And in the world of increasing paranoia about Olympic traffic, my building just sent out VANOC's request that commuters attempt to arrive downtown before 7am, and plan to leave by 2pm or after 7pm. For more information, see: http://www.vancouver2010.com/more-2010-information/local-business--organization-and-resident-information/transportation-plan-and-maps/
Is this not just a little bit absurd? Suddenly, we are all supposed to work lawyers' hours and if we can't get finished by 2pm, we work a 12 hour day? I realize this may be life as usual for many shift workers, but some of us didn't sign up for this. At least this is only a "request" - a polite suggestions, as it were.
Another polite suggestion is that all deliveries downtown take place between midnight and 6am. I am glad I have no responsibilities related to deliveries: http://www.vancouver2010.com/more-2010-information/local-business--organization-and-resident-information/transportation-plan-and-maps/delivering-goods-and-services-during-the-2010-winter-games/
VANOC has made a number of other "requests" to the citizens of Vancouver, which included leaving their Christmas lights up to promote a sense of "festivity". At least that request only promoted laziness. Sure, I'll leave my lights up for you. It just means I don't have to take them down until it is nearly spring, which will be a much more pleasant time to do it anyway.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Code Red Vancouver: Suddenly I Am Living In America
I just found out at work today that my office building will be imposing an American-style security alert system for the duration of the Olympics. The management plan to use this system to let tenants (the nervous office workers) know the level of "threat" on any given day. The system uses colours which correspond to these potential threats.
Now, for security reasons, I can't divulge the actual colour scheme/threat system. However, to give you an idea, it goes something like this:
Green - No threats today (yay!)
Yellow - Proceed with caution because there is a potential, unknown, minor threat, possibly a protest (those damn protesters, always wanting to exercise their right to free speech. How dare they threaten my office building with their cardboard signs and chanting cries).
Orange - A definite threat of some kind in the area, such as a nearby building.
Red - A direct threat to the building itself, as in a bomb threat.
One would hope that they do not actually plan to send out this Code Red colour alert throughout the building. One would hope, that if there is a bomb threat, workers are told not to enter the building or are evacuated from the building to stand around outside or take a long lunch. I don't really care for the idea of receiving an email alert that says something to the effect of: "Hey, our building might blow up." I'm fairly confident this would be bad for productivity.
In other news, there are definitely more security cameras than ever downtown. I realized that I hadn't noticed them because many are the round 360 degrees cameras. Normally, the number of these cameras monitoring our every move in Orweillian fashion would bother me. But, given my recently developed phobia of my building blowing up, I am not as bothered by the cameras as I otherwise would be.
Still, it would be nice to see an end to this 1984 style of surveillance after the Olympics. The rainbow security system and potential bomb threats can go too.
Now, for security reasons, I can't divulge the actual colour scheme/threat system. However, to give you an idea, it goes something like this:
Green - No threats today (yay!)
Yellow - Proceed with caution because there is a potential, unknown, minor threat, possibly a protest (those damn protesters, always wanting to exercise their right to free speech. How dare they threaten my office building with their cardboard signs and chanting cries).
Orange - A definite threat of some kind in the area, such as a nearby building.
Red - A direct threat to the building itself, as in a bomb threat.
One would hope that they do not actually plan to send out this Code Red colour alert throughout the building. One would hope, that if there is a bomb threat, workers are told not to enter the building or are evacuated from the building to stand around outside or take a long lunch. I don't really care for the idea of receiving an email alert that says something to the effect of: "Hey, our building might blow up." I'm fairly confident this would be bad for productivity.
In other news, there are definitely more security cameras than ever downtown. I realized that I hadn't noticed them because many are the round 360 degrees cameras. Normally, the number of these cameras monitoring our every move in Orweillian fashion would bother me. But, given my recently developed phobia of my building blowing up, I am not as bothered by the cameras as I otherwise would be.
Still, it would be nice to see an end to this 1984 style of surveillance after the Olympics. The rainbow security system and potential bomb threats can go too.
Monday, January 25, 2010
No Snow on Mount Olympia . . .
It is t-minus 18 days before the Olympics arrive in the fair city of Vancouver. As I type, an ever-burning flame of Olympic passion is making its way across this great country of ours. And the flame has not, the organizers will have you know, stopped burning at any point, despite the serious efforts of protesters along the route - God is apparently on VANOC's side.
Or is He? (Or She?).
Right now, the media would have us believe that the organizers are falling over themselves with worry over the fact that there is so little snow in the Vancouver region.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/01/20/bc-cypress-mountain-no-snow.html
I note that some of us - those of us who live here - are actually really pleased about this. The weather has been gorgeous for this time of year. And if you read the article, it becomes clear that the organizers were ready for this possibility. This isn't the first time Cypress Mountain has been closed in January. And while I am sure that laying down straw and putting fake snow on top (a seemingly bizarre and counter-intuitive way to build a ski or snowboarding course) is a lot more expensive than crossing our fingers and counting on Mother Nature, the Olympics is already costing somewhere around 6 billion dollars, so this is really just a penny in the bucket.
A lot of people are concerned about how much the Olympics will cost, for example:
http://www.vancouversun.com/Sports/Olympics+bill+tops+billion/1207886/story.html
But a good party always calls for a lot of hooplah and a lot of bling. I think even the naysayers would be a little bit embarrassed if Canada didn't make a good showing (isn't it embarrassing enough that the new Canada Line platforms they built to hold the "millions" of Olympic visitors are about the size of a Starbucks?)
Personally, I am on the fence about the Olympics. Of course, like some people, I am concerned about the loss of civil liberties and free speech I may experience as a Vancouverite (for example, I am not actually sure that I would be allowed into an event if I was wearing a pro-Pepsi t-shirt. I hope no one tells Quebec about this). For more on these and other concerns, check out:
Ivan is definitely in the anti-Olympic camp. Let's just be honest - Ivan is a bit of Bob Downer. I mean, demise of Vancouver? Homelessness, poverty, environmental destruction, security monitoring, bills, bills, bills, etc, etc, etc. But then again, if you want to throw a good party . . .
And I'm sure that everything will go back to normal once everyone goes home. Except, of course, for that post-party-Olympic-debt-hangover. I wonder if anyone knows any good Olympic hangover remedies. Maybe Italy? Gregor Robertson should call them.
At least, by the time it is all over, it will practically be spring. And if it's not snowing now, then it seems likely that it will not be snowing then. Fingers crossed.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Olympia Rising . . .
In exactly 21 days - 3 weeks - the Olympics will descend on a city that I know and love, and where I happen to live. On February 12, the Olympic torch will blaze its way down the streets of Vancouver to its final destination. The Torch will be lit - the Games will begin.
If it were only so simple.
For those of us who live in Vancouver, watching and enduring the city prepare for the Olympics has been an intense process (maybe not like training for the luge event, but intense, like watching a two-year-old playing catch with a blackberry). Vancouverites have endured seemingly endless construction that tore up and occasionally shut down core parts of the city, fighting and distress among various interest groups, and incessant worrying about possible problems: Will the Olympics bankrupt the city? Will the Olympic increase homelessness? Will the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, otherwise known as VANOC, take away all our civil rights? (Answers: quite possibly, probably and mostly yes).
But now that the event is actually upon us - there is a certain excitement in the air. Most of the areas that were under construction are starting to shape up and look quite nice. The new Canada Line Sky Train is running, and is a super convenient addition to public transit (except for the fact that all of the platforms are far too small - there is no reasonable explanation for this). Some of the people who were adamantly opposed to the Olympics are excited about an event they plan to attend (assuming they get in after waiting 2-3 hours in airport security style line ups - check out http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/bag-checks-metal-detectors-hours-in-line-its-not-the-airport-its-the-olympics/article1437175/).
The Olympics have changed, and are continuing to change, this city. Some of the changes are permanent (the Canada Line), some are hopefully going to go away immediately following the games (loss of our civil rights) or eventually (incredible debt).
Over the next 3 weeks, and continuing into the Olympics, I plan to blog the changes I notice around the city. The great, the good, the bad, the uglier than the Canadian Olympic uniforms for the Beijing summer games (seriously - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4MpkUL51ao).
Here are just a few key changes that have happened in the city (in no particular order):
1. Bizarre, abstract public art is suddenly everywhere. It's as if Vancouver/Canada suddenly decided the arts were important and deserved funding and went on a mad, drunken art shopping spree. Particularly remarkable pieces include the giant silver fallopian tubes in Vanier Park, the maniacally laughing statuary on the corner of Davie and Denman near English Bay, and the random assortment of fish, houses, totem poles and corporate sponsored trees at Georgia and Granville (These comments are not intended as criticisms of the artists - I fully support public art, even if some of it is not my personal taste. I do actually quite like the house under construction piece. However, it seems a bit disingenuous for the government to start suddenly pretending to support the arts).
2. Apparently there is a huge new list of city bylaws that prohibit anyone from putting up signs that say bad things about the Olympics or Olympic sponsors. This includes putting up a sign in your own apartment window. I have not actually read this legislation, but lots of people are annoyed about it (I think most of them haven't read it either).
3. Beautiful David Lam park has been taken over by a humungous half of a Coke can. It takes you a while to realize that it is a half of a Coke can. Just keep staring - you will see it eventually.
4. Skating is back at Robson Square! And there is stage where bands play! And it is bigger! And yet, remarkably, and quite clearly, not big enough. If there are a hundred people on the ice, it's much too crowded. There are inevitably going to be lineups when they reach capacity. What were they thinking of?
5. Granville street is open again! Joy! And with large, nicely paved streets! But strangely, weird post things that allow cars to park on the sidewalks. At least they have re-planted all the trees they chopped down to widen the streets.
6. There are more tourists already. I am not sure why they have arrived so early, but it is nice to have visitors.
7. There are also far more police checks on the Sky Train. It is unbelievable. Almost every time I take the Sky Train now I have to show my ticket.
8. There are all these signs along certain streets that say "No parking between February 4-February 28."
9. Apparently there are more surveillance cameras. To be honest, I haven't noticed. I am guessing they are discrete. If someone sees one, please let me know.
10. Anticipating Transit Panic: Every organization and business I know is sending me all these transit tips for the Olympics. Apparently downtown will be a disaster. On the highway to Whistler, there are signs that tell you to plan ahead for long delays during the Olympics. As if planning ahead would help. Maybe they mean you should bring water and snack? Possibly a full meal? You could be sitting there a while . . .
During a big event like this, some changes are to be expected. Some good, some neutral, some bad, some ridiculous. And as I keep noticing them, I will keep recording them.
If any Vancouverites have thoughts to add, please comment or write to me. If any visitors see something bizarre, and want to know if Vancouver is really like this, please write to me, and I will be happy to find an answer to your question (And if the question was does Vancouver usually have this much bizarre, abstract street art, the answer is no - as noted above, they brought it in just for you. Lucky us).
If it were only so simple.
For those of us who live in Vancouver, watching and enduring the city prepare for the Olympics has been an intense process (maybe not like training for the luge event, but intense, like watching a two-year-old playing catch with a blackberry). Vancouverites have endured seemingly endless construction that tore up and occasionally shut down core parts of the city, fighting and distress among various interest groups, and incessant worrying about possible problems: Will the Olympics bankrupt the city? Will the Olympic increase homelessness? Will the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, otherwise known as VANOC, take away all our civil rights? (Answers: quite possibly, probably and mostly yes).
But now that the event is actually upon us - there is a certain excitement in the air. Most of the areas that were under construction are starting to shape up and look quite nice. The new Canada Line Sky Train is running, and is a super convenient addition to public transit (except for the fact that all of the platforms are far too small - there is no reasonable explanation for this). Some of the people who were adamantly opposed to the Olympics are excited about an event they plan to attend (assuming they get in after waiting 2-3 hours in airport security style line ups - check out http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/bag-checks-metal-detectors-hours-in-line-its-not-the-airport-its-the-olympics/article1437175/).
The Olympics have changed, and are continuing to change, this city. Some of the changes are permanent (the Canada Line), some are hopefully going to go away immediately following the games (loss of our civil rights) or eventually (incredible debt).
Over the next 3 weeks, and continuing into the Olympics, I plan to blog the changes I notice around the city. The great, the good, the bad, the uglier than the Canadian Olympic uniforms for the Beijing summer games (seriously - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4MpkUL51ao).
Here are just a few key changes that have happened in the city (in no particular order):
1. Bizarre, abstract public art is suddenly everywhere. It's as if Vancouver/Canada suddenly decided the arts were important and deserved funding and went on a mad, drunken art shopping spree. Particularly remarkable pieces include the giant silver fallopian tubes in Vanier Park, the maniacally laughing statuary on the corner of Davie and Denman near English Bay, and the random assortment of fish, houses, totem poles and corporate sponsored trees at Georgia and Granville (These comments are not intended as criticisms of the artists - I fully support public art, even if some of it is not my personal taste. I do actually quite like the house under construction piece. However, it seems a bit disingenuous for the government to start suddenly pretending to support the arts).
2. Apparently there is a huge new list of city bylaws that prohibit anyone from putting up signs that say bad things about the Olympics or Olympic sponsors. This includes putting up a sign in your own apartment window. I have not actually read this legislation, but lots of people are annoyed about it (I think most of them haven't read it either).
3. Beautiful David Lam park has been taken over by a humungous half of a Coke can. It takes you a while to realize that it is a half of a Coke can. Just keep staring - you will see it eventually.
4. Skating is back at Robson Square! And there is stage where bands play! And it is bigger! And yet, remarkably, and quite clearly, not big enough. If there are a hundred people on the ice, it's much too crowded. There are inevitably going to be lineups when they reach capacity. What were they thinking of?
5. Granville street is open again! Joy! And with large, nicely paved streets! But strangely, weird post things that allow cars to park on the sidewalks. At least they have re-planted all the trees they chopped down to widen the streets.
6. There are more tourists already. I am not sure why they have arrived so early, but it is nice to have visitors.
7. There are also far more police checks on the Sky Train. It is unbelievable. Almost every time I take the Sky Train now I have to show my ticket.
8. There are all these signs along certain streets that say "No parking between February 4-February 28."
9. Apparently there are more surveillance cameras. To be honest, I haven't noticed. I am guessing they are discrete. If someone sees one, please let me know.
10. Anticipating Transit Panic: Every organization and business I know is sending me all these transit tips for the Olympics. Apparently downtown will be a disaster. On the highway to Whistler, there are signs that tell you to plan ahead for long delays during the Olympics. As if planning ahead would help. Maybe they mean you should bring water and snack? Possibly a full meal? You could be sitting there a while . . .
During a big event like this, some changes are to be expected. Some good, some neutral, some bad, some ridiculous. And as I keep noticing them, I will keep recording them.
If any Vancouverites have thoughts to add, please comment or write to me. If any visitors see something bizarre, and want to know if Vancouver is really like this, please write to me, and I will be happy to find an answer to your question (And if the question was does Vancouver usually have this much bizarre, abstract street art, the answer is no - as noted above, they brought it in just for you. Lucky us).
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