Archive for January, 2011

A new kitty twice a week! Yup, we want YOUR cat photos and stories! Click here to find out how your cat can appear on Van City Kitty.

Today’s Van City Kitty was sent to us by VIA reader Jennifer Reynolds. Here’s what Jennifer had to say about Mya:

Name: Mya Breed/Colouring: Persian/ Himalayan Hood: West End Habits: Mya enjoys sleeping ALL THE TIME and while doing so snoring (due to the her flat face) and running around the apartment in laps to get exercise when she’s feeling hyper. Also despite her looking confused at herself the mirror she actually loves being shaved. Hangouts: Back of the couch to watch the birds and squirrels run around in the West end or in the sink licking water from the dripping tap. Other info: Mya doesn’t know how to meow, she just sort of mouths the action and a werid “awkaaa” sound comes out.

Are you looking for a (or another) little furry beast to love? Please check out Happy Tails, our weekly segment featuring the BC SPCA and one of the animals they currently have available for adoption. (You may have noticed that many of the Van City Kitties came from the SPCA!) Check back every Saturday for a new Happy Tails segment!

And if you adopted your pet from the SPCA and would like to share your awesome story on Happy Tails, send an email to vancitykitty@vancouverisawesome.com or Rory.Blanchard@novusnow.ca.

If you’ve not yet heard the news (of course you have), Vancouver is turning 125 this year.

Part of that celebration includes the revival of VIA‘s history section, “Vancouver Was Awesome,” which will be a weekly look at awesome places, people, animals, minerals, and vegetables — anything that tells a story about how the Vancouver we know and love came to be.

Pop quiz: Where is this plaque? Probably Gastown, right? …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Why didn’t anyone TELL me about this place?  Now we never claim to be culinary experts here at VIA but if I go to a place and I think it’s AWESOME…I’m sworn to share it with you.

While it’s a newer restaurant, Kimura has the feel of one of the original places in Vancouver like Koko or Aki, a throw back to the days when you brought seaweed for lunch kids, ridiculed you for the rest of the year.   Admittedly, it is called Kimura Sushi, but the menu is pretty varied covering off all sorts of Japanese fare from robota to tempura.  I find this comes in really handy when you’re dining with one of those ‘I don’t like sushi’ types, seriously, what is wrong with you?  This is Vancouver!  Kidding, you don’t have to apologize for not liking sushi, it’s OK….there’s tons of Japanese people who never eat the stuff.

The restaurant has a jazz theme which makes it feel almost like a scene from a Haruki Murakami book, except no talking animals.  BOOOO!  But they have the best ginger ever!  I don’t know what they put in it, where it comes from, I quizzed the owner, nothing….but he brought me more.  They also have Japanese rice which may sound super obvious, but apparently everyone in the city is using Californian rice, hopefully this won’t give any of you sushi fanatics even more of a complex.

Kimura Sushi is located at 3883 Rupert St in East Vancouver, a location which I love, if the foods good enough, people will travel, but I’ll hopefully never have to deal with a line up.

Try it!  Props to G-Man’s Facebook for the tip…..

We’ve partnered with Canada Place to help get the word out about the Canadian Flag Photo Contest that they’re holding right now! Essentially, your mission is to submit your best photo that contains the Canadian flag, they’ll pick the top three and then the voting begins! The winning photo will be selected on February 15, National Flag of Canada Day.

The prize is ridiculous: two tickets to Canada Place’s July 1st exclusive fireworks party to enjoy a stunning view of the Canada Day Fireworks while indulging in gourmet hors d’œuvres & cocktails! PLUS an overnight stay for two at the luxurious Pan Pacific Hotel right upstairs from the party. The winning photo will also be displayed on the giant outdoor screen on Canada Day at Canada Place.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE CONTEST AND TO ENTER!

Seeing as I’m probably not eligible to enter this contest as V.I.A. has partnered to help them promote it I thought I’d share some of my favourite photos that contain the flag which have appeared on VancouverIsAwesome.com in the last year. Most of them are Olympics-themed, as I imagine a lot of the entries to the contest will be…

DIY rings with flag

Strombo and Jim Richards broadcasting for Toronto’s News 1010 on Robson (look closely in the reflection)
…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Every Sunday at noon and 6PM 100.5 The Peak plays a feature that we record with them called Vancouver Is Awesome! Here’s the one from this week about Beaver Lake in Stanley Park and the Rain City Chronicles storytelling nights…

100.5 The PEAK – VANCOUVER IS AWESOME (Beaver Lake/Rain City Chronicles) by ThePEAK

Every day we share a single photo from our Flickr Pool shot by one of our faithful and talented readers (that’s you!).

When BC Place opened on June 19th 1983, it was the largest air-supported stadium on Earth and defended that title for 27 years – until it was deflated last May to make way for renovations and a new retractable roof to be completed later this year. The stadium has seen a lot since 1983; including a papal visit in 1984, the opening and closing ceremonies of Expo ’86, 7 Grey Cup games, an NFL football exhibition game, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Games. Queen Elizabeth II has been there, as has Prince Charles and Princess Diana (who may have ridden the skytrain there). When it reopens in time for to host the Grey Cup game for an 8th time this fall, it will again be home to the BC Lions of the CFL as well as the brand-new Vancouver Whitecaps FC of the MLS, and will be the largest retractable-roofed stadium in the world.

So ingrained into the skyline of Vancouver that when a tear caused the roof to deflate in January of 2007, everyone had to go outside to take a look. Now that the old roof is gone forever, there is a reason to take a look every day, and that is exactly what notthatcool has done with bc place.

A portion of the old teflon roof is being used as a liner for a full-sized outdoor rink near Shuswap; another portion was auctioned off and bought by a man in Minnesota, where a similar stadium is still in use. Should you like a piece of the old roof for yourself, or would like to support the BC Sports Hall of Fame, or any combination thereof, you can purchase a limited-edition piece of history for yourself here.

Gary

Last week we reported on the Whistler-Blackcomb Deep Winter Photo Challenge...

We’ll I’ve done some more poaching and came up with a few videos made on the mountains! (Now you can see the weather I was attempting to ski in, let alone that they were taking photos in!)… and on top of that, I totally forgot to post a trailer for a movie that was screened during the competition.

I literally sat there with my mouth open the whole time… It’s called All.I.Can. (by the Sherpas)…
Take a look!

Behind the scenes video from Push.ca:

Slideshow from the competition by Snowboard Canada’s photo editor John Scarth: