Archive for March, 2011

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

This is what I’m talking about. Its been a few years since I lived on Dumfries Street – a street in East Vancouver that is lined with flowering Accolade Cherry Trees. I lived there for several years and looked forward to the canopy of blossoms that appeared every spring; I could watch the blooms approach from the south, heading north block by block until they reached our block and kept right on going. It became a seasonal milestone that I waited for with great anticipation. Sweeping up the petals after they eventually fell was always easily worth it.

And it is happening right now. I know this because December-Skies submitted a photograph titled Sakura #2 to the flickr pool, and I would like to share that photograph with you.

The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is taking place right now, running from today until April 22nd. For more information on the many events that are part of the festival, you can visit their website here.

Gary

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.

Meet Bad Girl. VIA reader Bailey X says: Here’s some info about my Van City Kitty; she’s pretty awesome, just like Vancouver. Awwww, yeah.

Name: Bad Girl Breed/Colouring: Tortoiseshell with white Hood: Yaletown Habits: Chilling on the shoulder of anyone on the computer, sleeping under the covers with her head on the pillow (she thinks she’s people!), saving the world from the villainous Laser Pointer, and getting into trouble. Hangouts: On the balcony, under the bed, on a blanket in the park, or on the arm of anyone that really needs to use their arm for something. Other info: Bad Girl was found at about a year old in a box marked “Free Kittens” on the side of the road in Newton. We think this rough start is what gave her the Bad Girl rep. Since adopted, she’s gotten into lots of trouble, including: leaping out of a third story window, getting stuck in a tree, getting her collar caught on a nail on the window and hanging from it while her owners nearly broke their necks trying to reach her, etc. She keeps us on our toes, and that’s why we love the Bad Girl.

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.

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Welcome to Crowdsourced Sunday, a curated batch of photos from our Twitter followers.

Most Saturdays we send out some tweets from our @VIAwesome account, asking our followers to tweet us photos of what they got into during the day and we always get a ton of great photos out of it, a wide spectrum of things that people are coming across around town. Check them all out below!

		@cultivateIT: Stumbled upon this little gem walking through Strathcona today.

		@ADove: Fantastic day to pedal around town!

		@luckysonline: Gallery peek at Impossible But True by Boisjoly/Peter, you can almost taste the Carlo Rossi!

		@Merboo: the view from a dragon boat caller.

		@sforstacey: only in Vancouver do you get rows and rows and rows of nail polish for two bucks a pop. #chinatown rul

		@VanMarkets: nettles & honey from The Promised Land Farm at the …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

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

If my timing was better today, I would have submitted my post earlier. Because right now, my computer should be off, just like my lights are – because I am typing this during Earth Hour. I even looked for a photo from previous Earth Hours in the VIA pool, and was surprised to find none. If anyone takes any this year, I would love to see them in the pool.

The show must go on, and I must post this and turn my computer off. A nice view captured by mrstaton a week or so ago, titled Gaze II. I love a nice, strategically-placed bench. There’s a nice symmetry between the skyline and trees on the right of the frame. Sitting in the sun is getting to be a warmer place every day.

And don’t think for a minute that you were my second choice to an Earth Hour photograph today, mrstaton; to look at it another way, I posted your photo a day earlier than I would anyway!

Gary

V.I.A. is happy to announce that our Vancouver Book Club will have a table at the Blim Market tomorrow at the Heritage Hall on Main Street! Come on down and visit Amanda and purchase one of the titles that have been selections in our club over the past few months, or simply sign up to the club for FREE!

The official word:
Blim will be presenting a monthly Community Market this month to take place back in good old Heritage Hall.

This Month’s market will include 48 vendors, music, hot food, beverages, and entertainment. Vendors will include food, fashion, accessories, supplies, fine art, vintage items and records, and not be limited to crafts. And there will be a focus on nurturing and promoting creative production in our community. We want to appeal to young, old, hip, plain, babies, animals, men, women, everyone.

We are very excited about this event and what it can contribute to Mount Pleasant’s artistic vitality, and how it can help support and encourage the local creative community.

Sunday March 27 | 12 – 5 PM | By donation
@ Heritage Hall (Main St. and 15th Ave.)

Aja Rose / Alpaca Wolves / Army of Rokosz / Baby Elephant / Barefoot Books / Bianca Barr / Bollywool / Brian Robinson Fine Foods / Delainy Gluten Free Baked Goods / Fait Avec / Falling Moss / Farmers Daughter / Flylight / Honey Wild /It’s Your Life / JEM Gallery / Open Sesame / Ripe Soaps / Robbie Vergara / Sandra Saunders / Sari Fujikawa / Sassy Vintage / Selfish Birds / Silver Trumpet / Squid Kid / Suburbia / Sweet Valentines High Tea / Tiny Fig / Vancouver is Awesome / Vic and Albie

It’s a new dog twice a week! Click here to find out how to get your dog posted if you haven’t sent in your photos yet!

Today’s dog featured in Dogtown Vancouver is Mawky Mawk, Savry B’s pup. Here’s what she had to say about him…

NAME: Mawky Mawk. BREED: Pomeranian. HOOD: Whalleyhood, Surrey BC. FAVOURITE SNACK: Anything that you are eating. He has been nick named, ‘Pan Handler’ by my dad. OTHER INFO: Mawk loves to sleep, pan handle, look like a teddy bear and play with toilet paper rolls. He is also 14 years old! If you’re interested in adopting a pet, check out our Happy Tails feature. If you adopted your pet from the SPCA and would like to share your awesome story on Happy Tails, send an email to dogtown@vancouverisawesome.com or Rory.Blanchard@novusnow.ca.

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

*Please note, I AM back in Vancouver now, just catching up on the blog entries…enjoy!*

After a few quick hours of sleep at the wonderful Maria Lockhart’s apartment, we ate some diner food and (with the addition of a little firecracker) we headed for Kelowna.

Once again, back in Treelines’ hometown, we were surrounded by family and friends, which this time included MK’s younger brother Patrick Kelly (with his new band Bridges) opening the night at the Black Box Theatre.

All sets went well and from there the real party began in a sweaty room in the basement at Grant’s house. Ratwheel, and Putrid Brew performed and an awesome, impromptu…jam? (I don’t know what to call it) happened, right before a dozen guys had their underwear weggied off of their bodies.

I have many more photos from that evening, that you can see on FB if we’re friends…but for now, enjoy:

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

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

Today’s photograph from the flickr pool could be the opportunity that you’ve been waiting for. If you are looking for a late 1970′s Chevrolet Camaro, you might want to send a quick email to ppb.van, who appears to have found one for sale. Oh sure, the bitchin’ T-tops might indeed leak, but it’s not raining at the moment, and just think of how rad it would be to cruise around Vancouver this weekend rocking the Camaro. You wouldn’t really want the T-tops in anyway!

At least the tires appear to have air in them, which is nice. If I could only find my Van Halen cassettes…
*disclaimer: I don’t know if I’ve actually ever owned a Van Halen cassette.

Gary