Weeda Stamps: News


FOX TALES ON STAMPS Edition #491 Friday, March 05, 2010
The 2010 Vancouver Olympics
	While we contented ourselves with watching 2010 Olympic sports on television we couldn't resist visiting Vancouver during the Games to participate in the huge public spectacle that the Games brought to Vancouver. As you can see here, entire buildings were patriotically draped for the party. The stern looking lions flanking the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery were treated to a colourful floral backdrop as part of the Art Gallery's contribution to the festivities. As with almost all the venues we visited, the Olympic torch site at Coal Harbour was a packed mass of humanity. For security reasons a chain link fence was erected around the torch site. After numerous protests, viewing panels were cut into the fence to allow "chain link free" photo views. I know it looks corny but I couldn't help myself. The Vancouver / Whistler 2010 Olympic Games took place on the traditional territory of the Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. The First Nations Pavilion was at the corner of Georgia and Hamilton. The Olympic Athlete's Village was situated at the southeast corner of False Creek. Access to the village was strictly controlled. False Creek itself was closed off by large inflatable pontoons at the Cambie Street Bridge. As you can see in this photo there was no way anyone was getting past here. Here you can see the infamous Fighting Kangaroo flag so cheekily hoisted by the Australians from the balcony of their dorm. At first the IOC ordered them to remove their banner as it was a conflicting copyrighted image. A week later and you can see how other countries have jumped on the banner bandwagon. One of our favourite Vancouver spaces is the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library. Coffee and food on the main level, well appointed bathrooms on every floor and oh, did I forget to mention books? Lots of books. Things were a bit quieter in the library than at almost any other venue we visited. We used the facilities, got some coffees and viewed the special art installations set up expressly for the Games. For more info on this installation and others go to: http://www.vancouver2010.com/more-2010-information/ Not far from the GM Place arena where the big Hockey Games were played was the Molson Canadian Hockey House, a high tech and high end temple for those willing to pay between $100.00 and $450.00 for a day pass. One could watch games on huge high definition screens, drink beer, eat gourmet quality hockey food and catch Canadian headline live entertainment. The 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver proper didn't seem all that wintery. Whistler may have had lots of snow but down here they had to truck it in from away. I'm sure many Japanese tourists were happy to get a look at the numerous cherry blossoms around town as well as a few events. Vancouver City Hall was decked out in a way to show support for the Canadian athletes. The City of Richmond hosted the Speed Skating events at the Richmond Olympic Oval. Richmond City Hall decided to show their support for the Games by filling their reflecting pools with millions of bright red locally grown cranberries. The intensity of the red berries was quite riveting. For a nice concise overview of the Games got to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Winter_Olympics
The Salvation Army Quiz
	We show you a minute portion of the design of a postage stamp. You have to determine which stamp it is. Send us an email with your answer. We hold a contest every newsletter. For every correct answer we will donate $1.00 to our favourite charity, the Salvation Army. Click here to go to the The Salvation Army International Home Page to see what services they offer to communities around the world.
Answer to Last Week's Salvation Army Quiz
	We received six correct answers to last week's identification quiz. That means a $6.00 donation to Salvation Army. Here's the famous person we asked you to identify Here's the answer - King Alfonso XIII of Spain. For more information go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_XIII_of_Spain .