I haven’t been writing much lately. Well, not here anyway. But to get back into the flow of things, I’ve embedded a rather simple video below in which an enterprising videographer recorded audio of ‘Vancouver’ when the Canadian Men’s hockey team scored their winning goal in the Olympics.
It’s not, however, that I care particularly about hockey. But I was watching the game – mainly because I think the cultural fragmentation of the 21st century means that there are less opportunities to witness and be part of a moment of shared experience. Collective experience is a bit like a worn, fabric-covered book: it’s pleasingly anachronistic. I too pumped my fists when Canada scored, even though I hadn’t been following the Olympics terribly closely. I too, wanted to belong to something bigger than me.
If you like, the ‘action’ starts just past the 1 minute mark. Simple as the video is though, it’s nice to let it build.
P.S. It’s not quite exactly on the topic of this post, but Shawn Micallef of Eye and Spacing has written something great on notions of collectivity and identity in the city.
