Near Treason

Maybe I shouldn’t chastise the patriotism of Canada, but thousands just showed up to watch Arnold Swartzenager carry the torch at 6:30am and I’m sitting in the bus depot about to flee the country the day the Olympics begin. Refer back to when I mentioned the buzz about 2 hour sky train waits and an exaggerated amount of crowds. I didn’t take it lightly and I booked a nonrefundable ticket to Seattle.

I took a cab to the bus depot and we took the path that the torch was to continue on. The streets were lined with hundreds of people and I did not refrain from doing my best parade wave out the window. The picture is of Georgia & Seymour Street at 8:30am.

Last night I watched the torch run by at UBC. Have you ever had to stand in a crowd in bucket-pouring rain? A few tried to strategically use umbrellas, but streams the water poured into everyone else’s faces, my face. I was impressed the torch was even burning, it was near flooding weather. Then a friend and I battled our way through the transit system to Yaletown where we realized there was an even better torch celebration going on with Michael Buble, Sarah Mclaughlan, and no rain.

Something else magical happened this morning: my first sincere scream of excitement. Scream is a strong word, but it was somewhere between a scream and a passionate exclamation. Stephen Colbert, author of I am America, and So Can You, and creator of The Americone Dream ice cream is coming to Vancouver to record The Colbert Report live!

This is the guy who launched the “Don’t be an Ice Hole!” campaign asking his fans to mail letters to the Olympic committee because his speed skating team couldn’t get rehearsal time. I would marry this man, I would vote him in for President, and I’m certainly going to his live taping next Wednesday.

His “Don’t be an Ice Hole” campaign was genius. Bitter that the American speed skating team couldn’t get rehearsal time (they didn’t sign up in time), he asked all his fans to sign a letter posted on his website (below) and mail it to the Vancouver Olympic Committee.

Now I’m getting on the bus to empathize with my readers, leaving this stunning city at its most vibrant state and heading across the border. I’ll be back in a couple days, armed with face paint.