The Games are Open!

London welcomed the world to the Olympics last night with an opening ceremony that was, well.... interesting.  A veritable crazy-quit of all things Britannic, the ceremony began with a pale, pastoral scene that was neither attention-getting or exciting.  Miss Ginger is pretty sure it was supposed to represent the beginnings of the British Isles, but it seems to her there were some really important parts we skipped- Shakespeare and Stonehenge, come to mind.

After the little maypole dancers literally rolled up the grass and hauled it off-stage, we obsessed for what seemed like hours over the dark,  dingy, grey depiction of the industrial revolution.  Miss Ginger gets that Great Britain led the world in the industrial revolution, and that the east end of the city, where the stadium sits, was the center of it all, but the building of those grey smokestacks by the people in black and brown outfits was just dreary!  The only redeeming part was the pyrotechnics at the end, when the rings rose from the forge in a shower of flames. 

The pace and color did pick up a bit with the entrance of the Queen.  Here's the part where one would expect a certain amount of droll pageantry; instead, we celebrated British slapstick by parachuting Her Majesty into the cheering stadium along with Bond- James Bond!  That was an Olympic moment that won't soon be forgotten, and made the whole thing worth watching in Miss Ginger's opinion!  








After that, it just got kind of goofy. While she admires the Brits' pride in their National Health System, and wonders aloud if America could ever take national pride in any government program, she thought the whole sequence of kids in pale pajamas dancing on beds, with nannies dressed in black parabrelling down from the rafters kind of boring and, again, colorless. Then something about scary dreams- the scariest of which was the enormous inflatable child that was just plain creepy! Bi-racial kids dancing with iPhones- jet packs- British music tribute- it all became a boring blur around this part.

The parade of athletes reeled it back in, and Miss G couldn't help but notice the number of handsome tennis players that seemed to be selected to carry the flags of so many countries!  She's going to have to add tennis to her list of sports to watch! With each country's arrival came another petal for the Olympic cauldron,  and once they were all in place, the arrival of the Olympic flame by speedboat on the Thames was unique and clever.  

The wrap up performance by Sir Paul McCartney was special for Miss G in a tug-at-your-heart kind of personal way that could only be appreciated by GingerNation.  "Hey, Jude" has one of those weird, warm childhood memories for her.  As a tiny boy, probably around 3 or 4,  Baby Boy G would go up to Bubba Arthur's room and beg him: "Artie, sing our song" to which Artie (who was NOT a musician) would say "Why do you want me to sing it? It always makes you cry!"  I would, of course, tell him, "No! I'm not gonna cry this time- I promise!" and after much pleading, could get him to sing the song.  And, of course, I would cry.  I'm still not sure why... I guess because he was singing about a "sad song", and making things better.  Anyway, by the time we would get to the na na na na's, I would join in singing, and he would tickle me, and we would end up laughing, and singing, and tickling and giggling 'til Daddy yelled for us to be quiet! So now, any time she hears "Hey, Jude" Miss G gets misty eyed.


So, we didn't get the colorful, precise spectacle we saw in Beijing- in fact, we got very little color at all.  Or precision, for that matter.  But what we did get was an interesting, loud, uniquely British start to the games.


Did you watch, GingerSnaps?  What did you think of the games?  

It's Time to Ketchup!

Hey, GingerSnaps!  Once again, Miss Ginger has gone for MONTHS without giving you any real sauce on here, so it's time to catch up!  So far, this summer has been a BLUR!

Let's start, as summer does, with Memorial Day.  Miss Ginger made a quickie trip to the Big Apple to see her dear, dear sister DD, compliments of the oft-maligned Continental

United airlines.  It was so good to see my dear sis, and yes, we did make it to "the Urges" for a little tipping the dick dancers philanthropy!  We also made a stop at Excellent Dumpling House for some Borbequed Pork Buns, just to make Mistress Borghese sorry she chose the beach instead!  

Those who follow closely may remember that Miss Ginger toyed with the idea of a craft blog, but those who follow closely also know that Miss G finds it hard enough making time for this blog, much less the crafts that would be required to start another blog.  Plus, Miss G has enough abandoned blogs out there!  But, always true to her word, Miss G WILL be adding crafts to this blog in the not TOO distant future, and she has been crafting away furiously in order to have many several at least a few posts prepared before she launches into this!  Rest assured, you won't have to be crafty to enjoy these posts- snarkiness is the most important crafting skill for Miss Ginger! One of the things we ARE working on is a Dust Bunny Duster, which I know you will all want to make!

Who needs a Swiffer® with one of these guys around?! 

On other fronts, Miss Ginger was ELATED with Justice Robert's vote on the Affordable Care Act!! Miss Ginger has spent a bit of time on the 'net lately talking some of her more conservative friends down off the ledge, but she couldn't be happier seeing the US take this baby step into the modern world!  No one questions the right of government to provide police protection, fire protection, hell, even the schooling of our children!  But, mention that you'd like to protect the daily health of all citizens in a similar manner and you start a firestorm of controversy!  Nutwood Beth Facebooked this great article that describes the known changes in chronological order;  it's kind of amazing how little impact this will have on most of the US!  Will there be in increase in your insurance premium? Let me answer that question with a question: "has there not been an increase in your insurance premium every year, for as long as you can remember?"  Oh, and by the way...how many tax increases can you remember in your life time from which you could opt out simply by doing something you should have been doing anyway?!! And, as many articles have pointed out, if the "tax on non-participants" didn't exist, you'd have to take out the "no pre-existing conditions" requirement, which would render the act useless.  It's a great starting point, and I'm proud to support the President who signed it into law!

Anderson Cooper came out. Yawn.

Tom Cruise came out left Katie Holmes. Yawn.

So, watcha think, dear 'Snaps.... is Miss Tommasina gay?

"Oh, gurl- you KNOW I am!!"

The Olympic trials have started, and are America's newest form of "reality TV"! Does anyone ever remember US Olympic Trials getting PRIMETIME coverage?  Clearly, there is a god!!

Cool your jets, girls, boiz, and gurls,  he's married!

Dat's right..... maddied!

And, as the rest of the world goes gaga over "Magic Mike",

Miss Ginger says: "ladies, if ya wanted to see hot guys naked, all you hadda do is TELL me!!