Mr. Bollwitt and I cherish our multi-hour treks off the tourist-beaten paths through our city’s crown jewel – Stanley Park. We’ve been keeping a close eye on it throughout the years and especially since the big storm of 2006.
Yesterday after being disappointed about seeing the same piece of the Seawall I documented a year ago was still not repaired, we came across some pleasant surprises.
Heading down from Hollow Tree we turned onto the Merilees trail. About half way down Merilees we made a right turn onto the Siwash Rock trail – one we hadn’t ventured down in over a year. [See Stanley Park Trail Map]
To our amazement there was regrowth, plant pots, streams, creek beds, widened paths, a new metal railing and the whole trail was pushed back about 20 feet from its original route.
Also, good news for 88% of folks who participated in my poll will be pleased to know that the Hollow Tree will be laid to rest instead of going even more bionic. Head over to John’s blog for his update and to view a quick video.
Update: Read my thoughts on page A6 of today’s Province newspaper.
Update: I’ll also be on the CBC’s Early Edition with Rick Cluff Wednesday morning (April 9th) talking about Trevor Linden and more specifically, the petition to rename a street after him.
Did anyone even notice the score last night? I’m sure Flames fans did but all eyes in Vancouver were on #16, Trevor Linden (with brief kudos to Iginla for his 50th goal of the season).
Captain Canuck is the second in all time scoring, he holds almost every playoff records for the team and despite the four dark years when he wasn’t on our team, he’s still played more games than any other for Vancouver. He’s all heart, all class (on and off the ice), and although he hasn’t yet officially announced his retirement, we were all pretty certain last night was his final game as a Canuck.
The team awards were also announced last night and thanks to JJ I was able to sit in on this momentous occasion – here are some photos:
My iPhone doesn’t take the best “on ice” shots hence all the overheads but I’m glad I was able to experience this in person… and get choked up… and have my eyes well up with tears during that impromptu fan tribute to Trev at the beginning of the 3rd.
During one of our most recent treks through a muddy Stanley Park we finally made it over to the Pauline Johnson memorial. [See: The Lions – The Two Sisters, Pauline Johnson Opera]
You can find the memorial between The Teahouse and Third Beach, just off the side of Stanley Park Drive.
This time around (since I tried this about a year ago) my Vancouver Blogger Profile series, about bloggers that may or may not be from Vancouver, is really taking off. Next up is someone you may know from such things as my comment thread, Flickr Group, or blogroll as “PatZ“.
Who are you? By day, a mild mannered, tired graduate student of Public Policy who stalks the halls of SFU Vancouver with poise and determination ready to tackle the problems of the world with grit and hard work. By night, a disillusioned, even more tired, eyes wide and sore from too much time staring at words on a screen who wants nothing more than to watch Mythbusters while inventing some new way to cook perogies, everyday superhero. Really. I can fly. Look.
Photo Credit:
PatZ on Flickr
Where do you blog (which sites)? Shithawks!..on parade. Originally it went under the moniker of Cheese? and then Cheese by Patz. And somehow it went from a dairy product to a seagull. I actually started on another one way before this one, but that one has since been locked away for the benefit of humanity and because I got bored with it and wanted to start one over again.
Are you originally from Vancouver? I’m originally from just outside of Edmonton. Then I moved to Ottawa for my first two years of my undergrad, and then transferred out to SFU and I’ve called the Vancouver area home for the last several years. I got to live on top of a mountain for my undergrad. You can’t argue with that.
Photo Credit:
PatZ on Flickr
Why do you blog? I got into this mock philosophical debate with a friend the other day about ‘why do we do anything why do we need anything’ but it was kind of not exciting enough to be repeated here. So. Well, I guess because why not? Way back when I started blogging (in the not so distant past of 2004) I felt it necessary to provide some inane contribution to political and cultural observations. Then a friend of mine showed me his personal blog that had very little to do with politics and culture and I figured, “that looks more fun” and the current one was born. That didn’t really answer why did it. Here’s the simplest answer I can give: I enjoy it. It’s good for venting, making no sense, and anything else you want.
What’s your favourite thing to write about? I don’t think I have a favourite topic. There’s a bit of everything in there. When the Oiler’s are kicking ass then there’s that. When the Oilers don’t make the playoffs but end the season by dragging down a division rival, there’s that. When school is kicking my ass there’s that. So, in the end, the answer to this is Barney Stinson. (now everyone go google him and find out why)
What is the BEST part of blogging… or if you prefer, the worst? The worst part is that, given the amount of time I need for assignments and papers, there’s always a bit of temptation to not do any work and just do something like picture taking and then posting them.
Photo Credit:
PatZ on Flickr
The best part is easy. It’s the other bloggers. I’ve downed cans of Pilsner in pink plastic cups in the AQ courtyard at SFU Burnaby with them, flown to Barrie to hang with them on Canada Day, had poutine at 3am on Davie St. with them, gone to concerts with them, jammed in shacks in Aldergrove with them, and on it goes. I like meeting new people, I like getting to know people, and blogging is pretty much a mother load of that.
Do you write for yourself, your readers, for Google, for a living? Mostly I write for myself. Sometimes I write at other people.
Would you ever censor yourself/Do you feel the need to censor yourself? I don’t feel the need to censor myself, but there are certain things that don’t go on there. I don’t really go into my personal life, and I try to keep my family off of it. The only reason I would actually do some hard and fast censoring is if I had to worry about applying for jobs for Coop this summer. But, since I wrangled myself a sweet job in Dhaka, Bangladesh for the whole summer through a prof at school, I don’t have to worry about that.
Photo Credit:
PatZ on Flickr
PC, Mac or Speak n’ Spell? I used to hate Macs with a passion. Now it’s almost the reverse. I love my MacBook (yeah, the black one, it’s suave), which I have named Leonard Katsu, and any and all subsequent external devices are named after Star Trek characters. Really the reason for the switch came from a Children and Media class I did during my undergrad during which seven of us were drafted by our prof to do a special video documentary project for the semester and our media lab only used Macs. I never had a Speak n’ Spell. I never had a magic 8 ball either. If someone invented a computer made out of LEGO, I’d be an expert.
Blogs you read or would recommend? A lot. I have a list of about thirty I read daily. Christina, Chad, Danielle, Matt Good, Yours, Jen, Tony, Meg, Fil and Raymi. I could go on, but I have to go finish one paper and then redo another for Monday.
In recent weeks have you been forwarded a link by a trusted friend, colleague or contact only to have a YouTube version of “Never Gonna Give You Up” appear and auto-play in its place? If so, you’ve been Rick Roll’d.
Rick Roll: When what you think is a link to something you want to see actually directs you to a video of Rick Astley singing “Never Gonna Give You Up.”[Urban Dictionary]
I think the ultimate RickRoll master of the Metro Vancouver are has got to be John Biehler, he’s got me about 4 times already – one of which was in a comment on Alexa’s photo.
John said Adam Curry RickRoll’d listeners of the Daily Source Code the other day as well, but leave it to those clever folks in England who have now stepped it up another notch with “Rick Mob“:
Here’s a date for your diary – Friday 11th April, Liverpool Street Station, the plan is to be there for 6pm and sing the Astley classic Never Going To Give You – to effectively combine flashmobbing and rickrolling into one horrific combo, and rickroll an entire train station. [Going Underground]
In an LA Times interview Astley was pretty much wondering why anyone would want to hear such ‘cheese’ (or ‘naff’ as he puts it), and seemed most concerned about it embarrassing his daughter. Nevertheless, if you’ve been RickRoll’d, I know how you feel.
[Thanks to Roland for the heads up on the flash mob.]
