I heard it on the radio on my way home from work. Horible and tragic for the family, games, and all the athletes. I watched a show on the History Channel last night that featured all the prep and contruction for the games. I think the track in a couple of years old and hosted the World Cup. It is known for being a very fast track for sure. Great show if you can catch a rerun. One thing you would not catch me on is that new gondola they built. The tallest and longest in the world. Amazing contruction but I'll pass on that ride. David

dlm: the rain stopped late Sunday; today was sunny and the outlook for then next couple days is the same. The problem is that the Cumberland is still rising, and our beautiful downtown area is under water. The football stadium could be used for Olympic swim trials . . . water was up to the wall where the seats begin. We have a spectacular new symphony hall - last I heard the basement was totally flooded and water was up in the main floor. My DD and I went to a concert there a couple weeks ago -- pianist who played on a gorgeous concert grand piano that came up from the basement on a lift to the stage. I assume it's under water now. The river is supposed to crest sometime tonight or tomorrow. Another major problem is that one of the two water pumping stations is - ironically - under water, so two counties have been asked to use only half of the water they'd normally use . . . no showers, no dishwashing, no laundry. Two of the lasting images I'll never forget: A house all by itself, surrounded by water, on fire. I guess those people are some of the lucky ones because they surely had fire insurance and nobody had flood insurance. The other one is a portable classroom that looked to be maybe 60 feet long, floating down the freeway. They said it went more than a quarter mile before breaking up. I think the death toll is officially 13 or 14, but that will go higher because there are people unaccounted for.

I read about it early this afternoon, and saw some video clips that sucked the breath right out of me. I cried as the team from Georgia came into the stadium during the Opening Ceremonies. There have been a LOT of crashes on that track, both with the luge and the bobsled, in the two years that it's been open. There have been a LOT of complaints about the safety, or the lack thereof, with that track. Let's hope and pray that the poor young man's death is not in vain - let's hope and pray that there are some changes made to that track.

Yes, it was Nelly Furtado in the blue dress. I also thought it was a poor choice for her. Made her look "broad across the beam." The color was good, though. Although I have never been to Canada, I have heard the Canadian National Anthem many, many times. Our local baseball team - the Sacramento RiverCats (Triple A team for the Oakland Athletics) - used to be in Vancouver, Canada (where they were known as the Vancouver Canadians), before being purchased by Art Savage, who moved the team to Sacramento starting with the 2000 season. The Edmonton Trappers (at the time affiliated with the Montreal Expos) used to come to Raley Field to play and the Canadian National Anthem would always be played in addition to our National Anthem. And, of course, I have heard it played at various Olympics medal ceremonies. :-) As soon as that girl started singing, my husband looked at me, and said, "Oh, no..." But, that happens with our anthem a lot, too. I don't know why singers think that they have to make an anthem "their own." It was written a certain way - sing it that way!