My Favourite Olympics Commercial

I like how this Bell ad shows the varied everyday settings in which Canadians across the country are watching the Sochi Olympics. My faves include the guy scraping his windshield at 0:29 and the hockey players who shmush up against the plexiglass at 0:45! Love the high-energy Russian folksong too.



And oh yeah, don't miss the gay male couple kissing in celebration at 0:24! Just for you, Putin!

Trying My Hand at Writing a Legal Drama

Crown Prosecutor: If it please Your Lordship, this is a sad and tragic case. Debra She Who Seeks stands before you today accused of the offence of being willing -- nay, eager -- to wear, contrary to the law of good public taste, any or all of these outrageously tacky t-shirts as pictured recently on the internet:

I file as Exhibit "A" this incriminating photograph taken in June 2013 at the City of Hamilton in the Province of Ontario. In it you can quite clearly see that the accused publicly wore, in the presence of two or more witnesses, her favourite cat t-shirt of a similar kind and nature as the offending t-shirts in question.

The accused's criminal proclivities being self-evident, I submit therefore that you have no option but to convict the accused of bad fashion sense and questionable judgment. Milord, the Crown rests.

The Court: Counsel for the defence, you may present your case.

The Defence: We are in no position to offer any evidence in rebuttal, Milord. Res ipsa loquitur -- "the thing speaks for itself."

The Accused: Hey, WTF am I paying you for, asshole? I'm being railroaded here -- railroaded, I tellz ya!

The Court: Order! Order in the court! Guards, taser the accused!

Some time later, after the accused regains consciousness, the Court renders judgment:

It's Valentines Day!

Well, February 14th is here again. Some people love it, some people hate it. So I've made a point of gathering a selection of LOLs specially tailored for each side of the great divide.

For those of you who like the holiday: Happy Valentines Day!

For those of you who hate the holiday: Die, Valentines Day, Die!

And just one last word to the wise for anyone celebrating today. The only thing worse than taking your valentine for dinner here . . . .

. . . would be something like this:

Oh Tretyak, my Tretyak

My Rare One and I really enjoyed watching the Opening Ceremonies from Sochi on Friday night. The biggest thrill for me was seeing Vladislav Tretyak light the Olympic Flame.

Who the hell is Vladislav Tretyak? Every Canadian (of a certain age) knows!

Here he is, young and handsome, in 1972. Oh, I had such a crush on him! (What? I was 15 years old and under the mistaken impression that I was straight like everyone else. Gimme a break.)

Yes, he was the Soviet Union's goalie in the 1972 Canada-Russia Hockey Summit Series. It was the first time West and East had ever met on the ice. To hear Canadian politicians and sportscasters tell it, the series would determine who won the Cold War plus the fate of the entire Free World. Canada arrogantly thought the series would be a piece of cake and we'd send the Russkies home with their tails between their legs. But it didn't work out that way at all. The Russians damn near won the series. It was only Paul Henderson's goal in the dying seconds of the final game that gave Canada the series win. The whole thing was ridiculous, really.

Anyway, I was also a fan of Alexander Yakushev who was the Soviet Union's leading scorer. Very tall and craggy looking. And you know what? Since that series, I've always had a thing for both Slavs and Roman noses.

And you know what else? My Rare One has a cute Roman nose and is Ukrainian so yes, I'm in lesbian heaven now.

Backseat Driving Bickersons

This clip makes me laugh the guilty laugh of self-recognition. Bickering Thor and Loki remind me way too much of My Rare One and I sometimes when we're in the car together. I'll leave it up to you to figure out which is who.

Sochi Winter Olympics

So the Sochi Olympics start today. My Rare One and I will watch the Games for the next couple of weeks and cheer on our country as always. Go for the Gold, Canada!

I don't support boycotting the Sochi Games. Yes, Russia's attitudes and laws about homosexuality are wrong and hateful. Russia's oppression of its LGBTQ community is rightly condemned. But you know, our western attitudes and laws were exactly the same 50, 30, even 20 years ago. And there are still many haters in our countries who would gladly return to those days. How self-righteous are the countries of North America and Europe really entitled to be? A boycott would allow us to feel good but would undoubtedly provoke a prolonged and violent backlash against the Russian LGBTQ community. That community faces the same lengthy uphill battle as we did for rights and respect. But countries can only be changed from within and by their own people. Russians themselves must fight the good fight to create modern attitudes. I do not doubt they are capable of it. Some day the Russian bear will proudly wear rainbow colours too.

Most elite athletes train for their shot at Olympic glory practically their entire lives, from childhood on. Such athletes are at the peak of their performance level for only a very short time. It is not fair to them to take away what may be their only window of opportunity to win an Olympic medal. If the 1936 Olympic Games in Hitler's Germany could proceed, so can these. And who knows -- maybe the Sochi Olympics will produce its own Jesse Owens who will confound the haters!

But you know what? The Olympics have always been a little gay, both in ancient times --

-- and today as well, LOL!



Oh, so THAT'S why the Double Luge event is so popular!

And the Award for Impeccable Grooming goes to . . .