Video of the Day: Agony of Defeat

The picture core I use for my self-made demotivator of the 2004 Election is of the iconic "agony of defeat" ski-jump crash of hapless Yugo/Slovenian skier Vinko Bogataj.

I looked a for a few minutes, right now, on google images and elsewhere for a better quality photo of the Vinksters crash, but couldn't find any. I did come across this awesome wikiness though:

The melodramatic introduction [of Wide World of Sports] became a national catch phrase that is often heard to this day. While "the thrill of victory" had several symbols over the decades, ski jumper Vinko Bogataj, whose dreadful misjump and crash of March 21, 1970 was featured from the early 1970s onward under the words "...and the agony of defeat", became a hard-luck hero of sorts, and an affectionate icon for stunning failure. ....

Bogataj's mishap is also commemorated in Rich Hall's book Sniglets as "agonosis," which is defined as "The syndrome of tuning in on Wide World of Sports every weekend just to watch the skier rack himself."

Yes. Yes I had agonosis for years and was only diagnosed a few minutes ago! But Youtube has cured all of we agonosis suffers, and those with similar afflictions, which is why we can say we live in a glorious agem - freed from television's cruel schedule. (Note, I may have to make a better 'tube):

Wiki Gestapo

Feeling guilty, I tried writing a Wiki page for Rabbi Rackman (see below) and after 20 minutes of work - trying to find all the wacky and stupid rules that Wiki requires for their articles - it was finally done. And then just as swiftly deleted by some inane monitor. Anyone who looks at the Wiki and says that it's just a pile of 15 year old authors who decide to place anything they want online... think again. I know I won't be writing a page any time soon. Frickin' gestapo.

Hell, in Blog Form

Someone linked to this blog. This is what, I assume, hell would look like in blog form: Grammar/Syntax Errors.

P.S. This guy, and others of his ilk, are likely those mean-minded drones who troll Wikipedia, accusing people of 'unsourced references' and the like. Yeesh.

Update: This blog too, but not as much in style (the writer seems like a nice fellow) but in the same content (distilled to this response: "GET." "A." "LIFE.")

Blog, Wiki, and Youtube

I forget if I've made this point before but my resumption of intermittant blogging has reminded me of the interplay of these three devices: Blogs, Wikipedia and Youtube. All three are democratic: anyone can create a blog/edit wiki/upload a pic. Blogs allow the most freedom of expression (content can be cheezily G rated or nasty nasty nasty). And when I blog I usually keep two windows (tabs) open on my browser to allow easy referencing access: Wiki for words and Youtube for images/movies.

We'll see how many of these devices are around in 5, 10, 50 years. I have a feeling that all three will grow stronger and more present as long as we continue to be free. They may not have the same names, but the media form will be around.