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My Olympic experience so far
Feb. 12th, 2010 07:40 pmI'm watching the opening ceremonies on TV... the madness is officially beginning.
The sound of helicopters plucks on my nerves. Living so close to downtown, and to BC Place in particular, they have been nearly constantly overhead today: military and media. If you watched the opening ceremonies, you probably saw at least one aerial view of the stadium... I was probably cursing at the helicopter that took that shot.
Yesterday, I ventured to the Olympic superstore downtown for a birthday present for my brother-in-law. First, I couldn't find my way in, having missed the signs that said that there was no entrance from within its host department store. Once I figured out where the external entrance was, I was confronted with a half-block-long line to get in. I've never stood in line to get into a store before, but there was no back-up plan for the present, so I joined the end of the line.
Aside: There is a guy from Kazakhstan in the athletes' parade who is talking on his cell phone. "Oh, sure I can talk; I only need one hand to wave this flag. So, what're you doing?"
It was only about a fifteen minute wait before I was in the store. It was madness inside, with people trying things on in the aisles and then tossing unwanted items aside every which way, and staff scrambling in every direction to just keep the unwanted merchandise from being trampled. It was about a five minute wait at the cash. Altogether, I was in the store for a shorter amount of time than I waited to get in, but I was successful.
Aside: I'm beginning to feel really sorry for the dancers in the ceremony; this is a long time to be bouncing around.
Today, I saw part of the torch relay. Today was the last day of a record 106 day relay, and I was seeing some of the last of the 12,000 torchbearers.
Before heading out from my house to the route a block away (very inconvenient that they didn't actually come by my house so I could watch from my living room window, but such are the sacrifices we must make), I watched some of the live feed from downtown, where it was madness - crowds packed in, screaming and waving flags. The torchbearer at that point seemed to be about 80 years old, and he was soaking it all in and taking his time - I'm pretty sure that's why the relay was considerably later than predicted reaching my neighbourhood.
Our crowds were much thinner through Strathcona than downtown, but we all got to hang out with our firefighters. The Union Street Market closed down so their staff could come out too, though that led to some good-natured grumbling: "See what the Olympics get us? The coffee shop closes down for a half-hour!"
Our crowd was maybe a little more cynical than downtown's: "I just wanted to see what one billion dollar looks like."
First through was the sponsor vehicles, giving out triangular Canadian flags as re-envisioned by Coke. I overheard a mom explaining to her kids that they couldn't drink the Cokes they'd just been given because the aluminum bottles were souvenirs.
Then the first police escort, so the firefighters turned on their lights. Then another long delay, so lots of kids got their pictures taken with the firefighters while they waited. The pictures looked like old-style "United Colors of Benetton" ad.
Aside: Dear CTV announcers: The cultural portion of the opening ceremony will either stand or fall on its own merits - please stop narrating! The LED puppet bear is kind of cool.
The 80-year-old torchbearer had obviously passed off before my area, and I think the new runner was trying to make up time. She was past us so fast, my camera didn't catch a shot.
"Time to re-open the shop."
"Coffee!"
"That was it?"
The Olympic ads keep telling me that we were made for this... maybe they haven't noticed that there's no snow at this winter Olympics.
The Olympic ads keep asking me if I believe. I don't know if I do.
Vancouver's Olympic experience has really just begun, for better or for worse.
Aside: Dear designers of the opening ceremonies: You had me with the punk fiddlers and tappers, but I don't understand where Peter Pan over wheat fields fits in.
ETA another aside: Recovering from the Peter Pan thing. As someone on Twitter said: "Queers, punks, and poetry... Perfect opening to the Olympics. Props."
More asides: Do you suppose the French part is usually spoken first to make a point about Canada being decidedly not the US? - See, we speak French here! In my experience, most Vancourerites can't speak French (as seen by the number of times "Bienvenue" was butchered during the ceremony).
I can't stop: Rick Hansen rolled in with the Olympic torch, which reminded me of one of the funniest things I've ever seen on TV. If you've never seen "The Rick Mercer Report", watch the first segment of this episode.
More: Really, announcer? It isn't some special torch that Wayne's carrying; it was switched out during the ride. We all saw it get switched out on camera. Pay attention!
Last (maybe) aside: We just watched the ceremony - we don't need a clip-show re-cap. Also, now I've got firework noises and helicopters!
The sound of helicopters plucks on my nerves. Living so close to downtown, and to BC Place in particular, they have been nearly constantly overhead today: military and media. If you watched the opening ceremonies, you probably saw at least one aerial view of the stadium... I was probably cursing at the helicopter that took that shot.
Yesterday, I ventured to the Olympic superstore downtown for a birthday present for my brother-in-law. First, I couldn't find my way in, having missed the signs that said that there was no entrance from within its host department store. Once I figured out where the external entrance was, I was confronted with a half-block-long line to get in. I've never stood in line to get into a store before, but there was no back-up plan for the present, so I joined the end of the line.
Aside: There is a guy from Kazakhstan in the athletes' parade who is talking on his cell phone. "Oh, sure I can talk; I only need one hand to wave this flag. So, what're you doing?"
It was only about a fifteen minute wait before I was in the store. It was madness inside, with people trying things on in the aisles and then tossing unwanted items aside every which way, and staff scrambling in every direction to just keep the unwanted merchandise from being trampled. It was about a five minute wait at the cash. Altogether, I was in the store for a shorter amount of time than I waited to get in, but I was successful.
Aside: I'm beginning to feel really sorry for the dancers in the ceremony; this is a long time to be bouncing around.
Today, I saw part of the torch relay. Today was the last day of a record 106 day relay, and I was seeing some of the last of the 12,000 torchbearers.
Before heading out from my house to the route a block away (very inconvenient that they didn't actually come by my house so I could watch from my living room window, but such are the sacrifices we must make), I watched some of the live feed from downtown, where it was madness - crowds packed in, screaming and waving flags. The torchbearer at that point seemed to be about 80 years old, and he was soaking it all in and taking his time - I'm pretty sure that's why the relay was considerably later than predicted reaching my neighbourhood.
Our crowds were much thinner through Strathcona than downtown, but we all got to hang out with our firefighters. The Union Street Market closed down so their staff could come out too, though that led to some good-natured grumbling: "See what the Olympics get us? The coffee shop closes down for a half-hour!"
Our crowd was maybe a little more cynical than downtown's: "I just wanted to see what one billion dollar looks like."
First through was the sponsor vehicles, giving out triangular Canadian flags as re-envisioned by Coke. I overheard a mom explaining to her kids that they couldn't drink the Cokes they'd just been given because the aluminum bottles were souvenirs.
Then the first police escort, so the firefighters turned on their lights. Then another long delay, so lots of kids got their pictures taken with the firefighters while they waited. The pictures looked like old-style "United Colors of Benetton" ad.
Aside: Dear CTV announcers: The cultural portion of the opening ceremony will either stand or fall on its own merits - please stop narrating! The LED puppet bear is kind of cool.
The 80-year-old torchbearer had obviously passed off before my area, and I think the new runner was trying to make up time. She was past us so fast, my camera didn't catch a shot.
"Time to re-open the shop."
"Coffee!"
"That was it?"
The Olympic ads keep telling me that we were made for this... maybe they haven't noticed that there's no snow at this winter Olympics.
The Olympic ads keep asking me if I believe. I don't know if I do.
Vancouver's Olympic experience has really just begun, for better or for worse.
Aside: Dear designers of the opening ceremonies: You had me with the punk fiddlers and tappers, but I don't understand where Peter Pan over wheat fields fits in.
ETA another aside: Recovering from the Peter Pan thing. As someone on Twitter said: "Queers, punks, and poetry... Perfect opening to the Olympics. Props."
More asides: Do you suppose the French part is usually spoken first to make a point about Canada being decidedly not the US? - See, we speak French here! In my experience, most Vancourerites can't speak French (as seen by the number of times "Bienvenue" was butchered during the ceremony).
I can't stop: Rick Hansen rolled in with the Olympic torch, which reminded me of one of the funniest things I've ever seen on TV. If you've never seen "The Rick Mercer Report", watch the first segment of this episode.
More: Really, announcer? It isn't some special torch that Wayne's carrying; it was switched out during the ride. We all saw it get switched out on camera. Pay attention!
Last (maybe) aside: We just watched the ceremony - we don't need a clip-show re-cap. Also, now I've got firework noises and helicopters!
