One of the latest projects meeting strong NIMBY (not in my backyard) opposition in Vancouver is the rooftop restaurant proposal in Yaletown. A few days ago there was a meeting at City Hall to discuss the development that would sit on top of the Opus Hotel.
The public hearing at City Hall on Tuesday evening saw a strong presence from those who oppose the plans however, momentum in support of the project is quickly growing.
“In terms of the proposal, yes, neighbours are worried about noise,” noted Chris Briekss of 6S Marketing. “It’s a valid concern but if you live downtown (and Yaletown) you expect to hear a little more noise than if you live in the burbs but that’s just my opinion, and I live in Yaletown.”
Update: Unfortunately one person (one IP address) is finding a way to stuff the poll and has voted over 120 times this morning. It would be a shame for this person to ruin what I have fairly established on my website and I take this violation seriously and personally.
Update: A Public Hearing continues Tuesday, Nov. 18th @ 6:00pm over at City Hall.
Update November 19th, 2008: The rooftop restaurant proposal has been rejected by City Council [CBC]
“So you’ve decided to be awesome,” his post from Movember 2006 begins. I first heard about Movember a few years ago thanks to Kris Krug, who at the time I thought just had a thing for growing his facial hair out like wild (and harbored a unique obsession with mutton chops).
“Movember (the month formerly known as November) is a charity event held during November each year. At the start of Movember guys register with a clean shaven face. The Movember participants, known as Mo Bros, have the remainder of the month to grow and groom their moustache, raising money and awareness along the way.”
The point of letting it all grow out for Movember is to have fun and raise money and awareness for men’s health causes. “Men lack awareness about the very real health issue they face…. The aim of Movember is to change this attitude. Make men’s health fun by putting the moustache back on the face of Canadian men and raising some serious funds for prostate cancer.”
Yesterday during my weekly guest spot on Talk1410am’s Afternoon Buzz with Val and Patrick I mentioned that it was Movember – and they were way ahead of me as they already had “before” pictures of several staff members posted on their site. They were even talking about Movember on Breakfast Television (although I could have used without the super close-up of upper lip hair that early in the morning).
It’s not to late to sign up and start raising funds, you’ll just have to make up for a few lost days. You could even join a team, like Team BlueFur, headed by Gary Jones or simply donate to the cause.
Kris warns, “You’re likely to hear things like: ‘Mine will look ugly’, ‘My office won’t allow it’. ‘My girlfriend/wife/casual bed-friend has banned moustaches from our common living space.’ Stand strong Brothers and Sistas. Be brave.”
I’m a history buff and I’ll be the first to admit that if I could sit in on my grade 12 AP European History course again, every day of the week, I would. I’m also the grandchild and great grandchild of men who fought in the “war to end all wars” and the one that followed it. I lost family that I never came to know, on both sides of the fight, on the battlefields, in the air, and even in the blitz in London. November is always a time of reflection for me – about courage and struggles I probably will never be able to fathom.
As a first-generation Canadian, I also revere the people who helped shape our country. I feel pride when I hear their stories and read their words, which is why I’m really looking forward to seeing the film Passchendaele.
Passchedaele was a a series of messy, bloody, and heart-wrenching battles in WWI that saw over 500,000 casualties on either side. Canada entered WWI as a part of the British Empire, and from 1914-1918 we shipped off nearly 600,000 men and women even though at the time our entire country’s population was a budding 7 million. 241,000 Canadians were killed or wounded. [Canada in WWI]
With so many people still fighting all over the world, and also with so many Canadians losing sight of their nation’s history and dedication to the global cause, I think films like this are a ‘must-see’.
“[Writer-Director Paul Gross] examines the identity of Canada as a freshly independent nation struggling to shuck the shabby cloak of colonialism.” [Canoe]
It portrays one man’s a story – one sliver of time – and although I’ve simply based this on the trailer and other buzz, I’m hearing great things about it after it premiered at the TIFF.
I’m not a huge war movie person (John loves civil war epics) but this may be our next date movie (cause there also seems to be a lot of smooching). I’ll report back with a review here, whether it’s an epic war film or simply a tear-jerky mushy love story… or both.
November 28th has officially been declared, by Mayor Sam Sullivan, to be “AC/DC Day in Vancouver.”
They recorded their latest album Black Ice over at the Warehouse Studio (where I first tasted Keira’s chocolate ganache with raspberry coulis) and have a strong history of producing other parts of their discography in Vancouver such as The Razors Edge and Stiff Upper Lip.
AC/DC Day was one of several proclamations that the CFOX morning show has been trying to get Mayor Sullivan to endorse over the years. I find it a little amusing that an article in The Province states, “The only one discussed on air was the March 14 Steak and Beach Day suggestion, a Valentine’s Day-type celebration for guys that was met with a firm no. Sullivan says some of the other suggestions were worse.” The word “Beach” in this case should actually be “BJ” but sounded out like “beedje” (intended for a more mature audience).
The article makes up for it later however by offering up some cool history tidbits about the studios, “‘[Warehouse Studio] was an original location of city hall. “It was a property owned by Mr. Israel Powell, who Powell Street is named after, and was the city hall beginning in 1897 for a few years.'”
The legendary Aussie rockers will be playing for a sold-out GM Place on the evening of November 28th, after the proclamation is made at city hall earlier that day.
Here’s a question though (sans poll box)… If you could declare a “day†for any recording artist in Vancouver, who would you choose to honor?
On the fourth of July I usually write a post on my site paying tribute to our neighbours to the south, across the largest unguarded border in the world [2006] [2008]. However, my involvement with the country is rooted far deeper than notes I have jotted in cyber-space annually.
During some of the highest and lowest parts of my life, America was my home. It took me in, gave me a job, found me an adorable house in Cambridge, and fed me Dunkin Donuts coffee daily. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
