NorthGeek

NorthGeek at the Olympics

It has been quite the memorable two weeks for us during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. We hope you enjoyed it too. Here are some highlights!

Without a doubt, seeing Jenn Heil rip down the Cypress mogul course for a silver medal on day two of the Games was a highlight:

Perhaps the most exciting events in the Winter Games is the men’s 5000m short track speed skating relay. The result did not disappoint:

The winner of the men’s 500m (that is SHORT and FAST!) short track speed skating final crossed the line BACKWARDS! Check it out:

During an “intimate” concert at Molson Canadian Hockey House, Sam Roberts was joined onstage by none other than the Canadian and his-great-quirkiness Shaun Majumder. He is quickly dragged offstage until he probably says something to stay and dance as a true Canada hockey superfan:

Check out our other Olympics videos here!

Some pictures from NorthGeek’s adventures. The morning after the Opening Ceremonies, here’s the torch at Canada Place:

A view of the Olympic torch and Vancouver skyline from Stanley Park — what a photogenic city:

Day 1 of the Olympics, here’s Daniel and Noah at the women’s moguls, getting slightly wet but not distressed:

NorthGeek with Canadian darling Jenn Heil:

NorthGeek at men’s moguls for Alex Bilodeau gold, Canada’s first gold on Canadian soil!

Sam Roberts Band covered in Canada:

Noah with Canadian skeleton golden boy Jon Montgomery. What a phenomenal guy:

A wet Jet with fireworks at the Whistler Celebration site:

The short track women’s relay team from Canada jumps for silver:

The Robson street crowd after Canada hockey gold:

Here are more photos our Flickr Olympics set.

Noah’s personal Facebook photo album is here.

Nesters Contest Series: Win Cake (contest #1)

Yes, it’s very true. NorthGeek and Zedmo won free groceries for a year from Nesters in Vancouver. This means we’re going to eat well and have some fun with it all. First off, a contest! Stay tuned for weekly adventures and prizes to be won (from our bounty, that is).

Contest #1 details:
What: the most imaginative photo posted online (err perhaps on Twitpic or Flickr or Facebook) of you with this sign declaring our win at Nesters

Who: anyone willing to collect your prize around Nesters in Gastown Vancouver
When: we’ll decide on the best entry by Monday March 15 5pm PST
How: share it with NorthGeek’s Facebook page, post the link as a comment below, hashtag it with #whatyoutweat, or @reply @NorthGeek

The prize: a dozen St Patrick’s Day themed cupcakes (or equivalent).

Come out and win some CAKE!

Sam Roberts Band at Vancouver Olympics

Sam Roberts Band played at the Molson Canadian Hockey House on Tuesday night to an impassioned Canadian crowd, fresh from cheering for Olympic hockey.

During “Brother Down,” he was joined onstage by Canadian comedian Shaun Majumder, seemingly just another Canadian superfan.

Vancouver 2010 Olympics Concerts on your iPhone

There are so many great concerts going on in Vancouver right now for the Olympics. Here’s a little trick to import them all into your iPhone Calendar. For free!

1. Go to the Events Calendar by True North Media House. I submitted most of the events there myself, and people may continue to add more.
2. Click at the bottom on “+ Google Calendar”
3. Click on “Calendar Settings”
4. Export the calendar to your local iCal
5. Sync with iPhone

Yes, this is Mac/iPhone centric, but as an open Google calendar, you should be able to do this with any smart device.

NorthGeek Olympics Missions

Not only is NorthGeek covering the Olympics, with stimulating video, scintillating words, and word-defying photos, but we’re also part of the Olympics. We’re fans of Canada, athletes, parties, and concerts. We are the Olympics, and here are some of our missions. Fulfill them by February 28. Bring it.

1. Honour the memory of 21 year old Georgian luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili
2. Be there in person for Canadian Olympic gold
3. Meet the lovely and blisteringly fast Chandra Crawford
4. Sneak some words with the little pepper Jenn Heil, Canada bump skier extraordinaire
5. Rate the best free event
6. Interview with the hottest live band
7. Track down the Snow Leopard (Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong)
8. Wave a Canadian flag wildly as Canada wins gold, wherever we may be
9. Have our adoring fans Twitpic photos with the NorthGeek crew
10. Convince the world that the best way to experience the Olympics is not from the official media partners, but from locals and passionate non-accredited sources

Updates:

1. Update: drinks were raised on Friday night, February 12. RIP Nodar
2. NorthGeek was there for Alex Bilodeau’s gold medal. And our commitment stands
3. n/a
4. See Flickr
5. tbd
6. Kinda got snubbed, still working on it
7. still looking
8. Done, see YouTube
9. Oh countless times
10. Getting there. Make #tnmh trending

Vancouver in Tilt Shift

With just 8 days until the Olympics, we are still obsessed with all things beautiful about Vancouver. Here’s a cute video of this gorgeous city, shot as tilt-shift, so everything looks miniature like a kid’s game.

Vancouver is Starting to Look Olympic

With only 9 days until the Olympics, Vancouver is starting to look very “Olympic.” Check out this great video — just try to ignore the choice of music. Neither the NorthGeek authors nor Shazam now the source of this tune.

“With Glowing Hearts”: True North Media House and the 2010 Olympics

“With Glowing Hearts” is a documentary by Andrew Lavigne about social media and its part in the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In the following episode, Kris Krug, Dave Olson, and Rebecca Bollwitt talk about their story and the emergence of the True North Media House, an independent media project to cover the Games.

According to Dave, “What you see on TV is very different from what happens on the ground… We’ve reached the point where grassroots has boiled up and leveled with mainstream media.” Watch the video below:

How to Experience the Vancouver 2010 Olympics like a Local

Vancouver is hosting the big ‘ole Olympics this February 12-28. It is actually the biggest city to ever host the Winter Olympics, so you can be sure there’s going to be a lot going on. Here’s a taste of what to do while you’re visiting Vancouver and how to connect with and discover local secrets. If you’re not coming to Vancouver, this could be the magical ways you can experience a very intimate and local Olympics experience through the eyes of a bunch of dedicated and internet-vocal Vancouver locals.

You need to be prepared for a few things:

• Vancouver is going to be a 24/7 party
• It can rain (a whole lot) in February
• You really have no idea what to expect, and neither do the locals

Not everyone in Vancouver is so excited to have the Olympics, mainly because of the IOC’s and VANOC’s shenanigans. However, you can’t resist the remarkable stories to come from athletic inspired achievements. You also won’t be able to resist seeing a stunning and photogenic Vancouver — hopefully you will give back, with your time and money, to the people and businesses that make this world-class city thrive.

ABOUT VANCOUVER
Pick up some local newspapers and weeklies and have a look at Georgia Straight (one of the best weeklies in Vancouver) Best of Vancouver for ideas where to eat, hang, and do. Check out some Google Maps of certain celebrities’ favourite spots in the city. Drink Vancouver’s delicious tap water, and find fountains around the city using this map. Read Vancouver authors, subscribe to some Vancouver bloggers, Twitterers, photographers, videographers, and designers. Vancouver is a social media savvy city, and they are beautifully eloquent. Read about what’s going directly from the people (contact me if I’ve missed you!).

• Miss604
• Doug Copeland
• Kris Krug
• Techvibes
• Vancity Buzz
• John Biehler
• Ecstaticist

FOOD
Vancouver doesn’t just have top sushi, ramen, and pho. Try elsewhere on Yelp etc. for other local favourites, including ‘Gourmand’ Gastown. Or crowd source some ideas, Mitch Joel style. And please try to avoid McDonald’s, unless you’re trying to track down athletes at the McDonald’s next to the athlete’s village, bound to be full of athletes seeking familiar (though likely performance un-enhancing) fares. For available water fountains around town, check out this great mashup map.

FOLLOW TNMH
True North Media House, or TNMH, @tnmh, or #tnmh, is likely to be an exciting Olympics source to follow. They’ll (we’ll) be organizing many planned and impromptu meetups, photowalks, parties, and events around town. They’re both local, knowledgeable semi-pro journalists, bloggers, photographers, but also an extension to anyone visiting Vancouver who wants to be part of the future of Olympics coverage through citizen journalism.

We at NorthGeek have assembled three key Twitter lists to follow:

• @NorthGeek/van2010: a great collection of Olympics-interested Twitterers worth following
• @NorthGeek/tnmh: True North Media House fellas
• @NorthGeek/olympic-athletes: Olympics athletes

ESCAPE IN THE CITY
Some of the best things to do in Vancouver aren’t in Vancouver. Escape the downtown core for some breathtaking adventures:

• Head up to Grouse Mountain, home of the NBC armchair commentators and 24 hour a day skiing and skating. And it’s just 15 minutes from downtown.
• Will anyone be up skiing on Mt Seymour? It’s beautiful up there and you might have some peace and quiet on the slopes.
• Museum of Anthropology out at University of British Columbia
• Explore Stanley Park, adjacent to the downtown core, by rental bike or foot, along its myriad of trials, hidden gems, and surrounding paved seawall
• Take a day trip to Bowen Island or the Sunshine Coast
• Hop in a seaplane for a tour the mountain-meet-ocean city: Harbour Air, West Coast Air, Saltspring Air

GET THE BLOOD PUMPING
Run the False Creek Seawall, UBC Endowment Lands, Stanley Park Seawall, or any of the many green spaces around the city. Hop in the 50m pool at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre. Enjoy Yoga like pretty much every other Vancouverite. Y Yoga is having a great promo during the Olympics: free yoga classes for all!

CONNECT
There are many ways to avoid data roaming on your cell phone. Consider picking up a prepaid SIM card (if your phone is of the unlocked GSM variety) from a company you don’t see sponsoring the Games: Fido, Rogers, or Telus. Sure, Bell and Virgin Mobile (which they own) are fine, but I think enough people will be drawn by their ‘official carrier’ status.

Vancouver also has tons of free WiFi hotspots. Check out this map for hotpots. Pretty much every coffee shop in Vancouver has it. Also some friendly (or unknowing) residents have unlocked access points, often with the names ‘default,’ ‘netgear,’ ‘linksys,’ etc. so just stick those to auto connect and thank someone! The Vancouver City Libraries also all have free WiFi. Sign up online or in person to get an access code. Or pick up an application for your smartphone that keeps track of WiFi hotspots (JiWire for the iPhone, etc).

GETTING AROUND
Vancouver has an excellent network of public transportation and walkable routes. And the Olympics sure are going to try to keep you from driving. Check out the Skytrain (connecting with East Vancouver and further east), Canada Line (to the airport and Richmond), the temporary Olympic Line light-rail along False Creek South between Granville Island and the Athlete’s Village, and the False Creek ferry tugboats. Here’s a great link with transportation info.

SOUVENIRS
Leave Vancouver with some souvenirs of the city: art, photography, clothes, beer, and wine from locals. Check out small galleries around town and local artists. Pick up some stunning city photographs from Picture Listen. If you can’t find what you want, hire a local photographer and do your own shoot. Buy locally brewed beer and BC wine. Check out all the great clothing lines (in Gastown and small boutiques scattered along Robson). If you’re going with the big retailers, try the big Canadian vendors pushed out of the Olympics like Roots or Lululemon. Check out the Canamade market, promoting locally produced goods.

HOMELESS IN VANCOUVER
Unfortunately, homelessness is a major problem in Vancouver and has been at the center of many arguments against hosting the Olympics here and spending the dollars required for the Games. If you’re visiting Vancouver this February, do consider helping someone out, with some change or some food.

BEST WAY TO SPEND YOUR MONEY ON OLYMPICS
Even better than supporting the Olympics through merchandise and tickets, considering supporting your countries’ athletes. In Canada, you can donate directly to CAN Fund, or have your eye on independent funds like B2ten which will be on the rise as long as Canadian athletes continue not receiving the support they need from the government (or as provided in other countries).

CULTURAL EVENTS
The Cultural Olympiad is organizing many free concerts and cultural events. Find more information from Miss604 and this guide for music.

YOUR COMMENTS
Hope you found some useful info here. Stay tuned by subscribing to NorthGeek blog or Twitter. Feel free to @reply NorthGeek or comment below with your thoughts!

Sneak peak at Vancouver Olympics sites

There is less than 1 month until the Vancouver Winter Games. Here’s a peak through my iPhone lens at some of the sites and pavilions around False Creek in Vancouver. (All photos link to Flickr source.)

Maison Quebec at Concord Pacific site between BC Place & Sochi House (Science World) #poutine #tnmh #van2010 :

Science World Station for Olympic Line streetcar. Just a tease! Line ends @ Athlete Village (for now) #tnmh #van2010 :

Epicenter of #van2010 athletes? Golden arches next to Athletes Village. Closest some will come to gold #BigMac #tnmh :

Olympic Line streetcar "testing" running for free btw Athlete Village & Granville Island Jan21-Mar21 #tnmh #van2010. More from Miss604: www.miss604.com/2010/01/olympic-line-free-public-streetca… :

Molson Canadian 2010 Mural Project. Very very slowly filling out small fan photos. What’s it say? #tnmh #van2010
"Soar in on the Games" ?? More info: blog.molson.com/community/tag/molson-canadian-2010-mural-… :

Horrible Burrard Bridge billboard: Have you signed the petition against it? Lots of #van2010 trucks below #tnmh
It was approved by the federal gov’t and erected by the Squamish First Nation
www.kitsilano.ca/2009/12/22/have-you-signed-the-petition-…

Brown Fizzy Sugar Drink Pavillion at David Lam Park (LiveCity Yaletown) #van2010 #CocaCola #tnmh

False Creek Ferry and Switzerland House #van2010