The Vancouver Park Board launched a park-finding app for iPhone earlier this year. This free application allows you to locate a park on a map and click to see its amenities and facilities.
One feature I would love to see is a search by amenity. For example you could click on an icon and see all off-leash parks. Another would be integration with Google Maps so that you can get directions to a park.
A few weeks ago I asked Jason Watson, Communications Coordinator for the Park Board, about possible updates. He said that since the app launched in January they have had hundreds of downloads each month however, they are unsure if they’ll move ahead with a 2.0 version.
In the meantime, it’s a decent tool for quick park information (if there is a park near you, if it has a pool, etc.) You can also download the free Metro Vancouver iParks Explorer App for park listings and information around the entire region.
Like moths to a flame, bathing-suit clad bodies flock to the Kitsilano Pool as soon as the summer sun starts to shine. It’s a bright blue beacon of warm weather recreation at one of the city’s most popular beaches.
Photo credit:
ecstaticist on Flickr
Photo credit: Carolyn Coles on Flickr
1931 – Construction laying out Kitsilano Pool. Archives item# Be N51.1.
In 1931, Percy Norman looked out from the rocks of Lighthouse Park across to Kitsilano and decided he had to swim across. No one knows if he had attempted the route before, but that year he led 40 intrepid swimmers across the chilly waters to commemorate the opening of the original Kitsilano Pool. All made it. [Vancouver Open Water Swim Association]
Over the years the pool has hosted stunts, fire drill displays, Olympic trials, and the long-running Kitsilano Showboat. Set up along the south side of the pool, the showboat – now in its 75th year – hosts free entertainment (weather permitting) with performances running until August 17th this year.
The Kitsilano Pool swim schedule usually runs from Victoria Day until the second week of September.
Other Vancouver Icons posts include: White Rock Pier, Main Post Office, Planetarium Building, Lord Stanley Statue, Vancouver Library Central Branch, Victory Square, Digital Orca, The Crab Sculpture, Girl in Wetsuit, The Sun Tower, The Hotel Vancouver, The Gassy Jack Statue, The Marine Building, and The Angel of Victory. Should you have a suggestion for the Vancouver Icons series please feel free to leave a note in the comments. It should be a thing, statue, or place that is very visible and recognizable to the public.
A warm but soggy summer so far has proven to be the perfect incubator for pests with officials now warning of mosquito bites. With the words “West Nile Virus” showing up in subsequent headlines this week, I’m certain many are scooping up their bug repellent.
Closing our eyes and spraying blindly, we’ll cough through clouds of chemicals to remain bite-free. However, I knew there had to be natural solutions available so I went to the first source that came to mind: David Suzuki’s Queen of Green. Here are Lindsay Coulter’s tips:
Protect Against Mosquitos Naturally
Create a mosquito-unfriendly home
Think about all the non-toxic things you can do to keep mosquitoes away. Chemical and synthetic ingredients in bug sprays often don’t break down in the environment so they linger and can cause harm to plants and animals, other than mosquitoes.
- Remove standing water (mosquito breeding grounds) — refresh bird baths.
- Fill, cover or remove backyard items that collect water — empty planters, kids’ toys, wheelbarrows, etc.
- Keep your rain gutters clean to help rainwater flow freely.
- Repair screens on doors and windows.
- Keep grass to about three inches and trim shrubs.
- Attract mosquito eating chickadees, house wrens, bluebirds, swallows, and martins with birdhouses or bird baths.
Make yourself unattractive to mosquitoes
Go fragrance-free. Mosquitoes love scents in soaps, lotions, shampoos, perfumes and laundry detergent.
- Cover up with long sleeves, long pants and socks.
- Wear light-coloured, loose-fitting, long-sleeved shirts, long pants and socks. Tuck your kid’s pants into their socks for extra protection.
- Take a bug net or bug shirt camping. It will keep you sane.
- Try herbal repellents with essential oils of citronella, cedar, eucalyptus, lemongrass or peppermint. They can be safe for use on children (but not on babes under two).
Avoiding DEET is recommended as it is a registered pesticide. Get outside and enjoy all that British Columbia has to offer and protect yourself from bites using one of Lindsay’s suggestions. Follow her on Twitter @DavidSuzukiQoG and download the David Suzuki Foundation’s Bugs Off Guide.
Live at Squamish will be hopping in just a few weeks as local and international artists rock out in one of the most picturesque venues around.
From Friday August 24th to Sunday August 26th you can catch acts like The Matinee, Lights, The Sheepdogs, Mother Mother, Plants and Animals, The Airborne Toxic Event, Chromeo, City and Colour, and The Tragically Hip. You can still find a few tickets available from $89 (plus fees).
If you’re not camping or glamping, there is a shuttle service setup between Vancouver and Squamish this year, available on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There are several pick-up locations downtown in the afternoons with a return shuttle leaving Squamish at midnight each night. Passes are available now, in advance.
Giveaway
Virgin Mobile is inviting a Miss604 reader and their guest to experience Live at Squamish in style. They have offered up access to the Virgin Mobile VIP Member Lounge for all three days of the festival and a brand new HTC One S™ smartphone to keep!
The HTC One S comes complete with Android™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 8MP camera, and built-in Universal Beats Audio. The Virgin Mobile VIP area at Live at Squamish has a great view of the main stage, its own food vendors, and its own washroom facilities. This is just a taste of the perks Virgin Mobile members can enjoy.
Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post naming what you use (or would use) your smartphone for the most (voice, text, social networking, photos, etc.) – (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
Follow Virgin Mobile Canada everywhere on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. I am also the official Virgin Mobile blogger of Live at Squamish so I’ll be sharing my own content using the tag #VMSquamish throughout the weekend.
I will draw one winner at random from all entries next Wednesday, August 8, 2012 at 2:00pm. Update The winner is @eshizzi from Twitter!
Before you gasp in disbelief as City crews patch potholes on Water Street with asphalt, covering and replacing what look like historic cobblestone bricks, you should know that they are actually a product of an early disco era.
The concrete pavers were put in place 40 years ago in an effort to preserve Gastown’s history, avoiding a deeper slide into disrepair.
From Gastown.org: “With talk of demolishing the area becoming more widespread, a group of dedicated citizens took it upon themselves to save Gastown’s distinctive architecture and character. The city rallied around them. Gastown was not just saved, it was reborn.”
Maple Tree Square, where Gassy Jack first arrived from New Westminster by canoe, was built up in 1972 and the brick-like blocks were installed on formed plazas and roadways.
1968 Before reconstruction at Maple Tree Square (Powell, Water, Carroll, Alexander):
Archives item# CVA 780-689.
1968 Mockups for Maple Tree Square
Archives item# CVA 780-698 & CVA 780-705.
1972 Maple Tree Square Construction:
Archives item# CVA 780-578
Archives item# CVA 780-581 & CVA 780-587
Archives item# CVA 780-602. Photos Courtesy of the Vancouver Archives.
There was a push to have Gastown declared a historic site in 1971 but it wasn’t actually officially designated as a National Historic Site until 2009.
City Engineer Peter Judd told Metro News that the roadways won’t be all asphalt. The City of Vancouver plans to repair the road while maintaining the old-timey feel that locals and tourist have come to enjoy.
