End Of August

A dandelion backlit by the sun


I find it hard to believe August is ending already. It's been a very interesting and enlightening summer for both Kathryn and myself. We didn't go on any trips or had a 'vacation' per se, but both of us has had a bit of time to reflect and do some self-discovery. Overall I think it was really quite a positive and fruitful time. Kathryn's plans on pursuing music has been set to a new trajectory: to healthcare/psychology/wellness, which I think would give her a fair bit of personal satisfaction. I'm now considering exploring this photography thing a bit more seriously and have signed into a program that can be an entry to becoming professional.

I don't mind fall at all. It's a great time to get started on making new ideas and plans actually start happening. Besides, it's also a good time to go do some clothes shopping...

Cherries: Revisited

Rainier Cherries

This is from a little photo study I did 2 weeks ago on cherries and lighting. Unfortunately my photos are all that's left of the BC cherry season until next year.

Yesterday we had dinner at my sister Elaine and her boyfriend Paul's place. It was quite a bit of fun, although I may have had a bit more wine and beer than I should have, for a Tuesday night. In the end I managed to get to work on time today and actually be reasonably productive, so it's all good...

Baby Strollers Galore!

A Stroller Thief's Dream

This is the scene at the Pacific Coliseum during the PNE's Superdogs. A large section of the entrance was roped off so parents can take their kids to see the free show while leaving their strollers behind.

Finally!

Bart

So I FINALLY got the time to update this blog a bit better than simply entering holding posts, which is what I've done since Friday. So now there's a photo posted for each day I missed. I don't think it's cheating to update my weekend posts with photos, considering the idea of this blog is more about a daily (or approximation thereabouts) photo, than as a strict journal-type blog.

Anyway, it was a relatively busy weekend, but it was fun. It certainly went by too quickly. On Friday Kathryn got a 2 for 1 coupon for a restaurant we've been to once before called Burger Heaven. Quite good. Saturday we setup a stall to sell some of our excess stuff at a community flea market. It was actually my mom's stall, but we sort of ended up taking it over. She didn't seem to mind too much. Also on Saturday We went out to have dinner at the Curry King restaurant with Kathryn's older brother Michael and his wife Alicia. A good time all around. And on Sunday we took my mom to the PNE, then afterward went to Las Margarita's for dinner.

The PNE

Peter The Great: an exceptionally large bovine hanging around Vancouver's Pacific National Exhibition, aka The PNE.

An annual fair that runs for 3 weeks toward the end of summer, the PNE has a history going back 96 years. It, along with the adjacent sister fair, Playland, is home to all manner of exhibits, shows, markets, food vendors, rides, games, and gimmicks. The agricultural and livestock exhibition is one of the original attractions, although the show barns occupy just a corner of the overall fair, and is easy to be overlooked from the rest of the goings-on.

Sunflower

A sunflower in my parent's backyard.

Outside The Library

Here is my wife just exiting the library.

Pluto

This is a photo of the art-deco entry to the venerable Burrard St Bridge.

Let's feel for Pluto. After 76 years being part of the planetary family, it has been just kicked out. It has just been demoted from being considered a full-out planet, and is now classified as another large object in the Kuiper belt in the outer regions of the solar system. Poor Pluto.

You can read more about Pluto's ignominous fate here:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/08/24/pluto.ap/index.html

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=c8eaf4c7-557f-451f-9c4c-34911ff53309&k=21787

VPL

The Main Branch of the Vancouver Public Library

This is the central branch for the Vancouver Public Library. Inspired by Rome's Coliseum, the design won out in a public vote as to what the new library would look like. It's rather controversial, with some seeing it simply as an ugly monstrosity and others don't understand how a library and an ancient arena that displayed bloody gladitorial shows can be melded like this. I kind of like it, myself. Sure it's ostentatious, bu it certainly is different.

Duck!

A Duck in flight

Not exactly an exotic photo, but it's about the only picture I have of a duck just taking off. Not a technically great photo, but I sort of like it. The shutter speed was fast enough so the duck's not a blur.

Vikings!

A Viking Dragonboat

I saw this Viking dragonboat sailing back and forth around English Bay. Considering part of my ancestral history is Icelandic, I thought it was very cool to see this thing floating about. Unfortunately it was quite a long way from where I was, so this photo was taken using my ultra-zoom lens, and even at that the photo had to be cropped to highlight the boat. Not my favorite way of doing things, but it still looks ok on a computer screen.

One thing I was thinking about doing is changing the template altogether for this blog. I've been using the same one since starting it in January, but I'm not entirely satisfied with it. The thing is, I'll have to make sure I can save this template in case I decide to make a change and it doesn't work the way I want it to... Then again, I might hold off until the Blogger update is more complete later on.

Yesterday On 4th Ave

An empty West 4th Avenue

This is not something you would see too often: West 4th Avenue bereft of traffic. It's usually a busy street, but it was blocked off yesterday for Kitsilano's annual Hippie Daze street festival. This photo was taken in the morning, before things got started. The event is meant to celebrate the Kitsilano neighborhood's history for being a centre of Vancouver's hippie culture in the 1960's. Of course the neighborhood has changed since then, and is now very much a young middle-class sort of place.

Below is Kathryn enjoying the novelty of walking down the middle of the street.

Vancouver's Inukshuk

Inukshuk

Looking out on English Bay is this Inukshuk. They were used as waypoints in Canada's vast northern areas by the Inuit (aka Eskimos). It really is not something that would have been seen for at least a thousand miles north of Vancouver, though. So it really has no bearing on local culture nor history. Why it's here, I'm not entirely sure. Nevertheless, it is rather dramatic in its impressive stature and stark simplicity.

Below is the Inukshuk with the West End in the background.

Harold

Harold the Handpuppet

This guy was found hanging out by the parking meters. I'm not sure what his name actually is, but decided Harold was as good as any. In any case it seems to suit him. He does look more friendly than other parking attendants I've come across.

A Totem Pole

Totem Pole outside Kits Beach

Totem poles are an iconic symbol for the First Nations Peoples along the North-West coast of North America, which includes BC, and to an extent, Alaska and Washington State in the USA.

They feature a number of symbolic animals, mythic creatures, and heroic people sculpted one on top of each other from a single log, normally of cedar. Each figure is symbolic of a concept, a family clan or an individual. Assembled on the pole together, the whole thing is meant to tell a story, or record an event. Traditionally, the meaning of a particular totem pole is meant to belong to a family, clan or community, and is not meant to be divulged to outsiders, so is kept secret. Villages along the coast would often have dozens of the things, though many of the old ones were removed from the original sites to museums around Canada and the rest of the world.
They are also a common form of public art not only in Vancouver, but in towns, cities, and smaller communities all along the coast.

Here's a profile of the same pole:





And here's a full-frontal photo:

Fresh Bread

Bread, freshly made

Yesterday I baked some Italian Parmesan bread to accompany our pasta dinner. Making use of the breadmaker, it turned out really well if I do say so myself. Unfortunately this isn't the greatest picture, but seeing it was made in a breadmaker, it wasn't exactly a pretty looking loaf anyway. It did taste good, though.

Notice the past couple days I've been posting the photos then going back to write a bit a day or two later as I get the opportunity. Don't be surprised if you see a photo without text, or text without a photo, then go back a few day's later to see it updated. I don't like having blank posts, but I also still want to keep updating this daily.

One Twisted Vegetable

This zucchini's got it all twisted.

Here's a photo of an oddity I happened by the other day.

Swans And Turtles

At Ambleside Park in West Vancouver there's a pond inhabited by these swans and turtles. OK, the swans you see here aren't typically swan-like in appearance, but then they are still cygnets.

Blackberries

Blackberries

Blackberries are becoming ripe now. There may be many blackberry bushes around (the things grow like weeds around here), but I rarely go out to pick them simply because they're constantly grazed over by the local fauna, as well as other people. I'm not telling where I saw these nice bunches of ripe berries... I may get some later.

Being a nice, cloudless day I wandered around this morning along the seawall on the south side of Burrard Inlet. Below is Yaletown as can be seen from Fairview:

Crane Construction

A crane being setup

Yesterday while in New Westminster I saw this crane being setup by another crane. Even though there is lots of construction going on and plenty of cranes abound in the Vancouver area, I rarely get to see how the crane itself is setup. Probably because they're put together so quickly, they seem to simply appear overnight.


Here they are installing the counter-weights:

Here's Kathryn walking along the railroad tracks that run from Kerrisdale to Kits from yesterday evening:

Yesterday's Supper And A Very Early Morning

Stuffed red pepper

Yesterday's dinner was really, really good. Kathryn saw the recipe on the internet and decided to make it. It's quite simple: just make some couscous with almond slices, raisins and fresh mint. Then stuff it in a hollowed pepper which is baked for 20 minutes, and it's done. For the side, there was some brocolli, and pita with hummus. Very, very tasty.

For whatever reason we ended up waking up and getting out of bed at 4:00AM this morning. When I'm working, this is not uncommon since I set my alarm for 4:30AM. I'm not working today, though, so it was a little out of the ordinary.


Here's my lovely wife sitting outside Douglas College during our travels this morning:

Junk In English Bay

A boat with junk-like sails

I saw this boat sailing into English Bay from Vancouver's West End. The sails make it interesting to look at, resembling a Chinese Junk.

I like the weather this summer a lot. It's a little bit of everything: sun, cool, rain, warm, and hot. You can see this from the forcasts I've posted the past month. Even within the same week there's a mix of different weather. Having the variety is very... theraputic.


The previous few summers by comparison normally have clear, cloudless days throughout almost all of July and August. It sounds nice, but I quickly grow bored and even a bit depressed by the non-stop sunny days and warm/hot weather. I'm frequently relieved to see Fall come around. I suspect most people think I'm a bit odd in that respect.

A Heron And Blueberry Muffins

A Heron

These birds are a familiar sight along Vancouver's shoreline and beaches. They are about the most patient type of bird around. They can be seen standing in the water like in the photo without moving a muscle for extended periods of time, waiting for lunch to swim to them.

Seeing we have lots of blueberries (I like blueberries) I made my first batch (ever) of blueberry muffins today. Putting in more blueberries (nearly double) than the recipe called for, they turned out really well:

BC Day

A plane taking off in front of Canada Place

Well, yesterday was BC Day. It's a civic holiday to celebrate BC's entry into Canada in 1871. It's taken as a statutory holiday on the first Monday of August, even though the historical date occured July 20, 1871. It suits me, since it makes for a welcome long weekend in August.

My Sister's Car

My sister's MG Midget

My sister bought this car a little while ago. It's pretty sweet - the body is in good shape as you can see, but it's not in the best shape to drive. This even though she has already sunk more money into getting it into working order than what she originally paid for it. Because of this, she's thinking of selling it.

Sunny Sunday

Kathryn

Today Vancouver had its Pride Parade. Kathryn and I went to go have a look. It was entertaining, and there were a lot of people - according to the news, about 300,000 turned up. Being fairly hot, (and we were getting hungry) we left after a short while and had a picnic lunch. Below is a picture of the least crowded area we could find along the parade route before it got started:

Let them eat cake: There's a grocery store nearby that makes excellent cake Kathryn particularly likes. Today we dropped by because she wanted to get a lemon cake. They had it -but it's now twice the price compared to what it was yesterday! Kathryn asked why they doubled the cost - it turns out the grocery is no longer making the cakes in - store, and are shipping them from some other bakery now. As a result, Kathryn insists she won't be buying her cake there anymore.

Gardens Along The Tracks

The Kitsilano community Garden

In Kits, there's a community garden along some unused railroad tracks. Among the many little plots you can see all sorts of flowers in full bloom through the spring and summer. There's also a fair bit of vegetables growing there, as well as some fruit, like the apple below.

Also, yesterday Kathryn and I went to have dinner at my mom and dad's place. Kathryn and my mom liked the photo of the roast lamb, and asked I post it. So here it is:

Cherries!

A Bowl of Cherries

Cherries. I like Cherries. A lot. We got a fair bit of the things this year, and I regularly eat too many of them. The season will be winding down soon, so I wanted to save some fresh cherries with my camera.

Bears In The Street

One of a bear infestation

Bears. They've popped all over Vancouver this year. They all have a common sculpt, but are each individualized with a different paint scheme. Eventually they'll be auctioned off for charity, and I have to say I'll be glad when they are. The things have become so ubiquitous that they're irritating.

Fun With Light

3 little lights

An interesting thing about light is that you don't notice it when everything is fully illuminated. In the dark, any light source stands out and becomes an entity in and of itself.

Today is the annual HSBC Festival of Light fireworks display. I don't think I'll go to the fireworks tonight (with 500,000 or more people it's too large a crowd for my mood right now - besides, I think I might go on Saturday), so instead I experimented a little with my camera.

The Wine Opener

The wine opener revisited

I posted a photo of this same wine opener a number of months ago. I decided to post another because: a) I wanted to illustrate the difference the new light bulbs can make to a photograph's colour, and b) I didn't feel creative enough (ie:lazy) to either find something else from my collection of photos nor think of something original to photograph.