Thanks for a great 21st winter Olympiad Canada. You cats pulled it off nicely and with great aplomb. But to those countrymen and women of yours who were disparaged the games coming to your fine country, I say, "Up yours, eh." Congratulations on a fine set of games, all those gold medals you finally won on your home soil, and for being such gracious hosts. You folks did it up right. Sochi, Russia will be hard pressed to top your games.
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and a big thank you to the U.S. Men's Hockey team for the talent & drive they brought to this event.
Of course I'm glad Canada won, but it could have gone either way.
I haven't seen such an exciting hockey game for many many years...think I wore a path in my living room!!!
OK, this is very nice to hear but didn't you find the, um, omnipresent mishaps disconcerting? Didn't you think the closing ceremonies were awful? Not trying to diss the games (I'm a proud Canadian - if not a lover of the Olympics), but it seemed a bit flat to me.
Life goes on, even during the Olympics...and we are nowadays even more disposed to hearing & seeing more & more of what happens, be that good or bad.
As for the closing ceremonies...I did indeed find them a 'tad' lacking. I loved the 'poking fun at ourselves & our world-wide image', but the rest of it was a bit of a yawn.
An aside...would have loved to see The Hip instead of Avril Lavigne & whoever else some of those bands were. ;)
Hi Dr. Monkey.
I'm a fan who's been lurking up until now. Normally I like your posts, but your filp, glib dismissal of those of us who were against this stupid waste of public resources from the beginning really pissed me off. My friend wrote this on her blog, & she summed up our feelings about this fiasco quite well.
Many of you are absolutely baffled as to how anyone could possibly feel pissy about the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. It's a fun sporting event, it brings revenue to the city, and puts us on the proverbial map, right? So what if it's inconvenient for a little while. "Suck it up and just have a good time!!" On this note, I read an analogy today comparing the Olympics in Vancouver to living with a roommate who wants to throw a house party. "You can either leave town, sulk in your room, or join in the fun." I thought this was a brilliant analogy, albeit with a few (personal) extrapolations:
You live in a huge old house which you love, with 6 roommates. Rent is pricey but the house is more than worth it (1).
You find out that some sports legend named Oly is coming over to throw a 24-hour long party, invited by one of your roommates. Only 2 other members of your household were consulted, one was all for it and one was against (2). In thanks for your hospitality however, Oly is bringing a brand new designer hide-a-bed sofa with him and he's going to leave it behind for you all to keep(3). So you think, "hey, maybe that ain't so bad - we could take on a new roommate in the spare room afterwards, offering a cheap bed..."
The day before the party comes. You are warned that in order to enter or leave the house, use the bathroom, or enter or leave the kitchen, you may have to wait in line up to as much as 1/2 an hour. The hallway between the stairs and the front door will be blocked off at certain times during the day because Oly is a minor celebrity and needs a clear path (4). Your options are to wait with the crowd, or leave the house and go around the back by way of climbing through exterior windows to get where you need to go. You are also told that there must be security cameras placed in all common areas of the house, save for the bathroom, which your household must pay for. You also discover that the only security firm in town charges 5 times the rates charged elsewhere (5).
Then only hours before the party, you get wind of a rumour that the promised hide-a-bed may not be in any condition for use afterwards, because everyone is going to be using it during the party. Your household may have no choice but to pay to fix it up so you can sell it, or leave it as-is and pay someone to remove it for you to be junked (6). *But*, with over 200 people expected to show up over the course of 24 hours, your artist roommate might sell a few paintings, so there's a good chance it's going to benefit the household in the end anyway (7).
The party happens, about 200 jocks show up, stay the whole 24 hours, and then leave. The artist roommate doesn't end up selling much because everybody was busy buying party themed t-shirts, which Oly's buddies brought with them (8).
The day after, you find out that the 2 roommates who were all for this guy's mega-bash can't pay their share of the rent next month because they blew all their dough on the party (9).
I realize how horribly, horribly negative all that sounds. But as a downtown resident and self-employed business owner who LOVES living here, knows very well what kind of downturn our economy is in, has lived through the epic economic fallout of Expo '86, and has never had an interest in competitive sports anyway, I can't help but see it this way. I'm sorry folks - all of this is, to me, like an unwanted house guest I was powerless to discourage. I'm not so much sitting in my room sulking, as sitting in my room dreading how much the cleanup is going to cost us, and how on earth we're going to pay for it.
1.) Vancouver has the 2nd highest living cost in Canada and the highest housing prices. My 6 roommates represent 3 for the City of Vancouver and 1 each for North Vancouver, Richmond and Burnaby which border it.
2.) A plebiscite was held back in 2003 (note that this was City of Vancouver only, despite the fact that the entire province is legally obligated to cover the costs should it go into the red).
3.) The Athlete's Village was scheduled to become low-cost and subsidized housing when the event is over.
4.) Road closures on major routes, security checkpoints, and transit nightmares during the event.
5.) Security costs have gone far over budget.
6.) Since the building costs went so grossly over budget, it is now uncertain as to what the fate of the Athlete's Village will be. Its future will not be announced until the games are over, but theories are leaning towards it being sold off as not-so-low-cost condos.
7.) Not specifically artists, but any local individual, merchant or organziation who hopes to increase revenue during the event.
8.) A good portion of sponsors and official suppliers (including The Hudson's Bay Co.) are not Canadian owned, or are merely franchised to Canadian owners. Thus, a good portion of revenue generated will not stay in this city, never mind this country.
9.) What was supposed to cost $1.4 billion in 2003 has been projected to now cost at LEAST $6 billion.
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