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KTVO-3: Greenest building in America in Fairfield

April 23, 2010

Video: http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/video.aspx?id=447437

Maharishi University of Management’s new Sustainable Living Center is a building that will set a new standard for green building in America by being completely off the grid with respect to electricity, heating and cooling, water, and waste.

Greenest building in America in Fairfield

The new sustainable living center will be one of three buildings in the U.S. to meet the Living Building Challenge
By Alex Halfmann
Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 6:12 p.m.

FAIRFIELD, IOWA — One heartland university aims to practice what they preach, and what they preach exemplifies Earth Day.

Maharishi University of Management’s new Sustainable Living Center will be one of the greenest buildings in America when completed this fall.

The University’s sustainable living program will utilize the building, which will help students understand firsthand what they are learning.

“The students will be able to see in the building that they are occupying what we are teaching. This building will be off the grid completely in respect to electricity, heating, cooling, water, and waste disposal,” said Maharishi University’s Director of the sustainable living program David Fisher.

The building is designed to meet the Living Building Challenge, the highest standard for sustainable design and green building in the world.

“After a while, the U.S. Green Building Council realized there was a lot more buildings could do so they came up with the Living Building Challenge which is much more stringent than even the LEED Platnium. In fact, they have now gone to the 2nd version of the Living Building Challenge” Fisher said.

Parts of the project  literally come from the school’s backyard.

“We’re using compacted earth blocks that come from earth just across the street where they were clearing out a parking lot.  We took that soil, compacted it into 26,000 earth blocks, and so that will serve as thermal mass which will help insulate the building,” Fisher said.

While the building might look relatively bare on Earth Day, they expect the roof, complete with solar panels, to be installed by the end of next week. The site will then use only electricity generated on site.

The building will be one of the first three to achieve the Living Building Challenge’s standards. It will be unique because it will be the first to combine that standard with the standards of LEED Platinum certification.

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Posted in Architecture, Education, Sustainable Living | 1 Comment »

“There’s no other building like this going up in the nation, or in the world for that matter, that we know of.”

April 21, 2010

MUM to Erect Walls of New Off-the-Grid Building on Earth Day

Sustainable Living Center Will Be Unique in the Country

Press Conference and Earth Day Event Scheduled for 12:45 p.m. April 22

On Earth Day, April 22, the walls and the roof will go up on Maharishi University of Management’s new Sustainable Living Center — a building that will set a new standard for green building in America by being completely off the grid with respect to electricity, heating and cooling, water, and waste.

The Sustainable Living Center has been designed to meet the Living Building Challenge, the highest standard for sustainable design and green building in the world. It will be one of the first three to achieve this. And it will be unique because it will be the first to combine that standard with the standards of LEED Platinum certification, Building Biology, and Maharishi Vedic Architecture.

“There’s no other building like this going up in the nation, or in the world for that matter, that we know of,” said nationally known green building expert Mike Nicklas, who co-designed the building and whose company Innovative Design has designed over 4000 buildings that use renewable energy solutions.

Whole Tree Post and Beam Construction

Construction will proceed quickly on Earth Day because the structure uses Whole Tree post and beam techniques. The walls will be tilted up and roof trusses placed on them.

The entire shell of the building should be completed within about a week, and the building is expected to be ready for occupation in late fall.

A Building That Teaches

The Sustainable Living Center will serve students in the university’s Sustainable Living major. It will have classrooms, workshop, meeting room, greenhouse, kitchen, research lab, recycling center, and offices, as well as east and west covered verandas and a porch on the north.

It has been designed as a building that teaches. In addition to embodying sustainability, it will allow students to monitor performance and energy efficiency and make adjustments.

“The Sustainable Living Center will be a living, evolving building,” said David Fisher, head of the MUM Sustainable Living Department, who helped plan the building. “The building itself is an educational tool, not just a passive one like most classroom buildings. It will provide participatory education where students will be continually adding to, or altering, the building and grounds as well as systematically checking its effectiveness.”

Off the Grid

The Sustainable Living Center will be completely off of the energy and utility grid. Every feature will exemplify healthy and sustainable green building — and will be geared to teaching those principles.

Construction uses all non-toxic materials from local sources (as defined by the Living Building Challenge requirements). All energy will be provided from solar panels on the building and from an outside wind turbine. Rainwater catchment will be the complete source of the building’s water, with purification of drinking water via ultraviolet technology. Wastewater will be treated onsite using a constructed wetland. Natural daylighting will illuminate the entire interior. Geothermal technology will assist with heating and cooling.

An Embodiment of Sustainability That’s Feasible and Practical

This achievement is remarkable because none of the systems in the building are new or experimental, according to construction manager Dal Loiselle. “The Sustainable Living Center is being constructed using ‘state-of-the-shelf technologies,” he said. “This building proves that we can meet our environmental goals for our built environment with the materials, technologies, and green building protocols we already possess.”

A Community Oriented Toward Sustainability

Sustainability has become a major focus at Maharishi University of Management, which has long used techniques for living in harmony with natural law, including the Transcendental Meditation technique and other Vedic technologies including Vedic Architecture. The University has filed a climate action plan to be 100% carbon neutral by 2020 as part of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.

Fairfield, too, has taken a strong direction toward sustainability, hiring a sustainability coordinator and moving ahead with various initiatives. In 2009, MSN.com named Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy as one of the nation’s 15 greenest mayors — alongside the mayors of New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, and Salt Lake City.

“Our city will benefit enormously by having this building on the campus of MUM as a demonstration of a new standard of design and will reinforce our commitment in Fairfield to changing the culture towards a more sustainable future,” Mayor Malloy said.

The Sustainable Living Center has also benefited from material donations by nationally recognized leaders in green building materials: Gerdau AmeriSteel, Pittsburgh Corning and United States Gypsum Corporation, as well as from Green Building Supply of Fairfield, IA.

• • •

A press conference will be held on Earth Day, April 22, at 12:45 p.m. at the site of the Sustainable Living Center construction just north of the MUM library on Highway 1.

Available for media interviews: Sustainable Living department head David Fisher, construction manager Dal Loiselle, Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy, and associate design architect Jon Lipman.

The Building will also be a showcase for the public, and will feature meeting rooms, a real-time energy and renewable systems monitor, and displays of materials and building systems featured in the building to showcase partnerships with leading technologies and materials manufacturers.  For more information please contact: Marco Sunseri @ 641-472-7000 x2449.

Posted in Architecture, Education, Sustainable Living | 1 Comment »

My Son’s Sensei: A Tanka about my son’s Aikido teacher

April 21, 2010

My Son’s Sensei
A tanka about my son’s Aikido teacher

Rooted to the ground
She repels her attackers
Flowing, not moving.

In storms, trees bear great burdens
Bending, not breaking.

—Ken Chawkin

(more…)

Posted in Education, Literature, My poems, Peace, Poetry, Writing | 5 Comments »

Sally describes her journey “To Jyotir Math” with Maharishi and scientists who met to tell the Shankaracharya about the dawning of a new age

April 17, 2010

To Jyotir Math

Late May, dusty dry hills, scrub brush, months before monsoons would come bringing green relief.

The ashram, quiet, in the fading sunlight, was impressive in these Himalayan foothills; ancient, two-storied cream stone, with saffron orange trim, the Shankarcharya’s colors, and flag flying, nestled against a hill beside Shankara’s cave and banyan tree, the same cave and tree where Shankara sat 3,000 years ago writing his commentaries with the disciples—Trotaka, Hasta-Malaka, Vartika-Kara, Padma-Pada. 3,000 years ago.

The air, though tired and dusty with summer heat, vibrated with ancient wisdom, lively still in that remote valley, hidden from time.

The great gong sounded from the ashram at sunset, calling the villagers to meet, poor peasants—the men road workers, wearing their army uniforms like badges of honor; the women, their good saris ragged to our eyes, glittered with tinseled trim and brilliant blended hand woven colors—scarlet, blue indigo and jaded greens.

They flowed like water into the meeting room—a small room, filled with greatness. Shankarcharya walked slowly into the room, an immense presence, pundits extolling his holiness with Vedic mantras. His gentle gaze, meeting our eyes, greeted the pale Americans who had come with Maharishi. He sat on Guru Dev’s throne, like a statue of stillness, waiting for us to settle, then beckoned to us gently to move forward so more of the villagers could enter the room.

The women to one side, sat apart, protected by their gentle warm togetherness, shifting, hushed whispers, pulling their saris as Maharishi and the great western scientists spoke of the dawning of a new age.

I had been there before, perhaps in a dream, of walking these hills, knowing with liquid clarity what would be around the curve, in the next cave, in the small Devi temple. I knew that holiness.

It was late, and we left quietly. Ahead of us, the village women walked slowly, heads together, chatting and laughing, apart from their men, gathering their tired children in their strong brown arms.

—Sally “Sali” Peden

——————————————

(Also see: Pilgrimage, and Timeless Journey, by Sally Peden)

Around 1995-96 Sali took some classes in the MA in Professional Writing program at Maharishi University of Management.  The poetry writing class was taught by poet Rustin Larson. It was there that she recalled and wrote about her journey to Jyotir Math in India with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, which had taken place some 20 years earlier, in May 1975, the year Maharishi had inaugurated the Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment. For an explanation and further developments …. (more…)

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Posted in Articles, Sally Peden, Writing | 9 Comments »

Vanity Fair blogger James Wolcott welcomes The Atlantic blogger Andrew Sullivan into the TM fold

April 13, 2010

Welcome, My Brother!

by James Wolcott April 12, 2010, 12:28 PM

Andrew Sullivan has disclosed that he has been practicing http://www.tm.org/blog/ for the last year, which he finds not only doesn’t conflict with his Catholic faith but enhances it.

My own Catholic faith is but a vestigial, lacy sentiment that I entertain from time to time with cookies and a generous selection of imported teas. But as someone who is coming up to his three year anniversary as a student of the TM program, I am pleased that Andrew has joined our broad-minded, multi-denominational coalition of bliss bubblers.

But I wish to inform him of the cultural obligations attached to the practice of TM, which may not have been covered during his orientation classes. As an inductee, Andrew…

1) …shall accept the snow-capped David Lynch as his runner-up personal savior. This requires an ardent familiarity Lynch’s classics–Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive–and the muster to insert Inland Empire into the DVD machine to see how long you can “hang on” until the fingers of your consciousness slip.

2) …shall shun the dark side and let his inner unicorn canter to the rainbow melodies of Donovan. Which may sound snarky, to use an antique expression, but isn’t so. Listening to Donovan anew in his role as TM troubadour, I find that I must prefer his music now to Dylan’s; “Season of the Witch,” “Epistle to Dippy,” “Wear Your Love Like Heaven,” “Hurdy Gurdy Man”–without them my iPod would be bereft and the flowers of my mind parched.

3) …shall get his downtown geek on, and heed not those hipper-than-thou’est who would deprecate Moby.

4) …shall nod knowingly at every mention of the “unified field,” while having not a clue.

Although maybe 4 applies solely to me, being a non-quantum physicist after all, despite my airy pretensions.

Anyway, congratulations and keep that mantra percolating!

Posted in Articles | Leave a Comment »

LA Times: Depression symptoms may lift with Transcendental Meditation

April 8, 2010

Click here to find out more!Booster Shots Oddities, musings and news from the health world

Depression symptoms may lift with Transcendental Meditation

April 7, 2010 |  4:58 pm

Medication isn’t the only way people successfully battle depression — exercise and acupuncture are two alternative methods. A new study suggests that Transcendental Meditation may also be an effective way to lessen depression symptoms.

Two studies* compared months of Transcendental Meditation practice with health education (which served as a control) on depression. The TM technique uses a mantra to help people achieve a relaxed state, and the practice is typically done for about 15 to 20 minutes twice a day. The methodology of both studies was the same: Participants were asked to do TM or follow a health education program twice a day for 20 minutes.

Researchers measured depression symptoms at the beginning of the studies and three, nine and 12 months later. Since there is a link between depression and a risk for cardiac events in people who have coronary heart disease, participants in both studies also had cardiovascular risk factors such as carotid artery wall thickness.

In one study, participants included 59 African American men and women ages 55 and older, and in the other, participants included 53 native Hawaiian men and women ages 55 and older. In both studies, the meditation groups had a far greater reduction in depression symptoms than the control groups. There were no substantial differences between genders.

Researchers speculate that meditation may trigger changes in the body’s chemistry, affecting serotonin (a neurotransmitter that may be linked to depression) and fostering better reactions to environmental stress.

“These results are encouraging and provide support for testing the efficacy of Transcendental Meditation as a therapeutic adjunct in the treatment of clinical depression,” said Hector Myers, a co-author of one of the studies, in a news release. Myers is director of clinical training in the Department of Psychology at UCLA.

The studies will be presented April 9 at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in Seattle.

— Jeannine Stein

*New studies show reduced depression with Transcendental Meditation

Posted in Articles, Health | 1 Comment »

New studies presented at Society of Behavioral Medicine 31st Annual Meeting show reduced depression with Transcendental Meditation

April 7, 2010

New studies show reduced depression with Transcendental Meditation

The Transcendental Meditation technique was effective at reducing symptoms of depression, according to studies conducted at Charles Drew University in Los Angeles and University of Hawaii in Kohala. Both results will be presented April 9th at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in Seattle, Washington. Participants included African Americans and Native Hawaiians, 55 years and older, at risk for cardiovascular disease. Those with clinically significant depression reduced depressive symptoms by 48%. Click here to see EurekAlert! press release with graphs, facts on study design, and facts on depression.

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Posted in Articles, Health | 1 Comment »

Ireland’s Edwin McGreal interviews Mike Love for The Mayo News

April 6, 2010

INTERVIEW Mike Love of The Beach Boys

The legendary Beach Boys singer on Pet Sounds, Paul McCartney, clean living, Brian Wilson, modern music and more.

Monday, 05 April 2010 14:28

The beach boys

Mike Love, not war

The Beach Boys will bring some welcome Californian sunshine to Castlebar this June. Edwin McGreal spoke to founding band member, music legend Mike Love last week.
Mike Love is not your typical rock’n’roll  star. No sordid tales of debauchery, very little evidence of skeletons in his closet and, nearly 50 years after The Beach Boys were formed, he’s still going strong, playing around 150 shows a year.
Love, now aged 69, is a very relaxed and positive person, which is not surprising when you listen to such upbeat songs as ‘Good Vibrations’ and ‘I Get Around’, summer anthems that have put a pep in the step of millions for over 40 years.
And he and The Beach Boys will bring their sounds of summer to the TF Royal Theatre on June 26 (albeit minus Brian Wilson and Al Jardine).
So, still going strong all these years later, where does he get his energy?
“We don’t burn the candle at both ends like we might have done in the early 60s,” Love explained, speaking from his southern California base last week. “The Beach Boys are primarily a vocal group, we always emphasise our harmonies, and you can’t sing those kind of harmonies if you’re going to destroy yourself. I personally learned transcendental meditation [from renowned Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who taught many celebrities, including the Beatles]. I keep doing that every day and it is profoundly relaxing and repairs a lot of wear and tear mentally, emotionally and physically. It gives you a really nice outlet for stress rather than taking to the bottle or smoking a lot of pot or other drugs.
“People in my own family like my cousin Dennis [Wilson, founding member] became addicted to alcohol and various types of drugs and he ended up drowning in 1983, long before he should have passed away. Then my cousin Carl [Wilson, founding member] passed away of lung cancer 12 years ago. But then he started smoking when he was 13 so these lifestyle choices we make can have a tremendous impact on your health and well-being.”
Musically, the ’60s was a roller-coaster journey for The Beach Boys. There was the outstanding success of their totemic album ‘Pet Sounds’ in 1966, but the release of ‘Good Vibrations’ the same year is one Love looks back on with particular fondness.
“I think, artistically, ‘Good Vibrations’ has to be right up there. It stands on its own. It is so unique. Also I wrote the words and I came up with the chorus – ‘I’m pickin up good vibrations/she’s giving me excitations’. It stands the test of time and is still an amazing song today, that is the song I was happiest to be involved with.”
Subsequent decades didn’t prove as successful, with the exception of ‘Kokomo’ reaching Number 1 in 1988. Love admits that Brian Wilson’s well-publicised problems did play a part, but it wasn’t all bad for the band to be minus their front man.
“Brian pretty much became a recluse for several years and he didn’t take as dynamic a part in the production of our recordings. My cousin Carl played a bigger part, Bruce Johnston played a bigger part. Instead of Brian being ‘the Stalin of the studio’ as I used to call him, it became a bit more democratic. I don’t think it was reasonable that the [early success] would keep up forever, but the ’60s did provide the foundation of our continued success to this day.”
Moving to modern day musicians, Love has no particular favourites, but he’s exposed to the full gamut by his children. Some good, some not so good.
“I unfortunately get exposed to some rap music from my 14-year-old daughter but I also get exposed to Leona Lewis, Beyonce and Alicia Keys, those are pleasant exposures. I don’t think I’m obsessed with any new artist but I’m not against them either. I’m just as likely if I’m driving around to throw on the oldies channel just out of morbid curiosity to see if they’re going to play a Beach Boys song,” admitted Love, laughing at the thought.
Love hints that talks have taken place of a touring reunion with Brian Wilson and Al Jardine to mark the 50th anniversary of the band. For now, it is Love, together with long-time member Bruce Johnston and others who tour under the Beach Boys name – but the dynamic is the same, according to Love.
“What we like to do every night is prove we can recreate those songs like they’re meant to be sung. We have got nothing but compliments recently on how fantastic the show sounds …The special part [of touring] is recreating those songs and doing the absolute best job we can and seeing the audience join in and have a great time with us.”
Still sending those good vibrations.

Elsewhere on mayonews.ie
INTERVIEW Click here for the full interview
AUDIO Click here for Audio interview
COMPETITION Click here win tickets

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Posted in Articles, Audios, Music, Peace | 1 Comment »

DLF.TV Documentary: Saving the Disposable Ones

April 2, 2010
Saving the Disposable Ones

THE PROJECT

“The street children in Colombia are called ‘the disposable ones’ and they live and sometimes die on the streets. These children are unloved, unwanted, and endure abuse on many levels. Colombians are a kind and generous people but crime related to cocaine trafficking has made cities such as Medellin among the most violent in the world. Surviving on the streets is a harsh business. Children as young as six fall into prostitution and many escape the torments of their existence by sniffing glue.” — Stuart Tanner, Director

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY

As Stuart reveals in his deeply moving new film, there is a Catholic priest in Colombia, Father Gabriel Mejia, who has worked quietly to provide street children relief from their struggle for survival and support to create a better life for themselves.

Starting in Medellin in the mid-1980’s, Father Gabriel opened the first Center de Hogares Claret: a place where children could come for a good meal and a safe place to sleep. In the late 1980’s, he traveled to the United States where he learned Transcendental Meditation. He knew immediately that he had found the answer to the overwhelming stress the children suffered from living on the streets. As the power of the drug cartels waned, the number of Father Gabriel’s orphan shelters increased. Now, in 2010, there are 47 shelters under Father Gabriel’s direction, which are spread across all of Colombia. His center of operations in Medellin is the former home of Pablo Escobar, the now deceased drug lord.

“In the rough part of Medillin there is an orphan center where children as young as six years old can come to seek solace,” Stuart recalls. “At the center the children can shower and get a good meal. The children are free to come and go as they wish. There is no pressure on them to stay; it is an open house. Father Gabriel has learned through his work with the street children that the desire to move away from their life on the streets must come from within the children themselves. Many of the children are addicted to sniffing glue or gasoline so the process of becoming free of this dependency is a difficult and gradual one. As part of their rehabilitation the children learn to meditate. This is combined with gentle guidance from Father Gabriel and other members of the Foundation.”

As Stuart’s film documents, over time an extraordinary transformation in the lives of the children takes place. They are freed from the torments they endured living on the streets, recover from their drug addictions and begin to gain an education. “The Foundation established by Father Gabriel embodies the wisdom, patience and knowledge that is required to rescue the ‘disposable’ children, restore their rights, their dignity and offer them a much brighter future,” Stuart says.

“The basic therapy is love. Love is the imperial medicine for any illness or disorder. When a child feels they are welcome, when a child feels an educator is concerned about them, the child who came from violence and hostility of the streets, from being mistreated and who became aggressive, they change. The child changes.”

“When a child starts to practice Yoga every day, morning and afternoon. When a child closes the eyes and begins to meditate, when a child practices the Sidhis, they open themselves up to a field of infinite possibilities, as Maharishi says. The world opens for the child. And then the child discovers their essential nature, which is love.

“I think that we’re all committed to transforming the world we’re all living in. We have to leave a better world than the one we found. I believe in solidarity. I believe the solution is within every person. Within each one of us there is a sanctuary, and the moment we take refuge there, we can enter it. Solutions come from every person. When we put them together, there are many solutions. We must globalize love.” – Father Gabriel Mejia

The David Lynch Foundation

The David Lynch Foundation has currently provided over 120,000 scholarships around the world including tens of thousands in Latin America. The proceeds from this premiere will go towards the David Lynch Foundation programs in Latin America, including Father Mejia’s Foundation, providing meditation instruction to at-risk populations. The program is offered on a voluntary basis, at no cost to the school or organization. Visit davidlynchfoundation.org for more information on programs and initiatives.

SUPPORT AT-RISK YOUTH

The David Lynch Foundation has currently provided tens of thousands of scholarships in Latin America. The proceeds from this film will go towards DLF programs in Latin America, including Father Mejia’s Foundation.

online
WORLD PREMIERE
April 8, 2010, 7:45pm
Fairfield, IA
Watch the extended #trailer
See Saving the Disposable Ones: World Premiere Poster for David Lynch Foundation Documentary along with longer clips from the film.

See the Saving the Disposable Ones article by Linda Egenes in Issue 11 of Enlightenment: The Transcendental Meditation Magazine.

We can now watch “Saving the Disposable Ones” at this site.

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Posted in David Lynch Foundation, Education, Videos | 1 Comment »

The friendliness of Canadians, Canadian Patriotism, Vancouver as a destination, and the quality of the Olympic Games

March 28, 2010

THE FRIENDLINESS OF CANADIANS

“Thank you, Canada. For being such good hosts. For your unfailing courtesy. For reminding some of us we used to be a more civilized society. Mostly, for welcoming the world with such ease and making lasting friends with all of us.” – Brian Williams, NBC News

“Along the way, there was plenty to like in Vancouver, if not always the weather. The people were generous and spirited, the volunteers cheery. Once, I saw a guy fail to smile; I think he was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor.” – Boston.com

“Before the closing ceremony begins, let me just take the time to thank the people of Vancouver for a wonderful 19 days. The people here couldn’t be nicer, from the volunteers who make sure the buses run on time, to the citizens walking the streets, to the athletes and people from around the world who were here.” – The LA Times

“The Olympics went into overtime Sunday. It was perfect. No one wanted the Warmest Games to end. Warmest weather. Warmest hosts.” – The Miami Herald

“Make no mistake, Canada’s people were the stars of these Games. They jammed the streets of Vancouver, cheered the most obscure sports as long as a Canadian was competing and all but drowned themselves in a sea of red. These are not folks normally given to outbursts of patriotism, but they found their voice here.” – Chicago Sun Times

“Why can’t we be more like Canada? They host the Olympics like they mean it. They smile . and they have the Canadian Mounties. But most of all what they have is a kick-ass national anthem, a tune that says everything about who they are – and about what we, as Americans, are not.” – The Huffington Post

“Graciousness is their default mode here. For the last two weeks, beaming has been a way of life. In a nod to the local vernacular, let me just say this is the nicest city I’ve ever been in.” – The Los Angeles Times

“No question the biggest winners of the 2010 Winter Olympics were the Canadian people, who were unfailingly polite, passionately patriotic, and self-deprecating enough to poke fun at themselves in the Closing Ceremonies.” – The Miami Herald.com

CANADIAN PATRIOTISM

“For Canada, I’d call it a ‘coming of age’ moment. The country, all 35 million of us, were able to bare our patriotic souls in an outburst of unbridled patriotism not seen before.” – The Toronto Star

“…the Games are a remarkable success. Millions of us are watching, and Vancouver is a giant block party. We know Canada is a small country in a big world, and most of us seem thrilled with what our athletes have achieved. Per capita, our medal count is second only to Norway’s.” – The Globe & Mail

“Canadians used to think of themselves as being quiet, modest and unassertive. No longer. After their athletes topped the medals table with 14 golds at the winter Olympic games, some 100,000 flag-waving locals took to the streets of Vancouver and the nearby ski resort of Whistler, deliriously singing the national anthem.” – The Economist

“This quiet city with such beautiful scenery made all of Canada proud. In a nightly transformation, as many as 150,000 people flooded the closed-off downtown streets to savor the Olympic experience. Mostly mild instead of wild, the crowds whooped, hollered, danced and shouted ‘Go Canada Go!’ well into the morning.” – The Houston Chronicle

“The bright-eyed exuberance can be a little overwhelming to someone who has spent many years absorbing cynicism in the Middle East, but the sheer earnestness helps temper what could elsewhere be an aggressive nationalism. Instead, it seems a pure expression of civic boosterism, no more, no less.” – The Jerusalem Post

VANCOUVER AS A DESTINATION

“You’re gorgeous, baby, you’re sophisticated, you live well.Vancouver is Manhattan with mountains. It’s a liquid city, a tomorrow city, equal parts India, China, England, France and the Pacific Northwest. It’s the cool North American sibling.” – The New York Times

“You may have heard that Vancouver is a great city, but it’s better than that. On a good weather day – and we had a spectacular five-day run in the middle of the Games – it is stunningly beautiful, and it is an excellent eating, drinking and shopping city.” – The Boston Globe

“Vancouver looked gorgeous on TV . NBC’s shots of Vancouver’s downtown and waterfront, and aerial views of Whistler ski areas, provided a media boost no marketing campaign could have delivered.” – The Seattle Times

“Vancouver is a city unlike any other. Wherever I look, I see water or mountains — or both. And everyone looks so healthy.” – The Daily Telegraph (UK)

“A remarkable environment. The license plates read ‘Beautiful British Columbia’ for a reason. The Sea-to-Sky Highway carries travelers on a jaw-dropping journey from the serenity of Vancouver’s waterfront to the majesty of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.” – The Buffalo News

“In winter, the heart of downtown [Vancouver] is 30 minutes from the ski slopes. In summer, sun seekers crowd its beaches and seaside promenades. And despite a rain-prone climate, it displays a perpetually sunny disposition. Consider it the supermodel of North American cities.” – USA Today

“Vancouver is one of North America’s most under-rated tourist destinations. It is a modern, travel-friendly city with a unique mix of cultures. The relatively mild Pacific Northwest climate and an energetic restaurant and nightlife scene are other features that make this such an attractive city.” – LowFares.com

“[Visitors] will find the streets of Vancouver, a city of 2 million, so spotless they’ll think Mr. Clean is the mayor.” – The Miami Herald

“By the end of the 17 days that featured unseasonably warm temperatures and more than a week of brilliant sunshine, the cherry blossoms were blooming and a few fans had been spotted wearing shorts in the street while raucously celebrating Team Canada’s dramatic overtime victory over the Americans in the hockey final.” – The Salt Lake Tribune

“Olympics visitors have become a travel marketer’s dream as they bask in the Vancouver sun, flock to competitions and pour into downtown venues. The throngs of Games guests are magnets that should pull even more tourists to B.C. in the coming months and years.” – The Montreal Gazette

“The city of Vancouver and the ski village of Whistler are terrific hosts for these Olympic Games. The air is clean, the public transit is scarily efficient, and the harbors, with snowcapped mountains for a backdrop, are picturesque. Whistler, two hours to the north and home to the skiing, sliding and Nordic events, is a winter wonderland.” – Time

QUALITY OF THE GAMES EXPERIENCE

“These were the best Winter Games ever.” – Salon.com

“The venues here and the streets of Vancouver and Whistler are joyful places to be.” – The Times London (UK)

“So there was no shortage of Olympic spirit in BC and Vancouver became an amazing party town day and night.” – Inside the Games

“.you can’t stage a better Olympics. The city is beautiful. The venues are modern. The transportation is efficient. But this wasn’t about logistics. In the end, it’s the people that power the movement. The Canadian people pushed these games back from the brink of disaster and right off into history.” – Yahoo.com

“The stadiums are full, the seats are full of passionate fans, the streets are busy and there’s a lot going on . Whether it is ice hockey, curling or speedskating, I haven’t seen an empty seat in the house.” – The Guardian

“The sporting venues were built on time and on budget. A new subway line links the airport to the city centre. The athlete’s village, with a view over one of Vancouver’s many picturesque waterways, sets high standards in energy-efficient construction.” – The Financial Times

“Top that if you can. Amid the tragedy, the medals race and the hockey frenzy, the Vancouver Olympics will be remembered above all for the fervor and ebullience of its Canadian hosts.” – The Associated Press

“What Vancouver did show London was how to stage a Games to be enjoyed by everyone, from athletes to spectators to the general public, who embraced the Olympics with hands uniformly clad in red Olympic mittens.” – Reuters

“There comes a time to tip your toque, and our good friends in Canada deserve our respect for hosting, and excelling in, a memorable Winter Olympics.” – Philly.com

“Known better for their hospitality than their military, Canada mustered a small army of volunteers to pull off these Olympic Games with unfailing patience and cheerfulness.” – The Christian Science Monitor

“In the end, these games became a testament to the resilience of both the Canadian and the Olympic spirit.” – The Australian

“The people of Vancouver embraced their Games as no other citizenry has in recent memory, not even Sydney. They packed the stadiums, thronged in the streets, made the cauldron their mecca.” – The Sydney Morning Herald

“But the Games recovered in a spirited, determined and optimistic fashion, and most of the operation visible to me has been difficult to fault. London faces a big challenge to generate the same level of enthusiasm for the Games.” – BBC

“Seoul’s citizens were wonderfully fanatical in 1988 and Sydneysiders were pretty hyped up in 2000 but the Vancouverites who teemed downtown in their maple leafed garb have surely now set the standard for Londoners for 2012.” – The Daily London Telegraph

“And overall, for athletes, fans, the media and the host nation especially, the Games were a triumph.” – The Independent

“Bottle that Vancouver enthusiasm and London 2012 will really hit the spot. The London Olympics can take their cue from Vancouver, its organizers and its volunteers.” – The Guardian

“I think it’s always obvious at the end of any of these global spectacles whether a particular event was a success, or fell short of the mark. I have no doubt that history will recall these Olympic Winter Games falling into the former category.” – The Daily Mail

VIEW FROM THE TOP

“The Games, suggested Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Monday, have elevated Canada on the world stage. ‘Mark my words, some day historians will look back at Canada’s growing strength in the 21st century and they will say that it all began right here, on the West Coast, with the best Winter Olympic Games the world has ever seen.” – Prime Minister Stephen Harper, CBC.ca

“Most importantly, the Olympics have provided a chance for international investors to get to know us and explore business opportunities.” – BC Premier Gordon Campbell, Forbes

“We hosted the biggest event in our country’s history and it was a huge success.’ The mayor also took time to praise everyone involved in the Games, from the athletes to visitors, the police and finally, residents, for their consideration, co-operation and kindness. ‘The people of Vancouver made the whole country proud.” – Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, The Province

“Furlong, in Sunday’s touching farewell speech, may have said it best: ‘I believe we Canadians tonight are stronger, more united, more in love with our country and more connected with each other than ever before. These Olympic Games have lifted us up. If the Canada that came together on opening night was a little mysterious to some, it no longer is. Now you know us, eh.” – VANOC Chief John Furlong, The Vancouver Sun

“Expo 67 was a moment of coming of age for Canada,” said Michele McKenzie, president of the [Canadian Tourism] commission. “One of the things it did in young people was inspire interest in our country. What this Olympics has done is expose younger generations to what Canada is as a country. . . . I think the world has a much deeper understanding of the country after this. It’s magic.” – CTC President Michele McKenzie, The Vancouver Sun

“US Vice-President Joe Biden complimented Canadians Saturday on what he called an ‘incredible’ Olympic opening ceremony. ‘You guys put on one heck of a show,’ Biden said Saturday afternoon, speaking briefly with reporters. ‘Last night was incredible, absolutely incredible,’ he added.” – US Vice-President Joe Biden, Canada.com

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