Archive for June, 2011

I was recently granted the great pleasure of hopping on the Rocky Mountaineer for a train trip up to Whistler and then back the next day via their Whistler Sea to Sky Climb service. The three and a half hours in each direction was perhaps the most relaxing amount of time I have ever spent inside of a vehicle, ever.

Having driven the Sea To Sky Highway what feels like countless times in my life (thinking back I actually can’t remember the last time I was a passenger on a trip up it) I looked forward to kicking back and just enjoying the ride for once. Sure the highway was upgraded for the 2010 Winter Olympics and it’s safer than it’s ever been but there really is no safer nor more comfortable way to travel than by rail, and after experiencing this trip I most definitely recommend you do it at least once in your lifetime, if not every time you visit Whistler.

View of the Cheakamus Canyon from the Rocky Mountaineer

I jumped the gun by showing you that photo above as it’s pretty far into the trip but I really wanted to show off one of the most breathtaking views afforded during the trip which starts under the Lions Gate Bridge.

Directly under Lions Gate. HERE is a photo you may remember from a previous blog post taken directly above it!

Advantages of taking the Rocky Mountaineer over driving, aside from the obvious? Well, I’ve never been served a delicious omelette in my car, nor have I ever slowly enjoyed a piece of back bacon followed by a few cups of coffee, brewed right there in the car. Nobody has ever offered me complimentary alcohol while driving either. Wait, that …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

For the 10 days leading up to The Cheaper Show‘s 10th annual one night art show, we’ve been introducing you to 10 artists out of the 200 who will be showing their work, available to purchase for $200 a piece. Head curator, Jessica Delorme, has hand picked a range of artists she. Please note that these works we’re showing you are not the pieces for sale, they are simply samples of the artists’ work.

Ninth up is Benjamin Martins from New York, NY.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts and working in New York City, I buy borrow and steal family photos, transforming them into kaleidoscopic collapsing paintings of lives on the brink of control or destruction.

Learn more about Benjamin and the other 199 artists in The Cheaper Show 10 on their at TheCheaperShow.com and be sure to come out to the show on June 25th.

UNPLUGGED is a state of mind. It’s that point in your consciousness where you can feel at one with nature, escaping the trappings of the day-to-day to an almost dream-like place where nothing else seems to exist besides you and your natural surroundings. It is our opinion here at VIA that Vancouver holds a unique place in the civilized world in that reaching this state often requires no more effort than simply pulling off to the side of the road, pocketing your keys and taking a few steps into the forest.

One great place you have to check out is Lynn Canyon Park. It’s located in North Vancouver just off of Lynn Valley Road. It’s minutes from downtown and has amazing trails to hike as well as a cool suspension bridge (this one’s free). Trails here are well marked and range from a 20-minute casual hike to more intense terrain for those in search of a good heart-pumping outing.

Nothing beats walking among 100-year-old trees and getting up close and personal with Mother Nature. The calm serenity of the forest, the fresh mountain air and the refreshing energy of the water make this the perfect spot to recharge yourself.

For those of you looking for a little more adventure follow the trail to the waters edge where you will discover the perfect swimming hole to take a dip. This awesome area is called 30 foot pool and it’s perfect to chill in and feel the rushing mountain water flow over you. But I warn you the water is cold! I mean really cold.

At the entrance you’ll find the main building and small café where you can load up with water and goodies for your hike or relax and enjoy a bite to eat after your excursion. The suspension bridge is located just beside the main building and offers wicked views of the canyon below.

I really love this place, awesome views, great trails and crystal clear mountain water. You really feel like you’re miles away from the city here.

If you are looking for a beautiful place to get out and explore this weekend than I suggest you head to Lynn Canyon Park and trek across the suspension bridge. You’ll be glad you did.

Until next time.

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

Yesterday I alluded to the fact that there was some really nice Summer Solstice photos submitted to the pool and I might share a few more with you as the week moves along. Well, I am a man of my word, and today I present to you a photograph from BJ Vicks that was taken at Third Beach Tuesday evening, just as the sun began to sink below the horizon. BJ’s image features some solid silhouette action, intense colours, interesting wave patterns and just a hint of a Dutch Angle. But the two figures – can I assume that the photographer directed the two people to stand like that to make the shape of two eyes, or am I projecting that upon the image myself?

Here is Solstice Sunset – Third Beach.

Gary

This series had its genesis when I began photographing Vancouver area location shoots last summer to get over a long post-Olympics funk. Film and TV productions like This Means War, Mission Impossible 4, Fringe and the new AMC series The Killing showcase our city in similar fashion and sometimes put a celebrity actor or two in the frame.

For reasons I don’t need to explain, I’m no fan of riots, even Twitter riots which are benign with no cars overturned or set on fire. But a Twitter riot is still a mob and a frenzied one at that: spewing F-U tweets at Vancouver-filmed The Killing and capital letter advisories to anyone planning to watch, DON’T DO IT!  SAVE YOURSELVES!!! There’s even a web site: f—thekilling.com which says “Dear The Killing: F— you!!! Sincerely, Everyone Who Used to Watch Your Show.”

What set if off? Here come the spoilers. The finale didn’t solve the central mystery and show’s marketed tagline: Who Killed Rosie Larsen? And in a surprise if clumsy twist, it turned detective Stephen Holder, one of the few likable characters, into a seeming villain, who betrayed lead detective Sarah Linden and set up Seattle mayoral candidate Darren Richmond for arrest.

AOL TV critic Maureen Ryan (@MoRyan) pronounced it the “worst finale ever” on Twitter. Really? Ever? She elaborated in her linked review, saying she hated it with the “burning intensity of  10,000 white-hot suns” and held first-time showrunner Veena Sud responsible for not telling viewers who killed Rosie Larsen, turning Holder into a villain and a “number of other stupidly melodramatic, preposterously manipulative things.” She then retroactively called the 13-episode series a “crapfest” and hoped the actors wouldn’t return for a second season. Later she tweeted that it would be smart if AMC withdrew its renewal. It’s stuff like this from many critics as well as countless furious ex-fans which prompted Show Patrol to tweet: “I’m laughing at over-the-top reactions to season finale of [The Killing] as if, um, Veena Sud killed someone. Breathe, folks, breathe.”

Full dislosure: I am not blind to the show’s weaknesses, but won’t join the braying mob. I remain a fan of The Killing, having spent too many hours in  real rain watching it film here for four months (while imagining how much worse it was for lead actors Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman being hosed with fake rain from the show’s rain towers). There’s more than a little hometown pride involved, even though this is an American series set in Seattle. …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

THE OPENING is all about introducing the fascinating, quirky and wonderful people working in and around the visual arts in Vancouver. Each week, we’ll feature an artist, collective, curator or administrator to delve deep into who and what makes art happen!

‘Torrent’

I’ll admit when I first read about the animated gif as art, I was a bit skeptical. I regularly read a New York art blog called Art Fag City, helmed by Torontonian turned New Yorker Paddy Johnson. Last fall, she curated ‘Graphics Interchange Format’ at Denison University’s Mulberry Gallery (read more here and here), and despite my respect for Johnson’s opinion, I kind of thought she had gone off the deep end.

But then I kept thinking about it. Why do I have an issue with computer generated art? New technology has always struggled in the realm of art – for instance, in its lifetime photography has struggled to be considered art longer than it has been art. So I told myself to stop being close-minded and think about what the medium is capable of that others are not. As a contemporary form of art-making, it can’t get any better – easily transportable and sharable, visually interesting, and not complicated. Then I learned about Nicolas Sassoon (b. 1981), a Vancouver-based French new media artist working in print and animated gif.

Part of the ‘Home Land Studies’ series

Sassoon uses the animated gif to explore the influence of computer technology on landscape and architecture- a very modern exploration for a very modern media. Computers have allowed us to envision our wildest dreams and create or depict things we never thought possible. Some animations visualize the growth of a plant …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

For the next 10 days, leading up to The Cheaper Show‘s 10th annual one night art show, we’re introducing you to 10 artists out of the 200 who will be showing their work, available to purchase for $200 a piece. Head curator, Jessica Delorme, has hand picked a range of artists she. Please note that these works we’re showing you are not the pieces for sale, they are simply samples of the artists’ work.

Eighth up is Jamie Q from London, Ontario.

Jamie Q is a Canadian artist interested in imaginative play, affordable art multiples, and DIY distribution strategies. Her recent work includes sculptures, paintings, drawings, zines, and silk-screened prints. She has a BFA in sculpture from the Alberta College of Art & Design, and an MFA in studio arts from The University of Western Ontario.

Learn more about Jamie and the other 199 artists in The Cheaper Show 10 on their at TheCheaperShow.com and be sure to come out to the show on June 25th.

In my last post about the Car2Go launch I mentioned that I drove one of the Smart Cars to the launch events at Main Street, and 4th Ave… and now I’ll tell you the best part about it…

All I had to do to find a vehicle was go to the Car2Go website and click on the Car Finder…and BAM, turns out there was a car less than a block away from me.

So I grabbed my things, walked outside, turned the corner and there she was…

It’s pretty cool to spot these around town and be able to jump into them at a moments notice. My next post I’ll tell you about the drive/car!