Yesterday was the International Day Against Homophobia and last year, Vancouver Whitecaps FC participated by changing their online profile images to rainbow logos. This year, they took it up another notch and released a rainbow scarf for everyone to show their support along with the team.
Whitecaps FC Pride Scarf, in partnership with Gameday Merchandising.
You can purchase the Pride Scarf online for a limited time and also at the next home match on May 24th at BC Place. $10 from each scarf sold will be donated to You Can Play, which promotes respect for all athletes:
You Can Play is dedicated to ensuring equality, respect and safety for all athletes, without regard to sexual orientation. The organization works to guarantee that athletes are given a fair opportunity to compete, judged by other athletes and fans alike, only by what they contribute to the sport or their team’s success.
You Can Play seeks to challenge the culture of locker rooms and spectator areas by focusing only on an athlete’s skills, work ethic and competitive spirit.
In addition to Pride Scarf sales, Vancouver Whitecaps FC will celebrate Pride Night at the July 27th match against FC Dallas at BC Place.
The atmosphere at matches is always great, John and I are season ticket holders in the Southsiders supporter section, and when there’s a fantastic cause to support it just gets amped up.
Thanks to Whitecaps FC, I have a pair of tickets to give away for the July 27th Pride Night match along with a pair of Pride Scarves. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 5:00pm on Friday, May 23, 2014. Follow Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for news and updates from the club.
Update The winner is Chad Nehring!
The Beer Battle Royale will see four BC breweries go head to head in the Doolin’s ring for total beer glory. The concept is simple and the reward is great: Whoever sells out their keg first will reign as a Doolin’s featured tap for all of June.
What: The Beer Battle Royale
Where: Doolin’s, 654 Nelson St at Granville in downtown Vancouver
When: Thursday, May 29 at 6:30pm
Tickets: Available online now for $25 and include 4 x 16oz cask beers. For more information email ‘info [at] doolins.ca’ or call (604) 605-4343.
The four feature breweries are Granville Island Brewing, Longwood Brewery, Coal Harbour Brewing Company, and Bridge Brewing Company and the event is bound to warm you up for Vancouver Craft Beer Week which starts the following night.
If you would like to attend The Beer Battle Royale, I have a pair of tickets to give away thanks to Doolin’s. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment with who you think will win out of these 4 breweries (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Tuesday, May 20, 2014. Must be 19+ to enter, win, and attend the event. Please enjoy responsibly and plan a safe trip home. Follow Doolin’s on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
Update The winner is Tim!
#WhatsTheLink is a series about all that TransLink, Metro Vancouver’s transportation authority, is responsible for in the region. Join the conversation on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. These guest posts are written by Robert Willis.
#WhatsTheLink: Three out of 418,000 riders – Surrey Central Station
Jump on the SkyTrain during rush hour or watch the successive buses full of riders arrive at the 2014 Fair at the PNE this summer, and it’s plain to see that transit is well used in Metro Vancouver. But just how many people use transit in the region?
In numbers, 418,000 people take TransLink transit every day. That’s a lot of people!
So just who are those 418,000 riders? Well, as you can imagine, they’re all different, and they use transit as well as the roads, bridges, and cycling options TransLink provides differently. So, I headed down to Surrey Central Station—a major transit hub in our system—to meet and get a few snapshots of transit riders in the region.
Photo by Robert Willis
Nick Renowitzky
Nick was travelling by transit from Coquitlam to Surrey Central on a sunny Monday morning. The commute took him about an hour. His current schedule has him using transit at least three days a week, but when school was in session, he was on transit at least five days a week for an hour and a half commute to Langley. As Nick puts it,
“It’s pretty good. It gets me to where I want to go. The bus isn’t a car, but it’s a tradeoff. I don’t have to pay for insurance or the car itself.”
When I asked him what he does on transit, Nick replied that he reads, uses his phone or sleeps, adding, “For whatever reason, I can nap on the bus and wake up at my stop.”
Photo by Robert Willis
Albe Zhu
Albe doesn’t use transit as often as Nick does. Four or five times a month she says she uses the bus and SkyTrain to go downtown on the weekends. For Albe, she uses transit for these trips for convenience, stating, “… it’s easier to use public transit because it’s hard to find parking downtown.” Albe told me she likes to use her phone on transit.
Today, Albe was using the bus to go to work from New Westminster because her car was in the shop.
Photo by Robert Willis
Alisha Horvath
I met Alisha and her adorable five-month-old son while she was waiting for a bus. Alisha is what you would call a heavy transit user. “I take transit more than once every day. I take my step-daughter to school. I take it to the mall. I go everywhere on the bus,” Alisha tells me. Travelling on bus and SkyTrain primarily in Surrey, Alisha says she’s comfortable taking the bus and enjoys reading and checking Facebook on transit.
Are you one of the 418,000 people using transit today? If so, why do you use transit over other modes of transportation? Are your reasons different from those of the transit users above?
I’ve covered everything from aerials and timelapses to ‘before and after‘ comparisons but recently I found a handful of sweeping cityscape photos in the City of Vancouver Archives that are definitely worth sharing as well.
Vancouver Cityscape Photos
1969: View of Downtown Vancouver. Archives# CVA 780-6.
1975: Looking east on Water and Cordova in Gastown. Archives# CVA 780-772.
1975: Kitsilano, looking west. Archives# CVA 780-176.
1969: Northwest view of Mount Pleasant and Downtown. Archives# CVA 780-220.
1969: North facing view of the West End. Archives# CVA 780-383.
Did you know that the World’s Best Food Truck Tour is right here in Vancouver? It’s also one of the top 4 activities in Vancouver on Trip Advisor out of every possible attraction — that’s pretty impressive! Vancouver Foodie Tours invited me on this signature tour to experience the best street eats that the city has to offer:
World’s Best Food Truck Tour in Vancouver
Our guide, Manuela Sosa, was cheerful, upbeat, charming, and knowledgeable about all things in the downtown core. Peppering her narration of the tour with cultural, historical, and Greenest City 2020 factoids, she added an extra layer of value to the lunchtime experience.
Stop 1: Japadog
Offering: Kurobuta Terimayo
Location: Burrard and Smithe
Before Japadog arrived on the scene in 2005, Vancouver’s street food scene was comprised of simple hot dogs, chestnuts, popcorn and ice cream. City Councillor Heather Deal brought a motion to council to ““Increase Healthy Food Options in Vancouver” in March of 2005 as well, getting the ball rolling for the expanded food truck program. By 2008 it was approved and spots opened up for 17 more food carts in the city — over 800 applications were submitted. In 2010 the program launched and the rest is history. Vancouver now has 130 food trucks on the streets today.
It’s rare that a city tour can teach me something I don’t already know (having done research for the last 10 years) but Vancouver Foodie Tours managed to share some unique nuggets of information, in particular about Arthur Erickson and his visions, when we passed through Robson Square.
Stop 2: Mom’s Grilled Cheese
Offering: Sourdough Cheddar and Mint Ginger Lemonade
Location: Howe St between Robson and Georgia
Mom’s Grilled Cheese is definitely a favourite. Sweet and savoury combinations, a wide selection, and the mint ginger lemonade really hit the spot. We also met “Mom”, Cindy Hamilton, and learned more about her background.
Stop 3: EAT Chicken Wraps
Offering: Hoisin Chicken Wrap
Location: Robson and Howe
I’ve never stopped at EAT Chicken Wraps before but it’s now on my list to return for lunch. Sample sizes served in small paper cups were packed with crunchy, spicy, and chewy bites.
Stop 4: Guanaco
Offering: Pupusa and Horchata
Location: Burrard at Pender
The next stop was a taste of El Salvador. Take a corn tortilla, fill it with goodness, and I’m sold. These warm pupusas were packed with cheese and beans, served up with slaw and (my favourite) yuca frita. The horchata was cool and creamy, with a splash of cinnamon. Another great combination.
Stop 5: Tacofino
Offering: Fish Tacos and Diablo Cookie
Location: Howe at Robson / Burrard at Dunsmuir
You absolutely cannot go wrong with a fish taco from Tacofino. It’s crunchy, fresh, tangy, and a very healthy serving for your lunch break. Sit in the sunshine, squeeze a lime over the crispy ling cod, let the chipotle mayo drip down as you take another bite with cabbage and salsa fresca dripping from your chin. End on a high note with a devilishly sweet treat, the Diablo Cookie, spiked with ginger and cayanne pepper.
I particularly appreciated the added value this tour offered, providing information about each food truck and its history, explaining the process for the dishes, sharing recipes and coupons, and letting their participants know more about how food trucks came to be in Vancouver. Given the young history of food trucks in this city, this tour and its variety and quality of stops really say something positive about what the Vancouver food scene has to offer.
The World’s Best Food Truck Tour is 2 hours long and runs April 1st to November 30th. Monday to Friday between 11:00am and 1:00pm. Additional Saturday tours between May 17th – September 6th, 12:00pm to 2:00pm. The cost is $49 and it includes all food tastings. You’ll cover about 1.6km, walking for a total of about 25 minutes. Tours run rain or shine and you’ll meet at Burrard and Smithe, near the original Japadog food cart.
