The Winter Olympics, (almost) live from Vancouver, Part 1

If I was ever to write something here again, the Olympic Games in Vancouver seemed like a good reason to do so.
Let's get to it.

If you draw a North-South line passing through downtown Vancouver, and an East-West line passing through the UBC campus, I live pretty much at the intersection of these two lines. Until this week I would not have been able to guess, during my daily commute, that the Games were starting this month. There was no visible increase in population, no unusual noise or lights in the area between my home and the university. A few exceptions:
Flags of various countries could be found glued to the sidewalk just a couple of blocks away, but in a direction opposite to the one I normally take. The numbers and routes displayed on buses alternated (and still do) with "Welcome World" messages. Every time I saw one, I looked around but could not see the "world".

However, this week everyone suddenly realized the Games are starting (today!) and began to act accordingly. On Monday, while cycling home, the Vectorial Elevation searchlights were being tested. Rolling down a long hill, I had to make a conscious effort to bring my eyes back to the road. A friend I was talking with the next day had the same "problem". They've been on every night this week, forming designs submitted by anyone who cares to do so.
In fact, I'm thinking of submitting one in the next couple of days. You can too, for free and in just a few minutes, at http://www.vectorialvancouver.net/. If I lie down on the couch, I can see them from my living room!
So far, no aliens have landed.

On Tuesday Francis and I went for a walk downtown, where Games celebrations were much more present. Here are some pictures:



The first picture was taken near the waterfront. In the second, Francis stands on Granville boulevard among trees whose "leaves" are drawings made by school kids and rolled into cylinders. Then another picture of Granville boulevard and finally the Robson Square skating rink, which has been open (and free to use) since November 2009.

There were lots of excited tourists (and likely locals as well) posing with cardboard athletes. The Olympic store was open at 10pm, which is exceptional for Vancouver because on weekday nights not much is open past 6pm. In fact, other than the Olympic store and bars, this was still the case.
We did get a bit of excitement not typical of Vancouver when we noticed a lady posing outside the store, wearing ONLY fishnets and completely painted in red and yellow. I didn't take any pictures.

And finally, on Thursday evening the Olympic torch passed by UBC. I'd never seen the campus so crowded! The torch passed and was followed by a mini concert by a UBC rock band I'd never heard of. I saw a total of one protested holding a sign, and he didn't seem very motivated in the midst of all those excited people. Here's a video of the torch and its carrier during one of the UBC stretches: