I was interrupted in writing this blog as I had to head over to the stage and see what the technical difficulties were in April Wine’s set. All is well again and they are belting out the tunes to a full house. April Wine is one of those bands who amaze you as you know so many of their tunes. I’m finding myself saying “I didn’t know this was their song”. For instance one of their big hits is “Tonight is a Wonderfu Night to Make Love”.

After a long load in and a busy first weekend of the Pacific National Exhibition we’ve found the magic pill to keep us all going (thanks to Marti). WHOPPERS!

It was a quick flight back from Seattle and then straight to the stage of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Once again, we were involved with the Vancouver Opera Season Opening Overture Gala. I spent five great years with the company and I always enjoy going back to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and working with my friends at the Opera. It’s nice to see the renovations to the Theatre are getting close to completion. Once the new seats come in next year, it will almost be like a new venue.

Today we helped Karyo Edelman with a Vancouver 2010 Olympic announcement for Petro Canada. Petro Canada will pay for two immediate family members of every 2010 Canadian Olympian to attend the games. To demonstrate the impact this has on athletes, we had Olympic speed skating medalist, Kristina Groves, do timed laps in an empty arena as well as much quicker times as she was cheered on by family and friends. Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with some of Canada’s top female speed skaters. We had Catrina Lemay Doan host the Vancouver 2010 Emblem launch. I shared some time with Cindy Klassen in Torino as she was carrying the flag for Canada at the Closing Ceremonies and now it was fabulous to be on the ice with Kristina Groves.

It is 6:00pm in China; we are just outside Tiananmen Square.  Throngs of people crowd the street as everyone excitedly awaits the much-anticipated Opening Ceremonies that will start in less than two hours.  Fireworks line the street that lead to the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

Decked out in HBC Team Canada shirts, we anxiously wait for the family members of Canada’s athletes, who will join us at the BC Canada Pavilion to watch the Opening Ceremonies.

There is excitement in the air!

It is the middle of a very busy week as Patrick and I sit across the street from Tiananmen Square, in the BC Canada Pavilion, on the eve of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremonies. Just four days ago, we experienced the culture of another sporting event as we produced the Opening Ceremonies of the North American Indigenous Games in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. In between, the load in and rehearsals of the Pacific National Exhibition continue. Patrick, Anna and Heather arrived on Wednesday and had a whirlwind day today with meetings at the Pavilion and Russia House while coordinating talent from Canada for our upcoming events in Beijing. Rob Sondergaard, our colleague from Electric Aura, and I arrived today after leaving the PNE and are now in the midst of a technical load in.

This is our fifth trip to Beijing in the last two years and we have seen massive change over that time. The ultra modern buildings continue to pop up, the new airport works well but unfortunately the air quality is still quite noticeable. The city is alive and buzzing today but the traffic is not moving. It took us two hours to travel from our hotel to the BC Canada Pavilion, which is only about 4 kilometers away. We attempted to get a taxi then got stuck in the subway, then took another taxi but ended up walking amongst thousands, as things were not moving.