johnguinness's Diaryland Diary
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The Holly Willoughby one
Today was spent looking for things to do, skipping the bit where I actually follow through on whatever I found.
But before that (I post past midnight & stay up for hours before I sleep), Netflix told me to watch Silverado, so I did. All I'm really lacking is proper guidance, I guess. Anyway, I think I'd seen it once before, but forgotten what a damned fine Western it really is. The first hour and a half were perfect.
It also fit in well with my latest If I Win the Lottery daydream that has me buying land in Montana or somewhere and giving home to rescue horses, especially wild mustangs. I first had the idea after watching Hidalgo a few years back. I was reminded of it when I read a news story about a prison that has some of their guys train wild horses as part of their rehabilitation, then they auction off the horses a couple of times a year to pay for the program.
But the movie had some cool characters, really good with a six gun, and some brilliant scenery from the American West (if it was actually filmed in Canada, don't tell me).
There were more Contador stories after the one that got me excited. A distressing one is that WADA rushed the process of approving a plasticizer test, presumably because they want to accuse him of getting a blood transfusion during the Tour. Oy vay.
But it is a huge week for even a possibly ex-fan like me who still wants to see the system go down. Yes, it's Damn The Man week. The big Armstrong story in Sports Illustrated is rumored for the third or fourth week in a row. The Tour of Spain finally announces their route for next year, the climbs, etc. that make guys want to race it or avoid it like the plague.
But the highlight of DTM Week is the confrontation of a guy named Franco. Pro cycling has an anti-doping program called the Biological Passport. It's probably corrupt, but definitely pants. They said in April that Franco needed to be banned for two years. He wasn't allowed to race all season. In October, when the season was done, the Italian Olympic Committee or whoever found him innocent, because the Bio Passport is pants. But Franco still couldn't find a team for 2011, because the UCI had the option of appealing the decision to CAS (arbitrators), and no one wanted to get involved.
The UCI has forced him to stay in total Limbo since then, refusing to say if they're going to challenge, because they're asshats and such. So the other week, Pellizotti's clever lawyer, said that they had planned to sue the UCI for 200,000 Euros anyway, but were going to add 800,000 for pain and suffering because they messed with him so bad. After that announcement, the guy said hey, you know what? If you don't appeal this, and let it drop, we'll forget the extra 800,000. They have until Wednesday to decide, and it really is a David versus Goliath kind of thing.
I planned to watch the two football games today, but couldn't be bothered. Maybe if I was watching on a big screen TV, but a weak feed on a computer monitor with Swedish commercials wasn't enough for me to settle in.
I also got distracted when Holly Willoughby started trending on twitter. I really liked her on Xtra Factor or wherever she'd been, and follow her on twitter, but I didn't know her background. Everyone was tweeting about her boobs and Dancing On Ice. I jumped t the conclusion she was a celebrity skater. But it turned out that all she had to do to get the reaction was to stand still in a red dress. I've done some investigating, watched some videos of her getting food flung at her or whatever, and one where her boob popped out of a halter top while dancing. I also read about her doing a kid show where they brought in celebrities, and the cast would drink until five in the morning and sometimes go straight to do the show, where they did things like have celebrities put pastry on the end of a skateboard, then stomp on the other end to see who could make a mess highest on the wall. And now she's an institution, a pregnant one, attracting the lust of men and women (even straight ones) across the country.
I did try to class things up by watching Amadeus, and made it to the part where Mozart's wife takes her top off. I mostly stopped there because I didn't want to watch how Mozart's life was ruined later on - that was the beginning.
I also spent a bit of time posting at the evil bike forum, but avoided reading what others had to say or interacting. I also exchanged some tweets with the woman who has the Contador fan site. I don't follow the other handful of cycling fans I allow to follow me, even though I liked them in the past, because they had the power to get me fired up over things. But this one I figured could use some support, as she has to look through evil messages at her website, and has a lot of effort invested in all this.
I'm trying hard not to beat myself up over anything right now. I'm just trying to have an open mind, and to go with diverse movies and see what influences me.
Have a great week.
1:52 a.m. - Monday, Jan. 10, 2011
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