Given sufficient incentive...
Feb. 15th, 2018 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nineveh_uk...it turns out that I can get up and have washed my hair and dressed by 6:45am - not to get to work for an early meeting (although I did), but to sit down on the sofa and watch the women's 10km cross-country event from the Winter Olympics. And well worth it, too. Tomorrow is the men's 15km at 6am, though I can give it fifteen minutes for low-seeded starters.
I am enjoying the Olympics enormously. Some high points:
* All the cross-country races! I always like the skiathlon, and the tracks and conditions made for two nicely competitive races, even though the lack of crowds for the events rather dampens the atmosphere. The timing is surprisingly manageable for live viewing (at least if you work from home for the sprint... Alas despite decent UK chances in the team sprint I shall be in meetings).
* 7th place for Andrew Musgrave, by far the best result for a UK skier ever (his own previous best was 29th in the Sochi sprint, but this performance wasn't 22 places up, it was really incomparable) with a Norwegian clean sweep of the medals. I don't think he could have won a medal had he not fought so hard to follow the gold medallist - he would certainly have been swept over by the superb Norwegians so he might as well have tried for the top step.
* BBC coverage is overall proving very good (topped up occasionally by Eurosports), although I could live without seeing any more Elise Christie hagiography.
* I am vastly entertained by the Japanese skaters using the Yuri on Ice theme music. Twice. Perhaps a good idea not to do Stammi Vicino though, you might look a bit conceited. And speaking of ice skating, a triple axel in the women's competition again. And the happy Germans today!
* Commentator Rob Walker has a serious case of commentator's curse in the biathlon.
Less good:
* No gold yet for Marit Bjørgen! Come on, Marit! Silver and bronze is good, but let's see one more individual gold (the 30km* most likely, I think.)
* The weather. I don't blame the organisers, these things happen and an event held in the Alps could have equal problems with heavy snowfall. But given the area is known for wind they perhaps ought to have built temporary structures that could withstand it. My brother-in-law's company provides the power and apparently the engineers are finding the cold + wind incredibly challenging (and partly as a result, brother in law didn't get to go and bring me back a hat, boo!). Hopefully the better conditions of today will last.
* The crowds. Disappointing in pretty much everything outdoors, really. And Beijing will be worse.
* Mike Pence being an arrogant idiot. Look, we all know that you can't possibly trust that the North Korean government is genuinely interested in a bit of detente, but anyone with half a brain at this point would behave as if they were. It isn't about you.
I am enjoying the Olympics enormously. Some high points:
* All the cross-country races! I always like the skiathlon, and the tracks and conditions made for two nicely competitive races, even though the lack of crowds for the events rather dampens the atmosphere. The timing is surprisingly manageable for live viewing (at least if you work from home for the sprint... Alas despite decent UK chances in the team sprint I shall be in meetings).
* 7th place for Andrew Musgrave, by far the best result for a UK skier ever (his own previous best was 29th in the Sochi sprint, but this performance wasn't 22 places up, it was really incomparable) with a Norwegian clean sweep of the medals. I don't think he could have won a medal had he not fought so hard to follow the gold medallist - he would certainly have been swept over by the superb Norwegians so he might as well have tried for the top step.
* BBC coverage is overall proving very good (topped up occasionally by Eurosports), although I could live without seeing any more Elise Christie hagiography.
* I am vastly entertained by the Japanese skaters using the Yuri on Ice theme music. Twice. Perhaps a good idea not to do Stammi Vicino though, you might look a bit conceited. And speaking of ice skating, a triple axel in the women's competition again. And the happy Germans today!
* Commentator Rob Walker has a serious case of commentator's curse in the biathlon.
Less good:
* No gold yet for Marit Bjørgen! Come on, Marit! Silver and bronze is good, but let's see one more individual gold (the 30km* most likely, I think.)
* The weather. I don't blame the organisers, these things happen and an event held in the Alps could have equal problems with heavy snowfall. But given the area is known for wind they perhaps ought to have built temporary structures that could withstand it. My brother-in-law's company provides the power and apparently the engineers are finding the cold + wind incredibly challenging (and partly as a result, brother in law didn't get to go and bring me back a hat, boo!). Hopefully the better conditions of today will last.
* The crowds. Disappointing in pretty much everything outdoors, really. And Beijing will be worse.
* Mike Pence being an arrogant idiot. Look, we all know that you can't possibly trust that the North Korean government is genuinely interested in a bit of detente, but anyone with half a brain at this point would behave as if they were. It isn't about you.