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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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Jose + 10

I’m still caught up in the midst of World Cup action.  Everytime the Adidas commercials come on, no matter how many times I have seen them already, I stop to watch.  The two little kids remind me of something I would do when I was their age, although it would have been with futbol players.  Probably something more like baseball or American football stars.  The tune in this commerical gets stuck in my head all the time.

Check out the first part of the series as well as the making of.

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More sports in the middle of corn fields

All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club

In case the Field of Dreams wasn’t enough, you can now play a game of tennis on a natural turf court on a corn and soybean farm in northern, rural Iowa.

“I had a friend who died suddenly at 50, and I thought about this thing I’d wanted all my life,” he said. “If I was going to pursue this dream, I needed to go ahead and do it.”

The first time he looked at the level, rectangular lot on the family farm 3miles outside Charles City and envisioned a grass court, he was 11 and a budding player.

“One of my chores was feeding and watering the cattle,” he said. “I’d look at this area and say, ‘That would be a nice tennis court.’ My dad didn’t think a lot of that idea.” [desmoinesregister]

Field of Dreams - July 2005 - Me on the mound, Dad's playing thirdThe main thing to remember is that this is a real life project. The Field of Dreams was created for the movie and is now milked for all its tourism worth. I spent the day up there almost a year ago today for some 4th of July festivities with my family. It’s a good time, and the corn would be at a good height right now to get the total effect.

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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.

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We’ve got Luongo locked in for four years

I like that we’ve got some one to answer our goalie prayers, and this is good news by all means.

Goaltender Roberto Luongo signed a $27 million, four-year deal with the Canucks on Thursday, less than a week after he was acquired in a trade from Florida.

“Roberto has proven himself to be an elite goaltender,” Vancouver general manager Dave Nonis said in a statement. “His international experience, Vezina Trophy nomination and ability to consistently play at the highest level are tremendous assets that we believe will make the Vancouver Canucks competitive each and every night.”

The new deal will pay Luongo $6 million in the first year, $6.5 million in the second year, $7 million in the third year, and $7.5 million in the final year. The contract also contains a no-trade clause for the final three years. [espn]

That’s a chunk of change for some one we just grabbed a week ago today. I think Luongo[canucks] is a good goalie, but there is something to be said about seeing how he handles Vancouver and the Canucks as a team. A “no-trade clause” means he’s our main man in the net for the next few years. Makes me curious about what’s going through Cloutier’s head right now.

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RadioZoom Episode #99 – Soundseeing at the 2006 NHL Draft in Vancouver

Episode #99 was published today.

On another mobile adventure, Rebecca and I went to the 2006 NHL Draft at GM Place in downtown Vancouver. We did a lot of recording and did our best to share our experience through this episode. We got to the event a little late, only to get seats near the nose bleed section. We worked our way to the floor where we were in close proximity to some of the NHL’s decision makers, legends, coaches, and players. No music in this episode.

59:57 minutes
radiozoom.net

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Waterfront stadium

Panoramic of the Gastown rail yard

I understand that I am not from Vancouver and have only lived here a few months. With that being plainly said, I have to admit that I like the idea of building a stadium in the Gastown waterfront.Watching this whole issue unfold is teaching me a lot about the way things happen in Vancouver. From the people who want change to those who are strongly against it. Being so new here, I’ve been slightly afraid of really expressing that opinion. Being American is another thing. We are stereotyped to love the idea of more development as a way of life. That might be a stretch to say, but just something that I’ve felt with still getting familiar to my new home.

Vancouver councillors heard from those ‘for’ and ‘against’ a proposed Whitecaps soccer stadium in Gastown.A whopping 96 delegations signed up to voice their opinions on the 70 million dollar project.

Caryn Duncan spoke for the Central Waterfront Coalition, “My feeling is that the proposed stadium has been imposed on us, and that it doesn’t feel very good or very neighbourly. Over the months, discussion of the stadium has looked a lot like a couple of little boys in a sandbox, kicking sand at each other.”

Council has set aside an extra day to hear all the speakers.

The debate will continue on Thursday. [cknw]

I’ve heard both sides to the argument, and they all make sense. In terms of anything negative, I do get concerned about “possible hazardous materials” being on the rail lines under the stadium, but it makes me wonder what’s passing through those lines right now?

And on the other hand, the benefits of something like this has me in support of the whole project. In such an international city, a downtown futbol(soccer) stadium would be really great. It would mean so much more income to businesses in the area, aid tourism, provide a great venue for concerts, and bring some extra charm to the area.

Look at the pictures I took and pasted together just the other day. They’re not the best, but the area isn’t the most appealing to look at right now. The stadium would be a nice addition. It’s not a high rise with horribly expensive condos in it. It’s added recreation for a city that is constantly growing and changing.

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Big music business wants to get bigger

Exactly what the music industry needs.

EMI and Warner Music were locked in a two-way $4.6 billion takeover battle on Wednesday, with each trying to acquire the other to create a combined company that would shrink the industry to three dominant players.

London-based EMI Group Plc, home to Coldplay and Robbie Williams, said it had rejected a 2.5 billion pounds ($4.6 billion) cash offer from its smaller U.S. rival, calling the bid “wholly unacceptable”.

At the same time, EMI revealed that it had sweetened its takeover bid for New York-based Warner Music, whose artists include Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers, to $31 a share or $4.6 billion in total, from its original May offer of $28.50, although the new bid was also rejected.  [reuters]

Oh, by the way, I was being sarcastic.

This is just asking for more problems within the music industry.  The bigger something gets, the more you have to feed the giant.  Record companies are already having a hard enough time dealing with the growth of the digital music format.  Getting bigger is not the answer.

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Orange juice and cereal is desperate, not delicious

There’s part of me that has this memory of my brother eating cereal with orange juice in it when I was a kid. At least that is something that I recall happening, but it could be one of those things that you make up and it becomes a memory. I also recall seeing this in a movie at one point in my life, so maybe I took that scene and commited it into my own memory.

I can’t recall the name, but there’s a kid who constantly gets crapped on and ends up having things turn out positive for him in the end. I realize I just described the plot of hundreds movies out there, but this one in particular has a scene where there’s no more milk in the house for his bowl of cereal, only to have his mother tell him to use orange juice instead, just after some other sibling or something mocked him for using up all the milk.

The other day, the situation was similar in the apartment. In all actuality, we go for the soy milk here, being that neither of us can handle straight milk too well. Cereal is all we really use it for. Ice cream and gelato is no problem, thankfully.

So I tried it. I was really craving cereal for breakfast, and this thought about using OJ instead seemed worth a shot. I did eat all of it, but it was a little too much on the sweet and sour side, not to mention the whole, being very… watery part.

Bottom line, it pretty much sucked. I won’t suggest it, and my years of not being interested in trying it until the other day makes complete sense.