Sunday, January 31, 2010

11 More Days!

In a matter of 11 days, the whole world's eyes will be watching Vancouver. In only 11 days the flame that was lit in Greece on October 22, 2009 will reach its final destination in BC Place. On February 12th the 2010 Winter Olympic Games will be officially opened. The torch relay has been travelling through out Canada, it is the longest torch really in Olympic history.
The torch has been travelling all over Canada, reaching from the top of Canada all the way to the bottom. The torch has been through some of the coldest temperatures in the world. It has travelled by car, foot, dog sled, train and any other way possible. The torch relay connects Canadians from east to west, the relay connects more than thousand different communities in Canada. Twelve thousand Canadians are torch bearers, and anyone could be a torch bearer RBC and Coca Cola are torch sponsor. Many people from all over Canada were connected to the 2010 Olympic games by the torch relay. Some Canadian celebrities have carried the torch, such as Shania Twain.

The torch relay is currently in BC and is approaching Vancouver in a matter of days. Only eleven days to be exact. The world will be watching as the flame lites the cauldron in BC Place on February 12!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Olympic and Paralympic Athlete

Many athletes strive to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic games, on Friday Brian McKeever dream came true. He is competing not only in the 2010 Olympic games, but also in the 2010 Paralympic games. He is the first Canadian athlete to participate in both the Winter Olympic and Paralympic in February and March. The thirty year old native from Canmore, Alberta has Stargardt's disease; he has less than ten percent vision. He is apart of the Canadian Cross Country team and is hoping to medal in the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He has won seven medals in previous Paralympic games, including four gold medals. His message to the world is, "It's a message of hope for the Paralympics. In the past, the Paralympic has been seen as a slideshow, not by the athletes but just in terms of the attention that it gets. Hopefully this shows that Paralympic athletes are capable of great things and they're training to the same levels ant the same kind of hours and efforts as their able-bodied counterparts are doing."

Brian has peripheral vision, but none in the centre due to Stargardt's disease which he was diagnosed in his early twenties. He says,"It's like seeing the donut, but not the Timbit" When he competes with able-bodied he finds an athlete with the same ability and then use the athlete as a guide. When competing in the Paralympic his brother Robin as his guide. His condition gives him a disadvantage in white out conditions down the ski hill.

Brain is very optimistic about winning medals at the Olympic and Paralympic games this year. He is inspiring to everybody who has a dream to be an world class athlete. He said, "It show if you dream big dreams, you can get there no matter what"

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Pictures Of Pin Mania



Some pictures that I took at the Pin Trading Centre.

The top pictures are the new pins that I got today and the Wall of Pins.The bottom picture is the pins that a collector has collected.





Turning Into a Pin Head

Today was such a gorgeous day in Vancouver and I went outside and enjoyed the day! I rode the Canada Line to Downtown to go to the Coca-Cola Pin Trading Centre. I walked out of the Vancouver City Centre station and was awed. The city looked so amazing all dressed up for the 2010 Olympic Games. I stepped inside The Bay and went to the Olympic Superstore, looking around at all of the Olympic Games merchandise. I found the Coca-Cola Pin Trading Centre with the help of some employees. The pin trading centre looked amazing with many pin traders waiting to trade their pins.

The Coca-Cola Pin Trading Centre had a pin wall that has a map of the world and many pins stuck to it. You can put a pin and then they give you a Coca-Cola pin. I put up a Bell Olympic Games pin and received a Coca-Cola pin! I also entered a draw to win a free pin. I talked to some of the pin traders and they have been collecting pins for along time. They had pins from the 1940 Olympic Games and some were only collecting 2010 Olympic Games pins. There was one man who had been collecting pins for a couple of years and we traded pins. This was my first ever pin trade, I traded a CTV Curling pin(I had two) for one of his Rona Olympic pins. He told me that the sponsor pins are the hardest to find and are very sought after to trade. After a while they were ready to draw the winners for the free pins. I won a pin, but it was the same pin that I received from the wall. I thought for a second what can I do with this pin, then I decided to trade it with someone. I met a person who was willing to trade my Coca-Cola pin for one of theirs. I ended up trading the pin for a Olympic torch and the red mittens pin!

I had a fun time at the Coca-Cola pin trading centre and plan to go again once I have more pins to trade! Currently I have twelve pins and I want more! I think that I might be turning into a pin head! The Olympic Games are getting closer, the excitement is building! Next post is going to be about the brand new street car that will travel from the Olympic Athletes Village to Granville Island. The free ride will start on January 21 but I have school so I will ride on it on the next day. Stay tuned!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

31 More Days Till the Olympic Games!

Brace yourself only 31 more days til the Olympic Games begin! The city is buzzing with excitement with every Olympic Venue being decked out in Olympic style. To mark such a significant day, I finally got my hands on (literally) on the ever popular red mittens!! I finally got my hands of them!!! On Friday I hope to go to the Coca-Cola pin Trading Centre downtown, so my next blog post might be Saturday or Sunday!! Stay tuned!!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Pictures of the Pins!


Here are the pictures of the Pins! On the top are all the pins I have collected and on the bottom are the CTV Pins!


I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for PINS!

There are many 2010 Olympic and Paralympics souvenirs out in the market. Scarves, jackets, toques and even red mittens. The most popular souvenir by far are pins. Olympic Pins are small little souvenirs that attract huge attention. The world of Olympic Pins is a fasted paced and exciting. Everyone can collect pins it does not matter if you are five or seventy five; there is a pin out there for everyone!

CTV British Columbia is the official Canadian broadcaster of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics games. It is currently hosting a limited edition eight pin collection. These pins are a must have and every collector wants to get their hands on them. They started to hand out the pins in February 2009, unfortunately I just arrived did not hear about the pins at this time. I did not get all of the pins, but once I heard about them I was hooked. The way they give out the pins is very simple, just watch the CTV Six O' Clock news and they announce when the next pin will be given away. They usually have many locations where they hand out the pins, so everyone can get a pin. If you haven't even started to collect the pins, don't worry they have special catch-up days. During the catch-up days they hand out all the pins they have released thus far, they only downside is that they only give one pin per person. If you are missing all of the pins, find as many friends as you can.
The pins that they have released so far are:
One Year to Go
Bobsleigh
Snowboarding
Speed Skating
Curling

On January 7th they released the Hockey pin and I dashed from my school David Thompson to the CTV building on Burrard Street to collect the pin. The pin was to be released at 5:30, but I arrived there at 4:00 and there was approximately 100 people waiting in line already. The first person arrived at the studio at 6:45 in the morning! Luckily I was inside the building, not outside in the cold like last time. While I was there waiting I started to talk to the other people in line and they as enthusiastic about the pins as I was. There was a broad spectrum of people for the old to the young and everyone in between. Time went on and I decided to check on how long the line was. At 4:30 the line was enormous, it was curving around the HMV store and it was doubling. So many pin heads in the City of Vancouver and every one wants the most famous pin the HOCKEY PIN! It was almost time for the pin to be handed out and I spotted David Kincaid, a CTV Olympic Reporter. I introduced myself and asked him if I could take a picture with him and his lanyard of all the CTV pins. I took a picture with him and gave him the Students Live website. Finally the time came for the pins to be handed out; it was a great sight to see everyone cheering. Even though I had to wait in line for a long time, it was worth the wait because it was a beautiful pin. Only two pins are left to be release, the figure skating pin and the City of Vancouver pin. The figure skating pin will be handed out later in the month and also another catch-up day. The City of Vancouver pin will be handed out during the Olympic Games. Keep watching the news for the exact date and where you can get one!
Collecting one or two pins is okay, but some people a full out Pin Heads! They have been collecting from every Olympic that they could get their hands on. Pin Trading is an unofficial Olympic Sport! In the summer there was a Pin Trading Convention at the Richmond Olympic Oval, hundreds of Pin traders came out and showed their prized pins. If you missed going to to the Richmond Oval don't worry. Coca-Cola an official sponsor for the Olympics has an Official Pin Trading Centre. The pin trading centre is located at The Bay Downtown; the same place that the Olympic store is in. In this awesome trading centre you will find collectors that have been collecting for years. They go to the Olympic Games for Pin Trading and it is a fast paced game. Trade a pin here, trade another over there. If you are not a collector, but want to get into the game you can purchase a pin at the centre. A very cool feature they have at the centre is a give a pin get a pin. You can put up a pin on their wall of pins and they will give you a pin in return. My next posting will be about the Coca-Cola Pin Trading Centre! Stay tuned!