Dogging my footsteps

[vilakins]

Back in June, I was given cat slippers by the pet supermarket for buying Hills Science Diet for the cats. I was there again today and I got a small pack of freebie biscuits and...

more slippers!



Hey, they were free and I think they're funny. They made me laugh and I really needed that. Greg and I will continue to wear our ugg boots though. Maybe we'll make both pairs visitors' slippers.

Wow, a post that isn't an art post! Well, I haven't been doing much lately but art and reading and watching the Olympics. A TiVo is essential for this so you can FF at a minute a second past all the boring stuff like beach volleyball and the cycling pursuit (however the hell that works) to the interesting stuff like athletics, gymnastics, and diving. Why do they have beach volleyball in the Olympics? And why do they show it for hours on end? For that matter, I have strong objections to a lot of the team sports because they field obscenely highly paid professional players. The events I like best have individuals competing against each other.

For me it's anything in the main athletics stadium, gymnastics, diving, rowing. Which events do you like best?

Ooh, and we've gone up to #17 on the medal table. That's not bad for a country with the population of a small city.

Comments

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on your site on the medal table. Considering that is where the UK is usually sat I am just over the moon at us getting to be 3rd on the table and with athletes that are doing it because they love the sport not because of being 'paid' after winning. The Chinese are getting the equivalent of a small kingdom for the gold medals they are winning and the Americans not for behind that. I must admit I gave up actually watching the Olympics when it ceased even pretending it was still amateur, though I admired them for admitting it wasn't at long last. I never actually watched much of the Summer Olympics anyway and what I did was the things like Archery and Rowing. Now the winter games I've always found fascinating and watch every thing with a macabre interest to see who does the most spectacular falls in the skiing and skating.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yeah, GB (as they're calling it) is doing amazingly well! And it's not fluke either.

I know most athletes are supported, but yeah, rich countries paying huge sums to winners when our people often have to live off their parents really annoys me. I wish they still kept professionals out.

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

The gods of sport are with us, they have to be, we won our first men's gymnastic medal for 80 years this year. I watched that re run with openmouthed wonder.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I am a simple soul, and I like watching people running.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Me too, or jumping, or throwing things a long way. To me that's the core of the Games.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I can sit through rowing as well, chiefly because GB usually do so well. I can't make any sense of the sailing. And I can't bear to watch weightlifting, I'm always terrified that someone is going burst.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

We got a gold in sailboarding but that wouldn't make me watch it. As for weightlifting, a Hungarian dislocated an elbow which was pretty horrifying, but I saw that on a news website.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I think the dog slippers are better than the cat ones were :0)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The cat ones are actually much nicer than in the photo because I took it at an angle which hides their cute cat mouths. They give them a lot more expression. I like the floppy ears on the dogs though,

[nautile26.livejournal.com]

Puppies!

I don't watch a lot of sports but the diving is fascinating, particularly listening to the commentators describe what the judges are looking for. Strangely enough I rather like weightlifting which we went to see when the Olympics were in Sydney. So elegance and grace on one hand and brute strength on the other?????

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

When the commentators are knowledgeable and informative, it's fascinating. The gymnastics ones are very good too.

I quite like weightlifting too, but Greg's away and I miss his comments and knowledge. :-(

[thetisonline.livejournal.com]

Why do they have beach volleyball in the Olympics? And why do they show it for hours on end?

I had the same question ... a male friend told me it was the skimpy costumes.

Check out this weird volleyball pic from the Olympics:
pics.livejournal.com/thetisonline/pic/0000bp63/g8

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if it's the women, but the men (and there's been a lot of men's volleball) don't do anything for me. Besides there are plenty of revealing outfits on the track and the diving board if the guys want to drool. Beach volleyball is not a proper Olympic sport, dammit!

LOL! Great photo!

[thetisonline.livejournal.com]

Definitely, down with beach volleyball, it is a recreation, not a sport. They already have indoor volleyball.

Also, down with synchronised swimming!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

LOL! I just watched that. The swimmers require huge amounts of strength and skill, but it's such a bizarre thing to do, and their faces are plastered with make-up and fixed smiles.

What do you think of rhythmic gymnastics? Dances with balls and ribbons: kitsch but very clever.

[thetisonline.livejournal.com]

Very bizarre!

I think rhythmic gymnastics is a bit poxy too ... in that it doesn't seem very "sporty" ... even though the dancers are incredibly fit, flexible etc.

My question is, where is the line between dance/art and sport, I guess?

[thetisonline.livejournal.com]

Did you see this rhythmic gymnastics photo, when you looked at the volleyball one?

pics.livejournal.com/thetisonline/pic/0000crtz/g8

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Her head's right back! Eep! That's bizarre.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yes, I definitely prefer what I'd call sport or athletics.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

The most bizarre (not to mention oxymoronic, with an emphasis on the moronic) discipline has to be "solo synchronised swimming".

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

That exists? [headdesk] Who knew?

[san-valentine.livejournal.com]

I like watching the equestrian events, of course. It was good to see some of the dressage, and to see the kinds of movements I've read about in pony books. I managed to miss all the cross-country though.
I've watched a lot of the cycling and rather enjoy the pursuit events. Watching the GB men's team going round line astern, in complete synchronicity, was amazing, like watching a runaway steam train.
I enjoyed the white water canoeing too, and want to watch more the BMX when that's on. Ping-pong's on at the moment, and I just can't take it too seriously, even though I can see the skill levels involved.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ping-pong's not as bad as volleyball, but I don't watch it. To me that's a fun game to be played in rumpus rooms.

I don't watch anything that you do! I did see a little BMXing and it wasn't bad at all, but it's been delayed because of rain.

Heh. Funny story I witnessed at a prizegiving once: the guest dignitary asked one boy what he liked to do.
"BMXing," said the boy.
"What?" The dignitary looked appalled. "Beer mixing?"
LOL!

[(Anonymous)]

I do rather like:

* The swimming (I guess it would be un-Australian not to like it)
* The diving. Actually saw some live diving at FINA last year in Melbourne; it was amazing.
* Mens gymnastics (Not perving, really. "Hello boys!" as Roy and HG would say.) Those guys' bodies are the pinnacle of male beauty.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure who you are, but yes, those guys are gorgeous. My favourites are the German Hambuechen and the Japanese Ichimura who is just adorable.

[thetisonline.livejournal.com]

Me again. Sorry about the anonymous post!

[thetisonline.livejournal.com]

I meant the gymnasts, not Roy and HG!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I got thar! :-)

[toft-froggy.livejournal.com]

Heee, I used to have a pair like that, only they were this hideous turquoise colour and hence quite frightening.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yeah, turquoise is usually a sign of deep problems in mammals.

[kalinda001.livejournal.com]

Hee. Love the cute slippers.

Congrats on the #17 in the standings. An excellent performance.

I loved the gymnastics, diving and rowing. The fencing was fascinating and surprisingly found myself liking the beach volleyball. The ping pong was fun too.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks! You guys have been doing well. Another medal due in the diving?

They haven't shown any fencing here. Woe. I'd much rather watch that than ping-pong and beach bloody volleyball. You are one of the reasons they bore the rest of us with that, aren't you? ;-)

I've played beach volleyball for fun, but a spectator sport it isn't.

[crycraven.livejournal.com]

I want the slippers! It hasn't stopped raining here recently and my toes are cold. I don't watch the Olympics,(no telly!) so am unable to comment further- but I have enjoyed the few times I've caught the gymnastics in the past, especially the ribbon/ball.
X

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It hasn't stopped raining here either. Well, it does for a few minutes and I think, ooh, I could go out for a walk, but it's pouring again before I can leave the house.

The rhythmic gymnastics! That's yet to come. It's incredibly clever the way they catch the balls and clubs after tumbling, but many people sneer at it for being too pretty. I'm not that fond of the ribbons, I have to say. But I've always had a thing about ribbons and bows and frills from when I was five or possibly younger. :-P

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I haven't been watching the Olympics, but I'm occasionally reading Simon Barnes's writing on it. Like this piece (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/simon_barnes/article4525841.ece) from last week:

"The truth is that sport does not build character. It reveals character, and that is the secret of sport's fascination. When we watch sport, we do not seek virtue, we seek humanity. The great and the good enthral us, the bad appal us. That is what sport means."

I want to nominate Simon for a gold medal.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

An excellent article! In general, people behave quite sportingly (in public anyway) though I've seen a few athletes so arrogant they won't acknowledge the competition. I have to say that the cameras also reveal character in their close-ups and slo-mos; I feel rather sorry for the competitors for having every emotion shown so clearly.

Me, I tend to support athletes from less successful countries, and those who seem to be more 'sporting'.

[richenda.livejournal.com]

I love the slippers!

You won't tell on me, will you?
I hate sport and nothing would induce me to watch anything in the Olympics
It's bad enough having to keep switching off the radio

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Their floppy ears and endearing, aren't they?

Oh, I wouldn't worry, and I understand! I enjoy the Olympics, cricket, and football (soccer) but I don't bother with anything else. I loathe rugby and it's a national obsession here.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

So BMX has become an Olympic event! I wonder when Free Running will make it then?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Free running? You mean jogging? They already have that bizarre walking that looks like lots of cowboys just off their horses after a long ride.

BTW the BMXing is done on a specially built bumpy track out in the open, not on a nature trail. :-P

I think they should knock out a lot of the stranger events and most of the team ballgames.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

No "Free Running" = parcour

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Oh! I only know the latter term. Hey, I'd so watch that!

[lizamanynames.livejournal.com]

Those slippers are SO cute!!

As to the Olympics: I love synchrinized events - especially diving - and freestyle gymnastics. Also a fan of rowing (YAY MEN'S 8-PERSON CANADA GOT THE GOLD!!!!) and running.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I like all of those two, and rowing of any sort, esp the 8s, is a wonderful sight.

Canada's done really well in water sports! Heh. Avon wouldn't be on their team.

[lizamanynames.livejournal.com]

Well, water is melted snow... 8')

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

:-D