Archives Photos of the Day: Women

Comments 3 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Today is International Women’s Day and in Vancouver, women have played a strong role in developing its history and making sure it moves into the future. The Vancouver Police Museum reminded us on Twitter this morning that Vancouver was the first city in the world to hire women as cops and I wanted to showcase that part of our local history. I selected the collection of photos below as they portray Vancouver women as you may see them today – as athletes, hikers, campers, part of community organizations, having fun and working hard.


Date: 1898
Subject: Two women on Hastings Street near Hamilton Street
Archives Item#: Str P279
Photographer / Studio: Major Matthews Collection


Date: 1917
Subject: Women hiking in Black Tusk Meadows
Archives Item#: CVA 660-195
Photographer / Studio: John Davidson Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

Vancouver’s Thorny Bleeder Makes CBC Radio 3’s Top 10 Music Websites List

Add a Comment by Rebecca Bollwitt

CBC Radio 3 is currently hosting a search for the Best Music Website in Canada. Over the last few weeks, through an online public poll, they have narrowed down the field with Vancouver having a strong showing in the top 30 listings (including Vancouver is Awesome’s music section and Backstage Rider). This week we’re down to the Top 10 and one West Coast website, Thorny Bleeder Records, remains in the running. I had the chance to chat with site owner and operator Brian Thomson this morning about making the cut and the current state of the music industry online.

The website came about “out of necessity, passion, interest and being a total web nerd,” Brian told me over the phone. He not only runs what is now one of the top 10 music websites in Canada, Thorny Bleeder Records is a label and artist management firm that also offers artist services and social media consulting aimed at people in the creative arts. “Developing and ‘up and coming’ artists are just trying to figure out what they’re going to do. The first thing is record an album but then it’s like ‘okay, what do we do now?’.” Brian then helps them work out a 6-month plan, focusing on how to get their music out to the masses. “It all starts with social media,” he added.

It was at this point that I realized that Thorny Bleeder is much more than a music blog, YouTube, and Twitter account.

The website itself hosts a blog, video podcasts, a daily newsletter, free music downloads, and insights into the business of the music industry. “We’re very different from other music websites that just do music reviews,” Brian said. “I like to refer to us as a music lovers’ community,” which follows advice he often gives his artists.

“I try to practice what I preach so if I’m urging and artist to do something [with social media] I try to do it even better. There’s no reason an artist can’t do the same.” With over 6,000 followers on Twitter, Brian’s genuine approach to promotions and community engagement is what has brought him this far in the online realm. “It’s all about creating that community instead of just saying ‘listen to me’ — it’s not about advertising. You need to involve people in something.”

Whether it’s creating a community for his artists or for the label, Brian’s enthusiasm and drive to support the music industry is clear. He even offers up free albums on his website including the ‘Get Thorny’ compilation, consisting of over 20 hand-picked tunes by Canadian artists, just so that people can discover new home-grown talent.

There is still time to vote for your favourite Canadian music website until Thursday, March 10th (you can vote once every 24-hour period). The winner will be flown out to the NXNE festival this summer to accept their award.

Follow CBCRadio3 and @ThornyBleeder on Twitter for the latest music news and updates.

Opsal Steel Building

Comments 9 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Industrial buildings around False Creek have either met their doom in recent years or have received face-lifts (like the Salt Building). However, the twin-roofed 1918 Opsal Steel Building on the corner of West 2nd and Quebec has met a bit of a mixed fate.

Opsal Steel Ltd building
Photo credit: SqueakyMarmot on Flickr

The Opsal Steel building was used for making logging equipment back in its heyday and was part of the massive rail yard network that lay across most of False Creek. Its heritage status was revoked in 1997 and has since been vacant although it has appeared frequently on Heritage Vancouver’s ‘Top Ten Endangered Sites‘ list:

“2002: After seven years of city planning wrangling and a whole area’s density rezoning. Opsal Steel still stands, it’s ninety year old structural timbers still sound, but gaping holes in the roof threaten its structural integrity. This is not so much demolition by neglect as planning by exhaustion. Heritage Vancouver’s perspective is that it would behoove council and city planning to act expeditiously for the sake of conservation and support a proposal to move this plan forward before the structure deteriorates beyond the point of no return.”

there's red, and then there's red
Photo credit: waferboard on Flickr

After being shrouded in scaffolding, the building is finally being stripped and prepared for their new incarnation as a part of a Bastion Development that will raise two condo towers at the site.

Turret in the Sky
Photo credit: Photocat62 on Flickr

Last May Vancouver is Awesome reported on this and the Vancouver Courier confirmed the development in the fall:

“A two-tower residential development at the historic Opsal Steel site on Second Avenue is poised to go ahead after years of planning. Bastion Development Corporation is behind the project, which will feature two residential highrises with commercial and retail amenities, and a restored Opsal Steel building. One tower will reach 26 storeys at the corner of Second and Quebec. The shorter tower will be at Ontario and Second. The land where the car wash sits is not included in the development.”

The ‘shell’ of the building will remain intact with the two towers positioned above. Per Bastion: “Original cladding will be reused in the interior courtyard, and the iconic exterior signage will be remounted to the face of the building. The interior will feature a pair of long gable-roofed ranges with high exposed ceilings, displaying the heavy-timber frames from the original structure. A number of artifacts from the steel company’s days-gone-by will also appear, including a gantry crane and wooden casting moulds.”

While development of the site has been painfully slow up until this point, another piece of Vancouver history will live on somehow albeit through weathered wooden trusses, encased in shiny new glass.

Royal Winnipeg Ballet Presents Wonderland

Comments 4 by Rebecca Bollwitt

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet (“RWB”) is bringing a modern version of Alice’s Wonderland across the country this month, stopping in Vancouver for shows March 24th until the 27th.

“This is not your grandmother’s Wonderland,” said Principal dancer Tara Birtwhistle during our telephone interview. She’s currently rehearsing in-studio with the company before the tour.

Ballet - Wonderland
Photo credit: David Cooper

“Our Wonderland is very unique, I don’t think the ballet world has seen anything like it.” Birtwhistle added that the RWB’s production is contemporary and is set in modern times, including references to the internet and television. “It sort of parallels what happens in our lives today – everyone has a different Wonderland to accept.”

The contemporary performance will also have the dancers vocalize, something that is very rare in ballet.

In fact, the RWB has been doing many things differently to help evolve the medium; they have been posting videos on Vimeo and YouTube throughout the rehearsal process, they are on Twitter, Facebook, and are reaching out to bloggers (such as yours truly) to help promote the show.

Born in Vancouver, Birtwhistle still has family here and has been with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet for 20 years and will have her farewell performance starring in the company’s The Ecstasy of Rita Joe later this year. She will go on to teach at the RWB, passing on the experience she’s gained throughout her remarkable career that has included traveling the globe and even performing for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

“I feel very fulfilled and at peace with leaving the stage but at the same time, I feel sad because it’s who we are. A dancer is what I’ve been my entire life, and I’ll always be a dancer.” You can catch her playing the role of the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland at the Centre for Performing Arts in Vancouver later this month.

National Parks in BC, 100 Years of Parks Canada

Comments 3 by Rebecca Bollwitt

BC Parks is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year while it is also the 100th anniversary of Parks Canada in 2011. Although Banff National Park is 125 years old, Parks Canada was officially established in 1911 and was the first national park service in the world. In BC, we have 7 National Parks.

Glacier National Park

View of the mountains in Glacier National Park, BC, before a nasty storm moved in
Rogers Pass. Photo credit: Alaskan Dude on Flickr

Yoho National Park of Canada

emerald yoho reflection
Emerald Lake. Photo credit: Jasmic on Flickr

Kootenay National Park of Canada

IMG_0697
Kootenay River. Photo credit: aa440 on Flickr

Mount Revelstoke National Park of Canada

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve of Canada

Thrashers Cove
Thrashers Cove. Photo credit: BigA888 on Flickr

Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada

foghorn house
Saturna. Photo credit: teamscuby on Flickr

Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site

Gwaii Haanas #1  --  5:50am, time to wake up !
Kat island. Photo credit: ah zut on Flickr

You can find out more about Canada’s National Parks this weekend (until March 6, 2011) at the BC Home and Garden Show. There you can visit the Canada Pavilion at the Convention Centre to learn more, and even do some trip planning for the warmer months.

Follow @ParksCanada on Twitter for national parks and heritage site news.