Pride takes over!!!

No weather forecast is need it to know that rainbows will show this weekend long in Vancouver.
The 2009 Pride season kicks off tonight with some events to celebrate the city's diverse gay and lesbian community.

Davie street closed tonight to start the celebration...I have been living in this neigborhood for almost 2 years now and I love it, but I must admit I was a bit surprise when I was charge 7 dollars to be able to come out and celebrate divercity!

hottest day ever

Wednesday was the hottest day ever recorded in Vancouver, according to CBC meteorologist Claire Martin.

At 5 p.m. PT, Environment Canada recorded a high of 33.8 C, breaking the previous record of 33.3 C set in 1960.

Martin said anyone hoping the heat wave blanketing B.C. will be breaking anytime soon might just have to find some other way to chill out...

In this photo from cbc (TOO HOT TO CARRY MY BIG GUN ) THANKS CBC NEWS Seniors playfully squirt water guns given to them Wednesday to keep cool at Crofton Manor in Vancouver. (CBC)

Virgin Music Festival

After a great weekend of music,memories and as little clothing as the law permit. Was oficial the Virgin Festival in BC brought tthe heat back to the west coast!!...and its hot right now folks!! uffff

With 1,786 bikini-wearing music lovers, 1,067 packets of sunscreen, 48 mega sonic speakers, 5 marriage proposals texted up to the gigant screen, and 4 dancing bushes it was a butt kicking weekend at the deer lake park!!

...Some were too tired to watch Ben Harper's and the relentless7 band show...nothing wrong with just listen!

Stormy fireworks night!

Stormy fireworks night last night at the celebration of lights....rain was not on the forecast, but it was certainly not on the forecast a thunder storm...we got all pretty wet, but it was worth it! What a show! Fireworks and lightnings...
Due to the rain didn't take my big camera, but Im pretty proud of this small snapshot! :O)

Celebration of Lights 2009

Since 1990, Vancouver has been home to the Celebration of Light (originally known as the Symphony of Fire). This international pyro-musical fireworks competition has attracted the world’s leading fireworks designers and is seen as a highly prestigious event. The fireworks festival creates an exciting arena where spectators can enjoy each country’s representatives unveil their latest techniques and use the most innovative fireworks materials as they compete to be crowned the winner.

Since 1990 Vancouver’s been a host to this international fireworks competition. Formerly known as Benson & Hedges Symphony of Fire, competitions were held around the world, most notably in Canadian cities Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. In 2000 the Canadian government restricted tobacco advertising and Benson & Hedges pulled their funding from the million dollar event.

In 2001 the event was saved by HSBC Bank Canada, BC Hydro Power Smart and the City of Vancouver, renaming the event the HSBC Celebration of Light. Today the competition continues to light the skies over Vancouver’s English Bay as three countries compete for the title.

Location: English Bay, Vancouver

Start time: 10:00 p.m. rain or shine

Best viewing points: English Bay, Kitsilano, Vanier Park, Jericho Beach.

The event is free to watch from public parks and beaches. Music simulcast begins at 10:00 p.m. on radio station SHORE 104fm. Estimated annual attendance: 1.4 million people.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 – Canada Night
Saturday, July 25, 2009 – S. Africa Night
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 – UK Night
Saturday, August 1, 2009 – China Night

Royal Sweet Diamond

This bronze Vancouver Bull statue was installed here in front of the BC Turf Building downtown in 2000. It is a tribute to the building owner's favorite prize bull, Royal Sweet Diamond. The statue was created by Joe Fafard. For more, see this website....

Our Comunity Garden

Here is very common that people whom has no garden can at least get a peace of ground on this community gardens,. You can grow you own flowers and or veggies...wonderful way to decorate the environment around too. You can find this all around the city.

New York Fresh Air Fund-Racers

Since 1877, The Fresh Air Fund, an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities. Last summer, close to 5,000 children visited volunteer host families in suburbs and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada. Most children who visit host families are re-invited year after year and form life-long friendships.

Every year, 3,000 children also attend five Fresh Air camps on a 2,300-acre site in Fishkill, New York. Youngsters learn how to swim, go on overnight hiking trips and participate in dance and art classes. Campers say their favorite part about camp is meeting new friends. The Fund’s year-round camping program serves an additional 2,000 young people each year.

Our adolescent campers, 12-to-14-year-olds, participate in The Fund’s innovative Career Awareness Program (CAP), which takes place year-round. The program focuses on expanding youngsters’ educational and career options through challenging classes at Camp Mariah in Fishkill, tutoring, job shadowings, and a career fair. Career awareness graduates continue to receive support through the PreOccupations Club and benefit from the guidance of volunteer mentors.

For more information, please visit The Fund’s Web site at www.freshair.org, they need new host families, if you are able help and or host a Child in need of this wonderfull summer experience, please contact the Fresh Air Organization

Shoes on the line....

You see them in most cities, large and small, and I suspect everyone who encounters them wonders the same thing: Who tosses all those old, tied-together pairs of schoes onto power lines and telephone wires, and why????

I will admit up front that I don't have a definitive answer. No one does. Like most people, I've noticed the darned things dangling way up there on utility lines over virtually every neighborhood I've ever lived in, and always assumed they were artifacts of one of those adolescent male challenges or rites of passage most of us are party to during our youth — e.g., let's see which one of us can fling a pair of old sneakers over the highest wire.

It is popularly believed that tennis shoes hanging from utility wires designate "gang territory" or a location where one can buy street drugs, but that version of events would not seem to apply to the hefty percentage of shoes seen dangling over non-gang neighborhoods and quiet streets in rural towns where there's little or no gang and drug activity to be found.

Another folk belief holds that teenage boys who've just "scored" for the first time — i.e., lost their virginity — are wont to heave an old pair of sneakers over a power line to celebrate the moment and proclaim their conquest to the world (who says teenage boys aren't romantic?).

The long and short of it is that everybody seems to have a theory but nobody knows the answer. Maybe there is no answer; maybe sneakers hanging on power lines don't have any particular meaning at all.

Summer Trial...

From CBC news today....

Many Vancouver commuters were adjusting to the changes on the Burrard Bridge on Monday after the city turned one of the southbound traffic lanes into a bike-only lane over the weekend.

The six-month trial project also created a second bike-only lane for northbound cyclists on the eastern sidewalk, while the western sidewalk is now reserved for pedestrians in both directions.

On Monday morning, traffic on the bridge was light and there appeared to be few problems with the new traffic patterns. Some pedestrians said they were annoyed about losing access to the eastern sidewalk, forcing them to cross busy intersections at both ends of the bridge.

On Monday evening, traffic on the bridge remained lighter than usual, but southbound cars faced delays getting onto the bridge during rush hour. Drivers along Pacific Street on the north end of the bridge reported delays of up to 20 minutes. But once they got on the bridge, traffic appeared to move quickly.

Mayor Gregor Robertson pedalled his way over the bridge Sunday afternoon after crews had finished installing the concrete barriers and new signage.

He said the change in traffic patterns might be most noticeable in the afternoon when there will only be two vehicle lanes, instead of the usual three, heading southbound out of downtown.

"Hopefully, everyone [who] is in cars can adjust. The Granville Bridge has a lot of spare capacity and we're hoping that people, particularly coming out of downtown, can use Howe Street onto the Granville Bridge to exit the downtown, spread the traffic, and we don't have congestion like some are predicting," Robertson said.

Summer to the fullest!!!

The loop around the seawall its one of the MUST DO while out here...have a break and enjoy false creek and Science world view for now....summer to the fullest in Vancouver folks :O)

Pitch & Putt at Stanley Park

Located in one of Vancouver's finest natural parks, Stanley Park Pitch & Putt offers sculpted fairways, mature trees and lush greens in a spectacular setting alongside English Bay. Minutes from the downtown core, with easy access along Lagoon Drive, the course is located amid a variety of park amenities including tennis courts, The Fish House Restaurant, lawn bowling club and swimming pool.

With 18 holes ranging from 40 to 100 yards, this splendid course is free of hazards and provides an unrivalled setting bordered by a magnificent rhododendron garden.

Adjacent to the pitch & putt course is an attractive 18-hole putting green that is suitable for all ages. The putting green is open from July 1-September 7, 2009. Hours are 12:00 noon - 7:30pm

Color base

Happy Birthday Canada!

Happy Canada Day!
Wherever you are and whomever you are!!