Canada – Page 12 – JohnBollwitt.com

2007 Jul 09

Taking in some FIFA U-20 World Cup action

I was able to score a couple tickets to the FIFA U-20 World Cup tournament going on in Canada right now. Rebecca and I had really good seats, practically in the center of the pitch for the last half of the match between Scotland and Costa Rica. We would have seen more of the game, including the first game between Spain and Jordan, but we hit the 1PM showing of Transformers before hand. More about that another time.

When we got there, the score was 0-0, and the crowd was great. There was a great cheering section for the Scots, bag pipes and all. They had some great songs that they were singing as well, complete with kilts and accents. I loved it!

Not to be out done, Costa Rica fans had their fair share of support. What was brilliant was what the Scotland fans would yell in the midst of their cheers.

“COS-ta RI-ca!” clap, clap, clap-clap-clap. Instead of clapping, Scotland fans would yell, “SUCKS!” I was highly entertained.

Even though we only caught forty-five minutes of World Cup futbol, it was incredible. A Scottish player scored a goal on a bicycle kick, a fight broke out between the two teams in the middle of the half, and a streaker busted out onto the pitch with ten minutes left in the game. There was even some amazing snatch and dash of a game ball by one spectator where he casually caught the ball and hauled out of Swangard Stadium like his rear was on fire. The kind thing to do is to return the ball, if not mandatory, but I’m not sure if he was able to hold on to the souvenir.

The streaker, on the other hand, underestimated the width of the pitch and, probably, his blood alcohol level. Two-thirds of the way across, he gave up his all out sprint to walk his way over the to the other side. There was some mutual exchange of greetings between him and the security on the other side, but after pulling his pants up, his arm was pulled behind his back while he was forced out of the stadium.

I was slightly confused as to why I couldn’t get the bottles soda, that we got with our hot dog combos, with the caps left on them. That’s really useful when carrying a lot of food and drink, and I was told by the vendor that it’s against FIFA rules to leave the caps on. Talking about this over the weekend with friends, this made more sense. You can’t throw plastic bottles nearly as far when you don’t have a cap on it. Makes sense, but it caught me a little of guard.

The game was 1-1 going into two minutes of extra time. With just seconds left, Costa Rica was able to score an amazing goal that caught the Scotland goalie out of position. 2-1, final.

On the SkyTrain back home, a couple of Scotland fans, kilts once again, were still in great spirits and feeling pretty good. They asked a girl if she watched the game today. She asked what game they meant. Well, the football game, or soccer game, of course.

“Oh, I usually just pay attention to hockey.”

“What? Hoo-key?!!?”

2007 Jul 092007 Jul 09

Simpsons craze in the lower mainland

I know that I am completely behind on the hype, but in case you missed it, here is something completely worth noting. Rebecca and John Biehler have both been to and posted pictures of the smartest pieces of marketing that I have seen in a long time, if not the most brilliant.

Photo credit: Miss604 on Flickr

Around the world, 7-11 has turned a selection of their stores into “Kwik-E-Marts” in anticipation of the upcoming Simpsons movie on July 27th.

Over the weekend, 7-Eleven Inc. turned a dozen stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the fictional convenience stores of “The Simpsons” fame, in the latest example of marketers making life imitate art.

Those stores and most of the 6,000-plus other 7-Elevens in North America will sell items that until now existed only on television: Buzz Cola, KrustyO’s cereal and Squishees, the slushy drink knockoff of Slurpees. [yahoo]

Dan Lilly has a great series of pictures on Flickr, and I had a chance to talk to him the other day about it. He had a good point. There are numerous cities, around the world, that have one of these. New York, Chicago, Dallas, etc. All these large cities, and the one in Canada ends up in Coquitlam.

Photo credit: zonaboy on Flickr

Buh? I have a hard enough time teaching some of my American friends that I live in Vancouver, not to mention that I live nowhere near Toronto or the frozen north. Perhaps this was a matter of the location meeting the requirements needed to make it look like an Apu-run Kwik-E-Mart, but the trek to get there is something many, hardcore fans are doing.

I’ve heard reports of people sticking to the floor around the “squishee” machine being worse than any movie theatre that they have ever been in, and there are 7-11’s in the downtown area selling plenty of merchandise to buy Matt Groening[wiki] another yacht yet.

2007 Jul 05

Crossing the border as a permanent resident

When Rebecca made her adventure to live blog the Matthew Good show in Las Vegas, I had to drive down to pick her up from Bellingham International Airport in Washington state. Don’t let that name impress you too much. It’s a very nice, worthwhile airport, but it’s proximity to the Canadian border is the only reason it is granted the covenanted “international” label.

The big thing is that this was going to be my first time crossing the border since becoming a landed immigrant in Canada. I’ve got the permanent residence card[cic] that is my ticket for less hassle getting over the border, and the less hassle comes in terms of being kicked out or kept out of the country.

Things like this are no big deal, but I was driving across the border by myself. On top of that, I was in my mother-in-law’s car, so it was a vehicle in which I don’t even own. If they needed proof of ownership at any point, we were prepared for me to be held up a little bit. Plus, we also went over things to say, not say, and any documents I might need to prove my “intentions during your stay in the United States of America.”

Canada Day long weekend, I knew the waits would be a little long, but there was some safety in the thought that this was in between the major travel times. So for a Saturday, the radio said that waits were anywhere from three hours to ninety minutes. When I got there, the signs in the line up lanes said 40 minutes, and that’s pretty much how long it took.

Additionally, I had a little bit of concern with the recent bombings in the U.K. I had already heard that the threat levels at U.S. airports were raised, so there was a thought in my head that it could affect Rebecca’s flight as well as border crossings. Nothing on the radio or signs on display as I crept ahead in the queue, and things panned out in the end.

Getting up to the front of the line, I handed my U.S. passport over with my Canadian PR Card tucked inside, sticking out slightly at the top. I had a print out of Rebecca’s travel itinerary on my lap, ready to go in case he needed proof that I wasn’t a terrorist or drug runner.

He asked three questions. Where do you live? Where are you going? Are you bringing any goods from Canada into the U.S.? In the span of less than a minute, I shot right through.

What gets me is that each car ahead of me took two to five minutes on average when reaching the guy in the booth. I could see passports being passed over, then some conversation, some extra papers were handed over, more conversation, and the people were allowed to pass after getting a handful of documents handed back to them.

Perhaps I was lucky, or maybe the PR Card thing gets you some express treatment in certain situations. Time will tell, but it’s a comforting thing to be able to travel again. It’s even cooler when you get your own PR Card because your picture on the front is also a hologram on the back. Awesome.

2007 Jun 282007 Jun 29

Matthew Good, “Hospital Music” streaming and album release

June 29, 2007: Rebecca is rocking a live blog from a private performance by Matt in Las Vegas. Check it out here.

Getting the note from his website, Matthew Good is now streaming his entire new album, “Hospital Music”, on his website and on iTunes. You can purchase your own copy on July 31st, but singles and the full record will be available via the iTunes Music Store slightly sooner in the states than the hard copy release.

Additionally, Rebecca has just started her journey to Las Vegas to catch a private performance by Matt. I just saw her off on the first leg, and she will be live blogging the whole event in a bit of a whirlwind tour. A very nice follow up to her first live blogging adventure, all because of the same guy.

It would be poor of me to not mention this new album, and I should really have posted more about this than I have. In fact, I’ve talked about it more on RadioZoom, but that’s a different sphere altogether than my blogging efforts.

A lot of Vancouver is synonymous with Matt for me. He was the first rock show I saw here, and I got to meet him for the first time in August of 2006 at the little show he gave for a select group of fans on the last night he lived on the cusp of the west end. We’ve hung out since then, he’s chastised our preference of wine, and we come to a lot of the same conclusions on political issues. The only thing on that last point is that he is generally much smarter than me. I know the overall concept that fuels my opinion, but the guy is so, incredibly informed that I can only nod my head in agreement.

Matthew Good, November 2005 at the Commodore Ballroom I reviewed “Beautiful Midnight” during my days at KRUI, picking that album out of the pile for the only reason that I had a fascination with the Canadian music scene that was a completely different world than the mainstream of America. That was my introduction, and Rebecca taught me a lot more. I’m still getting more and more familiar with his library every single time it comes up in my library.

On this new album, however, I was actually there when parts of it were being made. I’ve even been able to sit through a private listening of it while Benji fell asleep on Rebecca’s lap. Every single time, there is something that amazes me, and I haven’t had that feeling about an album for a long time. Call it what you will, but listening to the stream of it right now, I know what it is that I’m talking about. That’s all that really matters.

I want to do some sort of music review of this album. The sad fact is, one, I’m not very good at those sorts of things. Second, I hate music reviews. I like what I like based on a matter of personal preference, and you should, too. I will say, however, brilliant. That’s the only word I can think of while I listen to this.

2007 Jun 262007 Jun 27

Vancouver Canucks State of the Franchise 2007

J.J. had an extra ticket to the Vancouver Canucks State of the Franchise tonight, so I was more than happy to go along for the event.

Basically, this is intended for season ticket holders, plus a few other classifications of people who coordinate boxes and what not. GM Dave Nonis and VP Chris Zimmerman take the stage for about an hour to discuss concerns of ticket holders, give updates on where the organization is heading, and then take questions from the crowd.

I have to say that the most intriguing point of the event was that Zimmerman and Nonis hung around after their stage time to talk to anyone that wandered down to the floor. From what I could overhear, people were asking some good questions about the organization. The responses were diplomatic, but not so much that you couldn’t appreciate the sincerity of the answers. By the time we headed out of the building, the crowd had dwindled to about ten around each guy, and they didn’t show any signs of movement towards the door.

It was a really neat experience, but there wasn’t anything earth shattering that was announced. Well, at least nothing that I didn’t already clue into based on The Crazy Canucks, J.J.’s and Alanah’s blogs, and general hockey conversations that Rebecca and I have. If anything, I have a new found respect for Dave Nonis and his business ethics, but you just need to look around the rest of the NHL to understand this.

The coolest part of the evening started out with John Shorthouse coming out on stage to kick off a panel discussion with a group of Team 1040 broadcasters about various topics around the NHL as well as the Canucks. Don Taylor, Dave Tomlinson, and Barry Macdonald joined Shorty on stage to hack through the usual topics of the schedule, rules, and what should and shouldn’t change. It was highly entertaining, and I’m sure J.J. will have more on his site about the discussions.

One note about the whole jersey topic. Zimmerman answered the question from the audience about this and hammered on a detail that adds some more light. I’ve heard it before, but him stating, quite matter of fact, that “Fin will have a continued presence in the organization” leads me to ponder this comment that showed up in my last post about this topic. That’s all I’m going to say.

If anything, it was really awesome to be in GM Place and be talking about the Canucks. That’s pure happiness, and you can view more of the photos here on Flickr.

2007 Jun 26

Probably the best curry in the world

Photo credit: miss604 on Flickr

We decided to put this little place in the Robson Public Market to the test last night. We’ve been walking by it over and over, doing the same old, “We should try that place sometime.” It took us forever to just think about setting foot into the market, and I have since become a huge fan of their fruit selections. They have a much better variety, it’s a little cheaper, and the grocery stores around the west end of Vancouver kinda suck in comparison.

Anyway, the best curry in the world? That’s tough to say because I haven’t traveled around the world enough to sample everything there is to sample, but for the money, we had a lot of curry last night.

Mui Garden Delight is a tad on the pricey side, compared to some of the other places you can grab a bite to eat at the Robson Market, but it’s worth the price. Having the beef and vegetable specials last night that were $6 a piece, it was more of a task rather than a meal. It wasn’t too hot, and the spice was comfortable to the pallet. The taste, on the other hand, was outstanding. Even with the $6 special ending with this month, they will probably see us again.

Anytime you give me something with lots of rice, a great curry sauce to pour over it, and a nice portion of meat or chicken on top, I’m a very happy person. Even the next morning, I’m thinking about that beef curry I had last night. Holy crap.

2007 Jun 122007 Jun 12

Making and keeping friends with blogging

I’m trying to fulfill a bit of a promise to my buddy Andy about the things I have learned from blogging. I think that anyone who does blog learns something, and that all makes us a slice of an expert in whatever it is that we are launching out into the world of the Internet. That can be kinda scary because it is the whole world, and there are moments that, when you get into the depths of blogging, you need to take a step back and examine where you are with this whole thing.

I guess this comes from looking at the total number of posts that I have made last night, and it surprised me.

After 3.5 years and 66 entries ago, I passed the 1000 post mark.

No need to bust out the champagne or give me any pats on the back, but the significance is worth noting. When I did start blogging in January 2004, I kept things pretty low profile. For a few years before that, I journaled by hand, and a college course in nonfiction writing gave me some inspiration for wanting to do more of something I’ve found to enjoy. Not saying I was or am great at it, but it was the kick starter for developing my own style and voice for what I wanted to my writing outlets to become.

My family picked up on the blog first, and after moving to Vancouver, it’s a great way for them to keep tabs on my adventures, not to mention the same thing about some of my friends. However, not all of them are as tech savvy or hip to the whole social media/networking/web2.0 thing.

Photo credit: duanestorey on Flickr

Then there is that fact that I moved to Vancouver and knew only Rebecca. There’s a handful of other people that I knew through her and are still good friends with, but making new ties would be a lot tougher if it wasn’t for blogging. In fact, blogging is what led to the camping trip from the past weekend, and that is a real unique thing in my mind.

I equate it to my first year in college because I got stuck in temporary housing for almost the whole fall semester, living in a dorm lounge with six other guys. The awkwardness wore off in a few weeks, and pretty soon you all start hanging out together, taking road trips, and being good pals (of which we all stay in contact, for the most part).

Photo credit: miss604 on Flickr

Blogging, for me, has turned into that, but on a much different level. I have been able to meet some really great people and develop friendships that are building into a community like I have never experienced before. We all do our own thing, and when you actually meetup, you already have something to talk about and expand the back story on. In turn, those experiences can lead to more material to write about later. It’s an intriguing circle, if not tons of fun.

When I think about it, I hate the idea of defining what we do as blogging as much as it is actual writing. Those who write for a living, in the literal sense, will disagree, but there is merit to the things we post about. It might not get published in a hard cover book or The New Yorker, but there are things that we say and do that can affect the world, even if it is just one person, on a variety of levels. Within that, you breed a community that establishes a variety of friendships.

Photo credit: miss604 on Flickr

Whether it’s tech, podcasting, hockey, tv, movies, or whatever, the things I write about allow me to share my thoughts, opinions, and loves. Then, I’m able to become apart of so many communities and make some really amazing friendships.

2007 Jun 06

Hockey Night in Canada: The Trivia DVD Game

Our good pal Bradley gave us a pretty swanky gift for our first year, and we finally got around to checking it out last night. Hockey Night in Canada: The DVD Trivia Game!

Ok, maybe that isn’t swanky to you, but Rebecca is all about the trivia. I’m a bit of the same, but my hockey knowledge gets pretty fuzzy from 1990 and beyond. How hard could it be though? Right?

My biggest problem is the lack of CBC knowledge, so anything about former broadcasters is pretty out of reach for me. We only played two rounds, each splitting the wins. There are some of the guess whatever-you-are-instructed-to before the bell dings, and you have to be the first person or team to do it. This was fun with the picture puzzles or word scrambles, so it becomes a guess by yelling sort of affair, the closer to the end of the round equals being the loudest.

The trivia can be pretty trying, but I was surprised with how much I actually knew. There were some rounds where you get a clip to watch, and then the following questions were in reference to the clip. Still, not all of those questions are directly related to the clip as much as the people or team. It actually taught me a little bit, even made me look up the 1976 game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Russia to get more back story on the questions it asked me that I knew nothing about.

I think we still have a few more games left to play of it. I’m not sure if there are more or will be more editions of this made, but for off season entertainment, it’s pretty good.

2007 Jun 042007 Jun 04

The Canucks jerseys will change

I got a note from GZ Expat the other day about a recent episode of the Canucks Lunch podcast from Team 1040 that aired on May 31, 2007. Being that I still get a lot of hits from people searching for results about a potential logo change for the Canucks next season, I thought I would pass on this little bit of info that popped up on this show.

Rick Ball had CEO Chris Zimmerman of Orca Bay Sports Entertainment (who will be changing their name in the coming months, according to this interview) on the show, and he had some very interesting things to say, one of them alluding to their efforts to connect better with Canucks fans. Does that have any reference to what we are doing with The Crazy Canucks? I’m not completely sure, but the hands that have been extended to us is evidence of that. If you think there is still a ways to go, then I think it’s safe to say that they do, too.

But, the jerseys. Will they change? Zimmerman says yes, and there isn’t much more beyond that. Ball gave out some statistics about what that change should be, in terms of a logo, there isn’t any hints. In regards to the stick-in-rink, gives a long response about respecting the past and great traditions that have come before today’s team, and the “next era of Canucks hockey” will also “pay tribute and respect the past.”

Fin is here to say, and the orca will be a long lasting image with the team. However, we’ll know exactly what will happen just before training camp starts, and that was the major piece of news that he let out in the interview.

2007 Jun 012007 Jun 01

The fish monsters of Lost Lagoon

Yes, another post about Stanley Park, but a long standing question of mine was answered this morning. Are there any fish in Lost Lagoon? The answer is a resounding yes.

We were passing by this morning and only had my cellphone on us. The quality isn’t the best, but a lot of people were stopping to see all the splashing. The fish, as I say numerous times in the video, are huge. At minimum, a foot long, and their swarms were creating ominous waves in the middle of the lagoon, making it seem like some sort of X-Files[imdb] like creatures had moved in.

We had seen good sized turtles basking in the sunshine sometime ago, and Rebecca found that hard to believe but understandable. After that, I kinda imagined that if there were fish in there, they wouldn’t be much in terms of variety and size. Of course, I’m wrong, but this is amazingly surprising.

Update: Almost uncanny timing, a new video of Nessy has surfaced.

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