The last few days have been a blend of live concerts, giant cowbells, multimedia art shows, national pride, gold medals and beer – lots of beer.

The swelling of Canadian pride is amazing to see. A nation known for its humble nature has suddenly become – patriotic.

From sneaking into Swiss House after their gold medal win in Men’s Downhill to attending the Women’s Luge finals and today’s exciting and dramatic Ladies’ Downhill, it’s been a blast so far!

Barenaked Ladies are playing in Whistler’s Village Square tonight, and then, there’s always the hope of getting into the Our Lady Peace concert tonight. The rest of the Games are bound to bring more adventures and we’re really just getting warmed up!

“We’re going streaking!” This was one of the highlights of the entire competition! Unfortunately, I got to see a little too much frontal for my liking!

OK, so it might sound a little cliche, but the dirt really has been flying over the last few days as Kokanee Crankworx hits Whistler, B.C from August 8-16, 2009.

Day 1 on August 8 started off with a crowd favourite, the Dual Slalom. Riders faced off on a pristine side-by-side slalom track filled with berms, jumps and rollers. Spectators lined the sidelines of the course, which is located a couple minutes walk from the base of Whistler Mountain. Dust was flying from the wind just as much as t was from the whirlwind of riders charging the course.

In the end, Kyle Strait took the title, upsetting the competition favourite, Brian Lopes. Strait, known as a freestyler, has definitely proven his all-round talent. In the women’s pro category, Jill Kinter clenched first place.

After the awards were handed out, the Block Party kicked off the event. A fair number of people gathered in Skiers’ Plaza to watch the premiere of “Kranked Revolve” by Radical Films on the outdoor screen. The movie was also on a live feed inside the GLC, where the Red Bull sand pails were circulating the bar, and the Pull Tab girls had everyone worked into a free t-shirt frenzy. So, I hate to admit it but I was one of the freebie seekers. $5-worth of pull tabs and I got a free (and very cool) Get Crank’d t-shirt and entered to win a sweet DH bike (draw on Aug. 16.)

And end of night poutine capped off Saturday night as I prepared for Sunday’s Monster Energy Garbanzo DH. Crankworx is really just getting heated up and there’s nothing better than an adrenaline-fueled event filled with top pros and hometown heroes. The Monster Energy Garbanzo DH attracted a record crowd today as competitors bombed down a difficult course of 3,400 vertical feet.

Kiwi Justin Leov stole the top spot for the pro men while Miranda Miller won first place for the ladies. Whistler and B.C. favourites were out in full force, including a former colleague Tristan Merrick, who is now hitting the downhill scene with a vengeance.

Full competition results are available on crankworx.com Also, check out the CrankedWordz liveblog that we are producing every day for Crankworx.

As the week progresses, expect the events and to ramp up. I’ll be hitting a Women’s Night tomorrow, the Garbanzo Bike and Bean party at the GLC on Tuesday, the Saint Deep Summer Photo Challenge on Wednesday (tickets are still available at Guest Relations), and hopefully a Monster Party or two.

Ah, so much to do and so little time, thankfully they are giving away free Monster.

This morning, breakfast burritos and coffee-flavoured Monster seemed to be the post-party fuel of choice. A few early risers had the right idea and managed to get into costume before heading onto the slopes, including a man in a giant sumo wrestler costume. How he snowboarded in that, I will never know.

The Schick mechanical bull was undergoing maintenance today – must have been Choi the Korean Ski Jumper – so my first stop was the Whistler Chef Challenge, where two local chefs faced off against one another. They were given a surprise local ingredient and had to make a gourmet dish in only 30 minutes. Now that’s pressure! There are a number of heats and the two chefs with the highest score compete on Sunday for the title.

Meanwhile, sharpie artist Tim Barnard started his own face off against a white Pontiac Vibe. The car will be given away to one lucky contest winner later this weekend.

To kick off today’s Zune Concert Series, festivalgoers were treated to a country-inspired set by Run GMC. The show featured a pair of random cowboy boots on stage, some serious washboard playing and a banjo.

But, the hottest event of the day today was the Flash Mob. According to the Urban Dictionary, a Flash Mob is “A group of people who are organized via various mass communications to come together at a specified place and time, perform some (typically whimsical) action, then disperse.”

Today, I participated in Whistler’s first ever flash mob – and probably one of B.C.’s first and only flash mobs to date. The good people of marketing firm, Origin Design, teamed up with Skullcandy and Kokanee to organize the mob as a creative promotional event for the Silent Disco, which is happening later tonight at the GLC. Twitter and Facebook got the word out and around 200 Whistlerites gathered at the Westin to get their t-shirts and free Skull Candy headphones.

During the Team Canada DJ set this afternoon, mobbers descended upon Skiers’ Plaza and started a full-out dance party that only they could hear on their headphones. The sound guys were kind enough to crank up the volume soon after so onlookers could enjoy the tunes. Organized chaos ensued and the mob that was supposed to dance and leave, ended up staying and partying until the end of the set.

Team Canada is set to hit the Silent Disco later this evening along with Surgeon, Mister Fister and Foxy Moron (Whistler’s very own DJ andGo-Go dancing Queen Ace McKay-Smith).

After a short break this evening, I’m heading to VIP part at the GLC, to check out the skiing Big Air from the slopeside patio. After that, it’s on to the Silent Disco to dance the night away – with my headphones on.

Hot tip of the day: If you’re sans communicado like I am – lost my phone at Skate of the Art – pop into the Telus tent, where you can update your Twitter and Facebook.