my flu has morphed...

...into a full flown, icky cold. Call me mucus man. querrelle has wisely chosen to keep me at arm's length.

Must be feeling better than yesterday, today me so horny!

Some shots from Melbourne

Hidden ( here )

...since some of the files are kinda big.

6 Days and counting

On 02 July, the International Olympic Committee will award the 2010 Olympic Winter Games (OWG) to Vancouver, Salzburg, or Pyeonchang (S. Korea). All 3 cities' bids were deemed acceptable, so it will most likely come down to geopolitics. These considerations could include:

+ Regional rotations of OWGs. Most recent were Salt Lake (N. America), Nagano (Asia), Lillehammer (Europe)
+Regional rotation of all Olympics, Winter and Summer: Sydney (Southern Hemisphere, Salt Lake, Atlanta, Nagano, Barcelona, Lillehammer
+ Regions hosting upcoming Games: Athens (summer 2004), Turino (Winter 2006), Beijing (Summer 2008)
+ A rapidly emerging, highly contested race for the 2012 Summer Games, including NYC, London, Moscow, Paris, Leipzig, Madrid, Havana, Toronto, and either Sao Paolo or Rio (only one city per country per bid cycle).

Each of the first 3 areas should favour Vancouver--particularly since we've not hosted any Games since Calgary in 1988. But #4 is a bit more complicated.

Most of the IOC members are Europeans--nearly half--and it's a simple 50%+1 majority wins selection. Assuming the Europeans want to have the Summer Games, many should vote for Vancouver over Salzburg. Plus the 2006 OWG in Turino are very close to Salzburg--something generally avoided when there are good bids from other regions. But if Pyeonchang is eliminated after the first ballot (if no one gets 50%+1, the lowest placed city drops off), they might swing the Asian and African votes to Salzburg to "punish" Europe and deny them the 2012 Summer Games.

If Salzburg gets 2010, that would mean European games in 2004 (Athens), 2006 (Turino) and 2010 (Salzburg). Leaving 2012 for a North American (Toronto, which was 2nd to Beijing for 2008 bids, or NYC) or Southern Hemisphere (Brazil) becoming heavily favoured. If that happens, currenty anti-US sentiment might swing the European votes to Toronto.

The announcement should be around 830am PDT/1130EDT on 02 July; 0130am 03 July here in Sydney.

Here's a photo I took of Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. Bloody gorgeous, eh?



There's a link on the right for the Vancouver 2010 bid committee.

Vancouver 2010 - It's Our Time To Shine!!!!

it's official

As christened by notitleyet, I am a crumpet queen. querrelle is not my first English boyfriend; that'd be toneyvr.

My first fetish!