Month: February 2010

Olympic Update – Speed Skating (women’s 1500m) + Hockey + Figure Skating

Tonight’s Olympic action brought us women’s speed skating and the original dance for ice dancing. In the women’s 1500m for speed skating, gold went to Ireen Wust of the Netherlands, silver to Kristina Groves of Canada, and bronze to Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic.

The standings for ice dancing at the end of the night are as follows: in first place is Virtue and Moir of Canada, in second place is Davis and White of USA, and in third place is Domnina and Shabalin of Russia. Another American pair, Belbin and Agosto came in fourth. The medals will be decided with the free dance tomorrow.

The big story for tonight, however, was the American hockey team’s upset over Canada. Both teams played exceptionally well, but at the end of the night Team USA came out on top by a final score of 5-3. An impressive victory that guaranteed them a medal in this tournament.

The total medal count as of now is as follows: 7 gold, 7 silver, and 10 bronze, for a total of 24 medals for Team USA.

More to come tomorrow.

Olympic Update – Speed Skating

Tonight’s Olympic action brought us races in speed skating for both the men and women. The men’s 1500m saw Shani Davis win a silver medal for Team USA. Gold went to Mark Tuitert of the Netherlands and bronze went to Havard Bokko of Norway.

The men’s 1,000m short track race gave Apolo Ohno his record-breaking 7th Olympic medal, surpassing Bonnie Blair’s record of 6 medals total. Ohno received a bronze medal in this event. Gold and silver both went to members from the South Korean team.

In the women’s 1500m short track race, Yang Zhou of China won gold while silver and bronze both went to members of the South Korean team. Looks like South Korea has a lot to celebrate after tonight.

The final medal count for Team USA at the end of the day was as follows: 6 gold, 7 silver, and 10 bronze, for a total of 23 medals so far. More to come tomorrow.

Fooling April set to drive down Abbey Road

Fooling April, a band based in Philadelphia, are planning on doing a tribute to the Beatles by performing Abbey Road. The event will take place none other than on APril 1st – April Fool’s Day. This performance is no joke though. The band plans to do this up right. The event will be held at World Cafe Live (3025 WALNUT ST. PHILA, PA). A portion of the proceeds will go towards Musicians on Call. So come out and hear some great tunes while supporting a good cause.

Saturn Shines on Moonlight

The Academy of Science Fiction and Horror Films’ 35th Annual Saturn Awards have shined some light on a few of my favorites in the genre. The happiest little surprise for me was giving “Moonlight” Best Series on DVD. This show only lasted a year, but what we got of it was pretty darn good, if you ask me. I own the DVD set in question and can agree with the award choice. It is a great collection to spend a weekend with. Congrats to Moonlight on this win.

Olympic Update – Alpine Skiing + Ice Dancing

Tonight’s Olympic action brought us the Men’s Super G and the compulsory portion of ice dancing. In the Men’s Super G, Team USA brought home two medals. Bode Miller won a silver medal and Andrew Weibrecht won the bronze. The gold went to Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway.

The top three at the end of the first part of ice dancing were Domnina and Shabalin of Russia, Virtue and Moir of Canada, and Davis and White of America. Another American pair, Belbin and Agosto, came close at fourth place. There is still the original dance and free skate to go before the medals are awarded.

The final medal count was as follows: 6 gold, 6 silver, and 8 bronze, for a total of 20 medals for Team USA. Great Britain got its first gold medal today for the women’s skeleton competition. It is their only medal in these Olympics thus far.

More to come tomorrow.

Olympic Update – Figure Skating (Men’s Free Skate)

The highlight for tonight in Olympic news includes three more medals for Team USA. The first two went to Hannah Teter and Kelly Clark, who got Silver and Bronze respectively for Women’s Halfpipe. The gold went to Torah Bright of Australia. Also tonight was the men’s free skate, where Evan Lysacek, the reining world champion, took gold. The world champ traditionally does win gold at the Olympics, and this was no exception. Silver went to Yevgeny Plushenko of Russia and bronze went to Daisuke Takahashi of Japan. The only thing I was unhappy about with the free skate results was that Johnny Weir was placed 6th, even though I thought he had an outstanding program and deserved at least a bronze medal. I believe, and NBC commentators agreed, that he was underscored. At the end of the day the total medal count was 17: 5 gold, 5 silver, and 7 bronze. The next highest after the U.S. is Germany with 11. More to come tomorrow.

EvelynEvelyn Controversy

There has been a lot of backlash in regards to Amanda Palmer’s new project: Evelyn Evelyn. Personally I think people take offense by her way too easily, but Amanda seems to like the discussion that has spawned from it (which is something I have always really respected her for). She has written a response to all the commentary on the whole “Evelyn” thing, but I especially like this part here:

as far as people hurling the criticism that i am “hiding behind my art”….(this one has come up several times)

here’s what i consider hiding: producing inoffensive, corporate-penned, vanilla-bean love-story family-friendly made-for-mainstream-radio music that won’t offend a single person. and won’t make anybody laugh, won’t make anybody think, won’t make anybody wonder, won’t make anybody talk, and won’t change anybody’s life.

THAT, my friends, is hiding behind art.


My response, “Right on, girl!” People nowadays seem afraid to take chances. Some of that is a survival thing, which is fine. I get it, everyone’s gotta eat, right? Some of it is being afraid to offend anyone or be controversial though, and that, in my opinion, is a shame. I’m not saying you should be controversial for the sake of it, but for the love of God (or whatever deity you believe in) please please please get involved in the conversation. I don’t care what it is, just get passionate about something. Create some art, not because it will please everyone, but because it pleases you. And if it offends some people that’s ok. Maybe that means it was worth it. Because it got people thinking. And thinking is good. We should do it more often. Who knows, the world might be a better place for it.

This is getting way off course so I’m just gonna end it by saying that whether you love her or hate her, Amanda got you thinking. More than that, she got you talking. That makes her a good thing, in my book. Keep doing what you do, and love the haters. (It’s what Amanda would want).

Olympic Update – Snowboarding (Halfpipe)

Today was a good day for the USA Olympic Team in Vancouver. Lindsay Vonn won gold for Alpine Skiing while Julia Mancuso took silver. In speed skating, Shani Davis took gold for the men’s 1,000M while Chad Hedrick took bronze. The short track relay semifinals were also today, with Korea, USA, France, China, and Canada making it to the finals. And finally, snowboarding men’s halfpipe was today, with Shaun White taking gold (his second, having also won gold in Torino) and Scotty Lago taking bronze. Overall, a good day for Team USA. The final medal count at the end of the day was 14: 5 gold, 3 silver, 6 bronze, putting us back in first place for total medals. Germany is a close second with 10 total. More to come tomorrow.

Steven Tyler Not Leaving Aerosmith

Remember Steven Tyler saying he is Aerosmith? Well apparently the band agrees. It has been announced that not only will Tyler not be leaving the band, but he will be joining them for two headlining gigs at the Sweden Rock Festival and UK Download Festival. This is good news for fans who were scared they may be seeing an end to a Tyler-fronted band. It’s good to see that the issue was resolved quickly and with seemingly not too much mess. It would have been a shame to see the band end with a dispute between its members. Hopefully Tyler will continue with the band past these two events.