Olympic Torch Relay comes to North Vancouver

It was a very awesome day in Deep Cove today as the Olympic Torch Relay made it through the neighborhood.  People lined the street roughly an hour before the torch came through and after it left Cates Park at 10:36am, it made its way down Dollarton Highway were I was waiting to snap my pictures.  After the cops drove down the street as an escort, promotional vehicles were the first to drive by.  RBC and Coca Cola had people dancing on trucks and giving away free stuff.  I was able to get a few Torch Relay bottles of Coke and Coke Zero.  Luckily, I staked out a sport that was right next to the hand off and was able to get some pretty good pictures.  My mom actually talked to the parents of the kid and needless to say they were pretty excited about what was to come.  Like before, be sure to click on the link for bigger pictures.

It might have been raining but these guys where feeling good.

The Coca-Cola truck armed with free stuff

A very patriotic vehicle

An Olympic car telling us the torch is getting close!

The RBC promo car complete with dancing people

Day 104. Just 2 to go!

It was Coke's turn to do their thing.

More Coke

The torch runner waiting to receive the flame

Here comes the flame

A shot of the women who ran from Cates Park to Deep Cove Road.

The exchange!

The kid is ready for his 5 minutes of glory

But first he poses for a few pictures

A new guy runs up Mount Seymour Parkway

I Feel Very Olympic Today

Well it was really yesterday, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use that quote.  On Sunday afternoon it appeared as if the Penguins had the Capitals in the bag and I could use the time before the Super Bowl started to check out the progress in Vancouver for the Olympics.  Well, clearly I made the wrong choice as the Capitals came back and there wasn’t as much to see downtown as I thought there would be.  But for those interested here are a few pictures that I thought were worth enough to post and will also give you an idea of what to expect next week.  For those people reading that have not been to Vancouver you might be interested in seeing what some of the venues look like from the outside and from afar.  Click on any picture for a larger view!

Like a true tourist I hopped on the Seabus in North Vancouver around 10:30.  As you can see by the sign I made it with just 5 minutes to spare.  I then hopped on the Skytrain and took it down to the BC Place/GM Place stopping hoping to see some cool stuff on the outside of the buildings.

Taking public transit like a loser

Yay! I made it.

I then made my way down Beatty Street towards BC Place and then came back towards GM Place, or “Canada Hockey Place” as its known during the Olympics.

The Cops have all roads near venues blocked off.

How often can you stand in the middle of Georgia and not get killed?

When you get to the event areas you’ll meet these tents where you’re likely to get an anal probe.  If you’re part of the Olympic family then you can wave goodbye to the rest of us suckers and go though your own special entrance while the rest of us continue to wait.

The Olympic Family entrance at BC Place Stadium

The way in for the rest of us

I’m also including a few pictures of BC Place for no other reason than because I took them.  Yay for ugly cement buildings.  Hopefully it doesn’t disappoint too many people who have traveled long distances to see the opening or closing ceremony.

It is what it is

BC Place from Georgia

Next I headed next door to GM Place trying to get a good view of something.  Instead I was just met by a bunch of fences.  What suprised me was that there is still traces of Canucks type things on the building.  I’m wondering if they’ll take those down by Friday.

The side of GM Place from along the Georgia Viaduct

There is still a trace of the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place

Expo Blvd decked out in Olympic designs outside GM Place

A good shot of the security check point outside GM Place. Complete with bag scanner like at the airport

Next I decided to head up Dunsmuir before walking up to Georgia and to Pacific Centre.  Live City is apparently a place for entertainment and creating a lasting impression with family orientated entertainment.  I assume its a good place for families to go spend money when they can’t get into something like the Molson Canadian Hockey House.

Side view of Live City Vancouver from Georgia

Front entrance of Live City

Next I kept on traveling up Georgia.  The further up you go, the more people there were.  I saw a couple waving an Australian flag as well as two women in Russia tracksuits.  I considered taking their picture but I thought that that might be a little too weird.  Nonetheless, here are some pictures from along Georgia.

Hey look, it's the renovated CBC building

Canada Post has the Olympic Fever

As does a new hotel going in at Georgia and Howe

I still don't know how the Olympic lane is different than a regular HOV lane

At “The Bay” at Pacific Centre there were A LOT of people inside buying the latest Canada Olympic gear.  I was going to actually buy something but I didn`t have 15 minutes to stand in the lineup to pay.  The VISA advertisements on The Bay building has been up for about a year but they’re still pretty cool and worth posting.

A few great Canadian moments

A few more

We were made for this!

Is there anything more Canadian than The Hudson's Bay Company?...

...Well maybe this picture of CPR trains that I took is.

Some good looking people

On Granville street there was some sort of Cultural Olympiad thing going on.  I’m not sure exactly what the point of it was but I look pictures anyway.

The money shot down Granville?

You typical totem poles at the Cultural Olympiad.

I have no idea what's going on here

Japan and Hole in the Wall invades Canada.

Next up was the final stop in my short trip downtown.  Naturally I had to get a shot of the countdown clock at the Art Gallery like everyone else

What`s a day at the Vancouver Art Gallery without some sort of protest?

All these people wanted to see the time tick down on the start of the games

We`re almost there!

Now it was back to the Seabus to pickup my car and head to a Super Bowl party. While waiting for the Seabus one comes to realize that London really wants you to come visit them.  Only 2 and a half years until they get to host the Summer Games!

Visit London for the 2012 Summer Games!

The Olympics Are Coming!

8 Days to Go!

I have to stop neglecting this place for long periods for time.  Lots of good stuff has happened since I last posted.  The Canucks went on a 7 game winning streak with their patchwork defence and some less than stellar efforts all around but winning when you don’t play your best is what good teams do.  It was too bad that they lost in Montreal because they were the better team for pretty much the entire game.  Poor personnel on defence finally caught up to them at times  as a few of the goals had some serious blown coverage.  The real reason they lost though was their inability to figure out Halak.  With forty plus saves he definitely stole the game.  But that’s old news.

I’m really looking forward to tonight’s game against Ottawa.  I really think that the Canucks have an excellent opportunity to be the ones that break up the Senators winning streak.  The Sens played a hard fought game in Buffalo last time and are bound to be tired while the Canucks had the day off and are waiting there for them.  The line-ups haven’t come out yet but I would hope Tanner Glass draws back in for Darcy Hordichuk now that they’ve lost a game.  Glass brings so much more to the table than Hordichuk but we’ll see what Vigneault opts to do.  Hopefully Henrik is on his game as well because Ovechkin has pulled within a point of him in the Art Ross race.

Now the big news is that I’ll be going into Olympic mode within a day or two.  Since the Olympics are in my city it’s my goal to bring a firsthand account of all the happenings that might be going around Vancouver in the lead up to the game and of course the games themselves.  The torch is being run through my neighborhood on Wednesday so that’s going to be exciting as well.  I’ll be unveiling my hockey predictions during the next week or so and when the games officially start I’ll be discussing other sports other than hockey when relevant.  Of course the Canucks are still playing through to next Sunday so they obviously won’t be forgotten.