Leaderboard

What pees me off is the version of O Canada. Really pisses me off--totally unable to sing along. WTF is the point of having an anthem geared to singing along if some eejit's gonna re-arrange it into something IMPOSSIBLE to sing along to?

So I arrived to a wintery blast late yesterday afternoon. After catching the train to Vancouver City Centre I got horribly lost in a mall and eventually had a security guard escort me through a London Drugs store to the street outside. Yep - I had to go through a store to get outside. Anyhow I got to the HI by 5:30 ish and just made it to Hamilton Street to get my CoSport tickets. They are all bright and shiny They didn't have any spectator guides at all (neither does anywhere else apparently) so I had to cough up $18CA for the official programme thingy so I would have some hard copies of the maps. I had a couple of hot dogs from dougiedogs on Granville for tea - a Tokyo Dog that had wasabi, bento shavings and okonomiyaki mayo (nice!) and a bacon and cheese chilli dog. Needless to say I was shitting within 30 minutes. Yum though! I discovered that my bedroom (and bed head) shares a wall with the kitchen at this hostel. Thus I was up at 7am after being woken by the arse end of a pub crawl at 3am. Yay. Today thus far I have wandered around near Robson Square, popped down near the MPC/IPC, bought a few dvds at HMV (crikey DVDs are pricey in Canada, eh?) and had some very traditional Canadian... Maccas. I was going to check out the art gallery but really cant be bothered. It is wet and cold today but not too bad. I hope to catch up with Jeremie, Petrus and Jawn at some point over the next few days.

Do you think this is the right topic to make jokes about?

I am leaving my house right now...the next time you'll see me is after the Opening! VIVRE LE VANCOUVER VIVRE LE CANADA WITH GLOWING HEARTS

So I wonder how much "police brutality" will go down today.

great post: OK, FIRSTLY, DON'T AND I MEAN DO FRICKIN' NOT EVER, IN YOUR LIFE, COMPARE THE LOW LIFE SCUM I MENTIONED IN THIS THREAD WITH CIVIL RIGHTS MARCHERS IN THE 60'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you believe Canada has Jim Crow laws, and you have to go to the Supreme Courty for different races to attend the same public school, you are pretty stupid. These protesters have two slogans: 1) "Take Back Our City" which is on all the posters around town. Hello, earth to hippies? Didn't "our city" have a plebiscite? And didn't "our city" vote overwhelmingly in favour of the games? And if they are taking back "our city" why are there over a thousand protesters coming here from other cities? They don't want to "take back" the city, they want to take over it. Its almost sad that the local protests groups, active in anti-olympic activities for over 8 years had to resort to bringing in professional protesters from other cities, who will simply make Vancouver another stop on their routine circuit. I'm sure they won't even unpack before they head to the net "summit" of world leaders. 2) "No Olympics on Stolen Native Land." Ok, so the land is stolen...then why not protest the CFL and NHL who hold way more sporting events than VANOC ever does on "Stolen Native Land." Why not protest immigrants who come here from other countries and settle their families on "stolen" property? Its a good slogan, I get it. And when you say it rythmically while beating your protest bongo drums, its kind of catchy and almost fun to dance to. But is it worth marching en masse with a bunch of out of towners who couldn't care less about the well being of our city and frightening families who want to witness an historic event, or the granparents from Norway who are here to see their grandson compete in his first Olympics? This isn't about these attention-seeking alarmists. This isn't even about the IOC, VANOC, or corporate sponsors. The Olympics are about the billions watching around the world, united and focused on sport, not on the myriad things that divide us everyday. Its about the middle class father of two from Abbotsford who worked overtime to score a few of tickets to curling off of his buddy so that his kids could witness a world class event. Its about the little girl from Winnipeg who will watch Cindy Klassen come back from injury to compete, and be inspired. Its about the mothers who don't normally get the chance to sit down and enjoy sporting events, who will spend a couple of hours one evening mesmerized by the grace of the figure skaters. Its about Clara Hughes carrying the flag after overcoming a troubled, drug-filled adolescence. Its about Terry Fox's father running with the torch, and Rick Hansen lighting the cauldron in Richmond to a multicultural crowd of thousands. Its about the Native performers, as aboriginal as any of the special-interest groups protesting, who will show their great culture off to television audiences the world over. Its about the smiling families and children who have filled town squares and playing fields across this great country to cheer on the olympic flame, who are proud of what it represents and thrilled to be part of something greater than themselves. And i'll be damned, if a bunch of people with grievances want to ruin all that. We all have grievances. We choose to air them in voting booths, at city council and school board meetings, and in letters to editors. We don't try to impede a wonderful experience for millions by calling in a thousand of our friends who have nothing better to do on a Friday night. That's why I will be at the pro-olympic protest tomorrow. That's why I will be louder than any anti-olympic protester from Seattle, Edmonton, or anywhere else. And may God help them all if any of them get in my way.

I would have loved to join CAF... but I already saw most of it and know some of the remaining secrets.... So hard to avoid to share.... but I will be strong !!!! HIGHER... FASTER.... STRONGER..... I agree CAF... LIVE and on TV is the best !!!

Jawn completely agree. Don't mess with our anthem. Remember when the Greeks used a butchered version and we were all pissed.

I'd like to know if is there any website where i can see the OC, because any channel incluiding forgrein tv won't have the Oc in Lima. and the time. This could be my first WOG OC live

As I said: If Vancouver is able to pull something at least equally stunning as Beijing's opening ceremony, but with less performers, it achieves something even bigger than Beijing's OC. One might sum it up with "less is more".

I really shouldn't be writing this right now...I've got a 4 page paper to churn out in the 4 hours I have before I leave for the airport, and at the rate my procrastinating is going, I'm not going to write those pages still I've already landed at YVR. I just thought it would be a good idea for me to somewhat introduce myself since I'm pretty new here. I've always really liked the Olympics. I can remember watching them in 1992 when the divers launched themselves into what semmed like astronomical hights above Barcelona. Originally, Atlanta was going to be my Olympic début. I had an uncle living there and my parents had arranged the trip...unfortunately the day before we left, the bomb exploded in Olympic park, and trip was cancelled. When Rogge invited the youth of the world to the the Beijing Olympics I took him at his word. In 2004 I told my mom that in 4 years time I would at those Beijing Olympics. Understandably she didn't believe me. My dad, in an attempt to placate me, said that Beijing wasn't going to happen, but he promised to try and make it to the Vancouver edition two years later. Flash forward to 2007, and my goal to get to Beijing was still little more than a pipe dream. On October 25, 2007 my father lost a 3 year battle with cancer. Needless to say, the Olympics were the last thing on my mind. That changed, however, four days later when I noticed a little email in my inbox. It's subject line read: Your Olympic Ticket Purchase Confirmation. I had completely forgotten about the ticket request I had filled out on a whim months before. I had been granted tickets to the Olympics - my dream had suddenly come back to life. Between October 2007, and August of 2008 I worked 3 part-time jobs in addition to being a full time honors student. It was hard, but I did get to Beijing. I spend 10 amazing days at the the biggest sporting event in the world. I can't put into words how wonderful of an experience it was...what 20 year old wouldn't love to spend a week unsupervised on the opposite side of the planet? Even more wonderful than the Olympics, though, was the journey I took to get to them. For me, the work and planning that went into making my dream happen was the cathartic experience I needed after my father's death. I needed to learn that I could still achieve all of my dreams regardless of the obstacles I faced. And now, in just a few hours, I'll head back to the Olympics, this time with my mother in tow. On Friday night when the stadium's lights dim and the final countdown begins it will be the fulfilment of another dream. And for me, that is the very reason that I am so in love with the Olympics: every day of the Games, someone's dream is coming true. I can't think of another situation that would so rewarding. Because of that, I want to get my Master's in sports management. One day I'm going to work for the Olympics, and I'll actually be in the business of making dreams come true. But enough of all that cliché sob story! I'll be in Vancouver from the 11th to the 17th. I've got tickets to the Opening Ceremony, ski jumping, biathlon, speed skating, pairs figure skating, luge, hockey, curling, and snowboard cross. I'll be posting a lot from my phone, but I'll do my best to update with pictures at the end of each day. You might want to follow me on Twitter (link in the sig) for the most updated. I'm also going to check out all of the best clubs Vancouver has to offer. I'm also on a quest! Aside from the games, themselves, I'm probably most excited to try all the crazy kinds of potato chips they have in Canada: Curry, bacon, and Roasted Chicken!!!!! And, hey, if I just happen to run into Canada's greatest exports (i.e. Ryan Ryenolds, Shawn Ashmore, and Chris Craigmen), then I wont be too disappointed either. BTWs, the 10th was my 22nd birthday - can I get some love?

This isn't the Caribbean, we have our own stable currency. So yes you need Canadian money. There is some fast food restaurants that accept American at par but other than that notta.

video of cauldron

Oh boy, these Games are cursed!! There's still time to move them to Salt Lake!!

well, I wasn't kidding!!

I don't like the look of it and it would be disappointing if a replica of it will be the one lit in the ceremonies later on. Horrible. This is a z- for me.

A bit underwhelmed with the video but am still optimistic how it all goes together. All this talk about having less performers than beijing, vancouver compenated with the projections. Take that away and its really bare in the video at least.