On a sunny day, walking down Robson Street, you can probably spot the VW Beetle that is painted blue and covered in everything from sea shells to jewels, even sporting a fully working fountain on the hood. It has been known to sport a “Go Canucks” now and then, and it always certainly draws a crowd.
John Berringer passed along the link for this gem – going for only $600. When the ad was posted it was painted white with striping and accents the colour of the Vancouver Canucks jersey (blue and green). On the roof it has “Linden 16” and there’s a 17 painted on the driver side door.
Just a few days ago a car of similar make and model was spotted and captured by Yumi (friend of The Crazy Canucks Flickr group). It seems like the car has been repainted to suit the late 1990’s Canucks colours and only has one number on it this time, 16.
Last season Zipcar did a promotion with the Canucks, painting some of their fleet in white, blue and green to benefit the Canucks for Kids fund (by Zipcar donating $0.25 every time someone books one of the Canucks cars).
There were also dozens of Canucks cars and trucks on the road last season during the Ultimate Canucks Fan search.
At a time when Canucks fan confidence is up and down like Hellevator, it’s fun to see people going all out like this. However, I think the furthest I’d probably go with my vehicle (if I had one) would be to outfit in a car flag or two… although that might change if I had a spare $600 lying around.
At the recent Gibson’s Finest Iron Bar Competition and Molson Brewery experience I got to learn the ropes when it comes to tasting some mighty fine spirits. This week all are invited to attend the 12th annual Hopscotch Festival around Vancouver to sip and sample whisky and premium beers from around the world.
In addition to our two-day Grand Tasting Hall The Hopcotch Festival offers a series of Satellite Events at various locations throughout the city over the course of the week, including: Whisky 101, Morrison-Bowmore Whisky Pairing Dinner, Molson Brewery Tour (sold out), Highland Park Dinner, The Great Whisky Smoke, Whisky 201, The Macallan Dinner, Master Special Release Malt Tasting [Events]
There are also two nights of the “Grand Tasting Hall” experience at the Rocky Mountaineer station. November 13th and 14th from 6:00pm – 10:00pm, you receive 5 tasting tokens and a tasting cup for your $40 ticket. On the 14th there is a limited amount of VIP tickets for $60 that get you 10 tasting tokens.
This year Hopscotch will also include a spirits section, that will feature tequilas, rums, gins, and vodkas.
We have lived in the West End for just over three years and we’ve really come to love our little neighbourhood. As soon as you stroll one block in from Davie or Robson the sounds of rushing traffic and trolley buses re-energizing turn to birds chirping, bicycle bells and lawn mowers. Deciduous trees act as canopies in the summer months providing cooling shade, while in the fall their frying pans-sized leaves tumble to earth, soaking up the rain before being raked away by vigilant gardeners.
When you live in the West End there are a few things you come to accept such as Fireworks nights in August, skunks, and the sound of behemoth fire engines rolling past your window while you’re trying to do a podcast. You also pay attention to notices that are frequently posted to telephone poles about tenant and community meetings (from the West End Residents Association or Renters at Risk).
With so many older buildings (built 1960s) mixed with towers, walk-ups, and heritage structures, the neighbourhood is a real melting pot, and an obvious target for developers. However, with renters making up 82% of residents in the West End, changing, renovating, demolishing, rebuilding, and introducing mortgages and condos into this area is a bit tricky, and the way it’s been handled so far is the cause of much outrage, alarm, and disbelief.
In some cases building owners would like to raise (even double) rent for current tenants in order to renovate, tenants may be given ultimatums (to pay up or ship out) and in other cases, they are simply asked to vacate.
There’s an apartment block along our route to the grocery store that was emptied out last year and renovated. By renovated I mean they added a fresh coat of paint, new windows, and little gates where the small yards used to be. There have been signs up on the corner to buy into this place (instead of rent) for so long now, and I still have not seen one person move in.
A case that has been getting much attention in the news (although this sort of thing has been going on for years) is the struggle over at the Seafield Apartments – near Pendrell and Nicola. I received an email from a resident a few weeks ago who spoke of their threat of mass eviction and sent along a link to their website. They have banded together to get their story out in the news, and they’ve started sharing their cause online with Building at Risk.
The Seafield group has also taken to supporting other apartments in danger, including showing up in protest at 1209 Jervis Street where eviction notices were issued last winter.
The rally gave a voice to renters who are concerned about the lack of tenant protection in the Residential Tenancy Act. Evictions for renovations, voluntary rent increases, geographic market increases and fixed-term leases are all loopholes employed by corporate landlords to get around current rent control legislation (3.7 percent increase/year).
At the rally, members of Renters at Risk asked politicians to make changes to the Tenancy legislation to protect renters, including the enactment of the Right of First Refusal. [Seafield]
Housing for any, many and all has been a huge topic throughout the Federal Elections in this region, as well as the recent by-elections and the upcoming civic elections – this has been taking place across the city in various forms for years.
The Seafield’s website (built with WordPress) is full of personal stories, articles, blog posts, links to mainstream coverage and various data surrounding renters’ rights. It adds a very real voice for these buildings and all of those who call them home.
Learn about your rights at the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre or through the Residential Tenancy Branch of the BC Government.
During the Federal Election, the CBC had a few Twitter streams going and even shared some Tweets from some of this followers on air (through OrmistonOnline). They are now continuing their Twitter coverage throughout the Civic Elections in the Greater Vancouver area.
In case I just lost you with “Tweets” and “Twitter” references he’s a quick rundown of the popular micro-blogging service:
– What is Twitter? Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
– What does it mean to follow someone on Twitter? Following someone simply means receiving their Twitter updates. How you receive the updates (on your phone, IM, or just on the web) is up to you. [Twitter Support
The CBC “Civic Vote 2008” page is up and running including instructions on how to sign up for Twitter. They do not supply an account to follow (ie. OrmistonOnline) however they do mention that you can track their conversations such as the upcoming Vancouver Mayoral Debate. You’ll be able to catch everyone’s updates about and throughout this event by following #cbcmayorsdebate.
Note, a hash mark # denotes a conversation, and an at sign @ is for replying to a Twitter user. Here’s how to follow a conversation as opposed to one user’s updates:
Head to Summize.com or Search.Twitter.com and enter the conversation or term you’d like to follow, in this case #cbcmayorsdebate, then click search.
You do not need to be a Twitter user or have a Twitter account to follow conversations like this, however to reply or add your thoughts, an account would be required.
To start adding your thoughts to this discussion, simply publish your own updates and be sure to include “#cbcmayorsdebate” in order for it to show up in this stream. You can also follow the user @CBCNewsBC to receive their updates (or Tweets) any day of the week.
The Vancouver mayoral candidates debate will take place November 12th from 7:30pm – 9:00pm.
Photo credit:
david on Flickr
Last year I included a note about the great poppy debate in a blog post. I first heard about white poppies through a BBC article in 2006, and also from DaveO, who does an amazing White Poppies series on his podcast year-round.
Both red and white are the colour of the poppy, and if you’ve read the poem In Flanders Fields, you know they grew, between the crosses row on row (however I would bet even the white ones were red during those WWI years).
Some say the this traditional red symbol that we pin to our lapel for the month of November glorifies war and sacrifice and we should change the colour to white – in support of peace.
The White Poppy symbolises the belief that there are better ways to resolve conflicts than killing strangers. Our work, primarily educational, draws attention to many of our social values and habits which make continuing violence a likely outcome. [White Poppies for Peace]
On the flip side, there are groups that are so outraged they would like to see the white poppy banned.
The Legion is claiming the white poppy campaign is illegal because it infringes on their trademark symbol. The veterans’ organization says it turns their symbol of sacrifice into a political position. [Edmonton – 2006]
With an overall general sentiment of remembrance, organizations argue that it should be entirely acceptable to wear alternate symbols and even have alternative ceremonies on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month (ie. placing wreaths of white poppies at cenotaphs across the nation).
“For many people the red poppy has become a symbol that is being used to justify and promote war,” explains Claire Hurtig, a local activist and union organizer in Montreal. “The white poppy is an alternative way to remember war, but also to protest war as an institution in our society, [especially] as the Conservative government is putting more and more money into the military and not into social programs, leading to hugely detrimental impacts on our society.” [Hour.ca]
I think everyone has their own way in which they commemorate historic, tragic, and heroic events.
[poll id=”19″]
