However, part of the reason they didn’t have enough left was they way they got manhandled by Boston. The refs pretty much put away their whistles and this was to the advantage of the much larger Bruins. It certainly seemed like the NHL wanted Boston to win, the owner is a buddy of Bettman’s after all and part of the reason that weasel still has a job. He deserved everything that was thrown at him. The NHL couldn’t make Boston win, but they sure did what they could to skew the outcome in the Bruins favour. Chara mauls Henrik who eventually falls down and they both get a penalty. Yeah right. Whatever. Rome gets a four game suspension because he was half a second late on what other wise would have been a great open-ice hockey play. Okay, fine, set a new precedent, but then shouldn’t it apply to both teams. Boychuk breaks Raymond’s back and gets zilch. It was interference, it was taking advantage of a vulnerable player and, it was a head shot and technically it was even hitting from behind. And it resulted in a significant injury. All those criteria were applied in the Rome suspension but not to Boychuk. I could go on and on too. Total BS. I would like to see the outcome of a Canucks vs. Bruins series if they called penalties like they did in the regular season, even with a gimpy Kesler. If he was healthy, no contests.

And if having to watch that game 7 wasn’t bad enough, we then had to witness a riot in our downtown. This has caused feelings of anger and disgust and embarrassment and revenge. The people who participated in the riot were serious idiots. The people who instigated the riot are serious a-holes. The participants need to pay, but the instigators need to be put away.

It seemed like most of the participants were living out some sort of grand theft auto dream. Life momentarily turned into a video game which is why it looked like they enjoyed it so much. Pathetic that people lose that much touch with reality.

However, the city is going to have to take a major part of the blame for this fiasco. If you are going to invite a hundred thousand people to watch game 7 of the Stanley Cup on giant screens then you better have more than 12 police and a couple horses to manage the crowd. There should have been a thousand riot police patrolling the area the entire time. Duh. Of course the criminals were going to take advantage of this situation and of course the alcohol-fueled youth who just lost the Cup were going to go crazy and whoop it up once the criminals got the fires started. Mob mentality has been well documented.

It would have been a lot cheaper to pay for all those riot police then it is going to be to pay for the judicial system to deal with this mess. I just hope the other municipalities like Surrey are going to help pay for the fixing of this mess. It seems that 80% of the idiots who participated were from the suburbs. They even came prepared for the riot, they all seemed to have bandanas and things. They knew it was going to happen, they even talked about it on Facebook. Why did the city officials not know?

Did Olympics Make Vancouver Better?
Two noted urban thinkers, Lance Berelowitz and Matt Hern, conduct a free-wheeling back and forth about the future of their city and the legacy of the 2010 Games. Berelowitz is an urban planner, critic and author of Dream City: Vancouver and the Global Imagination. Hern is a rabble-rouser and author of Common Ground in a Liquid City: Essays in Defense of an Urban Future.

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.

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.

→ www.straight.com/bov

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?

A sailboat moored off Jericho Beach in Vancouver has nearby residents upset because of its swastika painted on the hull. It is also believed the boat is dumping toxins into the water.

This charming guy with the swastika painted on his boat (in retaliation to being forced to leave False Creek because they have regulated against squatting in the Creek or something) has taken up residence off of Jerich Beach for the last week or so. I guess they have yet to find a rule or regulation that enables them to kick him out of the area.

Last night the police at least got a reason to board his boat and check him out. As we were having our after pizza popsicles he decided to fire off some sort of gun. My friend, who was swimming quite a ways off shore at the time was really thrilled with being so close to the shooting gallery. Within a few minutes there was a bunch of police cruising the beach and a patrol boat came up and some officers boarded his boat. They left him on board and his boat moored so I guess it was a licensed gun or just a pellet gun. Too bad. I wish he would go back to the cave he cave from so I can take my kids to the beach without having to deal with this schmuck.

More info: www.vancouversun.com/…