Snoozing through Canada

Saturday Shorts 2/13
Opening Stuff:

They could easily have cut an hour out of the Olympics opening ceremony and not lost anything. These shows are becoming tedious, and last night’s version was a more of a yawner than any…and a good cure for insomnia. The opening duet between Furtado and Adams was as lame as it was underwhelming as the signature start of the big show. In fact, all of the individual pop singing events were too long and not terribly well done. Hold that, Lang was ok, but again too long. Some of the graphics technology was very good but again to long. The tap dancing and fiddle segment was enjoyable, but too long. The wire flyer was very intriguing and pleasantly ethereal. Even with out the mechanical glitch at the torch lighting, it still was awkward, especially considering that Gretsky had to hop in the bed of a pickup truck and be driven two miles to light the real cauldron of flame. C-.

The new Democrat offensive appears to be that of pushing the Republicans into a corner on so-called “popular” issues where a no vote without substantive reason would become an opportunity to condemn the party as obstructionists for obstruction sake. And they would love nothing better than that. The ultimate aim being, get the GOP to bend on the Health Care morass. Or, allow the Dems to move forward with a reconciliation passage of health care arguing that their hands were obviously tied by generally uncooperative, negative GOP.

“House”, “24” and “Damages” are a pretty good Monday night 1,2,3 punch!

The Headlines:
--US And Allies Sweep Into Marjah; Key Positions Easily Secured By British Troops.
--Olympic Crowds Mourn Death Of Georgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili.
--U. Alabama Huntsville Neurobiology Professor Amy Bishop Arrested For Shooting That Killed Three And Seriously Wounded 4 Associates; Knowledgeable Observers Say She Wasn’t As Good As She Thought She Was, And Her Tenure Was In Jeopardy.
--0-Man OK’s Loans For Nuclear Plants In Georgia.
--Slushy Snow Halts Opening Of Ski Competition.

Back To Stuff:

Sign on local commercial fisherman’s boat: “Tilapia is not seafood”.

Separated at Birth Department:
KD Lang and Wayne Newton.

It was nice to see the launch of the big offensive in Afghanistan. Every day it seems we see a new report of key victory and more deaths of Taliban fighters and their leaders. This new offensive is against a “major” Taliban force that numbers a mere 1,000. We’re not talking big numbers here, and there are no caves in Marjah in which to hide. Remember when Bush first launched the Afghan attacks? The Taliban were driven out quickly and efficiently. This could be the same. But, the big problem may not be the Taliban in this center of poppy production. It may be those dazzling orange flowers themselves. Ridding the country of income from poppy’s, rids the Taliban of finances. But in doing so, there is a danger of alienating the people who also benefit from the sales of poppy based products. It would be like trying to rid the US of a gambling based economy. It may not be an honorable profession, but it helps people eat.

I think the new robber barons are athletes and movie stars. Well maybe a few of clueless on Wall Street.

News Flash: The ads at the Olympics Opening ceremony were far better than those at the SuperBowl. Several on GE Healthcare were particularly well done. Other notables were AllState, Sun Chips, AT&T (Skiboards), Visa and British Columbia.

While on the subject of commercials, there was one that was particularly offensive because of the circumstances. Immediately following the gut wrenching videos showing the death of Luger Nodar, a RI furniture company selling mattresses, Cardi Brothers, showed in a cartoon ad the three owners bobsledding and one dozing off ultimately causing an accident eerily similar to the luge tragedy. Note: Cardi’s is a very good bunch of people, but somebody wasn’t watching the store..

As I watched the 99% white, winter Olympic athletes march in, I had to think that the biggest sports competition this weekend is the NBA Basketball game. Can you say equal opportunity lawsuit?

The good news is that the US team had nice hats for a change.

Love is good!