The Upsons

After surviving the throngs of Vancouver the last couple of days it is actually a relief to come back up to Whistler. It’s busy up here too, but a “good” busy. It has a real excitement to it without feeling overwhelmed to the point where you can’t even get anywhere.

I’ve commented in the past about my “commute” to Whistler from south Surrey, and it is no small feat. For those who don’t know Van, I’m about 40 kms south east, right near the US border. My journey consists of bus-train-bus-coach, for an average of about 3 hrs travel time. That might sound a bit onerous, but given my one-man entertainment machine of movies, music, games and books (not to mention naps) it goes pretty quick. And then there’s the view. I’ve spent 3 hrs stuck sitting on the highways of Toronto, and the QEW this is not. This clip shows some of the view of the ocean right along the Sea to Sky Highway, I think the name is pretty self explanatory. You’ll also notice a ferry cruising through the water on a beautiful sunny day. All in all, I think you can see why I don’t mind the trip.

Up at Whistler things are just as gorgeous. It’s about 6 degrees and perfectly sunny, and it’s the first day I can actually see the peaks. One of the highlights today is a free performance in the Village Square from a little band you might have heard of -- the Barenaked Ladies! It was so funny to hear the Aussies I’m working with ask “is this some kind of adult entertainment show”? As anyone who has seen BNL live knows, one of the best things about their show is the crazy chit chat that they come up with between songs. For example I give you Exhibit A, which can only be described as “The Whistler Rap”

I also like their new Fantastic Four logo on the drum kit, a none too subtle message that they are no longer a 5 piece band (enjoy rehab Mr. Page). There’s no doubt this has altered the makeup of the band and time will tell how they make out working separately, it’s good to see they can still have fun with the classics like “If I Had A Million Dollars”

But wait, there’s more! The musical cavalcade didn’t stop there. Only a short time later in Medals Plaza was another icon of Canadian music, Our Lady Peace. Frankly, I’m surprised OLP played the “main” stage while BNL played the village, but maybe that’s how they wanted it. Anyway, it was another enjoyable performance of all the classics, since I don’t think they’re cranking out any new material. Here’s the finale, a song I’m sure everyone knows (since its been played to death):

Then some more Nordic Nations were awarded medals in various ski events, but I got to spend some quality alone time with the torch.

And finally, here’s me and Quatchi bewildered about why our Canadian athletes haven’t found their way to the podium in Whistler (yet)

Lots more action from Whistler Village to come.

Tags: Barenaked Ladies, Olympics, Our Lady Peace, Whistler

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 20th, 2010 at 4:49 am and is filed under Olympics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.