Protest the Cherry Blossoms, oh my!

Well it's underway and the picture I lead with today is one of cherry blossoms. Why? Because it's probably the most under reported story of the games. Thanks to the warm weather, the cherry trees around here started blooming early. I'm sure the tourists will enjoy seeing pink trees around town.

The opening ceremonies went off with only minor hitches last night but overall I think they did a great job. I really enjoyed hearing K. D. Lang perform and at times the visuals to the art performances were stunning - like when the killer wales 'swam' across the floor. My wife was troubled by the frayed bowstrings of the fiddlers though - she's a violinist, so seeing the equipment in such a state was distracting.

The second shot is of some of my co-workers getting ready to cheer on the torch relay. I'll attempt to embed a brief youtube clip of the torch bearer running by at the end of the post.

Did anyone say protest? I heard of at least two times that the torch relay had to be re-routed to avoid trouble in Vancouver due to protests. The local news ran stories about elementary school kids who were sad and disappointed because they waited and waited and no torch came. You just know those kids are going to grow up with pure hatred for protesters in the future.

I think I am ok with that.

The final two shots are first a police road block and second, reinforcements. Yet another protest happened on Robson street today - I was walking the dog and had to go around them as the closest officer to me claimed 'it wasn't safe'. I'm not so sure about how dangerous it is to walk past stoned street performers more interested in flag waving and raising awareness of their pet issue but I also didn't feel like pushing the matter. In a way, I'm kind of glad that protesters are given as much as they are in the way of rights, etc. here. Welcome to a democratic nation, peoples of the earth. Ok, without further ado, here is the youtube video: