Whistler, Reassuringly Expensive.

Word up brethren,



Quite an eventful week this side of the Atlantic, starting with a devilish hangover and ending in powder heaven.

Last week saw the big wrap up party at Sportsworld. Typically me and the boys got warmed up at the local bar aptly named DIX before heading on to Yaletown to finally sink my teeth into some unsuspecting Samsung staff women, who've been locked away in the Hyatt for the last 4 weeks. Needless to say the night went well enough to get home at 5am and find the kiwi and the Auzzie causing absolute mayhem in 610 central. In all likelihood it was Michael Lee's genius that thought Red Wine would be a perfect way to round off a 9 hour drinking sess, with a couple of old birds picked up at the infamous Roxy's on Granville Street. Sure enough proceedings went on till 9 am and the walls of our living room had been transformed in to a new canvas for spray painting (red wine EVERYWHERE).



JWing on the Peak to Peak Gondola, Whistler.

With Vancouver wrapped up it was time to head up to Whistler for the real deal. Jamie and I headed up safe in the knowledge that we had squared yourself away with an absolute steal at the Fairmont luxury resort and spa. And no sooner had I settled in to the miracle of another JW coup did I then find out that for 6 room nights we were paying $1500. FUCK! Skis at $200 dollars, lift pass to come and more importantly beer expenses to be accounted for this was NOT something you could pass of as a MasterCard solves all moment. Nonetheless the realisation of these mammoth fees were allied by the prospect of pigging the powder and then finding some Aussie imports for evening entertainment.......until I saw this huge banner.



You couldn't make this shit up. We'd only ventured up in Gay Pride Week. So not only was my wallet being raped by the fairmont but my ahole was now in serious danger of following suit...
Not deterred by this absolute bombshell we set about exploring the amenities and perks expected from a 5*. Errr none. The only solace would be the Jacuzzi thermals, which were RAMMED full of blokes in tight trunks. Banter.

So what about the Skiing I hear you cry? Thank Jesus, Mary and Joseph for that. The slopes were in perfect conditions on piste and we had 4 blue bird days in a row. And as an added bonus a good mate from travelling, Chris, squared us away with a BOGOF on the lift pass and took us round the mountains for 6 days.



Me and Cristobal.

And then the snow came...




For 24 hours it dumped it down and as if God Himself had finally smiled upon us we awoke to this....



Blue Bird + Fresh Powder means you can forget about all your worries!



Heading up some powder 8's with Rachel, smooth riding!

There were some other notable highs from the week, not least the discovery of $12 pitchers and $5 burgers at Merlin's and some funny outings in JW gear...All in all a mixed week which ultimately ended in the truest of success stories, heavenly, heavenly powder.



Just living the dream.



The sun sets on the JW whistler leg.



A colour co-ordinated outing to the jacuzzi.

So with Vancouver and Whistler in the past I head on to Seattle for a couple of days, it doesn't quite have the same ring to is as Vancouver Winter Olympics or indeed Gay Pride Week in Whistler. But if I've even got half as much banter as the previous weeks outings then it's gotta be worth a read right? oh yeah! tune in shortly folks....



Lots of love from Beautiful British Columbia.

The VIP treatment

And so after 17 days of debauchery, hard work (oh yes, I did some), the odd German date (story to follow) and one blow out final day the games are over here! I have to say these games have been memorable for all the right reasons, Vancouver has been a great host and their incredible Gold haul of 14 medals surpasses any previous record by any other nation, and they definitely deserve all of the success. Apart from the outrageous beer prices during the games($10 a pint, cheers!) there's been very little to moan about, and I do like a whinge.

A little worse for wear at 3am with, Jamie & Michael Lee.

These final few days started with a good old Auzzie piss up, and ended with the mother of all day outings... On Thursday we ventured to the Library Square bar to celebrate Michael Lee's birthday,and for those of you not familiar with this spiritual Auzzie; think of a cross between Trevor Linden and the standard "Oh yeah, get some more shrimp on the barbie mate, and chuck us a sheila would ya". Got it?

Embarrassingly, the rest of the weekend was fairly timid. With the main news being that of Canada's huge Gold Medal tally. Sir Steven Redgrave defended Britain’s only Gold medal, suggesting that he'd take the 1 Gold over 5 bronzes anytime. Err, I'm sure Amy Williams might agree, but I doubt any other British athlete at the games would, cheers though for that pearl Steve.

So instead of doing the logical thing in pissing Friday and Saturday up the wall, I waited...FOR HOCKEY HOUSE SUNDAY, and boy, was it worth the wait. My gamble paid off, and Canada reached the Men's Hockey Final against the USA. My little VIP beauties were about to get a serious outing. Following a quick 3 hour work blast in the morning it was straight down to the Hockey House at Midday for one of those drinking sessions you know is going to put you in bed by 10. Some great gambas, beef steak and gourmet deserts were washed down with a wide array of alcoholic beverages including Beer, Gin and Tonic, Wine and Whiskey and Coke....

The game wasn't too bad either, the USA equalising with 20 seconds to go to send the match in to OT. But the day was saved (at least for me and my aspirations for the mother of all parties) by Sidney Crosby who grabbed the Golden Goal.

Unfortunately these days are never as straight forward as they should be and a call from the office meant that I was saved from complete obliteration to sort out some problems in Whistler. And then after a closing ceremony ticket presented itself, my hopes of bed by 10 were dashed... This little respite provided for some interesting moments, sobering up in front of 50,000 spectators is never great, especially when you've got a grandma on one side and a fitty on the other. The ceremony was pretty tops though....

After a couple of expensive beers at the ceremony to ensure that all my hard work early in the day was not completely lost it was back to the hockey house to ensure that somebodies $450 VIP ticket was money truly well spent.


Fran, Myself and Jamie

So that's it from the Olympic Games, but not it from me. I'm heading up to Whistler now for 10 days of powder and apres...bliss. Ill still try and bring you as many updates on antics as I can afford, however I fear for lack of time due to impending snow/mountains/jaeger/beer/ and hopefully a ski bunny or two inhibiting my computer access. Enjoy the English spring guys...

JW in Vancouver.

A life of excess.

Happy thursday chums.

I have taken the risky decision to postpone my visit to the Molson Canadian Hockey House, and instead save my $450 gems for Sunday when I hope Canada will reach the Hockey final. They thrashed the Russians yesterday having lost to the USA earlier in the week, cue chaos in downtown.

Instead the Sportsworld gang, scored some tickets to see Stereophonics, as noone has heard of them out here. "The stereos?" - "Whose Stereo are you looking for?"

We can always rely on our North American Descendants for a bit of cheap comedy value.

Anyway above you'll find a little snippit of the concert with some excellent backing vocals from yours truly.

Me and my Brazilian side kick Ricardo at the concert. We've just been living the dream!

Not sure if I'd mentioned but I started a new job within the business about 2 weeks ago which involves selling Hotel Rooms at the Westin 5* Resort & Spa in Whistler. Oh yes, we all know where this story is heading. Sportsworld needs a man on the ground to go up to Whistler and shift some rooms, I'm your man! So begrudgingly I've had to spend the lat 3 days living a life of luxury in the Mountains. Back of the proverbial net!

And of course, a little cheeky ski in the afternoon! Finally! I hooked up with a mate I met travelling in Malaysia and we went steep and deep for a couple of hours before I hit the office again. Banter.

Last night me and Mik (one of the token Auzzies) I work with went to see In XS at the victory ceremony, it's also Miks birthday today. 30! The old fart! So you can expect some nice little stories from tonights proceedings... I'll leave you with another bit of marketing and a great shot of the Vancouver skyline and BC place.

The flat mate sports some JW finest.

Enjoy le weekend....

Juan

Theory of a Straight Man.

G'day boys and girls.




We're at the mid point of the games out here in Vancouver. And predictably the USA, Germany and Canada are cleaning up. It's not all doom and gloom for the brits though, we got a token Gold medal in the skeleton, which involves throwing yourself headfirst down the luge track. I think I'd have brown substances coming out of my collar attempting this.

Canada scrapped a plucky 3-2 victory against the Swiss to all but seal their qualification for the Men's Hockey Quarterfinals. Which brings me on to some great news... I've been making friends in important places, and managed to square myself away with some Molson Canadian Hockey House VIP passes. Which at $450 a pop, include all day free bar, gourmet restaurant and apparently a 'luxurious upscale lounge environment.' Cash back!

Attended a Victory Ceremony last night, which would have been great fun, but for all the interruptions in beer drinking, to stand up every 5 minutes for the national anthems. A band by the name of Theory of a Deadman were the nights headliners (Think heavy metalband, with cheesy/BKesque lyrics). Curiously the lead singer looked a lot like a cross between Kelly Jones and Robbie Williams, and therefore basically a friend of dorothy's. Anyway After watching the yanks lift a few more medals and having drank beer through a straw (at 10$ a go you've gotta make sure its hitting the spot fast), I attended some birthday, where I spread the JW vibe and then went for a bobsleigh ride...




In marketing, this would be point of sale.

Team Sportsworld getting the practice runs in.

As you can see I got my stickers through so I'll be painting the city Indigo Green and Pink over the coming weeks! That's it for now, look out for the next special edition detailing the highs (free booze) and lows (consequences) of a free $450 night out.

Juan

Can I just shock you? I like wine

The Games are well and truly underway out here, and overnight Vancouver has transformed itself into Rio de Janeiro. It seems like the whole of Vancouver has taken to the streets and there is a real carnival atmosphere! Some of the scenes following the opening ceremony were spectacular...






So far the games have been marked by the death of the Georgian Luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili. But the success of the Candian women and mens athletes in the free style moguls has more than lifted the nation, it's how I imagine England to be after a World Cup victory, so never, right? It was however an epic moment when Alexandre Bilodeua clinched the Gold medal...

Naturally, win or lose, you booze. Or at least that's mine, and 400,000 other canadians take on the games. So Saturday and Sunday nights were typically huge, with bobby dazzler (token kiwi flat mate) squaring us away with some fine dining at Cin Cin on Saturday and then repeating the trick last night at the Blue Water cafe. Where once again fine wines, sushi and creme brulee were downed. To complete a 3 night bonanza of freebies, the CEO invited us out for a gin and tonic or 7, Bombay Sapphire, naturally.



Anyway guys just a quick update and I'll bring you lots more news throughout the games. But just finally the only game of importance today is good old Becks coming back home.




Peace out


Juan

More shenanigans and 2 Kiwis

The games are only one day away here! Finally after 4 weeks of hard work the program here is finally getting underway and the Sportsworld team can greet its guests with open arms.

blah blah blah.

After a marathon week last week, the team moved offices and following a 10pm finish on saturday, I took, Jeff, Rachel and Fran out, to take Yale Town by storm! After a few rounds of Jaeger Bombs, (On Fran's card) and some beers on mine, (tight northern monkey) the night took a different twist. Thanks to the oxford chicas we embarked on a round of dares. One of which included my esteemed self approaching some bloke with James Clayesque red glasses and proceeded to give him a lap dance.

There were a few incidents later that night with a kiwi, involving pass the ice cube, and then a considerable lack of sleep.

The next morning we had a full day of training which I waltzed up to having spent all of half an hour in bed. I was having one of those special moments when you think you might die. And sure enough death ensued when I had to get up sweating like a fat lass in a chip shop with no loose change and introduce myself in front of 50 people. Somehow managing to trip up on a chair and come out with the classic "Im from brighton in england, and no, im not gay" get laughed at and then cower back to my seat.

Also got a new room mate. Dazzler from NZ, he's a quality bloke aye. And no team would be complete without a token Auzzie joining us. Despite my best efforts to leave training early and get to bed I found myself dragged out to the HUB for a team building exercise which involved drinking from 6pm till 1 am.

As of tomorrow should hopefully have some games updates on a regular basis! Oh yeah? ...nah

Some Whiskey, and the story of the Missing Jacket

As ever, last weekend past far too quickly but not without its fair share of escapades and stories. Following another brutal week in the office, it was only right that me and a fellow colleague (Jeff) took ourselfs out on the town. 1st stop...the ale house, $8 a beer (ERROR!). So we left behind the more affluent members of the Sportsworld team and ventured instead to Doolins, the official irish house of the games. And as they say when in Rome....errr get hammered? After a few shandys another sensible member of the team turned up with some cans of red beer and...a bottle of whiskey. Said sensible member ordered some cokes in and away we went...


...................memory blank...................



I awoke in the que for Republic Nightclub where there was a tidy $20 entry fee, $10 cloakroom fee and G&Ts at $15 a pop, banter! Needless to say the beer goggles were in full working order and a red head later it was time to go home....with Jeff?! So off I went in search of our jackets, brought them back, handed one over and then preceded to lose/off load(be a victim of crime) my jacket! After a frantic half an hour run around the club (the cctv footage shows me causing chaos) with no joy I gave up. All in all a costly night, which as ever was nicely rounded off by the mother of all hangovers.


Since the weekends outings I have eaten, slept and drunk work. It's been a miserable week at the office, (60 hour week and a nice saturday and sunday to come in this hell hole) preparing for the olympics. But as off next week, we're out of here and hopefully some heavy games celebrations are on the horizon! Let the games begin!