Sochi & Breaking Bad

The Winter Games begin tonight, but it wouldn’t be a game to be in Sochi right now. Putin can say all he wants about the security he’ll have in place, but I’d still be afraid to go there. And not just the threat to my life. Also the threat to my identity and financial records. It seems that the Russian hackers can now grab all that information the minute you step off a plane and use any electronic devices. No wonder they still have so many tickets to sell for the various venues. No thanks. I’ll stay here and watch it on the tube. And if Sochi needs any more snow, we could always send some of ours that keeps falling and falling in the north and east.

I’m looking forward to the team figure skating as something new. Also looking forward to seeing Lolo Jones in the bobsled. Not that I give a shuck for bobsledding. I just want to see Lolo. The women’s ski jump should be good. It’s about time the Olympic committee finally agreed to consider women as being athletes enough for that event. Every year, every Olympic Games, both summer and winter, we realize that women are not fragile creatures who have to be protected from the rigors of a sport that was once considered only a male event. Think boxing and hockey, think weightlifting. Someday we may even see an end to the male/female categories, with mixed competition, the best competitors or team members regardless of gender. Maybe even see male pregnancies. That will finally signal equality of the sexes. Don’t laugh. These days, anything’s possible.

We’re still whistling through Breaking Bad. That really is an amazing series, so many unexpected twists and turns, so much really great acting. Nearly all of the characters have some good, some bad in them (pretty much like all of us). Walt seems to want to protect Jesse but he also allowed Jesse’s girlfriend to die of a heroin overdose when he might have saved her. But she was a menace to his and Jesse’s meth dealing, so he let her die. And Skyler has decided to overlook the money her boss seems to have misappropriated. The lies keep piling up, the tension keeps growing. We’re just starting Season Three. Thank you, NetFlix.