BBC Olympics promo

Our blogging friend, Paul, over at Washington Adventures got my attention the other day when he posted the BBC promo for the winter Olympics.

This promo was awesome.

According to official BBC site description the promo has a lot going on in it:

BBC Sport's Vancouver Winter Olympics coverage will feature the story of Akiak and his quest to find the missing head of Ilanaaq, a stack of rock in human form, which sits on the mountain above Whistler, where the skiiing and sliding events will take place.

So who is Akiak and what is Ilanaaq?

Akiak is a legendary Inuit, a member of the indigenous population who inhabit the Arctic regions of Canada, Greenland, Russia and the United States of America, whose name means "brave" in his native language.

Ilanaaq, the Inuit word for "friend", is the emblem of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and is a contemporary interpretation of an inukshuk.

Inukshuk are land markers which started out as a single upright stone and have evolved into more elaborate stacks of rock built in the form of a human. They are normally built around good hunting places and have been extremely important for Inuit survival over many thousands of years.

Apparently in the promo, the head of Ilanaaq has been stolen by the monster in the ice. Therefore, the hero must perform different Olympic events to retrieve it.

Enough of my yakking, watch the promo yourself:

(The music is Cry Me A River by Michael Buble)

And in case you're wondering, this isn't the first kickass promo that BBC has made for the Olympics.

For the 2008 games in China, the promo was pretty sweet as well. It features a monkey and his sidekicks that must use various summer game events to make it there.

Check it out:

Epic Video: Sea Otters holding hands

CBC News did a story about the "otters holding hands" video on Youtube.

Vancouver 2010 Mascots

I just came across the mascots of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Yeah. They pretty much rock. The best part is, go to each of their sites and they will talk.

Quatchi- He's a sasquatch. Epic. Here's his bio:

Quatchi is a young sasquatch who comes from the mysterious forests of Canada. Quatchi is shy, but loves to explore new places and meet new friends.

View his page here.


Miga- She's a seabear. Yeah. Odd. Here's her bio:

Miga is a young sea bear who lives in the ocean with her family pod, beyond Vancouver Island, near Tofino, British Columbia. Sea bears are part killer whale and part bear. (Miga is part Kermode bear, a rare white bear that only lives in British Columbia.)

View her page here.


Sumi- He's an animal spirit. All I can say is WTF? Here's his bio:

Sumi is an animal spirit who lives in the mountains of British Columbia. Like many Canadians, Sumi's background is drawn from many places. He wears the hat of the orca whale, flies with the wings of the mighty thunderbird and runs on the strong furry legs of the black bear.

View his page here.

The Olympics start February 12, 2010. With mascots like these, it should be legendary.