I’ve stayed in over a dozen hotels this year and I must admit that I’ve only ever stayed in a Vancouver hotel once. This week’s installment of my “Then and Now series features the cornerstone of our tourism community, hotels.
Hotel Vancouver
The first Hotel Vancouver from the 1880s was on Georgia at Granville. The second was built at Howe and Georgia, where the TD Tower sits today. My Flickr contact SqueakyMarmot has a nice side-by-side comparison of this iteration. These images are of the third Hotel Vancouver, which is in operation today.
Sylvia Hotel
The Sylvia has been a landmark in English Bay for almost a century. It’s great for photographing especially in spring and summer when the ivy crawls its way all over the brick exterior.
1932
Photographer: Stuart Thomson – ITEM #: CVA 99-2632
Hotel Georgia
The famous Hotel Georgia closed its doors and began renovation/re-construction a few years ago. It hosted high profile celebrities during its 80-year run including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne and Bob Hope.
1931
Photographer: Stuart Thomson – ITEM #: CVA 99-3998
This morning I am at GM Place for Free the Children’s We Day… and so are 16,000 enthusiastic young people.
I haven’t had much time to live blog but I have been tweeting from the floor of the arena (which you can view in the pane below):
It has been an amazing morning with thousands of excited and motivated kids and youth who have been hanging on every word from every speaker her at We Day. Each Nobel Laureate, TV star, politician and host is treated like a rockstar by the crowd. The kids were instructed how to do a “cell phone wave”, hug their neighbour, and chant about change. The thing that struck a chord with me is that the speakers were informing everyone about issues around the globe, and the help that is desperately needed, yet they also let the children know they can help close to home. They brought home the fact that they can do any act, no matter how small, and make a difference in their family, their schools, and their communities.
The children sat and listened while the Dalai Lama spoke of compassion, and they applauded the Governor General Michaelle Jean when she told them they were the leaders of today — not just tomorrow. Motivational speaker Spencer West ended his talk by quoting Dr Seuss: “Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So… get on your way.”
The event, which is also being webcast by CTV, will take place in Toronto in the near future as well.
Update: I am now back in the press room and there is a very distinguished line up of speakers coming to visit us for Q&A. The first of such is Dr Jane Goodall. “Every individual makes an impact every day,” she notes. The room is filled with traditional media, cameras, and student journalists who have been given the chance to take part today. Dr Goodall has a new book out and is active with the Roots & Shoots program across Canada. She talks about the bridge between environmental & humanitarian issues. “It became very obvious that without helping the people improve their lives and live in an environmentally sustainable way, there was no help for the chimpanzees.” Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
Last week I met up with Sean Horlor of the new OUTtv series, Don’t Quit Your Gay Job. Sean wears many hats (and sometimes a boa or two) in the new show which pits him against Rob Easton as they try their hand at various jobs in the Vancouver area.
Think of it as Dirty Jobs meets Kenny and Spenny but in Vancouver and featuring careers carried out by those in the GLBT community or just jobs that look super fun to try out – if even for an afternoon. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
This past weekend there was a Tweetup at the Bose Farm Corn Maze (or Maize Maze) in Surrey. The Bose farm has been around for generations and its decision to create a corn maze for the last few years has been a very popular one.
The Bose Family’s influence on the City of Surrey is such that 64th Avenue is also known as Bose Road. In 1892 Henry Bose bought the land now known as Fry’s Corner (or the corner of Fraser Hwy and 176th) but when it was unable to produce, he scooped up 160 acres where Bose Farm now sits off 64th.
Many of Surrey’s byways have old wagon road route names such as Bose Road, Hjorth Road (104th), and Johnston Road (152nd). The Bose Family Home is considered a heritage home in Surrey and was built between 1899 and 1907. In 1969 the farm was split between the two Bose sons, Harry and Norman. To this day the farms continue to operate under both Bose families [source].
Unfortunately this was a headline in The Province newspaper last July: “Historic Bose farm in Surrey sold for townhouse project: One of the earliest and most prominent heritage sites in Surrey — the 116-year-old Bose Farm — has been sold by the family and is now on a developer’s drawing board as the site for a major townhouse project.”
Apparently the usable land for the townhouse development is pretty small in comparison and the City is still making an effort to preserve the historicbuildings on site.
City Council agenda action items for September 14, 2009 included:
“Henry Bose (Meadow Ridge) Farm, 6390 – 64 Avenue, Development Application No. 7907-0115-00. That Council approve the Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA) (Appendix II) for the Bose Farm, barn, dairy and farmhouse, provided that any outstanding revisions are acceptable to the General Manager, Planning, and that a temporary coroplast “heritage proposal†sign be placed at the site as soon as possible and a permanent interpretative heritage sign at completion of the renovation project.”
Although it’s a harvest-time hub of activity with the maze, hay jump, pumpkin patch exploration, and campfires (complete with marshmallows) it’s important to recognize the historic significance of this site. This is how Surrey was built; with wagon roads, trailblazers, farmers and families. Check out the corn maze this year if you can, just exit Highway 1 and take Johnston Road past Yale Road and turn left on Bose Road. Or you can exit Highway 1 at Clover Valley Road and take that all the way to Bose Road where you’ll turn right.
This morning I sat on the steps of the Terry Fox Plaza in downtown Vancouver with George Stroumboulopoulos and chatted about the city, music, hockey, and his greatest passions in life; radio and motorcycles.
I first met George at the David Suzuki Foundation/Vancouver Fashion Week wrap up party earlier this year and introduced myself since our paths had crossed on Twitter. Fresh off the plane from Ireland, and on his way back to Toronto, George hosted last night’s Edge of the Fest at the Vancouver Comedy Festival and will also be on stage with Steve Martin tonight.
With a nickname like “Canada’s Boyfriend”, Strombo has a dedicated following across the nation and his visits to Vancouver are always a treat. It’s no Toronto (aka centre of the universe) but what our city lacks in 24-hour dining it makes up for in with its moderate climate and friendly locals. On Twitter I can observe people sending him their best wishes, offering directions to the nearest sushi joint, or talking about how they saw him on the street and got tongue-tied.
Sitting out in the sunshine, our conversation moved into the realm of radio and having John “I grew up on NPR” Bollwitt on my left and George “I want to bring awesome music back to the masses” Strombo on my right was truly delightful. George got his start at a radio station in Kelowna and from a young age had a passion for music. He told us his mother used to take him to the local park and play songs for him on her acoustic guitar, which is something that could truly make me passionate about music as well. Although his first years in broadcasting were during what he called a “dark age” of commercial radio (1987 – the early 90s) he hasn’t lost his love of the medium.
I think that George would have loved to live in Vancouver during the days of the Smiling Buddha and what warmed my heart was when he mentioned something along the lines of DOA and Skinny Puppy being the best bands to ever come out of the West.
While making a single motion with his finger as though pressing the “power” button on a boombox, he said that he believes radio is the ultimate way to communicate and connect — it doesn’t get much easier than that. George said that it’s the element of surprise that has been lost in the iPod generation; you never know what’s going to come up next on the radio and you don’t want to miss it since it’s only there for a few minutes until it’s gone again. Listeners can look up songs or be sent on mass internet scavenger hunts based on a note or a riff of interest they heard for a brief moment that a song was on the radio.
Then there’s the “driveway moments”. These happen when you get home in your vehicle and even though you’ve turned off the ignition, you can’t turn off the radio. Great dialogue, a thought-provoking discussion, or your new favourite song just make you pause and put your life on hold until you’ve had your fill. Or, in George’s case, flip off the ignition and race as fast as you can into the house so you can turn the radio on in there to pick up where you left off 10 seconds ago in the car.
This isn’t to say that radio as we know it is perfect. It must evolve, it must move forward, and it must celebrate the music of our past while introducing us to the tunes of our future. Podcasting is in, social media is in, and all of these tools can simply augment your sound and connect your audience even further.
Unfortunately my own recording gear (our trusty iPod non + Belkin Tune Talk combo) failed on me so I have 45 minutes of silence instead of our banter (hence this text-heavy post). The only thing I can remember word for word is when he quoted a broadcasting mentor of his, Bob Mackowycz, who he worked with at The Fan in Toronto. Mackowycz, currently of Vancouver’s Shore FM, told George “never talk down to your audience, and f*ck ’em if they don’t get it.” This wisdom is something he takes to heart every day and applies with each episode of his television show, The Hour.
Although we could have chatted about music all afternoon, the subject matter of our chat did move into the realm of hockey as we were sitting mere blocks GM Place. Fearing that Toronto-dwelling George was a Maple Leafs fan I was pleased to hear that the Habs are his team. However, he suffers from a type of game-day social media fear as do many others I know. When you cannot catch a game live it is imperative to avoid all internet communications, especially Twitter, otherwise someone somehow will spoil the outcome for you. As far as the Canucks go, George’s only opposition to the team lies with their jersey choice — and I believe a strong representation of Vancouverites may be with him on that one.
Since I had learned a few months ago that George was a Sherlock Holmes fan (and has read the entire Canon), I had to ask a question on behalf of my mother who is the President of the Vancouver Sherlock Holmes Society. She wanted to know who he thinks would make the best Sherlock Holmes in film today, especially since Robert Downey Jr is Holmes in a soon-to-be-released movie. Strombo said that Basil Rathbone was the best of all time but Hugh Laurie — especially as House — embodies Holmes. Side note for those interested, the Sherlock Holmes group in Vancouver is called The Stormy Petrels of BC and in Toronto, they have The Bootmakers.
Although it was intimidating to interview Canada’s best interviewer, it was such a pleasure to simply sit and chat with someone who is so passionate about their work. It’s something that is deeply inspiring and I believe there are only more great things on the horizon George, who has got to be one of the hardest working individuals in Canadian entertainment. The next time he’s in Vancouver (which will hopefully be for more than 72 hours) I said I would show him around a bit. I’m not sure where I would start on a personal tour of our city although I can say that there will not be a steam clock involved at all.
You can keep up with all of Strombo’s travels, activities, and wicked music recommendations on Twitter @Strombo and you can catch him every night in your living room at 11pm on the CBC. Canada’s only late-night talk show, The Hour featuring George Stroumboulopoulos, kicks off its sixth season tomorrow night and George will spend the full hour with Burnaby’s own Michael J Fox.
