The medal count that...um...counts.

There's no stopping the inevitable.

I don't think anyone ever doubted that the U.S. would demolish the medal count.  Sure, they may have gotten nervous in the first few days, when China ran ahead on the backs of people who spend their lives falling gracefully, but such nervousness was unnecessary.  After all, the U.S has a long history of winning the overall medal count.  You have to go back twenty years to shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union to find them anywhere other than at the top.  In the end, I'm pretty cool with that.  It's kind of expected.  What I'm less cool with is stuff like this:

I guess I can't blame certain individuals for spiking the football.  I know I would, if I had the chance.  I don't care how Uncanadian that would make me.  The trouble is, winning summer olympic medals also appears to be somewhat Uncanadian.  We tend to be relatively humble about it.  So humble, in fact, that we set for ourselves the lofty goal of placing 12th in the overall standings.  And how did that go?

Close but no cigar.

Don't get me wrong.  Canada deserved every one of those 18 medals.  We were also heartbreakingly close to a lot more, with 14 fourth and fifth places finishes, along with a demoralizing disqualification for the men's 4x100 relay.  I'm proud of what Canada's athletes were able to do with what they had.  

Still, it doesn't seem quite fair for the U.S. to lord the medal count over the rest of the world.  After all, if a country as populous and well off as the U.S. didn't walk away with that many medals, something would have to be injuriously wrong.  For Canada, on the other hand, with just under a 10th the population of the U.S. and a fraction of it's political and economic clout, getting just under a 5th of the U.S.'s medals should count for something.  I decided to crunch a few numbers and find out just how much something.  Here's the top 20 reorganized and adjusted according to population.  That had to put us somewhere in the top 5.

Well.  Look at that.  Mission accomplished?

Hmm.  How about GDP?  If I just keep adjusting for crap it'll work out, right?

Frick.  This isn't helping.

Sigh.  Oh well.  I guess my dream of olympic victory via statistical manipulation will go unfulfilled.  Seriously though, what are they putting in the water in New Zealand?  That just makes me feel like a sack somehow.  Anyway, at least I have one small consolation:

Oh.  Hello Americans.  Didn't see you down there.

Rings, horses, and dancing

In case you haven't noticed, it's that time again...!

Need a second hint?

It's OLYMPICS!

I have a vague obsession with the Olympics. Not as bad as my sister, but I love them. One of my favorite things about this year is that we currently have (free) sports package cable, so there is at least one channel (if not 4) showing Olympics 23 hours a day. The rest time is 1-2 AM. I get to watch things live, people! Um, sorry, not to brag. Another awesome thing? Since I'm in Canada, I don't have quite as American-skewed coverage. We still see plenty of Americans (one of those four channels is actually NBC from Spokane), but we also see Canadians and lots of other nations. Way fun. The absolute best thing about the Olympics this year is watching this little girl:

She loves the Olympics, too! The equestrian jumping made her giggle. I think horses must look very entertaining to her. Also making her laugh? Crashes in the BMX racing. Apparently she has a mildly sadistic streak. Her favorite event seems to be gymnastics (above is men's all-around), particularly the women's floor routine. And why not? They play music and dance... very crazy-impressive, way-difficult dancing, but dancing nonetheless.
Which means Calista dances.

Oh, boy, do I love this baby girl!

The Grand Adventure! Part-the-Third

First, a few things I forgot to mention earlier:
Wicked mad props to Vancouver public transportation. In the words of a fellow passenger, taking the train and bus was "impressive" and "painless." Anytime public transportation is painless, it's impressive.
Also, we saw a total of ten different teams, and three of them won medals! Two bronze and a gold!

Now, onto how amazingly cool curling is. There are many reasons for this.
Curling is, in Kyler's words, a combination of bowling, golf (because Scotsmen are cool), polo, chess and Starcraft. If you want further explanation, you'll have to consult him.

It's very much a gentleman's game, or a game of kings. The officials do, basically, nothing, except keep score. They generally don't even DECIDE the score, they just record it. If the two team captains (skips) agree, that is the score, without any officials needed. The only time the skips don't agree is if the stones are literally so close together that they can't tell which is closer. This is the only time the officials are called over, and it's just to measure. The players don't call foul, they don't say someone cheated, or this judge or that official favored this country or that. Heck, if they want the game to be over early, the two teams just have to shake hands and that's the end. No need for officials at all.

The game we went to started with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police leading out the teams (score!), and then had a bagpipe band open the match! Apparently all curling stones are made in Scotland, always. Awesome, no?

It's a sport that you can learn later in life, and keep playing later in life. Whereas figure skaters retire at age 30 it seems, some curlers in these Olympics were in their forties. Curling isn't easy, the precision is amazing and the strength it must take the sweep those stones... crazy. But it's something your body can learn to do and handle for basically your whole life, which is sweet.

Curlers also have awesome fashion sense. Well, at least the Norwegians do:
As the sign that we saw at our curling match said, "Canada's Men=Gold. Norway's Pants=Silver." And it came true!

The curling match we went to had three separate pairings: France v Sweden (who ended up with fourth), China v Switzerland (who ended up with bronze), and Great Britain v Canada (who ended up with GOLD! Go Team Martin!). Let me tell you, if felt more like a hockey game than a curling match. The Canada/Britain match was especially exciting, and Wayne Gretzky was there! The coolest part of the curling match, and of the Olympics for me, was when the entire crowd started singing "O Canada." Don't believe me? Watch the video. (Each word, except "O Canada" and "Watch the video" are different links, by the way)
You may be saying (if you watched the gold medal match) that people sang O Canada another time, it can't be all that cool. But I have four reasons why the time we sang it was cooler:

1. We sang it first. While those who sang it at the gold medal match were imitating us and thus knew cool when they saw it (in us), they still just got the idea from us, not on their own.
2. Theirs was the gold medal game, which everyone knows includes at least one national anthem. This means their spontaneous singing was more expected, thus less original, and less cool.
3. Our singing was more in tune. At least one of those articles linked above even mentioned the in-tune-ness.
4. Our match was much closer, with Canada actually being down by one instead of up by three, when the singing broke out. This means it was less celebratory and more helpful, in attempting to give the Canadian boys the spirit and will to win. While celebrations are fun, helping give strength to a team when they need it is cooler.
5. And, I know I said four, but here's another one: Kyler and I were actually there!
   

In conclusion, curling is the coolest sport ever. If you get the chance to watch it, do so. If you get the chance to play it, let me know! I'm dying to try.

The Grand Adventure! Part-the-Second

Here it is, folks, the one you may or may not all be waiting for: The Rasmussens Go To the Olympics!

Kyler and I rented a car and headed to the Great White North... which wasn't particularly white. It was, however, completely gorgeous weather. We were completely loving just that aspect. I was even a little worried I'd get sunburned! We also walked all over Vancouver... by the end of the first day, both Kyler and I were sore, but we survived.

Vancouver itself was really fun. Every one and everything was about the Olympics. Random stores had huge signs,the college didn't have classes,buses supported to home country,random street performers reigned,and there really is a McDonald's at the Olympics!(A Burger King, too, to be fair)We waited in way too many lines including ones for the Russky Dom(not nearly as cool as it looks, sadly), the Olympic Superstore,and Security.
We stalked whatever random athletes we saw,got our picture taken with Mounties,and tried to guess who lived where at Olympic Village.
What do you think? Korea?The fightin' 'Roos!

This particular picture is rather fun:Want to guess where we took it?
...In a Sleep Country (Canada). We also bought an official Olympic cowbell there. Go figure.

In addition, we did actually go to a few games, a dressed to show our support.We actually had a couple of random people we didn't know (or ask) take our picture in the facepaint, one while Kyler was painting my face, and one after we were both done.

This is at Germany v. Finland, Men's Hockey. Look at all the flags!And, the final score.Suomi! Suomi! Suomi!

We also went to Switzerland v. China, Women's Hockey. Final score: 6-0, Hop Suisse! Lastly was Curling, but that was cool enough it actually will get its own post!

I like this picture. How many different affiliations can you spot?

All in all: Olympics are really, really cool. Totally worth it, but if I were to do it again, I'd have another day of just wandering around Vancouver (no events), and really do my research into where everything was that I wanted to see... and into what was actually worth standing in line for.

The Grand Adventure! Part-the-First

I've decided to divide our recent adventures into three parts, with this being Part-the-First. We'll see how long it takes me to finish all three parts, but the third is my personal favorite, so hopefully they will all get done as a result.

Kyler and I took off, on a jet plane, for good ol' PDX, or Portland, Oregon, for those of you who don't speak Airport Codes. For the first time in over a year, we got to hang around Oregon for a few days, and it was pretty much awesome.

First, we got to see a bit of family, and enjoy spending time with them and thinking of new restaurant/shop ideas (brownie/choc-tacos anyone?). I've missed my family, especially not seeing them at Christmas, and this helped a lot. Plus, they tell some very interesting stories...

Also, Kyler and I went to the beach with my mom, dad, and sister. It was seriously amazing at the beach. So warm and sunny. Well, except at night, when it rained so hard that it woke us up. But we were in a yurt:

and thus warm and dry.

We took lots of pretty beach pictures, as should be obvious,

and I tried to make a sandcastle.

I ran to get Loradona to come and look at it, but then a big wave came and... the motte-and-bailey castle just couldn't handle waves twice or three times its height. Such is life.

We also went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, where Kyler and I had a discussion on who should be who in this picture:

Jeanette: Should I be the cow?

Kyler: I can be the cow if you want. (He doesn't want to offend me...)

Jeanette: But the cow's a girl. Are you a girl?

Kyler: How do you know it's a girl? It could be a boy.

Jeanette: It's a dairy cow. It has to be a girl.

Kyler: Fine, you can be the cow, I'll be the farmer. After all, I used to call you Angus.

Jeanette: (shakes head)

Loradona and I also decided at the beach that we were twins, especially in our awesome mittens! Who doesn't agree?

Kyler and I also went to Powell's, had lunch with my dad, went to the Scandinavian Store, and rented a car... but more on the latter two in the next entry.

All in all, it was a blast to be able to spend time with my family and my beloved homeland.

And, since I'm not sure where else to put this picture, and it is in Oregon after all, the view of Mount Hood from our airplane window as we headed back east.