lesbiassparrow

I want women's hockey to be a part of the Olympics; it's really important for the sport and I love it. But I also don't ever want to see America or Canada beat another team into the ground. Honestly, I find it sort of revolting. And it hasn't improved at all since the sport entered the Olympics, nor does it look like it will. I also want Canada to win the gold, but I do wish that someone besides the Americans could whump them good. And ditto for the Americans.

I also want Canada to get the gold in men's hockey, but they've also to stop giving them and the US such easy opponents in the first round. (Though the Swiss are putting up a good fight.) I know you want them through, hockey organizers, but it shouldn't be such a given. Let them fight it out like everyone else.

Also, how does one say 'Go, Norway, go!' in Norwegian? My chanting should be linguistically appropriate on Saturday.

For extra measure because my hatred is irrational: I HATE YOU SYDNEY CROSBY AND ALWAYS WILL. They could show you rescuing puppies and orphans from burning buildings and I would still hate you.

ETA: Given that I have no idea who most of the players on the Swiss team are, it would be nice for the commentators to say a little about them from time to time.

ETA 2: Oh Brodeur. And Pronger is an idiot.

ETA 3: HOW CAN YOU GO FROM SAYING THAT CROSBY'S LINE IS NOT DOING WELL TO SAYING THEY NEED TO PUT HIM ON THE ICE MORE?

ETA 4: AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

ETA 5: WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE CROSBY WINNING THE SHOOTOUT? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. I mean, I am glad they won but I don't need to hear how Crosby is Gretzky. HE IS NOT GRETZKY. I have never wanted Gretzky to be eaten by bears for one.

I HATE THE PENGUINS. WELL, NOT REALLY, BUT I AM SO SICK OF EVERYTHING BEING ABOUT CROSBY EVEN WHEN HE'S NOT ON THE ICE. It just ruins the commentary because they can't be bothered to pay attention to any play that doesn't involve him.

CAROLINA. CAROLINA. CAROLINA. CAROLINA.

ETA: I have had to mute the game. One too many "This is the vision of Crosby" when talking about people passing to him. Hey! He didn't set up the play, someone else did. Ugh.

I finally saw this this afternoon. Um, I am glad so many people on my flist liked it, but all I could think was that every scene was about 5 minutes too long. And they could have cut the entire Calypso plot very easily as it didn't really lead anywhere in the end as far as I can see.

( Cut for a wee spoiler )

And the Tudors keeps going on with the endless search for Henry's divorce. The only character I actually care for is Katherine who pwns them all. The true evidence of Henry's stupidity is that he can't see how much better she is than Anne. Though Anne does have a better chest, I'll admit.

And there is no justice in the fact that there is still no fiction of Katherine running off with Thomas More. Maybe they could bring Wolsey with them. ( cut for spoiler )

ETA: And to make this even more random, in my deep commentary on hockey, I must say that Pronger is an idiot besides being a dirty player. That elbow? What did he think would happen? He reminds me of Bertuzzi who was not only prone to moves of this sort but also took endless dumb penalties in the playoffs.

There is something wrong with my second disc of Pride; it does not want to play beyond mid episode 9! I am in two minds about this. I quite like it and when do you get to see a Japanese take on hockey, after all... But I have rather issues with Halu, who I rather like despite the way he is written than because of it. I know maybe all this got resolved in the last two episodes, but I am worried.

I do spend a lot of time wondering where the image of hockey comes from, as well. Certainly it's a hard sport and people celebrate playing through injuries, getting back up after tremendous blows, etc, which is what Halu seems to understand. But it's blatantly a team sport and any player like Halu who said 'pass the puck to me because it doesn't matter that you're building a team of one star' runs counter to the rhetoric of the sport and would not last very long - I can't even imagine Jagr saying that. Or saying it publicly and before his team.

I know, I know jdramas aren't realistic, but still I find it hard to root for someone like him because of his attitude to the sport. It's hard to believe in a character who clearly has no idea of how hockey operates at its most fundamental level or any of the language of the game. Which is not to say that hockey doesn't have its goal hogs and superstars, but even they would find themselves in a lonely position if it ever came out that they had said something like that in the locker room. Hockey is not basketball. Or American football. It's a Canadian sport! It's as if someone presented an American drama about Sumo wrestling and decided that they should just have the wrestlers act like boxers puffing themselves up before a bout!

But it is interesting to see how other cultures consume a sport, even when it makes you twitch a fair bit.

Ah, I think I will take a break and watch more Mawang.

ETA: Also Griffith Park (near where I live) is currently going up in flames. There is mad activity around here. I hope they succeed in fighting it without injury or death.

Every time I watch the hockey the other side scores.  I am officially a curse to my team.  I had to turn the game off and watch a movie so I wouldn't entirely ruin Carolina's chances.  

I would like to apologise to luftballoons for Carolina not defeating Buffalo.  And we were so close too...

And this is a bit random, but I am watching Batman Begins and I keep wondering why are people who train jedi superheroes in exotic Eastern locales always such wankers? Apparently being a complete bastard is a prerequisite for passing on valuable knowledge. This explains a lot of my education, but I wouldn't necessarily say that is a pattern I would like to promote. And even the nuns never tried to kill or chuck bats at me.

Now I really want to see a film in which the trainer is all 'Oh just sit down for a bit and have a nice cup of tea. And maybe some jammy biscuits. Training?  Well, maybe when you feel like it we'll do a bit of running around and trying on leather costumes for the right fit. And after that we'll go out into the garden and have some sangria. Wouldn't that be nice?'  And all his  (or her) protegees would be nice sane people who don't brood on the tops of buildings and when they ran into the broody ones they'd be really surprised that there is superhero angst and adjustment issues. 

Carolina do not let Ottawa back into the series! NOOOOOOO!

Oh bugger. Well, that was no fun to watch and I think I will go and mope for a bit and kick furniture and some puppies if I can find them.

Cam Ward I still love you, but perhaps not as much today as before for I am fickle.

Never in about a billion years did I think Carolina would blow out NJ that way. Amazing, especially as I thought that they would be instantaneously crushed.

So, there is joy and thankfully not too much of a hangover today from the drinkathon last night so I could enjoy it properly.

But what is this I read about the new episode of Who? I can't believe it!

( cut for spoilers for Girl in the Fireplace an episode I haven't even seen yet. Plus ire. )

dangermousie has a post on what will be in my opinion the best film ever. Bollywood and superheroes! Does it get any better? It will no doubt even replace Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai on my list of most improbable cheesetastic films. Go, marvel at the pictures! Wonder at the clothes! And despair of there ever being a film this good released outside Bollywood:

Bollywood and superheroes and what are they thinking?

Also, in hockey news this story about Carolina being unpenalised in their abuse of Huet's crease* really annoyed me: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Playoffs/Montreal/2006/04/25/1550131-cp.html

Okay, I am a Carolina fan and thus probably not totally rational especially as we are apparently the devil in this particular story... Anyway it just seemed a wee bit one-sided of a story to me. Of course, if I were a Montreal fan I'd probably be writing strong letters of protest to the NHL about the officiating .

*For non hockey watching people, I assure you this is not in anyway naughty. Huet is the Montreal goalie and the crease is the space in front of the goal. Just making that clear.

1. The fact that my paper is not only a pile of rubbish, it also a pile of completely and ridiculously complicated rubbish. That's the problem of papers which are distributed in advance - people get to see all the flaws in your argument at their leisure and can turn up with all sorts of witty and mean comments prepared. However, as it has to be sent off on Wednesday at least it will be out of the way for the long weekend...leaving me free to write two abstracts and work on another paper. But still I am getting a free trip to New York out of this and that's not too bad.

2. The blowouts in women's hockey at the Olympics. I know that this is pretty much a two team tournament but it is still pretty painful to see Canada and USA dominate to the extent that they do. It's not good for women's hockey in the long run to have such an imbalance and I worry that it may end up in having women's hockey yanked from the games. Both North American teams have a vested interest in seeing the rest of the world begin to improve and develop their hockey programmes more as a way to keep this game interesting, but it's just not happening that I can see. It's not much fun watching a blowout on the scale of 16-0 - nor is it even interesting hockey.