...

it's possible that world peace could exist. i said possible, not probable. but just think about it. engage opposing countries in the healthy spirit of competition, and provide awards (or oil contracts) based on merit, not money. look, if the north and south korea can march together in the parade of nations, anything is possible.

yes, that's right. the olympic fever has begun, and i will be restructuring my entire social schedule to accommodate the events. this is my favorite two weeks every four years (i don't really follow the summer olympics). it is an amazing amazing time. the best of the best in just about every category you can think of; athletes, media, caterers, drivers, florists. you name it.

i thought overall, they did a nice job with the opening ceremonies, although there were some strange moments; the car, the creepy spider people, the disco music, susan sarandon marching in the olympic flag. but strange moments are part of the opening ceremonies tradition.

in the category of things i did not know... there are some old athletes! there are two 52 year old lugers. werner hoeger (incidentally, a mormon, from boise, id), and anne abernathy; "it's not uncommon to see 52-year-olds lying down. but you figure they'd be on something comfortable. maybe a couch. probably not a sled. and certainly not a sled moving at speeds higher than their age. but that's what 52-year-old anne abernathy will be doing in torino. the florida-born abernathy, affectionately known as "grandma luge," is a classically trained singer and citizen of the u.s. virgin islands who this february will compete at her sixth winter games." wow.

i'm sure i will have mucho commentary in the following two weeks. but for now, i will leave you with some interesting tidbits from my 'olympic alerts':

12 cross country skiers have been suspended: "there is no proof that the athletes did anything wrong: elevated hemoglobin can be caused by simple dehydration or the body's acclimation to mountain air. but the test result raises the possibility of blood doping with synthetic hemoglobin or transfusions to increase the oxygen in the muscles."

dude. that sucks.


u.s. slider lund banned from torino: "the court of arbitration for sport decided friday that the american team's top slider should serve a one-year suspension because he ingested a common hair-restoration product that can also be used to mask steroids."

ha ha ha. hair-restoration product.


yang to break gender barrier for chinese team: "i am very excited,'' she said friday. "it is the first time it's a woman carrying the flag for china. it's a big step. it's not that in china there is no equality between men and women, but they think men are stronger and taller and that they can do it better.'"

what year is it again?


nyman, kroell earn downhill berths in second training: "steve nyman 's 11th place earned him the nod..."

nyman's from orem, y'all.


hedrick odds-on favorite for 5000m gold: "considering speed skater chad hedrick 's route to the winter olympics began while playing blackjack in las vegas, it's only fitting that he came to torino trying to hit the jackpot."

oh chad. *giggle giggle*


pairs skater reveals bout with lung cancer: "rena inoue needed to find more inner strength than she'd ever summoned up on the ice. a year and a half after her father died of lung cancer, inoue was diagnosed in 1998 with the same disease."

gotta love the sob story.


in watching the opening ceremonies, i realized that i hadn't heard anything about the torchbearers carrying the flame across the world. i missed that. i missed hearing about the people who had overcome challenges or created a better world just by being a part of it. and i look forward to learning more about this years' olympians. i find their stories inspirational and often moving. if you are starting to think that my 'coverage' of the olympics will be sentimental and nostalgic, you are absolutely 110% correct.

but before it goes that far, some of the athletes i'm watching this year are:

anne abernathy - luge
shannon bahrke - freestyle skiing
eric bergoust - freestyle skiing
gretchen bleiler - snowboarding
jeremy bloom - freestyle skiing
kc boutiette - speed skating
chad hedrick - speed skating
werner hoeger - luge
danny kass - snowboarding
michelle kwan - figure skating
steve nyman - alpine skiing
apolo anton ohno - short track
derek parra - speed skating
shaun white (a.k.a. the flying tomato) - snowboarding
chris witty - speed skating

and don't you fret, i just saved the best for last. the oh so bode miller. cause every girl loves a bad boy.

in addition to this fabulous intro to the 2006 olympics, i just have three words to end on for tonight: ross the intern. you can check out his interview here. i'll post his tonight show segments as they become available on youtube or elsewhere.

let me introduce: anniebean

she even knew i was going to post this, and she still let me take it!

finally friday

i saw this preview for a movie called dear frankie on the bride & predjudice vid. i'd never heard of it, but it looked interesting--and it had gerard butler in it. i like gerard butler, even if i still feel like his vocal stylings were a poor choice for the phantom movie. but then again, i don't like phantom, so making it into a movie was a poor choice in my book. (oh yes, i expect hate mail.)

at any rate, this dear frankie movie i'd never heard of peaked my curiosity, so one click and it was in my queue, then at my door. i have to say, i loved it. set in glasgow, the scenery is sometimes bleak, and the accents sometimes thick, but i thought the storyline was original and entertaining. it also occurred to me how much i like watching non-american movies. hollywood has decided that the american public is too stupid (and we probably are) to assume an ending, so everything has to be spelled out. i loved the way dear frankie, and others, give you brilliantly subtle hints as to the direction a story might take. they assume that you are smart enough to dream a story-ending that rings true to you. i give it 1 bucket.

i also finally saw napoleon dynamite. i'll pause for your shocks of dismay. pause over. see i don't like 'mormon trends'. yes, i realize this is not a 'mormon' movie, but when every mormon i know is rushing out to see it, that makes it a mormon trend in my book. and it's not that i won't see it. i love the princess bride as much as the next mo, i just need to wait it out a bit to ensure i don't get caught in the hype. and in the case of nd, i'm not sure i get what all the fuss was about. there were certainly funny moments. particularly so because my mom is from preston, and i've spent a lot of time there. i get it, i do. and it's not my intent to dis it. it was entertaining. but the way people have reacted and discussed it, i was expecting more. a lot more. i was expecting my stomach to hurt. and it didn't. do we as mormons get overly excited about a movie that is 'clean' just because it is? just because we can safely watch it when we are with a group of other mormons? sometimes i wonder.

on a random nd sidenote--for those of you who ever met or saw kahre, does that guy 'don' just weird you out with similarity. it was a bit freaky for me.

see:














just plain creepy.

you make the call

as you've likely figured out, i've added music to the site. i myself have mixed feelings about this, so i'm taking votes.

the major reason for including music is that it's a fun way for me to share what i'm listening to with you, especially since i have such great taste in music;). but i do know that when i browse the web and land on sites with background music, sometimes i get surprised and find that my volume is up louder than is normal, and i have to scramble to turn it down. and sometimes i'm annoyed when i'm listening to something else, and suddenly there is competing music.

while you do have the option of 'pausing' the music (at the bottom of the page), it still may be more annoying than fun.

so you make the call. music: yay or nay?

food poisoning?

as it turns out, yesterday's unpleasantness was likely due to food poisoning, and everything is back on track today. including my diet, which thanks to the last 24 hours finds me down another four pounds.


the jacket= 2 stars
million dollar baby= 1 star