By Frank Moher Hello India. Canada here. Just chiming in to say, in a spirit of Empire solidarity: Ignore the critics of your upcoming Commonwealth Games. The keeners who arrive early will always find something to gripe about. We speak from experience. In the days before our Winter Olympics, all sorts of rude people, who […]
sports
At the Paralympics, patriotism kicks in
By Bev Schellenberg Already the patriotic glow has started to fade for some, but not for the 60,000 people who filed into BC Place Stadium for the Paralympic Opening Ceremonies. My 12-year old daughter, disappointed at our not being able to afford the $175 minimum price tag per person for the Opening and Closing Olympic […]
Mittens, love gloves and other Olympics memories
By Bev Schellenberg The Olympics are over, but the memorabilia is here to stay. Vanoc reported that, by midway through the 2010 Games, it had already reached its $50 million sales goal, double the amount that merchandising brought in through the entire 2006 Winter Olympics. Three million cute red Olympic mittens alone were sold by […]
Olympics Anywhere
By Bev Schellenberg So you don’t have tickets for any of the 2010 Winter Olympics? Consider yourself lucky. Think of it: by not going to the Opening Ceremonies, you’ve now saved the $175-1,110 ticket cost, the aggravation of pushing through the protestors, the hassle of braving the Vancouver rain, and the monotony of waiting for […]
Pass the Olympic doobie, man
By Bev Schellenberg “The Olympic torch came from Hitler, you know.” I pressed my phone closer to my ear, thinking I’d heard incorrectly. “Pardon?” “Yeah. It was his idea. I think, anyway. You can look it up on internet.” I never thought I’d be impressed with an idea Hitler came up with, and I wasn’t […]
Olympic serendipity
By Bev Schellenberg As a mom of two children in elementary school in British Columbia during the Winter Olympics 2010, I braced myself for an onslaught of Olympic-twisted curricula and information — dare I say, propaganda — coming home prior to the grand spectacle. After all, the Olympics website includes a section for teachers complete […]
Ambivalent at the Olympics
By Bev Schellenberg The Vancouver Winter Olympics will open in six days, whether British Columbians like it or not. The other day I was sitting in a Burnaby chiropractor’s office across the waiting room from a white-haired lady when she suddenly blurted, “I don’t want the Olympics here. They never asked me.” I looked around, […]
Tiger beat
By Rachel Krueger Alright, to save time we’re going to go ahead and take a head-count. If you have slept with Tiger Woods, I’m going to need you to go ahead and raise your hand. Yes, the young lady in the pink, I see that hand. Yes, ma’am, you and your daughter, check. Yes, in […]
Leaping Flames
By Jodi A. Shaw From the very beginning of the H1N1/Swine Flu drama, I’ve had zero intention of getting a flu shot. Nevertheless, even I am infuriated by the preferential treatment given to the Calgary Flames players and their families. I don’t blame the Flames’ medical team for requesting special treatment (it doesn’t hurt to […]
Animal rites
By Bev Schellenberg Zobmondo is a wonderfully bizarre book crammed with handy conversation starters for parties or family gatherings, as is the board game. Let’s play. The idea is to choose from one of two, weird alternatives, for example: “Would you rather have to kill Winnie the Pooh or Bambi?” Or here’s a question that […]
