Men's Ice Hockey

No, thic pic is not from the game! It's from a local art gallery, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, in South Granville where I live. Winter sport is everywhere.

Men's Ice Hockey (Canada v Germany) this afternoon and am heading to UBC Thunderbird Arena to see Latvia and the Czech Republic play off. Tomorrow Canada v. Russia.

Ice hockey is the official winter sport of Canada. From oral histories, there is evidence of a tradition of an ancient hockey-like game played among the Mi'kmaq First Nation in Eastern Canada. In Legends of the Micmacs (1894), Silas T. Rand describes a Mi'kmaq ball game people called tooadijik.

Hockey has been played at the Winter Olympics since 1924. Canada won six of the first seven gold medals. Go Canada!

Spring Olympics

Cherry Blossoms on Howe Street near the Vancouver Art Gallery this week! Weather has been so amazing cherry blossoms are everywhere including downtown in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery in front of Michael Lin's A Modest Veil, a massive mural of flowers part of the Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver.

Vancouver 2010 has been dubbed the Spring Olympics. Visitors have spring weather for enjoying the free outdoor entertainment venues, including these kids posing for photos outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, which adjoins Robson Square in the heart of downtown Vancouver.

Who knew the flower mural would reflect the springlike we've been having.

Vectorial Lights

One of the great things about all the Olympic activity is how much free stuff is going on. Like the Vectorial Light show. Living in South Granville, I have prime seats.

But you can take part in designing the vectoral lights currently in Vancouver from anywhere in the world. Using 20 large robotic searchlights around English Bay, the canopy of the Vancouver sky is transformed by the local audience or individuals worldwide who design their own patterns via a website. Their light sculptures are visible from a distance of 15 kilometres and the pattern changes roughly every 12 seconds. Go to Vectorial Vancouver now!

Men's 500M Speed Skating

We had a great time cheering on the Canadians and Dutchies at the men's 500M speed skating competition at the Richmond Olympic Oval.

This pic is of Simon Kuipers of the Netherlands skating against Kyle Parrott of Canada. The real story was the Dutch fans everywhere at the Oval dressed up in Royal Orange. And the Kleintje Pils band which had the crowd rocking when the zambonis weren't working!

The band whose name means small beer in Dutch has become synonymous with Olympic speedskating. Although the band from the northern province of Friesland is Dutch to the core, its appeal is global. I was not alone dancing and cheering this band on.

Men's Ski Jump

Swiss Simon Amman won Gold at the Men's Ski Jump! He became the first man in Olympic history to win gold medals in the Individual Normal Hill event in two Olympics (previously in Salt Lake City). And we were there. No, this image is not from the actual event but from Sega's new Vancouver 2010 Olympics video game.

If you want to see more, click on the trailer. Reviews suggest that the game does deliver a thoroughly enjoyable simulation of competing at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. With gorgeous graphics with photorealistic athletes and actions, and impressive depictions of the key venues forget the cost, hassle and line-ups and go virtual!

Men's Single Luge

Luge event, awesome!

I really enjoyed it. Facility was great, amazing speeds of up to 140km. Had my cow bell. And it was snowing!

It was hard not to think of Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili. Indian luger, Shiva Keshavan, was greeted to cheers of "Shiva, Shiva" after his race. Apparently, he is thrilled to be racing in Canada where he is warmly received by the Indo-Canadian community. Keshavan is compared to the Jamaican bobsleigh team that competed at the 1988 games and became a crowd favourite. He is part of a three-athlete delegation from India at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

Opening Ceremonies

Stupendous! It was not only a unifying moment, a night of Canadian pride but a theatrical experience. I can't pick my favourite thing so this pic of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Honor Guard hoisting the Canadian flag will have to do.

Whales and salmon on the virtual floor, Joni Mitchell, kd lang, Nikki Yanofsky's rendition of O Canada... what's not to like? Four billion people watching and there I was wearing my white poncho, banging my drum and waving my light!

Apparently, there was a mechanical error that prevented one of the massive torches from rising from the floor of BC Place. Who knew?

Cultural Olympiad - Robert Lepage

Went this evening to see Robert Lepage's The Blue Dragon, at SFU Woodwards. Part of the Cultural Olympiad, the imagery and effects in the show drawing on film, photography and other media, were quite interesting.

Robert Lepage is a Quebec-based artist, and one of Canada's most reknown performing artists.

After the show, we did manage to walk along Granville Street (through the Lunar Festival) and the new large tube lights along the Great White Way (popularized by its neon signs) really works.

Can't wait now until Place Francophonie opens on Granville Island.

Olympics and the Inukshuk

Why does the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics have the Inukshuk as its symbol? Do the Inuit live in Vancouver? What does the Inukshuk mean?

The Winter Olympics features the design of an Inukshuk, a traditional stone sculpture used by Canada's Inuit, as its official logo. The Inukshuk is increasingly being seen as a Canadian national symbol, drawing on its aboriginal and Northern references.

Tonight, we are going to see Tanya Tagaq (featured pic), an Inuit throat singer from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, at the Chan Centre.

Her music is not traditional, having done projects with Icelandic singer Bjork and Vancouver artist Buck 65. Have a listen.

Aboriginal Connection

Went to the launch of the new MOA (Museum of Anthropology) today. A $55 million expansion. Very cool exhibit called Border Zones: New Art Across Cultures (where this pic is from). Marianne Nicholson`s Wanx`id: to hide, to be hidden was part of this exhibit that included contemporary ceremonial chests with archival photographs on the bottom. What a great addition. Aboriginal dance performances also. The new launch, called a Celebration of Creativity, was part of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad.

The Vancouver 2010 Olympics is hosted in part by the Four Host First Nations. The Olympics are being held on the traditional territories of the Squamish, Musqueam, Lil`wat and Tsleil-Waututh.

There`s been a fair bit of media attention about aboriginal participation in the Games. Looking forward to checking out the Aboriginal Pavilion as well as some of the other cultural events taking place, like Beyond Eden, Edward Curtis Project and Tanya Tagaq: Tundra Songs (Inuit throat signing at the Chan Centre at UBC).
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Olympic Line

The new Bombardier trains are up and running connnecting the Olympic Village where the athletes are staying on False Creek to Granville Island near my place. I'm a train fan and these machines are really cool and very handy.

The track is 1.8 km long and the two Bombardier streetcars run 18 hours a day, 7 days a week between January 21 and March 21, about two months (which is how long they took to get here from Brussels, Belgium).

Olympics and the Cultural Olympiad

As excited as I am to see some of the Olympic sporting events, I'm also looking forward to some of the cultural and social activities coinciding with the Games. This Thursday, for example, I'm heading to an event at the new Woodward's building, part of the new Simon Fraser University campus downtown. The event is called The Show Must Go On, a dance performance by French choreographer Jerome Bel.

It's part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, and one of the performers is a friend of mine so really looking forward to that.

This will also be my first time in the new Woodward's building, a highly anticipated development on Vancouver's downtown eastside. Last week, the W sign was reinstalled since coming down in 1993 (had been a Vancouver landmark since 1944).

Olympics and Corporate Sponsorship

Sunshine today and I found myself heading through downtown on my way to visit my sister and took this pic of the Bay with banners of Canadian Olympic athletes on the building.

The Hudson's Bay Company (incorporated by British Royal Charter in 1670) founded Canada so it's fitting that they're one of the main sponsors of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and the official clothing outfitter for the Canadian Olympic team.

The Company started operations in BC as early as 1827 at Fort Langley and Fort Victoria in 1843 but opened in Vancouver in 1887 on Cordova Street when the new town has less than 500 people. In 1913, the company moved to its current location at Georgia and Seymour. That building (as seen from this photo) is easily recognized by its Corinthian columns.

Olympic Snowshoeing in 2014?

So how about snowshoeing as an Olympic sport in 2014?! We signed up for a race Prep clinic at Grouse Mountain (open 24 hrs during Olympics) and I'm starting to wonder. Apparently, as part of a major initiative to place the sport of snowshoe racing in the global spotlight, Mount Seymour Resort in British Columbia will host the World Snowshoe Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 27 – one day before the 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremonies in Vancouver. Cool.

Not sure how we can get ourselves invited to that but we'll definately be at the Grouse Mountain Yeti Classic March 13th! The Yeti will be there too.