Category: British Columbia

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The Vancouver Salos

The Vancouver Salos [credit: VCOE]Because of a comment thread on Vancouver Canucks Op Ed on this post, Alanah whipped up this creation. I laughed my butt off when she emailed this to me. Too crazy to post on her site, but too hilarious to not post here. Rebecca was the one who started this, but I just perpetuated it. It’s more truth than fiction, but strictly platonic, Sammy. I’m a happily married man.

It all started with an episode of The Crazy Canucks. I said that it seemed like we were being called the “Vancouver Luongos” with the way that the media talked about team as the season got under way. With my favorite boy from last year, Carter, now with Columbus, I’ve been searching for someone to fill his place in terms of my favorite player. Perhaps this is a bit too much of an extreme, but I have to say that the last few days has made this guy rise to the top of my list.

Be sure to check out more on The Crazy Canucks podcast. We’ll be recording episode number four later this week. Been a crazy last few games on the road, but at least we’re up in the wins and points columns. Can’t fail to mention that a lot of that is in part to Sammy “The Friendly Ghost” Salo.

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Richards on Richards, too little on too late

I had my first experience with checking out a show at Richards on Richards last night. I’ve been told for a long time that it’s one of the best venues in the city, and there is a lot of truth to that. Not too big and not too small. It’s just right.

Aberdeen City at Richards on RichardsThe main reason we showed up there last night was because Rebecca arranged an interview with Aberdeen City, who was opening up for Electric Six. We recorded a bunch of audio for a podcast, but her interview post is up. She also gets photo credit here.

The craziest thing about this experience was not only was I getting to see a show there, but we got to go backstage to talk with Aberdeen City. In fact, it was in the green room, but it was more like a storage closet that was turned into a place for performers to hang out. Not a lot of room, nor was it exactly “green”. It still made for a cozy setting to hang out for the two of us plus the four guys from the band. Members of Electric Six wondered in and out, but my ignorance couldn’t tell you who was who.

So here it was, my first time walking through the doors of a rock and roll mecca of sorts, and before seeing the stage, we’re wisked behind the door where most rabid fans would kill to step through. There really wasn’t that tight of security to stop us, and the size of the place kind of forces the band to come out into the bar area and socialize with the crowd. It’s one of those small, intimate club types of places. For me, that’s the real way to experience a good performance.

The sound in the place is really impressive. The bass from just the kick drum is enough to make your pant legs flutter from soundwaves hitting it. The PA is bright and makes it very easy to hear the vocals. You won’t see a big and fancy light show in the place, but what they do have is really effective.

Sadly, this could be thefirst and last show I ever see there. I was told by front man Brad Parker from Aberdeen City that he heard about plans to tear the place down in about a year. In true Yaletown fashion, the mecca will be replaced by a high rise building. Expect over priced condos as well.

We have yet to figure out where, but Richards is relocating. Once again, this is some thing Parker told us, but I haven’t been able to locate any information about those details. Naturally, it will never been the same as it was. Charm is something that only comes with history, no matter how dirty or dank a place might be considered. Rock and roll is never clean and pure. It’s an experience.

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Lululemon on Robson Street on Tuesday Night

Lululemon vandals? 1I’m not sure if this is a unique form of new displays for the store or if the place was actually vandalized. I would doubt that a store like this would call themselves “robots” and “sell-outs”, but kudos to Lululemon if they took the guts to actually do this on purpose. Maybe some one else knows what’s going on?

Lululemon vandals? 2The other interesting thing is to look inside the display. The mannequins have boxes on their heads and dollar signs for eyes. If this is indeed the work of vandals, then someone was able to get inside. That’s why I’m kinda wondering if it’s on purpose, but this is too strange to be so.

Apologies on the quality of this pics. Took this with my cellphone.


Edit: Now that I stare at these photos, the more and more it seems that this is a legit display. All of the spray paint makes me miss the “believe” in the middle, with the word “lie” in red. Bravely taking on a stereotype perhaps?

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Team 1040 Podcasts: Vancouver Canucks Hockey Games

Rebecca and I missed the game last night between the Canucks and Oilers, and for good reason. Thanks to J.J from the Canucks Hockey Blog, I was able to get him to txt me the final score. 2-1 Edmonton for the final. Not the prettiest of games, and I’m sure we’ll discuss this on the episode of The Crazy Canucks that we plan to record tonight.

I did subscribe to the Team 1040 AM Vancouver Canucks Podcast that I stumbled upon a few weeks ago. At first, I thought it was just the talk shows that they do about the Canucks, which was completely true. They took “Canucks This Week” and sent it out via podcast, commercials and all. Not a horrible listen as you get a little caught up with highlights from Tom and Shorty.

To my surprise, after the first game of the regular season, all three periods of the game against Detroit showed up in my iTunes. These are exactly what you hear on the radio, but this isn’t AM radio quality. The sound is excellent. Dare I say it, but the commercials even sound better when it’s not coming across at 1040 kHz. Could have swore that I just heard some plastic crinkling in the background. Maybe it’s the sound of Larschied’s beer cups?

The downside is the size of the mp3’s. I’m listening to last night’s, final two periods right now. The 2nd came down at 128kbps, almost 58 minutes long, and 52.5MB in size. The end of the period just saw the audio go dead, so there was about 18 minutes of “dead air” as they transitioned into intermission. The 3rd period was even bigger, downloading a 256kbps mp3 at just over an hour in length and 113 MB in size. (Like the 2nd, the end of the 3rd period podcast had almost 26 minutes of “dead air” tacked on at the end.)

That’s a lot of space being eaten up on the hard drive of my laptop or my iPod, not to mention the time it takes to download. Perhaps this is something that can be changed in the future. I’m thinking that a standard of 96kbps would be an excellent sample rate. That would bring the size down considerable. (Hmm, maybe I should send Team 1040 an email with a link back to this post.)

Team 1040 AMListening to this as I write this post, there’s a commercial running for their podcasts. I should also mention that they do the same for the BC Lions, but I haven’t checked that out.

This would be ideal for someone who is a transplanted Canucks fan who wants some sort of play-by-play action to feed their need. Sure, it’s time shifted and you’ll have to do everything you can to avoid hearing the outcome of the game before you get around to listening to this, but there are some great advantages. Fast forward through commercials (standard TV break is two minutes) and skip the intermissions. There are kinks, but I’m sure they’ll get those worked through.

If you’re like me, you just want some recap on the action while going about your day. Sure, we got the score at the end of the game last night, but I would have never known how close the Canucks came to tying it up at the end of the 3rd with a pulled goalie. TV highlights can’t fill the void that Shorty gives you when the game is on the line in those last minutes before the final horn. Not too bad.

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I’ve never seen so many

I often tell Rebecca that I have never seen so many luxury vehicles in my life until I came to Vancouver. I’m not saying that I haven’t crossed paths with a ferrari or lamborghini before, but around here, you can have three of each pass you by as you walk down the street. Their appearance will dwindle in the next few days as fall drags us into winter. This summer was an eye opener though.

Big money on Robson StreetIt’s not so much that I’m an awe. In all actuality, I find it kinda sad. I would even go as far as to call it juvenile. It’s really not that different from my days in high school when driving around “the loop” for hours on end was the cool thing to do. Robson Street, from what I have experienced, is just that. This time, it’s people with more money than they know what to do with, cruising up and down the strip so people can see their car that costs more than a college education.

I’ve also seen more hummers than anywhere else. Forget about these things helping out with the mountainous terrain. No, these gas sucking machines are parked all over downtown. Some are commuters, others just use these things to get around the city. It shatters that thought of Vancouverites being overly enivronmentally conscious folks. For the most part, this is true, but the reality depends on how much money you have and the way you need to soothe that burning hole in your wallet.

On the other side of this, Minibuses[wiki] are more numerous in a comforting way. It’s like seeing a Smart[wiki] car buzz its way down the street. They tell me that all hope isn’t lost. The idea of thinking beyond bigger and better is still alive.

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Bring back the stick in rink

Vancouver Canucks - Original logoI’m not sure where I picked this up exactly, but it’s a really great read. There are so many, non-Canucks fans who look at the original logo for Vancouver and can’t figure it out. Just recently, in fact, Rebecca and I had a Flames fan ask us this question. Even I knew that it’s a “C” for “Canucks”, made from a hockey rink with a hockey stick set inside it, just like you see here(click on it for a larger image).

The story of it is really interesting though.

“For one thing,” Joe explains, “I was a hockey fan. But also I was on my own as a graphic artist and I figured if I ever got this thing [the logo], it would really be something because Vancouver is such a crazy town for hockey.

“I spent about a week doing it,” he recalls. “I took it to Greg Douglas who was then the Canuck’s public relations man. He said that Mr. [Tom] Scallen and Mr. [Lyman] Walters, who were the heads of Medicor, were coming to Vancouver and he’d make arrangements to have me meet them.

“So it was the next day or so that I went to the Hotel Vancouver to see them. They owned an agency in San Francisco that did advertising for their ice shows, and they also had submissions from other people around the States.

“They had a whole pile of designs scattered around the floor, but I really had no time to look at them closely.

“So I submitted mine and left it there after explaining about the blue and green for the water, mountains and trees. There was no price talked about.

“About two weeks later, Greg called me up and said, ‘Joe, they want to go with your design. [sportslogos]

I also love the part where Brian Burke coughed up the cash to use the logo for Orca Bay to use the logo on Vancouver’s third jersey. You wouldn’t think that an organization would be so nice to the creator of a logo like that, but this just goes to show the class that Burke had as a GM. At the same time, there is no arguing that Joe Borovich was the guy who created the logo.

If Orca Bay made the move to make the “stick in rink” logo, including the original colors, the main jersey for the Canucks, then I am all for it. It’s the only logo on any merchandise that I would buy, and Rebecca would probably tell you the same thing.

Update: Not so much to this post, but the Canucks played in Columbus tonight. Great game, taking it into overtime. 3-2 over the Blue Jackets.

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RadioZoom Episode #114 – One Year in Vancouver; The Crazy Canucks podcast; Sounds of the SkyTrain; 1907 Film of Downtown Vancouver

Published this morning, RZ#114 is ready for listening.

I haven’t done anything like this in quite a while, so I decided to take the minidisc and lapel mic with me as I had some things to take care of yesterday. It has been one year since I moved to Vancouver, so I talk a little about what the whole experience has been like. I also hesitate to say that this is the official, one year episode as Rebecca wants to do some recording on the topic as well. A second part might materialize soon.

I also talk about the new podcasting project that I launched this past week. The Crazy Canucks is an extension of the “Hockey Talk” segment from this podcast, but check out the website to get more of the story. Also, I had the opportunity to partake in a project regarding the oldest, surviving film footage of Vancouver from 1907.

56:39 minutes
radiozoom.net

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Let the season officially begin… this afternoon?

Go Canucks Go!Yesterday doesn’t count. The Cubs just ended their season as of this past Sunday, so my need is picked up from today through next spring. It’s good to have the boys back on the ice. Being that it starts in Detroit tonight, we’ll be enjoying things in the afternoon out here on the west coast.

By the way, have you checked out The Crazy Canucks yet?

Update: Canucks 3, Red Wings 1. Guys looked great on the ice, but way too many penalities. However, as many power plays that Detroit had, our defence really stepped up. Have to say, I loved tonight’s game!

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My imagination is confirmation

Mat Kearney at the Media Club

Rebecca already blogged about this show on Metroblogging Vancouver[post], so I’m late to the party on this one. She’s also the one getting the photo credit on this post. And actually, I never made my post about seeing Snow Patrol not too long ago. Maybe I’ll get to that, but I’ve been a little busy lately. I’ll add that to the list.

Anyway, about this show. Both acts were really good. Griffin House was a great opening act and was far more stripped down in terms of their sound. The lyrics were often political and witty. Mat Kearney, on the other hand, seems to be a master of bringing the quality of a CD recording on stage. He’s got a great voice and song writing ability, but I often felt like I was listening to an American version of Coldplay. Keep in mind, I had not heard of this guy before stepping foot into the Media Club.

We ended up at the show when one of Rebecca’s co-workers, who is a music nut like myself, wanted to see the show but couldn’t track anyone down to tag along. I’m always up for some live music, so we were happy to go.

The thing about this show was that it was an “industry event”. In fact, the name “Sony BMG” was mentioned numerous times, outside and inside the place. I’m not one to ditch a show or an artist for the only reason being that they are on a major label, but you better believe that there are people out there who do shun such folks. So for me, it wasn’t the fact that Kearney is one of these artists as much as it was those folks who were a part of this “industry”… “thing”.

The whole night, in this tiny club, there was constant talking. Not just chattering or murmurs. Full out conversations, ignoring the fact that there was anything happening on stage. That might be a bit of an exageration, but for anyone there who was there for the love of Kearney’s music, which there were more than just a few, this was less than perfect for them.

For the people in the back, who were most likely on guest list at the door, this is just another thing they do with their day job. Music is a business, not an art. The love they brought into that place was for money, rubbing elbows, making connections, and keeping your face in the industry that makes up Vancouver. It hurt to see this become a reality opposed to a thought that has been in the back of my head.

All the pointless, over played “hits” that populates radio and TV made sense in that moment. Mat Kearney is a victim of these people who profit from his artistic abilities, all the while they pay little attention as to what he is doing on stage. This is not saying anything about him as an artist.

I just feel bad for him. He’s a great singer, has an incredible talent at freestyling, and seems like a nice guy. I guess his stuff was featured in some TV show recently, and that’s outstanding. Good for him. I’m betting that the folks in back(and what was with the guy who introduced him at the beginning?) were more focused on working on the the next guy, gal, or group that they can get onto the next The O.C., Grey’s Anatomy, or whatever series soundtrack that’s “hot” out there.

I know this isn’t complete doom and gloom. This isn’t the truth for the whole industry, but among the big labels out there, this is heartbreaking to experience first hand. You have a picture in your head that this might be what it’s like, but the reality is something that ends up completely surprising you. There would be some happiness in knowing that you’re making this up, but I’m not.

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Announcing a new podcast: The Crazy Canucks

A few months ago, Rebecca[miss604] and I brainstormed an idea for a podcast that seemed too good to pass up. With the friends that we have been making in the world of blogging and podcasting, The Crazy Canucks was born.

We’ve brought together Vancouver Canucks Op Ed, the Canucks Hockey Blog, the Canucks Outsider, Miss604, and my adventures with RadioZoom into a podcast that is probably unlike anything you’ve heard before, and nothing like anything I’ve ever been apart of. And you don’t need an iPod to listen!

The Crazy Canucks

[krey-zee, kuh-nuhks]

Local Canuck Bloggers to Host a Weekly Roundtable Podcast this 06/07 NHL Season

Current album art: The Crazy Canucks podcastVANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA (October 2, 2006) – Coming this October is a podcast the likes of which Vancouver has never seen. It will be a collaboration of hockey bloggers and the brainchild of a podcaster who all have one thing in common: The Vancouver Canucks.

The Crazy Canucks will be a weekly podcast about the team, the players, the organization and the league. Our goal is to have a fan’s point of view, since we’re not cable TV and we’re not local sports radio. Agree or disagree, leave us a written or audio comment and tell us how you really feel.

Listen and subscribe to the podcast, which will be available weekly on TheCrazyCanucks.com.

For more information contact: feedback [at] thecrazycanucks.com

Look for the premiere episode to debut this week as the Canucks kick off the regular season on Thursday. Subscribe or listen directly on the website. It doesn’t matter how you hear it as much as it matters that you come be apart of the podcast. Afterall, we’re fans just like you.