Oliver Reporting Live from Vancouver

Well by now the Olympics are in full swing and for the most part, they’ve been highly entertaining. Other than the fact that the organizers forgot that the Winter Olympics are supposed to be played in Winter conditions with REAL SNOW, the organizers have done a great job in bringing us quality competition. Don’t get me wrong, I also would have expected Vancouver to have some snow this time of year, but maybe next time they ought to hold the Winter Games in Bemidji, Minnesota so they don’t have to truck in oodles and oodles of snow. Even without real snow, it has been plenty cold in Vancouver. It’s a good thing I knitted myself a hat, scarf, and gloves on the plane ride here with the Winter Knits Kit. Without my knits, I would probably be for sale in your grocer’s freezer.

There have been many “feel good’ stories so far and those always warm your heart. Take for example the Chinese couple Zhao Hongbo and Shen Zue (names have been changed to protect privacy. Their real names are Harvey and Phyllis Goldstein), who took home the gold medal in the pairs figure skating final. At 36 and 31, they have been skating together for 18 years and finally toppled the Russians off the podium who had won gold in this competition every Olympiad since 1960! Then there’s the story of Alexandre Bilodeau who became the first Canadian to win an Olympic Gold Medal on home ground when he finished first in the Men's Moguls, prompting people across the world to ask, “What the hey is a Mogul?”

Frankly, I have no idea what a mogul is, but I love the word, don’t you? Well for my dear and devoted readers, I have done some online research, and after many minutes of hunkering down in my Vancouver office, I uncovered the following:

• Project Mogul was a top secret project by the US Army Air Forces involving high altitude balloons, whose primary purpose was long-distance detection of sound waves generated by Soviet atomic bomb tests and ballistic missiles
• HTC Mogul is a high tech gadget for Windows Mobile 6.0/6.1 PDA and if you’re like me, you have no idea what it is.
• MOGUL framework is a processing-based research framework for investigating languages in the mind. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Me too. Huh? The only frames that come to my mind are photo frames.
• Federal-Mogul is a major automotive parts supplier based in Southfield, Michigan.

Yes folks, there are many a mogul, but we’re referring to Mogul Skiing, a type of freestyle skiing where skiers try to pass different bumps or, yes you got it, moguls! So I hope you’re thoroughly educated and remember; next time you’re at a cocktail dinner, try throwing the word Mogul around and watch how impressed your friends will be at your improved vocabulary! That’s all for today folks! Until next time, Au revoir from Vancouver!