almost as bad as unboxing.

my Van2010 so far…

WARNING AND DISCLAIMER: THIS IS GOING TO BE A POSITIVE MUSING ON *MY* EXPERIENCE OF THE GAMES THUS FAR. IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO OR WANTING TO SLAG VANCOUVER, OR THE GAMES, PLEASE KINDLY REFRAIN FROM DOING SO HERE.

so, if i could i would start with pictures from the Opening Ceremony dress rehearsal, which i was so fortunate to see (thanks Mark and Vanessa!). truly spectacular, and fortunately (and purposefully) cauldron-free. it was mostly impossible watching the real deal on tv, especially with CTV’s coverage, to get a sense of the scale and scope of the stagecraft and projection. suffice it to say, i squealed like a wee girl for the whole evening, and whoohooed myself hoarse.

thursday, the kids and i went to see the torch relay.

and that’s rick cluff, the cbc morning host, avec the torch.

on sunday, the family braved the craziness of downtown briefly, to walk along the seawall for a bit, and visit the Right to Play tent. (a truly worthwhile and amazing organization. would love to work for/with them in the future)

there is far too much to see and do in a single visit to downtown, but even on a short trip you can feel the buzz and general jubilation.

monday night, jaegen and i had tickets to a Victory Ceremony at BC Place. Little did we know when jaegen first purchased the tickets a month ago, that Canada’s first gold would be given out. what a proud (and loud!) moment for Canada.

(we were pretty high up, so our photos of the actual medal ceremony are kind of silly. also, i refuse to be one of those “put-up-every-poorly-shot-photo-you-took” people.)

then, today, i borrowed a kid carrier (thanks, Selena) and hauled edmund down to see if we could see the Colbert Report taping down by (formerly Science World) Sochi House. sure enough, there was tons of room on the mucky grass, and edmund was thrilled to ride around, and then run around for the two hours we spent waiting and watching.

okay, after that snotty remark about people who put up photos that are badly shot, i’m going to be a total hypocrite and post a photo of the colbert stage set up, and then one with him on it. dude has some serious hair. you can spot it from a kilometre away. look forward to his show next week, when you’ll be treated to “Better Know a Riding” with Ujal Dosanjh, and an interview with Michael Buble.

oh, and i saw local eccentric “nardwuar the human serviette” filming:

and tried to surreptitiously film Ben Mulroney yelling about some foul up with interview time and decided against it. not your best moment, ben.

there you have it. a busy week.

Question o’ the day: what is your favourite fan moment?

Lurve…

and all kinds of wrong:

First, there’s the whole “Should-the-Olympics-Really-Be-Here?” question. Second, these toys are from a place Vanessa and I affectionately refer to as “Satan’s Palace” aka, McDonald’s. Third, is it really emotionally healthy for a 32 yr.old to love the mascots so much? the jury’s out on all 3 counts.
Nevertheless, I DO love the mascots. They trigger some association with Hello Kitty (whom i loved as a child, and secretly still do as an adult), they are appealing (to me) on every form of merchandise onto which they have been pasted, and I even broke my “I do not go to McDonald’s” rule to procure these first toys (they’ll be a set! of course they will!) for myself AND mes enfants.
guilty as charged.

Question o’ the day: what something do you secretly (or not so secretly) like that you’re a bit ashamed to admit to?