Archive for November, 2009

I think our middle finger to wave ratio is second to none here in Vancouver.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen some terrible driving in this city, but I don’t think you get the wave anywhere else in the world like you get it in Vancouver.

When I think of road rage incidents in other cities, I think of Jack Nicholson smashing out a wind shield with a golf club.  Here, when I take a spaz, I can be found saying things like….’Oh my god if that guy who I just let in, doesn’t give me the wave….I’m going to be sooooo mad.’  or from time to time an out of province plate….’Oh that’s why I didn’t get the wave….look where’ he’s from!’

I know we’re still looking for a coat of arms but I think I’ve found our secret handshake.  The wave.

Thanks for letting us in Vancouver!

The cats rule East Vancouver. They’re everywhere…sidewalks, roads, hiding in doorways, supervising stores, sprawled out anywhere to have a bath. The cats I meet while wandering through East Van are probably all house-pets but it’s not clear who ‘owns’ them. Cats are all about territory, but all space is public to them.

Stay tuned…When the project is finished I hope to have photographed every one of the East Van Cats!

In my world, it’s never too early for egg nog. Even before the Christmas decorations go up in the mall I’m checking the milk cooler at every grocery store in town, hoping that it’s nog time, and it often feels like it’s never going to come. Have you ever seen egg nog stocked in the freezers of certain stores in July, long after the season it’s produced in has passed? I’m one of the people that makes the act of doing that a smart business move.

So today I’m happy to report that one of my favourite egg nog latte makers have finally unleashed the nog. Bean Around the World serves one of the best in the city, made with Vancouver-based Dairlyand’s Classic Egg Nog. If you’ve never had one I highly recommend giving it a shot, as they really do only come around once a year.

I was talking with somebody the other day about fake Christmas trees and how even though they’re made of plastic (not good for the earth) that maybe if you kept one for 20 years or so it might be better for the environment than chopping down 20 trees over the years. It ended in us agreeing that Christmas trees, whatever the type, were a lose/lose for the environment. Then today I found a news story about Evergrow, a company out of Burnaby that offers live, potted Christmas trees that they drop off with you and then pick up after Christmas… so it appears there might be a winning solution after all! Ranging from $95-$150, they are a bit pricey but if you have the means the earth just might thank you for it.

The two dudes pictured above are the geniuses who started the company. Here’s the official blurb off of their web site:

EVERGROW Christmas Trees Company was started in January 2009 by two UBC Forestry graduates, Sean Macalister and Jeff Ferguson. Sean, a forester-in-training, and Jeff, a BC forest firefighter, recognized a need for a green alternative to traditional cut trees and artificial trees, which are made from petroleum products. We believe that a living Christmas tree is the …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Just launched yesterday, local web site NADATODO.com is an ambitious project headed up by Vancouver’s Anastasia Koutalianos. A hub for all-things-events in Vancouver, you can login and add your own event or simply find something to do when it seems like there might be nada.

Best of luck to Anastasia and crew!

You might remember THIS gingerbread house competition and charity auction I told you about almost one year ago to the day? Well, Creativeroom is at it again for 2009 with an all new contest between ten local architecture and design firms! All the info is HERE. Don’t miss it!

Gingerbread 2008 Timelapse from creative room on Vimeo.

It’s a new dog every day, click here to find out how to get your dog featured here if you haven’t sent in your photos yet!

Today’s dog featured in Dogtown Vancouver is Doc Holliday, Natasha K’s pup. Here’s what she had to say about him…

NAME: Doc Holliday. BREED: Labrador retriever/Golden retriever cross. HOOD: Walnut Grove, Langley. FAVORITE SNACK: Ice cubes and doggie pepperoni sticks. OTHER INFO: Doc’s idea of a great time is chasing a ball or stick into the river. He loves to fetch and he loves to swim… add them together and he is one happy boy! .

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

You’re familiar with Adbusters right? They’re a Vancouver based not-for-profit that is essentially the exact opposite of Vancouver Is Awesome Inc. They sit on the opposite end of the media spectrum, highlighting the faults of the world, honing in mostly on capitalism and politics with very heavy handed judgements and dire warnings. This is possibly* the only time you’ll ever see mention of them on our web site.

But that’s not to say that the Adbusters Foundation is not a really important part of Vancouver and it’s culture. We simply have a mandate to only deliver the good news so I can’t see us exposing you to much of what they’re up to over there. We’re not opposed to their magazine or to their brand of journalism, because (as I mentioned in my interview on CBC Radio One last week) we encourage our readers to keep up on current affairs and things that are actually important in their community and their world, and then to come to our web site when they’re done, just to put a smile back on their face. Our aim is not to change the face of the media or to encourage other publications to follow in our footsteps and adopt a head-in-the-sand policy, as our world would be an incredibly dangerous place if they did. We simply wish to offer a unique service that is not unlike CuteOverload.com which exclusively delivers cute, fuzzy, fun pictures of animals to make you feel all warm inside.

Anyway, now that I’ve prefaced it, I just wanted to send a huge shout out to Adbusters’ art director, Will Brown, whose presentation last night at Pecha Kucha was nothing short of brilliant. He gave us an inside look at the Adbusters office life and assured us that at the end of the day it’s not all doom and gloom, and that the people working there are happy, funny human beings living normal lives like the rest of us. At times I wasn’t sure if he was completely taking the piss out of us “normal” people but in the end I was 99.99% sure it was genuine, and it made me feel good.

So thanks, Will. That was one of the best presentations I’ve seen at Pecha Kucha. If you ever want to do a Most Awesome interview where you only talk about the positive things about our city, your favourite things, we’d be glad to have you.