CentrePlace Manitoba, the Manitoba pavilion during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, is located inside LiveCity Downtown, next to Canada’s pavilion.
The building is beautiful and provides plenty of interactive information about Manitoba.
When you enter CentrePlace Manitoba, a rotating column of televisions portray the province through each one of its seasons.
Around the back is a profile of Canada’s Museum of Human Rights which will be complete in 2012. This is the first national museum outside of Ontario and seeing as how French rights, womens’ rights and labour rights were all fought for an established in Manitoba, it is a fitting home for this museum. However, they assured us that this is not a “museum of despair” but more “an ascension from darkness to light” and the future of human rights in Canada.
The Manitoba representative summed up the province in just a few words, “bears, belugas and big surprises.” Check out the pavilion if you can – it doesn’t offer up food or beverages but you can catch Games coverage on the LiveCity screens outside the steps. It’s a great place to learn more about Manitoba, “the centre of North America” and all of its activities throughout the four seasons.
Price: Free
Hours: Feb 13 – 27, 11:00am – 12:30am, Feb 28, 11:00am – 2:30pm
Read more: They also have a blog which even has a post from our tour this morning (you may be able to spot me in one of their photos). See also Vancouver 2010 Pavilions and Hospitality Houses and all posts in my tag: pavilions.
Vectorial Elevation is illuminating the night sky, sending beams of light across English Bay and Vanier Park. When I first wrote about the free public outdoor light show I added a poll to my site where 77% of readers agreed that they are all for this display.
Walking home at night lately it just reminds me that something BIG is about to happen in Vancouver. As those beams stretch to the highest of clouds, I can feel the City’s excitement growing as my own hopes for Vancouver 2010 come even closer to being a reality.
All that being said, quite simply it’s a really cool light show. Many have photographed Vectorial Elevation so far as it paints the sky with public-submitted designs and I’m happy to report that many great photographers have added their images to the Miss604 Flickr Group. This is a quick snapshot of what Vancouver looks like at night lately and please remember to click through to the photographers’ Flickr sites to view more of their great work.
Any and all are welcome to join the Miss604 Flickr Group and add photos that are relevant to Vancouver, BC. I often look there for images to use in posts or showcase entries such as this.
With just a few days left in the 45,000 kilometer Olympic Torch Relay, I had the opportunity to ride along with the caravan in my hometown of Surrey, BC.
I sat shotgun as Art Lewis from Chevrolet drove his pickup truck behind the music-blasting, energy-bumping cavalcade of celebration the precedes the passing of the flame from torch to torch. Art’s been on the road every day of the relay and will round out the trip as the Olympic flame reaches its cauldron in Vancouver on Friday.
The crew of 220 that makes up the torch relay consists of dancers, artists, drivers, technicians, and the spirited folks who have run alongside the trucks and torchbearers from St John’s to Surrey.
Art, along with his associate Serge St. Louie have been in charge of keeping all of these vehicles in tip top shape for their cross-country journey. If they didn’t have enough on their plate already, they have also been posting updates to Twitter over the last few months @GM_ArtandSerge. They have some amazing stories from the road, and Twitpics to accompany some.
The caravan starts with a bus of torchbearers who get dropped off at their specific locations. Behind the bus comes the RBC and Coca-Cola trucks, which have names like “Twonie”, “Happy 1” and “Happy 2”. An emcee with a microphone announces each torchbearer as the Coca-Cola dance crews hop off their vehicles and pump up the crowd with Top 40 music hits.
They pass through town handing out products and flags to spectators in anticipation of the flame which follows precisely 10 minutes behind this procession.
My time on the relay started out at 112th and 72nd Avenue in Delta and stretched up to Old Yale Road and 104th Avenue in Surrey. The communities rallied on the sidewalks, in driveways, and on front lawns. Entire schools (we must have passed at least half a dozen) were standing road-side with homemade signs, torches and flags.
Art said that even though they’ve been at this for several months on end it’s still emotional. “We’re at Day 103 and it never gets tired,” although I’m guessing Art, who works tirelessly to keep this entire fleet on the road, was probably really tired when he shared that with me.
“You get a perma-smile doing this,” he added, with a smile of course. After my hour-long cruise down the torch relay route I knew exactly what he was talking about.
Children chanted “Go Canada Go” while veterans showed off their Calgary ’88 pin collections. Families waved Canadian flags in unison while high school students took cellphone photos for Facebook profiles.
Torchbearers hit the ground greeted by friends, family and fans at the side of the road. There were smiles, bear-hugs, and even a few tears.
Riding along the relay this morning in my hometown (and right past my grandmother’s house) I could barely hold back tears of pride. Here I was, just a passenger in a support vehicle yet I got to be a part of something so amazing. So many people in my hometown came together, bursting with cheer, pride, and spirit all truly hoping and believing that Canada will shine in 2010.
Last night the Olympic Torch Relay probably met its largest audience yet. Surrey opened their Celebration Site with the lighting of the cauldron by Daniel Igali, who ran the last leg of the day with the flame.
My sister said it was absolutely filled with people, which made it hard to see the events at times, but the kids had a blast and the place had a great vibe.
I was up at 4:30 this morning to do an interview with WNYC in New York and now I’m heading out to Surrey (with John Biehler) for the second leg of the Torch Relay out there. Since I’ll be following the relay in a GM vehicle, I thought I would pull my tweets into this blog post so that it updates in real-time. I’ll then have a full recap posted later today.
See you in Surrey!
Update: We had an amazing time on the torch relay. Children chanting “Go Canada!”, veteran Olympic spectators showing off their pins and swag from Calgary ’88, school groups with banners, flags waving, and a whole lot of spirit.
John took the following video along out route:
Here’s a slideshow of all my photos:
And here’s a slideshow set to music that I edited together hastily:
We rode behind the caravan of Coca-Cola trucks and the volunteer bus as it dropped torchbearers off at their starting locations. The relay would then follow behind us by about 10 minutes.
Hugs, laughter, and even a few tears — this was one of the most amazing Vancouver 2010 experiences for me and even describing it now gives me goosebumps. Way to go Delta and Surrey, you guys have a lot of spirit and it certainly showed.
Big thanks to GM Canada for inviting us along on the ride and to Art who has had an amazing journey across the country with this relay. 220 people make this thing happen every day and they’ve been at it for 103 days now. Cheers to the torch relay teams.
Some of the images are blurry as we were in a moving vehicle but I just couldn’t help but post them. You can view the rest of my photos on Flickr.
Activities:
4D theatre experience (6 minute video about Ontario)
3D televisions (no goggles needed)
Video game on the 3D TVs developed by Sheridan students
Visits from Ontario Athletes
4D Theatre Goggles – Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr
We had a fantastic time at the pavilion today and we even got to control the lights on the CN Tower live by using brainwaves (very cool).
They have a full menu filled with Ontario treats from roast duck and maple cheddar to cheesecake on a stick. Their beer selections are mighty tasty and include an organic choice. All plates, cups and utensils are also made of biodegradable material and they really encourage you recycle and use the organics bin.
I’ve only been to a few pavilions so far but Ontario is leading the pack when it comes to food, drinks, and all-round cool (okay well, geeky) things to do. You can check out my pavilions map to see the exact location and follow them on Twitter @EventsOntario.
