Let’s Go Fly A Kite

At the end of Mary Poppins, Mr. Banks realizes that he should be less of a committed capitalist and more of a devoted family man, taking a loving instead of investing interest in his progeny. How to heal the wounds of a neglected family? Fix an old kite and go out to the park. In high winds, the Banks family flies kites - faces uplifted towards a heavenly future at home.

So how fitting that on this Father’s Day weekend, you can head out to Vanier Park for the Pacific Rim Kite Festival! They have all kinds of events but really the cool part is being able to watch master kite flyers in action, wielding their graceful ripstop monsters in the sky for everyone to see. 10am-5pm Today and Tomorrow.

 

Plant Sales

With weather like this, who needs events?  There’s plant sales a-plenty. We went by GardenWorks and bought some shrubs for the postage stamp I call a garden - an overwhelming variety has finally come in (I bought a BeautyBerry and a red-wine Lilac, in case you were wondering). Tomorrow head to VanDusen Gardens for free admission and a huge plant sale - grow all manner of unique or rare varieties and old favourites, all born and raised in our local city garden. Or if you end up in Burnaby, the South Burnaby Garden Club is having a sale at the Buy-Low parking lot at Royal Oak and Rumble, from 9am-3pm.

Then there’s a flurry of sales on the may 4th weekend (see http://www.brags.ca/ for a list)- New Westminster, Lynn Valley, and Fraser Valley. There’s also the BC Orchid Show and Sale on May 3-4th at VanDusen. Don’t miss the always spectacular Burnaby Rhododenron Festival on May 4th (Free Admission).

Or, get inspired during the Dunbar in Bloom festival, self-guided tours through usually-locked Dunbar gardens on May 4th and May 30th from 10am-3pm. There’s a bunch of other events associated with the Dunbar community event: “Salmonberry Days” - find a schedule at http://www.dunbar-vancouver.org/DRANews/.

But I’m holding out for the “big one” - the Mother’s Day (May 11) plant sale at the UBC Botanical Gardens - this sale is killer- amazing plants sold by master gardeners at great prices. Line up early, bring water (it’s hot and there’s no shade) and your pocketbook, and get ready to buy.

 

Fall/Spring - where’ve I been?

So, I started the Graduate Liberal Studies program through SFU September last, and it sucked up almost ALL my time. I finally have a space between semesters not tangled in the winter festivals or other familial obligations to reconsidering how to run VanCal in a sustainable way. Since I’ll be in school for the next few years, I’ll figure something out.

Where’ve I been? well, I’ve heard the VSO three times - once “VSO Pops”, once “Musically Speaking” - both of these at the Orpheum, and also to hear a baroque piece at the Chan Centre. Here’s what I can tell you: don’t be late for VSO Pops or Musically Speaking. The conductors/show leaders will take time out of their busy schedules to publicly ridicule you for your lateness, to the amusement of the greyhaired masses. Musically Speaking featured huge flatscreens and live closeups of the musicians, which really I found insulting (the implication being that modern audiences of the type to go to this performance are clearly incapable of paying attention to something that is not tv). The baroque piece at the Chan, on the other hand, was sublimely beautiful - a rich and glorious experience.

We hit the st. patrick’s day parade in March and a variety of public community centre events for kids, too…

I’ve also been to hear the Pacific Baroque Orchestra do “thoroughly modern mozart”, and just on friday night I saw the first half of the Rubbandance’s “Elastic Perspective” dance performance. Unfortunately the Cultch did not post a sign advising of extensive use of a smoke machine in their very small (”intimate”) space which already lacks ventilation. I had an asthma attack and had to leave at intermission. Rubberbandance really didn’t need the smoke effect - their ballet/breakdance fusion is powerful enough to sustain the most functional of environments.

Whew! Well at least I got out a few times in the year! Hopefully I can get out more this summer.

 

Vancouver Zombie Walk 2007

Okay, the Vancouver Zombie Walk is tomorrow. This event is a very loosely organized lurch down robson street from the art gallery. According to the Facebook Event, this starts at 3pm. Look like a rotting hungry corpse (the bloodier the better) and join the undead mob.

This event is one of the few temporary autonomous zone events that happens in Vancouver.  By nature it resists organization.

 

Boats, Trains, and Motorcycles

Last weekend we hit the Richmond Maritime Festival - a celebration of the history of the local area at the Britannia Historical Shipyards, a national historic site. There were booths from various organizations, most notably conservationists the David Suzuki foundation, psuedo- and real militarists (Scouts and the Navy), and the usual government and arms-length organizations, Vancouver 2010, Parks, and Environment Canada. We heard the lovely and coordinated Navy Band, viewed lots of old boats and hung out in the sun. Very nice.

The next day we went to the Gastown Motorcycle Show N Shine to view lots of really cool bikes. We scored a free pink “Bitchin Gear” cap for the elder daughter from some scantily dressed women dancing to cock rock a la “Coyote Ugly”. We also got some free Harley orange balloons from the Harley Davidson tent. The highlight has got to be the Motorcross tho, trick bikes somersaulting through Gastown - VERY cool. I’ve got to say there was such a strong sense of community, as all kinds of people wandered down Water Street admiring the bikes. From Bikers to Yuppies to tourists to local junkies, we all sure liked those bikes. And we all thrilled to hear the engines roar.

Then on to the Mini Train - a well-kept secret of Burnaby is the Burnaby Central Railway. $2.50 gets you a just-long-enough ride on a mini train run by model train enthusiasts in striped overalls. There’s a variety of model engines including a replica steam engine, a 1940s deco engine and a more modern tram style. Something wonderful happens when you’re balancing on a tiny train rattling through the forest: you can’t help but wave at the other grownups on passing trains, at the perplexed bystanders just discovering the place for the first time, and at the birthday party celebrants in the midst of musical chairs. The amazing thing is that they all wave back.

 

Perseid Meteor Showers - August 11 & 12!

Go find a dark sky this weekend especially Sunday night. The Perseid Meteor showers are at their peak from about 11pm until dawn and if you find a dark enough sky you should be able to see roughly 1 per minute or more. Here’s an article from the CBC about the showers.

On Saturday night, the Royal Astronomical Society is joining the Fraser Valley Astronomers to watch the meteor showers at Aldergrove Lake Regional Park between 730 and 11pm - head down there for hot cocoa and some sky experts - sometimes they bring telescopes too!

Here’s a link to help you learn more about viewing meteor showers, and here’s a link to free star charts for the month so while you’re waiting for a shooting star you can identify some other astral phenomena. Don’t forget some red film for your flashlight!

 

Bellingham

We went down to Birch Bay/Bellingham to stay at the in-laws’ trailer for the night. It was, after all, our anniversary.

Here’s what was going on last weekend in the area:

Peace Arch Park - One Oat Sea Music Festival - Free - if it hadn’t taken us so long to get through the border we definitely would have gone

Bellingham - Sand in the City Sandcastle competition - 5$ suggested donation - we did go, and it was modest, humourous, and just plain neat

But here’s the real treasure: Whatcom Museum! It’s Free!! It’s four buildings - Old City Hall (1892) boasts a really good, clever, ironic, funny, and genuine art installation on the main floor called “Site Specific” and some fascinating window exhibits on the floors above - mainly Victoriana like clocks shaped like homicidal pug dogs and collections of old carpentry tools and creepy dolls with dead eyes. There was also some kind of Teachers past and present exhibit but a ragtime band seemed to be practising in there so we didn’t pop in.

The Arco Exhibition Hall used to be a Ford dealership back in 1908 but now it’s home to 42 works on paper from the Washington Consortium of Art - American Abstractionists like Jasper Johns, Hans Hoffman, and a great representation of female artists such as Helen Frankenthaler. A strange, dark setting for an art gallery but it worked, and at a cost of $3.00 suggested donation with complementary poster, this can’t be beat.

We didn’t go into the other two buildings - there’s a hand’s on kids museum and a building that according to the website contains all kinds of First Nations artefacts, taxidermied animals and set-ups of old living quarters, but we’ll wait to take the progeny with us next time we go down.

You can see my photos from the trip on this public album on facebook.

 

Festival Vancouver

I got the pamphlet for Festival Vancouver and got pretty excited, because this is a great chance to see some really good International and Canadian Classical/World/Jazz performances. Plus, it’s overlapping with Early Music Vancouver, another favourite of mine.  I was really hoping for some good cheap/free stuff since we’re still on a pretty tight budget.

Heh - was I wrong or what? Almost all the performances bottom out around 19$ for adults. Blast. After ticket fees and taxes the man and I would be looking at over 40$ for the show alone.  Factor in transportation and babysitting and it’s way over. So I scoured the pamphlet in hopes of finding something we can afford to see. Oh, there it is: FREE concerts. And, my heart sinks, they’re all downtown concerts in the middle of the working day. If only I was a stay at home mom, or unemployed, or a student, or someone with a night job…. I too could enjoy three days of free jazz in midsummer.

Here’s something strange, too, if I wanted to see the Asian Music weekend, on August 5 & 6, it would be completely affordable. Each concert is 10$ but if you see four in a day it works out to be only 7$ each concert. I’ve discovered that European and North American sourced music is costlier than its Eastern cousin. Sublime, powerful and traditional asian music is, apparently, cheap cheap cheap.

If anyone who reads this does get the opportunity to see any of the Festival Programme despite venue changes due to strike etc etc, I’d love to know how it was.

 

Preparation for Illuminaires

All our lanterns

Originally uploaded by zakira rose
It’s exactly one week to go before the Illuminaires lantern festival - I’ve dug out the old lanterns from last year and they’re in disrepair. I’ll patch the ones that are worth keeping but this is a great excuse to build something new.

Lantern making requires some simple supplies: Tissue or decorative Paper, Glue (I like wood glue because it dries strong with a nice sheen), thin pieces of wood for supports, wire and tin foil for candle supports, and ubiquitous tea lights. My system is to build the frame for the lanterns out of bamboo barbecuing skewers (100 for $1.00 at the dollar store) glued together with my trusty glue gun. I burn myself numerous times throughout this process, then put a woodglue/water mix along the supports and attach paper one side at a time. I paint over the paper with water and wood glue, then watch it contract and harden as it dries.

There are really neat decorative papers at Paper-Ya on Granville Island that would be ideal for basic but beautiful geometric lanterns. Last year I also made a flower lantern using shaped crepe paper for the petals, and that turned out really nicely, if I do say so myself. For children, we make Glow-Stick compatible, small and strong lanterns using cheap bamboo chopsticks and lots of glue.

Also, last year we constructed a simple trestle-style lantern hanger out of bamboo stakes. It becomes necessary to elevate your lanterns in early evening as the dew settles. You wouldn’t want all your hard work to be destroyed from just a little condensation! This year we’re making a lantern intended to sit on the ‘ground’ - it’ll require some kind of base, either a tarp or legs to keep it from touching the grass and turning soggy.

With only 7 days to go, it’s time to start gluing!

Update: We went to the Illuminaires - check out my review and pics on NowPublic.

 

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

Mad Hatter and March Hare

Originally uploaded by zakira rose

Today we went to Trout Lake for the 14th Annual Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and Lewis Carroll Festival. I remember this event from about 10 years ago, when it was maybe twenty oddballs getting dressed up, playing some croquet, and having a picnic under the willows. Well times have changed, and those twenty oddballs has somehow exploded into maybe 150 or so people - I’m a terrible visual count for people, but there was a great turnout this year to the event.

We hung out on the grass for a long time while the event got going, but we weren’t bored - watching Queen Victoria seem bored while listening to the lovely sounds of a historical/anachronistic band called Toot-a-Lute was very amusing indeed. Eventually the White Rabbit raced through, Alice hot on his heels. The event was a trip down the rabbit hole itself - we found ourselves running after Alice and the Rabbit, from station to station to crane our necks and catch a glimpse of her true-to-literature interactions with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle, the Walrus and the Carpenter, and the Queen of Hearts. At one point we ended up back at the Tea Party again, and in a surreal twist participated a second time in the same dialogue - bringing us deeper into the play on sense and fantasy essential to the Alice books.

What a day. With a Caucus Race and DIY facepainting, a by-donation buffet spread, country dancing to medieval music and wandering ‘neath the willows in the company of Queen Victoria and Charles Dodson, this was a pleasure and will definitely be a repeat next year.