Sarah Brightman is kicking off her extensive North American Tour in Hamilton, Ontario on September 13th and she will reach Rogers Arena in Vancouver on October 25th. Her latest album, Dreamchaser is a collaboration with veteran producer Mike Hedges and reflects her amazing announcement of soon becoming the first musician to travel to the International Space Station.

After making history on both stage and screen, pioneering the classical crossover genre, selling over 30 million albums worldwide, and becoming the only artist to perform the theme song at two Olympics, it’s hard to imagine Sarah Brightman has a dream left to realize. Yet with her new album Dreamchaser, Sarah is embarking on what she calls “the greatest adventure I can imagine.” Inspired by the wonderment and beauty of space, Dreamchaser is a reflection of Brightman’s lifelong dream to travel into space.

Tickets for her performance in Vancouver are on sale now. For a taste of what’s in store, check out her recent PBS special “Sarah Brightman – Dreamchaser: In Concert” on YouTube.

If you would like a copy of Dreamchaser, I have 5 copies of the CD to give away. 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 five winners at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Tuesday, September 10, 2013. Follow Sarah Brightman on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more album and tour information.

Update The winners are Lindawwww, Joy M, Cairine, Mark, Ron!

Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the Sunshine Coast include some of my favourite getaway destinations for a day trip, weekend visit, an extended stay, or for business. Of course to reach these ports of call a ferry trip is required along with browsing schedules, booking a reservation, checking in on wait times, line-ups, and more.

While this information could have been useful before the long weekend, I thought I would highlight some mobile apps for BC Ferries (and more) that have been created by third parties that just might help with your future crossings:

Ferry Rush

Features: Ferry Rush BC provides ferry capacity for all major ferry terminals in British Columbia in a super-clean, easy-to-use format. Swipe between routes and see future crossing times along with their capacities.
Notes: I used this recently when visiting the Sunshine Coast as I left Painted Boat Resort in Madeira Park and headed toward the Langdale Terminal through Gibsons. The information was accurate and up-to-the-minute.
Download Link: iPhone

Ferries App

Features: Ferries App provides quick and easy access to BC Ferries schedules while you are on the go. All of the data is stored offline so you can use it even when you have no internet.
Notes: I do like the abundance of schedules all listed, and sorted by time of year, however I would need the upgrade to the pay version to get all of the information I am looking for (or use another free app).
Download Link (free) fewer routes listed: iPhone and iPad, Android
Download Link ($1.99) no ads version, all routes: iPhone and iPad, Android

Crossing the Pond

Features: Check travel and weather information about Vancouver Island, including BC Ferries, Washington Ferries, HeliJet, seaplane and airplane flights that get you to and from the mainland to your island destinations.
Notes: I love that you can look up schedules for the Washington State Ferries as well as seaplanes and more. For any expanded services like reservations and full schedules it re-directs you to the BC Ferries website or phone number.
Download Link (free): iPhone

The Mukilteo ferry to Whidby Island in Washington State

Summary

These three apps all have their pros and cons, but they do make a lot of information available at your finger tips. I think if you already know your travel date and time, then Ferry Rush will be the most useful. If you’re visiting or planning a more complex route (by car, ferry, or seaplane) then Crossing the Pond is your best bet. For simple access to schedules, then Ferries it is. If you already have a favourite ferry app, please feel free to leave a recommendation in the comments.

The first organized Vancouver Tweed Ride will take to the streets on September 15th with riders sporting fashions of a bygone era, using vintage bicycles if they can, and celebrating the history of cycling culture.

The ride will begin at The Vancouver Club and will include stops at C Restaurant for high tea and refreshments. It will end with a British style after-party courtesy of The Terminal City Club and The Lions Pub.

Tweed rides are a worldwide phenomenon started in London in the fall of 2009 as “Tweed Run London”. The popular event has been known to sell out in minutes with celebrity participants and hundreds of cyclists in attendance. Similar rides have taken place around the world including Toronto, New York and Sydney.

1890s: Bicycle racers and others at Brockton Point. Vancouver Archives# Sp P15.1

Vancouver’s first Tweed Ride will support Intersections Media Opportunities for Youth Society, a non-profit that offers a variety of film and skills development programs for at-risk youth in the lower mainland.

The registration now open and it includes the ride, a swag bag, high tea, and entrance into the after party. Prizes will be awarded for best-dressed tweed, best group and best bike. The Vancouver Tweed Ride will take place on Sunday September 15, 11:00am to 3:00pm.

Follow the Vancouver Tweet Ride on Twitter and Facebook for more information.

On this day in history (September 2nd, 1927) Jonathan Rogers sold his namesake “Rogers Building” at the corner of Pender and Granville for $1 million to General F. A. ‘One Arm’ Sutton. At the time, it was the biggest real estate transaction in the city’s history. [source] Rogers was among Vancouver’s earliest pioneers and in 1949, Peter Carter-Page wrote in The Province that Rogers’ story is largely Vancouver’s:

1922: VPL# 10418 & 1935: VPL# 5173. Photographer: Leonard Frank.

Rogers, Carter-Page told us, was born in Plas Onn, Denbighshire, Wales, and until he was 15 spoke not one word of English. He arrived in Vancouver, a fresh-faced youth of 22, in May of 1887—aboard that famed first CPR train from Montreal. Rogers was the first passenger to step off the train, and he recalled that the Vancouver City Band struck up the tune See the Conquering Hero Comes. Rogers later confessed, with some embarrassment, that he thought the band was playing it for him, as the first person to emerge from the train.

The city was a simpler place then: Rogers could recall when horse races were run down Granville Street. He liked the place so much he stayed for the rest of his life, nearly 60 years more. Twenty-six of those years were spent on the city’s park board, nine of them as chairman. He also served twice as an alderman, and twice as president of the board of trade (1914 and 1915).

But he began simply, as a painter, helping to paint the first Hotel Vancouver. He later became a builder and contractor, and it’s said that more than 300 metres (1,000 feet) of Granville Street footage was built by him. The building for which he will be best remembered—and not just because it’s named for him—is the Rogers Building. [source]

The 10-storey Rogers Building was designed by a Seattle firm, Gould and Champney and was initially announced as “The Glyn Building”:

The October 20, 1911 issue of BC Saturday Sunset gave some of the details of “what promises to be one the finest office buildings on the Pacific Coast…” The building, said Sunset, “is designed along the lines of the modern French Renaissance (with an) exterior of polished Glasgow granite, in combination with cream-colored terra cotta facing… All the interior finish woodwork is to be of hardwood with white Italian marble corridors and stairs throughout… The building will be a monument to Alderman Rogers, whose faith in the future of this city is exemplified in the erection of a building which, when completed, will represent an expenditure of nearly $600,000.” [source]

1927: VPL # 4491 & 1929: VPL# 5444. Photographer: Leonard Frank.

This state-of-the-art reinforced concrete structure was the biggest the city had seen. Building Vancouver writes:

The fifteen carloads of enamelled terra cotta came from Chicago. The ornamental iron was purchased in Minneapolis and St. Paul and five of the most up-to-date elevators were bought in Toronto. Nearly 60,000 feet of cork flooring and 60,000 feet of linoleum came from England and 8,000 barrels of California cement were used.

From the book Building the West:

Vancouver’s prosperity during the Edwardian era was indicated by a large number of impressive terra cotta commercial structures. Jonathan Rogers, one of the city’s most successful land developers, chose prominent Seattle architects Gould & Champney to design a prestigious skyscraper. Gould & Champney maintained a branch office in Vancouver from 1910-12, and Augustus W. Gould for several years afterwards. The completed Rogers Building, with its glacial white cladding, demonstrates the deft way that classically-trained architects of the time could manipulate traditional elements in a thoroughly contemporary manner.

According to William Mercer in Chuck Davis’ History of Metropolitan Vancouver, Rogers got the building back after the sale to Sutton in 1927. Mercer said that “One-Arm had pretty grandiose plans, but they didn’t work out. So the old man got the building back in, oh, about 1940-41.”

1927: VPL # 4490 & 1930: VPL # 4359. Photographer: Leonard Frank.

Rogers passed away in 1945 and his wife Elizabeth took over the building until the Koerner Foundation purchased it in 1955. The present owner, Equitable Real Estate Investment Corp., bought the building from the foundation in 1976.

There is a great roundup of Jonathan Rogers’ building on the Changing Vancouver blog and the Building Vancouver blog if you would like to learn more about the man who helped create and shape Vancouver’s early skyline.

Explore the Birthplace of BC at the Fort Farm Fest at Fort Langley this weekend. On Saturday, August 31st and Sunday, September 1st you can learn about the heritage garden, feed the farm animals, and watch barrel-making demonstrations, or compete in a farm relay from 10:00am until 5:00pm each day.

Photo credit: AntonTeterine on Flickr

There will also be pony rides available on Sunday from 11:00am until 3:00pm. Regular admission fees apply; free for annual pass holders.

While you’re there you can join in on the daily Introductory Tour, Historic Weapons Presentation, Blacksmith Demonstration, Theatre Show, Historic Storytelling, and other activities. Follow Fort Langley National Historic Site on Facebook for more updates about what’s happening around the fort.