With Glowing Hearts

Today is the anniversary of the end of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Wow, the Olympics really were a magical time for all Canadians. Personally, I was blessed to be in the right circumstances at the right time that I was able to attend the Olympics. I’m from Toronto but my sister and I were able to make a trip to Vancouver for the games as ‘Olympic tourists’.

Simply put, I had the time of my life. As many others have described before, the ‘spirit’ was palpable. Everyone was open, friendly and excited – foreigners and locals alike. Every single day was a blast: from striking up conversations with the person seated next to you in a stadium to ‘O Canada’ being sung almost every day on the packed train home. My personal favourite is how packed Granville Street was after every game the men’s hockey team won with people giving high-fives to just about everybody else.

As for the perfect end to the perfect games – I was one of the thousands of faces in Livecity Yaletown for the gold medal game. Looking back, it’s funny how we all began a countdown (at the 30 second mark, I think) before EVERYONE went deadly silent as Zach Parise tied it up. Naturally, I was elated when Crosby got that goal in overtime. What I didn’t’ expect was that I would share my joy with some random stranger, hugging and jumping up and down together. When the flag was raised in the stadium and the anthem was sung, a row of us random strangers formed a chain, singing the anthem together. It was such a wonderful feeling that can’t be replicated.

Prior to the game no one could imagine that it would end in such a dramatic fashion. I can say this now knowing how it turned out: thank you Parise for tieing it, thank you Crosby for the golden goal and thanks to the entire team for an awesome finale.

I know I’m lucky - not only was I able to cross ‘go to an olympics’ off my bucket list, I was also able to see it in my home country. Vancouver is a beautiful city and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to see it at its best. Thanks to all of the Canadian athletes for giving us all a reason to cheer and making us so very proud!

With glowing hearts, indeed.

J'adore: Tim Hortons Holiday Cups

J’adore nombre un will be holiday related. I know that it’s a bit late to be posting something related to the holidays but I was too busy enjoying the holidays to do otherwise :) . J’adore Tim Hortons holiday cups. These wicked cups come around every year for the holiday season and they are one of those simple things that make me happy.

For those who aren’t in the loop (shame on you), Tim Hortons is a Canadian institution that most of us lovingly call Timmies. Now, the thing about Timmies is that it isn’t your premium, Starbucks-type coffee chain – it’s pretty simple but it’s pretty great. My three favourite things at Timmies are coffee double double, steeped tea and sour cream glazed timbits. Now, timbits are the shit but that’s another story.

Alas, let me get back to the topic at hand - every year Timmies does these wonderful nostalgia-inducing holiday cups that take me right back to winters as a wee lass in Canada. The kids playing out in the snow and the image of a dad carrying a Timmies tray as a family comes in from the cold makes me smile. Well done, I say, well done.

J'adore

I have a cute little story that I want to share but I heard it a long time ago so it’s possible that some of the details are off.

When John Galliano first went to work for Dior in Paris he couldn’t speak a word of French. Apparently, the only thing he knew how to say was “j’adore”. So, he communicated with his mainly French-speaking staff by constantly saying j’adore this, j’adore that. You get the point…

Consequently, very early on he designed those popular t-shirts that said “j’adore dior”. Crappy t-shirts - I absolutely hated them. However, I do love the story behind the t-shirt. And, as a result, I will steal Monsieur Galliano’s phrase and call all posts relating to things I love J’adore.

World Juniors Post-Mortem

I've fully recovered, I think.

I'm still a little disappointed but I do think that overall this is for the best. How, you say?

1. How can hockey grow as a sport if other nations don't win?
2. How boring would it be in any sport if a single nation won every competition every single year? While I think most Canadians would like complete and utter domination of hockey in theory, in practice it would prove to be very boring.

As I said yesterday, I am still very proud of the boys - they worked hard throughout and carried themselves like men.

So, I leave you with my personal favourite moment of the final: the celebration after Carter Ashton's goal (the second of the game).

Awesome Name Award: Claude Makélélé

Here at I Met Myself In Mirth, I give out an award to people who have achieved the great accomplishment of simply being born with a great name.

While the first award was given to Cal Clutterbuck, I give the second to a man who truly has the best name around ... i.e., for years now, I have not come across a better name than this one: Claude Makélélé.

Yes, the man's name is spelt with 3 accent aigus.

2011 World Juniors Final: Russia 5 - 3 Canada

I really don't know what to write at the moment. I will say that going into the game I was confident that Canada was going to win this shit. Going into the third I knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt ... Whoops.

Nevertheless, I am ever proud of Team Canada. To those who criticize, take it easy - many of us adults probably couldn't do what these guys do as teens.

Good job to all of the boys:

Mark Visentin
Olivier Roy
Jared Cowen
Simon Despres
Dylan Olsen
Erik Gudbranson
Ryan Ellis
Tyson Barrie
Calvin de Haan
Sean Couturier
Jaden Schwartz
Zack Kassian
Brayden Schenn
Casey Cizikas
Quinton Howden
Curtis Hamilton
Marcus Foligno
Ryan Johansen
Louis Leblanc
Cody Eakin
Carter Ashton
Brett Connolly

4:50 - R. Ellis (B. Schenn, C. de Haan)
19:46 - C. Ashton (L. Leblanc)
26:27 - B. Schenn (M. Foligno)
42:33 - A. Panarin (D. Golubev, M. Berezin)
42:44 - M. Kitsyn (S. Kalinin, E. Kuznetsov)
47:29 - V. Tarasenko (E. Kuznetsov)
55:22 - A. Panarin (V. Tarasenko, D. Golubev)
58:44 - N. Dvurechensky (E. Kuznetsov)

*** Congrats to Team Ontario for winning gold at the World U-17s

Lookalikes

I was watching The Princess Frog for a second time recently and I came to the exact same conclusion that I did the first time around when I saw the film on screen.  It took all of two seconds for me to know exactly who Dr. Facilier, The Shadow Man, reminded me of ... Joe Jackson

Joe Jackson     vs.     Shadow Man

Just sayin...