What I Did On My Staycation - Part I

(This got way too long for one post. Also, the return to work has been a wee bit stressful, and our internet connection at home is all messed up,so it's taken me ages to write it. Boooooo. I'll try to get Part II written soon! It'll even have photos!)

Monday

First of all, I slept in - bliss! I had a leisurely breakfast, then took the bus and SkyTrain down to the Vancouver Art Gallery. This is the same route I take on work days when I'm not cycling, although I usually get off a few stops earlier, and it was so much nicer than during the rush hour! I even had a lovely chat with a woman who was, like me, trying to decide whether to take the #8 (comes every five minutes, but is usually heaving and stops on almost every block and is therefore slooooow) or cross the road and wait for the faster #33 (stops only every two or three blocks, and is generally less crowded, but only comes every 15-30 minutes, depending on the time of day). I used my Translink iPhone app to figure out that the #33 was the best option (it almost always is), saw this woman wavering between the two stops, and decided to share my information with her. We continued our conversation all the way to the art gallery. She's new to my neighbourhood and, like me, is excited about some upcoming changes to the area (post to come!) I'm used to fighting for space, having my face wedged into a stranger's armpit, getting hit by people's backpacks, and/or dealing with general commuter rage (mine and others'), so this was a lovely surprise.

The gallery was very nice. I'm not a particularly arty person, and know next to nothing about art history or techniques, but I do enjoy looking at pretty and/or thought provoking things, and I love the general atmosphere of art galleries. I wasn't allowed to take photos, but I did jot down some notes on the pieces I enjoyed most: a glass box with First Nations designs and old family photos engraved into it, with a light inside, all alone in a small white room, such that the designs and photos were projected onto the walls (Marianne Nicolson - I think it was this one); and some stunning images of the recent BC forest fires by Evan Lee, who prints photos onto the reverse of the usual paper, then smears the ink around before it dries - like this. 

I had some rooms completely to myself... until the school groups hit the building. This was the hidden flaw in my cunning "enjoy popular attractions in the weekday peace and quiet" plan... man, kids are loud, and big stone buildings are echoey! I escaped to the gallery's cafe for a healthy and tasty salad, although the echoes of kids yelling and adults scolding followed me, and then headed back to the galleries once things had quietened back down. I saw everything except one room before the usual gallery fatigue overtook me, and I even managed to avoid spending any money in the gift shop (I have such a weakness for blank journals to write in, and they had some gorgeous ones, but I reminded myself that I have a couple of still completely virgin journals at home). A success!

I headed off to the Salt Spring Coffee place on Main Street (excellent as always, especially because I had an ethicalDeal coupon) for my first installment of sitting in cafes pretending to be a writer, managed to write one blog post, and then got the bad news about Mr E Man's accident. So I headed home via our usual grocery store to sympathise with him over his poor mangled finger, make a quick-and-easy dinner (baked potatoes with sauteed garlicky mushrooms, leeks, and bacon, with grated cheese on top, of course), and watch the Canucks game.

Tuesday

I woke up to find a beautiful sunny day waiting for me - but with a crazy windstorm also in progress. I'd said on Sunday night that I'd spend the first sunny day of the week biking around Stanley Park, but the wind was a little intimidating - I don't tend to enjoy riding during gusts so strong that you have to pedal to get down the hills, and from past experience this looked like just such a day! However, this being November, there was no guarantee of any more nice weather during the rest of the week, so I decided to go for it. (Mr E Man was invited, but said he wanted to snuggle on the sofa with the kitties and feel sorry for himself. To be fair he was on some fairly strong pain killers and hadn't slept much, as he kept catching his injured hand on the duvet when he rolled over, and he woke up shouting in pain several times during the night).

It was indeed ridiculously windy, and I did have to pedal down all but the steepest hills on my way to the sea wall (pedestrian / bike path around the city's ocean front) at Science World. But I persevered, buoyed by the exhilarating sun-shining-on-snow-capped-mountains-and-sparkly-blue-ocean-and-glass-skyscrapers-and-sailboats view. It was a day in a million by any standards, one in a trillion for November - truly stunning. What little skill I may possess in the wielding of words and cameras is hopelessly inadequate; I just can't hope to capture the beauty and joy of the day.

I fought the headwind all the way around the northern edge of False Creek (actually an ocean inlet, hence the name), along the beach at English Bay, and into Stanley Park. The wind died down considerably as I headed east onto the more sheltered edge of the park, and I was even able to sit outside in the sunshine to enjoy the excellent tea and muffin I bought at the totem poles concession stand. I watched bald eagles and seagulls play in the wind, seemingly just for fun, and felt exceedingly glad not to be stuck in the office.

This feeling grew and grew as I made my way around the rest of the sea wall, and when I passed under the Lions Gate bridge, around the point, and back onto the more exposed western edge of the park, the sight of the ocean waves crashing into (and occasionally over) the wall made my heart sing with pure joy. There were a couple of other cyclists, four or five joggers, and several more walkers on the same stretch of sea wall, and every single one of us wore a massive grin across our face. It was... there are no words. Magnificent comes close. I hopped off my bike, sat on a rock on the beach, and fell in love with Vancouver all over again.

If I hadn't already moved here, I would have headed from the beach straight to the immigration office. Seeing as I'm already a card-carrying citizen, though, I headed back along the English Bay beach front and over the Burrard Street bridge (LOVE LOVE LOVE the new protected bike lanes, which I hadn't used before) and went to Granville Island for a very late lunch (red snapper soup and bread from The Stock Market, an old favourite from when I lived nearby and went to the public market most Sundays). I wandered around the blissfully uncrowded market, bought dinner ingredients from several different places, then enjoyed a sweet treat and some tea at the Blue Parrot cafe. I even did some proper writing - in a journal, with a pen! I just fleshed out some ideas for a project I've been thinking about for a while, but it was fun, and just how I'd imagined it might feel to sit in a cafe overlooking the ocean and pretend to be a writer.

Dinner was three different kinds of fresh ravioli (porcini mushroom, asparagus, and butternut squash) with spicy Italian sausage, asparagus, red pepper, and a yummy cilantro pesto from The Stock Market. Mr E Man agreed that I'd spent the day most productively.

Podcath Part II

It's been about 18 months since I made my first forays into the world of podcasts, and I am officially hooked! Thanks to some excellent suggestions in the comments of my last podcast post, some recommendations from my hilarious new sister-in-law, and some finds I've made on my own, I have more podcasts than I have time to listen to, and I love it! I listen to music podcasts all day at work, and spoken word while I'm getting ready in the morning, stretching, exercising (it happens occasionally), cooking, cleaning, and when I'm on the bus or SkyTrain.

There have been a couple of times recently when a friend (most recently Alyssa) has asked for new music recommendations, and I've referred them to podcasts rather than bands. This is how I find most of my new music now - if I like something I hear on a podcast, I write it down (sometimes rather cryptically) and look it up on iTunes later. (Given that I listen to a lot of unsigned band podcasts the songs I like aren't always available in the store, but I'll try again every few months). So I thought I'd list my favourite podcasts here for easy reference! I'm still listening to all the podcasts I mentioned last time, but for this post I'll focus on the new stuff.

I'm too lazy to find all the links, but I'm sure my readers are perfectly capable of looking things up in iTunes or wherever else you get your podcasts from!

My favourite podcast in each category is in blue.

Music - single song podcasts

• Current Song of the Day - Minnesota Public Radio
• Indiefeed - I subscribe to the Alternative/Modern Rock, Blues, Dance, Electronica, Hip Hop and Indie Pop channels. I <3 Indiefeed!
• KEXP Song of the Day
• NPR: Second Stage
• Triple J (recommended by Professor in Training and Mermaid)

Music - multisong podcasts

• Bands Under the Radar - excellent tunes, but the length (~2 hours) can sometimes be a bit much.
• CBC Radio 3 - an online-only radio station that plays exclusively Canadian music, all genres, live and studio recorded. I subscribe to the combined feed to get all their podcasts. There's so much more to Canadian music than Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Nickelback and Justin Bieber! 
• Coverville - a new find. The shows alternate between sets of covers of / by a specific artist, and "who did it better?" episodes featuring two or three versions of the same song by different artists, with an online poll so you can vote for your favourite.
• Mad Decent Worldwide Radio - more uptempo and clubby than anything else I listen to. Good for a late afternoon energy boost.
• NPR: Live Concerts - great if you like the band they're featuring, but some of the longer live shows can be a drag if you're not into the band; I end up skipping about a third of them. They also have a habit of not updating for ages and then dumping eight 90 minute shows into the feed at once, which causes problems for those of us with limited space on our 8GB iPhones!
• The Sound Culture - again more clubby than the others, but less so than Mad Decent. I really like this one.
• Triple J: New Unearthed Music - unsigned Aussie bands. (Recommended by Professor in Training and Mermaid)

Music - Blues
At one point I downloaded the entire back catalogue of the Indiefeed Blues podcast, and listened to ten tracks a day for a couple of weeks. I quickly realised that blues is the perfect music to work to; I don't know why, but something just gels. True aficionados will be horrified by this, but the specific band or song don't seem to matter - the whole genre works for me!

• BluzNdaBlood
• Friday Night Blues - a bit more high energy than the others.
• Murphy's Saloon - the host sounds grumpy is a prince among men, the soul of patience, and tells a bad joke on each episode, but and the music's great :) <-- see comments :)
• Nothing but the Blues - the only UK-based blues podcast on my list, although the tracks are international, and the only one that plays some old (sometimes really, really old) recordings mixed in with the more modern stuff.
• Texas Blues Cafe

Moving on to spoken word...


Canadiana

• The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos (video) - George (aka Canada's Boyfriend) is a Canadian institution, but you don't have to be Canadian to appreciate the sheer awesomeness of his guests. Current episodes on my phone include Slash, Michael Moore, Hillary Clinton, and (d'oh!) Nickelback. The interviews are always interesting!
• Today in Canadian History - daily short (~8 minute) snippets about recent and (relatively) ancient history - everything from Captain Vancouver's voyages up the west coast to sport to politics to space exploration. The shows feature interviews with some very interesting people (an astronaut today!) including academics, politicians, and lots of others.
• Vinyl Cafe Stories - OMG I LOVE this show! The host, Stuart McLean, has a true gift as a story teller and as someone who can find extraordinary pleasure in the most ordinary things. He once spent ten minutes praising mandarin oranges and it was fantastic. It took me a little while to get into the stories he tells of a fictitious family - you have to get to know the characters - but it's been totally worth it. Sometimes very, very funny, sometimes very, very sad, but you always get a lovely warm-and-fuzzy feeling. The live shows also feature music and readers' own stories. My all-time favourite podcast. (Recommended by Alyssa and Wayfarer Scientista. Thank you!)

Comedy

• The Moth - live recordings of people standing up and telling a true story from their life, without notes. Not all of the stories are funny, but almost all of them are interesting and well worth listening to. 
• NPR: Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - comedy news quiz. Great stuff, especially once you get to know the panellists! (Recommended by EcoGeoFemme)
• Zeitgeist (video) - short snippets of silly news stories presented by a host with a really dry sense of humour.

News/current events/other

• The bike podcast - from the Guardian. UK-oriented, but great listening for all the cyclists (recreational, race, and/or commuter) out there.
• From Our Own Correspondent - from the BBC. Each episode features several short reports on current events (or just cultural observations) from foreign correspondents based all over the world, mostly serious but with one more light-hearted story at the end. Extremely high quality journalism.
• Savage Love - I LOVE Dan Savage, having been introduced to his weekly column (syndicated in our awesome free weekly  indie paper, the Georgia Straight) by a labmate during my first month in Vancouver. This show is not for the squeamish as some of the sexual problems people call in with are rather weird and wonderful, but his advice is (usually) great and I think he's really doing some important work on this podcast and in his column. Check out his "it gets better" video campaign, which aims to bring hope to gay teens being bullied at school by describing to them the life as happy, well adjusted gay adults that they can't imagine having for themselves while stuck in small-town high school life.
• This American Life - two or three stories on a given theme per episode. Again, the quality of the journalism is great and they find some amazing stories. Sometimes funny, mostly serious. (Recommended by Wayfarer Scientista and EcoGeoFemme)
• WNYC's Radiolab - similar to This American Life, but with scientific themes. The shows are really well done and appeal strongly to me (a scientist) and Mr E Man (not a scientist, but interested in Stuff In General). THIS is how you bring science to the public!

Great, now the next time anyone asks for new music recommendations, I can just give them a link! And if anyone has any new suggestions, bring it on! Maybe I can do a Part III in another 18 months.

I might review my favourite iPhone apps (mostly games) next, if anyone's interested!

The hills are alive...

...with the sound of cow bells

Or at least, they were. The cow bells are silent now. Yup, the Paralympics are over, and the last few days have felt very flat and empty. It is so, so sad to cycle past City Hall and see the empty poles from which the Olympic and Paralympic flags have flown so proudly for the last four years.

But on Saturday, I managed to get to one last event before the end! And thanks largely to Mermaid's fabulous guest post about the ski jump and luge events she attended during the Olympics, I was adamant that my last event should be in Whistler. My friend and I originally had tickets for the super G slalom - men's and women's standing class, but they had to rejig the schedule based on the latest weather forecasts. Our tickets changed from the original event to slalom - men's and women's standing class, and finally to the super combined (super G + slalom) - men's and women's standing, sitting, and visually impaired classes. We were extremely happy with the change; as you'll see from the video below, our day was defined by variety!

As if Alpine skiing wasn't dangerous enough...

We had an absolutely fantastic day in the warm Whistler sunshine, and think our husbands were fools to go skiing instead, despite their enthusing about the "EPIC!!!" conditions*. And we saw Canada win a bronze, a silver, and a GOLD!!!** The latter was the fifth gold medal of the games won by my new hero, Lauren Woolstencroft. I have nothing bur respect for every Paralympian, but Lauren Woolstencroft stands out even in this exalted company. She was born with no legs below the knee, and no left arm below the elbow, and competes in the standing class, along with every other sighted Paralympian who skis in the standing position. And she doesn't just win, she totally obliterates the field. She ended up winning the event we saw by 12 seconds. 12!!! That just isn't supposed to happen!

I sang the Canadian anthem at her ceremony with more pride than ever before.

I may have cried.

Anyway, here's the video. Sorry for the fuzzy bits; the bright sunshine and glare from the snow were not very kind to my poor little Flip Video.



--------

*we planned to join them on the Sunday, but it was raining on the bottom half of the mountain, and all the lifts above freezing level were closed due to high winds. They did open later, but the price of a half-day pass is almost the same as a full day, and it just didn't seem worth it. This is the first time I've ever been to Whistler during the winter or spring and not skied, but it was totally worth it for the once-in-a-lifetime experience of going to the Paralympics.

**you'll notice that all three of our medals were won by women. This was a recurring theme of the Olympics and Paralympics, with women accounting for a majority of our medals in both tournaments, but especially in the Paralympics. Canadian women KICK ASS!

Welcome to Funcouver!

As much as I love this city, it can't half be a negative, no-fun place sometimes.

But not this week.

Friday's ceremony was spectacular, exceeding all of my expectations. We watched in a pub full of people, the walls bedecked with flags from all over the world, and clapped and cheered at our favourite parts.

I couldn't find a YouTube video of my absolute favourite part - Shane Koyczan's rendition of his "We Are More" poem - so here he is in an earlier performance, reciting the whole poem in front of the Vancouver cityscape instead. I also loved the orcas, but I couldn't find a clip of that either! Hopefully you all saw it on the night...

My British friend and I leaped to our feet and cheered Team GB when they came out. Everyone looked at us. But then the whole pub did the same for Team Canada, and the owner and his son came in with air horns and massive Canadian flags on hockey sticks, to rapturous applause. I loved the fiddling, I loved KD Lang, I loved that they chose four people to light the flame simultaneously. I love that my iPhone autocorrected my first spelling attempt to the correct form, Gretzky. (I think he should have smiled more though).

I really love that when we saw the fireworks light up the TV screen, everyone ran to the window to watch them in real life.

What a contrast to the destructive douchebags who rioted and smashed windows yesterday morning. I think the anti-Olympic movement just lost a lot of the support that the (much larger group of) peaceful protesters had earned over the last few months, and on opening night. What a shame that maybe 20 people - probably not all from Vancouver, and probably not proposing any constructive solutions to the problems they're using as an excuse to riot (I haven't heard any, anyway) - got to define the agenda like that.

It's so much easier to be destructive than creative.

Anyway... moving on. We decided that those cowardly mask-wearing fuckers were not going to deter us from having fun, and set off for downtown with our Team Canada shirts and British flags. The SkyTrain was packed, but amazingly, people were chatting to strangers and having fun. This never happens in Vancouver.

Arriving downtown, we set off to find the Olympic flame. There were tens of thousands of happy people down there, wearing their team colours, being asked if they needed help by Olympic volunteers, and packing every cafe, restaurant and bar.

The Olympic flame, as lit by The Great One on Friday

 
The first photo was taken on maximum zoom, through the fence. At a weird angle due to the crowds pushing into my back. We were very disappointed that they wouldn't let us get any closer.

This photo was taken by Kyrsten, with me leaning backwards over a small child to try and get into the shot!

We tried to get into some of the pavilions, but the average line-up was over an hour. No worries - we have two weeks, and we'll try again on a week day rather than on the first Saturday of the Games! And it was great just being downtown. Many of the streets have been turned into pedestrian boulevards, there were street food stalls and buskers everywhere, public art, music... and did I mention tens of thousands of happy people wearing their team colours and having a great time?!

Just a really fun, positive atmosphere.

We retired to a pub to watch the qualifying rounds of the women's moguls, and to watch the Canadian women's hockey team destroy Slovakia in a decisive and frankly rather embarrassing manner. The people at the next table were all wearing Team USA jackets, but cheering for one specific Canadian player. Turns out their daughter is on the US team, and plays on the same club team as the Canadian! They said they were having a great time, loving Vancouver, and loving the Olympics.

In another pub later on, we saw Jen Heil win Canada's first medal, a very creditable silver. We're still waiting for our first gold on home turf (or snow), having failed in Calgary and Montreal... but there's still lots of time, and we will be glued to our screens for the women's 3,000 metre speed skating at 1pm. One of our medal hopes is a friend's cousin. GO CANADA GO!

I hope you're all enjoying the Games too!

The best Gregor since Mendel?

Vancouver is a fantastic place to be a cyclist. Designated bike routes everywhere (I attended the opening celebrations for the newest one last weekend), and more considerate drivers than in Glasgow (although everything's relative, and some of my fellow cyclists aren't exactly helping, as Dr. J has already commented). The city has even gone to extraordinary lengths to keep my regular route open during the loooooooooooong light rail tunnel and station construction project on Cambie Street, as evidenced below:

The exact configuration of bollards, cones, signs and fences has seemed to change almost every week for two years, so you're never exactly sure which way to go, but hey, it's open! And you gotta admire their creativity in constantly finding novel ways around the new holes and other obstacles.

I actually stopped a few weeks ago to thank a member of the construction team for keeping the route open, and she was so touched that someone had actually taken the time to do this that I wanted to make my appreciation public!

But since we got our new eco-conscious mayor, Gregor Robertson (follow him on Twitter!), things have gone from good to better:

• A trial bike-share programme
• A doubled cycling infrastructure budget
• Car free days on many Sundays (same link as above)
• Segregated bike lanes on the deathtrap that is the Burrard Bridge
• And, today, a proposal for a new pedestrian and bike bridge.

The only thing better than the actual improvements is the spluttering red-faced reaction of the many local NIMBY and anti-cyclist types (see comments on any of the CBC articles linked above).

Yay Vancouver! Yay Gregor! And he even has a kilt, and is trying to get us rapid rail links to Seattle and Portland, and has started community gardens at City Hall!

I think I know who's getting my vote in the next municipal election...

With glowing heart

Warning: embarrassing sentimentality follows. But it's OK, the second part will return you unscathed to the usual level of silliness.

-----------------------------

Here's a journal entry that I wrote on a Pacific-bound train twelve years ago, somewhere amid the lakes and forests of Western Ontario.

Rick was my seat-mate, a Toronto lad who was travelling to Jasper. When he woke up I didn't so much "talk to him" as "propose to him". Yup, not even one third of the way across and I was already in love with Canada, and had taken my first stumbling step towards citizenship.

At 8:15 am today, barring any unexpected obstacles, I will take the final step. Swear the oath of allegiance, sing the anthem, and complete the journey.

Regular readers will know how much I love my adopted home town of Vancouver, despite its flaws; my first day here was enough to erase any thoughts of moving to Toronto. That love extends to the rest of BC and beyond; Toronto is hip and happening, Montreal is vibrant and beautiful, Nova Scotia is scenic and friendly, and there's so much more still to see. Canadians are great people (although many Vancouverites are way too reserved for their own good), and they've built a (mostly) decent, tolerant, multicultural society that I'm proud to be a part of, the current government notwithstanding.

I've always felt at home in this country, from the very first time I set foot in Toronto after a few weeks in the US and thought "cool! Red mail boxes". As much as I love my home nation, Canada just feels more... open, I guess. There's much less of a class structure, people don't judge you based on your accent the same way they do in the UK, and everything's just so new... it feels like the possibilities are endless. And there's so much space.

Today is a doubly proud day because I'm here in my own right. I earned my status through my education and work experience, not through marriage to a random Canadian I met on a train when I was 20, or even in a friend's house when I was 26.

I will remain a proud Brit. I'm lucky enough to be allowed to hold two citizenships; if I wasn't, I honestly don't know whether I'd have taken this final step. But since I am allowed, I applied for Canadian citizenship within three days of becoming eligible.

But I'll save my immigration stories for another time; today is about true patriot love.

-----------------------------

"No it's not! It's aboot dignity! It's aboot respect!"

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

On with the celebrations! There will be champagne! Possibly on the beach!

\O/

(or should that be \Ø/ ?)

Round Two!!!

Leave your predictions, reactions, trash talk and general playoff fever here!

Series: I say Canucks in six.

Tonight's game: I say 3-2 Canucks, with goals from Alex Burrows, Henrik Sedin and Sami Salo.

(Edited after game one to add this photo of Kyle "not very" Wellwood. This is going to be a tough series!)

GO CANUCKS GO!!!

And they're (play)off!

Beer?

Check

Chips?

Check

Canucks shirt?

Check

Towel?

Check

Houseful of friends?

En route

Stanley Cup?

Hell yeah baby!

GO CANUCKS GO!

Mission: impossible?

Legendary Newcastle striker Alan Shearer will manage the club until the end of the season.

Presuming that the BBC isn't playing an April Fool's joke, that is.

The local hero, who has an almost God-like status on Tyneside, is the fourth manager this season (!!!) and has just eight games to keep us in the Premier League... with the first one being against Chelsea.

I'm excited and terrified in equal measures.

Good luck Alan - you'll need it. But don't worry, we'll still love you whatever happens!

p.s. I know no-one cares, but if I didn't "tell" someone, I'd explode! I'd usually call my Dad, but he's on holiday in Malta.

Much better news today

Vancouver is getting a Major League "Soccer" team!

It ain't no English Premier League, but it's the highest standard of football available in North America!

My Dad took me to my first ever Newcastle United game when I was ten. I'm a third generation fan on one side, fourth on the other, and he felt it was time to begin my education (thanks for the twenty-odd years of pain, Dad). He even managed to talk his way into the dressing room before the game, so I got to meet my hero Peter Beardsley (and other members of the team, including a very young and hungover-looking Gazza), and we beat Southampton 2-0.

I instantly loved it - being part of a crowd, the singing and chanting and cheering and jumping up and down, the banter, all of it. I once took a friend to a Scotland-South Africa rugby game in Edinburgh - she hated sport but thought that she "should go and see what it's all about" - and while she spent most of the game shivering and sulking, she came to life as Scotland pushed for the line, recycling the ball over and over, and eventually scoring a try through sheer bloody-minded perseverance. As the whole stadium leaped to its feet and roared, she admitted that she could see the attraction. But I've always felt it - tens of thousands of people (and thousands or even millions more in front of their TVs) uniting in one wish that, if fulfilled, causes an outburst of pure joy and elation and causes strangers to hug and grown men to declare that they love each other.

My Dad and I went a few more times while I was growing up in York, about a 90 minute drive away. An evening game against Norwich (we won 4-1) and a quite terrifying cup game against Wimbledon (we lost 3-0) stand out in the memory - the latter occasion was the one and only time I ever stood, and being at about head height to the concrete barricades, with TV images of Hillsborough still fresh in my mind, I did not particularly enjoy it. The drive back up to Ashington in my Dad's cousin's van was equally harrowing.

Then, when I was eighteen, I moved back to the region of my birth to attend Newcastle University, and lived within sight and sound of the magnificent St James' Park stadium during the Keegan era of the late 1990s. I was in heaven, even though it was almost impossible to get tickets and I only got to go to a game once a year or so. (My favourite experience was when a friend of my then-boyfriend asked me, in a very patronising voice, "is the stadium bigger than you'd expected?" His expression got more and more surprised as I answered "well, it's really improved since I first came here nine years ago, the corners have filled in, they've added the extra tiers, and of course there's no standing section any more. And I hear the dressing rooms have really improved since the time I got in there to meet Peter Beardsley").

The only time I've ever got tickets since, with Mr E Man in tow for his first ever Premiership game, the fixture was cancelled 20 minutes before kick-off, due to snow. We got to see Alan Shearer throw a snowball though. Mr E Man opined that he threw like a girl, which almost caused my Dad and me to abandon him to his fate at the hands of 50,000 irate Geordies, but we chose the path of light and my Dad explained loudly "it's alright, he's Canadian".

In contrast, the Vancouver Whitecaps have never aroused the same feelings of tribal passion, despite links to Newcastle through the likes of Beardsley, Bobby Robson, and (much less impressively, although he's a decent keeper), Tony Caig. I've been to a couple of special occasion games - the Beckham spectacle, and a pre-season visit by Newcastle's bitter rivals, the Mackem Bastards Sunderland. Bolstered by body guarding support from Mr E Man and another burly friend, I wore my Newcastle shirt, and with one exception (the drunk angry guy who tried to write on my shirt in red pen), had a grand old time bantering with the opposing fans (best observation: "did you know you've got shit down your shirt, love?"). The football has always been of poor quality (although the 'Caps destroyed Sunderland - heh!) and of secondary importance to other distractions. Including the fact that you're allowed to drink beer at your seat!

But my one experience with MLS - a Columbus Crew game in 1997 - leaves me optimistic that the standard of football in Vancouver is about to improve to the extent that I will actually want to go and watch a regular season game. (Back then I found the MLS standard to be somewhere between Newcastle and York City, who I've seen once, and never again, although hopefully the MLS (and York City) standard is rising). I'll definitely give it a try, dragging friends and/or nephews along with me if necessary. No doubt the new team will be significantly cheaper and easier to see than the Canucks (who are hopefully streaking their way into a decent play-off run as we speak. Getting to the second round this year would be nice, guys...)

To be continued... in 2011...

Podcath

Thanks to a bit of a kick in the pants useful advice from Professor in Training, I've recently discovered the wonderful world of podcasting. (Late adopter, moi?). So I thought I'd share my discoveries, and open up the comments to suggestions of further subscriptions!

The first thing I discovered is that I simply can't listen to spoken word podcasts while doing, well, anything, really. The second I start typing, or reading something interesting, or even thinking too hard, I just stop listening in any detail. This inevitably results in the episode ending, or the studio audience howling with laughter, and me having to go back to the beginning to work out what was said. I need to listen to these podcasts when I'm doing something that requires minimal concentration - cooking works, as does taking the bus (although that's the only thing it's good for). I've just bought one of those waist strap pack thingies for my iPhone / keys etc., so I'll try listening while exercising too. I imagine that circuit training will be OK for spoken word, while cardio will require music. We'll see...

Current spoken word podcasts:

• Friday night comedy from BBC Radio 4 (I grew up listening to this stuff, it's hilarious)
• Nature (I tried Science and New Scientist too, but there's a limit to how much science I can take on top of work and my print New Scientist subscription, so I chose the only science podcast that features British accents)
• Ricky Gervais (really just short advertisements for his audiobooks - which also need my full attention when listening - but still very funny)
• Stephen Fry's Podgrams (wonderfully rich and fruity)
  

I tried CBC radio's comedy podcast too, but it is unfortunately just as lame as most CBC humour (Rick Mercer excepted, obviously. Where's your podcast, eh, Rick?). It's like Little Mosque on the Prairie - I wanted to like it as it's such a great concept and the mix of characters seemed so promising. But the set-up to the jokes is so obvious, in true Prairie fashion you can see the punchlines approaching from miles away. Give me CTV's Corner Gas instead, any day of the week.

Music is a whole different story. I'm happy to listen to music any time, anywhere, and I can listen to most music while blogging or actually getting on with my work. In fact, I often work best with music on.

As I've said before, I tend to rely on friends to introduce me to new music - I don't listen to much radio in Vancouver, as you don't get the mixed genre stations that you find in the UK. Everything is either pure rock OR pure country OR pure urban OR pure pop, which gets a bit boring. But now, podcasts are introducing me to more new artists than I can keep up with! I have to be able to pay just enough attention to jot down the name of each new artist as they're announced, and then erase it if I end up not liking the song. I've finally found a good use for the little purse-sized notebook I got in my stocking at Christmas, and I'm accumulating quite a list. The only grumble I have is that the BBC doesn't make all of its music podcasts available to people outside the UK - so while I can listen to various "Introducing" podcasts that feature unsigned indie bands who I can't find on iTunes, I'm missing some good podcasts of newly signed indie bands, and most other genres are completely blocked overseas. C'mon, BBC! Sort it out, eh?

Current music podcasts:

• Canada Live from CBC Radio 2 (this is the best of the bunch - live performances from around the country, featuring different genres every week. I've heard everything from hip-hop to traditional Celtic fiddle music. The first one I listened to featured a guy named Rob Lutes - I finished listening and went straight to iTunes to purchase all four of his albums, and even signed up to his Facebook group in the hope of hearing news about a West coast tour).
• Radio 1 Introducing
• Tom Robinson Introducing
• Scotland Introducing (all BBC, all unsigned artists only)

Any other suggestions?

-----------------
p.s. yes, I changed the template. All the cool kids are doing it, and I thought MacTavish deserved something a wee bit more sophistimacated. I've been thinking for a while that the old green colour clashed with the orange sky in the header photo, so this was a good incentive to actually do something about it...

p.p.s. does anyone else have problems with formatting bullet points in Blogger? Also, it really, really, really, needs an "undo" button.

The Five Question Interview

Crystal from "Chances Are I'm Going To Hell For This" was recently interviewed by her friend - and posted the results on her blog. She also chose to perpetuate the meme by asking for willing interview victims subjects in the comments, and I obliged, because I'm egocentric like that. So here are my answers to Crystal's five questions!

1. What/ who influenced you to go in to science?

Good question... I've often thought that I was just plain destined to get into science, because it matches my personality and thinking patterns so well. But there were lots of people who helped me to discover this compatibility.

I got interested in biology through loving cute animals, so I would have to cite James Herriot and David Attenborough for sparking that interest. And of course I have to thank my Mum, who watched all the wildlife documentaries with me, and successfully argued with my Dad that we should get a cat.

As my knowledge of biology matured, I became interested in smaller and smaller units of life - from cute lion cubs down to organs, then cells, then finally viruses and genes. I had an amazing biology teacher by the name of Ann(e) La(w/u)rence (sorry Miss, can't remember the spelling!) from the age of 14-18 - I've actually been planning a series of posts about great teachers, and you can bet she'll be in there - who was incredibly animated and enthusiastic about her subject, but especially about genetics and evolution. And once she taught us those things, I stopped searching for smaller and smaller things to investigate, turned 90 degrees, and headed off into an in-depth exploration of genetics. I guess if she hadn't intervened, I might have continued on to chemistry and then subatomic particle physics...

2. What would you do/be (besides science) if money were not important?

I'd be living on a sailboat (summer) and little rustic cabin (winter), travelling around the BC coast and writing a book.

3. How did you know your hubby was "the one"?

(Super-lameness alert).

When we first met, I was halfway through a two-year postdoc / work permit. So when I met this hunky Canadian carpenter at a big group dinner one night, I didn't automatically think "long-term relationship", let alone "future husband". But I really enjoyed talking to him, and when he gave me his number, I was more than happy to call him up (after the obligatory two day wait, of course) to arrange a date.

Still not thinking any further ahead than a month or so at a time, we started to see more and more of each other, and the more I got to know him, the more I liked him. The first time I knew we had something really special was on our first overnight kayak camping trip, about five months into our relationship. We went skinny dipping at midnight (yes, in the sea, in Canada, in May - just about worth it for the awesome phosphorescence) and then snuggled around a campfire on the beach.

But the first time I knew he was "the one"? We were hanging out in my shared house on a rainy Saturday afternoon, playing cribbage. He said something that made me laugh - and it kills me that I can't remember what it was - and I just suddenly realised that I wanted to spend all my rainy Saturday afternoons with him, and that I would be delighted to find myself playing cribbage and listening to his silly banter when we're both in our eighties.

I told you it was lame.

4. Are you planning on having kids anytime in the future?

Nope.

As discussed before, I have multiple reasons for this choice, the primary reason being that I just innately and emphatically know that it isn't for me.

Plans can change... but I am at least 95% sure that if you come and find me in 10 years, I still won't have any kids.

I'm VERY excited though that two close Vancouver friends are pregnant (after years each of trying, they'll be giving birth two weeks apart - wonder what was in the water that month). I've already told them both that I want to be a very active and involved Auntie.

Kids are awesome - as long as you can give them back.

(On my research retreat last week, I had four female colleagues (aged 30s - 50s) separately ask me the same question. When I gave my answer, all but one said "oh, you really should, you know". So the next time someone tells me that they have kids, I want to say "oh, you really shouldn't have done that, you know").

5. What is the most embarrassing drunk thing you have ever done?

OK, this is pretty shameful. One drunken night in my shared student flat in Glasgow, my flatmate and I somehow got into a discussion about the Seven Deadly Sins. Except that we weren't sure what they were. Her version (from her Catholic school education in Ireland) was different to my version (from the movie Se7en, heh), and we had no Bible, encyclopedia or internet to hand.

So... we went to the phone book and got the number for a local convent. Because we were drunk and the answer just simply COULD NOT WAIT, we ignored the fact that nuns are mostly in bed well before 11 pm, and called the number anyway. (When I say we, I mean that I dialled, but she encouraged me and assured me that the nuns wouldn't mind).

Me: "Oh hello, I was just wondering if you could tell me what the Seven Deadly Sins are?"
Nun: ".............................no." (click).

We looked the answer up on our other flatmate's computer the next day. My version was right.

Now it's your turn! Do you want to be interviewed?

If you do - here are the rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me" AND leave your email address (or blog link) in the comment!
2. I will respond by emailing you (or commenting on your blog with) five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. (If you don't have a blog, I can post your answers here).
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

"I build spaceships"

This is how Mr E Man described his job when I had my first proper conversation with him. On closer interrogation he turned out to be a carpenter on movie sets, and had just finished building the X Jet and other cool stuff for X2*.

My husband built this! But somehow I still don't have the shoe rack he promised me 3 years ago

A word of advice: if you ever meet one of these people, it is not considered cool to squeal "oooooh, just like Harrison Ford!". Even if said carpenter is hunky and has Harrison Ford-esque scars on his lip and eyebrow.

Luckily he forgave me this transgression, and even the subsequent one, a question that I have heard pretty much every new acquaintance ask him in the almost 6 years since that fateful night:

"Do you get to meet all the stars?"

His answer is always that he sees them from time to time, but that if everyone on the crew tried to meet them, the movie would never get made. So, not really. Although he did make my trekkie Mum very happy with a story about Patrick Stewart buying iced coffees for the whole X2 crew on a hot day. ("Oh, I knew he'd be a nice man. He seems like a nice man. Doesn't he seem nice? I'm glad he's a nice man"). However his attempt to get her Patrick Stewart's autograph on X3 was thwarted, because there was never a good time to break professional ranks and stroll over with a pen in hand.

Mr E Man's job has many benefits for me**:

• Free swag (they mostly hand out t-shirts and jackets in the size that fits the actual crew member, but I have been promised a Night at the Museum 2 jacket in my size. I also have a metal water bottle from the same movie and a very nice leather portfolio binder thingy from a TV show called the Dead Zone)
• Occasional visits to look at sets (soooo cool. I thought they'd look all two dimensional, with clever lighting and camera work making them look real, but standing in the main set for the original Night at the Museum was like standing in an actual natural history museum. The curving staircase looked like real marble, but when I touched it I realised it was actually made of styrofoam. Ditto the authentic-looking Egyptian temple carvings)
• Reflected glory (especially when we took our 5 and 7 year old nephews to see NATM and the 5 year old loudly said "thank you for making this movie, Uncle Mark" at the quietest point in the film)
• Tickets to cast and crew premieres, a day or two before general release (I love these; the extras shout "there I am!" at random moments, and everyone stays for the credits and cheers when they see their own name)
• Wrap parties

I am under strict instructions to "be cool" at these latter events. Yes, even if Hugh Jackman is there (which he never is, sadly). My resolve to follow this advice is very rarely tested however; I've had a director or two pointed out to me, but I've only been to one wrap party with any recognisably famous actors.

It's a good story though. I'd spotted Ben Stiller chatting away to various people and thought "oh, look, it's Ben Stiller" (as you do), and then resumed my conversation with one of Mr E Man's buddies. I love these conversations because everyone always tells me what a great carpenter my husband is - the art director even came up to me once and said "this man saved the movie!".

And then... as we were talking... a tall blond guy strolled by, and very definitely looked at my boobs.

I was, of course, completely outraged. I mean, I wasn't even wearing a name tag! How dare he! But as he passed by, I suddenly realised that it was Owen Wilson.

Mr E Man came back from the (OPEN!!) bar, and I immediately told him that some guy had been checking me out.

"Oh yeah, who?"
"Owen Wilson"
(Quizzical look of the "...and?" variety)
"Pretty cool, eh?!" I said proudly.

I think Mr E Man was quite relieved that I wasn't all scandalised and outraged. Giving one of the movie's biggest stars the old tap on the shoulder would definitely count as breaking professional ranks AND being decidedly uncool.

My point?

NATM II wrap party tonight, baby!! w00t! I will report back... if I survive the (OPEN!!!!) bar.

___________________________________

*he even got a credit! This is a very rare occurrence for most people in the construction department, which is a real shame because they contribute so much to the movie. I've sat through the credits of a lot of terrible movies (all of them with awesome sets, obviously - Chronicles of Riddick being a prime example), just to be disappointed when Mr E Man's name doesn't get listed.

**However I don't appreciate the occasional spoilers that come my way, e.g. on X3:
Me: "so what are you working on right now?"
Mr E Man: "Xavier's tombstone."
Me: "WHAT??!! Noooooooooooo! Don't tell me that!"

All weekends should be long weekends

Seriously, I think I need three days EVERY weekend. Here's what we did this BC Day long weekend:


Saturday: lazy day.

Got up late after being out for dinner and drinks on Friday. Lounged on sofa. Drank tea, made simple breakfast. Read papers. Played with cats. Read book. Played a lot of Risk. Read blogs. Drank more tea. Watched TV. Sent Mr E Man out to forage for food (Thai) and DVDs. Watched Juno (I loved it. Great dialogue and soundtrack, although Jason Bateman and Michael Cera are in danger of overexposure. At least they didn't have any scenes together - given their roles as father and son in Arrested Development, it would have been quite weird. Mr E Man was more ambivalent about this movie). Watched In Bruges (we both really liked it. More great dialogue, and the city looked amazing. I've been to Bruges three times, but am happy to visit for a fourth time to show Mr E Man around and have encore des moules et frites, avec beaucoup des bieres). Snoozed on the sofa. Early night.

After dealing with work crap last week and being out of town for the last few weekends, I really, really needed a day like Saturday.

Sunday: party day (with occasional chores).

Got up late. Lounged on sofa. Drank tea, made simple breakfast. Did weekly grocery run and called my parents. Played with the cats. Headed to Spanish Banks beach for friends' annual BC Day Weekend BBQ. Drank beer, ate hot dogs and cake and fruit. Drank more beer. Realised I was hammered (this happened in a very precariously placed and wobbly port-a-potty) and switched to juice. Adjourned to friends' house for poker (I won some money, Mr E Man broke even). Played with friends' pets, fell asleep on friends' couch. Late night.

Monday: chores day (with occasional movies).

Got up slightly earlier. Drank tea, Mr E Man made super fabulous cooked breakfast. Cleaned and tidied house. Tried to fix crashed computer - it's back up now, but I haven't checked that all my files are still where they should be. Weeded and watered garden (I have one red tomato! And a bunch of green ones that don't seem to want to ripen). Picked peas, eating most of them before they made it into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Mr E Man helped with the cleaning and tidying, washed all the dishes, sorted out our camping gear, and cut the grass. Or rather, the weeds. Played with cats (outside this time).

Got stood up by my scheduled geek date, because he got himself a real date instead. Somehow managed to persuade Mr E Man to take geek date's place and take me to see the new X-Files movie (Good, but not great. If you're a fan then I'd recommend it, but only if you're a fan. The snowy BC mountain scenery did look amazing, but why was this a summer release? I have two regrets related to this movie, the first being much more serious than the second: I realised that the mystery location shoot I'd cycled past every day for a couple of weeks last winter was the set for Billy Connolly's (the preacher's) lodgings. This is just a few blocks South of the Olympic curling venue by the way - is my route to work the most happening part of the city or what?! I can't believe I never stopped to check out the shoot; as big of an X-Files fan as I was/am, I'm a MUCH bigger Billy Connolly fan and would have loved to see him in action. I must be getting complacent about film sets, like native Vancouverites. Also it was dark and bloody freezing at the time, the artificial snow being joined by the real thing on a few occasions. Secondly, according to IMDB the film has an extra scene during the credits that I missed because Mr E Man was desperate to leave by that time. Although he did think the movie was OK, and he was happy to support the local film industry that helps to pay our mortgage).

Drove home, passing the aforementioned movie location on the way. Ordered sushi, ate it while watching The Spiderwick Chronicles (pretty good, for a kids' movie. Quite scary for younger kids though I'd imagine). Early night.

So, overall, the weekend was a perfect blend of rebooting my energy levels, getting all the essential stuff done, seeing friends (and movies!) and generally relaxing.

Why can't every weekend be like this?!

Join my campaign for a four day work week!

Rings Around The World

I'm sure you've all noticed the new additions to my blog roll (because you all watch this page like a hawk, instantly noticing every minor alteration and waiting on the edge of your seats for an explanation, right?). Yep, it's finally Olympic month! The excitement is building and I'm already hooked on the BBC and CBC Olympic blogs.

I love, love, LOVE the Olympics. Summer and Winter. I love the idealistic thought of the world's athletes and fans coming together, of a global celebration of sport and the dedication and passion it inspires. I stay up until 3 am watching the rowing, and fencing, and sailing, and a myriad of other sports I usually view with complete indifference. And when the track and field start, well, I'll be needing a lot of caffeine at work.

Oh, and I cry at medal ceremonies. Especially if a British or Canadian athlete wins*, but sometimes even if they don't. Four years of dedication, hard work and pain paying off in that one perfect moment as the flags are raised and the anthem plays. I'm actually tearing up a bit just writing this! And don't even get me started on the Paralympics, except to say that now would be a good time to invest in Kleenex Canada shares.

I'm not totally naive, before anyone says anything. I know the Olympic ideal was corrupted years ago by rampant commercialism and drug use. And as an Amnesty International member for over ten years, I really wish the games weren't in China. But can I at least hope that the intense media spotlight centred on the country will have some positive and long-lasting implications for the Chinese people? I like my rose-tinted glasses, damnit!

The biggest excitement, though, comes in 2010 when the Winter Games come to Vancouver and Whistler.

Olympic flag flying at Vancouver's City Hall, just a few hundred metres from my office

(Photo credit)

There's been a lot of local opposition to the Games, due to the expense and the (perceived?) neglect of other issues such as health care and homelessness in favour of Olympic infrastructure and a short-term cosmetic clean-up of the city's problem areas. To these people I say: you've made your point, which obviously has its merits, but the Games are a done deal, so shut up, NIMBYs! There is not a single city in the world that wouldn't have the same issues - in fact a wealthy city like Vancouver, in a wealthy country like Canada, is one of the best options - so should we just scrap the whole Olympic thing for good? You really, really, want to scrap Olympic Ice Hockey and the chance for bragging rights over the Americans every four years? Yeah, didn't think so.

Yes, the construction's a pain. I cycle past one of the in-progress venues every day and suffer from traffic congestion and clouds of dust blowing over the road. But I also cycle past the Olympic and Paralympic flags, and remember what they stand for and how much fun the Games are going to be. The best of the best athletes in the world are coming to town, so let's enjoy the party. And of course we're going to benefit from the Olympic infrastructure for generations to come - the expanded light rail to the airport and a safer, faster highway to Whistler as well as the new sports facilities. I hear they're going to take paying tourists down the bobsled track in Whistler when the games are over, something I've always wanted to try. The whole thing would be worth it just for that, in my opinion!

When tickets go on sale, I'm going to be one of the first in line. Mr E Man says he would do anything - anything - for hockey tickets. That would indeed be awesome, especially if local favourite Roberto Luongo backstops Canada to the gold medal. But I'm more interested in visiting the venue that I see on my daily ride. I can WALK from my home to an OLYMPIC VENUE. How cool is that??!! OK, so it's only curling, but still. It's Great Britain's best chance of a medal in the Winter games, actually.

The 2012 Summer Games are in London. My sister says I can stay at her place. But, until then, good luck Beijing! I'll be glued to the TV!

(Title explanation for those of you not well up on the Welsh indie music scene of a few years ago)

*I still support any British athlete against any Canadian, and probably always will. Here's hoping for a record medal haul for both countries!

Lund Day 4: The Copeland Islands

You know how I said I'm not a big fan of open water crossings? Well, Day 4 contained a doozy. We haven't measured our journey properly yet, but we're pretty sure it was our longest paddling day ever (at least in terms of distance - we've spent more hours on the water before but didn't get as far, thanks to brutal currents and winds). Luckily the crossing was calm again, and we got to spend the afternoon in a much more interesting and pleasant kayaking environment.

Breakfast: oatmeal bars, apples, apple juice.

We timed our launch quite well, meaning that we got up early and had everything packed and ready to go just after the high tide. We decided to break the journey to the Copeland Islands by stopping in Lund for lunch and to pick up more beer essential provisions. There was hardly any wind, and the sea still looked nice and calm, so we decided to take the long way around Savary.

I do like to circumnavigate things, it makes me feel more adventurous.

The rest of the South side of the island was just as lovely as the parts we'd already seen - sandy beaches, trees, eagles, envy-inducing holiday homes. We even found the Gatorade bottle and crab trap that had been MIA since the day before - right where we'd left it, which was very confusing. How the hell did we miss it the day before when it was so visible this time?! It was a higher tide than when we'd lost it, so it wasn't just a matter of the float being dragged under and then reappearing on the surface as the water level dropped. This conundrum is still bothering me!

Anyway. As we rounded the island's Western tip we started to follow the original plan of hugging the coast, but then realised that the group of houses on the horizon were actually Lund. Mr E Man was getting hungry (breakfast did not meet his usual standards), and asked me if I'd mind if we just went for it. I eventually agreed, and we started a super-fast paddle directly towards the harbour.

The crossing wasn't bad, as these things go, but my awesome power stroke (using my core muscles to pull myself up to the paddle, rather than pulling the paddle back towards myself using my arm and shoulder muscles) aggravated my recurring sacro-iliac joint problem. Ouch. It's still a bit sore now actually. I started whining about it when we were about two thirds of the way there, and called more rest stops than usual. It was lucky for us that the conditions were so great, I wouldn't fancy stopping that often in heavy rollers! I was exhausted by the time we reached Lund, having resorted to arm and shoulder work rather than using my core muscles, and was more than ready for a nice cuppa tea and some restaurant food.

Lunch (at the Lund hotel): halibut and shrimp burger with fries (I earned them), tea, beer (hey, I was on holiday).

By the time we'd finished eating and restocked the beer cooler front hatch, I was feeling much better and raring to go. I'd even managed to make my sacro-iliac joint click a few times, which always seems to help but is probably terribly bad for me. We headed North this time, into the Copeland Islands Marine Provincial Park.

Hooray for hugging the coast! And more circumnavigation! And for scanners that suddenly stop recognising colour for no apparent reason!

I can't possibly recommend this destination highly enough. It was just amazing, and is now my favourite kayaking location (for the record it replaced the Northern Gulf Islands, between Vancouver Island and the mainland). Some of the park's islands have steep rocky sides that towered over our heads, covered in starfish and plants; others have shallow gravelly beaches, studded with oyster shells. There were arbutus trees everywhere - I have included the embarrassing fan girl tag to come out of the closet about my adoration of these trees and the silky-smooth red wood that's revealed by their signature peeling bark. I have an overwhelming urge to touch these triumphs of evolution every time I see one.

Arbutus porn. I challenge you not to stroke one of these beauties if you see one.

We toured basically the entire park looking for a good campsite, and eventually found one with a suitable beach that was not too crowded. It even had an outhouse! This feature made me very very happy, which proves that I need to toughen up if I want to call myself a wilderness camper.

Home sweet home!

Again the water was too cold for a long swim, but we gave it our best shot. By high tide the water reached the log at the bottom of the photo above, so we decided not to have a campfire due to the risk of embers flying up into the overhanging arbutus trees. A forestry official came around the next day to say that although a campfire ban wasn't in place just yet, it was imminent (it actually started later that week), so could we please not have a fire, or keep it small if we did have to have one? When we told him about our decision the night before he replied that he was heading off to find people who weren't as thoughtful as us!

Dinner: Thai red curry, beer, and a local Gewurtzraminer that was quite pleasant but a bit too sweet. A massive hit. I fried up some onion, mushrooms and red pepper, stirred in a packet of red curry sauce, added a can of coconut milk, waited until it was hot and then tipped in two packets of instant noodles, topped it up with a little water, and cooked it all up together until the noodles were soft and the sauce had thickened. Camp cooking at its best!

We went to bed earlier than on Savary Island, due to the lack of a fire and moonlight as much as the tiredness. And man was I tired! I usually wake up at least two or three times during the night when camping, but this time I slept like a log. Mr E Man's loud snoring is very comforting in these situations as I'm pretty sure it scares the bears away. And I am TERRIFIED of bears, despite Mr E Mans insistence that there wouldn't be any on such a small island. (Dude, they can SWIM! Although I'm sure they're unlikely to bother given the temperature of the water and long odds of getting enough to eat). I have an amusing bear / camping story that I will tell in some other future post...

Trevor is a gentleman, part III

I found this photo while uploading the image for the last post. Here's Trevor Linden letting the tiniest tot in the kids' race beat him at the finish line.


Sorry ladies, I don't have any photos of Linden taken from immediately behind him. Stopping to get my camera out of my panniers would have left me way too far behind!

Riding for the cure (and for the view)

I came across an old, old article from The Onion (6,000 Runners Fail to Discover Cure for Breast Cancer) this week. My first reaction was to giggle, and my second was to start this post about the 36 km bike ride I did a couple of weeks ago in support of the BC Cancer Foundation.

Well, the first thing to note is that I am an idiot. 36 km - no problem, no training rides needed, I thought. However I failed to notice that the start/finish line is 12 km from my house and at the top of a very steep hill. No worries, I said to Mr E Man on the morning of the ride as he left for his golf game, I'll put my bike on one of the racks that the local buses carry. Well, guess what: everyone else had the same idea and all the racks were full.

So. 60 km it was. I arrived at the race all hot and sweaty and red in the face, and of course the first two people I saw were the head of the Foundation and the head of my Agency. Nice. I got to watch the end of the actual race which preceded the community ride, which was great, and also the short kids' ride, in which Trevor Linden let a tiny kid on a bike with stabilisers beat him at the finish line. The look on the kid's face was priceless. We then moved on to the awarding of the medals and of the prizes for the top fundraisers. They'd got some great speakers in and it was all very inspirational, despite the fact that they'd lined all of the 36 km riders up at the start line and we were getting cold (it's not exactly been a stellar summer here. In fact it was 9C and raining last week, although it stayed dry for most of the ride).

They'd lost the starting gun, so Premier Campbell shouted BANG!, and then we were off! Most people had road bikes and pulled ahead immediately, but there were enough of us riding hybrids and mountain bikes that I didn't feel too tortoise-like. The ride consisted of 3 laps of a 12 km circuit and started on a gentle upward slope. No problem.

After a couple of nice banking turns on car-free roads (bliss), we turned into the long straight stretch, the only downhill section of the whole course. Into a very stiff headwind. Oh joy. A few of us girls were struggling along as best we could when we were passed like we were standing still by Trevor Linden and Axel Merckx, who I'd seen chatting to some of the slower riders on the previous stretch.

Let me tell you, those two athletes are pure gentlemen. They slowed right down and formed us all into a line, with the two of them at the front, so we could all ride in their slipstream. So not only have I got to wheel-suck (thanks to Mermaid for that lovely word) an Olympic medallist and former Tour de France rider, I also got to look at Linden's butt for a while. As the girl in front of me commented when our noble leaders pulled away from us on the steep (but wind-free) uphill section that followed, "if that's not an incentive then I don't know what is".

We didn't see them again and had to struggle against the wind on our own on the next two laps. But it was really fun, I had some nice chats with fellow riders, enjoyed the freedom from cars, and even managed to lap one woman without being lapped myself by the road bike crew. I found out later that a lot of people stopped after two laps, so I'm glad that I finished the whole thing, and also raised over $350 for the Foundation.

And then the ride home. The bus racks were all full again, of course. The first section was great, down a huge steep hill. But then I remembered that I live just a few blocks from the highest point in Vancouver. I only got off and pushed for a total of two blocks (on Heather Hill at Heather & 20th, for those that know Vancouver) which isn't too bad really. But I'm going to have to step it up a notch for the 60 km MS Society bike ride in August. And I am definitely going to arrange a ride in someone's truck both to and from the start / finish line. I have no intention of turning 60 km into 80 km or worse...

Thanks again to those of you that sponsored me! Oh, and I managed to ride to work every day the following week, although my legs felt like lead by Wednesday and like rubber by Friday. The final thing to note is that I'm an idiot.
_________________________

Edited to add: Linden just announced his retirement from hockey. But hopefully not from cycling. Especially right in front of me.

"Nazis. I hate these guys".

I was delighted to find my all-time favourite movie on TV last night. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is, in my opinion, the finest moment in cinematic history. Everything about it is pitch-perfect, and whoever cast Sean Connery as Harrison Ford's father deserves Oscars, Knighthoods, and at least one Nobel Prize. I fell asleep before the end, but it hardly matters with films you've seen a million times before, right? And at least I got to see my favourite part - "Our situation has not improved".

And the new one comes out today! I rarely go to the cinema, but I'll make an exception for this one. In fact I think I'll be going a lot this year:

• Indy IV
• X Files II
• Narnia II
• Sex and the City (don't laugh)
• Harry Potter VI (my favourite of the books)

I'll have to email all the girls I know and see who's interested in which movies. None of the guys I know seem very enthusiastic at all. I wonder why?