No tickets? No problem!

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The Crime Traveller / Blog, Olympics / No tickets? No problem!

With a two-day break in my hectic event schedule, the weekend was intended as an opportunity to catch up on some sleep and recharge, but here in Vancouver, Olympic fever has its tendrils extended firmly across the entire city. I wander downtown into the belly of the Olympic beast to take in some of the […]

Filed Under: Blog, Olympics by The Crime Traveller February 21, 2010, 11:52 am

With a two-day break in my hectic event schedule, the weekend was intended as an opportunity to catch up on some sleep and recharge, but here in Vancouver, Olympic fever has its tendrils extended firmly across the entire city.

I wander downtown into the belly of the Olympic beast to take in some of the many free Olympic-themed attractions across downtown Vancouver which has been transformed into a giant pedestrian-only street party. The streets by the waterfront are thick with Olympic pin-traders plying their wares. I overhear one man desperately trying to track down an elusive Munich 1972 pin but his hopes are dashed as the pin-festooned salesman shakes his head and says, “I just sold it yesterday.”

Farther down along the waterfront the Olympic cauldron comes into view with its five-pointed flame.  VANOC has come under intense criticism for the placement of the cauldron as its location beside the International Media Centre necessitates surrounding the icon within the RCMP’s security perimeter behind a tall chain-link fence. To VANOC’s credit, the rabid complaints of fans were heard and a platform was hastily constructed allowing fans to view the flame unobstructed from above. Unfortunately, like anything remotely associated with the Olympics in this city, the platform viewing area instantly attracted a massive crowd causing the line to snake back for blocks. Not to be outdone VANOC cut gaps in fence to permit clear photographing of the cauldron and has now replaced the chain-link with a transparent plexi-glass barrier that has been largely accepted as a reasonable compromise.

After snapping my obligatory photo with the cauldron I turn down Granville Street and push through the throngs of people to Olympic ground-zero at Robson Square. On the way I pass many examples of Vancouver’s most enduring Olympic feature: line-ups. Want to view the medals on display at the Royal Canadian Mint? Three hour line. Feel like riding a zipline over Robson square? Seven hour line. Need to spend some hard-earned cash on a t-shirt from the Olympic Mega Store? Be prepared to wait forty-five minutes before you can even start browsing.

I wish I had enough hair to pull of this look.

The following evening I consider a return trip to Vancouver’s downtown but learn over the radio that crowds have exceeded all expectations jamming the streets with tens of thousands of Olympic revellers. In a bid to maintain some semblance of control, Vancouver Police order all liquor stores to close early in the evening to moderate the amount of alcohol currently flowing through the streets. I opt for a change of pace and make my way to the city of Richmond’s suburban ode to the Games: The Olympic O Zone. I shake my head in bewilderment as I pass a giant maple leaf hovering over the Olympic rings constructed out of 13,000,000 B.C. cranberries. I take in the finalists of the World Ice Carving Competition (with ice presumably having had to have been imported as I have yet to see any evidence of the frozen stuff other than on Whistler’s peak).  I then kill thirty minutes in line waiting to ride a bobsled simulator while listening to the band, Marianas Trench, perform live on the main stage. After an evening in Richmond, the O Zone festivities come across as decidedly minor league: the PanAm Games to Vancouver’s Olympics as it were.

I close off the night enjoying a beer to the crooners at a local karaoke bar and knock off for the night eager to get back into the thick of events with the men’s two-man bobsleigh competition.

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Aquarium Fish » Blog Archive » Aquarium Bulb (lighting) Types says February 21, 2010,12:28 pm

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Ed Prutschi is a criminal defence lawyer in Toronto, Canada practicing at the law firm of Adler Bytensky Prutschi. When not completely absorbed by the rigours of his trial practice, Ed revels in grabbing his camera ..

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