The Louvre

On the banks of the river Seine over 60,000 square metres of prime Paris real estate is occupied by the finest museum I have been to. As I am a man among men, the Louvre is a museum among museums. Opened in 1793, the Louvre hosts a massive collection of artifacts, paintings, and sculptures. Six million visitors a year wander its wings after entering through the glass pyramid entrance and descending into the underground lobby. Tickets can be purchased from vending machines. A useful map of the grounds that highlights the premier attractions such as the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo is also available. With treasures from all corners of the world on display, it was an easy mistake for many tourists to make when they assumed that I was one of the specimens in the Louvre's collection and started snapping pictures.

The collection was so extensive that my entire day was spent at the museum, including lunch at the Louvre cafeteria. Several tourists took ill with cases of museum fatigue and had to be removed from the premises. The Musee du Louvre was formerly a fortress constructed in the 12th century. Three wings, Sully, Denon, and Richelieu, frame the central courtyard and the recently constructed pyramid. There is also a smaller inverted pyramid and an underground mall attached to the Louvre that I stumbled upon. The eight curatorial departments are (1) Egyptian Antiquities, (2) Near Eastern Antiquities, (3) Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities, (4) Islamic Art, (5) Sculpture, (6) Decorative Arts, (7) Paintings, and (8) Prints and Drawings. Room after room, corridor after corridor, new spectacles await.

Vancouver Whitecaps

On Thanksgiving weekend the Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club faced the Puerto Rico Islanders in the USL First Division final. Although the Islanders were the higher ranked team based on regular season standings, the Whitecaps had been controversially chosen to host the final due to a more favourable bid. The pre-game ceremonies followed the traditional FIFA format, with both teams being accompanied by miniature soccer players as they came on to the field. After a scoreless first half, Vancouver took the lead early in the second before Puerto Rico equalized. Four minutes later the Whitecaps again took the lead off a header. They held on for the remaining few minutes, capturing their second USL title in 3 years but the first on home soil.

As the world's most popular sport soccer appeals to the lowest common denominator. There were no hooligans present at this game, only 5800 well behaved fans. After the final whistle blew, a slow and steady stream of ardent supporters (the "Westside Rowdies") ran onto the field. Eventually all the fans that were not sitting in the grandstand area congregated on the soccer ground as the Whitecaps accepted the championship trophy in front of them. There was much singing and merriment as one by one the players took their turn hoisting the trophy.

Vancouver Whitecaps vs Puerto Rico Islanders 2:1
Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, BC
Sunday, October 12, 2008

*****

White is the colour,
Soccer is the game,
We're all together and winning is our aim,
So cheer us on through the sun and rain,
Because Whitecaps, Whitecaps is our name!

- Whitecaps theme song

Blog Action Day: Raise A Reader

The theme is poverty for this year's edition of Blog Action Day. Poverty can seem like an overwhelmingly huge issue to tackle, so I will focus on a particular aspect only. The inability to read is often times a significant barrier for low income individuals, severely restricting their career options. Being able to read allows for digestion and understanding of a broad range of subjects. Whether used for education, entertainment, or self-sufficiency, reading is a skill that once learned becomes used in almost every aspect of daily life.

The Raise-a-Reader program was first introduced in Vancouver in 2002, and has since spread to almost 30 communities across Canada. Volunteers sell newspapers on Raise-a-Reader day, with all the proceeds going to local literacy programs. The Vancouver Canucks and its players have always been strong supporters of the program, so I was not surprised to see legendary Canuck Stan Smyl selling papers at a street corner on this year's Raise-a-Reader day. I was impressed though by the the range of people who were engaged in the noble undertaking.

People from all strata of society were involved, from celebrities to firefighters to school children. Block after block, each street corner in the downtown core was occupied by a group of newspaper toting volunteers in an impressive display of people uniting for the common good. I gave a generous contribution to a particularly enthusiastic volunteer, who handed me my special edition copy of the Vancouver Sun and applied a "I helped Raise-a-Reader today!" sticker to my bosom.

******

"Even heroes have heroes"

Vancouver Giants

The Vancouver Giants were victorious against the Spokane Chiefs in what turned out to be the last home game of the 2007-2008 Canadian Hockey League (CHL) season for them. I met a friend of mine at Pacific Coliseum, the former home of the Vancouver Canucks and current home of Vancouver's junior hockey franchise since it was founded in 2001. Unlike their NHL counterparts, Giants tickets were inexpensive and easily obtained on game day minutes before the puck dropped.

The action was fast paced and exciting, with a lot of the chances being generated by youthful mistakes by players on both sides. We sat in the upper bowl. Directly behind us were a group of women who heartily debated which spa was the best in town. The heated exchange spanned multiple periods but their was no winner. Spa Utopia and Spa Ethos emerged as the two top contenders though.

The Giants were eliminated from playoff contention in the following game of the best-of-7 Western Conference semi-finals. The Chiefs went on to win the WHL Championship, which Vancouver had captured two years earlier. In a strange twist, they had lost in the WHL Championship Finals last year before going on to host and win the more prestigious Memorial Cup. The Memorial Cup pits the host city versus the champions of the three major junior Canadian hockey leagues - the Western Hockey League (WHL), the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

Go Abroad

A critic of my lackluster efforts to secure an ARNABride once pointed out that I must be doing something seriously wrong if I could not locate half of the earthly population. I have identified that part of the problem is that I am not where they are. For instance I am working in the IT industry, which is rarely graced by a woman's beauty. Not only are ladies avoiding my vocational area en masse, they are also vacating my geographical region in large numbers. When I went to the Go Abroad Fair held at the Canada Place convention centre I was surprised to see such a high quantity of beauties looking to head oversees.

The fair maidens were fleeing to places both exotic and mundane, but all to locations I would not be present in. From teaching in Korea or Japan to studying in Europe or Australia to volunteering in Africa, a world of opportunities was open to them. I could not begrudge them their chance to go beyond borders. Crossing cultures is becoming more and more common in the global economy. Although I have not volunteered or studied overseas, I have worked internationally. My yearlong stint with Satyam in India was an eye opening experience, and not just from a career enhancing aspect. I was able to live and work alongside people from all corners of the globe, resulting in a highly rewarding voyage of discovery.

*****

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain