Archive for December, 2011

Read All Over celebrates the bookworm in all of us, showcasing readers in Vancouver and the books they love most. Morgan McDonald plays piano and keyboards in awesome Vancouver avante-jazz outfit Fond of Tigers and, before that, in local legends Buttless Chaps. By day, he’s worked in renewable energy and carbon finance, and now his work involves design, construction, and financing for deep green retrofits to large commercial buildings.

What are you reading right now?

Amazing Baby by Desmond Morris. It’s a coffee table book detailing the first two years of human development from the perspective of a zoologist-anthropologist. We had our first baby seven weeks ago and it’s a marvel to watch him grow!

How do you like your lit served – audio books, graphic novels, used paperbacks, library loaner, e-reader, other?

I read news on my laptop, books on paper, magazines on both. Graphic novels are great; I don’t know why I haven’t read more of them.

What publication could you not live without?

I currently have a subscription to Discover and I read the Globe & Mail online every day. I used to read the NYTimes on my iPhone but that stopped after I accidentally took my phone for a swim in the ocean. I follow a few publications on Twitter: Grist, The Tyee, The Onion, The New Yorker, and a handful of journalists and writers.

Where is your favourite place to crack open a book in Vancouver?

Park benches (when they’re dry), front seat of the SkyTrain (facilitates daydreaming), my bed (when I lived there; I’m on a brief hiatus in Toronto these days).

What books have changed your life/influenced you the most?

Limits to Growth by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers, and William W. Behrens III
The Descent of Woman by Elaine Morgan

Both were written in 1972, a year of profound change. Read the Wikipedia entry for that year and then try to get excited about anything you read in today’s news.

What is the most cherished item in your library?

My grandmother’s copy of On the Origin of Species, 3rd edition, given to her by her father in 1938; he had acquired it in 1916. She marked that she read it again on her 95th birthday which was in the year of Darwin’s 200th birthday.

The one book you always recommend is…

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

Vonnegut must have been inspired (or overwhelmed) by 1972 — this was published the following year.

Your life story is published tomorrow, the title is?

Things Are Looking Up

Photos courtesy of Morgan McDonald

A Vancouver time travelogue brought to you by Past Tense.

Hawks Avenue at East Georgia Street in the 1960s.

For most of its existence, Strathcona has been densely populated with structures like this. What’s now considered necessary and eco-friendly urban density was then deemed by planners as an overcrowded slum district in need of urban renewal.

Source: When An Old House Whispers

Vancouver is home to a thriving fashion industry made up of individuals committed to its growth and success. Get to know these personalities in The Inseam and discover what makes the Vancouver Fashion scene so awesome.

Photo: courtesy Sonja Picard

There are few pieces in one’s life that hold symbolic value – not to mention, the power to motivate and uplift one’s mood. The Sonja Picard Collection is a jewellery line that carries “wearable mantras” with a positive message. The pieces are handmade, hold a unique, vintage style and use fine quality materials.

I meet Sonja Picard at her beautiful Main Street studio and boutique, which houses the artist’s work, which has spanned 20 years.

Valerie Tiu: You have been an artist for years. Can you tell us about your background?

Sonja Picard: The first ten years of my career was based on ceramics. I was in studio ceramics, architectural ceramics and fine arts. I created a line of vases that caught the attention of a leading …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

It’s a new dog once 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 Henry Chinaski, Melanie C’s pup. Here’s what she had to say about him…

NAME: Henry Chinaski. BREED: Miniature English Bull Terrier. HOOD: North Van. FAVOURITE SNACK: Apples, oranges, bell peppers, almonds. OTHER INFO: Henry is a well travelled chap. Born in Edinburgh, he’s lived in Amsterdam, Los Angeles and now Vancouver. Loves cats, dislikes birds. He’s the resident chair tester at lushpad.com – making sure every chair has been sniffed and snooze tested. 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.

Like many other cities, Vancouver’s diverse, multicultural background has given way to the creation of several alternate names. These names — given in admiration, as matter-of-fact descriptors, or in jest — observe the many facets of our local industry, culture and geography. Bestowed by both residents and visitors, they suggest the multitude of histories that collectively define Vancouver.

By Any Other Name is a design exhibition that considers the unique narratives implied within Vancouver’s alternate names. The exhibition is on view at the Canada Line platform in Waterfront Station.

Vancouver Is Awesome is featuring all of the seven participating designers, their designs as well as brief interviews. For more information visit byanyothername.ca.

Terminal City – Interview with Chris Allen

What do you do? What are you currently working on?
I’m the creative director at Burnkit, we’re a creative studio with a focus on ideas, design and interactive.

We have just wrapped up our Prototypes exhibition which looked at the role prototyping plays on developing a design concept. Prototypes followed six preeminent Vancouver-based designers uncovering the experiments and thinking involved in bringing ideas and products to life.

A few current projects include: recently launched website for MCM Architects; a new identity and website for a boutique law firm; a monograph for a west coast architecture and design firm; a new website for a Vancouver based charity that supports girls in Ghana with education and clean water.

Where does the name Terminal City come from?
Terminal city was a nickname given to Vancouver because of its role as the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

What was your approach?
Given the origins of the name Terminal City, it felt natural to focus on the railway and trains. I wanted to create a poster that wasn’t literal or obvious, but an abstract visual that hinted at the subject matter. After researching the theme and exploring various directions based on railroad tracks and the promise of new prosperity, some time was spent digging through the Vancouver Archives in search of a rich image drenched in history that could tell the story in a single snapshot. A handful of images were found, yet they lacked the abstraction I was looking to achieve. In the end a simple image and a date were used to celebrate the end of a ten year project and one of the greatest engineering feats of the century, a rail line which ran across Canada and connected the East and West coast of our nation. The image of a rising steam trail was used to subtly suggest it were rising from the smokestack of Engine 374 (the locomotive which pulled the first passenger train into Vancouver) as it pulled into Vancouver on the pivotal day of May 23, 1887.

Fuck Cancer is an educational movement aimed at shifting the power from cancer to the patient. It educates people to look for cancer and  realize that early detection is cancer’s best cure. It also promotes generation Y to engage with their parents in this process. I met up with one of Vancouver’s Most awesome Yael Cohen, the founder and chief, at their head office in Gastown to discuss her Vancouver Favourites, people and food.

What makes Vancouver awesome?

It’s everything. Our environment, it’s the oceans and the mountains, sounds trite- but true. It’s our people, and our lifestyle. Oh  and the fact that no matter what you’re craving for dinner, there’s a place to get it within 10 minutes!

What are your fondest memories growing up in the city?

I moved here when I was ten, I had come from South Africa, then California and Colorado… all over the place. And the week we moved was the fireworks, Festival of Lights, so we had just moved into our new house,  and didn’t know anyone at all. My big brother Ryan and I, had gone out to play on the street and we had met neighbourhood kids. And so being me, I invite everyone over to watch fireworks at our house. It’s the first night in this new house, my parents are unpacking, they’re exhausted. Mom is in a nightie, busy putting the house together and the doorbell rings, and literally fifteen people show up. Any of course the only place that you could see the fireworks from our house was off my parent’s bedroom balcony! That was my first memory of Vancouver.  We had never really lived in a place where there was that sense of community. So that’s definitely one of my favourites.

Who is your favourite Vancouverite?

There are so many. My mom and my dad, is that lame?

My mom and my dad, they are my favourite humans so they would have to be my favourite Vancouverites as well, right?

What was your experience like doing your Tedx Keynote?

It was nerve wracking, that was the first time I had spoken in front of that many people, so it was as scary as hell, but it was awesome. It really makes you have to think about what you are doing and what you are trying to do and how to succinctly represent your message. You have got such a short amount of time and you really want to make sure you are clear and concise and inspiring. Obviously I believe in what I do, but if I can make hundreds of thousands of other people believe from my seven minute speech, then I better damn well work my butt off. I have gone to quite a few of the TED events. TEDmed, Tedwoman and TEDglobal.  I think that TEDx is fantastic. It gives us access to thousands of voices that wouldn’t get the chance to be on a main stage.

How do you prepare for something like that? Going from an average citizen to being thrown into the media spotlight?

I know you can prepare, I haven’t particularly, I still get nervous as hell, which is probably a good thing. It keeps me wanting to do better and better. I wrote three speeches before I got to the TED one that you guys saw. My speeches are points, I don’t write actual speeches, because if I get nervous and skip a line I throw myself off. I just write points and I speak about them from the heart.

What is your favourite thing to do in the winter?

Whistler. I don’t really ski or snowboard, I just love …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

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…

I hope everyone had a great time at Sing It Forward last week, we raised $35,000 for the St James Music Academy! You can see some photos of the night taken by my 2nd in command (as I was already home in Ontario) Leigh Eldridge! Now that Christmas is over, I hope you’re all excited for…

THIS WEEK IN MUSIC: and New Years Eve at the Media Club! This is where you’ll find me, at One Night Stand IV with some of Vancouver’s finest…Happy New Years everyone!

…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!)

Rain. It’s what we get a lot of here on the “Wet Coast” of Canada in the late Fall to Early Spring. As a born and raised Vancouverite, you’d think I’d be used to it by now. But no, the incessant deluge of falling water from October to March still manages to catch me off guard, and brings out my gloomy side now and then. But then I see photos like today’s Daily Flickr Pickr selection by Harris Hui, and it makes me glad I live here and get to enjoy all the beautiful things that the rain not only gives us during the rainy months (like this wonderful photo), but all the lush green and vibrant colors we get in abundance in the Spring and Summer.
Wouldn’t change it for the world.

Vancouver is all the more Awesome because of the rain.

Enjoy Walk In The Rain by Harris Hui

John