Canucks Take the Lead Again

Well, after an embarassing loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday 2-6, the Canucks got their game back and beat the Avalanche on home turf, 5-2. Making it 6-2 would have been that much sweeter, but this was good enough reason to be happy over at Darby's Pub on 4th, a true Canucks hockey fan haven. We were forced out of the house in order to watch a game that we didn't have channel access to. Oh well, so much for basic cable. Great though to hear some live cheering rather than just Ad's screaming in Dutch at a 27" Sony!

More (light) snow in the forecast for tomorrow. I met with a publisher today who'd posted a Creative Director job on Workopolis' job site a few days back. Don't know if I'm in the running, but it would be a great challenge taking on the task of creating a magazine from scratch. Two more appointments in Gastown on Friday, for possible freelance work.

Today in town I saw no less than two films being shot (actually two TV series)! Think I've actually seen more filming here in five months than in all the years I lived in LA.



While I was downtown, I took in the latest HP film. Great, great film with excellent fx. Highly recommended! Meanwhile, Ad's at home networking and my web producer is two moments away from my calling the project off. As communication is almost non-existent, I wonder how motivated he really is to put my site online. May have to wait on it, as I'm particularly clueless when it comes to CSS and PHP work. Makes me run towards the print world more and more. Luckily I'm not alone; several designers I've met in recent weeks feel the same way about web coding. Would rather not know about it.

With the new garbage system coming to Vancouver (much like Holland's bin system, but then on a weekly basis), we will hopefully avoid THESE little critters knocking over the garbage around here!

10 AM Kitsilano

Let it snow…
oh yeah, and a new election on the way.

Snow's on the Way

(fireplace detail taken in our old home in Amersfoort, The Netherlands)

We've got snow in the forecast. Not a whole lot for the city, between two to five cm. The North Shore has a bit more on the way. Meanwhile, all the snow plows are preparing with salt and will be working throughout the night. Today's been a low-key day. Started out with a relaxing Hatha yoga class and worked on projects at home. It was unbelievable for me to see an ad posted on Craig's List for a graphic designer position, paying between 12-15 dollars an hour. I'm sure they've been deluged with resumes, too.

In more entertaining news, Ad's made Geek of the Week at Techvibes.com!

City Saturday

Today, lots of pictures taken around town. The rainbow photo was taken just yesterday out our front window. From this to beautiful sunny skies this morning.



A view from our balcony. The first thing we noticed was how blue the water was and the many sailboats taking advantage of the wind…





…and all of a sudden, Chopper 9 flew overhead! With the Grey Cup Parade downtown in Yaletown (leading to the Grey Cup tomorrow) and completely blue skies, he had lots of flying time to make up.



Here's a photo of Bess the pug, taken inside Caban, a boutique on Granville Street.



As we walked on Broadway, Ad captured me cozying up to the Serta sleep sheep.

The Fog has Turned to Rain

Now that Chopper 9 can move freely about Vancouver and surroundings, he was up on Burrard Street last night for the lighting of St. Paul's Hospital, a yearly tradition, along with Christmas carollers and local media on hand. The seaplanes have returned to flying to and from Vancouver Island after four days as well. I heard from locals this morning that the recent fog spell hasn't been this intense since the 50's, when people would accidentally drive into False Creek because the fog was so thick. If anyone has any experience or news relating to this, please post and let me know!

The mighty Canucks did it again last night, beating the San Jose Sharks 3-2. The third period really kicked butt. Don't take my word for it, the Canucks hockey blog link I've listed on the right has got great game coverage!

Sinterklaas came today to our home. Ad's parents sent us a care package from Holland, with chocolate letters, speculaas, marzipan and warm socks! Dankjewel : )

In other non-related news, I'm going to volunteer at the upcoming GDC Christmas party, with its Cuban-inspired music and decor. Should make for another good round of networking, not to mention my first official Vancouver holiday party.



Man, people do really love their pugs! I found dozens of blogs pertaining to the little lovable creatures. Here are a few…
Pugarama
A Pug's Life
Pugtalk

Turkey Convention

A little something for my family and friends down South.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our mighty Vancouver Canucks took the lead again last night, beating the highly-touted Chicago Blackhawks 3-1! They'll be playing in Van tomorrow night, in a sold-out match against the San Jose Sharks. Ad and I will be watching from nevermind. This is after all a celebration of sorts, since two years ago we were on holiday in Vancouver to watch these very two teams play live…

Chopper 9

Today was yet another foggy day. The small sea planes haven't flown in over three days, so it's been quiet in the Westside skies. Famous Chopper 9 (of CTV 9 News) has been on a bit of a vacation as well. The evening news announces Chopper 9 as if he were a newscaster. Ad and I are fans of the chopper. He's a star in his own right and is often the most entertaining part of the newshour! I recently found an article about this marvel of metal.

I was going to start a new blog featuring Chopper 9, but someone's beat me to it with a webpage!

Same guy's gotten a domain registered and promises a full-blown Chopper 9 site soon.

Meanwhile, Ad and I are busy as ever with one job application after another. Really, we're making a full-time job out of it. Still, we're rarely bored. Tomorrow we both have work-related appointments.

Anyone see the new Harry Potter film yet? Last night's Gwen Stefani show in town was apparently awesome; big arena, lots of costume changes. A great chance for her to show off her clothing line : )

Canucks Win Again

We beat the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 3-2! There's Todd Bertuzzi, no. 44, though he didn't score any goals in this one. Tuesday night they'll be back in Van playing against the Chicago Blackhawks, who just beat the Edmonton Oilers.

The Santa holiday parade went off without a hitch today. Here's a few pix from the sidelines.

-A



















And there's outgoing Mayor Gordon Campbell. Welcome Sam Sullivan, Vancouver's new mayor!

Saturday in the Fog

(photo taken in Amsterdam Spring 2005)

Although the sun did show up for most of the morning, we spent the better part of the day between the fog and clouds. That didn't stop the festivities at Capers. They turned 20 today and gave out some of the tastiest chocolate cake around. I wanted to take a photo of the cake, but there's a store policy that forbids photos without express advance permission.

Last night's event at the Pacific Palisades Hotel was great fun. Bands such as Green Day and Blink 182 were heard throughout the halls of the hotel. I met many prominent graphic designers and art directors from the Vancouver design scene as well as a fellow designer from Chicago new to town and a couple of the sponsors. Helped out with everything from directing people to the coat racks to cutting out laminated leaves to place around the hotel lobby and Mambo Room. The talk began at around 7, after drinks and hot and cold hors d'oeuvres were served in an adjacent room. The panelists included designers and non-designers alike, from as far away as London and Beijing. There were differing thoughts on regionalism and influences in and on Canadian design, and the evening ended with questions and comments from the audience. The judges will spend the weekend reviewing the work and eventually winding down to March '06, when the Gala Awards event will announce the winners in several categories. I hope to be able to help at that function as well as the upcoming holiday party.

Vancouver Canucks and Graphex

Guess I'll start by saying that the weather here has taken a turn for the sunnier. We got a long bike ride in yesterday along Spanish Banks and Jericho Beach, gloves, fleece warm-ups and all. Job hunting sometimes needs a break. Last night, the Canucks tried their hardest to beat the LA Kings, and had a great second period, only playing their hearts out in the end and losing by a remarkable 4-5. On to Anaheim tonight, hopefully they can beat the Mighty Ducks! Player 44 on our team, Todd Bertuzzi, is the local badboy and on his way to a good season. He's easy on the eyes too : )

Today I'm off to attend and volunteer for the Graphex '06 event at the Pacific Palisades Hotel's Mambo Room. The event judges and panel will be giving a talk on Canadian design and discuss their work, amongst other things. I figure why not involve myself with the design community sooner than later; networking is always smart. You never know who you'll be directing to the coat rack…

Before I engage in that event, however, I'll be off for an appointment at NextPhase Strategy. Hopefully. One of the partners has been trying to line up the two key people for me to meet for over two weeks now. I'll keep the cell handy on my morning walk.

So many great articles appearing in the Georgia Straight and local indy papers over the candidates for tomorrow's election. Should be interesting. Did I mention that Santa's coming to town? On Sunday, there will be a Christmas Parade through the streets of downtown Van. We may decide to go, as that will motivate us to head FURTHER East to the Eastside Culture Crawl.

Vancouver Votes This Saturday

Vancouver city elections are coming up on November 19th. Unfortunately, we're just one month short of being able to legally vote as residents. The list and VARIETY of candidates are huge! Just check out the link below and click on some of the mayoral candidates if you don't believe me : )

www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/election2005/candidates_mayor.htm

Our downstairs neighbor, Linda, is a reporter for Shaw Cable. About two weeks ago, she was on TV moderating several rounds of debates between the new candidates. Pretty entertaining at times!

Back in Eastern Canada (i.e. Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal), BC politics are rarely taken seriously. Out here, all viewpoints are taken into consideration, much in the same way as they are in San Francisco.

Musings

Fireworks for Halloween? A red poppy pinned on a jacket to commemorate Veteran's Day? Thanksgiving in October? Ad and I have certainly had a good taste of the Canadian holidays recently, starting with a nice little tradition we call Halloween fireworks. Normally we'd experience fireworks on New Year's Eve in The Netherlands, or on the 4th of July in the US of A. Here in BC, the kids start shooting them off in mid-October! As I write this now, in mid-November, we still hear an occasional crack here and there in the neighborhood. Veteran's Day, and the week leading up to it, saw just about every Canadian worth his or her salt wearing a curious little red and black poppy pin made of felt, on jackets, backpacks and hats.



Candian Thanksgiving fell on October 10th, from what we encountered much the same traditional meal was cooked as our neighbors down South. What IS strange is the jump from Halloween right to Christmas, with no Thanksgiving in between. Holiday decor is already adorning show windows, and seasonal ads have hit TV. Back in NL, I imagine that Sinterklaas is preparing to make his yearly trek into the harbour, to bring kids their gifts in time for December 5th, lovingly referred to as Pakjesavond (gift night).

Saw "Capote" last night. The film's got Oscar written all over it.

Beautiful British Columbia

Morning in Kits, that little slice of heaven between Point Grey and Granville Island. Awoke to a new layer of powder on the hills above. This was taken outside our balcony today. As we search for our *jobs*, we're constantly in awe of this place, taking breaks when we can to enjoy what will soon be enjoyed only on weekends. These shots were taken on Kitsilano Beach.



Every few metres further on the walk gave way to another view of the snow…





…and a migrating fisherman.



On our way home we spotted a deserted beehive on Trafalgar Street.



and there's Ad!