For the last few years, a few days each summer have been dedicated to individuals who come together and walk for a cause during the Weekend to End Breast Cancer across our nation in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

The Weekend to End Breast Cancer benefiting BC Cancer Foundation. During one amazing weekend, August 14-16, 2009, you will unite with thousands of women and men to walk 60km in 2 days or 30km in 1 day, in the fight against breast cancer and other women’s cancers. The money raised will go to benefit BC Cancer Foundation.

It’s a long walk, but the journey to get diagnosis, treatment and support for all cancers that affect women is an even longer road for any woman and her loved ones. I recently caught a message from Helen on Twitter about her fundraising efforts and I thought that it was the perfect time to learn more about the event and how anyone can get involved.

Photo credit: Aristocrat on Flickr

Helen is a mother, wife, and nurse who will taking part in her first Weekend to End Breast Cancer this summer in Vancouver. “I’ve always been curious about it,” said Helen. “This year is the first year that I felt like I could commit to the required fundraising effort (minimum $2000 per walker) and the two-day walk.”

Participants have a great support system that help them prep for the walk as well as fundraising tips. “I attended an orientation last night and I’m really inspired now. It’s incredible to know how much this walk has improved breast cancer research in BC and all the people it has affected. I am so excited to be a part of it for the first time.” Helen also has a very personal connection to the cause, “I lost a very dear aunt about 10 years ago to breast cancer. She died before getting a chance to see her daughters marry or to be a grandma to their 4 children.”

I think each one of us has been touched by this in one way or another and by sharing personal stories or at least making personal efforts to contribute, inform, and make a change in our own lives, helps just a little bit more.

“Since I’ve started my fundraising, I’ve been amazed to hear how many people have been touched by this terrible disease,” noted Helen who had an original goal of $2,000 but is hoping to push that up to $4,000. “I decided I want my husband to join me on the walk, and he’s told me he will if I can raise another $2000.” Helen has until August to meet her goals and she’s come up with several unique ways to get her there.

“I’ve been trying a few different methods to kick-start my fundraising. The first was to ask all my online crafter friends from Etsy.com to donate products for me to auction off on my blog, with donations going straight to my online donations page. This has been going great. I’ve had some wonderful things donated. People are so generous and I’ve enjoyed promoting their businesses for them, so it’s a win-win.” She is also running several auctions, which you can get to from her website, Triage From Home.

She is also planning a garage sale at her home for the weekend of March 28th and 29th. “I’ve been out delivering flyers in my neighbourhood asking for donations of unwanted items and advertising on Craigslist.” Helen said that she’s been getting a great response from Craigslist alone, “My garage is quickly filling up with stuff and I’m kind of worried about how much time it’s going to take me to sort through it all!”

All proceeds from the auction and garage sale will go straight to her Walk fund, along with funds raised from a few other fun projects, including breast cupcakes and awareness ribbon cookies.

Photo credit: extra_chrisb on Flickr

To contribute any items to the garage sale (which comes with perfect spring cleaning timing) or if you would like to purchase a cookie from Helen, you can contact her through her website. If you would like to contribute to Helen’s effort directly, you can do so through the Weekend to End Breast Cancer website or learn more and feel free to join Helen and thousands of others when they walk in August.

Update, August 13, 2009: The event is only a few days away and official “Cheering Stations” have been announced so that non-participants can encourage those doing the walk.

Cheering Stations – Saturday August 15th (Day 1)

Cheering Stations – Sunday August 16th (Day 2)

The opening ceremonies are at 8:00am at the Rocky Mountaineer Station then there will be lunch and entertainment from 11:00am – 1:00pm at Harbour Green Park. At camp that evening there will also be activities from 4:00pm – 8:00pm in Killarney Park.

On Sunday breakfast will be from 6:00am – 7:00am with walkers leaving the camp by 8:00am. Lunch will be from 11:00am – 1:00pm at Quilchena Park and the closing ceremonies will be at 3:00pm at the Rocky Mountaineer Station.

Continuing my History Tidbits series we’ll explore the history of the McBarge, as requested by @TylerIngram.

The McBarge floated into town in 1986 when Vancouver hosted the world for Expo, which began in the spring of and ran until the fall.

Commemorating Vancouver’s centennial, it was the last world’s fair in North America, “it is often credited for showing that world expositions can still be viable projects in North America following the financial and other woes of the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville and the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition in New Orleans. It also featured the next-to-last appearance at a world’s fair of the Soviet Union.” [Expo Museum]

“Canada’s pavilion was located on a pier not continuous with the rest of the site. To reach the pavilion, visitors would take Vancouver’s newly opened SkyTrain rapid rail. That pier is now Canada Place and is one of Vancouver’s most recognizable landmarks.” [Expo Museum]

My family had a pass for Expo and we went every single weekend from May until October, exploring the pavilions and collecting buttons and stickers from around the world (and I made sure to get my Expo passport stamped at every venue). It took over the False Creek area that had been mostly warehouses and industrial land up until that point. It wasn’t until years after that the City decided “what to do with the Expo land” and Yaletown as we know it today has been growing ever-since.

The McBarge was a large floating McDonald’s that patrons could get to from a walkway on the shore and could accommodate float through service as boats pulled up to get take-out (although I don’t remember that, maybe someone can confirm).

“The McBarge featured garden rooms, tasteful art and panoramic views of Expo 86. A unique feature to this McDonald’s was a hidden kitchen. Burgers and fries were delivered to the front counter by way of a conveyor belt.” [McDonald’s Friendship 500 Floating Restaurant]

Photo credit: Mark Klotz on Flickr

As for the fate of the McBarge, it stuck around actually and was parked off the shores of North Burnaby for years after several ideas and proposed sites were shot down. However, thanks to a group known as Wraiths that ventures past padlocks and no trespassing signs to explore old buildings and curious structures, we can have a look at how the McBarge sits today, 400 feet offshore in the Burrard Inlet.

So into the inflatable, and McPaddling their asses off to get to the McBarge without McDrowning… Pulling up and hopping out, they did a quick survey of the possible entrances, and discovered someone else had been here since our scouting mission… Due to this fact, they were inside without much trouble.

Now, time to Mc-splore… Lights had to be kept to a minimum due to the windows. The first thing we discovered was how much bigger it was than we thought. Once inside, it seemed gigantic. Lots of open space, all the seating is gone. Bathrooms are everywhere, literally. On each floor there were several separate bathroom areas. Makes sense, given the volume of customers it must have had during expo.

Many have noted that something should be done with the structure as it’s pretty much just sitting there collecting barnacles.

From every report I’ve read, from every person that has made the McDiscovery, it seems all are displeased with its current state.

I’d actually be curious to know what suggestions would be for the vessel – should it be restored and turned into a passenger ferry? Should it be cleaned out and sunk as a man-made reef? The Vancouver Courier had an idea: “With the city scrambling to find temporary shelter space for homeless people, here’s a thought: Use the fabled McBarge, which is sitting idle and empty in Burrard Inlet.” Anyone have any other ideas, or should it just be left as-is?

After covering the Vancouver International Film Festival as well as the Vancouver Queer Film Festival and sending a freelance writer to Whistler to cover their Film Festival, I’ve pretty much resigned to the fact that I really like writing about the movie community in our region. The next exciting event is taking place next week and I’ll be providing overall coverage as well as a very special new media angle for the upcoming Women in Film Festival and New Media Day.

What: The Vancouver Women in Film Festival featuring films, panels, spolight awards gala
When: March 3-8 2009
Where: The Vancity International Film Centre and the BC Women’s Hospital (Chan Centre for Family Health Education)

Kicking things off before the opening night screening (and Vancouver premier) of The Baby Formula, the New Media Forum will be taking place March 4th throughout the day at the Vancity Theatre.

From 9:00am until about 6:30pm the day will be peppered with talks and discussions about bridging new technologies and media forms within the industry. Erica Hargreave, one of the organizers for the New Media Forum, has put together all-star panels as well as a new media team to capture and share the day’s events which include discussions on the following topics:

The panelists include these fine women: Gillian Shaw, Monica Hamburg, Carol Sill, Amielle Lake, Maura Rodgers, and Rochelle Grayson (recently named one of the Top 40 under 40 in BC), just to name a few.

There will also be a reception after the New Media Forum that will feature demos from various tools and applications that can be useful and productive for anyone. Tickets to the New Media Forum are $60/$75 for non-members.

The rest of the festival will include highlights such as:

Thursday March 5th
10:00am – 11:30am Panel: Meet the Directors: Reel Women
4:00pm – 5:30pm Panel: In Front of the Camera: The Actors Challenge
(This day has free admission for panels)

Friday March 6th
9:30am -11:00am Panel: The Making of a Filmmaker: Emerging Filmmakers
3:30pm – 5:00pm Panel: Career Advancement Module (CTV/CAM)
(This day has free admission for panels)

Saturday March 7th
9:00am – 10:15am Panel: The Female Voice — Screenwriting with Maureen Medved

Spotlight Awards Gala, hosted by Molly Parker, 6:30pm
Awards, Reception & Silent Auction

Sunday March 8th
International Women’s Day at BC Women’s Hospital Theatre
1:00pm – 5:00pm WIFTI Screenings, Reception, Short Film program

Full ticket information for the gala, screenings, and passes can be found here. Speaking of the screenings, be sure to check out the actual films that are being presented this year which include: Fifty Dead Men Walking, Birthday Girl, and The Professionals.

You can check out the Festival’s blog for more information or my blog during the day on March 4th for coverage and I’ll have other notes to share from the Film Festival the rest of the week.

I used song lyrics from our first dance in last year’s post but in all honesty every single day all I want to do is have him hold me in his arms. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

Living so close to such a wonderland of natural beauty, towering trees, babbling brooks and amazing cliff-side outlooks we often forget that Stanley Park is in fact filled with wildlife and is by no means completely urban.

Even though ducks, swans, raccoons, squirrels and skunks are the animals spotted most often, recently coyote sightings and attacks have become more frequent and reports of attacks on pets are causing concern.

Photo credit: Steve Cherrier on Flickr

There are between 2,000 and 3,000 coyotes believed to be living in the Lower Mainland. I know my niece has “coyote drills” at her school in case one is spotted coming out of the woods during recess but they are also no strangers to Stanley Park.

In January there were several reports of attacks on small dogs and even a swan (which wouldn’t have been able to fly away in defense, as I discovered a while back). I also received an email to my contact form about these cases and a cause for concern.

The Stanley Park Ecology Society is one of my favourite Stanley Park resources, and where I often find information about nature walks, hikes, tree planting and bird watching updates. The SPES has been tracking coyote sightings since January 2009 and there are more than a dozen, including some that read in bold “pet attack” as recent as February 19th.

I built this map based on 2009 data so far, you can also view the SPES archives for more information or patterns.

It’s been said that, “coyote attacks are not precipitated by hunger but for their lack of fear for humans.” [source] You can see evidence of such when you’re anywhere in Stanley Park — birds come closer as do squirrels and other animals who are used to being fed by passers-by.
A few years ago there was a rabies outbreak within skunks and raccoons, and even though we spot those baby raccoons acting all cute and roley-poley playing with each other I know that their parents are some place nearby – and they pretty much make me want to back away slowly, not stop and take a photo.

The SPES and the City have been hopeful in the past that we can “coexist with coyotes through communication.” On the SPES website you can find several resources including the Coexisting with Coyotes brochure and poster, a kit for parent advisory committees, learn about school presentations, guided walks through the “Coyote Zones” in your area, and report a coyote sighting in your city. You can also learn to identify coyotes based on tracks and other signs.

Photo credit: gak on Flickr

If you have a small pet, keep them under your full control when you venture into coyote country (namely the spots on the map, which are mostly near parks) and never approach, feed, or engage a coyote. Also, you can call (604) 681-WILD or email coyotes [at] stanleyparkecology.ca should you have any questions, comments or concerns about coyote activity.