They Deliver...

Canada's Men Icehockey team delivered, the gold medal has been won. No coaching errors. But it was a close call. The one, Sidney Crosby, who could have ended in regular time, he failed to score in a one on one situation, finished it in 7 minutes into overtime, the golden goal. The coming night Canada will celebrate, work will be slow tomorrow I guess. For most of the players there is no time to celebrate, Monday evening the NHL calls for another game. Still 10 or so to go to the end of the season. Canada can go to sleep knowing that the rest of the world now knows who's game they are playing. They have beaten the US 2 fold, male and female hockey. A bit like Holland versus Germany.

No words needed

Just Vancouver again.

Life changes fast, one day you think Dutch speedskating will rule on the Olympics of 2010, just the other day the opposite is true. Unfortunately. I was planning to manufacture a Svencouver hat or some. No need to do so. It will never be Svencouver, just Vancouver and maybe that is even for the better. The female part of Team Canada (Icehockey) took the gold medal today, the third in a row. The male part of Team Canada has to do the same, but they have a long way to go. If there is no gold medal for them, they will be mocked for a long time. And Canada will mourn even longer because it is OUR GAME THEY ARE PLAYING. And NO GOLD is NO OPTION. It will be a tough one.

Something for Sven and Gerard

Maybe Sven and Gerard need a lane change assistant to keep track of where they are. What in the world's name is so important to write down when the one you are coaching is doing his ultimate 10 km? And then when you did not look at him for over a whole turn (at least 110 m) shouting him to another lane, why the fuck interfere? 4 years of training in the hole, taking over the title "Worst exchange ever" from Dick A, from success coach to the most stupid speed-skating coach ever in 110 m. But lets not forget Sven himself, ultimately he is responsible, he is on the ice skating effortlessly, painlessly (his words) towards the Olympic gold medal and being a highly paid professional he should not have listened to his coach, who by the way never guided him in lane-changing. Maybe they should buy a Garmin, Magellan or Navignon GPS navigation device with lane change assistant. 200 dollars will do the trick.

Returning home

Monday a week ago we flew to Holland to attend the graduation of Joost as a bachelor of ICT. It was just a short trip. Landed on Tuesday the 16th and returning Sunday the 21st. But the return took a while. At Schiphol there was some fog, in Frankfurt there was some snow. Indeed that screwed our schedule. You would think Air Canada has the courtesy to wait 30 minutes or so, people on at least 2 flights from Amsterdam would be able to board AC895. But no, the fuckers decided to keep their schedule. We were only 20 minutes late. We were directed to the Lufthansa Ticket Centre to rebook our flight. Arriving there we were not the only ones, a line-up of a couple of hundred people. It turned out the Lufthansa pilots were going on strike the next day, demanding more pay (Yes they are at the bottom end of the payment scale indeed) and people were re-booking their flights. We stood in line for 2.5 hours before it was our turn. We had 2 options; one via Chicago-Edmonton and one via Montreal-Ottawa-Edmonton. We choose the latter and Lufthansa paid for the hotel and the food. Next morning, Monday, we left Frankfurt at 11:10 and arrived in Montreal 7:30 hours later, where we had to wait 5 hours for the connecting flight, onwards to Ottawa and another hour waiting. Finally we took off to Edmonton which was 3:15 hours away. The last couple of hours were not easy, restless legs, not being able to sleep, a sore butt of all the seating we did. At last on 10:30PM local we touched down in Edmonton where Emma and Johan were waiting for us. Not a pleasant return flight, but we made it. Sunday morning 09:00AM checking in at Schiphol and landing 10:30PM in Edmonton the next day; that's a 45 hour journey taking into account the time-difference.

A small cloud over Svencouver.

Unfortunately the Dutch speedskating women could not impress on the olympic 3 km. Like Catriona Le May said on CTV, the Dutch women are too inconsistent throughout the year. And they started too optimistic, it's draggy ice, so save your strength for the final rounds. I know for me it's easy with a beer in one hand, to comment on all this. On the other hand they get paid way more than me for living their dream.
I like Martina Sablikova, she has a wonderful style, long hauls from a tiny almost frail body, but beware there is a lot of power in it and she knows how to transform that to speed. I was happy she won.

Svencouver Part 1

 

Watch it, Sven!!

Pointing your finger.....

Today I heard a really nice one: "When pointing your finger, usually 3 are pointing back". There is a lot of truth in that come to think of it. First take a hard look at yourself before you point.

There it is, the 2011 Super Duty

It's there, the 2011 Ford Super Duty Pick-Up. Beautiful, no? I think it is, stunning. Take look here for a full impression. Imagine it lifted, 2 inches, with some serious tires (they call it meat over here) touching the asphalt. Lets say the BF Goodrich All Terrains or Toyo Open Countries. And of course a MagnaFlow exhaust system for that oh so nice load roar.

Mac speaks with no words.

It is quite funny the way Mac gets her point across. Or she starts looking at you, after silently creeping up beside you or she just stands in front of you staring. Most cases I know what she wants and spring into action. If that does not do the job she gently touches you with her nose. And then finally I realize her water bowl must be empty; and yes 999 out of a 1000 thats the case. And this just happened a couple of minutes ago. Thought you should know.

Meet Tulip

By the way we have, again, a new cat. Number 10 probably ended up as coyote feed, we like to think he just moved after getting lost. This number 11, but our first Canadian one.  Hope to keep it that way for a long time. Her name is Tulip, up for all kind of other interpretations; I will leave that to your own imagination. Tulip is a bit stupid, suites me well right, but I like her. That does not happen much with me and a cat. Emma adopted her from her work where she had been living in a garage for about 6 months. How she got there I do not know, probably just disposed off.

I found this on NU.nl, coincidence?

Super Bowl Chili Part II

Well I cooked the chili, nothing much special. Just a chili, but it was quite tasteful. As for the Super Bowl itself, this was my first and last time I watch it on TV. ^#@!$@*$& What a load load of bullshit all those commercials, sorry but I cannot and will not look at that again. Its not about sport, it about commercials. Bullocks. The only positive comment I have is the, commercial free, performance of The Who at halftime; is it a coincidence that only half of the original The Who lineup is alive?. Pete had his trademark arm-backwards-circle-swinging-hitting-the-guitar-snares-full-force going. Cool. I was wondering if he would demolish and wreck his guitar. But no, he behaved unfortunately (After all it's the US). Daltrey did not (could not?) do his mike-swing act, his trademark. Pitty. And no "My Generation", damn.

How fights start

My wife sat down on the seat next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked,
'What's on TV?'
I said, 'Dust.'
And then the fight started...
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Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the van, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day.
I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible."
My loving wife of 5 years replied, "Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"
And that's how the fight started...
*****************************************
My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds..'
I bought her a bathroom scale.
And then the fight started....
******************************************
After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's License to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home.. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later.
The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'. So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair. She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me' and she processed my Social Security application.
When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security office.
She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability, too..'
And then the fight started....
******************************************
My wife and I were sitting at a table at my school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.
My wife asked, 'Do you know her?'
'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. 

I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, 

and I hear she hasn't been sober since.'
'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'
And then the fight started...
******************************************
I took my wife to a restaurant. 

The waiter, for some reason took my order first. "I'll have the steak, rare, please."
He said, "Aren't you worried about the mad cow?""
Nah, she can order for herself."
And then the fight started...
******************************************
A woman was standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror. 

She was not happy with what she saw and said to her husband, "I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.'
The husband replied, 'Your eyesight's damn near perfect.'
And then the fight started..... 

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Super Bowl Chili

I have been told this is a must when watching the Super Bowl this weekend. And by the looks of it, TV and the Chili, it going to happen. Prepare it a day in advance is the general consensus. 1 lb (pound)=0.454 kg, 1 oz (once)=28.35 grams.
The best way to eat it is on thick sliced Texas Toast. Enjoy!!


Ingredients:
1 lb. Italian sausage, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
3 lbs. beef stew meat, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
4 med. onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz.) can tomatoes, cut up - do not drain
1 (12 oz.) can beer
2 (4 oz.) cans chopped green chili peppers
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce
2 (16 oz.) cans pinto beans, drained
Shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)

In large Dutch oven, brown sausage on all sides, then remove to a large bowl. Cook beef, onion, and garlic in sausage drippings on high heat. Stir often. Cook until beef is browned. Return sausage to Dutch oven. Stir in undrained tomatoes, beer, chili peppers, tomato paste, pepper sauce, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until meat is done. Skim fat if necessary. Add beans and heat through. Serve in individual bowls topped with shredded Cheddar cheese.

WhoReads

Could be a unix-command, the post title, and guess what; it'd based on the unix command [whois]. Here you will find a extended explanation of this command. It basicly provides internet information regarding the registrant or assignee of Internet resources, such as a domain name, an IP address block, or an autonomous system number. Pretty technical, eh.
What I would like to know is [whoreads] my blog. Please be so kind to leave a comment or drop me a line. Just out of curiosity. On sufficient numbers I will post a count only.

02-06-2010: Wouw I already got 1 (Één, One, Uno, Eins) reply. I'm flabbergasted, impressed, moved to tears.... Actually this thundering silence says a lot.