This weekend our child dog Rumble was high maintenance – literally. We took him out to North Vancouver to get his hair cut at Fetch, and Jeff got some practice for when he gets his re-licensing road test. Then today we took Rum to a schnauzer meet-up where he got to meet some buddies. Either way, a good time was had by all and Jeff didn’t even kill us in a fiery crash, which is something I’m continually grateful for.
Jeff’s expression when he first got behind the wheel didn’t fill me with confidence:
Shortly before the 12-car pileup...
Rumble first just zonked out from the trip to the groomer:
He wasn't overly impressed by a three-hour haircut.
Today, on the way back from the Schnauzer meet-up, he got more into the idea of a road-trip:
Rumble likes to make fun of the dogs on the sidewalk.
… stored carefully where they live: in their parents’ basement.
This is from Golden Age, a comic book store down on Granville Street that deals in every damn comic book related thing ever made, I think. Crazy stuff.
- Two words: “No capes!”
Still, if they’ve got a Batman size medium-long, I’d try it on.
I truly hope it doesn’t, but it’s bound to happen- someone who’s dropped acid in the past will come across one of these people on the street and have a huge flashback and jump off a bridge.
There are bizarre buskers, “posers” and other performers out here, some are truly amazing and talented. That being said, there are… ahem… others.
The Olympic Monkey and Paralympic Fish
Tags: 2010, buskers, fish, monerformerskey, olympics, p, Vancouver
We saw the quarter-final game for men’s hockey today, and damn, I’m still not sure how it went! Last night, Canada murdered won over Germany like, 8-2. Today, it was 2-0 and the first two periods were boooooring.
Finally, there were a couple of dribbled-in goals and everyone went home. The Swiss played like they needed to go to hockey-camp this summer, and the Americans were not the same team that wiped the ice with us on Sunday, that’s for sure.
Right there? Jeff & $20 worth of Olympic food.
Tags: 2010, beer, hockey, olympics, switzerland, United States, usa, Vancouver
Buskers are lining the sides (and sometimes the middle) of Granville Street between West Georgia and Smith because the streets there have been restricted to foot traffic only, and right now they have a giant, continuous audience to fleece. Some of the more enterprising buskers have very little to do with Olympic themes – for instance, there’s a guy dressed as Batman who will pose with you for pictures or just spread his cape (dirty!) for a quarter, and I understand the Caped Crusader is a bit of a jerk if you don’t make with the spare change fast enough. Not very 2010 of him. Tsk.
There’s other, more topical buskers, like the guys in the photo below – though I don’t know if they qualify as buskers because they don’t have any talent save for the ability to wear spandex so tight you can tell their religion. The little boy in the picture doesn’t seem too keen on the idea, either. “Guys, you couldn’t have worn underwear? Really?”
Tags: 2010, buskers, Granville, Olympic, photo, sled, Vancouver
Man, what a mixed day. We went down to False Creek to see Maison Du Quebec, Saskachewan House, Russia House and the Ontario Pavilion. After yesterday’s lineups we knew what we were getting into… for the most part.
It was so insane, though! Lineups a mile long, nobody working there knowing what’s going on, short hours – just nuts. We ended up going around and finally settled on Maison Du Quebec because it had the shortest line, which is like saying a century is shorter than a millennia – technically true but not really any real help.
After a long while we ended up getting inside just to find out that Maison Du Quebec should really have been named Maison Du Fuck-All. I’m not kidding! We stood in line to get in… In order to stand in line for $10 beer. There was a lineup for a cafeteria-style menu and a tiny, empty stage. Blank walls, no displays, no multimedia presentations, (way too few) dirty tables, and no room for the hundreds of people who just waited an hour to get in. We left inside of thirty seconds and told the staffer at the exit the reason why. He seemed to have heard this more than once.
We have a rule now. Whatever we’re standing in line for, we have to spend 10 minutes inside for every minute waiting. This has caused us to be much pickier about the venues we’re gonna visit.
It's official - there's more people in line for Ontario House than actually live in Ontario.
So, Jeff & I decided to drag our asses out of bed early today and go see Olympic stuff before the crowds gather and lineups form.
Ha frickin’ ha.
We were at the Royal Canadian Mint Pavilion before 8:05 and damn, this was the lineup to see and touch the Olympic medals on display:
Those medals are now covered in germs from around the world.
They created a second line for people who didn’t care to fondle the gold, silver and bronze – we ended up waiting for 30 minutes and got steered directly into the gift shop. Bleah. Still, on the second floor they have the “Million Dollar Coin”, which is basically a loonie on crack, and a solid gold ingot, which weighs a ton and felt just so right in my hands…
I was a lot happier before finding out about the chain.
We also went to LiveCity in Yaletown’s David Lam Park, where we stood in line for an hour to see… an hour-long line-up for the Coke Pavilion and the Samsung 3D HD Theatre Show. So, basically we stood in line to stand in line to see commercials while EXCEPTIONALLY LOUD AND MEDIOCRE MUSIC WAS BLARED AT US AND NOW WE CAN’T HEAR FOR SHIT. Still, Jeff liked the shiny electronics and I’ve decided I need a touchscreen laptop.
You can't see it, but there's a lineup of over a thousand people to see the Coca-Cola "Happiness House" behind him.
Still, we had a great morning. Too bad about the huge lineups for everything… Next time we hold the Olympics we should just leave out the tourists.
Okay, I can’t say I blame the cops for paying attention to the ubiquitous screens showing the hockey games… But this is Ice Dancing.
There's a little old lady fighting off six bikers just out of frame.
- What’s really weird is that more than one person thought that this was a super idea.
For Valentine’s day, I bought Jeff a little Olympic mascot – the hairy, fuzzy little Quatchi troll-doll looking thing. Jeff loved his gift and Quatchi is now enjoying his place of honor, dangling from the zipper on Jeff’s computer bag.
The reason I mention this is that Rumble, our little dog-toy aficionado, has decided that all our toys are belong to him. So, when Jeff puts his bag on the floor, Rum ambles over to investigate his new friend. Jeff usually hides his bag in the storage room but he just dropped it inside the door today due to… um… an unmentionable dog-butt emergency. Let’s say no more about that.
Point being, we were distracted by minor crisis, crisis averted, and while we’re sitting on the couch listening to the Olympic insanity outside, Jeff notices Rum attacking his computer bag to get at lil’ Quatchi. He goes over to intervene and I hear a disgusted groan as Rum goes shooting by, pretending like he did nothing wrong.
I asked Jeff what’s so gross, and he says, and I quote:
“Ugh, now I have a soggy Quatchi hanging from my bag.”
I can’t make this shit up, folks.
Vancouver has this ongoing art project where every year or two unique and interesting statues pop up all over town. They’re always based on a wildlife theme and are decorated in interesting ways be a multitude of local and not-so-local artists and artisans. For instance, first we had…
Orcas:
"From Deep Within" just sounds dirty.
Then we had Spirit Bears:
He's still there, trying to get a ride.
And now, there’s the eagles – they’re not quite as interesting as the bears turned out to be, or as diversely creative as the orcas, but at least they… um… well, this one has a fish. For Jeff, that’ll be enough.
Quick, the police are on their way!
The Olympic Cauldron at Coal Harbour.
Just amazing – the Olympic cauldron is beautifully designed and executed, and even during the day it’s dramatic and impressive.
Here’s the stupid part:
Because having a 100m no-man's-land around the cauldron is the best way to go.
The powers-that-be here in Vancouver have decided to block off a huge area around the Cauldron, ostensibly because the decking there is too weak to support the huge numbers of people coming to see it. So, questions, please: a) who thought that this location would be a good idea for it, and b) how about a little presentation, and maybe cleaning up the surrounding area? I mean, come on, people.
It’s not my thing, but at least they’re being generous.
Tags: 4:20, gastown, hospitality, marijuana, munchies, olympics, pot, recreational, Vancouver
I would very much like to find the cowardly jackass(es) who thought this was a good idea. The Bay at Granville & West Georgia that contains the HBC Olympic store was vandalized this morning when red paint was thrown on the building and some of the giant display windows were smashed in.
This isn't protesting the Olympics so much as stupid shit-disturbing.
The opening ceremonies last night were phenomenally well done and frankly seemed to be the best ones ever produced, which makes this all the more infuriating. There are some valid points that Olympic protesters are putting forth – when they’re genuine Olympic protesters. Many of them – distinguishable by the black hoodies and masks they wear to hide their identities – are just anarchists, enjoying the attention of the global media and participating in the destruction of public and private property.
Jeff was watching the news this morning and there were shots of cars being vandalised on Robson, newspaper boxes thrown around – this is not the work of sincere social protest. Some random people seemed to get in on the action because it was an opportunity to get away with vandalism – At one point Jeff saw some young mom pushing her child in a stroller, who stopped to kick over a newspaper box.
Seriously, what the hell?
The windows were repaired in a few hours and the police are investigating.
If anything, this kind of crap hurts the causes of the earnest political protesters, and I’m sure they’re frustrated as hell that this is the message that gets attention, and detracts from their credibility. I know it’s unlikely, but I sincerely hope that the idiots responsible get caught trying to pull something else and have the book thrown at them.
I walked around a bunch today after getting Jeff squared away and, can I just say it? Holy cats, there’s A LOT OF PEOPLE HERE.
Wow. Just wow.
I'm currently hiding at home.
