Critical Mass!

If ever I needed another reason to love Vancouver, this is it: Critical Mass. Hundreds of cyclists of all ages, agility, race, and profession, come out to enjoy this beautiful stroll all over the city streets. Bringing motor vehicles to a halt as we move on as one “mass traffic” unit, there’s greatness in the air just knowing that vehicles are relegated to the lower class. There’s freshness in the air, joy, and happiness when we ride over the Burrard Street Bridge, pause, and hoist our bikes over our heads signifying satisfaction of conquering.

With the closing of a single southbound lane on the Burrard Street Bridge in favour of a bike only lane trial that’s soon to open, the city of Vancouver is moving in the right direction and reaching its goal of aspiring to become THE greenest city. Next up: Cyclovia!

DIY cyclists bring their imagination and creativity to the road. One guy I noticed mounted an actual love seat, a night stand, and a table lamp on a tricycle platform and was peddling over the bridge. There was also a couple on a tandem bike, but instead of facing front, the person in the back was facing the other direction while also pedalling. How does that work?!

Echo, Eriko, Jay, and I settled for a picnic on the beach at English Bay after a lovely bike ride. When the sun went down, we returned to Jay’s abode and popped in Bottle Shock in the DVD player.

This city is where my heart is.

The Mayne Island Bike Excursion.

To take advantage of the long weekend, Jay and I had thought to go explore some of the islands serviced by BC Ferries and explore it by bike. We had decided to go to Mayne Island and had intended to depart on Saturday morning but because of limited services to the South Gulf Islands with only two sailing a day, we didn't leave until Sunday morning.

After making concrete plans just the night before, we were all set to go with Norm, Gonca, and Echo in tow. Five bikes loaded onto my trusty Toyota Workhorse Pickup with five passengers crammed inside its small cab. With a stop at Save-On-Foods, we hit the road to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, parked at the over-night economy parking, dismounted our bikes, and rode our two-wheeled mechanical machines on the ferry with all of our camping gear and food on our backs and racks.

Mayne Island was nothing more than a small outpost from and old era on an isolated from the bigger cities of Victoria to the West and Vancouver to the East, and offered a peaceful scenic vista sans-tourists. Jay was having issues with his derailleurs immediately after disembarking from the ferry and had to maintain using the high gear through all the up hills and down hills. Scoping out for a free place to camp as we made no reservations to the only legal campground on the island, our trek took us all around the island and to the interior where we found a small school with a small fire department across from it. Cycling further down the Mayne artery (you know I had to use it!), there was a trading post, a post office, a quaint little bookstore, and a cafe/restaurant/bar attached to the Springwater Lodge overlooking a pier jutting out onto Miners Bay. This is where we kicked back as it was the only place open past 1700h.

The only legal campground on the island turned out to be our best bet with its close proximity to Miners Bay and a scenic vista of the many BC Ferries coming and going in the distance. At $12 a head, it was a little more than we had hoped to pay for, but we were all very happy with the place. It had an outdoor shower facility, outhouses, and a communal fire pit with benches around it which invited social dialogue with others camping on site.

On Victoria Day Monday, the weather turned to shower and I was caught with just a t-shirt and a thin Adidas jacket as we were boarding the ferry back home. It hardly dampened our spirits though as we were coming off from a rush of cycling to and from Mayne Island's lighthouse.

Not a bad weekend excursion, indeed.

EP!C Sustainable Living Expo.

One of the highlights from this year’s expo was the development of sustainabilitytelevision.com. It’s a website for environmentally conscious citizens to meet, share, and exchange ideas towards a greener lifestyle and upload user generated videos on all aspects of sustainability. I thought this was a novel idea, and something I think is necessary to push us towards a greener future. And why not start right here in Vancouver, a city trying to reach the status of being the greenest city in the world and aspires to lead by example for other cities to model after?

Toyota Motor Corp. was showing off its new line of hybrid vehicles and were allowing visitors to the expo to test drive them and compete in achieving the greatest fuel efficiency with their driving habits. Something like hyper-milage, I suppose.

Another notable highlight from the expo was from White Bear Wines, a winery from the Okanagan, using this opportunity to launch its label which aims at conserving BC’s coastal rainforest by partnering with NGOs such as WWF Canada and Tides Canada. A percentage of the sales of White Bear Wines goes towards programs supporting the marine and rainforest conservation, and by extension, help the spirit bears flourish in Beautiful British Columbia. Tastings were offered at the bar and I spent the good half of my time there with their Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. As much as one can appreciate wine in a plastic cup, I found them both to be crisp and smooth as their marketing platform.

On the main stage speaker event, a representative of White Bear Wines extolled the virtues of drip watering over the traditional water sprinkler system commonly seen in vineyards. Although the initial cost of installing a drip watering system was far more costly with laying out a grid like pattern on fertile land, the cost-savings of using less water and the even distribution of it made it a viable alternative, he said. I wonder how quickly a vineyard can recover the initial investment in a drip system.

Several bikes from Specialized were also on display right along with a display of electric vehicles from the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association. I can’t wait to see charging stations taking over existing petrol stations all over the city.

One thing that was missing from this show that I would have loved to see were local or international manufacturers of fine furniture sourced from sustainable resources and made with sustainable practices. Perhaps they were at the Interior Design Home Show earlier this year to which I missed.

Othello Tunnel/Nicola Valley Hike.

Finally got around to seeing the Othello Tunnels today when Jay and I went along with a hiking Meetup group for the Nicola Valley hike.

The hike itself wasn’t all that challenging and was rather short. The trails looped back to the parking lot and in about an hour, we were done. The Othello Tunnels were lovely however, and the natural falling waters around it were beautiful to see.

The 25th Annual Vancouver Sun Run.

A few days ago, I had gone to the BC Place stadium to register Echo, Emma, and myself for the annual Vancouver Sun Run. I tried to interest George into joining us, who accompanied me to the registration, but he changed his mind at the last minute fearing that he may not have the stamina to run the ten kilometres. The Sun Run is the largest timed race in Canada and the second largest in North America!

I got up early this morning to give myself ample time to prepare and exercise before the run at nine. Mel and Sameer were also participating in the run and were supposed to join me at the start of the race, but came late and so we weren’t able to group. Donned in my new New Balance running shoes I bought from the day before with a timing chip to track my finish time and my runner number pinned to my new Vancouver Sun Run 2009 t-shirt, I walked into the Tim Hortons just outside the starting line for a doughnut.

The run started at nine o’clock sharp and the first wave of runners (of the competing sort) dashed off towards the finish line at BC Place Stadium. Groups of people based on their expected times of completion at registration were dispersed by a series of waves along the ten-kilometre run around the city. I was in with the third wave which weren’t dispersed until closer to ten, an hour after the first wave took off!

55, 858 runners turned out for the run this year, and I was glad to be part of it. After alternating from running and jogging throughout the course, I came in at one hour, eighteen minutes, and fifty-two seconds. My first ever Sun Run! Now that I’d created a baseline, I have higher expectations for myself for next year’s run. It was exhilarating!

VAG: How Soon Is Now.

I interested a few friends into joining me at the VAG for their current exhibit on contemporary art titled “How Soon Is Now”; a title that drew its inspiration from the song by the same name by The Smiths. A new friend sharing the same name as I also came out to join us after seeing my post on the Vancouver CS forum.

This exhibit featured many artists from BC and included various mediums to deliver richness and dynamism. And as with my experiences in the past, one visit for a few hours isn’t enough to see everything there is to see. One of the most memorable ones were that of a video being projected on screen of driving through a torrential downpour on a freeway somewhere from the perspective of the first person inside the vehicle. With wipers swishing back and forth in a futile attempt to wipe water off the windscreen, I found myself mesmerised. The other memorable piece I liked was the wall of dozens and dozens of reflective semi-spherical cups about the size of my hand mounted in series. When looking out from the second floor balcony, I realised that it was arranged in braille. Not knowing how to read braille however still left me a bit perplexed as to what the message may have been as expressed by the artist.

I will have to return for take two.

Sunday Fun.

Chapel Arts in the Gastown was the area to be for the MiV klan where the likes of Rob, Ieda, and I made an appearance. I also brought along Frank for some cultural contemporary fun in striking installations, bold paintings, and vivid photography from local artists. One really interesting piece I found was a dismantled CD drive and two dismantled VCRs nailed to a particle board and hung on a wall. One of us wanted to plug the unit in to see if it did anything and as she tugged on the power cord, the whole unit fell off the wall and landed on the table just 2 feet under neath it with a bang. Concealing the accident quickly, we hung it back on it’s weak nails which were hardly nailed into the wall to begin with and also got it to plug into the outlet to see it turn on. The digital displays came on, harking back to those flashing 12:00 clock’s commonly found in the bygone VCR decades.

Moving on upwards to the second floor, I saw plastic moulding casings of what appeared to be toy machine guns hung on the wall which were backlit. This was tied to another piece of a similar style using plastic moulding of toy machine guns but in a series from top to bottom on a four sides like a revolving sunglass display. Then I picked up a card on the wall with the artist’s contact name on it: James Kemp. I scratched my head wondering where I’ve heard this name before and kept repeating his name over and over until I finally got it: we went through high school together!

I’m going to send him and email and re-establish contact.

We took a nice walk towards Canada Place and stumbled upon a food trade convention there. We passed ourselves off as trade representatives and enjoyed ourselves there by sampling foods, eating organics, and drinking new fruit juices, energy drinks, and nutritional shakes. Saved us from going out for dinner.

Omegle.

I had an interesting conversation with a stranger using this new omegle.com site where you could actually talk to random strangers about anything under the sun. This is the transcript of our entire chat.

Connecting to server...
You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
You: Hello stranger!
Stranger: hello gorgeous
You: why thank you.
Stranger: what is your opinion on the european union?
You: Indifferent.
Stranger: do you feel sweden was a neutral country?
You: What is your opinion on Stephen Harper?
Stranger: wow
Stranger: canada?
You: Indeed I am.
Stranger: impressive
You: Well, not a country, but a person residing in said country. :)
Stranger: i like the way you think
Stranger: je suis une canadianne aussi
You: And right off the bat, I take it that you have a political slant.
You: are you now!
Stranger: how would you define a "poutine"
Stranger: common political question am i right?
You: heart-attack in a bowl, but I can't resist it.
Stranger: good answer
Stranger: you win
You: Not really.
Stranger: i concede
You: Are you a poutine-eater as well, for the lack of a better word?
Stranger: no gravy is made of animals
Stranger: kinda sad really
You: hhmmm...
You: well we as humans are omnivores.
Stranger: what hockey team do you go for
Stranger: in theory maybe...
Stranger: so are dinosaurs though and look at the brontosaurus... veg and loving it
You: well, if I cared at all about hockey, I'll have to go with the Canucks.
Stranger: a canadian who doesn't care for hockey?
Stranger: sad really
You: really? I don't think so.
Stranger: are you from calgary?
Stranger: vancouver i mean
Stranger: or oshawa?
You: deductive reasoning will tell you that. I must only confess. :)
Stranger: vancouver
Stranger: i want YOU to get excited about your life!
You: As for the "Canadian who doesn't care for hockey" comment: I'm happy to break from the stereotype. :)
Stranger: im happy if your happy
Stranger: your happiness is all i live for
Stranger: "stranger".... what is this nonsense... i feel as though i've known you my whole life
You: Hockey Night in Canada may be hotwired since birth in this nation, but that doesn't make the next Tim Hortons. Nor is it my wish to be him. :)
Stranger: Tim was a great guy... really, how well did you know him? his memory will always live on in this fine nation
You: I would rather be someone like... hmmm... Douglas Coupland.
Stranger: or mikhail barishnikov??
You: I take it that this Mikhail guy is/was also a hockey player?
Stranger: a russian ballerina actually
You: Oh gee damn, I should have known that one then. I love ballets! ;)
Stranger: i sense you are an arts-lover?
You: If you were on Jeopardy, you've answered correctly in the form of a question.
Stranger: what other form of sentence is there?
You: Who knew talking to strangers could be so social!
Stranger: it's like a social explosion in my heart
You: I mean, I do this quite a bit in person, but most just don't want to follow through or simply dismiss me as a "talkative stranger".
Stranger: i think its lovely that we are on the same wavelength
You: mee too
Stranger: who would win in a fight ... trex versus brontosaurus?
Stranger: explaination
You: hhhmmm... I'll have to place my bets on a t-rex because of its ability to stand on two legs and possibly punch with those stubby arms, like a punching kangaroo.
You: boxing
Stranger: nicely done... emphasis on the two legged ability and stubby arm punchability makes you a fabulous person
Stranger: i quite like you stranger
You: hahahahha!
Stranger: most dramatic thing to ever happen to you?
You: You are my first omegle stranger talker!
Stranger: im your first? awkward.....
Stranger: :)
You: I was just informed of this interesting website only a few hours ago.
You: Yes, you're my first, hahaha! Thanks for popping my cherry.
Stranger: a tast i quite enjoy
Stranger: task*
You: oh my, this can only get worse... ;)
You: or better, depending on perspective.
Stranger: are you a gentleman or a scholar?
You: I would like to think I'm both, but truth be told, I'm neither. I could only strive towards being one or the other. Or bith.
You: both
Stranger: so.... an it?
Stranger: je ne comprende
You: That's nice. Lets leave it there for now. :D
Stranger: ditched
Stranger: i see how it is
Stranger: good day to you
You: I'm going to have my dinner now.
You: It was nice talking to you though!
Stranger: I SAID GOOD DAY
Stranger: holla for a dolla
Stranger: good times
Stranger: love ya... mean it
Stranger: ;)
Your conversational partner has disconnected.