From a few days ago – and,  we ask you, how else are they going to stay warm?

Rowdy curling crowds; spontaneous street parties; public drunkeness. You don’t have to look far for evidence that the crowds at Winter Games in Vancouver know how to have a good time.

And, as if anymore proof is needed that a wild Olympic atmosphere permeates B.C.’s largest city, now there’s an apparent condom shortage.

That’s right. As you read this, an emergency shipment of condoms is desperately making its way across Canada to the West Coast city.

And you thought Canada was boring …

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Two — and only two — events on the docket.  There’s the men’s 50k in cross-country.  There may be a debate about who the fittest men on the planet are — competitive swimmers and water polo players, marathoners, triathaloners, etc.  But these guys are in the conversation.  It’s somewhat of a pity, however, that watching XC on the teevee is like watching paint dry.  The exception to this, however, is the last three or four kilometers, in which there is invariably three or four guys making a mad dash for the line, together.  So something to scan through at least.

And then there’s the hockey game.  Canada has always played on the edge of total disaster (losing 5:3 a week ago to the U.S. Americans, damn near blowing a 3:0 lead against Slovakia in the semis.)  If anything, this has juiced the game this afternoon — 1500 ET on the Mothership, live to all time zones (including perhaps Hawaii)– up north.  And God knows NBC has pimped this game relentlessly in the last 48 hours.

For Team USA-USA-USA, Patrick Kane had himself a breakout performance against the Finns on Friday.  (This, to be honest, is not totally impressive — I could have had a breakout performance, the way Kippy was playing in net.)  He hadn’t had a good performance before then.  So he may be peaking at the right time.  Also watch Zach Parise and Brian Rafalski — who have been having a whale of a tournament.  And then there’s Ryan Miller, who’s stood on his head for the last two weeks (a .954% save percentage, and a 1.04 goals-against average — that’s a pretty damned good run).

Should be a hell of a game.  I will be splitting time between here and the commentary playpen/game-thread on the Blackhawks’ fan blog, Second City Hockey (d/b/a Sec 326 Bureau Chief).  Join me there, and here.  (Forgive the slow-speed on Second City Hockey — there’ll probably be over 700 comments unless they break the thread into periods.)

Full analysis of everything tomorrow.  Enjoy the game — seriously, it is Appointment TV.

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Payback Time [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon kickback link]

Sort of like their economy:

(NEWSER) – A Dubai aquarium and shopping mall were evacuated yesterday when a mammoth shark tank cracked and gushed water in downtown Dubai. The 2.5 million gallon tank, promoted as an “indoor ocean,” holds some 33,000 sea creatures, including hundreds of sharks. Workers carrying life jackets rushed to the scene, and the glass panel leak was quickly plugged. The fish were not in danger, reports the BBC. The aquarium is located at the foot of the world’s tallest building, which was closed this month after an elevator accident.

Video after the jump:

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Yesterday was madness.  Work / firewall at work prevented me from watching USA v Finland in real-time.  And so I imposed on the workmates what I referred to as the Cone of Silence.  Trouble was that I — not being a person who has ever watched an episode of Get Smart — had no idea that the Cone of Silence was totally useless.  And thus rumors about a decent start began to trickle through.  And yet…. I was all the same uttlerly dumbfounded at the 6-spot Team USA-USA-USA laid on the Finnish squad in the first period.  (The boys are simply not that overpowering.)

Still: this was the whole Olympics in the Internet Age wrapped up in a nutshell — total insulation from news as it happens is literally impossible.  Which makes the question of who will pick up the teevee contract for 2014 forward somewhat curious.  Rumors are that its down to Fox (FX, Fox News, Fox Business (sorry — they won’t be around for much longer) and tons of regional cable sports nets that can be commandeered) and ABC/ESPN (ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes).  But in four years, the internet will probably be able to throw snow or chlorine-infused water right through your screen.  Steve Jobs is working on it right freaking now.  It’ll be like Smell-O-Vision, only messier.  (The implications for viewers of teh pron will of course be staggering.)  So: prestige v total irrelevance — place your bets!

Anyway: the balance of the Games are all prologue to USA v Canada II — The Reckoning — on Sunday afternoon.  Competing for interest today?  The big fellas on the track for four-man bobsled, men’s slalom, and speed skating pursuit (more hardware for U.S. Americans is assured).  The gold medal game of men’s curling (Canada v Norway and their fancy pants) is over on CNBC at 1800 ET.  Slovakia and Finland go for bronze at 2200 ET on MSNBC.  And the exhibition gala for figure skating — which means only that figure skating finds a way to be even more useless.

• It’s the warmest winter on record! Suck it, Northeast! [Express UK, NYT]
• Killer Iceberg breaks loose in Antarctica; comparisons to Rhode Island forthcoming. [BBC]
• House votes 315-97 to extend Patriot Act, rivaling original 357-66 vote in 2001. [Wired]
• Carly Simon still won’t reveal namesake of “You’re So Vain”; Boomers maintain stranglehold on America into a new decade. [Vanity Fair]

The latest in CA hate: KILL TEH GAYZ!

Miss Beverly Hills Tries to One-Up Carrie Prejean [Think Progress]