Day: April 17, 2006

“!(imgleft)https://yannisms.com/pix/pig_olympics.jpg!(Three little pigs)”:http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060415/ids_photos_ts/ra190148991.jpg;_ylt=AnL.CNLcwhAEjujVPTCeEGaek3QF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3bGk2OHYzBHNlYwN0bXA-

After seeing this, and its family of pictures while at work yesterday, it made me want to buy a pig for a pet. Aren’t the little piggies so darn cute? Apparently, in Moscow, there exists a contest called the Pig Olympics, where piglets get to show their prowess in swimming, running and the svineball event. Svineball is like football, except it’s played with the snouts of the pigs, not the feet. Get me a piglet now!

“!(imgleft)https://yannisms.com/pix/pooh_hollywood_star.jpg!(Pooh gets a star birthday)”:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060411/wl_canada_nm/canada_media_disney_pooh_col_1

Everyone’s favourite bear gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! Yes, Winnie the Pooh celebrated his 80th birthday last week with a lavish party in Tinsel Town, with his friends Tigger, Rabbit and Eeyore. What happened to best friend Piglet? Maybe he was preparing for the pig Olympics. Did I mention that I love Pooh? I can sing the theme song, sleep with a cute bear everyday, and I always bring him with me when I go travelling (he’s visited Angkor Wat). I even have a bedtime story book on that orange fur rug with a penchant for “hunny”.

In other news, two of my favourite books in the world will be adapted for the big screen. Neil Gaiman’s “Stardust” is a whimsical fairy tale for adults. Currently in filming now, the movie stars one of my favourite actresses Claire Danes as my favourite character of the book, the fallen star (literally) Yvaine. In fact, I love that character so much that I decided to name my future daughter that, especially given my leaning towards stars (the astronomical objects, not the living breathing humans).

The other adapted-for-movie book is Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy. It’s a world where daemons are the companions of each and every human being, with a strong emotional and spiritual connection between the two, and where parallel worlds exist with parallel timelines running simultaneously. It’s a marvellous fantasy book, with the protagonist being a grubby girl named Lyra.

Can’t wait!

[Let’s play tag! pigolympics, pooh, neilgaiman, svineball]

There is a reason why the show is named as such, simply because it really is an amazing journey around the world.

Every season, I find myself choked up with tears in my eyes as I watch every Detour and every Roadblock tasks that teams perform. Because the wanderer in me envies the places that the contestants get to visit. Because the gungho spirit in me marvels at the different amazing stunts that they get to do, from rappelling down a building to bungee jumping to going on the flying fox across a wide river and waterfall. As they fly through the air, screaming in wonder and ecstasy, I catch myself wishing that I could have the chance to do that too.

And it’s really fun to put myself in their shoes and wonder if I would make the same decision as they did. Would I be able to carry a gigantic swordfish and run through the streets of Sicily without complaining like Monica did? Would I be able to complete a traditional Russian dance with my two left feet?

And then, there’s the amusement to be had when I think about the roles that the boyfriend and I would play should we ever be contestants on the show. He will obviously be the driver and perform tasks that require brute strength or hand-eye coordination. Stuff like bungee jumping would be left to me because he is afraid of heights and I am more nimble and agile than him anyway. And knowing him, he would be carrying my pack for me half the time because, well, that’s what he would do. And, I think, he wouldn’t be as nasty as Lake is to Michelle, screaming at her to shut up and dumping all the blame on her.

This is why I love the show and why it’s so addictive. I think I live vicariously through the lives of others.