Saturday, June 17, 2006

More anger

Bad allergies...

cotton pickin' congestion = very little sleep.

Allergic to?

could it be car exhaust that seems to be everywhere in this once pretty clean air city?
Or is it a psychosomatic response to computer problems and telecommunications fiascos?

Pollen and dust from all of those pretty front yards I walk through delivering mail and all those new construction sites is the most likely candidate.

I feel like is should start a new life somewhere else. Vancouver is beginning to spook me... All these Olympic cost overruns I can just feel it.

I remember going to vote for the "do we want the Olympics" referendum... And I think it was Sweden who's citizens voted against having it and I was feeling that this was our turn to stick it to the fatbacks... I remember voting at city hall and thinking we are going to gong this guaranteed disaster.

It was another classic case of "me" thinking "we" as a citizen of the planet earth and being served a cold dish of reality. I believe 67% voted in favor of having the Olympics which really isn't that big when you think about it. When I got 67% on my Chemistry exam in university I wasn't exactly elated.

I just can't believe that in 2003 (was that when it was.. Once again I am a bit foggy on detail) a human being could be fooled into thinking having the Olympics is a good thing. It is coming out now that security, which the Olympic committee bugeted 115 million for "security" might be a low figure considering Athens spent over a Billion on "security". In that news article it stated "it brings speculation on the credibility of Olympic estimates".

Which was my point when I went to vote... I don't trust those greedy swine bastards for a moment when they say the Olympics will be good for our "world class city". Sure real estate agents and developers and construction workers are writing their own ticket right now but what happens after the 2 week party when all the construction workers are out of work and the unemployment rate takes off around the same time the bills come due.

For about a week I was considering running for mayor on the platform to foil the Olympic bid. I was thinking that if I could get in on some debates I could at least make some points. I would have been shut out and in the end I got a job working the election which paid me about $150 and forbid me from running. You got to get what you can while you can.

4 comments:

The Mule said...

How about the prospect of Olympic hockey on NHL-sized ice for another sign that our games are, in your fine words, a clown operation? I say we have another referendum and this time let people from West Van vote.

ACM said...

I have no problem with the hockey being played on NHL -sized ice. I think the larger surface is over-rated. It's supposed to lead to more skilled, wide open play, but more often than not contributes to languid, no-contact affairs with little urgency.

Furthermore, most of the players competing, regardless of their country, will be familiar with the NHL surface, since that's where most of them now play.

I don't want to sound like Don Cherry, but I believe that European sensibilities are too often accomodated in hockey. Going to the shootout after--what is it, a mere ten minutes of overtime?--in the knockout rounds is an example.

The Mule said...

Is the no-contact style of play due to the rink size or can we attribute it to all the NHL professionals holding back during an "amateur" hockey tournament?

ACM said...

I think if you go back as far as the 1972 series there's not much evidence of NHL players holding back on physical play at international tournaments. If anything, they (the Canadians anyway) have generally been accused of erring on the side of barbarity.

I can understand the notion of trying to promote cleaner, smoother hockey, but you often hear players talk about how they find the Olympics to be dirtier than the NHL. Less bodychecking and more stickwork, I suppose.

There are undoubtedly arguments to be made in favour of larger ice; I just don't think they should be accepted as gospel (which, in my view, they often have been).

Also, Olympic organizers don't seem to have a very good reputation for regulating or officiating various sports (boxing and figure skating to name a couple off the top of my head). The words 'clown operation' definitely come to mind with the Olympics...any Olympics.