More Badminton!

Three weeks ago I went out and played badminton for the first time in an awfully long time. I ended up with the entire right side of my body being stiff and sore for almost a week. My knees were bruised and scabbed for about two and a half weeks. And my sleep schedule was shifted such that I was asleep on Thursday nights, so I hadn't been back.

Then yesterday Matt emailed me and asked if I wanted to go again today. I woke up at 8am today like a normal person so I was set to be awake in the evening. And my body was all healed up from last time, so it seemed like a good idea.

It was a fun time once again. I didn't win any of my games, but I did make some good shots and worked up a good sweat again. I didn't reach the point where I felt like I was in real danger of fainting, which is good! I also made a point to drink less water this time since I may have gotten water poisoning last time. I can already feel my right arm seizing up. My right knee is bloody and bruised in the same spot as before. It's almost like I keep diving for birdies the same way! But fun.

The gym was really hot this time thanks to it apparently being summer in Toronto. I hate being sweaty. And yet I realized today I like getting sweaty. Actually moving around and getting tired is great. Sitting around in a drenched shirt and pants, not so much, but I guess it's the price you have to pay. Maybe I should try to play DDR again where I can jump in the tub when I finish to get the sweating part and not the sweaty part. It is also nice to get invited out to do things. Makes me less hermity!

National Anthems

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals just finished and the Boston Bruins got the win 4-0. My team was eliminated a couple rounds ago and I lost interest and skipped pretty much the entirety of the third round. I did watch all the games of the finals though. I started game 1 wanting to cheer for the Vancouver Canucks because apparently good Canadians should cheer for a team based in Canada. I quickly found I couldn't cheer for them because I don't respect the way their top players play. Dives and bites galore. Bah. So I started rooting for the Bruins and they managed to pull it off. Good work!

I watch a fair number of televised sporting events and they tend to start with the singing of the national anthems for the countries involved. I'm generalizing here but it generally seems like singers can put their own spin on The Star Spangled Banner in terms of tempo and enunciation and such but Oh Canada is the same every time. I don't much care about how people treat the US anthem since I'm not American but I do get upset when someone 'butchers' my anthem.

Now, the Canucks have an opera singer who sings the anthems and he puts a twist on Oh Canada that I actually like. He just stops singing in the middle and leaves it to the crowd to keep it going. The first time he did it had to be pretty ballsy but it seems to be something of a tradition now.