“B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell may be disappointed if he is hoping for a Games-based popularity bounce”

Damn Straight! Go Gordo Go … outa here

In light of the provincial budget it’s pretty obvious we’ve sacrificed healthcare, education and the arts for a 2 weeks of Surrey yahoos drinking downtown. What a deal.

In light of the provincial budget

Do you honestly think that if the Olympics had not been held the BC Liberal party would have poured that money into social spending?

Rather than, say, for more tax cuts for corporations and wealthy people?

By the by, the Gateway Project – based on facilitating the transport of cheap Chinese goods into the hands of the American consumer – will cost us $21 billion. That would be the same American consumer who is now broke and will be for the foreseeable future. And these are the same Chinese goods that won’t be so affordable when the Chinese government finally allows yuan to float freely.

The Olympics were small potatoes. This is what is really going to bankrupt us.

I am a born and raised Vancouverite who did not have any expectations for the Olympics…and I can’t help but think *some* of the people who think they were are bad idea clearly were not here to experience them.

I now have memories that will last me a lifetime (seeing the torch run down Georgia Street, attending the Opening Ceremonies rehearsal and Canada vs. Swiss game, going to see all the amazing Canadian bands playing for free….I could go on). Money gets wasted all the time in government…trust me, I know. I am glad my tax dollars were spent on the Olympics (with the exception of the security budget…that’s is whole other issue). I believe the legacies like the Canada Line, Sea to Sky highway and Convention Centre will benefit BC in the long run. And I am damn proud of my city for putting on such a good show. So there, how’s that for unbridled optimism in a province notorious for grumbly curmudgeons 🙂

gmgw: good point. But if you actually read my post, you would see that I was also referring to the legacy projects and looking ahead to the benefits that the Olympics WILL bring to BC and Vancouver.

“Convention Centre will benefit BC in the long run.”

Vancouvergirl, you might want to read this blog by Vaughn Palmer and re-evaluate it as a positive legacy:
http://communities.canada.com/VANCOUVERSUN/blogs/viewfromtheledge/archive/2010/03/10/convention-centre-the-bailouts-continue.aspx

Dig this . . . Vgirl . . . this is where we’re going post O!

The Chinese mainlanders, no I’m not digressing, are swilled-out on Yankee dollars.

They bought into “irrational exhuberance” big time. Now they don’t know what to do with that pile of worthless paper!

“Barfitect” designed towers: empty! “Starchitect designed model cities: abandoned! http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2138

China is in worse shape than we are! So what do they do with all that printed dough? Why buy Vancouver real estate of course.

We can expect a massive influx of Mainland Chinese buying up all those flashy new OV condos and towers all over town. We can expect to see empties, no lights, all over the place. The Chinese don’t want to live here and we cannot afford the rent.

And we’ll be lumbered with pile upon pile of worthless paper debt . . . to, God know how, get rid of . . . welcome to paradise!

“So there, how’s that for unbridled optimism in a province notorious for . . . ” Vancouvergirl count me as one of your ” . . . grumbly curmudgeons . . . ”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWY4_GyLufI

Yup, we’ll all be working for that worthless Yankee paper . . . errrrr . . . I mean dollar.

Vancouvergirl,

Be warned. Saying anything positive on here (esp. re: Able-bodied Person Olympics) will result in your grammar being corrected, sanity and humanity being questioned, and of course you will be called Barbie (women only). It’s amazing how some points of view are shouted down on here week after week by a revolving band of grumps.

All we can do is keep being grateful we live here, keep smiling, and be content with the knowledge that positive change is born from compromise, hard work, and perseverance, especially in the face of the negativity native to our fair city.

And while we’re at the video game, I saw this video last week and thought of both Glissando AND Urbanismo right away (Look! It’s you!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxWFJZIdc3E

Paul.

The Thought of The Day

“I’m thinking, if the Olympic/ Paralympics Games are such great events why didn’t the organizers make them a joint venture, hence a joint Opening/ Closing ceremony? I don’t see the problem with mixing the Olympic/ Paralympics events and athletes at all.
It’s simply logistics. After all…they are all people, aren’t they? And that’s the Spirit of True Fairness you narrow minded Vancouver Girls and Vancouver Boys!”

But we can’t have that, can we? Corporate sponsors would not approve of that, would they, mix the money makers with the…not so much money makers? I would love to hear an explanation on that if there is one that’s not tainted in BS. Politically correctness sucks, eh?

Yes, you would probably have 7-10 days more added to the whole thing due to the added sophistication, but you would have achieved that honest, sublime goal that started all this!

Tell you what, I was… Zeus the King of Gods, I would have sent VANOC and IOC and their band of Argonauts to look for the “Golden Fleece”, long time ago.

By Zeus, wait! They already have found…the Golden Fleece! They even merchandised my sandals. By Zeus, I want a cut on that!

We live in Vancouver and this keeps us busy.

PS.
Paul, I wanted to answer to you in rhyme, but you don’t inspire me much, plus I don’t know, based on the type of videos you’re watching, if you sneaked behind those Parental Control passwords or not and I cannot be involved in anything like that. Sorry!
However the video was funny, I choose the… Garfield character!

Well I suppose Paul is right . . . I am a “chicken little” even though my sky is not falling and is, indeed, cloudless.

So yes Paul, who am I to grouse?

Glissando on the other hand takes a very humorous approach, and is IMO, positively critical. May he have a brightly lit memorial next to Pauline Johnson’s in the park (I defy you to find it!) one day?

The usual platitude says, of course, that if we accept the status quo quietly we are in fact slipping back: old habits take over and decay sets in.

Vancouvergirl is positive: good on her. But, but, I dunno, if she is anything like her compatriot “Tanyas” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwkFySJmEJY on Robson street there is an undertow to her “. . . memories that will last me a lifetime . . . ”

A lifetime is a very long time!

Long before Vgirl was a puff of perfume behind Mummie’s ear Vancouver was a gentle, graceful city: the Marine Building, masonry set in art deco, on the West Hastings axis, is as fine an architectural gem you will find anywhere. The clickerty-clank Arbutus interurban was as place-responding, efficient a TX as anything you’ll find in Amsterdam.

Then came the pretensions. Mayor Gregor started out well: riding his bike to the hall.

Then he got the bug: wonton hiring of over paid useless mountebanks and on and on . . .

The tsi fly caught him: “green city”, “sustainable” perfidiousness. Anyone with moxy knows all that stuff is just specious marketing. (Huh, maybe that’s his point!)

He even began grandstanding about “Cascadia”. The latter has been a pipe dream for decades.

The politically savvy knows how the massive gulf that is our southern border separates the two people as though we are the Navi on Pandora.

Would that we could meet the Navi Vgirl and Paul: peaceful and openly honest, they would win us over . . .

It was just bad timing for BC, to host the Olympics. I never miss watching them on TV, and I think we should be proud of our athletes. Figure skaters, love to compete in Canada, because, we cheer other country’s skaters for a job well done, and they have noticed this. Canadians should also be proud of that. The Olympic deficit and the provincial deficit, is, another story. Dreaming up new taxes, is self defeating, there are no logistics to tax thousands of people who have lost everything they had, a lot of them will become homeless. If the tax system was more fair, that would go a long way to help BC. Harper should also, make taxes fair. This country, needs to go back to ground zero, and fix the antiquated tax system. If big business screams their faces off, well, let them eat cake.