Commercials and more

Here is a cute Canadian commercial from 2008, getting Canadians excited about the Olympics.

And check out the Hudson's Bay Company official site. I haven't heard of the company since middle school social studies! It still exists! Check it out. Buy Canada.

Paint the Town Red - Go Canada!

All Canadians were invited to fly the flag, paint your face, make noise.

Party Town Vancouver - LiveCity

Saturday night, the night before the Closing ceremonies, thousands took to the streets to watch fireworks and large outdoor television monitors, listen to loud music, and celebrate. The City of Vancouver, with support from the Government of Canada, hosted two outdoor celebration sites: LiveCity Yaletown and LiveCity Downtown. Canada has won a record number of gold, silver, and bronze medals and their national spirit is soaring. All are dressed in red. Maple leaves are everywhere. All are anticipating the final ice hockey game, which will be between the USA and Canada.

We were encouraged to wear red on Sunday afternoon (in anticipation of Canada winning its national sport). The big game starts at noon. Vancouver's Sunday newspapers were 99% focused on the Vancouver Winter Olympics and the big game. One whole section was devoted to the hockey game. The headline:

ONE GAME. OUR GAME. This is it. Team Canada v. Team USA. The biggest hockey tournament ever. OUR COUNTRY. OUR RINK. OUR GOLD?

Tonight is the Closing Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. CTV, Canada's Olympic Network, is billing the event as the time to "celebrate 17 days that changed Canada forever". Canadian coverage of the Olympics is so much different than American or California coverage, given all the focus is on Canadian athletes, businesses, volunteers, local stories. Canadian coverage, "Memories of 2010", is available on DVD and Blu-ray at CTVOlympics.ca/store

Uniquely Canadian Foods

The Winter Olympics Daily Bulletin listed 15 Canadian Foods. Ever tasted any of these?

• Canada Dry ginger ale: Canada's version of Vernors
  
• Tim Horton's coffee: a Canadian institution and a coffee shop started by a famous hockey player
• Beaver Tails: Fried dough in the shape of a flat beaver tail, topped with sugar, cinnamon, or hazelnut
• Butter tarts: said to be invented in Eastern Ontario around 1915 (like a mini sugar pie)
• Maple Syrup: developed by the Algonquins from the sap of maple trees (Vermont is famous for its Maple Syrup)
• Sugar Pie: single crust pie with a filling made from flour, butter, salt, vanilla, cream, and brown sugar or maple syrup. When baked, these ingredients combine into a homogeneous mixture similar to caramel
• Chocolate Bars: Coffee Crisp, Caramkilk, Aero, Crunchie, Bounty, Crispy Crunch, Smarties
• Flipper pie: Dish made from seal flippers specific to Newfoundland and commonly eaten at Easter
• Pemmican: dried lean meat of wild game that was created by the Cree nation for emergency food
• Montreal style bagels: wood fired, smaller, sweeter and with a larger hole than New York bagels
• Montreal smoked meat: a method of preserving meat that has it's roots in Jewish Europe
• Tourtiere: a traditional French-Canadian meat pie, often served at Christmas
• Peameal Bacon: also known as back bacon or "Canadian bacon", it's the lean ovoid portion of the pig
• Fiddleheads: the unfurled fronds of a young fern commonly used in salads and pasta dishes
• Poutine: french fries topped with cheese curds and brown gravy

We have discovered and tasted some fine Canadian wine. As the earth warms, maybe British Columbia will become the Napa of the North.

Go Canada!

Canada is a wonderful neighbor of the U.S.A. We will plan to return. Here are some "little known Canadian facts" from a Vancouver 2010 Daily Bulletin:

• The national animal is the beaver
• The two official sports are lacrosse and hockey
• Canadians consume more Kraft Dinner per capita than any other country in the world
• Canada has more lakes and inland waters than any other country
• Canada has the world's largest coastline at 243,792 kilometers
• Basketball was developed by Canadian James Naismith (when he worked at a YMCA in Massachusetts)
  

Host City READS - Vancouver Public Library

Vancouver Public Library featured a "One Book, One Vancouver" program that included a selection of books and DVDs for children & Young Adults. Children's Librarian Joanne Canow gave me a tour of the library's special display on the Olympics and provided an annotated bibliography of recommended fiction and non-fiction books. This a a perfect and fitting addition to this Winter Olympics blog. (Too bad the tri-fold only is in print!):

FICTION:

1. The Best Figure Skater in the Whole Wide World by Linda Bailey 2008 (easy)
2. Names for Snow by Judi K. Beach 2003
3. That's Hockey by Dave Bouchard 2002
4. The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier 1984
5. Anna's Wish by Bruno Hachler 2008
6. Open Ice by Pat Hughes 2005
7. Maddie in Goal by Louise Leblanc 1992
8. Snowboard Champ by Paul Mantell 2004
9. Miga, Quatchi and Sumi: The Story of the Vancouver 2010 Mascots by Michael Murphy 2007
10. Snow Music by Lynne Rae Perkins 2003

NON-FICTION:

1. Bobsledding and the Luge by Larry Dane Brimner 1997
2. Skeleton: High-Speed Ice Sliding by Kim Covert 2005
3. Olympic Ice Skating by C. Farbs 2007
4. The History of Figure Skating by Diana Star Helmer 2000
5. Boy in Motion: Rick Hansen's Story by Ainslie Manson 2007
6. Snowboard!: Your Guide to Freeriding, Pipe & Park, Jibbing, Backcountry, Alpine, Boardercross and More by Joy Masoff 2002
7. Pink Power: The First Women's World Hockey Champions by Lorna Schultz Nicholson 2007
8. Let's Go Snowboarding by Suzanne Slade 2007
9. How Hockey Works by Keltie Thomas 2006
10. A Basic Guide to Bobsledding by U.S. Olympic Committee 2002
11. The Encyclopedia of the Winter Olympics by John F. Wukovits 2001
12. The Crazy Canucks: The Uphill Battle of Canada's Downhill Ski Team by Eric Zweig 2008