Vancouver Windstorm

Breezy Day in Vancouver

So, I'm running out the door to get a haircut, and was thinking about leaving my camera behind - already breaking my Project 365 rule. I mean, who needs to take a picture of a haircut?

But, I went back inside the house - and grabbed the camera. The haircut was quite uneventful, but the trip home wasn't.

In the late afternoon, yet another blast of wind had levelled several trees in the Kitsilano area -plus a lamp post / banner on the Burrard Bridge blew down, obstructing rush hour traffic. Stanley Park got hit again as well.

Go Gators !!!

Florida Gators - BCS National Champions !!!

Didn't get out of the house Monday afternoon - 'cause the Florida Gators were playing Ohio State for the NCAA National Championship. Soooo...this is my 'shot of the day' taken from my couch.

Mika, Tyler and I lived in Gainesville FL. for a couple of years - and of course we became avid Gator fans (especially as this was the time when Emmit Smith was playing ball for U of F) - Tom even made it to the 'Swamp' to see Emmit and his fellow Gators play.

Ain't nothing better than watching an SEC game - no doubt the toughest conference in NCAA Div. I football.

Now, after kicking Ohio State's collective butt - the University of Florida Gators simultaneously hold the NCAA Basketball and Football Championships......GO ORANGE and BLUE.......GO GATORS !!!

Those Damn Crows !!!

Every day of the year - just before dusk - our little pug Tex waits impatiently by his window for their arrival. And, like clockwork, they soon fly overhead.

Crows, lots of black crows, hundreds of them, maybe thousands - a veritable murder of crows - and all playfully cawing at little Tex below, who (in his loudest Pug voice) barks back "Damn you! Damn you to hell, crows!" But the crows just laugh his protests off, and continue on their eastbound journey to their evening roost.

Come springtime however, Tex the Pug plays an entirely different role - that of "Tex, the Great Protector".

A mating pair of crows return to nest in the tree directly outside of Tex's picture window - and by June one or two little baby crows are pushed out of their home, and helplessly flap around on the grass below. Now it is Tex's duty to bark at all of the neighbourhood cats that stalk the baby birds, barking as loud as he can "Damn you! Damn you to hell, cats!"

Tex's loud barking is also his signal for Mika and Tom to drop whatever they are doing and run outside to shoo away the cats - risking severe head injury from the dive-bombing Mom and Dad crows.

And soon, it is dusk again. Tex the Pug looks up into the twilight sky, and the Drama of the Black Crows begins anew. Damn!

Chicken Parmesan

Day 4 of Project 365

Okay, it's 9.00 pm and I still haven't taken my 'shot of the day'.....so I've decided to show a photo of my dinner - in honour of my close friend, Martha Stewart.

Several years ago I had the priviledge of escorting Martha and her film crew around our fair city - stopping at various Vancouver hot spots such as Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, La Casa Gelato and Tojo's Restaurant.

Martha and her crew were absolutely wonderful to work with, and we all look forward to her return to British Columbia, hopefully sometime in the near future!

So, back to the photo: This is a rather 'artsy' shot of tonight's dinner - Chicken Parmesan a la Martha Stewart. As you can see from the photo, this dinner is very simple to prepare, and tastes even better than it looks!

Here is the link to Martha's recipe for Light Chicken Parmesan - as featured in her January, 2007 issue of Everyday FOOD. http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=recipe5420129&layout=edf&edfParentCat=cat17924&subStyleType=recipes&catid=cat17924

Also, a very special thanks to my wife for providing the following props in the photo: 1) Mika's original painting "Aurora Borealis" 2) Mika's high quality cement bust of some famous lady 3) Mika's arm.

Vancouver

January 3

Day three of my Project 365 - and I had to dash out the door at last light to grab this quick shot of the Vancouver skyline, from the south side of False Creek.

Mika, the pugs and I are very lucky to live in such a beautiful city as Vancouver, and having this view, literally steps away from our home is an added bonus!

Whatever happened to the 25 cent beer?

January 2nd

Day two of my Project 365 - so I took a stroll along memory lane (Main & Terminal) and dropped by my early 1970's haunt - The American Hotel.

Ahhhh...the good old days.

Quarter beers, cigarette smoke, beer soaked terry-cloth table covers, Doobie Brothers on the juke box, and who could forget the great 11.00pm fights? - and those were just the girls!

Unfortunately, I was also busted there for underage drinking - and now, sadly, the doors to the American Hotel are closed.

The ironic part of this photo is, back then we would have never imagined forking over $2.00 for a glass of beer.

Times change....

Black-eyed Peas

A New Year Tradition

Here's my first shot of 2007 - a 'lucky' Black-eyed pea (or bean).

Did you know that Cowpea is another name for the black-eyed pea? Do you care?

The Smithsonian Centre for Education and Museum Studies says (and I quote)...

"Black-eyed Pea (Vigna unguiculata unguiculata)"

"Black-eyed peas are an ancient African crop that spread from central Africa. Around 1700, slaves brought it to America. By 1903 George Washington Carver, the famous African-American agricultural chemist, was promoting black-eyed peas as excellent food for man or beast..."

www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/zoofood/kipea.html

So there you have it. Happy New Year !!!

Yeah, ...but we don't have to shovel it

As quoted from the Vancouver Weather Page, evening of January 1st - 2007 http://vancouver.weatherpage.ca/

Heavy Rainfall Warning for Greater Vancouver.....

Rainfall amounts 120 to 180 mm through Tuesday morning for West Vancouver Island. Rainfall amounts 50 to 100 mm through Tuesday afternoon for Greater Vancouver Fraser Valley and Howe Sound. A moist frontal system moving through the central coast will stall across northern Vancouver Island near noon. Heavy precipitation and strong winds are associated with this front. Southeast winds of up to 90 km/h have developed over the central coastal regions in advance of the front and will ease to southerly 30 to 50 km/h near noon behind the front. Southeast winds of 50 to 70 km/h have developed over the East Vancouver Island and Sunshine Coast and will persist through this afternoon. Over the West Vancouver Island southeast winds 50 to 70 km/h this morning will ease this afternoon. Strong southwest winds of 50 to 70 km/h will pick up again this evening. Heavy rainfall is developing over the south coast as the front stalls. On the west coast of Vancouver Island 120 to 180 mm of rainfall amounts are forecast today through Tuesday morning. Heavy rainfall amounts of 50 to 100 mm are also expected for Greater Vancouver Fraser Valley and Howe Sound with the heaviest rain falling this afternoon through Tuesday afternoon.

Project 365 - My New Year's Resolution

This year, I witnessed the very best Vancouver sunset, EVER!

During an exceptionally rainy day, dark clouds hung over our city - but looking to the west you could see that the sky was clearing.

Now, any Vancouverite will tell you that no matter how crumby the weather may be during the day, towards late afternoon / early evening our city is often blessed with a brief glimpse of sun - just before it sets behind the mountains of Vancouver Island. For twenty minutes or so, we are often treated to a beautiful, yellow light - making our colourful west coast landscape literally 'pop' out against a dark grey backdrop of storm clouds.

I was certain that this was going to be a beautiful sunset.

I was also just as certain that Costco was going to close in 20 minutes and I absolutely had to be there - so I ran out the door as fast as I could and jumped into my wife's PT Cruiser.

Now, for the life of me, I can not remember why my trip to Costco was so urgent, but I do know that enroute - looking in my side mirror - I saw behind me the most brilliant, crimson sunset I have ever witnessed. It was so beautiful in fact, that drivers all along the route to Costco interrupted their afternoon rush hour and hurriedly pulled over to the side of the road.

Burly truck drivers, young mothers and their babies, college students, lovers, business suits, - in fact anyone and everyone who had a camera of any sort were all recording this once in a lifetime event. Even the shoppers and employees at the store had to rush out into the parking lot, all of them remarking that this was "the most beautiful Vancouver sunset they had ever, ever seen." Ever! Some people appeared to be crying - it was kind of like the next to final scenes of the movie Independence Day.

So I called my wife at home, and told her to grab the pugs and run out into the yard if she wanted to witness this remarkable event - and after several 'oohs' and 'aahs' she asked "So, did you take your camera?"

Nope! My new, Nikon Digital SLR camera, complete with Nikkor 18-70 mm zoom lense was exactly where I had left it - in my brand spanking new Lowepro camera bag - on a chair, at home.

What a horrible feeling. There I stood, cameraless - and surrounded by dozens of rush hour commuters and Costco shoppers - all happily snapping away with their mobile phone / digital cameras at what will surely go down in history as the most fantabulous Vancouver sunset to ever grace our skies.

Which brings me to my 2007 New Year's resolution.

I'm going to join in on Project 365 - and for each and every day of 2007 I will take my camera with me, wherever I may go.

My wife says she gives me one week - tops - before I break this resolution. Bah Humbug! So, to keep myself honest, for each of the 365 days of 2007 I will post a photo taken that same day, no matter how mundane. That way, every one of the seven readers of my photoblog will be my witness!

No doubt you will be seeing lots of photos of TexnMaggie, my backyard, my in-laws etc., and hopefully, a beautiful 2007 Vancouver sunset.

Happy New Year everyone!

Standing Across America

Dawn and Maggy's Incredible Adventure

So, I'm firmly enscounced on the couch, it's still a full week until Christmas, and I'm just now beginning to get on my wife's nerves, when she says "How would you like to travel from Vancouver to Ontario, with two ladies - a Blonde and a Redhead - all expenses paid?"

My right eyebrow rises, just a little....."I'm listening."

"So here's the deal" she says....."Dawn and her dog Maggy are moving to Oshawa but Dawn doesn't want to put Maggy on a plane or train 'cause Maggy might get upset and besides it's a great opportunity to do a favour for a friend and regain your lost karma and find your soul somewhere along the way and besides you love to travel and she's rented a mini-van for her, the dog and you and I already told her that you would love to do it and besides it would only be four or five days at the most and you'll be back in lot's of time to see the Seahawks play the Chargers."

Then she gives me that "Sami" look.

"We'll travel by Interstate 90" I say.

Day One:
Dawn pulls up (6 hours late) in a jam packed van - with Maggy, her beautiful Golden Retriever. It's raining heavily. It's also really difficult to get Maggy to lie down on the comfy bed we made for her. Seems she is prone to car sickness, and so she places her head between the two front seats so she can look out the front window. Maggy is a drooler. We manage to hit Seattle in the pouring rain, at the peak of rush hour. We overnight in Spokane at the 'dog friendly' Best Western.

Day Two:

We drive some more. Maggy is standing at attention, drooling. My right elbow is sopping wet. Drove past the Little Bighorn Battlefield - in the dark. Described to Dawn (perhaps in too much detail) Custer's huge error in judgement by taking one road trip too many. By evening, Maggy is still standing, and she is pantng like a steam locomotive, and the van is beginning to smell just a little 'doggy' - if you know what I mean. Overnight at Sheridan Wyoming - enough said.

Day Three:

Maggy and Dawn sleep in, again. Big argument about what exactly the term 'wheels up at 8.00 am' means. Finally on the road by 9.25 am....in a light snow - there's an overturned U-Haul up ahead. This van really stinks. There's a snow storm heading our way from Colorado. I'm getting a nasty rash on my right elbow - and more than slightly annoyed at Dawn's girly driving CD's, none of which include Led Zepelin or Supertramp. Doesn't this woman eat anywhere else but McDonalds??? After getting directions from several late-night liquor stores in Council Bluffs - Iowa - we find our 'dog friendly' hotel and I collapse into my room, a scant 25 yards from the busiest all night truck stop the other side of the Missouri. Highlight of the day was passing Wall Drug, viewing Devils Tower from 20 miles away - and two Strategic Air Command Bases. Still no sign of renewed karma - or my lost soul.

Day Four:

We drive across Iowa - past several birthplaces or gravesites or whatever of US Presidents. Dawn and I seem to be laughing an awful lot today, and Maggy is still standing, but also comfortably resting her head on my wet elbow. A strong wind is at our back, and the countryside is actually quite pretty when you look at it travelling 80 mph or so. Even the storm clouds are clearing. Crossed the Mississippi River today, and Dawn's CD's weren't really so bad once you got past the whole K.D. Lang thang. And I may have caught a glimpse of my lost soul in a corn field, just past the Tri State Tollway - but still no sign of any karma (good karma anyway). Passed South Bend in the dark, and made Windsor Ontario by 9.00 pm. Back in Canada - but a bittersweet moment really - the trip is almost over. Maggy collapses in her hotel room.

Day Five:

We all sleep in. It's actually quite nice to sleep in sometimes. Hit the 401 Eastbound in the late morning, visited two Tim Horton's in one hour, and after passing about 25 RCMP cars enroute - arrive in Oshawa. We are HOME!!! Maggy, (still standing) jumps out of the van, and both her and Dawn get lots of welcome hugs and kisses from their relieved family. Maggy immediately falls asleep on their very comfy carpet. What a nice family. Perhaps Ontarians aren't that bad after all.....but then again, these guys are from Oshawa - not Toronto.

Day Six:

Christmas Eve - Toronto International Airport. Checking in at the Air Canada counter, I'm informed the flight is overbooked, and that I will have to ask at the gate as to whether I'll even get on the Christmas Eve flight home. So much for improved karma.

Then, at the very last minute, the gate attendant smiles at me and says "Looks like today is your lucky day" and hands me a Business Class boarding pass - window seat 5A.

Flying home at 36,000 feet over America, I can't help but think that maybe things are looking up. Somehow the Seahawks / Chargers game doesn't seem quite as important.......and I catch myself wondering how Dawn and Maggy are doing on this beautiful day.

I Married a Sami Witch

For a long time now, I've known my wife has had a special connection to all things natural, and not just animals. Several times she has sensed major earthquakes and other far away natural disasters hours before CNN announces them - but what has transpired over the past year or so has begun to freak me out - let me explain.

It started with her simple question "Don't you think that animals, trees and rocks have a soul?" I told her that I'll give that some serious thought - once I finish drinking my Kokanee and watching Monday Night Football.

Then, during an industry conference, a foreign journalist approached her and asked if she was from Russia or somewhere....and another asked her if she was related to the indigenous people of Finland. She laughed at their questions, but did say her family had some aboriginal bloodlines - Plains Indian - and other elders who have met her say she has more of a "Choctaw nose".

So, just for kicks, Mika sent away for the National Geographic / Family Tree DNA kit. A few scrapes of the inside of her cheek - and six weeks later - she received her first e-mail from them. Who was she related to, on her mothers side?

There is strong genetic proof that my wife Mika is closely - very, very closely in fact - related to the Sami people of Finnmark (Arctic Norway).

Of course, we spent the entire evening googling everything Sami - and after viewing several photos of young Sami women, we found an uncanny resemblance between Mika and the faces staring back at us. One particular photo of a little Sami girl was the spitting image of Mika at the same young age. She had the exact same nose!

We went on to learn from the Scandinavia.com website that the Sami value a close relationship with their natural environment, and I quote: "The Sami religious belief is animistic, believing that everything in nature from animals to minerals have a soul."

Yikes !!!

In addition, without getting too deep into this extremely interesting (and ongoing) story - it is a well known fact that during the 17th century many Sami women had been persecuted, and drowned or burned at the stake for practicing "witchcraft".

Needless to say - we are now planning our next trip - to Scandinavia of all places!

....and I'm going to have to be a little more careful around the house .....

Getting enough vegetables?

Tyler, please call Mom to discuss the 'cauliflower ear' thing......

Juan Valdez of the Andes?

No...the guy on the left is not Juan Valdez - but damn - it must be his Chilean first-cousin.

We bumped into him and his mule during our drive through the Andes. He was selling goat cheese on the side of the road.

A very proud and handsome man! And he loves his mule!

Postcard from the Andes

Travelling southeast from Santiago, into the nearby Andes, we came upon an abandoned barracks of some sort. This is a view of the Andes, from inside the building.

Chile Dogs

In a small Chilean fishing village, I happened upon these two dogs who were playing (yes, they were playing) on the beach. More stories about the 'dogs of Chile' to follow......

Alligator attacks NYC

Earlier this year, while enjoying a cool one in the Rooftop garden of New York's Metropolitan Museum - we were surprised by this wonderful sculpture of an alligator (or is it a crocodile?)

Storm Watching

Standing on a rock - just outside the Wickaninnish Inn - perhaps a little too close to the waves, when the sun came out for a few precious moments

Bears and Mushrooms

Still raining heavily, so we decided to hike to a secluded beach in Pacific Rim National Park - but it appears that a mother bear and her two young cubs enjoy the same beach, so Parks Canada wisely posted a 'Do Not Enter' sign at the trailhead.

But we did see these beautiful mushrooms.....although I have no idea what type they are. They are edible though, right?

Man eating kelp

Today Mika and I decided to leave TexnMaggie with our 'pug-sitter', and hop a ferry / drive to Tofino, located on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

After checking into the beautiful Wickaninnish Inn, we decided to go 'storm-watching'. It was a perfect day for it, with heavy rain, and gale force winds. In fact, it was so windy - Mika toppled off a rock and landed in a huge pile of kelp. She's okay though......but it was a very close call.

The PugMobile

One sunny Saturday afternoon, Mika and I were walking along Spanish Banks. After seeing all the happy dogs running around the park (we left the Pugs at home) she said "We need to buy a car so we can drive TexnMaggie to the beach."

I said, "Sure, we'll give it some thought, but let's not rush into things, okay?"

36 hours later, Mika drives up in a brand spanking new PT Cruiser Convertible (aka PugMobile). Not very macho if you ask me, but no one ever did ask me.

The pugs love their car, of course.....