John and I are watching the Canucks cruise into their 5th straight win, nope, no breaking the streak tonight… [Canucks&Beyond] even though we’re just in the first intermission.

I thought I’d just post something on a slightly lighter note, since earlier today it got a little heavy. Flipping through channels during the intermission John came across some weather program on one of the ‘higher up’ stations. We’re suckers for Discovery Channel programing and natural disaster documentaries. This one was about global warming so instantly John, whom I love dearly, turned on his Chris Farley [imdb] El Nino [wiki] voice. It’s one that I’ve heard before but never quite knew the context. So as I’m sitting at the computer writing a lovely email to my mother, he does the voice and I open up a new tab in Firefox. I type in a Google search “Chris Farley El Nino”, and am enlightened.

I just got my 2006 tax package in the mail, man they waste no time. Hopefully this year’s return will be better than last, which was pretty impressive – by my standards anyway. I started putting a couple bucks every check toward RRSPs this year so I’ll have $20 come 2050 so that’ll be kinda cool. Har har. Okay well maybe a lil more than that, although I can’t even think of retirement right now while we’re still trying to figure out what to make for dinner tonight. Government of Canada website says John’s application is status: processing. Still. I was thinking in jest that I would put a status button on my sidebar, but that would just end up being too painful. At this point, just thinking of it makes my eyes well up.

On a happier note, it was Don‘s 27th birthday Jan. 1. On a more dismal note, we missed it. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DON! I met Don last year when he flew up to play DJ and guest at our wedding. He’s been John‘s friend for years and he’s also got a kick ass public radio gig Sunday nights on WYEP Pittsburg. I’m sure I’ve mentioned that before. It’s funny, I recently thought of Don when reading Beyond Robson (the blog with which I have a love-hate relationship, save for 2 authors that are the only reason I check back every day). There was a post about Happy Bats.

Happy Bats saved Mount Pleasant from the mind-melting mediocrity that is the corporate behemoth Blockbuster. For years the ubiquitous yellow and blue monster was the only source for rentals, until the winged mammals landed in 2004 armed with Criterion Collection DVDs and the best in independent cinema [BR]

When Don was in town, and while we were feverishly getting ready for a wedding, he walked all over Vancouver visiting record and book stores, to browse and search out some rare finds. He brought us a business card from Happy Bats, it was the first I had heard of it, and thought it was pretty cool.

I will be having a birthday myself on the 9th, it will also be number 27 and as with every other year of my life, I have no idea how it will turn out but I’m sure glad I’ve made it this far. I haven’t been the best this past year at wishing others well. It’s been a bit of a struggle and in tough times you’re mostly just trying to bring yourself up out of the mud, you forget those who were standing over you reaching out their hand to help pull you up, or those that are down in that puddle with you. I guess I just don’t let all of this show often enough.

I’m done with the rainy metaphors for now, even though the skies have just opened up. Half the city is being showered when I look straight out the window in front of me to the North. The other half, looking out the apartment window that faces West, is glowing from the warm afternoon sunlight. I think it’s time to get up.

Update: Video Podcast where we meander through the Park… where we can.

The big news for Vancouver today is that our beloved Stanley Park has re-opened [cbc] since being ravaged by a storm with hurricane-force winds a couple of weeks ago [audihertz].

John and I got out of the house on this sunny afternoon to check out just how much of the park has re-opened. As we discovered, the main road, Stanley Park Drive, is open and some of the touristy places are now accessible. But for anyone else the place is still dangerous. Parts of the seawall are missing, there are rushing streams everywhere you look, mostly due to the recent heavy rainfall, and wounded trees are laying all over the place.

I’ve added a couple pictures to my Flickr tag: storm and we decided to take a video with my camera phone when we ventured onto some of the forbidden paths this afternoon. It will be up later on RadioZoom, another addition to our recent holiday vlogging series [RadioZoom – Video Podcasts].

If you’ve ever Googled aimlessly in search of a local blog, be it for Vancouver or Nairobi, there is now a one-stop-shop available over at Placeblogger.

A placeblog is an act of sustained attention to a particular place over time.
It can be done by one person, a defined group of people, or in a way that’s open to community contribution.
It’s not a newspaper, though it may contain random acts of journalism.
It’s about the lived experience of a place [placeblogger]

The recently launched, locally produced [Bryght] Placeblogger allows you to add and browse blogs from all over the world, which are all sorted by country, province/state and city. If you’d like to find a blog about kitties in Calgary, you’ll probably have some luck searching by content as well.

Placeblogs spring from a fiercely non-generic America that’s not about big-box retailers or the type of polarizing discussion about politics, culture, and the economy that’s the product of journalism that happens at the 30,000 foot level. Often, they are a delightful and vivid look at cities, towns, and neighborhoods from an insider’s point of view [placeblogger]

Hop on over to view the growing BC and Vancouver blog directory and read a little more about the global, yet local site. Miss604.com is added but I’m not everything in my general feed is “Vancouver” enough. Also, I have my Flickr photos in my feed so um, not sure what some people searching for blogs about Vancouver Life will think of my NKOTB.

Missus B says:
did you have a good time last night?
Jenny says:
yes
Jenny says:
did you ?
Missus B says:
yes, yes i did.
Jenny says:
ya
Jenny says:
it was a good crowd

Missus B says:
i like you.
Jenny says:
ditto
Missus B says:
who are you, Patrick Swayze?
Jenny says:
wanna make some pottery?
Missus B says:
wanna cut your hair and wear overalls?
Jenny says:
ha ha

Jenny says:
im going back to sleep
Missus B says:
okay bye
Jenny says:
ciao