Life in the Sprung

Life. Life's absurdities. And TV news in the most powerful city in the world. Blogging 8 miles north of the White House

Friday, February 24, 2006

23 February 2006

Okay, enough about Sasha Cohen. I promise.

Thanks to the good folks at National Journal's "The Hotline" there's this little gem for a Friday afternoon: According to the BBC, a Sudanese man was forced to marry a goat "after he was caught having sex with the animal." Seriously. The story is HERE. Apparently the village "elders" forced the guy to pay a $50 dowry for the goat, and according to the elder: "We have given him the goat, and as far as we know they are still together." Awww.

I just love it: I can't marry my girlfriend here in America, but some pervert in Sudan can marry a goat. Fabulous.

24 February 2006


Ok, so I am so sad Sasha fell. Twice. But she STILL got the silver. That's how strong the rest of her program was. In fact, Chicago Tribune sports columnist Phil Hersh puts it this way: "Upon further review of the entire final group, it's clear that over the final 3-plus minutes of her 4-minute program, Cohen easily was the best skater in a competition Japan's Shizuka Arakawa won with a clean but conservative skate. Not only that, but neither Russia's Irina Slutskaya, the bronze medalist, nor Japan's Fumie Suguri, who finished fourth, skated better than Cohen for the entire four minutes." The column is HERE. Sure, there was all the talk about how Sasha's her own worst enemy,how she's never skated two clean programs in a row, blah, blah blah. Who knows what happened. I hear her practice earlier that was a disaster. She missed several jumps, and it spooked her. You could tell. The second she took the ice my partner and I both remarked how she looked: scared, distracted -a completely different look than Tuesday night when she so focused and sassy. (And won.) My partner predicts she's done with competitive skating -- washed up at 21. She will go on tour, collect endorsements, and maybe coach. Hopefully she'll keep going. After the medals ceremony, Sasha said: "I love skating. It gives me a sense of purpose and accomplishment. I plan on going to worlds [in mid-March] and keep training. I still don't have a world title, and I would like that." You KNOW I'll be cheering her on.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

23 February 2006

Oh my gosh. Just saw a wire on the figure skating finals. It's taking A LOT of willpower to NOT open it.

23 February 2006

Ok, so looking back over my last entries, I just have one question: When did I become such a skating FREAK!?

Meanwhile, caught this headline today: NY Gov. George Pataki (R) was recovering from his second surgery but "still hasn't had a bowel movement" as of yesterday afternoon (New York Post). Hi.

23 February 2006

It's going to be a challenge for me today to NOT find out who won the medal in the ladies figure skating finals today. I desperately DON'T want to know b/c me and the girl are going to watch it tonight...on tape delay. But I constantly get AP wire updates throughout the day on breaking news items that happen -- of course -- in REAL time. So I just have to force myself not to open the story once I see the Olympics slug. Sasha Cohen was spotted practicing this morning...she caused quite a buzz yesterday when she skipped practice because she was tired. According to her coach, John Nicks, she couldn't sleep Tuesday night because she was so excited and hyper.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

22 February 2006


Lest there was any doubt...(see Feb 18th blog.) The Washington Post style section has yet another feature on American figure skater, Johnny Weir....and his penchant for shopping. The story is here. The opening graph: "Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir has been out shopping every day, shopping so much that the Louis Vuitton store here, which he affectionately calls "Louie" and which he's visited six or seven times since arriving two weeks ago, paid for his cab recently when he was leaving." Hi. Oh, and then there's the picture included in the article of Johnny wearing rhinestone sunglasses, rabbit fur hand-warmers, and a beaver-and-python coat. There is other "incriminating" evidence: Johnny purchasing
a Dolce & Gabbana hoodie that he says reads "Sex trainer: Best to practice seven days a week," a Fendi scarf, and True Religion jeans, which are his favorite brand ("I like how my butt looks in them"). Once again, no mention that Johnny's gay. And once again, it's COMPLETELY not necessary.

22 February 2006


SASSY!!! And number one coming out of the women's short program, that Sasha Cohen.
NBC has the video of her perfomance here. Full disclosure: I have a minor (ok, bordering on major) crush on the girl....and my partner knows about it, so it's all good.

Monday, February 20, 2006

20 February 2006



Decided to take on the huge-ass branch in the backyard today (which included my having to purchase a hack-saw. That's a new one for a former city mouse.)

After about two hours, I finally got everything to the curb. Damn.