Minnie & Ellen

I am a HUGE fan of Jimmy Fallon, his many talents and his new foray as the host of the Tonight Show. I am sure there will many posts to share over the next years with his crazy karaoke antics, celebrity game challenges and musical parodies. The man's talent is bottomless.

But lest we forget, Ellen has her own thing going on during the day time. Although I am not at home to watch, my feeds keep me abreast of her shenanigans as well. She has such a warm heart and endears her guests constantly - even while in humiliation. Here is a clip of her and Minnie Driver, who is also an overlooked gem. Her acting range is chameleon. And on a recent episode, Ellen and her do a mock audition for Downton Abbey, complete in period costume. The catch is the Minnie has no idea of the dialogue and is being fed via cue cards. She amuses and does not miss a beat. Both true treasures.

Song for Arizona

I am very politically motivated. This goes back to my union heritage and the blue collar roots on both sides of my family. So while the Olympics took a back seat and I pondered the ramifications of their human rights impact, the recent situation in Arizona irks me more, because it is taking place in our own front yard.

What are they thinking and who are they representing? I saw the Anderson Cooper interview with an inane Al Melvin and immediately tweeted the possible governor my adamant dismay at the whole political body there. They seem to be standing on warped principle without any information or grasp of the facts. His babbling made an entire state appear archaic and bigoted. I truly hope that is not the case.

It is with joy that I stumbled onto this fabulous songwriter and his bold statement towards the situation. Eric Himan was traveling to Phoenix to perform when the bill was passed. He felt compelled to put his thoughts and emotions into word and song. In a short matter of minutes he penned the song in his hotel and made a quick demo track. Here is his "Not Going Anywhere Tonight."His talent is humbling as is his heart in the number. I get exactly where he is coming from and eagerly share it with you.

Play for Pay

Jeff and I were talking the other day about corporate sponsored athletes. I had heard that it varies from sport to sport in terms of what is covered by the US Olympic Team. Certainly with major spots like Figure Skating & Hockey, it is a full ride to Sochi. But in other lesser sports like Skeleton or Biathalon - some athletes are left on their own, even in a major country like ours. I had read that a female US athelete raised her transport to Sochi via a Social media campaign. Seems totally wrong for a nation like ours much less a struggling country like Ukraine right now. How much of a national stage is the Olympics?

So it was interesting that I found this feed to the 5 richest participants in 2014. Dazzling discrepancy there. I seem to remember conversations in my youth about what deemed a professional vs an amateur. At that point the Olympics was not open to professionals. Now we have players from major hockey and basketball teams on country's teams all over the world. We have X Sport players that have their names on everything from snowboards to chewing gum. Eating yogurt, using credit cards, driving expensive cars with incomes I will never approach in my lifetime. A cloudy perspective and I am not quite sure where I fall on the curve. Here are the 5 wealthiest - and this is prior to their Sochi medal count. I am sure it will shift considerably after they stand on the podium or crash on the slopes.

Lindsey Jacobellis = $1 Million; Sprint/ Visa/ Paul Mitchell/ Dunkin' Donuts/ Chobani Yogurt
Hannah Teter = $1 Million; Samsung/ Burton Snowboards/ personal Sweet Cheeks underwear line
Ted Ligety = $2 Million; Audi/ 2XU/ Slytech/ personal Shred Optics ski goggles
Bode Miller = $8 Million; Nike/ Head
Shaun White = $20 Million; Target/ Red Bull/ Oakley/ Air & Style

Crashed Ice

We did it again. Instead of staying inside to take in the last of the Olympics on a warm Saturday night, Jeff & I ventured out in sub-zero temps to take in the finals of the Red Bull Crashed Ice event in St Paul.

The sport itself pushes the limits of X Games with four men hurling themselves down a maniacal slope to cross a finish line. A winner does not even need to be standing, it is a matter of the first skate over the line. And that was contested several times while we were there.

St Paul is one of four cities on the World Grand Prix - the others being Helsinki, Quebec and Moscow. It is truly a world event with an international slate of competitors and a viewing audience of near 100,000. The course itself is a spectacular work of architecture that is built over two weeks from the top of the Cathedral grounds down to the bottom of Kellogg. The entire course is illuminated as a glowing sheet of ice, incredible jumps and hairpin turns and the giant Cathedral drenched in color. No one seemed to care that it was minus zero as we watched. We took a shuttle over to avoid parking fiascoes learned from years past. It is also amazing how near you are able to view the course from all angles in spite of make-shift scaffolding; it must be an insurance nightmare.

But exciting - definitely. For those that live out state, it is broadcast delayed broadcast on Fox Sports1.

Saving Mr. Banks

Today I am taking a brief hiatus from Olympic activity. Last night we braved a daunting MN winter night to catch Saving Mr. Banks at the bargain theaters. I figured since the car needed to be moved for snow emergency and a warm up would help, we should venture out. We were among only a handful of takers.

I am a huge Emma Thompson fan and was expecting a good piece. However, it was not the story I thought I would see. Previews pointed to much of the drama between Travers and Disney and only slightly alluded to the fatherly topic of Mr. Banks which is the driving force behind the entire film. Colin Farrell was brilliant in the flashback scenes, which were the catalyst for the story although he was not even in the trailer. Sort of an Oedipus complex where all characters had a patriarchal chip on their shoulders. Harbored resentments and old wounds. This all made it a much richer story in spite of Thompson's almost unlikeable role.

Then I came home and was scanning some vintage photos of my Dad for #tbt posting. Just by accident I stumbled onto many of them this week. Some I had seen, but others were in a rusty album left to me by my grandmother after she had died. My dad was a handsome lad with a hard past, who also died far too young. The album was also filled with odd documents that have yellowed; parking violations from 1957, land permits from my great grandfather. All just a bit too nostalgic and got me thinking about my own journey and relationship with him. Not nearly as troubled, but also too many things left unsaid...

the Science of Figure Skating

After yesterday's massacre of skating fashion, today I am taking a more clinical approach to the sport. Courtesy of asapScience - I am not sure if it is a teaching school for students or techno geek app for adults. I have seen their vids before and they give a succinct summary of something a bit outside my grasp and make it somehow logical.

I will include their link at the bottom, since they have been doing daily features on all things sports and Olympics during Sochi. But this highlight is specifically Figure Skating. It looks at G-force on rotational spins. Speed and resistance on ice vs. track. And most amazingly the impact and ferocity of a quad toe jump. Apparently it takes the metabolism of an astronaut and the legs of an elephant. And we wonder why they crash and burn under the pressure. Enjoy the tutorial.

AsapSCIENCE YouTube channel

Skating Costumes

As we were watching the Ice Dance finals last night, the topic of costumes came up along with twizzles, technical marks and artistry. How could we go an entire Olympics without any commentary of fashion blunders? Lord knows that Johnny Weir would keep his opinions to himself!

Like any other trend, they are cyclical. Luckily the current trends are more sophisticated and allow most of the attention to go to the skater. We saw lots of tuxedos and elegant skirts. But some of these Buzzfeed photos show that was not always the case - even on a world level. The 80's and 90's were merciless in fashion faux pas. Here are just a few fails.

Katarina Witt '86

Rahkamo & Kokko '95

Torvill & Dean '87

Vasiliev & Valova '88

Platov & Grishuk '96

Surya Bonaly '93