Category: British Columbia

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Locked and loaded for NorthernVoice 2007

After some careful planning and budgeting, Rebecca and I have both signed ourselves up for NorthernVoice 2007. It should be a whirlwind of a weekend since the following Sunday is our one year anniversary. If that seems to be a geeky way to spend the first part of the weekend after being married for a year, then you’re probably right, and we like it that way.


Northern Voice is a two-day, non-profit personal blogging conference that’s being held at the UBC main campus on February 23-24, 2007.

This is the 3rd annual incarnation of this event, see the 2006 and 2005 websites for previous information.

Blogging, podcasting, social media, new media, web 2.0, and so on. Yes, there will be lots of ideas about all those things being tossed around, not to mention plenty of laptops on laps action.

We had a snafu in our planning, not realizing that Friday held quite the goings-on with the whole Moose Camp deal. In our heads, we thought that was taking place in the evening on Friday, so we opted to have Rebecca take the following Monday off in anticipation of our celebratory weekend. Looks like I’ll be checking things out for that Friday on my own, but she’ll make her way down for any activities later on that night. We’ll both be sneaking around on Saturday.

Looking forward to meeting more new people in the sphere of all things new media, plus catch a few neat sessions(view the schedule). Even Dave is leading a session on podcasting, so I’ve got to go heckle him check that out.

I’ll probably check in here during the event, and the recording gear always travels with me. It’s just a matter of not getting too into soaking up information to remember to grab some audio cuts. Have to see how things go. For me this is really good timing because the wonderful (I’m throwing that in there in case anyone at CIC is watching) Canadian government recently approved my PR application. I’ll be able to work in a matter of weeks now. 🙂

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Price of O.J. has gone up

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I like my orange juice in the morning, but this is getting a little hard to swallow. Normally, the price per can is a dollar less than what we’re seeing right now. Granted that this is the big name brand stuff that you can see above, but that’s still quite a bit. At the same time, Vancouver isn’t the cheapest place to live, so I tend to wonder if this is simple price inflation because they have the excuse to do it. Maybe a little bit of both.

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The Countdown to Vancouver 2010

I’m a little under the weather today. Woke up with some sort of headache, sinus thing. With my cup of chai green tea and laptop on the couch, I was going to watch this whole kickoff for the countdown to the start of the 2010 winter games here in Vancouver.

Now the thing that gets me about this is the little promo packages that CTV has been running for this. I get the hoopla and drummed up excitement for the games, but this “special television event” makes my skin crawl. People are gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery and somewhere in Whistler for the clock to officially start ticking.

Of course, Tamera Taggert[wiki], the weather girl for CTV, is hanging out up in Whistler. I would love to go into a nice rant about how much this “meteorologist” annoys me, but there isn’t much more that needs to be said than that. Truth is, she graduated from BCIT the same year and class as John Shorthouse[wiki], both with studies in broadcast journalism. That won’t change the fact that she is up there today to give 2010 weather predictions.

2010? Her weather forecasts are barely correct for the next three days, yet alone what she is going to predict for three years from now.

There are protesters at this event as well. Apparently, there are not against the games as much as they are there to use this events to raise awareness on the homeless problem here in Vancouver. You can hear some of the chants, and there is some dude that has strategically place himself in between the main podium and the camera focused in on that location. Both of his hands are sticking up in the air, but only the middle fingers are raised on each hand. Ah the beauty of live television.

I can’t say that I’m much of a fan of the thunder stix, but those 2010 scarves aren’t too bad. The countdown clock is apparently location near the fountain on the Georgia Street side, closer to the intersection with Hornby.

“Homes not games.” That’s what the protesters appear to be shouting.

1096 days to go. The clock itself is close to the fountain[googlemaps], and I can’t help but feel like it’ll be a target for those who take issue with the games coming to Vancouver. At the same time, that clock is intended to be permanent, sticking around till after the games are over. It’s not the ugliest thing in the world, but you’ll probably notice it without too much difficulty.

So there you go. More fluff to make you feel good about the games coming to Vancouver, but not too much to say about the progress of the preparations or construction of new venues. I probably don’t get close enough to Southeast False Creek that often to really say how the Olympic Village construction is going, but with mostly piles of dirt sitting around, one can’t feel too comfortable. Even at the eleventh hour, will everything be in place?

Oh I can’t post this without Taggart’s snow report from Whistler, which only lasted two minutes at the very end of this “special”. Her prediction? Well, uh, nothing really. Just that VANOC has installed a bunch of weather monitoring stations to measure snowfall here and there to study any patterns. They’ve also invested millions of dollars, around the tune of 15+, to prepare for the event of having no snow on the hills, and there is such things as too much snow. There is not a lot to say about predicting the weather because no matter how much or little there is, machines will take care of the snow. Hmm, wonder if they could do the same with Taggart?

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Casey bit my finger

IMG_0073 I’ve been in a few recording studios, but nothing to this extent. As Rebecca has mentioned, Matt‘s in the middle of recording another album. Actually, this part of the project is very near being done. At least that’s the mood right now, not that I know how he goes about this process. Every artist does their thing in their own way.

I was surprised to see the dogs when I came in. Walking in, Casey and Benji both started barking, but they calm down quick. I’m a sucker to play with Casey though. His chewed in half rubber ball keeps being set near my hand or in my lap. In previous situations, I was quick to toss it across the room. Not so easy to do here, so in a tug-of-war battle, my finger got in the way. No blood, just a good chomp.

He’s staring up at me from the floor right now. This blue piece of rubber keeps getting shoved deeper and deeper into my lap.

There’s a variety of computers and meters all around the room. I’m trying to sort out what everything does, but this is a realm that I’m less familiar with. Studio recording and live radio broadcasts are two completely different things. The array of monitors are impressive. It’s damn near a wall of sound.

IMG_0068 They’re trying to work out a particular guitar track right now. Record, playback, rehash, try something else, record, playback, and repeat until there is a consensus of “that’s it” in the room. You also hear “nope” a lot.

Matt’s been taking refuge in the corner of the sectional couch in the studio area. They’ve been putting a lot of hours into this process, meaning late nights. That spot is generally known as his, or at least that’s what he informed me while laying there with his eyes closed, Benji nestled on his chest.

It’s a fascinating process. There are some tracks that I’ve heard demos of, but I can’t tell if anything I have heard since being here are of the same. It will be a different experience to listen to this album once it’s done. I’ve met and known a lot of bands, but never been this close to the record making element.

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Prevented charity

I actually had this idea a few months ago, and it sparked quite the debate in the apartment with Rebecca. It seemed like it was Breast Cancer Awareness Month forever, and I think it might have been during an episode of CSI that inspired the thought.

The Breast Cancer Society of Canada has rejected the offer of thousands of dollars from a fundraising group of exotic dancers in Vancouver.

Exotic Dancers for Cancer holds an annual charity event in memory of a former dancer who lost her life to the disease.

Last year, the event raised $6,000.

However, former dancer Trina Ricketts said the society sent her an e-mail declining the money this year, because its major donors did not support a connection to exotic dancers. [cbc]

There is such a slippery slope and round-and-round argument going on here, but the bottom line is that there are some people who care about something so much but isn’t welcomed for their help. I also find it fascinating that an industry that thrives on the very thing that the Breast Cancer Society is seeking to help with is sticking their noses up at this donation. Still, strippers’ money ain’t welcome here.

Perhaps a more anonymous donation would get the money where it needs to go, but that would put less of a face and name to the people who put forth the effort to raise money for a good cause. Of course, that would make exotic dancers seem like real people with actual feelings. What a pity.

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Stanley Park: Going where you’re allowed

20070208(009) After my last run in with the park folks, I’ve been taking running routes through Stanley Park that don’t involve areas where you are, technically, not supposed to be. And for the most part, it’s not that different than what I’ve seen from inside of the park. It’s ugly, there’s an abundance of skylight coming through where the canopy use to shield a lot more of it out, and the clean up process seems to be taking forever.

You can see some more pictures that I snapped today here. This was the first time that I brought my cellphone with me on a run with the intention of taking some pictures. Might I also add, I saw a pair of runners duck into the trails on the back side of Lost Lagoon. It’s tempting, but the last thing I want to do is have to climb of huge tree trunks across the trail. I’ve had to do that already, and it’s not much fun.

Prior to these storms that sacked the place, I used to marvel at the huge stumps that are left over from the first time this area was settled and harvested for what it was worth. Most of what got knocked over recently is second growth. However, there was a lot of fallen trees in the park before the winds demolished what it did. Not to this extent, but what was there was left to be. Concern was given to keep the trails passable, but that stuff was just shoved to the side.

There are millions of dollars being appropriated for the clean up of the park, and yet this process is going at a snail pace. There are some that say that this money would be better off going towards individuals that are struggling and in dire need of help, and I can’t say that I disagree. From everything that I’m seeing, I need more proof that something more is being done.

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Stay off the trails, but Stanley Park is open

It’s been a while since I’ve addressed the actual condition of Stanley Park, and a recent commenter on my last post regarding this issue has prompted me to make another report on what I’ve been seeing.

IMG_0042 Rebecca and I have made some small treks into the park, aside from the video podcast we did a few weeks ago. At that point, and in those locations, we knew that we were not supposed to be in that area. Besides having to climb over the trees laying everywhere, it’s the trees that are leaning in the loose soil that you really have to be mindful of. Luckily, there wasn’t any wind on that day. If there was, I wouldn’t have even thought about heading near the trees, and that’s a mindset I have while running through the area as well.

Does it look like a war zone? Absolutely. There is not a better way to describe it. And when they talk about “restoring Stanley Park” in the news, that’s what is called journalistic and/or political rhetoric. There is no such thing as a short term solution. The clean up will take time. The recovery of all the trees that have been destroyed or damaged will take a few lifetimes.

IMG_0040 Today, I made a running route that followed the Seawall out of Coal Harbour with the intention of seeing how far I could go on that side of the park. As I assumed, the path is still restricted at the 4.5 km mark, just prior to the point where the Seawall goes under Lions Gate Bridge. From there, I was able to cut across Park Drive and head up Pipeline Road. There’s various piles of debris and fallen tree parts along the road, but the sidewalk is reasonably accessible.

Now these are the areas of the park that are “officially” open. I say that because just after crossing the wooden bridge on Pipeline Road, which would have taken me past the Rose Garden and out of the park, I turned right to follow a trail that would take me to Beaver Lake. When we explored this area over the weekend, I knew that I could take the South Creek trail on the other side of the lake to make my path towards home.

Where the trails of Beaver Lake and South Creek meet, there was a green and white parks’ truck, a black Honda CR-V, and a huge backhoe, all blocking access to the trail I wanted to take. About six people were just standing around, apparently having some sort of conversation, essentially not doing anything.

IMG_0039 I approached and politely asked if there was no way to get through. One guy looked at me like I was speaking in tongues, didn’t even give me a response. Then a lady turned around and said, “Actually, sir, all of the trails are closed. You are to use your discretion for your own safety if you plan on being on any of the trails.”

Great. I’m one of those people now. I thanked them for the information and continued all the way around Beaver Lake without any problem, then took the Tisdall Walk to cut back out to Pipeline Road, and followed the road all the way out of the park.

Oddly enough, I recall the news reporting a matter of weeks ago that Stanley Park was open again. This mainly applies to the majority of the tourist spots that are accessible by vehicle, but all of the trails are excluded from this. However, I wasn’t the only person roaming or running around the trails this morning.

For those curious, it’s not known as to the time line for the trails to open up, and the Seawall is just as questionable. That’s not to say that you can’t bike or inline on the portions of the Seawall that are open. You just can’t go all the way around. The other side of the park only goes as far as Siwash Rock, and let’s hope that changes by this summer. The trails are going to take a little more time due to tree removal and repair from root systems pulling up the gravel as trees toppled.

Every time we venture in there, I’m still amazed by what I see. Some trees just fell right over. Others look like a tank shell went right through the middle of it. Yes, it is as bad as they say it is. You just don’t get the impact of it until you see it for yourself.

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Foggy times in the city

I’ve been fascinated by the amount of fog rolling into Vancouver over the past few days. It’s not so much the amount as it is the way that the sky goes from sunny to pea soup. We were in the park yesterday when we thought the sun had set pretty quick. Turns out, it was just fog, and lots of it.

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I wanted to walk around the back portion of Lost Lagoon, but Rebecca would have none of that. It was so creepy, only being able to see about 20 meters ahead of you. Because of that, I wanted to venture in that direction. For Rebecca, she didn’t want to venture in that direction for that same reason. We ended up heading home where it was much warmer, regardless if the the sun was shining or not.

What scary spirits lurk in the fallen trees beyond that fog? Looks like we’ll have to save that experience for another time.

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iPhone is coming to Canada, possibly sooner than later

Rogers customers rejoice. The iPhone is coming to your provider, and this might happen before Europe gets to play with them.

Rogers Wireless today announced that it will serve as the sole provider for Apple’s iPhone in Canada, according to an e-mail message sent by the company to some of its customers. Confirming early investigations, Rogers said that it alone will offer the iPhone in the country and that it was actively working with Apple to speed the launch. Wording in the e-mail may also point to a sooner than expected release, according to Electronista. Canada traditionally trails behind the U.S. by several months for high-profile phone releases, but Rogers’ email said that the iPhone will first be introduced in North America, raising the possibility that the handset may ship to Canada in advance of an expected October European launch. Rogers is closely associated with AT&T, which will be the sole provider to offer the iPhone in the U.S. [macnn]

I had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn’t be too long after the U.S. introduction that Canada would get a shot at the iPhone. Most buzz north of the border were complaints that it would take forever for it to get here, so I hope Apple pulls through. Still not crazy to get my hands on one, but good news nonetheless. I’d much rather see an Apple Store in Vancouver first.