2010 Vancouver Olympic & Paralympic Super-Thread

[crazyjoeda]

On Monday I was able to get inside at the Main Media Centre (Canada Place). The renovations to Canada Place look great and the centre is impressive. They built in everything from office space for foreign newspapers to a full sized McDonalds and there are 3 press conference rooms the smallest seats 100 people and the largest over 500. There is a media only transportation hub beneath the Media Centre that connects the media to all venues in the city and to Whistler.

Unfortunately I was not able to see the International Broadcast Centre but I was told official broadcasters are already setting up their studio space.

[ckkelley]

So here it is: the south wrap.



I'm so disappointed that this wrap doesn't feature an Olympic athlete. I remember the luger wrap on 200 Granville during the bid procedure. That was cool!

Photo by me.

[ckkelley]

A wider shot.



Photo by me.

[NetMapel]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

You should have gotten a silver colored one with the Olympic and Paralympic logos on them after your first interview. If I could find mine, I'd take a picture for you.

I don't recall getting a pin at all, hahaha. Please do take a picture if you can to juggle my memory

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by crazyjoeda

On Monday I was able to get inside at the Main Media Centre (Canada Place). The renovations to Canada Place look great and the centre is impressive. They built in everything from office space for foreign newspapers to a full sized McDonalds and there are 3 press conference rooms the smallest seats 100 people and the largest over 500. There is a media only transportation hub beneath the Media Centre that connects the media to all venues in the city and to Whistler.

Unfortunately I was not able to see the International Broadcast Centre but I was told official broadcasters are already setting up their studio space.

i saw a whack of chinese media down there yesterday - probably setting up
if you walk down that area already lots of olympic people here

[officedweller]

BTW - the McDonalds at Library Square was being wrapped - as much as it could be.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by Waders

By tractors and helicopters according to news. Helicopter? This seems to be a desperate measure.

The medias like CBC seems to keep reporting on the weather issue. Who can really blame them when spring flower start to appear. The Winter Games is now being referred to as the "Spring" Games.

CBC BC has been a real party pooper with regards to 2010 coverage...of course, it has everything to do with the local station not being able to broadcast the Games.

[red-paladin]

Sears shut put up a wrap of a clean picture of the building at least

[Yume-sama]

I can not find an English article about it, however, there is a French article. The official theme song of the Olympics has been announced, "J’imagine/I Believe" by Quebec singer Annie Villeneuve. Not "One Dream" by Sarah McLachlan. I couldn't find the song anywhere on the internet... either. And I can't say I've ever heard of her before now. However, she has a good voice and could make it in mainstream music if she sang in English.

http://7jours.canoe.ca/musique/nouve...538676-7j.html

[shosholoza]

I think that CBC is simply reporting facts like the lack of snow in Cypress Mt.
I have to say that the situation up there doesn't look very good. The green slopes are sooo ugly to see...

I've seen so many negative opinions about these Olympics from the popolation of B.C. that I wonder how will the Games really be.

[Delirium]

check out Australia's 2010 promo commercial. very well done!
• Video Link

and here's CCTV's promo. clearly not the same budget
• Video Link

and another from Germany. The HD is great in this one but man, no wonder why people think
Canada is nothing more than ice and rock.
• Video Link

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by shosholoza

I think that CBC is simply reporting facts like the lack of snow in Cypress Mt.
I have to say that the situation up there doesn't look very good. The green slopes are sooo ugly to see...

I've seen so many negative opinions about these Olympics from the popolation of B.C. that I wonder how will the Games really be.

It appears your eyes are shut to any other kind.

[shosholoza]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

It seems your eyes are shut to any other kind.

That's not true.
It's enough to read Canadian newspapers/newschannels websites to realize how negative the people's comments about the Olympics really are.
Especially those from B.C.

Maybe I'm wrong but this is the impression that I have.

[nobase2010]

You can listen to the songs follow the link. It has three version. English,French and instrumental. I believe this is the Olympic theme song for CTV. It's a better song compare to Sarah's "One dream."

https://backup.filesanywhere.com/fs/...875b62b77a706a

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

I can not find an English article about it, however, there is a French article. The official theme song of the Olympics has been announced, "J’imagine/I Believe" by Quebec singer Annie Villeneuve. Not "One Dream" by Sarah McLachlan. I couldn't find the song anywhere on the internet... either. And I can't say I've ever heard of her before now. However, she has a good voice and could make it in mainstream music if she sang in English.

http://7jours.canoe.ca/musique/nouve...538676-7j.html

[raggedy13]

Originally Posted by shosholoza

That's not true.
It's enough to read Canadian newspapers/newschannels websites to realize how negative the people's comments about the Olympics really are.
Especially those from B.C.

Canadian news website comments are always negative, especially in BC, and that goes for any topic, not just the Olympics.

[GeeCee]

That's pretty much true for news in Canada as well as the USA, in my experience. They only write about the negative.. in the same fashion, people tend to not get excited enough about good news stories to want to about them, and will only do so if they are angered by the news unless it is a subject the reader is quite enthused about.

It's the same way in which a customer may fill out a comment card if they have a complaint, but are much less likely to do so if they received exceptional service..

[Pinion]

36% of Vancouver proper voted against the olympics, and that's where it would have its highest support. If they would've let surrounding suburbs vote it would've failed. Support the olympics all you want, fine, but this isn't China. We don't try to pretend everyone has the same opinion.

[Stingray2004]

Some of the same negative sentiments were around leading up to Expo '86. Even worse as a matter of fact.

The Expo '86 opening day ceremonies changed all that. That day had a certain je ne sais quois 'magic' about it in a tsunami-like way, which caught everyone off guard. After the first day of Expo, nobody ever looked back. One of the best times of my life.

Same thing will happen after the Olympic opening ceremonies. You can bank on it.

[Yume-sama]

There was a rant on one Calgary radio station about how Calgary (who lost the Canada bid to Vancouver, for 2010) is more deserving than Vancouver to host the games, because from Vancouver all you hear is whining and moaning about one thing or another. The torch relay was a SMASHING success in Calgary, with 20 - 30,000 people out at Olympic Plaza, and tens of thousands more lining the relay route, with absolutely no protests or problems, nobody tackling the young girls running with the flame, like we've seen in Ontario, and someone attempted to do in Victoria earlier. The rest of the Country, probably rightfully so, views Vancouver as a bunch of leftist whiners, and if they keep it up the whole WORLD will see Vancouver as that. There will be problems in the Vancouver torch relay, and there will be many disruptions throughout the Olympics. In the end, the people of Vancouver could end up giving the Olympics a blackeye, that the whole World will see.

I would say the rest of Canada seems to want the games more than a lot of Vancouver residents

Thank goodness the NDP government knows what's good for everyone else and pressed ahead with the Olympic bid. That damn Gordo.

Wait, what?

[Stingray2004]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

There will be problems in the Vancouver torch relay, and there will be many disruptions throughout the Olympics. In the end, the people of Vancouver could end up giving the Olympics a blackeye, that the whole World will see.

I'm not so sure about that and again I will take Expo '86 as an example.

Numerous groups were also promising protests during Expo '86 for, among other things, displacing the poor in the DTES with SRO's evicting tenants and remodelling to cash in during Expo. The so-called "Bread not Circuses" crowd.

Unions were also promising disruptions due to the non-union construction work at Expo '86 and BC was just at the tail end of its deepest recession ever. Other social activists were also promising demonstrations over cutbacks in social services due to the poor economy while money was spent on Expo.

What actually happened was a small protest by the east Expo entrance gate by the "golfball" and it fizzled out after an hour on opening day. And that was the end of those promised massive protests for the duration of the 6-month world's fair.

Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people were enjoying Expo '86 while the rent-a-crowd crawled back under their proverbial rocks after day 1.