Posts Tagged "Sochi"

Puppy Speaks Foreign Languages…Sort Of

Dear Kid,

Puppy: Iz Beautiful day
Me: Why are you talking with a Russian accent?
Puppy: Iz Talking Wiz Russian Accent Day
Me: Have you ever heard anyone talk with a Russian accent?
Puppy: Iz why iz very Bad Russian Accent
Me: I see
Puppy: I will have Borscht
Me: You will not
Puppy: To the Gulag with you

 

Puppy: Iz Beautiful day
Me: Why are you talking with a Russian accent?
Puppy: Iz Not beautiful day?
Me: Do you even know where Russia is?
Puppy: Da!
Me: Can you tell me?
Puppy: Iz where everyone speak with Russian accent! (Silly mommy)

 

Me: Why have you been speaking in a Russian accent?
Puppy: Iz to practice
Me: Practice what?
Puppy: Russian!
Me: But people in Russia speak Russian, they don’t speak English with a Russian accent
Puppy: But when talking to me, iz speaking with Russian accent
Me: But you’re here, not there
Puppy: Iz why to practice!

 

Me: Why are you practicing Russian?
Puppy: For Olympics
Me: Baby, the Sochi Olympics are over.
Puppy: For next Olympics. Da!
Me: The next Olympics are in Brazil
Puppy: Don’t be silly. The World Cup is in Brazil, not the Olympics
Me: The Summer Olympics next year will be in Brazil
Puppy: But I don’t speak Brazilian
Me: Neither do they. They speak Portuguese in Brazil
Puppy: I want a hot dog.

 

Puppy: How can they not speak Brazilian in Brazil?
Me: They just don’t
Puppy: Where do they speak Brazilian?
Me: Nowhere. Brazilian isn’t a language
Puppy: Doesn’t that confuse the Brazilians?
Me: They seem to manage

Love, Mom

For more puppy conversations see Puppy Conversations and Food Observations, Spring Puppy Conversations, New Puppy Conversations, Winter WonderPuppy | Baby It’s Cold Outside, Puppy Conversations Translated for the College Kid, Puppy Conversations and FIFA World Cup Soccer, Puppy Conversations and the Joy of Quirkiness, Puppy Conversations| In the Beginning, Puppy Conversations | What’s In a Name? and  Puppy Conversations | Puppy Plans a Party

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The Ceremonies Opened Even if the Rings Didn’t – The Olympics Are Here

Olympics Opening Ceremonies DearKidLoveMom.comDear Kid,

As promised, the Olympics have arrived. Ta Dah!

And the Fails continue (so sad). The hotel rooms still aren’t done which is making journalists grumpy. The snowflakes-turning-into-Olympic-rings was something less than it could have been given that one of the rings didn’t open (oops).

Gotta say, much as we love our US athletes (and we do) the costumes were as bad as promised. Worse since they didn’t have professional lighting, an outdated flag, and photoshop. Baggy sweats. Lovely impression to give the world. Ralph, your mother must be so proud.

And there’s the yogurt issue. Chobani wants to send a whole lot (and by “a whole lot” I mean 5,000 cups) of protein-carrying yogurt to the athletes in Sochi. The athletes think that’s a fine idea. The US thinks that’s a fine idea. Customs, the Department of Agriculture, and the entire House of Representatives (probably) think it’s a fine idea. Russia? Not so much.

The yogurt is stuck in Newark, NJ (and so far, no one is blaming Christie) because the Russians say the yogurt doesn’t have the right paperwork. The US says it is impossible to get “the right” paperwork. Russia is sticking with “na na na boo boo” for the moment and the yogurt is staying state-side.

Overall, the Opening Ceremony was Quite A Spectacle with lots of symbolism not all of us understood completely. Yeah, there was a random dog. Yeah, the Russians inadvertently invented a new look to the Olympic rings. Yeah, we didn’t quite get all of it. But that’s the Olympics. And if these are the worst conditions the journalists have had to endure then I say they’ve had some pretty cushy assignments.

So now it’s time to enjoy the competition, root for our favorite athletes, celebrate the world coming together in something other than war, and hope there are no injuries due to falls, crashes, or less than athletic terrorism.

Happy Olympics and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Love, Mom

 

 

 

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Sochi Opening Ceremony Outfits Are Here–And It’s Not Good

US flag with all 50 stars. Go USA DearKidLoveMom.comDear Kid,

You may have heard it said that there is nothing new under the sun.

This is of course not true, and there is now a New Horror Among Us: the outfits the US of A athletes will wear during the opening ceremonies of the Sochi Olympic games.

To be fair, it can’t be easy designing something for every body type represented by the team. Think great big hockey dudes and tiny little figure skater dudettes. But that is no reason to resort to the fashion statement we call Awful (as in full of awf).

Not only are the sweaters just hideous (and by hideous I mean hideous) the bottoms are sweatpants. Not just sweatpants. White sweatpants.

Do you know who looks good in white sweatpants? No one. I have researched the issue thoroughly and there is no one on the planet for whom white sweatpants are a good fashion choice.

Can you wear white sweats around the house? If it makes you happy, sure. Can you wear them to the gym? Why not. Should you wear them to go grocery shopping? If you must. But on an international stage where nations are showing off their finest? Um, no. No. Not now, not ever.

To make it even better (and by “better” I mean “much worse”) the publicity shot that was used to introduce us to this visual catastrophe had a flag in it. The US flag. With 48 stars. (Careful, don’t let your jaw hit the floor as you absorb the full impact of that particular faux pas.)

Embarrassing. That’s what it is. And expensive. The sweaters are upwards of $500 each and if you think that’s a good deal because it is commemorative or something you’re just wrong. (This is the point at which you should be very happy I gave you a pair of “GO” “USA” mittens and not one of these sweaters.)

On the plus side, I’m reasonably sure no athlete’s competitive performance has ever been impacted by their outfit in the opening ceremonies, so we’ve go that in our favor. And since they only have to wear these puppies at the opening ceremonies we have the whole rest of the Olympics to allow our retinas to recover.

Go. USA.

Love, Mom

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Sochi Update (Hint: It’s About Jamaica and Security)

Dear Kid,

Sorry to miss yesterday’s post. I have a cold and slept the majority of the last 36 hours. I feel much better today (thank you for asking).

Because of the four day weekend for Pi (teacher records day on Friday and MLK day on Monday—do you have classes Monday?), it has been Social Central here. Friends sleeping over, going out to see friends, going to the HS wrestling match, baking, etcetera, etcetera. Booker (for whom it is always a 4 day weekend), has been sleeping, shedding, and trotting around with his newly rediscovered squeaking chipmunk toy.

Dad has been playing chauffeur and marveling at my somnolent abilities.

Outside our little world, things have been slightly more interesting.

Jamaican Bobsled Team qualifies for Sochi DearKidLoveMom.comAccording to my friend the internet, the Jamaican 2-man bobsled team qualified for the Olympics for the first time since 2002.

There is, however, some question as to whether they will actually compete in Sochi since they don’t have the cash to go. Money is one of the reasons they cut from a four-man bobsled down to two. They are taking paypal donations and hoping that funders step up to make their dream come true. The Jamaican Olympic committee website makes no mention of winter Olympics, the 2002 games, or bobsledding.

In other Olympic news, there are still major concerns about safety during the Olympics. Australian athletes will not (repeat, not) be allowed to go outside Sochi during the Games and will be whisked out of Mother Russia and back to Australia just as soon as the games are over. The US hasn’t been quite that blunt but is repeating warnings to be careful. Britain is sending the SAS as part of the delegation to guard its athletes.

Putin is reportedly going to flood the area with security and police forces to keep everyone safe and Russia’s image untarnished. Bet he’s secretly wishing for the good ol’ days when he could enforce that a little more heavy handedly. Or maybe not since he’s so busy making horrid remarks about gays.

No one has booked a choir to sing Kumbaya every morning.

Love, Mom

 

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Sneak Peek at Some of the Sochi Olympic Hopefuls

Best wishes for all the Sochi athletes DearKidLoveMom.comDear Kid,

Things are heating up in the pre-Sochi world of elite athletes. There’s some good and some downright ugly.

The way Ashley Wagner is being treated on Twitter (badly) has me truly annoyed (and by “annoyed” I mean beyond fed up). In case you were doing something crazy like studying, the bottom line is that Ashley made the US Olympic Figure Skating team. The dust-up is that she did not do well at the national championships (and by “did not do well” I mean she fell twice) so many people think she should not have been chosen (and—more to the point—someone else should have).

The point—my point—is that it is Not Her Fault she was chosen and Twitterville (and I love Twitterville dearly) has got to stop being utterly evil to her. Her job right now is to do brilliantly in Sochi and we should be supporting that. Go ahead and write nastygrams to the Olympic committee. No prob. (Seriously, though. Are you only just now figuring out that ice skating and gymnastics decisions are often based on things other than that day’s performance? Grow up.)  Leave Ashley out of the ick. Btw—she is officially off social media until after the games. Probably a wise decision, but I wish it weren’t necessary.

Here’s some of the good.

Have you heard about the US Men’s Curling Team? They are exactly what the Olympics should be about imho. They are amateurs in the true sense. They have real day jobs: a restaurant manager, a middle-school science teacher, an engineer, and a college student. (Yeah, I get that “college student” isn’t a job exactly, but it’s close enough for what I’m talking about.) They don’t get to spend 100 hours a day practicing. They don’t earn enough money through gifts or sponsors or promotions to be worry free about financial realities. Their big sponsor is Dairy Queen—not exactly the training mecca of athletes everywhere. I think they may be my heroes of the week.

The US Women’s biathlon team has a story worthy of a Christmas TV special on Lifetime. Lanny and Tracy Barnes are twin sisters who both competed for the US in the 2006 Olympic games. During this year’s trials, Tracy earned a spot on the team, but Lanny was ill and missed three of the four tryout races (which does not do good things for one’s qualifying opportunities). Then (and this is the after school special part) Tracy gave up her spot and Lanny was tapped to take her place. Wild, huh?

In Olympic fashion news: watch for the Canadian men’s skeleton crew. Their helmets rock. Big time.

Glad to hear school is going well so far.

Love, Mom

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