Good Start, Canada!

Not my images.

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia started recently. The opening ceremonies were held on Friday, February 7th.

But, before that, some events had already started. One, Snowboarding Men's Slopestyle, involved a number of highly touted Canadians - Mark McMorris, Maxence Parrot and Sebastien Toutant.

This event involves snowboarding down a course with various obstacles like rails and long barrels and doing tricks on/over them. As well there are three large jumps that the participants do flips and twists over.

Like in gymnastics or figure skating, competitors are then given marks on their technical proficiency and level of difficulty.

In the preliminary rounds Max Parrot and Sebastien Toutant advanced directly into the finals. Favorite Mark McMorris, who was nursing broken ribs, had to go through a secondary round because his scores weren't high enough.

I watched the second round live Friday night/Saturday morning (at around 3:00 a.m. Toronto time). It was pretty tense. McMorris scored well enough to squeak into the finals joining Parrot and Toutant.

The finals were held later that morning. I turned on the TV in time to watch Toutant and Parrot snowboard. Mark McMorris had already finished his run by that time though. He was holding on to second at the time with, perhaps, 7 or 8 competitors to go.

Sebastien Toutant was the next Canadian in line. His performance didn't quite make the cut unfortunately, eventually finishing in 9th.

Maxence Parrot was the last snowboarder down the course. I have to say I thought he pulled off quite a good run. The judges didn't quite see it that way and awarded him a 5th place ranking.

McMorris, by this time, had dropped down to the bronze medal spot having been knocked down by Norwegian, Staale Sandbech, who took silver. American, Sage Kotsenburg, won gold.

Considering his injury it was a great result for McMorris and a good start for Canada in our Olympic medal quest.

Later in the day it was the Dufour-Lapointe sisters, Maxime, Chloé and Justine, competing in the Women's Moguls.

I have to say I didn't get to see it on television. I only heard about the results afterwards. But, what incredible results they were. Little sis, Justine, 19, won gold; middle sister, Chloé, 22, took silver; and big sister, Maxime, 25, placed a respectable 12th. As well, Audrey Robichaud, came 10th to round out the standings for the Canadian contingent.

A great first day for our country if I don't say so myself. Go, Canada, go!

The Sisters Brothers

I just finished reading The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt. Though I have to admit I don't read an awful lot, it was a bit of a departure from what I might normally choose.

Set in California in the 1850s, The Sisters Brothers is a western about brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters. They are hired killers who work for a rich and powerful man known simply as the Commodore. What he commands they do, no questions asked.

The novel tells the tale of their adventures in seeking out and confronting their next target, Hermann Kermit Warm. Along the way they meet a varied and motley group of characters with varying consequences.

As well, Eli begins to reflect on his chosen profession and wrestles with his choices in life. Though they are generally self-serving, cold blooded killers they do have a human side and I found myself warming towards them.

deWitt's style of writing fits the timeframe of the story well. At no time did I find myself getting weary of reading (as sometimes happens with me).