anyway, this is not a post about streaming services, despite the opening *sigh*
this post is about the winter olympics and why i have never really been able to "get into" them, etc.
despite my general *meh* about the winter olympics, we have been watching a few events, cause, as night-jobbers, we are home quite early in the morning, and so, we've been able to watch the events live LIVE, and really, live LIVE is really the only way to really enjoy any sorta sporting event, imho *ugh*
generally speaking, i have never really been "into" the winter olympics. i am, generally speaking, a huge fan of the summer olympics, because of gymnastics and track &field. and i've never really been able to pin-point exactly why it is that i don't care much for the winter olympics, in general, until this current cycle *phew*
the summer olympics is a true feat of meritocracy.
anyone who wants to run, can run.
no equipment necessary, not even shoes.
the winter olympics is a gauche display of privilege.
&i grew up with the exact sort of privilege that breeds winter olympians,
and the playing field is the opposite of meritocracy;
it's Elitism.
winter sports are for the "Elites" with both time and money ... to spare.
&there is a small community of locals (like me from families like mine) who live in these "Elite" areas of the world who get to enjoy these winter sports, too, but even among the locals, only a few can actually afford to "go the distance" for a child with a particular penchant for snow-sports.
&so, we are not watching a competition of the "best" athletes;
we are watching a competition of the "richest" athletes;
a sort of spectacle for the already-endowed,
and it's sorta gross.
it's not so much sport
as it is pageantry.
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| Neil and Melody Camas this is a phone-camera pic of a photo-printer print-off of a digital snap of a physical photo lol date of actual picture unknown the below pics are good old-fashioned developed/printed film arranged on our front-closet door shot with my phone camera &range in dates between 1989ish - 2009ish |
&i've always sorta hated the asian-americans who bitch about "representation" as if they would've never pursued their sport if they had never seen another asian doing winter sports, etc.
&this is what asian-americans fundamentally do not understand about korean adoptees. we're everywhere. we've been everywhere for a long time, and none of us ever needed representation to do our thing.
nobody needs representation to achieve greatness;
if you're great,
you're great.
any and everyone who is ever a First had no representation, duh.
&the rise of asian-ness in winter sports is mostly a matter of numbers, and wealth, and privilege.
some countries, literally, do not have cold, snowy winters *iroll*
&yea, i talk a big game about skiing/snowboarding, calling out posers, laughing at wannabes, cause, even though it's been a long time since i hit the slopes, if i were to hit the slopes tomorrow, i can confidently say that (unless you're a competitive skier/snowboarder) i can ski and snowboard waaaay better than you. i can ski anything, but i prefer to snowboard, and i only like to cruise.
&yea, digging around to find these pics made me realize that 99% of the time i spent on the mountain was with my adopted family, and then i had to decide whether or not to post these pics, and then i had a think about how, when i was growing up, it seemed like everyone i knew skied/snowboarded, but it's not true that everyone did, and that's when i pinpointed the ick that the winter olympics makes me feel.
nevertheless, it's hilarious to me that three asians (specifically two koreans) topped the podium for a snowboarding event, and that they were born at a time when i started snowboarding, a time when snowboarding was not-permitted on aspen mountain, lol.
to this day, i'll still not ride aspen.
if i spent a week on the slopes,
i'd spend one day skiing highlands,
one half-day boarding buttermilk,
and five whole days riding snowmass
(maybe one day skiing).
[end note]
&i'd bet that
to this day
my adopted dad is still upset that i became a knuckle-dragger
lol
he really thought the world of my skiing ability
&it reminds me of a time when i went to breckenridge* with an old boyfriend and his dad
&we saw his dad from the lift one time
&i felt so embarrassed for his dad
&i basically knew that our relationship would not last
my dad would be so disappointed
by contrast
the first time the bodybuddy/lifemate and i rode around snowmass
i fell even deeper in love
cause we both had the same idea about riding the slopes
we're just riding our snowboards around the mountain to get snacks
like
duh
*i, by seriously good fortune, have been able to ride the "five mountains" of the colorado front range, as well, and for free (this is what friends are for, btw), and i gotta say, it sucks, lol. breckenridge is waaay too crowded, and it's not worth the wait. winter park is such a fucking nightmare of a drive, but the slopes are sweet, i'll give 'em that. a-basin is for beginners, so it is actually kinda fun, if you're willing to dodge the newbies right and left, but you risk getting seriously taken out by one of them. vail (i'm from the roaring fork valley; i am obligated to hate vail), totally hate, but seriously, the logistics of the town/mountain totally sucks. beaver creek actually had some really fun runs, but again, if i'm already at beaver creek, i'm just gonna drive all the way into the valley, for the realest ski town there is, and yea, i'ma be snooty about it, cause if you know, you know.