i won't send roses...

There is so much to love about this clip - another beautiful T&D moment and Robert Preston singing "I won't send roses" from Mack & Mabel...

the gold standard

This, my friends, is ice dancing. None of these required side by side wotsits, just pure artistry on ice.

let the games begin!

Top 10 moments/ discoveries from last night's Opening Ceremonies:

1. Shaun White has better hair than me (NO FAIR!)

2. Stupid NBC commentators either have no clue about winter sports or no clue how to talk to female athletes. During one interview with three girl half-pipers, all the interviewer could think to ask them was if they would all still be friends if one beat the others. Really? There's nothing more interesting to ask women snowboarders than if there is going to be a catfight if one wins gold? What do is the best answer to that, anyway? Would the girls say "Yeah, I'd hate that bitch forever if she beat me. I am WAY better than she is?" Of course not. What is the point of a question like that??? They'd never, ever ask a bunch of guys that. Ever.

3. I know how this sounds but - dude. Canada has a Prime Minister? I knew they must, but I've never heard him mentioned. I couldn't tell you his name even now. Also learned a bit of Canadian geography. By the way, doesn't "George Vancouver" sound like something a parent would make up to tell their kids? "Yes, honey, this place was discovered by - uhhhh - George Vancouver!" I didn't know he was real.

4. I love how during the parade of nations, there was a helpful little map to show you where all the countries were - in relation to the US. So they'd say, for instance "Belarus" and in the corner, they'd show a map of the US ("here's us") and then show the location of "Belarus" ("and here's where THAT is in relation to the US.") I know we can be a bunch of dum-dums sometimes (see number 3) but really? They didn't even show where the country was in relation to Vancouver - they showed it in relation to the US. Because, of course, it is all about us.

5. Why weren't the girls carrying the nation signs wearing any pants with their parkas? As a founding member of the Coalition of Wearing Pants, I strongly opposed their outfits.

5.5 Other sartorial standouts were Ireland's bright green pants, Germany, Finland's gross jackets, and our polo pony country club gear. Cable knit sweaters AND down jackets? The ceremony was INDOORS. The Bermuda contingent walked in in red shorts. Also I don't recall what country it was who wore those pants with the crazy colored designs, but they need to be burned. Coalition orders.

6. New version of "We Are the World" was played (shameless filler) - I recognized a few of the people but otherwise - who WERE they all??

7. Much, much better commercials than the Super Bowl

8. Too many previews for "Parenthood" and "The Marriage Ref." Bad taste points for making Alec Baldwin giving ANYONE marriage advice. Also, Ron Howard, you are wrong. There are many many many many things funnier than your show Parenthood. Gross.

9. Lighting of the torch was WAY anticlimactic - it is supposed to be the culmination of the ceremony and instead it got weighed down by a technical glitch AND the fact that hello? The ceremony was INSIDE and the torch has to be OUTSIDE. So they had to send Gretzky off in a car to go light the actual cauldron. Can you imagine if it had gone out and Wayne had to go back in to the BC center, head hanging, going "Anybody gotta light?"

10. Playing the famous game "Hey! I didn't know (fill in the blank) was Canadian!" Some of those for me were: Donald Sutherland, Nelly Furtado, Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan and almost all of the people in the Come to Vancouver commercial (Michael J. Fox, Kim Cattrall (maybe?))

team USA

I found a website this week showing off Team USA's official Olympic gear, designed by Ralph Lauren. Here's a peek at what they will be wearing in the Opening Ceremonies next week:

What do we think of this??? Anybody? I don't know. It's cute, I guess. But - white pants after Labor Day? No, just kidding. RL's large polo pony logo is a little odd - I know it's his logo but it is also the WINTER Olympics, yes? No polo happening unless there's like a new X-Game sport called snow polo or something like that. I think this country club look would be better suited to the summer games in London in 2012. White pants and all.

"I'm just off for a spot of curling, what?"

Nothing beats the adorable Roots beret worn during the 2002 Salt Lake City games. I still have mine and wear it all the time. People stop me on the street/train and ask me about it. And only sometimes do I pretend that I was on the US Women's luge/curling/bobsleigh team.

If you love all this RL gear, it is available for purchase, naturally, so that if you really want one of those hats or maybe that sweater, it can be yours!

it's that time again!!

Hey guess what??? There's going to be a winter Olympics this year!! With all the bruhaha in Chicago, I for one was not paying any attention to the rest of the world (typical) and when I saw the NBC commercials for the Vancouver Olympics I was like "huh? Vancouver?" but it is apparently true. And I am excited. While I am not at all an athlete (my days of high school gym were PURE HELL - except when we had those teachers that didn't give two shits what you did during class because they were talking to the jocks. I give you Gustafson's tennis classes where Heidi and I lobbed balls consistently over the tennis court fences, went "oh, crap" then ambled off to go get the wayward balls (that sounds wrong), returning only to hit them over the fence again, and so on, until class was over.) - whatever, I love watching OTHER people do amazing athletic feats. So yeah, I will be tuning in (unless, of course, something awesome is happening on American Idol).

I find the Winter Games to be totally hypnotic. I will spend hours in front of the tv watching sports that I never knew even existed and would not otherwise be caught dead watching. One year, I was doing something or other and got totally sucked in to some kind of cross country skiing race. I was watching it for hours, rooting on the Norwegian who was in the lead. I even got teary when he won. Go, man, go.

I also tuned in, rather inadvertantly, to many men's hockey games. I was on the edge of my seat for the gold medal Sweden team game (and it had NOTHING to do with the cuteness of their goalie, officer!) It has already begun, even though the games themselves won't start until February - last night I was bored and cruising channels when I found the World Cup Ski Jumping competition. How crazy is that, by the way? I want to know who it was that ever thought that would be a fun thing to do? And how do you practice for that, without killing yourself? But so yeah, I was watching it, and was literally transfixed by watching these guys (no Americans, by the way - there is no way we are not crazy enough to do stuff like that - what gives?) flying down the hill at top speed and then soaring, their bodies parallel with their skis, then landing on the ground and not falling over. I am amazed.

So I am ready and waiting. Bring it on, NBC. Bring me your curling, and your hockey, and your half pipe.