Olympic Flame

My new wish for who gets to light the Olympic Flame in 2010...the parents of one of the soldiers who died in Afghanistan. I wish there were fewer of them.

And as someone once said to me, "those down-range and their families deserve our support."

Even the US media recognizes how Canada honours its war dead. I hope VANOC does so very soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1R8qLAmkLU

Very sad. Lest we forget.
PK

Olympic Torch Relay, day 1

Check it out...45,000 kilometres to come.

I feel sad there were some young kids who were supposed to run with the torch but were not able to because of the protesters. Very sad that they couldn't share in the celebration. Imagine if you had to explain to your eight year old child they couldn't run with the torch because someone else wanted to protest something.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzP6gnm5AoI

Or check out the Middle Cat's twitter account (whatever that is) http://twitter.com/josieinbc
PK

The Olympic Flame

I was watching coverage of the arrival of the Olympic Flame in Victoria today.

I thought it was great that local resident and two-time Olympic medallist Simon Whitfield was selected to be one of the first two people to carry the flame on the torch relay.

It got me thinking, who should be the person who gets to light the big Olympic cauldron on February 12, 2010 (speaking of that, where will that be??? inside BC Place???)

I'm hoping that since her son can't be there, Terry Fox's mother Betty will be chosen. I think that would be the perfect way to honour Terry's memory and Betty's tireless work since her son's death in 1981.

Who would you like to see light the Olympic cauldron?
PK

PS If you want to see a great video about the torch relay, check this out.
http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-videos/lights-will-guide-you-home_116232g110288-JA.html

The Media

I'm tired of the way the media reacts to minor events like the way they did yesterday with "Balloon Boy". Live TV news programs were following the story for hours and afterwards, there has been countless hours spent talking about the incident and its causes.

The media have now been focusing on whether or not this was all just a publicity stunt and opinions have been sought as to whether or not the media were used by the family to promote the father’s “storm chasing” (whatever that is).

But in my opinion, since the media helped create the frenzy over this incident, they deserve what they got.

I hope that next time the media won’t be so quick to devote all that live coverage to a minor incident and spend more time doing what they should be doing…telling us what is happening with Jon and Kate.
PK

Marge Simpson to be on the cover of Playboy

Marge and her pile of bright blue hair are set to grace the cover of the November issue of Playboy. It will hit the newsstands October 16.

New CEO Scott Flanders says the idea is to attract readers in their 20s to a magazine where the average reader's age is 35.

Isn't it ironic that at the same time Marge Simpson is in Playboy, the magazine has a CEO named "Flanders"?

And if he thinks that Marge on the cover is going to get more men in their 20s to buy the magazine, then he really is (as Homer has often said) stupid Flanders.
PK

President Obama wins the Nobel Prize for Peace??

You know, I like President Obama and would have voted for him if I lived in the USA and if I was a couple years older (I'm only 15) but I'm not sure why he won the Nobel Prize for Peace. While I think his approach to international relations is much better than President W's was, President Obama has not yet achieved anything worthy of this award. In fact, I think winning the award will hurt President Obama's ability to make change happen. It makes him look like the guy that some people like so much, they glorify achievements that aren't really there...which I guess makes him the Democrat's version of President Bush.

My hope is that President Obama is one day deserving of this award.

Oh wait, this just in, in a surprise move, the NHL has just awarded President Obama the Lady Bing Trophy.

As first reported by Con Champman of Salon.com:
The National Hockey League today awarded the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy to Barack Obama, saying that while the President had never actually played hockey, the first nine months of his administration had changed the tone and tenor of the game for the better, and that so far this season he doesn’t have any penalty minutes.

"President Obama has brought hope to scrawny forwards who face punishment each night from brawny defensemen and bruising enforcers," said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. "While it is unusual to name the winner less than a month into the season, Mr. Obama's influence on 'the coolest game on earth' has been immeasurable."

The Lady Byng Trophy is awarded annually to the hockey player adjudged to have exhibited the best sportsmanship and most gentlemanly conduct in the league. It is considered the hockey equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize.

PK

Imperial Stormtroopers

Oddly, there was an Imperial Stormtrooper (from Star Wars) at the downtown library yesterday.

I'm not sure if he found the 'droids he was looking for.

PK