Tag Archives: 2010 Olympics

New Olympic World Record in the “Bobbled Bilodeau”

I had to start over. Twice.

By the time we took this photo, I was pretty chuffed with my progress and was gunning for the gold in the event. (Rick is still waiting by the phone for the modeling contract offers to start pouring in. As I said in the post, he’s very patient.)

However, when the judges reviewed the tapes, it seemed that I had added several gates at the top of the hill and had disqualified myself from that heat. The photo evidence was in: my hat was lumpy and getting lumpier with every round.

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The second round of out-ripping wasn’t as disheartening as you might suspect.

My secret? By February 18, I had watched so many hours of Olympic coverage that the lyrics to the new Nike spot had burned themselves into a prominent earworm in my head:

“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re at. Everybody gets knocked down, how quick are you going to get up?”

Okay, just a small point of clarification, Nike: sometimes how you finish is a direct result of how you start.

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All philosophical nit-picking aside, where I “was at” was back in front of the TV in my red recliner with one new and one slightly used ball of lovely baby Alpaca wool.

I also had taken a quick jog down to Fengari Fiber Arts for a brief but intensely enlightening tutorial from Ann on what the hell “Rnd 1 Work 8 sc in ring. Do not join or ch 1 on this or foll rnds, work rnds in a spiral” means.

Plus, the Muse in White and Red had visited and I was in possession of an Olympic inspiration for an original creation.

Yes, I had aimed my crochet hook at a Bobbled Bilodeau, and I wasn’t going to holler “Crosby!” until I reached the summit. Er, hem.

Except somewhere along the way I realized they weren’t bobbles…

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… they were moguls, so I added an extra set just to make the course more technically challenging.

That’s how we do it in Canada. Plus we add fog so you can’t see where you’re going… more fun that way.

Yup. Canada shone in the Arctic sun that presided, at least a couple of times, over the best Olympic games I have ever enjoyed. Rick now loves hockey and is curious about curling. (Me: “Ever watched curling?” Rick: “No, but it’s like Eskimo bocce ball, right?”)

And my national-pride-o-meter got re-set to 33 million, give or take an Ol’ Bear or two.

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After those hockey games, things look a little different from under the ol’ Bilodeau.

Thanks, boys and girls.

Stephen Colbert, Olympic Spoilsport

Letter to the Editor:

We just want to watch the Olympics.
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It’s bad enough to have to sit through NBC’s “Olympic Show” — replete with endless vignettes of downhill drama queens and Carrot Top look-alikes — to catch a precious few moments of world-class athletes competing in a politically neutral atmosphere.

Do we really have to endure the predictably insulting Stephen Colbert schtick now too?

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Seriously, if I wanted to see Stephen Colbert do his thang I’d watch his show, which I don’t.

The ranting of a mock pundit gnawing on right-wing provocateurs like Bill O’Reilly is as enjoyable for me as watching Bill O’Reilly himself,  which I don’t.

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Adding insult to injury is witnessing Bob Costas playing the straight man as Colbert jabs at Canadians as “iceholes” and “syrup-suckers.”

Bob Costas IS a straight man and isn’t just playing one on TV. It’s just a hunch, but I’m guessing that “Bob Costas, comedy” doesn’t rank very high on a Google search .

And he’s already seriously pissing off plenty of folk with his day job.

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I’m married to a Canadian, and I love my wife and her family very much. As Canadians, they’ll be the last to complain, at least beyond the kitchen table. So let me speak as the token American around said table.

In an environment literally running over with fabulous ambassadors of international goodwill, it is acutely embarrassing that NBC not only permits but actually pays Colbert and Costas to spoil the sports.

Anyone know where we can hire a live moose willing to ride them both out of town?

Signed,

Shocked and Appalled

An Olympic Vexation: Time-Delayed Coverage

I cried and went to bed early last night.

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I wanted so badly to see the Bilodeau medal ceremony as it was taking place. We wanted to watch the snowboarding cross competition with the four guys on the course… not just the preliminary qualifying rounds that NBC aired in the afternoon. We wanted to cheer real time.

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After a fruitless search online for live streaming coverage (the CTV “real time” video wouldn’t load, even after 500 tries), we gave up. Reaching for our inner adults, we resigned ourselves to the 8:00 p.m. start of the NBC “Olympic Show.”

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And then we waited through commercial after vignette after commentator babble, until it became evident that NBC was holding the good stuff hostage until midnight. They didn’t want us to leave before we had seen all their commercials and heard all the condescending ethnocentric blathering. We found this terribly vexing.

Hello, NBC? You are not fooling anyone. Your “Olympic Show” does not equal “live coverage of the Olympic games.”

I finally couldn’t stand it any more, gave up on the whole day, and went to bed. Poor Rick gave up too, but stayed up to tidy the kitchen.

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This morning I watched the ceremony online and cried. And I’m guessing I wasn’t alone.

In Honour of Canadian Gold, I’m Making A Bobbled Bilodeau

I changed sports. Athletes do it all the time: Snow boarders become ski jumpers, figure skaters become baseball players. etc.

I have retired from Olympic knitting, and have moved on to Olympic crocheting.

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I’m going to use this kind of wool. I think it comes from one of theses beauties, or at least a close second cousin.

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We rode past her (I’m assuming female: pink collar) on our bike ride to Mavericks on Saturday.

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She has spectacular wool, which compensates adequately for those funky knees. Apparently, alpaca wool has no lanolin and is hypoallergenic, making it a good choice for those easy-to-itch among us.

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I want to make one of these. I’m going to call it my “Bobbled Bilodeau,” in honour of the Quebecois cutie-pie who won Canada’s first gold on Canadian soil in the Men’s Freestyle Mogul competition.

GO CANADA!!! My blood is running thick maple syrup as we speak.

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I want my Bilodeau to look like the ones Ann at Fengari Fiber Arts made, back when they were still called “cloches.”

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It takes two balls of wool, and some mystery “marker” dealy-bobs I’m told I’ll need. This initially made me a bit nervous, as I have no idea how one might utilize said DBs.

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However, I shelled out for the high end “Soft Touch” crochet hook since it came with the guarantee that it would make my project easy to crochet. I love a good tool.

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So, on with the Canada sweatshirt, strike the Olympic theme song, and… she’s off!