Women in Red Dresses, Hot Cars, Apples and Crack

Are among the things discussed in the video by Jordan Peterson:



Peterson, a University of Toronto professor and clinical psychologist has been much in the internet lately, most particularly after his absolutely stunning interview with Cathy Newman, a British newsreader who epitomized the single mindedness of the liberal media. I like the way he thinks, and I think I think along the same lines. He's a much better speaker though.

In this video he discusses human vision, an interest of mine right now.

Oh yes, women in red dresses, red hot cars, and ripe apples all stimulate the same centers in the brain as cocaine.

And speaking of women in red dresses, did you watch the final of Figure Skating?

Gold medal - Alina Zagitova

Silver medal - Evgenia Medvedeva 

Bronze medal - Kaetlyn Osmond

Evgenia lost to Alina by less than 2 points out of 238 or so. Could she have made up the difference with a brighter red outfit? Should the Canadian Kaetlyn have worn red?

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Larger Than Life" up and running on time and within budget at The Other McCain.

Slalom Squirrel

WATCH OUT SQUIRREL. pic.twitter.com/rtQ94MQeDj

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 24, 2018

Georgia roots for the snowboarder.

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Olympic Babe from Russia Fails Dope Test

2018 Winter Olympics: Russian bobsledder who wore 'I don't do doping' T-shirt fails doping test

In an interview with the Associated Press earlier this month, Russian bobsled pilot Nadezhda Sergeeva said other Olympic athletes had warmed to her once she had been allowed to compete in this year's PyeongChang Winter Games by the International Olympic Committee. During the interview she was wearing a sweatshirt that read, "I Don't Do Doping."

On Friday, Russian bobsled officials confirmed to the AP that Sergeeva had failed a doping test.

That's Nadezhda Sergeeva on the right, if it matters

 Maybe her mother bought her the shirt.

Sergeeva was one of the 168 Russian athletes who were specifically vetted before the Games by the IOC, which had banned Russia's Olympic federation from PyeongChang over past doping sins but allowed the preapproved Russian athletes to compete under the Olympic Athletes From Russia moniker.

She's now the second Russian athlete - and just the fourth athlete overall - to fail a doping test at these Olympics, joining curler Alexander Krushelnitsky, who tested positive for the banned substance meldonium.

I've written about meldonium before. Apparently it's widely used in Russia (and old Russian split-offs) military to increase fitness, and its use filtered into sports from there. A vasodilator, it allowes more blood (and hence more oxygen) to flow to reach muscles. It was banned by the  World Anti-Doping Agency in 2016, and shortly thereafter Maria Sharapova tested positive and was suspended for two years.

According to the AP, Sergeeva tested positive on Sunday for trimetazdine, a medication used for angina that has been banned because of its effects on metabolism. The president of the Russian Bobsled Federation says she denies taking the substance and that her initial drug test at the Games came back clean.

I think I could have used some before the deck project.

"She confirms she took no such medication and the team confirms she was not issued any medication," Alexander Zubkov told the AP. "Federation representatives at the Olympics" are starting to prepare a defense, he said.

"I can tell you that on the 13th it was clean, but on the 18th it gave a positive result for the heart medication," he said

She appears to be a multi-season athlete. Linked by Evi L. Bloggerlady in "Loving Vincent: A Review" and "South African Wine". Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Larger Than Life" up and running on time and within budget at The Other McCain.

Olympic Sore Loser of the Week

At medal ceremony after loss to USA, Canadian player immediately yanks silver off her neck

The disappointment showed on their faces and for Canadian defenseman Jocelyne Larocque there was no celebration in winning the silver medal.

After the United States won a thrilling shootout for its first Olympic gold in two decades, the medal ceremony took place. Larocque had the reaction that was most noteworthy — yanking off the silver immediately after it was placed around her neck.

Nope, not interested in silver pic.twitter.com/H3fMW7ZfRW

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) February 22, 2018

It may not be that she hates the US. She may just hate losing.

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Lindsey Vonn Missed the Brass Ring

But got the Bronze medal: American Lindsey Vonn takes bronze in likely final Olympic downhill race

Lindsey Vonn knew the bronze medal she earned Wednesday came in her final Olympic downhill, the signature event of her singular career. She knew that, but she didn't have an easy time processing it.

That's why the words "probably" and "most likely" kept slipping into her sentences. Why she marked the occasion by posing with dozens of folks for a group photo near the finish line. Why she engaged in a series of warm, lengthy hugs -- with her sisters; with U.S. coaches; with the winner, her good friend Sofia Goggia of Italy; with the runner-up, Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway. With, seemingly, anyone she could grab a hold of.

Sofia Goggia

Ragnhild Mowinckel, mow that's a name that should make a Viking proud!

"I wish I could keep going. I wish this wasn't my last Olympics, but it is," Vonn said, looking down at the snow underfoot and shaking her head, "so I'm trying to accept that and deal with the emotions of that and enjoy the ride."

Ragnhild Mowinckel

Goggia finished in 1 minute, 39.22 seconds, just 0.09 seconds faster than Mowinckel. Vonn was 0.47 seconds off Goggia's pace.

"I came here ... with one goal: to beat Lindsey," Goggia said.

Well, it wasn't exactly a bad career.

Now we'll get to see how she stacks up against Mikaela Schiffrinin the Alpine combined.

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"South African Wine".

Free the Nipple: The PyeongChang Demonstration

French ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis devastated after embarrassing wardrobe malfunction

French ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis was left devastated after an untimely wardrobe malfunction took the shine off her short program performance at the Winter Olympics.

Papadakis, who was in second place with 81.93 alongside Guillaume Cizeron at the halfway point, battled on after an embarrassing mishap that left her dress, which came with a haltertop, unfastened at the beginning of the routine and later appeared to reveal the lower part of her breast.

Next time, reinforce the costume with a safety pin.

The accident took place when Papadakis threw herself backward on the final element of the performance and her costume rode upwards in a revealing manner. The incident was shown live on international television and was later replayed on slow motion screens in the arena.

I saw the performance on "live" TV, and while I didn't see much, even with my freshly improved (but not yet corrected eyes, it was obvious her discomfort, and attempts to keep things together affected their performance, even though they still got pretty good scores. They had been pre-billed as co-contenders for the Gold medal, with Virtue/Moir.

Papadakis had tears streaming down her face as she moved through the media interview zone, leaving her partner Cizeron to take most of the questions for her.

“It is just frustrating to miss a few points because of a costume issue,” Cizeron said. “It is not what we get ready for when we train. I am still proud that we managed to pull out a program like that even with a difficulty like this.

It wasn't that obvious, and it all happened at high speed, so it didn't seem too bad to me. In fact, I think it should be one of the required elements. Some uncensored photos (NSFW).

Last night, in the free skate competetion, they lost the gold to Virtue and Moir by less than 2 points, so it seems likely to me that the "wardrobe malfunction" cost them the medal.

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Ester Ledecka's Gold Medal Mistake

‘Is this a kind of mistake?’ Snowboarder wins Alpine gold

This made no sense to Ester Ledecka. Just simply couldn’t be. Could. Not. Be.

Which is why the part-time ski racer, part-time snowboarder from the Czech Republic stood so still, absolutely motionless and expressionless, for several moments after crossing the finish line in the Olympic super-G and seeing the numbers on a video board that appeared to show she was fast enough to be the gold medalist. Not merely any gold medalist, but one of the most unconventional and out-of-nowhere gold medalists in Alpine history.

One of the great performances of the PyeongChang Olympics to date.

This, the 22-year-old Ledecka would explain later, was what went through her mind at that moment: “Is this a kind of mistake?” Then came this: “OK, they’re going to change the time. I’m going to wait for a little bit, and you’re going to switch and (add) some more seconds.”

That never happened. This was no mistake. This was real. Her posted time of 1 minute, 21.11 seconds was, indeed, accurate. It was, indeed, 0.01 seconds — yes, one one-hundredth of a second — better than Austria’s Anna Veith, the defending Olympic champion and, as the leader until the moment when the relatively unknown and low-ranked Ledecka took her turn as the 26th woman down the slope, the presumed repeat Olympic champion.

I saw a pretty good video comparing Ledecka's and Veith's runs. Very close except for one tiny  mistake by Veith. At the speeds they were travelling, the difference was 9.8 inches over the length of the run.

Instead, it was Ledecka who collected the prized medal. This is someone who has participated in only 19 World Cup skiing races in her entire career — Mikaela Shiffrin, in contrast, has been in 23 this season alone — and only once finished as high as seventh. Someone who is a far more accomplished snowboarder, owning a world championship in the parallel giant slalom, an event she plans to enter at the Pyeongchang Games next week, an unprecedented achievement.

NBC erroneously called the race for Veith before the end of the race. Fake News!

“She’s not a medal favorite. She just wanted to come here and be the first person ever to ski and snowboard race,” said Justin Reiter, who competed for the U.S. at the Sochi Olympics in snowboarding and now is Ledecka’s coach for that sport. “She stayed in her heart and she stayed in her own head and she skied like she can ski and it was beautiful to watch.”

Some are trying to explain how it happened:

The speed from skiing translates to snowboarding. And the balance required in snowboarding is a boost for ski racing. Reiter pointed out, for example, that on the same final jump that gave Vonn trouble Saturday, Ledecka’s weight shifted too far backward, but she managed to recover.

Or maybe she's just an exceptional athlete with a fast learning curve.

Ester Ledecka on why she’s still wearing her goggles, hours after winning Super-G: “I was not as prepared as the other girls. I don’t have makeup on.” #pyeongchang2018 #olympics pic.twitter.com/qrsMPYohPi

— Evan Doherty (@YSportsEvan) February 17, 2018

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Mikaela Schiffrin Skis into Olympic Gold

Mikaela Shiffrin golden in Olympic giant slalom

One Olympic gold medal down for Mikaela Shiffrin. More just might be on deck.

The 22-year-old American used a hard-charging final run to win the giant slalom Thursday for her second career Olympic title. She trailed by 0.20 seconds after the first run, but powered through a course filled with ruts to quickly make up time in the second.

Shiffrin ended up 0.39 seconds ahead of Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway at Yongpyong Alpine Center. Federica Brignone of Italy took bronze, 0.46 behind Shiffrin's combined time of 2 minutes, 20.02 seconds. First-run leader Manuela Moelgg of Italy wound up eighth.

I went to bed before this happened last night. Maybe I can see it on demand.

Coming into the Pyeongchang Olympics, there was talk about Shiffrin possibly chasing after five medals. She's certainly off to a great start, placing her hand over her heart right after seeing her time. She later fell to the snow in excitement.

The only thing that might slow down Shiffrin is exhaustion, due to the compacted schedule because of all the delays. The flip-flopping of events has been particularly burdensome.

 Best of luck in your hunt for the next four!

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We Have the Best Slackers in the World!

US teen star Kim melts hearts with tearful snowboarding gold

American teenage sensation Chloe Kim romped to Olympic snowboarding gold in the women's halfpipe Tuesday before bursting into tears as the enormity of her achievement sunk in.

The 17-year-old, who has melted the hearts of home fans in Pyeongchang thanks to her ever-ready smile and Korean heritage, justified her status as the hot favourite with an eye-popping top score of 98.25.

Kim had been assured of gold before her pulsating final run after China's Liu Jiayu crashed on her last descent.

But after wrapping herself in the American flag, Kim was suddenly overcome with emotion and the tears flowed as she celebrated with her Korean parents.

"I'm a little overwhelmed," she said after composing herself. "I don't really know what's happening and I'm actually feeling a little anxious right now.

"There was a lot of pressure," added Kim, who was so good at 13 she might have won gold in Sochi -- but she was too young to compete.

"You wait for four years and it's pretty nerve-wracking. There definitely was a lot of hype but I'm proud of how I was able to handle the pressure today."

Liu claimed silver with a score of 89.75 points and American Arielle Gold the bronze four points further back.
But neither looked like threatening Kim, who found time to take to Twitter between runs to complain she was having trouble keeping down her breakfast.

"I wanted to go bigger and better on that third run," said the four-time X Games champion. "I messed up on my second run so I'm kind of annoyed but I got redemption on my third.

I tried snowboarding once. It seemed like a lot of work to go to to get down a mountain.

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The Whole World Was Watching

South Korean figure skater suffers wardrobe malfunction as her red-hot costume SLIPS OFF exposing her to Winter Olympics crowd

ICE cool skater Yura Min didn't let a nightmare wardrobe malfunction ruin her Olympic debut today.

The South Korean star's skimpy red dress slipped just seconds into her short dance routine threatening to reveal just a little too much to the millions watching around the world.

As she was spun around by partner Alexander Gamelin, she had to keep adjusting her red top to prevent showing off more than her medal ambitions.

At one point the top slipped just a little too far but instead of going into a flap Yura just carried on with her well-rehearsed routine.

Yura, who was competing in the figure skating team event, was praised by commentators for recovering from the sartorial setback with so much style.

The skater, a dual citizen of South Korea and the United States, told the Detroit Free Press that the hook on her top came undone just seconds into her routine.

A hook? I thought they used epoxy.

The 22-year-old ice dancer, who won the 2017 South Korean national championship, was born in California and later moved to Michigan. But her parents, Hye Young Chu and Harrison Min, emigrated from South Korea and Min has dual-citizenship.

Her partner, Alexander Gamelin, is a 24 year old from Boston.

After partnering with Min, he learned Korean and eventually earned South Korean citizenship because in order to represent a country in the Olympics, both members of a pair must be from the same country. Now, the two Americans will compete under the South Korean flag which will give them a unique experience.

She may have narrowly avoided wardrobe catastrophe, but it didn't help their performance. 

Min and partner Alexander Gamelin earned 51.97 points and placed ninth out of 10 teams.

Better luck next time!

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Those Dutch Girls Sure are Fast

Carlijn Achtereekte

Clean sweep for Dutch women in Olympics 3,000 metre speed skating

Carlijn Achtereekte was the surprise winner of the gold medal in the 3,000 speed skating event at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on Saturday, as the Dutch women swept the board.

And boy, do they have big thighs!

Ireen Wüst

Achtereekte, who won the race in 3.59.21, narrowly beat team mate and defending champion Ireen Wüst into second place. Antoinette de Jong completed the all-Dutch winners podium.

Antoinette de Jong

Speed skating is apparently a national obsession in the Netherlands, now that they've stopped basing their currency on tulip bulbs.

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Shockingly, Scandinavian Women Excel at Cross County Skiing

Charlotte Kalla

Whodda thunk?

Charlotte Kalla of Sweden took home the games' first gold medal in women's cross country skiing. Marit Bjoergan of Norway took silver and Krista Parmakoski of Finland won bronze.

Marit Bjørgen

Krista Parmakoski

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She Skis, She Shoots, She Scores - Laura Dahlmeier

One of the first Gold Medals of the PyeongChang Olympics, Laura Dalhmeier won the Biathlon Sprint event:

German biathlete Laura Dahlmeier won her first gold medal in what she called a "perfect race," hitting all 10 targets with her rifle. But as she ran toward her teammates following the even, she slipped on a patch of ice. They had a good laugh and celebrated her golden performance.

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup" and links. Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Monday: Mash Note" up and running.