And for every kid on your list: vintage Playmobil, of course!

playmobil curlers circa 1992

This may explain it:

From YouTube via zolson1404

Friday (and sub-zero air) has arrived in the Twin Ports. Anything going on?

On Saturday the Duluth Curling Club hosts their annual Mixed Doubles Bonspiel. This one-day event features two-person teams battling it out in the increasingly popular mixed doubles format. You can see a video demonstration of mixed doubles at this link.

Did you hear about the big storm headed to Duluth? One foot of snow? Yikes! If you are stuck inside, and your broadband connection isn’t knocked out by the weather, why not spend the weekend watching curling from the Great White North? Access to CurlTV is free with your membership to the Duluth Curling Club, and this weekend they are broadcasting live games from the Canada Cup qualifiers in Ottawa, Ontario.

Oh yeah, if your broadband connection is knocked out by Old Man Winter, remember that the Duluth Curling Club has free WiFi.

And finally, in case you missed it the first time, a little light hearted fun: Here is the video of the Fab Four curling in the Swiss Alps from the movie Help! Have a great weekend!

There aren’t many worthy curling video games to wish for this Christmas, but there are other ways you can bring your favorite sport into your rec room. Like this, for example, which is tagged “return curling”:

From YouTube via plusforcoinc.

Update: It looks like you can buy Return Curling here. . . it will help if you are fluent in Japanese.

Little Mosque on the Prairie is a CBC show about Muslim residents of the fictional prairie town of Mercy. How much of their culture should immigrant communities and religious minorities shed in order to fit into a small Canadian town? And how much of town’s character should be allowed to change to reflect the new demographics? It plays like a classic fish out of water sitcom, but the subject matter is something that U.S. television wouldn’t touch.

I mention this because the curling episode has just been posted on YouTube. It features a cameo by Glenn Howard, and the prescient line, “Nobody wants to be in a bonspiel. Its something that happens to you.”

Here is part 1:

Part 2:

And the conclusion:

From YouTube via LittleMosqueSeason2.

First zombies, now witches. . . and just in time for Halloween!

From YouTube by GothicGourmet.

embedded video

Fun from the Stranrear Curling Club in Scotland. If you’re ever set up like this, you know the shot to try.

Well, you saw the spin delivery in an earlier post. I don’t really know what to call this, but there is spinning involved. It looks like they know how to have fun at the Mankato Curling Club.

If you’ve seen the curling themed movie Men With Brooms, you have seen the 360° spin delivery. Here is a short video showing a young curler give a spin delivery, then sweep his own shot to the four foot. Nice!

The Curling News features an account of Heath McCormick’s shirtless eight-ender in the 2005 Duluth House of Hearts and explains this video:

New York artist Jason Young (a Canadian transplant, natch) has used curling as the theme for a short film. He designed curling stones that dispense ink as they slide down the sheet, making abstract patterns. The YouTube version of the film is below; you can watch a slightly larger Quick Time version at this link.

Is this the future of curling?