Hollywoodland

So I’m not doing it. *g* No matter what “it” is.

On this date in history:

• In 1942, we had the Battle of Los Angeles. Never heard of it? Neither had I. And it’s fascinating! Wonder if anyone else has ever used it in a book besides the one mentioned?

Tonight on TV, we have more fun times from the Olympics, but also new episodes of Solving History with Olly Steeds and Psych.

Did a bit more tweaking. And had fun on Facebook coming up with crazy ideas for a series of murders at the Olympics. Could make a fun book if I ever get around to it.

Reading: Finished up Town in a Blueberry Jam which I enjoyed a lot. Now I’m reading If Books Could Kill by Kate Carlisle which is a lot of fun too.

Yesterday from Vancouver:

In the men’s 10,000m speed skating event, it was first thought Sven Kramer of the Netherlands had won the gold, then officials realized he’d made an illegal lane change during the race and he was disqualified. The thing is, he made the change because one of his coaches yelled at him to make it! Bet that coach is persona non grata now.

In the men’s giant slalom, Bode Miller missed a gate halfway down the hill and was out of the race. His teammate Ted Ligety finished in 9th place.

In the men’s team Nordic combined (ski jumping plus cross country skiing), the U.S. team came very close to winning the gold but had to settle for silver. They were happy with that because, if you’ll recall, this was an event no American had ever medaled in for 86 years until this year.

Then we had the debut of women’s ski cross which was just as insane as the men’s. No Americans made it to the medal round, so I cheered for Canada’s Ashleigh McIvor who won the gold.

And then we had the women’s figure skating short program.

The first and only figure skater from Turkey, Tugba Karademir, did a nice job. She knew she wasn’t in medal contention. She, like so many others, was just there for the Olympic experience. Her program may not have been as spectacular as the later skaters but it was enjoyable. And her parents who gave up everything to move to Canada so she could train looked so proud. She finished in 21st place.

Mirai Nagasu from the U.S. skated to music from Pirates of the Caribbean. I thought she did a bang-up job. And the judges agreed. She’s sitting in 6th place going into tomorrow’s free skate.

The other American, Rachel Flatt sits in 5th place. She lost a full point on her triple lutz, otherwise, I think she might have finished a bit higher. She skated to Sing Sing Sing.

Miki Ando of Japan is sitting in 4th place. Nothing against her but I don’t really remember much about her performance.

In 3rd place is Canada’s Joannie Rochette. In my opinion she is the bravest person at the games. Her mother passed away from a heart attack over this past weekend. She decided to stay in the competition because her mother would have wanted it. She skated brilliantly to La Cumparsita. But she broke down crying as soon as she finished. I just wanted to reach through the TV and give her a hug.

Mao Asada of Japan is in 2nd place. She also skated brilliantly. She blew everyone away with her triple axel/double toe loop combination. I believe the announcers said she is the only one who does a triple axel in competition.

But sitting in 1st place is Korea’s Kim Yu-Na who I have to agree deserves to be in first place. She rocked the house to music from the James Bond movies. She may not do a triple axel, but she did a triple lutz/triple toe loop which scored even higher than Mao Asada’s triple/double combo.

Tomorrow night’s medal round is going to be a lot of fun!

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