"And so she and her friend and the wolves walk together around the base, quietly in the dark, the ice crystals floating in the air around them."

November 15, 2009 1:01 PM

Olympic Flame Burns for Icy Relay
Canada is launching its countdown to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics by boldly sending the Olympic flame farther north than it has ever gone before.
posted by kliuless (22 comments total)

HA. I love the wikipedia link to "Canada."

Carry on.
posted by LMGM at 1:04 PM on November 15 [1 favorite]

Are Quatchi, Miga, and Sumi part of this trip?
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 1:08 PM on November 15

Let's hope that dialogue surrounding this international sporting event proceeds better than dialogue surrounding other international sporting events.
posted by jefficator at 1:08 PM on November 15 [4 favorites]

here's some more pix from the torch relay, including this one :P

cheers!
posted by kliuless at 1:09 PM on November 15

jefficator, that link is hilarious. /derail
posted by LMGM at 1:23 PM on November 15

In the last link it mentions six pin bowling.

Is the extra pin for beating away wolves?
posted by Acari at 1:26 PM on November 15

this Canada, it has igloos?
posted by mannequito at 2:04 PM on November 15

Alright but seriously, am I the only one worried that the Olympic Torch will come back with an alien parasite in it? The Olympics would be the perfect center for distribution, and I estimate entire world population infected: 27,000 hours!

Wake Up People!
posted by mannequito at 2:07 PM on November 15

Are the dead children (autoplaying mp3 warning) part of this trip?
posted by "Elbows" O'Donoghue at 2:09 PM on November 15

"Hopefully, it'll stay lit," says Duncan Walker, senior administrative officer in Qausuittuq, also known as Resolute Bay, where the torch is expected Monday morning. "We've been experiencing blizzard conditions."

I fucking love Canadians.

And don't get me started on the Coffee Crisp slogan. "Makes a nice light snack." Canada has mastered the maxim "underpromise, overdeliver".
posted by BitterOldPunk at 2:23 PM on November 15 [1 favorite]

I presume the torch needed the extra lebensraum.
posted by pompomtom at 2:35 PM on November 15

I applied to carry the Olympic torch simply because it looks like a huge spliff and wanted to get a photo with me putting it up to my lips. Never heard back from them.
posted by furtive at 3:10 PM on November 15 [3 favorites]

Oh, good. So now, when the Olympic torch burns through a carbon footprint of over 90,000 trees, mostly by tearing through over 400,000 gallons of jet fuel for its completely and utterly pointless crisscross around the world, we can take it directly to the ice cap it's melting.

Is there a chance that, while they're up there, they can just use the actual torch to club a baby seal while they're at it? Because that would also send a perfect message about uniting the planet through shared prosperity.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 3:13 PM on November 15 [2 favorites]

The Seattle Times ran a detailed story today about how difficult it will be for anyone without special connections to afford to actually attend the Vancouver Games.
posted by bearwife at 4:06 PM on November 15

Better living though MetaFilter: I'd never heard of the Lincoln Sea (named after Robert Todd Lincoln). It sounds gorgeous up there.

Winter Olympics = far more fabulous than summer, in my opinion. All that skiing and ski-jumping is so great. And snowboarding, and speed-skating, luge, and skeleton. It's good stuff, right there.
posted by heyho at 5:14 PM on November 15

bearwife - it's really true. I live less than 15 minutes from two of the event venues and I can't afford to go. The ticket system and pricing has frozen out (and pissed off) thousands of locals as most of us realize all we'll ever see of the games are traffic tie-ups and onerous "security zones" at all major commuting points. It's a shame; they really could have done a better job.

Anyhoo, back to the torch. I suspect they're topping it up with some hard core fuel accelerators to keep it burning in the north. Open flame, arctic Canada, November. Well, it'll be a test of...something, alright. Given the route and Canadian winter, most torch bearers will be running in some serious winter undergarments. I wonder how easy it is to sun in Sorrels, anyways?
posted by Salmonberry at 6:11 PM on November 15

(PS, the rumour is that most previous olympics people could buy tix from scalpers on the day of events for much less than face value. I'm hoping that'll be an option here, but given all the restrictions VANOC has put on tix I'm not holding my breath. Scalping is legal in BC though, so they might not be able to do much about it)
posted by Salmonberry at 6:15 PM on November 15

The ticket system and pricing has frozen out (and pissed off) thousands of locals as most of us realize all we'll ever see of the games are traffic tie-ups and onerous "security zones" at all major commuting points.

All the local businesses should conspire to a two-tier pricing system for local/non-locals. You'd like a beer, would you? [glances at ID] That'll be forty dollars, please.

If they're going to effectively lock the people of the city out of their own damned games, the people of the city should return the favor. Hell, it's not like the ticket-holders can't afford it.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:49 PM on November 15 [1 favorite]

Well, I'll be in Hawaii for the games, because my landlord is kicking me out of my place to rent it. I live walking distance from the venues for the opening ceremonies and the medal round hockey games, so I'm sure he'll get a pretty penny for it.

Still, I imagine I'll enjoy watching the games nonetheless, since all the events will be happening during Hawaii prime-time. I'll be able to watch hockey and ski-jumping and alpine skiing events while sipping mai tais after a long day on the beach. Besides, TV is the only way for someone of my means to enjoy the games.

Also, I got to carry the torch in '88. Once is enough for me.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 7:09 PM on November 15

Well, I was going to thank kliuless for the beautiful pictures, but now you've all got me depressed that I've never been to an Olympic games and can't afford this unless I win a contest.

(Thinks good thoughts about Trip to Olympics contest already entered.)
posted by NorthernLite at 7:14 PM on November 15

We saw the torch going through downtown St. John's on Friday - big spliff indeed!

One of Friday's torch bearers was a pregnant lady (on her due date too!)
posted by futureisunwritten at 7:36 PM on November 15

At the UCDA conference I attended in October, the keynote speakers were from VANOC. It was really fascinating to hear their stories about designing for the winter Olympics, but most importantly, they brought a torch that most of us got to pose with, like the dorks we are.
posted by thekilgore at 6:10 PM on November 16