26 days until the olympics!

Hello! Everyone!
I'm sure you are all excited, It's almost time (Well sort of?) for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games :)
I'm very excited.
You're all excited.
Vancouver's excited.
My parents are excited; but not cause of the Winter Games. They hate the Olympics. No my friends, they are excited because they will be in beautiful Cancun during the games, away from all the craziness. This event fills me with joy, because I am home alone for two weeks. I'm not going to throw any parties or anything, if that's what you're thinking.

SO. ANYWAYS. I'm not sure whether you've all heard or not, but Coca-Cola Canada and Visa pay wave are teaming up my friends, to bring you a "brand new" innovation for the 2010 games. 550 coca cola machines, stationed at the Olympic villages and Olympic training centers, will be accessible by Visa pay-wave. This pretty much means that spectators will just have to "wave: their credit cards through the coke machine and voila! there's there coke. In this way, spectators will conveniently grab a drink and get back to their seats.

"Spectators at the Games will definitely appreciate the speed of Visa payWave when they can grab their Coke with a quick wave of the card, leaving enough time to get back to their seats for the next event," said Mike Bradley, Head of Products, Visa Canada.

Personally, I'm unsure of this. I guess you do shave off a few seconds by swiping a card and getting your drink, but really? How much faster is it than propping into the machine a few coins....Well i guess if there's thousands of people at a game, then it does save quite a bit of time, especially if you don't want to miss the next game, or you've gotten out of your seat for an intermission. So yeah, i guess it makes sense.
It's definitely an interesting idea...I like it.

What do you guys think? Here's the full article in case you're interested: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2010/11/c7341.html

I'm doing things Backwards...

So as you can see, I started off my first blog spewing random thoughts about the Olympics and my problems. Lol.

But now I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself now, lol.

I'm so Crazy.

That Pretty much Sums me up. I'm unpredictable, wild, crazy, free spirited, stubborn, caring, Always looking out for those I love, Eccentric, unconventional, sometimes sarcastic/meaner than a usual person, Sometimes insanely nice and loving to people, I trust people more than I should, I try to be polite, I'm proffessional when I need to be, but when I'm in the right environment I let loose and I like to party.

But yeah, Crazy sums it up pretty much.

Now for a more formal introduction...

Hi, my name is Stergios Darntanis and I am YOUR Students Live Reporter for the 2010 Olympics; You want the 411 on the olympics? Come to me, I'll get the dirt, I'm not afraid to ask the hard questions, watch for upcoming interviews, I may say some things you may not expect to here.

Born and Raised in Vancouver, I grew up in a very conservative Christian Family. I am a quarter Peruvian, a quarter Chinese, and half Greek. Yep, I'm a crazy mixed child. Sometimes I get confused for having Arabic descent. I don't, by the way. I am 17, in grade 12, excited for University. I'm going to miss Highschool a lot, but i'm excited for what's ahead.

My dream job is to be a 'journalist'. I use that term loosely because I'm considering covering anything from hard hitting stories to Pop culture. I think my overall goal would be to work somewhere like MTV or MuchMusic. (Hey, I can dream can't I?)

I enjoy Skiing, hanging with friends, playing video games, Swimming, and I guess...my family? LOL, oh dear.

I Feel like becoming a reporter for the Olympics is a great opportunity. Not only do I get to go see the amazing winter games, but I get to live my dream as a journalist, AND I get to represent Vancouver for all it's greatness; Can you say, TRIPLE YES?

A ton of updates, Olympic- wise, and Me- wise

Where has Stergios gone too?

Hello everyone!
I'm sure you have noticed my absence from Students Live, and the Web in general. Pretty much, in the middle of the first week of break, My computer/ Laptop went crazy. Computer caught a virus, transferred through to my laptop, it all just went wack. All my emails, my parents emails got deleted. I've been able to access the web very few times during the break. I have gotten my comp to somewhat work, so i'm hoping it doesn't crash while I type all this up.

Fortunately, I have all my research/interview done, it's just all in paper...So now I just need to transfer it over to the web. This should be interesting.

Some Interesting Thoughts on the Olympics...

The Red Mittens
- See how I wrote this in Green? and not Red? Ohhh how clever I am. Okay, the Red Mittens...Hmm...They're pretty? and I would get them, except...Stergios' Money --> Parents---> Anti-Olympics- "Stergios, you already have like 5 pairs of mittens, Remember the ones grandma knitted for you? Why do you need Olympic ones? Waste of money".

Oh Goodness.

But in all seriousness, The red mittens are great. I mean attending the games is great and all, But i feel like the red mittens really connect attendees/Olympic supporters to the games, athletes, and celebrations. They are a tangible memory of the Olympic games, and they're just awesome in general.

Not just that, but the mittens Are ONLY 10 DOLLARS. Totally worth it people. Come on!


Anti-Olympic Feelings! What?

There's an actual website called http://no2010.com/, "No 2010", and there slogan is "No Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics on Stolen Native Land". Taken directly from the website, The 2010 resistance has this to say:

"Although it can be said that all of the Americas is land stolen from Indigenous peoples, 'British Columbia' is unique in Canada in that virtually no treaties were made in the process of colonization & settlement. Treaties were required under British, and later Canadian, law prior to any trade or settlement (i.e., the 1763 Royal Proclamation). Although today the government seeks 'modern-day treaties' with its Indian Act band councils, the fact is in 'BC' the land is clearly occupied by an illegal colonial system. The slogan 'No Olympics on Stolen Native Land' is a way to raise anti-colonial consciousness about the true history of 'BC'. "

I have mixed feelings towards this; Everyone should watch their "2010 Resistance video", which focuses a lot on the Olympics of the past, from Hitler's influence on the Olympics in the 1930's, to the Bloody Massacre in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, the video seems to focus a lot on what's happened in the past; However, I feel like our society has evolved since those incidents, and the Olympics has become a fair, successful celebration. However, The website does bring up a few good points on the damages done to the environment, Homelessness, and some of the negative impacts on the society in Vancouver and other places in the lower mainland.

What are everyone's thoughts on these issues?