Did you survive the Olympic weekend? Barely? Tell me about it. The hockey loss, Atlantic Canada House, Swiss House, Mark Tewksbury, Granville Street, LiveCity Yaletown, Granville Island, Place de la Francophonie, the Air Canada stage, Pride House, the BC-Canada Pavilion, You Gotta Be OUT Here gala...

I'm glad I mentioned that. Some of the Gay Top Model contestants were in attendence at said gala, which was a Province of BC-sponsored event showcasing the best of Vancouver's LGBT arts and entertainment community:

In other news, the Health Initiative for Men has launched a new Public Displays of Gay poster campaign and timed it with the Olympics to ensure that gay people visiting the city feel welcome, while also promoting Canada's inclusive, diverse society to visitors from places where gay love may not even be legal.

To quote him: "The campaign, which includes gay couples embracing on different corners in the city, was put together with a very small budget.  The models and photographer donated their time and Priape, a gay and bisexual men’s lifestyle store, helped sponsor the campaign. A team of volunteers will distribute the posters to shops, businesses and poster boards along pedestrian-filled streets over the next three weeks."    

Be on the look out for the following:

Come by Qmunity (1170 Bute St) today at 2pm for the grand opening of Pride House Vancouver! One day til the Olympics, people...time to get your gay on!

In other news, did you see that Betty White commercial from the Super Bowl? Chrissamighty!

The Olympic clock is ticky-ticky tick tocking away and the first ever Pride House (the welcoming place for gay Olympians, coaches, family and entourage in Whistler) is making headlines (see here and here)

Want regular updates on Pride House and Olympic activities in Whistler? Follow them on Twitter: @pridehouse2010 and @gaywhistler (and while you're at it, you'll follow me to if you know what's good for you: @seanhorlor)

Still not sure what the hell I'm talking about? Here's a summary from the gaywhistler.com site:

The Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are coming to Whistler and for the first time in Olympic history there will be a venue available to our Gay & Lesbian athletes, coaches, family, friends and allies.  A venue we call - PRIDE House.

PRIDE House is located in the centre of Whistler Village at the award winning boutique hotel of Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre.

PRIDE House will be a hip lounge with a cocktail bar with TV monitors to watch the Olympics, hang out, trade pins, a media area to do interviews, and a venue to just have fun.  PRIDE House will be designed with the core values of celebrating authenticity, diversity and inclusiveness. 

PRIDE House will be open from February 8th through to March 21st.  The hours of operation is scheduled from 10AM to 10PM daily. (Subject to Change)

If you get the chance to check out Pride House during the games, you'll be greeted by the following sculpture by Edmund Haakanson:

Called "Slapshotolus", it is, according to Haakanson: "a symbolic expression of the concept that one who lives a life of noble ideals does not require protection, does not need to cover because there is nothing to hide."

Marry me!

In other news, Qmunity will be the gathering spot for gay athletes in Vancouver during the Games and you should plan on heading to Score to share a beer or three with said atheletes or to catch coverage of the games on their dazzling array of TVs.

Are you in the know on LGBT Olympic events during the Games? If yes, contact me at vancouvergayblog@gmail.com and give me the low down so I can share the good news with the rest of the city.

Although I generally object to teases on both principle and intense personal dislike, some weeks I just can't help myself. I've got Pride House all queued up for tomorrow - after all, it's less than a month now until the Olympics hit and Up Your Alley needs to get BIZZAY! Though before we hit paydirt, deepthroat sent me a link yesterday to canucklehead.ca, which seemed to compliment my recent goal tending experiences with The Cutting Edges here in Vancouver. I laughed. I cried. And then I cried some more. And then I found this:

Stanley Park memories...