.. Fox and Lola (the person, not my scooter), front and center!

You are the winners of the Delicious Juice Dot Mitten contest, and will be the delighted (I hope) recipient of a pair of the coveted Vancouver 2010 Olympic Red Mittens and a set of Delicious Juice Dot Com pins!

Thanks to everyone who entered, and if you didn’t win don’t worry – I’ll be drawing for 3 sets of pins (two Apple Store sets and one PETA Olympic Shame) and a random mascot toy later this week (so you should go enter the draw, if you haven’t already).

I’m having so much fun during these Games – more than I ever thought – that I’m tickled a quite literal pink to be able to share even this tiny piece with my internets. Yay!

And now, for no reason whatsoever, here are some large fish!

koi koi koi!

I keep hearing reports that “the last shipment EVER” of items are arriving/have arrived at the Bay/Olympic Superstore. I don’t know how accurate this is, because the Olympics are barely half over – so take it with a grain of salt. Just in case you were wondering, though:

• Lines to get into the OS downtown are still insane – reports of a 3-block long lineup before the store even opened
• The Bay @ Park Royal is almost completely cleaned out – lots of baby and kid Team Canada wear, but nothing for adults save the odd t-shirt or too. Tons of generic Olympic gear, but nothing else
• If you’re looking for non-clothing Olympic souvenirs, head to your closest London Drugs! They’re advertising “selected Olympic merchandise” at 50% off, but when I was there last night it seemed as though ALL of it was on sale – I got me a wicked Sumi hat and was sorely tempted by the plush mascots, but I resisted

Yesterday’s Experience Day was a smashing success. I met Shan at BC Hydro’s Power Smart Village at noon, and throughout the day we were joined by others – Reilly and Miranda, then Josh, then Ed, then Renee. We held fast to our rule of “no standing in line”, but still managed to see a lot of great stuff. The Plaza of Nations behind the Edgewater Casino was especially great – the day was gorgeous, there’s an open-air market like a small version of the Richmond Night Market, and an army of inukshuk have been built along the seawall. The area of framed by Science World/Russia House, the Cambie Bridge, and Athlete’s Village across the water – it’s one of the most spectacular spots in the city, and a fabulous place to hang out and people watch.

fisheye'd!

We ended up on Robson Street later that night, but I had to call it quits around 8pm – my feet are angry at the best of times, and the fact that I had spent 8 hours wandering around town had not gone unnoticed. I was in a lot of pain, but I had so much fun I hadn’t really minded until I hit the wall. As a result, we weren’t downtown when Jon Montgomery won his gold medal in Men’s Skeleton – but we got to watch it at home and cheer along.

I don’t know what’s happening tonight, but it’s going to be something. I’m also trying to find out what the Team Canada stock levels are like at Oakridge and Metrotown – will update when I find out.

Pictures from yesterday are up on Flickr, and don’t forget: I’ll be drawing for mittens tomorrow night and for other goodies on Tuesday, so you should enter the draw by commenting on the posts linked to the right!

Tomorrow night: Long Table Series dinner at the Irish Heather, just in time to be in Gastown for the end of the Canada vs. USA hockey game. It’s gonna be epic, no matter the result!

2010 was an inside job

true north huge and on the side of a building

Yesterday HBC announced that the Olympic Superstore – the one I haven’t yet been able to get into because of my aversion to lineups and crowds – will be open 24 hours a day for the last three days of the Olympics. Look for me at 3am on Saturday the 27th, trying to buy a black Canada hoodie! As a little bit nauseating as all this crass consumerism is, it’s also kind of fun for the sheer insanity of it all. I wish the store was open 24/7 throughout the entire games – I do not doubt that they would do enough business in the wee hours of the morning to justify the extra manpower. Also, I don’t want to wait for a week before I go shopping at 3am. Patience: not a virtue.

I’ve decided that today is Experience Day – I am going to go experience some of the craziness going on downtown. I really want to check out BC Hydro’s Power Smart Village, and the Vancouver Art Gallery is FREE for the duration of the Olympics so that is a definite must do. Tonight I want to throw myself into the crowds on Robson Street to see what all the fuss is about, and maybe see if I can’t hunt down the mysterious forces handing out the elusive Jesus pin – I’ve only seen it once, but it’s a large white pin with Jesus fish in the Olympic colours. It apparently comes on a card that tells you all about how Jesus died so our athletes could win gold medals, or something. I want it strictly for the hilarity factor, much like the PETA pin – I’ll enjoy anything, as long as it’s subversive in some way.

I have to do some work before I can go out and have fun – this fascinating documentation on donut router policies is not going to write itself – but I am completely excited for the good times I plan to have today. If I can wrangle any interesting swag, I will add it to my giveaway pile – so don’t forget to enter the draws below! Spread the word, too – I’m tired of spamming Twitter with my links. Do it for me, please. :)

pretend it's one week ago and this picture is leaked

The very moment I was publishing the previous post, the mail arrived. Guess what was in it? Another PETA pin! Now I have two! And as promised, I will give one away!

.. but that’s not all!

I’ve also got my tiny, tiny hands on two extra sets of the beautiful Apple pins, AND some of the McDonald’s Olympic toys. I will choose three winners at random, and each person will get a set of pins and a random Happy Meal mascot toy!

Here are some important contest details:

• Enter to win the pins/toys by leaving a comment below!
• I’ll make the draw for the pins on Tuesday February 23rd
• Please leave your email address in the comment so I have a way to reach you! Nothing will be done with the addresses; I’m an individual who has no time to spam anyone at all
• This contest is SEPARATE from the mitten contest – enter to win one of two pairs of Olympic Mittens by commenting on this post
• I ship worldwide, so don’t worry about entering from faraway places!
• Everything given away on Delicious Juice Dot Com is purchased or obtained by me personally – I am 100% NON-SPONSORED, and pay for everything out of my own pocket because I really do love sharing and everyone could use some random love

So .. have at it! Leave a comment below to win some exclusive Olympic swag, and here to win some mittens!

I got a present in the mail yesterday:

olympic shame is made of false facts

Oh yeah. You know you’re jealous. Actually, I am too – I heard from several others who received their pins that they got TWO of them. I only got the one, which makes me sad – if I had two, I would give one away. As it stands, you will just have to admire mine from afar and wish you were as cool as I am.

I’m finding a happy niche for myself in sharing Olympic information off the beaten path. Today’s tips:

• The red mittens are available at every Bay and Zellers – if you can’t get downtown, try a store out in the ‘burbs. The Zellers in Lynn Valley is full of red mittens in all sizes! (the Bay is out of L/XL mittens)
• Unfortunately, some businesses in Vancouver are seeing the Olympics as an opportunity to gouge both tourists and locals. Driven by user-submitted tips and Twitter, Spiffle has created a handy list of both places NOT being greedy (#2010niceprices) and those who are raising prices and/or tacking an automatic tip onto your bill (#2010profiteers). Check the list out and keep an eye out for other places that deserve a jeer or a cheer – I’ll be making a point to avoid the nasties after the Olympics are over, and supporting those who didn’t milk the cash cow instead.
• I thought I had found the most expensive Olympic souvenir, the $695 Team China track suit – but OH, how wrong I was:

for that price, the damn jacket better wear me

A $1200 leather-sleeved Team Russia jacket.

I should buy two!