As such, i call it “The Lonely Olympics”.

But first listen in browser or you know, all those *other podcast places*.

Breaker.news Podcast: The Games are over, but Tokyo’s problems aren’t

I was sorta the “warm-up act” for Jules Boykoff, authour of NOlympics. who has rocked the media during Tokyo 2020/1 including this riff on my pal Bob Mackin’s heavy news pod.

I had *a lot* fo say and maybe said “too much” but felt a lot of frustration being a “regular resident” on the ground in provincial Japan awaiting vaccinations and paying taxes while the IOC’s debacle continued with excuses, conundrums and constant bubble-breaking. But, nobody asked me… well, except for Bob :) .

Mostly though, I’m curious about your opinion from wherever you are.

From Bob Mackin’s podcast description from week of Aug. 8, 2021:

The Tokyo Olympics are over.

Postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic, but they happened in the pandemic anyway. 

The International Olympic Committee is claiming success, because the Games eventually opened and closed on time. But the Japanese people are stuck with the bill and more coronavirus infections than there were when the cauldron was lit in an empty stadium surrounded by protesters. 

On this edition, hear expert analysis from ex-Vancouverite Dave Olson in Okayama, Japan and Jules Boykoff,  political scientist, author and Olympics industry critic from Portland, Ore.

Plus commentary and Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.

from Bob Mackin’s “The Breaker News” pod

More: Japan Times ran a series of articles with various names and reactions… & some very enjoyable Deep Dive podcasts

Episode 93: Week 1 at the Tokyo Olympics: Gold, Covid and Naomi Osaka

Episode 94: Week 2 at the Tokyo Olympics: A marathon in the heat

Episode 95: Theremins and gold medal wins: Farewell to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Another talkie talkie scene report about Tokyo2020 Olympics from Japan on CKNW 980 AM radio Vancouver from Monday Aug 2nd, 5PM PDT (or Aug 3rd Tues 9AM JST) with Martin Strong / embedded and downloadable for your convenience.

No shortage of topics & conundrums

Discussed: medal and C19 counts, table tennis, Judo, USA v CAN Football, Belorussian refugee, Georgian miscreant bubble breakers, lack of celebration, mixed emotions, going rogue, quasi-states of confusion and emergency, typhoons and surfing, 13 year old and sibling champs, unwanted positivity & hopeful negativity etc.

Questions welcome. Unrelated photo above for amusement.

Notes:

statistics ahoy
medal counts
case counts
high temps
typhoons
13 year skateboarders
fainting archers
boycotting doctors
exiled Georgians
positive pole vaulters
endless table tennis
food complainers
overwhelmed translators
yet more quasi sorta states
“Olympics fever” headlines
impending elections
bed hijinks
grandstanding IOC
double speak (we were fine to cancel but… )
war chests
“athletes should just do their job”
protests
refugee Belorussians
legacy of athlete’s “standing up” for a minute
4% of revenues goes to athletes
my idea of Sean Lennon singing Imagine woulda be great(er)

Listen in embedded player above or direct mp3 if preferred: 

Description: Guest – Dave Olson – Grew up in Whalley – lived in Lynn Valley – and now living in Japan; Attended several Olympic Games; Ran a social media aggregator during the 2010 Games called True North Media House

Previous hit 7/13 with Jody Vance: Countdown to Tokyo 202x Olympics with “Scene Report” on CKNW Radio, Vancouver

Previous hit 5/27 with Jody Vance: Talking Tokyo Olympic conundrums on CKNW Radio, Vancouver

More on The Breaker.news 6/02 pod: Tokyo Olympics (+ Beijing) and IOC Hubris on theBreaker.news podcast

Get your ears on and listen to Tokyo Olympics “scene report” chat with Jody Vance on Vancouver news/talk radio 980AM from July 12th afternoon PST, July 13th 9-ish AM JST.

A few notes to go with: 

Covered a lot of ground but so much more. Looking forward to keeping you up-to-date from regular folks’ point of view as #Tokyo2020 gets underway.

Tokyo 2020, for many reasons will be a very unique iteration (understatement!) of the Olympics with very few spectators, loads of precautions and a host city in 4th state of emergency.

Importantly: truly hope events occur w/o public health consequences.

Lots of anxiety / frustration about IOC hubris & government waffling.

(I realize) it’s not unusual for Olympics to get off to a rocky start that’s for sure and once they get going, a lot of the negativity fades and good times prevail.

For record, at +/- 16% vaccination rate in Japan.

In “better news“: Since anybody watching (aside from oligarchs & bureaucrats) will be watching on TV (regardless of all the things going outside of the sports venues), fancy new technology will make sports (including a few new ones *skate, surf, rock*) look really great on TV – might as well get to know crazy tech – cameras, clouds, microphones etc. 

Hey that was fun! could talk with Jody Vance for an hour (one tech hiccup when my phone *automagically* connected to wife’s car via bluetooth – ooops :)) 

We didn’t get to riff about the extra challenges for athletes coming from Delta-heavy countries, the onerous participant waivers athletes have to sign, and IOC chief Bach’s visit to Hiroshima and other gaffes…

Any Vancouver or elsewhere media on the ground needing a high-five, hit me up. Happy to listen to any comments, questions, musings, concerns about Tokyo2020 and IOC / Olympics in general.

{possible more notes and memos will paste here}

Beyond the obvious lack of benefit (tourism impact on small business and global reputation through shiny images and/or *needed* community infrastructure) the messaging from #IOC has been demeaning, disrespectful and completely tone-deaf / Leading up with hubris and threats.

zero enthusiasm whatsoever on the ground in #Japan. Nothing but disgust, frustration, anger (& a bit of embarrassment). Japanese folks have diligently worked to keep cases down (despite government waffling) these last 18 months and appalled by new risks & hubris

Dude (Bach) is getting roasted in Japan bigtime. #IOC sparking vitriol ive never seen here before. “Sacrifice” bah!

##

Listen in embedded player above or direct mp3 if preferred: 

Description: Dave Olson, Grew up in Whalley – lived in Lynn Valley – and now living in Japan, Attended several Olympic Games and Ran a social media aggregator during the 2010 Games called True North Media House joins the show.

THEN, we head to Tokyo at 5:30 and speak to our friend Dave Olson. He’s from here, but lives in Japan and will bring us the boots on the ground perspective as the countdown to Tokyo 2020 begins in earnest. That’s straight ahead on @CKNW Afternoons. @alan_regan pic.twitter.com/zxaIpMp1EW

— Jody Vance (@jodyvance) July 12, 2021

Previous hit with Jody Vance: Talking Tokyo Olympic conundrums on CKNW Radio, Vancouver

More on The Breaker.news pod: Tokyo Olympics (+ Beijing) and IOC Hubris on theBreaker.news podcast

theBreaker.news Podcast: Five-ring circus controversy in Japan and China

I talked about the Tokyo Olympics with Bob Mackin – who I first connected with leading up to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics when he did an article featuring Kris Krüg and I talking about citizen documentation campaign which eventually became True North Media House. This segment also explores the human rights issues about Beijing 2022 Winter Games. (off record, we talked about IOC scrambling for relevancy). 

Since then, I interviewed Bob for the Olympic Outsider, podcast (as we both headed home on the Seabus amongst revellers to Lynn Valley, North Vancouver and i also appeared on his TheBreaker.news podcast in August 2020 talking about these same subjects + baby Ichiro Stanley Thorvald. 

Anyhow, i’ve shared a lot about this topic on other channels including recent convo with Jody Vance on CKNW 980AM radio Vancouver but a few notes:

In brief, pushing ahead with Olympics in Japan call into question:
* health & safety of residents
* economic “handcuffs” & sovereignty
* fairplay for all athletes (esp from countries in crisis)
* funded junkets for dodgy operators
* rude / vague double-talk & IOC hubris
* no fun for residents who made this happen

Curious to hear your views after listening.

My riffs start at 6:00-ish mark (and consider supporting Bob “the hammer” Mackin as he holds governments to account).

May 30, 2021:  Should the Tokyo Olympics be postponed or cancelled?

Should the Beijing Winter Olympics be moved or boycotted?

The future is now for the five-ring circus. On this edition, host Bob Mackin ponders the pandemic in Japan and China’s human rights abuses. Guests Dave Olson in Okayama, Japan and Ivy Li of the Canadian Friends of Hong Kong.

Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.

theBreaker.news Podcast: Five-ring circus controversy in Japan and China

More notes (social riff round-up): 

A lot of the “IOC family” are wealthy, privileged, vaccinated and aren’t necessarily worried about the impact they have on Japan after they leave. They’re staying in hotels, not a bubble, using public transportation and surely will be going out and about.

Easy to tell them but very difficult to enforce in any way. And punishment? These wealthy/privileged folks don’t give a fck about a fine. IOC Officials roll with basically diplomatic immunity during the games

…Especially the athletes coming from countries currently in crisis. What a dilemma for them to leave their families and support networks behind in such bad situations! Then possibly bringing variants back to medical systems which are unable to handle more chaos. :(

I am less concerned about the athletes who will likely be diligent about staying in the bubble and way more concerned about the “IOC family“… 60,000 executives, fat-cats, VIPs and sponsors rolling in with no quarantine requirement or vaccination and no bubble. Stay home IOC!

Related: 

*Of course* there are lots of articles discussing the Olympic topic from various “major media expected new sources” like Japan Times, Washington Post, Asahi Shinbun blah blah blah but this one from Teen Vogue with particularly awesome so I’m gonna share this *and definitely not* gonna get carried away with a laundry list of resources. {If curious, you can check my various Twitter channels, I’ll assume you can figure that out (look in right side bar if needed) oh and follow for Olympian and author of NOlympics @JulesBoykoff and former VANOC comms guy @GraemeMenzies who wrote a treatise about modernizing the event.

Anyhow, Teen Vogue is slaying, ergo:

The Olympics Devastate Host Cities and Need a Permanent Location This op-ed argues that the impact of the Olympic Games on host cities has become too devastating to ignore.

BY EMILY BURACK
JUNE 1, 2021

The Olympics are broken. Nowhere is this clearer than in Tokyo, where polls have indicated more than 80% of Japanese citizens oppose the upcoming Summer Games and the Japanese government has declared a state of emergency. As of late May, just 3.7% of the population had received at least one dose of the vaccine and Japan is grappling with a “fourth wave” of COVID-19. There’s never been an Olympics so deeply unpopular with a host city — and so dangerous to hold — and yet by all indications, the Tokyo Games will go on as scheduled.

Even without a pandemic, the impact of the Olympics on host cities has become too devastating to ignore.

Oh listen… i talked about Tokyo Olympics and various conundrums with Jody Vance on CKNW AM Radio in Vancouver.

Wanted to share the feelings of deceit and frustration the the residents of Japan are feeling with IOC’s demands for “sacrifice”, more doctors, volunteers and threats of penalties if cancelled/delayed. Suggestions: delay until Oct or later and/or IOC “family” stay home. Also thoughts about athletes from countries in crisis. Is it fair for them to leave family to try to focus on competing. Sigh. Anyhow, was a treat to share as an erstwhile representative of my new home country. Get your ears on…

Listen above in browser (skip the creepy news bit at the beginning) and/or download archived audio via John B below. 

Note: awarded from Jay S “Bonus points for the use of the words “bromide” and “coterie”” and happy to get in namechecks of Whalley, Lynn Valley and Ichiro Stanley as well as my home city Okayama, Japan. 

UPDATE: 

Just did another audio hit on theBreaker.News with Bob Mackin about Olympics conundrums and IOC hubris in Japan. Now featuring more Dick Pound (ugh) thwarting sovereignty and lack of fun times and excitement. Seems much of the world doesn’t know the low-down in Japan and other Asian locations.

If you have questions (&/or need a guest to riff), hit me up at the “studio”.

PS check my (rather prescient) previous convo with Bob about Olympix etc last August (and our convo on the Seabus during Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

Listen: One Year After Olympics on News 1130 – Olympic Outsider #30 (.mp3, 3:13, 3MB, mono)

I discussed social media as a whole and covering the Games through the True North Media House project – plus  the impending With Glowing Hearts movie premiere. In the short clip, I included brief anecdotes about reliving the fun, documenting and storytelling, and how social media can provide depth and breadth to provide more attention to more stories beyond the “official” IOC/VANOC story.

Subscribe:

• Olympic Outsider podcast feed
• Community Feasthouse podcast feed

News 1130 for  an Olympic flashback series to examine the legacies of the Games.

See An Olympic anniversary on the News1130 Midday Show for the article and audio clips, ergo:

• VP of Tourism Vancouver Paul Vallee speaks live with News1130 anchors Rob Freeman and Erin Loxam
• 24 Hours’ Bob Mackin speaks live with News1130 anchors Rob Freeman and Erin Loxam
• John Mills with the Richmond Oval speaking live on News1130 with anchors Rob Freeman and Erin Loxam
• Vancouver blogger Dave Olson speaks with News1130 about the role of social media during the 2010 Games
• Keith Bennett, the president and CEO of Whistler Sports Legacies, talks to News1130 about the Sliding Centre
• The CEO of “Own the Podium” Alex Bauman speaks with News1130’s Erin Loxam and Rob Freeman

Blurb: VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – This week, we’re marking the one year anniversary of the day the OlympicCauldron was lit.

After years and years of planning and excitement, the massive two-week sporting event didn’t disappoint.  But what kind of legacy did it leave behind?

This week on the News1130 Midday Show we’re looking at the Olympic legacy.  Did the Games bring in the much-talked-about the economic boost?

This afternoon, we’ll talk to Own the Podium CEO Alex Baumann. Listen to the live interview at 1 p.m.

Bring your own mic for: Citizen Media Making at Vancouver Olympics – Dave on CBC Radio One – Olympic Outsider #29 (.mp3, 5:40)

On a busy night during the Olympics, i headed over to Canada North hospitality house with a group of True North Media House documenters. Tagging along was a CBC crew including the charming reporter Heba Aly. I was included in the finished CBC Radio 1 piece which focused on media-makers in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

This created an interesting scene as i was interviewing “Singing Goose” while a circle of TNMH folks documented the interview, then CBC audio crew and With Glowing Hearts film crew documented the documenters and the hosts of the hospitality house looked on with wonder and happiness.

Subscribe: 

• Olympic Outsider podcast feed
• Community Feasthouse podcast feed

Listen: Singing Goose from Canada’s North – Olympic Outsider #28 (.mp3, 8:40)

At Canada’s Northern House, Dave gets schooled on life in Inuvut NWT by singer Leanne Goose including igloo church, endless days and night, Muktuk and Mukluks plus schools, stores, medical care, shopping at the end of the Dempster highway.

More Singing Goose: http://www.leannegoose.com/

Subscribe: Olympic Outsider podcast feed

Don’t believe everything you hear: Legend of Muk Muk with Mr. Mann – Olympic Outsider #26 (.mp3, 4:20)

At Canada’s Northern House, Dave enjoys Boris Mann’s annotations about the legendary delicacy of muk muk and thoughts about flying Saskatchewanians, neglected cultures, hospitality houses with tasty food and recollections of Torino 2006.

Subscribe: Olympic Outsider podcast feed

Wake up early for beer and gold: Gold Medal Sunday Morning – Olympic Outsider #26 (.mp3, 7:22)

On the final official day of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Dave steps outside during the 2nd intermission of the gold medal men’s hockey game between Canada and USA to recap the previous days and look ahead to the Paralympics with @kk (who also mentions his meeting with figure skater Johnny Weir) and notes about the With Glowing Hearts film project.

Subscribe: Olympic Outsider podcast feed

Take a Lap for: Final Olympic Lap from the Ozone – Olympic Outsider #25 (.mp3, 8:50)

From the Richmond Ozone after a stint at the Heineken Holland House, Dave recaps Canada’s huge medal haul with @theWoodduck in between sets by The Dudes and The Stills. Topics include snowboard, speed skating, hockey and beer.

Subscribe: Olympic Outsider podcast feed

Cross the inlet for: Oly-nomics and Goodtimes w/ Hammer Bob – Olympic Outsider #24 (.mp3, 14:06)

On the Seabus, Dave talks with accredited reporter and Olympic veteran Bob “The Hammer” Mackin about narrative around the Games, controversy about costs, ROI, government grandstanding, VANOC’s manner of acting, and sports which blew him away.

Subscribe: Olympic Outsider podcast feed

Survive the experience: Share the Land and Survive the Slovakians – Olympic Outsider #23 (.mp3, 8:31)

With scant days remaining, Dave takes a break in the 2nd intermission of Canada vs Slovakia to recap a perfect 24 hours of hockey, perogies, medals, bobsleigh, Burton Cummings, and the great feeling of kindness in the city of Vancouver.

Subscribe: Olympic Outsider podcast feed

Be your own media: Festive Bunting and White Tents (lost preview) – Olympic Outsider #22

Streetside observations before the Olympics started including documentation of street art, city changes, graphic design and hospitality under construction while city workers hang Winter Games flags on street light poles on East Hastings St.

Subscribe: Olympic Outsider podcast feed

Be a guest for: Interviewed by JMV at Flickr meetup – Olympic Outsider #21 (.mp3, 3:30)

Transit and craft enthusiast Jason Vanderhill interviews Dave O at the Flickr/Yahoo meetup at the Mini building in Yaletown and they discuss highlights, hockey, hospitality, Seabus, having a beer in the park and give thanks to Belgians. Photo by Carol Browne.

Subscribe: Olympic Outsider podcast feed

Choose your Viking for: Blondes in Viking Helmets etc. – Olympic Outsider #20 (.mp3, 9:04)

An update at the end of Super Sunday from the noisy concourse of Canada Hockey Place in the 2nd intermission of Sweden vs Finland hockey game. Topics include hockey, regrouping, Vancouver’s culture, exhaustion, food and beverages.

Subscribe: Olympic Outsider podcast feed