Travis Smith: my resume, bio and photos back to the main blog page

So, there’s going to be this great big party and sporting event in Vancouver called the Winter Olympics.  It’s starting, well, it started years ago, but the peak of excitement is Feb. 12 - 28.  And yeah, I’m excited.

This will be my second Olympics.  My first was in 1988 in Calgary, when Hidy and Howdy, the cowboy bear brother and sister mascots, welcomed the world to Cowtown.

As of mid-2009, the operational budget of the games is projected to be $1.76 billion (all from non-government sources), plus $580 million of tax payer supported budget to create or renovate venues, and about $1 billion for security. Many people think this is a waste of money.  I think that some cities get great use out of their civic structures, and Vancouver is going to be just fine, even if the money wasn’t as efficiently spent as it should have been.

I was told by a reliable source at CTV that if you aren’t going to the opening ceremonies on Feb. 12—and at $1100 and up a ticket, let’s face it, you aren’t—you want to be on Robson Street at that time.  It’ll be pedestrian only during the games, and there’s supposed to be some amazi-licious spectacle for the ages, or so I’m told. 

There may or may not be any snow on the hills by then; I think they really should have had the games last year instead of this year.  Downtown is getting blanketed with some pretty large ads; it’s something amazing, I’ll tell you that much.

My college friend Ken is going to come stay with us, with his girlfriend, for a few days.  We’re happy to have anyone else come and enjoy our guest room and see the circus up close.

I’m heading to two events, both hockey: Woman’s preliminary USA/ Finland,  and Men’s preliminary, Latvia vs. Slovakia.  I’d also LOVE to see curling, but have no tickets yet.

There’s as much art as sport happening here, and I hope to take some of that in, too.  I can feel Olympic fever building, as the nay-sayers head out of town and the white, green and blue banners flap in the wind.  I plan on grabbing my old pin collection from 1988 and seeing if any of them are still as valuable now as they were when I traded for them. 😊

Overheard

“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”

...who said it?

“Almost every American I know does trade large portions of his life for entertainment, hour by weeknight hour, binge by Saturday binge, Facebook check by Facebook check. I’m one of them. In the course of writing this I’ve watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards and who knows how many more West Wing episodes, and I’ve spent any number of blurred hours falling down internet rabbit holes. All instead of reading, or writing, or working, or spending real time with people I love.”

...who said it?

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

...who said it?

“I play with variables constantly.”

...who said it?

“Only the person who has learned Continual Love coming from a heart of Gratitude/Worship can effectively deal with the problem of loneliness.”

...who said it?

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