looking down...

...on the world

I spent most of the 27th Jan hanging around downtown, taking photos; before the big hockey game in the evening.

What better way to see the city, than from the big circular look-out-thingy that's been in almost all of my downtown photos thus-far.

It turns out they have a revolving restaurant. So; that's where i chilled-out and had a tasty lunch (lasagna for those of you who wanted to know)


- Shot of the table - imagine that it's slowly moving... it takes about an hour for the customer area to make one full revolution, so it's not too queasy (pretty important for a restaurant).



- the view. GM place (hockey central) is in the middle of the photo, between the buildings. BC-Place is the BIG inflated stadium on the right, where they'll have the opening and closing ceremonies of the olympics



- 2nd view. Roof-top car park where I took my downtown photo, for the post entitled "jet-lag-sucks"



- another view. This time of the Vancouver film school (middle building) and park (where I took the war memorial photo featured in the previous post)



- Utilising the map-book (referdex) I was able to get a nice understanding of the entire downtown area. I really should have done this on day 1



- looking out towards eastern Vancouver (and Burnaby over the hill). I'm currently staying somewhere toward the right of the photo, off in the back-ground...



- pretty shot of the lions-gate bridge.

with lunch finished, 'twas time to go for a walk, and snap some more photos with my awesome new camera (which is producing bloody-good photos for a point and shoot compact)

Walking around the area known as false creek (slightly south of GM place), I found:



- A kiddy playground (under the cambie st bridge...)



- Some weird sculpture in the water



- a cool water feature in a local park



- a blockade that they've used to separate the Olympic athletes from the rest of the city. Yes that's right, they've sealed off part of the 'creek' (fairly contentious political move from the locals point of view)

Moving a little further north - I came across perhaps the strangest "park" I've ever been to in my life.


- Yaletown "park"



- It's completely paved, and although it's tricky to see in the photos - the paving rolls up and down in 'waves' where ever there's a tree.

Moving north, I found:


- the Vancouver Public Library (think, state library in Brisbane)



- it's BIG, and funky in design - even on the inside (atrium with cafes)

Time to head back to the arena for my first live hockey match in nearly a decade.


- GM place has a current record of 292 consecutive sell-outs for canucks games (at around 18,800 tickets). No joke, that's two-hundred-and-ninety-two CONSECUTIVE sell-outs...

So how did I get a ticket? Ticketmaster has a web-site where season pass holders can opt to miss a game, and "sell" their ticket.



- face-space photo from the very expensive, but totally worth it, seat.



- during warm-up (1/2 hr before the game), fans are invited to move down to the glass and "get close". Very good if your tickets are a little farther back. Oh, and photos are no longer frowned upon (as long as your lens isn't too long - they don't want you sniping better shots than the local news service.



- closer shot of one of the camera guys shooting ice-level coverage...



- octo-screen (4 side video, 4 corners High-resolution graphics) - most seats can see 2-sides of the video screen; it's all pretty well thought out.

Oh, and the sound system rocked... amazingly clear with little re-verb, and bass to shake your soul... in fact, post-game I had to seek out a headache tablet at the local 7-11.



- Vancouver fans are quite vocal, and the atmosphere is electric (sounds cliche but there isn't really another way to describe it).

When anything good happens, the place erupts.

If something bad happens, you can cut the near-silent tension with some kind of blunt object.

Look-out when the local team scores... Wow! I've got video of the crowds reaction, when the winning goal was taken half-way through the third period. I just need to figure out a way of trimming its size (currently a few hundred meg - ie. very big).

The sound of 18,000 people all screaming within a contained stadium - is truly something special.


Today (28th) was spent checking out a little more of the north van area - and dropping in on the sound team from fringe (big hello's and many-thanks for the lunch go out to eric, danny and miller).

only 2 more days in town until I head off to the snow...

I'm starting to get excited, and also starting to realise that all the good work (fitness-wise) I put in before leaving Australia, has come undone since I landed in Vancouver :( I may have lost weight on this leg of my trip (haven't been hungry - and my sleep patterns are way-off), but I've also lost a lot of muscle-tone, especially in my legs = double :(

see ya

Ian

Bonus shot


- poster in a shopfront window of the little island/hill/thing that I climbed out near horseshoe bay.

P.S.
for anyone curious about the photo from the head of the post - it's a shot of the single most amazing feature i've seen in a car in a long time.

the rear-view mirror has a compass built in...

I know, small things - but I've found it VERY useful. .

repairs...

...complete.

I've owned my ski-goggles since the 2nd week of my season in Whistler (way back in december, 2000)

for the past 9+ years, they've held-up pretty well.

sadly, on my last trip to N.Z. the foam on top, which keeps snow away from the INSIDE of the goggles, finally deteriorated.

Possible solutions: Either purchase a new set (over $160); or attempt a repair job.

today's goal was to source a supply of replacement foam.

The Home depot (think bunnings, but bigger) was a successful first stop.

it turns out that the best foam was from a cheap pourous paint brush at $1.49 (bought 2 incase I screwed it up). Add the cost of the glue ($3.99), and for less than $10 (including a coffee), I managed to knock-up a nifty repair.


Sure; it'll probably fall apart on my first day of skiing this coming monday - but for a brief, shining moment - I truly felt like a handy man (or some kind of amazonian craft woman with hairy legs, and no boobs).

what else has been going on.

- caught up with another local sound team (big g'day to graham and blair) at a local vegetarian restraunt (the chilli was good - the beer even better).

- watched another hockey game on TV; and it was so exciting, that I decided to buy a ticket to tomorrow nights canucks game. Vancouver home games are almost always sold out, and the tickets are ridiculously expensive (more than most concerts). but why not - I am on holidays after all.

- continued to get my driving goove-on, traveling around to a local "hill" (technicaly it is mount burnaby, but c'mon, this is vancouver we're talking about; if it hasnt got snow, it 'aint a mountain...)

- hit the phones to line up any last remaining sound related catch-ups.

Photos


war memorial, downtown (across the road from the Vancouver Film School)




detail of the alley-way power transformers (loving the industrial look of the back-alleys)




Standing in front of some kind of indiginous sculptue at a park in burnaby




the view of the city (amazing light)




the road up to the park

ok, time to repair the bottom part of my goggles, see ya later.
Ian



BONUS PHOTO

alternate angle of the road leading up to burnaby mountain conservation area

fun fact = this is where I worked my first day as a locations P.A. back in 2001 - I had the dubious responsibility of "fire watch" over the crew parking on K9III: PI... 8+ hrs at the bottom of the hill with no shelter, food/water or bathroom breaks - the walkie talkie i'd been given was "just" out of range so I couldn't call for help, and to top it all off, I wasn't able to be paid for over 3 months (first of my 01 visa issues, and the last to be resolved). To the accountants credit, she managed to transfer my wages (all $150 of them) onto her next job! and actually paid me once the visa was sorted.

spending...

...spree!

Since I'm currently staying in one of the rain-iest film centres in the world, I've been asking everyone i meet the following question; "who makes the best rain jacket, and where can you buy one?" More often than not, the answer comes back - "Arc'teryx. and they have a factory seconds store in north Vancouver"...

I've also been asking people where they think the best place to live is. Allot of people are saying North Vancouver; so today was all about the northern side of the burrard inlet.

started with a trip to the outlet store.

Sadly, as with most 2nds stores, the range and quality (no warranty, no returns) can be a little on the 'lower' side of useful. I couldn't find a suitable "rain" jacket (the only dark-coloured,lightweight, gore-tex one was WAY too big).

On the upside, I found an awesome ski-jacket for 60% RRP. I also picked up a nice mid-layer for the cold-cold ski-resort i head to in 7 days.

with that part kinda-sorted; I traveled west, in search of coffee, and to scout out potential suburbs that everyone would love to live in.

I found a Starbucks, and had a 1/2hr sit to thumb through the B.C. road rules (I picked up a student driver manual on my first day, when the local 'rules' were sending me batty).

FYI - in B.C. you can turn right on a red light as long as "you come to a complete stop, and check that it's safe to do so"... and there isn't a sign that says you can't. ok, so that sorts that one out. The flashing green lights - these designate an intersection which is controlled by the pedestrian signals (seriously), and you should only proceed through once you've ensured that a person isn't going to jump out and say 'boo' (obviously I'm paraphrasing here)

As for those damn 4-way stop intersections; it's first come first served, unless you arrive at the same time as an aggressive driver - then all bets are off... (and that's pretty much how they describe it in the manual!)

with a firm understanding of the local road rules (well kind-of), I headed north and wound my way round the local areas, soaking it all in - it truly is a nice change of pace from the lower mainland - i could easily see myself living here.

Stopped in at the base of the road which leads to grouse mountain (I'll re-do the hike another day), and took in some sight seeing at the dam.

photos...


"face-space" photo at the aforementioned Cleveland dam in capilano - named after some hydro-dude (public servant).



macro moss



fantastic mist/layered-rain-stuff


heading south, my plan was to continue along a windy coastal road which would eventually lead to horseshoe bay.

it did; even if it took a little longer than I'd anticipated. (for some reason my sense of scale is all out of whack - what I'm guessing should only take a 1/2 hr based on the map-distance, is frequently taking twice as long...)

as the road got narrower, wind-i-er, and rain-i-er; I managed to suck it up and improve my driving skills (maybe its just what i needed).

eventually I arrived at a little area on the southern tip of horseshoe bay called whytecliff point.

photos.


at the base of the point



view west - into the howe sound/strait of georgia


cool tree at the point.

by now the rain had settled in, it was at the tail end of the day, and i was craving another caffeine hit.

jumping back on the highway, and heading east, i set off for the local mega-mall (seriously - it's either a corner shop, or a mega-centre behemoth over here).

bought another lightweight jacket (2010 Olympics = yay) and 2 more cheap pull-overs for the skiing.

it was now time to battle the night-time-rain-traffic heading back into town...

Thankfully I made it back unscathed. Even if every other car was trying to do 20 above the speed limit in pretty wet conditions.

a little dinner, then photo-downloading, and this.

all in all - a pretty successful day.

P.S.
yesterday was a complete write-off; spent the entire day in bed, sleeping - man i hope this is the last of the jet-lag...


here's a bonus shot of whytecliff point.

jet...

...lag sucks.

I'm just starting to shake the effects. it got to a point on day 2+3 where i needed to have a little nap in the car around 3pm.

today was much better

big hellos and thanks go out to:

Paul, one of our wolverine A.D.s (a Vancouver local)- it was great to have a catch-up chat, I still need to buy him a drink though...

Ken from IA 891, for kindly answering all my questions about the film unions over lunch.

Don, chris, and brad from supernatural, for letting me hang out and chat for a bit.
nice coffee too.

I also managed to see Daybreakers at the local cineplex. Wow, what a really solid little film. It looks amazing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it (even if the theatre was playing the soundtrack ear-shatteringly loud). it's always a shock to see Brisbane on the big screen, and I don't think I've ever seen it look so cool.

photos today are:
head of post = downtown, from downtown parking structure


little park where i used to hang out and read, way back in 2001 when i lived down the road.


as you can see it's got an awesome little beach with a great view of the city


alternate angle on the view

ok, time for sleep again.

P.S. I'm starting to get the hang of the driving on the wrong side. It's still freaky, but at least i'm starting to do things without having to actively think about it. My road positioning is better. However I'm still not getting my low-speed right-hand-turns correct (keep thinking i'll bump the car on the corner - when in reality i'm more than fine)

the-never-ending-day...

...is finally over.

caught 4 films on the plane during the 16hr non-stop flight from Sydney. (in the loop, all about steve, surrogates, funny people)

after activating my visa (no problems this time), almost losing my ski-boots, and picking up the rental car; I battled my many many years of fighting to stay on the LEFT side of the road... and spent the day driving around Vancouver, taking a few photos, buying a street directory, and new ski-socks

I've also sorted out my phone situation

Canadian cellphone number = (604) 727 9690

I'm impossibly tired right now, but since I've managed to stay-up; hopefully It'll help to avoid the inevitable jet-lag...

tomorrow = sorting out a bank account, Social Insurance Number, calling a few people to catch up, and looking around.

see ya

Oh, almost forgot - photos from day 1


waiting to board my brisbane-sydney flight



Ian getting arty with his new cameras' macro focus feature


aside from displaying an impressive amount of hollywood junk, the screen in front of me was also able to display an indicator of our global progress, along with speed, altitude, distance remaining, arrival time, various global times, even a nifty graphic depicting day/night+map+us (it helped me to prepare for the sunset)



hwy 1 crossing the second narrows heading north (ironworkers memorial bridge)



fantastic marina with vancouvers downtown in the BG



another angle overflowing with the pretty



twas a giant floating olympic ring-barge-thing



marker to let the joggers/mothers-with-a-pram know how far they have come



sea-plane lining up a landing in the burrard inlet.

ok, now it really is time to sleep.

see ya

look out world...

...here i come.

that's right, I'm on my way back to canada.

I depart Brisbane at 0715 – and magically arrive in Vancouver 10 minutes later… it's a time-zone thing.

I can see skiing in my future. and it's going to be awesome.

I'll update when possible over the next 3 weeks, posting photos and random musings...

ok, gotta go and finish packing.

Ian

Well...

...I've completely forgotten to update this blog thingy.



what's happened over the past 2 months?

- I grew the mustache.

- I shaved the mustache.

- I continued to climb the story bridge.

- I managed to get some TV commercials, and a 4-day corporate video.

- I booked a trip to canada.

- I drank some coffee.


wait... what was that thing two points ago?

- I'm going to canada?

AWESOME!

When?

- 19th January

how long?

- 12 days in Vancouver, then 7 days skiing at Sun Peaks Resort (interior B.C.)

why?

- well... ummm... do I really need a reason? - Whistler is hosting the olympics, and have already broken their all time monthly snow record (almost before they opened)

are you sure there isn't another reason?

- oh yeah - I need to activate a 2 yr working visa,

nice. Anthing else remotely interesting happen in your prolonged absence from the digital realm?

- I managed to see AVATAR 5 days before it opened.

Huh, how?

- a friend's brother and his co-worker had press-tickets.

So - you've been looking forward to this film for quite some time - was it worth it?

- I'm still gob-smacked at the experience - easily the best time I've had in a theatre in a LONG time.

is it really that good?

- Yes

ok time for a finishing photo; what have you got for us this time...




...some sunset shots from work - work, this time meaning the story bridge adventure climb.