Tag Archives: olympics

Team-Building Games That Boost Critical Thinking Skills

critical thinking image
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In today’s workplace, critical thinking is an important skill. If you’re planning a team-building event, there are many games that can help employees boost their critical thinking skills. Some of these games take place online, while others can be played in person. Keep reading to learn about a few great games that will help you achieve this objective
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Video Clip Of The Week: Raquel Welch, “Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In”

Ladies and Gentlemen: It’s finally Summer!  So, consider this clip starring legendary actress and sex-goddess Raquel Welch performing the classic medley from Hair, “Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In” to be my official launch of what I hope will be a Summer of kick ass videos, as well as a salute to this being Pride Day here in NYC! Certainly there has never been a more appropriate time to open ourselves up to this song’s lyrical prophecy of “Harmony and understanding, Sympathy and trust abounding” etc etc. I’m sure you will agree.

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Movie Review: I, Tonya

Official I Tonya Poster
All Images Courtesy of Cinetic Media PR

“America, they want someone to love; but they want someone to hate, too.” These words, concisely distilling the public’s obsession with celebrity scandal, are spoken by Tonya Harding, former Olympic figure skater and one-time champion competitor, in director Craig Gillespie’s outstanding new biopic, I, Tonya. For those who are late to the game; back in 1994, Harding found herself at the center of one of the most sensational scandals in sports history after being linked to a physical attack on her teammate Nancy Kerrigan shortly before the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. In the seemingly endless media circus that surrounded ‘the incident’ (as it is referred to in the film) and its far-reaching consequences, Tonya Harding became a walking punch line and arguably the most-hated woman in America. In the aftermath, she was sentenced by the court to probation, community service, ordered to pay a large fine, and forced to resign from the United States Figure Skating Association, effectively ending her career. Twenty three years later, I, Tonya gives Harding a compelling confessional with which to tell the whole sordid story, and it is a tale based on true events that’s as crazy as any absurdist, darkly comic fiction you could make up.

I Tonya Jeff and Tonya Young
Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan) with Tonya as a Newly-Dating Couple.

With a tight script based on dialogue from recent interviews by the director with both Harding and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, plus archived interviews, You Tube videos and meticulous research, I, Tonya traces Harding’s life and career from age 4 to 44.  Growing up in a broken home (her mother’s fifth child from her fourth marriage) Harding’s focused passion for skating took her out of her reality of incessant beratement by her stage-mother-from-hell, LaVona Golden (an astounding performance by Allison Janney) and transformed her into a disciplined athlete who didn’t take any shit from anybody. Performing in homemade costumes because she couldn’t afford to buy them, and constantly standing up for her right to compete and be judged on her ability despite not fitting the mold of a squeaky clean all-American girl, it’s exhilarating to watch her come up in the sport (Harding was the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition) while gaining a voyeuristic perspective on the circumstances that shaped her complicated character.

I Tonya Allison Janney
Allison Janney Steals Every Scene She’s in as Tonya’a Mother, LaVonna Golden

As Harding hones her craft and becomes an increasingly successful, award-winning competitor, her already volatile relationship with Gilooly becomes even more physically abusive, and the film’s depiction of domestic violence is very realistic, harrowing and difficult to watch. By the time Gilooly and his half-witted friend Shawn Eckardt (Paul Walter Hauser) begin brainstorming a plan that will ‘intimidate’ Olympic teammate Nancy Kerrigan, who is perceived as Harding’s stiffest competition for Olympic Gold, it is already too late to stop the downward spiral.

I Tonya Cast at Rink
Jeff, Tonya and her coach Diane Rawlinson (Julianne Nicholson) first hear of the attack on Kerrigan

Despite the violence and serious subject matter, I Tonya is a wildly enjoyable ride, filled with many hilarious moments thanks to the absurdist situations and excellent comic timing from the top-shelf group of actors cast in this strange-but-true story. A well-curated film soundtrack can always advance the action and evoke keen emotions in ways that dialogue alone cannot, so it’s worth noting that, along with a terrific original score by Peter Nashel, I, Tonya makes brilliant use of popular radio hits of the era such as Cliff Richard’s “Devil Woman,” Hot Chocolate’s “Everyone’s a Winner,” Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” and Siouxsie and the Banshees’ cover of Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger” sound tracking the film’s closing credits as they scroll over archival footage of  Tonya Harding skating in competition, which is unexpectedly quite moving.

Expect I, Tonya to garner a considerable number of Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Robbie and Best Supporting Actress for Janney (at the very least), and Best Director.

Opening Nationally on Friday December 8th, 2017, The Worley Gig Gives I, Tonya Five out of Five Stars. Watch the Trailer Below:

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Pink Thing of The Day: Pink Globes at O2 Arena

Cutty Sark Pink Globes
Photo By Melinda Warby

There is really nothing like other people’s FaceBook pages for providing awesome things to put on this blog. The above photo was taken by my friend Melinda inside a bar at the O2 Arena in London, UK after she attended a basketball event during the recent 2012 summer Olympics. Melinda confirms that this eye-popping sculpture of hanging globes in varying pink hues is purely decorative and not an actual light fixture. It sure does remind me of this thing here. Want.