Of all the things I am sad to see go after the Olympics – the good cheer, the street parties, the random festivals, the sea of Canadian pride – and the things I am not – the lineups, the stupid Olympic Lane, the roaming drunks, the non-stop complaining – I am surprised at the depth of my sadness over one more thing to disappear: the giant Coca-Cola billboard on Hastings Street.

The billboard wasn’t so much a Coke ad as it was an ongoing medal count for Canada – a huge maple leaf from which hung a giant medal for every one we got during the games. I passed the billboard on my way to work every morning, and would watch as the medals increased daily. By the end of the games, our 26 medals – 14 of those gold – hung from every prong of the maple leaf. Workers on a cherry picker would add the latest medals every morning, and until yesterday, the billboard stood as a giant reminder that Canada was awesome at sports for 17 days in February. It’s a silly thing, but one I grew fond of during the Olympics and I am sad to see it go.

I am not, however, amused that the coffee shop was playing “I Believe” this morning. I had FINALLY gotten that damn song out of my head, and now it’s back. Thanks a lot – it’s going to take a lot of work and iPhone shuffling to make it go away again.

Last night was the second Forensic Workshop at the Vancouver Police Museum. The topic was Blood Splatter, and it was COMPLETELY AWESOME:

so, so gross

the murder hammer was recovered at the scene

because the empty head just NEEDED to be creepier ..

Chris (seen here being completely respectable) put on a great workshop that was a lot of fun. I only wish we had more time to play with the blood and weapons – as it was I was too busy taking pictures to do much destruction myself, but I had a fabulous time. Yay for crime! The Vancouver Police Museum is full of awesome! Click the (disturbing) picture below for more images:

*shudder*