For my American friends "The Night Train"

  

SUPER SATURDAY

What a day for Canadian athletes! Mens parallel giant giant slalom winner Jasey Jay Anderson wins gold

Speedskating mens long track T pursuit wins gold - no photo

4 man bob sleigh wins bronze

Mens curling Canada 6 Norway 3

GOLD

Medal count for Canada 13 gold 7 silver and 5 bronze

 

Team Canada

      

The nail biter game Friday night

Canada barely survived tonights hockey game in panic mode but finally beat the Slovakia team 3-2 Whewww that was too close!  My nails are bitten off up the elbows now and they hurt! Looey we can't have any of that on Sunday.!  Sundays game against the U.S. for the gold medal is expected to be watched by a record breaking crowd. Looey, keep cool, we're counting on you. Go team go!


Luongo gets his shot at gold this time

In 2006, Roberto Luongo watched as Canada's gold medal hopes went down in flames to Russia with Martin Brodeur in goal. This time, the goalie gets a chance to make Canadian hockey history on his home ice.

Roberto Luongo, Hockey

April 04, 1979

Birthplace: Montreal, QC

Ht: / Wt: 6'3" / 205 lbs

Club: Val d'Or Foreurs / Acadia-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL)

Coach: Alain Vigneault (NHL)

Language Spoken: English, French, Italian

Team: Vancouver Canucks (NHL)

Pronunciation: roh-BUHR-toh loo-WAHN-goh

Position: Goaltender

Shoots Or Catches: Left

Previous Competitions: Turin (2006)

History making medal day for Canada

For the first time in the history of the Winter Olympics Canada has won 10 gold medals, tying the record for the most ever awarded a host country at any games, winter or summer.
Now we have 10 gold 7 silver and 4 bronze

Brothers on the podium

Friday in mens short track 500 m gold went to Charles Hamlin of Ste - Julie, Que and his brother Francois- Louis Tremblay of Montreal, Que won the bronze.  Then minutes later Hamlin got another gold in a marathon 4 man 5000 m relay

Womens hockey Canada wins gold 2 - 0 over U.S.

The Olympic rings are glowing gold tonight for the 8th time since the games began. Several of the wonderful women on the hockey teams are mothers and that makes them pretty awesome!
Congratulations to all the players!

The drinking/smoking incident

Well, smoking and drinking cigars isn't exactly healthy although 1 cigar every 4 years shared with the entire team isn't that bad, especially when its shared as part of the celebration of legal aged women.

Most city's emit more pollution than this daily.

I have to wonder if it would have been a mens team would it have even been an incident at all?

I don't think so.......the girls only mistake was letting it be photographed.

A lesson in courage

“From Canada ...” the Pacific Coliseum crowd heard. And everyone cheered before the announcer could even say “Joannie ... Ro-chette.”

At ice level, before she had taken her first steps of the seven-minute practice, she looked like she was going to cry. She looked like she wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do, if maybe this was too soon.

She had that look of uncertainty and then she skated onto the ice for warmup, all the while being saluted by the pro-Canadian crowd at the Olympic Games.

There are moments to remember and cherish in every Olympics — moments that take your breath away, moments that make you admire what is about these Olympians, moments that seem to stop time — and this was certainly one of them.

Rochette cried. Fans cried. We cried along with her. And an arena and a country cheered and applauded and wept and watched in amazement. You can prepare all your life for the Olympic Games, but there is no way to prepare for losing your mother on a shocking Sunday and skating two days later.

The above words were written by Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun. He said it better than i could.

 

 

Joannie Rochette, 24, 2010 Canadian Olympic bronze medal winner in ladies figure skating, long program. The Quebec'er will go down in Olympic history as a brave young woman whose life and work is an inspiration to all young athletes.
 
 

what? why?

ok, i've edited 50,000000 times and for some reason the word "Canada" won't show up where its supposed to in the post below.
Its the blank spot where it says China won gold, Canada won silver and the U.S won bronze.
Really weird. I even wondered if i was giving false info and the blogger man wanted me to correct it, or even the boogy man, lol.

Wednesdays wonderful women

A four medal day for Canada!

One of Canadas most beloved athletes Clara Hughes won the bronze medal in 5000 metre long track speed skate

                                                                               

Clara has accomplished the amazing feat of winning 4 winter olympic medals (speed skating)and 2 summer olympic medals (cycling) two entirely different disciplines. Whaddahh woman!  Yay Clara!

Then we finished 1 and 2 in the womens bobsleigh event. They insist on calling  it a 2 man sleigh but it isn't. It was 2 women in a 2 woman sleigh. 2 different teams of 2 women each winning gold and silver.

Then in womens short track Korea disqualified which moved China into the gold spot, Canada to silver and the U.S. to bronze.                            

                                            

Hockey

Team Canada whupped the Russians 7 - 3

This is our goalie; my hero - Roberto Luongo

Want to become a Canadian?

Apparently it's not that hard. A pamphlet titled "A Guide to Becoming an Authentic Canadian" is being distributed at an information kiosk not far from the Olympic cauldron on the Vancouver waterfront.

Any Canucks reading? if you're sensitive stop reading now. I found it to be quite funny and true.

You can read the whole guide in two one minutes.

Step 1: "Know Your Canadian Icons." Beaver, maple leaf, Canada goose, moose, bears, Mounties, toques, loonies and toonies. Toque? That's a wooly hat, pronounced "too-k." Loonie? A one dollar coin, so nicknamed because it has a swimming loon on one side of it. Toonie? A two dollar coin, which features a polar bear. "Toonie just sounds better than Polar Bearie," says the pamphlet

Step 2: "Eat and Drink Like a Canadian." Salmon, donut holes, Canadian bacon, lobster, maple syrup, beer and poutine. Poutine? It "sounds terrible, looks worse, but tastes delicious," the pamphlet reads. It is made with fries, cheese curds and gravy. Yum, maybe.

Step 3: "Walk and Talk Like a Canadian." We learn that "eh" can be used as a statement, direction or question. And, of course, "zed" is the last letter of the alphabet.

Step 4: "Play Like a Canadian." Ice hockey. Say no more.

Step 5: "Know the Maple Leaf." We're told the familiar Canadian flag did not become official until 1965 because Canadians "were too busy eating poutine and watching hockey to get to it any sooner."

Step 6: "Learn Our National Anthem." Words in both English and French!

Step 7: A quick quiz in which we learn that the number of points on the maple leaf signifies absolutely nothing.

Step 8: Print my name in the blank, and I'm now "somewhat officially authentically Canadian." Cool, eh? Pass the poutine!

© 2010 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

I took this from the Vancouver Sun online newspaper. It didn't say who wrote it so hope thats enuff acknowledgment.

I just want to add to step #1  i'm sure everyone calls it a toque, don't they?

And when we had our chance to help name the coins i said "doubloon" for the $2.  Still think it could have been good, but too late, we're used to toonie now.

Step #3  yeah "eh" pronounced "ayyy" is something we do too much i guess but habits are hard to break.

The zed one might be hard for some. I remember being on the phone with a lady in Florida and had to give her my postal code. It happens to have a Z in it. I kept saying 3 Z 2 and she was like can you repeat that? huh? say what? pardon me? i didn't clue in and just kept repeating 
3 zed 2.
Eventually i caught on to the problem and so i sez "you know - the last letter of the alphabet" to which she replies "well! humphhh, that would be zee!"
Well, it was funny at the time.

Golden Tuesday

     Ashleigh McIvor won the Olympic gold medal in ladies ski cross.  Yayyyy Asheigh!

Medal standing is now 6 gold 4 silver 1 bronze

Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue top ice dancers in the world!

#1#1#1#1#1#1#1#1#1#1#1#1#1

22 yr old Scott and 20 yr old Tessa have been skating together since they were 9 and 7 yrs old and their performance was smooth and flawless.

Their free skate ice dance won the first ever gold medal in North America

and

 for the first time in 50 years the Russians go home without a gold in figure skating.

in Hockey news

#########################

It was an easy win 8 - 2 over Germany today. Wednesday we meet Russia

Catching up with the Olympics *4th GOLD*

I've been preoccupied and unable to keep up with my little Olympics reports.  For some unknown reason the info on Christine Nesbitts gold medal didn't appear where i put it.  Anyhow, it was in the 1000M speed skating event, which is probably old news by now.

Yayyyy yesterday we won our 4th gold when Jon Montgomery won the Skeleton. 

I'm unable to add his pic as unbeknownst to me people can't just use pics they find on the web.  So sorry to the photographers if i offended by doing this with gold winners # 1, 2 and 3.  However i'll keep the pics that are already on here and hope to not get sued for using them without permission.  I looked for those pics to give proper credit to the photographers but can't find them now.  (would they really be that mad at me?!?!?) I understand copyright laws but just didn't think of it in that way at the time. I do appreciate using them, thank you.

I'm proud to say we now have 4 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze.

*Christine Nesbitt*

***********GOLD #3 for Canada***********
Christine Nesbitt wins Canadas third gold medal in the 1000 M skating event

The Netherlands won both the silver and bronze medals.

If anybodys interested my daughter is selling Olympic stuff ; mittens, jersey, hoodie, backpack and soon some olympic pins.
Search for her at Ebay
She is seaalen

Hot off the press....

The P.O. gets in on the action. Within 24 hours of winning the first gold Canada Post released stamps to honor and preserve the first gold medal won on Canadian soil in an Olympic event hosted by Canada. I must say they look quite nice; bet they planned this.....

Canada strikes gold again!

*****GOLD*****

Womens snowboard cross competition

Gold - Canada

Silver - France

Bronze - Switzerland

Maelle Ricker of North Vancouver, B.C. Canada

***********GOLD*!!!!************

Tomorrows headlines today:

33 years in the running; 33 years waiting to win gold on our own soil:

FINALLY

we win a gold medal!

Alex Bilodeau, Canadian extraordinaire!

Alex did his country so proud today. The gold eluded us in 1976 in Montreal and 1988 in Calgary.  500 Canadians athletes have competed for this honor and today our Alex won!  This is the first Olympic gold medal ever won on Canadian soil, well, ummm, Canadian snow. 

Mogul skiing is a sport of free style skiing. It covers a bumpy course of 230 metres in about 25 seconds, or in 23.17 seconds as Alex did. Speeds of up to 65 km/hr and flying up to 20 metres in the air - the equivalent height of a 6 story building.

The drought is over and there was a collective sigh of relief heard throughout Canada.  Twenty two year old Alex was first a hockey player. He told the story of how he was at the rink one day, eating poutine, like a good Canadian kid, lol, when he made the decision to switch to free style skiing.  We are so glad he did!  Yayyyy Alex!!!!

Go Canada!!!!!

My grandson Brandon holding the Olympic torch

This torch is as yet unlit as you can see. The runner was on his way with the flamed one to light this one up and continue the journey via White Rock and across the U.S. border slightly then on to Richmond then into Vancouver. This was the first time in history the Olympic flame has been carried into another country. 

One of my daughters went to the ceremony at Holland park, near her home. She said there was about 30 thousand people there to see it and the lighting of the cauldren.

The excitement is starting!

The Olympic torch

The Olympic torch was going through my grandkids neighborhood earlier today and they were there to cheer it on. It has been carried by selected people to carry it through all of Canada and it dosn't have far to go now as its very close to Vancouver and the official start of the games. I feel so proud of Sabrina and Brandon for being there and i know this is something they'll never forget.Sabrina is 17 and Brandon is 13 yrs old.

Erosion bundles placed in garden

http://erosionbundles.blogspot.com/

Erosion bundle number one

I had a couple of heavy cardboard tubes 4" x 1" that wanted to be in the erosion project too. I covered them with handmade paper and text, paper mesh, a wine lable, ribbon, twine, wool, beads, measuring tape, earrings, washers, hand made paper beads, a tiny worry doll and misc. ephemera.

I placed them in a muslin bag and tied it up with twine

Now just have to find a place or places to hang them, preferably somewhere they can be seen from a window.

Erosion bundle number two

First i made a simple sack out of a cotton fabric

Filled it with stuff:

rolled up magazine pages, scrap of a heavy very textural hand made paper, rubber stamped tags, veneer and balsa wood, old decorative chain, broken copper bracelet,paint brush, scrap from a wicker basket, red moss, a rusty lock, pennies, safety pin, earrings, mohair, netting, and on the outside colourful threads and yarn to encouage the birds to participate.

Erosion Bundles

http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/2009/08/disco-discovery.html


 
An artist in one of my yahoo groups mentioned a project that sounded like fun.....i clicked on the link and have been there ever since!  Well, this has just about consumed me.  This project spoke to me on many different levels and i knew i had to do it. I just LOVE this sort of thing.

Unfortunately, i was a month late finding out so i can't join the group involved. How did i ever miss this!?!
I blog surf alot and it and other cool projects abound. This years project was to be started in early Jan., the weathered bundle opened in April and the finished art uploaded in Aug.  So, i'll just do it for me and judge my timing according to the weather (read rain) but hopefully finish in Sept/Oct.

We had no snow this year and it isn't likely to happen now so theres just the sun, wind and rain and the possibility of my bundles getting too wet.  Havent found the place to put them yet but they are made and ready to start returning to nature. I'm going to take photos and upload them here for anyone interested to see at various stages. I'm hoping for colour and textural changes as well as anything contributed by birds or small animals that might join in.

These words are borrowed from Seth:

"The idea is simple. Create an artistic bundle made from materials of your choice and hang, bury, submerge or just place the bundle in the elements.
This collaboration is to be with the ultimate partner - Mother Nature herself"

Well, much like many of the other artists i too have always been drawn to the little things one sees on the street; a rusty washer or safety pin, string, pop caps, pennies, a worn out shredded old shoe lace, skeletonized leaves etc. In the past i've used lots of things like this in altered books and atc's, even scraps of peeled paint and worn faded bits of pkg'ing as well as an old favorite - lost shopping lists.

Yes, i do walk around with my head hung down. You can find lots of money in the mall this way too! I can spot a "penny from heaven" at 50 paces and last night i found a $5. poker chip on the floor of the casino.

You can read all about this years erosion bundle project as well as see last years disintegration collaboration bundles and the art created from the weathered items here:

http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/2009/08/disco-discovery.html