Taking a break from the Olympics....10 years ago next week Hubby and I were married in Duncan. Many of you joined us there. A month ago we went to the Torch Relay celebration in Duncan. In a month we will be there for Christmas.
Today after weeks of heavy rain, two rivers burst their banks and flooded Duncan. A local state of emergency has been called and families have been evacuated from their homes.
Barb and Stew's house is okay. Others are not. Bob's house flooded (not in photo below).
image Cowichan Valley Citizen
Here's hoping everyone is okay. Love and hugs to all.
Can't wait until you get here next year to see the venues? Check out the Google street views. Of course they are not yet decked out in the Look of the Games banners etc. But you get the idea.
Vancouver Olympic Centre/Vancouver Paralympic Centre - Curling and Wheelchair Curling
UBC Thunderbird Arena - Ice Hockey and Sledge Hockey
Canada Hockey Place - Ice Hockey
Richmond Olympic Oval - Speed Skating
Pacific Coliseum - Figure Skating and Short Track Speed Skating
Don't forget to post a comment to win the umbrella pin.
You can now watch the Torch Relay live, wherever you are. CTV's new Olympic Torch Cam is following the relay from Halifax to Vancouver.
The Paralympic Torch Relay will begin March 3rd, 2010 in Ottawa. It will visit 11 communities over 10 days. Details regarding the Paralympic torchbearer program will be released later this month.
image VANOC/COVAN
A ticketing update:
The Main Ticket Centre opened Wednesday in downtown Vancouver in the UBC bookstore at Robson Square. Anyone who bought tickets in Phase 3 and chose the "will call" option can pick up their tickets here. Tickets purchased in Phase 1 and 2 will be delivered in early December.
It's been raining and raining and raining and raining and raining and raining, and well you get the picture. I bought a heap of these pins to send to friends and I have one left over. Pin #1157 from the Iconic series. Yep it's an umbrella and it's perfect for this week of wet weather.
So leave a comment and when it stops raining Mukmuk will draw a random winner. I'm kidding, we could be waiting a very long time. Leave a comment before 5:00pm PST on Sunday November 22nd.
With under 90 days to go to the Olympics, it's time to start getting to know some winter sports. So turn on the DVD player, grab a glass of red wine and sit back and laugh or cry, or maybe both.
Chariots of Fire, Without Limits, Prefontaine, One Day in September, Pentathlon, Walk Don't Run, Munich, The Games, The Jericho Mile , International Velvet, The Jesse Owens Story, Nadia, The Four Minute Mile, You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown (Charlie Brown competes in a kid's decathlon), Olympia, Dawn.
Have you seen the CTV BELIEVE ads? Of course if you don't live here, you haven't. And I can't post one because of the copyright. But you can see them here and here. (you'll have to watch a short commercial first).
Does the voice sound familiar? The BELIEVE ads are narrated by actor Donald Sutherland. The music is composed by Howard Shore.
The idea behind the ads is for Canadians to be familiar with their Olympic athletes. The ads tell their stories of building life around an Olympic dream, albeit in 30 seconds.
Each ad ends with the athletes saying, "Do you believe?" Believe in athletes? In the spirit of the Olympic Games? In all of the above.
Athletes who have been featured are:
Jan Hudec, alpine skiing
Mellisa Hollingsworth, skeleton
Gillian Apps - ice hockey
Patrick Chan - figure skating
Chris del Bosco - ski cross
Steve Omischl - freestyle skiing- aerials
Now you too can wear the BELIEVE apparel. "Get the gear, support the athletes and you're automatically entered for a chance to win a trip to Vancouver 2010."
Oh and if you live in Vancouver get your butt on over to Richmond Olympic Oval on Sunday November 29th. It's the last chance for you to skate on the ice before the Olympics. (Thanks to Ange for the heads up)
US athletes will once again be sporting red, white and blue and a polo pony. Ralph Lauren designed the US uniforms for Beijing 2008, and now for Vancouver 2010.
images Ralph Lauren
The closing ceremony and Olympic Village uniforms were revealed on November 4th, the 100 days to go countdown. The opening ceremony uniforms have not yet been released.
For the closing ceremony parade the athletes will be wearing a red and blue sweater, a newsboy cap, a plaid shirt for men, and navy turtleneck for the ladies and leather boots.
In the village they will don long sleeve graphic t-shirts, white warm up jackets with red and blue striped sleeves and a retro alpine ski sweaters adorned with reindeer.
You too can own a piece of the US uniform by clicking here. (It ain't cheap).
Nike will provide the competition and Podium (or medal stand) uniforms. No two of the down jackets are alike. You can purchase at the Team USA shop.
The Australian Winter Olympic team launched their uniforms for Vancouver 2010 earlier this week, and I have to say I am not really enamored with it.
Apparently they have a distinct feel of the Australian Alps and are inspired by the colours of our native gum tree. Our traditional sporting colours are green and gold, and this uniform is supposedly a modern take on that.
The formal uniform is a wool suit made from 100% Australian merino wool and it's lined with gold trim - a nod to the Olympic dream. The belt buckle is embossed with the Australian Olympic Winter Team logo. And to ward off the winter chill there is an overcoat that has a military look, which is all the rage in the fashion world right now (cause I know all about fashion, not). It's all a bit dull and bland looking.
The delegation uniform is oatmeal coloured pants, and a gum leaf green waterproof jacket with gold trim. It's an earthy Australian bush look. I'll take their word for it.
I'm not the only one who is not a fan. It has been described as dowdy, corporate, and bloody ugly.
And look closely and the uniform from Beijing 2008, it's not all that different.
Why green and gold? Our Aussie flag is red, white and blue. Just like the UK, the USA, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Russia, France, New Zealand, Peru, Costa Rica, most Pacific Islands, just to name a few. So the green and gold have been our sporting colours since the late 1800's. The green represents the forests, gum trees and pastures of our landscape; the gold represents our beaches, mineral wealth, grain harvests and fleece of the Australian wool. In 1984 the green and gold were formally recognised as our national colours.
Australians are unrestricted in their use of the national colours. Green and gold may be used in any design or arrangement of colour, emphasising the green or gold. To use them correctly, the two colours are placed together, unbroken by another colour.
We spent Remembrance Day in Whistler catching up with friends, attending the Remembrance Day Service, and a little bit of shopping. Hubby had not yet been into the Olympic Store in Whistler, so we had to drop by.
If you don't know where it is - it's in Deer Lodge, across from the Brew Pub.