Skip to main content

Friday Five: Winter Olympics Edition

Friday Five suggestions come from here.

Songbird writes: It's been two weeks of snow, or not enough snow, of heartbreak before the action even began, of snowboards and skis and skates, of joy and sorrow. At our house, we've stayed up too late, and we don't even watch sports any other time!


1) Which of the Winter Olympic sports is your favorite to watch?

Well, deep, dark confession time, I don't have television. I haven't since 2004, so I haven't actually seen any Olympics in real time since 2002, I think. Those were in Salt Lake according to Google. I haven't seen any of this year's Olympic Games, not even the opening ceremony. I thought they might be available on Hulu, but, alas, they were not. I have, in the past, enjoyed watching speed skating. And I would enjoy watching the biathlon.

2) Some of the uniforms have attracted attention this year, such as the US Snowboarders' pseudo-flannel shirts and the Norwegian Curling team's -- ahem -- pants.

Who do you think had the best-looking uniforms?

Having not watched, I'm not sure. But I dig those pants.


3) And Curling. Really? What's up with that?

I have friends who have curled and some who still do. They love it. And why not. According to my husband, it's more athletic than ice dancing. (Dearest Husband believes in a reduced Olympic program, summer and winter, but that's a different post.) I think curling is fun to watch and I'm always impressed by team sports that 1) involve ice sweeping, 2) the word "spiel" and 3) fun pants and shoes. Curling it is!

4) Define Nordic Combined. Don't look it up. Take a guess if you must.

Nordic Combined is when, in a Lutheran congregation, you have 3 vocal Norwegians who wish to celebrate Norway's Constitution Day and 10 semi- vocal Swedes who do not. Then you have some German-heritage Lutherans who don't care and one pastor of Polish origin who doesn't have a dog in the Scandinavian fight, but enjoys eating Danish. So you have a Hymn Sing and compete, antiphonally, with "Now Thank We All Our God" and "A Mighty Fortress." Then you eat lefse, lutefisk, Swedish meatballs and, of course, Danish. The winner of the Nordic Combined (loudest singing + most eating + most liturgically correct Jello salad) gets a Garrison Keillor novel.


5) If you could be a Winter Olympics Champion just by wishing for it, which sport would you choose for winning your Gold Medal?

Cross-country skiing.

Comments

Unknown said…
Your #4 is fantastic!!! I think we have a Gold Medal! Will you shoot me an email at revsongbird@gmail.com?
Thanks.
February 26, 2010 at 6:08 PM
gena g. said…
I forgot the Danish and didn't medal. Sad. The Danish has to be the best part...only if it's creamfilled.
March 11, 2010 at 5:43 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Religious Holidays in Anchorage

You may have read in the Anchorage Daily News about a new policy regarding certain religious holidays and the scheduling of school activities. If not, a link to the article is here . The new rules do not mean that school will be out on these new holiday inclusions, but that the Anchorage School District will avoid scheduling activities, like sporting events, on these days. The new list includes Passover, Rosh Hashanah , Yom Kippur , Eid al - Fitr and Eid al - Adha . They are added to a list which includes New Year's, Orthodox Christmas and Easter, Good Friday, Easter, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. The new holidays may be unfamiliar to some: Passover is a Jewish celebration, in the springtime, that commemorates the events in Egypt that led up to the Exodus. The name of the holiday comes specifically from the fact that the angel of death "passed over" the houses of the Israelites during the plague which killed the eldest sons of the Egyptians. Passover is a holiday
Post a Comment
Read more

Latibule

I like words and I recently discovered Save the Words , a website which allows you to adopt words that have faded from the English lexicon and are endanger of being dropped from the Oxford English Dictionary. When you adopt a word, you agree to use it in conversation and writing in an attempt to re-introduce said word back into regular usage. It is exactly as geeky as it sounds. And I love it. A latibule is a hiding place. Use it in a sentence, please. After my son goes to bed, I pull out the good chocolate from my latibule and have a "mommy moment". The perfect latibule was just behind the northwest corner of the barn, where one had a clear view during "Kick the Can". She tucked the movie stub into an old chocolate box, her latibule for sentimental souvenirs. I like the sound of latibule, though I think I would spend more time defining it and defending myself than actually using it. Come to think of it, I'm not really sure how often I use the
2 comments
Read more

When the Body of Christ is Fat

Bitmoji Julia enjoys tea Within a very short amount of time, two people whom I love were called "fat ass". One of these slurs occurred in the church building and the other occurred in the same building and within the context of worship. Both incidents were the result of a person with already impaired judgment lashing out at the person who was in front of them, perceiving them to be unhelpful or denying aid or service. Regardless of the "why", the reality is that the name was uncalled for, hurtful, and aimed to be a deep cut. The reality is that a person who is under the influence of legal or illegal substances and often displays impaired judgment can still tell that body shaming- comments about shape, appearance, or size- is a way to lash out at someone who is frustrating you. That means those words and that way of using them are deeply rooted in our culture. An additional truth is that when we, as a congregation, attempted to console and listen to those who h
6 comments
Read more