Vancouver, We love you

A friend of mine from college (sort of) has this project going on that makes me smile. Sarah's really entrepreneurial... when she's not managing her friend's concert tours, she's creating fun 80's-inspired t-shirts that celebrate this city we love.

Hence, the "Vancouver: We Love You" T-shirt project. Apparently she's still trying to keep it on the down-low but since nobody really reads this blog, it shouldn't be a problem! The thing I like about this project is that it's just for the love of the city and the fun of it... it's not connected to the 2010 Olympics, it's not to profit off of the hate-on for the HST, it's not an internet-related in-joke... it seems like it's just out of unabashed hometown geekery (though, she's from Surrey... interesting, no?).

It's this sort of thing that reminds me of a blog I'm part of, one called Tenth To The Fraser that celebrates my hometown of New Westminster. I love it when locals just like their community so much, they start something to recognize it with no other motive than pure interest. Now that I'm invested in East Van and have bought a place here, I feel that way about this place too. Despite the PNE.

Summer in the Park: Outdoor Movie Nights for the whole family

I was walking my adopted dog Wagner at the off-leash park at John Hendry park (better known as Trout Lake), and I heard from one of the friendly dog owners that the City of Vancouver is hosting an open-air movie night in the park on Thursday, July 16th.



Always a fan of corny RomComs like The Wedding Planner- in which J.Lo and Matthew McConaughey dance in Golden Gate Park as classic movies are projected for the masses to enjoy on warm summer evenings - this is exactly the kind of thing that tells me our East Van community is thriving. Unfortunately I can't go, but I hope you will go out to enjoy some fun with your neighbours and family and take in a great movie:


East Vancouver Dates: (see here and here for more details)
July 16 – Vancouver
Movie: Shrek
Venue: Trout Lake Park
Address: 3350 Victoria Drive (is address of community centre in the park)- there are entrances from all sides of park. Exact location is over by the beach to the side of the concession stand.

July 18 – Vancouver (Killarney)
Movie: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Venue: Killarney Community Centre
Address: 6260 Killarney Street, Vancouver, BC.

August 10 – Vancouver
Movie: Peter Pan (2003)
Venue: Grandview Park

August 10 – Vancouver (Hastings Racecourse)
Movie: Oceans 11 (the original)
Venue: Hastings Park

August 11 - Vancouver (Hastings Racecourse)
Movie: Alfie (the original)
Venue: Hastings Park

August 12 - Vancouver (Hastings Racecourse)
Movie: Rebel Without a Cause
Venue: Hastings Park

August 17 - Vancouver
Movie: Finding Nemo
Venue: Victoria Park
Address: Victoria Park - Salsbury St. and Grant St.

August 24 – Vancouver
Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean
Venue: McSpadden Park
Address: McSpadden Park - Victoria Dr. and 4th Ave.

September 9 - Vancouver (Hastings Racecourse)
Movie: Grease
Venue: Hastings Park

September 10 - Vancouver (Hastings Racecourse)
Movie: American Graffitti
Venue: Hastings Park

Rest of Vancouver/Lower Mainland:
July 16 - Vancouver (West End BIA)
Movie: Chicken Run
Venue: Stanley Park - Ceperly Meadows
Address: Stanley Park Drive, by Second Beach Pool

July 17 – Richmond
Movie: Kung Fu Panda
Venue: Garden City Park
Address: Corner of Garden City Street & Granville

July 19 – Vancouver (Yaletown)
Movie: Ghostbusters
Venue: David Lam Park
Address: 1300 Pacific Blvd Vancouver

July 21 - Vancouver (West End BIA)
Movie: Princess Bride
Venue: Stanley Park - Ceperly Meadows
Address: Stanley Park Drive, by Second Beach Pool

July 31 – White Rock
*DRIVE-IN/OpenAir
Movie: Back to the Future
Venue: Semiahmoo Park
Address: Behind Washington Avenue Grill on Marine Dr.

August 1 – Surrey
Movie: Annie
Venue: Holland Park
Address: King George Hwy. & Old Yale (100 Avenue) in Surrey

August 7 - Surrey (Fraser Heights Community Centre)
Movie: Monsters VS Aliens (Not fully confirmed)
Venue: Fraser Heights Park
Address: 10588 106th street Surrey, B.C. V4N 0A1

August 8 – Tsawwassen
Movie: Grease
Venue: Deifenbaker Park
Address: Deifenbaker is at the corner of 56th street and 1st ave.

August 8 – Surrey
Movie: Mamma Mia
Venue: Holland Park
Address: King George Hwy. & Old Yale (100 Avenue) in Surrey

August 15 – White Rock
Movie: Up!
Venue: Central Plaza
Address: N bluff road (16th ave) turn right on Foster st. parking lot on your left.

August 15 – Surrey
Movie: Lion King
Venue: Holland Park
Address: King George Hwy. & Old Yale (100 Avenue) in Surrey

August 16 – Coquitlam
Movie: ?
Venue: ?
Address: ?

August 19 – Delta
Movie: ?
Venue: North Delta Community Park
Address: 84th Avenue & 112th Street

August 21 – Richmond (Hamilton Community Centre)
Movie: Monsters vs Aliens (not confirmed)
Venue: MacLean Park
Address: 22500 MacLean Avenue

August 22 – Surrey
Movie: Hannah Montana: The Movie
Venue: Holland Park
Address: King George Hwy. & Old Yale (100 Avenue) in Surrey

August 28 - Vancouver
Movie: Mamma Mia
Venue: Harbour Green Park or Coal Harbour Community Centre rainy day back up.
Address: Harbour Green - Cordova & Bute Or Coal Harbour - 480 Broughton St.

August 29 – White Rock
Movie: Mamma Mia (sing-a-long version)
Venue: Five Corners
Address: http://www.google.com/maps?q=49.023691,-122.800788&t=h&sll=49.023822,-122.800761&sspn=0.000579,0.002363&ie=UTF8&ll=49.023697,-122.800487&spn=0.000579,0.002363&z=19

August 30 – Burnaby
Movie: Kung Fu Panda
Venue: Confederation Park
Address: Willingdon Avenue and Albert

September 3 – White Rock
*DRIVE-IN
Movie: ?
Venue: Semiahmoo Shopping Centre
Address: http://www.google.com/maps?q=49.032173,-122.803053&t=h&sll=49.023697,-122.800487&sspn=0.000579,0.002363&ie=UTF8&ll=49.03222,-122.800702&spn=0.002314,0.009452&z=17

September 6 – Vancouver
Movie: ?
Venue: ?
Address: ?

October 29 – White Rock
*DRIVE-IN
Movie: ?
Venue: Semiahmoo Shopping Centre
Address: http://www.google.com/maps?q=49.032173,-122.803053&t=h&sll=49.023697,-122.800487&sspn=0.000579,0.002363&ie=UTF8&ll=49.03222,-122.800702&spn=0.002314,0.009452&z=17

FOOD!

East Vancouver has food, surprising I know, just like the other areas of Vancouver, it has it's own flavour and diversity, there are at lot of opportunities for Pho, but if that's not your current craving consider this: Roundel Cafe. Currently they have a Thursday special of $10 for a burger and beer. While I cannot attest to the quality of the beer, I can say that for a beef burger, it is excellent, comes with a small salad and oven potatoes, yes folks no massive bags of frozen fries in the back of this restaurant. The weekends are normally over-flowing. Come hungry and patient - the service is slow, but hey shouldn't your time eating out be the same - slow and relaxed?

Houses of EastVanLand

There is a seemingly endless collection of interesting and strange houses in East Vancouver - far from the manicured lawns of Shaughnessy, the glassy condos of Downtown and the trendy houses of Kits, East Van is one of those places where citizens seem to let it all hang out - and in some very creative ways.



Do you have an eclectic East Van house? Do you have a picture of one in your area? Email them to us and we'll post them as part of our regular feature, Homes of EastVanLand.

The Bamboo: (Watering Holes of East Van Series)

I moved into East Vancouver almost this time last year. I can't believe it will be so soon that I've finally stayed in one apartment for longer than a year! This is a record I haven't broken in 7 years!

I was excited to move into "the city" (from North Burnaby) when my new "first job out of grad school" position mandated I get closer to work so I didn't spend 3 hours on transit each day. As a child of a Metro Vancouver suburb, New Westminster, I'd always seen Vancouver as this high-fashion, fast-paced den of crime and chaos. Oh, and of course, gorgeous mountain views.

In the roughly 9 years since I moved out of my parents' home, I've lived in 11 separate places, none of them in Vancouver. I never had a reason to. I was comfortable in Surrey, Maillardville (Coquitlam), and North Burnaby because I had built-in communities of friends and church family there. There was no real transition for me as I went from roommates with one friend to the tenant of another (though some might suggest that the fact that I never stayed in any of these places more than a year might mean that things were less smooth than I portray).

I guess I was just ready for a change. I admired my friend (a href="http://www.runismymantra.blogspot.com">S&P's home, so close to Starbucks and a green grocer - even better, close to Donalds, the favourite market of the East Van Intellectual. I had already begun my transition from vehicle to public transit, and my mindset from mass market to local food. The solution was Vancouver, but no apartments were to be had in the much-sought-after Commercial Drive area, where the homes are largely old with many stairs, and the apartments are dives or very expensive. I searched for more than a month, finally finding a place by accident in a predominantly Asian and Italian neighbourhood of Renfrew/Collingwood. At the time, I was disappointed to not be closer to the "action," but I truly love my place and my neighbourhood now.

One of my gripes about the area when I first moved in was that there were no decent gathering places for anyone under 65. The Renfrew Community Centre boasted a pool, microscopic weight room, and tai chi classes, with a library upstairs and a senior's centre across the street. More Tai Chi takes place just 8 blocks away at Renfrew Park, where I can see the seniors gathering every morning on the baseball diamond to go through their motions together.

The closest thing to a "gathering place"

Transit Tuesdays

In what I hope is the first of a regular series on this blog, here's what I saw on transit this week.

Does anyone find this even just a little bit ironic?



(As seen at the Joyce Street Skytrain Station)

Trout Lake Farmers Markets

There was a great article in this weekend's Vancouver Sun about the proliferation of today's farmer's markets and their role in sustainable agriculture and foodculture.

For some, farming has suddenly become cool and the small-scale farmer is something of a local hero.

And with good reason. Small-scale local farming provides an alternative to food trucked, flown, or shipped from massive farms, travelling for thousands of miles to reach your table. That's tired food, grown in depleted soil and bred to last a long time and look good.

Zaya and Dick, proprietors of Ice Cap Organics, are newbies in their first year of farming mixed vegetables on leased land. They couldn't do it without farmers' markets. They sell at the Kitsilano and West End markets. "They're our main point of interaction with customers," says Zaya. "Before, it would have been unfeasible."

...

"The primary goal is to still keep the connection between the consumer and producer," she says. "We only carry products from our regular farmers' market and if people want to meet the farmer, they can do it at the main site."

On the weekend before I wrote this, my partner and I began our Saturday morning with delicious crepes at the Trout Lake market -- so delicious, in fact, we went back for seconds. We bought strawberries, greens, biodynamic eggs, some plants and delicious apricot/walnut sourdough bread. Visits to markets are not a chore; somehow the city shrinks down to this little village in a parking lot and you feel a connection to the earth through these farmers.
(Mia Stainsby, Vancouver Sun, June 20, 2009)

I couldn't agree more - the Farmers Markets are creating community where so little previously existed. I didn't even know Trout Lake existed in its little grotto between victoria drive, grandview highway and Nanaimo, and it is the indisputable town centre for EastVan. Stainsby's article reminded me of the pictures I took at the summer's first Farmers Market at Trout Lake:



Don't forget to visit a Farmers Market near you! The Trout Lake market is one of the largest, and takes place from May to October in the parking lot of the Trout Lake Community Centre (off Victoria Drive), Saturdays, 9-2pm. Check out the full list of Vancouver Farmer's Markets at Your Local Farmers Market Society.