Northern bound

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"On the move..."
(taken at Vancouver International Airport (YVR))

Olympic recap day 03

This is the Yaletown Subway entrance/exit. I think you can count about ten volunteers in the blue Olympic parka. They are waiting for people to come up and ask them questions. The most amazing thing about Vancouver was the volunteers. On every corner, at every turn, twice as many as you'd expect, all giving freely of their time to make sure the guests of their city had the best possible experience. When you watch the closing ceremonies, and the representatives of the Vancouver Volunteers is presented, take note of the deafening roar of the crowd. It was certainly heartfelt by the 60,000 guests inside GM Place that night.

Day 03 in Vancouver for the final Winter Olympic weekend. It's a bit fuzzy. Mostly, everyone was trying to firm up exactly where they were going to be on Sunday for the big US versus Canada Men's Gold Medal Hockey game. In the midst of that, we toured. The friends that Mikka was staying with had been given last minute tickets to the Gold Medal Curling game. Mikka called to say she was on her own and would we like to see her? Hell yes!

So we met downtown and went for coffee. Then we caught the subway one stop to Yaletown and headed for the LiveCity venue. Mikka claimed to have connections to someone who offered to get her (us) in ahead of the lengthy line.

We got there and the line wasn't nearly as long as it had been on other days. Was it wrong to be disappointed that we were only cutting ahead of a half hour line instead of getting to feel superior for cutting ahead of a three hour line? Please note, Mikka's commitment to the hat. Once the hat is on, all photos for the rest of the day will be with "the hat".

Mikka's connection, Roy, came through and we were sent through with ease. When Mikka asked him what he was in charge of at LiveCity, he gave a sweep of his hand and said, "All this." We were duly impressed.

I want a BEAVER TAIL!
(pssssssstttt.... it's a big flat doughnut)

Roy gave us a brief tour and told us that the Coca-Cola tent was probably the longest line to go through. He said he would see what he could do, and found a Coke representative to see about getting us in "VIP". As the Coke representative radioed their boss, Mikka interrupted, "Are you asking for Dave _____? Does he have a twin brother? Tell him it's Mikka! We went to High School together!"

And that is how our VIP experience in the Coca-Cola tent came to pass.
Coke has sponsored the torch relay since 1992. In the entryway they showcased torches of previous Olympics. On the far left is Vancouver, next to it is Beijing, the blue one to the right is Torino and the last one at the far right is Athens.

This is what Coca-Cola employees wore at the Calgary Winter Olympics in 1988 to work in the Coke pavilion. You may not be able to tell the boots are shiny silver, and the pants are a sparkling red. The hat, is not optional.

Inside the tent is a whirlwind of Coke propaganda and Olympic spirit. As we waited in line, Canada won a gold medal. A Siren/Horn wailed and my first thought was, "Tsunami! Run for higher ground!!!" But then the giant Coke bottle in the center of the room turned glowing gold, the event finale was projected all over the roof of the tent, announcements were made and the party kicked off!

At last we make our way to the front of the line and it's our turn to touch an Olympic torch!

Two gay guys and a girl with a big prop, official photographer, how will we ever stand out and make this photo our own?

Good Morning Charlie's Angels!

We left LiveCity and walked along False Creek toward the Russian Pavilion. Across the water was the athlete's village.

You can see flags on the balconies to give you an idea of who was staying where.

I was having major deja-vu on the walk. This was the former Expo "86 grounds. I spent almost every day here on this site way back when. I thought it funny that two completely distinct, international events could happen in the same spot and give me so much joy. As I walked, I flashed between current moment and 1986. Things have changed (I can buy more that a McDonald's ice cream cone for dinner for 39 cents), and things are the same (I have the best most amazing friends!).

The Russia Pavilion was closed by the time we got there, so we doubled back to the Quebec tent. We ducked in to get warm, get dry, get a snack.

Mikka still working "the Hat"!

Maple syrup butter tarts with whipped cream.
I wish I'd bought the whole tray!

We parted way so everyone could re-group, have a real meal and meet again for the fireworks finale at LiveCity. Roy had been kind enough to give us VIP passes to return with later that night. I love Roy.

While Robb and Lewis took a much needed rest, I hauled ass back to the cauldron and my elusive view of the "Five Golden Rings"! It was 7:30, it was dark, no umbrella or woman was going to stand in my way.

Simply gorgeous.

We went for dinner with friends where I learned that all businesses had to receive their shipments between 6 am and 11 am. Most restaurants weren't normally staffed those hours and had to bring on additional help. The businesses weren't complaining. They were all full!

David, Mark, Me, Robb and Lewis.

We walked down to LiveCity and went past what felt like Time's Square on New Year's Eve. MASSES OF PEOPLE lining every sidewalk, street, balcony all waiting to see tonight's final fireworks show over False Creek. We raced to the back VIP entrance and walked right in. As we gave our passes, the woman checking them asked for our names to go with each ticket. I reached for my wallet to give her my ID. "Oh not that. Just your name. SO when you want to use them tomorrow, you won't have any problems." Tomorrow? "Yes, these are good for either LiveCity venue tomorrow as well."

And BANG! Just like that we had in our hands the golden tickets to get into one of the hottest venues for Gold Medal Hockey in the city!

LiveCity, from day... into night.

As if the night couldn't get any better, we were about to watch a fabulous fireworks show!!!

Olympic recap Day 02

Every good day begins with a even better cup of coffee. On Day 2 Robb and I bolted out of the house at 11 am. I love sleeping. We walked past the Bay's Official Olympic Superstore. Or rather, we walked past the Bay Official Olympic Superstore line to get in. Over a block long and rumored to be from 2 to 3 hours wait time. All just to get in and give them money. I'm a savvy shopper and will only wait half an hour. So we went for coffee.

There were many foreign pavilions and and cultural houses to see in the city. Robb knows me best and we immediately hit the most important places to see in Olympic town, shopping. We started at Holt Renfrew (the Neiman's of the North) and then H&M (Robb, you better have purchased new jeans by now) then Gucci. You know, to round out the internationalness of it all.
We did manage near the end of the day to capture some Olympic magic. Robb and Graham are holding an official Olympic torch. If you look closely in the background you may be able to see Catherine and I ready to start our bobsled race!

As we toured town, the clock was ticking to our actual Olympic event. This would be the Men's Hockey match between Canada and the Czech Republic. Canada had to win this game to move forward to win Hockey Gold. Mikka's friend Tanya & Derek had a bar in Gastown they were meeting a gang of people. These venues would fill up quickly. We were told to be by 4:45 for a 6:30 game. Derek & Tanya got there at 3.

Historic Gastown was decked out in all things Red & White.

So much to buy, so little I needed.

Mind you, I did manage to grab a "Canada" T-shirt so I could fit in like a native.

Derek wins the prize for best Canadian shirt of the night!

After the game ended (Canada won and advanced to the Gold medal round!), we made our way down the street to the German Haus. A culture envoy from the people of German to the people of Vancouver. Rumor has it that after the first 5 days they had run out of beer and had to send back to Germany for reinforcements. Canadians definitely love their "culture".

Tanya's best photo of the night with Mikka.
Your eyes are open!!!

The mood inside was über-celebratory and the beer was undeniably tasty.

The band on stage played mostly 80's music and added that German twist of an Oom-pa-pa swing to it.

Nearing midnight, we left Germany and walked over to see the Olympic Cauldron and off in Coal Harbour, the Olympic rings. It was slightly raining and everyone had their umbrellas up. I kept waiting and waiting to line up my perfect shot of the gorgeous golden rings, then I snapped my photo.
BLUE? They were gold a second ago! "Oh, it must be midnight," someone said as they looked at their watch. And then it was explained to me that the rings are blue unless Canada wins a gold medal that day in competition. Then the rings change to gold and remain that way until midnight. Curse you umbrella lady in my way! You'll only outwit me once!

Then we paused in front of the Olympic torch.

Pretty stunning.

Cathy got her photo taken with it.

So did Mikka.

I think we all knew that was going to wind up on my head sooner than later.

Olympic recap begins.... NOW!

Let's launch this blog post into outer space!

Forgive me Blogger, it's been over a week since I have written anything. I've been overwhelmed.

It's not that I took a 6 day tour of the Great White North, or that I have all this work to do. Nor is it that my parent in-laws are visiting. My problem is that I am still trying to process everything I saw and did at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. And what I am slowly realizing is... that it's impossible.

There is no way to explain the level of hype and expectations that I was feeling just getting on the airplane. No way to share how those astronomical expectations were EXCEEDED. When they tell you it is a "once in a lifetime" experience... BELIEVE IT.

Although I hope not. Because the Olympics are like crack, now that I've had that high, I am going to be chasing it for the rest of my life. I think this explains why all those athletes come out of retirement, participate in spite of broken bones, or hang on well after their moment may have passed. I get it. I need it. Now I too, am an Olympic Junkie.

We join our Olympic tale at midnight the night before I am going to Vancouver. My flight is at 6 am. I will need to be in a cab (no way Lyle is driving me at the time of day) at 4 am. I will need to shower at 3:30 am. I normally go to be around 2 am. Screw it, I'm staying up. And that is how I arrived giddy, and punch drunk at the customs and immigration counter in the Vancouver Airport. I've been awake for 38 hours. My flying companion, Mikka, sensibly got 5 hours of sleep. She is so wired, you'd never know.At the baggage claim carousel, there are TVs showing Olympic coverage. While waiting for our bags, Canada wins a gold! The entire airport staff and all Canadians in the waiting area erupt into a joyful cheer. I've never seen such a friendly, joyful, smiling airport in my entire life. Olympic Fever crack, the first hit is free.

Driving into the city everything is red and white. Normally there are a lot of Canadian logos that utilize red and white. But this? This is different. Yards have signs, flags are flying everywhere, block after block of store windows have Canadian flags draped elegantly, hastily, crooked, repeatedly. This land of polite people seems to have found a pride that no longer hides. Olympic Fever makes me giddy.

On the street, there is red and white on all the people. My Gucci scarf of grey, green and red seems out of fashion immediately. Lucky for me, my advance team has warned me and I have packed a vibrant full red scarf. I change scarfs before we get to my friends home. "Bienvenue, Canada! Je suis Canadian, aussi!" my scarf cries out in French, because of course as any good Canadian scarf would tell you, he is bilingual.

My scarf is also very respectful of the native arts, pausing to pose in front of these official sanctioned blow up totem poles with LED lights.

Our first Olympic act was to get to a viewing venue to watch the Women's Hockey Gold Medal game. We walked toward LiveCity downtown and the line was a shockingly short at only 30 minutes to get in. We met a friend of Robb's, Ben, who told us that he heard there were seats available at the gay sports bar Score! a few blocks away. We left the line and high-tailed it over to the Sports bar. There were two seats, outside, on the smaller unheated patio. We were three people. We squeezed in. We arrived and the score was already 2-0 in Canada's favor. Clock running out on the third period and... Canada wins the GOLD!

The volume on this is VERY LOUD.

The volume on this is VERY LOUD.

Thank god I was outside. I was stunned. I was overcome. These people are nuts! Inside, it was crazier. All that noise all that testosterone (quite a few lesbians in attendance) and all that joy forced to live inside a square box. Unbelievable.

The locals had been doing this for almost two weeks at this point. I asked a few people how they were managing to keep going after two weeks of this kind of energy? Most everyone agreed, PURE ADRENALINE.

After dinner we walked the two blocks from Robb & Lewis's house to Robson Square. A fantastical light show was performed here twice a night. The bright orange blasts in the video are fire. From a block away you could feel the heat on your face. There was a zip-line across the sky spanning two blocks. By day, you could wait four hours in a line-up to pay and take the 10 second ride over the crowds. By night, they added another dimension to the light show. Watch in the first half for the skier in the sky!

We caught the first light show at Robson Square because we had plans for later. We were watching a different fireworks show 10 blocks away! Robb's friend Ben hooked us up with a 15 stories high skybox views in a condo next to the launch site with floor to ceiling windows.
The lighted village on the lower right is "LiveCity" on False Creek. The two small blue rectangles to the front of it are the stage. About 5000 people fit in front of the stage. The red and white square in LiveCity is the Coca-Cola pavilion. We'll see that in a later post.

Donna and I are working our "Italian Super-Model on the ski slopes" look with our skinny jeans tucked into our boots. It may not have been snowing in Vancouver, but I promise you, it was definitely cold enough for my silver puffy. (Keep in mind, I wore my silver puffy coat to walk the dogs here in Los Angeles two nights ago as well.)

And so, after being awake about 40 hours in a row, we made our way home to sleep. Tomorrow promised to be another banner Olympic Fever day and I was going to need my full 6 hours of rest!

Olympic Fever hits home

I've got my team outfit on, these white pants are horrible to keep clean in the rain and snow!
(psssstttt, that's me on the left!)

You've probably noticed I've been not here lately. I've been watching TV. SPORTS on TV to be more specific. I'm getting an average of 12 hours of Olympic coverage recorded to my DVR every single day. NBC has cleverly mixed the things I want to see with things I don't want to see. Even to fast forward through every single hour of recorded events would take an hour or more just to get through 12 hours of broadcast coverage.

But I manage. I just don't have time for anything else, like writing a blog, reading a blog, cooking a meal, or doing any work.

Mikka represents, G-Oh Canada!

I've even gone so far as to go out in public and watch a sporting event in a bar. Canada vs. USA Men's hockey, at a British pub in Santa Monica. Hunkered down with 30+ rabid Canadian sports fans. I had the fish & chips, they were delicious.

Lyle and I have watched as the world turns the focus on Vancouver and I have been very sad that I am not there taking part in all the festivities. I feel a proprietary ownership over Vancouver. I grew up an hour south of Vancouver, just inside the American side of the border. I spent the summer of 1986 at the Vancouver Expo and we lived there for year in the middle of our California lives. Every time they show a street, a landmark, an aerial shot from the Goodyear Blimp, I go, "I should be there! I know that street! I used to have coffee there!" and I get crazy in my head.

My dad has a phrase, "Everybody complains about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it." So I'm doing it. I'm changing the weather.

By the time you are reading this, I WILL BE IN VANCOUVER.

I found a cheap flight. I bought my ticket. I've got a place to stay. And I've got friends willing to sell me their tickets to the CLOSING CEREMONIES. Look for me on the television, I'll be in row, "Holycrapthatsclosetothecieling, Section J, seatZZZ"!!!

The Canadians were here.

I've been neglectful. I know. I have this compulsion to account for everything in order and then this happens, that happens and suddenly I feel "behind" and then angry that I have to answer to something that is supposed to be fun. So I rebelled. I took a break.

To remedy my need for exact time-lines I am going to use the word "recent". As in:

Recently we had some friends visiting from Canada. Four of them were actually at my house while I was in Washington State. They were having a good time in West Hollywood at Halloween. Then they got a on a cruise ship bound for Mexico. By the time I saw them they had been "having a good time" for 9 days in a row.

Then we all went out together in West Hollywood...

Early in the evening...

A little later and Paul is starting to feel it.... and not just Jared's chest.

Raise your hand if you'd like a drink!
If you don't raise your hand you're not getting one!

That's better.I'm kidding of course. Everybody gets a drink!

In fact, there will be shots.

This is never a good sign.

My drinky-poo is all gone-gone!

This is my pose for when I am working very hard to hold it together for the camera.

This group has clearly given up on holding it together.

Robb has cleverly hired a seeing eye drunk to guide him home.

Danger ahead! Two down in the parking strip!

Oh no, and a third! Who will guide us back to the hotel now?

This is Quinn's pose that says, "Don't you dare post those photos of me rolling drunk in the street on your blog."

Elevator music brings them all so much joy.

Morgan & Jim strike a pose that Madonna would envy.

Disclaimer: We took a taxi there. We took a taxi home. At no time did anyone in the group lose conscienceness.

Trying something new...

Blogger just added a new feature that allows me to post video! Oh the horrible things I can show you now without having to place things on Youtube...

But I am not certain how it will work, so here is a video of a woman working her mojo for all its worth from our recent trip to Vancouver... I should mention she is wearing some fierce heels in a blacktop parking lot that has a slight incline.

Mostly because I just had nothing interesting to say today.

Vancouver final day & departure

Here's some ramblings and more that I may have left out before.

I think these fairy princesses were the same folks who wore the fabulous pink frocks two years ago. Can you imagine, Halloween twice a year, and in the summer, people would applaud your outfit!

On our final morning in Vancouver, we got up and went out for coffee... no wait, we stayed home and had coffee! It was shock to my system as well.

I think I spent too long at Gay Pride the day before as this outfit seems totally "gay" to me... wait a minute, I packed this from home and fully intended on wearing it just like that... nope, I was gay before I left home.

Robb & Lewis needed to do some work things (even though Monday was a holiday in British Columbia), Lyle and I got out of the way and took a walk along the water. Everybody was out. Young, old, gay, straight, dog, child, bike, rollerblade and skateboard... all out and about on a lazy holiday Monday.

Lyle lets the Granville Street Bridge rest upon his head...

Robb & Lewis met us down by the water and we had our final coffee together. You knew we'd have coffee again before we left. (this one was THREE blocks from the condo. Across the street from yest another Starbucks.)

Apropos of nothing, my petite friend Cathy and I recreate my photo opportunity as Shrek and Florence Henderson.

As the husband had to go through immigration to renew his visa we knew we needed to allow some extra time. Since it is normally 2 hours in advance for international departures, we allotted 3 hours. Then since there was no one at the airport in line, the whole process took ten minutes, leaving 2 hours and 50 minutes to kill in one of the world's most boring international departure terminals. UGH.

After three days of a knotted stomach (cause you never know with U.S. Customs and Immigration) the hubby pigs out on a rare Canadian delicacy, a Tim Horton's Maple glazed doughnut.

Our flight from Vancouver to L.A. took about two and half hours. Once we got to L.A., we were early and they had to wait for a gate. Then the luggage took an eternity to arrive at the claim check. It took so long that Alaska Air was forced to make announcements (three times) letting people know their bags were ACTUALLY coming in the next five minutes, no make that five more minutes, no wait it will be about five minutes more... From the bags to the shuttle bus, to the car park to the cashier and voila! We had no been on the ground longer than we had been in the air and we weren't even home.

Glad to be home. Happy to be with the dogs.

Other observations about being in Vancouver:

We took a Prius taxi. Tree hugging hippie Vancouver has quite a few of them. There was enough room for three of us to sit in the backseat together.

We met a woman in the elevator and she used the term "carbon footprint" in casual conversation. And also mentioned that we all needed to watch ours. (Could she tell we owned a Range Rover?)

The recycling program for cans and bottles in the city is to have a caddy on the outside of public trash cans where you can leave the items that have a deposit paid on them and other people come by, pick them up and take them in for money. Recycle and give homeless people a job at the same time.

I am totally looking forward to attending the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver even though I hate the winter up North. I've already made my condo reservations with my friends in advance.

Our view from the 34th floor for four days.