An Afternoon in Stanley Park
The fallen leaves and colours are a giveaway that this footage was from the fall. I just got to putting together a little montage now. Stanley Park is fantastic. I always look forward to seeing the raccoons. Cute enough to feed, it's hard to resist the urge.
Pineda Throws a Pitch
Here's Michael Pineda of the Seattle Mariners pitching. The expression is enough of a visual intimidation factor for me. It says whatever he's throwing, it's going to be really, really fast.
Ready, Set, Fight!
I'm used to old-fashioned things like three-legged races, frisbee toss and face painting at festivals and social gatherings. Nowadays the thing seems to be sumo wrestling. You put on these heavy, inflatable-like weighted suits and go against an opponent. First one to push the other out of the circle is the winner. The hardest part about it was refraining from laughing long enough to actually gather the strength to fight. It was smiles all around.
Living the High Life
Possible captions for this photo could be "Walking on Top of the World", "Jumping for Joy", "Celebrating Nature", "Up Upon High". What was actually being said at the time was more along the lines of, "Oh shoot! Ok, try it again. Ready? On the count of 3. One, two, THREE!"
Granville Island
Granville Island definitely is an eyeful. There's musicians of all sorts, crafts, food, shopping, art and niche stores dedicated to umbrellas and sake and hats. Sitting out by the water watching the birds is a fantastic way to spend a nice afternoon on the island if it's not too busy - which it does get on summer weekends. Best to take public transit to the island, or cycle over if you're able because parking spaces get to be a hot commodity.
Lord Stanley Statue Predicts Win
Even the statue of Lord Stanley himself at the entrance to Stanley Park says this will be the year the Canucks bring the Cup home. We'll see Wednesday night how his prophecy holds up!
9 O’Clock Gun
If you live in downtown Vancouver and wonder what on earth the explosion sound is around 9pm every night, it's this! Impressive that it still goes on today, and definitely worth checking out because it's loud, exciting, delights kids and adults alike, and it's not everyday you can smell gun powder (sulphur - stinky!). The 12-pound muzzle-loaded naval cannon was made in Woolwich, England in 1816. In 1894 it was brought to Stanley Park by the Marine Department to warn fishermen of the 6pm Sunday close of fishing. The 9pm firing later became a time signal for ships, and the tradition carries on today with the cannon being loaded daily with a black powder charge and activated automatically by an electronic trigger. See the video below for the full effect and lead-up, and make sure your speakers are on!
Canuck Craziness
If this is what the street is like after the Vancouver Canucks win the Western Conference and advance to the Final, I can't wait to see what it'll be like when they win the Stanley Cup! I'd better go find an air horn now. Store shelves throughout the city will probably be empty of any sort of noise makers pretty soon.
Trout Lake Farmers’ Market
Kickoff to the market season was marked by the first Trout Lake Farmers' Market of the year held this past weekend.
There was the usual assortment of goodies you'd expect from a farmers' market along with a few things I haven't seen nor tried before.
"Food trucks" shown here are a popular thing in Vancouver, and this one was selling Lychee Basil Lemonade alongside breakfast burritos. I've had lychee before, and basil, but never in combination. Made fresh to order, it was foreign and tasty.
I have to throw in a sample of someone carrying an awkward thing at the market. I wonder what the shrub is thinking?
What on earth is this? It's an army kitchen that was actually used during the 1940s by the Czech army, then was bought a few years ago in Germany and brought back here to be repurposed by Chili Tank. Do you see the bicycle pump and fire extinguisher in the background? I'm sure this contraption needs a bicycle pump for something (although I'm not up on my army kitchen knowledge), and further below you'll see why a fire extinguisher should be at hand - that chili is piping hot!
Who's this? Vancouver locals will recognize Mike Killeen from CTV News.
The Chili Tank proprietor got lots of attention from the media, and look at the excitement and anticipation on this kid's face as he retreats from the Chili Tank with his purchase! ... or maybe he was just reacting to his hands burning from holding the piping hot chili. Either way, I can attest that the chili was very good, especially on the chilly (no pun intended) and dreary day.
A fun time. Support local food!
Gabby’s Country Cabaret; Rules are Meant to be Broken
Gabby's Country Cabaret is apparently an institution of sorts in Langley City. Having not been there before, we thought we'd check it out on the weekend. We stood in line for about 45 minutes with little on us besides some cash and our phones and keys, only to be met, finally, at the front of the line by a security guy pointing us to a sign by the entry barricade that said "photo id required". We were turned away after standing there all that time yet a) we certainly don't look like hooligans, b) we look like we finished high school many years ago so no worry on the under age thing, and c) we're respectable people there to check out the local entertainment. But the sign says a rule is a rule. I appreciate that there's rules, and I'd be more than willing to adhere to them, but when I saw these posted beside the photo identification required notice, this place lost all credibility:
Tags
Where My Camera Has Been
- Abbotsford (2)
- Chilliwack (3)
- Cloverdale (2)
- Coquitlam (4)
- Fort Langley (6)
- Hope (3)
- Kelowna (36)
- Kitsilano (4)
- Langley (71)
- Maple Ridge (5)
- Merritt (1)
- Mexico (1)
- Mission (5)
- New Westminster (2)
- North Vancouver (7)
- Okanagan Falls (2)
- Penticton (4)
- Pitt Meadows (7)
- Port Coquitlam (5)
- Richmond (2)
- Seattle (3)
- Surrey (33)
- Vancouver (105)
- Washington (6)
- Whistler (5)
- White Rock (3)
Archives
- February 2013 (1)
- June 2012 (1)
- April 2012 (2)
- March 2012 (3)
- February 2012 (1)
- January 2012 (1)
- November 2011 (5)
- October 2011 (1)
- September 2011 (4)
- August 2011 (8)
- July 2011 (10)
- June 2011 (15)
- May 2011 (9)
- March 2011 (3)
- February 2011 (9)
- January 2011 (11)
- December 2010 (7)
- November 2010 (11)
- October 2010 (10)
- September 2010 (13)
- August 2010 (18)
- July 2010 (14)
- June 2010 (27)
- May 2010 (31)
- April 2010 (30)
- March 2010 (31)
- February 2010 (27)
- January 2010 (22)
