Totally Unrelated Things

I truly am amazed at what brings people to my blog. Today, not one, but THREE people got here by searching for the "Finnish hockey team." (My last post on the subject.) Now, this makes me wonder if something is going on that I should be aware of! Strange.

I have mentioned awhile back that my youngest daughter is getting married. I haven't really written much more about it because I have known NOTHING! For some reason, she just hasn't gotten her act together to do much in the way of planning and I'm too far away to be of much help. Well, last night she called to give a bit of an update. I was aware this might be happening, but it is now official: we are all going to Niagara Falls, Ontario the end of March for the wedding. This is so different from what had been in the planning at first: from 100-150 people down to 9 (including the bride and groom), a pig-roast reception to a small after-wedding dinner, two flower girls to no children, and a backyard location in the midwest to a mini chapel in Canada. I can see this as being a lot of fun--just wish it wasn't happening in the middle of winter! It's gonna be cold.

My taste in music always tended to be more hard rock/heavy metal: love Cream, Led Zepplin, Iron Butterfly, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, etc. This is why I am as shocked as anyone as to my newest favorite CD: Barry Manilow's The Greatest Songs of the Fifties. It is just so nice and soothing to listen to the mellow music--can't stop listening to it.

An Olympian To Be Proud Of

My last post was all about bawling out the Olympians who pissed and moaned and were just very ungracious this year. This post is about one of the (few) US athletes who very much deserves our respect.

Joey Cheek is a speedskater who won a gold and silver medal at the games. He then took his prize money--amounting to a total of $40,000--and donated it all to charity. He was grateful for everyone who helped him achieve the chance to go to the Olympics and compete, and he wanted to give something back. A really good guy. Read the story here.

If only more of the US athletes could have been as unselfish as Joey Cheek, maybe more people would have actually followed the games. We can only hope things will be better the next time.

It's Over

The winter Olympics came to an end today on a sad note--for me, anyway--with the Finnish hockey team losing to the Swedes. I sure would have liked to see the Finns win the gold, but they didn't. Now I can look forward to the return of the NHL and the rest of the games for the season. Go, Red Wings!

I didn't really get all caught up in Olympic fever like some people did. I did, however, concentrate on the hockey games--my favorite sport. But I couldn't help knowing some of what was going on in Torrino, and it wasn't really good for the US. It seemed as if most of the really big stories were negative and just put more faces of "ugly Americans" front and center for the rest of the world to scoff at.

Now, I NEVER have been athletic and I NEVER have been treated as specially as athletes are in this country, so I wouldn't know how my ego would be if I was a world-class athlete. I hope I would have been at least a little humble and thankful for all I had. Too bad there were too many examples of thanklessness and big egos with some of the Americans. How could we be proud of Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick, despite their medal wins--they were both petty and out for themselves, not for the pride of their country. Bode Miller gives drinking a bad name, for crying out loud--another example of an over-inflated ego. Johnny Weir is so WEIRd that he defies explanation. And Lindsey Jacobellis is totally immature--which, at her age, is understandable, at least. Of course, we can't leave out the US hockey team, Jeret Peterson, or any of the other people who took center stage for other than good sportsmanship and patriotic pride. Hopefully, lessons have been learned and the next Olympics will have our athletes represent our country better. It's time we do all we can to stop being "ugly Americans."

True Friendship Does Exist

True Friendship

Are you tired of those sissy-ass "friendship" poems that always sound good, but never actually come close to reality? Well, here is a series of promises that actually speak of true friendship:

1. When you are sad -- I will help you get drunk and plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.
2. When you are blue -- I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.
3. When you smile -- I will know you finally got laid.
4. When you are scared -- I will rag on you about it every chance I get.
5. When you are worried -- I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining.
6. When you are confused -- I will use little words.
7. When you are sick -- Stay the hell away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.
8. When you fall -- I will point and laugh at your clumsy ass.
9. This is my oath..... I pledge it to the end. "Why?" you may ask; "because you are my friend".

Send this to 10 of your closest friends, then get depressed because you can only think of 4.
Remember.......
A good friend will help you move.....
a REALLY good friend will help you move a body.......
let me know if you ever need me to bring a shovel.

Friendship is like peeing your pants, everyone can see it, but only you can feel the true warmth.


Have a great day!
(Personal to c: thank you for all of the emails that have provided me with SO much content for my blog!)

Go Finland!

Well, hot damn! Just finished watching the hockey game between Finland and Russia and Finland shut them out by the score of 4-0. A great game. I was wanting to see Finland's defensive game around their net again, but Russia wasn't around the net that often for the defense to have to do much. Now it's Finland against Sweden for the gold medal on Sunday. Go, Finland!

Clarification

It suddenly dawned on me after I did my rant over the mispronouncing of the word sauna, that I could actually have lead people to mispronounce it even worse! I said it is pronounced as "SOW-na" and it is. However, the "SOW" rhymes with "how," not "sew"! I hope that fixes it. By the way, does anyone know how to pronounce "gnocci?" I would hate to have anyone get pissed at me for not knowing how to pronounce it properly. :)

On Hockey and Critters in the Basement

Both the US and Canadian hockey teams lost in the quarterfinals today, so that leaves me with Team Finland to cheer on. If they lose before playing for the gold, I don't care who wins. Sounds too much like a poor loser, hey? Oh, well. ;)

So, I'm sitting in the kitchen and both the cat and I were having our breakfast when we hear crashing in the basement. Of course, my big, bad, meat-eating cat immediately ran upstairs to save herself--can't believe she is a relative of the King of the Jungle lion--and I woke K up so he could protect me! Even though he had been sleeping only a few hours (he is on night shift), he was very good about going to look at what the commotion was. After a thorough search of the basement, he found NOTHING! Several hours later, before he left for work, he went and looked again and still found nothing. Now I have to wonder all night about what may be in our basement and keep an eye out for anything that might be lurking in the corners. Oh, happy day.

On Hockey and Being Finnish-American

The US women's hockey team will play their last game of the Olympics on Monday. This is the game to determine who will take home the bronze medal--hopefully it will be the US and not the Finns, who they will be playing. Eight years ago, the US won the gold, four years ago they won the silver, and this year they may win the bronze: the full set! Good luck to the team.

I didn't get to see the US men's loss to Sweden. The final score was 2-1, so it wasn't a real lopsided game, at least. They play Russia on Tuesday and then, if they win, they will play the quarterfinals. So, they still have a chance to bring home a medal.

I did get to see the game between Canada and Finland--Canada was shut out. Again, it was the great play of the goaltenders that kept the score where it was. The biggest problem I have when I watch Finnish teams playing is listening to the announcers butcher the names. A big pet peeve of mine, as I am Finnish-American.

So now, here is my rant about mispronouncing Finnish names and words. I guess there just isn't too much that can be done about uninformed people not knowing how a name is pronounced--after all, one can pronounce their name anyway one wants. I really take exception, though, to people here where I live pronouncing their unmistakably Finnish names with an English, or American, pronunciation. To me, this is just showing you are ashamed of your heritage. But my biggest pet peeve--no, if someone does this, I am PISSED OFF--is the mispronunciation of the word sauna! I want to shoot my TV whenever I hear anyone say "saw-na"! The word is "SOW-na" for heaven's sake!!!!! Get that right for once and for all!!!!!

I am done. You can all go back to whatever you were doing, in peace.

One More Loss

The hockey game between Slovakia and the US just ended and the US lost. Can't believe how these games are being played out. Hopefully the US teams can get their acts together and win some more medals!

Absolutely UNBELIEVABLE

Just finished watching the men's hockey game between Canada and Switzerland and the Swiss shut out the Canadians 2-0!!!!! I cannot believe what I saw! The Canadians had (at least) 26 shots on goal the third period to 1 shot on goal by the Swiss--and the Swiss still won! The goaltender for the Swiss was amazing--he was like SUPER GOALTENDER. There just is no way to even imagine who might win the gold after seeing a game like this.

Add this game to the I-can't-believe-I-just-saw-that category, along with the women's game from yesterday. Yes, the US women lost to Sweden--another unbelievable happening. However, I don't think the US women played as well as they did the other day. We'll see if they can play well enough to get the bronze medal.

Then, of course, we have to discuss snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis and her screw-up that cost her the gold yesterday. She had the gold medal in her hands when she decided to show off for the crowd--before the race was finished--and fell, allowing the Swiss snowboarder Tanja Frieden to race ahead and win. Let's hope Lindsey can do great things four years from now or she will always be remembered as the girl who "show-offed" her way to losing at the Olympics.

Cuteness, Snow Storm, and Dog Sled Races

A few unrelated things:

If you haven't visited CuteOverload.com recently--or ever--it is time to go there. I DEFY anyone to look at the pictures and NOT go "AWWWWWWW!" My house would be FULL of animals of all kinds if they all were that small and that cute! :)

We are now in the second day of a winter storm. There are heavy snows, high winds, blowing and drifting snow, near-zero visibility, and wind-chills in the -30 to -40 degree range. Our house is a bit too close to the lake, so we don't get quite as much snow as the higher elevations in the county do, but it still is quite nasty out there. I am sure K will have to take the Jimmy to work if he wants to actually make it.

The annual dog sled race is supposed to get underway on Friday. It might seem a bit strange to say, but the weather might actually cause problems. The blowing and drifting will make the trails very messy and the temps definitely will not be good for the dogs or the mushers. This is a big deal in the area here, so I hope things will be okay. I'm just glad I won't have to be out in the bad weather. Good luck to all who venture out--better you than me! :)

Snow Statues

Michigan Technological University is situated WAAAAY up north in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Tech is well known as a very good engineering school and those engineering students came up with a way to help the time pass during the winter AND celebrate winter carnival: build snow statues! The workmanship and detail that is put into all of the creations is absolutely astounding. Mere pictures can't do justice to them. When you see the statues in person, you are amazed and awed. As winter carnival 2006 ended last weekend, you can't get to see the statues in person this year, so here are pictures of the winners. But, if you ever find your way up north during the winter carnival, make sure you stop and see the statues.

Olympics

I am not a person who watches a lot of the Olympics. There was a time when I feel almost anyone could have been an Olympic athlete--it just took a lot of hard work and determination. Today, it seems as if you have to be a professional at your sport in order to compete. It just isn't the same when you realize how small of an elite crowd actually gets to be an Olympian--no matter how much a person might want it, they are not very likely to be on an Olympic team.

That little rant said, I now have to do some praising of the Olympics--at least one of the sports. Today, K and I watched the women's ice hockey game against Finland. To say I was excited and thrilled at the skill of these women, is putting it mildly. If I wouldn't have known better, I would have thought they were the men's team playing. It was as good of a game as I have ever seen. It is predicted that the U.S. and Canadian women's teams are the ones to beat to get the gold. On the 17th and the 20th the next women's games are being played--the 20th being the finals. If you want to see good hockey, be sure to watch. (By the way, the U.S beat Finland by a score of 7 to 3--with 4 goals scored in the third period.)

FBI's New Tracking System For Terrorists

You can read all about the newest way the FBI will be tracking terrorists here. It will be a good thing.

Motorcycles and Squirrels

You have got to go here and read the funniest story I have read in a long time! If it doesn't make you laugh right out loud, you never have to take a recommendation from me ever again! I would normally be very worried about the poor squirrel, but I have a feeling he can take care of himself. Enjoy.

Pentagon Announcement

Pentagon Announcement

The Pentagon announced today the formation of a new 500-man elite fighting unit called the United States Redneck Special Forces. These Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas boys will be dropped off into Iraq and have been given only the following facts about terrorists:

1. The season opened today.
2. There is no limit.
3. They taste just like chicken.
4. They don't like beer, pickups, country music or Jesus.
5. They are DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for the death of Dale Earnhardt.

We expect the problem in Iraq to be over by Friday.

Women Over 40

In case you missed it on 60 minutes. This is for all you girls 40 years and over.... and for those who are turning 40...AND for guys who are scared of girls over 40!!! This was written by Andy Rooney from CBS 60 Minutes.

Andy Rooney says:
As I grow in age, I value women who are over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why...

A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it's usually something more interesting.

Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the
opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40.

Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk or if you are acting like one! You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of 40+, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year-old waitress. Ladies, I apologize.

For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free". Here's an update for you: Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage, why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage.

Anger Management

This was sent to me today:

When you occasionally have a really bad day, and you just need to take it out on someone, don't take it out on someone you know, take it out on someone you don't know. I was sitting at my desk when I remembered a phone call I'd forgotten to make. I found the number and dialed it. A man answered, saying Hello. I politely said, "This is Chris. Could I please speak with Robyn Carter?"

Suddenly a manic voice yelled out in my ear "Get the right f***king number!" and the phone was slammed down on me. I couldn't believe that anyone could be so rude. When I tracked down Robyn's correct number to call her, I found that I had accidentally transposed the last two digits. After hanging up with her, I decided to call the 'wrong' number again. When the same guy answered the phone, I yelled "You're an asshole!" and hung up. I wrote his number down with the word 'asshole' next to it, and put it in my desk drawer. Every couple of weeks, when I was paying bills or had a really bad day, I'd call him up and yell, "You're an asshole!" It always cheered me up. When Caller ID was introduced, I thought my therapeutic 'asshole' calling would have to stop. So, I called his number and said, "Hi, this is John Smith from the Telstra. I'm calling to see if you're familiar with our Caller ID Program?" He yelled "NO!" and slammed down the phone. I quickly called him back and said, "That's because you're an asshole!" One day I was at the store, getting ready to pull into a parking lot. Some guy in a black BMW cut me off and pulled into the spot I had patiently waited for. I hit the horn and yelled that I'd been waiting for that spot, but the idiot ignored me. I noticed a "For Sale" sign in his back window, so I wrote down his number. A couple of days later, right after calling the first asshole ( I had his number on speed dial,) I thought that I'd better call the BMW asshole, too. I said, "Is this the man with the black BMW for sale?" "Yes, it is", he said. "Can you tell me where I can see it?" I asked. "Yes, I live at 34 Mowbray Blvd, in Vaucluse. It's a yellow house, and the car's parked right out in front." "What's your name?" I asked. "My name is Don Hansen," he said. "When's a good time to catch you, Don?" "I'm home every evening after five." "Listen, Don, can I tell you something?" "Yes?" "Don, You're an asshole!" Then I hung up, and added his number to my speed dial, too.

Now, when I had a problem, I had two assholes to call. Then I came up with an idea. I called Asshole #1. "Hello?" "You're an asshole!" (But I didn't hang up.) "Are you still there?" he asked. "Yeah," I said. "Stop calling me," he screamed. "Make me," I said. "Who are you?" he asked. "My name is Don Hansen." "Yeah? Where do you live?" "Asshole, I live at 34 Mowbray Blvd, Vaucluse, a yellow house, with my black Beamer parked in front." He said, "I'm coming over right now, Don. And you had better start saying your prayers."

I said, "Yeah, like I'm really scared, asshole," and hung up. Then I called Asshole #2. "Hello?" he said. "Hello, asshole," I said. He yelled, "If I ever find out who you are..."

"You'll what?" I said. "I'll kick your ass," he exclaimed. I answered, "Well, asshole, here's your chance. I'm coming over right now." Then I hung up and immediately called the police, saying that I lived at 34 Mowbray Blvd, Vaucluse, and that I was on my way over there to kill my gay lover. Then I called Channel 9 News about the gang war going down in Mowbray Blvd, Vaucluse. I quickly got into my car and headed over to Mowbray. I got there just in time to watch two assholes beating the crap out of each other in front of six cop cars, an overhead police helicopter and a news crew. NOW I feel much better.

Anger management really works.

Super Bowl

So, today is the Super Bowl. Big freakin' whoop! I dislike football--I REALLY dislike football. Always have. And I have tried to like it. In high school I had the then-boyfriend explain the game to me and I tried to like it for his sake--DID NOT HAPPEN. This means I have to try and find something to do that has no connection to football--kind of hard on Super Bowl Sunday.

Last night I watched Grizzly Man, the documentary about Timothy Treadwell. Treadwell lived in the Alaskan wilderness for 13 summers "studying" the grizzly bear in very close contact and finally got killed and eaten by one--as was his girlfriend Amie Huguenard. Quite a fascinating movie but extremely disturbing at the same time. While the tape of them being killed was not aired, the attack and their deaths were explained in excruciating detail. It definitely was well worth the 3 hours to watch. (I watched it on the Discovery Channel, so there were commercials.) I have very mixed feelings about whether he was good or bad for the grizzlies--he definitely didn't limit contact with the wildlife as scientists would, so that wasn't a good thing. He was a disturbed individual on many levels.

Tomorrow it looks as if we are taking a road trip--only for the day, though. I don't really mind a day-run except for the fact it takes me a week to get back on track afterwards! So much we do in so little time on one of these short trips. Oh, well, you gotta do what you gotta do--and I gotta shop! Hope the weather holds out for us.

Here's a site that everyone should have in their bookmarks/favorites: recalls.gov. This is where you can find ALL of the recalls that have happened, of EVERYTHING. You have consumer goods, vehicles, medicine, food, cosmetics, etc. A place to go every once in awhile to make sure you don't have any of the lesser known products that have been recalled. Just another reason to be paranoid! :)

Some Friday Funnies

"Please God, if you can't make me thin, make my friends fat!"

"Friends don't let friends drink and take home ugly men."

"I might as well work. I'm in a bad mood anyway."

"THOUGHT FOR THE DAY. Never hold your farts in. They travel up your spine, into your brain, and that's where shitty ideas come from!!!!!"

"THE SEVEN DWARVES OF MENOPAUSE: Itchy, Bitchy, Sweaty, Sleepy, Bloated, Forgetful, & Psycho."

"Unattractive woman to her boss: "All the other women in the office are suing you for sexual harassment. Since you haven't sexually harassed me, I'm suing you for discrimination.""

Have a great Friday and a more wonderful weekend!