Yes, my token one word with an Aussie accent... in tribute to the Aussie team's boxing Kangaroo mascot flag! LOL! Oh, it's all too funny that the games haven't even started yet and already we have an International incident!!
As you can see from the picture, some of Team Aussie have arrived in Vancouver and they have hung their team mascot flag (a 2 storey flag) from the balconies of the condos they are staying in at the Athletes Village. But, some beaurocrat at the IOC has no sense of ha ha and has told them it must come down. Little did the IOC realize that the whole city, including the Mayor is on the side of the Aussies and their mascot flag ... to the point where, if the IOC officially orders them to take it down, then the Mayor of Vancouver and the Mayor of Surrey have both said they would be proud to fly the flag at their City Halls :) The IOC would be nuts to order the flag removed... their reason is, since it is a trademark flag, then it is too commercial. But the flag is not selling anything other than promoting team spirit ... which is what the Olympics are all about, no?? :)
For more on this -- http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/1008941/aussie-olympic-mascot-may-not-fly and I'm sure if you were to Google it, you'd find News articles about it in papers from all over the world since the Aussies have the world on their side. Hehehe... I want to get one to add to my Team Canada flag on my car
And now... can we talk about winter in Vancouver?? Yikes!! Here is a picture with some of the pilons(sp?) along the side of the road which will be one of the roads that are closed down during an event:
Yes, people... those are daffodils in full bloom!! At the beginning of Feb (picture was taken today). I was hoping to be able to put up a picture of the cherry blossoms that have started coming out this week... they normally aren't in full bloom until April! Now, we all know Vancouver is known for it's mild winters... but spring does not usually arrive in February! And wouldn't you know it, last year at this time we were the ones that were buried under more snow than we had seen in years. I remember being apartment-bound for over a week... and when I did finally get to go out, I was limited as to where I could go because of the snow. This year, not a problem... but the problem is definitely up on the local mountains!
Our local Cypress Mountain is where the freestyle skiing and snowboarding events are going to be held and they are having serious problems with a lack of snow! It is just too warm up there with temps hovering around the 11C (approx 52F) so they can't even "make snow". Instead, they have had to put together a fleet of helicopters and a fleet of trucks who are transporting snow from mountains further away and building up the courses. Every three minutes, 24/7, helicopters are coming in with tons of snow. The trucks are stockpiling it at the top of the mountain so it can be brought down as needed over the 18 days. Of course, they are really hoping the temps drop up on the mountain so they can start "making snow" with the snow making machines.
Oh, and I think I mentioned the other night about the Vectorial Elevation light show that is just down the street from me. I am so thrilled with it... I can watch the dancing lights for hours! Here is a picture that I captured off the web cam (www.katkam.ca), the same web cam on the bridge that I have mentioned to out of town friends that they can see the summer fireworks competition on:
I'm pretty sure I put up the link for this lightshow in a previous entry but what the heck, it's got to be one of my favourite things about the Olympics so far, so I'll put it again -- http://www.vectorialvancouver.net/concept.html If you go to that link, whether you live in Canada or not, you can participate in this light show artwork by designing a pattern for the lights... it's an interactive work of art that everyone can participate in!
So, today I was busy, busy, busy here at home, trying to get caught up in all the Suzy Domestic chores. I have a funny feeling that during the Olympics, even when I am at home, life is going to revolve around the games and what's going on in Vancouver. I do know I want to get down to some of the Venues close by... but we'll have to see if I can physically handle it. Walking for any length of time is not one of my strong points and with that many people roaming around, getting transportation out of the venues might be a problem. But, even if I am at home, like previous Olympics in other cities, I found myself glued to the television. Something tells me, this year's Winter Olympics will be that much more personal being that they are right here... with or without snow. So the last thing I want hanging over my head are all the household chores... laundry being a biggie! Yikes... I had 5 loads of laundry this week! I kept putting it off and putting it off and before you knew it, I had 5 loads. Well, I finally got them all finished today... so I am now laundry free... for a few days :D
Now, on Monday, it should be a real adventure! I am going to be taking a cab and hopefully get as close to BC Place (that's the stadium with the air-dome roof that you all have probably seen when you see a picture of downtown Vancouver). That is one of the venues so of course, it is in a security zone where the roads all around it are shut down. So I'm not sure how close a cab can get me to it... but that's where I'm going on Monday to watch one of the dress rehearsals for the Opening Ceremonies (which will actually take place for real on Fri, Feb 12). It should be interesting because all of us in the audience (around 50,000 invited audience) are asked to wear white... and that we will know why once we get there. Of course, one of the rules is "No Cameras", which is totally understandable. They don't want pictures of any of the acts in the Opening Ceremonies to be put on the internet before the actual official show on Feb 12th. So, even though this is a dress rehearsal and not the official opening... I think it should still be very exciting.
Hahaha... then it should be really interesting once the show is over! EVERYONE will be leaving at the same time... and there is no vehicle traffic in the area. So everyone will be leaving the area on the skytrain, public transit or by cab. Just how long will it take to get everyone out of the area?? We have never had an event with that many people at the stadium and no cars. When there are events, people come down in their cars... park... and then leave by car. Soooo, I have no idea when/how I will be getting home :) Wish me luck!
I'm sure there were some other things I was going to mention, but alas, my brain has turned to mush. So I think I'll call it a night and crawl into bed, with a certain little diva schnauzer who went to bed about an hour ago after we came in from her trip out to the back lane :)
Ta ta for now!
Go TEAM CANADA Go!!
Cheryl
1 comment:
Woohooooo! I took a chance to see if you might have written again, what a surprise to see five post from you.
Enjoy all the olympic excitement, but don't over do it.
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