Tinkerblue

Holland Heineken House

I wish Holland Heineken House were setting up in both Vancouver and Whistler.   Alas, they will only be in Vancouver.  At the O Zone in Richmond.  Hubby will have to go and have a beer or two for me.  Anyone want to go with him?

Medal Ceremony Hall

The highlight of the Holland Heineken House experience is the main hall featuring celebratory medal ceremonies for successful Dutch athletes as well as nightly performances by renowned Dutch artists and DJ’s. It will be quite the party place, hosting 4000 people a night. The uniquely close relationship that Dutch sport fans have with their heroes - coupled with their penchant for the national colour of orange - makes for a vibrant and unforgettable atmosphere during celebrations and performances.

Epic Centre of the Dutch sporting world

Further features of the Holland Heineken House include a Lodge Restaurant and several food outlets, a Dutch Consulate information desk, ATP travel and ticketing desk, a special athletes’ room, VIP facilities for members of the Dutch royal family and government, a business lounge for partners and suppliers of NOC and NSF as well as facilities for Dutch media. 

Sports fans can follow the progress of their heroes live on dozens of large screens throughout the Holland Heineken House, sharing in the achievements and emotions that are part and parcel of the Olympic experience. Should you be unable to obtain a ticket for your favorite event, there is no better way to enjoy the action than in the company of fellow fans.

Opening hours

Open daily from 9 a.m. until 2 a.m., the Holland Heineken House is an ideal place to catch up on the latest Olympic news or to simply relax with something to eat or drink. Everyone is welcome, including international guests, and most especially all those with a Dutch Passport.

The refreshments offer a range from fast food and healthy snacks to the best of modern cuisine with a Dutch and Canadian flare. Food is combined - of course - with a fresh and cold Heineken draught beer. Table reservations for lunch and dinner at the Lodge Restaurant (capacity 150) can now be made by sending an e-mail to hhh@atp.nl.

http://www.hollandheinekenhouse.nl/uk_home.html

Australia at the Winter Olympics

 

Australia has a rich sporting history. But we haven't done so well at the Winter Olympics.  Australia first competed in the Winter Olympics in 1936, and with the exception of 1948 have participated in every winter games since.

Our athletes mainly finished in the bottom 25%. Admittedly not very stellar results.  That changed in the 90's.  In 1998 the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia was formed by the Australian Olympic Committee and the Australian Institute of Sport. The OWIA provides training in alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, short track speed skating, and figure skating. 

Australia's Medal Tally (6)

1994 Lillehammer 

• Bronze, Men's 5000m short track relay speed skating

1998 Nagano

• Bronze - Zali Steggall, Alpine Skiing (slalom)

2000 Salt Lake City

• Gold - Steven Bradbury, 1000m short track speed skating
• Gold - Alisa Camplin, Aerials

2006 Turin

• Gold - Dale Begg-Smith, Moguls
• Bronze  - Alisa Camplin, Aerials

 image SMH

 The Australian team for 2010 is still being selected, team should be finalised by February 2nd.  Leaving it a bit to the last minute?  I call it giving everyone as much chance as possible to qualify. The first Australian athletes will start arriving in Vancouver on February 4th.

 image of Hannah Campbell-Pegg, courtesy of olympics.com.au

The team is expected to represent Australia in short track speed skating, skeleton, snowboard halfpipe, long track speed skating, alpine skiing, luge, cross country skiing, bobsleigh, aerials, moguls, snowboard, snowboard cross and ski cross. The team so far:

Alpine Skiing - Craig Branch, Jono Brauer

Biathlon - Alex Almoukov

Bobsleigh - Duncan Harvey, Duncan Pugh, Jeremy Rolleston, Anthony Ryan, Chris Spring

Cross Country Skiing - Esther Bottomley, Paul Murray, Ben Sim

Freestyle Moguls - Dale Begg-Smith, Britteny Cox

Freestyle Aerials - Jacqui Cooper, Liz Gardner, Lydia Lassila, Dave Morris, Bree Munro

Freestyle Ski Cross - Katya Crema, Scott Kneller

Luge - Hannah Campbell-Pegg

Short Track - Tatiana Borodulina, Lachlan Hay

Skeleton - Anthony Deane, Melissa Hoar, Emma Lincoln-Smith

Snowboard Halfpipe - Torah Bright, Holly Crawford, Scotty James, Ben Mates

Snowboard Cross - Damon Hayler, Stephanie Hickey, Alex Pullin

Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom - Johanna Shaw

Speed Skating - Sophie Muir

 image of Jeremy Rolleston, Torino courtesy of olympics.com.au
 

It could be Australia's largest team and we have a couple of solid medal prospects. Australia is the only country in the Southern Hemisphere to win a gold medal at the winter Olympics.

By comparison Canada has completed in every Summer Olympics since 1924 and won 449 medals.  

We are also the only country in the Southern Hemisphere to have hosted any Olympics, summer or winter. Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000. Sydney earned the title "Best Olympics Ever" from Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Did you know Australia is one of few nations to have participated in every Summer Olympics of the modern era?  Others are variably listed at Greece, Great Britain, France and Switzerland, depending on what you are reading.

 

Team Great Britain

 

This one's for you Morag.

Earlier this week Team GB named their team. They had expected to send 50 athletes across 11 sports -Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Skeleton, Curling, Luge, Figure Skating, Short Track Speed Skating, Cross Country Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Snowboard and Alpine Skiing.

52 athletes have been named:

• Alpine skiing - Andy Noble, Dave Ryding, Ed Drake, Chemmy Alcott
• Biathlon - Lee-Steve Jackson
• Bobsleigh - Nicola Minichiello and Gillian Cooke, Paula Walker and Kelly Thomas
• Bobsleigh - Henry Nwume, Allyn Condon, John Jackson, Daniel Money
• Cross-country skiing - Andrew Musgrave, Andrew Young, Fiona Hughes
• Luge - Adam Rosen
• Skeleton - Kristan Bromley, Adam Pengilly, Shelley Rudman, Amy Williams
• Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom - Adam McLeish
• Snowboard Cross - Zoe Gillings
• Snowboard Half-pipe - Ben Kilner, Lesley McKenna
• Freestyle Skiing Aerials - Sarah Ainsworth
• Freestyle Skiing Moguls - Ellie Koyander
• Ski Cross - Sarah Sauvey
• Curling Men -  David Murdoch (skip), Ewan MacDonald, Euan Byers, Peter Smith, Graeme Connal
• Curling Women - Eve Muirhead (skip), Jackie Lockhart, Kelly Wood, Lorna Vevers, Anne Laird
• Short Track Speed Skating  - Jon Eley, Tom Iveson, Anthony Douglas, Paul Worth, Jack Whelbourne, Sarah Lindsay, Elise Christie
• Figure Skating Ice Dancing - John and Sinead Kerr, Nick Buckland and Penny Coomes
• Figure Skating Pairs - David King and Stacey Kemp
• Figure Skating Ladies - Jenna McCorkell

Morag, just so you can keep up with Team GB while you are here:

Team GB microsite

Team GB blog

Team GB on Facebook

Team GB on twitter

Team GB on Youtube

UK Olympics

Oh and for London 2012 the Aussies and the Brits have a bottle of bubbly (or two) at stake.  The president of the Australian Olympic Committee wagered his British counterpart a bottle of champagne for every medal that separates the two countries in the medal tally. Australia has won more medals in 3 of the last 4 summer Olympics. But in 2010 GB will have the home team advantage.  I still think Australia can do it.

Atlanta 1996 - Australia 41, GB 15

Sydney 2000 - Australia 58, GB 28

Athens 2004 - Australia 49, GB 30

Beijing 2008 - Australia 46, GB 47

London 2012 - Australia ??, GB ??

And last but not least the BBC trailer for their Vancouver 2010 coverage.

Paint the Town Red

The Canadian Olympic Committee is inviting all Canadians to Paint the Town Red.

What? It's a chance for Canadians to show their team spirit and be part of the biggest celebration Canada has seen.

How can you paint the town red?  How about wearing red?  Flying a Canadian flag? Make red cupcakes? Drink red wine? Dye your hair red?

What are hubby and I doing?  Well as it's December 1st and Christmas is only 24 sleeps away, so that makes it easy:

christmas gifts in red paper

 

red pajamas

 

red mittens

 

my new red bag

 

red and white decorations on the tree

 

red fairy lights (they'll go up later this week)

and who could forget the red nosed reindeer.

Today was the first day of our advent calendar.  Behind pocket #1?  Wrap a Christmas present.  Which was harder than it should have been.  I finished shopping about 3 weeks ago, and all our gifts have been wrapped and in front of the fireplace for about 2 weeks.  But we did find a gift we'd forgotten about.  It's now wrapped too.

And finally, in honour of Paint the Town Red, the first person to leave a comment describing how you paint the town red will win this red toque pin.  Isn't it cute?