Olympic Games: Days 12-16

The Olympics are over T_T I'm happy and sad at the same time. Happy because I really enjoyed the games this time around. I think it's the fact that I was practically in the same time zone, so got to watch a lot of events live. Also, for many athletes, it wasn't their first game and therefore, I was familiar with a lot of them... so it just added a little something. There were so many good moments and good performances. I'm sad because it's over. Although I have to admit that by Sunday, I think I was ready for it to be over LOL.

My sister and I joke at every Olympic games about Canada being best at finishing 4th ^_^; Fourth place is always tough, but I think it's even tougher at the Olympic games because they come every 4 years... and Rio Olympics wasn't an exception. We probably had close to 10 4th place finish... and every one of them were heart-breaking. Especially the last night of athletics where we got 3 and all of them were personal/season best performances. Perhaps we care too much about medals? What really matters is the athletes doing the best they could and being happy with their own performances...

Some of my highlights:


1. Ryan Cochrane and Hilary Caldwell

This is somewhat bittersweet. For the past 8 years, Ryan Cochrane has been the pillar of Team Canada's swimming team. He's been the one to make it on the podium consistently at all the important events. He got bronze in Beijing and silver in London. This Olympics, he really wanted to make it on the podium in honor of his coach who passed away last year... but alas, it didn't happen. It's most probably his last Olympics and I'm so sad :( Hilary Caldwell had the same coach as Ryan and the same goal. She emerged in 2013 and has been quite consistent ever since. It was just really beautiful to see the two of them swim in memory of their coach.


2. Evan Dunfee

It sounds weird, but one of the most interesting event I got to watch this Olympics was the men's 50km walk. 50km walk!! And do you know how fast they walked that?! About 3h40m!! Crazy! LOL. The walk event actually caught my attention at last year's world championship, so I knew to look out for it at the Olympics. Anyway, Evan Dunfee... Wow. Evan came in 4th which is impressive in itself, but what amazed me even more was the man itself: his sportsmanship and his integrity. Halfway through the walk, everyone thought the Olympic champion was already determined and the rest of the field would be fighting for silver and bronze as world record holder, the Frenchman Yohann Diniz had taken over a 1.5 minute lead. However, he started having cramps and other issues and had to stop. When Evan who was leading the chase group took over, he actually pat Yohann on the back and encouraged him to continue. That was already an amazing gesture... but there's more. Two kilometers before the finish line, Evan was fighting for the bronze with Japanese walk racer Hirooki Arai. Evan passed Arai, but the Japanese came back. When he did, he bumped into Evan... disrupting Evan's rhythm. Don't know if you've ever seen it, but these walkers walk funny LOL. And when they've been doing it for more than 4 hours, they're into this rhythm... and once disrupted, it's really hard to get back into it. So Hirooki got bronze and Evan 4th place. However, the race officials decided to disqualify Hirooki for the bump... giving Evan the bronze. The Japanese athletics committee protested and Hirooki was re-instated and got back his bronze medal and Evan was bumped down. It was Evan's decision whether to lodge a protest or not and he decided against. After reviewing the tape, he thought the officials' decision was fair - that Hirooki didn't mean the bump... and also, he was happy and proud of his race and didn't want a medal that way. Seriously, how many athletes would have acted the way Evan did? and for that, he's earned my respect. I'll forever support him LOL. And look at him and Hirooki at the closing ceremony!!


3. Catharine Pendrel

In London, Catharine Pendrel was the favorite to win, but came in 9th. I don't know what was the expectations for Rio, but race didn't start well because she was involved in a crash. At one point, she was 15th and had to come back from behind to win bronze... She displayed such grit and determination and was simply awesome. Just too unfortunate that her fellow Canadian, Emily Batty, was 4th...


There were tons of other moments that were great for me and not just from team Canada... but it'd be too long to list them all :) Lots of high emotions and good performances. I'm already looking forward to Tokyo 2020!!

Olympic Games: Days 6-11

Only a few more days till the Olympics are over already!! How did that happen? I feel like it just started! Once it's over, I'm going to go into serious withdrawal ^_^;

Here are my highlights for days 6-11:

1. Derek Drouin

Derek Drouin is a high jumper and the first Canadian since 1932 to win gold at an Olympic in that event!! He caught my eye in the London Olympics when he won bronze. Ever since then, I've been following his career. Last year, he won his first world championship... and to follow that with an Olympic title, that's just impressive as hell! :) I'm really happy for him, especially since he won in such a beautiful fashion - clearing all the heights on his first attempts. Seriously though, the high jump competition tonight was really thrilling! Had me, my dad and my sister on the edge of our seats :) Something else that I like about Derek is his attitude: so composed during the competition and humble afterwards. I hope he continues for another Olympic cycle!

2. Brianne Theisen-Eaton

I've been following heptathlon for quite a while. Initially, it was because of Carolina Kluft from Sweden whom I admired a lot. Then, Canadian heptathletes started to do really well and there's nothing better than cheering for your own country right? :) During the London Olympics, Brianne Theisen-Eaton stood out for me. She was the future of Canada in that event. Plus, it's no secret I'm a big romantic and there's nothing cuter than a couple competing together at the Olympics :) In Rio, Brianne and her husband, Ashton, were both aiming for gold... and they were both favorites coming in, Brianne being the wold vice-champion and Ashton, the world champion and world record holder. Unfortunately, the first day didn't go so well for Brianne... but she made an incredible comeback in day 2, especially in javelin throw, to climb back up from 6th place to bronze :) I'm so happy she made it on the podium after all the work she put in and the expectations she had. By the way, seeing Brianne with Ashton makes you believe that love really exists... their love is palpable when they support and cheer each other.

3. He Zi & Qin Kai

Speaking of love, did you guys see Qin Kai propose to He Zi just after she won silver in the 3m springboard diving? Both of them are Chinese divers and have been dating for 6 years. Qin Kai won a bronze earlier in 3m synchronized swimming and He Zi won silver on that day. After the medal ceremony, he walked up on the stage and proposed. A lot of people criticized Qin Kai's gesture, saying that he stole her thunder or whatever. In my opinion, he just wanted to start their new chapter in life. Rio was most probably the last olympic game for the two of them and what a way to end them, right? Also, it was so cute to see the female divers coming to congratulate He Zi and ask to see her ring LOL. Remind us that these athletes are also regular people :P

4. Rosie MacLennan

Rosie MacLennan is a trampoline gymnast. Four years ago, in London, she won the only gold medal for Canada. As a result, she was chosen to be our flag bearer for Rio... where she successfully defended her olympic title!! It was such a great routine and another really exciting event to watch. So awesome to see her reaction and know that four years of hard work and perseverance have paid off. Especially since she suffered a brain concussion in the last year. Winning a gold medal at the Olympic games is hard... but defending a title is even harder. So I'm really happy for Rosie that she did :)

Also, isn't that photo amazing?

5. Canada's men volleyball team

Congrats to Canada's men volleyball team for making it to the quarter-finals after a clutch win against Italy. It's been 20 years since Canada last had a men volleyball team in the Olympics and it was a tough road for them to even just qualify! So to make it out of the "death" pool was awesome! Going to be knocking on wood and crossing every fingers for the game against Russia tomorrow!!

***

That's it for me now! Hopefully, I'll have plenty more highlights in the next few days!!

Olympic Games: Days 1-5

Are you enjoying the Olympic Games so far? Because I know I am :)

It's really been a long time since the Olympic Games were in the same time zone as me or almost. Gotta say, I'm loving the one hour difference with Brazil right now! My days have all been about Olympic Games since Saturday :) When I wake up, it's already started with rowing and when I go to bed after swimming and/or beach volleyball, it's usually past midnight LOL. I predict I'll be crashing soon though ^_^; I could feel it tonight...

And the coverage has been awesome :) Because both English and French are Canada's official languages, we've always "double" coverage of the Olympics - English and French :) So I'm able to watch both... and they don't always feature the same events at the same time. Plus, there's all the live streams online. I've really been in heaven :)

Anyway, long story short, here are some highlights of the Olympics so far for me :)


1. Penny Oleksiak:

This young lady is going to be the queen of Rio Olympics for Canada :) She's a 16-years-old swimmer and have won 3 medals so far (1 silver 100m butterfly and 2 bronzes in relays), with potential for a few more! In the last couple of Olympic games, Canada has gone through a drought in swimming, earning 3 medals. They have had to rebuild the program and guess what? We're seeing the results this year!! What makes it so sweet too is that her results are unexpected. Oh, people knew that Penny Oleksiak was talented and a strong swimmer... but being only 16, this is her first big international meet! They didn't know how she'd fare with the competition... and now, all of Canada knows :)


2. Djokovic vs Del Potro:

I didn't see the match, but the number 1 seed being eliminated in the first round was big news!! My first reaction upon seeing that it was Del Potro who won over Djokovic was joy :) I love Del Potro and has been wondering what he's been up to. I know he's had a few wrist injuries and it seems it's taken him time to recover and build back his ranking. To see him win over Djokovic is such a big accomplishment! Very happy. And then, I saw Djokovic leaving the court in tears and I felt so sad for him. I've never been a huge fan of Djokovic, but seeing how important the Olympics were for him made me like him more. There are so many "professional" athletes, especially in golf and tennis, who backed out of the Olympics and I found it so disrespectful. For so many athletes, the Olympics is the ultimate accomplishment for them. To be able to make it to the Olympics mean everything... and then, you have those who makes millions of dollars turning their noses at the Olympics! Yes, they were all concerned about the zika virus and so on... but do you see all the other athletes there?! So to see how important the Olympics were for Djokovic, it made me respect and like him better.


3. Antoine Valois-Fortier:

Antoine Valois-Fortier is Canadian judoka who won bronze at the London Olympics. That medal was somewhat a surprise and his breakthrough moment. In the past 4 years, he trained really hard and did everything so he could be on the podium again at the Rio Olympics. Unfortunately, Antoine's draw was very difficult and he ranked 7th. His matches were hard fought and his losses were heart-breaking... but what I'll always remember is his disappointment. Right after he lost his last match, he was interviewed... and he was bawling his eyes out. Could not lift his face to face the reporter, he was crying and kept swiping at his tears. I felt the reporter was very insensitive and Antoine should have been given time to settle down before these interviews. We all want to know how our athletes feel and what are their thoughts; however, this level of voyeurism is unnecessary.

I hope to see him again in the Tokyo Olympics.


4. Kohei Uchimura:

The Japanese gymnast has been nicknamed King Kohei because of his dominance in men's gymnastics. The man has won the last Olympics' all-around gold medal as well as 6 world championships in a row!! That is unheard of! I've been a fan of Kohei for, hmmmm, 5 years I think, and was rooting for him to win today... and he did!! However, today, King Kohei had big competition. Oleg Verniaiev, a 22 year-old Ukrainian, gave the performance of his life. The two were competing in the same rotation, one after another, and it came down to the last apparatus, the horizontal bar, with Oleg in the lead. In the end, Kohei nailed his routine while Oleg's was not as difficult and not as clean and as a result, Kohei won by a margin of 0.1. Talk about a thrilling finish!!

Kohei has already announced that he intends to go to the next Olympics which will be held in Tokyo, Japan. I wonder if he'll be able to maintain his position and face all these youngsters who have him as a role model :)

***

So those are some of my highlights so far :) Overall though, Canada is doing really well at Rio, especially in team sports!  Shout out to the women's soccer team for beating Germany for the first time ever, the women's rugby 7 by making history by finishing 3rd in the sport's debut at the Olympics and to the men's volleyball team for upsetting the US in their first game :)

What about you? What has been your moments so far?

Olympic Games: Rio 2016

Ever since I was young, I've always loved watching sport events... I don't know where this love comes from. Other than curling, I've never really practiced a sport. Sure, I enjoyed track and field and phys ed classes in school, but that's about it. There's also a lot of sports I would not try... Yet, when it's on TV, I'm there. And when you add patriotism to the mix, I'm your leading cheerleader LOL. Needless to say, the Olympic Games are my version of TV heaven :)

Officially, Rio 2016 is starting on Friday with the opening ceremony. Unofficially though, it started today with the first games in the women's soccer tournament. Canada did well, upsetting Australia 2-0! There's been a lot of drama revolving around Rio 2016 and more so than usual, especially with the doping scandal. However, I believe that in the end, the beauty of sports will prevail... and I seriously can't wait for the Olympic Games to start and the first medals to be awarded :)

So I'm curious... are you a fan of the Olympic Games? What events will you be watching? Any particular athletes you'll be following?

When it comes to Olympic Games, I almost watch everything. Although I admit that basketball, boxing, field hockey, golf and water polo aren't much my cup of tea. Also, I prefer events that don't have too many qualification rounds or that don't span on too many days. I guess if I really had to choose, track and field, swimming, rowing, gymnastics and all the racing events are my favorites LOL.

As for athletes, I definitively have a list of people I want to follow during these games. Most of them are veterans and have been to the Olympics already and that's why I know them :) Others are medal hopes for Canada and have been featured predominantly as we neared the games. However, I don't have one in mind particularly ;)

Last, but not least, kudos to Team Canada on FB. They did a really fabulous job showcasing athletes, the qualification process and just stir up excitement for the Olympic Games. It was a lot easier this year to get ready for the Olympics :)

Things on my mind...

So here are things on my mind...

Roar to the Rings - Canada has finally decided on its curling representatives for Vancouver 2010. I'm a bit disappointed with the results - I was really hoping Jennifer Jones and her team would make it... but the team got off to a bad start. Then, during the tie-breaker, I was rooting for Stephanie Lawton, but she got eliminated... then, Amber Holland... and Krista McCarville... In the end, Cheryl Bernard won. I'm happy with the results. She proved to be the best during the trials and so, she deserves her spot. However, this bodes badly for me - if everyone I root for ends up losing ^_^;

On the men's side, I was rooting for Glenn Howard... just because this would have been his first Olympics. It was between him and Kevin Martin and Martin won. Ah well, it was kind of expected.

So overall, I'm a bit disappointed, simply because my favorite teams didn't make it... but can't complain, because both Cheryl Bernard and Kevin Martin's rinks are good... and I had a lot of fun watching the trials :)

***

Speaking of sports, unrelated to the Olympics, but still noteworthy... Justine Henin, my favorite tennis player, is back!! Woohoo!! I'm so glad to hear this :) So far, she won a few exhibition matches... and that's good :) Can't wait till January when the WTA season starts again :) Really looking forward to Australian Open now :)

I kind of lost interest in tennis a little last year... but with Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin's comebacks, things should get interesting again :)

***

I really don't understand how publishers price their books. Seriously. Some books are now 10.99$ CAD. Let me repeat, 10.99$ CAD. Last I checked, the 1$CAD = 0.94$US. So can someone explain to me why a book that is priced 7.99$US = 10.99$CAD?!?

With the Canadian dollar being so strong, pricing on books should decrease. However, it's not the case! It's actually increasing, so I really don't understand the publisher's reasoning. I could accept 1$ difference... but 3$ - that's way too much. This what actually what I was paying 1$CAD = 0.50-0.60$! So I really hope prices come down soon...

And please, don't bother pointing out e-books. Not interested.

***

S, my friend/co-worker, finally deposited his thesis today. Yay!! It's finally over, finished, done!! Sure, it's not perfect, but at this point, you cannot ask for miracle. Today was actually his deadline and he had till 5pm. My other co-worker, J, and I were joking and telling S that if by 4.45pm, he wasn't going to make it... to jump in front of a car - that would give him a good excuse LOL. In the end, he called us at 4.50pm to tell us it was all done (the printing and binding). So happy for him :) Now, we'll have to see whether he passes or fails, but it's out of our control.

It was a bit crazy the past few days, proof-reading his thesis. Luckily, J is fluent in English... Our boss corrected the content, I proof-read and I had J proof-reading after me. So S still had a lot of corrections to do today and a 150 words abstract... and he had to translate it in French!! Oh gosh. Seriously, scientific writing in French is hard and impossible. I can't imagine people going into sciences in French... It sounds so weird. There was no way I could translate a 150 words abstract in English to 150 words abstract in French. We reached 198 words and I was really proud... and then, you had our boss making changes and stuff. Every hour, he would call S up to talk and every time, for about 30 minutes. At 2pm, he still had S changing his rationale of the study! I mean, are you kidding me?!?! Just let it go!

Anyway, it's all done. S now owns us a meal LOL :)

***

Speaking of work... My boss is going to Cuba with his family from Dec. 24 to Dec. 31!!! Woooohooo!! You know what that means, right? It means, I'll have some time off :) I might have to come to the lab one or two mornings, but it shouldn't be that busy :) So that's some good news :D

***

Oh, I almost forgot... I know, how could I really forget books?

I need some books suggestions... what was your greatest reads lately? I have all those coupons and I have nothing to buy :( It's just sad.

I was actually thinking of buying the Dante Valentine's series by Lilith Saintcrow. Anyone have read this? Lately, I find myself reading a lot of urban fantasy... and this has caught my attention... Especially since the series if finished.

I've also seen a few other books... The Sweetheart's Knitting Club by Lori Wilde... A Zebra release about vampires... but I can't remember the author right now.

I need to check Li's blog, Me and my Books, because I remember she mentioned Moira Moore. Now would be a good time to buy one or two of this author's books.

By the way, anyone knows whether Jordan Summers's Dead World series is finished or not? I can't find that information. I recently read Red and it was okay. I do have Scarlet in my TBR pile already and I've skimmed through it... and meh. Not too sure about it. Crimson, the third book is out, and I'm debating whether to buy it or not. If the series is over, I might cave... but if not, I think I will just stop.

***

Okay, I should be going to sleep. Haven't had much sleep lately... and I think that I caught a cold again because of lack of sleep. I should know better by now.

Tomorrow is TBR challenge. I read the book, hope I'll have time to write the review :)

In the spirit of the Olympic Games 2010...

Sigh, another busy week. I hope it will slow down for the holidays. Actually, the good news is that my boss might be going on vacation this year, from December 24 to 31 :) That would be soooo cool! That would mean some days off :) Woohooo!

We got lots of snow yesterday. I don't know how much, but at least 30cm. Luckily, most people were prepared to the worst - so lots of schools were closed and many either stayed home or took the public transport. As a result, there wasn't any traffic - that is so rare! Even this morning wasn't so bad. The only bad thing about the snow is that it wasn't the fluffy kind. Instead, we got wet snow, so very heavy.

Roar to the Rings is the Olympic trial for curling in Canada and it's almost over. I actually just finished watching the last draw for the men round robin. The top 3 teams from last year made it, so that's good. Don't really have a favorite among them, so whoever goes, I'm fine. Actually, I hope it'll be Stoughton, because he seems to have been runner-up many times!! As for the women, well my favorite team is out of the race :( Very unfortunate. There are going to be two tie-breaker games, so right now, I'm rooting for Stephanie Lawton. Of course, having said that probably jinxed her chances LOL. We'll know the results this week-end :)

Speaking of the Olympic Games, I mentioned that the Olympic flame was going through my town on December 8. Didn't have the chance to see it, because I was at work... but guess what? I caught it this evening!! Was really lucky. I was hanging out at the bookstore, waiting for my sister... and when she joined me, we discovered that the Olympic flame was going to be relayed from one carrier to the other right in front of the bookstore!! So we waited and watched :D This was really, really great... my sister was especially happy, since she was very disappointed that we missed it on Tuesday. I'm happy too :) Royal Bank of Canada is one of the Olympic sponsor and it happened that there was one right front of the bookstore... so they were giving away pompoms and some inflated sticks so we could make noise :)

I have some pictures and a video. The pictures didn't come out very nice... and the video has no sounds :( This is a new camera and I haven't had time to figure out all the settings and modes. I definitively need to do that this week-end... But still, I have a memory of a very rare event :) So it's a nice memory :D I'm planning to go to The Bay tomorrow and buy some Olympics clothing or memorabilia :)

It's funny because people didn't know what was happening really, except that the Olympic flame was coming. The carrier was waiting in front of RBC and there was a crowd around him, people taking pictures. A lot of passerbys were like: Why isn't his torch burning? And then, someone told us that he was actually waiting for another carrier to come to him and light up his torch :) Anyway, it was cool to witness and I'm glad we were able to get a video :D

New job starting...

Hi everyone!!

Sorry I've been in and out lately in blogland :) (Although, I'm not the worst, LOL) However, I should be back more regularly starting Tuesday... since I start my new job :D

Yep, vacation finally coming to an end :( Although I did enjoy an extra week. It's quite strange that I'm anxious to start work, as if I've been on vacation for too long (which believe me, it's not the case). I guess it's due a bit to uncertainty - my new boss doesn't seem to know how it works and the proper procedures. Doesn't bode well for a lot of thing, sigh :(

By the way, for those who wondered about how my medical exam went on Tuesday... it went well. They just wanted to know if I was up-to-date with my shots and what they needed to do to "protect" me since I'm going to be working with body fluids. I did get poked a lot though - 6 times. I had a shot (which made my left arm sore for the rest of the week), a PPD test... and it took 4 attempts for them to draw blood ^_^; Apparently, I have tanned a lot recently and so, it's hard to find my veins.

I'm glad to say that I'm reading! Yay! I might be able to salvage the month of August a bit LOL :) I've read 4 books this week and hoping to read a bit more this last week... Strangely, what got me out of my slump is a historical... One Night of Scandal by Teresa Medeiros... For one that prefers contemporary, this is a surprise LOL :) But I'm really glad :) Speaking of books... I finally signed up to Shelfari!! After a few bloggers (Ames, Jill and Samantha) have glommed about this, I just had to try it out... also, it kept me from cleaning my room LOL :) always a plus :) I've never signed up to these sites (Shelfari, LibraryThing)... because I usually have difficulty keeping track of my reads and stuff... so we'll see how it goes :)

Finally, the Olympics :) Yay!!! I'm really glad I had this extra week of vacation because it gave me the opportunity to watch everything :) Canada was pretty desperate at the end of the first week since we had no medals... and in the end, we won 18 in one week :) Not bad at all! :) Oh, for those who wonders, we came in 4th 9 or 10 times LOL :) I told you, Canada's favorite position! Can you imagine if it was a medal instead of 4th place?!? Anyway, these Olympics were great and highly enjoyable :)

It's been quiet in blogland :) What's up with everyone?

Congratulations for Captain Canada!!!

I'd like to take a moment to congratulate Captain Canada, Ian Miller, for winning a silver medal along with teammates Eric Lamaze, Jill Henselwood and Mac Cone in team show jumping. They were riding respectively: In Style, Hickstead, Special Ed and Ole.

I have to say, Ian Miller has always been a sentimental favorite of mine. I'm always rooting for him and this Olympics Game was no different... and when I say always, I really mean it LOL :) Ian Miller is 61 years old and this is his 9th Olympics Games and this silver medal is his first Olympic medal. He has finally captured this elusive medal and this is just amazing!!

I just want to congratulate him for his perseverance and for always believing in his dreams and never giving up. I mean, it would have been so easy to just give up. He really showed to all the pessimists that he deserved his spot on the team Canada as the anchor rider. To anyone who says he should retire and give his place to younger riders, well in your face. He completely deserves to be on the team. To all those who says: "9th Olympics and this is his only medal," just try it out. He deserves our respect and that's why I hope he'll be our flag-bearer for the closing ceremony!!

Captain Canada, I hope to see you in 4 years in London 2012 :) This time, I wish for you you'll have your two children as teammates! :)

Almost over...

Sigh, Thursday night already... that means my vacation is almost over :( The worst is it seems that the next few days are going to be even more busy :( Let see... Tomorrow, I'm supposed to go fill the HR paperwork for the new job (finally!), lunch with a friend, some shopping and perhaps a farewell dinner. Then, on Saturday I have to go to the temple and to work... Sunday, might go to an amusement park - which I don't really enjoy (I don't like rides), but I will go to hang out with friends... and oh, tomorrow, I have to go to the passport office. Since it's the last day, it's going to be my last chance.

Here's my to do list and its status:

1) Visit the professor (master supervisor)
2) Take pictures for passport
3) Passport
4) HR paperwork for job next week
5) Video rental store...
6) Catch up with some friends...
7) Send a package to Holly

I'm going to do no. 3 and 4 tomorrow, so that is soon to be crossed out... and unfortunately, I think that no. 5 won't happen. Sigh. Too bad. I kind of feel bad because I have tapes and dvds from the rental store... it'll be easier to go though, I think, once I start my new job since it'll be quite close. Ah well...

The worst thing though is I haven't been reading T_T How sad is that? 2 weeks and I think I read 2 or 3 books. Pathetic, I'm telling you. At least, I've been buying new books... Hopefully, my reading mojo will be back soon and I'll have tons of reviews for you!!

So that's it for me. I'll try to blog more... but I have a question... where is everyone? It's been sooo quite on blogland :(

Oh by the way, Olympics? Sigh... still no medals for Canada, but hopefully this week-end. Otherwise, it's fun to watch... but I think I'm overdosing, LOL :)

I love living in Quebec... not

I don't have much to say ^_^; Vacation still going slowly and relax. I was able to complete no. 6 and 7 from my To Do list. I'll try to accomplish more today. By the way, as usual, I forgot to add 'Clean my messy room' on the list. Sigh. We're having a guest staying for a couple of days and my mom is in total frenzy. Seriously, she's almost welcoming a complete stranger. Sometimes, I don't know what she's thinking.

Haven't had the chance to read much. Well I did read a bit, but nothing that wow-ed me :(

Olympics-wise... well, seriously, while I enjoy watching all the competitions and sports, let say, there's not much to cheer for for Canada. We still have no medals and all our hopes are popping like balloons. Sigh. It's quite sad...

Oh by the way, you might be wondering about the title of my post? Have to say, I like where I'm living, but sometimes... just sometimes... Ames came to visit me right? and of course, she had to show me her new toy, her Sony e-reader. It's very nice and I have to say it's the first time I've seen one. I know there's been posts about what to look for in a e-reader and blabla, but I never paid attention to it, because I don't plan to switch to e-reader anytime soon. Anyway, so Ames showed me hers... and I was curious. I wanted to have another look at it and check out the price and so on. So yesterday, while shopping, I went into Sony store... couldn't find the e-reader anywhere. I found the thing to protect the e-reader, but no e-reader in sight. So I asked the saleman... Anyone one to guess what he told me? Come on, just guess...

Yep, the e-reader is not available in Quebec province... because the program is only in English. UGH, are you freaking kidding me?!?! Of course, you're not. So yeah, ridiculous... but what do you want? That's how it is in Quebec. Ugh.

Olympics: Oh Canada...

Yay, first day of the Olympics and there's been some nice action so far!! :) So much more coming though... It's now noon in Montreal, i.e. midnight in Beijing, and therefore, tv coverage is taking a break till 6pm. Boooo...


Before the start of the Olympics, the predictions of medals for Canada were somewhere around 12 to 16, trying to rank 16th overall. Quite low for a country like Canada in my opinion, but what can we do? Well, obviously, put more money in sport programs and stop favoring the winter sports. Anyway, 12 to 16 medals, that's quite good already... and don't forget the 4th places that we are going to accumulate. Did I ever mention it? Canada is cursed with 4th place finishes. We always miss things by a hair. Same thing for the qualifications... You don't believe me? Let see, in many sports, finishing within the top 8 is necessary for qualification... Day 1: 2 9th place finishes in swimming (despite the guys improving their own times) and in artistic gymanastics, the male Canadian team missed the top 8 by 0.375 points... Yep, we finished 9th again. It's kind of sad that we always miss by a hair :( Would be less painful if it was by a lot. I'm sure the Canadian head coach is angry at himself right now for a bad decision (one of the gymnasts has an ankle injury, but was not taken off the team - I understand why, but at the same time, having someone in top shape would have made the difference).

Speaking of artistic gymnastic... One of the top stories coming into the Beijing Olympics is Kyle Shewfelt, olympic champion on the floor at Athens 4 years ago. See, our top gymnast broke BOTH his legs about 10 months ago. Can you imagine that? So being able to come back and participate to the Olympics game is awesome. Congrats to him!!! Kind of sucks though that after all his hard work, he won't be able to defend his title or participate to any of the engins finale :( And since team Canada did not qualify for the team competition, his Olympics are over :( But hat off to him for making it :)

Of course, there's not only disappointment. Micheal Barry finished 9th in the men road race and he was aiming for a top 10 finish. Frazer Will got 7th in judo (I think in the < 60kg category)which was what he expected. In weight-lifting, Marilou Dozois-Prevost came in 10th in the 48kg women category. Pretty good for someone who wasn't supposed to go to the Olympics.

LOL, that's it for Day 1... now, I can read a little bit and perhaps write a book review, yay!! by the way, Ames is lucky... the weather in Montreal so far is quite nice. It's been very rainy lately and there's a lot of floods... Perhaps her presence brought the sun out? :)

Beijing Olympics 2008 begins!!!

Hi everyone!! How are you doing? My first week of vacation is coming to an end, NOOOOO!!!

So far, my vacations have been quiet and a bit boring. Haven't done much. Did hang out with a friend and went to see The Mummy 3. I've also been gorging on food LOL :) Miam. Otherwise, nothing very special and reading is going so-so. I'll try to review some more!

While I'm waiting for Ames to get to Montreal and give me a call, I've been watching the Olympics opening ceremony! Very nice and impressive :) I'm so happy the Olympics have started, because I'm such a fan!!! Now, I just can't wait for the sports competitions to actually start!! I'll probably be blogging more about the Olympics than books in the next 2 weeks, so bear with me :)

By the way, I just got Acheron yesterday. Have to admit, I don't really feel like reading it. I'm only interested in the second part of the book and after skimming through it, meh. I bought The Host by Stephanie Meyer, thanks to DC's guest review over at Book Binge. Don't know though when I'll get to it...

So anyone has plans for the week-end? I'm working at the Fathers' place the whole day tomorrow (8.30am to 9pm)... luckily, there'll be the Olympics to watch! Otherwise, I think I'll only read...

All right, I'm going to eat lunch :) Sushi are calling my name... miam :)