rants and observations

Keep a 12,000 pound killer whale in isolation for an extended period of time and it’s no surprise when it drags a trainer into the water to ‘play’. Tilikum the killer whale, a past resident of Victoria’s now defunct Sealand of the Pacific tourist trap and now residing at Orlando’s Seaworld, is responsible for the death of Dawn Brancheau, who had to be manually extricated from the jaws of the mammal by Seaworld staff.

Being Canadian is fantastic. We enjoy all the perks of being American without actually having to be American like great food, great scenery, a stable government and dedicated Internet connections. Life here in Canada is very good.

So what did our American neighbours think of our little Olympic opening show? Well, some were not terribly impressed. Americans have a habit of making most things bigger and better than everyone else which is one of the reasons we love ‘em so much. But Canadians are a bit more reserved and do just enough to get the point across without being showoffs.

The 2010 Winter Olympic opening ceremonies have had mixed reviews since Friday night’s big event. I, for one, wasn’t too impressed with the 30-40 minutes after the snowboarder intro but it certainly picked up as time went on. The typical aboriginal theme was a bit much and the large poles that rose from the floor of BC Place looked more like adult sex toys than anything else, especially their silhouettes during some of the proceedings. Didn’t anyone think about that?