Marilyn's Photos - Feb 10 2026 - Olympic Broken

 

We might be complaining about the Olympics - the strangely complicated events, the quality of judging, the unattractiveness venues, booing of JD Vance at the opening. There’s the backlash against Czech Ice Skaters using AI generated music.  Did the “Minion music”ice skater get to use his music?  If he didn’t that sure is a strange outfit. It’s ok - he got approval.  Skating is getting a lot of attention - this morning’s article on ice dancing by Cathal Kelly in the Globe and Mail: he would not be comfortable dancing on the ice in his underwear in front of 5,000 people. Another comment on the outfits in skating. Perhaps this is the highlight - given the whole point of the Olympics is to win a medal. That makes the headline this morning more arresting than anything else:  “Olympic Medals are falling apart, and we’re not even a week in” Yes, the medals are breaking. The ribbon to break away  and the medals are falling off - that’s what happened to the USA alpine ski racing gold medallist Breezy Johnson. “I’m sure somebody will fix it…It’s not like crazy broken…” I wonder how many medals have broken. Mostly the stories are anecdotal so no total numbers are given. Don’t worry.  “We are fully aware of the situation” says Andrea Francis, who serves as the chief operations officer. I find out this isn’t new news.  The 2024 Paris games had replacement requests skyrocket after athletes returned home and the prizes “began to age.”  That was more than 220 (4%) medals - by luxury jeweller Chaumet. They were tarnishing and chipping. Makes you wonder what you get for a Chaumet watch costing between $2,000 and $180,000. And in search of Olympic medal jokes… What kind of music do Olympians listen to?  Heavy “medal”. My friend Ty came first in the Beijing marathon 5 years ago, but still has not been awarded his gold medal … China refused to acknowledge Ty won. It’s ironic that in 2020 the first gold medal won by the U.S. was for … Shooting That last one doesn’t seem like a joke, but was included in quite a few of the lists and made me laugh.  What about you? This was in my Toronto garden and is Japanese Forest grass - it was so tiny there.  This was its winter version with a bit of colouring to bring out the gold.  Here in Niagara The garden has huge clumps of it.  I’ve noticed it doesn’t all last in my garden, despite the large size it gets to - that’s because the bunnies and voles eat it - maybe right now as I type.

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Marilyn's Photos - Feb 7 2026 - Olympics Over-the-Hill

 

My theory goes like this:  the Olympics are over-the-hill.  That means over-weight in terms of costs to build, repetitively showing similar sport events, hyping themselves to the extreme, and focused on money from corruption within the Olympic organization and from excessive commercialization of the event. That’s what makes it old.  What makes it further over-the-hill are constant issues - logistical nightmares getting to the spread-out events, athlete safety, drug problems, the evolution to a non-amateur sport full of professionals competing, and the perennial scandals. It could well be that being older has led me to the stage of complaining -  that the Olympics are not what “they used to be”.  How will I find out?  I am going to take the easy route - ask AI to summarize all those opinion pieces that have weighed in on the subject.  The AI answer says that the 1960s Olympics - e.g. Grenoble Winter Games - is a matter of preference regarding nostalgia versus innovation. In 1968 it was the first time the Games were broadcast in colour. The stars of the event were Jean-Claude Killy and Peggy Fleming. It was considered an intimate setting and the competitions were held close-by.  (And may I add that there are no scandals listed that year.) In 2026 there are now 116 events with 12 mixed-gender competitions. The amateur vs professional aspect is obvious - 2026 is advertised as having faster and higher levels of performance.  My kind of example of then vs now is as follows.  Snoop Dogg is being paid $9 million dollars for 18 days of the Olympics.  What is he doing at the Olympics?  Are you ready?  He is there to “cheer alongside the athletes, their friends, and families” NBC said.  He is not the only celebrity: Stanley Tucci  (must be his travel series “searching for Italy”) - is serving as a roaming cultural reporter for NBC.  Elmo, Cookie Monster and Grover are involved in NBC coverage.  There are numerous brand ambassadors and “creators” paid for behind-the-scenes content via YouTube, Meta, and TikTok.  This isn’t that new: At the Paris Olympics, NBC spent over $50 million to bring various celebrities to Paris to boost ratings. Returning to my complaint and AI’s response that this is nostalgia vs. innovation.  I am confident that this year’s “innovation” would not have occurred in 1966.  Cathal Kelly reported this in the Globe and Mail today. Men’s ski jumping participants are reported to have injected their penises with acid to make them larger for the uniform fittings.  In other sports reporting babel-speak that’s “injecting their genitals to manipulate suits to make them more aerodynamic.”  When there is a little extra fabric, the travel distance will increase.  Will that be the biggest scandal/controversy at the Olympics?  We can watch it to find out or check out Wikipedia.  I expect it will be updated daily - it is  a reliable, timely source of information.  What we can say for sure is that all “eyes” are on the Olympics this week.

Aug 11 2024 - The Last Sporting Event

 

When is the last sporting event?  There seem to be so many left to go.   And the women's marathon is one of them.  That seems like it starts very early or maybe the closing event is very late. The closing event starts at 9:00pm, Paris time.  I guess that's to accommodate all of us on this side of the planet, vs the other half on the other side.  It makes me think of experiencing the New Year by flying around the world with the sun coming up.  It is very close between China and the US on gold medals - so let's see who has the most today.  But on the overall medal tally, it seems to be the U.S. without any challengers.  China has 90 compared to the U.S. 123. The Oscar Nominees all get loot bags worth thousands off dollars.  Do athletes get loot bags at the Olympics?  This year the gold medalists get $50,000 - first time ever.  There seems to be some controversy here as the argument is that it is unfair to sports that can't afford to offer prize money.  How interesting there is so much money to be made in sports yet it doesn't get to the performers.  Seeing Olympic events costs somewhere in the range of $5,000 to $6,000 to attend, according to a Time article.  Now that it is almost over, check out the schedules and prices HERE.  It is a vastly long list of things and expensive to me. On to the closing ceremonies to find out if they can outdo past closing events.     These mascots are on every schedule of every sport category.  Got me.   They are Phryges named after the Phrygian cap.

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Aug 8 2024 - Olympic Costumes

 

I gather I am not alone.  The state of women's Olympic wear is being called  "costumes" rather than "uniforms".   And what is the nature of these outfits being called costumes?   For the U.S. women's track team, Nike was slammed for in April 2024 creating bottom wear that is so skimpy and impractical that the headline criticism was "It should cover the vulva".  Can you imagine?  How strange to turn athletics into soft porn.  The controversy went on for months since the introduction of the outfits in April 2024.  Athletes say the female athletic-wear isn't designed to get the maximum and best performance. It is designed to get attention. Canadian outfits are similar,  Everyone  from beach volleyballers, gymnasts, high jumpers and so on wear something that is skimpier than a bathing suit?  And men wear an ordinary sports outfit. I wondered about history. Good Housekeeping did a "parade through the decades" on what they thought were notable outfits for winter/summer games. Some  are hilarious - flamboyant colours, weird designs, and outrageous women's skating outfits.  It is HERE.  A different time is my explanation. Here's a good conclusion from Jaleen Roberts, a past silver medalist:  "If this outfit was truly beneficial to physical performance, men would wear it. This is not an elite athletic kit for track and field. This is a costume born of patriarchal forces that are no longer welcome or needed to get eyes on women’s sports.”"     Remember the MLB see-through uniform controversy earlier this year?  Wait for 2028 when baseball returns to the summer games.  Will there be women's teams? What will they wear?

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Dec 27 2022 - FIFA vs Summer Olympics

 

Did FIFA overrun the Olympics in 2022?  It seems to be the headline for what major events happened this year.  It looks like Queen Elizabeth's death and funeral  is far behind the FIFA World Cup.  And even though the Tour de France has 3.5 billion viewers, so would be the biggest sporting event in the world, it only shows up in one article.  It is the World Cup and the Olympics that are compared.     So which is it?  FIFA or the Summer Olympics? Here are  Quora  answers:   1.  "Due to the fact that last Olympics Games and last FIFA World Cup were in the same country, it will be easier to compare both. During the Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro received 1.2 millions visitors.  According to Rio’s city hall, 410 thousands of those were not from Brazil During FIFA world cup Rio received 886 thousands tourists, 471 thousands of those were foreign tourists." Of course FIFA world cup have more than one host city, so there were much more tourists than this. Also, Rio received less tourists from Brazil because there were lots of other cities hosting FIFA World Cup." 2. "If you talk about audience, both events are watched for about half of the Earth. Fifa World Cup reached 3.2 billions viewers, while Olympic Games 3.5 billions." Quora has many more answers, but most are opinion-based.  Here are more analytical articles' answers. 1. The number of countries participating: in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 208+1 countries participated in qualifying events which narrowed down to 32 in the main event. Meanwhile, a total of 206 nations participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics. 2. Younger audiences show a preference for FIFA 3. Differences are observed based on gender.  The World Cup is the favourite event of men globally (55%) with the Summer Olympics at 52%.  For women it is Summery Olympics 47% and World Cup 35%. 4. Gamers are markedly more drawn to the World Cup than the overall population Finding out how many watched the 2022 series will likely take some time.  My bet is that FIFA wins. The expectation was over 5 billion people.  What do you think?

A swan at Charles Daley Park pond.

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Jan 17 2022 - How High is the Ocean - How Deep is the Snow

 

Millie growled when she looked out at the back yard this morning.  She didn't like what she saw.  Really deep snow.  And it is getting deeper as we type. She had to go outside immediately when we got up and she isn't usually interested in going outside till after 8:00am or so.  She jumped down one stair - fine.  The second stair - OK. The third stair - Oh Oh. The fourth stair - just her head was above the snow line and that was too much.  She rushed back up the stairs and in the house, spreading snow bits everywhere.   This is the first big snow fall this year.  Last year she was smaller  and the big snow not so deep so she played happily in it. So we'll see this morning what she decides to do.   I was so intrigued with the tennis news this past week.  Novak Djokovic, the 34-year-old Serbian tennis champ currently ranked number one by the Association of Tennis Professionals by a substantial margin is unvaccinated for COVID-19. He was deported from Australia Sunday following a highly visible appeal.   He's done a lot of testing positive for COVID-19 supposedly within the last month. And he's been out in public a lot as well.  Flying here and there, etc.  That's a big contrast with the Olympics coming up.  The Beijing Olympics are already in the 'closed loop'.  It is sealed and guarded.  The loop, which began on Jan. 4 and will open fully by Jan. 23, according to state media, covers sealed-off sections of Olympic venues and designated accommodation, amounting to a series of bubbles.  Participants are required to move between them using designated transport. Everyone in the loop must have a daily PCR test administered by staff. In Tokyo, tests were largely self-administered. To leave their accommodation, participants must first scan their pass and wait for a green code to confirm they’ve had a negative test result within the last 24 hours. Comparing the situation of Australia and China, we are likely in for a lot of COVID news at the Olympics. It will make this Olympics the most exciting ever for reasons entirely other than sports.  Beijing's event is a large-scale experiment to be watched as much by scientists and politicians as by sports fans. Can there be a special COVID wave at the Olympics?   Isn't this such a great representation of the mysteries beyond.  We visited Brock University's new performing arts centre in 2017 and these were two of the images manipulated with Flaming Pear's India Ink plugin.

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Jan 8 2022 - Getting to Beijing in 2022

 

What is the status of sports in 2022?  The Olympics is slated to start Friday Feb 4 and finish on Sunday Feb 20th.   We'll all be at home again, but what will there be to watch? The big news this week was Tennis star Novak Djokovic. His lawyers filed court papers Saturday in his challenge against deportation from Australia.  They show the tennis star tested positive for COVID-19 last month and recovered, grounds he used in applying for a medical exemption to the country's strict vaccination rules. But it has since emerged that the Victoria state medical exemption, allowed for people who tested positive for the coronavirus within the last six months, was deemed invalid by the federal border authorities. And the Olympics? We've known for a short time that the NHL opted out of the 2022 Olympics. Various diplomats will not be there - while it was billed as a boycott, maybe that's now looking like self-preservation. And athletes are testing positive so won't be able to compete in their finals to get to the Olympics.  Such a strange turn of events, given there was so much hype that the athletes want their 'chance to compete'.   Here's what the Canadian Press said yesterday: "The Beijing Games open in exactly one month, but the competition has already started. The challenge: getting the country's top athletes to China without testing positive for COVID-19, an ominous and invisible threat that few could have seen coming just a few weeks ago. If an athlete tests positive for COVID-19 in the next month, they must provide three negative PCR tests and then submit that documentation to the Beijing Olympic committee (BOCOG). It's up to BOCOG to clear the athlete to travel to China. All participants are also required to provide two negative PCR tests before boarding their flight to Beijing, within 96 and 72 hours of travel." Various aspects are covered in the article HERE.  Not just athletes themselves, but the cancellation of qualifications is a problem.  And then one reads about teams in 'bubbles' to stay safer.  Staff for the event are scheduled to report to the Beijing bubble on Tuesday and then have no contact with the outside community.  It would seem that the Olympics Committee and China are determined to win against the Pandemic.  With or without athletes there for competition.   Here are some experiments with Filter Forge software - another distortion program.  The original is the first picture - in camera multi-exposure of our translucent plastic garbage can in the sun

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Aug 9 2021 - Olympics Fade but the Jokes Live On

 

The Olympics concluded with its medal counts and highlight pictures.  It seemed like an echo of past Olympics with allegations of bribery, plagiarism of the initial design, and illegal construction overwork.  And then there were the worries about weather. But in the end, the Olympics is declared a success with the excitement of big sports events between nations.   Do we have a sense of humour about the Olympics? It was difficult to find non-racist jokes for the Olympics. Here is the most repeated Olympic joke? At the Olympics a man walked up to a competitor who was carrying a very long pole. Excuse me, are you a pole vaulter? Nein, I am German, but how did you know my name ist Walter? In contrast to all the racism, I found this site of Canada Olympic Jokes.  These were from around 2010 when Vancouver won the chance to host the 2010 Winter Olympics.  These aren't really jokes, but questions that were asked, and silly answers in response - the full set is HERE:   Now that Vancouver has won the chance to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, these are some questions people from all over the world are asking.  Believe it or not these questions about Canada were posted on an International Tourism Website.  Obviously the answers are a joke; but the questions were really asked. Q: I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow? (England) A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch them die. Q: Will I be able to see Polar Bears in the street? (USA) A: Depends on how much you’ve been drinking. Q: I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto – can I follow the Railroad tracks? (Sweden) A: Sure, it’s only Four thousand miles, take lots of water. Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Canada ? (Sweden) A: So it’s true what they say about Swedes. Q: Are there any ATM’s (cash machines) in Canada ? Can you send me a list of them in Toronto, Vancouver , Edmonton and Halifax ? (England) A: No, but you’d better bring a few extra furs for trading purposes. Q: Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada ? (USA) A: Only at Thanksgiving. Q: Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round? (Germany) A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of Vegan hunter/gathers. Milk is illegal. Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Canada , but I forget its name. It’s a kind of big horse with horns. (USA) A: It’s called a Moose. They are tall and very violent, eating the brains of anyone walking close to them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking. Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA) A: Yes, but you will have to learn it first. A nice locomotive for our picture today.

July 26 2021 - Stay up late or get up early for Olympics Live!

 

What is the latest Olympics news?  There's 9 minutes ago, 31 minutes ago, 8 hours ago, and the NBC coverage is 23 hours ago.   It is 9:44pm in Japan now so there must be a lot of news overnight.  What a complicated thing this is - take COVID together with the time difference, and the Olympics is not able to be the live experience that was so spectacular in the past. Do you stay up late, or get up early? Here's the timing for Great Britain coverage of favoured events: Monday 26 July – Adam Peaty, 100m breaststroke final, 3am Tuesday 3 August – Laura Kenny, team pursuit final, 8am Wednesday 4 August – Sky Brown, skateboard park final, 1am For Canada, the CBC website has a headline that says the time difference story: "While you were sleeping:  Canada's 1st Olympic champion in Tokyo".  There's a feature box  on the site - While you were sleeping - All the news from Tokyo 2020 that happened while you slept. I guess this will be repeated when the winter Olympics are hosted by China.  Will it be COVID in the past?  That's the question on our minds. Isn't this such a pretty hand-painted "postcard" on one of the Painted Ladies' fences in Grimsby Beach.  Millie and I were there this morning.