masey » Vancity Allie

And now… an Olympic-sized hangover!

masey — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:18:31 +0000

Oh boy. Well, that’s it I suppose. The final medal has been awarded, the last giant inflatable beaver has left BC Place, and the last partying red and white painted body has reluctantly peeled away from Robson Square. So now what?

I’m sure that, like me, a lot of you who are in Vancouver felt a sickening feeling of loss and almost depression today. How does one effectively transition from a high like all Canadians felt yesterday after that heart-stopping hockey final, and back it up with an eerily silent transit into town for work today? Sigh…

There was no immediate need for me to proudly wear my #87 Sidney Crosby Team Canada hockey jersey to work.

There was no immediate need for me to proudly wear my #87 Sidney Crosby Team Canada hockey jersey to work. I didn’t need to squeeze onto my morning bus for the first time in 17 days. The brightly coloured country flag circles (including the Aussie one in the middle of the bridge) that adorned Granville Street sidewalks have been erased. My bus travelled unimpeded up Granville Street without having to divert along Seymour, until it reached Smithe. There were no apparel hungry crowds lining up outside “The Bay”.

Oh this depresses me so much writing this…

There was maybe only one huge smile dressed in a sky-blue volunteers jacket waiting for me at Waterfront Station. There were no lineups for the Sea Bus. No odd but happy languages permeating the confines of the Sea Bus. No gang of volunteers at Lonsdale Quay asking me sweetly if I needed to get to Cypress Mountain or Whistler to see an event today, and where I should go if I did.

No streaming Olympic updates on the web to distract me WAY TOO MUCH at work. Nothing to make me want to leave work hours too early to line up for a ridiculous amount of time in lines that possibly would get me nowhere by the end of the night. No problems or delays using transit to get home. A distinct lack of international flags and maple leaves blanketing the city heart on my way home. And no beams of light shooting into the sky over English Bay.

And even as I sit here typing this now, there should be fireworks exploding over LiveCity Yaletown which I can view from my balcony. Alas, not tonight. Sigh…

…

I’m not the only one feeling down. Oh no. Here’s just a couple of tweets I noticed today from a couple of prominent Vancouver bloggers:

@VancityAllie Voice = gone, Health = sick, condo = disorder, waistline = +5, bank account = empty. But it was all worth it. Our country = united. Bedtime.

I can relate to Allie on pretty much EVERY point she has made there.

@karlwoll Seabus is so empty. No flags. No cheering. Only suitcases. So cold. So lonely. Hold me.

Take heart though people, we still have another 10 days of amazing sporting accomplishments and performances coming up between March 12-21 when the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Winter Games kick-off. If you’re not inspired by what takes place over these days of competition, then you have no heart. Each and every athlete coming to Vancouver for this special event has a story of tragedy, adversity, hope and achievement that will likely match anything we have witnessed so far.

I sincerely hope that the Paralympic athletes’ presence in the city brings about the same energy, support and amazing times that the good people of Vancouver (and Canada) afforded the world’s greatest Winter Olympians throughout February.

Ok, what do YOU think needs to happen in Vancouver to keep the amazing feeling alive? Surely it boils down to a few small things here and there? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

Some great posts from Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic Bloggers

masey — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:06:16 +0000

Shortly before the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics kicked off in a spectacular display at BC Place which has only been bettered by some of the incredible sporting displays we have witnessed so far, I introduced everyone to a handful of talented and creative bloggers who have diligently covered the world’s greatest Winter sporting party from all angles.

In case you have missed their entertaining musings until now, here’s a quick list of 5 of the best entries so far from each of my fellow bloggers:

Miss 604 – www.miss604.com

Red Mittens – 2010redmittens.blogspot.com

Vancity Buzz – vancitybuzz.blogspot.com

Vancity Allie – www.vancityallie.com

Aleks (My 2010 Adventure) – www.my2010adventure.com

Mostly Lisa – www.mostlylisa.com

Nordica Photography’s “Faces of the Games”

There’s more than enough reading and great photography amongst that lot to keep you busy for a morning at least!

Now before I sign off for now, let me just clear something up. The 7 Blogs I have singled out for the Olympics are by no means an exhaustive list. There’s tonnes of other quality Vancouver-based Blogs out there that are pumping out awesome content. Sorry if I have offended anyone by leaving you out this time around, I just don’t have the time in my days to cover you all!

2010 Vancouver Olympics: Bloggers to watch

masey — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:55:58 +0000

Many people have asked me over the past week, “where can I find out about what’s going on around town during the Olympics?” Well, in the age of Blogs, Twitter and other social media updates, it’s very easy to be the first to know about pretty much anything going on in Vancouver at any one time. You just need to know where to look.

So in an attempt to set you on the straight and narrow with all things “2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics”, I’d like to present to you a list of Blogs that I’ll certainly be keeping a close eye on, and suggest that you should to.

This is by no means an exhausted list. I’ll no doubt be adding to the following collection myself over the coming weeks, and I’m willing to add to it with any suggested Blogs (let me know about them in the comments section below) if I think them worthy of a mention.

Obviously the easiest way to track any of the Blogs mentioned is by adding their RSS feeds to your chosen news reader, or by following them on Twitter. I’ll be providing the addresses for both at the end of each introduction.

So here goes. In no particular order:

Miss 604 – www.miss604.com

Very few would argue with me if I suggested that Rebecca (Miss 604) is practically Royalty when it comes to the Vancouver blogging scene. If there’s any kind of significant event scheduled in and around Vancouver, I can almost guarantee that Rebecca will have it covered and will probably be there herself!

While I’ve never met Rebecca in person (that I recall), I see her around town a lot and am always eager to read what she has to say about what’s coming up in Vancouver.

If you need further proof of the reliability and quality of the “Miss 604″ blog, I can tell you it was awarded 2009′s best “Local Blog” (Vancouver) by “straight.com”, the online version of Vancouver’s lifestyle and entertainment weekly, The Georgia Straight, which has something like 693,000 readers.

With all that said, I’m sure you don’t need any further motivation.

Blog: http://www.miss604.com
RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/miss604rss
Twitter: @Miss604

Red Mittens – 2010redmittens.blogspot.com

Not that long ago, I started searching for a Blog to keep my eye on that was being written from the perspective of an “out-of-towner” coming in to volunteer at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. I stumbled upon “Red Mittens” which is the work of “Gen” a 5th year student currently at the University of Ottawa.

Gen has made the journey to Vancouver to take in the Olympic experience by volunteering at Canada Hockey Place, the venue for the major Ice Hockey events (talk about a plum position!). Her commentary is refreshing, and her enthusiasm, infectious. Definitely worth checking out.

Blog: http://2010redmittens.blogspot.com
RSS Feed: http://2010redmittens.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
Twitter: @bizon10

Vancity Buzz – vancitybuzz.blogspot.com

Credit where credit is due, the awesome “Vancity Buzz” Blog is largely responsible for me being able to initially put together my “Schedule & Highlights” post.

An awesome source for up-to-the-minute information on Olympic sights and events, I’m also really impressed with their “no-nonsense” stance they have taken against anti-Olympic protestors.

Plenty of great content to check out, especially the comprehensive “Vancouver 2010 Olympic Guide”, so here’s the details you need:

Blog: http://vancitybuzz.blogspot.com
RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/VancityBuzz-VancouverBlog
Twitter: @VancityBuzz

Vancity Allie – www.vancityallie.com

The creative “Vancity Allie” Blog follows the adventures of Allie, “…a 25 year-old Vancouver girl who loves and writes about everything “Vancouver” and West Coast.” A talented photographer and lover of surfing and snowboarding (major brownie points in my books), Allie writes about the kinds of things that I’m generally interested in which is why, I guess, I enjoy her ramblings so much and have therefore included her in this post.

Again, don’t take my word for it (although I guess that’s kind of the point of this whole thing eh?). Use the details below to check out Allie’s Blog.

Blog: http://www.vancityallie.com
RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/VancityAllie
Twitter: @VancityAllie

Aleks (My 2010 Adventure) – www.my2010adventure.com

This Blog is brilliant in it’s simplistic presentation, gorgeous design and most importantly its perspective. Yes, “My 2010 Adventure” is a Blog that chronicles the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic experiences of Aleks, a 5 year old online adventurer who is SUPER excited about the Olympics being in his home town. He asked his Dad if he could have his own website to put “Olympic stuff” on… and hence, “My 2010 Adventure” was born.

They always say that the world is a better place, a more exciting adventure when viewed through the eyes of a child. Well, here’s your chance to experience the excitement and emotion of the world’s greatest Winter sporting competition through the eyes of one cool little fella.

Blog: http://www.my2010adventure.com
RSS Feed: http://my2010adventure.com/?feed=rss2
Twitter: @my2010adventure

Mostly Lisa – www.mostlylisa.com

Cyber celebrity and proud Vancouverite Lisa Bettany or “Mostly Lisa” as she is better known, should definitely be on your watch list. A talented photographer, videographer and roving online reporter for Vancouver’s “The Province” newspaper, Lisa generally tends to get “insider access” to a lot of events making her first-hand, entertaining and sometimes quirky accounts something to keep an eye out for.

I have a feeling that Lisa has quite a bit of content up her sleeve for the coming weeks, so use the details below to make sure you don’t miss a thing.

Nordica Photography’s “Faces of the Games”

Here’s one for fans of great portrait photography. My mates Cole and Jakob over at “Nordica Photography” have initiated a really great project they are calling “Faces of the Games”. Their goal is simple and perhaps a little ambitious – to “…capture 2010 different faces from the start of the project to the end. We are confident that with the diversity of people that will be visiting the city during the games, the portraits captured will make for an interesting and exciting portfolio of faces!”

Personally, I’m really looking forward to following their journey. So far they’ve even managed to snap well-known Canadian MTV presenter “Daryn Jones” on Robson Street. Very cool indeed!

Blog: http://nordicaphotography.com/facesofthegames
RSS Feed: http://nordicaphotography.com/facesofthegames/feed
Twitter: @nordicaphoto

Masey – www.masey.com.au

And finally, I’d love to give my own Blog a bit of a plug… but that would be a little self-indulgent now, wouldn’t it. *wink*

Let me just list my own link details in the hope that someone, somewhere in the world will jump on board!

Blog: http://www.masey.com.au
RSS Feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/masey
Twitter: @masey

Happy reading everyone, and GO, CANADA GO!