Stephen in Vancouver report
Feb. 17th, 2010 08:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ria_oaksAm home from seeing Stephen... whew! It's been a long day and I'm tired and sore, and I didn't even get there as early as some! Arrived around 7:45am and there was already a massive lineup (only in Canada, I swear... we were all so calm and orderly at that point!). Waited in the lineup for about half an hour, then everyone suddenly broke off and started rushing towards the stage in a free-for-all so I sprinted and made it pretty close to the front. :) Could barely see the stage over all the heads, and was pressed in on all sides by masses of people, but oh well... least I was fairly close to the front, so it was better than if I'd been way at the back. The crowd was huge - there must have been a couple thousand people there. Fortunately it was a beautiful day, sunny and not too cold (and being surrounded by masses of people kept me fairly warm, except for my hands and my feet (the latter of which were standing in what amounted to a mud pit... the entire field was pretty damp and muddy). It was supposed to start at 9:15, but nothing happened until ~9:40 when the stage manager came out and said that Stephen would be on in about 25 minutes and in the meantime we were going to watch a video of the various pre-Olympic segments Stephen did (like the curling and bobsled training). Couldn't see the screens at all, but listening to it was fairly entertaining. Except for the part where I was getting tired, sore, and impatient, and had to go to the bathroom (as usual). ^^; The video finished and we had to wait around another 10-odd minutes, then the stage manager came back out and got us all to sing Oh Canada to welcome Stephen.
Finally Stephen came on around 10:30, I think, and everyone went wild. :) I tried to take pictures but they didn't really turn out... I got a few later, though (the decent ones are under the cut). I'll try to describe what I remember of the taping (it's a bit of a blur already... o.o I was getting pretty sore by then!). I'm putting it under a cut and will white it out, so those who don't want to be spoiled for the episodes next week can avoid it but still see my pictures.
HIGHLIGHT TEXT TO READ - SPOILERS FOR TAPING
Okay, let's see... I've already forgotten a bunch, I swear. o.o He had to do his intro segment three times because he messed up (yay!). He said something about "...if I fuck up" (can't recall the exact context of the sentence) before starting one take, and then promptly made a mistake and said 'I fucked up' which made everyone laugh (it's nice to hear him swearing without it being bleeped!). He then started his first main segment, which was 'Better Know a Riding' - lol! He did a few minutes to introduce the segment and talked about the differences between Canada and the US (he joked about having an 'English to English Dictionary' to translate things - like Americans say 'Canadian bacon', but in Canada we say 'back bacon', and in the US they say 'Canadian geese' but here we say 'Canada geese'). He talked about how we have Members of Parliament instead of Congressmen, and ridings instead of districts. He said that this would be "the first in our 300 and - oh, who are we kidding, our 1-part series, 'Better Know a Riding'!' and introduced South Vancouver as the riding (the 'fightin' Southies'). He mentioned that Vancouver is Hollywood North, and that there are also paparazzi here that ambush celebrities but only after politely asking if they can ambush you. XD
The actual Better Know a Riding segment was a pre-taped interview with Ujjal Dosanjh, which was pretty entertaining. :) I couldn't see the video, but I could hear it. They talked about Vancouver's multiculturalism and Stephen offended Dosanjh by asking him what caste he came from in India. ^^; The question got a big "ooooh..." from the crowd. It was pretty good, though - Stephen went full-out with the 'ignorant American' act and started arguing with Dosanjh about Hindi culture and the caste system. Oh dear. ^^ He also said that only part of the interview would actually air (it was definitely too long for the actual show); I wonder if they'll cut some of those parts out?
Next they filmed three interviews. First one was some local singer named Michael Buble, who I'd never heard of and no one seemed that excited by though I gather he's fairly popular. We just wanted Stephen, though. :) The best part was them singing Oh Canada to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner, which I managed to get video of. Bad quality, but you can hear it okay. Granted it'll air next week anyway, but still... I can post it if anyone wants it (I'm assuming Comedy Central won't hunt me down and kill me. XD There are already a few other videos up on Youtube). I don't remember too much about the other two interviews. One was with an American Olympic hockey player, I think, I don't remember his name and can't be bothered to look it up... he played in the Olympics against Russia in 1980. They talked about the game and how the Olympics kind of play out real-world conflicts, and therefore the US should play hockey against the Taliban. ^^ And they joked about having a rematch with Russia, since they're "right over there" (gesturing to Science World, which has temporarily become the Russian pavillion).
Last interview was NBC's Bob Costas. And I... don't remember much of it anymore. By this point a lot of people had been chanting on and off for someone to ride the stuffed moose on the set (lol!), so at the start of the interview Stephen finally said, "okay, I'll get him to ride the moose!" Which he did at the end of the interview. I was hoping Stephen would, too, but no luck.
And.. that's about it. Stephen did his last quick "that's it for tonight" line and the crowd dispersed. It was around 12 by this time and people were tired and sore, and many of us probably hungry and in need of a toilet. ^^; I pushed to the front once the crowd had thinned so I could get some clear shots of the stage. Met up withlunchboxghost briefly, but she and her cousin were exhausted (they arrived at 1am, impressive!) so we took off pretty quickly. I headed downtown to meet a guy who was going to buy my old Blackberry (and he didn't show, ergh!) then home to collapse.
And now, pictures...
First up, a couple of shots of the crowd behind me. Taken I think around 9:30-10?
The crowd in front of me and the stage. You can just barely see Stephen up there.
Stephen interviewing Michael Buble. I got very few clear shots of Stephen that didn't turn out too blurry; this is one of them... I cropped it so you don't see all the people between me and the stage.
A close up of Stephen and Michael in the above picture.
Another one of my few clear shots of Stephen, so I'm posting it...
Close up of Stephen from the above picture.
At some point Stephen grabbed the stuffed beaver on the set...
And held it up...
Couple of shots of the set, after the taping when I managed to get up to the front and could finally see it properly. Love the penguins. XD
And finally, me in front of the set. Taken holding my camera out in front of me, but it turned out surprisingly well in spite of that!
And that's it! Whew. Don't know if I'll go back tomorrow... it was pretty intense, and for all that I could barely see him. It was cool once, but... yeah. ^^ And I've got to work tomorrow evening. So we'll see.
Finally Stephen came on around 10:30, I think, and everyone went wild. :) I tried to take pictures but they didn't really turn out... I got a few later, though (the decent ones are under the cut). I'll try to describe what I remember of the taping (it's a bit of a blur already... o.o I was getting pretty sore by then!). I'm putting it under a cut and will white it out, so those who don't want to be spoiled for the episodes next week can avoid it but still see my pictures.
HIGHLIGHT TEXT TO READ - SPOILERS FOR TAPING
Okay, let's see... I've already forgotten a bunch, I swear. o.o He had to do his intro segment three times because he messed up (yay!). He said something about "...if I fuck up" (can't recall the exact context of the sentence) before starting one take, and then promptly made a mistake and said 'I fucked up' which made everyone laugh (it's nice to hear him swearing without it being bleeped!). He then started his first main segment, which was 'Better Know a Riding' - lol! He did a few minutes to introduce the segment and talked about the differences between Canada and the US (he joked about having an 'English to English Dictionary' to translate things - like Americans say 'Canadian bacon', but in Canada we say 'back bacon', and in the US they say 'Canadian geese' but here we say 'Canada geese'). He talked about how we have Members of Parliament instead of Congressmen, and ridings instead of districts. He said that this would be "the first in our 300 and - oh, who are we kidding, our 1-part series, 'Better Know a Riding'!' and introduced South Vancouver as the riding (the 'fightin' Southies'). He mentioned that Vancouver is Hollywood North, and that there are also paparazzi here that ambush celebrities but only after politely asking if they can ambush you. XD
The actual Better Know a Riding segment was a pre-taped interview with Ujjal Dosanjh, which was pretty entertaining. :) I couldn't see the video, but I could hear it. They talked about Vancouver's multiculturalism and Stephen offended Dosanjh by asking him what caste he came from in India. ^^; The question got a big "ooooh..." from the crowd. It was pretty good, though - Stephen went full-out with the 'ignorant American' act and started arguing with Dosanjh about Hindi culture and the caste system. Oh dear. ^^ He also said that only part of the interview would actually air (it was definitely too long for the actual show); I wonder if they'll cut some of those parts out?
Next they filmed three interviews. First one was some local singer named Michael Buble, who I'd never heard of and no one seemed that excited by though I gather he's fairly popular. We just wanted Stephen, though. :) The best part was them singing Oh Canada to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner, which I managed to get video of. Bad quality, but you can hear it okay. Granted it'll air next week anyway, but still... I can post it if anyone wants it (I'm assuming Comedy Central won't hunt me down and kill me. XD There are already a few other videos up on Youtube). I don't remember too much about the other two interviews. One was with an American Olympic hockey player, I think, I don't remember his name and can't be bothered to look it up... he played in the Olympics against Russia in 1980. They talked about the game and how the Olympics kind of play out real-world conflicts, and therefore the US should play hockey against the Taliban. ^^ And they joked about having a rematch with Russia, since they're "right over there" (gesturing to Science World, which has temporarily become the Russian pavillion).
Last interview was NBC's Bob Costas. And I... don't remember much of it anymore. By this point a lot of people had been chanting on and off for someone to ride the stuffed moose on the set (lol!), so at the start of the interview Stephen finally said, "okay, I'll get him to ride the moose!" Which he did at the end of the interview. I was hoping Stephen would, too, but no luck.
And.. that's about it. Stephen did his last quick "that's it for tonight" line and the crowd dispersed. It was around 12 by this time and people were tired and sore, and many of us probably hungry and in need of a toilet. ^^; I pushed to the front once the crowd had thinned so I could get some clear shots of the stage. Met up with
lunchboxghost briefly, but she and her cousin were exhausted (they arrived at 1am, impressive!) so we took off pretty quickly. I headed downtown to meet a guy who was going to buy my old Blackberry (and he didn't show, ergh!) then home to collapse.And now, pictures...
First up, a couple of shots of the crowd behind me. Taken I think around 9:30-10?
The crowd in front of me and the stage. You can just barely see Stephen up there.
Stephen interviewing Michael Buble. I got very few clear shots of Stephen that didn't turn out too blurry; this is one of them... I cropped it so you don't see all the people between me and the stage.
A close up of Stephen and Michael in the above picture.
Another one of my few clear shots of Stephen, so I'm posting it...
Close up of Stephen from the above picture.
At some point Stephen grabbed the stuffed beaver on the set...
And held it up...
Couple of shots of the set, after the taping when I managed to get up to the front and could finally see it properly. Love the penguins. XD
And finally, me in front of the set. Taken holding my camera out in front of me, but it turned out surprisingly well in spite of that!
And that's it! Whew. Don't know if I'll go back tomorrow... it was pretty intense, and for all that I could barely see him. It was cool once, but... yeah. ^^ And I've got to work tomorrow evening. So we'll see.
