Inflight Entertainment 1: SCORE, The Hockey Musical

Yelling at the Radio #3: No, no, no Bikram!

Had to yell at my radio this morning when I heard Bikram Choudhury pitching for putting yoga into the Olympics. Not sure why this appalls me but it does. Jann Arden, who was hosting (subbing for Jian Ghomeshi on CBC's "Q") did a good job of containing Choudhurys lists of all the lives he has changed through yoga (including George Harrison, Wayne Gretzky and the pope) and I agree with her, it's difficult to picture the pope doing yoga. Choudhury reminisced about a time when yoga was so little known in the west that even the president of the United States (Nixon was apparently one of Choudhury "patients") thought that yoga and yogurt were the same thing, but I don't think that's such a good indicator.

Arden is a great host. The entire episode is worth listening to and when she and Elvira Kurt get to riffing on Jason Beiber's new haircut and Charlie Sheen's trip to Haiti to "make a difference down there" you can't help but laugh out loud.

Now let's all put our hands together in the prayer position, close our eyes and say "OMMMMMMMMMMM" as we send out some "don't do it" vibrations to the IOC. Here's hoping that they don't know the difference between yoga and yogurt either.

Comments (8)

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Changed the lives of George

Changed the lives of George Harrison, Wayne Gretzky, and the pope? If it was John Paul II (and if it was Benedict, did he change him into "God's rottweiler"?), two out of three are now dead, and Gretzky is the owner of the Phoenix Coyotes. Seems to me that's not a very good box score.

Vancouver Doug more than 12 years ago

Just a point of accuracy:

Just a point of accuracy: unless there is a new moppet-haired teen heartthrob out there, I believe it's Justin Beiber, not Jason.

sophie b jones more than 12 years ago

Janet, I was going to put

Janet, I was going to put innocence, selflessness, and kindness into my blog but I didn't want to get mobbed by all those competitive yogis out there.

pattyo more than 12 years ago

I can't resist responding to

I can't resist responding to this. How far yoga has moved form its roots of human spirituality. If the IOC could judge the most spiritual yogi by a competition, the world could indeed be near its end, as competition and spirituality seem to me to be quite the opposite, or am I lost in a distant past of innocence, selflessness, and kindness?

Janet more than 12 years ago

Yes, I’m with you Alana. I

Yes, I'm with you Alana. I *like* Michael's comment, which made me laugh out loud, and now I'm commenting on my own blog. Good grief.

pattyo more than 12 years ago

I wish we could "like"

I wish we could "like" comments. :)

Alana more than 12 years ago

OK, so now you've got me in

OK, so now you've got *me* in activist mood as well: the time has come for a grass-roots campaign to pressure the IOC into including *yogurt* at the next Olympics! Yeah: what's with their current "no yogurt" status anyway? It makes no sense. Yogurt is full of all kinds of healthful enzymes...

I see at least 4 events:

1) Single-serving yoghurt hurling (men's and women's categories)
2) Team yogurt eating (I've been agitating for competitive eating events at the Olympics for years; yogurt is as good a place to start as any...)
3) 800 meter freestyle yogurt relay: a team sport; 8 laps in a yogurt-filled Olympic-sized pool (gelatin-free yogurt to reduce viscosity)
4)Three-meter springboard yogurt diving

Michael more than 12 years ago

I agree - no yoga at the

I agree - no yoga at the Olympics!