F-F-F-Fashion!

Last Friday I had my first "fashion" modeling gig on The Shopping Channel wearing Olympic 2010 clothing, displayed here on Kellie, my first and dearest screen wife. This is as close as I'll ever get to "The Games"! I was a bit nervous doing semi-runway stuff for the first time, especially with the cameras broadcasting it all across the nation, but it worked out. The clothes were a bit big on me though, everything was XL while I'm really a Large. The following day I had a few shows with the irrepressible Rosalie Brown (Hi Rosalie!) demonstrating Leg Magic. Always tough doing a 15 minute workout of a product intended to be used for a minute at a time...

Now I'm on full taper mode. Just a few short easy workouts left in the final few days leading up to Ironman Canada. I leave Thursday morning and race on Sunday. My bike is packed up and my other gear gathered together. I've been inspired by some of the performances I've seen at the Olympics, particularly the men's 8 rowing, marathon and triathlon (natch).

Listening to: Starry Eyed Suprise by Oakenfold from Bunkka.

Scene of the Crime

I took Sheryl's dog Barkley to the dog park this morning. While he was sniffing around oblivious to lifeforms that weren't human or canine a Golden Retriever was on the hunt. The dog spotted a squirrel a hundred or so feet away that it thought it had a chance of getting and took off. He got it all right... There was a terrible thrashing and some desperate squeaks. It was over in about ten seconds. Everyone was upset and the owner had a hell of a time convincing the dog to drop the poor squirrel's lifeless body.

In less awful news I discovered a neat web site yesterday that creates a configurable "word cloud" from a block of text or the text of a web site. The link is wordle.net and here is what this blog looks like, today, when viewed through the Wordle filter. Click on it to see a larger version.

Oh yeah, the Olympics have been underway for the better part of a week... I didn't watch the opening ceremonies but I have been watching some of the sports coverage. Obligatory anti-pageantry comment: why did China spend so much effort extolling their cultural history when in reality they are so busy paving it over? I suppose the question is the answer.

The swimming always attracts my attention; it's been amazing watching Michael Phelps reel in the records. I wonder if he'll gather the eight golds everyone is predicting? I've also been enjoying the gymnastics. The men are amazing, but for some reason the women's performances are more compelling. Maybe it's because they seem so young to be under such pressure. It looks like we'll have to wait for the rowing to see any Canadian appearances on the podium.

I'm off for an easy run now, a week and a half until Ironman Canada!

Listening to: Monkey Gone To Heaven by The Pixies from Doolittle.

How Low Can We Go?

Two discouraging political insights today... The Olympic torch relay is being escorted by a phalanx of aggressive Chinese government thugs. The Olympics, long presented as a celebration of individual achievement, have become a propaganda tool for a repressive regime (that would be China this time, not Nazi Germany). It seems to be backfiring though thank god, and the light that is shining of China is not the one their government wanted... I wonder what they expected? There seems to be a level of prideful ignorance that pervades their world view. Not unlike the next discouraging news item.

George W. Bush has been rated the worst president ever in a survey of historians. By a long shot. On some level I always hope that politicians I feel are destructive are not that bad or don't have that much impact. Maybe it's just me overreacting. The Harper's Magazine article is actually entitled Worst. President. Ever.  Here's one description of Bush;"Glib, contemptuous, ignorant, incurious, a dupe of anyone who humors his deluded belief in his heroic self". Ouch. Of course this personal stuff is largely irrelevant. Its the decisions and actions that have flowed from the Bush administration, and that we all have to live with, that are the problem. Myself, I've always thought that Bush was really a logical consequence of the ideological divide in the US. A smug clown, but just the window dressing on the ill-conceived but bitterly defended "conservative" beliefs that have grasped the levers of power. At this though point even a new Republican president would be a improvement!

On a happier note, I had a great easy run last night with my triathlon club. It was warm enough for shorts and a "tee" (technical of course)! Nice to feel the breeze on my legs. Today I biked over the pool for a 2K swim, and in a few minutes I'll be on my tri bike heading over to Absolute Endurance for a CompuTrainer session.

Listening to: Capital G by Nine Inch Nails from Year Zero.

Flickering Flame

When I was a teenager in the seventies, swimming with one of Canada's top teams, the Olympics had a lot of relevance to me. I knew people who had qualified and there had even been a remote chance that I could make the cut myself. But the Olympics haven't aged very well...

The IOC has long struck me as largely a collection of corrupt self-interested politicians, in some cases "reformed" fascists, with every host city selection seeming to be a back-room deal. The IOC's decisions seem to be made in the interests of the bureaucracy, not the athletes, and are often breathtakingly hypocritical. The expense of hosting the Games is massive, frequently with serious and negative consequences for ordinary citizens.

Part of me thinks the whole mess should go back to naked men wrestling in the sand. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

When Beijing was "awarded" the 2008 Summer Games, my doubts were redoubled. China strikes me as a ruthless and deeply regimented society, the opposite of the alleged Olympic political and environmental ideals. Watching the latest round of political repression in Tibet and reading about China's attempt to momentarily reduce pollution during the coming Games brought home to me how the IOC had betrayed the athletes it professes to exalt. Now every ceremonial event has become a flash-point for protest, and the symbolic Olympic flame has actually been extinguished several times already along its route to Beijing.

The "Olympic ideal" is going to face six months of critical scrutiny and intense political protest. This is probably an excellent thing, but it leaves me thinking of the athletes who have dedicated years of their lives to compete at these Games. Personally, I'm torn over my own response. I want to boycott the entire business, but want to recognise and see the legitimate athletic competition, particularly the swimming and triathlon events. I may weaken and only refuse to watch the opening and closing ceremonies. I would also support the athletic events if the Canadian contingent refused to attend the ceremonies.

Moving on to other controversial international sports, I watched the Bahrain Grand Prix last night. A good result for Ferrari, starting second and fourth but finishing first and second. BMW did well, with Robert Kubica on his first ever pole position and a third place finish. McLaren struggled, with Hamilton nearly stalling at the start, dropping back from third to tenth. A collision with his past team mate Alonso dropped Hamilton even further back. An interesting race on an excellent track.

All that is a bit overshadowed by some off-track developments. Max Mosley, President of the FIA has been at the center of a sex scandal involving a "nazi-style orgy in a torture dungeon"! Max's position seems to be "none of your business" but I don't that's likely to stick...

Listening to: Blue Sky Mine by Midnight Oil from Blue Sky Mining.