Sean's Olympic Adventures

LONDON CALLING!

2012-01-26T10:58:00.000-08:00

It's official: I'll be heading to London to be a part of the 2012 Summer Olympics. I'll be at the IBC mid-July and will be staying through the end of the games. I'm very excited to bring you my experiences once again.

Only 7 months to go!

Cheers,

Sean

"I love the pictures.. but, um.. WHAT is it again that you're actually DOING there???"

2010-02-24T22:27:00.000-08:00

During the past 13 busy days, I've been working to bring the Olympics from Vancouver to your couch at home. Since the actual process is long and complicated, I'll break it down in some relatively simple terms:

video of the Olympic action (sports, ceremonies, commentary) is shot at the City and Mountain venues and then sent to the IBC via a fiber optic network (the IBC stands for: International Broadcast Centre. you know.. where I work. remember?)
the video is then transmitted within the IBC to all the Rights-Holding Broadcasters, RHBs -(NBC, CTV, etc.)
the RHBs package all the video with commentary and commercials, etc and send it to the world via their own TV fiber networks or by satellite.
the local networks get it from the RHBs and distribute to your house. viola!

My job is to maintain the heath and welfare of the fiber optic network mentioned in bullet point #1. I work for Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) - the Host Broadcaster.

if you still are scratching your head... here's a picture:

(it all happens Automagically)

so, seeing as I've been here for nearly a month, I suppose it's fitting that I finally show you some pictures of where I'm spending the majority of my time. The CDT. CDT stands for Contribution, Distribution & Transmission (it's in the middle of the IBC.. I know, too many acronyms)... anyone that actually wants me to explain any of this in further detail can see me after class.

Just as a refresher, here's a picture of the IBC:

(sloped building on the right )

here are some shots of the CDT:

I attempted to stitch together a panoramic view of all the screens using an automatic program. the result:

pretty neat looking.. but here's the real one (click):

here is my team, the Broadcast Telecom Crew - Vancouver 2010:

yes, we're all geeks. so what? I'm a cool geek, at least.

So, that's about it for now. Just as long as you're seeing a nice, crisp, clear picture - you'll know that I'm doing my job. If not, please call your local cable provider :)

In conclusion, here are some pretty trees I found:

The Olympic Flame

2010-02-14T16:47:00.000-08:00

Here are some up-close-and-personal shots of the Cauldron, which, so happens to be right outside of my office. Bonus!!!

here are a few shots taken before Mr Gretzky graced us with his presence:

while we were waiting, I decided to give it a head start:

it worked!

everyone cheered as we watched the fireworks:

they were shot off from a barge in the water. great view!

excitement was everywhere! there were tons of reporters and media:

what a night!

up next, some pictures shot during the day:

Bill Page and I:

some high res shots for your desktop (click to enlarge):

under the hood:

I was able to shoot these at around 6:00am. I had the whole place to myself!

and some more high-res for you:

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. come back soon!

-Sean

Night Lights, part I

2010-02-11T11:58:00.000-08:00

Take a look around - enjoy the color/colour.
Here is Vancouver at night!

some views from the Robson Square skating rink. a wonderful public space right under the street!

here are some of the illuminated art installations of "Lunar Fest" on Granville St:

a couple shots from the end of Granville:

ST Pauls Hospital on Burrard:

I disagree - I think they fit perfectly. (near my hotel):

outside of the Vancouver Art Gallery:

countdown clock:

a really interesting piece under Robson Square. it's like a gigantic clothespin spring:

b'dee b'dee - that's all, folks! well, for now at least. check back soon!

Welcome Back!

2010-02-08T21:45:00.000-08:00

Welcome back, friends and family!

Here I am in lovely downtown Vancouver to share my Olympic Adventures with you. Once again I am surrounded by an amazing group of talented colleagues from all over The World. And, once again, I'm being steadily swept away by the wonderful international camaraderie which is the Olympic experience.

This time around, the format will be slightly different: In addition to posting my photos and videos here on the main page, I have also included a link to my photo album which will give you access to many, many more. As you scroll along, feel free to click any picture for a full-size view. And, as always, feel free to ask any questions or post any comments you might have.

I hope you enjoy the ride. Here we go!

the journey begins with my arrival at the Vancouver airport. thank you, I feel very welcomed indeed:

The adorable 2010 Olympic Mascots (from left to right):
Miga, MukMuk, Quatchi and Sumi. Quatchi was fine enough to direct me to baggage claim. What a nice guy... squatch:

http://www.vancouver2010.com/mascot/en/meet.php

First glance of the IBC (International Broadcast Centre) located at the newly built, huge, and highly amazing Vancouver Convention Center. aka:
MY OFFICE:

I work down in the Master Control Office on the lower level. Huge windows display the magnificent view of the Vancouver Harbor and Cypress Mountain:

See what I mean? Breathtaking!

Canada Place - home of the Main Press Center (MPC). Lovely view during the day...

and night:

(click this one for full-size)

Now, for some views inside the IBC:

the walls are covered with panels containing hundreds of end pieces. a nice example of repurposing!

here's one for your mobile phone wallpaper:

Well, that's all the time I have for now. As promised, you can find many, MANY more pictures on my web album here:

Vancouver Olympics 2010

Please check back for updates. I'll try and upload as often as possible. Take care and

ENJOY THE GAMES!

-Sean

The End

2008-09-10T06:41:00.000-07:00

I realize it's been a few weeks since I returned from Beijing, but I thought it fitting to post one last blog. A lot of folks have been asking me, "Hey, what was the best part?!?" One might think it was the grandeur of the Olympics or the incomparable architecture and culture of Beijing. While many of those things were quite amazing and unforgettable, I would have to say my favorite part of working at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was...

the people

People from every continent and every walk of life, coming together to accomplish a solitary goal. It's a beautiful thing!

Cheers and Good Luck to all my newfound friends. See you in 2010!

The Business End

2008-08-18T04:21:00.000-07:00

"So, what would you say... you do here?"

During the past 10 extremely busy days, I've been working to bring the Olympics from Beijing to your couch at home. Since the actual process is long and complicated, I'll break it down in very simple terms:

video of the events (track and field, swimming, archery, etc) is shot at the venues (National Stadium, Aquatics Center, etc..) and sent to the CDT (where I work.)
the video is then sent within the IBC to all the Rights-Holding Broadcasters (NBC, BBC, etc.)
the RHBs package all the video with commentary and commercials, etc and send it to the satellite farm directly outside the IBC.
the complete programs are then uplinked to various satellites hovering in earth's orbit.
the video is then transmitted from the satellites to all the RHBs in their local countries and then distributed to local TV stations and then to your house (in a nutshell.)

viola!!!

(my apologies to all the broadcast folks reading this... I'm trying to explain it as simply as possible here :)

away we go!:

in front of the DX (distribution) monitors. a bunch of small TV screens? nope.. what you're looking at here are six 103-INCH flat-screen monitors!!! I have outlined one in yellow to show the actual size and scale. It takes at least 4 grown men to lift one of these bad boys... imagine having one at home!

in front of the "smaller" monitors. there are 36 of these in the room, each displaying 12-16 feeds at once.

at my desk. I'm happy about all the green lines on the network monitoring screen (left). green=good!

another shot of the 103" monsters. top middle is displaying the opening ceremony.

Here I am posing quite geekishly in front of some of our Nimbra 680 nodes. This is the gear responsible for safely transporting the video signal from the stadiums to the CDT, all via fiber optics. My team and I are responsible for maintaining the health of the network, which consists of about 150 of these finely-tuned, mean, lean, Swedish-engineered machines. A shout out to all my good friends at Net Insight, the company responsible for manufacturing these magnificent beasts.

well, that's all for now. time for bed!

I'll try to keep the updates coming!

One Day Left!

2008-08-06T19:28:00.000-07:00

A little more than 24 hours until the big day. In case you didn't already know,the number 8 is considered extremely lucky in China. So 8/8/2008 at 8:08:08pm is the perfect day and time in which to hold the opening ceremonies. I happen to be one of the lucky ones working during that time as well. yay!

A little background (from Wikipedia):

Eight

The word for "eight" (八，捌) in Chinese (Pinyin: bā) sounds similar to the word which means "prosper" or "wealth" (发 - short for "发财", Pinyin: fā). In regional dialects the words for "eight" and "fortune" are also similar, eg Cantonese "baat" and "faat".
There is also a resemblance between two digits, "88", and the shuang xi ('double joy'), a popular decorative design composed of two stylized characters 喜 (xi, 'joy', 'happiness').
Telephone number 8888-8888 was sold for USD$270,723 in Chengdu, China.
The Summer Olympics in Beijing are scheduled to open on 8/8/08 at 8:08:08 p.m.
A man in Hangzhou offered to sell his license plate reading A88888 for 1.12 million yuan.
Dragon Fish Industry in Singapore, a breeder of rare Asian Arowanas (which are "lucky fish" themselves, and, being a rare species, are required to be microchipped), makes sure to use numbers with plenty of eights in their microchip tag numbers, and appears to reserve particularly numbers especially rich in eights and sixes (e.g. 702088880006688) for particularly valuable specimens.

and so forth and so on...

So, before all the excitement and mayhem, I decided to take one last peaceful walk out on the Olympic Green two nights ago. I was working midnight to 7am so it was the perfect time for me to go out, enjoy the calm and relatively cool atmosphere, and snap a bunch of pictures.

Here are a bunch of shots from that night. I must say to was quite a surreal experience and I'm really glad I was able to get out of the office for a little while to explore the empty and alien world of the nighttime Beijing Oylmpic Green.

Enjoy:

first, some shots of the Water Cube in all it's LED encrusted glory.

a video:

now, a couple pictures I altered for maximum desktop background usage. (for those non-savvy folks, left-click on the image to open the high resolution version, then right click on the image once it loads and select "set as desktop background")

the water cube:

the national stadium:

these "mini nests" line all the pathways to the stadium. ain't they cute?!?

most of the Olympic Green is covered with these color-changing lighted footpaths. very alien, indeed!

not a UFO coming to abduct me, just a cluster of lights.

That's all for now. As promised, I will provide plenty of pictures of the IBC in a few days. I was just waiting until all the feeds are up so you're not just looking at a bunch of blank screens. how considerate am I?

until then...

The Great Wall!

2008-07-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

Most of us working in the CDT have only one day off out of our 5 weeks here. However, instead of spending that one day resting or doing some sort of light shopping, we decided to embark on a monstrous 11 kilometer journey atop the Great Wall of China - Jinshanling style!

The Jingshanling section of the Great Wall is unlike the more popular and tourist-filled section of Badaling as it is much less restored, making it a fair bit more treacherous. It was definitely quite a challenge for me... possibly one of the most challenging physical tests of my entire life. Definitely an unforgettable experience had by all.

This section of the Wall is in a pretty remote location and is surrounded by some pretty steep hills, so getting there by automobile is not an option. It's almost as if it was built to keep people from ever reaching or crossing it... strange. Fortunately, some time within the 500 years since the wall was finished, someone invented the cable car.

we made it!

below is one of the "guides" (aka water, t-shirt, and other miscellaneous trinket salesmen.) this fine gentleman scales the Wall every single day whist chain-smoking hand rolled cigarettes. he is over 70 years old.

amazing.

speaking of amazing, here are some of the views from the Wall.

So, by now you get the picture. Here's the drill: First, you climb an amazingly steep series of steps and rocks until you reach a tower. You then take a small rest in the shade of said tower whilst you drink water and listen to a sales pitch by one of your "guides." After a few minutes, you get tired of said sales pitch and you continue your journey up to the next tower. Sometimes it is even a steeper climb than the last, sometimes it is a sharp descent down a slope of uneven and crumbled rocks and steps. Rarely is it an even and level surface.

We traversed 33 towers. It took us 5 hours. Near the end my legs were twitching and felt like jelly. I had to stop every few steps to take a break.

Good times!!!

Here are a couple of nice people we met along the way. The first is a brave man with a heart of gold. Moments before this photo he was sitting up on that very precariously crumbled wall. the sign says "Danger! Keep Away" (click to enlarge)

This little girl was completely delighted by our presence. She wouldn't stop taking pictures of us with her camera phone. So, I decided to take a picture with her :)

So, you might be wondering by now: "If they had to take a cable car to get all the way up there.. well, how did they get down?" The answer is simple! Two words: Zip Line!

aka "The Flying Fox"

p.s. I cannot take all the credit for most of these fine photos. May I present to you one mister Antonios Antoniou. He lugged a heavy Canon SLR and and a gigantic zoom lens for the entire trek. You sir are my hero.

Thanks, Tony!

Once we we're all safe and sound at the bottom of the hill. this nice gentleman came and picked us up in his cozy little boat.

After our much needed lunch, I enjoy a much deserved treat :)

Viennetta-on-a-stick! Who knew such a marvelous delight even existed?!? I'm sure I will never see one again.

Full. Exhausted. Sleepy.

the ride home:

Well that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed the memories from our little trip to the Great Wall. I'll leave you with one last group shot:

huí tóu jiàn!

(see you later!)

-Sean

Ni Hao from the Olympic Green!

2008-07-25T06:48:00.000-07:00

Ni Hao (hello!)

As I near the end of my first week in Beijing, I thought it would be about time for me to present my first round of pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

A couple of days ago, I was able to sneak out of the IBC (International Broadcast Center) to tour a few of the wonderful venues here on the Beijing Olympic Green. The first stop was the Ling Long Pagoda, an amazing structure with an even more amazing view. This incredible feat of engineering will host the main RHBs (Right's Holding Broadcasters) during the games.

check out the view!

in two weeks this space will be filled with hundreds if thousands of people!

the IBC a.k.a. "My Office"

a bridge painted to resemble water. clever.

The National Aquatics Center a.k.a. the "Water Cube"

The National Stadium a.k.a. the "Bird's Nest"

Luke and the Cube:

Cube n' Nest

this one is for your desktop background (click for high-res)

Here is the Pangu Plaza, a quite impressive 7-star hotel right next to the green:

I am having a wonderful time here in Beijing, I wish you all could join me! I miss you all, please feel free to drop me an email or post some comments on the blog. Yesterday I went on a 10k hike atop the Great Wall... I'll post pictures soon!

Until then, enjoy this panoramic shot that I stitched together.

I'm here!

2008-07-20T02:26:00.000-07:00

Just a quick test blog to make sure everything is working.

I'm staying at the Beijing Conference Center:

and here's the view from my room:

Leaving soon!

2008-06-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

I've been getting a lot of questions recently about when I'm leaving/coming back, etc... so, here's the deal:

I am leaving for Beijing on Saturday, July 19th and returning Monday, August 25th.

No, we are not moved into the house yet.

Yes, I am stressed out :)

Check back around July 21st for the rest of the story!

-Sean

The last 24 hours in Beijing.

2008-03-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures taken in my last 24 hours in Beijing:

The Aquatic Center at night. Apparently the National Stadium (Bird's Nest) glows red. I can't wait to see them together at night!

A back-lit Olympic ad in the subway. These cute little critters are the mascots. Does anyone remember Sam the Eagle from the 84 Olympics held in LA? I remember having a little stuffed Sam and some Sam stickers. I believe they came in a happy meal. Either way, I'll take any of these over the pathetic Izzy from Atlanta games... ugh.

Half-cooked squid-on-a-stick!!! Yep, these guys are my Canadian counterparts and were at least a few beers in before attempting this leap of culinary faith.

MMMMM, taste the flavor! (or flavour, if you're Canadian)

My Aussie buddy, Luke, eating some snake-on-a-stick. Apparently, according to all the vendors, eating snake is very "Good for penis!" They also claim this about the squid, scorpion, and pretty much everything else they sell. "You buy silk worm! Good for penis!"

When I return in July, I'll ask Luke how it's going down there.

Quik-E-Mart!

Many purchase electrics sign have make for poor translations. Also, check out the guy welding with no safety equipment or ladder.. hey! shouldn't he be smoking and drinking, too? oh yeah, I think he was. never mind.

Yet another McDonalds. This time, no English at all!!!

Maxxin and chillaxin near Tienanmen Square.

Here is one of the mobile video trucks that will mostly likely be with us during the games. This day it happened to be filming in Tienanmen.

I didn't take any pictures, but these guys we shaking a lot of people down and checking their bags. Not in a violent way or anything, but definitely showing their presence.
They are watching you!

Gimme some Mao!

A very quaint little garden path just on the other side of the wall. Apparently someone was doing some water calligraphy on the sidewalk.

How do you say "hipster" in Mandarin?

Well, that's all for now. I return to Beijing on July 21st and will remain there until August 25th. Please check back for more fun-in-the-East! Also, don't forget to comment :)

-Sean

Amazing!

2008-03-06T01:23:00.000-08:00

Let me start by saying that this will undoubtedly be one of the greatest experiences of my life. If not only for the self-satisfaction of being able to wrestle one of the biggest and complicated networks during the biggest event in broadcast history to date, but for the simple fact that I'm am getting to work with such a diverse team of really wonderful people from all over the world.

To see people pulling together from all corners of the planet and in all walks of life is quite an amazing thing to behold, especially being one of the few Americans involved. It makes me realize more and more that we are a nation very much closed off from the rest of the world. Get a passport and travel, people!!!

ok. Here's a bunch of pictures in random order. For some reason blogspot makes it very difficult to arrange your pictures.

the Olympic Basketball Stadium

some construction with the obligatory crouching Asian guy

the National Stadium a.k.a the "Birds Nest." This is the main venue for the Olympics and will host the opening and closing ceremonies.

the inside of the Aquatic Center. it's hard to relay the awesomeness of this in a picture. the whole building is comprised of a carefully orchestrated jumble of hexagonal membrane "bubbles" and a series of structural trusses that represent molecules. truly amazing.

i was there!

trying to capture the scale of everything

the diving platforms

outside

inside the IBC (International Broadcast Center.) the scale of this operations center completely dwarfs anything I have ever seen in my life. they even have brand new 103" plasma TVs. yes, that's 103", not cm. I'll take more pics of them later.

crazy westerners and their cameras!

some more shots of the "bubble building"

some natural support systems

neon, LEDs, and incandescents, oh my! and, oh yeah, that car is grinning quite cutely.

at the "night market." finally, some bugs on a stick!!! there were also snakes, sea horses, squid, and a bunch of other random disgusting - yet very sanitary looking - stuff on sticks.

yummy!!!

and now, your moment of Zen:

thanks for checking out my blog! sorry the updates have been slow.. between my erratic internet connection and my even more erratic sleep schedule it's been tough getting things uploaded. hopefully this will all be fixed when I come back in July.

Walking around.

2008-03-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Last night I decided to walk around the hotel a little bit before I went to sleep. Here are a few pictures:

Hello, Beijing!

2008-03-03T02:02:00.000-08:00

Well folks, I'm here in Beijing. It's a huge city with a whole lot going on. First thing to note when in Beijing is that the people drive like maniacs. It makes a ride in a New York yellow cab feel like Driving Miss Daisy.

My flight was about 13 hours long and I arrived at around 4:00pm local time today, Monday March 3rd. I left Washington DC at 8:30am yesterday (Sunday). I'm a half day into the future here and my body doesn't know quite what to do. It's around 5:00am in Baltimore so I guess I've been up for about 24 hours now, give or take the small amount I snoozed on the plane. FYI if you're still have your calculator out it's 13 hours ahead of EST.

Tomorrow I start the first of four days of preliminary training for my job at the IBC (International Broadcast Center) for the Olympics. I am here in my hotel room as I write this.. my very, VERY swank hotel room at the Marco Polo Beijing. Check it out:

view from near the front door

and check out this BATHROOM!!!!!! SWANK!

wow... amazing. I think it's about time that I take this bathroom for a spin. I'll post again tomorrow.

-Sean

p.s. miss you Babycakes!