Peanuts by Charles Schulz for May 12, 2020

after looking her up on Wikipedia, her 65th birthday is in four days

I generally get grilled for lessons from Doctor Ruth.

One decade, it’s gymnastics; the next, it’s break-dancing. What’s next?

One of only three famous gymnasts I can name off the top of my head, the other two being Nadia Comanici and Mary Lou Retton. And of course they’re all over 50, which says something about my age.

Snoopy is showing off.

Olga Korbut, Nadia Comaneci, and Mary Lou Retton. What’s Cathy Rigby,, chopped liver?

Nice form Snoopy!

How would Olga’s performance hold up against today’s Simone Biles? --I ask these questions in figure skating, also. Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill’s Olympic performances against the quad-jumping beans of today.

Today it would be Simone Biles!

Oh! I thought he was doing his hood ornament thing.

Snoopy is really working out.

Olga Korbut, now that’s a name that takes me back a ways. I’ve always followed artistic gymnastics and even taught myself to do a few of the moves. Olga sort of broke the mold. Prior to her, the big move on the uneven parallel bars was the belly flip. But owing to her small size, Olga came up with something entirely different. Moving to the top bar, she did a backflip regrasping the top bar and continuing with the routine. Now that move is called after her, the Korbut. She also started the trend in artistic gymnastics of younger, more acrobatic performers getting to stand on the podium.

The downward dog in yoga. Dogs know a heck a lot about stretching and dancing.

Snoopy’s on point today!

Snoopy’s vivid fantasy life always scores a ten. Not a bad thing to cultivate in these days of forced separation. The second panel brought to mind images of the gracefully leaping Lynn Swann of the Steelers working with members of the Pittsburgh Ballet company, and of San Diego’s Lance Alworth, who who used to leap just like Snoopy and who earned the nickname Bambi.

I wonder if she can still bend like that?

In case any thinks they’ll miss having no Olympics this year. Thanks again, Sparky.

I saw Olga at the Capitol Centre off the Beltway back in ’78; as well as Ludmilla Torischkova and Viktor Klamenko, both world best athletes; they and others were fantastic. Sadly demonstrators outside; these athletes had nothing to do with Soviet atrocities. Before their act began, goons came out and stood every so many feet around the arena to hinder any possible run for the seats by the athletes. How sad to witness such about a captive nation. I learned much about freedom in that arena that evening. How sad anyone should live in chains of oppression.

South of the Rio Grande, Vera Caslavska (diacritics omitted) is still a household name for us over-50s. She hit the big time in the Mx City 1968 Olympic Games and even got married in the cathedral.