My hands are shaking as I type this because I’m simply a ball of nerves from all of today’s excitement.
The torch just went by my work where the building just emptied out into the street to watch it go by.
Here’s a slideshow of all the photos I took as it passed.
This is just too cool!
Today is the day. I don’t have a lot of time right now, but our GM at work is the best boss ever for letting us off work early today because of the opening ceremonies tonight.
I’m posting a ton of photos to Flickr today and throwing a little caution to the wind in terms of editing and just trying to get photos up as soon as I can.
Here’s a slideshow of the torch run events plus all the other photos I’ve taken and will take today and a link to the set on Flickr.
Today is a lifelong dream of being in an Olympic city coming true. I woke up happier than a kid on Christmas morning. My only wish would be to have all my friends and family here to share this amazing day. I love you all.
I’m hearing a lot of chatter from all over about how stressed they are over everything going on right now in terms of what’s about to hit Vancouver on Friday. The fact that Cambie Bridge was shut down today for full dress rehearsal of the opening ceremonies gives me hope that they’ll be as entertaining as the Beijing. You really won’t be able to compare the two, but still, the rumors floating around hinting at cool things.
Now this is kinda cool, but it doesn’t help the stereotype of Canadians and igloos.
This is by far the most entertaining thing to see right now. This afternoon I passed two guys wearing San Marino gear, and about five minutes later, I learned about a country that I had never heard of before. And here I thought I had a handle on all of Europe micro-countries.
Walking back from lunch yesterday, my co-worker and I saw them drop this flag from the crane. It’s actually double-sided with Italy’s flag on the other side, which was the side we saw when they first stuck it up there. It was pretty neat to see how they split this sense of pride. Might be something we need to do back at our place.
Everyday since last week, the area around the Vancouver Art Gallery has been changing more and more. On my way to work this morning, I noticed not one but five different people out taking photos as I turned the corner to see this.
Three days to go, and the city is certainly buzzing. The Today show is now broadcasting from the new convention center, and even KING 5 in Seattle broke programming to carry live coverage of the torch run at the Peace Arch, having the mayor of Blaine, WA give a hearty “Go Team USA!” at the podium with the Premier of British Columbia standing right behind her.
All the blue signs everywhere makes you wonder how soon all of this will be removed and when Vancouver will feel normal again. I actually wish it could stay like this, minus all the nervous energy, street closures, bloated budgets, helicopters, heightened security, and nagging sense of feeling overwhelmed by all of this. Doesn’t mean that it’s not fun or a tad bit exciting.
On the way back from picking up our media badges from the Whistler Media House, we made a stop over in Squamish, B.C. to tool around the town and see more than the two main pit stops that most people think of when they drive through.
It goes without saying that there is always more than meets the eye, but it was pretty quick to see why people who live here call this place paradise. Cinci from EAT Communications took us out on a personal tour of the area she calls home.
This is where the snow melts from the mountains, runs down their sides, and flows between these banks on the way to the ocean. The water here was crystal clear. You could see why this spot, not far from downtown Squamish, was one of Cinci’s favorite places.
China and Goose also came along for our explorations, running and playing the whole time in what would probably be like an amusement park for a little kid. This was as close as I could get to get one of these girls to sit still long enough for a shot.
The playfulness of the dogs was contagious, and DaveO couldn’t help but claim this rusted out jeep. I can’t fathom how it got there, but you just have to recall that this is the outdoor capitol of Canada. Wind surfing, kite surfing, rock climbing, mountain trails, biking, running, camping, etc. So the fact that this bucket of rust is here can’t be all that surprising.
This cruise ship was brought to the dock in Squamish as housing quarters for Olympics volunteers in Whistler. Aside from the major road work that upgraded the Sea to Sky Highway that passes through the town, this is the main extent of involvement for this community even though its proximity is near geographically in the middle of Vancouver and Whistler.
The people staying here are apparently bused from this boat to the local Wal-Mart parking lot for staging. Volunteers stock up at the local superstore for everyday living as they go between the boat and Whistler Village, bypassing the core of the Squamish downtown community.
So what does downtown Squamish have to offer that these people might be missing?
Continue reading “Squamish: The city between Vancouver 2010 and Whistler, B.C.”
We made a mad dash this past Sunday to Whistler to snag our media accreditation at the Media Centre near the main village. It was a nice opportunity to get a low level feeling on how things are getting prepared for the beginning of the 2010 games at the end of this week.
A lot like Vancouver, people are exploring what’s already in place and snapping pics, much like myself.
Signage is everywhere. What to do, where to go to do it, etc.
Lanyards are as in force in Whistler as they are in Vancouver. So far, I’m up to having three that I’ll be taking with me where ever I go.
Ticket sales for events look to be steady. The line here wasn’t too hectic and no one seemed overly disgruntled while waiting in line. That sounds strange, but some prices for tickets are getting way too far out of my range for even consideration. I’ve heard a number of people who are happy to have the tickets but not so much when they talk about how much they paid for them.
I think it’s safe to say that the fever has started to rise in Whistler. They have all the snow, but getting up there is the tricky part.
Sea to Sky Highway looks great and is ready to handle the people flowing to and from, but we did see an accident on the way up that was enough to raise plenty of concern for anyone I’ve talked to about it. Basically, the road splits into three lanes about five times between Horseshoe Bay and Whistler. Two lanes is for traffic going one way and one lane for the opposite direction.
Speaking to people who live in the area, there is a lot of concern that even locals are getting confused by these temporary barriers and lane changes that the risk of accidents is actually increased by them. Basically it’s the premise of knowing something like the back of your hand, and these alterations, albeit subtle and only for a short period of time, will make driving this road even more treacherous when you combine all the Olympics traffic and people who are even less familiar with how much care you need to take on this road.
All fears aside, Whistler looks ready for the games. The people will come, but it should also be said that if you get up there to see some events, you can still spend some time skiing and enjoy the slopes while you’re there. Doing the same around Vancouver might be tough because even if you can get up the mountains, you might have a hard time finding some snow. Not so much in Whistler, that’s for sure.
This is something that has made me chuckle for a number of trips through the Olympic Village Station on the Canada Line. Located right around the corner from the entrance of the station is the Olympic Line streetcar, which is an amazing piece of technology and is, if I might say so, kinda sexy.
Pretty cool, right? But to let people coming out of the station know which direction to go to get to this marvelous piece of transit equipment, you get this dry erase board.
Awesome!
It’s just something that makes you laugh a little bit when you think about everything else that has been put in place or built for the Olympics. They could have put some stickers on it or wrapped it with some fancy graphics or something. But no, just this dry erase board that, oddly enough, has never been tampered with.
And the only reason I mention it at all is because when you go towards the bridge, about 100 feet in the opposite direction, you see this.
This is too large to fit on the other sign at the entrance, but could easily be put on that other sign if shrunk down. Still, whatever works. Long live ghetto engineering.
I think it’s safe to say that the Aussies have arrived in Vancouver for the games.
I work near the Olympic Village, and there was all sort of chatter about the kangaroo flag that went up at some point yesterday on the side of one building housing athletes in the Olympic Village. We have a couple of Australians working in the building, and they were all pretty pumped to see it. “That’s how we roll!”
I kind of feel sorry for those athletes with views not facing out where people can see stuff like this as you drive or walk by the village. I really hope that VANOC doesn’t rear its ugly head and call displays of patriotism like this unacceptable, if not a security concern. That’s why I ran out to grab some photos this morning.
And yet another checkpoint to get into the village.
Southeast False Creek, where the Olympic Village, is getting more and more hectic. It’s a non-stop parade of people in blue jackets with Olympic rings on the back and credentials around their necks.
Granville Street has been under construction for what seems like forever. Since about 2006, the downtown portion of Granville hasn’t been completely open as it once was. Getting close to the opening ceremonies for the 2010 games, these new lights have gone up all the way down the downtown core portion of the street.
I took this shot last night on my way home. Standing in the middle of Georgia and Granville, this is what it looks like at night, looking towards Waterfront. Not sure if the lights will stay up after the games, but they’re a nice touch.
I know that at time of publishing this post, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics are eight days away. The photos contained in this post are from January 23rd, just twenty days before the opening ceremonies. Rebecca and I wandered on foot from the Olympic Village to downtown with our cameras.
A lot of what you see in the post has changed quite a bit, but I thought it would be interesting to have these posted for the sake of Vancouver history.
This is one of the gates to get you into the Olympic Village. It reminds me of when I traveled to Berlin with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law and visited Checkpoint Charlie. Inviting, don’t you think?
I heard this would happen, and no building is too large or tall to put wrap on.
I pass by the official countdown clock everyday and never forget to sneak a peak of it. And more recently, I too was a tourist in my own city.
I used to work in the building pictured above. My first radio gig in Vancouver.
Steps out of Robson Square. While they looked painted, they’re actually wrapped.
The Robson Square Ice Rink in the opposite direction of the stairs. This will probably be a stopping point more than a few times depending on the mayhem going on here.
Granville Street with art installations and an ode to Hole In The Wall. Well, not really, but you could just imagine if it was.
These venue signs went up practically overnight. I’d like to see them keep these with references to popular landmarks in Vancouver after the games.
What do you do with a building in downtown Vancouver that is under complete renovation? You wrap a huge, Canadian flag around it.
Canada Place is for the media and accredited guests. Getting down here during the games will be tough unless you’re on foot.
No one is completely sure what’s inside these walls. It might be a “satellite cauldron” for the Olympic flame. Some even say this is where the actual flame will reside, which isn’t crazy being that the Olympic stadium, BC Place, is a dome.
Finally, the “VANOC Only” signs that are popping up all over the city. Unless you have that going for you, driving should be the last thing on your mind during these games in Vancouver.
Kudos to John Biehler who let me borrow his 35mm lens for some of these shots. You can see the entire set of photos from this photowalk on Flickr.
I’ll be posting more photos over the next few weeks as my adventures with True North Media House will see us doing photowalks among the other various things we get ourselves into. I don’t usually put explanations on my photos, but I’m doing this more for my family and friends who are watching these events from afar. I wish they could all be here to experience this once in a lifetime event, and this is my best attempt to share that with them as well as the world.
