Sochi, Standardbreds and Chincoteague Island

The Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia are now officially over.  The warmer than normal (sub-tropical) weather conditions caused a few problems, but, overall, the Games were a success.  The host country of Russia earned the most medals - 33 in total, with 13 of them Gold.  Then - well, it depends on how you want to count the medals - if you count the total amount as the "right" way, then The United States came in second, with 28; but if you count the number of Gold medals, then the next country in line is Norway,  with 11 Golds, and 26 medals total.  Canada garnered 25 medals total, with 10 Gold.  The USA had 9 Gold medals, with a total of 28.  The Netherlands tied Germany with 8 Gold medals, but the Dutch had more medals (24) than the German total.  All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the televised Winter Games.
  In horse news, I'll change strides, and report that in harness racing, the US Champion Trotter is a 3-year-old filly named Bee a Magician.  She won 17 of her 17 races, including the Hambletonian Oaks.  The Champion Pacer is Captaintreacherous.
  And the website TripAdvisor.com has made a list of the best islands to visit.  The first place winner was Marco Island in Florida.  In second place was Chincoteague Island in Virginia.  Third was Anna Maria Island in Florida; fourth was San Juan Island in Washington; and fifth was Maui, of Hawaii.  SInce my Mother and her maternal ancestors were all Chincoteaguers, I am very happy with Chincoteague placing second in a list of "Best Islands to Visit."
  TripAdvisor's Traveler's Choice of Best Beaches in the United States ranked the Assateague National Seashore Beach at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Chincoteague Island, Virginia as number seven in the Top Ten.  The others were:  first, Ka'anapali Beach at Lahaina, Hawaii; second, Siesta Key Public Beach on Siesta Key, Florida; third, The Gulf Islands National Seashore at Pensacola, Florida; fourth, Fort De Soto Park at Tierra Verde, Florida; fifth, Lanikai Beach at Kaliua, Hawaii; sixth is Wailea Beach at Wailea, Hawaii; seventh is Assateague Beach, Virginia; eighth is La Jolla Cove in La Jolla, California; ninth is Laguna Beach, California; and the tenth place is Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve in Honolulu, Hawaii.
  And Coastal Living magazine is having a contest in which you can vote for the "Happiest Seaside Town" - and guess, what?  Chincoteague Island is on the voting list.  Voting ends on March 31.  You can vote for your "Happiest Seaside Town" at:  http://www.coastalliving.com/travel/happiest-seaside-town-00414000077606/
  (And I just learned that the privacy fence that blew down is the property of the Millennium Harvest House Hotel.  I guess I'll need to give them a phone call....)

This And That

It's very windy out, again.  Yesterday, the building next to mine measured the wind speed at 71.3 miles per hour...  It isn't a constant wind - it dies down, and one can hear birds and traffic; then it blasts through the trees again, and one hears the branches waving, sighing, moving, in the wind.  At my sister's house, this morning, Rosie and I were listening to the limbs of three cottonwood trees and one weeping willow rub against one another.  The differences in sound were amazing.  The wind began Sunday evening, and seems to die down in the mid-afternoon hours, but then picks up again once the sun sets.  And we're expecting the wind to continue through Friday...   *sigh*
  Otherwise, it's sunny and bright outside, after being cloudy yesterday.  It's been interesting watching things blow around, through, and over the back yard....  Multiple plastic bags, styrofoam packing pieces, light-weight trash, even boxes fly through the air (and over the 6-foot-high privacy fence) in this type of weather.
The kits enjoy running in and out with weather like this, so I allow them to do so until the sound of the wind whining through the door starts to bother me.  Then the kits come inside and the door is firmly closed.
   My recurrent shingles hit Sunday - this time inside my left nostril...  It feels like the left side of my head is the size of a huge beach ball, even though it looks normal.  It feels totally weird.  Lovey can't understand why I don't want her to wash the left side of my face right now - but she still goes to town cleaning the right side, once we get in bed.   --  And I admit to wasting $4 today - I purchased two lottery tickets with the extremely faint hope of winning the $400 million jackpot....
   I have been digging into the Lancaster and Mobley families for the past week - Dad's maternal side - and have found more Judges, Reverends, Medical Doctors, and Sheriffs in the family tree.  Have found, also, how the families split over the Civil War - it's very interesting.  Right now I'm trying to trace Ezekiel Boone, to see how, exactly, he was related to Daniel Boone - a Great Aunt married Ezekiel...   I've been finding a treasure trove of old family photos that have been shared on-line, too.
   And Boulder is celebrating because the Boulder International Film Festival was once again a success, with Shirley MacLaine here; and because one of "Boulder's own" won the bronze medal in the Olympic Snowboard Cross...  I put "Boulder's own" in quotation marks, because the guy actually grew up in Vermont, but is now living in Boulder....  So, congratulations, Alex Diebold!

Media Goes Too Far at Sochi

Do I like "bad boys?"  Yes and no.  I dislike people who seem to crave the headlines.  I am not, and never have, been enamored with sports stars who proclaim their own brilliance - Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaq, Tom Brady...   But I like Bode Miller.  Bode has been through rough times, has had his share of naughtiness and bad press, but he keeps coming back, and giving fans of alpine skiing something to cheer for.  The nation has watched Bode mature over the past 16 years, with 4 visits to the Winter Olympics as a competitor, and with chances for a medal each time.
  Bode's behavior has not always been the best, both in private and in public.  But he admits what he has done, faces the consequences, sets himself back on track, and keeps going forward.  How many others, under such a lot of public scrutiny, can say the same?
  Last night, on a televised broadcast shown around the world, NBC sports person Christin Cooper, went too far over the line (in my opinion) in questioning Bode Miller.  Bode had just won the bronze medal, becoming the oldest person to medal in an Olympic alpine skiing event, at age 36.  It was Bode's sixth Olympic medal.  Besides the emotion from medaling, again, he did so in front of his wife, his daughter, and his son.  He had said before the competition that he was skiing for his brother, "Chilly.
  Chelone (Chilly) Miller, aged 29, died in early April of 2013 from a massive seizure.  In 2005, Chilly had been in an accident while riding on a dirt-bike-type motorcycle.  He suffered a traumatic brain injury, and was in a coma for 11 days, losing over 30 days of his memory.  But he continued snowboarding as a professional - even after falling 25 feet from a chairlift when he had his first post-accident seizure.  Chilly was well known and well respected in the snowboarding community - he had participated in the X-Games, and was ranked at 28th in the world in 2011.  He made Mammoth Park, California his home base, and worked out there almost daily.  Chilly was one of the few professional snowboarders who could hit big jumps, ride precipitous natural terrain, and compete with the best snowboardcross racers in the world.
   To me, it seemed that Christin Cooper was pressing a little too hard in the after-race interview.  She ended up with Bode Miller in tears, speechless.  Afterwards, when people complained, Bode tweeted a message that it was just an emotional day and his fans shouldn't blame Ms. Cooper.  See http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/02/bode-miller-brother-nbc-interview/  for the interview and Bode's tweets.

  

Sochi Olympic Scenes

Death of a Giraffe

Yesterday I cleaned my patio - shoveled the accumulated snow off the concrete and out into the yard, swept up the bird seed and scattered that, swept up and bagged a few leaves and small bits of trash that had been blown into the area.  Then I refilled the bird seed basin, put out nuts for the squirrels, and tossed broken baugette rounds out for the ravens, crows, and starlings.  We enjoyed sunshine all morning, and into mid-afternoon, then clouds started piling up.  The weather guy last night said that Boulder might get .2 inches of snow over the next 24 hours, but he thought it would be "a dusting, or less."  So I was surprised to get up this morning and find that all the squirrels trails in the snow were filled in, and that there was more than a half-inch of snow on the patio.  It's 19 degrees outside, snow pellets called grauple are falling, and there is also an ice fog - quite different from the 52 degrees we had yesterday afternoon!
  Oh, well...  this is normal in Boulder.  My kits have been out for over an hour - bringing in lots of mud on their feet.  Lovey has been in and out frequently, and left a multitude of tracks.  Nedi was in hope of capturing a bird, but (luckily) that didn't happen.  He stayed out for the longest time, and gave me a heart-broken look when I closed the door after he came back inside.
  Once again, I have the NBC Sports network on and am watching the Winter Olympics.  I was really hoping that Bode Miller would equal his training run in the downhill competition, and bring home gold for his kids.  But that wasn't to be...
  I am, once again, upset by a happening in the animal world.  The Copenhagen zoo put down (killed) a perfectly healthy 2- year-old male giraffe, and fed his remains to their lions.  I am not upset about them feeding the remains to the lion - I am upset that they euthanized the giraffe.  The zoo's explanation was that this young male would cause too much close in-breeding in their stock.  My question is, why not offer the young male to other zoos around the world, so as to widen their genetic pool?  Why kill a healthy, athletic, well bred 2-year-old?  Could not a sale, switch, or trade have been agreed upon?  The people of Copenhagen and Denmark signed a petition begging that the giraffe not be killed.  It was ignored.  I'd like to know why.  Cost? Time? Facilities? Why?

Olympics, Plane Hijacking

We're in the middle of a heat wave in Boulder - it's 1 in the afternoon, and the temperature is 27 degrees!  It's amazing!  Some of the snow is melting under the sun's rays on the edge of the patio, and my lonely icicle has disappeared from the satellite dish. Birds have made havoc of the feed that I placed out, all the nuts are gone, and there are only a few tiny bread crumbs left.  The breeze is picking up, and I'm watching branches dump their loads of snow and slowly return to their normal positions.  The kits went out for about 10 minutes this morning, then out for 15 minutes at noon - I'll probably let them out again later this afternoon.
  I watched the NBC Olympic coverage last night - felt bad for the US skaters who succumbed to nerves, and was electrified by the Russian pairs dancers - that was an exciting performance.  It's too bad that the US team didn't make it to the qualifying round for the Slopestyle Snowboarding - it would have been nice to be able to root for the locals (from Colorado, that is).
  An airplane hijacking happened today - a Pegasus Airlines jet left Kharkiv, Ukraine with the ultimate destination of Istanbul, Turkey.  Several stops were to be made along the way on its original flight plan. During the flight, a Ukrainian man announced that he had a bomb attached to his body, and demanded the plane be taken to Sochi, Russia.  The pilots, instead, flew straight to Istanbul, sending a signal that indicated a hijacking in progress. The man was talked into surrendering, and all 110 passengers, along with all of the crew were unhurt.  The man is in custody of the Turkish police. - Seems like it's been awhile since there was a plane hijacking....
  I am looking forward to see the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympic Games tonight on television.  I understand that there were just a few glitches in the show - one being that five snowflakes were to turn into the Olympic Rings, and only four transformed into the magic circles.  But in this technology-laden world, that's just an electronic glitch, and not earth shattering.  I look forward to seeing the Parade of Nations, just to see the costumes...  And I understand the fireworks were terrific, but, that with knowledge of the plane hijacking, things were a little tense on the ground while the pyrotechnics were booming...
   Have a super weekend!

Sochi Winter Olympics TV Coverage

Considering the time and climate differences, the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia has a lot to handle.  As I've written before, there will be two separate venue compounds and multiple "Athlete Viillages" close to both compounds.  The indoor events will be held at the Sochi Olympic Park, also known as the Coastal Cluster, in the southern part of Sochi, the Adlersky City District, which is 2.5 miles from the border with Georgia.  Outdoor events will be held in the mountains at the Mountain Cluster, or Krasnaya Polyana, up in the ski resort of Roza Khutor.

The Olympic Village at the Coastal Cluster, under construction in 2013

  If you live in the United States, you have two choices on watching the Winter Olympics.  NBC has the broadcasting rights, and will show the events and Ceremonies during prime-time week nights, and scattered through the weekends.  The Games will actually begin Thursday, 6 February, with contests in three different venues.  NBC will begin airing these contests that evening.  The Opening Ceremonies will be televised Friday night, while actually starting at 11 a.m. (EDT).  Or, one can watch a lot of the Olympics in real-time by watching live streaming broadcasts on your PC, laptop, or personal video device - if you are connected to certain systems.  I can watch the streaming video, as I use DirecTV, as it happens.  (Or, if you live near the Canadian border, and can receive CBC, they have a good schedule, also.)

  Please double check your local listings to be certain when to watch - if you want to...   I am watching for several appearances by athletes that I've had the luck to meet here in Boulder, Denver, and Nederland. While I'd like for the United States to take all the gold medals (all of which will contain a fragment of the meteorite that landed in Russia last year), I know that won't happen.

  I send my best wishes out to all athletes and coaches who are participating in this year's Winter Olympics!  May the best man, woman, pair, or team win!

It's Now the Year of the Horse

I was born in the year of the Fire Monkey, but with the new moon last night, we began the Chinese Year of the Wooden Horse.  In China, each year is named after one of twelve animals, which repeat.  My American birth date is 9 June, but in the lunar calendar it's 30 April - makes things very intriguing when trying to figure out your horoscope - especially when you only have an approximate time of birth.  Since Dad delivered me in the back seat of the Old Grey Ghost, he and Mom could only "guess-timate" that I was born about 3 a.m.
But that really doesn't matter.  Broncos are a type of horse; this is the year of the horse; therefore the Broncos should win the Super Bowl.  What?  You find find fault with my logical steps?  So do I.  However, I would love to see the orange and blue Broncos from Denver defeat the Seattle Seahawks in New Jersey on Sunday.
  We had about 3 inches of snow fall overnight and into this morning.  The weather folks say we'll get another 2 to 3 inches this afternoon and evening. It's 21 degrees out at 11:15; the ski resorts on the western slopes have gotten 2 to 3 feet of snow in the last 48 hours....  And the seven day forecast says snow here in Boulder every day except Sunday and Wednesday; we'll see if they are correct.  Just got back from a late breakfast with Nancy, and now her cat, Bob, is over here, eating  at my place.  She just came looking for him, and we had to chase him out from under my bed, as she is leaving again, and wants him home.  I'm home for the day, period.  Nancy's tried to talk me into going out shopping with her, but I've had enough people for the day, and would rather stay at home with only my kitties for company.
  I plan on watching Blue Blood tonight, and seeing Tom Selleck.  Almost two weeks ago, Sleepy Hollow had it's season finale - and there were some twists to the story that I had not expected.  Now I'm definitely waiting to see the next spate of episodes.  The Black List is back on NBC on Monday nights, and I watched Red kill a Washington big-wig without blinking an eye in the last episode.  And - next month, on February 27, Vikings returns to the History Channel...  The "sneak peek" for this bunch of episodes ,akes it seem that Floki is killed in battle by Rollo.... I certainly hope not!  I like Floki, and even though I'm supposedly descended from Rollo, I won't be able to like him if he does kill or incapacitate my darling boat-builder!
  In the meantime, after the Super Bowl on Sunday, we have the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics on television on Thursday.  That will be quite a spectacle, and I'm sincerely hoping for no violence.  So it will be sports, sports and more sports for me.  (I suppose going a-Viking can be considered "sporting," can't it?)
 

Lindsey Vonn Out of Sochi Games

It was good to see Bobby Bowden out on the field last night, even though it was only as an "Honorary Co-Captain" for the FSU team.  Dad always had great respect for he man, and I grew up with that, also - it's just too bad he couldn't be the Coach of the team for the BCS Championship game.  Dad always emphasized, too, that the game game wasn't over until players and coaches left the field.  He would have loved the Auburn versus Alabama game - and the way that a lot of football games (both collegiate and professional) have ended recently.  And he always rooted for the underdog - which I have a tendency to do, also.  Anyway, for the first time, Florida State University won the national title.  I guess I have to say, "Go, 'Noles!"
   And with all the uproar about the name of the Washington Redskins, I just have to chuckle about the wild entrance of the FSU Seminoles' mascot - the young man, dressed in buckskin, wearing a full eagle-feather war bonnet, carrying a war spear, and riding in on a leopard Appaloosa horse. It's too funny....  This person is supposed to represent Chief Osceola, a half-Creek Native American (and half Scot), who led the Seminole tribes in resistance against the US Army.  Osceola spoke English, Creek, French, and what became the Seminole language.  He usually wore a cloth turban with a single feather in it, when meeting with US representatives.  He was not known for wearing buckskins, a Great Plains war bonnet, nor for carrying a lance or spear.  He occasionally rode a Florida Spanish mustang, probably bay or dun; he did not ride a wildly marked Appaloosa (a breed that was developed by the Nez Perce tribe along the Snake River in Idaho).  Oh, well....
   Why do people speak more loudly than normal when on a cell phone?  My idiot neighbor ducked into the corner of my patio yesterday, and, with window and door closed, spoke so loud it seemed as if he was shouting directly at me...  And he was telling a friend that the Boulder Police Department has an outstanding warrant against him, and if he's picked up, he'll be spending at least a week in jail...  Is that really something someone broadcasts at the top of their lungs?
   The big news here in Colorado is that Lindsey Vonn will not be participating in the Sochi Olympics.  Her knee just cannot hold up under the strain when she's skiing.  Of course, Colorado will have it's eyes on the rest of our "kids" who practice for the Winter Games in our state.  I'm just sorry that Lindsey won't be competing - she is a joy to watch, and tons of fun to talk to.

Yahoo! Winter Olympics! Westminster Dog Show!

When I lived in Florida and Virginia, the Winter Olympics were something I watched occasionally - usually the ice skating, but nothing else (although I do remember the winter that Jean-Claude Killey was the star, and I watched with Mom and Dad)... Now that I live in Colorado, I can appreciate the grit, determination, drive and nerve that Olympic contenders need. I feel out-of-control on a small sled on a very small hill - there's no way you could get me on skis or a snowboard or a luge/bobsled and go well over 70 miles per hour! (A good gallop on a horse going 35 to 40 mph is the fastest I want to go without a seatbelt, helmet, and/or roll-bar. And I consider the hard roof of a metal vehicle an imperfect roll-bar at that, rolling down the highway at 75 mph.) But I am really enjoying the Winter Olympics this time around - maybe it's because skiing, snowboarding, and sledding are all around me from October through April, and I've learned (some of) the terms. In any event, I was happy that Bode got the Bronze in Men's Downhill; and I'm happy for all the others winners of medals, as well.
Thanks to a heads-up from Kathryn, I watched the first half of the Westminster Dog Show last night on USA and then CNBC. I had never seen a Norwegian Buhund before, nor a Pyrenean Shepherd. It was nice to meet two new breeds last night, and tonight the AKC will admit the Irish Red and White Setter, as well. Last night, in the Hound category, the top three were (first to third place): the Whippet, the Greyhound and the Scottish Deerhound. In the Toy division: the Toy Poodle, the Pekingese, and the Shih Tzu. In the Non-Sporting group, the results were: the French Bulldog, the Chinese Shar-Pei, and the Bulldog. In the Herding group, the winners were: the the Puli, the Belgian Sheepdog, and the Bearded Collie. Tonight, the three remaining groups, Sporting, Working, and Terrier, will be judged and the best of all seven groups will then face off before another judge for the Best in Show. I have to admit that since I am close to certain breeds, I root for them, unless somebody really catches my eye....
I am continuing to read like mad, as my PC is still in the repair shop - it's fixed, I just have to come up with the cash to get it back - and hopefully that will occur before the end of this month.
In the meantime, know that Lovey and Banichi are doing well, as am I; that I'm walking Rosie and Remy Monday through Friday; and that I'm enjoying our winter. It's cool outside, but as long as my ears and hands stay warm, the cold doesn't bother me - it's usually still below freezing when I walk the Rs in the morning. My knee is returning to its normal self - I have almost my full range of movement and flexibility back, and it only aches if it's below 20 degrees.
I'm still coughing from the bronchitis that is still hanging on, but the coughing usually only happens when I talk... So I'm not saying much these days. Take care!!