you are Canadian. you probably don't get the full dose of propaganda because your country doesn't really matter from a global perspective.

it's the same here. media coverage in Austria (where i live) or Switzerland is very different and way more differentiated from the media coverage in Germany (where i come from). not only on this topic.

it's also a little amusing how German reporters always try to provoke our athletes to complain about the games or the Russians, but it never works.

That's it, you see, money and tech made the events too competitive for many athletes, and there were all these steroid peddlers just itching to sell it to them.  That's why I say let's get back to the basics and let athletes compete on their own merits.  Without the high demand and expectations being put on them, there'd be less need for some to resort to steroids, not if it were a more fair/even playing field.

[quote who="sydneysiders" reply="19" id="3442747"]what's wrong with Ikebana on ice...[/quote

I have no idea what/who that is... but if she's [sounds female] on ice she should seek help for her addiction.

Seriously, I have no idea who she is or what she does... that's how much I do not watch sports or sports news.  When it comes to that sort of thing I is iggerant, as my one of my grandsons [3 y/o] would say..."iggerant"  Bless his little cotton socks.

"you are Canadian. you probably don't get the full dose of propaganda because your country doesn't really matter from a global perspective."

OK if you say so, lol

Ikebana...  Japanese flower arranging...    just being silly...  

That's fine, you're as entitled as any of to act the goose now and then.  Besides, you wouldn't be a true WCer if you didn't.

Orright, so is it over yet?

Can I safely turn on my TV and NOT hear a snippet about the Winter Olympics?

Can I now read the sports section of my daily paper and NOT see stuff about Sochi?

... not that I buy the daily paper [haven't since the 70's] but just in case I change my mind.

Well, the stakes were high in US / Canada hockey...

and we lost big time...

Hey Canada, we need a rematch...how about the best 3 out of 5?

I'll say you lose big time... when Bieber is the booby prize.  I mean, nobody wants that spoilt twat... brat inflicted upon them at the best of times.

I suppose you's could always deport him to....um... hmmm, now that's a point... who in their right mind would take him?

Okay, then, when's the next unmanned Mars probe?  And are we 100% sure it's uninhabited? After all, we wouldn't want the Intergalactic Space Council on our case because he offended somebody/something up there on the Red Planet, and there's no doubt that he'll do it.  Like that smarmy haircut he used to sport when he was younger, one look and I suddenly felt this compulsion to slap him around the jowls.  Luckily he was on the other side of the world at the time, otherwise I'd have been mobbed by a bunch of madly in love teeny boppers with no taste in music or boys.

Hopefully someone will find a way to put him out of our misery sooner rather than later.

So what's worse than finding out Justin Bieber is coming to town to do an outdoor concert?

Finding out that the idiot who booked it has it set up next door to an egg hatchery.

And how do you keep Justin Bieber busy and out of town for a few days?

You send him into the Canadian Rockies on a moose egg hunt.

That would be an excellent idea!

Oi, Steve, what have you been told about hanging out down at the ladies hairdressers?

Yes, watching the ladies get their hair put up in curlers is a bit of a turn-on, but you know it makes them nervous, especially when you have your hands in your pockets.

So, seriously, how are you these days?  I took a break away for a few months to get a few things sorted, so I haven't seen or heard from you in a while.

Me, I got the same old shit... and can't afford the laxatives to shift it.

Nah, apart from vertigo making some days less enjoyable, I'm doing okay and am thankful for small mercies.... though a seniors discount down at the massage parlour wouldn't go astray. 

Well that's it, hey!   We're old, not dead.

Nah. Been TV-less for well over a decade. The most liberating thing I may have ever done.

I have one... well 3, actually, but I haven't turned them on very often just lately... so little worth watching.  However, I do like to have them for the few shows I do like to watch, and every now and then a family member will come over with video to watch.  Then there's the times my grandkids come over to visit... they tend to be a little less boisterous if they have something on TV to watch.  Besides, I don't get out as often as I used to, so it's nice sometimes just to put my feet up of an evening to watch something of interest... so long as it's not reality rubbish, those icky medical shows or lifestyle stuff.  Too much of it on these days and it gets too monotonous, repetitive and boring.  I simply don't have the patience for it at all.

Nah, give me a good sci.fi or a decent thriller, and I don't mind a historical and/or geographical documentary, either..

Well, after thinking about it I just might watch the Olympics, anyone know when they start?

As a Canadian, allow me to offer my most sincere and profuse apologies for my country inflicting Bieber on the world.  Canada may have committed a crime against humanity for that one.

Having said that, you lost the hockey game, so you still have to keep him.

Hehe, was thinking something similar... knowing I've got 4 years to change my mind.

Yeah, it's another 4 years to the Winter Olympics, and around 3 1/2 for the Summer ones, so you've got plenty of time to change your mind as well.

Nah, bugger it!  I don't need 3 1/2, 4 years.

Hehe, me thinks it's just desserts and they deservedly should keep him..  I'm mean, they inflicted Miley Cyrus on the world, not to mention Barry Manilow; The Kardashians; Paris Hilton; Britney Spears; Desperate Housewives; Barry Manilow; Billy Ray Virus; David Letterman; The Jonas Bros; Linsay Lohan; Queer Eye For the Straight Guy; Conan Obrien; Barry Manilow; Octomom; George W Bush and the Bitch in Apt 23.

I mean, that's an awful lot of inflicting compared to one teeny weeny misguided 19 year old with a penchant for egg tossing.  I mean, Bieber's young and could still grow out of it, whereas that lot above are past redemption, with most continuing to be constant embarrassments well into adulthood.

In fact, you's Canadians should scour the country to see if he's a twin... or triplets, cos given that list up there, did I mention Barry Manilow, one solitary Bieber simply isn't enough.  Like what if his mom is an Octomom and there's 8 of him?  Woohoo... but probably no such luck, hey.

Anyway...things haven't improved but continue to just get worse health wise. And the finances are going downhill as well. I've been kicking around the idea of going offline...shutting down the phone and killing the TV as well just to get by...but it's hard to disconnect the things keeping me sane. As far as skinning...that's hard as well these days...I can sit here less and less because of the discomfort...and life goes on.

As a Norwegian its hard not to watch. Its on every channel here, and everyone else is watching. Still, I have never been less interested than I am now. I have watched maybe 3-4 hours in total. Biathlon (Hetroathlon in Russia), Crosscountry skiing and some downhill.

Aw, I'm sorry to hear you're suffering pain and discomfort still. When we last spoke you were struggling with it and sounded depressed.  I had hoped that things would have improved some since then, but then I know what it's like to get good medical attention when it's needed.  I'd been waiting almost two years to see an ENT specialist with regard to unrelenting vertigo when I got the letter with an appointment for early March, which is sort of funny.  The day the letter arrived, a friend and I were out front talking about health issues and I said: "I'm so sick of waiting for this ENT appointment that I'm going to ring outpatients and tell 'em I'll be feching dead if they don't get me in soon."  I'd no sooner said it and the postie put the letter in my hand.

Oh, and don't go offloading the things that help keep you sane. I've had a few turns of bad luck recently, like becoming single again for the first time in 20 + years, and taking a couple of nasty knocks to aching old bones, so I was so appreciative of those things that helped to avoid deep depression and keep my feet grounded.... not so much the TV, but especially my PC and being able to get online.  Without that I'd have been one for over the cuckoo's nest a long time ago.

The one redeeming factor, no matter if I hurt like buggery or can't get to sleep at night, is that I can maintain my sense of humour and mischief.  Without that I'd truly be feched, so here's hoping you can do the same and enjoy a laugh now and then.

So until we next speak, here's wishing you all the best, Mark.