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Torino 2006 Skeleton Gold Medalist athlete Duff Gibson chats with Olympic Outsider host Dave Thorvald about having a beer named after him, life as a Calgary fireman, being Canada's (and the world's) oldest gold medalist, training for technical and speed courses, the Whistler track, athletic challenges and the future of the sport at an Olympic rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery in May 2006.

Download The Duff Man! - Olympic Laughs with the Superhero Skeleton-ist Duff Gibson
(.mp3, 8MB, 9:53)

Doing business in China in advance and following the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, is the topic as Australian businessman Andrew Gilkes, Chairman of ChinaAccess2008, an international business facilitation program, shares tips and best practices for interacting with this rapidly growing economy.

Mr. Gilkes answers host Dave O's questions about the creative arts and science industries, the effect of the Hong Kong handover, educational levels, economic growing pains, environmental remediation, understanding the culture, and diaspora of "sea turtles."

Today, in Vancouver, shortly after noon, the Olympic countdown clock was revealed to the public in an event attended by supporters and surrounded by the chaos of protesters chanting and protesting the coming of the Olympics.

Here's VANOC official Press Release regarding today’s presentation:

“What’s six metres high, three metres wide, weighs 1,170 kilograms and is wrapped in a 15 metre by 12 metre gift box from Omega on the Vancouver Art Gallery’s northwest corner in downtown Vancouver? It’s the new Vancouver 2010 Countdown Clock, presented by Omega, Official Timekeeper. Preparations are underway to unveil it to the citizens of Vancouver, rain or shine, in a fast-paced noon hour celebration on Monday, February 12 – the three-year anniversary to the start of the 2010 Winter Games.”

Vancouver BC Place Stadium dome un-flated {Note: Cross posted at GetElastic, Urban Vancouver and Ephemeral Feasthouse}

Note: Photo updated with correct date, apologies for any confusion.

Digg this story

Vancouver’s noble and venerable stadium BC Place - which opened in 1983 as one of the first self-supporting domes in the world - is the latest casualty of the wildest winter weather ever around here.

[Cross-posted to Urban Vancouver and my personal weblog.]

Kris Krug just posted a photo of a poster seen in Gastown, and surely elsewhere, of a stylized middle finger made out of the Olympic rings. If it had the Olympic colours, it probably would have been less subtle, but let's be honest, I don't think a lot of people, myself included, initially saw an obscene gesture made with one's hands, but a body part that people are more discreet about. I wonder if the people who were behind the 2010 Riot stencils are behind this poster as well.

Huh? Where??

As part of BarCamp Shanghai, the first of its' kind in China, Kris Krug from Bryght will be facilitating a PhotoCamp and PhotoWalk through the streets of Shanghai, and no doubt schooling on the wonderful ways of flickr to boot!

Do the bloggers and internet geeks in China know about Flickr? Do they use it? Can they? Apparently so. Check out these recent photos of some crafty "goods" that will be needed at BarCamp - Scotch tape lives in China!

Check in with the photostreams of Kris and Rob over the next few weeks as they wind their way through China, from Beijing to Shanghai to Hangzhou. Crystal from Raincity has done a lot of grunt work from Vancouver to get BarCamp off the ground, so check out her pics as well.

Welcome To The YouTube of China

In a country in the Old World Hemisphere, on a continent far, far away, BarCamp Shanghai has an official venue and the organizers from this side of the world and the other are steaming ahead at all the pertinent BarCamp details.

Tudou, coined in our parts as the YouTube of China, will be hosting the event on September 24th. Picture a 3000 square foot space (aka WorkSpace style), but with Chinese character graffiti all over the walls, et voila!

Sponsor The First BarCamp of China!

The list of sponsors has commenced, but more is always helpful and welcomed.
Thus far:

• Bryght
• Raincity Studios
• Tudou
• Pacific Epoch, a boutique new media company based out of Shanghai. They will be providing media promotions for the event. (And they're open source - we love it!)

Digital Content and Web 2.0 - From Vancouver To Shanghai

As part of the China Access 2008 Fall Program that is set to commence in Beijing on September 17th, Rob Scales and Kris Krug will be sitting on a panel on September 20th, at the Shanghai Digital Entertainment Centre, sharing their veteran knowledge on digital content and web 2.0: what it is, what it means in business for them, and what it could potentially do for business and the internet in China.

This panel will be on the 4th day of the weeklong program for China Access 2008: Growth Economies and Industries of the 21st Century. Appropriately, all participants will gather at the Shanghai Digital Entertainment Centre to hear case studies and discuss topics on digital content and building successful media companies in the 21st Century, to better help identify the challenges and opportunities.

September China Program Finalized

The September China trip is only a few weeks away. All of the details have been finalized and hotels and plane tickets have been booked. The crew will be making stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, meeting with members of the business community and political figures. There is still time to jump on board if you have not already done so and join the team of business leaders who are making the trek. This is an opportunity of a lifetime to be a part of such a well orchestrated and strategic event. To find out more about upcoming Business Visit Programs in Beijing please, click here

Click here to Register for the September Program.

As mentioned in a previous post, ... Canada's Governor-General, Michaëlle Jean (a Haitian refuge who immigrated to Quebec as a child), and Vancouver Mayor Mayor Sam Sullivan were on hand - along with a phalanx of officers of everykind - to reveal the 1952 Oslo Winter Olympic flag.

I headed out from North Vancouver via transit to attend and watch the pagaentry. After stealthing into the media event, I asked VANOC CEO John Furlong a few questions on a snowy Vancouver morning.

Listen to Olympic Outsider #7 (.m4a)