Vancouver 2010 Store Opens, Mukmuk MIA

Comments 14 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Vancouver’s 2010 Olympics have a couple mascots, three to be precise. They’re all warm, fuzzy little creatures that are starting annoy the heck outta some people already. Since they’re pretty much developed for merchandising and marketing purposes I can see why they did the following:

  • They made them all pretty easy for kids to draw. A couple squiggles and circles and you pretty much have a home made illustration of one of the characters, in some form.
  • They’re all some type of bear. What do kids like? They like BEARS! Awww, cute cuddly teddy bears. An orca mixed with a bear? YAY! How about a mythical thunderbird that’s part bear? YAY! And Quatchi, well he could be mistaken for a bear but he’s big and fuzzy so it doesn’t really matter.
  • plush.png

    But here’s what gets me, I’ve become a big MukMuk fan.

  • MukMuk is not an official mascot, he simply has “side kick” status
  • He actually looks like the real animal he is depicting
  • He represents an animal from around BC, namely Vancouver Island and the interior
  • So with the launch of the brand spankin’ new Vancouver 2010 store I was thinking maybe I’d look around and see about getting a MukMuk to toss into the prize pack for my contest (that you should really enter). Nope, no MukMuk.

    There’s no MukMuk plush, no MukMuk pins and certainly no MukMuk mugs. What gives? I was saying yesterday, to those who actually care about the olympics in this town, that there should be a Facebook group to petition the upgrading of MukMuk to official mascot status. You know, one of those groups you join then forget about, but at the time you think it’s a really good idea.

    Vancouver 2010 apparel and mascot loot is now on sale at The Bay – and no, they didn’t pay me to say that, and they should donate a mascot plush for my contest because maybe that might be more incentive to enter the draw. Either to keep the toy, or to throw it on the ice at the Giants game, since that will be encouraged.

    Here are some upcoming appearances by the mascots, in case you wanna get the kiddies out to meet them:

    December 8 & 9, 2007 @ Hbc downtown, December 14th @ the Whistler Westin, December 15th @ Hbc and Zellers Metrotown, December 16th @ Hbc and Zellers Coquitlam.

    Unfortunately all appearances will also be sans Mukmuk.

    Update: Mukmuk will now appear in plush form only as he will still be considered a “sidekick” to the others.

    Throwing Real Punches: Happy Birthday Jenny

    Comments 9 by Rebecca Bollwitt

    Yeah, we’ve had our share of brawls. Last night over dinner we reminisced about Christmas tree shopping when we were little and recalled the time we got into a fight in the parking lot. We both got teary-eyed we were laughing so hard – last night – not at the time.

    Jenny's Christmas Dollhouse

    Being the little sister that I am I realize that to her over the years I’ve been an embarrassment, a pest, a twerp, a fellow fighter in a ring, a scapegoat, a patsy, and a clothing thief. But I hope she knows how much I look up to her, and that we will always be the victorious team were anyone to challenge us to a trivia game… if they dared, really.

    me n jen

    Ever hear the term super mom? Well if you’ve ever met my sister you’d see this personified, times three. Aside from working part time and commuting across Metro Vancouver, she also schedules and organizes the lives of her three children (under eight years old) and has been doing so on her own for longer than you would think possible. My sister is an amazing mother who carries a family on her back, which literally is weak from all the pressure. Despite all this, her heart are spirit are steadfast and strong.

    One of our wedding pics

    This is a big milestone of a birthday for her and I’m sure she probably imagined spending it some other way, maybe on the town or partying with a big group of friends. However, I heard word that her babies are making her dinner tonight, with some help from her man, and honestly I bet she wouldn’t have it any other way. Her kids are the loves of her life and we’re all lucky to come in fourth.

    Jenny and her babies

    She’s got another action-packed year ahead of her with her new little family but I’m positive she’ll approach it with knowledge, determination, and patience as only a super woman like herself would be able to demonstrate.

    Happy Birthday Jenny

    Happy birthday to my beautiful big sister! …Although I know you get a kick out of the fact people can’t usually tell which one of us is older, as they usually guess me. D’oh.

    Stanley Park Sea Wall Closed Again

    Comments 6 by Rebecca Bollwitt

    Did I not say somewhere that the sea wall still looked pretty sketchy and it didn’t seem like it was ready to re-open? What a crappy “I told you so” moment, the sea wall is closed again.

    Looking up Heavy snow yesterday and rainfall today has resulted in another closure of the Stanley Park Seawall. Park Board staff are consulting with engineers after a 20 foot wide mudslide occurred around 10 this morning near Third Beach.

    Stanley Park Maintenance Supervisor Eric Meaghr says it’s a bit discouraging after so much work this fall. “We had some feelings we may have issues. It’s the first big test of the area and sure enough we did have a slip off the sandstone face today.” The slide came down just south of the lighthouse, just a few hours after an inspection where they actually considered closing the Seawall for the day.

    Early reports predict the Seawall will be closed for at least several days. [News1130]

    If only we would have spent the restoration money actually restoring the park instead of paving more roads and making more parking lots.

    All Kinds of Amazing: Happy Birthday Keira

    Comments 11 by Rebecca Bollwitt

    In August of 2006 John and I walked into an apartment building for an event. We spotted a blond girl in the lobby that I suspected we were supposed to “check in” with but we just avoided entirely by bee-lining it to the elevators. A few months later that same blond girl walked into our lives once again but it was hard to ignore her.


    Photo credit: Duane Storey on Flickr

    This time she came bearing chocolate ganache torte surrounded by ladyfingers accompanied with a raspberry coolie that she made from scratch. I knew this must be someone special.

    It wasn’t until almost a year after I first ran into Keira that we actually started to hang out. She likes long walks in the park, I like long walks in the park. She likes taking puppies to the beach and running around in a bikini, I like taking puppies to the beach and running around in a bikini. She likes taking a plethora of photos of herself and well, I just think that’s totally narcissistic, honestly.

    okay that's enough puppy
    Me, Keira

    Amy, Me, Keira – Photo credit: Duane Storey on Flickr

    Okay, I’m kidding, but you may be able to see a pattern here. I’m pretty glad that we’ve become friends and that we can be brutally honest with each other while also being supportive – especially after too much red wine.


    I take great shots of this girl – thanks to Duane for the camera usage

    Aside from being truly humble, Keira’s got a big heart, imaginative spirit, and such enthusiasm about even the simplest of delights. She cares about others unconditionally and will not hesitate to agree with you if you just want to “skip dinner and have ice cream instead.” She’s a beautiful and genuine friend, daughter, sister, and table dancer and I wish her the best of birthdays. So on this “rockstar” birthday, Keira I truly hope you realize that I think you are all kinds of amazing.