Another venue with lots of good-quality free entertainment, at Holland Park in Surrey, by the King George Skytrain station. Complete details at http://surrey2010.com/.
Some of the noteworthy acts are:
Singer-guitarist and CBC Radio host Randy Bachman (The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive) Feb. 28
Mariachi Los Dorados, an excellent Vancouver-based mariachi band, performs at Robson Square on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 2 and 4:30 PM. They also perform at Robson Square on Feb. 25 at 4 PM, but this will be a seven-piece band instead of the full ten-piece band.
The problem with both of these is, they allow you to view all restaurants in British Columbia, or restaurants in specific municipalities, such as Burnaby, Richmond, West Vancouver, etc. They don't have a "Metropolitan Vancouver" or "Lower Mainland" category.
If you google "vancouver food blog", you'll get lots of matches. Here's three that look good:
The Cultural Olympiad is shaping up as something big, especially if you have any money left after purchasing tickets to athletic events. You can see the schedule and complete information by clicking here.
The first piece of good news goes to people whose itinerary includes Whistler: a lot of the Whistler events are free.
Three highlights that caught my attention: Hal Willner's Neil Young Project on February 18, Steve Earle on January 23, and the Moscow State Chamber Choir on February 24.
The Neil Young Project, with Lou Reed as the headliner, is expensive; $59 and up. The Moscow State Chamber Choir is only $20. Steve Earle, a Country singer-songwriter who didn't come off the Nashville assembly line, is priced in the middle.
A site has been set up by VANOC for the legitimate re-sale of Olympics tickets. It starts here.
Ticket scalping is legal in Vancouver, but counterfeit tickets have been a problem at times. This legitimate re-sale site charges a commission of 20% on the face value of the ticket.
During the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, there was an office where holders of tickets they did not intend to use could turn them in for re-sale. The problem was, there was a platoon of professional scalpers in Lillehammer. They would be at the front the line when the re-sale tickets were put on sale; they would buy these re-sale tickets, and immediately try to scalp them.
TransLink, the agency that handles public transit for the Vancouver area, has made transit passes available that cover the entire six-week duration of the 2010 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. These passes start on February 8, and run through March 21. A one-zone adult pass costs $110, and covers buses, the Skytrain, and the SeaBus.
It's important to note that you can also buy a one-zone adult pass for the month of February for $73. You can also buy a book of ten "FareSavers", one-zone adult single tickets for $19. It's also important to note that if you're staying outside the Vancouver city limits, you will probably need more than one zone; the rule on this is, zones are in effect prior to 6:30 PM Monday-Friday.
Information about the 2010 Games Transit Pass is available here. This page also has a Fares & Passes link, which will take you to more useful info about transit for the 2010 Games.
1. It is none of the Canada Border Services Agency's business whether Amy Goodman or anybody else wants to talk about the 2010 Olympics or not. From the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: "Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
(a) freedom of conscience and religion;
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
(d) freedom of association."
2. "The Canada Border Services Agency didn't respond to our request for an interview." Let's see if they will respond to a subpoena instead.
Story by Petti Fong of the Toronto Star: What Olympics? Baffled U.S. radio host interrogated at border "Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman Faith St. John said she could not speak specifically about Goodman's detention. But she said anyone entering the country may be subject to a more in-depth examination.
"It should not be viewed as an accusation of wrongdoing." Wrong, Ms. St. John. If there was no accusation of wrongdoing, why was Goodman told that she had to be out of Canada within 48 hours?
Video story (with transcript) from Democracy Now. Includes quotes from Chris Chaw, David Eby.
Do your plans for the 2010 Olympics involve driving an RV to Vancouver? You'll be able to park it overnight in the Jericho Beach parking lot for $95 a night. Here's the story from CBC: Jericho Beach RV camp OK'd for Olympics.
Now, 95 bucks for a parking spot sounds like a lot of money to me, but I'm not an RV driver, so I don't have any idea of what goes for "reasonable" in this area. I know that local RV parks are charging $250 a night.
Wal*Mart usually allows people to park overnight in their parking lots for free, and the Wal*Mart off Highway 91 in New Westminster would work for this. (Some of the other Wal*Marts in the area are part of malls, so Wal*Mart doesn't own the parking lot.)
That aside, my suggestion is, try Craig's List. You should be able to get at least as good a deal as the Jericho Beach lot.
At present, the ferry schedules for Vancouver Island. the Sunshine Coast, and Bowen Island are not going to be altered to accomodate people who want to come to Vancouver, Squamish, or Whistler for the day. And, if you want to stay overnight in Vancouver, good luck finding a hotel room.
Overall, things are going well for facilities for the 2010 Olympics. There's ski jumping and cross-country skiing at the Callaghan Nordic Centre in Squamish. They just had the Canadian Luge Championships at the Whistler Sliding Centre, and the Canadian Bobsled Championships are happening there March 21-22. The University of British Columbia ice hockey team has completed their first season in their new arena. The World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships is happening at the Richmond Olympic Oval, and there will be public skating there starting June 1. The new Skytrain line to the airport and Richmond isn't open yet, but they've been running test trains along the route since December.
The outstanding headaches for the Olympic organizers are still security costs (latest estimate: $900 million) and construction of the Olympic Village. Yes, the village will be completed on time, but it took an act of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly and a $450 million loan from the City of Vancouver to keep it on track.
My humble suggestion is, if you live in a city that is working on a future Olympic bid, give strong consideration to billeting athletes and coaches, or put up portable housing on an empty piece of land.
