Vancouverites.com

Granville Street during the Olympics

Vancouverites, I think we can be proud of ourselves for successfully throwing a pretty seriously good party. There were a few hiccups early, such as the morons who broke the windows of The Bay during their protest, but thankfully there was no hooliganism let alone a riot like in 1994 the last time there was a hockey game of such importance in this city. Normally there is a pretty big yahoo quotient in this city during big events. Maybe the yahoos were still all downtown but they weren’t as concentrated, they were diluted because of all the tourists who were respectful of the city and made for a good vibe rather than a shit-show like Granville Street often is on any weekend evening.

From fire and ice to parkas to Bermuda shorts, opening ceremonies light the night

There was worry, a niggling doubt, that it would be a little too Canadian, which is to say not nearly sophisticated or worldly enough to be as memorable and critically acclaimed as its Olympic predecessor in Beijing in 2008.

But it became clear, from the first few seconds of Friday’s 2010 Olympic Winter Games opening ceremony in Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium, that we needn’t have worried.

Turns out, Canada knows how to strut its stuff, from the glass, fire and ice and rain and thunder to a magnificent flaming cauldron, a stunning thematic spectacle that transformed BC Place Stadium into a winter wonderland to the superstar performers, like Bryan Adams and Sarah McLachlan and k.d. lang, to the ballet and tap dancers, to the aerialists to the brash young snowboarders who kicked off the event to the icebergs and fantastic fiddlers, to the moving aboriginal dancers in their glorious traditional costumes and falling snow.

Source ↑ www.vancouversun.com/…

V.c » The 2010 Olympic opening ceremony may have been a half hour too long, but it was pretty darn good. Many a great moment filled with lots of Canadians to be proud of. I would have to say that k.d. Lang singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah was the highlight of the night. My seven year old daughter sings that song so it has a special place in the family. Also, today we were driving down Davie Street and she was wondering why the garbage cans were painted pink so I tried to explain to her that sometimes boys like boys instead of girls and sometimes that colour represents … Then along came k.d. in her white suit and  having to explain that sometimes girls wear suits like boys and then again the questions and explanations about who likes who. I should have just said that fairies (no pun intended, she still believes in the fairy world) came along and magically turned the garbage cans pink just for the Olympics.

Anyway, the opening ceremony production crew must have been shitting their pants when the hydraulics on the cauldron apparatus started malfunctioning with Rick, Nancy, Catriona, Steve and Wayne all standing there with their torches ready to make a fire. Who wants perfection, from our flaws comes character.

Just like there was no stopping the torch relay there is no stopping the Olympics. Opening Ceremony goes tonight. Might as well enjoy the party, the bitching can commence when it’s time to clean up and pay the bill.

This was the scene at Broadway and MacDonald. I am guessing the bearer of the torch was Tracy Wilson, a former figure skater. It would have been fun to carry the torch, but I am glad wasn’t one of the people in the entourage who had to dance like a fool on a Coke truck trying to stoke the crowd.

This house is bringing beer, rock stars and ‘wow’ to its gigantic tent

Torontonians would argue that the Cathedral of Hockey was Maple Leaf Gardens. Montrealers would counter it was the old Montreal Forum.

For the next couple of weeks, Jordan Bitove wants the masses to consider it a big tent just east of GM Place.

Bitove is the brains behind Molson Canadian Hockey House, a mind-boggling bar that is being set up for the Olympics between Carrall and Columbia streets near False Creek.

Everything about Molson Canadian Hockey House is big, beginning with the cost: $15 million. That’s almost $5 million more than the Canadian government tent set up beside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on the old Greyhound bus depot site.

Because it will only be open 17 days, Molson Canadian Hockey House will have to average almost $900,000 profit a day to break even. But it might turn the trick: $99 tickets to the “Fan Zone” part of the bar have already sold out for 14 of the 17 days. However, there are still plenty of “VIP” passes left — at $450 to $725.

Source ↑ www.vancouversun.com/…

V.c » Is this behemoth bar in a tent cool or does this grandiose mutha-**** idea reek of the corporate lameness that rules the day? It is funny that they had to reduce the plebian ‘cover charge’ from $500 to $99. I guess I’d like to go check it out at some point, but the real question is are they going to have other beers available then just Molson Canadian and, shh, Rickards Red.

One week until the start of the Winter Olympics (although it should be the summer games given how balmy it was here today). Apparently the global attendance expectations are down so we are summoning the aliens. We need people, aliens included, to come here and spend their pesos, it’s expensive to host an event like this (especially given the amount of snow we have had to truck in) and we don’t want our grandchildren to have to pay for our party.

Definitely very cool to look at. Beautiful even. But all that cloud and fog might give people the wrong impression of Vancouver. The sun does shine here too. Okay, who am I kidding. You can cut down all the trees but it is still a rain forest.

Burrows gives Auger a WTF?

In a reasoned and impassioned speech that lasted precisely two minutes on HNIC’s After Hours, Vigneault knocked the CBC’s Ron MacLean for an incredibly one-sided segment he hosted which vilified Alex Burrows and exonerated Stephane Auger.

…

Then, Vigneault got at one of the real issues ignored by HNIC – the actual calls.

“There’s one penalty – the diving – which might be questionable but the second penalty is a phantom call,” Vigneault said. “The league talked about no reaction. Well, how about his reaction after the game. The emotion that was in his voice.

“You don’t make things like this up.”

Source ↑ www.theprovince.com/…

V.c »Ron MacLean and the whole tv-based media in the east have been a total joke when it comes to this issue. For some reason Burrows has a reputation of being a diver and a trouble maker, but two diving calls in almost 350 NHL games and 0 suspensions doesn’t exactly justify that reputation. Ron and his buds took that reputation and then also assumed the referee, Stephane Auger, could not bear any responsible because he is a professional and would never allow his ego, let alone his finances, to effect his impartiality. A ref would NEVER tell a player that he is going to get him. Power and ego would never go to a refs head. Yeah right. It is surprising however, that a ref would be stupid enough to tell a player they were going to get them when they could just do it and not put themselves at risk. Not that Auger really put himself at risk, knowing that the NHL would do nothing about it if Burrows spoke up about what he said because then the league would have to admit there might be integrity and impartiality issues with their officials and they would never, ever want to admit that.

The diving call in the game in question against the Predators is one thing as suspect as it is, but the interference call is total and complete BS, a phantom call if there ever was one. In the first period to the set the tone, okay. Lame, but okay. With four minutes left in the third period in a tie game. BS. Put Burrows in your teams jersey and then see what you think of it.

Auger better not be officiating another Canucks game any time soon. This story is not supposed to be about Burrows, it is about Auger and it seems that everyone who is not a Canucks fan has forgotten that.

Roberto Luongo in goal, four B.C. blueliners picked for Team Canada at Vancouver Olympics

Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo will play for Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics, it was announced this morning.

And Cranbrook native Scott Niedermayer of the Anaheim Ducks is the team’s captain. He is one of four B.C.-based blueliners on Team Canada, the others being Shea Weber (Sicamous), Brent Seabrook (Tsawwassen) and Duncan Keith (Penticton).

New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur and Pttsburgh Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury are the other two goalies selected by executive director Steve Yzerman and his staff.

“We feel we have a team that will make Canadians proud,” Yzerman said at a news conference for the team’s unveiling.

Source ↑ www.vancouversun.com/…

V.c » Oh yeah, bring on the Olympic Ice Hockey. As Luongo is our local representative on the Canadian team they better play him in more than one token game against some lesser opponent or worse make him the third stringer as some of our eastern media have suggested. Guess they don’t ever stay up late enough to watch the western games. Sure he isn’t always perfect, but when he is on, he is seriously on. And need we remind  you of Luongo beating Brodeur 5-2 in New Jersey at the beginning of December.

Of course we will be cheering for the Canadian team the loudest, but it will also be great to see some of the other Canuck representatives; the Sedins who should have a prominent role with the Swedes, the pesky Kesler with the Americans, Salo and Erhoff with the Finns and Germans and of course Demitra, remember him, with the Slovaks. I wonder if Hansen will play for the Danes, do they even have a team at the Olympics?

The Official Theme song of the Vancouver Whistler 2010 Olympic Games

Geoff Berner sings a swan song for the under-represented at the future site of the 2010 olympic village in Vancouver, British-Columbia. A small featurette excerpted from a film I’m working on that will boast a cameo from our favourite Klezmer revivalist.

Watch ↑ www.youtube.com/…

V.c » Okay, I don’t think this is the real official theme song of the Vancouver Whistler 2010 Olympic Games, but I’m sure some of you will appreciate it if you have a wry sense of humour and don’t work for Vanoc.

To those who have listened to TALK 1410 through the many ups and downs of the talk format and changes in styles and personalities…we sincerely thank you and we also sincerely thank the advertisers who have supported the radio station as well over the past years.  I truly hope you will give our new station a try, but I also will understand if you decide that it is not for you.

We will be the new home for world class sports personalities including Jim Rome, Dan Patrick, Bob McCown and the best of the best ESPN sports insiders.  We will broadcast every BC Lions game, from pre-season to playoffs, and hopefully, all the way to the Grey Cup.  Along with that, you’ll be able to listen and join in the conversation with extensive pre and post game shows for all of the Lions games.  1410 is now the new and permanent full time home for BC lions football in Vancouver, and that starts tomorrow night with the crucial, must win game against the Eskimo’s at BC Place.  If you’re going to the game, take your radio and you can follow all the action as only Rick Ball & Giulio Caravatta can describe it, right here on TEAM 1410.

Source ↑ www.talk1410.ca/…

V.c » Is it just me or did TALK 1410 pull a fast one and change their format over night? I often listen to TEAM 1040 and rarely listened to TALK 1410 but my wife is the opposite. I think it is great that we have another sports radio station in town with a less of a homer focus than TEAM 1040 (although I love the Canuck talk when they are winning) and which syndicates American shows (except for mister pause and repeat, Jim Rome) and broadcasts some of the major sporting events that have nothing to do with Vancouver. But so much for talk radio in Vancouver that is focused on issues that are generally more of interest to women. (Is there another one that I am just not aware of?) The way women talk and talk (at least my wife and my mother ;) I’m surprised the airwaves aren’t filled with talk radio stations that cater to women.

For 14 years or so now the Georgia Straight have had an issue dedicated to the things considered the best in Vancouver in categories such as Food & Drink, Recreation, Culture and etc. You probably disagree with most things on the list or just don’t care because most of us are too busy dealing with our own little niches in this life, but it does occasionally make for interesting reading to see if your favs stack up with the masses and the pundits.

→ www.straight.com/bov

This is good tax policy for consumers, say two UBC economists, and I agree.

Don’t shoot me. I’ve come to believe that the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) introduced by British Columbia’s Liberal government was the right thing to do.

It’s hard not to think so, if you take the time to speak with tax policy experts, look at the results of HST in other jurisdictions (most notably Atlantic Canada), and consider that most other provinces are following Ontario’s example by moving to HST.

The opposition can muddy the waters, and consumers can complain that they are getting the short end of the stick, but the truth of the matter is very simple — HST was a good policy move by the B.C. government.

Source ↑ www.thetyee.ca/…

V.c » I guess we will have to crunch the numbers to really know, but this seems like a whopping pile of BS to me. Maybe it will eliminate the paying of tax upon tax that we often pay unbeknownst thanks to the production chain, but this sure reeks of a tax grab to me. A huge list of products and services that have been exempt from PST, but not GST, will now be taxed with the combined tax of 12% known as the HST. Ummm, can you say tax grab. Oh, but because of the savings businesses will get from not having to pay the tax upon tax in the production chain, they will reduce their prices to consumers which will offset the extra 7% tax we will pay at the checkout. Yeah right, nice theory, but what are the chances of that actually happening. Hmmm, anyone interested in bartering?

Protest rally September 19

That’s why I strongly urge you to attend a major rally against the HST featuring former B.C. Premier Bill Vander Zalm, NDP leader Carole James, B.C. Conservative Party deputy leader Chris Delaney, independent MLA Vicki Huntington, B.C. Refederation Party deputy leader Jordan Braun and others on Saturday September 19 at 12 noon outside Canada Place in downtown Vancouver.

Source ↑ www.thetyee.ca/…

Targeted for project: Homathko River entering Bute Inlet. Photo Damien Gillis, Save Our Rivers Society.

Memo to media: time to expose Campbell’s fallacy.

Last week I spoke of the appalling mainstream media in B.C. and how it let Premier Gordon Campbell get away with th murder of our rivers and the ecologies they support. The exception, and a major one, is Mark Hume of the Globe and Mail whose B.C. section, combined with the national edition, gives better coverage by far of B.C. affairs than does The Vancouver (Seriously West Coast) Sun, The Province and Global combined.) I need hardly add that The Tyee encourages full debate on all issues.

I want to make it clear that I’m not asking that the media agree with any or all of the positions I’ve taken. I only ask that they examine the facts plus the motives and actions of the Campbell government with the same thoroughness as, in Vaughn Palmer’s case especially, they brought to the “Fast Ferry” debacle of the last NDP government.

There are three main ways the media can deceive us: By not telling the truth or using half truths at best. By not talking about the issue at all. Or by cherry picking issues and avoiding the dodgy ones. The mainstream media in B.C. does all three.

Source ↑ www.thetyee.ca/…

V.c » If you follow Rafe Mair’s columns at The Tyee you will know that he has been going on and on about the Campbell government selling our rivers to private power and the disastrous effects this will have on our society and environment. I have read many of the articles but I haven’t crossed referenced any of them to check up on the facts but even if Mair is half-right then the media and citizens of British “The Best Place on Earth” Columbia need to get off our apolitical asses and do something about this forthcoming travesty.

No Fun City, a documentary by Melissa James: click to view website and watch trailer

No Fun City, a documentary by Melissa James and Kate Kroll, will focus on the musicians, artists, club owners, and promoters who continue to preserve and pioneer the arts despite all odds, and try to keep Vancouver’s subculture alive.

As the story unfolds we will watch as Malice Liveit, a local promoter and club owner, tries to open a new club despite his uphill legal battles; as Wendy13, manager of hardcore punk bar the Cobalt and local activist, struggles with the looming threat to her business from city hall; as Cameron Reed, a music-marketing consultant and promoter, attempts to organize the Music Waste music festival despite a lack of venues; and as David Duprey, a gallery owner and local entrepreneur, continues to contribute his time and money to creating spaces for artists and musicians. What all these people have in common is they are trying to make Vancouver a more interesting place because they believe that the city should be characterized by the people that live here, and not the local authorities. As the Olympics gets closer and the city dishes out billions trying to rebuild, we will see what becomes of the small underground arts community that barely survives under the weight of Vancouver’s current restrictions and regulations… .

Source ↑ www.nofuncity.org

V.c » It may have taken a Montrealer to create a gritty and professional documentary film about the music scene in Vancouver, but at least somebody has done it. Oh yeah, and Vancouver needs more small local, live music venues, especially not just downtown on Granville Street which has become uninhabitable unless you are 22 and from the suburbs.

Staff wait for the Canada Line train during a trial run on Friday.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to turn out for the opening of the $2-billion Canada Line in Vancouver and Richmond on Monday afternoon.

Riders will be able to take a free ride between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. PT on the new rapid transit line. The route will provide alternating service between Vancouver and Richmond or the Vancouver International Airport in about 25 minutes — making it Canada’s only rapid transit link from a city core to an airport.

Spokesman Drew Snider is warning people to expect long waits for the free rides, but said TransLink will provide entertainment at some of the stations.

“We’ve got buskers at various stations. I know Bridgeport’s got various entertainers like Rod Stewart and Elvis. There’s going to be line-dancing at the Richmond-Brighouse station,” said Snider, referring to musical impersonators and other talent hired to entertain the crowds.

Source ↑ www.cbc.ca/…

V.c » It is totally awesome that we now have a train linking downtown Vancouver to the YVR airport in Richmond. The first city in Canada to have this infrastructure. It is almost worth the cost of the Olympics just to have this. But why-o-why does it have to have such a lame name such as the Canada Line? Of course it goes with the other poorly named Expo Line and Millenium Line skytrains. You tell me where those damn things go, can we not use geographical based names so people know which skytrain goes where?

Is it an Olympic torch or a big, fat joint?

Some people in Vancouver are wondering, as the marijuana capital of Canada gears up to host the 2010 Winter Games. The silver and white torch, when lit, reminds them of a marijuana cigarette, giving new meaning to the games’ motto of aiming “higher.”

“It’s white, there’s the fire, and there’s its irregular size that’s wide in the middle and thin on both ends,” said Jonathan Mercier, 27, a tourist from Montreal. He’s not surprised that the torch is being dubbed the “Olympic toke.”

…

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel, on his late-night television program May 21, poked fun with a doctored photograph purportedly showing gold-medal swimmer Michael Phelps smoking the torch. Jim Rome lampooned the torch in a commentary on ESPN television May 21.

Source ↑ www.bloomberg.com/…

More Info ↑ www.vancouver2010.com/…

V.c » I missed this one when it first came out, but it is too good for me not to post here. Apparently 80 people at Bombardier worked on this thing and not one of them realized that this torch design was more representative of the Marijuana Olympics than the Winter Olympic Games. Ouch. Anyway, if you are an entrepreneurial pot-smoker (or is that an oxymoron?) then perhaps you can come up with a product that ties in the olympic torch and pot smoking paraphernalia and sell it here on the black market. You could probably even come up with some sort of cross-promotional strategy with your local pot dealer who will undoubtedly be extra busy during the Olympics.

This Vancouverite is taking a holiday to drop some NYC as John Popper of Blues Traveler once sang. See you in a week or so. And no I won’t be blogging about my experience in NYC, I think I will have other things to do that don’t involve computers. The forecast for Vancouver for the next week is a little suspect, but I’m sure you will find things to do. Enjoy.

Jordan Schroeder, the Canucks first round draft pick for 2009, drafted 22nd overall.

According to TSN:

NHL Central Scouting’s Jack Barzee: “He’s a dynamic player, a leader and a type of player that has developed into a complete offensive and defensive threat every time he is on the ice. He has a rocket of a wrist shot and he can beat you by putting the puck in the net, going around a defender, or freezing the goaltender and passing it off to one of his wingers. The concern is going to be his overall size, like there was with Scott Gomez, with Brian Gionta and with Patrick Kane, but at the same age he is probably a little thicker and a little bit more compact than they were. He’s a great hockey player.”

According to Botchford’s first reaction:

It will take some time before we know if the Canucks got the next Patrick Kane or Martin St. Louis in Friday’s NHL draft. What we do know right now, is they got value. Jordan Schroeder spiraled down the draft board to land in GM Mike Gillis’s lap at No. 22. Schroeder came into the draft ranked fifth among North American skaters. But teams clearly balked at his small (5-foot-8), and stocky (175-pounds) stature. Some scouts questioned his compete level, and labelled him a one-dimensional offensive player.

V.c » I was hoping the Canucks would move up to get the other small guy in the draft, Ryan Ellis who could be the power-play quarterback the Canucks have never really had, but instead we took another small guy, Jordan Schroeder who stands 5′8″ and weighs in at a decent 175 for a young guy who hasn’t gone through his bulking up years yet (and no i’m not talking about the apres-30 paunch many a guy gets). Anyway, yes it is generally better to get a guy who is 6′3″ then 5′8″ but in the new NHL there is more room for the little guys. Remember what Patrick Kane did to us in the playoffs not so long ago? And remember that all of us long-time Canuck fans know how good Cliff Ronning could have been if he played in a different era than the clutch-and-grab 1990s. Also, if you look at Schroeder’s stats for this past year they are decent albeit not dazzling, but notice that he collected a fairly impressive 11 points in 6 games at the World Junior Championships. And, if Gillis’s selection of Hodgson last year is anything to go by, it would appear he knows what he is doing when it comes to drafting. And Schroeder was ranked 15th by TSN so to get him 22nd is likely a score.

'The Band,' winner of the Jury Selection Award in the Where's the Square? design ideas competition sponsored by the Vancouver Public Space Network.

Search for the city’s missing, true public spaces yields fascinating ideas.

If we build it, they will come. Or will they? And does it matter if they don’t? What is the importance of having a public square in the 21st century city, whose citizens are more likely to commune electronically, in virtual space?

Vancouver’s planning and design community has long bemoaned the lack of a major public open space in the centre of the city, like those great squares that so many other cities are identified with. Meanwhile, critics have noted the city’s eccentric emphasis on public life at the periphery. Vancouver has always had more intense public spaces at its edges than at the centre: Centrifugal City.

It seems that Vancouver’s true public spaces are its beachfront parks, plazas, walkways and associated strands. Meanwhile, the centre seems curiously absent of such a social condenser, where the citizens of this city can come together to celebrate, commiserate or demonstrate as they do in other cities. The centre — to paraphrase Yeats — does not hold.

Source ↑ www.thetyee.ca/…

V.c » Yeah man, this city needs a public space, a great public square where we can hang out and protest and be a real city and … yeah whatever, in politically blasé Vancouver (Canada) with our indifference to causes and conflicts, our materialism and self-interest, for what do we need a great public square like the great cities of Europe that were built during times of strife, upheaval and even revolution? And who is going to build this great public square? We can pay for things like the Olympics because they bring in tourist dollars but who is going to build a place for people to either slack off or bitch?

In case you hadn’t seen this depiction of the Vancouver Olympic iconography that has been making the rounds I thought I would put it up here. We don’t want to scare off any would-be tourists who want to come here and spend their money and help pay for the Games by buying t-shirts and stuffies and crap with the Vancouver 2010 iconography emblazoned on it, but maybe this will give us some street cred with residents of other large cities that have gang issues. A little turf war or whatever it is that has been going on here for the past few months shouldn’t scare people off from visiting during the Olympics but maybe it will give them second thoughts about moving here and that is a good thing. Vancouver is like a teenager that has grown way too fast and now needs to mature and get used to its new frame and regain its coordination.