Ariane Kitspace

Canucks head home - Musings on a city in love with hockey

2009-05-11T22:44:00.005-07:00

It was a hard fight, but now the Canucks are in shock, most likely trying to make sense of an intense series that is now over in their books. Ironically enough, they were the first to finish in the first round, with a squeaky-clean sweep against St. Louis. Those days seem like an eternity now.

I missed the game due to class. It would have been nice to have left SFU's downtown campus with a cheering crowd and honking cars going mad in the streets, and fans in blue jerseys waving enormous Vancouver flags. This activity, seen less than a week ago, is distant memory as well. From the recap on Sportsnet, the team banded together in support of Luongo's efforts, even though he felt he let his team down this week.

It's hard to tell whether or not the Canucks would have advanced had they the power they possessed during the St. Louis run. Many have commented on their long break working against them. With all the wrongful referee calls, injuries, what-ifs, it's all over now for this season.

Vancouver, time to get out and vote! Good timing too, an election is just the kind of diversion to make people get over their misery. And may I recommend a(nother) very intense series to watch, while I'm at it? Detroit takes on Anaheim at the Duck Pond tomorrow, puck drop @ 6PM PST.

Earth Hour, The Junos and the Freestyle Ski Moguls Championships

2009-03-30T16:26:00.007-07:00

A typical Vancouver weekend in the city is chock full of events and activity, but this weekend was exceptional. For those into the Earth, we celebrated Earth Hour at 8.30 PM on Saturday. The Juno Music Fest and Awards were held in Vancouver over the past several days and included a block party, several showcase concerts around town and the Red Carpet leading to the Awards show on Sunday. In the local mountains, Cypress ski resort hosted the Canadian National Freestyle Ski competition, starting on Friday, and lasting three days. Skiers from all over Canada participated and the weather cooperated, adding full sunshine to Sunday's culmination of the mens and womens Dual Moguls finals.

I was amazed at the (small) size of the crowd, considering this was a lead event to the 2010 Winter Games! A free event right in our own backyard, and most of the audience consisted of family and fellow skiers coming out to show their support. I was able to get close to some of the top skiers in the world, including Jennifer Heil (who took the Gold medal), the Dufour-Lapointe sisters, Eddie Hicks, Vincent Marquis (Gold medal winner in the Men's division), Alexandre Bilodea, and Maxime Gingras.

Here's a few of many photos to remember the day.

Only in Vancouver

2009-01-29T21:33:00.005-08:00

Kitsilano, to be precise! On my walk through the neighbourhood today, I spotted a garden with ski poles serving as stakes for the plants! Quite a funny scene; here's a photo.

Mayne Island getaway

2008-10-06T11:38:00.006-07:00

A couple of weeks back we had the chance to escape for a long weekend to Mayne Island, a sweet little Gulf Island just one stop past much larger cousin Galiano Island. We found an old Victorian B&B to stay in (Fairview Farm B&B) situated on a cliff an on a private non-through road. It was just the ticket for great view of Mt. Baker, a small inlet of water just below, and great stargazing.

We got our kayak fix on our last day, as the weather was just glorious for late September. As we've discovered, much of the BC coastal islands are dotted with sandstone formations, and Mayne Island was no exception to the beautiful patterns created by the sea. Along the coast, I was lucky to spot a river otter heading into the water, as well as numerous harbour seals and Blue Herons. That morning, we took what we could consider a mini-Grouse Grind-like hike up to Halliday Ridge, with a beautiful view out to Salt Spring Island, as well as a good portion of Western Washington's coastal mountain ranges.

The island also formerly housed several Japanese families, who farmed and caught salmon at water's edge up until their forced evacuation during World War II. The Japanese Garden is quite beautiful and commemorative of their stay during those years, located on former Japanese-owned land.

The island is very accessible with a car, a bit less so with a bike, due to hilly conditions and hazardous blind spots on the roadways. We really needed to slow down around dusk, as deer are the main residents on the road, and we saw our fair share! Late into one night, we were up in our room looking out to make out the form of a deer right very close to our door! It was as surprised to find us as we were to see it, so quickly it ran off into the nearby nature.

Another bonus was all the different bird sounds we were treated to in the garden right outside our door. Frogs as well, in varying intervals during the early hours and again close to sundown.

View out to Salt Spring Island and Washington's coastal mountains in the distance.

Out on the water near Piggott Bay.

Mt. Baker at sunrise.

Sandstone formations, typical of the Gulf Islands on the BC Coast.

Fairview Farm B&B, near Campbell Bay.

A lazy sea star on a sunbathing expedition.

Many a jellyfish on shore, at the end of their life cycle.

Japanese Garden

New Home for Coast Mountain

2008-08-05T22:40:00.004-07:00

Well, looks like Coast Mountain on 4th/Yew will be leaving in September and has recently acquired the former home of Canadian Tire on 1st and Burrard. When I asked at the store recently, the manager mentioned their 15 year lease having expired and the rent going up 300%! It was definitely time to find new digs, and the new location will be a Vancouver flagship store for Coast. Only question remains, what will fill the space at the prime location of 4th and Yew?

I haven't blogged too much lately on this space; as you can imagine, Facebook has all but sucked any free time I have these days! It is quite an addictive little pastime, one of the few online activities that I allow myself. Weather is too gorgeous and there are too many things pulling me away from my iMac these days. Oh yeah, I just won an electric scooter, I'll post my experiences with that one soon! Summer just keeps getting better!

Back From the Interior

2008-05-29T12:27:00.007-07:00

Well, a lot can be said about British Columbia: its nature, wildlife, mountains, lakes and coastline. After having spent 10 days touring from Vancouver to Banff, Alberta, I can honestly say that there's no town quite like Vancouver that comes close in comparison. The Kootenay town of Nelson was lovely and compares a bit to Santa Cruz, California. Most towns, with the exception of Kamloops, are much smaller in size.

There were two advantages to travelling in early May: no crowds, and snow on the Rockies. The downside was finding many national parks close to the mountains still closed due to snow cover! Personal favourite was Revelstoke, with its tiny downtown core, wonderful café (Modern Bakeshop and Café) and proximity to some great skiing at Revelstoke Mountain!

I for one am happy to be in Vancouver, getting ready to enjoy the summer that a (small yet active) city of this size can offer…and am definitely going to explore the new False Creek bridge just open this week.

The Playoff Race

2008-03-12T22:58:00.004-07:00

It just keeps getting tighter and tighter. After tonight's heavy 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, it's anyone's guess as to whether or not the Canucks will make it in. Tomorrow there's another road game against Phoenix Coyotes, the team that beat the Ducks in overtime last night. Ooh, and then there's the Dallas Stars game to get through on Saturday. Makes you wonder if the Canucks are really wanting this playoff thing to happen. Fingers crossed all around for a stronger outcome tomorrow night at the Great One's arena.

Go 'nucks Go!

Video Store comes to West Kits!

2008-02-19T09:06:00.004-08:00

Finally, the indy video store we've been waiting for in this neck of Kits, on the 2900 block of West 4th. Last week (on Valentine's Day to be precise), Grindhouse Video opened its doors in the same building that the ill-fated East-coast based automated video chain used to occupy.

They're in a at great time, what with Starbuck's about to open at the corner of 4th and Bayswater, and the spankin' new Kits apartments above it (Black Swan) nearing completion. Kind of like a baby brother to Videomatica, they've got the cult/foreign/horror/x/new releases sections pretty well-covered, given their boutique-size dwelling. Owners are very friendly and keen on getting to know their local customers. As well, just a stone's throw from the 84 express bus stop headed towards UBC. Hopefully these guys will stick around much longer and add to their ever-expanding titles. We've had too many video store misfits over the last little while here (Luna Video, next door to Jolly's Bistro, is now closed, and will not be reopening as another video store).

Anyway, props to a new shop that's not baby/nail salon/raw pet food-related, but good old-fashioned escapism!

Way to Go, Timmy's!

2008-01-15T18:07:00.001-08:00

The most ironic Tim Horton's location has got to be the latest opening at Fir and Broadway, right below Fitness Essentials! Just like having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other! Have the donut and THEN workout, or the other way around? Had a good laugh on this one!

Rent a Car to Chip vs. Leaving the Tree in the Alley

2008-01-05T22:41:00.000-08:00

Ah, what to do, what do to! After having rented a CAN car to pick out a Christmas tree this year, we're now faced with either renting again to bring the tree down to Kits Beach for chipping, or leave it in the alleyway for someone to somehow remove. Too bad that the recycling 'green' box days won't accept it in the garbage anymore. Already I've seen a few trees in nearby alleyways starting to pile up against garages and large community rubbish bins. Then again, I suppose that those who can pick up the tree in the first place (with a vehicle) can also dispose of it down at the beach or other part of the city.

The environmental impact is about equal I would say. As you wait in line at the tree chipping place and let your car idle, in order to properly recycle the tree, how is that going to help matters? If the truck came around on a given day and took the trees in one go and had it recycled properly, wouldn't that mean a lot less cars on the road?

Happy New Year's, everyone! I see on the kitsilano.ca blog site that many new shops are ready to come to West 4th, and sadly, some shops have gone out of business (Hope Unlimited for one). In the less than three years we've lived in this neighbourhood, we've seen so many shops come and go on West 4th - what a turnaround!

St. Paul's Hospital Lighting

2007-11-16T20:31:00.001-08:00

Just back from a lovely early evening celebration on Burrard Street. Here's a video of the hospital lighting that took place on Friday evening just before 7. Photos as well!

Shore Bird Invasion!

2007-11-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

Has anyone been down to Kits Beach over the last couple of days? There's an abundance of shore birds hanging right near the stairway down to the water. And thousands, I might add! Here's a few photos taken this morning (in the rain), of the lovely Goldeneyes and Surf Scoters (looking like a distant relative of the puffin, with their unique large orange and yellow beaks)!

Shooting in our Hood

2007-09-11T18:15:00.001-07:00

4th and Trafalgar, site of Quattro's on 4th, is a bit too close for comfort for a shooting. Strangely enough, Ad was sound asleep on Saturday night when it all happened. As I'd been away down in Orange County, I knew about it first via internet (was just poking around the Vancouver Sun website to see if our strike had ended by some chance). The restaurant is undergoing renovation this week and I suppose in a stroke of excellent timing, this gives their staff some needed recovery time.

Two people dead in THIS area? Scary times.

Lost in Space

2007-08-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

Haven't written much here lately. Why, you may ask? I too have entered the vortex that is Facebook last month, and since then, have been writing friends, lost contacts, potential clients, you name it, over at that end of the e-way. This Facebook is certainly growing by leaps and bounds, and the Vancouver network is already up to over 386,000 members as I write this.

Pretty basic, the younger you are, the more online friends you'll probably have. A high percentage of my online buds are under 35. The over-40 crowd is seemingly either busy with family/career, or just not hooked up as of yet. It's quite the time-filler, heading over in the morning and seeing what everyone's up to in their own way (video, Wall, photo albums, status). I'd heard rumours that the company was facing being shut down due to an ownership issue of the actual product, but that was already a few weeks past.

As for Vancouver news, well, the BIG STRIKE of 07 is still glaring us right in the face. Garbage keeps piling up in the alleyways, the gorgeous outdoor pool here in Kits sits closed and filled with seagulls (such a shame on a day like today, with a mild breeze and temperatures around 25C). The library book that I'd reserved is in eternal transit hell, as the strike started one day prior to the book being ready at Kits Library. Wondering if I'll see that book at all this season! More importantly, when will the madness end??!?

Greetings from a sunny Kitsilano balcony,

Ariane C

Here's the Scoop

2007-07-23T12:01:00.001-07:00

Now it's finally been revealed to me what is coming to the former Book Warehouse location on West 4th: a Reitman's clothing store, opening end of August. The news came to me via one of the workers inside busy tearing down what was left of Scoop, open just long enough to irritate, in between the Book's closing and this new retail wonder in our hood.

a weekend of garage sales

2007-07-03T12:00:00.001-07:00

We finally took the chance and had our yard sale over the long Canada Day weekend. Weather this year has been too iffy and we'd already had to cancel the sale once last month. Funny to have a woman arrive at 10 am, wanting to make a 3 dollar purchase and offering to pay with a 100 dollar bill! What are people thinking? It's hard enough for a restaurant or shop to cough out change at the start of a day, let alone someone selling off bits and pieces of their closet with coins in their pockets as change! Anyway, it went off without a hitch and by 2, we were ready to donate the rest to our favourite local charity shop in town.

Even more fun was had the following day (Monday) when our neighbours at the end of the street had their sale. The same characters came through and lo and behold, that same lady trying to pay for purchases with that same 100 dollar bill! We have a café right on the corner; I can't imagine how hard it would have been for this lady to have gotten change ahead of time?

Has anyone else tried their hand at getting Chris Cornell tickets via the Molson Golden cell phone blitz? My phone's been ringing daily with the chance to arrive early at a (daily changing) Granville Street bar, in order to get the CHANCE to win a pair! I'm thinking it's a thinly-veiled attempt for the Molson folks to get the kids out the door to drink, in hopes of a win. These tickets can not be purchased. The text message system is the only way to get to the particular bar and claim your chance of winning. I'm wondering how badly I wanna see this guy!

Happy belated Canada Day to my Northern friends and readers : )

Spot the Prawn

2007-06-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

Only three more weeks to get your hands on these lovely, locally (Sechelt, Sunshine Coast) caught spot prawns. Find the boat on the dock, just opposite Go Fish; they're still coming in every afternoon until end of June, at which time they'll have the frozen version for sale.

What's the Scoop?

2007-06-07T13:03:00.001-07:00

Just wondering if anyone else living close to the West 4th corridor has any idea as to what's on the horizon for the former Book Warehouse space, now being occupied by Scoop. The shop had had signs up from the start, promising to be around for three weeks. Well folks, it's been well over that time and we're jonesing for a nice new shop to open its doors! What will it be? Another doggie deli? A nail salon? Great eatery? Yoga shop? How about an indy video rental shop, a la Videomatica? Always a curiousity of mine, trying to figure out the next new neighbour on the block.

I'd recently visited the Book Warehouse's new space on West Broadway, now occupying less than half of their old shop space, and they too were given no indication from the landlord as to what was coming there. Hopefully it won't prove to be an ongoing shlock shop kind of rent-a-space thing. This is prime real estate for the Kits 4th Ave. scene; should be something worthy!!

Speaking of worthy, not to wear my fellow Canucks fans down, but those Ducks really did perform this playoff series, and won a very well-deserved Cup last night! It was truly Teemu time - he's the oldest player in this past final series. Congrats to Scott Niedermayer who won the Conn Smythe MVP Award, and now may California wake up and smell the marvelous world of hockey. Finally.

Spot On

2007-05-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

Hope all local Vancouverites have the chance to check out this weekend's Spot Prawn Festival! If you think the lineup at GoFish is bad on weekends, today was just insane! Here, a link to festival info.

Photos: the two little dark pinkish spots to the right of that chef's thumbnail are the trademark 'spots' of the Spot Prawn (click on photo to enlarge for detail).

Chefs, from L-R: John Bishop of Bishop's on 4th, Vikram Vij of Vij's on Granville, and Robert Clark of C.

O.W.L. Visit and Centennial Beachlife

2007-04-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend is the Annual Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (OWL)'s Open House. For one weekend, the public gets an up-close view of the many raptors, owls, eagles, hawks and vultures taken in from the wild, sheltered and brought back to life. The owls looked quite disturbed in their daytime sleep, having humans gawking at them all day. Apparently at night, similar species come to visit their own and even breed in the area! It was quite amazing to get so close to a Red-winged Hawk and Bald Eagle. The Snowy Owls were beautiful as well as the long-eared and short-eared Owls. There was also a fundraiser Garage Sale and Kiwanis on hand to cook up some BBQ lunch in a trailer on the grounds.

The weather was so gorgeous, we continued with our day to a nearby nursery, selling plants for one month only at wholesale. We picked up a couple of plants and headed South to Tsawwassen, making a lunch stop and enjoying our first Timmy's iced cappucino of the season. We then headed over to Centennial Beach, at the end of Boundary Bay Regional Park. Lots of shell life and beautiful driftwood hugging the bay, with views out to all surrounding mountain ranges, and just over the landscape to the right, the USA.

Tasty Tomato

2007-04-09T16:40:00.000-07:00

I've been enjoying Kitsilano Typepad's newest and grooviest restaurant opening alerts for some time now. They may or may not have yet seen the newest great add to come to our 'hood, Tomato Fresh Food Café, opening this summer, taking over Mark's Fiasco on Bayswater near Broadway!

Can't wait for THIS wonderful place to make its presence known in Kits.

Stroller Jogging

2007-04-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

Kitspace is back from a restful visit to the Pacific Rim of the world…

Now it's been a while since I've been at the beach during midday, but today my eyes greeted me with quite the sight: about 15 women with strollers jogging along Kits Seawall near the pool! All at once they came jogging on by in a large group, all in sunglasses and workout gear. Go moms! Something for CZarina perhaps?

Worth the Plug

2007-03-02T14:58:00.000-08:00

A great little piece of theatre is out at the moment, Hippies and Bolsheviks. The play takes place in 60's Kitsilano, with West 4th being the focal point of the hood. I didn't know until seeing the play that the street was infamously referred to as Rainbow Road back in the day. The play is on for a few weeks, first on Granville Island at Performance Works, then moving East to Burnaby's Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. The play starts off post-Led Zeppelin show in a hippy Kits apartment, and it takes off from there!

As hockey season starts to head into its last few weeks, we're all busy wondering if the Canucks will continue to hold onto a high enough spot on the totem pole to (continue to) make it into playoffs! Bertuzzi traded to the Red Wings? Smyth now moved East to the Islanders??!! Watching an Oilers game won't be the same again methinks…

Ariane C

Passengers

2007-02-20T14:34:00.000-08:00

As I cycled early this morning along Spanish Banks, I came upon the crashed airplane movie set that I'd only heard about in recent days. The crew were actually busy dismantling it, and as I had a camera with me, I took the opportunity to get up close and personal with a plane crash.

What's being filmed? An upcoming drama called "Passengers" starring Anne Hathaway of "The Devil Wears Prada", and "Princess Diaries", amongst others. She's also starting to film Get Smart and will star as Agent 99!

So here, my faraway readers (at least those residing outside Vancouver) are a few snaps of the scene. It'll be interesting to see them shoot the film's upcoming train crash scenes (rumoured to start filming soon in one of the North Van CN yards). According to a production staff woman I spoke with there, filming at CN railyards is a logistical nightmare.

Amazingly enough, the rain still hasn't arrived. It's made for an early start out today and at 3 in the afternoon, it's already starting to feel like closer to dinner time. Tonight's the big (Anaheim) Ducks vs. (Vancouver) Canucks game. Can't wait.

Ah, Back in the Sea

2007-02-16T23:40:00.000-08:00

With mild temperatures and dry weather (for now), I headed to Granville Island this morning to get back into the Telkwa Sport model kayak I so much missed these past couple of months. Many cormorants back from their migration and an eagle hovering above me made the couple of hours all the more enjoyable. As heavy rain is on forecast for tomorrow, I'm thinking of heading indoors to the Outdoor Adventure Show at BC Place.

What's so nice about this city is that one moment you can be out on the bike headed to a paddle, the next moment on a bus headed downtown. I'll never tire of all the things going on here in any one particular day! After The Police spent a week up in North Van rehearsing for the recent Grammy Awards Show in LA, they've now decided to tour after all these decades! The tour is set to start in Vancouver, end of May. TIckets are already on sale 'by bid' and Ticketmaster officially opens to the public tomorrow morning. I'm thinking the show will sell out within an hour and they'll end up adding a date. A visit to Ticketmaster's website confirms what I thought I might find: ticket prices anywhere from 60 upwards to over 250 bucks CDN. Craig's is already starting to pop up with adverts - people selling tickets for 350 a piece! When I think of a one year kayaking pass costing that much, it's hard to consider going to the show. There was as great article about the group in last week's Georgia Straight if anyone caught it : )

Happy weekending, and Happy Chinese New Year - Gung Hei Fat Choy! That would be this Sunday…

Ariane C.

Rained Out

2007-02-09T17:51:00.000-08:00

With the rainy weather we've had lately, we didn't expect to be RAINED out up at Cypress Mountain last Sunday! Heading out in the early hours, we headed up that road again in anticipation of new SNOW. We kept climbing but the tree line remained green the entire way up. This didn't look like our last trip up! Once we made that turn into the cross country parking area, we realized that the rain was well, staying RAIN. And really coming down! Many devotees of the sport were unpacking their gear out of their cars and heading up to the ticket office despite this nasty weather.

We decided to head over to the downhill skiing area just slightly further up the road, but alas, the situation was carbon copy of ours. Many skiiers and boarders were also packing out of their cars, though we HAD seen several cars heading back down while we were headed up. We'd hoped to ski on Valentine's Day, a nice quiet weekday but the rain is due to stay in the area through the coming week. Anytime the temperatures are about 5 and higher and there's rain down HERE, it's a good bet then that the snow won't be coming down in the local mountains either. We'd forgotten just how cold it had been last month, in order to produce all that snow! (Yes, Easterners, we're complaining of the -8 at night cold, which doesn't do justice to the word, I know).

Now that I've gotten into a running groove 3x a week, wouldn't you know it, my left heel has acted up again after so many years sitting dormant in its safe (heel spur) state. I went to the podiatrist this week and was prescribed anti-inflammatory meds and a 'take it easy' warning - I did head out today for a fast walk just to keep the rhythm up, but my left foot is not happy.

And to top it off, I received a friendly letter in the mail today from my physiotherapy office, talking about getting back in shape by running; their injury topic of the month? Plantar fasciitis! How ironic is that!

Am headed out tonight to witness a performance of Audio Cubes over at Video In. Looks unique, this interactive set up of modular plastic cubes being set to music.

Just heard on the 6 o'clock evening news: Vancouver ranks last in cities in America AND Canada as far as police response time. Lucky us eh! Not enough police officers is the reason being given. Average wait time = 34 minutes. Pizza can be delivered faster.

just a lovely week

2007-02-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

Busy as I was this week with various theatre volunteering, comped shows and comings and goings, I managed to enjoy the sunshine that seems to prevail to this very moment, in our fair city. The Bald Eagle seems to enjoy sitting atop the large totem pole by the Maritime Museum lately. I've caught a glimpse of him twice during my recent runs along the Seawall. It's quite the BC picture, viewing a tall hand-carved landmark totem pole with the eagle on top. Perhaps a nest is not too far off in the future for this lovely winged creature. Several friends in the area have noticed the nest close to the Coast Guard Station is back this year.

Bio Boxes at Video In seems to be a raging hit right now as part of PuSh Fest. The entire run of show is sold out. I am hoping for a few 'box' performances tomorrow afternoon, if there's a cancellation anywhere in there. I also got into a matinee of Up Island at the Stanley, a humourous look at Van Island small town life. Finally got myself in there after all these months of living in Vancouver!

As part of Dine Out Vancouver, Ad and I hit a few restaurants lately for their tasting menus, priced at 25 and 35 dollars, depending on what the restaurant wants to hit you with on your bill. Trafalgar's Bistro was lovely, our fish superb, but for 14 dollars a glass of wine, I've finally hit the shock and awe stage of wine by the glass prices here in Canada. This, for a half glass of Burrowing Owl Pinot Noir. Now, I haven't hit BC Liquor lately to check on the bottle price, but as tasty as it was, surely 14 bucks is something out of this world to pay.

Other than that, more theatre on the menu this weekend, as Aalst is on tonight at the Scotiabank Dance Centre. Let's hope for a gorgeous continuation of this weather. Although most will be indoors on Sunday for the Super Bowl, we'll be testing our endurance on the (somewhat flat) cross-country slopes of Cypress. I was in Sigge's today for a short while to look at gear. I overheard a woman trying on ski boots talking about being torn apart by the agonizing "shall I paddle" or "shall I ski" today question. Oh if only to enjoy life in this manner of style! But alas, yours truly is busy working on several projects' fruition at the moment, and if a few of those materialize, it should make for a busy but productive move into Spring.

Theatre's Been Great This Week!

2007-01-29T18:36:00.000-08:00

To add to the ATSA Art Attack Kill Your SUV post and photos, I must say that I was really blown away by yesterday's matinee performance of Skydive! An amazing performance with two men suspended by a pole/harness combination that kept them in the air for the duration of the performance. Amazing to discover that one of the actors is wheel-chair bound as well. His apparatus took a bit more research, but this performance, along with a brilliant storyline, is quite worth heading out to Yaletown's Roundhouse Community Centre for! Also wonderful was the Famous Puppet Death Scenes at VECC. Well done, Old Trout Puppet Workshop!

Next up, volunteering this coming Tuesday for the Canuck Children's Hospice (that will include watching the Canucks battle it out against the Columbus Blue Jackets), and Thursday working at Video In for the PuSh Festival's performance of Bio Boxes. Friday night taking in a show of the Belgian theatre group Victoria performing Aalst. And then on Sunday, Ad and I will take to the slopes of Cypress again for cross country skiing, part two.

Signing off,
Ariane C

ps - that new shop Sand, at Cornwall and Yew is a well-thought out shop, but bring a heavily-loaded wallet with (they sell Gsus clothes too)!

Kill Your SUV

2007-01-29T10:10:00.000-08:00

or better yet…burn it!

This past Friday, I volunteered at PuSH Festival for ATSA, a Montreal-based environmental group who'd exploded an SUV about five years ago in order to make the environmental statement du jour: SUV's guzzle too much gas, ruin the environment, are unsafe to drive, and the war in Iraq helps keep the oil machine well-tuned.

I had the chance to meet the husband and wife team of artists, Pierre Allard and Annie Roy, while they were busy installing the Vancouver Art Gallery piece in time for the evening's Fuse festivities.

1/5 Pavement, 1/3 Sleater-Kinney

2007-01-19T16:15:00.001-08:00

What a wonderful performance by Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks last night at Richards on Richards. In tow was the phenomenal ex-drummer of Sleater-Kinney, Janet Weiss. Looking pretty much the same since we saw Sleater-Kinney last at Amsterdam's Paradiso (the smaller and more intimate of the two halls, Kleine Zaal). The band performed a handful of new tunes, as they're busy in the studio cooking something up that should be released soon, according to the woman at the counter selling their four CD's.

Can't wait to see the upcoming Sebadoh performance there on March 3rd, featuring the original Barlow-Loewenstein-Gaffney lineup. I'm imagining it will be even more packed in Richards than last night's show. Many faithful fans up front just soaking it in!

On another note, I'll be attending a rather interesting piece of theatre next Saturday night, called Famous Puppet Death Scenes, at the Van East Cultch Centre. Am also partaking as a volunteer in Attack #15, which will feature a blown-up sports utility vehicle. The Montreal-based L'Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable's way of heightening public awareness of these gas-guzzling, power-hungry vehicles, in their words. Check out Push Festival for all theatre performances. I'm equally looking forward to the Belgian produced "Aalst" and the Vancouver premiere of "Skydive", coming up later in the month…

The slush fest is thankfully over, as Vancouver is back to 'just our normal rainy weather'. Yesterday while walking on West 4th close to the Naam I literally saw the following: a man wearing a short sleeve t-shirt, shorts, light vest and leather sandals with NO socks. This in snow/sleet freezing cold weather! Polar bear dressed as a human perhaps? What gives??! I'm in a winter coat with hat and gloves here, while this man can tolerate 0 C damp snow!

From Europe With Love

2006-12-26T11:43:00.000-08:00

A big hello and happy holidays to my loyal readers, and those just passing thru.

Reporting live from The Netherlands, we've been touring Europe for the past couple of weeks, starting off in Vienna for a week, continuing on to Budapest by train, and winding down our last week with family in NL. It's been a busy and thoroughly enjoyable trip through Central Europe. Much warmer than we'd anticipated. The Christmas markets in both Vienna and Budapest were quite welcoming and full of great stuff, not to mention the nice mulled wine and the Wiener alternative, Punsch.

Here at the moment, Second Christmas evening is in full swing, we ordered Chinese take-out for dinner and can hear the fireworks starting up for New Year's Eve. Here in NL, the fireworks come out in full force on the 31st, but the kids get their hands on fireworks as early as mid-December, and proceed to fire them off day and night until year's end.

Where do they get the MONEY? Those packets of (illegal from Belgium) imported pieces really add up. And how they can get them so early? By law, the fireworks can only be sold during the week leading up to New Year's.

There's so much to write about both our Viennese and Hungarian experiences, but highlights would have to include an old bath house in a park in Budapest, sitting all afternoon in old rooms dating to the 1800's with little of the massage rooms and machines changed since then. . . and delicious restaurants in Budapest. Learning the one very handy word while on our train from Vienna to Budapest: nem dohanyzo! = Non-smoking in Hungarian. Finding our palatial room at the Le Meridien in Budapest, after having spent five nights in a little room and even tinier shower area in Vienna. Watching an opera in the Budapest National Opera House, a work of art! Finding out our flight on Christmas Eve to Amsterdam was cancelled and then being re-routed to Prague, and then onward to Amsterdam from there, flying in a little propellor plane on Tyrolean Air! Seeing Ad's family again all together for Christmas dinner.

Off to enjoy a coffee and tomorrow it's on to Arnhem for a day of shopping with my sister-in-law, meeting an old ex-colleague in the evening and a good friend and her family on Thursday. We'll probably be back before we know it. Just in time to ring in the new year in Vancouver.

Signing off for now,

Ariane C

Stage Jitters

2006-12-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, I attended a performance of Meth, an interactive play put on by people who've either struggled with crystal meth addiction or who have been touched by family or close friends who have. The play itself ran 22 minutes and admission was pay-what-you-can. Once the initial play was over, the director came onstage to give us instruction on how to interact the second time around.

The play started over again from the first scene and as audience members, we were encouraged to yell 'STOP' when a particular character could be changed and bring a sense of safety into the play's scene. Whether male or female, anyone in the audience could find something that they personally would change to better that character's circumstance.

The first scene commenced and the audience was silent. The director stopped towards the end and reminded us that anytime something didn't seem right, to please feel free to intervene. In other words, we had missed our cue already into the early part of the play!

Once the scene got underway again, someone did yell 'stop', came onto the stage, wore a sash containing a hidden microphone and proceeded to act through a better way. After the scene ended, the director appeared and gave commentary and the audience applauded. One by one, brave audience members found a way to change the characters behavior in the script and came up to try their hand. About 1/3 through the play, I felt a scene hit me square in the face, and yelled 'STOP'. Then up on stage, where I stared into the full house and started to think to myself "What have I done???!!"

Sure enough, I got my sash with mic set up over my shoulder, and went away at it. Crazy! In the scene I chose, I was interfering with a young male who was on a high and about to storm out of the house where he had been invited by a good friend and her family for dinner. I think I was up there for five minutes but it felt like a good half hour! Audience applauded, director asked a few questions, made his observations and thanked me. Back in the audience, I felt a rush going through me after having been up there, and I felt happy but nervous as hell having done it.

Meth runs through December 10 at the Japanese Hall on Alexander Street, the absolute heart of the drug-addicted neighbourhood of Vancouver known as East Hastings.

Free Snow, Free Chairlift

2006-12-06T15:28:00.000-08:00

Today Grouse Mountain is offering free skiing or boarding with a $2 donation to a local North Shore charity. I couldn't resist the sunny weather and chance to play again in the snow. Two busses and a Seabus later, I was at the base and gondola ride up to the lifts.

As I went to the window to donate the toonie, I was asked whether I'd be skiing or boarding today. I answered that I just wanted to walk around and perhaps rent snowshoes later. She said that I'd either have to rent at her register or not be able to take the free gondola ride up. "Only free for skiers or boarders". I told her that I'd just taken two busses and a Seabus over to be up here. Well, I walked to another woman controlling the line and fortunately, she was able to take care of me and got me through the ticket window with my donation and no further 'committment'. I wasn't really ready to head back to town just yet!

I didn't end up sking (this would probably leave many scratching their heads!), but took in the nature and walked one of the snowshoe trails, sometimes in deep snow! Just didn't feel up to putting on skis and going through the rental crowd today.

Did however see a couple of reindeer, paid a visit to Santa and admired a couple of wolves on the way towards the bus home!

Mighty Little Christmas Cactus

2006-12-04T15:02:00.000-08:00

Ad and I could be locked in a cave all year along with our christmas cactus and know precisely when the merry season was on its way…

a cactus with a warm, fuzzy feel for the holidays! Hope everyone's having a good season so far. We'll be travelling soon enough, to make our Central European tour of 06. Vienna, Budapest and rounding it all off with a visit to our family in The Netherlands. As Europe is much warmer than Vancouver at the moment, let's hope it stays that way for a while. We could use a break from the unusually cold temps!

Cheers,
Ariane C

Of Water and Winning

2006-11-21T15:21:00.000-08:00

So, here's our winning BC Lions who've just brought home the Grey Cup, posing downtown Vancouver midday for their fans and passers-by. Now don't go thinking I'm a big football fan. I never liked the sport back in the USA and certainly haven't grown any warm feelings to it now. It's just that I'm a sucker for historical events, and being downtown already on an errand, I worked the noon-time celebration in. And luckily it stayed dry for the time that counted.

Now if only the Canucks would set themselves up on a similar path. But hey, they HAVE won two games straight, a veritable winning streak they're on, yes! We'll see what they've got tonight as they go against the Red Wings. Hopefully not a repeat of last week's home game against same team.

Our (drinkable) water crisis continues, and a brief bit of information for the out-of-town visitors to this blog. Turbidity levels remain high enough to keep chlorine unable to knock out the nasty bits in our water. Water wars at the markets have ensued and luckily the stores have caught up with the overwhelming demand. Yours truly has been doing her bit to keep the household stocked, and luckily for us, our local Safeway is but two and a half blocks away, meaning the downhill walk with two 4-litre jugs is just about doable. Apparently, the problem continues, and the blame is being put on the government for not having acted quicker in installing a new water filtration plant that should have been constructed ions ago. This water problem arrives almost every year round this time, only now the turbidity levels are at an all-time high. Hopefully next week we'll have clear water running out of those taps. Really hard to get used to NOT asking for a glass of water at bars and restaurants. Carrying a bottle of the good stuff is no big deal as I do normally on any given day. Makes you really take a precious commodity like H20 for granted. Not anymore. We've made sure that once the all-clear sign is given, we'll be hanging onto those bottles and keeping stocks handy. As unprepared as Vancouver and the Lower Mainland was for THIS crisis, one can only imagine what a major earthquake would bring in terms of chaos. No, I don't want to entertain that thought right now.

Anyone seen the film Borat yet? What a wicked film, on many fronts. We're still on the fence about this one, preferring to give out our hard-earned cash for do-good films like that of the Dixie Chicks, or even the upcoming Bobby, written and directed by my old classmate Emilio Estevez (technically he did graduate one year before me, and my class had his brother Ramon in it). Speaking of films, Volver and the Last King of Scotland, both shown this year at the Vancouver Int'l Film Fest, are knock-out winners! Not to be missed, although the critics would have you adding Little Children and The Queen to that list.

Now on with the walk I need to take while the weather is dry and the sun is out doing its stuff!

Ariane C

The Storms of Vancouver

2006-11-06T16:55:00.000-08:00

Today the great big storm that was predicted all week long hit town. With quick errands in the neighborhood during dry spells, I finally had my work and business done when I headed upstairs to the balcony to encounter the last shreds of daylight.

Something insanely beautiful about Vancouver's mountains and sea, whether in the sun or dark clouds of the passing seasons.

Ariane C

Fireworks on Halloween

2006-10-29T17:44:00.000-08:00

Last night was quite something on Commercial Drive, our first encounter with the Parade of Lost Souls. Costumed folk came from all points of town and beyond to partake in this yearly tradition, all in good Halloween spirit. The streets were closed by 6 at night to make room for the procession of hundreds of Vancouverites young and old. Starting point was nearby Grandview Park. Our small group of four at times went separated (luckily we had cell phones on us!) - there were several shrines created in the park, drums going and various music being performed in spots. There was beautiful lighting projected on some of the buildings nearby. As we walked en masse through the streets of East Vancouver, we were greeted by some very outrageous costumes and wildly-decorated homes.

Now here's something that's still hard for me to get used to. First, I start life living with fireworks going off on July 4th. Then I move to The Netherlands where on New Year's Eve they're lit. Now in Canada, they're fired off on Halloween!

Notice Ad's pumpkin on the left! It was inspired by someone in a recent issue of the Vancouver Sun!

October and I'm Still Paddling!

2006-10-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

So we're into the third week of October, the rain has passed and today brought a gorgeous sunny afternoon with 14C temperature. It was time to get back into the kayak and paddle the urban waters of Vancouver. I saw two harbour seals, one of which I started to play with in the water. He/she came out on the side of the boat and then immediately behind me. As I tried to make a circle with the boat to entice the creature to stay around, sadly enough, seal was gone somewhere else. The winds were whipping up a bit and it was high seas for a while out there!

Am I the only one who finds the new Canucks line-up hard to get used to? Ad and I got settled into all the team players last season, and now they've gone and traded lots of players. Bertuzzi is down in Florida. January 7th will be the only chance we Vancouverites will have to see him play against the 'new' Canucks. How that will pan out with Nasland here and Todd there, is anybody's guess. So far, I find it a crying shame that Anson Carter wasn't bought up. Now everyone's pinning there hopes on Luongo. And let's not dare think of any injuries. For the price paid to acquire him, it should hopefully bring us to post-season play. One can only hope…

The annual Parade of Lost Souls is coming up, and as last year's Parade was cancelled, this is the first time that Ad and I will be able to witness this very unique Vancouver event.

Off to have a late afternoon well-deserved coffee!
Ariane C

VIFF rules!

2006-10-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

46 films in 16 days. I laughed. I cried. I related. Walked out of four. And so closes another year at VIFF (Vancouver International Film Festival, no. 25). I met lots of film buffs in the daily ticket allotment line-up, some of who'd flown in from San Diego and as far away as Connecticut. Those folk easily absorbed five films a day, every day. One woman had already surpassed her 100th film mark by the 10th day! Films from around the world, many including their directors and makers in tow. I met a handful of Japanese actors, their director and Art Director one evening. Chatted with them via their interpreter. Some had films making their international premiere here in Vancouver. As a first-time volunteer, I signed on early to accept about 25 hours of work at our local Ridge Theatre. Over and over, I'd meet those friendly folk with a (paid) film pass, commenting about the films they'd seen and ones they'd be seeing on that day. It was truly a world in itself outside busy downtown Vancouver. Enjoyed the chance to do this, especially after having lived eight years in The Netherlands and not once attending the Rotterdam Film Festival.

Blog THIS!

2006-09-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official: Georgia Straight's best of Vancouver issue just came out yesterday, and Kitsilano's been voted best neighborhood in Vancouver. Duh, as if we didn't already know that, us very fortunate, yoga clothing-bearing young healthy beings out on West 4th, Kits Beach and the Seawall.

Yours truly took a victory walk/jog along the Seawall yesterday afternoon, passing the now closed-for-the-season outdoor Kits pool, just starting to turn a bit more green with the incoming flux of seagulls making it once again their home, and heading along the glistening water, taking in a breath of fresh sea air and counting my blessings yet once again.

Today is equally beautiful here in Kits. Went for a paddle in a new Nimbus Telkwa Sport, new to the Ecomarine rental fleet. Awesome to be in a new kayak! A bit of a plug for them: they've got their annual Yard Sale on tomorrow on Granville Island, tons on sale. Another kudo goes out to my paddling friends there: they've got a Best of Vancouver entry as well.

And I quote, from page 59: "Best Place to Aggravate Windsurfers, Sailors, and Ocean Liners", winner: Ecomarine Ocean Kayak Centre, Jericho Beach. "Consider the ocean a road with no lanes. You'll have those other seafaring vehicles annoyed in no time-they'll never be back. And you'll get a nice tan and a great workout in the process".

Freelanced for part of the month, volunteered for the Vancouver Fringe Festival (just wrapped up last weekend), got treated to 15 plays for my volunteer hours, had a blast at the volunteer party last Sunday night, and am now ready for the upcoming VIFF (Vancouver International Film Festival). Volunteering for that one as well, I've been able to attend various pre-festival media screenings, which is a good thing considering I'm attempting to see over 30 movies between September 28 and October 13.

First day of Fall and we're looking at sunny skies and 18C (64F) to celebrate its entrance. Hope everyone's having a good start to it so far. Always nice to have autumn incoming. A sure sign that Halloween is on its way…

Ariane C

Gulf Island Getaway

2006-09-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

The Labour Day long weekend saw Ad and I off to Gabriola Island. From home to the island took two busses, two ferries and a cab in between. Once we arrived at our B&B, we felt truly away from the big bad city. Once checked in, the owners, Ben and Jen Ford, asked us to please close the big white fenced gate when coming and going, so that the deer don't eat the flowers! Yep, we were certainly removed from city life at this point.

We headed out for a cycle tour of the area on bikes. This proved more challenging than expected as the map didn't quite show ALL those hills up and down! As fit as Ad is, he couldn't get passed the (much) poorer quality of the rental bikes and though free, not too useful for a long trip. I wasn't as concerned with the bike as much as getting over some of those grades! We did manage to visit the tiny 'downtown' consisting of a few shops, a supermarket and bank. And, the Definitely Different Garlic Chocolate man, yes, he concocts chocolate made with garlic! His products are also sold in Vancouver on Granville Island. He also sells minced garlic, fresh garlic and assorted chocolate bars with fillings all seemingly yummy. I fell in love with his Definitetly Decadent bar, deep Belgian chocolate with dark chocolate truffle. 50 grams of chocolate bliss…Ad actually enjoyed the garlic/chocolate combination more than I did!

As evening approached, we decided to live the local life: hitchhiking. Thumbs up for a good portion of the weekend, this was something I hadn't done since I was a teenager vacationing on Martha's Vineyard with my family. Dinner at Surf Lodge, with sunset, to celebrate our 6th year of wedded bliss. That ride over consisted of two hitches, one in the back of a pick-up truck. Quite exhilarating late in the afternoon sun.

Our next decision was to look into renting a scooter for exploring the (entire) island the following day. Jen phoned Lance at the scooter (and as it turns out, auto) rental place and we had two scooters brought to the B&B the following morning after what would be several scrumptious home-made breakfasts! The plan worked out brilliantly. We were out on those things from 10 AM until sundown, close to 8 PM. Maps in hand, we headed to the main attractions of the island, including Malsapina Galleries (lovely and huge surf-shaped sandstone formations at the northern tip of the island), several thousand-year old petroglyphs, on a trail close to the church on the opposite end of the island. After a picnic lunch close to the 'ruins' AKA the Petroglyphs, we were off to Drumbeg Provincial Park/Beach. Lots of colourful tidepools and bright late-afternoon sunshine. We topped off with some liquid fuel at the Silva Bay Marina and Restaurant. We then continued from the South Road to the North, spotting three deer in the Islands Trust Nature Reserve. We cut our scooter motors and watched the deer, quite curious creatures, eventually leap out into the woods. Early dinner at Suzy's, the local spot for decent grub, and a sunset close to the B&B at Descanso Bay. We were wiped out but at least this afforded a lovely way of island touring, without a car.

The next day we rented a kayak for the day and were off, charts in hand, to explore neighbouring (tiny) islands in the area. We took a picnic lunch in our dry bags (also loaned to us) and this involved a short stay at Pirate's Cove. We headed out in time for the tide to allow us a tiny bit of beach left from which to push off! After returning the kayaks and thumbing it back to the B&B, we had by this time made friends with the other couple staying at our place. An American/German couple with many similarities to our backgrounds and past! The owners were out for a few hours, so we ordered pizza and stayed in with the couple dining al fresco and chatting over travels and life. As Ben and Jen arrived home, homemade chocolate chip cookies and coffee were on the agenda. Not a bad way to round out the day!

Monday morning saw us eating gourmet omelettes (and by far the largest omelette I've ever eaten) and getting a lift over to Twin Beaches for some beachcombing and relaxation before the afternoon ferry crowd. We found hundreds of purple starfish clustered together on the rocks, between the rocks and in the tidepools. Enormous jellyfish and many sorts of sea anemones were hanging out in their respective tidepools and a heron was out fishing for lunch. We made a picnic of fruit and leftover pizza slices on a picnic table close to the beach. There was time to explore the second tiny shopping centre of the island, Twin Beaches Shopping Centre. This consisted of a tiny café, bookstore, liquor shop, clothing boutique and two places that were closed, a tatoo parlour and an accounting firm.

The four days went by all too quickly and before we knew it we'd already boarded our first ferry towards home. The second ferry was very crowded, the last day of summer before start of school. Once back in downtown Vancouver, it was quite a shock in difference between that quiet island laid-back life and street noise. We'd definitely recommend the Holly Tree B&B on Gabriola and soon, as the owners are planning on moving to Ucluelet next year and building yet another home with a B&B.

The Coolest Beetle in Town

2006-08-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

Today was the annual Kitsilano Hippy Daze event. A great day out considering the beautiful weather and almost the entire stretch of West 4th closed off to vehicular traffic. This alone is a rare occurence on the busy shopping street. Here are photos of a classic VW Beetle that's got its entire inside and outside covered in art! We'd seen this car in town before, but today it was specially on display along with several classic cars…some of the photos show water spurting out, and indeed there's running water both on the car's front exterior hood and in the back seat!

Happy weekending,

Ariane C

Wednesday in August

2006-08-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

Maybe not as cool as an expanding planetary system, but yours truly has won the Blenz Coffee contest and will be enjoying some latte action in the coming year! Pretty ironic, considering I'm not even Canadian. Guess we've got what it takes to be Canadian down pat.

And our annual Kitsilano Hippy Daze is just around the corner…

I'll be volunteering on Friday for the big Weekend to End Breast Cancer, a 60 km walk over a two day period.

Oh yeah, spotted a seal and her pup within one metre of my kayak this morning, over at Granville Island. Sadly enough, I didn't have my digital camera on board. This is by far the closest I've ever come to the darling harbour seals. Their big eyes stare your way…truly sweet creatures of Nature.

My newly revised site is up and live!

Long Holiday Weekend

2006-08-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

The past long BC Day weekend has given us a great variety of entertainment. Friday night we ate at lovely French bistro Salade de Fruits Café, a great find close to home. The waiters turn people away all evening and bring in who they 'like'! We sat at a table on the patio and enjoyed the company of a couple of long-time fans of the place. The moules frites dish that Ad ordered was fantastic, the mussels large and in a very tasty sauce. My salmon was also wonderful. As the evening (and our bottle of white wine) wore on, we chatted about everything BC and came across some great tips from locals eager to impart just plain great touring info on us.

Saturday brought us into the garden to take care of various plants and weeds that needed attention. The five new lavender plants are starting to enjoy the company of the bees and will hopefully spread out in the years to come. We met up with a couple of friends who'd invited us to a casual homemade dinner before heading out to Kitsilano Showboat to watch the evening line-up including 'Johnny Cash and Friends'. As the sun started to set, Ad and I were in need of warmer clothes if we'd be staying around to watch the fireworks finale starting at 10. We raced back on foot to the house, changed and somehow, right before the start of the fireworks, met up with our friends (in the dark no less) amongst the throngs of crowds all descended upon Vanier Park to watch the show from the best vantage point! With the stereo set up in the background tuned to the rock station sponsoring the audio portion of the show, it was quite a spectacle. I was even granted use of the only camping chair amongst the four of us and felt quite royal sitting in back with the colourful displays unfolding in front of us.

Sunday and we were off to the Vancouver Pride Parade, another packed event, this time on English Bay, just opposite the previous night's fireworks vantage point. Lots of great performers and ever-present disco music to get the crowd on their feet. We ran into a friend and chatted before separating ways, Ad and I grabbing some lunch on the way, and walking back over the Burrard Bridge home.

Yesterday capped the weekend with us celebrating BC Day on the water. We rented our kayaks at Deep Cove for a four hour adventure up the North Indian Arm. Gorgeous scenery, photos follow here…

Now it's back to the week, filled with memories of being on vacation so close to home!

Ariane C

taking a break on a little beach

Tesla Girls

2006-08-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

This morning I broke out of tradition and rented a Necky Tesla kayak instead of the usual Nimbus Nyak or Seafarer's. Lovely boat and the seat is quite comfy. Took to the shores of Jericho Beach to some very choppy action at sea. Almost, just almost, thought of turning back and calling it a day. Once I headed out and got USED to the wind dealing with the waves, it was again paradise out there! So lovely to watch the animals and birds take to the water. The seal couple were out again swimming close to the shore, turning their heads round to see groups of youngsters trying their hand at windsurfing nearby.

I managed THREE paddles in this week! Met a woman on Weds. morning who's also a junkie and has a season's pass like me. Only she has her own carbon paddle to the tune of 500 bucks! We went out paddling together and traded off paddles for a bit. Now I see why carbon RULES! Light as can be, ahhhhh.

There's a recent bit in Vancouver Magazine regarding our little bit o' paradise by the sea (page 46 of the current August issue):

And I quote, "Unlike the poor saps out East, West Coasters don't have to jump in a car and conga-line up a highway for several hours to find recreational water. Here on the edge of an ocean playground, you can roll out of the office and into a kayak in 20 minutes." Sweet!

I watched a nearby Cormorant dive in for his lunch and come back with a fish that went right down the hatch, length of fish down first! Seems like each and every day is full of new feelings on the water and different activity with the birds and seals. Although I've been kayaking pretty much in two areas in Vancouver (off Granville Island and Jericho Beach), no two days are alike! And the feeling of coming home (just as I have now, this Friday noontime) and feeling the waves move through the body while sitting still, it's just awesome.

Yes, Ad, the Tesla will do just fine on Monday out at Deep Cove!

Happy BC Day to all my local friends and devoted blog readers : )

Now it's on to heavy production of my re-vamped website pages -arghhh. Dreamweaver to the rescue! Hope to be online with the newly designed Ariane C Design in a week or so. . . (depends on the weather conditions of course).

Ariane C

A Different Perspective

2006-07-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

I decided to finally bring a digital camera along for the ride in the zippered pocket of my spray skirt this morning. Following are scenes from English Bay and False Creek. As the weather was due to cloud over (never did actually), I was up early to get a 9.30 paddle in. We're due for a heatwave this coming weekend with temps over 30 for many days to come. This means more early morning paddles. The heat and hot July sun are just no good for anyone these days!

A little Harbour Seal swam past me towards Stanley Park.

We'd appear to have more Great Blue Herons here in Vancouver than anywhere else in the world. Click on the photo to enlarge it. It was really a beautiful take-off!

Another great Cormorant encounter, sitting on the rocks of English Bay.

This is about the CLOSEST I've ever come to a Double-Breasted Cormorant. This was a young bird sitting on the dock underneath the Burrard Bridge. As I slowly approached him in my kayak, he seemed to be hopping around from one spot on the dock to another. Could have been slightly injured and waiting for a family member to come and rescue him.

At this point, I was headed towards the kayak rental place and came face to face with another seal. This is usually the way I come across them, as they're looking right at me with their large, curious eyes!

And yet another Double-Breasted Cormorant getting its lunch out of the sea!

Giro di Burnaby

2006-07-15T18:48:00.000-07:00

Local Burnaby cycler Gina Grain takes the prize and trophy, proudly wearing the Giro di Burnaby winner's jersey.

The races were held last night, on Hastings Street in North Burnaby. Quite close to where we stayed last year in April while looking around Vancouver. Here's photos of the set up, womens' and men's races and all in between. Yes, that's me in a gorgeous red Ferrari Spider (click on the photo to enlarge, if you don't believe me)! Just an added bonus of being a trusty volunteer! This was the first bike Criterion race of its kind in Burnaby, and the organizer is already looking forward to the Giro di Burnaby 2007.

Weekend's just getting better. Had a nice paddle out at sea today in Jericho Beach area and we're now going to entertain our friends CZarina and Maarten, with Ad's excellent BBQ talent! Tomorrow, a hike in the vicinity with a rented car for the day, followed by an aperitivo at friends in Kits Point, who have just returned from good times in Italia.

Happy weekend,

Ariane C

July 9

2006-07-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

Although I didn't participate in the Jericho Beach Kayak Marathon this year, I was there for the start of the race. 9.30 sharp and the foghorn was off! The race had two components: a leisurely one hour paddle, and a more strenuous longer distance.

I left shortly after the start with the intention of meeting up with Ad on Commercial Drive to watch the soccer final, but I heard reports back by phone that the street and all pubs were so full, it was over capacity with hardly any standing room on the street! Ad found his way to Zesty's Restaurant to watch, as Stella's Belgian bar and tapas restaurant was full, where his Dutch friends were seated from very early on to watch. Too bad they couldn't save him a seat, it was that crowded!

It was great when Italy won (we were rooting for them!) - being in "Little Italy" there on the Drive, Ad only had to call me on his cell phone to hear the cheers and screams of the Italian fans. All hell broke loose after the game, and people in Roman costume were out on the streets, walking with a replica World Cup trophy, as well as musicians, tons of flags (from both France and Italy actually) and screaming, honking cars. The whole Drive was blocked off eventually. Our friends Albrecht and Lisa were French fans, so a bit less cheerful. They did find a large French group of fans and Albrecht, with his French soccer shirt, flag and bagette on the flagtop, was the centrepiece of discussion post-game, according to Ad!

As I enjoyed the second half of the game from our comfy couch, I headed out afterwards and did a paddle towards the late afternoon. Blissful. I headed from Jericho Beach to Wreck Beach and hit a point in the sea where no land was on either side of me. Really felt like being out in the open sea, what a rush that was!

I will be going to Commercial Drive a bit after the fact (this evening, for a Graphic Designer's meet up); will inspect the leftover scene!

A couple of shots of last night's sunset, as taken from our balcony. As the weather has gone cooler and grayer, this too is a relief after many days of heat in Vancouver. Though that DOES count as summer right?

Happy Birthday, Canada

2006-07-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

Ah, the holiday weekend. Saturday morning, I headed out for a morning kayak paddle around Point Grey and Kits seashore, spotting a Bald Eagle land above me on the Kitsilano Yacht Club's pier! Stayed there a few moments to admire it, and the Heron down below the docks, waiting patiently for a morning meal. Ad was off to Commercial Drive to watch an 8 AM start on the England vs. Portugal soccer game with a friend. The afternoon was spent biking over to Yaletown to watch some of the International Jazz Festival taking place in David Lam Park as well as the Roundhouse Community Centre nearby. We got ourselves over to Main and Broadway intending to catch a Main Street bus to Nat Bailey Stadium to watch the Vancouver Canadians vs. Eugene Emeralds baseball game, but wound up sharing a cab with two ladies over to the Park, as the busses were delayed to the point of our not wanting to risk missing out on the game (we had one complimentary ticket and needed to purchase a second one in time for the 7.05 start). As Nat Bailey has fireworks every July 1, and this was its busiest day of the year, we wanted to arrive in time to enjoy a good old-fashioned ball game. The fireworks started out very mellow and later built up to the standard high-in-the-sky numbers. We were almost wondering if the 'big ones' would come out, but sure enough, all was not lost towards the end of the show!! We bussed back, this time catching our two busses in good time.

Sunday…First off, we rented a car-cooperative auto and headed to the Buntzen Lake area for a hike. With the heat on, everyone had crowded the parking lot by 11 in the morning and we quickly made an alternative plan to head to Belcarra Regional Park, right at Bedwell Bay and the Indian Arm area. We noticed cops giving out tickets at the waterfront. What for? Crabs that were caught and not released due to their size. There's a huge crabbing community here, and licences and size are everything. One licence will permit two traps set out to sea. There were several crab people out on the dock with plastic templates in order to measure the crab's length between its claws. About 50% were tossed back to the water, with a flock of geese waiting in the wings for any crumbs of people food to drop into the water. Here's a photo of one person's 'catch'. Obviously, it had to be thrown back out, as the sealife is dutily protected on these shores.

Once out of the busy picnic/bbq/fishing pier area, we opted for a hike along the Jug Island Beach Trail, heading higher and higher up the mountainside until we hit the ridge, opening up to gorgeous views down below.

Lots of recreational boating in the summer heat! A bigger bonus: the gorgeous and colourful birds we spotted up there while on a lunch break. As I've become somewhat of a bird fan, I picked them out of my bird-watching book: a few Western Tanagers and Pileated Woodpeckers! Now I'm on a mission: to one day spot a Mountain Bluebird, a piece of sky come to life.

We had iced coffee back down in Port Moody, picked up some produce at the same outdoor shopping centre, and headed back home to rest and unwind, before heading out for some gorgeous Greek food at the Ouzeri on West Broadway. Living here over one year and not having had one Greek meal out in our Greek neighborhood was almost a sin. Now there's about four other Greek places we're going to try in the future.

Today was another very warm day. Ad and I chose to hang out for this Canada Day around the house, doing various things that needed doing, and tonight Ad's planking a large salmon fillet for dinner on the BBQ!

What we have here is a photo taken last week on our evening stroll along the Seawall, at (very) high tide! Happy Canada Day, and 4th of July to our friends and family down South!

Peace Boat in Vancouver

2006-06-29T12:02:00.000-07:00

This will be a photo heavy entry.

Yesterday morning, the TSS The Topaz, a gorgeous old ship registered in Panama, arrived in Vancouver at around 7.30, docking alongside three commercial cruise ships. Many delegates, performers, members of the Hague Appeal for Peace, and founding students were onboard to give the people of Vancouver an introduction to the history of the Peace Boat, its mission and life on the ship for 100 days stretches around the world.

I attended a presentation called "Travelling the World, Changing the World" in the early afternoon. Indeed the press and many curious individuals were on board to hear people from all walks of life discuss the importance of the voyages. Afterwards, the press was invited to a round of Q&A, before breaking for lunch in the Topaz Dining Room. I took the opportunity to go to the upper deck and listen to live music and have a juice. In doing so, I met with a Korean War veteran named David Laskey, who was seated at a table in the shade, creating little origami cranes for hanging en masse and brought back to Japan on the ship. Once I got busy learning the folding technique, he started to open up a bit and spoke of his wife who he'd met in Hiroshima. The entire Crane Project that's taken off so successfully in schools and libraries, got its start at his daughter's school, when the custodian showed some of the students how to create the crane.

It wasn't until I got home and went online to search for his wife, Kinuko, that it really sunk in who I'd been just chatting with on deck. Here's one of many memorial links to give more background on the story.

As I became more and more curious about life on the ship and what actually goes on at the 20 ports of call, I wandered some of the hallways and found little Japanese bulletin boards and origami animals pasted on doors and the deeper I walked down the halls, the more Japanese signage I encountered. There was an announcement on the loudspeaker at one point, announcing lunch and a few safety measures onboard, and it was first done in Japanese, later in English. This really gave me a feeling of being away at sea! I walked into the Dining Room and saw the menus printed in both languages, along with duty-free wine available (all priced in Yen). There were several small rooms open for workshops, musical and artistic performances, and discussion groups needed during the journey. I noticed a Kirin drink machine with items and prices all in Yen.

At some point, I met a young lady who had been on one of the voyages. She'd taught English in Japan for three years and made the transition from moving back to Vancouver by spending the 100 days travelling round the globe. As she discussed the small details, and I later asked about her overall experience, she started to get teary-eyed. Indeed this trip was life-altering for her. She's strongly considering another Peace Boat journey. All a matter of first getting to Japan where the ship sets sail and returns. She went on as a volunteer and this kept her busy, while allowing enough time between the activities to meet people at ports of call and have people around when the ship would sail, a favourite memory of her days at sea. With internet usage at 5 dollars a minute, and not much cell phone coverage, one is clearly out of touch for three months. The experience of close to 1,000 people aboard a ship is like that of a community. Some people she would see daily, a few she only met for the first time after the 100 day journey was over.

I left that boat completely transformed and humbled. It would be fantastic to be on this boat one day. There's a Peace Boat US organization forming shortly, based on the world-wide one and only Topaz experience. At 100 US dollars per day on the ship, it would probably be worthwhile going on as a volunteer. And now, several photos of the ship. As with all photos on my blogspace, feel free to click on any photo to enlarge it.

Blogs R Us

2006-06-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, where have I BEEN? These guys are fabulously up the minute with all the juicy details of life in our little paradise:

Kits at Typepad.com

I'll add it to my list of places to go on the right column. For now, I'm about to board the Peace Boat down by all the big cruise ships lining Canada Place at the moment. Will return with news and photos!

Ariane C

Heatwave Summer

2006-06-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

As Vancouver is in full heatwave mode, Ad and I have been attending all the local festivals around town. I volunteered for the World Urban Festival all week, and was treated to several free theatrical and world music performances at the weekend. Here's a photo I took of Shimmer, an Aboriginal dance troupe, complete with didgeridoo!

Last week saw the Commercial Drive festival and the Dragon Boat Festival (photos below) both completely different scenes and with the World Cup activities, it's been non-stop!

Vancouver is now hosting the World Peace Forum, and the highly anticipated arrival of the Peace Boat will make its way to Vancouver's harbour this coming Wednesday. As I'm fighting a bit of a stomach flu right now, I'm hoping to get better in time to board the boat and enjoy the festivities planned for the evening.

With the long holiday weekend coming up, Ad and I have rented a car and will go for a hike in the area, see a baseball game on Canada Day evening and try to stay cool through this quite warm end to June!

One Year Report Card

2006-06-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

6.16.06: one year report card

Who WOULDN'T want to live in a city where daily sightings of snow-capped mountains, eagles, blue herons, beautiful nature and the sea were part of life above the 49th Parallel?

The past year has seen Ad and I (aka Team Vancouver '05) complete our international move, set up shop after a two month container strike in the Vancouver port keeping us separated from our belongings, look for work and find work, make friends, pass tests (Ad: driver's licence road test, PMP certification; Ariane: kayaking flatwater certificate), see a tiny bit of this huge and amazing province (Okanagan wine-growing region, Bowen Island, Victoria on Vancouver Island, Sunshine Coast, local Northshore mountains), join a Dutch expat group that meets on Granville Island once monthly, try our hand at new sports (kayaking, showshoeing), and have an insanely merry year together!

We've confirmed another year at the Trafalgar Street house and are going to celebrate, with a little BBQ fest this Saturday to welcome the summer, Ad's belated 40th birthday, and our one year here.

There couldn't be a bigger change in culture, environment, surroundings, people, style and size of countries than moving from Amersfoort, The Netherlands, to Vancouver, BC. We constantly notice so many little things here, and discover new areas, restaurants, architecture, you name it, each and every day.

Here's to many more great years to come, to us and all our friends and family near and far!

Four Steps to Happiness

2006-06-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at Granville Island, my first go at solo kayaking on False Creek:

It's truly wonderful being out so close to sea level, breathing in the salty air and dodging craft of all sizes! The bonus: every few minutes or so came a harbour seal popping its head out of the water, out of curiousity. It would either swim behind me or alongside the kayak, keeping its safe (human) distance. Oh those beautiful big deep eyes. I fall in love at every sighting! Just as Ad had finished taking the first of these photos, I looked behind me for clearance and a seal was following me out of the dock area! These little animals make the ride so much more rewarding and I'm convinced that watching them at the zoo is just plain wrong.

Now I'm hoping to get Ad interested in this (very local) pleasure sport as well. Granville Island's kayak centre is a mere 15 minutes from our house, Jericho Beach about 10-15. With good weather ahead, this will make for a great summer. That, and Ad being in barbeque heaven.

Tomorrow night we'll attend a seminar at the centre focusing on the Gulf Islands. I'm hoping to buy my season's pass that will entitle me to unlimited two hour boat and equipment rental for a full year. As False Creek is relatively calm year-round, this will make for some late fall/early spring trips out. I have seen kayakers out all winter long in these parts, so that too may get me going (fleece and warm pants for sure)!

Hooray for The Netherlands soccer team, beating Serbia 1-0 yesterday!

Soccer, Stanley Cup and Kayaking

2006-06-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

As we spent most of last week entertaining good friends from San Francisco, I was at one with the local sealife this weekend as I attended a two day kayak intensive course at Jericho Beach. This is the course I took. Two days of paddling, strokes, assisted and solo capsize recovery, and I fell right into deep sleep on Sunday when it was all over. I saw so many little harbour seals popping their heads out close to our group of boats (absolutely adorable!), and we took a break mid-way towards Wreck Beach to watch a bald eagle swoop high above us and perch himself on a buoy out at sea. Between the 11 of us, we had two instructors and a lot to learn in two days! We also learned about the rules of safety, necessary equipment, and how to read nautical charts when planning a longer trip. Sunday's weather left little to be desired, as the wind and rain created not the best of circumstances for learning, but did present quite a challenging ride up coast!

Solo capsize recovery was the beast of the weekend. Both recovery methods were taught and demonstrated in the afternoons, when we were good and tired. It was probably for the best too, as one could capsize a kayak at the end of the day in the real world, withOUT a wetsuit and preparation.

The weather's turned gorgeous, so I hope to make use of the sea nearby and rent a kayak on a regular basis.

World Cup fever is making its way here to Vancouver, and many Eastside 'europubs' are starting to show the game on the big screen early in the day. On Sunday, June 18th, Commerical Drive will become a no-car zone and host a block party, with a large area devoted to a big screen and soccer fans around the world. Stanley Cup fever is here, though the Oilers aren't really our team to favour. As it's a Canadian vs. American tourney right now, most are voting for Edmonton. Congrats to Carolina Hurricanes for topping off an exciting game 1 victory last night on home territory!

Vancouver At Its Finest

2006-05-17T16:47:00.000-07:00

As yours truly celebrated a (non-milestone) birthday today, the camera came out to mark the occasion…

The Nature:

Catching a ride over to Yaletown…

The Lunch…

The View while eating the Lunch…

The activity back at Vanier Park, on Kits Point…

The day ended with dinner at Kibune Sushi.

Happy 40x2-40+5-2 birthday to ME!

Ariane C

A Run in the Sun

2006-04-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

This morning saw the 22nd annual Sun Run in Vancouver. Over 50,000 people registered for the race, 50,700 give or take a few! I volunteered at the after party at BC Place Stadium. Indoors, on the loveliest day of the year so far! I was able to sneak away for a few minutes to watch the first runner cross the finish line, then a second and third, and not too far down the line, the first woman. All top winners were Kenyan. Ad stationed himself on the Burrard Bridge with digital camera and bike in tow. Here's a few pictures he snapped, including the first place runner.

the winner…

busy…

and getting busier by the moment!

And yet another gorgeous day lead into a beautiful balcony sunset, looking out to Bowen Island, Vancouver Island and beyond:

There's a Hole Lotta Waiting Goin' On

2006-04-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

Yep, a shameless Courtney Love reference there… Don't ever, ever, EVER, EVER go to the Canadian/US border on a holiday weekend! Departure time Vancouver: 10.30 AM, Arrival time Seattle: 7 fucking PM. FOUR HOURS of a standstill line from all three border crossings. This SHOULD have been a three hour trip! The only thing that kept us going (besides the lure of Starbucksland) was the fact that our B&B two night deposit was non-refundable at this late (same day) time.

Between the wait time, we were entertained with the occasional rain or hail storm and a Tim Horton's Ice Cappucino on the way, in Abbottsford. While Ad waited in line with the car, I was able to enter a packed Timmy's and come out with our car only about 1 metre further along the road.

Once in Seattle, we found our beautiful B&B (The Salisbury House) in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, comparable to Brookline in Boston or Vancouver's Shaugnessey. We headed out to 15th Avenue, a section of Capitol Hill containing lots of restaurants, cafés and a very cool record store. Thai dinner extravaganza ensued, at Jamjuree's. We toasted Ad's new job and our arrival in Seattle, a new world record of nearly nine hours!

Saturday got us going early with a lovely home cooked breakfast, followed by a self-made downtown walk, taking in the Public Market, the first Starbuck's in Seattle, the gorgeous new public library, a gem of a creation by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, and historic Pioneer Square. We'd hoped to ride the monorail to the Needle, however it was out of commission due to a collision last winter, between two monorail trains, a first in its history!

A bit of shopping therapy and a few coffees later, we were on our way back up the Hill. Enjoyed a seafood dinner and an early night in at the B&B's cosy common room. This morning, we headed out early to explore Volunteer Park's water tower, with a stunning view of the city on top, and the Conservatory, passing the Asian Art Museum on the way. A lovely Easter morning, the sky was actually blue this time.

We spent some time on Broadway, a lively section of Capitol Hill, eating sushi for lunch and stocking up on local wine and a picnic lunch for our trip back. A stop right under the Needle for photos, along with the Experience Music Project, and we were on our way home on the 5 North. We stopped briefly at the natural splendor of one of Washington's small lakes, close to Bellingham, before a very smooth 5 MINUTE wait at the Canadian border.

Spring Sunsets

2006-04-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to report, just a few beautiful sunsets from our balcony taken over the weekend!

Ariane C

Daylight Savings

2006-04-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken just a few hours ago, outside our front window, as I had just returned home from work. Now we've a rainy Monday evening in Vancouver, with the mighty Canucks trying one more time to approach the playoffs, against the LA Kings. We suffered two losses over the weekend, one quite embarassing (2-6) against the Anaheim Ducks. As there's only five games left in the season, each and every one is a 'must win' for the Canucks.

Work week three is going well, insanely busy start to the week, but a few interesting things coming down the pike. My colleagues are pretty friendly and patient but the workload is enough to keep us all busy and at our desks most of the day. As I'm sitting a lot more than before I started working full-time, I've taken to getting off at the opposite end of downtown and walking across to Gastown in about 15 minutes flat. This gives my legs some much needed stretching in the a.m. hours! I start at the most influential area of the city and wind up in funky Gastown, full of old brick lofts and homeless characters at every turn. The area is turning more urban by the month. Many a housing project is coming up and the rich youth are buying up beautiful condos close to the waterfront. I've still to take a photo of the view outside our window - hands down the most impressive view I've ever had at a job.

Ad and I took a walk along the seawall just after dinner, enjoying the clean air during the rain and watching a couple of herons make their way along the waterfront in search of last-minute dinner. The eagles are definitely out and about here, and we see them regularly. There's a couple of nests between Kits and downtown Vancouver - quite an eyeful when they're hovering above you!

On to watch The Office, an episode taped several nights ago…

Signing off,

Ariane C

Tomorrow, Spring

2006-03-19T11:46:00.000-08:00

So, another week of work under the belt. My first day at JOB 2 was insane. There's only one creative person in that company, with only one Macintosh. Guess who that would be? Anyway, my boss has made it clear that anything I need to get myself comfortable, just ask and I'll receive. Even to the point of a new Mac! It took a lot to get me caught up, but then again, there was a huge backlog of work and they hadn't had a designer gracing that Mac for a few weeks! Unfortunately, too, the last designer who'd left on maternity leave had to leave BC for a family matter, and this made it hard to get around her system - she had everything password-protected!

In came a Mac-repair consultant, a Swiss relation of ours, to the rescue. He fixed and got me (and my password) recognized into the system, though I'm now locked out of a lot of files! Par for the course when restoring passwords on a computer! I just copied over what files I needed that were locked, and am now on my merry way. At some point, I'll hope to get this lady into the office so that we can go over all relevant (and non-relevant) files, as it's looking pretty hairy between my hard drive and the secondary (much larger) external drive.

Weather-wise, things are looking quite Spring outside. We took most of the day yesterday to have a Yard Sale, selling off some stuff that had accumulated over the months, mostly old things from Europe. Last night, we saw a play at Performance Works Theatre on Granville Island, and now it's Sunday almost noon; we're about to take off cycling around False Creek and over the Burrard Bridge. There's not a cloud in the sky; our neighborhood is active with runners, cyclers, walkers, coffee-drinkers, all heading to and fro, either to the 4th Avenue shops or to the beach! So far, more are heading towards the sea!

Hope everyone's having a good weekend (those in Eastern Canada, sorry to hear there's more snow headed your way)! -

Signing off,

Ariane C

I'm Working Now

2006-03-11T22:07:00.000-08:00

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, all this networking and interviewing for jobs and information. I was hired to begin on March 1st at an ad agency in town, and sure enough as timing woud have it, that very day TWO OTHER companies called me to meet and discuss openings! I spent the last two weeks working days and half that time after hours at interviews. It was a mad rush heading out the door at places all around town, heading into rush hour on the bus. By week's end, I had two very strong possibilities!

The job I started on the 1st was more or less a job to make money. I saw from the first day that it wasn't going to be something I could put my heart and soul into. Really a lot less creative than the work I'd done in a while, and in terms of professional development, close to nil. I'd wanted to hold off on starting that job until the 5th, however the production manager wanted me to start on the 1st as the contract I was filling was a maternity leave. They were hoping that I could spend a few days with this lady before she headed out for the next six months, however on my very first day, she didn't show up, nor the second or third. That Friday, she'd already given birth a week early.

And here I was, somehow hoping that something better would come around, hoping to put off starting that job, when it really DID happen that way. I bowed out gracefully this past Friday, received my first official paycheck in BC and said goodbye to a friendly group of folk.

Monday, March 13th, I start again. Very excited about this one, as I'll be exploring the world of package design, something I'd always wanted to add to my repetoire, but was rarely given the chance (I can count on one hand the amount of packaging projects I've done over the last 20 years)!

The view is incredible! Out the large picture window spanning the entire office space, I will be catching glimpses of the gorgeous North Shore ski resort mountains, seaplanes and helicopters taking off and landing, the Seabus to Lonsdale Quay, and the West Coast Express trains, tracks almost literally below the building! I must add here for emphasis that the company where i WAS, occupied two floors, one half a floor below ground and not very bright and quite stuffy. That's the floor I worked on for the past two weeks. So literally a 180 difference here.

And tonight, even with three new player trades joining the Canucks, we managed to lose against the Dallas Stars, 1-2. Wonder if we'll make the playoffs at this rate?

More later as I start the working week and head out to enjoy

1) my Graphic Designers Meetup group on Monday night at a café on Commercial Drive and
2) Electric Six performing at Richards on Richards on Tuesday night!

Ariane C

Here's a look at the re-designed bus/subway ticket experiment from last month's meeting!

We're Next!

2006-02-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

4 years and counting down!

Musings

2006-02-23T10:16:00.000-08:00

Heard the other day: Ben Stiller and Dick van Dyke partying up the street on 4th avenue over the weekend (Night at the Museum wrap party). The canadian women's hockey team scoring gold!!

Seen down on 4th Avenue two weeks ago: Gael Garcia Bernal (what a beautiful young thing).

Seen 10 minutes ago on Trafalgar and 6th: coyote spotting number 2.

Robin Williams is back in Vancouver filming (more Tuesday night appearances at the Urban Well stand-up comedy?). Actually, Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Mickey Rooney, and Dick van Dyke are all in Night at the Museum together).

The Olympics Men's hockey team are on their way home. How sad an ending, especially with the Women's team doing so wonderfully well. Ad and I are taking in as much Olympics as we can, what with being underemployed and all.

Closing ceremonies already this weekend! The Olympic flag will be passed on to our mayor, Sam Sullivan. Avril Lavigne will perform during the Vancouver 2010 segment. There will be a huge party downtown this Sunday with large screen set up to watch the ceremonies, along with a multitude of activities.

I'll post photos soon!

Ariane C

A Laff a Minute

2006-02-19T14:56:00.000-08:00

Heard last night at the LaffRiot Girls stand up comedy competition:

Three women are sitting in a sauna: a German, a Japanese and a hillbilly.

All of a sudden, there's a beep heard in sauna. The German woman puts her hand to her head and tells the other two "I have an implant that tells me when I've received an email".

Soon after, there's another beep, this time coming from the Japanese woman's hand. She holds her hand to her ear and declares "I've a voice mail message coming in".

The poor hillbilly, feeling left out, heads to the bathroom and comes out a few moments later with four sheets of toilet paper sticking out of her ass. As she heads back into the sauna, she tells the other two women "I think I have a fax coming in".

… to add a little perspective here, the joke was told by a professional comedienne on the night of her 73rd birthday, at the Comedy Competition.

The next round at Zesty's is on Feb. 25th. If you have a chance to see this comedienne, don't miss her act!

Cypress Heaven

2006-02-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

Indeed a wonderful new tradition we started, spending Valentine's Day snowshoeing in the gorgeous nature! We headed up with a rental car to Cypress Mountain and had a great but tiring day, trying our hands at the shoe experience! I've got a pair of blisters, but Ad seems to be OK. This afternoon, I walked around Stanley Park and back into town, enjoying the brisk but clear air. We've a cold snap that seems to get colder and colder by the day. Tomorrow we'll have -2 C during the day, but with wind chill factor, about -15 C! We're now convinced that we've made the right decision by moving to Vancouver, and not say, to Calgary, Edmonton or Toronto!

I'll be volunteering again next weekend at the Weekend to End Breast Cancer booth, this time at the Home and Garden Show at BC Place.

…and a glorious sunset taken from our balcony on Tuesday.
Signing off,

Ariane C

Every Day a Meeting, Every Day a New Contact

2006-02-08T15:03:00.000-08:00

It's meeting whirlwind time, for both Ad and I. I've been breaking down the gatekeepers of all the big design and ad shops in town, and getting to meet Creative Director after Creative Director. Of course it helps when they don't think I'm looking for a job, however those I've met have been really insightful in learning more about the tiny Vancouver design market. I now know that it's about 1/8 the size of Toronto, amongst other things!

Just when I thought that I'd exhausted my list of contacts culled from the web and Yellow Pages, Ad came home with a stack of New Media Directory listings pulled from a job resource centre we've been attending workshops at. December 2005's list has come out, and although I'd already contacted at least 65% of the companies on the list, there were still more unknown to me left to contact and meet!! My list of networks is growing expotentially. My new buzz phrase: Networking knows no bounds!

Besides my work hunt going into full swing, I've been volunteering for the Graphic Designers Society of Canada, Vancouver chapter and the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, a huge 60 km walk spread out over a weekend this coming August in Van. If I can raise 2,000 dollars CDN, I can enter the race! For now, I'm considering volunteering during the course of the weekend, but the thought of actually DOING this, along with about 2,000 others, is starting to look attractive! The 75 dollar sign-up fee includes a trainer, all forms of preparation for the event, sleeping arrangements, all food and activity for the 2 days, plus a t-shirt. In any case, obviously all for a good cause. The GDC has a great posh event coming up end of March called Graphex '06 Gala Awards Night, that I've signed up to volunteer for. Should be a smashing evening, at the prestigous Vancouver Club downtown.

The weather is just superb: 12 C and SUNSHINE with strong winds, making my jogs along the beach/seawall filled with exhilarating ocean smells and beautiful dark blue water featuring white peaks on their larger-than-usual waves. We just feel like we've stepped into heaven here. Just about every day I'm out there jogging/walking, I meet up with at least one pug; they're great and feisty little creatures that I'd love to own one of in the future. For now we're in non-smoking/no pets rental land, and living in Kits as a homeowner, just can't see that happening short of winning a lottery, and LEAVING Kits doesn't seem like it could be possible, given our location, home and proximity to just about everything!

The Wired Monk is doing great business here at the corner. On Feb. 25th, they'll have an official opening party with face painting for the kidz, live music, goodies and free java, just the sort of community feeling that Kitsilano is so well known for.

So off I go, to meet another potential client.

Beste Moeder en Daddy C: het is hier zo verschrikkelijke mooi buiten, jammer dat jullie niet voor een paar dagen even deze gebeid kunnen bekijjken zonder het lange reis hoor! Wij wensen jullie een fijn reis naar Egypte, maak er veel foto's daarvan - ! Liefs van Ariane en Ad

Signing off,

Ariane C

Crocuses in February

2006-02-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

Well, with the record-breaking rains came a few days of gorgeous sunshine, just enough to bring out the daffodils and crocuses in February?!! We've had such a mild winter here so far that the Spring flowers are popping up now instead.

Ad and I are getting more responses to our networking efforts. This morning, we attended a two hour workshop on the hidden job market. Much of the information given wasn't anything we didn't already know, however we did get a few great tips here and there. Today was a big day as I picked up our business cards from the printer and we're quite happy to have full-colour cards to go with our networking! Hurray for digital printing!

The Canucks are coming back with a few wins while on the road. Tomorrow and Saturday they'll play two big rivals in Alberta, The Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers, neither of which they've beat so far this season. Oilers are by far my favourite team to hate, biggest rivals to the Canucks, bar the Leafs!

This coming Saturday, I'll be volunteering at the Health and Wellness Show down at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre. I'll be at the Endcancer.ca booth giving out info.

Oh yeah, my hand-made rings are now on consignment at a cool little store on Broadway, called Shine. Hopefully they'll get some attention there! And, we've a new café right on the corner: The Wired Monk.

Off like a dirty shirt,

Ariane C

A Day Out Between the Rain

2006-01-25T12:54:00.000-08:00

Nothing much here to report. Just pictures taken from our bike ride around town yesterday, in the 12 degree C sunshine. And our first coyote spotting last night down our STREET! Vancouver indeed : )

Ad looking out to sea

the view from down our street

from out the bedroom balcony, with early morning fog over the water

Stanley Park totem poles with snow caps

Grad Day

2006-01-22T16:40:00.000-08:00

Anyway, three weeks later, I've met a great group of people from my Transitions program, that's been a godsend in fresh ideas for networking, resume and cold calling tips, confidence-boosting and a look at transferable skills. We have one more follow-up next week Thursday. The gang's pictured above in the office entrance. We had a great time, lots of laughter, some tears and mostly a good rapport and friendships formed as many of us are going through similar career situations. I can't recommend it enough; if you're in the Vancouver Mainland area, I'll be happy to give you the link and info.

Now it's time to forge ahead and embrace all of this newly discovered talent and power to network. As I've recently grown fond of saying, "networking knows no bounds". Just about every event, dinner, group activity and meeting can lead to something unexpected. I'm loving this part of my life.

Vancouver has seen a few wonderful Canuck victories, namely last night's great 6-2 lead over the Montreal Canadiens! Never mind that they did great justice when the Maple Leafs came to town almost two weeks ago, but now they're poised to take on any team that stands in their way. We're all getting excited about two things: the upcoming Olympic games (watching all the Canucks play for their respective country's teams) and tomorrow's National election, where popularity for Stephen Harper, the Conservative, is reaching some scary heights. To give you an example, if he wins, he'll be most aligned with George W. Bush in his policies and attitudes toward the Kyoto Accord. Challenge abortion rights. Give big business a bigger break. You get where I'm going here. Not pretty stuff to ponder.

Ad passed his PMP certification exam last week, so he's one step closer to following his career path here in Van. He'll be networking and interviewing during the coming days and has a good feeling about tomorrow's interview out (down) in Surrey. We had a few sunny breaks in this dreary wet winter weather, but currently it's wet and (not too) cold, yet not particularly wonderful to be outside. On my run this afternoon, I saw yet another Bald Eagle in a tree just down our street at the edge of Trafalgar, past Point Grey Road! Always nice to see such a massive creature with its large and painfully bright white head. By the time I returned from the Seawall, he'd already flown off elsewhere.

More snow in the local mountains here, and my daily morning bus ride over Granville Bridge is occasionally met with an awesome view of white up there!

Signing off…

Ariane C

Van Life and News

2006-01-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

On living in Van: I think it's really cool that our fair city is often referred to as Lotusland. Better than Toronto, where they're lovingly referred to as Hogtown.

And my brilliant career (transitions program), into Week 2: it's going really well. We're well on our way and I feel very much a part of the working world, even though I'm not taking home a paycheck at the end of the week. Many observations, tons of exercises and hand outs to stuff up our binders, and learning more and more about myself (and the group) all the time. As I have a profile now from the Myers-Briggs Temperament Indicator testing system, I can plug into a large group of potential new careers to enhance my talents and personality. Those jobs run the gamut from drama psychotherapy coach to actor to social jobs.

Weather Watcher: nothing to gleam about. Today marked day 24 of rainy days in a row, but luckily not the entire day through. I've walked home from my training program a few times already (can make the walk in about 55 minutes flat from downtown). And actually sweated, since it's mild as can be. The crocus and daffodil greenery is already making a break through the earth, I would say about 5 weeks ahead of its normal schedule. Today we had a few sun breaks.

The Mountains: when the clouds break through, there's whiteness all around! Every chance I get while downtown, I walk to the corner of Howe and Pender Street, and look downward towards the water, to take in the Canada Sails and the Northshore peaks. 9 times out of 10 I get a gorgeous mountain view while the bus makes its way over the Granville Bridge in the morning.

So, those Mighty Canucks, vs. Toronto Maple Leafs: 4-3 win at home! It was a rare appearance by the Leafs in Vancouver, and BC Place (at least from where we were watching on the big screen) was packed! Excellent game, guys! Now that they've won three games in a row, they're off tol face New Jersey on Thursday night.

A Sign of Success?

2006-01-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

Stretch limo time, first thing seen this morning looking out front of our house (the silver car across the street belongs to our neighbors downstairs). Perhaps this is a sign of greatness and success to come for us in Vancouver! The Canucks surely returned to great form last night, beating the Calgary Flames in overtime, 4-3! Finally, some groove back in their game. The big game's coming right up, against the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. A Pay-per-view for sure, so yours truly and better half will be off somewhere sports-barsy to view the action…

Cool to see that Jon Stewart will be hosting the Academies this coming March! As if Chris Rock wasn't enough last year : )

The program I've started, called Transitions, is awesome. I'm in a group of about 15 other folks out of work for one reason or another, and we're focused on career as well as life-changing potential here. Very powerful stuff. Keeps me busy all week and into the evenings with assignments and reflection, as it's busy during those days (action-packed, lots of handouts each day). The Canadian government even pays for the bus transport costs! Hopefully by the end of this session, I'll either tap into some hidden potential other than graphic design, or decide that being a designer is truly in my blood - and heart - and keep within that vein.

What follows are a few photos from the annual Kits Beach tree-chipping fundraiser event. Man, did the air smell gorgeous from all the pine being recycled!

It Ain't Much

2006-01-03T16:03:00.000-08:00

As they say in The Netherlands, 'It ain't much if it ain't Dutch'. Well, Ad and I took part in the Vancouver Oranje Club meeting last month and made some common bonds with fellow (ex)countrymen and ladies. We met at Dockside Pub and enjoyed an evening of Dunglish (that's Dutch intertwined with English) and met a lot of people in similar past and present situations. If you're interested, have a look at this link and click on the group photo at the top left. There we are!

Our mighty Van Canucks are just not up to speed these days, having lost an embarassing match last night against St. Louis, 1-4. Really now, what IS eating the Canucks? With several more road games looming, we do hope they'll get their mojo back, and soon. How else are they going to qualify for the playoffs later on?

Speaking of sports news, I'm still trying to keep up my walk/jog routine along the Kits Seawall. I'll be taking a couple of intro (read:free) Pilates classes this week, around the corner at Proactive Pilates: Body Rolling, and Pilates on the Ball. Sounds interesting? I'll keep you informed, as I'm curious myself!

Off now to read the Van Sun,

Ariane C

Happy 2006

2006-01-01T15:17:00.000-08:00

(a Spring night in Paris, 2005)

We rang in the New Year to hear a tribal drum from the house across the street - the lady drumming away mentioned their yearly tradition of the midnight drumming. Oh yeah, very Kits! At the moment, lots of joggers outside, despite the wind and occasional rain. People walking their dogs, shopping for groceries, and this, over at English Bay: a Polar Bear Swim! The yearly event started at 2:30 this afternoon. Found out about it at 2:33. I did make a run down to the beach to witness it through binoculars, and heard lots of cheering and others out on their boats watching from the water. With this wind, it's lucky the temperature is so mild (about 10C). I saw a few divers hit the waves, and headed up the hill for my afternoon cup of (decaf) joe.

The seagulls are circling here above like mad, flying against the wind, as are the geese and ducks down at the shore. All in all, we're happy to be here, very happy in fact. Did anyone see Dick Clark on TV last night? He's really doing his best, but in all the years I lived in The Netherlands, I hadn't seen him age and see his condition deteriorate at THIS pace. I guess he survived a recent stroke. It seems that Ryan Seacrest is priming up for taking over his slot in the future. And what about Duran Duran? Have they aged or what? Why the tv crew chose to show their live show during "Notorious" was beyond me. They'd had so many great hits over the years. The Bangles, however, looked great and sounded even better!

But I ramble…best wishes to all of you for a great new year -

Ariane C

Between the Holidays

2005-12-28T11:40:00.000-08:00

This one was taken in front of the Hotel Vancouver last week, right after visiting Stanley Park's Bright Nights. Ad and I had a quiet Xmas, cooking dinner and making holiday cookies part of the meal plan. Life here is wet right now; one day just melds into the next as the rain comes and goes. The ski season had a great start, but is now practically non-existent.

What's eating the Canucks? They've now lost five games straight! Tonight they'll face Nashville, again at home.

Hope everyone's been having a not-too-chaotic holiday season - feel free to post your comments on the blog - let me know what's going on in other corners of the globe!

Bright Nights

2005-12-23T09:50:00.000-08:00

…and here, those promised Stanley Park holiday night pix! Click on a photo and see its larger cousin : )

Wind Storm

2005-12-22T11:30:00.000-08:00

(artwork by Arleigh Wood, ©2005)

The winds are kicking up and team Canada has been announced. Bertuzzi and Jovanovski will play for the Canadian Olympic hockey team in Turino! Not without controversy of course, in Bert's case.

(l-r: Todd Bertuzzi, Ed Jovanovski)

In other news, I went to Stanley Park's Bright Nights last night, in between downpours. Not only were there millions of lights on display, but a petting farm as well. Upon exiting the farm, I noticed a hand-washing station, to help prevent any visitors from catching that pesky bird flu. Will post soon…

Happy last-minute frantic holiday shopping,

Ariane C

Sunday Posting, Part 2

2005-12-18T23:20:00.000-08:00

If anyone watched that Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers game last night, what a match, eh?! Can't believe that Bertuzzi was actually smiling again (should be, after scoring two goals in the game); sudden death overtime saw them lose to the Oilers 4-5. Scary enough, as the Canucks enjoyed a great 2 point lead twice during the game. Matt Cooke and Anson Carter had the other goals for Vancouver. Sadly, the Canucks have now lost all three games against Edmonton this season, and suffered only their second home-ice defeat of the year in the process.

After winning four straight, and humbling three Eastern Conference giants in the process, the Canucks faltered back home. They’re now 5-7-2 against divisional opponents, and hold a single-point lead over the Flames in the Northwest.

Anyway, they'll be hosting the LA Kings tomorrow night at home. Hockey is really more than the 'violent' sport that people make it out to be. After watching several (just about all) of this season's games, one can really see the finer and FASTER points in enjoying a hockey game. Things can change in a split second, and when a team ties, those final moments of the third period are exciting to watch. I highly recommend it : )

Birdlife in Van: It Doesn't Get Any Better

2005-12-18T22:52:00.000-08:00

Today was bird-heaven for the likes of nature lovers like myself. As I headed to the sea for my Sunday fitness walk, I approached the seagulls sitting atop the frozen Kits outdoor pool, mostly sleeping in place and warming up in the sunshine. Once I passed Watermark Restaurant, I looked up and saw a Bald Eagle in the tree. A couple walking by pointed out its mate on the rock ahead. My walk was temporarily haulted to watch these two lovely creatures feeding on fish. Somehow they were brave enough to stay even though a crowd of curious onlookers was building up along the shore.

A couple of kayakers (yes, in this winter cold!) stopped to watch the birds as well…

Close to home, on 2nd and Trafalgar, I spotted a Steller's Jay (BC's provincial bird) cruising overhead on its way to a bird feeder.

Days like today only make me appreciate this new city more and more. Friday was our six-month anniversary of arriving in Canada. Yes, time flies. It's incredible though, the amount of things we've seen and done in that time.

Photo credits go out to Kylm - www.klym.ca - thanks for sending me those pix!

The Season Has Arrived

2005-12-13T12:37:00.000-08:00

Now that my web site is finished, I can go back to updating this little baby. We're here deep into the holiday season and still finding lots to keep us busy despite no work offers at the moment. Ad is busy ripping CD after CD onto his laptop, now that he's gotten used to iTunes. One day, his Nano will come…

Last night, we took a walk along Broadway Street, beautifully illuminated with lights for the holidays. Back along Stephens Street, we were amazed at some of the light displays up and running along the beautiful old character homes of Kits. The summer beach scene has now been replaced with jogging suits, dogs on leashes and plenty of Starbuck's coffees to go. There's an area close to the Maritime Museum that allows dogs to run freely, and seems to be a friendly doggy meeting spot for the locals. I've also been told recently that many people DRIVE over to the Kits Beach seawall area just to go walking with their pooch and be seen. And the luck that we're a 5 minute walk from all this!

And speaking of that seawall, I'm off for a walk/jog now. If you go to this link, you'll see photos of our area of the seawall! Yes, down THOSE stairs!

Once the Tallest Building in the British Empire

2005-12-06T19:09:00.000-08:00

While downtown last week, I entered this gem of a building - the Marine Building - and photographed some of the interior. Click here for an in-depth historical link to this marine-themed heritage building.

Other than that, we awoke yesterday morning to a nice site out our window:

I'm going to get Ad to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas tonight, as this classic TV special has yet to make it to The Netherlands! Signing off, from a cold Vancouver evening…

Sinterklaastijd

2005-12-04T11:44:00.000-08:00

To all my family and friends in Holland: wij wensen jullie een prettige en gezellige Pakjesavond toe en niet te veel pepernoten eten! Groetjes van Ariane en Ad

Trippin'

2005-12-02T21:19:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it still feels like being on vacation, discovering new things all the time. In Gastown, close to Water Street, is a tiny alley I bumped into on my way to my first appointment:

According to legend, Blood Alley was the location for a number of butcher shops. At the end of each day they would be rinsed out resulting in the inevitable blood in the street. As if that was not enough they used to hold public executions in Blood Alley Square.

The snow we'd been promised was but a light dusting of powder that dissipated upon touching the sidewalk. Still, it made a cozy café visit all the more enjoyable over at Blake's Coffee Parlour…

Not quite downtown, not quite East Van, Gastown and Water Street (its main street) are filled with restaurants, boutiques, tourist shops and bars. A hip and urban crowd, with a smattering of homeless people walking the streets (and inside the cafés. I was approached by two within half an hour).

After my rather successful meetings, I headed to the Vancouver Hyatt Regency to check out the Gingerbread Lane and a 14 foot high, six feet wide Gingerbread Man. He is the undisputed Guinness World Record holder, baked with 100 kgs of flour, 1.6 kg each of salt and baking soda, 20 kg each of sugar, molasses and shortening, 1.6 kg of nutmeg and 4 kg of ginger! Just imagine the pan needed to bake him as well.

Here's a couple more photos taken of the displays…

Taking Stock

2005-12-01T14:51:00.000-08:00

There's much to be thankful for, as our recent international move will prove. I began a work search at the start of September and this morning took inventory of what activity has come about as a result.

resumes and digital portfolios/business cards sent out for both freelance and full-time jobs = 115
interviews to discuss possible freelance ops = 5
actual job interviews for a full-time job = 3
job offers = 0

Albeit, Vancouver is a small, tight and closely-knit job hub, much like that of San Francisco. I did however hope to have more success by now. With the upcoming holidays, that glimmer of a job offer may have to wait until everyone's done partying. Have no fear, I'm off to enjoy (as a volunteer and pro-networker) a holiday party, Cuban-style, with the GDC* next Wednesday. Yesterday's Globe and Mail Business section's first page: quite apropos. A huge article discussed networking right DURING the holiday season, and not letting the fact that everyone ELSE is gainfully employed stand in your way.

Breathe in: gainfully
Breath out: employed

*Society of Graphic Designers of Canada

Happy December 1st to everyone near and far.

Canucks Take the Lead Again

2005-11-30T22:44:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-29T14:04:00.000-08:00

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

Snow's on the Way

2005-11-28T18:37:00.000-08:00

(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

2005-11-26T17:03:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-25T14:03:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-21T19:21:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-20T20:51:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-19T16:58:00.000-08:00

(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

2005-11-18T09:55:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-15T15:06:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-15T14:33:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

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!