This afternoon we met up with Duane and Keira for some food, which soon lead into a photowalk of Stanley Park. It was a super fun time that can only be explained and blogged about with photos…
The rest of the pics are up in this set on Flickr.
Photos by Duane, from this Flickr set.
Yes, there’s a new media conference going on and John & I are *not* there, although we’d love to be. Podcasters Across Borders (PAB) is a weekend-long conference for podcasters to get together, eat, drink, network and talk about podcasting. This is the second annual international meeting of podcast veterans and rookies alike, coming together in Kingston, Ontario – mostly thanks to Mark and Bob from the Canadian Podcast Buffet. John and I had a chance to meet Mark this past February at an impromptus Vancouver Podcast Meetup and last year we listened to several episodes of our favourite podcasts to get their take and feel on the whole event (such as Andrew’s trip to PAB last year the on Geek.Farm.Life podcast).
This year I got the Twitter that Tod Maffin [todbits.com][todbits.tv]was heading to Kingston and we’ve been watching the blog posts and Flickr pics roll in, checking in on everyone and the awesome time they are having. John woke up this morning and told me to go watch “Tod Maffin with cowbell.” Our podcast hero donned a cow bell for a wonderfully kooky performance with the band Uncle Seth, so I’ve scooped the video from his blog post (and YouTube) as well as the comparison, in case you have never heard of the hilarious “More Cowbell” SNL sketch.
It’s been about 60 days but WE’RE BACK for Episode 36 – and just in time for the draft today.
We’re far from gone, and this episode should prove it. Life got pretty hectic for your Crazy Canuck’ers for a while, but all of us were able to link up for this triumphant return to the podcast.
Even though it’s the off-season, there is still plenty to talk about, and we go back on the end of the Canucks playoff run to give a rundown of how everything went throughout the season. With the cup in Anaheim this year, we’re already starting to look forward to the road leading to next season. Screw golfing, eh?[TCC]
Visit the site to listen, subscribe or to download the mp3.
Since I’m back in a “Canucks kind of mood” I thought I would also share what I found on the website last night: Fin’s date book… errm… event calendar. It’s no secret that I’m quite the fan of Fin (as stated numerous times on my blog and on TCC). If you’re looking to meetup with our beloved steamy-headed mascot, you can find him at the following:
Maybe one of these days he’ll be sporting the much-rumoured and anticipated “new” Canucks jersey…
Does it ever worry you when you head into the restaurant at a local restaurant and there’s a sign that reminds workers to be sure to wash their hands for a minimum amount of time or outlines the steps to proper hand washing? I do appreciate the friendly reminder for the staff but still… I also find it funny that things like that will creep me out but I won’t hesitate to grab a hot dog from a street meat vendor downtown at 11:00 on a Saturday night.
I wrote a post about Vancouver Coastal Health Restaurant inspections a few months ago called “The Dirty Banana Leaf“, so I thought I would follow up with VCH’s official list of restaurant closures that was release this past week (available here in pdf)
The main reasons for many of the closures are rodent infestations and unsanitary conditions. Some of the restaurants guilty of this include – Pink Pearl Restaurant on Hastings, Best Western Pizza on Main Street, Blenz Coffee on Robson as well as Ideal Bakery on Dunbar. [News 1130]
…Blenz Coffee on Robson forced to close for a day in March because of unsanitary conditions. The Cactus Club on Davie closed for a day in May because of a lack of potable water, and Tim Hortons on West Pender for a day in May due to pest infestation. [CKNW]
You can read more on the VCH site, as they have archives going back to 2002 as well as worksafe tips. Looking at past reports isn’t much fun, although I’m sure glad to see that Tanpopo has resolved that cockroach infestation that they had in 2002 and Pedro’s Organic Coffee only had “hazardous food” for 3 days in August of 2005. To be fair, most of these are one day closures, like that time in 2004 when Ricky’s had a sewer backup, they were up and running the next day without worry.
The two that hit close to home this time around are Blenz, and then Tim Hortons on Pender as I used to work in that building would often get coffee and a bagel on my way in to the office.
Me: “Ick, TimHo on Pender was closed for a day”
John: “Why?”
Me: “Pest infestation”
John: “What kind of pest?”
Me: “I unno” (continues to type blog post)
John: “Insects? Rodents? Rats?…. Evil Chipmunks?”
Me: “I’ve been looking for an excuse to post that on my blog, thanks!” (Click below…)
These kinds of reports always make me feel queasy and as I mention above, I start to reflect on where I’ve eaten over the past year. But ya know, it’s always better to know that these things are being watched, monitored and taken care of – and I am truly glad that Tanpopo, Blenz and TimHo are okay cause I won’t stop going there… you know, unless they get closed again.
We had a great time last night even though our team lost 10-4. The Canadians organization went all out to make this event a big splash and I believe they were successful.
To start, the national anthem was sung by none other than Mark Donnelly – he’s who John and I call “Opera Man” and usually sings the anthem for Canucks games. He was also accompanied by 5 of his 7 children in a beautiful version of O Canada despite the crackling microphones and sound system.
The opening pitch was a pretty big deal as well as the announcer proclaimed that it was the first time in professional baseball that it has been thrown by a quadriplegic. The man in question was Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan who was able to crank the ball back in some sort of super bionic contraption, wind up and let it sail over home plate.
The game was underway and was pretty close until the 6th inning when the Tri-City Dust Devils went up by 4 runs, and we just never recovered. All the inter-inning hoopla was alive and well this season again including the tricycle races, the giant sandwich making, and goofy dancing with Mr. Peanut (with “It’s Peanut Butter Jelly time” blasting on over the PA).
Down in the concourse the food line ups were pretty atrocious but there is more selection than previous years. Hot dogs, hamburgers, pretzels, popcorn, and even a sushi stand AND you have about 10 flat panel HD TVs mounted on the walls showing major league games.
As today’s game was the first of many “Fireworks Nights”, once things wrapped up a couple firefighters headed to the midfield with an ATV pulling a little trailer. We all sort of scoffed, certain it would be an unimpressive spectacle. Little did we know the amount of explosive that can indeed be towed behind a four-wheel. The show lasted about 20 minutes and sent all varieties of fireworks soaring into the air, into the parking lot, over the stadium walls and let off bangs and booms that could have been heard for miles.
The Canadians play the Dust Devils for their first nooner again today, so hopefully they can bounce back from that first loss. At one point an announcement was made that if you trade in your ticket stub they will give you free tickets to an upcoming game of your choice. So it looks like we’ll be back August 4th… for Mexico night.
We have a forthcoming podcast of the audio from the entire evening ans my camera phone pics are all up on Flickr – in the Canadians Baseball Set.
