Biodome, Montreal

Montreal hosted the Olympic Games in 1976. Like many other cities, they had to build facilities for the events, facilities that would need a purpose after the athletes went home. Some of the park buildings were turned into museums. We parked in one of the underground lots and walked over to the Biodome, a recreation of five different ecosystems under one roof.

Part of the Olympic Park, now quite quiet

A stadium

Olympic Rings from an awkward angle

The Biodome looks quite futuristic from outside, but the ecospheres definitely feel like different places. We visited in cold weather and had to take our winter coats off as we visited the Tropical Rainforest area.

Scarlet macaws

More macaws

Blue-and-yellow macaw

Birds aren't the only animals in the forest. We saw a very lazy Broad-snouted caiman who did not even move for the five minutes we watched it. I guess that's good for a predator.

Broad-snouted caiman

The trees were home to Golden lion Tamarins, little orange monkeys with cute faces and very long tails.

Golden lion Tamarin

Such a cute face

A tunnel led us to see various fish and nocturnal animals like snakes and bats.

Turtle and Fish, a good name for a pub

Cute little fish

Uncute Emerald tree boa

Dyeing poison dart frogs (blue, not Oyapock)

Yellow anaconda

We went up a staircase to one biodome that was called "Bio-Machine" and was more like an interactive science exhibit, not an ecosphere. The kids had fun there.

What does the animal eat?

Screen time!

From our high viewpoint, we saw the Gulf of St. Lawrence area and the Laurentian Maple Forest.

Ecospheres from on high

We visited the Gulf of St. Lawrence area next. We saw some Black guillemots hanging out on the rocks far above the water.

Cliff dwellers

The main attraction was the waters, which was full of sea stars and sturgeons, along with the occasional aquatic bird.

Underwater stars!

Taking a swim

Not taking a swim

The next ecosphere was the Sub-Polar Region, which was basically a penguin habitat.

King penguins

Swimming underwater

A place to chill

More swimming

A small stream from the rocks

No end of penguins

Our final area to visit was the Laurentian Maple Forest, also the home of many cute animals. No creature is cuter than a river otter!

North American River Otter

Resting animals

The North American beavers built a large lodge but were not out doing things. The museum had a camera inside of the lodge, which showed the beavers resting.

Beaver lodge

Lynx hiding in the trees

Beavers not doing much on TV

A final walk led us through more of the Gulf of St. Lawerence aquariums with their huge sturgeons.

That sturgeon is going for your neck!

Upwardly-mobile sturgeon

Snail with shell on its back

Moon jellies in their own tank

It's fun to see a bit of nature we don't get to see in our day-to-day lives.

Book Review: Asterix at the Olympic Games by R. Goscinny et al.

Asterix at the Olympic Games written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo

Things are quiet in the Gaulish village that is home to Asterix. The nearby Roman encampment Aquarium is full of excitement. Their finest athlete, Gluteus Maximus, has been selected to represent Rome in the Olympic Games in Greece. He trains in the forest where his confidence is shattered by Asterix and Obelix, whose magic-potion enhanced powers make them faster and stronger. Once the village chief finds out about the games, he wants his tribe to go too. They'll easily be victorious thanks to druid Getafix's magic brew. The whole tribe goes off to cheer on Asterix and Obelix as they compete against the Romans, the Greeks, and the occasional Egyptian, for Olympic glory.

The story is quite funny, with gags about their travel and tourism during their trip to Greece. Also, their conflict with the Romans is smartly handled, as is the gags about the Olympics. This book is among the best of the Asterix stories.

Highly recommended.

Sample text: The Roman lament...

BBC on Naughts and Zeds

BBC News Magazine has posted a guide to the quirks and characteristics of the British Isles. It's supposed to help out visitors during the Olympics to follow proper etiquette or to understand various discussions or faux pas they might make. Each of the twelve descriptions is 212 words long, presumably a contraction of 2012. It's pretty entertaining reading and definitely seems pinched from my naughts and zeds concept. Check it out here.

Olympic Torch 2012

The Olympic Torch has been making the rounds here in England. I read in the local paper that the route has been crafted so that the torch passes within 10 miles of 90% of the population. We live much closer to this particular part of the route and I was able to walk over and see it. And take some pictures for the blog!

As I walked, I saw many patriotic places and people. Some were decorated a few weeks ago for the Queen's Jubilee celebration. The decorations have stayed up for the Olympics, and probably also for the Euro 2012 soccer/football tournament.

Patriotic Restaurant, nowhere near the route, so no customers

Patriotic Hotel, with most of the revelers cropped out

Patriotic Boy (not Captain America's sidekick)

In addition to Patriotic Boy, the route drew quite a crowd, including some local military as well as American soldiers from a nearby base.

Crowds to my left

Crowds to my right

Troops marching in!

The troops at attention

The first part of the convoy we saw was the police on motorcycles, waving the ever-encroaching crowd back to the curb. One officer gave high-fives to the crowd from his bike, which was cool but too quick to get a picture.

Won't miss him in a crowd

Then we had a fake-out as these runners came by sans torches.

Though I do like the dominant Union Jack in this picture

The next part of the convoy was the corporate sponsors. Yeah, that's right. The carrying of the torch has some support from big companies. I guess it's better than using tax payer money for expenses.

The Torch, brought to you by Samsung,...

...Coca-Cola, and...

...Lloyds TSB (a bank, for all you non-Brits)!

After a long wait, the shining star of the show showed up. The crowd went wild (well, as wild as British folks get) when the runner came by with the torch.

The Olympic Flame!

Close up of the runner

Yes, that was a young fellow carrying the Olympic torch. He had a bunch of other runners with him in the same outfit, though clearly they were of little interest to the onlookers. It was very exciting. The crowd dispersed pretty quickly afterwards, with the military leading the way.

Retreat!

I have two closing comments. First of all, if any corporations want to sponsor my blog, I would be happy to stick your logo on for a nominal fee. I'll be around a lot longer than the Olympic torch!

Just imagine zombies endorsing your product!

Second, if you'd like to see the torch and you are in England and it's still June or early July in 2012, check this map and the various web sites for your chance to see the flame pass you by!

Apparently, the torch runners can walk across water!

Thanks to Cheryl Goble for some of the pictures above (the troops at attention, the motorcycle, the Coca-Cola logo, the Torch Relay Map).