The Thinklings

"The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack. "

- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

Sunday, February 28, 2010

This is for Shrode

Posted by Bill @ 4:09 pm CST
Filed under: Sports

Curling rocks! Just ask Hammerfall.

[H/T The Corner]

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Comments on "This is for Shrode":

1. Shrode - 02/28/2010 8:13 pm CST

Wow, Bill, what do I say?

First of all, thank you.

Second of all, that is my kind of music. You don't know how hard it is to resist the temptation to put heavy metal videos up on thinklings everyday.

Third, curling? I had heard of it, but knew NOTHING about it. But I figured hey, if a heavy metal band says it's OK, it must be. So I looked it up on wikipedia. Conclusion: Girlie Sport.

Fourth, Hammerfall is a real band. I looked them up on Wikipedia too. I had thought from the video that this might be as serious as "Spinal Tap". I mean, come on, those guys can't be serious.... But alas they are legit. I still don't know if this video is. I mean they can't really be taking themselves seriously in this, can they? Is this the video that is mentioned at wikipedia?

The shooting of the music video "Hearts on Fire" by director Roger Johansson was scheduled for August of that year. The band's plans, however, had to be held back for a week due to an incident that occurred one night. While Joacim was drinking with his girlfriend in a rock club he had been frequenting for over a decade, he was attacked by an unidentified person who hit him in the head with a beer glass and hastily escaped. Joacim instantly lost consciousness and had to be taken to a hospital, in which he underwent plastic surgery and rested for a couple of days. As soon as it became medically possible, he joined the band to record the music video.

Maybe these are just crackpots dressed up like a metal band and lip synching a Hammerfall song? Becuase I'm pretty dadgum sure that metal bands do not dig curling. Those two things do not go together. We all know that professional curlers listen to Celine Dion. They'd have to.

2. Bill - 03/01/2010 7:07 am CST

You're welcome.

I think this is legit - mainly because that appears to be the real Swedish women's curling team and I doubt that a spoof band could have gotten them to go along with this. But I dunno. My understanding was that they have a more serious Hearts On Fire video but decided to make this one too in tribute to the sport - Hammerfall is swedish, and the Swedes take curling seriously (I think they won gold this time around?)

3. Quaid - 03/01/2010 7:18 am CST

Canada beat Norway to win mens gold.

Sweden beat Canada to win womens gold.

Shrode - I'm being serious now. If you ever had a dream of being in the Olympics, Curling is your best shot. Seriously. If it's not your dream - then it's not worth it. But, as far as I'm concerned, go find an ice rink somewhere and go all out.

We'll be rooting for you in Russia in 2014.

(BTW, I have no idea of Shrode's athletic history - he might be really good at basketball, or something - but in case he's regular joe, physically, I stand by my assertion)

4. nhe - 03/01/2010 8:01 am CST

um.......they really have mens' and womens' curling?.........is there a reason why it can't be co-ed???

That's like saying men's and women's chess.

5. Shrode - 03/01/2010 11:04 am CST

Bill,
I looked it up. It's listed on several other sites. One said that they did this with the Swedish Olympic Women's Curling Team in 2002. I think it is legit.

And on the youtube video, it lets you click on "related videos" after it plays. The original "Hearts on fire" video is right there. Watch it. It's quite different. (I especially loved the Middle Earth feel, and the skeletons bursting out of the ground.)

6. Shrode - 03/01/2010 11:07 am CST

Quaid,
You are not off base at all. In fact, if you knew my real athletic history you might not even include curling! Shrode's "athletic history" is an oxymoron if I ever heard one. (I was on the wrestling team in middle school in 7th and 8th grade. But that was the end of my athletic career because alas we moved, and my new High School had no wrestling team.) There's a reason my icon looks like it does. :gshrode:

7. Jared - 03/01/2010 12:42 pm CST

Shrode is an irregular Joe.

His sport might be Uno.

8. Shrode - 03/01/2010 2:06 pm CST

I think I have 4 or 5 different sets of UNO cards at the house, including but not limited to Star Trek UNO, Batman UNO, Pooh UNO and UNO Attack!

Oh, Jared, you know me too well.

9. Cara - 03/01/2010 4:36 pm CST

Curling is a lot harder than it looks - I did it once and could barely walk for two days afterwards. It's also very strategic and most certainly deserves to be considered a legitimate sport. It would be interesting to see what would happen in a men vs. women tourney.

Out of curiosity, did you people watch any of the Vancouver Winter Olympics over the last two weeks? They ended yesterday with the Canadian Men's Hockey Team beating the US Men in a nail-biter sudden-death OT. Any of you watch?

10. Bill - 03/01/2010 7:21 pm CST

Cara,

Yes, I watched it, with two of my kids. We laughed, we cried, we screamed at the TV.

Seriously, great game!

11. Cara - 03/01/2010 10:07 pm CST

We thought so too way up here. Pretty much all of Canada was watching the same game - it will be one of those "defining moments" sports-wise that live on in cultural memory for us. The Olympics were a huge success for us and we are very proud of all our athletes.

Thanks for watching! :)

12. Bill - 03/02/2010 6:53 am CST

You bet, and congrats to Canada!

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