i’ve been so restless lately. i think it comes from being a lil ill recently and not having the energy or the power to get oot n’ aboot to enjoy some of this lovely weather we’ve been having. that, and for most of the morning yesterday john had me watching the
Brewers’ – Cubs game – which totally drove me nuts :p
friday after work i took some flowers over to my mom – she works at an accounting firm and so friday, naturally was their busiest day of the year. i decided to be a total suck up – get some flowers from the street vendor and take them up to her. her office is half way between my work and home – so why not eh?
after i got home john and i took a walk down to english bay, decided to keep on walking… and walking… hopped on a false creek ferry and headed to granville island. had some great food – caught some playoff games – and took the ferry home (passing a harbor seal on the way). we bought a nice bottle of BC wine and sat out on our balcony for the rest of the evening – enjoying the warm night and the wine – which was mighty nice if i may say so.
tomorrow i start running again – i havent been out since the sun run so it should be a little challenging but i’m totally looking forward to it. oh and we tried looking up our pics from the sun run but um, they’re lil less than discernable.
There are some interesting sights to see in Stanley Park aside from the park itself. There are so many things to take pictures of, explore, run around, walk under and gaze at in awe. Anything from totem poles to Canadian geese – but when it comes to the 9 o’clock gun you won’t see many people stopping. As John and I sat on the seawall next to it this evening, several people walked by and took pictures of the view – and most just walked/ran right by without a second glance.
Of course this isn’t the prettiest thing to look at and granted, the view from that spot is a rather breathtaking panoramic of vancouver – still, there’s some history here.
The 9 o’clock gun is situated on the southern part of the seawall, in stanley park facing the city. It’s just past HMCS Discovery and the totem poles but before you get to Prospect Point. The “gun” is basically a cannon – or “A naval type twelve pound muzzle loader”. It was cast in England in 1816 and brought to Stanley park in 1894 – firing for the first time in 1898 at noon (History of the Gun).
Living in the West End you hear many things on a daily basis. The white noise of the city, construction, yappy-dogs, cars with no muffler or all souped-up, your neighbours upstairs, your neighbours downstairs and the occasional reveller down in the street. It’s one thing I might not always think about or hear everyday – but I still get excited (just slightly, just for a minute) when things are quiet enough just for that one second to hear it fire.
(More Photos)
EDIT: Latest Radiozoom podcast ft. miss604
Watching Global news this morning they had a piece on
Everett Silvertips. The Silvertips are currently in round 3
WHL playoff action against the
Vancouver Giants – who lead the series 3 games to 0 going into tonight’s game. If the Giants take it tonight, they go onto the WHL finals – if not, the Silvertips are still alive in the series and the playoff continues.
I ‘ve known for a while that Silvertips fans were a lil kookie, crazy and 110% into their team. A few weekends ago when we were in Kelowna and Everett was playing them in the last round, we saw cars driving by on the street waving flags and honking for the ‘tips. Well apparently the Silvertips jersey is #2 on the hockey jersey bestseller list. Out of any league (including NHL) and second only to the Calgary Flamers’ jersey. Interesting.
Is there something to be said then about the Pacific Northwest and hockey? The ‘higher-up’ from the Everett club said during the interview this morning that the fans know very little about the game – they just like it. They get excited about every little thing ie. the puck gets cleared out of their zone and they’ll go nuts – they continuously sell out and have a great time.
Is the Seattle area aching for more hockey or is Everett a special case? With their other professional teams (namely NBA) dwindling, it may be something for Oregon and/or Washington to consider. Still, I don’t see hockey overshadowing baseball or football any time soon south of the 49th.
Speaking of fun times in other countries, the
Sasquatch Festival is coming up May long weekend (the US long weekend, not ours). It’s too bad my hubby can’t leave the country while all his legal mumbo jumbo is processing because this would definately be an awesome road trip – thanks to Chris for the heads up on this.
Although, I think coming up in the next few weeks we’ll be a lil busy. We have the BC Blind Sports Run for Light and the PMC Sierra Science Fair Fun Run, a couple of concerts, a Camp Day and we should reserve some weekends for chilling at the beach, pool, outside… warm.. somewhere.
Something else we want to tackle though is The Grouse Grind. It should be opened up within the next month. Remember folks, this is alpine terrain – mountains, spring = melting snow, unpredictable weather. When conditions are ideal and the route is safe, they’ll open this 2.9km hike up to the public. This is no breezy stroll through the woods though, remember to pack lots of water – wear sensible shoes and be prepared. Disclaimers aside… I can’t WAIT! I’m a Grouse Grind virgin hoping to change that this year. (Photo Credit)
After a lovely evening of hockey watching I sat down on the couch and John stuck his microphone in my face. And I mean just that.
RadioZoom Episode #88
John wanted to cover a bagillion topics on a podcast (which he does cover very well and could talk about forever) but I helped him keep on track, stay focused and get some controversy going with our various contrasting opinions. It’s about an hour long podcast (music included) and hopefully you’ll enjoy it.
Again I apologize for those listeners who are growing tired of my scratchy sicky voice but I promise I’ll be all better soon. Check out the show notes for links re: topics we discuss and the bands we play.
