Archive for April, 2011

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 Anabel, one of my awesome dogs!

NAME: Anabel. BREED: Mexican street dog. HOOD: Yaletown. FAVOURITE SNACK: Right now, Blackhawks. Next week, Predators. OTHER INFO: Go CANUCKS Go!

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 Rory.Blanchard@novusnow.ca.

SCENE AND HEARD showcases the independent music scene here in Vancouver. We interview some of our favourite local artists, post weekly guest playlists comprised of Vancouver artists and ‘Last Week in Music’ highlights some of the concerts happening around the city…

Quiet week here in Vancouver, and I enjoyed a quiet show on Saturday at Cafe Deux Soleils that included music by Jamison Troy, Fisticuffs, and Zachary Lucky. This week it get a little louder…

THIS WEEK IN MUSIC: Sun Wizard is having their CD Release show at the Biltmore on Thursday with Slam Dunk, and The High Drops. Then Saturday get excited for another amazing West Coast Pop show at the Red Room with Young Liars, Oh No! Yoko, and Kingdom Cloud! Oh AND don’t forget to vote every day, all week in the Live At Squamish band contest.

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

CBC is reporting that over 2 million people voted at advance polls over Easter weekend, a 34.5% increase over the previous election! Those advance polling stations closed last night and the countdown begins to the big day, May 2nd, when the nation’s ridings vote on their local MPs, ultimately deciding who our nation’s leader will be. Did you vote? If you care about the future of your city and your country you should vote.

Our friends at Oddball Workshop on Broadway are helping us spread the message that VOTING IS NOT FOR OLD PEOPLE! If you want to do the same you can pick up a t-shirt from them for $20. They’re printed on American Apparel tees and 25% of the proceeds are being donated to a TBD charity that encourages youth to vote.

Also, to clarify a little bit, of course we don’t mean that “old people” shouldn’t vote. What we’re saying with this messaging is that voting is not just for people over 35, that if we as a people don’t all vote then we’re not really exercising our rights as a democratic nation and we can only blame ourselves if we end up feeling ripped off or misrepresented by our leaders. We used the catch phrase to grab your attention, of course we could have said VOTING IS NOT JUST FOR OLD PEOPLE but you wouldn’t even have taken a second look at it. And it was actually a response to a t-shirt design that Urban Outfitters was selling a few years back that said VOTING IS FOR OLD PEOPLE. Apologies to those who didn’t get the joke our who thought we were being ageist, we’re just trying to get your attention… and hopefully it worked.

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

Sometimes all a person needs to do to relax, recharge the proverbial batteries or just gain a different perspective on things is to get out of the bustle of the city and marvel at the wonders of nature. And thankfully, we here in Vancouver have a myriad of options, and don’t need to spend hours driving to get there. You don’t even need a car, just point yourself in any direction and go. When you get to the water or the woods, stop. You are there!

That’s my advice, anyway. Ben Giesbrecht has some additional advice that relates to mine – “if you’re ever driving up to Whistler I recommend checking out some of the epic beaches on the way.” Sounds like a solid plan to me, the beaches and views along Howe Sound are epic to be sure. Still need more convincing? Then take a look at Ben’s photo below, from the notoriously-hard-to-park-at Lion’s Bay.

Sage advice and a beautiful photo, Ben. Thanks for sharing both with us.

Gary

Our friends over at CBC Radio’s This Is That have the scoop on a story today about a new airline called Can-Fly which is offering $59 tickets from Vancouver to Toronto! It has the potnetial to be the most affordable airline in Canadian history by cutting many of the comforts associated with typical air travel. Listen to the full story HERE.

DiYVR is a spotlight on all things handmade, done-by-oneself, crafted and hacked around Vancouver, featuring profiles of makers, event announcements, exhibits and general DIY fun. Know someone or something we should cover? Email me!

I’m not the most avid hockey fan, but even I’m tied in knots about tonight’s game. So I thought I’d distract myself and you with a wee activity. Prepare some of these candy skewers for game time and you’ll both vent some of your anxiety leading up to the game and have an impressive snack ready to ease your nerves during the game instead of resorting to that old standby of pulling out your hair.

1. Gather your materials. These include: candy, skewers, and a cup or jar (ignore the baggy of drink umbrellas and swords in my photo – I had ambitious plans for those that didn’t really work out). The candy should be soft enough that the pointy end of the skewer can pass through it without too much muscle behind it. (Candy with holes in it = bonus.) The skewers should have at least one pointy end.

   
   

2. Fill the cup or jar with a few inches of a spongy kind of candy (like marshmallows) or candy that’s small enough to behave like pebbles (I used a whole package of tiny gumdrops). This both weighs down the vessel and provides a base to stick the skewers into.

   
   

3. Skewer the candy. Leave a few inches at the bottom of each skewer free from candy – this is the end you’ll stick into the candy in the cup or jar.
4. Arrange the skewers in the cup or jar. Poorly tied bow optional.

   
   

5. Bring on the sugar rush, and a Canucks victory!

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Cross-posted on my blog.

Ms. Rachelle Harvey fled her prairie homeland for the greener (and generally awesomer) pastures of Vancouver in late 2009. Since setting up shop in Mt. Pleasant, she has spent the past year-and-some scoping out tasty bakeries, climbing fig trees, and occasionally drinking wine out of jam jars on the beach.

When not careening around the city on her squeaky-but-loveable bicycle, you can find her in her Gastown studio, putting her design skillz to work creating print and publication designs for all kinds of folk. Her work is full of whimsy, wit, and wonder, creating sophisticated solutions that are just as smart and surprising as she is.
- Alaine Mackenzie

The Proof
01 The studio I work out of, in the midst of a screenprinting production outburst!

02 Peas, wine, summertime. I love vegetables. And grapes.

03 The Saskatchewan skies I grew up under. Pretty. Damn. Good.

04 Some thangs at my studio desk: Bowie-worthy glittery sticker papers, bookbinding fabric, screen transbase, apron for messiness, hot/chaud mug, some illustrations I’m working on, rainbow degredé prints that say ‘Fantasmical’ (made up words are the best!), cedar incense, and a giant spool of white/teal thread. When I can’t figure out how to put these seemingly arbitrary items together, I stare out the window to the left and eavesdrop on patio conversations drifting up from the Cambie.

05 My bookshelf/jenga-nightstand. Highlights include: Marian Bantjes’ golden bedazzled ‘I Wonder’, and an accordion-fold book about animals on a seesaw by Enzo Mari.

06 Tofino stole a gigantic piece of my heart on my first trip there. My friends and I took off running with excitement and tried to make it all the way to Japan. The sunset that followed turned the sky and sand magical shades of purple, pink, red, and orange, and I’ve never seen so many elated 20-somethings shriek with sheer joy and amazement. Its one of the most beautiful and mystical places on earth I’ve ever visited. Swoooon.

07 Some shots of my most recent endeavour, Mainly Main Magazine. Its free and you can find yourself a copy of Issue 2 out now!

08 Here, with some friends drinking wine at my ‘beach office’. That salsa jar aerates like nobody’s business!

The Questions
What neighbourhood do you live in?
Mount Pleasant. And it is every bit pleasant as it sounds.

What do you do and where?
I’m a freelance graphic designer juggling my urge to doodle obsessive patterns, silkscreen in bright shades of teal, and zen out with my inner hippy. I do most of my design work in branding and editorial, and try to surround myself with passionate people who have passionate ideas. I work from several locations because I like to feel as though I’m always on an adventure: a studio in Gastown, my kitchen table, my patio office and my beach office. Some lend themselves to more productivity than others, some to more inspiration than others. All are necessary.

What are you working on?
Issue 3 of Mainly Main. Also: pretzel valentines, future textile patterns, and a web comic with a friend!

Where can we find your work?
www.rachelleharvey.com! Come visit!