By Kassandra Linklater - @Klinked on Twitter

I write this post under time pressure because a) ‘I have places to go, things to do and awesome people to meet tonight’, and b) there are four minutes on the clock in the third period. If you aren’t aware of my time crunch, then you clearing aren't watching the soon to be shut out that our amazing Canadian Hockey team is throwing down at Canada Hockey Place (GM, post March 1^st).

The women have played a flawless game. Period. With the Great One in the audience, it is amazing to see how far women’s hockey has come. But let us not forget, the women’s team has been rocking it in the shadows of the men’s games for years. 98 – Silver, 2002 – Gold, 2006 – Gold, 2010 – and as the buzzer has just sounded – GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD.

At the Vancouver Peace Summit in 2009, the Dalai Lama announced, "The world will be saved by the western woman." As much as enjoy the sound of that sentiment, I think the word 'western' should have been omitted. Given the chance, the possibilities for women just seem endless.

And tonight, I’m sure the Canadian women's team feels On. Top. Of. The. World.

Good job.

Signing off for now,

Kassandra

Check me out @Klinked or walking around the city, looking for your story.

Kassandra is currently the News Editor of Kwantlen’s independent student newspaper – The Runner, a member of Kwantlen’s President’s Ambassadorial Team (PAT) and the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Mentor program - Leaders of Tomorrow

By Kassandra Linklater - @Klinked on Twitter

Tonight I had a chance to pop downtown to see the fireworks display at Robson square. This is either the best-kept secret of the games or I am completely daft and live under a rock.

No lines, no wait times, $8 dollar parking, the best view of the show is everywhere, and did I mention NO LINES.

I dragged my best friend to check it out with me, and despite the fact that he is leaving our dear country for mother England, he too, couldn’t help but get into the spirit of the games.

Getting ready for the big show.

Having taking two courses on Canadian nationalism and beating myself blue trying to defend the importance of nationalistic pride, it was great being in a crowd of blatant patriots.

I say bring on the flag waving, bring on the Canadian flag pants, and the out bursts of O-Canada. Even though the world may find this outward display slightly un-Canadian, I have to say, the best part of my night came from a Gentlemen of sorts. A true Canadian at heart.

This man, who I never was able to introduce myself to, was walking through the crowd giving out hand-flags and pins. He came up to me and said “I just don’t think you are wearing enough red tonight.” I eagerly accepted his flag and wore it in my hair for the rest of the evening.

Fire balls, and lasers, and music. Oh my.

I watched him continue walking through the crowd and it was easy to spot the tourist from the locals. Most people took the flag and posed for a picture, gave him a huge, or just smiled and said ‘thanks.’ However, I watched a mother and daughter who didn’t know how to react to his random act of kindness. As the mother started to take out her wallet, the Gentlemen laughed and said “No, no, no, it’s free. Just to make you smile.”

I wonder how many acts of kindness occurred during these games. I have a feeling that this is what Shane Koyczan, a poet I’ve been referencing through each of my posts meant by “and some say what defines us
is something as simple as please and thank you.
And as for you're welcome, well we say that too.
But we are more
than genteel or civilized,
we are an idea in the process of being realized.”

So as a closing thought, tonight projected on the side of Sears was a quote, which read, “History doesn’t make us, we make history.” Remember my fellow Canadians, this is our time, and it is up to us what we want to write as the legacy of ourselves, our city and our nation.

Be careful with those sky lights, Batman may get confused.

Signing off for now,

Kassandra

Check me out @Klinked or walking around the city looking for your story.

Kassandra is currently the News Editor of Kwantlen’s independent student newspaper – The Runner, a member of Kwantlen’s President’s Ambassadorial Team (PAT) and the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Mentor program - Leaders of Tomorrow.

By Kassandra Linklater - @Klinked on Twitter

I recently had the pleasure to attend the Toque Sessions, a live recording at CBC’s downtown studios.

I stumbled across this little Olympic-time gem only because I was enticed by the free CBC pins that the interns were giving away on Hamilton street. “A pin to show my support of public broadcasting, I don’t mind if I dooo…”

One intern, desperate to land the summer full-time position, decided to chat me up. “Want to be a part of live studio audience? Ian Hanomansing is just upstairs, you sure you can’t stay? Take a flyer, or better yet please, sign up… take the flyer, just take the flyer...” I took a quick glance, just to make sure Rick (Mercer, FYI, I’m sure we are on a first name basis due to our mutual love of CPAC), wasn’t in town.

He wasn’t.

But on closer examination, the opportunity to be a part of a live taping sounded generally like something that should be on the bucket list. I googled one of the artists to be featured and after a listen on youtube, I quickly fell in love with the smoky cool voice of the extraordinary Jill Barber. To be honest, if I knew about these earlier I would have probably tried to be on the guest list for every session.

Because I didn’t want to face the hoards on the ski train, leaving Hockey Canada Place (err… GM to the locals) around the same time as me, I held my breath and paid the $20 parking fee at CBC. We got there around 5:15pm and after a 40-minute wait outside, the CBC staff (there must have been twenty dressed in red, eagerly waiting to answer questions), led everyone down, and down and down, into the basement of the CBC, also known as Studio 40.

It was actually a blast, despite being the only one born a good while after disco had come and gone. People started chatting with each other; sharing the tribal stories of the four-hour waits for Aboriginal house, or that the Deutsch Haus knows how to show patrons a good time. The hour we spend in the holding tank, er Audience Lounge, seemed to fly by and with the final check on the hockey game score before the house lights dimmed, I was ready to ‘get the show on the road.’

After some cheesy audience participation exercises, led by Toronto-native Andrew Craig, we were graced with the presence of the lovely Jill Barber. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting, well anything, as I hadn’t heard of her but by the second song, I was converted.

Her almost child-like introductions of each carefully crafted song didn’t seem to match the stories of love, lust, and cold hard realizations of several self-confessional tunes.

In fact, Barber herself seemed like a juxtaposition of classic elegance caught in a world of Ugg boots and auto-tune. “Measures and Scales,” with the use of an accordion seemed to play homage to Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me.” It tells the tale of being in love with an idea and not the reality, a notion that I wonder if we will feel after the Cauldron is extinguished.

“Wishing Well,” a beautiful song about the fear of losing the “it factor,” had to be my favorite of the night.

The evening came to a close with the electric ‘Oh my my,” filled with toe tapping and audience participation.  The “please, don’t let me go,” chant that the audience threw back at Barber seemed almost like a plea to not let the evening end.

Luckily, we were all treated to an encore followed by an impromptu signing session.

I caught up with Barber after the signing and asked her what it meant to have the Olympics in her own back yard: “It’s wonderful for me as an artist because of the Cultural Olympiad, so while all the sports events are happening there is also this fabulous influx of these amazing Canadian musicians, and theatre artists, and visual artists with all of their work at the Pavilions. So it is a huge celebration of Canadian culture not just about the sports but it’s truly wonderful thing.”

Signing off for now,

Kassandra

Check me out @Klinked or walking around the city looking for your story.

Kassandra is currently the News Editor of Kwantlen’s independent student newspaper – The Runner, a member of Kwantlen’s President’s Ambassadorial Team (PAT) and the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Mentor program - Leaders of Tomorrow.

By Kassandra Linklater - @Klinked on Twitter

I decided to take a stroll through my favorite public market east of Montreal’s Jean Talon to check out the mayhem of the Olympics.

Despite the barrage of patrons strolling around the ‘island,’ it wasn’t as crowded as I imagined inside. In fact, it felt like a normal Saturday afternoon. Thinking that everyone must momentarily be at one of the fabulous shows at the Atlantic Canada house, or shimmying away at the Place de la Francophonie, I thought I should investigate.

I asked one of my favorite delis, ‘how’s business?’ “Eh, people aren’t really looking to buy more than something they can eat while they walk. The pepperoni sticks are a big hit.”

I wandered over to Duso’s to find a similar response. “The locals are staying away, and I guess the tourists forgot to back their kitchen,” was a common answer.

As I continue to stroll, I looked up to find a common theme: pride. Each vendor seemed to bring their spirit for the Olympics to their stalls whether through flags,  ‘Go Canada Go’ signs, or simply a big, toothy smile.

As Jean Pierre of Maison Cote, spice-master extraordinaire, stated, “What did we expect?” With a cheeky expression on his face, “Are we really expecting hockey fans to be making tenderloin, or should they be microwaving nachos.”

Jean-Pierre is all smiles despite disappointing sales.

So back to my theme: the changing face of Canada during the games. I can’t reiterate how important it is for us to realize that, for good and for bad, it took all of us to bring the games here. The sacrifices have brought hardships but also great reward. So to all of the local produce places on Granville, the boutiques on Broadway, and the coffee shops on the Cambie line. We thank you.

“We reforest what we clear because we believe in generations beyond our own, knowing now that so many of us have grown past what used to be, we can stand here today.” -  Shane Koyczan, Opening ceremonies 2010

Signing off for now,

Kassandra

Check me out @Klinked or walking around the city in looking for your story.

Kassandra is currently the News Editor of Kwantlen’s independent student newspaper – The Runner, a member of Kwantlen’s President’s Ambassadorial Team (PAT) and the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Mentor program - Leaders of Tomorrow.

By Kassandra Linklater - @Klinked on Twitter

Every couple of months I look at my “Bucket List,” a list of things one wants to accomplish before they die, to check out my progress. Some of them are simple: smile everyday, some are time consuming: complete a MBA, some involve my idols: take Rick Mercer out for a beer, and some I know will take a lifetime to accomplish: become a Canadian worth remembering.

There are some that I don’t know how they will happen: travel to every continent, so I go with the flow, and some I have to actively pursue: speak five different languages. But last week I saw an ad online, and quickly realized that #51, watch the sunrise on the side of a mountain, was going to become a reality. I had always imaged that #51 would occur in far off lands, like on the side of Mount Kilimanjaro. I never imaged it would happen in my own back yard.

However, a once in lifetime experience was just around the corner and this was all thanks to the Olympics: Grouse Mountain was going to be open 24 hours for two weeks.

The fact that my snow pants were a bit snug and 6 inches too short was a stark reminder that it had been a long time since I had gone skiing. Slowly a nagging feeling crept through my body as I stared at my bare ankles in the mirror, but I quickly brushed it aside, as I was on a quest to find snow pants and a waterproof winter jacket, (how can you tell I live in Vancouver). Lucky, the frugal gods were on my side and I found pants and a jacket all for under a $100 dollars!

My friends and I set the date and I was prepared. With 10 hours of sleep and a mid-day nap behind me, I was ready to conquer the mountain. As I put on the layers of clothes, the nerves started to set in again. Ignoring them once more, I crossed the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge at 12:00am, with my radio blaring and a coffee in my cup holder.

There was something magical about that night, there was not a cloud in the sky and for some reason, and everything just felt right. We bought our lift tickets and it was “to the top of the mountain we go.” Olympic tip: Can’t make it to Cyprus, check out Grouse, there are tons of amazing Olympic activities on the top of the mountain, including live DJ events, and for the ones who like to get up early, or in my case, don’t go to bed at all, the NBC Today Show starts taping at 4:00am.

But back to the mission. Around 1:00am, I finally found the rental shop, and after trying on 3 different boots to find the right size, I was almost set. As I awkwardly walked down the stairs in my ski boots, with the skis over my shoulder and the poles in my left hand, my fears finally caught up to me. “I don’t think I can do this.” The cold night seemed to be taunting me to go back in, and I started to rationalize returning the skis to go sit in the chalet till the sun came up.

See, three years ago I was in a four-pile up on the #1 highway, and my initial prognoses was one that I don’t care to repeat. The thought that I would be skiing three years later was a notion that I don’t believe my Doctors would even bother to entertain. But I was determined to not let others dictated my limitations, or lack there of.

The first twenty minutes were painful, both physically and to my ego as it was not as simple as just getting back on the bike. Luckily, one of my friends was a former ski instructor and showed me the basics. By 2:00 in the morning, things started to click, and like Stella, I seemed to get my groove back. I ask to be left to my own devices, as this moment seemed too big that if someone asked me as question I may not respond. Whipping down the hill I started to feel freedom, and on the chair lift back up I felt peace and clarity.

Minutes turned into hours and after almost plowing into Matt Lauer, as we skied down to watch the Today show taping, the dawn was starting to break. A hot coffee and after some much needed sitting, we were back at it. After a long debate about the difference between sunrise, dawn and daybreak, and what time the sun truly comes up, we decided to break in the newly groomed ‘Cut’ around 6:00 am. I have to be honest, the pain started to creep in and I wasn’t able to make it down all the way on our last run. But sitting on the snow and watching the sunrise over our world class sitting was truly amazing.

Later that day, I was watching some of the events on TV, and one channel had a sports doctor on talking about what an athlete goes through during speed skating, particularly on how they can’t just be strong physically but need to be mentally too. They need to learn how to turn the idea of pain into ‘pleasure,’ in a sense. Embrace it. It was eerie for me to hear him explain the process, as this was exactly what I had taught myself during my recovery. The old adage: ‘no pain, no gain,’ rang true for me.

I sat back and wondered how many people have learned to embrace struggle during these games. Whether it was the life time of training for the athletes, the monetary hardships for the American speed skating team, the exhaustion that the VANOC team must feel after the seven year marathon of organizing, or the five years it took my new friend from Germany to save up to attend these games.

For me, the biggest struggle that has occurred during the games has been for Canada. A young nation, we see finally ready to step out into the world, and say, “here we are.”

During the opening Olympic ceremonies, Shane Koyczan, slam poet extraordinaire, defined Canada in a way that I believe captured everything about us. We are young, we are proud; we have a defined culture that is indefinable, yet undeniable. We are a walking stereotype, with our hockey and poutine. We are kind, we are rude, we try, we fail, but most importantly, “we are an idea in the process of being realized.”

For the rest of the Olympics I am going to dedicate my blog not to the Olympic games, but to the impacts that it is having on our people from coast to coast to coast. I decided to start from myself, and my “abandonment of hesitation.”

For “we are more than hills to ski or countryside ponds to skate, we are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can't wait.” We are a nation that is changing before our very eyes. The world is watching Canada, but so are we.

Signing off for now,

Kassandra

Check me out @Klinked or walking around the city in looking for your story.

Kassandra is currently the News Editor of Kwantlen’s independent student newspaper – The Runner, a member of Kwantlen’s President’s Ambassadorial Team (PAT) and the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Mentor program - Leaders of Tomorrow.

It is t-minus one hours before the games begin and the sense of excitement is electric. The pulse of our great city has radiated far beyond the seemingly endless boarder of our country and even my Facebook friends from as far off as Panama City are eagerly waiting for the opening ceremonies to start.

Although I was too young to remember the Calgary games, the Olympics have been like I pin I have worn on my jacket since my youth. I remember attending a youth leadership summit when I was sixteen in Ottawa, where youth from across this nation had to make presentations about our individual regions. A proud Montrealer and I got into a lengthy debate about the merits of our two great cities, which started to become quite heated. After finally admitting that Montreal is a truly world class place, I left him with one final jab as I stated that we [Vancouver] were going to host the greatest Olympics that the world has ever seen.

It is years later and although I think my pride for Vancouver got the best of me, I do think we are going to put on a pretty great show. For me this show is more that going for gold, and owning the podium. Don’t get me wrong, nothing would please me more that gold in both men and women’s hockey, but this show is about telling the world what really makes this the ‘best place on earth.’

My hope is that people will fall in love and the type that our dear Leonard Cohen sings about. I want the world to see what we’ve known about for a long time. And trust me, we are going to see the good, the bad, and like ever great romance, the ugly.

So I say, bring on the smiles, the adventures, the successes, and the failures. Bring on the protests, the concerts, and the street festivals. Bring on the good food, the good wine, and the great friendships that will be made. Bring on the story that will define us as people, as a nation, and as a global community. For it was once said, “one day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.”

And let’s make no mistake, the world will be watching.

Signing off for now,

Kassandra

Check me out @Klinked or walking around the city in looking for your story.

Kassandra is currently the News Editor of Kwantlen’s independent student newspaper – The Runner, a member of Kwantlen’s President’s Ambassadorial Team (PAT) and the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Mentor program - Leaders of Tomorrow.