AMAZING Olympic Moment!

Completely AMAZING story about Petra Majdic a Slovenian cross-country skier! Now That's An Olympic Moment!!!

2010 Winter Olympics
During the warm-up for the 1.4 kilometre classic sprint on the February 17 in the 2010 Olympics she skied off-course, down a bank, into a 3 m (10 ft) deep gulley where she crashed on rocks breaking both ski poles, a ski tip, and sustained four broken ribs along with a pneumothorax.[2] The start time for her qualifying round was pushed back, but she collapsed in pain after qualifying and was taken to hospital to be x-rayed. She returned and, despite the agonizing pain, won her quarterfinal, just got through the semifinal as a lucky loser, and finished third to win the bronze medal in the final, the first individual Winter Olympic medal for Slovenia in 16 years. She earned the highest praise from other skiers, staff and the media for her amazing bravery as she attended the medal giving ceremony with a tube in her chest to relieve pneumothorax[3]. She said at the press conference afterwards "Today, this is not a bronze. This is a gold with little diamonds on it"[4].
Two days after the race she was awarded with the Golden Order for Services by the President of Slovenia Danilo Türk

Who Are The Critics?

                                                        Credit: Alex Livesey/Getty Images   CTV News

They had a party, should they have?  Well, seriously, wouldn’t you?   They just won the Gold Medal Three Times In A Row For Canada!!!  But sadly the girls ended up having to defend themselves for a party that started in the dressing room and ended up on the ice after the fans had left.  Drinks with prop cigars, and it makes headline news, come on now, let the girls celebrate!  

So who are the critics?  My guess is it is simply the media, desperately looking for something to cause some controversy.  You be the judge.  The following is copied from the CTV News Website

'Get real' says Wickenheiser as critics slam party

The Globe and Mail

By Mark Hume, The Globe and Mail Posted Friday, February 26, 2010 6:24 PM ET

They had gold medals hanging around their necks, but members of Canada's women's hockey team were doing damage control on Friday after a controversial postgame celebration involving alcohol and cigars.

The morning after their stirring gold-medal win over the United States, captain Hayley Wickenheiser and other players found themselves both defending their actions and apologizing for the way they celebrated at the rink.

A party that started in the dressing room spilled out onto the ice, long after the fans had left the building, when several team members posed for photos with beer cans in hand and big cigars in their mouths.

Wickenheiser acknowledged the pictures splashed in the media on Friday were not the best image for Olympians to project. But she said it was just harmless fun, and everyone should get over it.

"All I have to say is get real. Get real because you know, we were enjoying the moment," she said with a laugh. "It probably was not the right thing to be on the ice doing that, but in the moment you get caught up and things happen. And trust me, there's lots worse things that go on at the Olympics, so everybody just take a big breath and chill out because it's not a big deal."

Wickenheiser said the cigars were really nothing more than props.

"Nobody [on the team] smokes. Of course we are aware that's not the image you want to portray, especially if there's young kids and people watching ... [but] it is a tradition in hockey that when you win they have cigars and usually have champagne in the dressing room."

Meghan Agosta said the controversy hadn't taken the edge off the joy of victory, but she did regret that the team, which gritted out a 2-0 win over the U.S., had been forced to explain itself.

"It's something we didn't really think about. We just wanted to go out there and take pictures and savour the moment. We were proud and happy. We're sorry. We are responsible for our actions and we didn't mean to offend anybody," she said.
"None of us are alcoholics or anything. We were just having fun and enjoying the moment."

John Furlong, CEO of VANOC, said too much was being made of the incident.

"I honestly thought it was young kids who were happy. They had a good time, they let their hair down a little bit and yes a few things happened on the ice that probably were a bit inappropriate - and then they said they are sorry," he said.

"They are great ambassadors for the country and, you know what, they poured everything they had into being gold-medal champions at the Olympic Games and we shouldn't diminish what they did for a moment."

Mark Adams, spokesman for the International Olympic Committee, said the Canadian Olympic Committee would be given a formal letter asking for details about the incident, but he didn't think it would go any further than that.

"I would say to characterize it as an investigation would be wrong. I mean to start with, the athletes came out very quickly yesterday and said that they were sorry for what they'd done and said their behaviour was inappropriate," he said.

Michael Chambers, president of the COC, also didn't see it as a significant incident.

"They are going to be sending me a letter asking for details. I'll give the details, that a couple of the women in the excitement of the moment went out on to the ice, took some fun pictures, had cans of beer in their hands," Chambers said.

He said it is not unusual for adult athletes to have a drink after winning a big game, but he did acknowledge some of the players were not yet 19, which is the legal drinking age in British Columbia.

Neither the Vancouver Police Department nor the RCMP Integrated Security Unit has plans to investigate the matter.

With a report from Paul Waldie

PS…I have to say, this has got to be one of the best winter olympics I can ever remember!  Proudly Canadian our athletes are doing amazing!  I am eager to see the closing ceremonies after such great job at the opening ceremonies – but first – Hockey!!! 

USA 

Gold 8   Silver 12  Bronze 12  Total 32

Germany

Gold 9  Silver 11  Bronze 7  Total    27

Norway

Gold 8   Silver 6    Bronze 6   Total  20

Canada

Gold  8   Silver  8  Bronze  3  Total  19

Camera Quiz

Thought I’d leave you a quick quiz today.  Courtesy: Michael The Maven

Now Playing

Now Playing At The Forest Kineto Theatre

AVATAR

$5

February 26,27,28, and March 2

Celine Dion and Anne Geddes

What a pair to match up and make such an amazing project.  My husband gave me the Miracle book and DVD set the Christmas that it came out – what a collection of beauty.   Enjoy listening to these two talk, and then seeing the video:

Tips For Taking Pictures In The Snow

 

It is a time for snow, though we haven’t had near the amount of snow as last year in our area, we got a good dumping yesterday, and probably one of the last for the year.  Snow can be a real challenge to take pictures in, and to top that off, how do you get a sharp image of your moving subject.  Well, firstly be thankful for digital, because even if your exposure does come out wrong you can still adjust it on your computer before getting them printed, instead of having to rely on whether the lab will simply put your prints through on automatic and not adjust for the snow.

Your camera electronics read differently than the human eye, and in situations like snow, you will often need to trick your camera in order to expose the scene properly.   The two best ways to do this are:

1. focus the red dot on your point and shoot camera on your subject, or a darker area than the snow, this will allow your cameras metering system to meter the darker area rather than the snow.

2. The second option – Exposure Compensation –this being the much better choice, but understandably, not all camera owners shoot with cameras with this option -  by setting the control to +1(or sometimes more depending on the brightness), it will overexpose the scene by one stop, admitting twice as much light into the photo.

Close up shots are also a great way to get a proper exposure while still allowing the image to display the snowy location in a smaller way.

Next, add some bright colours to your images, this will not only allow for easier metering, but will also pop your pictures.

And lastly,  it is best to keep your camera warm, rather than cold/warm/cold/warm, simply due to condensation build up, so try to protect from that situation as much as possible if you are outside for a long period, by keeping your camera inside of your coat.

PS. Thank You Mr. Murray for making our little snow hill ! :)

Arkona As Seen By The Rest Of The World

If you haven’t seen this, be prepared to be amazed and worried all in the same moment!  I’m sure you all know about Google maps, and being able to zoom in with a satellite view on your location (not in real time).  Well there is also something called the street view on Google Maps, once you type in your desired location you can click on “more” and choose street level.  At which point you may see things like in our case, the kids soccer balls in the backyard!  This is not in real time, Big Brother may not be watching you at this moment – but who knows!  Here’s a peek at one of the cars they used to do this, it is really amazing how it’s done.  

Beautiful Baby Emma

This sweet little one popped in yesterday morning with her family.  She did so well, and looked adorable in her little outfit that Daddy picked out for her.  Congratulations to Mike and Amanda and family.

 

Historical Building In Ruins

It was a sad day for many of the residents of Ailsa Craig Ontario yesterday as one of the historical buildings in the area burned down.  The history of lodging for cattle owners, and dinning for restaurant goers is well known, along with the many individuals who where employed by the owners of the Pinewood Restaurant.  The structure fire started well before noon, but even so, there was little left by the time the regular lunch hour came around.  I was able to meet up with a photographer in the area while there. Kandace of Bice Photography lives right across the street from the building, and was welcoming to a Canon shooter like me, though she was a Nikon girl!  These are just a few of the shots from the day as the firefighters did their best to keep the fire under control.

     

IPhone ITouch App For Photographers

This has got to be one of the most useful Photographers Apps I have ever seen.  No more panic over whether you remembered your contracts, it’s all right here, and can be instantly emailed after your client signs the glowing display :)

Now Playing

Now Playing At

The Kiwanis Kineto Theatre

The Book of Eli

Feb. 19,20,21,23

All Tickets $5 

Starring: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson,Jennifer Beals

Running Time: 117 min.

I Believe

Congratulations Chris, winner Visa’s Olympic Hockey Womens Gold and Bronze medal games tickets!   I Believe – Oh How True in so many ways! 

Reading Week At Bosanquet

When I was a kid, I had the privilege of attending Bosanquet Central Public School.  Now as  a Mommy, I get to see my children attending the same school.  As a result, I have the opportunity to take part in  some of the extra activities that take part there.  Today was a special day – the final day of Reading Week, and it ended in Great Success!  The kids were encouraged to read books on Hockey all week long and at the end would meet with some of the Sarnia Stings – A Junior A Team from Sarnia, Ontario.  The Sting players came out, read hockey books to the children in their classrooms, and after handing out prizes, and playing a little indoor hockey with the kids and principal, signed autographs.  The event included an assembly as well as a meal for all of the children, complete with hamburger, veggies, ice cream and milk.  Chris O’Reilly conceived the idea, and has spear headed this event over the  last few years, even to the point of bringing in jersey’s for the teachers to wear, as the students were encouraged to wear their hockey outfits today as well; and with the help of teachers and parents the day was a complete success Here are a few of the shots, including one of the Jersey winners – Cameron, who was awarded his fully autographed Jersey after reading the most books out of the intermediate division.  Congratulations to everyone!

Time Of Use

Do you remember last year when your hydro meter got switched out?  It only took a short period of time, but your where supposed to be home for the happenings.  Well, Time Of Use Pricing is coming into effect now.  According to Hydro One, “TOU pricing means that the price you pay for electricity changes depending on the time of day or day of the week, and varies by season.”  Below are the charts showing you where you can save on your electricity.  For more details, check out www.hydroone.com

A look at the calendar

Just a quick peak at that calendar from Graphistudio !

 

Beautiful Albums Delivered!

I love getting a visit from couriers – it’s like Christmas, even if I don’t get to keep the product!  This time, it ended up being a shipment from Italy, a shipment a beautiful wedding package – Bridal Album, Parent Albums, and a little extra treat for the Bride and Groom – a calendar – I’ll show that off tomorrow :)  But for now, I just thought I would share a little sneak peak at the albums from Graphi Studios in Italy!