Monday, March 22, 2010

Goodbye Olympics

Now that the Paralympics have run their course, too, my wife and I have some "withdrawal symptoms". All the Olympic athletes were just magnificent. We attended three Olympic events in person (thanks to our "kids"), and found the CTV coverage of the Olympic events very good, especially when one considers the immense communications infrastructure which was set up to make this possible.

A disappointment for us was CTV's skimpy coverage of the Paralympics - particularly since the infrastructure was already in place. I guess the beancounters won out over journalistic obligations. We subscribe to the Vancouver Sun, and those folks did a far better job; of course they can't do "real time".

Somewhat of a "withdrawal compensation" are the world curling championships, which are now being broadcast frequently. I suppose that could be called an "easy letdown".

All in all, it was a great time.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

The candle


My wife and I usually enjoy our evenings with a glass of red wine. We often light some candles and relax on the sofa. Last night, while we were watching the Paralympic opening ceremonies, I noticed a "tail" on one of the burning candles.

This looks like an unusual wax bead. Perhaps it is wax which was closer to the wick and melted during the earlier part of the candle burning, and then flowed over the edge, down the side of the candle. Now that it is farther from the wick, it seems to sit just below its melting point. Any other ideas?

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Some more Olympics

I'll make an apology here. At the beginning of the Olympics, after a number of disappointments in the lack of Canadian medals, I stated that we might be able to "rent" the podium next time. But many of the world's Winter Olympics' powerhouse nations also came up short - Canada was not alone at that time.

I still consider the Own The Podium theme over-hyped and presumptuous. But my comments were unfair to the athletes who still had their events coming up, and who generated so many great performances. Coming up with an all-time world record for gold medals by any country in any winter games deserves a gold medal in itself. So, congratulations to the athletes; fourteen gold medals represent a magnificent effort and reflect favourably on those athletes who earned silver and bronze medals and those who didn't make it to the podium.

We still have the Paralympics coming up. If anything, the athletes participating in them deserve an even greater hand; overcoming their limitations in addition to the dedication and sacrifices is nothing short of miraculous.

For the handling of the underlying logistics, VANOC, the Vancouver security forces, and especially the well-behaved crowds truly deserve a "high five".