my fav is track and field...my mom loves speed skating with apolo ono?? Sounds like that. One person died already.

omgosh. CTV just showed the video footage of the luge's accident ... i wanna cry.


RIP Nodar Kumaritashvili.

matthewgrant said:

Ya, I caught that. That was fucking brutal.

matthewgrant said:

Very sad

I attended the anti-Olympic protest staged at the Vancouver Art Gallery this afternoon. Crowds met at 3 pm, and approximately an hour after that we began to move, first down Georgia St, then onto Homer St, then down Robson St until we stopped a block before BC Place where the opening ceremonies were being held.

There were at least 8,000 gathered in peaceful protest to exercise our democratic rights to speak out against what we feel is wrong.

I left the scene at approximately 5:30 PM when it became obvious the police had planted paid rabble rousers in the crowd, though at last report from friends still at the scene nothing serious came of that. There have been skirmishes though.

Since I left I have been at my friend's apartment downtown, checking CBC periodically. The first report only mentioned perhaps 1000 loosely organized people, the current report on www.cbc.ca say a police line held back 600 people, with no mention of the thouands -including families, children, elderly, students, lawyers, and yes, off duty police officers themselves. (at least one of which I know by name, but will avoid mentioning by name here) Let the media misinformation begin.

OH CANADA! there's an slight issue with the internal cauldron but it's lit
[Edited 2/12/10 21:18pm]

Let me first say that I truly love my Org Canadian friends.

Secondly, I want to say that, while the 5 hour interpretive dance history lesson of your history was lovely...I almost set my own head on fire just to see something lit and the show come to an end.
[Edited 2/12/10 21:34pm]

johnart said:

Ya, that was total shit so long and boring...

but seriously, the lights/graphics on the floor were absolutely incredible. The whales were amazing.

Georgian delegation down to 7.

JustErin said:

The whales were my favorite.

Even Wayne Gretzky looked disgusted when the fuckin thing did not come up off the floor.

There's some very serious crimes against free speech and citizens rights occurring and you people are talking about the opening ceremony as if that was the only important thing to happen.

Awesome.

JustErin said:

&

The opening dances and costumes of the First Nations was beautiful !

johnart said:

You guys in the US didn't get to see his pathetic ride on the back of a chevy pickup to light the outdoor cauldron.

So terrible.

Oh My God.


NOW, at 9:44 PM Pacific time, www.cbc.ca is reporting this:

Anti-Olympic protesters clashed with police in downtown Vancouver on Friday night as the marchers tried to approach BC Place, where opening ceremonies for the 2010 Games were underway.

Some protesters sprayed vinegar in officers' eyes, threw sticks, and spit on officers, police said.

Two officers were injured with flying objects and one was sent to hospital with a shoulder injury but was treated and released, said Const. Lindsey Houghton.

The 125 officers assembled in two rows, along with six police officials on horseback and managed to hold back the crowd, estimated at 1,500.

No protesters were injured.

One man was taken into custody and is facing a charge of assault, Houghton said.

Protesters got as far as the corner of Robson and Beatty streets before being stopped at the police lines, about 200 metres from BC Place stadium.

The protesters rallied outside the Vancouver Art Gallery at 3 p.m. before starting their seven-block walk to the stadium. They marched along West Georgia Street to Homer Street, where they turned south then east on Robson toward BC Place, where the ceremonies began at 6 p.m. local time.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/...z0fOMtLOPe

Placards carried by the demonstrators suggested many disagreed with spending taxpayer money on the Games instead of targeting social problems.

Organizers said they wanted the protest to remain peaceful.

About 200 protesters forced organizers to reroute the Olympic torch relay twice early Friday as the runners made their way through the Downtown Eastside.



http://www.cbc.ca/canada/...place.html






What a fucking joke. First they said there were only 1000 people. Then they said there were a mere 600. Now they say there were 1500 people, and "Some protesters sprayed vinegar in officers' eyes, threw sticks, and spit on officers, police said....Two officers were injured with flying objects and one was sent to hospital"


PLEASE don't believe these reports people. I was there. There were thousands involved, and it was peaceful. The worst agitation came form hecklers yelling at the group.

meow85 said:

But there's also the luger that died . . . .

Mach said:

You know those outfits on the performers were made in China?

SUPRMAN said:

I brought him up.

Some speculation is that his accident came about because of the poor conditions, but from what I understand there hasn't been an official report.

The opening ceremony was beautiful. I liked it 10 x better than the Beijing ceremony. It was more organic and personal and I totally dug the directing and the huge floor being used as a screen. The whales was amazing. Throw in kd lang sing and you had me. Go Canada.
[Edited 2/12/10 21:53pm]

meow85 said:

So in that oh so massive crowd you claim to have been in you were able to see every single person's actions to be able to dispute the report of some people throwing and spraying shit and spitting.

Get the fuck outta here.

JustErin said:

Oh we saw it.
With some crazy waiter lookin dude runnin next to him (and others).

meow85 said:

Did you guys outsource to Toyota?

johnart said:

Oh I thought you guys cut away.

JustErin said:

I was there. Were you?

The reports by the media have been greatly falsified. Unless there was some other, rabble rousing protest today that happened to occur on the exact same route, I don't know what the CBC thinks they're talking about.

The protest I was at numbered in the thousands and was made up of families, the elderly, church pastors, union members,peace groups like the Raging Grannies, hippies, college students, and off-duty police officers.

SUPRMAN said:

Toyota, to my knowledge, had no corporate involvement. Chevrolet was a sponsor though.

meow85 said:

Sounds like inaguration in DC.

I think you'll find folk on both sides of the fence when it comes to events like this. The folk for it will match your list on the benefits of holding such events.

I don't get the Exoticizing and Tokenizing part though. I'm not being a smart ass, I just don't get it.

meow85 said:

No, I wasn't "there" but common fucking sense says that it would be impossible to know exactly what everyone was doing, especially in the large group you claimed to have been in. You can't be everywhere and see everything at the same time.

But sure ok, you saw it ALL and the reports are all false.

We'll see if video of these events emerge...or maybe you'll just claim those were made in China too.

I have to say, I am really impressed with the strength of organization on the part of the protest organizers today.

They ensured legal observers were present -lawyers and legal assistants and law students sympathetic to anti-Olympic sentiment to keep an eye on the crowd, and more importantly, an eye on the Police.
The organized a volunteer medical team in case anyone ended up hurt.
They made successful efforts to calm those who were just there to agitate and be rowdy.
They passed out information regarding citizens rights should anyone be unlawfully arrested, including the phone number for an emergency legal hotline and how much information you are and are not obligated to give to officers or soldiers.
They ensured parents who brought their kids stuck to the middle of the crowd rather than the edges. This has proven effective in past protests as a means of defusing violent tendencies anyone might have.
They passed along information about upcoming protest events.

JustErin said:

You're such an ass. Now I'm picturing y'all watching news footage of Canadians played by Chinese actors.

johnart said:

I'm sorry.

johnart said:

What's not to get? The so-called Four Host Nations have been given $25 million each in what amounts to hush money so they don't complain too loudly about the Games being held on their stolen, non-treaty territory. Thing is, a band member is only able to benefit from this money IF they live on reserve and only IF they have legal Indian status.

The mascots are ostensibly inspired by westcoast Native spirituality as a sign of respect, but they look like fucking Pokemon and all the merchandise is made in China.

Mockeries of traditional westcoast culture and religion are being paraded as proof of our inclusivity, meanwhile the majority of band members of the Host Nations are still living with the after effects of years of colonialism and abuse, and most of them live below poverty conditions.