Perhaps it was bound to happen in what could be described as a variation of Stockholm Syndrome - Olympic protestors have now themselves succumbed to Olympic fever.
Downtown Vancouver this past weekend had the atmosphere of a giant carnival and the world's greatest block party rolled into one. Despite the crowds and long line-ups for the Sea Bus, West Coast Express and Skytrain most people remained in good spirits, supposedly unpatriotic Canadians were heard breaking into spontaneous renditions of O' Canada, volunteers in their distinctive blue jackets (the Smurf army) were cheered and the flags of visiting nations were given equal respect in the spirit of the Olympics and in keeping with the general mood of good cheer for all.
It certainly helped that the weather cooperated Sunday afternoon relieving the persistent Vancouver overcast and gloom.
Visitors to Vancouver may think the sparkling city on the Pacific Ocean is usually a bustling cosmopolitan metropolis - however as Vancouver advice columnist Alice Archer noted, "this is the Vancouver I always hoped could exist one day. The excitement, the vibe of living in a rich and diverse city with a cultural life that reflects that - that's not really Vancouver and never has been until now."
Despite having voted for the Olympics in 2002 Archer said she remained largely indifferent to the Games until now. "I'm glad they're here, I can't believe people left town to get away from the Games, why? You're never going to experience anything like this in your hometown again."
Which brings us to the Olympic protestors, engaged in running street battles with the police only the previous day, by Sunday they too had succumbed to Olympic fever.
"Everyone's just having too much fun," said one protestor who did not wished to be named. "We were just bumming everyone out and I have to admit now that there this is actually pretty cool...but don't tell anyone I said that."
Antifur protestors in front of the Vancouver did attempt a brief protest Sunday, parading naked along Robson street as Asian men filmed them (apparently they have a thing for overweight women with hairy armpits. But even they were undermined by a a five-year old Australian sheep dog named Buttercup, who amazed the crowd by doing handstands and barking out 'Waltzing Matilda.'
Several bystanders gave Buttercup a perfect '6' except one French tourists who gave her a '1.5.'
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Wait in Starbucks and watch the world come in
With the Olympics in town Starbucks has become the great equalizer, you may not get invited to all of the so-called A list soirees (hey at least you won't get stuck in a corner talking with John Doyle) but eventually, it seems everyone needs their caffeine fix.
Sighted in the Starbucks in the Garibaldi Highlands between Vancouver and Whistler so far: The Governor General Michelle Jean and her entourage. Apparently she was polite, soft-spoken and patient as she waited for her large order, which she placed and paid for. Bob Kostas from NBC was a different story apparently. The diminutive broadcaster, rumour has it, skulked off to one side as one of his minions ordered an extra hot, non-caf, soya latte, which he then complained was too hot, and questioned whether it was in fact made with soya milk and added did local staff know what soya milk even was?
At Galileo Coffee House down the highway in Britannia Beach Sarah Mclaughlin and a friend came in and ordered the Canadiano (an Americano with maple syrup) she had never heard of such a concoction but she said she had heard maple syrup was good for a variety of common ailments such as, dropsy, the ague and skin failure.
She also bought a pound of fresh roasted coffee beans, after first enquiring about fair trade practices.
Down in Vancouver at the Starbucks in Gastown a local resident elbowed Russell Crowe out if the way when the movie star thought he should get the movie star treatment and go to the head of the line. When said resident asked Mister Superstar if he wanted to make something out of it, he allegely responded that know he was fine and demurely returned to the back of the line.
Sighted in the Starbucks in the Garibaldi Highlands between Vancouver and Whistler so far: The Governor General Michelle Jean and her entourage. Apparently she was polite, soft-spoken and patient as she waited for her large order, which she placed and paid for. Bob Kostas from NBC was a different story apparently. The diminutive broadcaster, rumour has it, skulked off to one side as one of his minions ordered an extra hot, non-caf, soya latte, which he then complained was too hot, and questioned whether it was in fact made with soya milk and added did local staff know what soya milk even was?
At Galileo Coffee House down the highway in Britannia Beach Sarah Mclaughlin and a friend came in and ordered the Canadiano (an Americano with maple syrup) she had never heard of such a concoction but she said she had heard maple syrup was good for a variety of common ailments such as, dropsy, the ague and skin failure.
She also bought a pound of fresh roasted coffee beans, after first enquiring about fair trade practices.
Down in Vancouver at the Starbucks in Gastown a local resident elbowed Russell Crowe out if the way when the movie star thought he should get the movie star treatment and go to the head of the line. When said resident asked Mister Superstar if he wanted to make something out of it, he allegely responded that know he was fine and demurely returned to the back of the line.
Canada poor sports for wanting to win
After spending upwards of $5 billion to host the Winter olympic Games apparently some commentators miss the good old days when we didn't win gold at home, but gee, we sure were all nice and stuff about losing.
Writing in the Globe and Mail John Doyle, the only Irishman on the planet who would choose Toronto over Boston or New York, says we shouldn't be focusing so much on the winners or winning in general, let's hear from the eighth or ninth place finishers and how it's just great to be able to be at the Olympics and all.
Wow, how completely underwhelming John, we imagine if the men's hockey team (God forbid) is knocked out in the quarter finals he'll 'treat' us to a column on how the boys played their hearts out and that's all we really care about.
Actually Canadians are not the uncompetitive lot those of us who don't get out enough would have us believe. Here on the West Coast where sports are much more a way of life than downtown Toronto, everyone knows that weekday group rides are never as friendly as they're made out to be and conversations at the top of the Grouse Grind (for those of us who do it regularly) almost invariably begin with, "so what was your time?"
We like to compete with the best of them and in the Olympics we'd like to see are elite athletes kick ass and fortunately for most of us they are elite athletes for a reason, they're deadly competitors and they want that gold.
Writing in the Globe and Mail John Doyle, the only Irishman on the planet who would choose Toronto over Boston or New York, says we shouldn't be focusing so much on the winners or winning in general, let's hear from the eighth or ninth place finishers and how it's just great to be able to be at the Olympics and all.
Wow, how completely underwhelming John, we imagine if the men's hockey team (God forbid) is knocked out in the quarter finals he'll 'treat' us to a column on how the boys played their hearts out and that's all we really care about.
Actually Canadians are not the uncompetitive lot those of us who don't get out enough would have us believe. Here on the West Coast where sports are much more a way of life than downtown Toronto, everyone knows that weekday group rides are never as friendly as they're made out to be and conversations at the top of the Grouse Grind (for those of us who do it regularly) almost invariably begin with, "so what was your time?"
We like to compete with the best of them and in the Olympics we'd like to see are elite athletes kick ass and fortunately for most of us they are elite athletes for a reason, they're deadly competitors and they want that gold.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Downhill cancelled again
Three training runs and the actual Women's Downhill twice has been cancelled, or postponed that is at the Whistler Creekside Alpine venue. Why? Because the track looked more like Shannon Falls in spring than an Olympic downhill run, and throw in a blanket of heavy fog and you have what's known as less than ideal conditions.
Actually the Dave Murray Downhill has a long history of weather induced cancellations or postponements.
Beginning with the first World Cup downhill to be run in Whistler in 1980, cancelled for lack of snow, through to the last few in the 1990s, variously, too much snow, fog, wind and rain. But this is the Olympics and there has to be a downhill and fortunately Mother Nature decided to play nice for a change and had the good grace to dump a few centimetres of snow on the course Saturday night and cleared the skies Sunday allowing for a few training runs before the race Monday.
Actually the Dave Murray Downhill has a long history of weather induced cancellations or postponements.
Beginning with the first World Cup downhill to be run in Whistler in 1980, cancelled for lack of snow, through to the last few in the 1990s, variously, too much snow, fog, wind and rain. But this is the Olympics and there has to be a downhill and fortunately Mother Nature decided to play nice for a change and had the good grace to dump a few centimetres of snow on the course Saturday night and cleared the skies Sunday allowing for a few training runs before the race Monday.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
It's not easy to spend a $billion afterall
Those of us living in the Sea to Sky Corridor were treated to the incesscent buzz of military aircraft flying overhead for most of the day - so why did they need to fly around and around for hours on end?
We asked a policeman in line at a local Starbucks (hey you can't fight terrorists without being properly caffeinated), his response, they were doing surveillance while the Olympic athletes were transported back and forth between Whistler and Vancouver for the opening ceremonies.
Well of course it's very likely the Al Qaeda mountain bike brigade was lurking in the hills above Squamish and that furthermore they would attack in broad daylight for the convenience of are flying forces, who couldn't navigate the narrow valley at night in the heavy overcast weather.
Actually, on second thought it's probably more likely someone at the Department of National Defense decided the Air Force could use a few training runs over mountainous terrain and what the hell VANOC's paying for it.
This reminds of the ill fated Springfield bear patrol, as jets screamed overhead and high tech surveillance vans prowled the streets Homer Simpson remarked, "well not a bear in sight the bear patrol must be working."
So in that same vein I would like to offer VANOC my magical anti-terrorist rock for the low, low price of $65,000. Does it even work? You ask. Well I've had it on my desk for years and I've never been bothered by any terrorists.
We asked a policeman in line at a local Starbucks (hey you can't fight terrorists without being properly caffeinated), his response, they were doing surveillance while the Olympic athletes were transported back and forth between Whistler and Vancouver for the opening ceremonies.
Well of course it's very likely the Al Qaeda mountain bike brigade was lurking in the hills above Squamish and that furthermore they would attack in broad daylight for the convenience of are flying forces, who couldn't navigate the narrow valley at night in the heavy overcast weather.
Actually, on second thought it's probably more likely someone at the Department of National Defense decided the Air Force could use a few training runs over mountainous terrain and what the hell VANOC's paying for it.
This reminds of the ill fated Springfield bear patrol, as jets screamed overhead and high tech surveillance vans prowled the streets Homer Simpson remarked, "well not a bear in sight the bear patrol must be working."
So in that same vein I would like to offer VANOC my magical anti-terrorist rock for the low, low price of $65,000. Does it even work? You ask. Well I've had it on my desk for years and I've never been bothered by any terrorists.
Schwarzenegger mobbed by 1,000 sad losers
So you're 35 and living in your parents basement, working at 7-11 and surviving on nacho cheese flavoured chips and root beer. The highlight of your week is the online forum of obsessive geeks (like yourself) who dissect the minutiae of the series Lost.
Then you read (online of course) that former action movie star and current governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger will be running the Olympic torch relay along the Stanley Park seawall - so what do you do? Well what any thirty-something arrested adolescent, with zero life prospects would do, you show up at 4 am and wait for the Terminator to come jogging along, so you can ask him,"Mr. Governor will you be back?"
"It's the moment of a lifetime," said one pasty faced, chubby fan, between lusty chews of his bear claw.
Unfortunately for him more than 1,000 other lonely, overweight Terminator fans also thought it was the chance of a lifetime. A CBC news report said almost all of them were males between the ages of 20-35 and few, if any looked if they had any meaningful interactions with a flesh and blood female (okay I made up that last part, but come on, we're all thinking it.)
four hours later they were still debating the best pop cultural reference to pose as a question to the California governor when he cam loping around the corner, with Premier/lap dog Gordon Campbell in tow.
Despite their almost complete lack of any sort of athletic ability or even coordination the lumbering mass of sweaty, chocolate milk stained men overcame the security cordon. One security guard had this to say about the sudden assault of grown men with absolutely no familiarity with personal hygiene waving Terminator and True Lies action figures at the passing superstar turned politician.
"The horror, the horror."
Campbell was overwhelmed in the ensuing melee, although the more nimble Californian governor escaped unharmed. As his guest trotted on ahead Premier Campbell made the best of a bad situation.
"Hey isn't this great, what a turnout," said the premier in his most oleanginous manner, even while taking an elbow to the jaw from an obese man in a size xxxxxl sweatshirt holding a Predator poster that he so clearly, desperately wanted autographed.
But it wasn't to be, just as soon as he arrived Schwarzenegger was gone again, like the mythical unicorn lost in the mists.
To the assembled men it slowly dawned on them that their moment had passed, their date with destiny had come and gone and now all that was left was Elfquest and Warhammer. Although it wasn't all disappointment.
"hey did you see me nail Cambpell?" Exclaimed the rolly, polly fellow with the Predator poster, who had now produced a burrito from somewhere within the folds of his corpulence.
"Yeah that was cool, hey can I have a bite of that?" said his compatriot.
Then you read (online of course) that former action movie star and current governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger will be running the Olympic torch relay along the Stanley Park seawall - so what do you do? Well what any thirty-something arrested adolescent, with zero life prospects would do, you show up at 4 am and wait for the Terminator to come jogging along, so you can ask him,"Mr. Governor will you be back?"
"It's the moment of a lifetime," said one pasty faced, chubby fan, between lusty chews of his bear claw.
Unfortunately for him more than 1,000 other lonely, overweight Terminator fans also thought it was the chance of a lifetime. A CBC news report said almost all of them were males between the ages of 20-35 and few, if any looked if they had any meaningful interactions with a flesh and blood female (okay I made up that last part, but come on, we're all thinking it.)
four hours later they were still debating the best pop cultural reference to pose as a question to the California governor when he cam loping around the corner, with Premier/lap dog Gordon Campbell in tow.
Despite their almost complete lack of any sort of athletic ability or even coordination the lumbering mass of sweaty, chocolate milk stained men overcame the security cordon. One security guard had this to say about the sudden assault of grown men with absolutely no familiarity with personal hygiene waving Terminator and True Lies action figures at the passing superstar turned politician.
"The horror, the horror."
Campbell was overwhelmed in the ensuing melee, although the more nimble Californian governor escaped unharmed. As his guest trotted on ahead Premier Campbell made the best of a bad situation.
"Hey isn't this great, what a turnout," said the premier in his most oleanginous manner, even while taking an elbow to the jaw from an obese man in a size xxxxxl sweatshirt holding a Predator poster that he so clearly, desperately wanted autographed.
But it wasn't to be, just as soon as he arrived Schwarzenegger was gone again, like the mythical unicorn lost in the mists.
To the assembled men it slowly dawned on them that their moment had passed, their date with destiny had come and gone and now all that was left was Elfquest and Warhammer. Although it wasn't all disappointment.
"hey did you see me nail Cambpell?" Exclaimed the rolly, polly fellow with the Predator poster, who had now produced a burrito from somewhere within the folds of his corpulence.
"Yeah that was cool, hey can I have a bite of that?" said his compatriot.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Driving and cell phones
Driving while talking on your cell phone is now illegal in B.C., actually it's driving and using a handheld device, so that means no texting, creating Ipod playlists or online shopping while driving either - great, what are we supposed to do just watch the road?
Actually as far as laws go this one isn't such a bad one (until I get caught that is) it's just that I think it will have little effect. I'm still just as likely to be rear ended by a teenager, who's too busy sending out Tweets to notice we've come to a red light.
Actually as far as laws go this one isn't such a bad one (until I get caught that is) it's just that I think it will have little effect. I'm still just as likely to be rear ended by a teenager, who's too busy sending out Tweets to notice we've come to a red light.
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