Not too long ago, I found myself on top of a high rise in Yaletown for a work related project. The only camera I had on hand was my iPhone, but I knew I had to snap some photos of the city, no matter how much my vertigo played with my knees.

After reading many of Rebecca’s “Vancouver History” posts, it makes me look at these photos a little differently. Vancouver’s changed a lot in just the six years that I’ve lived here, yet alone the last one hundred.

I shot this on the final day of Summer Live in Stanley Park this past weekend. We were out of town for most of the event that celebrates Vancouver’s 125th anniversary of being the city that it has become, and this was quite the party that the city threw.

Truth be told, sixty4media developed the website for the year long celebration(celebratevancouver125.ca) that is going on, and it was a little rewarding to know that Rebecca and I played a bit part to help spread the word about Summer Live. With everyone hanging out on their blankets, people throwing the frisbee around, all the folks hula-hooping, and so on, I really wish we could have been around to check out more on Friday and Saturday.

“We live on a planet” is what Beck said when I showed her this photo because of the way the moon slipped into the shot. All of this within a 15 minute walk from the west end makes me hope this becomes a regular event every year.

I shot this while crossing the Burrard Inlet in a Seabus to the north shore. This kid was a giddy as I often am while looking out the same windows at the city. It always makes me think about how lucky I am to be living in this city, and how thankful I am to all of my friends and family that made it possible for me to achieve everything I have.

I think that in a lot of ways, I’m still a kid at heart. That’s why I took this photo.

Last May, Rebecca and I finally made it over to Lighthouse Park on a cool, muggy day. It’s another one of those things that’s been on the list of places to visit after a few boat cruises by it and staring at it from the shore across the way from it.

The park is really pretty, but bring your hiking shoes for sure. As steep and narrow as some of the trails get, I still can’t figure out how, or yet alone why, some people got baby strollers over this terrain.

I’d barely recommend taking a stroller through Stanley Park, but it’s just the idea that some folks leave their front door not thinking about the fact that they are about to go to a park which sits at the base of a mountain.

Might this not seem like an unlikely place you’d want to bring a stroller?

I often enjoy riding shotgun while Rebecca drives. It gives me the opportunity to experiment with taking photos from the car, which usually doesn’t always turn out the best. Sometimes it’s blurry, the windows might be dirty, another passing vehicle can ruin the shot, and so on.

Rolling down Pacific Street with the sun setting off in the distance, this is a testament of not knowing how something will turn out until you try.

And I feel like this really is what summer in Vancouver is all about.

While many people will say that it rains a lot in this part of the world and they couldn’t live here because of that reason, you have to smile and nod. On those days that it’s not, this city is a vastly different experience. I don’t mind saving my energy to convince them otherwise.

The radio day job always gets me into places around Vancouver that I would probably not wander through if it weren’t for the opportunities that keep coming up, and Empire Field is no exception.

TEAM Radio is the official broadcaster of the BC Lions, so during our initial test setup for the first home game back in June, I brought my camera along to hopefully snap some photos of the field before the public got to wander in for a peek. What I didn’t anticipate was that while the first event to be held at this temporary stadium was just days away, workers were all over the place, still getting ready.

While BC Place[wiki] gets a new roof downtown, Empire Field[wiki] has been built on the former site of Empire Stadium[wiki], which used to be the home of the BC Lions Canadian Football League team prior to moving into the dome in the early 80′s.

The crazy aspect to this stadium is that it’s completely temporary, but I find that hard to tell at times.

Aside from the field turf and the four sets of lights at each corner of the stadium, all of this will be gone by the summer of 2011. The BC Lions get one full season to call this place temporarily home, and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC will start their inaugural MLS season on the same field.

In all actuality, I’m not an overly huge football fan. I like to watch it, but I don’t actively seek it out. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the sport by any means. I’ve certainly let the CFL grow on me, even though punting the ball on 3rd down continues to throw me off from time to time.

What can I say? I grew up in small town America where Friday nights belong to high school football, Saturday’s are for college ball(Go Hawks!), and Sunday was NFL. Four downs(CFL has three), the flags are yellow(CFL flags are orange), and the only time you can score a single point is kicking the ball through the uprights after a touchdown(I’m still confused by all the various ways you can score a single point in the CFL, but oh well).

I encourage football fans with the NFL Network in the states to try and catch some of the CFL broadcasts they will be running this summer. Let the rules and twelve men on the field be the second thing you pay attention to. The action is what you should focus on.

It’s really tough to comprehend that this stadium will only exist for barely over a year. With the mountains as a gorgeous backdrop and the close proximity of the fans to the field, this isn’t just a great place to watch football or soccer. I could see this being a great outdoor concert venue as well.

Whatever happens to this place in the future, it’s a little rewarding to be involved in a tiny piece of Vancouver’s history. Just like people talk about Expo ’86 or when the Olympics were here, I can say I was there, running around the field, ducking into the double-wide trailers that make up the locker rooms, and hauled plenty of equipment up and down stairs to make the radio side of things happen.

Interestingly enough, my photos have made the rounds on a handful of sites promoting the environmental sustainability aspect of the stadium, most noticeably the recycled tires that makes up the field turf.

inhabitat.com:
Vancouver Soccer Stadium Made With 22,000 Recycled Tires
by Bridgette Meinhold, 06/29/10

Inhabitat used my photos to highlight the use of “22,000 recycled tires, amounting to 346,000 pounds of crumb rubber,” in the field turf that makes up the playing surface of Empire Field. While that’s pretty cool in itself, the playing field can actually be altered in terms of response by either vacuuming up those tiny bits of rubber or adding more to change the amount of bounce you get from the field.

They found my photos on Flickr and published them in a post with proper attribution. That’s social networking done right.

ecopnues.it:
Lo stadio da calcio di Vancouver costruito con 22.000 pneumatici fuori uso

I was contacted directly about using my photos in this post, and that request was in English. As you can tell by the title of this post, all of this site is in Italian. Ecopnues is an Italian website that focuses on the use of recycled tires, taking a cue from the previous post I’ve already highlighted.

What fascinates me is the theme of sustainability being immensely popular around the world. Empire Field certainly has its critics, but in the bigger picture, the long term benefits to the communities around this area is viewed positively by many.

Rebecca also has a post with many of my photos as well as her trip to see the field on the day it was unveiled to the media.

Empire Field is a limited time experience and well worth it. If you go and are the adventurous type, get some seats in the end zones. Space was so limited in the construction of this stadium that they couldn’t put nets up to prevent balls from going into the stands.

How’s that for a souvenir? Well, that is if you’re willing to work for it.

Honestly, sometimes this city makes it easy to take beautiful photos of it. But in this case, this shot is more of an accident because I was only demonstrating the extra trigger I have on the battery grip for my Nikon D90. I held it to the side and just pushed the button.

Some photos, at least for me and are to my personal liking, are pure luck. Other times, it might be random. When you hit the sweet spot between the two, it’s immensely rewarding.

I literally had my camera in my right hand but at hip level when I looked down this alley as I walked past and decided to hit the trigger for kicks and giggles. For the first time in a long time, I actually hit a decent perspective of a downtown alleyway in Vancouver, give or take what some locals might consider “typical”.

Spotted this on my way home the other day. Richmond, B.C. has a seasonal night market for a while now, so this is a neat addition for Vancouver. A lot of people that I’ve discussed this with say that Chinatown is back on the map as an up and coming area in the city. Locals might debate that, but it’s always a fun place to visit, if not just for some spicy pork buns.

My coverage of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics came and went like a dream. It’s hard to imagine that it actually happened yet alone that the closing ceremonies were just a few weeks ago.

I wandered down to the cauldron after work the other day to snap some pictures of the flame while it burns for the remainder of the 2010 Paralympics. I’m ashamed at my lack of coverage of this portion of the games, but there is simply not enough time to get out to everything that I’d like to with the day job taking up much of my weekdays.

True North Media House, on the other hand, has been going strong this entire time. There has been a great representation of social media generated content during the Paralympics, probably giving more timely and accesible coverage to these events than what the official broadcast rights holders are producing.

At least what I know is that if I want to know how the sledge hockey games are going, all I have to do is tune into Twitter for score updates. Shortly after that, you can expect to see photos on Flickr with the tnmh tag.

That being said, seeing the flame burning in the light of the setting sun, I thought I’d go back through all of my own pictures and highlight some of my favorite shots.

Seeing the flame for the first time was an experience. My nerves were on fire on this morning, simply because I was so excited for this to actually start happening. I was fortunate to not only have it come through the west end of Vancouver but also have it pass by where I work.

One of two events we got to check out, the women’s hockey game between Canada and Slovakia was a great experience. Aside from the 18-0 blowout making the game somewhat lacking in terms of overall excitement, it was a true preview of the party that was just starting in Vancouver in terms of Canadian pride.

To me, this is what the Olympics really is all about. You have so many people in one location, bonded by the spirit of competition. Inherently, this seems to breed an atmosphere of friendliness that is hard to describe better than that. New friends and old ones, it’s all about having a good time.

Ferg and the whole Molson crew that invited all sorts of folks to the Vancouver brewery for hockey watching and all around good times are to be commended. They opened the doors, the taps, and provided food to a number of folks.

And then all the country pride…

And the crowds with the spontaneous breakouts of “Oh, Canada” almost every five minutes…

And all of the houses and events…

Club Bud at the Commodore Ballroom

House of Switzerland

The Royal Canadian Mint

Northern Canada House

Russia House

At this point, this all seems like it happened such a long time ago. Everyone that I talk to feels that way. The memory remains, but the spirit has slowly left the city wondering what’s going to happen next. How do you fill the void of an event like this?

Time will tell, and life will adjust in Vancouver. The talk is to now make a day in remembrance of what was with these Olympics in B.C., and it makes sense. February is the one month without a statutory holiday in this province while the rest of Canada seems to have at least one long weekend in the same month.

You’ll never be able to recapture these moments though. There might be an attempt, but it will never compare.

One thing I’ve said repeatedly to Rebecca over the course of those two weeks is that the United States would have a hard time even coming close to the amount of fun, relaxed atmosphere, and pure patriotic pride that Canada had with these Olympics.

I can’t explain it better than simply Canadians being proud to be Canadian.

That’s it.

This wasn’t forced or contrived. This was real. This was genuine and contagious. People wanted to party for the sake of their homeland, not just the sporting events going on around them. It wasn’t about being the best (even though the gold medals did roll in) as much as it was just for the sake of what being Canadian is to the people that make up this land.

Canada winning the gold medal in men’s hockey certainly made these folks lift their heads up and pump their chest out a little, but the game was born in this country, not to mention it being a near religion.

Can you say the same about baseball or football in the U.S.?

Not even close.

This is what I’ll probably remember the most about these games. No matter where you were in this city, you were apart of something bigger than anyone ever imagined. It was positive. It was electric. It was wonderful.

I can cross this one off my list of things to do and see before I die. Even though I might try to go to another Olympics in the future, it will never be like Vancouver. I’m lucky to have been here.

See all of my photos in this collection on Flickr: Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

See all of my blog posts in the category: Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

It already seems like the last day of the Olympics were months ago, and it barely seems like the greatest hockey game that I have ever seen yet alone been in such close proximity to. This was probably one of the single, biggest days in this country’s history, and I was in the midst of it all.

And truth be told, I took the photo of this sign the day before this day. It really should have been a sign of what was about to come.

Many people probably know about how the USA had a hockey game with Canada for the gold medal. If not, read this.

What many people in the U.S. probably don’t understand is that this game isn’t a matter of bragging rights. While that can and most likely will happen, it goes beyond that. This game was the cherry on top of the Canadian pride that has come out of hiding and been embraced like I’ve never seen before.

And when Crosby scored the game winner…

Was I conflicted? Of course I was. I was resigned to watching Canada win before the game started, but pushing the game into overtime made the spirit of competition take over and pull for the boys in blue. At the same time, I wanted Vancouver to have this party. Canada needed this win to put the icing on the cake.

That and I don’t want to see Luongo look bad. As a Canucks fan, it was thrilling to see him stamp that world class goalie label firmly on his resume. Say what you want, but even he got a hearty mention in the closing ceremonies.

By the way, watching the ceremonies from home that night, it was really hard to see the flame go out. Rebecca and I came up with the analogy that it’s a lot like the difference between watching a break-up and having someone break-up with you. After years of watching it come and go from Olympic city to another, the Olympics came here, we fell in love with the spirit of the games, and now we’re just trying to be friends. Emo enough for you?

But this party wasn’t like this in just Robson Square though. Heading down Robson, towards the west end, the party was everywhere, and it went on long into the hours of the day after.

If you watched the closing ceremonies on TV like we did, understand that all of this was going on outside the whole time.

It wasn’t just like this in Vancouver. Celebrations were reported all across Canada like this, most notably in Toronto when the crowds shut down streets in the downtown core.

Probably the funniest thing to happen was on a walk home from the store later that night. A group of people were walking the opposite direction while some other folks had a cigarette outside nearby.

This guy had a few in him, so he plainly said, with slowness and a subtle slur, “Isn’t Canada just the greatest. It’s ridiculous.”

After all the other yeah’s, woo’s, car horns, and woo’s, this was the most profound statement of Canadian pride. Period.

Hi-fives and hugs. For blocks and blocks in every direction, this is was you saw.

Shani Davis mentioned it in an interview at one point, and I had to agree with him. We have pride for our country in the states, but you don’t see it like this. This level, this sustained, and this well embraced, from coast to coast, is unbelievable, intoxicating, and inspiring, all at the same time.

This profound love for one’s country and being proud enough to have “Oh, Canada” break out spontaneously anywhere and at anytime is to be commended, if not envied.

You can see all of my pictures from this day in this flickr set, Vancouver 2010: Day 17.

If you’ve noticed a media badge hanging around my neck in various photos during the games, the BC International Media Centre is what one of those things allows me access to. This is where the non-accredited media hang out because we can’t get the officially recognized Olympics accreditation that is controlled by VANOC.

As lacking as that might sound in terms of media access, the BCIMC was a remarkable place to work out of. Aside from the responsibilities I’ve had with the radio stations, I’m also able to plug in my laptop, process photos, and upload a lot of content on their wickedly fast internet pipe.

Just ask John Biehler about how many photos he took of the various athletes they brought through for press conferences. Within minutes, he could have photos processed, uploaded, and published. He and Rebecca made a pretty solid team with the amount of coverage they’ve produced while using the BCIMC as a hub for operations.

With it being the last, full day of these Olympics, we made some rounds to various spots that I really needed to see before it was too late. So this included the medals themselves at the Royal Canadian Mint.

They are quite marvelous pieces. I can’t sum them up better than that. And when you hold it, you certainly appreciate the amount of work it takes to earn the right to hang these around your neck.

Yes, you’re reading the picture right. That’s a $1 million, solid gold coin. Due to when it was made and the current price of gold, the current worth is approximately $3.5 million.

Canada’s Northern House was next on the trek, which is a rich treatment of information of the culture that makes up this region of the country.

Wrapping up there, we got a text message from John and decided to meet him down at Russian House.

Again, the plans for Sochi 2014 keep amazing me. This miniture, model was very impressive. It gives you a real sense about the scale of their plans and how much Russia is putting into them.

From what I gather, there is a hefty upgrade going on with the rail infrastructure around Sochi. This is kind of like Vancouver as they are also building a fairly long tunnel to provide access to venues like was done for the route to Whistler.

This is a Russian radio station doing live programming from Sochi House, otherwise known as Science World to the rest of Vancouver. Auto Radio apparently has one of the most popular morning shows in Russia. On top of that, they took over some air time on a local AM station during these two weeks, broadcasting their programming locally as well as simulcast around the motherland.

Oil makes the world, and the games, go round.

These were some of the most popular threads walking around Vancouver during these games. Canada and the USA all looked sharp, but everything from Sochi really stood out. In fact, it was everywhere. I swear they were almost giving it out for free and I missed the boat.

Not sure what they were singing, but they were doing their best to keep the line waiting to get in entertained.

The mascot for Sochi is cute, but slightly awkward.

I was also able to get my chance to hold a torch. It’s lighter than it looks but is still pretty cool to grasp something that at some point held a flame that lit the cauldron in Vancouver.

Later on, we were invited by our great friends at Molson to watch the bronze medal game at their local brewery. No pictures that night, but sometimes you need to put the camera away, enjoy some time with friends, and just watch the Olympics.

You can see all of my pictures from this day in this flickr set, Vancouver 2010: Day 16.

It is really hard to imagine what Vancouver is going to be like when everything is said and done. Canadians are so proud to be who they are, and I really hope everyone in this country maintains that sense of pride in some sort of way. In my lifetime, it’s only been times of crisis or war that I’ve seen a country come together the same way these Olympics has. It’s simply amazing.

But, on the other side of seeing the unexpected with these games, it’s the pin collecting.

Even Dick Chaney is getting in on the pin alley action?

I really had no idea about the whole pin collecting thing before the games started. And now on the lanyard that I wear around my neck on a near daily basis, I have nine pinned onto it. I probably have more at home, and now I pick up ones I already have to stock myself up for a potential trade situation. This is a serious addiction that can and most likely will affect you at whatever Olympics you can find yourself at.

Quite often I showcase the pictures of downtown at night and all of the craziness ensuing then, but these pictures help show that it’s really an all day long thing. Robson Square is always buzzing, even during the morning hours when I’m going right through this on my morning work commute.

On this night, Rebecca and I ventured back, probably for our last time, to the House of Switzerland for a private dinner for just the two of us. In fact, this was our fourth wedding anniversary, and we had probably one of the best times in all of the Olympics. We had great food, a great table, an amazing view, and even a TV so we could watch the women figure skating come to a close.

I know it was our anniversary, but we’ve accepted that it fell right in the middle of this once in a lifetime event. We have plans to really celebrate this together later on, especially when we have no commitments, some sleep, and a chance to settle down from all of this excitement.

A water taxi across False Creek, we walked around the Vectorial Elevation to snap some photos and marvel in its beauty because we’re not sure how much longer this will be around. Sure, it has an end date, but a lot of people would like to see it stay around.

That remains to be seen, but the realization is setting in pretty hard that the games are almost over. Vancouver has been waiting for this for seven years. We all keep talking with our friends about what comes after the games are completely gone. I guess we’ll have to just wait and see.

You can see all of my pictures from this day in this flickr set, Vancouver 2010: Day 14.

One thing that makes it tough to enjoy the games on an everyday basis is that pesky day job. Though when done for the day, everyone seems to bolt out the door at quitting time like it’s time for recess.

In the evening, Rebecca and I ventured back down to Granville Street and into the Commodore Ballroom once again. However, this night saw the same place that hosted Club Bud be transformed into the Manitoba Homecoming Social.

Even VANOC CEO John Furlong dropped in to say a few words and give a gift of appreciation to the Premiere of Manitoba, Greg Selinger.

And even though I’ve been able to get my hand on a lot of freebies during the games, nothing will compare to the fishing lure keychain they handed out at the front door. I had a lot of neighbors growing up who took many fishing trips directly north of Iowa and over the Canadian border, so this was all too fitting.

Now, from what I understand, these “socials” are something of a trademark to Manitoba. Kind of what seems like a hoedown to me, apparently it’s common to have cheese cubes, kielbasa, other sliced meats, rye bread, and mustard served on a table for all to enjoy. And this is what appeared around the venue for the duration of the night.

It might seem like I’m joking, but while hanging out and wondering if this is what they actually do in Manitoba and also wondering if anyone at the event was from that province, it turns out that we were surrounded by people from there. On top of that, a lot of them kept saying that “this is just like home,” somewhat confirming that, yes, this is what a Manitoba social is like.

So like any good social, they had some great musical acts that call Manitoba home.

Eagle and Hawk has a great first nation vibe to their music while applying a great rock layer to their music.

Inward Eye was fantastic and my favorite of the night. They rock, and they do it loud and hard. Green Day, Dropkick Murphy’s, and The Clash were the three bands that came to mind when I saw them on stage, but they are in their own right. Going to track down some of their music for sure.

Doc Walker is some brilliant country music coming out of Manitoba. I’m outspoken about my lack of enthusiasm for this genre, but these guys were pretty good on stage. That goes a long way in my book.

Keeping the night young to conserve energy for the remainder of the games, we ventured home through the crowds of Granville, many not giving a second thought to the cool, rainy night. It’s hard to keep a good party down, and apparently the same is true for Manitoba as it is for B.C.

See all my photos from this day in the Flickr set, Vancouver 2010: Day 13.

Truth be told, this was the only photo I took during the entire 12th day of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. It’s not that I wasn’t taking anything in or running around the city. As the rain returned to the lower mainland, there was a noticeable reduction in the amount of people celebrating downtown. Rebecca and I are still battling through colds, so it’s more comfortable to relax on the couch and let the TV bring the games to us.

What I did discover is the amount of content finding its way onto YouTube. Some of it’s official, others… maybe not so much. Regardless, I wanted to share some stuff that I’m seeing on both sides of the borders that deserves to be shared with the world because if you weren’t watching it live, you probably missed your chance to see it.

This first video is a great piece by Tom Brokaw explaining Canada to Americans. I believe this ran just prior to the opening ceremony coverage on NBC.

A Channel in Victoria has been posting their news packages from their regular new broadcasts onto YouTube for a time now, which I think is probably one of the most stellar things a local TV station can be doing these days. As many people know, the Today show has been doing their program from Vancouver for the duration of the games. When the Today hosts took a brief trip over to Victoria to check things out over on the island, A Channel covered Today’s coverage.

Fellow True North Media House collaborator Evan Leeson has a great chunk of video that shows the madness that has been on Granville Street through these entire two weeks of the games. Nearly ten minutes of hooting and hollering, and you might hear a bad word or two.

The next video might be old news, but the fact that this Channel 6 News Online is hosted by a kid, that’s awesome. I’m all for different angles on the games, and they look to be tied to NBC, making them legit.

CTVOlympics has setup a YouTube account and posted a lot of clips as well, but they’ve disabled embedding. While that’s annoying and kind of defeats the purpose of posting videos onto YouTube, this is a positive step in the right direction on their part. Two videos worth checking out is Jon Montgomery’s gold medal skeleton run, and then this not-so-official clip of his walk through Whistler village and being handed a pitcher of beer.

If there are other great videos out there that should be mentioned, drop them in the comments.