I decided this morning to make one final attempt to get into the Olympic Store at The Bay. Every time I’ve been there it’s at least an hour long lineup, even at 11 pm at night. There was a rumour going around that they were going to open 24 hrs for the final weekend, but that’s not the case. This morning was no different, huge line and I had to catch myfinal bus so time for a desperation move -- use my creds to get past security, and it worked! Why didn’t I try that a week ago?

Since I was downtown I was going to ride a different bus than my normal one up to Whistler. This involved taking the SeaBus, I had forgotten how strange it is to take a boat as public transportation. For those that don’t know Vancouver, this is one of the quickest and easiest ways from the main station downtown to North Van, and is essentially a bus line on water. You use transfers to ride it, but it’s a bit of a unique boarding experience to say the least.

I’m sure if you took this to work everyday (many do) then it would get pretty routine, but for me it’s still a great fun trip across Burrard Inlet to see all the ships and enjoy the novelty of it.

One exciting thing about your final shift is the lovely parting gifts. All along the way you get great little rewards for hitting certain goals. I call this the “Muk Muk Milestone card”, and so far I’ve received pins, stuffed Quatchi, keychain, hat, backpack, and coveted red mittens! Who says volunteering doesn’t pay

But they definitely saved the best for last, I got an Olympic Swatch and Silver medal/coin from Birks, which is a great bonus because I truly would have done this just for the privilege of being here.

Trivia fact: did you know SWAG is an acronym for “Sealed With A Gift?”. You’re welcome for that nugget of wisdom.

With my super swag stashed away we started turning our thoughts to the Canada/Slovakia game to determine who would play for Gold to play the US after their dominating win over Finland. But first up was Women’s Curling.

Now I’m no Curling expert, having only been to a few bonspiels but I did gain some appreciation for the game after actually watching an entire match. Who knew there was that much strategy, and it’s not just an excuse to go out and drink? Although I do question if it is really a “sport”, more of a recreation really. I loved when Colbert asked the US men’s curling team if any of them could touch their toes and after admitting they couldn’t Colbert asked them “you know you’re olympic atheletes, right?” Classic. Although I’m sure Colbert would also love to interview Canadian curler Cheryl Bernard who has inspired great new terms like Van-cougar (NBC), Sarah Palin on ice (Yahoo! Sports) and Couglur -- part Curler, part Cougar (kudos to Jen via ESPN on that one). However attractive people may think she is, the cat was declawed on this day after choking not once, but TWICE!  I can’t explain why she tried to over-complicate things on the shots (my opinion), but don’t they know how much of my time they wasted sucking me in and shattering my dreams of curling Gold?  At least I’m more knowledgeable in the strategies of curling now, and hopeful that our men’s hockey team will not be crushed under the pressure.

As for the Canada/Slovakia semi-final, not a lot to say about the game other than phew…I still have a country, bring on USA!!! An entire nation can breathe a sigh of relief but I can’t survive that stress of the last few minutes of that game. How can the actual players survive the pressure? I also found it interesting the number of NHL players on team Slovakia -- Stumpel, Palffy, on the top line and looking like they could contribute in the NHL (if they wanted to). So we have our dream Gold medal re-match…of Sunday’s humbling 5-3 defeat, and of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Obviously the entire country is hoping for same result as in 2002, but I discvered a very interesting stat. The home country has only won Gold in Hockey only twice before, in 1960 (USA); 1980 (USA), and now a third time, 2010 Canadian Women!!! A forth home-ice Gold would undoubtedly cap this off as the greatest games ever, and easily the most incredible sporting achievement in our nation’s history. No pressure boys!

So to round out the day, double Golds in speed skating events, totaling another 4 medal day -- unbelievable!

Last order of business at the Whistler Media Centre -- hand in my upgraded credentials.

I found it very difficult to head out from the village, who knows when I’ll have a chance to be back here again. However, I look forward to that day when I do come back and have these incredible memories of Whistler. I was so fortunate to be able to be immersed in the games from this perspective, from this venue.

Although it is my last shift, it is not technically my last day in Whistler. Tonight we celebrate this part of the amazing journey, but it’s far from over. Tomorrow I tame the peaks of Whistler/Blckcomb, and Sunday, the game of our lives!

I also watched one of the security guys put up the infamous “Mosh Pit” sign that I spotted at Jet last night.  I so wanted to take this back home with me to put up in our office but alas, it was not to be.

On the way over to the Media Centre I was struck by this view of the Village as I walk towards my destination.  In some ways it feels like I’ve been coming up here for a long time, it’s amazing how quickly you start to take it for granted.  You can see the CTV broadcast pavilion at the bottom of the pic.  If you’re watching any Olympic coverage, you’ve seen this a dozen times -- it’s where they broadcast non-stop from Whistler.

One of the premiere events of the Olympics was this afternoon, I am referring of course to the Women’s Hockey Gold medal game against the US.  A rematch from the 2002 and 2006 Olympics, our girls were 2 time defending Olympic champs so there was plenty at stake.  I may have “popped” over to a local establishment for the last 10 min of the 3rd period, and there may or may not have been free celebratory shots passed around.  But here’s a great clip of the bar celebrating another GOLD MEDAL!

Then on the way back to the Medial Centre I found where they park the airborne camera that flies over Whistler to get those great aerial shots.  This is a picture of the blimp, plus a dirigible in behind (ha ha).

But as great as the day was going, the best was still yet to come.  One of my main Olympic Mandates was to see a Gold Medal presented up close and personal, to be there with the masses signing our national anthem as they raise the flag.  As our women dominated the Bobsled the day prior I realized I would have a chance to see not just Gold presented, but Silver as well.  As I headed over to Medals Plaza I knew exactly where I wanted to be for optimal viewing.  I’ll walk you through the Victory Ceremony in a bit more detail from the perspective of being on the ground.

First step is the Olympians take to the stage with some great dramatic music and footage of their performances, greeted with enthusiastic cheers.

Next, the RCMP begins preparing the flags to be raised.  I’m getting chills already.

While that is happening the actual medals get presented, and the crowds emotion continues to climb

And then the moment every athlete (and spectator) waits for…the national anthem.  It is not possible to be any closer to the flag raising than this.  Wow!

Right as the flags reached the top I had my friend take this great pic, perhaps my favourite Olympic moment yet.

Then this last video, the RCMP begin to lower the flags, and Jimmy Fallon performs as Neil Young

I have one last video clip as well of the 4 medal winning women coming out and dancing & performing with the Roots which is very cool.  I love to see this enthusiasm from our athletes when they celebrate their victory.

Eventually, it was time to head back to work…but one last picture of the night was the one I took outside of the Sports Illustrated offices.  The SI writers were so amused at my pic I ended up spending a while chatting with them and scoring the highly coveted SI “Gold Medal” collector pin (currently at $50 on eBay, rumour has it).  I’m no Pinhead (that’s what they call the fanatical Olympic pin traders), but I have managed to pick up quite a few on my travels without really even trying very hard.

Once again, another 4 Medal day for Canada, at this pace I would definitely say we are OWNING the Podium!

Once I arrived at work for my shift I was surprised to learn of the feature for that day’s “Sneak Peak”, which is the newsletter for all the volunteers that gets printed and handed out everyday.  If you look at the bottom of the page you’ll see none other than yours truly, hard at work on a critical technical issue.

Another amusing item in our work space is a growing To Do list where we’ve come up with as many different ways as possible to explain what we do.  Hey, it’s a good thing when nothing is breaking down!  However, I do realize that I haven’t actually explained what it is I’m doing…one of these days I’ll elaborate on that mystery.

As we geared up for the HUGE game against Russia we heard the stat that the Canadian team won Gold Men’s Hockey in Salt Lake City 8 years ago today, which proved to be a good omen.  And speaking of good omens, just before the game started John Furlong (the CEO of VANOC) came by to thank us volunteers for our contributions to the games.  He seemed like an incredibly warm and genuine individual, I was quite impressed with him.

Then onto the game.  We were all hunkered down in our bunker glued to every second of action, and before we knew it is was 3-0 and we were yelling like a bunch of maniacs.  In fact, yelling so loudly we got “shoosh-ed” by the international press who could hear us out in their common area of the Media Centre.  What do they expect, they must be Russians!!!  I actually felt a bit sorry for Nabokov, but Bryzgalov didn’t do much better.  Periodically throughout the game I had to explain to some of the IT guys from India why everyone kept “booing” Luongo   All in all, what an amazing night -- it looks like that extra game against Germany is what they needed to get the line of Crobsy-Stall-Iginla firing and dangerous.  I think that 1st period might be the best 20 minutes of hockey I’ve ever seen, and I imagine the Russians must be feeling like we did in 2006 at Turino when we crashed & burned in 7th place, and looked forward to Vancouver 2010 for redemption.  You know Ovechkin is already counting down the days to Sochi 2014.  Bring on the winner of Sweden/Slovakia!

Then we booked it over to the Medals Plaza as quickly as we could, just in time to catch this classic track from Aussie rockers Jet.  I was especially amused by the official “Mosh Pit” sign you can make out in the bottom of the video.  Only at the Olympics.

And we close out the evening with one other highlight from the show…dudes in beaver costumes.  That takes some real dedication.

Another incredible day where Canada pulled down 4 more medals to add to the growing totals.  Keep up the amazing work!

After the VANOC TOC I headed downtown to meet Marin after work but came across this great “statue” in the foyer of Waterfront station. I’m not too proud to admit I kissed Quatchi.

Waiting for Martin I noticed this hilarious sign out front of the Vancouver Sun/Province building. Oh those accountants and their sense of humour!

Here’s a good “action” shot of Martin at work in the news room. It’s a pretty interesting place to walk around, especially since everything is cranked up to 11 for the Olympics in terms of staff, coverage, deadlines, etc.

Then onto the pinnacle of the evening, dinner at what is perhaps my favourite Vancouver restaurant -- Mongolian BBQ!

I know everyone is going to laugh but I love finding good “hole in the wall” places that under normal circumstances you probably wouldn’t set foot in. And when you’ve got all you can eat authentic Mongolian for under $15, this is one of those places! Unlike other Mongolian “franchises”, this place actually keeps all the meat slightly frozen, decreasing any health concerns…if that’s important to you.

And for the climactic performance, the grill guy works his magic. Yum!

After stuffing ourselves waaay too full (surprise, surprise) we decided to walk all the way down Robson from Stanley Park. One of the places we stopped to loosen our pants and digest was the Nike store, which had this awesome display of Team Canada jerseys. They also had the hockey jerseys of all the other countries, which was cool to see…but it’s no maple leaf.

Another Vancouver scene that I’ve been by a number of time is this massive Canadian flag that you’ve probably seen on TV. It’s actually a construction project that ran out of funding and is on hiatus, but it’s at such a critical intersection (Robson & Georgia) they decided to drape the eye-sore with this awesome flag, inadvertently turning it into a famous landmark.

Then as we closed out the night and tried to get home on the SkyTrain we collided with the mobs of people. I know I’ve done a lot of complaining about the crowds, but it really is crazy. Last rant, I promise.  For those who have commuted in Toronto, the lines to get on the Sky Train remind me of the QEW in the morning where they use stop-lights on the on ramps to regulate the congestion.  For the train, first there’s a big winding queue on the street that you wait in, only to get to another queue down below where the tickets are, then another one
at the SkyTrain platform before you get squished on like sardines in the car. At least it’s free, and there’s entertainment while you wait!

But up first, the procrastination! We’ve been playing a bit of the new 2010 Winter Games for PS3, and it is uber-realistic. Not only are the graphics super but every course and track detail is EXACTLY the same as the real thing. Here’s a video of me crashing in ski jump a la Eddie the Eagle, yet somehow still earning a “personal best”. Thanks for your patronizing pity, PS3.

Then onto the next event, Luge. This event and the downhill are the most remarkable due to their hyper-realism of every bend in the course. It truly is like watching it on TV, except you need that even deeper level of focus and concentration that I exhibit here:

Not a bad game, just not a ton of replay-ability.

Then the highlight of my day -- a video Skype chat with 66% of my kids who are on their own little mini-vacation at their Grandparents for a few days. The photo isn’t a good quality (it’s a still image from Skype) but it’s so great to see them that I had to share it. Glad to see Carter is wearing his Quatchi shirt!

My parents also sent a few pics of some of their adventures with the kids doing what they do best -- Carter and his sense of adventure, and Abby and her sense of humour, who loves putting things on her head (touques, especially undies -- yes, they’re clean!) and strutting around.

I couldn’t help but think of that inevitable moment in every season of Survivor where they get that emotional letter/video from home. At least I’m eating better than they do on that show. But as far as tear-jerkers go, is anyone else a sucker for that Tim Hortons ad that is on all the time where the guy goes to pick up his wife and kids at the airport? I know I’m a bit extra sensitive right now about missing your kids but it gets to me every time. If you don’t know what I’m talking about I think you can check it out here: www.everycup.ca

On the to do list today was a trip to the main offices of VANOC, which includes the Technical Operations Centre (TOC). This is where all the real action is, so much so that NBC was also there checking things out. They were pushing the camera man along in the chair in this pic as we all watch Canada have their way with Germany -- very creative filming technique!

I’ve got some other neat shots of the facility but I like this one in the main lobby. Not an overly fancy set-up, but they did have extra fancy coffee there. Ah, the little things…

I provided a few hypotheses on my top results, but not wanting to leave such critical matters to mere chance and speculation I let the data do the talking. Specifically, my coveted iTunes listening history data.

I need to diverge here for a moment. Anyone who has ever purchased a new computer and “migrated” their music library to a new iTunes instance knows that although much of your “tagging” comes over, your “date added”, “play count” and other critical fields are reset. Now, to the average person (i.e. 99% of people) this is probably fine since all of your genres, ratings and playlists are intact – hooray! But to a geek like me, I would consider this a disastrous loss of years worth of “filed research” on my music listening behaviour and patterns. And I’ve got over 6 years worth of listening history accumulated! Curious fact: the first song added to my vast library was “Weeds” by Pulp, May 5/04. See? Without all that juicy data, how would I have been able to know that!

Enough of that diatribe – onto the results. I’ve included the Top 10 here, as well as the total number of play counts. For a more complete list of the Top 60 you can see the full posting here. I’m interested to hear results from anyone else’s library!

10.  U2 (766)
9. The Jesus & Mary Chain (796)
8. Cake (859)
7. Nine Inch Nails (864)
6. Stereophonics (916)
5. Kasabian (1026)
4. Oasis (1047)
3. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (1205)
2. New Order (1271)
1. The Charlatans (1652)

For the record, I did guess the top 3 artists correctly, but I’m comforted to know the data supports my hypothesis.

Putting a bit of a twist on things, another way I could have answered this question is to use the sum of all song times and play counts by artist to say “which artist have I spent the most time listening to?” Perhaps a challenge for a future post…

First thing I spotted when I arrived in Whistler today is the landing of this helicopter. I didn’t have any video camera at the ready, and I also don’t know what this is used for but it was pretty cool to watch it land. Maybe they were flying in some VIPs, maybe Devo?

One of the first calls we had today was down to the medical centre where they also do sample collection for anti-doping testing. No, we weren’t collecting specimens but I did notice something equally curious. You may have heard things from previous Olympics speculating about the free-trade-like promiscuous “international relations” of athletes. Well I’m here to tell you there must be something to that rumour because the medical staff said they have replenished this rather substantial supply more than once.

No word on if these are officially branded IOC sponsor product, or what role the Glamour magazine plays in all this.

Before heading over to do a “site visit” to Medals Plaza for the evening’s festivities we grabbed dinner. Right from my first day I noticed an admirable effort to fulfill the mandate of this being the most sustainable, greenest games of all time. This is BC after all, but aside from the usual recycling initiatives I wanted to highlight the compostable disposables specifically.

Of course, I thought of our pal Aron the moment I saw this. No idea who the supplier is, but it should have been Good Times brand!

There’s a great page on their website about all the great initiatives underway, and it’s not just VANOC tooting their own horn either, check out this article.

VANOC really are setting an example for future games by doing some good things for the region and province. Which makes it all the more perplexing why there were so many protests…we’ll just chalk it up to being another quirky trait of BC

OK, that’s our public service announcement out of the way, onto the evening’s entertainment. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…Devo! They actually handed out these awesome hats to some of the audience to ensure that mandatory Devo fashion accessory was well represented. Although likely not intentional, it sure coordinated nicely with our smurf jackets. If they’d have had white it really would have completed the smurf look (or original Devo red for Papa Smurf)

However, as you’ll hear them say in the intro to “Whip It”, red is dead -- blue is new baby!

As entertaining as Devo was, I’ll never be able to hear them perform without thinking of Weird Al Yankovic’s timeless 1985 classic “Dare To Be Stupid”:

Although not technically a “cover” there’s no denying the lineage and DNA of this great song is pure Devo.

Then on our way back after the show we were treated to a performance (can you call blowing a horn a performance?) in front of the Swiss House from the Ricola guy. And I do mean the actual Ricola guy, they were handing out samples. Ah, stereotypes.

To close out the night I was excited to capture this awesome pic of all the mascots together with their biggest fan. I was working on an entire post just on them since I’ve learned some of the “Olympic mascot protocols” but it would probably not of interest to anyone but me. If you feel otherwise, let me know and I’ll share their secrets!

On my way over to the Media Centre I noticed that they have relocated the memorial for Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili to a dedicated spot next to the Olympic rings.  Everyone is signing a book, leaving flowers, pins, candles and other items.  He is definitely not forgotten as the games move forward.

Most days it’s impossible to get from one end of the village to the other without coming across some form of entertainment.  I posted a video of these guys last week in Yaletown doing the “Human Curling” routine, they’ve now brought the show on the road to Whistler for “Human Bobsled”.  Another classic.

I’m sure these guys have a show on Treehouse that I’ve watched where they hop around in multi-coloured jumpsuits doing coordinated routines yelling things like “hup”.  Am I imagining things or does anyone else (with young kids) know what I’m talking about?

Then, this one time at band camp…before I could make it to the Media Centre I encountered this AMAZING performance from a local drum band.  Best version of Thunderstruck ever -- AC/DC would be impressed, I especially love the bagpipes.

As the countdown to Canada vs. USA moved closer I headed out to survey the scene, but never got much further than the afternoon performance of Sam Roberts.  So many great Canadian performers have come through in the past few weeks, I hope the rest of the world has also appreciated some of the great shows.

I was actually heading out for a legitimate work related reason.  One of the guys walked in and asked me “do you know how to set up a satellite phone?”  Being as handy as I am (ha ha) I said “no, but surely we can figure it out”.  I learned that one of the senior VANOC officials wanted this as an emergency backup in the event all communications at Whistler were lost for some reason.  Hey -- no pressure!  Here we are proud of our work knowing that Whistler is safe in our hands.  I wonder if we should have tested it first though…

Finally, on my way back I encountered some members of team Austria, including Gold Medalist in Downhill Andrea Fischbacher.  You might recognize her, she’s the one that was so excited and grateful for her medal the other night she kneeled on the podium.  I love athletes who express so much emotion when they are awarded their medals, but I didn’t have the heart to ask her if she had it on her or not.

Despite all these exciting distractions, I just made it back in time to see the start of the game…but with team USA scoring within the first minute, I should have just stayed out in the village.  Although as the game progressed, I think it was best to stay hidden and depressed in our little room on our own

I’ve never seen Brodeur play a worse game.  Every time he touched the puck he looked panicked, and he paid dearly for it.  I think every goal was a direct result of him being all over the place and out of position, trying to recover from a sloppy puck handling play.  I know it’s a big, pressure filled game but your Martin freakin’ Brodeur, holder of 3 Stanley Cups, an Olympic Gold medal, and the winningest goalie of all time!  Was he trying to hard or something?  Who knows, but it was totally out of character and he lost the starters job that day as far as I’m concerned.  This caption and picture from Yahoo! Sports sums it up.  I wonder if Niedermayer is saying “dude, are you OK?  What is going on with you today?”

The Canadians put forth an admirable comeback attempt but Miller was insane.  I actually really like Miller (I have him in my lifetime pool!) but I was not to pleased with him on this day.  With the team clawing back to within one goal with a few minutes left, they were applying so much pressure that I was feeling confident of a comeback.  Then came Corey Perry’s lazy defensive play, but kudos to Kesler for scoring what is likely the best empty net goal ever (although I hat to admit it).

All in all, a complete bummer of a game that had memories of our bitter Canada Cup loss to the US back in 1996.  Hopefully we will have a chance to avenge (and repeat?) the outcome of Salt Lake City 2002!

A final pic of the night was captured on our way back to the bus at the Omega Bobsled display.  The lines had finally disapated enough to capture this fantastic action shot.  It takes real concentration to be a true champion.

And what trip out on a sunny Saturday afternoon would be complete without a visit to Krispy Kreme!  I had to spoil the girls with some treats, and pick them up some stylin hats.

Part of Martin’s pre-show routine is to cut his nails in the backyard, and really, with a backyard and weather like this, wouldn’t you do everything out there?

Then onto the Medals ceremony in Vancouver.  One thing I noticed on the way was this rather amusing sign.  I know the Vancouver police were also concerned about the escalating shenanigans going on downtown, but I’m not sure anyone will be able to stop laughing long enough to obey this sign.

Even though I was “attending” the ceremony at BC Place, the actually Medals Ceremony was all at Whistler Medals Plaza and simulcast to the crowd in Vancouver.  The ONE NIGHT I’m not at Whistler, and I miss the first Canadian medal getting presented up there!  And not just any medal – our Gold Medal in Men’s Skeleton!  Even though I wasn’t right there in person, it was still cool to celebrate it with 25,000 other fans in the stadium. Here’s some footage of the great vibe. If it gives you chills seeing it on TV, you should feel the emotion in person. I don’t know how the atheletes aren’t in tears when they hear O Canada, Montgomery shows lots of great emotion though.

Then, on with the show that I really came to see – The Stereophonics.  I’m a huge fan of this band, and in fact on my recent post on Last.fm of  my “Most Listened To Artists of All Time” they ranked #6.

If you didn’t get to see the show on MuchMusic (they’re showing most of the performances at the medal ceremonies), here’s their cool countdown intro and entrance…

And here’s a clip of one of my favourite songs, “Superman”

All in all it was a great show but a little short, they played too much off their new album (which is a bit meh) and they missed my all time favourite track “Jealousy”.  But considering this is their ONLY stop in North America, I’ll take it!

Next stop was another musical performance from none other than Mr. Martin Lauze and friends.

Here’s some great footage taken by Zoe. The lighting isn’t the greatest, but hey, the moody tone is all part of the atmosphere.

They’re a talented bunch that in addition to that psychotic cello also play flute and harmonica, which perfectly capped off our musical Saturday night. And best of all, we got to drive home and avoid the crowds on the SkyTrain!