My Paralympics: Random Pics & Reflections

Well, here we are, on the day that the Paralympics wraps up - and the end of the awesome Vancouver 2010 Games. It's hard to believe it's over. But I had a great Paralympic moment on Friday to keep in my memory... This is the pomp and ceremony that kicked off the Wheelchair Curling tiebreaker between Italy and Sweden for 4th place position.
I hadn't managed to get tickets to any of the Paralympic events locally, so imagine my delight to hear on Friday morning that there was a free tiebreaker game that very afternoon. Free? That's my kinda price! Here's the Swedish team acknowleding the fans after their win.

Here are the two teams shaking hands at the end of the match. It was sad to see those empty seats, as even though the event was free, and was promoted on morning news, the stadium was only about 1/4 full, if that. But those that were there had a great time.

After an on-ice consultation with their coach over a difficult shot, a handshake from one of the Italian players.

Another coach consultation, this time on the part of the Swedish team.

I loved the colour of the rocks, and how they sparkled in the lights....

A rock sliding by on the Paralympic logo'd ice...

I wasn't the only one snapping pics....

Team Sweden takes a timeout at centre ice. If you haven't noticed, the teams are mixed; each team had 3 men and 1 woman. Nice to see, as gender seems pretty irrelevant to curling. Oh, and there's no brooms. So no sweeping to fix a rock once it's released. It's all in the release. Though the players weren't beyond yelling (in Swedish or Italian) and what they wanted it to do. Heh.

What a spectacular location, at the Paralympic Centre near Queen Elizabeth Park - the same venue was also used for Olympics as well, of course. How amazing it must have seemed to our visitors to have our mountains just "hanging" there - and on this day it was spring weather, but the snow looked fresh. Lovely. This man was an all-around good sport when he took a moment to dance with a group of kids performing outside for the spectators before the game began.

These are the kids, having a great time.

This was the group leader, she was having as much fun leading the group and they were having following along.

Getting down to kid height...

This scene had it all: mountains, mascot, flags, people - and glorious blue sky. It's a shame that Leo Obstbaum, the creator the look and feel for the games, wasn't able to see it all come together himself. You might have heard his name mentioned on one of John Furlong's tributes, as he died tragically shortly before the games. Here's the story on him and what he created.

One of the aboriginal inspired sculptures against the blue sky... not entirely sure what this one was, but I like him anyways.

This guy is a raven. Love it!

A sign inside the facility. I did not know this!! Cool.

Oh, walking down the street afterwards, I noticed the jacket of this voluntter... Take a close look at the Paralympic logo (you can click on the pic to enlarge it, if you wish). I realized that they had put the logos on pieces of matching fabric with velcro, so that all those jackets could be worn for both the Olympics and Paralympics. Smart.

One last panorama view of Vancouver's mountains from the grounds of the facility. Man, I love these mountains, it's nice to be near them again. I am still stopping dead in my tracks to admire them - it's like they are newly beautiful upon my return to BC after 7 months away.

So, some random reflections as the games wind down:

• I am still choked about how poor the television coverage was of the Paralympics - yes, it's apparently better than it's ever been, but, sheesh, that was a sprinkling that left me feeling rather disconnected from the daily events
• I was glad to participate in the Twitterverse's pressure on CTV to televise the closing ceremonies - they got suitably overhwelmed with outcry over the fact that they weren't going to be shown. So, in 15 minutes, I get to watch them - as does everyone across Canada.
• I can't take any credit for the pressure that people put on CTV to televise the opening ceremonies - I can't believe they hadn't planned to show them in the first place. In the end, their decision to televise only in BC was naive and only raised the ire of Canadians.
• I guess I felt better when I heard some of those involved in the Paralympic movement feeling positively delighted with the coverage -
• I want to say I don't get it why the coverage was so poor, but, of course, I do get it, as it's all about money and advertising.... CTV really showed it's colours and lost so much of the goodwill that they had built up over the Olympics with how they handled this.
• Vanoc did an awesome job of organizing both events with the same team - I understand it's never been this well organized - but I think the next step in advancing the games is requiring the broadcaster to televise both games - the Olympics and Paralympics - equally (average the coverage and advertising revenues across both games folks, it's not really that hard to figure that out).
• I was left feeling that the coverage would have been better, in the end, if CBC were the broadcaster, but, of course, I don't know that. I just want coverage. And I want coverage to be on the main channel(s), as not everyone can afford premium channels. As a Canadian I expect coverage, period.

OK, enough soapboxing... time to order my pizza and settle into the closing ceremonies. Congratulations to all the athletes - and thanks for the amazing inspiration. GO CANADA GO!

Random Pics on a Sunny Day

What a beautiful day today. I had a great lazy day with sun streaming in my windows. I had this white plate sitting on my kitchen counter with all the beads I'd bought in Greece sitting in it - and it was so pretty there in the sun, I was inspired to take a few pics:

A nice shadow on the rocks in the garden suite below me:

I was captivated by how bright the sun was on my floors and the shapes of the shadows:

It's a doodler's life. That's what I think when I see this. It's the living room of my current place, rented furnished for a great deal (other than the gas station below, there are awesome views when you look up)... this is my little morning nest, the spot where I sit and doodle, and the sun sparkling on the glass with my pens made me want to capture it. To me, taking pictures isn't just about the truly beautiful, it's also about capturing the ordinary moments. I'll remember doodling in this spot even more now.

My view facing down Burrard Street.

My view looking towards English Bay, love being able to see the mountains, makes me appreciate being home and how lovely Vancouver is.

And, being St. Patrick's Day, there were a few interesting things to see. These guys were decking out their monster truck with shamrock stickers at the gas station below. This was the Timbits break.

Good samaritan leprechauns lend a hand....

Smile!

OK, this wasn't from today, it was yesterday... the rain brought rainbows, and everyone was snapping pics.

It was actually a double-rainbow, which you can see in this pic, and was what motivated me to snap the pics.

I actually took some other cool rainbow pics a week or two ago, will have to dig them up.

So.... I started this blog update because I figured it had been awhile since I did an update.... but got distracted with pics and now I'm over my inclination to write right now, so will save that for another day. All's well, just busier than I really anticipated... More soon....

My Olympics - Random pics & more doodles

Here are some random pics from my Olympics... This is Batman taking time out from his street art performance to interact with some kids on the public art. It made their day:
Emailing friends from the big screen down at Robson Square:

Musicians and ordinary folk dancing down at Robson Square....

Dudes dancing alone, you just don't see that every day...

Proud Canadians showing their love for our country at the ice skating rink down at Robson Square:

These guys weren't really street performers, I think they were marketing a play or something, but were fun to see nonetheless.... and I love what that one guy has done with his tail! ha!

On Robson at Seymour there is a big board where people can write messages to the athletes, it's fun to get up close to:

American cheeseheads at women's hockey at UBC. I don't mean to be mean, they were Americans and they were wearing cheese on their heads. Quite happily, I might say ;-)

I've been doodling all along, and finally got some more posted - enjoy!:

Olympic Doodle - Day 9

Olympic Doodle - Day 10

Olympic Doodle - Day 11

Olympic Doodle - Day 12

Olympic Doodle - Day 13

Olympic Doodle - Day 14

Olympic Doodle - Day 15

My Olympics - Victory Ceremony: Stereophonics

Last night my friend Kelly and I went to one of the Victory Ceremonies at BC Place, where we saw the Stereophonics. Neither of us knew them (we saw them because it was the only date with tickets still available) but totally enjoyed the music and the show:
This was also Yukon night at the venue, so we got half an hour of video and performances from the Yukon - with lots of cheers from the Yukon-heavy crowd next to us. We were surprised that - during a First Nations performance - to see a dog sled come out. It was beautiful and very special. Part of me was busy hoping that the dogs were happy (and not terrified), but they were wagging their tails;-)

Some hip hop dancers from the Yukon. They were shown first flipping off mountain ledges in the outdoors up in the Yukon, then they exploded onto the stage. Pretty darn good!

Was a bit disappointed that the night we attended the Victory Ceremony the were no local medals being given out, but we got to see the Whistler awards - incluing Jon Montgomery's gold medal. It was a proud moment, and I got to sing Oh Canada (and was suitably drowned out by the crowd, much to Kelly's relief... I gather my singing isn't so hot.... lol). Regardless, it was good to see the inside of BC Place all decked out for the Olympics - and it was cool to get a good event for only $22 in the nosebleed section.

I have been doodling, here's the next batch:

Olympic Doodle - Day 6

Olympic Doodle - Day 7

Olympic Doodle - Day 8

My Olympics - City Scenes: Zipline

OK, I've officially abandoned my idea of a day-by-day post of my Olympic experience. Instead, I'm just going to post interesting stuff, from time to time, when I'm inspired. I got some good pics the other day at the Zipline down at Robson Square. This is me sitting below the tower that the very brave souls pitch themselves off of:
Here's a guy who just let go....

A couple people caught right overhead....

This gives you a sense of just how far up these folks are! Actually, I've heard they are 6 stories up for their 15 seconds of fame - or fear - or fun....

Looking up from atop Robson Square...

Looking up from the big screen area where I was watching the pairs figure skating short program. Below the screen is the line up of people waiting (the line is 2-8 hours long!)

Yeah!!!!! Cheering on a friend, I imagine....

If you've stood below the folks whizzing by in the sky, you may have wondered how all the equipment gets back up to the launching pad. The answer: muscle power. This is the easy part, so to speak, as it gets them up a floor or two. Still to go: stairs up to the platform...

Not a chance that you'd get me up there, but I am an enthusiastic supporter of this type of fun activity downtown in our city. This is the kind of fun activity this city needs, as it's as fun for both the observers and the participants. It's free for the Olympics, but I can imagine that with the right permits, that this could be a money maker anytime. Vancouver not a fun city? Well, maybe not anymore, if the energy that is happening downtown now is embraced and facilitated as just part of living here. Let's hope....

My Olympics - keeping up!?!?!?

My view from the "cheap seats" at a women's hockey game last night at Thunderbird Stadium at UBC. I was cheering for Finland, who won 2-1 over China.
It was quite a cool experience which I'll repeat again tonight (Slovakia vs. Switzerland) and tomorrow afternoon (USA vs. Finland). I managed to get "obstructed view" tickets for $41 each, which is defined as 10%-50% obstructed... I saw just fine!

I am amused at my vision of blogging daily about the Olympics, as it's time consuming and I've been out most nights doing something. Here it is Day 6 and my last post was Day 2. Heh. At this point, I am still planning to fill in the gaps, though at some point I might just admit defeat and do a catch up summary. LOL. Regardless, I've got some great pics I want to share... but, for now, it's time for me to get to my event! ;-)

In the meantime, I have posted my daily doodles:
Olympic Doodle - Day 3
Olympic Doodle - Day 4
Olympic Doodle - Day 5