Vancouver, Canada

Ice hockey is Canada’s national sport, and the annual crowning moment in the sport of hockey in North America is the winning of the National Hockey League’s (aka NHL, not actually national now with more U.S. teams than Canadian ones… but that’s another story) Stanley Cup. Most Canadians watched the Vancouver Canucks lose the final game of the series to the better-playing Boston Bruins in Vancouver earlier this week—and most were also mortified (ashamed, embarrassed, upset) at the full-moon riots (triggered by a relatively small group of anarchists and drunk teenagers) that ensued, sullying the reputation for human kindness and friendly hospitality that the City of Vancouver (and Canada in general, we’d like to think) has long enjoyed.

Among the thousands of photographs of rioting, looting, and general mayhem that appeared online within hours of the event, one image in particular caught the attention and imagination of viewers—and at almost light-speed, circled the globe to become an instant icon of an ironic moment in time. After having been knocked down by advancing police troupes armed with shields, Scott Jones and his girlfriend Alex Thomas were captured by photographer Rich Lam in what appears, at first blush, to be the amorous act of love-making—in reality, Scott was simply trying to comfort and calm her.

CBC’s news-sleuths were quick to track down and reveal the back-story (text article and a video interview) here.

You can’t always trust your eyes… especially with smoke in them.