Dine out Vancouver returns January 17th to February 2nd, 2014.

This is Canada’s largest restaurant festival, produced by Tourism Vancouver and presented by American Express, where you can enjoy offerings from hundreds of restaurants, culinary events, and dozens of hotel options to make your Dine Out Vancouver experience last.

Dine Out Vancouver 2014

Search by restaurant, menu price, cuisine, neighbourhood, and narrow your options based on dietary needs such as vegetarian or gluten-free. Each participating restaurant is hosting a prix-fixe menu for Dine Out Vancouver that is either $18, $28, or $38. Be sure to make your reservations as soon as possible.

Culinary Events

Follow Dine Out Vancouver on Twitter and Facebook for the latest information and contest opportunities.

Canadian broadcaster and author Grant Lawrence has returned from his recent book tour that included: “5,812 kilometres. 30 events. 25 musicians. 12 libraries. 10 flights. 8 bars. 5 arts centres. 4 theatres. 3 bookstores. 2 rental cars. 1 lost CBC Sweater.” His new book, The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie was released by Douglas & McIntyre in the fall and currently sits on their bestseller list.

In this deeply personal, yet incredibly witty memoir about Grant’s relationship with hockey, the narrative passes back and forth between tales of Grant’s life and a fascinating history of hockey, complete with lively anecdotes about the many colourful characters of the NHL.

This is a side-splitting account of how hockey has played into various periods of his life, first as a knee-brace-wearing bully-magnet, then a rock star, and finally, a CBC broadcaster. Complete with Lawrence’s signature storytelling ability, this witty and personal book is a quintessentially Canadian story about our cultural lives, told through the grill of a goalie mask.

Not only does it contain colourful anecdotes about the history of the NHL, it is also chock full of stories about many Canadian celebrities—including comedians, musicians and actors—whose lives have been affected by the game.

The book delves deeply into hockey history, 1970s to 2000s, through the eyes of an on-again off-again Vancouver Canucks fan and as Andy Holloway writes for the National Post: “Despite its title and cover photo [Lawrence’s book] is actually less about being a goalie for the Vancouver Flying Vees, the team he cofounded along with other musicians, and more about finding where one fits in life.”

Book Week Giveaway

Every day this week I will give away a cool BC book. Here’s how to enter to win today’s featured title The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie by Grant Lawrence:

• 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 on Monday, January 13, 2013 at 12:00pm. Follow Grant Lawrence’s everyday adventures on Twitter.

Update The winner is Anne Derkat!

One hundred years ago, our fair city was 28 years old and already survived a Great Fire, erected the tallest building in the British Empire, built a courthouse that stands today as the city’s art gallery, had a thriving interurban transit system and a population well over 100,000 (a fifth of what it is today).

14 Photos of Vancouver in 1914

Taking a look back at Vancouver in 1914, here are some photos from that year courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives:

Crowds outside the C.P.R. Station for the embarkation of the first overseas troops. Vancouver Archives# Mil P276.1.

72nd Seaforths marching over bridge to Stanley Park. Vancouver Archives# CVA 99-1172.

Coal Harbour (before Lost Lagoon was sectioned off) and Stanley Park. Vancouver Archives# CVA 789-124.

City of Vancouver street cleaning crew on Labour Day. Vancouver Archives# CVA 789-14.

Car crash at Granville Street at Connaught Drive. Vancouver Archives# Str P409.2.

A group at Prospect Point and a group descending Grouse Mountain both photos attributed to F.W. Hewton. Vancouver Archives# St Pk P145 and Mount P11.1.

Vancouver Cycle Club. Vancouver Archives# CVA 1376-254.

Passengers from the Komagata Maru. Vancouver Archives# CVA 7-127.

Construction on the upper floors of the (second) Hotel Vancouver. Vancouver Archives# Hot P55.3.

Smithe between Howe and Granville, and the third CPR station under construction. Vancouver Archives# LGN 986 and CVA 152-1.080.

Kitsilano Beach. Vancouver Archives# Be N3.

English Bay Beach. Vancouver Archives# Be P144.2.

The Rio Theatre is serving up a mix of cult favourites, comedy, classic horror and more as this month’s Friday Late Night Movies. These 19+ screenings can be complimented with a beverage from the theatre’s full service bar as you enjoy a night out with friends. Tickets are available online in advance or at the door for $8 or $6 if you come in costume.

Rio Theatre Friday Late Night Movies

Friday, January 3, 2014
The Big Lebowski (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1998) That rug really tied the room together.
This Coen Brothers’ classic is about a guy named “Dude” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) who is mistaken for a millionaire also named Lebowski, who seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it. Also starring John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and… Flea. Join us for White Russians in your coziest pajamas and Cowichan sweaters.

Friday, January 10, 2014
Tommy Boy (Peter Segal, 1995) If at first you don’t succeed, lower your standards.
Two of the most notable names to emerge from 90s-era Saturday Night Live, Chris Farley and David Spade, shine in this hilarious, insanely quotable, and totally unlikely buddy movie. | An incompetent, immature, and dimwitted heir to an auto parts factory (Farley) must save the business to keep it out of the hands of his new, con-artist relatives and big business. Also starring Brian Dennehy, Bo Derek, and Dan Aykroyd.

Friday, January 17, 2014
Twelve Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, 1995) The future is history.
Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt (who was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his standout supporting role), and Madeleine Stowe star in director Terry Gilliam’s (Monty Python, Brazil) non-linear dystopian science-fiction thriller. | In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.

Friday, January 24, 2014
The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980) All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Unlike so many horror movies, director Stanley Kubrick’s chilling masterpiece The Shining hasn’t lost any of its luster in the thirty-odd years since it release. Based on Stephen King’s 1977 novel and adapted by Kubrick (an effort famously loathed by King), this story of a family (Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd) whose winter retreat in an isolated hotel is interrupted by an evil presence that manages to turn dad violent and make mom into a confused hysteric while their weirdly psychic son sees creepy twins and mutters incessantly about “red rum,” is best appreciated on the big screen.

Friday, January 31, 2014
Fargo (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1996) Small town. Big crime. Dead cold.
Actress Frances McDormand won an Oscar for her portrayal of the very tenacious (and very pregnant) sheriff Marge Gunderson, who sets out to solve three murders in her small town of Brainerd, Minnesota in the dead of winter. | Jerry Lundegaard’s inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen’s bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson. Also starring William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi.

The first tourist bus service began running in Stanley Park in 1908 but it wasn’t until the 1920s that a public bus service “challenged the supremacy of the electric streetcar”¹ in Vancouver.

1940s: Grandview Hwy & the Bus Stop Coffee Shop. Archives# CVA 1184-3267. Photographer: Jack Lindsay.

On March 19th, 1923 under BC Electric Railway’s General Manager George Kidd, the company “bought 23 passenger buses from the White Motor Company with bodies built locally by G.W. Ribchester. They were hand-cranked, sported solid tires, and were so successful that more buses were ordered…” [¹Source: Vancouver History]. The trolley buses followed in 1945 and three years later motorized buses were introduced. [Source: BC Transit History].

I have posted varied collections of archive photographs in the Archive Photos of the Day series, including transit and today’s collage fits right in, featuring bus shelters in Vancouver over the years:

1978: Archives# CVA 800-115. Photographer: Al Ingram.

1978: Archives# CVA 800-135 & CVA 800-136. Photographer: Al Ingram.

1970: Archives# CVA 800-1989. Photographer: Al Ingram.

1976: Archives# CVA 800-285. Photographer: Al Ingram.

1978 & 1970: Archives# CVA 800-146 & CVA 800-1991. Photographer: Al Ingram.

1978: Archives# CVA 800-167. Photographer: Al Ingram.