So what about them games, eh?

People don't understand what Canada looks like or is about in the same way they understand the widely publicized and presented nations of England, Germany, USA etc. It is a comment that was made by numerous people and foreign press during and after the games, I am simply repeating the sentiments of others, who aren't all just ijits.

by seanferd Mar 2, 2010

I was meaning to exclude the sort of ijitness one hears about Canada in the States from being under the rubric of "misunderstanding" in regards to my question. Had not meant to imply that those who do have this widely held misunderstanding of Canada were ijits. Better?

So, you were mentioning the sentiments of others - I'm just wondering what sort of revelations they had regarding the misunderstandings they held. I seriously pay little attention to press commentary. So I was curious. (For example: Did they expect that Vancouver should be bitter cold and 3 meters deep in snow year 'round? Did they think the mayor was Dominic DaVinci?)

Was just looking for some type of example or definition of the misunderstanding.

edit:
giant mounties, inflatable beavers and moose, but then that's what people THINK Canada is like

Is that something of what you meant? Yeah, I can mesh with that.

by nicknielsen Mar 1, 2010

Kept the TV on ESPN. Excellent curling coverage. Even had a strategy brawl in the bar in Myrtle Beach! :0

"What was he thinking, putting that stone there?"
"What do you mean, what was he thinking? "You effin' idjit!"
"You m-effing' moron!"
Biff! Pow! Bop!
:^0

Felt like I was back home growing up in New York. B-)

Congratulations, Canada. Job well done!

by santeewelding Mar 1, 2010

Arms across chest.

If anybody asks.

Which, they didn't.

by jamesrl Mar 1, 2010

There are always going to be glitches in an event that size.

I was disspointed in Alpine Canada, given that Whistler is where they train the most and many of the skiers call it home. Many of them just took too many risks.

The hockey was great, I like it exciting and it was a nailbiter. Given how many Europeans are in the NHL now, all the teams have excellent players. Slovakia was a surprise.

The inflatable beavers didnt thrill me, I got that it was humor, it just wasn't my taste. Bill Shatner was kinda funny. Catherine O'hara was not.

Nickelback was fine, not my fave but seemed to perform well. I'm not one of the haters, my son tells me they aren't cool for some reason. I dreaded Celine, or Justin Bieber, so I was happy they weren't there.

Furlong could have used an editor and a language coach. That speech almost put Rogge to sleep.

But Vancouver can have a rest now, job well done.

James

I think of how a simple set change will create havoc for days or how the PNE/CNE makes a minor change in format or operations and it takes almost the entire fair to get it runnign smoothly again, and these are events that have run for decades on end. the sheer complexity of such an operation is unfathomable to me.

I agree that Catherine was a bit 'scrawly' or something, she had a sort of edge that just was hard to determine as being funny or being bitchy.

Picklesack, well whatever, they lost my support a full year before they released their first CD to the mainstream, not that I liked them much when they more, punk/hillbilly (yeah, an odd one that was).

Bill was alright, I groaned when he started and thought "oh, not THIS again", his overplayed commentary was cute at first but got tiring soon after due to continued radio play. For people outside of Canada it might have been new and humorous though. People were begging for Celine, thank God she was busy stateside trying to get artificially knocked up.

I am surprised Bruce Allen hasn't been all over the radio slamming it yet, he's far more critical and bristling than I am and he's the first to be on the radio after Buble plays a show. He's not one to shy away when contracts try to restrict his saying anything either.

Furlong was painful, but that's the 'cermonial part' so I write is off as expectedly droning on.

Whistler was tough for everyone. They recarved a run and it was not open to tyhem until just before the games, just as other athletes were complaining about, however they were insisting Canadians had more time there. If that's the case, so have US athletes. Vonn, for example, trains in Whistler a lot too. Many other Americans who are within a short flight for a week of training go to Whistler for training and recreation regularly too.

If there's too much snow, they whine about teh surfacing, if there's not enough snow they complain, if it's icy they complain, people just complain, that's what people do by nature when under such pressure to perform. I did expect to see better in Alpine from Canada though, however this isn't the old days of training at Red Mountain, when Steve Podborski and Ken Read owned the slopes. Whistler is a real challenge. the snowboard teams had a horrible season leading into the Olympics. Training was constantly cancelled due to problems at both Cypress and Whistler, I followed their reality show/training doco, Over The Bolts this year, plus they have next to no funding at all, and I'm not talking only a few million for the team but merely several thousand here and there.

I also initially groaned at the giant mounties, inflatable beavers and moose, but then that's what people THINK Canada is like. I do often camp at a small lake where a colony of three have been for years, that's kind cool, but I think downtown Alaska sees more Moose than BC does below the very northern tip or the province. I doubt many people in BC place have ever seen a moose or a beaver, besides the beavers at Vancouver Aquarium. But it was all in fun and I thought the giant table top hockey was great.

We have a bit of a rest, Paralympics begin in 10 days. They are not as sprawled out as these games were though, except for a couple of in town events, they are mainly in Whistler so the traffic will improve and there won't be street closures.

After that, I am in Whistler for a while too, kicking back with friends and working on some serious partying, it'll be nice to see it so quiet. I go up in August for Kokanee Crankworx too, which is more chaos and crowds but it's a scream, especially with all the hotties in the summer. I also stay lakeside then, just outside of the main village so you can escape and relax.

No that I think of it, IT'S CAMPING TIME AGAIN!!!! WOOOHOO! Time to get out of town and enjoy our backyard playhround for a while.:D

They let Biden out of the nest for some fun, now in quiet openness, he could be amazed at what paralympians can do when they say "yes we can"
(it would smooth-out some of his character flaws too..)

by .martin. Mar 1, 2010

in Australia, channel 7 go an exclusive deal to air it, but guess what? they showed about two hours a day of 'highlights'.

I (and many other Australians) found this really stupid

And it's too bad, you really had some good showings. Even when not in the medals, there were some great competitors! Interviews with Aussie spectators in local pubs were hilarious too, they always are, really put the CRTC editors and lawyers to work, trying to decide what they can and can't air.

I was suprised to hear of the lack of coverage there, as Aussies have a very big presence here, probably our second most popular tourist to Americans.

In Whistler especially, not just for the games, there are a lot of Aussie college students (on an extended walk about?) working everywhere you go, especially bartenders, there's an Aussie bartender in every pub it seems.

I wonder how tight the media will be restricted for the 2014 games though, they'll probably just send out a morese code signal, RUSSIA WINS AGAIN, for every event, whether there are other competitors or not.

See how Putin had a meeting today, condemning his althetes and saying what a disappointment to the country they were?

No wonder Plushenko was such a poor sportsman when he didn't win gold.
Sure he did a quad, but one jump doesn't make for an Olmypic performance.

They are apprently thinking of cutting funding for Russian althetes now due to what he claims was their poor performance.

What I'd love to see now is Canada and US dominate the games in Russia, in front of their own judges and leaders. "What was that you were complaining about in Salt Lake City and Vancouver?" I think China and Korea will exceed in figure skating there too, as the entrants will be even more experienced.

Virtually every lift attendent (liftee) was Australian, and they were friendly - G'day, was heard a lot. I'm used to quiet liftees in the east. But apparently not all of them had work permits, and one day we showed to the hill and none of the Aussies were there. The word had gotten out and they had stayed home, they were back later in the week.

As to the downhill courses, yes the course changes every time it is set, but as someone who worked on the same ski hill running races for 8 years, I realize there are also only so many variations you can set.

I was in Whistler during a world cup week, and because I had friends there, I was introduced to the race crew, and I got to take a run down the world cup downhill course. It was pretty amazing.

James

no worries, just misunderstood.

I think the only thing missing from the tongue in cheek ceremony was a giant bottle of maple syrup or inflatable strips of back bacon. :D

Stereotypes is what I meant. Many people just don't see much of or hear much about Canada, besides eastern winter storms that hit global news.

That whole Bob & Doug MacKenzie or igloo living stuff is just too old these days.

We've actually had some really nice sunny weather, not so welcome for winter games I suppose but still it is nice for those experiencing Vancouver for the first time, it is a damn beautiful place, especially on a sunny day.

Even Steven Colbert was surprised when he got here and quickly renegged his previous scathing commentary. Just look at his show to see what downtown Vancouver really looks like on a sunny day.

Sure we get constantly listed as one of the most livable cities on Earth, but those are just words and reviews.

I think it was a change for people to be recognized as free standing Canadians and not just that partner of big brother England or that other, cold country, in America. (note not North America, in many of the world's eyes, North America IS America.)

So it was a way for the world to actually experience what Vancouver and Canadians were really like, and I think Canadians looked pretty damn good, for the most part.

Our Burnaby office would disagree

Today it's a bit overcast and spitting off an on, but that's fine. I was just out for a walk, picking up breakfast getting cigars etc. No jacket, no problem.

About 9 degrees downtown, 10 in Burnaby (I'm 5 mins from Burnaby right now, teh truck says it;s 11 degree but it is usually reads 2 degrees warm)Celcius of course :)

Howeverm our weather can be pouring in the morning and bright and sunny in the afternoon. Then pouring overnight and warm in teh afternoon again. It's teh patterns in a rain forest with mountains, patterns move in fast overnight due to the atmospheric tem amd air pressure changes, then clear up through the day. Welcome to spring, it's pretty predicatable.

Morning weather pics.
http://vancouver.weatherpage.ca/cameras/

by jck Mar 2, 2010

Now that the flurry of activity that was the 2010 Olympic Winter Games is gone, Vancouver is looking like a decent place to live.

As for London making comments on the games, let's see how they do with reclaiming that 110 or so hectares of "brown area", providing no-car transit, and providing security to 1000s of athletes in a city of over 7 million.

I think most in England can appreciate the effort, and will do their best as well to put on a safe, successful event.

Now...when can I move to Canada? :^0

The same ones who published all the crap about the Vancouver Olympics have also published stories about the Diana murder conspiracy etc. The National Enquirer learned from them.

Pravda got in the act as well, if you want to see sour grapes check out this link: http://english.pravda.ru/sports/games/19-02-2010/112308-vancouver_mutton-0
So now Canada controls doping control (no its an independant agency) and fixs skating contests (boy thats rich, doesn't anyone remember who bribed figure skating judges in the last scandal).

There is always some criticism at the games.

James

by jck Mar 2, 2010

Sad really.

It's hard enough to organizing and bringing things together for them, let alone having to dedicate a PR machine just to deal with the crap in the press.

by gsg Mar 2, 2010

I was chatting online with a friend and watching the closing ceremonies, when I saw the Mime. I told him to put the TV on NBC. His comment was, "See, I told you Canadians had a sense of humor!"

I thought the opening ceremonies were great. The only thing is that the Torch thingy with the glitch looked like a bunch of lit doobies. I imagined the artists sitting around and one saying, after he took a good puff, "Duuuude. I know. Let's have 4 giant doobies come out of the floor, then when they are lit, they can light a giant bong. That would be cool."

I was kinda hoping Katrina LeMay Doan (who was the one left without a cauldron to light in the opening) would accidentally set fire to the mime - now that would be entertaining....

The torch thing really captured Canadians. In 1988 you had to run the Torch one kilometre, which not everyone could handle, and the route was much shorter. This time it was much shorter for each participant, and the route was much longer, many more people participated, and big parties were organized in many communities. I have a pin for singing at the celebration in my city. It was a big deal, thousands came out to see it.

James

He wasn't really the typical mime though. HE was more of a clown from Cirque Du Soliel, Cirque also provided many of teh acrobats and even a few of the people in the Russian Zorbs (those bouncy balls full of lights that people ran around in like mouse wheels.

I don't normally care for mimes either, but as most Cirque clowns don't speak strong English, they are a muted group. Plus, what good is some guy making noise in a Stadium that seats 66,000, not including the floor space. That's why the shows are lip sync too, the sound there is simply abysmal.

As for the torch relay, that REALLY got things going, one small community at a time. After seeing it come through towns of a few thousand, if not a few hundred, those people had to tune in to see it arrive in BCPLace and then were glued to the games. I think it was a brilliantly thought out and almost immaculately organized production throughout The many thousands of volounteers (the blue jacket people) have been priased globally for helping to execute a perfect games, and well they should be. It's hard to smile and be helpful all day when people are nice one minute and in your face the next, and the thousands of people they dealt with while out in the weather. My hats off to them all.

I've written on here before about being "stuck" in Vancouver when the 9-11 attacks occurred. The people couldn't have been more accommodating and caring. With that in mind, I was quite pleased to see that the games went off very well; and the hockey played was phenomenal (not just the gold medal game, but high-level throughout...BIG BOOS to NBC for relegating games to MSNBC).

On the other hand, the only negative about the Olympics overall is that there isn't a strong anti-rooting interest anymore for me (sometimes, it is just as much fun to root against someone as it is to root for someone...ask any Cubs or White Sox, Mets or Yankees fan about that). Back when I was a kid, you had the USSR and East Germans (nothing says 'sexy' like women who look like cavemen with bad back acne...woo hoo). The political tension seems to have been removed from the games. Maybe that is a good thing.

NOTE: Yes, I am perfectly aware that for many, the US is now the Big Bad Olympic guy. Still, if someone defeats the US in an event, like Argentina's basketball team in 2004 or Canada in this past Hockey tournament, I'm more inclined to say 'good for them' than I am to harbor any ill will.

There are no booos in Vancouver, we LOOOOOOOOOU. :D

Seriously though, there was almost more excitement over teh CAN vs Russia game, simply due to the long rivalry in world hockey games from teh cold war. That game meant more to Canadians at the time.

However, when many records were on the line and it's teh final Olympic game, all heads turned to defeating the US.

In an INternational games, it i ssimply poor sportsmannship to boo anyone competing at that level, and people were more inclined to priase the USA hockey team than trash talk them.

Now make it a regular season NHL game, and things change very quickly. Believe me, nobody will be supporting you then and trash talk runs wild.

I think people just have more respect when so many visitors are in town, it's pretty classless to downplay a team at that calibre in an international games.

Face it, NOBODY in the entire Olympics games can actually be said to have sucked at what they do...well, there was Nickleback but even that I'll take with a grain of salt. ;)

I made sure I pointed out some things during the Olympics to my oldest girl )about to turn 7). The handshakes at the end of the hockey game were a great opportunity to talk about sportsmanship; especially since the Blackhawks were well represented (see, honey, they just played against each other, but will play with each other in the next game).

Still glad Chicago didn't get the games, though. Daley (our mayor) would have #$%^ed it all up somehow!

I thought he looked less gay than usual. Still has almost no vocal range however.

Burn it to the ground was probably not an appropriate Olympic song...

In 1972, before many of you were born I know, Canada reached out to the Soviet Union to hold a "friendly" 8 game tournament - 4 games in Canada, 4 in Russia, between NHL all Stars and Russian All Stars.

The Olympics at that time were not open to professionals, and even the NHL farm teams were considered professional, so Canada sent very junior teams to the Olympics, and they had little chance of winning. The Russians on the other hand had full time teams, but since they were salaried in other jobs (Red Army team were members of the Army but trained full time) they were considered amateurs.

So the NHL players thought that being professionals, would walk all over the Russians. The first game was a shock and they lost 7-3. They won one, tied one, and lost one before heading to Moscow. It came right down to the wire and the NHLers won it in the last few minutes of the last game.

Thats why for many of us, the rivallry between Canada and Russia is more important than Canada/US, it was a big thing, like the moon landing, we all remember where we were when the winning goal was scored. We all watched it on TV in school as it happened.

Canada on the other hand, had to be seen as a favorite in these Olympics, though they went down early 4 years earlier. The US team was world ranked number 6th, so honestly did very well to make the final game, and almost won.

James
James

Still crappin my pants in Southern England, but born all the same.

by nicknielsen Mar 2, 2010

Caught a little of the backsplash from that series in upstate NY, mostly because of Phil Esposito's involvement. Everybody there followed the Bruins and Bruins' players, even in the off-season.

If you watched any of the newer snow sports, like moguls or aerials, they had three seats at the bottom. The top three would sit in those seats waiting for the others to come down.

Most of the time, when someone posted a fast time, everyone stood up, and the new fast person hugged everyone, including the person who got bumped. This was men and women from different countries, congratulating each other even before the race was over. Mostly because in these type of events, you are really competing against yourself.

When Canada mens hockey team defeated Russia, they were not so gracious. The handshake thing is tradition, but the words between them vary. If its quiet, its not a good sign. The Russians didn't say a word, even though some of the people they were shaking hands with were NHL teammates.

To me the Olympic are supposed to be about excellence and performance not just national pride. One of the Canaidan speed skaters missed at a distance which isn't her best, but she was very happy, because she improved her personal best time. Thats the right attitude.

When Canadian Jenn Heil got silver in moguls, she had a great run, best run so far, and worthy of a gold. Then an American skier, who had challenges in previous Olympics and never medalled, had a truly amazing run. My kids were moaning, but I corrected them, there is no shame in coming silver after someone does an incredible job and takes gold.

James

And by the reaction of Jenn Heil, you'd have thought she actually DID win gold.

I think the best examples of just how closely matched they all are, were set with bobsleigh and cross country 50KM.

Bobsleighs coming in and splitting times by HUNDREDTHS of a second, now THAT'S competition of the world's finest. What gripping runs they all had.

Then there's the mens 50K nordic, MAN what a marathon. It is actually said to be the most physically demanding sport of all Winter Olympic sports.
Canada came in with an AMAZING 5th place finsh, but after over 2 hours of skiing a 50km course, the differnce between Gold and 5th place was a mere 1.5 SECONDS! That's truly remarkable.

Man, those are athletes!

Unfortunately Brian McKeever was told he wouldn't be racing in the event at the last minute. The only man to compete in both Winter Olympics and Paralympic games (due to blindness), I will be looking for him over the next few weeks when the Paralympics are on and rooting for him to win this one.
See now, THAT is one of those great 'stories'I was referring to earlier, one blind man competes in TWO world games for Canada.

For those that live in other provinces:
We in Ontario seemed to be over-run with BC, Ont and QC province promo's. It would have been nice to see Atlantic and Prairie promos too. Oz, did you see Ontario commercials where you are?

I spent so many hours watching - even now, I can still see Michael J. Fox standing at the base of that huge tree... I kind of feel sorry for him and his state of health, but even he has an Olympic spirit to conquer his limits. A good example.

I'd nominate 2 commercials as best at reflecting Canada:
1) The Rona "extra long Canadian tape measure"
2) The Molson Canadian "more square (miles?) of awesomeness, than anywhere.."

But the networks don't care who advertises on them, as long as they pay. If Atlantic tourism or a prarie province wanted air time, they would have to do what Quebec, Ontario and BC did - pay.

Don't you think Michael closing ceremony bit ended in mid....

James

..I'll go and rescue it from the PVR (before my kids record cartoons over it..)
Drat! Culture-less creatures they be.

You could watch the direct feed without commercials right on the ctvolympics website.

PEI included, but I didn't pay attention to se eif any were missed, it was like "oh another one of these"

I really liked the BC one though (now there's some bias for ya), very descriptive of the province. People must think that it represented really remote places though, and not just the backyard you see in every direction here.

I vote tops for the two commercials you mentioned though, VERY clever indeed.

"When you think about Canadians, you may ask yourself, why are we the way we are? Well teh answer;s right under your feet...literally.

Fact is, it's this land that shapes us. There's a reason why we run off that dock instead of tippy-toe in, it's because that water is frozen, six months of the year.

And that frozen water brough on a sport that we can call our own.

This land is unlike any other, we have more square feet of awesomeness per person than any other nation on Earth!

It's why we flock towards lakes, nountains forests, rivers and streams.

We know we have the best backyard in tha world and we get out there every chance we get.

Because it's not just the great outdoors we're chasing it's freedom, and this place gives it to us at every turn. Here we're free to chill-out, free to unwind and free to wind up.

There's a beer that comes from the same land we let loose on and it's proved to be as clean, clear and fresh as the country it comes from.

So here's to everything this land gives us, Molson Canadian, made from Canada. "

Classic representation and I don't even like Molson Canadian.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf-FitszGmc

As for michael, I think after his delayed speech (it seemed that it took a while for him to gain composure in parts, due to his Parkinsons). The slot machine/toilet bowl graphics didn't seem to work when he pulled the lever, again probably comnputer timed to his speech's click track (he did wear an in-ear). SO I think he was listening to their comments in his ear, "pick it up, 10 seconds to go" etc. and then was battling to keep himself composed, make a speech and deal with 66 thousand people on their feet for him. I absolutely LOVED it, Fox is a true Canadian hero in my eyes.

We met YEARS ago, when I was still right into Family Ties, he was in Burnaby visiting his parents and my girlfriend knew his family very well(we were just kids so 'my girlfriend' was a relative term, though serious enough that we "kissed and stuff").

All I really remember is how cool it was to meet a real TV star and how normal and cool he seemed. then I met Tom Bosley (Mr.Cunningham from Happy Days) in Farmer's Market in LA and figured I was 'in touch with the scene' then. Boy, I had met everyone, was I ever in the know! LOL.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=olympic2010ads

Even the commercials had a Canadian heart-beat.. I really don't think it would have been as close if CBC had run the show - honestly.

I was heading southbound down Burrard, with a steady stream of quickly moving traffic. Biden's cavalcade came cruising through the intersection without police escort ahead of him and several cars, including myself, stopped just short of broadsiding his SUV.

By sheer fluke, I happened to be listening to a Roger Waters album at the exact same moment, as they sang The Powers that Be.

[i]"They like a tough game
No rules
Some you win
Some you lose
Competition's good for you
They're dying to be free
They're the powers that be
They like a bomb proof Cadillac
Air conditioned
Gold taps
Back seat gun rack
Platinum hub caps
They pick horses for courses
They're the market forces
(background : Nice car Jack)"

"They like fear and loathing
They like sheep's clothing
And blacked-out vans
Blacked-out vans
Contingency plans
They like death or glory"[/i]

Oh the irony! :D

A for Barrack, they can make all the noise they want, it isn't going to attract much attention besides the normal handful of US protests. Politicians don't garner much attention here, Canada, everyone thinks they are just idiots with jobs.
Wayne Gretzky gains more attention at a ceremony or event that our own PM does, did you even notice Stephen Harper at the Olympic closing ceremonies? Our provincial premier got noticed but only for his two handed "maniacal" red mitten waving and for stuffing the flag in Harper's wife's face.

Obama could have a quiet holiday in Whistler, sure there would be a handful asking for autographs and the pictures, but a paraplegic playing hockey would still take precedence, and well he/she should. :)

We heard about some nutcase getting close to Biden, didn't realise it was you they were talking about. Maybe he should hire Chretien to be his local bodyguard. He handles protesters very well.

James

'E would take dat guy by da kneck and choke im!

The guy slipped by volounteers for his ticket check, RCMP checked him for guns etc. and he snuck behind security and made it 4' before they grabbed him.

He may have slipped in without a ticket, but not with a weapon. US secret service priased the RCMP too and then they changed the entrance system a bit.

But seriously, some nutter trying to have a few stern words while wagging a red mitten at with him was all you are going to see from Canadia.

Nothing orchestrated from a grassy knoll. :)

"Now der! You listen 'ere and take dat finger wagging in your face, Mr.Big shot, American president type guy! You are blocking my view!"

I can picture that - I used to live on 14th (below False Creek).
Like I said, I hope Obama makes a quiet-showing to balance things out.. (unlike the other bag-of-wind).
Hope I don't offend anyone here by saying that :-(

I am on Burrard heading south, crossing the Georgia Street intersection by Hotel Vancouver. He's heading west along Gerorgia, toward Stanley Park (to Whistler I assume).

Any politician? Bag of wind?
Won my respect.

When SOME UK press trounced all over Vancouver for a terrible Olympic ceremony, merely due to the arm failure at the ceremony, David Atkins (the main designer) said he wanted to throw it in their face by having local laugh at our own expense. So the mime raising the last arm was a way of just spitting inthe face of (some of) the UK media, which was done very well and with style. It's hard for someone to pass blame for an error when you admit the error yourself and do it with a laugh.

Unfortunately, the guy who oversaw designing of the medals, chose the mascots, and took care of all the promotional work, passed away just before the games, at age 39. (Les Ostabaum - October 26, 1969 ? August 21, 2009). To do all that work and not see it come to fruition, now that's a hard pill to swallow.

by jck Mar 2, 2010

Sorry. Frustrated. I think I need to live somewhere that I can be alone in the woods.

Grow my beard out and let people call me Grizzly JCK. :^0

I've seen where I COULD live, and its a lot cheaper than living here too, except you'd have to grow weed or something to pay the bills because there's no work and no businsses within an hours drive.

There are all kinds of these little 'spots' where you realize you could own lakefront property for $150K right in the middle of nowhere.

I am always looking though and have been tempted. I saw a place on one of the Gulf Islands (a chain that runs between the mainland and Vancouver Island) a while back, 4 bedroom, with 4 car two storey garage, on 4 acres, waterfront with boat launch, guest house etc.
$235K !

To compare, 3 'apartments' in Coals Harbour (downtown Vancouver) just sold for $12 million each, the average is around 4-6 million pre Olympics.
http://www.coalharbourvancouver.ca/CoalHarbourCondos.php

A decent (but not too high end)NEW home in West Van now averages 3 - 8 million with an old home, with no acreage sitting around $700,00+. (and that's a fixer upper).

Yup, you gotta have money to own land here, unless you head North. Then you can get a simple trailer on a massive plot of land in the middle of nowhere (not a trailer park or something)for next to nothing. Build your own log cabin!

Such as: Ootsa lake (Northern BC)Mountain views, 28.9 treed acres-clean, comfortable, renovated modular home with decks, new wood stove, [b]shop[/b], 2nd completely serviced building site, fishing, wildlife, waterfowl, private setting, year-round or recreational.

Ever heard of Richard (Dick) Proenekke? He's the guy who went to Alaska, by the twin lakes when he was in his early 50's and, in complete and absolute solitude, he lived for 30 years. His cabin and the films he made up there are historical masterpieces of making it on your own.His family finally convinced him to move hom ein his 80's and he died shortly after. I often wonder if he would have lived longer if he stayed or even if it would have been better to pass away right there in his little spot in paradise.

there are a few short clips on YouTube, but his videos are worth buying, renting or downloading. In fact I am going to down one to watch tonight again, fascinating! I don't know if I could do it, unless I had to in order to survive. Maybe that's why he made it, survival and a heart felt desire to do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss

"I thought he looked less gay than usual"

I'm sure that will go on the adverts for their next release!!!

HA!

;)

Someone says they suck, Chad Kroeger (lead whatever you want to call him) says "No, Nickleback DOESN'T suck and teh millions of fans who buy our albums prove that."

To which I obviously call BS. A record label can sell amillion albums of ANY band, with rotation and merketing. Look at William Hung that utter failure from the American Idol auditions, with She-Bang.

He debuted on the Billboard Top 200 charts at #34, selling 37,676 units during its first week.
Hung's album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Independent Album chart.

Get this, [b]he has since released 10, that's TEN CD's[/b]. Though losing the popularity of his first, he actually sells them.

Marketing can make anyone a star, even Nickleback.

They kind of sit in a similar play list location as Slayer. one or 2 songs in a row, and your sick of em, but every song is fairly good.

For Example, Every song on Christ Illusion is a great song, but, trying to listen to em all in one sitting is painful.

...McDonald's sells quality hamburgers; based on all the people that buy them.

Um, no.

I agree with you on this 100%...marketing and that voice-over software could turn anyone into a star.

Oh well, no sweat off my brow...they're not getting any of my $$$, nor will they ever. More power to them!

Wait, do they have more than one???

They all kinda sound the same.

James

Metal is where the unique music is!

Never has a more honest word been spoken.

Up the Irons! [b]\m/ \m/[/b]

by nicknielsen Mar 2, 2010

I hear it the other way 'round! :D

With very few exceptions (Black Sabbath and Metallica prime among them), most metal bands sound the same to me. Each rock band, though, has its own unique sound.

Now, if you want unique music, go to the blues. It's amazing how much variation you can get from a 16-bar, three-chord progression.

etu

You have a MASSIVE, drunk and rowdy hockey crowd completely filling the downtown core, it was packed like front row at a concert for as far as the eye could see. Then a band that nobody actually likes comes on and plays Burn it to the Ground? Talk about a close call! :D

They are flakes, but their management dominates radio rotation in North America, what can you do but just shrug and move on?

Someone said all their songs sound teh same, which I agree, his over harmonized tone just gets tiring.

There's only ONE band in the world that can write songs that all sound the same...and they do it well, without apology and with the total respect of their fans, AC/DC!

And a few beers, of course.

They were in for the Megadeth/Slayer tour. Which rocked, though I am more into Megadeth than Slayer. Have to admit though, Slayer kept metal alive in North America, whilst the scene continued worldwide but was all but dropped in US and Canada.

by theprofessordan Mar 2, 2010

With the next 2 Summer Olympics in London and Brazil and the next Winter Olympics in Sochi Russia, it was nice to have the Olympics in Vancouver. Have they announced the 2018 Winter Olympic location yet?

If you look at Winter Olympics, there are a limited number of places to have them. Europe has had a huge number of them, North America a few less. Sochi is actually listed as sub tropic so they might have similar issues to Cypress.

In North America, they've already done Lake Placid twice. Quebec City could host, maybe Montreal(farther from the ski hills). They've already hit the western Canadian cities.

So its a smaller pool to chose from.

James

by theprofessordan Mar 2, 2010

The bids for the 2018 Winter Olympics are in and they are in Munich Germany, Annecy France and PyeongChang South Korea. So the earliest we could see the Olympics in North America would be the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Because BC is so sprawling, they decided to sprawl the games too. ALL events could have been held at Whistler, except Hockey without building a new arena.

But they thought it wold be cool to share the wealth, and costs/benefits to cities. Richmond, where the money is and oLympic Oval, was a no brainer.

I know I've always said that the Asian population in Richmond is huge (Chinese, Japanese, Korean Thai etc.) Did you notice as many Asian fans cheering on Korea as Canadians? Most had two flags, depending on who was racing and who to root on.

The Asian population in Richmond is at 60% now!!! Local caucasians, have always laughed about being a minority there, well now they are a visible moniroty by statistics.

Long story short, LOTSA MONEY!!

Of course they wanted ot boost things in the Vancouver core too, thus renaming GM Place to Canada Hockey PLace and having MASSIVE street parties, zip lines across the street etc.

Then there was Cypress, oen of Vancouver's old skiing hotspots, and only 20 minutes away.

The rest was in Whistler, nearly 2 hrs away.

So 'sprawled' is the word. Then there were "zones" all over the various suburbs with huge stages, national showcase buildings/tents etc. Richmond has the O-Zone, Vancouver had several "zones" etc. right through to Whistler Village.

It was a good idea overall but unfortunately, due entirely to global warming (now THAT'S trolling! :D), Cypress is melting into the Georgia straight, along with the glaciers behind it. So they had a few issues.

If it was condensed into indoor activity in Vancouver and ALL outdoor at Whistler it would work fine.

I am sure Vancouverites would welcome it annually. It would eventually mellow out and be more workable as far as getting around in town too. But I think we did a pretty good job at representing Canada on a global stage and made it something to remember for everyone that was here from all over the world. So far the reviews have been rave, despite the initial press rants.

I heard lots of grumbling pre Olympics, and yes I added to it too. But that happens with every Olympics, summer and winter worldwide.

But after it was off and going, I had never experienced anything like it, even from my living room, it was purely incredible.

While I really can't speak for yourself, I must admit that I am pretty freakin' proud to be Canadian right now (even if only by residence).

The VANOC site lists summer and winter games. They have Summer games listed for a while but nothing beyond Sochi for Winter. I supposed they are wondering if it will start WWIII, or is it IV now?

by purpleskys Mar 2, 2010

did i happen to say lately the Sidney Crosby ROCKS!!!! (and no, bashing Sid at this point would not be acceptable) ;) and yes, the rest of the games rocked as well, regardless of whether or not our athletes brought home a medal or not, they ROCK none the less :D

One thing they had to fix was Brodeur. Sure he's a great goalie, he has a great history,but after screwing up twice in Louongo's own house, there was no looking back. I think if they hadn't swapped him out, Vancouver WOULD have been a riot zone.

You just don't overlook the hometown hero in tah situation. 4 games in a row, LOOOOOOOOOOO! He almost fell apart in the last game, but quickly gained his momentum again and proved that it was HIS yard they were playing in.

I see Crosby's game jersey was at $5100 on e-Bay this morning, with 2 days to go! One of the three 3rd period pucks is over $2K...unsigned!

There's a HUGE 2010 Games e-Bay auction of everything you can imagine, including start gate flags, a gazillion pucks etc. They will be recovering some of the funding that way.

http://stores.shop.ebay.ca/Official-Vancouver-2010-Auction__W0QQ_armrsZ1

by purpleskys Mar 2, 2010

to sign my jersey...Darryl bought me one for valentine's...now if i could just run into Sid sometime over the summer ....

by notsochiguy Mar 3, 2010

...his standing on Jonathan Toews' coattails slowed down the Blackhawks offense last night.

by purpleskys Mar 3, 2010

oh ok...sure...i don't necessarily agree with the anology, but i will admit, Jonathon put on a fabulous show...another young star that absolutely rocks!

I watched religiously and the only one I saw here was the tourism spot.

Royal Bank ads were common, the Checy talking cars were on every couple of minutes it seemed, I possted those links in a different thread just for the Chevy ads, here they are again though. I like the "outtakes", but you have to see the full commercials first.
There were some 400 vehicles badged with the Olympic rings and 2010 badge etc. They are to be sol dshortly, with game volunteers getting a $1000.00 discount.

GM bid HUUUUUGE for the sponsirship gig, with government bail out money, of course.

I wonder if their ROI will prove it ws worth it, certainly those 4000 Olympic badged vehicles will sell, but what about the other countless millions it cost them? but again, that was another thread I started a week ago while pondering how they justified spending that much of the tax payers money. At least it wasn't on a C-level staff spa vacation like AIG did though.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ChevroletCanada#p/c/C77B72C58AD89789

In parts of Northern and Eastern Europe, there are very strong Detah metal influences, or Satanic Metal. IN Japan Glam Metal is sill strong, as is the bands that brought the New wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) to American shores, starting the metal masses here.

In Brazil they are into almost anything, Iraqi's LOVE Slayer and Ozzy where they secretly play and headbang the hours they can. They dream of being allowed to express their musical tastes publicly.

There are literally dozens of different Heavy Metal sub sultures an dgenres out there and each has it's unique undertones. but they ALL, trace back and respect the originals such as Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden (Progressive metal), Judas Priest (the first to bring leather and studs into the picture, then there is Alice Cooper (not technically heavy metal now, but in the 70's when he took the stage it was dubbed a satanic ritual and not respected rock artistry (vaudeville shock rock) as it is today.

Metal has MANY MANY flavours and they have all been developed rigionally, not simply by a recording engineer seeking something new (which sad enough is where Metallica ended up). Even Canada and eth US have VERY different metal sounds, bands like Anvil and Snake Eyes (whom I used to manage and where the OzMedia nickname was given to me), sound very similar, havign grown up with teh same mentors but developing a rather unique 'Canadian' sound.

It's as diverse as genre as any, if nto moreso, the thing that really separates them form others such as Rock, country etc. Is not soem underground satanic overtone, but teh simple fact they they aren;t radio fodder. They make it own their own, they play hard for decades for next to nothing (and often nothing at all), just for the sake of expression. They don't get huge record deals, unless they sell themselves down the river, their privately engineered CD's sell at small record stores or in teh undominated indie sections of popular stores, where labels own the marketing real estate.

It's that fight for the right that makes it stand out. Some of the worlds best guitarists, vocalists, drummers, bass players are found in heavy metal, as they have real creative abilities and personal talents taht are shared amongst themselves, developed in basements and sleezy bar stages etc over years of a hard grind. Many get offered mainstream gigs with HUGE bands and turn them down, because they are true to themselves.

As you can see, I have nothing but respect for their trade and choice to stand on their own.

I just finished posting about heavy metal genres and read your title, "I just need Sid."

I paused and thought 'cid? Maybe it's an Eastern spelling.

Then I realized you were talking about Sidney Crosby and nothing hallucionogenic.

Seems like several lifetime's ago but it still catches me off guard sometimes. :D

by purpleskys Mar 3, 2010

now that's funny :D !

You're just lucky it didn't prompt a flashback, or maybe I'm just UNlucky it didn't (FREEBEE!). Who knows, I never will now. :(

by slayer_ Mar 3, 2010

For the price of bandwidth, new bands can distribute their songs to the world. Many metal bands support downloading, many even support free downloading and make their money from concerts rather than record sales.

by jck Mar 3, 2010

it would have to come with people to wipe for me. :^0

Just to give you an idea:

I got a 2 bedroom, 2 bath house on 1/3 acre with everything (doctors, banks, stores, food places, etc) within a 5 minute walk in 2003.

total cost: $84,500

You can get in some places here even cheaper, less than 1 hour outside of most metros cause the housing is so slumped.

I have an offer to get help working for the Canadian government from my friend, if I want to move to Ottawa. But, I don't think it'd agree with me. -25C in the winter just isn't my kind of climate.

Maybe I'll just stick with going to either NC/SC area, TX, or CA.

I can always come visit Vancouver :)

by jamesrl Mar 3, 2010

Lots of agents from Floriday advertising here, for potential snow birds, vacationers etc who want to buy a cheap condo, 5 minutes from the beach.

I lived in Ottawa for 5 years, visit almost every Christmas. It is colder than Toronto. More snow. Less freezing rain. But I don't mind it, -25 C isn't something that happens often. Average January high temp in Ottawa is 23 F/-5C, Low(nighttime) is 5F/-15C.

But its reasonably cool in the summer, gorgeous fall weather.

Ottawa has some other attractions. The M/F ratio is definately in men's favour. Housing is more affordable that Toronto or Vancouver. Lots of restaurants, outdoor activities. Driving distance to Montreal (2 hours) or Toronto (4.5 hours).

And if you are so inclined you can be in the wilderness in an hour or so.

Plus the fed government takes good care of the place, parks, greenbelts, festivals etc.

I came to Toronto for the jobs, stayed because of the MIL in Ottawa. I think I enjoyed Ottawa more for sure.

James

by jck Mar 3, 2010

If you have money, right now buying property on the outskirts of Tampa, Orlando, or Jacksonville is a smart thing for a long-term investment. You can get 3 bed homes on .25-.50 acre for sometimes as low as $75k.

And yes, the beach properties that aren't "exclusive" places are about 60-75% down in price from their peak. You can get in a nice beachside condo that you own for less than $150k some places.

Of course, I am looking to go someplace that I know I can get 10 acres for $35k, and build a 3000 sq ft cabin for less than $175k because the craftsmen and businesses there don't rip people off or charge an arm and a leg for their products to get rich quick.

I'll be less than 2 hours from an international airport too, so going to see family or friends around the world isn't out of the question.

Saving up for retirement. Hopefully, that's only another 15 years. :)

by jamesrl Mar 3, 2010

If you cross the river to Quebec and go north for an hour or so, there are some inexpensive plots of land, many on nice lakes. Some of the people I used to work with did this, they even bought cottages and winterized them, for a small fraction of what they would have spent in Ottawa. Taxes are higher in Quebec though....

This plan wouldn't work in Toronto, you have to go three hours out to get to wilderness, and the class a farmland close to Toronto is very expensive.

James

by notsochiguy Mar 3, 2010

I was only having fun with it, after all. :)

I read a rumor that the Blackhawks may do something pre-game tonight to honor the players that took part in the Olympics. I hope that's the case.

Like a rain dance on centre ice to duplicate Cypress Mountain's 'winter' conditions?

by notsochiguy Mar 4, 2010

...the media would eviscerate the team (Blackhawks + rain dance = PR nightmare)!! ;)

They did actually acknowledge the players that took part in the Olympics pre-game. I'll look on You Tube during lunch to see if I can find it, and post the link here.

I know that US housing is somewhat cheaper stateside. Then again, a mansion in Iraq would be a pretty good price too, I would assume.

I guess you get what you pay for, except teh silly pricing I offered for Vancouver homes and condos, that's insanity. But between moving to the BC interior and moving to NewJersey, or Detriot, or (insert US state here) is not exactly comparable. Our CITY population is a mere fraction of yours, our suburban population density is barely measurable in comparisson, but the BC interior would be like being completely stranded in comparisson to living within 50 miles of a US city.

And even Metallica joined that boat, after going after Napster for 4 years.

I have released tracks on purpose to P2P accounts or several bands now, it sells CD's.

They pay for radio rotation, Even though payola is TECHNICALLY illegal now it is still done. PLUS the radio stations, which teh labels also own, get a percentage of funding that is drawn from the artists CD sales.

So why PAY to get music out and then have it leaked online for free, when you can simply offer a few tracks for free an dencourage people to go and find your disk either ono your online store or at an indie record store, or HMV, they'll carry anything in the back corner.

As for blues, that's where metal is derived from the old 12-bar and MOST metal artists, especially the original, older ones, will say how Howlin Wolf and the likes are their key influences. Blues plugged in too, Elvis made the blues 'rock'n roll' in the US.

by slayer_ Mar 3, 2010

Can you site any sources for this, I want to read about it.
I only see a slight mention about it in a wiki, saying it came from Blues-Rock.

How did it go from crying on a microphone to screaming into a microphone?