2010 Winter Olympics Recap

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Rach and I were fortunate enough to go to the Olympics at Whistler last weekend and see 3 events. We saw the Men's and Women's Super G and the Big Hill Ski Jump! Lindsey Vonn took the bronze in the Super G and my Dad's all-time favorite skiier, Bode Miller, also took silver in the men's Super G. The US apparently sucks at ski jumping and didn't even get to the final 8 of the team jump...Oh well, there's always the Nordic Combined!!

Best Food of the Weekend: Amazing Spaghetti Carbonara from il Caminetti di Umberto, or Umberto's as the Roupe clan likes to call it. It was ridiculously awesome!
2nd place: Strangely Enough the Cheese Bread at Hy's Steakhouse was amazing! Better than the steak actually, which was a little dry...
3rd place: Poutine @ Citta! Yes, Fries+Cheese Curds+Gravy= Canadian Delicacy and bomb.com. Don't knock it until you try it. Great with a Coldie!

Best Moment of the Weekend:
Watching Lindsay Vonn ski into first place during the Women's Super G and seeing my dad get a little bit emotional. Even though her run at first place was short-lived, it was great to see her take home the bronze.

Greatest Conversation of the Weekend:
This exchange took place outside of the Russian/Ukrainian team store.
Me: "Hey little buddy, what's your name and what kind of animal are you?"
Big Blue Mascot "Barashkapu Schernalmashka Beiarshkapu delsheperdaka"
Me: "Oh....Smile!"

Worst Conversation of the Weekend:
@ Sushi Village, I return from the restroom...
Ron, drunk old dude sitting at table next to us: "Hey, look what I bought you"
Me: "I'm not eating that"
Ron: "It's good, it's tobiko and raw quail egg. It's the best"
Me: "Not happening"
Ron: "Really? Come on. It's good!"
Me: "Unless you want that and everything else I ate tonight on your lap in about 5 minutes, I am not eating that. Should have bought me a drink".
Then Lee, Steph's boyfriend took them down and got a huge handshake from Ron. Ron then introduced himself to Lee for the 3rd time. Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Canadian FANS!

Most Spirited Fans (besides Canada):
Canadians were everywhere, in full force, but what do they wear? Lumberjack duds? Mountie uniforms? Roots stuff? Maple Syrup bottles? Beaver pelts? Anyways, they were EVERYWHERE and had great support for their teams, but the best dressed would have to go to this pack of Russians below....Notice the little bear with the gold medal around his neck on the t-shirt of the giant with the awesome hat on the left...Epic. And these were REAL RUSSIANS. Smoking like chimneys, speaking like they were pissed, and dressed totally awesome!

Did I ski?
Heck yes, and it was money. Straight bluebird with NO LINES! The sun softened up the back bowls and we were able to rip some gnar turns on the pow.

This guy was the unofficial Canadian Mascot. Some Red Adidas jumpsuit for 4 straight days running through the village with this flag. A Legend.

Was it as good as expected?
Yes, much better actually. Very well organized. Very friendly people. The only waits were at the bars. There was entertainment around every corner, from live DJ's to world renowned bands, to street performers, there was something for everyone. Didn't have to wait at the border either way and the bus system worked really well to get to the events. Did I mention I didn't see a cloud for 4 days? AND the US beat Canada in Hockey?

Yep, No Shirts!

Best Purchase of the Weekend:
(besides Poutine)

A Couple Other Highlights of the Events:

Haha! I got you too Mr. Paparazzo!

Just 2 Americans being American!

If you look closely it says "Go USA eh"

A couple of racers havin' a smoke after being disqualified for not wearing shirts on the course. They claimed it was for less wind resistance. We all know it was for the ladies.

Having some apres ski fun at the Amsterdam Cafe

FRIENDS -Where are they now?

So I was thinking the other day....What are the cast members of FRIENDS doing now? Sure Jennifer Aniston has had a good career making multi-million dollar movies and Courtney Cox has had some success as well, but what about the others? What are they doing now? All 6 of the cast members were making $1 million an episode during the last season in 2004....Yeah, $16 million a year acting on a 22 minute sitcom! Pretty awesome! It seemed like they got along and they were the coolest thing on TV...

So why quit? Was the show growing stale? They were drawing 24 million people an episode during the final season. Like most people do, they got tired of doing the same thing and tried to pull a "Timberlake" and go out on their own to seek success. I am not saying that I could see the show still on the air today. There are only so many things you can talk about in a coffee shop, but why throw in the towel when they did? Here is a little rundown of what they are doing now:

Jennifer Aniston: Fame skyrocketed when she married Brad Pitt and she has remained in the limelight mainly for this reason, not her films. Her movies, frankly, usually suck, but she has graced the cover of US Weekly for what seems like forever. Take a look at these gems and tell me which your favorite was: Regardless, she has maintained her fame and continued to further her career.

Courtney Cox: Never achieved the success she had as Monica on FRIENDS, unless you loved the Scream series or LOVED ACE VENTURA... Now she is starring in Cougar Town, which is actually pretty funny.

Matthew Perry: Chandler Bing - now best known for playing opposite Zac Efron in 17 again, which sadly was his biggest deal since he did a few guest roles on some TNT shows...should have stayed longer!

Matt LeBlanc: Joey, ladies' man...hilarious on the show, with his "how you doin?" line to all the honey babies that walked his way. Well, when you are best known for a movie you did with a baseball playing monkey, you have to have 2nd thoughts...Hasn't done anything since 2003.

Lisa Kudrow: Phoebe...Actually was able to land a few roles in movies for a while, but I saw her last week selling some game for Nintendo Wii about cooking.

David Schwimmer: Ross - nothing really to speak of, just some spot roles on TV and in movies and now working on Broadway.

They all are still making millions a year though because of syndication of Friends around the world. You can turn on the TV almost any day of the week and see an episode of Friends.

Should they have stayed? If you judge by each actor's success following the show, then YES! They should have let it run it's course, but you never know until you try and it's not like they are hurting for $$.

Coffee Shop Dynamics...Strangeness

Working remotely from the coffee shop I witnessed this exchange between two patrons. One, a young urban hipster girl rocking a very short hair cut, puffy coat, and some adidas sweatpants like Run DMC used to wear, and the other, a silver fox of sorts. A middle aged, probably late 40's guy sporting some steel toe construction boots, Brett Favre Wrangle jeans, and horrific brown w/ blue floral print shirt sitting on his computer.

Girl taps guy on shoulder and says "hi".
Guy kind of gets up almost out of his chair looking for a hug possibly, decides, "nope, that's not what she's looking for" and sits back down after awkward handshake.
Pleasantries are exchanged.
Guy: "Are you from around here?"
Girl: "No, I am from the midwest, I went to school in Nebraska"
Guy: "I was gonna say, you look like you're from that area. Like, your clothes and stuff"

Hmmmm.....Is that a compliment if you tell someone they look like they are from Nebraska? Does this guy know a lot about Nebraska culture? Maybe they do just wear adidas pants and puffy coats? From now on this guy shall be named "Bull in a China Closet"

Later in the conversation.....

Bull: "So, what's your name again?"
Girl: "Jess"
Bull: "Oh, like Jessica or Jessie"
Girl: "No, not like Jessica, like Ted or Mike" -- Just kidding, but that's what I was thinking! Is Jess that weird of a name? Either her name is Jess or she shortened one of the 2, Encyclopedia Brown....

I didn't see if any numbers were exchanged, but convo ended shortly after that!

Anyways... That's the rub.