Vancouver Summer Fireworks!!!

Every year, since 1990, there has been some drama over whether or not Vancouver's spectacular fireworks competition will once again find the funding. (Because you asked), I am glad to report that the Celebration of Light will launch again, next Wednesday, July 21st!

Even better, the warm up for the pyrotechnics will be live musical performances, dubbed Shorefest, on stage at the English Bay Bathhouse and the Rogue Stage at Sunset Beach. Both stage performances will be simulcast on SHORE 104 FM radio.

This year's Celebration of Light features four competitors and promises to be bigger and better than ever before. July 21, the USA is first up with a tribute to the Big Band era. The next Saturday, the 24th, this year's World Cup winner, Spain, will show us whether they can kick that fireball through the goalposts. On Wednesday, July 28, the Latin rythyms will continue with Mexico's swirling presentation. On Saturday, July 31st, the inventors of the artform, China will provide the climax for probably the biggest crowd of all - up to 350,000 people ringing the beaches, bridges, boats and highrises of beautiful English Bay.

No matter if you have seen the rest, come see the best! Our B & B guests will be bundled up with beach towels and tipped to the ultimate viewing points.

Blog Freshening

I realized that at 100 posts, it was time to touch up the paint, wash the windows and let the message shine through. Hope you like the new look!

Vancouver Street Food

Our city's street food scene will soon reflect more of our cultural diversity. City Hall just drew 17 names out of a barrel of 800 applications to finally award street vending licences to something other than hot dogs and chestnuts. Within weeks, pedestrians will be able to sample everything from Chinese Dim Sum to Korean and Southern style BBQs, Tex-Mex burritos to stone-baked pizza.

Ahh...the savory aromas of Vancouver!

Wreck Beach Day(s)

Summer has Vancouver in its hot grasp. And that means white clothes, short skirts, shirtless muscles or NO CLOTHES AT ALL!

Tomorrow, July 11 is the 30th Annual Wreck Beach Day - a celebration  of all things nude and natural. This link(beware! non-sexual, not necessarily pretty human nudity) will lead you to photos of North America's largest clothing-optional beach and first to be legally-sanctioned in Canada!

This weekend, the quintessentially free spirits of Canada's West Coast are trying for a Guinness World Record for a mass, continent-wide simultaneous skinny-dip and posing for this years photos.

On August 8th, the more athletically inclined will form up for the 14th Annual Bare Buns Run. That is 5 kilometres on sand. Think about running 5 kms on sand even with your clothes on! For a number of years, our B & B was happy to host the oldest participant in the Run, who was always acknowledged with a prize ribbon, just for being in his seventies, bare buns, running on glorious Wreck Beach!

Happy Canada Day

Canada is a young and virile 143 years this July 1st, 2010. Still a work in progress, some imperfections but deserving of a very happy birthday.

At the Opening Ceremonies of Vancouver's recent Olympics, a local slam poet, named Shane Koyczan, told the world a little about this country. He bravely stood alone in front of an overflowing stadium audience and a billion more watching on TV.

In his poem, We are More, he said in part:

"some say what defines us

is something as simple as please and thank you

and as for you're welcome

well we say that too

but we are more

than genteel or civilized

we are an idea in the process

of being realized

we are young

we are cultures strung together

then woven into a tapestry

and the design

is what makes us more

than the sum total of our history  

we are an experiment going right for a change...                        

we are the surprise the world has in store for you

it's true                          

                        

Canada is the "what" in "what's new?"...                              

we are the true north

strong and free

and what's more

is that we didn't just say it

we made it be. "                                                                                                               


    Thank you Shane. Here is the full version of your spoken word.

Vancouver Summer Festivals - a timeline

After my last post on the Jazz Fest, I decided that visitors to Vancouver this summer might appreciate a timeline around which to organize their trip. Both locals and part-time locals like to optimize their time while the sun shines on our beautiful city. Festivals may stretch for weeks but most events are one-offs and a real shame to miss. Then there are the regular concert halls, theatres and club offerings. This summer Cirque du Soleil's "Kooza" and the Queen E's "Lion King" are among those.


So - from Bard on the Beach, to Theatre under the Stars, from the Vancouver Folk Festival to Queer Arts, here is the chockablock summer entertainment and arts schedule and links posted on the Nelson House B & B website.


Have fun!

ALL that jazz!!

Visitors with enough foresight and planning to come to Vancouver between June 25 and July 4th can indulge in all the delights of the
Stylings will range from Alt/Indie through every variation of Avant, Free, Improv & Experimental to Big Band, a dash of Blues, Gospel & Roots, Funk, R n B & Soul, from Chamber and Traditional to Fusion and Modern, from Swing, Gypsy, World & Hip Hop to amazing songwriters and vocalists.

Big names like George Benson, Chick Corea and Strunz & Farah will bless the city's stages. Electro and Ambient sounds will vibrate through after hours clubs to the break of dawn.

Calling all music lovers to Vancouver this month!

The uncommon decency of bed and breakfast guests.

People who choose to stay in bed and breakfasts are a particularly nice kind of human being. After twenty years in this business and many more in this world, I am certain of that fact.

Regrettably, too many people aspire to a five star, gold-plated lifestyle. They spend their lives trying to add more and more material possessions to build a mountain of happiness. Others start off in their egotistical youth to chase merit and too soon, that transforms into more prestige and more power - always the next degree, the next job title, the next spouse. Others just settle for craving attention, never missing an opportunity to oppose, to whine and complain. In all of these lives, a sense of complexity and confusion mounts with every passing year. People know deep down that energy and precious time are being wasted but they just don't stop and smell the roses.

On the other hand, "Bed and Breakfasters' or "B & Bers" are individuals who have learned some very important life lessons, maybe through maturity, perhaps as old souls. B & Bers know that in life - love always trumps ambition. Think about that.

These are folks who have realized that it is the people we meet and how we treat them that counts in the long run. Practicing kindness day by day leads to a satisfying life of compassion and understanding. These are the people who embrace the many small joys of living. Bed and Breakfasters are the people who recognize the charms of a well tended garden, the character of a heritage home, the attention to detail in a home-based business.

These are my guests. People who appreciate a comfortable night's sleep, a fine cup of coffee and meeting new friends round the breakfast table.

A grey whale swims into downtown Vancouver!

A forty-foot grey whale was sighted off of Stanley Park on Wednesday morning. Shortly thereafter, the whale cruised alongside the downtown, West End, swam under the Burrard and Granville Island bridges and astonished thousands of onlookers at Granville Island Market. The mature adult male grey slowly circled the length of the salt-water False Creek estuary as far as the Science Museum and the Olympic Village. Coast Guard and Vancouver Aquarium boats ran defense for the whale and several hours later escorted him back to the deeper waters of English Bay. On Thursday, he was spotted overnight taking one last look at the downtown condos and then wandered off to join the thousands of his mates moving north for summer feeding off the coast of Alaska.

Check out this video for some of Vancouver's downtown whale-watching.

Deflating Vancouver's Domed Stadium

Vancouver has deflated the world's largest, air-supported dome. Home to the BC Lions football franchise, numerous trade shows and mega-concert events, since it opened in 1982, this 60,000 seat stadium recently hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. But this Tuesday, May 4th, the 16 giant fans were turned off and the 10 acre teflon-coated fibreglass roof sagged like a spent balloon. In only 48 minutes, the city skyline was changed forever.

Check out the time-lapsed video to see the changes.


And check back in the fall of 2011 for the new $458 million dollar "crown" - a steel and cable retractable roof. Here is the vision.