I just noticed that I’ve been put on a Twitter list named “agents of light.” I’m not quite sure what that means…but I kind of like it.
Well, ok, I more than kind of like it. In fact, it’s pretty neat to be considered an agent of light. I’ll take it! In my head I’ll capitalize the “L” and maybe be a little more conscious of what that could mean, both to me and others.
or
or, well, George Harrison, duh
If this is a poster, I want it. 🙂
I was going to let this post slide. We pretty much had enough of the Olympics, didn’t we? There were some amazing highlights to be sure. I mean, who isn’t going to start sporting argyle pants now like the classy Norwegian curling team? Gotta love those guys! I want mine in a snappy pink and green motif. Go Norway!
And of course there is yesterday’s amazing victory for the Canadian hockey team. I’m not even in a sour mood about it. The Olympics inspires all kinds of things in me. Winning, of course, is one of them, but the ideal of competition and all that stuff really gets to me.
I know – I know. I’m usually all about survival of the fittest and earn what you get accountability. I still am –we’re talking about the ideal here, and that ideal is about the winner being the guy who deserves it because of extraordinary hard work and desire and all that blablabla (oh my goodness I am totally becoming aware of my discourse here and the dangerously socialist lilt to it).
Whatever.
I’m happy that Canada won.
There. I said it. It would have sucked something awful for them if they hadn’t; I’m just sayin’. I mean, their giant hockey table game at the closing ceremonies might not have been as cool with plain old silver around the giant cardboard players.
So what I really want to talk about is those cardboard players. And the inflatable Mounties. And how utterly cute Michael Buble is. I’m talking about the closing ceremonies. That right there is what it’s all about. All those countries came together and played fair (except those silly Koreans in the speed skating — but they got theirs) and everybody had a story to tell, and for the most part it was told.
Yeah, things got off to a terrible start with that young man dying (how tragic—I can’t wrap my mind around that) and all the pomp and circumstance of the opening ceremonies were appropriately somber, and then the flame –THE FLAME! Of all things – didn’t work right, but the games were good and exciting and fun and amazing! I am always riveted, living vicariously for a few weeks while I entertain thoughts of being there (and licking old wounds over not being there).
I love it all. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Tomorrow I’ll return to my regularly scheduled cynicism and sarcasm and comment on NBC’s boneheaded move to interrupt the programming with that RIDICULOUS new show, but today I’ll still enjoy the residual excitement of the Olympics.
The closing ceremony is always an emotional thing –to see the flame extinguished is almost as amazing as the lighting of it. So that’s what I want to talk about here.
THE CANADIANS ARE BRILLIANT! That snafu with the flame at the beginning was recovered so very nicely that Canadians are going to get a pass from me on everything for a long time (except Domino sugar, but that’s a political rant for another time). I gather that a part of the national culture is to be a little self deprecating, but let me just say it was the best recovery for a technical malfunction in the history of technical malfunctions. Too bad Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson aren’t Canadian – they might have been able to weather their little problem better.
Anyway, it was truly clever, and y’all know I like clever.
So here’s to the Canadians: Well done.
As for the other stuff – well – I don’t really know what to say about Russia. Weird comes to mind. And William Shatner was a bit psychotic, no? He has turned into a caricature of the caricature of himself. I’m sorry he didn’t perform Rocket Man. In fact, it might have been better (what’s up with the canoes?). Bob Costas, however, is no Dick Clark.
My sister sent me this, I guess because she knows I twitter. Crazy! What else could we do with this?
I’m not a fan of self-help gurus. Frankly, it always looks like a scam to me–especially the get-rich guys. I guess I could get rich by telling YOU how to get rich by following my scam or crazy ponzi, but here’s a guy that made me pause. He spoke at one of our annual staff meetings, and the truth is, I found his ideas refreshing and fairly on the mark (sort of — his whole premise is kind of “off-balanced”). Anyway, I get the random update from him, and got this new video compilation of some of his ideas. I am amazed at how it speaks to new media evangelization. Check it out.
The following made its way into my inbox, once again foiling inbox zero, but I forgive the intrusion because it amused me. I just picked my top ten.
Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words.
The winners are:
1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
8. Gargoyle (n), olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
The Washington Post’s Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.
Here are this year’s winners:
1. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
3. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn’t get it.
6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.
11. Glibido (v): All talk and no action.
12. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
13. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web.
14. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
15. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you’re eating.
And the pick of the literature:
16. Ignoranus (n): A person who’s both stupid and an asshole.
I don’t play golf, but this is pretty cool
Well, I suppose it’s better than
666
another cup of coffee 
