Category: Canada

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The fireworks are loud, but the people are worse

This is my first experience with the Celebration of Light. I had heard about them and Rebecca had told me plenty of stories as to what to expect. I think I was pretty well prepared for the crowds, but the display by Italy last night was pretty impressive.

I’d often heard about fireworks displays that are coordinated with a musical soundtrack, but the chance to catch on never came up until last night. I think I picked a good one to see, even if they did use… dare I say her name here… Celine Dion.

With any mass gathering of an event like this spectacle, you should expect people to be a little nuts. It doesn’t matter if last night was the middle of the week. A bunch of stuff blowing up in the sky makes it the right time to party, and I can asure you that alcohol wasn’t the only thing being enjoyed last night. Audibly, evidence of intoxication could be heard all over the city.

I think what is more amazing about the fireworks last night was the mess that people left behind. For as long as I knew that Vancouver existed, this city was always portrayed as being very, enviromentally friendly. For the most part, this is so true, but the garbage left behind all over English Bay is a lot like hard night of partying and you drank way too much the night before. Damn, that was a lot of fun, but you pay the price when the sun comes up the next morning.

I’m not sure about our plans to catch the entries for China and the Czech Republic, but Mexico’s display is one we don’t want to miss.

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Metroblogging Vancouver Meetup

Talking with Dane during the Metroblogging Vancouver MeetupRebecca recently joined up with Metroblogging Vancouver in the last few weeks, and we attended our first meetup last night in Stanley Park. For those unaware, Metblogs has been a site that I’ve been reading for many months now in order to learn more about Vancouver and all the interesting things that come with it. A variety of contributers that write about a city they live in and seem to know fairly well. You can see Rebecca’s profile and latest posts for Metblogs here.

With that being said, I can say that I had a really good time meeting some incredible people. I’m not a writer for the site, but that didn’t matter as I was tagging along with Rebecca. I did take the opportunity to get my podcasting foot into the meetup. This is the other project that I have to do this week, so watch for this episode to come out by Friday at the latest.

This will be the first time taking RadioZoom down this avenue of wandering around with the minidisc, talking to (annoying, badgering, threatening) people, and rolling it into a podcast. I have about an hour and fifteen minutes of audio to parse through and edit. It’s another experiment, and I have to say I’m excited because this is the first time since my college radio days of doing any sort of interviewing. But this is podcasting. I probably have more listeners now than I did back then.

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Very Berry Fair in Fort Langley

Krause Bros. Farms stand at the Very Berry FairThis past Sunday, we had the chance to visit the Very Berry Country Fair in Fort Langley, B.C. This is the same place where I did some recording for the last episode of the podcast. I realize that the quality of that audio wasn’t the greatest, but the Griffin stereo lapel mic is proving to not provide the greatest quality. At least I haven’t discovered the best way to record with it yet, but my hope was to provide some sounds of the experience as well as doing a post about it, which you’re reading right now.

It was an incredible day for the fair, and there were plenty of people heading out to check out what was there. There was plenty for the kids to check out, but the best part for the adults, in my opinion, was inside the winery itself. Free wine tasting is always a quick way to make me happy.

Blueberries from the Krause Bros. Farms stand at the Very Berry FairThe one element of the fair that I have a major complaint about is those pastries in the picture above. Don’t they look good? Yeah, I thought so, too. If you wanted one, then you had to enter the eating contest to be the first one to stuff your face without using your hands. I just wanted to buy one and savor its taste, granted they were as good as they looked. Krause Bros. Farms aren’t stupid though. Their place was just a short drive away where you could purchase some, so we left there with some fresh blueberries, which filled that void somewhat.

Mini-golf at the Very Berry FairAbout that wine tasting though, go check out the Fort Wine Co. if you ever get the chance, especially if you are a fan of the drink. Walking into the winery, there was a strong smell of berries, and that’s what they make most of their wine out of. We sampled the cranberry, white cranberry, and blueberry wines, picking the last as our purchased bottle of choice.

In the podcast, you’ll hear our helper guy (with the super cool handle-bar mustache) talk about what the wines go well with, as is usual in most wineries where you get samples. However, the cranberry wine and his suggestion of making crantinis by simply adding vodka almost had me push for the cranberry wine. That’s a lot of alcohol, and that cranberry wine went down far too smooth. We opted for the blueberry instead.

There was plenty of other good stuff in this tiny, but entertaining, fair. Mini-golf, crafts for sale, other berry related goodies, and meats on a bun. It was well worth the trek.

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But Daddy when you call me, you can call me Steve

Steve is the Prime Minister of Canada.  Steve is friends with Bush.  At least he doesn’t mind too much that Bush likes to call him Steve.

While his mother isn’t a big fan of the moniker, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he doesn’t mind if the leader of Canada’s biggest trading partner wants to call him “Steve.”

During an appearance on a Calgary radio program Tuesday, Harper was asked what he thought when U.S. President George W. Bush referred to him as “Steve” at least three times during a joint news conference in Washington last week.

Harper's belt buckle from the Calgary Stampede“I’m proud to have allies like Steve who understand the stakes of the 21st century,” Bush said during the televised news conference.

“It surprised me a bit,” Harper laughed during an interview on CHQR Radio. “I’m normally called Stephen … but a few people, close friends of my mine, do call me Steve.”

The prime minister joked that his mother isn’t a fan of the name.

“My mother doesn’t like that, and I’m sure that President Bush will be getting a letter,” he said with a laugh. [cbc]

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Free box seats to a Canadians game!

Rebecca’s mom is pretty awesome.  She scored us a couple of free tickets to a Vancouver Canadians game because she knew this boy from America would dig seeing a baseball game here in B.C.  To that I have to say, oh hell yes I would.

The Vancouver Canadians are the Single “A” Affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. We play in the Northwest League with seven other teams during the summer months each year. The team has a schedule of 76 games (38 home 38 away) and the season starts at the end of June each year. The team plays those 76 games in 79 days each year in a manner that can only be described as “traditional”. They make their way from stadium to stadium each game via bus, each player trying to hone their skills with the hopes of one day making it to the major leagues.  [canadiansbaseball]

I think we’ll try to make it out for a game against the Boise Hawks.  They are a Chicago Cubs affiliate afterall.

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The patio at the Robson Public Market

I always forget about the Robson Public Market and am constantly amused by all the goodies you can get in there. (You can also read what Rebecca wrote about it as well.) While waiting for my beef shishkabob to be prepared, I discovered the little patio that looks out over Robson Street. It’s small, quaint, and really nothing special, but with all the different places you can grab some food from, it’s a nice place to have a bite to eat. Well, I would imagine. I just stepped out there to snap this pic with my cell but plan to be back soon!

The pation at the Robson Street Market

There’s a few Asian food places upstairs that caught my eye while waiting from my food at Souvlaki Express. More importantly, the fact that you can get a California or B.C. roll for around $3 a piece. That’s not bad, and I’ve had a fierce craving for sushi lately.

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Million dollar closets

Maybe it’s rehashed news or nothing new to those of us living in the downtown area, but I always thought that condos, and apartments for that matter, were correlationally getting smaller as they are getting more expensive.

Size doesn’t seem to matter for people looking for a condo these days.  Units on Howe Street in downtown Vancouver range from 478 to 600 square feet for a one bedroom.  And even though they are getting smaller, the prices for the apartments haven’t shrunk.  [news1130]

They fail to mention the price tag going for something so quaint.  Taking a quick look at Vancouver Craigslist, I found a condo coming in at just under 600 square feet in Gastown, going for $299,000.  An 836 square foot, 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo near BC Place going for $558,000.  Something simliar to that in Coal Harbor?  $700,000+ is what you’re looking at.

It does seem outrageous, but the amenities are supposedly what you are paying for.  Security, workout facilities, pools, hottubs, saunas, and so on.  A huge chunk of change to shell out for a sweet downtown address, but it depends on what you want.

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So much international flare in one city

Market in ChinatownMy feet and legs are sore, but the adventure that we took today was well worth any pain that might come out of the nearly fifteen miles that we walked today. From the west end to Commercial Drive via Chinatown, I saw more sights of the city that I’ve been wanting to explore some more since the day I got here.

When I was in the check-in line at O’Hare on the day I was leaving for Vancouver(the last time I was in the U.S. actually), an older, Chinese couple struck up a conversation with me. They told me that I had to visit Chinatown[wiki] because they loved the one in Vancouver. They were on their way to visit family near Hong Kong and said I really needed to visit there because I would absolutely love it. We couldn’t exactly walk there today, so Chinatown will suffice for now.

I had so many flashbacks to walking around Japan today. I know that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Chinatown? Japan? Well, there is a Chinatown in Yokohama that I made a few visits to during my summer there, but that’s another story for another time.

E. Pender St. in ChinatownI guess it was the smells and sounds that take me back. The abundance of the language, combined with that smell. It’s hard to explain it, but if you’ve experienced it, you know what I mean. Baked goods, fish, squid, seaweed, prawns, steamed buns, and what not, all in the open air on a hot, sunny day. It had me craving yakisoba from a corner stand much like you can grab a hot dog or gyro on a Manhattan street corner.

More pictures on my flickr, tagged “chinatown“.

One thing I never did while in Japan was to try a steamed bun. They always scared me, all the while making me incredibly curious as to what they tasted like, not to mention that stuff that was inside them. It was usually brown, and I could never be sure if it was meat as I passed people gnawing away. I already loved sushi and had a knack for trying new things at that point in my life, but I was always too chicken to go for it. Today, Rebecca showed me how stupid I was to pass so many of those up, so many times during those days in the Kanto. Spicy pork is oh so tasty!

Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese GardenThere’s more to be explored, found, and exploited in the future. In fact, our venture up to Commercial Drive[wiki] only found some slurpees and shade while we passed so many places that caused us to to point out at least five places on every block that we needed to come back to.

I should also add that the Chinese Garden in Chinatown is well worth the visit. The area that is free to the public is all that we saw, but it was a very peaceful, secluded spot. The whole area was crawling with people, but that entire, city atmosphere went away while we explored the garden. Well worth the visit.

By the way, anyone know a good place to get mexican bread up on Commercial? I was thinking that if there was somewhere to find a mexican bakery, that would be it.

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Today is the day of Canada Day

Down by Canada PlaceI know I’m late to the mark on this, but the only excuse I can give is the fact that yes, I am an American.  I’ve heard of Canada Day[wiki], I know of its existance, but today is the first time that I have ever experienced this holiday while being in this country.

As I type this, I can hear the voices of people yelling, “Canada Day!  Whooo!!  Happy Canada Day!!!” as they walk down the street or pass by in vehicles.

Is this the Canadian version of the 4th of July?  Not really, but close.  It’s different, but sort of not.  Are there parades and fireworks?  Well, in Vancouver, no.  In other parts of the province and country, there are such things.  It just depends on where you are.

We didn’t have any real plans to celebrate the holiday today.  We woke up to watch England lose to Portugal and head to the beach for a little while to enjoy the abundance of sun that we’ve been seeing a lot of the last few weeks, and Jen even came along when she showed up to work five hours earlier than she was supposed to.

Walking around Canada Place during Canada DayBeing a hot, sunny, holiday in July, our thoughts went to enjoying frosty, Canadian beverages.  And let me tell you, if you ever plan to do such things in B.C., make sure to plan ahead.  We searched the West End into Yaletown before we found some place that we could stock up.  After lots of walking and sweating, success.

We couldn’t stop there though.  Heading down towards Canada Place, we saw all sorts of people sporting the maple leaf on their shirts, on little flags sticking out of their caps, with face paint, and so on.  That’s Canada Day.  People just taking a moment to celebrate the country they live in.

Even now, I can still feel the celebration running through my veins.  Pale ale will do that to you.  It’s not often that I enjoy frosty beverages outside of a good Canucks game, but it’s hard to avoid the spirit of the day.  I won’t have the 4th of July here like I did back in the states, but we did a lot to make the best of this holiday.

I think we’re ending today with a good movie at home, but it’s a three day weekend.  That’s two more days that we have to play with.

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Even more talk about the stadium proposal

Been watching this closely lately, and the excitement is killing me. After lots of hunting, all I could find was that there are to be even more meetings to discuss this issue. In the states, we call that a filibuster.

Two extra meetings have been added to accomodate public debate on the issue, and so far, opponents of the project have focused their arguments on the proposed waterfront location of the stadium.

Jon Stovell of the Gastown Neighborhood Coalition says the Whitecaps should find another site, “And, we would like to encourage Council to help the Whitecaps find an alternate location, such as BC Place. People have been talking about Hastings Park and the old Empire Stadium location.”

Meanwhile, some supporters of the stadium say Stovell is a real estate developer who wants the waterfront property to be used for condo developments. [cknw]

I already had a thought in the back of my head that those architects and developers who have come out against the stadium have alterior motives. It’s a hot piece of land that could get top dollar for even more, outrageously expensive condos that would net more profit than a stadium would, at least in the short term.

I’m almost more inclined to say no to the stadium if there would be more of a push to build office space instead. There seems to be more and more of a shortage of that in the downtown area.