The ideal Vancouver neighbourhood

The roommates and I went on an epic grocery run last weekend. Grocery shopping is extremely inconvenient living on campus since the closest grocery store (a 10 minute walk away) is small, doesn't carry some basic items (being a Chinese grocer they are probably not basic to Chinese cuisine) and is quite expensive. We decided to pool our resources, spring for a cab, and load up! And did we ever load up. We had to wheel the buggies (yes, there was more than one by the end) right to the cab, and had to make two trips up to our apartment with all the bags. I honestly think I'm good for another couple of weeks except for milk.

This has been just another occasion to reflect on the ideal place to live in Vancouver. It is a difficult question, one I have spent a lot of time considering and have not come to a satisfactory answer. There are just so many great neighbourhoods to choose from, and no clear winner. Considering I'll be at UBC next year, I don't want to be too far away. Then again, I may only have to be on campus two or three days a week, so perhaps I wouldn't mind the commute if I was living in a fantastic neighbourhood (ie Commercial or Main). Kitsilano is great because it is both close to UBC and has all the amenities (including a plethora of specialty shops for the family pet), but is kind of yuppie and more expensive. Then there's the West End. I don't know much about this area yet, but a few people I know who live there love it. It's close to downtown, Stanley Park and the ocean, isn't too far from UBC, and you don't have to contend with line-ups for the B-line (bus that is always full) to get to campus in the morning.

This neighbourhood dilemma causes me to consider what I value in a place to live. In reality, there are many things I value, and weighing the pros and cons isn't an easy thing. I value not commuting, and I value living in a vibrant community and within easy walking distance to lots of services (groceries, coffee shops, pubs, etc). It may not be possible to find a neighbourhood in Vancouver that fully satisfies both of these values. There are other things too. I have a sweeping view of the sky and mountains over the treetops right now (am on the 5th floor) and I love this. It will be difficult to give up when I move. Do I value a great neighbourhood over this view? Would I trade it for a basement? Clearly I am avoiding the dozens of pages of reading I must do tonight in order to write this novel on neighbourhood choice, but I think it is something that everyone deals with to some extent or another in their lives. It is interesting to me how different people's values are when it comes to housing. Some value peace and safety over a vibrant community. I tend to think of these areas as boring and would be annoyed that there is nowhere interesting within walking distance, but I shouldn't judge.

What I am interested in is hearing what you value in a neighbourhood. I'm soliciting opinions on the subject. Consider this a sneaky way to get people to post comments, or a study for my education in planning, it doesn't matter. Just tell me what you think! It might be fun!

Yee Haw!

Saturday was the Country Western Fair, which meant silly games (such as cow milking, bingo, mini-golf, a hat-toss, penny-toss, etc), cheap drinks, and lots of fun!

I think the pictures will tell the story...

Captn' Court is back. Yarr.

Once again I whipped out the old pirate costume and trotted off to celebrate Halloween. Yes, I am too old to Trick-or-Treat, but I was Trick-or-EATing. That's a catchy little way to say I was knocking on people's doors asking for donations to the food bank. This means that I didn't have time to finish my readings for today before I fell asleep, but I think it was a good cause. And hey, any excuse to be "Captn' Court".




I think it was a rather successful venture, with tonnes of UBC students knocking on the doors of West Van-ers and filling up this pickup truck.

Buen viaje, Jenny!

Pictured here is Jenny on the bus from Antigua to El Salvador, I believe, eating melted chocolate with little cookies that look kind of like dog bones. Not only was she insistent that none be wasted, she was also sharing these "smores" with us. Just one example of what a great gal she is.

And this great gal is off on yet another latin adventure to hablar espanol, comer pollo y frijoles y las tortillas de maiz, and have a wonderful time! This time she's going to Equador and I wish her safe travels and amazing experiences!

Just a little close up on the chocolate... This is where hand sanitizer doesn't quite do the trick.

We made wine!

Here are Jennifer and Heather cracking open our first bottle of wine. We bottled it yesterday, and this was the last bottle, the one that wasn't full so we had to drink it right away.

Notice the dolley that Heather is leaning on. This is how we got three cases of wine home on the bus. It was quite eventful! The driver lowered the wheelchair ramp for us and laughed about the great party we were going to have.

We made the cheap wine that doesn't have to age very long so come over about 3 weeks from now and we'll crack a bottle.

Eagle Update

Today they are perched higher in the tree. What could this mean? Lisa thinks the male should be called "Flinx". What do you think?

When I am not taking pictures of eagles and spying at them through my binoculars, I am reading about the catastrophic fate of humanity. Well, today anyway. If you don't know how to grow vegetables or hunt wildlife, you should consider developing these skills before it is too late.

Welcome to my neighbourhood

I would like to introduce you to my two new friends. They are a couple, which is unfortunate because I kind of feel like the third wheel sometimes, but when you're new to the neighbourhood you can't be too picky. Okay, so they're not really my friends because they probably don't know I exist, since they are bald eagles and we don't really interact on a personal level, but I absolutely love the fact that they are here. I sit at my comptuer and all I need to do is turn my head less than 90 degrees, and I see what I have reproduced for you in this picture. Every couple of days my study schedule coincides with their perching schedule, and I am reminded of the natural world around me, and that we all are a part of. The red circle is not actually visible from my window, but I drew it around the eagles so that you could pick them out. I have my binoculars at the ready to get a closer look. I hope you don't think I'm being too voyeristic. I considered naming them but then I remembered Sheena's interpretive talk in Lake Louise about why the researchers don't give the grizzley bears human names, and thought maybe I shouldn't. I will ponder that some more and for now they can be "The Eagles".

Got Feed

Check it out, you can now get RSS feed for my blog. It's on the sidebar. Let me know if it works for you.

A new leaf

My dieffenbachia has a new leaf! It came back from the brink of death over the last year and was carefully nursed by Megan this summer. Over the past few days I have watched a new leaf slowly uncurl, and today was the big day. There is another that should be out within the week. Exciting times around here! 

Do you need to procrastinate?

If you're a student like me, chances are good that you will enjoy this small diversion to take your mind off the books.

Room with a view

I don't have the ocean view I was crossing my fingers for, but this is pretty nice. If you turn your head to the right a bit, you can see mountains that will soon be capped with snow. Picture forthcoming.

The air had that autumn nip in it today, and it drizzled on me this morning while I was jogging. Maybe I'll start wearing some of my sweaters soon. I don't know about you, but I think I'd miss the seasons if we were in perpetual summer. And it's not just because I like to wear sweaters.

Seasons are cycles, and our bodies are governed by and subject to many cycles we probably aren't aware of. I think some cycle is at work with me right now that is causing me to become a bit of a night owl. It's after midnight and I just wrapped up the studying. I'm not even working to a deadline or cramming for an exam, just reading about planning theory. I wonder if my hair will spontaneously go curly one day.

Ever heard of the Faroe Islands?

Between Scotland, Iceland and Norway, these islands are technically part of Denmark, but they have their own language (faroese...what a surprise) and flag. Basically, they look beautiful and interesting and I only heard about them today when I flipped on the TV for 5 minutes and there was a story about them on the European news special (oh yes, we get all the channels). So of course I want to go. Who would like to join me? How about...Gwyn! You live practically next door. I'll come and visit you and we'll go there together. Who else is on board?

Coca is not the same as cocaine

Special news flash...This just in from Bolivian president Evo Morales... "coca is no the same as cocaine". So would the developed world (psuedonym for the US) please stop trying to make this plant illegal? And would you also please admit that arial spraying of coca crops in Columbia has done nothing to control the cocaine problem in the US, and was seriously detrimental to the health and livelihood of rural and indigenous families? Yes, cocaine addiction is a serious problem, but there are better, more ethical ways to deal with it. Why does the international community think that dealing with the drug problem in the developed world is more important than the traditions, livelihoods and cultures of Latin America?

And the award goes to...

Yesterday was Talk Like a Pirate Day, so I hope all ye matey's shivered yer timbers, walked the plank and drank some grog to celebrate.

Today has also been a good day because a Geological Survey of Canada employee was reinstated after being fired for refusing to call Stephen Harper's government "Canada's New Government" in official documents. He mouthed off the ministry in an email, because he was mad that supposedly unbiased civil servants were being asked to adopt government slogans. I agree, this seems wrong. Kudos to you, dude!

Kudos also to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez for calling good old George W "the Devil" at the UN General Assembly today, accusing the US of "domination, exploitation, and pillages of peoples of the world". Smart man or foolish man? Will there shortly be a military coup in Venezuala run by an army trained in secret by the US government for the sole purpose of overthrowing Chavez?

And the "you suck" award of the week (please give suggestions for a better term than "you suck") goes to the World Health Organization who wants to start using DDT again to fight malaria in Africa. Okay, Einsteins, need we remind you of why DDT was banned in the 1970's and is one of the most persistent pollutants humans have made, and that it may cause cancer? Let me also tell you that mosquitoes have developed resistances to DDT, so that we need to give them higher doses in order to kill them. We are producing super-mosquitoes by using DDT. This not really a complicated concept. Let me explain. If you were to broadcast spray DDT in a mosquito infested area, at a certain dose, most would die, but a few would survive. These few to survive would be the ones most able to handle DDT. This is the idea of the survival of the fittest. Imagine this continuing for many mosquito generations and you can see how easily a super-mosquito species would develop (after a certain length of time they also start carrying around little tiny semi-automatic rifles and ambushing anthills. It's very brutal.) Lets think of some long term solutions here guys. Come on.

Dragon beard candy and the stick-on-bra

Here are my feet in Grandview Park on Commercial Drive this weekend. The picture was taken post-afternoon nap in the sun. Christine and I were quite worn out from apartment hunting in Burnaby, and were sleepy from our delicious luch at Cafe deux Sol. Christine is starting a job in Burnaby at the beginning of next month, and she found a beautiful basement suite moments from the skytrain station (important information for me, because it means I can come and visit her easily).

We sat at the very front of the skytrain like dorks, and pretended we were on a roller coaster. I maintain the hypothesis that very soon, when I have become more familiar with Vancouver, I will look back on these early days and wonder at the amusement I got from riding public transit.

In the evening we phoned up Ali, ate some delicious supper with strawberry wine, and went to the Richmond Night Market. Going to the market was kind of like travelling to another part of the world. Almost all of the vendors were Asian, and they are selling a plethora of household goods, some useful, like shoes or tea, and others questionably useful, such as swords and costumes for your pet dog. Not the kind of market we are traditionally used to seeing in Canada. The most surprising item for sale was the stick on bra, which Christine is inspecting in the picture. There were at least 3 stalls selling these bras, and the sales women insisted that they were very popular and wonderful.

Also at the market we watched a peanut-catching-in-mouth contest on the stage, and ate dragon beard candy. It is an ancient chinese candy that is traditionally only eaten by the emperor. Its fine, sugary strands are rolled up into a ball with roasted almonds inside. We discovered that it's best to put the whole thing in your mouth at once or you get a mess of sugary powder and nuts down the front of your shirt.

Oh, and I did a bit of school work this weekend. Just a bit.

Light Fixture Engineering

Today I stumbled upon a shop that sold a plethora of lamps like this one, exactly what I've been looking for for my bedroom. I'm not allowed to hammer or screw anything into the walls or ceiling, so I had to engineer a hanger for this lamp. I am really quite proud of it, so I decided to post it on the web. I used a coat hanger and have attached it to the wall using sticky hooks bought at Staples that are supposed to be for keeping electrical cords tidy.

And to think all this talent is being wasted at grad school.

Vancouver by bus, boat and train

After being here for almost a week, I left campus today for the first time without a tour guide. The goal was to demystify the city and the public transit system. My new roommate Jen, friend Ali and I (all new to the city) hopped on the bus and spent the day being clueless tourists.

For me I think the highlights were lunch and taking pictures of my feet. We went to the "Homer Cafe" at Homer and Smithe, a cheap diner with Chinese and western food that was written up in the Vancouver Sun. They had the article pasted to the window that raved about the Denver omelete, which of course I had.

Lunch was after our tour of Yaletown (pretty buildings and overpriced cafes) and before we wandered down to Gastown via a couple funky consignment stores. From there we got on the Seabus for no particular reason but just because we could. We set off across Burrard Inlet surrounded by cruise ships and massive barges. In fact on the way back we had to change course to go around one of these barges. After consulting the map we realize that the Seabus lands right at Lonsdale Quay, so the voyage wasn't completely pointless after all. We wandered around there for a few minutes, talked with a very energetic and friendly woman who was selling toques that she designs and knits, bought ice cream, and got back on the Seabus.

Still rather excited to explore more of the city, we hopped on the Skytrain. This time there really was no point besides being on the Skytrain. We rode it to Broadway and Commercial, then got on the B-Line bus back to campus. Enroute we stopped in Kitsilano to go to a tea store we'd heard about, walked several blocks to check out the shops, then got back on the bus.

All in all it was a very successful day. I feel much less intimidated by the size of Vancouver, although I am still a bit in shock being in the big city. After a summer in Ucluelet it's quite a change, and it's really much, much bigger, and busier than Victoria.

Hat Trick

Here I am in Ucluelet, BC, in the middle of another amazing summer as a sea kayak guide. Between the gorgeous sandy beaches from here to Tofino and the Broken Group Islands where I guide, I think I am pretty much in one of the most beautiful places imaginable.

Yesterday I had the whale show of a lifetime. Kevin, another guide, and I were taking a group of 7 on a Broken Islands day trip. We and the kayaks were loaded on Gary's boat, Ms Judy, and we were looking for whales enroute. It is quite common to see gray whales and only a bit less common to see humpbacks. Yesterday, however, we saw orcas for only my second time out here. There were four of them headed for a group of rocks where seals were sunning themselves. They swam around there for about 15 minutes, and I was pretty sure they were having a bit of a meal. As they swam away from the reef they started lob-tailing, which means they were slapping their tails on the water. Then they all started to breach multiple times! It was really amazing; I was literally shouting with delight. The unfortunate thing was that my camera battery was dead by they time they started doing these amazing things, so I only have some mediocre pictures of when they were swimming around the reef.

Just as the other whale watching boats were showing up the orcas seemed to finish their celebration and started to head offshore. At this point we left them and headed straight for the drop off beach, when we encountered a humpback whale in our path, who then swam only about 2 metres from the boat. So it was a hat trick, all three whale species in an hour. Really quite amazing.

It continued to be a top-notch day trip. The wind was calm, air was warm, and it was low tide so we were able to see lots of intertidal life. Sometimes the smallest things in the sea can be just as amazing as the largest, and we saw the whole range today. I honestly never get tired of being out on the ocean. I'm not tired of watching whales yet, and I'm not tired of looking at sea stars. Nothing is ever the same on the ocean. The more time I spend out here and the more familiar I become with my surroundings, the more layers of life are revealed.

A Friendly Face

Here's a little bit of what I'm interested in these days...

"Numerous studies in fields ranging from social psychology to magazine cover design have proved that nothing grabs people's attention more than other people, especially other people's faces. We are hard-wired with a desire for congenial places to gather. That's why it's particularly surprising how much we overlook the importance of public places today."
http://www.pottstownmercury.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16107485&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=18041&rfi=6

And how about this:

"In 1930, the United States had 262,000 school buildings. Today, there are 90,000. Sometimes called "sprawl schools," these facilities then require more bussing and more car trips, because the school is now too far away for students to walk or ride their bikes. This is an added factor in the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic -- one in three American children are overweight, and the additional car trips increase auto emissions, increasing air pollution."
http://www.alternet.org/story/31951/

Slaphappy Nonsense

The underemployed geographer and kayak guide is soon to be unemployed and on the move. A trip to Central America is in the works...only 2.5 weeks away! Pretty soon I'll be relaxing in the sun, snorkeling, scuba diving, hiking in the jungle, and hanging out with Jenny. And the bakery will be without their sales team leader and will have to look for someone else to work their way up to sales manager. I am sad to have let them down, but this is definitely the right thing for me.

So I have been perusing the multitude of guidebooks that I borrowed from the library, and came across some useful, if not hilarious advice about handshakes in Belize. I can't even try to paraphrase, so here it is in its entiriety (minus the diagrams, so you'll have to use your imagination)

"The Beliezean handshake comes in a bewildering variety of forms and, unless you're meeting your bank manager, may not even closely resemble what you are accustomed to.

"The foundation of all streetside hand-based greetings in Belize is the gentle horizontal fist punch, as used by many sporting celebrities mid-game. This one is particularly effective if you meet someone on the street who wants to shake your hand, but you don't want to commit emotionally. Give them a tap, they'll be happy and you can be on your way. The puch on its own is also quite acceptable for gretting people who you already know, and for farewelling people who you've been talking to for a while. It's a casual gesture that implies familiarity.

"From here things start to get complicated. Many Belizeans shake hands in the soul-brother, thumbs upward style, but convert their shake for tourists to the more conventional thumbs downward, meeting-your-girlfriend's-father style. It takes a keen eye to glean what your shake partner has in mind, and a certain speed of reflex to adjust to changing conditions.

"However you start, this will not be the end. From the initail shake, there is often a slide into the monkey grip, grabbing fingertips posture. Pressure here should be firm, but not hard. Make sure your nails are properly trimmed before attempting this.

"From here all sorts of slaphappy nonsense can ensue, but a perfectly legitimate maneuver at this point is to segue into the gentle punch (see step 1), and once that's completed, you can actually start the conversation."