March 14

I am blessed and very content. Yesterday was my last day at work at the Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games at BC Place. Out PRG lighting crew managed to get at least 50% of the lighting tasks finsihed in the first day of the strike. We worked very hard and it was fullfiling work. It is hard to believe that i am now b...ack in Victoria and resting on a comfy bed.. such a luxury for sure..something i hope to never take for granted again. I walked out of BC Place last night with a huge smile on my face and satisfaction in my soul. What an amazing 2.5 months it has been. The touring PRG crew and managers were 200% , 200% of the time; professionals through and through. I never heard one sigh or impatient word or tone from any of them in 2.5 months.. such an amazing group of guys to work with. What a blessing it has been.

March 12

today is March 12...hard to believe that one month has passed since the opening of the winter olympics... but today i was ejoying the thrill of it all with the opening of the paralympic winter games...
as you can see, there are many pictures.... enjoy

Tuesday March 9 - hard to believe that it is the 9th already. Tomorrow is the security sweep through the building and another day off for me. I am back to work on Thursday and possibly it is my last day at BC Place; something i am not looking forwards to.

One of the high points for me today while working was working on... the colourblast lights on one of the stages. There was also pyro being tested in the same area; the guys informed me that they would be testing it - I chose to stay there and continue tidying up cable etc. Every time the pyro went off i started to laugh and laugh and laugh. I laughed nervously and told the pyro technicians that i was ok and that i just had to get used to it. It was a humorous situation.

march 8

I have put dinner on the stove and it is simmering,,,,yeah!! As I was chopping up all of the veggies i could hear knawing and scratching in the wall....i think it best that i do not investigate the other dweller that resides here. Tomorrow is another day at work as a part of the running tech crew...the paralympic torch... is in Whistler today and off to nearby communities this week. I am sure the world will be arriving soon once again. Four days till the opening ceremonies of the paralympic games

Today is Monday March 8 and a beautiful day for a stroll in the sunshine. I was off to the PNE to get my new accreditation for the paralympics...very quick and I was there and back within 45 minutes all by bus both ways. I decided to take a stroll over to commercial drive and walked south and looked at all of the cultural shops, delis and coffee shops. I then continued my stroll in the sunshine along East 1st avenue.

March 7 2010

Finally i have a day off.. I am happy. Time to sleep in, update my blog and go grocery shopping. It has been a long run s since my last day off..

I am off to go get my new accreditation today at the PNE...not much else is on the agenda other than resting and relaxing.

March 4

March 4 - we loaded more cases and lights and gear today. A truck arrived at 12:45 from LA and by 2:15 it was loaded and on its way back to LA with gear for the Academy Awards show on Sunday. So.. i will be watching them on sunday night and looking to see what Bob Dickinson designs for the lighting design; I will say.. i know that light! hahahahah...

It was a long long and tiring day yet again... did i say i was tired!!! YES! I am happy that i have an evening to rest and try to recoup... Colleagues from other departments working at BC Place have started to leave and say goodbye. Our German boys who managed the falcon lights left yesterday.. and new friend from ETC France ..Rachid, left today as well. I saw Rachid in the hallway and started to chat,, he insisted en francais.. to help me of course.. i tried a little .. it was very tough. Axel (spot 12) came along and then they continued in a rapid manner. I stood there listening and grasping parts of the conversation until i was quizzed now and then. !! hahah.. i did manage to recognize the humour sections which was good.. i gave myself a 45% grade.. in which i was pleased.

today is wednesday march 3.. hard to believe it is March already. The days of removing excess lights and gear is well underway. I spent the entire day yesterday removing Versa Tubes from the concert wall on the east stage.. ( wherehedly etc played during the closing ceremonies). Today i continued on that task and crawled understages etc to gather cable and later pushed versa tube boxes. These are very cool lights.. they are used on many concert shows behind the singer and use LED technology and change to various colours quickly.. they are great.

I am super super super tired and was very happy to get back to the house and have a soak in the tub... my feet are still throbbing ... off to bed very soon for me.

i will add more pics tomorrow if i take any more.

march 2

The party was great.... it was at the Rocky Mountaineer railway station... about 300 people were there. The atmosphere was great and a live band was the entertainment for the evening. My friend (spot 5) Jonesy and his wife picked me up and dropped my off after the party. We enjoyed the party together and then the band.. INXS !! the small crowd enjoyed the private concert. The favourite tunes started and the concert was enjoyed by all including me.

Time for work in the morning is 8 am... tomorrow will be very very long I am sure.

monday March 1

Today is the first day of cleaning up for me.. the games are over and now begins the tougher duties. I understand that tonight there is a wrap party for the DAEP employees and contractors.. david atkins enterprises productions...

after a long and tiring day from 8 am to 6 pm.. i am off to the house to have a shower and get ready for the party. I am fortunate that i have a nice jacket and some pants that are not work pants... my ride is coming soon so i will close for now. I am soo tired now and i hope all will be great at the party.

monday March 1

Today is the first day of cleaning up for me.. the games are over and now begins the tougher duties.

feb 28

The closing ceremonies are now done. what a day. The hockey game thrilled the country and so did the tying goal with 18 seconds to go in the 3rd period by the USA...drama!!! Such excitement to continue onto the closing ceremonies. I have now just uploaded photos to the blog and it is 1 am .. it took 2.5 hours to upload... the photos.. phew!
Tomorrow morning will arrive early and we continue on striking the lights at 8 am. wish me luck.

Feb 28

today is Sunday.. feb 28, hard to believe. We rehearsed yesterday for today's ceremonies...it is all coming to an end. The previous day we were called in for 4 hours for review of a new segment. i wandered down early and went to Quebec House and found a chair infront of the tv screens to watch Team Canada win a silver ...medal in ladies curling. The Canadian Men were then playing hockey and had to win to advance to the final game (today). They did win of course and there were people everywhere i am certain on the streets when the game ended. Charles Hamelin of Quebec, the mighty speed skater won 2 olympic gold medals during the hockey game and it was an amazing race. He has been selected to carry the Canadian flag in today.. bravo!! Well deserved Charles. Stay tuned for more pictures tonight.!! I am ready.

Tuesday Feb 23 2010

Another morning of rehearsals for the the closing ceremony... we were there till 11 pm last night and then back again this morning for 4 hours to rehearse the Sochi 2014 section. After I finished work i decided to wander over to the Sochi 2014 pavilion at Science World. I waited in line for 80 minutes and finally entered the doorway. The pavilion has many sections and very little translations in English. There were multitudes of people and it was difficult to stop and read all of the displays. There was entertainment on the main floor for those that wanted to sit and rest a while. There was a beautiful model of the sochi olymipc site (see pictures) and a play area for children on the main floor. The upstairs had the hockey hall of fame (see pictures) and this was a treat to see. I would have loved to see more sport history on display ..ie..the Protopopovs, Irina rodnina.( who won 3 or 4 olympic gold medals in pairs figure skating). They did have video of them but nothing was with english subtitles. There were large sections devoted to commerce and tourism within Russia..ie.. train trips and banking, as well as the auto industry with a new model on display.
The top floor included a nightclub that is not open to the general public after 5 pm..there was a large display of martini and other glasses on display.. I wonder what they were serving!? ;)

saturday Feb 20 2010

Saturday i was off to Granville island to visit the Place de la Francophone. the bus was amazingly full and took forever to get there. The entertainment had just fiished on the air Canada stage and so i just took pictures. I wandered around a bit more and enjoyed a few conversations with representatives promoting francaphone in Northern Ontario..i mentioned all the little towns that i have visited there with skating..they were impressed indeed. i wandered over to the Suisse Pavillion and the line ups were wayyy to longggg. so i wandered over to the Maritime Pavilion and turned on my heel and headed back for the water taxi to take me to Yaletown. The taxi is $4 and about 10 minutes and worth every penny of it at least once. As you can see from my photos there are many nice viewing options.

I wandered down the busy streets to see what venues i could see before i was off to bc place for my 830 pm start time for work. The line ups were tooo crazy and so i just took some photos.

Thursday Feb 18

...Hard to believe that it is the 18th already...time is flying by quickly and it is already day 7 of the olympic winter games. I am off work today and off to the pavilions and the lineups that are now famous around this city. Basically, any event that is free has a huge lineup,,, and events that are ticketed have line ups as well. The skytrains are packed like sardines and alot of people are moving about every few minutes. There are plenty of volunteers and city of vancouver information people to help everyone out.

I am off to yaletown Live City to experience this park today. The first line up is for the coca-cola pavilion that has a line up of about 25 minutes. I wait in line and the sun is beaming down on all of us like a warm spring day.. it is truly hard to believe it is not late April. The line up is worth it and the venue is interesting...too many excited kids are pushing in the line ups and it is hard to stop to take pictures and see all the displays that coke has prepared for its visitors.. i do have some pics as you can see below. I am soon off to the Acer pavilion where it is mainly a fun venue for kids to play games and 3D displays. Panasonic and Samsung have pretty much the same type of displays... lots of games and little else.. too bad.

I am still feeling quite blessed for seeing the medals last night..truly privileged to see them up close and all. I am humbled for sure.

a day out and about

I was to work this morning getting ready for the closing ceremonies, but alas, as usual,

Sunday Feb 14 2010

Happy Valentine's day everyone. Hard to believe what i have been through in just 7 days. One week ago i was living in the west broadway area. i woke up after found my car gone, i experienced my first Olympic Anthem emotions last Sunday. I then found my car in a compound, moved to an area that i was uncertain about, had to experience shell shock for a new living condition that i was not used to. Two fellow spot ops took me under their wing until my living environment was more stabilized and i stayed one night at Heather's place in Richmond, and Jonesy drove me back to my door 2 nights. A cleaning lady came in and said she would make it a place for me to live in.. she did wonders.,, she is a true wonder woman. We soon went into rehearsal mode for the openining ceremonies and then on Friday morning at 12:30 am.. we started to reheare the torch relay with the torch bearers. Emotions started to take their toll on me with the extreme lows and now extreme highs and extreme fatigue was hitting me.... i had been unable to get more than 4.5 hours sleep a night due to allergies with dust and other allergens at the new living quarters. Then Friday was upon me and such an amazing day in every respect. I am now sitting on several sleeping bags and blankets on the floor with a wooden chair holding my computer. ...the sun is shining and i have some macaroni boiling on the little gas stove... :) such a wonderful difference.. all is calm and good. I am eagerly awaiting the start of the pairs short program from the olympic coliseum on Hastings and Renfrew... this is sooo exciting indeed. I did add some videos and forgot to mention that on Friday we were all blessed with a wonderful gift of love.. a bagpiper walked the ring road and played wonderful bagpipe favorites serenading us all..it broke any tension that was in the air.... it was wonderful!

Photos and videos are available for viewing on my blog on facebook..

here is the address...

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=app_2392950137&gid=404378950356#!/group.php?v=wall&gid=404378950356

saturday feb 13

It is saturday afternoon and it is hard to believe that the opening ceremonies came and went so quickly. I had a great big smile on my face and felt quite proud .. the team of followspot operators did a great job and we were very poud of our accomplishment. I managed to remain calm during the entire ceremonies; I was ...very focussed and checking the tech specs on my sheet and presetting my spot for my next cue.. this helped alot to prevent me being nervous. Before I knew it Matt (spot 15) and I were guiding Gretsky off of the stadium floor with the torch as he was on his journey outside to like the external torch. The ceremonies were soon over and the audience began to depart. I departed the building and did a quick tour around the Ontario and Quebec pavillions..too many people and soon i decided to head back to the house and start my downloading of the pics that you have already seen. What a day it was indeed!

Friday feb 12 - the opening ceremonies !

Here is it.. The day
that British Columbia has been waiting for ….8 years in waiting and it is now
before us. It is 4:30 pm and the stadium is starting to fill up. I started the
day with a wakeup call from my mom who told me that the torch relay was on TV.
I turned on the tv and watched some of the relay before getting ready for the
day.

I decided to make my way downtown early when I
saw the crowds on tv… I was out the door at 10:15 am for the noon call. I heard
the helicopters and noticed that they were flying quite close to me. I wandered
2 blocks away to east hastings and noticed that the torch relay was on its way,
I waited for 5 minutes and the torch ...passed right by me. The locals of East
Hastings were very excited and someone mentioned that they had never seen the
neighbourhood so excited. That totally made my day. I then met a fellow who
mentioned that everything is Beshert..Meant to be.

I wandered down to
the stadium and passed through the security quickly. All was well in the
building and everyone had a huge smile on their faces. We met at the PRG tech
office downstairs with a pep talk and then headed up to our spots. We had a review of all of the cues and then
had a break. We had our review of security detail etc and practiced more of
certain cues we needed to review.
It is now 5:05 pm
and the pre-show has just started. The audience is being educated of when they
need to participate and shine their flashlights or hit their drums in hand. I
hear the helicopters overhead and I am very happy to hear all of them above keeping
us all safe. The protesters gathered near the cenotaph this morni...ng and they
did disrupt the torch relay. I am calm at the moment and think back of the
amazing 2010 so far that I have experienced. This opportunity is God given and
I am very grateful to be a part of this experience. A friend of mine Mikal
Williams suggested my name when he was called for the job.. Thank you Mikal.

These are memories that I will have for the rest of my life. I have been
bursting inside to share certain detail with you.. And by the time you read
this… the ceremony will be over.

I am excited as I am
one of the spotlights who will light up the canadian flag when it enters from
the East vomitory. I am also bringing in
th...e olympic flag and the torch bearer who will enter the east vom. Rick Hansen
is the man in motion and the one who will hand it off to the torch bearers on
the field of play. The 5 torch bearers will congregate and me and Matt (spot
15) will guide wayne Gretsky up to the stairway where he will take the torch to
the cauldron outside of the stadium. The power in the battery is about to fade
so I shall close for now. I will update this later tonight after all is done
and I am back at the house. This is the experience of a lifetime and I humbled…

Thursday thoughts - after a difficult night of sleep due to allergies and getting sick i was off to the final dress rehearsal. I walked through the rain and made my way to the gate to pass through... we can not let you in this gate.. sorry! I think i heard that 2 times... In a panic i finally made my way to the gate and security; I only had a few minutes to make my way to my spot light before i had to announce my spot number for the row call on headset. I made it up to the spot booth, put my headset on and announced my number, turned around and noticed a valance drape hanging in front of the upper spots 10 feet away from me and basically cutting off 65% of my coverage area. After a few hours and the bosses came around to see what our sight lines were all was fixed. Within this waiting period it was very stressful and emotionally frustrating; I sat and watched my cues go by as the Olympic Flag bearers marched with the Olympic Flag across the stadium floor; this was the first time I saw who would be marching with the flag. Such a great team of people that they have chosen.

The rehearsal continued and soon the truss in front of me was lifted all the way to the ceiling; now I was only missing one cue in one scene.. how wonderful.
The rehearsal continued till 10pm when we had a coffee break and a chance to get something to eat (very quickly). Upon returning from our break we continued with protocol, and then the torch rehearsal once again.

I am one of several spots who brings the torch bearer into the stadium.. what a selection .. the place will go nuts! WOW... the torch continues on and passes from person to person ( as in previous Olympics) ..I am one of two spots who lights the final torch bearer.. I am humbled.

The rain continued as i made my way back to the bus stop and then back to the house. Upon my return i noticed a note from Joni.. the Irish cleaning lady.. she cleaned some more and made a dent in the kitchen.. i could hardly believe my eyes. WOW.. what a wonder woman she is.

It is now 2:30 am and i 15.5 hours the opening ceremonies will begin. Be sure to watch it all.. it will be a great show to see

Wednesday Feb 10

Wednesday - it is hard to believe that it is 2 days away from the opening ceremonies now. I noticed an increase in tourists today outisde of the stadium area.. the world is finally arriving. Each day that i wander to and from the stadium i stop and chat with police officers from all over the country.. this is so cool! i have met police from Montreal, Trois Riviers, Calgary, Toronto, Hamilton and metro Toronto so far. It has been great! Today i did see Police officers from Saanich and Nelson, but i did not have time to stop and chat.

This evening we had another dress rehearsal minus the torch relay etc. and Olympic Flag ceremonies. The stadium was not completely full but it was very exciting! I had butterflies in my stomach as the clock and the stadium counted down the last 10 seconds. I also grew very proud as i prepped my spotlight on the Canadian Flag and the honour guard. The spots did well through the rehearsal and we all felt pretty proud by the end of the show and ceremonies. It was great to hear the cheers of the crowd when the Canadian Team stand ins marched into the stadium... it will be so loud on Friday when the real team and our flag bearer march into the stadium!

When the stadium emptied the spots in the upper bowl (16 of us) rehearsed the torch relay ceremonies. There are about 5 of us on the torch bearer who enters the stadium and i had a huge smile on my face when the stand ins stepped aside and the real players were in place and rehearsed. My heart and stomach was all a flurry when i saw who it was who will carry the torch into the building. The stadium will go absolutely nuts! I am sooooo excited for you all to see it.

Wednesday Feb 10

The cleaning lady i met yesterday.. she is this older Irish lady who has the best wit and takes no guff from anyone! she is a hoot! I go back tonight after the rehearsal to see how it is.

What a day it has been... it has been full of emotions and me on the verge of a meltdown, full of disappointment. I finally found my car after a lengthy walk and paying the compound fee. I then packed everything up and moved to a new location as i had no place for my car to be without it being towed on a continuous basis. I could not handle this emotional toil so close to the opening ceremonies etc.. I also felt that my roommate/landlady had too much stress on her plate with Olympic responsibilities and that my arrival did not help her situation and her stress level at the apartment. I took a risk and found a new place that is $100.00 a week in the Clark and Prior street area just south of east hastings. I arrived and the key didn't work for the door. I left and went to work preparing mentally for the full dress rehearsal with 35000 spectators in the stands. It took me a little while to focus in and to forget my daily challenges with accommodation etc. This day at work went very very well and was very exciting for all of the spectators. It was emotional hearing all of the crowd roaring with excitement as the Canadian (stand in) team entered the building for the athletes march...very exciting indeed. All went well with the spots and in general the show I felt. We all felt great after the show. My stress and worries returned as I made my way to the new location and hoped that my car and contents were safe and sound... all was good and fine! Thank you God. I am now settled in the new place... it is an OLD house for sure and I am huddled on a box in a room with my housecoat around me to keep warm... I have internet and TV and this is great! I think the next few weeks will be challenges again for me... it will be so good to be at home again!

sunday

It is a little over 24 hours since my last post.. and what a difference it is with the mood of the day. The place I am staying at on west broadway is a residential zone that requires residential permits for vehicles...I was promoised a permit for my car when the original agreement was made for my staying at this place for the month of February. I was happy to pay for the permit and i received no permit from my roommate of whom i was subletting this place. She works for the olymipcs as well and is very busy in the transport division (ironic). I had parked in her parking spot when she was up in Squamish on Olympic business; she then asked for me to find a place on the street upon her return. My car was gone today when i went out before i was on my way to the stadium. i phoned her and she kindly found the name of the towing companies in the area; thank God my car was towed and not stolen. A difficult decision yet again upon me with only days before the opening ceremonies is upon us.... do i stay at this place where i have to be in constant fear i my car being towed??? or do i move yet again? I am going to move yet again after only 7 days at this place of residence. I am moving to a neighbourhood that is very close to East Hastings and I am hoping that the buses will be running late into the night. So if you are the praying type who reads this.. please pray for my safe travels in the weeks to come.

So tomorrow i am off in search of my car and to find the compound by bus in a timely manner, drive back and load my car, find the owner's son who will deliver me a key to the new place, go there and find a parking spot, unpack maybe and then go to a dress rehearsal with 35,000 people... oh well.. it can only get better from here.... you have to agree.. with me.. it is never boring!!!!

saturday night

it is the wee hours of sunday morning at 3 am. I arrived back here 30 minutes ago. It is amazing how many buses are still running at 1:30 am to get me back here. the day consisted of dress rehearsals again and it was full of new reveals once again. We went through the cues for the Olympic flag and anthem, the torch relay into the stadium, the oath and the declaration of the opening of the games. and then more. I truly feel very blessed to be a part of the process and be a part of the ceremony. i will inform you the specifics of my spot on the day of the ceremony. I had goosebumps when I saw the Olympic flag being escorted in. and then hearing that amazing anthem... i so love hearing it and reality did set in as i only hear that every 2 years. I heard another piece of music and was very excited when i recognized the voice of the singer.. very very excited.

As i walked towards the bus at 1:45 am i looked up and saw the beams of light that carve the sky every night... a part of the artistic design and the public choosing their design in the night sky. i am so very fortunate indeed.

today i went downtown to see the city preparing frantically for the world to arrive. I took the skytrain to Science World and walked along the walkway. Science world has been transformed into a pavillion advertising the next Winter Olympics in Sochi Russia. The athletes village looked ready with the flags waving in the breeze. I wandered further and saw the provincial houses along the walkway..( nothing is ready and open to the public yet). The largest house is the Quebec house.. it looks impressive. I continued on my route and saw a Latvian athlete pass me by..tall and slender with camera in hand. I continued further on my journey along False Creek in search of the David Lam park where a large stage is being set up. I turned the corner at the park and ran into my friend and colleague from my IA 168 local in Victoria. Yogi! How good it is to see you! hahah.. He just finished work and we walked to the skytrain area. I boarded the skytrain which was packed like sardines; this is the first time i have seen the skytrain completely packed! Tomorrow i am back to work and i am sure i will see more tourists who have arrived.

Friday Feb 5 2010

My day off today...i will go downtown and take pics and see what has changed... stay tuned for pics tonight.!!!

late thursday night...early hours of friday morning

it is now Friday.. what a week it has been. I have just completed 7 days work straight.. it doesnt really feel like 7 days either. It started out watching rehearsals to become familiar and today we had a dress rehearsal of sections of the show. It is all coming together now nicely. It is a feast for the eyes and ears ...and catchy tunes too...

the security sweep is now underway as we all have Friday off for the building to be swept through. Saturday will be the first day with full security in and out.. so that will be an experience.

wednesday feb 3

It is Wednesday noon, sitting here sipping my coffee. I have been overwhelmed with allergies from the poor air quality for the last fe w days ( inside the building)...but I am feeling positive it will all improve today; thanks to Sudafed and vitamins etc...

We have been going through the motions of protocol and the cere...monies. It is all coming together now and soon we will be going through entire dress rehearsals of the opening. It will be great! Each day we hear more music and the vocals that you will hear. I am excited for the world to hear that music that we are hearing now! I am sure everyone will be smiling and nodding in approval.

Two days and counting.. the official security sweep and processes are about to start. Friday will be my day off for the security sweep and then the fun begins on Saturday.

tuesday am

I am starting to feel that the transportation and amount of walking outside is going to be a nightmare. I might have to leave 2 hours early to be there, and i am hearing a rumour that we may be working graveyard shifts. The air is horrible .... my lungs beg for clean air. When i get back to victoria i am going down to the ocean and will take a deep breath of fresh air.

tuesday am

It is 01:30 am on tuesday.. i arrived back to the apartment almost an hour ago. My feet are still throbbing and i am thinking.. I am sick of walking! The walking has only started as it will be a distance to walk to get through the security, then we need to walk around the building to get to the west entrance and then w...alk back to the tech room, and then walk back to the east entrance and up to my spot. I forgot to mention that it will be quite a walk to just get to the security entrance etc.. the crowds are coming and i am sure it will be just as fast to walk as it will be to take the bus... sigh.. I did that test tonight and it was only 2 minutes faster to take the bus over walking.

with all of the exercise that i am doing, i feel like i have not slimmed up much.. oh well. Today i walked only 7.5 km.. that is alot less than i did the first few days.

sunday

it is Sunday, last night as i was going back to the apartment i was trying to think of what day it was.... i had no clue; I had to look at my phone to see the day of the week. Today I feel slightly more rested and just ate something for lunch... I feel much more energized than i did yesterday.

The show is expanding as ...we go through each of the scenes and add more spot cues. the FS caller added that this is one of the most complicated and tricky followspot shows around ... no pressure...!!! It is definitely a feast for the eyes to see.

Saturday

today i am settled in my new place on west broadway...this will be interesting too!

Sunday

Today is another rehearsal with the follow spots. We rehearsed 6 scenes three times. I can hardly wait to see the rest of the scenes that are planned. It is very exciting. As I mentioned before, I am a spot on the upper balcony ring; the approximate distance from my spot to the field of play/stage is about 360feet.. It is a big show with lots of wonderful things. the other day the carpenters who were working in the seats were kind enough to build me a little platform to stand on.. i now have a 4.5" lift on the scaffold so i can reach the height of the controls on the top of the spot light!hahahah..

The skytrain is getting busier and busier and more crowded each day.... and a lot of the tourists haven't even shown up yet... It is 11 days till the opening ceremonies and I can hardly believe it. I am so excited for all of you who will be watching the opening ceremonies by TV, internet or in person.

Friday Jan 29, 2010

today is Friday and day two of the dress rehearsals with the followspot. It is very exciting. My thoughts yesterday.... I am on spotlight # 6 way up at the top on a Gladiator III series. It is simply the largest spotlight i have ever worked on before! I think the spotlight is about 6 - 6.5 feet long! hahah. It is big for sure and longer than a SuperTrooper spotlight!  It will be an amazing show... you just have to watch it. It is a feast for the eyes, and ears. The show will be incredible. I have only seen a few scenes already and I was full of aaaaaaaahhhhhhhs and oooooohhhhs. I nodded my head and smiled when i heard the music etc and saw the visuals.

My update is... i still have no key for tomorrow, but hopefully it will all come together for then. if it does not, i can always go over to the casino next doors and get a coffee and some breakfast; all will be good. I also hear that there are a few buses running in the middle of the night so all is good. It is an adventure for sure and I will simply take it hour by hour! :)  After all, if it was all tidy, compartmentalized etc...it wouldn't be me and what i am used to, or at least i think it would not be. ;)

January thoughts

It is now almost the end of January i can scarcely believe it. A few thoughts that pop into my head....$/time commuting/cost of living/new experiences

first...the amount of $ needed to live in another city while i am maintaining rent etc in Victoria is quite staggering. The cost of rent in 2 cities is alot and a bit stressful, but the experience will be worth it.

Time commuting - this was a shock to me to begin with but then i can relate to it as the same amount of time commuting to and from Duncan from Victoria. It just makes the day longer on either end.. to and from an extra 1:20 min each way.

cost of living - the cost of living is expensive here in Vancouver but surprizingly the cost of ethnic food is cheaper here than in Victoria. Victoria is an expensive city to live in and the costs of bus passes are staggering... $99 for one month to commute to and from vancouver to richmond etc.

New experiences - the amount that i have learned already is great. The one thing that i have noticed and have appreciated ... if you have an ego.. you better check it or you are out the door! Those i have seen who have big egos have not lasted at all. The PRG touring crew are all amazing and i have not seen one moment of an inflated ego, or anything. They have been nice 100% of the time. Yes the $ could be better... but working with a team who are all on the same page trying to achieve the same goal has been great!

It is Thursday morning and i am filled slightly with anxiety. i know everything will come together soon, but at the moment i see a few challenges to overcome. I work today and tomorrow at 3:30 pm to about 11 pm with the opening ceremony. Saturday I work from 6 pm to 3 am; the transit stops at 1:15 am and the area around the stadium is a no vehicle zone. I also need to be moved an in a new place on saturday ... at the moment i have no key for the new place to stay. Hopefully this will all come together on saturday during the day. The challenge will be at 3 am... i know there wil be a fair amount of people leaving the stadium at 3 am so i might be safe to walk ( to where ever i am staying) at that hour. I understand that there will be new road closures and no vehicle zones going into action tomorrow.. i just hope that it will not be too difficult for me.

an hour has now passed and I am at starbucks so i can use the internet. I feel that it will all come together somehow. It will just be me waiting for Saturday to come and then just see what will become of it all. sigh...

jan 26

Jan 26 - a day off! I hope to be back at work tomorrow... as i just had a series of days off! 5 in fact!

Jan 25

Jan 25 -
Back to work for 8 hours and i spent the entire day below the stage. What an amazing network of everything. This is here and that is there, cables are running everywhere. TV, fibre optic and other cables run below the stage for access across the stadium. It is truly an impressive underground world below the stage ( field of play ).

Jan 24

Jan 24 - a trek to Lynn Valley today ( North Vancouver) to see the Lynn Valley Park and the suspension bridge there. (free). I also walked along the trail in the park to the twin falls bridge and beyond.. lots of steps, trails, trees, and nature at its finest. I then ventured to Stanley park and looked at the western shores where the trees were damaged in previous wind storms in years gone by. A walk around Granville street to look at the art on display and then off to Queen Elizabeth Park and the nature conservatory. Beautiful. It is in the heart of Vancouver and a must for people to see. The water spouts, the view of Vancouver are amazing!!

Jan 20

I am on the skytrain headed downtown and i notice that there is a significant amount of tourists now who have arrived.. what a difference since Tuesday.. the world is now arriving. I noticed that about 10 artists from l'École Nationale de Cirque were on the train and had accreditation. I am guessing that they ...are in the opening ceremonies.. how very exciting!!! As I exited the skytrain station I noticed some art displays that were not in place a few days ago. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Jan 21

Today was a trek to Mount Seymour and Deep Cove. A lovely walk on the trail as I was heading up to Mt Seymour shows lovely trees and a beautiful waterfalls and streams.

Jan 20

Today I wandered around Vancouver to explore. I ventured down West Broadway to UBC. Along the route I found the most charming houses and neighbourhoods. I was amazed at the size of UBC and the residential area as well as the luxury homes that dot the roads in the area. One section ( west end of west broadway) had trees that lined the streets in the most spectacular way. (see photo West Broadway homes). At the end of the same block i found the most charming house right out of an old nursery rhyme. (nursery rhyme house). I also ventured over to Point Grey and looked a the water way by Jericho Beach. I can hardly believe that i have never been to this area in the 22 years that i have lived near Vancouver; I guess i never had a reason to travel that way. I chose to take more pictures again of downtown Vancouver from West Broadway's vantage point.
I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Jan 19

working with i-white lights, colour blasts and versa tubes. NICE!! they are so nice and the results are fabulous. It is going to look amazing! We travelled through to the lighting operations room and stood by for the programmer. What a view from his vantage point! The afternoon had light duties and standing by.... A few more parts of the opening ceremonies were revealed and they are impressive. A HUGE SMILE AND A NOD OF just WOW! I also think that i might be on the victory ceremonies and concerts everynight now instead of the opening and closing ceremonies. Things are constatly changing. Now a few days off to catch up and enjoy the olympic experience. I hopefully will go and see the curling venue and see the olympic rings by the media centre.

Jan 18

Jan 18 - Today is the first day of an afternoon and evening shift at BC Place. Almost all of the heavy work is complete and we are in maintenance mode and lighter duties. we took a trek to the operations room to retrieve the lighting board and move it to another rrom....just WOW! I saw the lighting board that is custo...m made and just wow. I saw the sound board and my heart started to race even faster. The torch relay is winding its way through Alberta and Calgary as i write this blog and before no long it will be in BC.

Jan 17

It is 22:25 and I am on the skytrain heading back to my place i am staying at. My feet are slightly throbbing and i have a chance to sit down at last. I am quite relieved at the moment. I am also quite happy that i am returning after only 9 hours... it is a short shift and i am quite content. Today I worked wit...h Scott and Jeff.. I havent really had an opportunity to work with them much yet and it was great. For the later part of the day i worked with Scott in the President's/Royal Box. What an amazing view from this location! In fact there is a great view from every vanatage point in the entire stadium i feel. I can now say that i sat in the President's box at the Olympics. I sat for just a few moments and smiled. The lighting there will be amazing! I love the design. My few moments quickly returned to reality with me looking down a the saw dust and unfinished areas. hahahah.

Sunday Jan 17 2010

Jan 16 - went out to Coquitlam for a trek and traveled through New Westminster. That Royal city has Olympic Torch flags lining the streets for their Olympic Torch relay!

Jan 16 2010

Jan 16 - BOY AM I TIRED!!! Today included lots of walking up and down stairs, back and forth looking for "stuff" around the perimeter of the stadium; walking up to the 5th floor where the spots are and down again over and over again! Today was the start of the rehearsals with some dancers. Very nice choices of music a...nd the lighting!!! wow.. such wonderful colours..and this is only the start of it all!

jan 15 continued

I forgot to mention that there was another reveal of another item that will be used during the opening ceremonies.. we all looked at it and all smiled and said.. "Look...that's cool!!!"

jan 15 continued

And..thank ...you to whoever prayed for me and my feet... i wore my old "showcall" black boots and they felt like slippers on my feet. Only 2 blisters today and after a while i didn't even feel the pain anymore. When i hit the skytrain tonight, my feet were very tired.

Today was a day of cables cables cables. I walked up and down and back and forth around the stadium, about 13 km in all. I am seeing the fruits of the exercise and I have lost a few lbs already! :) I plugged in 5 pin, soca, trunk and twist lock, for those in the know! Here are a few pictures from today.

jan 14

Jan 14 - a day of lugging lots and lots of soca cable.. ( big thick heavy cable) for the lights. The nice light cables were 50 ft long. I also broke new steel toe boots in today and both heels and calves are very tired and sore.. and most probably bruised. A few new items for the opening were revealed to us today.. very nice.. and quite appropriate! very nice indeed! keep my feet in your prayers please.. they may rebel tomorrow.. I am hoping they will not!

Jan 13

Jan 13..my last day off and time to find new workboots. There are not many Mark's Work Wearhouse stores near so off i go on a new adventure to find boots that fit me. I drive down to Steveston Hwy and the store there, nothing even close that fits. So i decide to venture downtown and take the skytrain to the store on West Broadway. I walk for about 10 minutes and stop and ask a fellow on the street. I arrived at the spot where it was now 10 blocks east and 10 blocks west from where i was situated. He suggested i hop the bus and go to Kingsgate Mall on Kingsway. Away i was off and the bus was crowded with people. This lady was there with her little daughter in a pink shiny raincoat sitting happily in her stroller. We smiled at each other and I disembarked at my scheduled stop on Kingsway. I walked to the boots picked up the only box that said Men's 3... yes Men's 3...promptly new they would fit. I tried them on decided to buy them and saw a sale price on the box. Reg $119.99/ Sale $69.99... I asked the associate if they were indeed on sale; the price rang up as $49.99! I had another $5.00 off with my discount card from IATSE and the Marks WW stores. The entire process took about 10 minutes! I was happy indeed. I wandered back to the stop and waited for the bus. The same lady with her daughter in the stroller walked up with a smile and said that she was waiting for the same bus too! What a small world.

Today is a day dedicated to rest and going about Richmond. I managed to do some errands and check them off of my list before the busy times start again. Tonight i am catching up with a girlfriend and tomorrow I am off to look at more Olympic Venues and take pictures.

Seriously the line up at Petro Canada today... 15 minutes. I am not joking!

Monday January 11 2010

Today was a day for rest and relaxation. The weather of +10 degrees caused alot of rain and after a while i decided to venture out.

I went over to the Olympic Oval and walked about. You can see from the pictures that all is not finished at the venue, but I am positive that in 2 weeks the pictures will be different and looking ready for the world.

I went to the mall to wander about and decided to go into Winners. I have a gift card from Alan for this store and searched about. Just about when i was about to give up I saw a familiar LOGO! I couldn't believe my eyes and started to try to the selection.
I found a winter jacket and wouldn't you know it was lime green!! I am very happy with my new addition to my wardrobe! I ended up paying only $15.00 so i am very satisfied.

Sunday at last

I woke up tired and fatigued. I drove to Burnaby to attend the Burnaby Willingdon church for a morning church service. WOW. They have alot of people there. I was squeezing through people like a busy skytrain during rush hour on a weekday morning. There were people sitting in the congregation with ear buds listening to the service in their natural languages. I was impressed.. translations into Korean, Chinese and other languages. The music was loud, but then i sat in the balcony right behind the tech booth and the line arrays were pointed straight at me; I am sure it wasnt as loud on the floor.

I then proceeded to Metrotown to wander around; I have been there before but it had been a few years. I wandered around and chose to leave after 90 minutes as i was tiring out quickly. Do you think i could find my car! I will say it only took 10 minutes to search it out.

I am now back at the place i am staying at in Richmond lying on the bed trying to rest my poor feet. Lesson learned. do not go back to metrotown when i am fatigued!

I have seen very little around that is reflecting the Olympic spirit; some stores do have Canada flags and the Olympic mascots decorating the windows.. but very little so far.

I will go and search out the Olympic Oval tomorrow and maybe the Olympic curling venue. I will take a few pictures from outside and post them when i can.

Day 3

The day started off great with my meeting up with Heather on the skytrain at Riverport station.. we were on coffee yesterday at BC PLace and learned that we were taking the same route to get to the same place at the same time.. so we should catch up and travel together. This was nice. We talked about bruises, fatigue and my experience of getting lost already since my arrival last tuesday hahahah.

More lights, more stacking and unstacking boxes, more walking and more carrying lights to their destinations at BC Place. I walked by one of the wardrobe rooms and saw a glimpse of a costume for someone.. it waa a lovely colour and looked quite nice. I can hardly wait to see the rest.

The afternoon had a bit of a surprise that i can not really get into specifically, but i appreciate the ground riggers that i work with at SOFA so much more now. I plan to walk up to them and thank them the next time i see them on a call in Victoria.

I exited the venue ( like Wednesday) and saw that GM Place beside us had a hockey game in full swing with the Canucks versus the Calgary Flames. I commuted back to Richmond to see the 3rd period and overtime of the game on TV; full of rivalry and flights as well. A good time to sit back, have dinner, an ale, and rest my feet. Oh yes, i did have some popcorn after that!
how i missed that. Now 4 days off total to recover from my sore aching muscles and bruises. By the way,, I walked 22 km at work.

Day 2

day 2 was very tiring as well. To walk the ring road of BC Place is 1 mile I understand. I walked a total of 22 km at work I think as my pedometer said 23.5 km when i got back to the house.

The after lunch part of the day consisted of taking macs, varilites, and another light our of boxes and placing them in certain places... 200 of them. About 9 or 10 of us did this for 4 hours.

I was SOOOOOO tired and my arms were soooo sore by the end of the day.
It didnt help that when i finished my day I drove to Richmond to find a CIBC, London Drugs for some pain killers and then promptly got lost and had to wander for an extra few minutes the wrong direction and then had to back track back to the car. Those extra minutes counted preciously for time off of my feet!!

A day on the sky train and checking out downtown. I almost feel ready for tomorrow.

Yesterday was the first day of my new adventure… I was on my way to the Winter Olympics! I can scarcely believe it . I was on the ferry and all was quiet with exception of the World Junior hockey game and the buzz surrounding that. I decided that i will pen my thoughts and feelings over the next 8 weeks, and I hope it will be an experience that will be an enlightening and memorial experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

My first reality shock of how much it costs over here (other than the price of gas at $109.09) was the price of a bus pass today for a 2 zone pass.. $99.00. Wednesday I will experience a trip on the Canada Line.

stay tuned for more to come later today