Although we had a dusting of snow at the beginning of the month, a white Christmas doesn’t look very probably for Vancouver in 2009 (and Environment Canada only gives us an 11% chance each year anyway). 2008 was named “Canada’s Whitest Christmas” so in case you’re missing the powdery dustings around the city, I’ve rustled up a collection of winter scenes from Vancouver’s past thanks to the Vancouver Archives.
1889
View of Vancouver from Westminster Avenue South (Main Street & 6th)
Photo credit: Trueman & Caple, Item#: Str P125
1889
View of Vancouver from Richards Street and Dunsmuir Street
Item#: Str P123
1902
View of the North Shore from Robson & Jervis
Item#: Van Sc P123.2
1900s
Second Beach in Stanley Park after snowfall
Item#: Be P104
1900s
Horse and sleigh at the Hollow Tree in Stanley Park
Photo credit: Stanley Park Photographers, Item#: St Pk P46
1910s
Main and Pender after heavy snowfall
Item#: CVA 789-78
1916
Hastings and Richards after heavy snowfall
Item#: CVA 789-75
I’m still trying to be creative and think up my latest Then and Now post so if you have any theme suggestions (such as Hotels, Street Views, Apartments, Tourist Spots etc.) I’d love to hear them.
At the beginning of the theatre season in Vancouver I wrote a big directory listing previewing some of the shows that will be taking place around town. With Christmas around the corner, and theatre tickets being a fabulous gift or stocking stuffer, here’s another roundup of productions this winters.
The Arts Club: It’s a Wonderful Life (on now until January 2nd), and looking ahead there’s Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (May 13th – July 11, 2010) and Glengary Glen Ross that will star Eric McCormack.
Blackbird Theatre: Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? presented at The Cultch until January 16th. The Cultch also hosts Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe January 26th until February 6th, 2010 as a part of the Cultural Olympiad and the PuSh Festival.
Carousel Theatre: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood on now until January 2nd, followed by the musical A Year with Frog and Toad starting in April, 2010.
Gateway Theatre: Thoroughly Modern Millie on now until January 3rd followed by The Drowning Girls March 3 – 13th, 2010.
Hoarse Raven Theatre: Entertaining Mr Sloane hits the Jericho Arts Centre in March.
Pacific Theatre: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe until January 2nd followed by The Passion Project starting January 27th, 2010.
Pi Theatre: Presenting Hive 3 March 11th to 20th, 2010. “HIVE: Twelve adventurous theatre companies deliver twelve distinct performances in continuous rotation.”
Vancouver Playhouse: Presenting Beyond Eden, January 16 until February 6th, 2010.
Vancouver Opera: Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro April 24th until May 3th, 2010. Madama Butterfly follows until June 10, 2010.
Of note is also the annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy event at Firehall Arts. Celebrating Robbie Burns’ 251st Birthday and Chinese New Year’s Eve all in one on January 31st, 2010.
There are so many productions year-round and moving into 2010, especially with things like the Cultural Olympiad and the PuSh Festival, Vancouver’s arts scene will hopefully illuminate under one big spotlight. There are many more listings and community theatre groups in the City that I have not listed here but please check them out if you can.
Sometimes giving the gift of an experience, such as an evening of theatre on the town with friends or loved ones, can beat out the store-bought tangible gifts any day.
This evening I took my niece and nephews on the miniature train at Bright Nights in Stanley Park, which benefits the Burn Fund.
Activities include the farmyard, dazzling light displays, a Christmas light recycling station, and of course the miniature train.
I haven’t been on that train in at least a decade and I forgot how long the route actually is. With accompanying music piped into the cars, the train waves its way over through the woods, over bridges, and around wintery scenes from your favourite holiday movies.
From carolers to hockey players (including a good old hockey song) the train ride is enjoyable for young and old. Among the dozens of illuminated Santa Claus figures between Whoville and the North Pole there were also various ethnic themes and even a carol sung in a First Nations language.
When you’ve completed your lap on the train, you can enjoy refreshments such as organic popcorn (from Capers and the Stanley Park Ecological Society), pistachios, warm pretzels, chestnuts, and hot chocolate.
You’ll need to purchase tickets for the miniature train as you will then be booked in for a specific departure time-frame, this can be done on-site or in advance online. Adults are $8, children, youth and seniors are $5. Parking is free after 3:00pm and your ticket on the miniature railway also includes admission to the farmyard. Admission to the entire plaza is free, although a $2 donation to the Burn Fund is suggested.
Bright Nights in Stanley Park will run until January 2, 2010. If you have the chance to go, please feel free to add your photos to the Miss604.com Flickr Pool and I’ll showcase them here.
On January 1st the legendary Fenway Park in will be home to an open-air hockey game that will see the Boston Bruins take on the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 Bridgestone Winter Classic.
I won’t be in Boston however I will be in Iowa (where I was for last year’s Winter Classic) and I’ll be sure to bring along my Bruin’s jersey for the occasion. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
I’m looking for a love song about Vancouver. It can be punk, rock, alternative, folky and yeah, I guess I’ll even accept country. I’ve been hearing Empire State of Mind so much lately and I have come to realize that there are so many songs about how wonderful California and New York are but what about Vancouver?
I’m not comparing all of them side by side at all but you’d think there would be some representation of Vancouver Love in the music sphere. I know people like Vancouver, it’s a pretty nice place to be and you can’t beat the scenery. Even Tom Cochrane sings about “Vancouver’s lights” in Life is a Highway.
So here I am, looking for a fantastic song to get me pumped about my beloved city on a grey, gloomy, drenched December afternoon. Maybe in the same way I can listen to Augustana’s Boston “I think I need a sunrise, I’m tired of the sunsets” and get psyched for the East Coast, who knows. I put the call out on Twitter and received quite a bit of feedback, here are a few messages: Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
