First it was Illanaaq, the Inukshuk unveiled in April 2005 as the official logo of the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Winter Olympic Games.
Now this week, the 2010 Olympic committee has unveiled its trio of mascots.
Quatchi is a young sasquatch with a long brown beard and blue earmuffs, while Miga is a snowboarding sea-bear type creature said to be part killer whale and part Kermode bear. The third mascot, Sumi, is supposed to be a spirit animal that flies with the wings of a native thunderbird.
All these logos and mascots are said to be marketed to children as fun-loving characters. While they certainly are fun-loving and maybe cute and cuddly, do they really reflect the province of B.C. and the spirit of the 2010 Olympics?
I think not. I wasn't impressed back in 2005 when Illanaaq was unveiled looking more like a Gumby figure than anything else. Now this week the mascots look like Pokemon characters or something out of a bad '70s cartoon.
What happened to the proud real-life spirit bear or killer whale or something else that distinguishes B.C. a bit more to the rest of the world?
If you are going to use a sasquatch, use a real sasquatch. Kokanee breweries could have helped out with that project.
The 2010 committee unveiled the mascots in a musical-themed show on Tuesday before a throng of adoring children. When grilled by Vancouver media about the mascots, 2010 organizers said to close your eyes and picture the mascots when you were a child. Well, I've done that, and I can safely say I never saw these images when I was a kid. Children now are far more sophisticated, and I think some of them expected a bit more. I'm disappointed at the choices. Olympic Games come around only so often, and usually a city gets only one shot at hosting an event. So far, I'm less than impressed with the choices the committee has made trying to brand the Games to the rest of the world.
B.C. Ferries will be front and centre again this week with two important opportunities for the public to provide some input.
On Thursday, Dec. 6, Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons will be joined by MLA for North Coast and opposition critic for ferries Gary Coons at St. Bart's Church in Gibsons with a public meeting at 5 p.m. Coons and Simons want to listen to your ideas on how we can increase safety and affordability on B.C. Ferries. The meeting is slated to last until 6:30 p.m. If you can't attend, then tune in to Coast Cable 11 at 7 p.m. that same day, when the pair of politicians will appear live to discuss the ferries again in the Thursday night call-in program.
Do yourself a favour and attend or tune in with your questions and comments, and help to foster some changes in our ferry system.
