BC Bloggers

Vancouver Island Provincial Park Camping

2009-07-02T22:42:00+00:00

Here is a compiled list of Provincial Parks on Vancouver Island - complete with links for more information! Happy Camping. I will post a blog later on private and hard to get to but GREAT camping spots on Vancouver Island :)

Bamberton Provincial Park
Cowichan River Provincial Park
Elk Falls Provincial Park
Englishman River Falls Provincial Park
Fillongley Provincial Park
French Beach Provincial Park
Goldstream Provincial Park
Gordon Bay Provincial Park
Juan de Fuca Provincial Park
Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park
Loveland Bay Provincial Park

Cowichan River Provincial Park
Elk Falls Provincial Park
Englishman River Falls Provincial Park
Fillongley Provincial Park
French Beach Provincial Park
Goldstream Provincial Park
Gordon Bay Provincial Park
Juan de Fuca Provincial Park
Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park
Loveland Bay Provincial Park

Miracle Beach Provincial Park
Montague Harbour Provincial Park
Morton Lake Provincial Park
Pacific Rim National Park
Prior Centennial Provincial Park
Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park
Smelt Bay Provincial Park
Sproat Lake Provincial Park
Stamp River Provincial Park
Strathcona Provincial Park (Buttle Lake)

Jul 14, 2009: Vancouver Singles Recreational Beach Volleyball at Meet Market Adventures

2009-07-02T22:35:52+00:00

**To confirm your spot for this event you must contact us directly by phone at 1-800-239-0542, via email: info@meetmarketadventures.com or sign up through http://www.meetmarketadventures.com/events/2717/Vancouver-Singles-Beach-Volleyball-.html RSVPing as yes on this site will NOT ensure you space at this event.** Join Meet Market Adventures and other Single Outdoor Volleyball enthusiasts for an active evening of beach volleyball! Haven’t played before or aren’t sure how to serve overhand yet? Don’t worry, this evening is all about having fun and meeting new people. After everyone arrives, we’ll divide you into balanced co-ed teams. Then we’ll take over 2 courts and play the evening away, rotating courts and players so each team has an opportunity to play against each other. Once we’ve rotated through a few games and are all played out, we’ll move the fun to a nearby pub to build on new friendships over some well deserved food and drinks. What to wear/bring: Shorts, t-shirt, water, sunglasses and sunscreen. Change of clothes for afterwards. You will be playing in your bear feet. * When you purchase an event online or by phone, your name will be on a Guest List at the door and you will receive a confirmation by phone from MMA the week of the event. Details are subject to change without notice. "Where Singles & Adventure Meet" http://www.meetmarketadventures.com

Jul 4, 2009: Vancouver MMA Famous Singles Pub Crawl! at Ceilis Irish Pub & restaurant

2009-07-02T22:34:19+00:00

**To confirm your spot for this event you must contact us directly by phone at 1-800-239-0542, via email: info@meetmarketadventures.com or sign up through http://www.meetmarketadventures.com/events/1820/Vancouver-MMA-s-Famous-Downtown-Pub-Crawl.html RSVPing as yes on this site will NOT ensure you space at this event.** No Lines, No Covers, No Driving, No Worries. Yes it's back, Meet Market Adventures brings you Pub Crawl Vancouver! Join us and other Single Party Goers as we crawl by bus to some of the best bars in Vancouver! We will meet at Ceili's Irish Pub at 6:00 where we will have some munchies and get the party started. After jumping on the bus to travel to our next destination, you'll be sure to get to know your newfound crawlers in ways you can't imagine. We'll stop in for another pint at a local watering hole before ending the night dancing at the Cellar on Granville Street. Price includes all covers, no line-ups, interactive icebreaker games, transportation, prizes, guides and lots of cheers! Dress Code: No Runners & T-shirts * When you purchase an event online or by phone, your name will be on a Guest List at the door and you will receive a confirmation by phone from MMA the week of the event. Details are subject to change without notice. "Where Singles & Adventure Meet" http://www.meetmarketadventures.com

Parliamentary Games

2009-07-02T22:03:00+00:00

James Travers lists ten reasons why Parliament no longer serves the people. Among them is what he titles "Dumb and Dumber":Happiness here is reducing complex problems to a bumper sticker. "Do the Crime, Do the Time" resonates, but it doesn't make Canadians safer any more than cutting the GST made us noticeably richer. Keep it simple, stupid, is the rule, not the exception. So stick this on your

friendsoftheubcfarm

2009-07-02T21:49:05+00:00

If you’re already a volunteer, join us at our newest shift: Saturday mornings from 9:30-12:30.

For those of you who want to volunteer but have not yet made it out there are two orientations scheduled in the upcoming weeks. Join us either this Saturday, July 4 from 2-3:30pm or Thursday, July 9 from 10:30-12.

Remember, updated info is always available at our website.

Downtown New West neighbourhood BBQ coming up July 30

2009-07-02T20:52:45+00:00

My 2009 goal of getting more involved in the community is going great. The #NewWest Tweetups have allowed me to meet some of New Westminster’s digital community and heading out to the Royal City Farmers Market gave me the opportunity to mingle with the offline community, as well as get some great local foodstuffs.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have also been helping out with the New Westminster Downtown Residents Association’s Annual Neighbourhood BBQ, so wanted to invite you all to join us Thursday July 30th, especially any fellow downtowners.

Tickets are just $5 and include a meal and some really great family entertainment such as a clown, face painting and live music. We’re even expecting our special entertainment to be the Royal City Rockets, a dog agility team performing “an exhilarating show of canine skill and teamwork”!

I’d personally like to thank the city (in my non-official role as a volunteer) for contributing to the success of the BBQ. With the 150th anniversary of New Westminster this year, there’s lots of fun activities for folks to get out and help celebrate our past and embrace our future and hopefully I’ll see a few of you out at our event as well!

Tickets are available now at Millers Jewellers (548 Columbia Street), Imperial Pharmacy (981 Carnarvon Street), and at Genesis House (219 Carnarvon Street).

No related posts.

Pink Day, Pink Night

2009-07-02T20:17:37+00:00

I looked down at the pile of pills in my pink palm and thought, "Well, at least most of them are the same colour." I placed them, one at a time, on my reptilian tongue and swallowed them with the assistance of the last half of a tall Anarchist ale. The sun was rising on yet another day, it was time to get moving, like a parallelogram. I got in the car beside Sonja, almost belched the pills and the beer on to my lap and aimed the car towards the horse races being held later that day beyond the mountains that rise to the east of Dope City like Michael Jackson's sparkly tombstone.

Sonja looked up from the pornography she would read until we reached our destination and asked, "You sure you don't want me to drive?"

I told her, "If I get arrested, the wheel is yours." There were not many people on the highway. I like it like that. I stepped on the gas and tore into the mountains like Michael Jackson into a vial of opiates.

When the radio stations and their crap faded I asked Sonja to, "Put on the new Iggy cd." If you do not already own a copy of Preliminaires call yourself a fucking asshole every morning you look in the mirror until you do. It is all about fucking, love, death and dogs: the same shit I write about.

There was a semi rolled into the mountainside. The mop up team was mopping up the guts. I thought about death. I thought about love. I thought about fucking. I thought about dogs. Then I stopped thinking at all. A man can only take so much of that thinking stuff.

At the top of the mountain pass, before the town we would descend into to watch the races, we stopped and stretched our legs. We had a couple drinks and talked to the bikers doing the same. I had lots so I asked the bikers, "You fuckers want some pills?" They did not know me but they traded some dope for some pills. I could trade the dope for other shit later. The bikers were going to a fucking Elvis Festival somewhere. They needed all the pills they could muster.

In the town we went to a restaurant for lunch. We would need nourishment to help us reach our final destination. Our destination was right there on the map: Shitface, British Columbia. As I approached a table overlooking the sidewalk the owner rushed up to me repeating the words, "No breakfast!" over and over. I told him, "I don't want any fucking breakfast. Do I look like a breakfast man to you? Get me a fucking beer - No! - get me two fucking beers and a wine for the lady." There are all these rules about food nowadays. No breakfast after 11 is prominent among them. Really, I think everybody should just fuck off.

We ate, we drank, we were starting to feel alright. We listened to a couple locals share their wisdom about women with one another. I think they learned what they know about women from listening to Michael Jackson records. Motherfuck all.

I left a good tip for our waitress. She had the smelliest ass and she kept the drinks coming. She knew about shit I did not know anything about.

The race track began to fill up soon after we got there. There was only beer for sale at the track, no wine. Sonja asked me, "How many beer equal a glass of wine?" I told her, "About two and a half." That's right, isn't it? The horses raced to win. The people raced to get fucking bombed. The people raced better than the horses.

When I was in the can taking a leak a drunk cowboy looked me over quick and said, "Ha! A motherfucking rodeo clown!" I shot back, "I didn't think the owners of Brokeback Mountain Ranch would let their hands come to the fucking races." Luckily the cowboy thought that was funny. He slapped me on the back so appreciatively puke rose to my mouth. I did not let it out.

Back in the beer garden I bought the cowboy a couple glasses and we both went to look for Sonja by the rail. When we found her a biker named Shitty or something was fondling Sonja's ass. The cowboy guzzled his two beer quick and said, "Hey! That's Rodeo Clown's old lady." As the soon as the two of them started tangling I grabbed Sonja's arm and pulled her away before she joined the trouble. Good thing there was an ambulance waiting at the gate of the track. The RCMP watched from a safe distance, dreaming of the good old days when they could bring a good cowboy/biker tussle to an end with their tasers.

One race followed another. I was winning, winning big, I was winning big quinellas. I was drunk, I was a fucking genius, I was a fuck up. I put a lot of money on the 5 in the 8th race. Played him with the 4 in the quinella. I could not lose. The 5 reared in the gate as it opened and shot his jockey into space.

I made it all back on the 1 and the 6 in the quinella in the last race. I was delirious. And soon I was back on the highway.

An hour later my biker dope was gone and I was drinking double Pink Pearls in a Chinese restaurant. My old pal Henrik was trying to buy a winery off a shady Italian. I ordered breakfast and we roared like the Jackson Five into the night.

Rodeo Clown of the Darkness

2009-07-02T20:10:52+00:00

I just write what I write

You know what writers I like

Other day I wrote about

A waitress with a "great ass"

Next day I changed it to "smelliest ass"

Her ass was great and smelly

But it was smellier than it was great

Later I added the bit about the

Biker weed at the end of the story

I thought you may have wondered

What happened to the biker weed

It disappeared into the pink pearl night

Like we all will, from the pink to the black

Rug Pulled from Underneath the Anti-Imperialist Crowd

2009-07-02T19:00:07+00:00

The uprising changes everything.

From Terry Glavin in his Tyee column, “Iran: Whose Side Are We Really On?”:

The uprising changes everything, and not just inside Iran. No matter what happens next, the uprising will cause convulsions in contested fields of struggle from Afghanistan to Palestine.

Already, the spectacle of angry masses thronging the streets of Iranians cities is holding out the promise of a great awakening in “progressive” politics from Berlin to Seattle. In Canada, what was once unspeakable is now unavoidably central to any serious discussion of the Iranian cause and what it demands of us.

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Community housing examined…

2009-07-02T18:57:01+00:00

From the Islands Trust:

ISLANDS TRUST COUNCIL LAUNCHES COMMUNITY HOUSING TASK FORCE

VICTORIA ⎯ The Islands Trust Council has created a new Community Housing Task Force to develop a housing strategy for the Islands Trust Area. Trust Council unanimously approved the task force at its quarterly meeting on North Pender Island June 17-19.

Membership on the task force will be determined by the Local Planning Committee of Trust Council. The task force will have nine months to complete its work.

Trust Council has allocated $15,000 to develop the strategy and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities has provided an additional $10,000 to specifically address seniors’ housing needs.

For the full news release, go here: newsjul022009.pdf

Paradise ~ John Prine

2009-07-02T18:36:00+00:00

The two pictures are of John Prine (fellow musicians) singing Paradise at Red Rocks. While John Prine is singing Paradise, SkunkeyeJan is doing her Paradise wave (geez, almost brings a tear to my eye). The far right photo is Charlene and Mr. Skunkeye.

Photos courtesy of: Brett and Janis Ferguson

Parliamentary Games

2009-07-02T19:25:29+00:00

Does this make me look fat?

2009-07-02T18:25:00+00:00

(Click for full size to see the facial expression.)

rhubarb understory

2009-07-02T17:13:01+00:00

It’s the tail-end of rhubarb season, but there’s still time to cook up a batch of this delicious syrup and be on your way to a refreshing summer drink.

Rhubarb Soda (adapted from culinate.com)
1 1/2 cups rhubarb, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup water
sparkling water or club soda

Simmer the rhubarb, sugar and water in a small saucepan for about 15 minutes, until the rhubarb pieces are very soft and the liquid is pink. Cool the syrup, then strain into a jar. (This syrup can be kept in the fridge for a few weeks.) To complete your soda, simply mix your rhubarb syrup with soda water to taste, then pour over ice.

SLA 2009: Embedded Librarianship

2009-07-02T16:09:47+00:00

At its annual conference from June 14-17, the Special Libraries Association celebrated its first 100 years. (Today, July 2nd, is SLA's official 100th birthday!) As usual, the conference offered many top-notch opportunities for learning and networking, and of course, the chance to explore beautiful, cosmopolitan Washington, DC. Over the next week or so, I'll share my thoughts and notes on some of my favourite sessions.

My first few posts will cover some of formal and informal themes that were evident at the conference. First up...

Embedded Librarianship

While it's been gaining momentum over the last few years, embedded librarianship was definitely one of the more popular topics at this year's conference (I also heard it described as portfolio librarianship and outreach librarianship).

It has no official definition, but the idea is to recognize that librarians can exist outside of, and even without, libraries. Typically, embedded-type librarians are assigned and dedicated to a particular practice group, division, or department. One good description is that they are "members of teams, groups, units — organizations — indistinguishable in status or value to the group from any other members, except for the fact that they bring a unique awareness of the importance of information and knowledge, and skill in applying information and knowledge to improve group performance" (see "What's in a name? Or, is an embedded librarian still a librarian?").

Library folks seem to be excited about embedded librarianship because it offers us a chance to really become a part of a team, and through this, anticipate and identify a team's information needs before, or as, they arise. Personally, I can see this being a much more rewarding way to provide research and reference services - instead of being separate and often overlooked as a resource, you'd be in the thick of things.

How often have we done piles of work on a file (or little bits of work on many files), but never found out what the outcome was? The nature of legal work is so fast-paced that it's impossible to follow up on every piece of research we complete. We all know that feeling of satisfaction when a lawyer tells us that work we did helped to win a case or seal the deal... imagine always knowing exactly how your work contributed to the end product.

It seems to me that a model of embedded librarianship could make work so much more meaningful, and I'm pleased to see it becoming a reality for so many of my colleagues.

Up next: ROI for Special Libraries

Jul 3, 2009: Mark David Gerson, “The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write” at The Balmoral

2009-07-02T14:59:10+00:00

See Mark David Gerson on tour to promote "The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write"

FriendFeed Live Search

2009-07-02T15:18:50+00:00

Testing friendfeed's new live search. If this works, a widget will be embedded below for a live search of my name.

Update: added a boolean 'or' to include my twitter user name.

A Point in Time

2009-07-02T13:08:20+00:00

This post is for Sky Watch the best place to go and see the sky. Please have a look at the other photos there.Returning to my series on Moses Point. Moses Point is a tiny, hidden beach in Sidney. One of those secret hideaways you go to for years and years that always seems to be unchanged and unknown by most of the people that live nearby. A lonely lookout that offers peace and solitude to the

2009-07-02T13:01:11+00:00

Dear Mr. Krog
Dear Mr. Krog!

For those of you who may not have already read this at The Legislature Raids, or BC Mary's place, here is a copy of the letter I sent this morning primarily to Leonard Krog with copies to my local MLA, the MLA who now represents part of my old riding prior to the most recent exercise in gerrymandering, and the Queen of Uselessness herself Carole James. So far the only response has been the instantaneous (before I could get back to my inbox) AUTO-REPLY from Queen Carole. My ALMOST instant reply to that is below the original letter.

The question of the day might be - Who is the Opposition loyal to and what or who do they even OPPOSE?

To those who are supposed to represent ME,

This letter is primarily addressed to Leonard Krog in his capacity as Justice Critic for the Loyal (to whom?) Opposition. The Attorney General of the Gordon Campbell Liberal government is theoretically the peoples' advocate, but it has become apparent that Wally Oppal was more of a personal counsel to Mr. Campbell and I expect the same or worse from Mr. DeJong. Therefore the only person who could possibly represent the "legal" interests of the people of BC, unable to afford to hire their own "personal" representation, must be Mr. Krog.

We citizens of this province are at a disadvantage in even understanding the BC Rail deal and the amazing combination of a Kabuki Play and Ptomkin Village that is the still not underway BC Rail Trial - officially known as HMTQ v. Basi, Basi and Virk. With the ongoing apparent collusion of the RCMP, the Can West/Global exuses for a media, the awesome power of the Public Affairs Bureau (which seems to consist of more and better paid [by us] journalists and media manipulators than the entire press of British Columbia) and the apparent obstruction of justice and refusal to comply with disclosure by the Premier's Office of Gordon Campbell the citizens of British Columbia have little recourse other than to DEMAND that Mr. Krog apply for an injunction to prevent any more transfer of assets to Canadian National until the following has been complied with in regards to the STILL SECRET transfer of BC Rail to CN:

We want you Mr. Krog to immediately ask for an injunction halting the BC Rail secret deal until the following conditions are met:

* open the secret agreement for people to see,
* stop the release of further gifts to CN,
* give people time to study the agreement and decide on the options,
* freeze the agreement until it can be shown that it was legally negotiated, and it is proven that no wrongful criminal acts formed part of the negotiation.
* Insure that CN has itself complied with the terms of the deal applicable to them selves (for example rumor has it that 600 new rail cars were to be provided and have not been)

The current government has been conducting a fire sale of assets to its corporate "friends" for eight years and undoubtably will try to sell off or give away everything left in the next four years. However right now this injunction is the number one priority for an opposition worthy of its name, as it seems that CN will receive more goodies like miles of water front real estate from North Vancouver to Squamish for a DOLLAR and also be free of accountability for their pitiful operation of the railroad itself and possible failure to live up to the terms of the deal.

Perhaps these are just rumors - MAKING THE DEAL PUBLIC WOULD CLEAR THIS UP! If Mr. Campbell continues to refuse to share with his constituents the terms of this supposedly wonderful deal for BC, one can only surmise that there are reasons why!

I live in solid NDP territory both federally and locally, but even here more and more life time NDP members are considering another political alternative that isn't the BC Liberals, Greens or the current version of the NDP. This is not a threat, it is just the reality and a sign of the disappointment we have suffered as a result of watching Gordon Campbell spend eight years destroying what was truly once the "Best Place on Earth" with hardly a question from the opposition since it grew larger than just Jenny and Joy!

I beg you to remember where you come from, remember Tommy Douglas and Dave Barrett and STAND UP FOR THE PEOPLE OF BC and STOP ANY FURTHER TRANSFERS OF ASSETS TO CN BY THE ONLY MEANS WE CAN THINK OF - A TEMPORARY INJUNCTION UNTIL AT LEAST THE CONDITIONS LISTED ABOVE ARE MET!

Injunctions are not only meant to be used against the people and their interests in the common good!

Canada under Harper and BC suffering under Campbell are like the last standing stubborn remnants of a now almost totally discredited world view represented by Thatcherism, Reaganism, Pinochet and such and if anyone should see this and fight against it, one would expect it to be the party descended from the CCF and Tommy Douglas - remember who your party is (or was) supposed to be and whom it IS supposed to represent, PLEASE!

KootCoot
of the House of Infamy
http://houseofinfamy.blogspot.com/

On Jul 2, 2009, at 1:19 PM, master troll wrote:

Carole,

AUTO-REPLY isn't good enough - you and your party have to DO SOMETHING about this outrage known as the Super Secret BC Rail Giveaway NOW!

KootCoot

Emma Wood to Recap SLA 2009

2009-07-02T12:22:44+00:00

I didn't get to attend SLA 2009, but fortunate for VLLB readers, our friend & stemployee Emma Wood did!

And... as any evil employer (got the laugh down, working on the costume...) would, I've had her slaving over her thoughts for a series of blog posts. Those will be delivered here on the VLLB over the next week.

Watch out for the first post later today!

Movieboob #14 : Confessions Trek Bucket Weddings

2009-07-02T12:11:02+00:00

Years ago as a member of Spymac, I created a forum called Movieboob to talk about my love of movies with other movie lovers at the Apple related site. I thought it would be fun to add that element to The Love Blog.

*Rating out of 10 is the rating I gave the movie on my IMDb account. If you have an account on IMDb you can view my ratings list here.

Star Trek (Rating 9/10) Okay I am a Trek fan, and this movie was brilliant. The only flaw, the running in the halls scenes. Everything else was great, even the plot of an alternative time line worked. The casting was bang on. The acting bang on. The action super. Cheers to JJ Abrams. I can watch this over and over and over.

Australia (Rating 5/10) This movie is WAY too damn long (almost 3 hours). It feels like 2 movies, the first ends when they load the cattle on the ship, the second drags on the war story. Nicole Kidman is so stiff and unreal, I just never believe her character. As yummy as Hugh Jackman is, his character is dull. Only the kid was interesting.

Confessions of a Shopaholic (Rating 5/10) is a cute waste of time. I can not relate to the shopping bug, but I find her character's ironic job and story line cute, and Hugh Dancy is easy on the eyes (in the movies, not real life)... and he is engaged a skeleton.

I couldn't remember where I'd seen Isla Fisher before so I looked her up, and discovered that she has been in a few good comedies like...

Wedding Crashers (Rating 6/10) which is a standard goof ball slap-stick comedy about two friends (Owen Wilson & Vince Vaughn) who crash weddings, and accidentally find love at one. Isla Fisher is the kooky woman Vaugh falls for, and she is really good in that role too.

Then she was also in... Definitely, Maybe (Rating 7/10) which I only saw recently. I liked that movie, it is a nice tale of a father telling his daughter the story of his dating life and his true love.

Bucket List (Rating 7/10) Jack Nicholson is Edward Cole and Morgan Freeman is Carter Chambers. They end up in the same hospital room dying of cancer. Edward happens to own the hospital, and decides that Carter's "Bucket List" is something they have to go do, but do it Edward style. It's cute.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Rating 5/10) was a long movie, that really had little point other than to watch the special effects of making Brad Pitt's character age backward. I thought it was boring, but it had a few good parts, and the special effects were well done, and interesting. Doubt I'd watch it a second time though.

The Illusionist (Rating 7/10) was an interesting story. I liked it, even if it lagged a little. I normally don't like Edward Norton's acting, but his emotionless character in this movie suited his acting ability. I'd recommend it, but not if you were tired, as it might not keep you up, as there is little excitement or intrigue to keep you enthralled.

Vatican to Probe US Nunneries

2009-07-02T11:45:57+00:00

Over the past three decades, the number of nuns in the US has dropped from 180,000 to 60,000. So what does the Vatican decide to do about this? Investigate orders that have adopted a modern lifestyle, including allowing nuns to wear regular garb and engage in professions previously taboo.The Vatican is quietly conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has

The Problem with Honduras

2009-07-02T11:12:45+00:00

So who is Manuel Zelaya? Overthrown President? A Wannabe Dictator? Legitimately gotten rid of? Flunky of Hugo Chavez? Or darling of the international community?

Persopolis 2.0

2009-07-02T11:03:09+00:00

Based on Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel Persopolis. Spread the word.

2009-07-02T10:51:55+00:00

Moon, 2009

Look at my thrift store finds

2009-07-02T10:50:25+00:00

I went into Houston last week for my chiropractors appointment and as always I took time to browse the thrift store.

These are a brand new pair of jeans $5, size 10 can you believe, I almost passed them by but thought they looked too big for a 10 so tried them on and they fit perfectly. They must be sized incorrectly and someone bought them without trying them on and that is how they ended in the thrift store.

The other is a little cardigan style jacket made in ribbed T-shirt material almost brand new for $3. That is sized M which could be correct at a stretch. Get it! Ha Ha

I have to try everything on these days but an outfit for $8 is worth it. I will wear it with a short ribbed T-shirt under the jacket.

Now I will have to create some dangly earrings to go with it. Possibly a necklace but I rarely wear them. I never wear rings either not even my wedding ring. They just seem to get in my way.

Aug 3, 2009: Joy For Life at The Ocean Resort

2009-07-02T09:40:44+00:00

Joy For Life Retreat will take place at The Ocean Resort, located on the East Coast of Vancouver Island. To reserve hotel space at a special rate, please contact the Ocean Resort at 250-923-4281 or 877-561-3425 or email: marionann@oceanresort.ca Spaces limited to 50 participants. Retreat starts Monday 8-3 at 12pm and concludes Sunday 8-9 at 1pm. For more information email us at Victoria@RawFamily.com or call 541-552-0966

Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.59

2009-07-02T08:33:54+00:00

When the weather is hot ...the modeling is cold!

Yes, it's summertime; and in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada where I live it is hot. I always will call Hawaii 'Paradise No.1' after living there for 13 years ...but this valley is definitely 'No.2'. The mountains, valleys and lake views are gorgeous. The orchards and vineyards are green, and the deep red cherries are ripening.

Mornings are typically spent buying groceries, picking up needed supplies, banking, the post office, inside household chores, and outside gardening etc.

Also we have two very playful, and 'dying for exercise', one year old Labrador Retrievers who in the early afternoon anxiously await a trip to the local dog park, or the dog beach.

Well, who has time for modeling in the summer?

I figured, if I can make time for a TV show, to surf the web etc., then I can squeeze a little time for my hobby and art passion.

I mentioned in my Blog No.51 and No.53 that I had completed the renovation of a small lower patio area, with no view, into a cozy little hobby shop room with a few tools, and a homemade spray booth for spraying scale models. Well, I was anxious to try the spray booth, so I've been busy priming and base painting a few unpainted models that have been sitting for a while. It works great with most of the paint fumes exiting to the outside.

The above photo shows some of the Scopedog figures that I am in the process of priming and base painting, along with many other small models. In Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.36 I blogged in detail about Votoms Scopedogs.

******

In the next couple of blogs I will detail my base creation and the detail painting of AMT Ertl's #30067 Alpha Moonbase from Space 1999, Star War's Battle of Hoth Diorama, and Aurora's Godzilla and Rodan models.

dj brad, moontribe

2009-07-02T07:30:23+00:00

dj brad, moontribe

American Robin

2009-07-02T07:23:00+00:00

One of the earliest birds to arrive in Spring is the robin. It's a sign that summer isn't far away and a welcome sight. Now that it's summer, our visiting robin is all settled in.

She flits around the float and rock wall looking for tasty morsels. She especially enjoys foraging in my float garden for bugs and worms. I hate to lose any of my worms, but she is welcome to the bugs one and all.

The American Robin comes to vacation in Canada after winter is done and the weather starts to warm up. The robin is easily identified by its reddish-orange breast (Robin Redbreast), yellow beak and cheery song. I usually awaken (briefly) at dawn to her melodious song.

The robin's diet includes, of course, worms, other insects and even some snails. I wish she liked slugs, I've got more of those in my garden than I can count. Another favourite is fruit. When I go out to pick my strawberries there are always a few that have been eaten, leaving only a hollowed out shell. That's a small price for all the free bug eradication. -- Margy

Jul 25, 2009: Intro to Unity 3D Workshop at Centre for Digital Media

2009-07-02T05:27:09+00:00

More details to follow.

Michelangelo signed fresco with self-portrait

2009-07-02T05:25:19+00:00

From the Telegraph: Michelangelo signed fresco with self-portrait.

Restorers claim that a bearded man wearing a blue turban in the Crucifixion of St Peter bears a striking resemblance to portraits and bronze busts of the artist.

It’s an extraordinary and moving discovery, said the Vatican’s chief restorer, Maurizio De Luca. The self-portrait is one of three knights on the left-hand top corner of the fresco who wears a lapis lazuli blue turban. His features are very similar to other known portraits of Michelangelo. [continue]

Greek Summer Festival 2009

2009-07-02T05:00:34+00:00

Suanne and I were invited by Amir, the Executive Director of the Greek Summer Festival, to the event to experience Living A Day The Greek Way. Suanne and I had been having way too many invites these days but this was one event we could not turn down because we felt we had so much to learn.

We met Amir and to our surprise, he had actually gotten the people behind the event together so that we could meet them. Never in our imagination how much history there are behind this annual event.

The Greek Summer Festival had started as a one day event 23 years ago organized by the Greek Orthordox Community of East Vancouver. The event’s main goal is to raise funds (this year they partner with Make a Wish Foundation) and to introduce to Vancouver the richness of Greek culture, traditions and FOOD!

They told us how this one day event grew from one-day event to an event that spans two weekends around Canada Day. This year’s event runs from June 26th to July5th.

George Economous was our host of the evening who was gracious enough to spend two hours that day to bring us around the place and showed us the event behind the scene. He he he … Suanne and I felt like we were on a guided tour of Greece! We were so intrigued by the stories we are hearing we decided to learn more before digging in to the food. But since this is a food blog, I gonna share with you the most important aspect of this festival … FOOD … especially …

… LAMBS. If there is only one thing we came away impressed, it was the lamb. Being Chinese who generally finds lamb gamey, we ended up thinking of lamb in a much different light.

The Greek Summer Festival sold a whopping 465 lambs within 10 days in the festival last year. This year, they are on track to break last year’s count and I am not going to be surprised. We met George “The Real Boss” (the person above is George “the Host”). George “the Real Boss” is the man behind these lambs since the inception of the Greek Summer Festival. Boy, he sure has lots of stories to tell and BBQ burn scars to show too!!

They used to do this by hand and using charcoal but today they have a whole row of rotisseries imported from Greece that slowly cooks this. It takes four hours of slow cooking to make each. They use the very best New Zealand lamb because of the tenderness of the meat and of the consistent size. They tried to use local lambs but gave up because it was best only during Easter period.

They used to chop the lamb piece by hand. It is impossible to keep up with the demands that they had introduced new ways and machines to do the job better and faster.

Many people actually come to the Greek Summer Festival only for their lambs. People would drop by the festival on their way home to pick the lambs on the spit up by the kilo ($32) or half-kilo ($16).

Some people even order the whole lamb. That is $185 and is more than enough for 20 people. They will cut it to your choice. Sometimes there are customers who comes in a group and order an entire lamb to feast at the festival. That would be fun!

This is what Suanne and I had — the Lamb Dinner, Bone-In. This is wonderful … perfecto in every aspect.
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Greek Summer Festival 2009 (807 words)

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Jul 24, 2009: UNITY 3D: “The Future of Web and Mobile Gaming” at District 319

2009-07-02T04:47:37+00:00

To kick off the launch of the Vancouver Unity Users Group, dimeRocker.com in partnership with Unity Technologies invites all local game, web and iPhone developers to a premiere industry event showcasing Unity 3D.

The event will be framed within a "web-ready" context, exploring how tools like Unity 3D, in combination with a new breed of social gaming hives are enabling developers to create, market, and monetize high-quality content for a growing audience of online and mobile casual-core gamers.

Ticket price includes your first drink and some light appetizers.
A Unity Skills Workshop will be held the following day, Saturday, July 25th at the Centre for Digital Media details to be announced.

This is the second event in the Bootup Entrepreneurial Society's (BES) series of International Mentor Program (IMP) series of events. We will be hosting a number of entrepreneurial mentors from the digital media industry, stay tuned for future events.

Busy waterway

2009-07-02T03:41:00+00:00

We found ourselves in East Vancouver, errands completed for the day, and the sun still blazing; I had a hankering for air, green space, quiet, preferably with a beach. We consulted the map. Burrard View Park was just a few blocks down the hill, New Brighton Park a short drive to the east, by the water.

Burrard View Park was a square of dry grass, with scattered trees.

Burrard View Park

But it lived up to its name; we could see the inlet.

Second Narrows Bridge*.

Burrard Inlet cuts almost straight east, starting from Point Grey at the west end of Vancouver and reaching to Port Moody, 25 kilometres inland. It is deep enough for large ocean-going ships, even close to shore. As a result, much of the shoreline is industrialized.

The inlet is constricted in two places, appropriately named the First Narrows and the Second Narrows; the space in between these widens out, making a protected port area. The Lions' Gate Bridge crosses the First Narrows.

*The bridge over the Second Narrows was originally named the Second Narrows Bridge (unimaginatively, but accurately), but in 1994 the bureaucrats in the provincial government renamed it the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing in honor of 19 workers who died during its construction in 1958. The thought was kind, but the name was belated and wordy; we still call it the Second Narrows Bridge.

Getting back to Burrard View Park; from there we could see North Vancouver on the far shore, and above them, the twin peaks we call the Lions. To the west, the Lions' Gate Bridge is faintly visible, as are two piles of sulphur waiting for shipment. (Vancouver exports 5 million tons of sulphur annually.)

The Lions, above all.

Sulphur piles.

Directly below us, a sailboat made its way up the inlet, between storage facilities and loading equipment. The long grey roof behind it is part of Lynnterm Terminal, which handles forest products, steel and "break bulk".

Ocean of luck, Panama. A grain carrier.

Saga Horizon, general cargo, woodchips, etc.

There was no way down to the shore from here, so we went on to New Brighton Park. It was another expanse of brown mowed grass, with even fewer trees. But there were kites:

Dragonfly kite, over the Lions.

Brown grass.

And more industry: New Brighton is almost in the shadow of the Second Narrows Bridge, separated from it by Viterra grain elevators and loading facilities, only a few metres from the playing field.

The Benefactor, Panama

Viterra, with pigeons.

Across the fields, we found a pocket-handkerchief beach.

Water-level view of Burrard Inlet.

The wind blew off the water, waves lapped at the stones. Beside a log, a man sat carving a piece of driftwood. Yesterday's dog came and went. We watched a tug hauling an empty barge downstream.

And a pair of white-winged scoters dove for fish.

Ahhh! That's what we were looking for!

beavers, maple syrup, geese, and tim horton’s: five haiku for canada’s 142nd birthday.

2009-07-02T03:31:14+00:00

hockey is our sport strange, burnt coffee is our drink one out of two ain't bad, tim. it's not that cold here but staying warm is easy your igloo or mine? beavers and geese are our national mascots both fat and crabby. we share our talent our artists know no borders keep celine dion! we're chill patriots but don't mock our accents, please or ...