my video of the passing of the Olympic Flame
I took this video yesterday in my town, Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Canada. I was standing right where they passed the flame from torch to torch. Very cool. The torches were designed and manufactured here in Canada. Very sleek and modern design. Anyway, I thought I’d share this moment with you. The 2010 Winter Olympics are taking place in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, February 12-28, 2010.
so you finally show us what your flip camcorder can do!
I’ve been reading this blog for over a year and always assumed you lived in Britain!!
nope. canadian. will you still read me?
Hey NP,
If you’re interested in the Olympics, you might be interested into looking at what it costs host cities — particularly the marginalized and poor people found therein. The truth is that the Olympics always bring wealth to an elite few while devastating poor communities and being used as an opportunity to change laws and deepen power divides. If you want to follow up on this, I suggest looking at the book “Olympic Industry Resistance” by Helen Lenskyj (a fellow Canadian from Toronto) or you can check out sites like http://no2010.com/ — helpful stuff.
I remember that I first became aware of this when Toronto was bidding for the 2008 Games. At that time (2001), I was working and spending a lot of time with street-involved youth. When the IOC came to town, the police went to all the homeless squats, created bonfires, onto which they threw all the belongings of the young people (tents, backpacks with family photos, etc.) and then all the young people were thrown into prison. They were released (with no belongings) once the IOC left town.
Now, living as I do in Vancouver, I have observed similar (and worse) things happening within the downtown eastside and Vancouver more broadly. A giant real estate grab is occuring, poor people are being driven from their communities, and laws are being changed in order to further criminalize poverty, and to curtail the rights of those who wish to advocate on behalf of the poor.
Anyway, pardon the lengthy remark. However, I feel that it is important that people understand this side of the Games.
dan: yes, you are right. there is that dark and nasty side. the business side. profit side. move and hide the marginalized side. for sure. thanks for the reminder.