Wow. Another Amazing Day

A little tired after an intense day yesterday, we slept in a bit, went out for breakfast and then headed into the city, passing the time on the bus by discussing some of the strategies and plays in the women's big game yesterday.

We had tickets to a Victory Ceremony tonight, where medals are awarded and Great Big Sea was to be performing. The result was that we were going to miss the semi-final hockey game. Given that there were no Canadians receiving medals today, it is fair to say that neither of us was sure that we wanted to go to the ceremony but we had paid for the tickets, so we decided to go and to coordinate our day around the ceremony. Also, we are both Great Big Sea fans.

We knew we wanted to watch the gold medal match in women's curling. It was to start at 3:00, ending at approximately 6:00 pm, just half an hour before the Victory Ceremony. We decided, therefore, to go to the area near the ceremony and find a place to watch curling.

We chose not to stand in the long line up for Ontario House or Sochi house, and tried Saskatchewan house instead. The Saskatchewan display was about what you'd expect, with lots of information about wheat, flax and oil. What wasn't in the display but we learned from a Saskatchewan native in line and found more interesting was that, according to our source, Saskatchewan has the best pizza in the world. As one person put it, they brought pizza out and the hungry Saskatchewan farmers looked at it and told them to take it back and put some food on it. We are now tempted to go to Saskatchewan, just for the pizza.

Strangely, while there were big screens at Saskatchewan house, they weren't showing any Olympic coverage. We'd have expected curling to be big for Saskatchewan, but evidently not. So we moved on.

We ended up a Maison du Quebec---it was very cool. The food was excellent and a dramatic improvement over the hot dogs and chili we had been eating in the other public viewing tents. Also, they had a system for drinks---you bought a card and then could serve yourself metred drinks from a self serve wine machine which automatically poured for you from nice bottles of wine. No waiting, no tipping, etc. We settled in with wine, cheese and grapes.

Two Quebecois men joined our table. At first they were bemused by the rapt attention being paid by all to the curling. We explained the rules at least so far as we had gleaned them from watching on TV and from the buds on "Hack Radio". On another screen was the men's four man bobsleigh event and we watched some remarkable crashes.

We noted that the guys at our table were wearing Hockey Canada credentials. Paul asked what the affiliation was. They started by somewhat sheepishly saying they knew one of the players. When we didn't behave stupidly, they opened up more--they were Martin Brodeur's golf buddies and long time friends. They told us how they were good naturedly teasing him about how unusual it is for Brodeur to be the back up goalie. Kim told them that he looks good in a baseball cap and, since he doesn't have to worry about playing he should have his hair and makeup done before the game. One of the guys texted a version of the joke to Martin, asking how his makeup was. If Martin Brodeur looked good on the bench tonight, you might have Kim to thank.

One of the guys took our picture. He then asked for our e-mail. We exchanged e-mails and his was "Omerta". He said nothing about it, but his friend explained that "Omerta" is the french name for the CBC mini-series "the Last Chapter"--a Montreal Mob story with Roy Dupuis that Paul and I both enjoyed. This guy was the main writer. It was really cool.

As the guys headed off to the game we told them to say hello to Martin Brodeur for us!

We made the day of a couple of young guys standing behind our table by leaving before the hockey game started; they had been expecting to stand for hours. From their gratitude that we gave them a heads up that we were leaving, you'd think we had taken a bullet for them. As we had seen before, table space leading up to a Canadian hockey game is at a premuim. We will have to plan our placement for the gold medal game carefully.

We then went to the Victory Ceremony, where they gave us regular updates on the score at the hockey game, which was taking place right next door. The medals were given out and then Great Big Sea began to play. If you've never seen them live, then you are missing something. Kim, frustrated by the fact that all the people in our section had stayed sitting, moved to a railing area where she would not be in anybody's way and began jumping up and down. Anyone who was at PJ O'Brien's with her the night Bang on the Ear played will know the enthusiasm she brought to that exercise. From his seat, Paul saw a number of Olympic officials go up to speak with Kim. He assumed that they were asking her to go back to her seat. Really, they were asking her not to hurt herself, then ensuring that she was having a good time, confirming the number of people in her party and securing upgraded floor level tickets for us!!!!!

Yes, we were upgraded to floor level--a roomy dance floor where people were dancing, jumping and having a great time, and right in front of the stage where the band was playing. Paul has never been closer to the band at a concert this size. This floor is also the set that was used during the opening ceremonies and we were right there--at the stage, under the Olympic rings. The fake snow was still on the ground, and all over were pieces of gold, silver and bronze confetti which had been sprayed into the air when the medals were awarded. We had a blast. We danced, we sang and people kept offering to take our picture!!!!!!!

The concert ended at about 9:00pm, not long after the hockey game got out. We joined the throngs on the street. The public mood was jubilant. High-fives everywhere, chants of CA-NA-DA !!!! CA-NA-DA!!!, performances of the national anthem and repeated over, and over, "We want the Gold". Paul said it was like being on Yonge Street when the Jays won the World Series. The mood was so optimistic, buoyed not only by the hockey victory but also by the four other medals won by Canadians today, one in curling and three in short track speed skating.

We walked back to the condo, caught up on the events we missed during the day and are planning to watch the highlights from the game.

We don't want this to end. Ever. There is a unit for sale in our condo and it's affordable...hmmmmm.....

Soaking it all in,

The Entity
Kim Boara Alexander
Paul McCulloch Alexander