Saturday, February 13, 2010

Opening Ceremonies Winter Olympics


Yeh, the inside torch malfunctions. We almost screwed the pooch but we jury rigged a solution on a day when a death occurred on the luge practice track. What a day. I found the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics to be inspiring and beautiful. I was so afraid they were going to let me down but they didn't. Sure people are gonna bitch because Gretzky lit the torch. They will say he is NOT a Canadian. I have no time for those people. He may WORK in the US but once a Canadian - ALWAYS a Canadian. Even in my own family my sister and niece are duel Canadian/Australian citizen. Neither of them would have never become part of their adopted Australia if they had to give up being Canadian. None of us would.

People around the world dream of immigrating here. It can also be allowed to work in reverse. You NEED us World. You need our politeness and the way we accept anyone who wants to be one of us. You need our idea of social justice and inclusion. They are not words to us. We LIVE that dream my friends.

One of the various highlights for me was this Canadian slam poet Shane Koyczan, who looks very much like yours truly. Until I get the clip of his performance her is an earlier taped version of his Canada-centric poem - "We Are More". You all know I love my land like few things in this world. He perfectly captured the heart of us as a nation. 'An idea that went right'. Look to the North everyone. Listen to what we have to say. Maybe we have something to teach you all.

Welcome World.

13 comments:

Drake said...

I tried watching the opening ceremonies but the droning sounds of Bob "state the obvious" Costas wouldn't shut up.

Kelly Sedinger said...

The two problems I had with it: Surely they could have had William Shatner involved, and those speeches brought the proceedings to a droning halt. (Not the poetry guy, the old white guys later on.)

Chase March said...

That poet really painted a picture of Canada. I thought it was great!

vancouver mark said...

I cannot believe that after all this time, this money and this preparation our ceremonies couldn't, ahem, couldn't get it up.

If only Gordon Campbell and his BC "Liberals" had shut down another ten or eleven schools, and cut another three or four thousand people off of welfare! THEN we could have afforded some hydraulics that would actually work!

And I'm curious to know what Rick Hansen would have to say about Wayne Gretzky's little Chevy truck torch ride (considering that Hansen has been in a wheelchair even since he rode standing in the back of a pickup at fifteen.)

And MAN for anybody who knows what to look for, that whole opening ceremony was absolutely filled with arcane and occult symbols. Let the special Olympic magic fill your sprit, indeed. Then play Ouija board with Captain Howdy while yer at it, why doncha.

And, right this second, my living room is literally shaking from the fighter jets flying overhead. It's all almost over, right? Oh, it's just the second day... Smile smile smile, welcome, world.

vancouver mark said...

uh, should read "fill your SPIRIT" obviously.
The shaking from the fighter jets clearly affected my typing.

Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...

I am sorry you couldn't watch them on any other chanelle Drake. The US coverage is always the worst.

Jaquandeor - they old white guy's can never be avoided or that opera piece of music. It's got to go as does the imperial IOC.

Chase - Yeh...that one was a great choice (I hope he goes far) as was K.D. and the song she sang. Both moments joked me up big time.

I think every kid in school needs to learn that beat poem like they learn 'In Flander's Field'

Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...

Vancouver Mark - I am evil for enjoying it all. I got caught up in the back patting and realized that my outrage will do nothing but bring me down. Lots of time for that after the games. Lots and lots of time. I just want to actually love something for once. Been a long time since I haven't been let down and it's nice to feel good about the world for a change.

TS Hendrik said...

I miss Canada. Watching the ceremonies made me want to pack up and head back.

Regarding the torch though... I laughed, long and hard. But not as much as when I watched the reactions on the faces of the flag bearers when the woman with the huge opera voice was singing and looking like some kind of awkward bird.

Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...

Yeh that torch thing was pretty messed up..but can you blame us...we killed a guy early in the day. Opps. Our bad...we tuned up the luge track a bit too much. YIKES. It needs like a safety system like at the waterslides.

Vancouver 2010 - where if we don't KILL A GUY everyday, its a success.
Next - Elimination Biathalon. 19 Competitors go into the forest. One comes out.

vancouver mark said...

And now we have battle groups of masked anarchists running through our downtown core smashing storefronts. Nice nice. Wonder how many of them are RCMP under those balaclavas...
at any rate protests of any sort will now be officially criminal in my city and civil rights effectively suspended for the next while at least. It's all almost over, right?
Sigh.

vancouver mark said...

And nobody's evil just for watching this spectacle, Cal. Is that really what you think I'm suggesting?
I would just urge you to watch what you see with some knowledge and a critical eye, to recognize the symbols they bombard you with, and to try to perceive the agenda that is being so swiftly actualized here.
They actually SIGNED it last night in a stunningly subtle way with the number so that was prominently on the windshield of Gretzky's torch drive Chevy truck,3233, 3233, 3233, 3233, over and over.
If you don't know what it means you really ought to look into it.

Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...

Yeh, I got no argument with you there. I hate to see that kind of stuff too. Crack some heads. You can go all free speech but breaking shit is NOT speech. All it does say is "crack my head please"

Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...

OH GOD..MORE numbers? Fuck the numbers. Few people know this but I had to go to the 'dummy center' in college and take Math 1A from the beginning to even get to stay in college. It was great because I learned math finally but numbers still are annoying to me. Why always with the numbers. Its like 'Lost' all over again.