Happy Tears and Happy Trails
The Olympic event: Equestrian Individual Show Jumping
The winner: Canada's Eric Lamaze and his horse, Hickstead
The result: happy tears of joy trickling down my face
This was just an amazing event. I'm not usually one for the Olympic sob stories, and Canada doesn't play them up much. But this? Eric's father abandoned the family. His mother gave him up and he was raised by his alcholic grandmother. He was dirt poor. He dropped out of school at 13. His friends got him into horseback riding, he got really good, but he developed a cocaine problem as an adult -- they didn't say this, but he was caught doping and the "dope" in question was cocaine, so I did the math -- and couldn't compete. He got himself cleaned up, found and developed Hickstead, and finally got to the Olympics at the age of 40. Where he wins a GOLD MEDAL.
His horse is beautiful, all of his rides were beautiful. He and only one other competitor in the field ran 2 clean rides, so they had to have a jump-off to determine the gold. And when he won with another clean ride, he rode around the arena pointing at his horse, as if to say that Hickstead is the real winner. That's when my tears really starting flowing. When Eric teared up during the anthem, so did I.
I also noticed that a lot of the other horses were "foaming" at the mouth when they finished their runs. I don't like that. It's probably common, but it seems to indicate that the horse was fighting the bridle (bridle?) or being made to work too hard. Hickstead wasn't foaming. :D
They also announced that four horses tested positive for doping, including one of the horses from the Norwegian team that won bronze in the Team Show Jumping event. How incredibly sad is that? You know, take drugs if YOU want, fuck up your own life.. but DO NOT ABUSE THE ANIMALS.
Canada now has 15 medals this go round, which has exceeded our total on the last two Summer Games. Wooo!
STOCKBRIDGE! In less than 24 hours Jackie and I will sitting in Cristina's car, and we will be en route to the Berkshires (possibly with a detour through Connecticut or New Hampshire. Heh.) Having read all the critics reviews and quite a few fan reports, I am actually very excited to be seeing Waiting for Godot. I'm sure it will be quite a unique theatrical experience for me. I was mostly looking forward to the trip because I get to see all my cool LJ friends again, and because the Berkshires is such a beautiful place, but now I'm actually looking forward to Randy and the play as well. So YAY!
I've decided to go in cold turkey, though, and I did not read the play beforehand. Mostly because I was talking to Krystle about reading it, and she pointed out that a big ol' Spoiler Virgin like me should not "spoil" myself for the play. And I realized... she's right. So I might be clueless, but hey, I'll be unspoiled. :D
I worked all night and I have to stay up at least 5 more hours, or else I'll be exhausted tomorrow. Wish me luck!
The winner: Canada's Eric Lamaze and his horse, Hickstead
The result: happy tears of joy trickling down my face
This was just an amazing event. I'm not usually one for the Olympic sob stories, and Canada doesn't play them up much. But this? Eric's father abandoned the family. His mother gave him up and he was raised by his alcholic grandmother. He was dirt poor. He dropped out of school at 13. His friends got him into horseback riding, he got really good, but he developed a cocaine problem as an adult -- they didn't say this, but he was caught doping and the "dope" in question was cocaine, so I did the math -- and couldn't compete. He got himself cleaned up, found and developed Hickstead, and finally got to the Olympics at the age of 40. Where he wins a GOLD MEDAL.
His horse is beautiful, all of his rides were beautiful. He and only one other competitor in the field ran 2 clean rides, so they had to have a jump-off to determine the gold. And when he won with another clean ride, he rode around the arena pointing at his horse, as if to say that Hickstead is the real winner. That's when my tears really starting flowing. When Eric teared up during the anthem, so did I.
I also noticed that a lot of the other horses were "foaming" at the mouth when they finished their runs. I don't like that. It's probably common, but it seems to indicate that the horse was fighting the bridle (bridle?) or being made to work too hard. Hickstead wasn't foaming. :D
They also announced that four horses tested positive for doping, including one of the horses from the Norwegian team that won bronze in the Team Show Jumping event. How incredibly sad is that? You know, take drugs if YOU want, fuck up your own life.. but DO NOT ABUSE THE ANIMALS.
Canada now has 15 medals this go round, which has exceeded our total on the last two Summer Games. Wooo!
STOCKBRIDGE! In less than 24 hours Jackie and I will sitting in Cristina's car, and we will be en route to the Berkshires (possibly with a detour through Connecticut or New Hampshire. Heh.) Having read all the critics reviews and quite a few fan reports, I am actually very excited to be seeing Waiting for Godot. I'm sure it will be quite a unique theatrical experience for me. I was mostly looking forward to the trip because I get to see all my cool LJ friends again, and because the Berkshires is such a beautiful place, but now I'm actually looking forward to Randy and the play as well. So YAY!
I've decided to go in cold turkey, though, and I did not read the play beforehand. Mostly because I was talking to Krystle about reading it, and she pointed out that a big ol' Spoiler Virgin like me should not "spoil" myself for the play. And I realized... she's right. So I might be clueless, but hey, I'll be unspoiled. :D
I worked all night and I have to stay up at least 5 more hours, or else I'll be exhausted tomorrow. Wish me luck!