National Anthem, Belated

Oh Canada! My home and dah dah dah... I don't know the rest of the lyrics, I'd have to google and I'm way too lazy for that kind of effort. I live here, so that's good enough.

Vancouver likes to celebrate Canada Day with multiple fireworks shows, which reminds me of my hometown's (except 3 days later) Independence Day celebration. On the morning of Canada Day, I was reading the newspaper aloud in the car, citing interesting facts about Canada and its history like it is not as old as the U.S. and that the Queen (Elizabeth II) is the head of state. There was even a quiz to determine one' level of knowledge about Canada as compared to one's knowledge about the U.S. Guess which country we knew more about? Go on, guess. So yeah. I mostly mocked the driver for not knowing insignificant factoids about prominent Americans in history such as Norman Rockwell and Harriet Beecher Stowe. When that got boring, I started reciting absurd questions out of the copy of Zobmondo we keep in the car. My favorite question from the drive was probably either:
1 - Would you rather sweat green liquid or fart blue smoke? or
2 - Would you rather pee out of your nose or poop out of your ear?

Ponder that while you enjoy a few fireworks and leave me a comment with your answers! I'm still having a debate about #2.

Singular


A Big 'Un


Flying the flag at City Hall

Night Lights

Night shot from Pier 23 in San Francisco a few months ago.... will get all wordy in a couple days perhaps.

On the Rails

The Bay, At Night

When I travel, or at least when I go to California, I inevitably forget my tripod. Why? Well, I keep it in a cupboard where I keep my camera bag, and its on a whole different shelf. Despite the close proximity to my bag (which is on a shelf at the height of say, my knees), and despite the fact that the tripod shelf is at eye level, I tend to pack in a hurry and only go into that cupboard for one thing. This is how it goes:

Kirsten walks into the den. She stands there and stares blankly at the back of her desk chair. "Hmm." Kirsten purses her lips and shuffles her weight from one foot to the other. Kirsten goes back to the room with her suitcase and upon arriving there she remembers, "CAMERA BAG". She wags her finger in the air triumphantly! Walking back into the den, she opens the cupboard grabs the bag and stands in front of the open cupboard staring blankly at her shoes. Navel gazing begins. "Hmm."

And then the cell phone rings. Its the taxi company to tell her that the taxi is waiting, could Kirsten please get to the taxi FOR THE LOVE OF GOD?

I even forget to close the cupboard doors on my way out the door. Sometimes I remember my purse. But the good days are when I get all the way downstairs and realize, "Oh fer fuck's sake, where's my purse?" Taxi drivers totally love that. True story.

So no tripod means usually no night shots.

Thank god for hand rails. And beer at Pier 23.

Not Sunset
(5 sec exposure with the 50mm f1.8 lens.)

More than one alarm response

A few fire engines, ambulances and fire response trucks showed up at the foot of my building a few nights ago. After taking a few shots from the window, I decided to go downstairs and check it out, and I wanted to see if I could get some shots from the same height. While waiting for the elevator, I kept watch out the window to make sure the uniforms weren't hopping back into their trucks. By the time I got downstairs and out the door, everyone was gone. So now I know those trucks move pretty quick.

Lit up

Turning back the hands of time

Before the insane fun of the New Year's Eve SF experience, we went to the city for dinner one night. We had a wander around Fisherman's Wharf. I do not have a steady hand. See?

Signs

By the Seals

What to do on a Monday Night in SF?

My favorite holiday of the year has to be Christmas. I like the decorations; I like the cheer; I like the carols and the stories; I like the tree and the scents.

The two most inane holidays to me have to include Easter and above and beyond Easter? That'd be New Year's. I don't get it. I don't see the point, what's with all the hoopla? Its one stinking night, right? You can go to a bar ANY night of the week and drink til you're silly. You can go watch the fireworks on the 4th. (NYE Fireworks in SF = tradition) You can wear funny hats on your birthday. You can pay crazy amounts of money to get into a bar in most cities ANY day of the year. You can make reservations at restaurants for all sorts of occasions. And midnight? Meh. So imagine my surprise at having a good time this year. No plans were made in advance and we did spend most of the night at a dive bar along the Embarcadero, but it was entertaining.

Ferry Building, The Embarcadero

Zamboni

Rink

Midnight Show

Clusters

Handheld shots, so they're a tad wobbly. And it was the one night the whole vacation during which I did not drive. Huzzah!

Aquatic Life, again

A couple weekends ago, I made it to the Vancouver Aquarium for the first time after living here for over a year. I know! It only took a year! SO impressive!

I was enchanted by the sea otters. The adorableness with which they swim around and snack on pieces of fish is unmatched by any other living being (in that aquarium) and after a couple weeks, I have nearly stopped reciting "I WANT ONE!" Nearly, but not quite. I never knew that they can break ginormous hunks of ice into edible little pieces and who knew they like frozen water for snacks? And, also? Toys! Those little guys are so smart!

There was one Beluga Whale that made bubble rings to play with, which I consider to also be nearly unbearably cute. He was very good at smashing a bubble ring with his tail, as well. Oh and later? I found out that he's good at splashing everyone standing above the pool! One a rainy day! I'm so sad I wasn't there with all the rest of the wet people. So sad!

Jelly-bean


Crush


Slippery little Fins

After the Show

Last Wednesday was the third night of the Vancouver Celebration of Lights which was China's submission to the competition. Sadly, I was pretty late getting home and I only caught a few minutes of the show from the north side of downtown, which is to say I was nowhere near the actual fireworks. So I took a few shots through some buildings and they're up on flickr. On the walk home, I used some railings and pillars in the place of actually carrying a tripod because, well, I'm lazy and I didn't think about taking the tripod when I was running out the door 5 minutes before the show started. I think they turned out alright...

East

West

They have food in Cambridge, see?

I haven't yet fully learned how to upload pictures in a timely manner. But here, enjoy the food and drink.

Talking with our Hands

Digging In

Colorful

From the bottom of the stack

Seriously, I'll cut this down. I will. Soon. When I'm not busy clearing off that shelf in my freezer for my ice cream maker. Or when I'm not making cupcakes. And icing. And shoving the iced cupcakes in my mouth. All of which I plan to do from now until tomorrow. Just after I go out in the sunshine and maybe buy some things from some stores. Until I do all those things, lookit what Granville Street looks like at night through a Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM lens. Isn't it real purty!?

LandmarkTaken on April 14, 2007, 8:38pm
Freehand, 1/80s, f/5.00, 70mm, ISO 1600

Timing is everything

Today I've been researching new and interesting ways to find an income. It has been rather depressing and practically unbearable just merely from the tediousness of it all. I've spent too much time trolling through job postings and my brain has ever so slowly been turning to complete mush. I figured that's fine. I thought that its fine since one day with all gloppy grey matter turning to soup, I, perhaps, will finally feel like it looks outside in this city. And just as I go and think this, the skies open up and pour sunlight all over the downtown area. Damn clouds. Its like someone is trying to tell me something. But what could it be?

If you look closely you can see the beginnings of a rainbow - and if you check out my uploads on flickr today, you'll see some actual rainbow. And some muffin pictures. Because I baked again. (I can't help it, shut up. They're good.)

In my eyes
Taken on March 19, 2007, 5:55pm
Freehand, 1/200s, f/4.00, 25mm, ISO 200

Coming home

Walking home from an afternoon at the Vancouver Art Gallery, I just had to stop and snap this for the reflections of the Marine Building in neighboring highrises. I spent very little time thinking about how to take this shot since I was so cold - without a jacket - and had no tripod with me. However, I'm quite pleased that it turned out so remarkably interesting and without flaw. (Ha Ha?)

Frankly, the shot could have used a tripod, a longer exposure, and a slightly more appropriate focal length, as 22 seems to have distorted it a bit too much. I would have liked very much to have been able to shoot this from a couple storeys up, rather than having to have the angle that I always have for building shots in the city.


Marine Building, Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC
Taken on February 20, 2007, 7:29pm
Freehand, 1/3.3s, f/3.5, 22mm, ISO 200

So enough of that and on to more impressive things. VAG is showing Fred Herzog photos currently. Great show, although I have to go back to see the other exhibitions. Its so interesting to see the few remaining Vancouver landmarks in Herzog's photos. I enjoyed trying to figure out where many of the shots were taken. He was kind enough to title many of his photos to include street names or include street signs in some of his shots.

Its a shame I wasn't able to get a few photos of the Gallery interior. They disallow cameras in the galleries. (I know, right? Rude!)

Take note! The building was previously a provincial courthouse replete with holding cells, catacombs and old courtrooms. So they're well prepared for dealing with unruly antics and rude visitors. And a piece of advice... If you manage to find yourself trying to wander your way out of the catacombs, don't disturb Charlie - one of the ghosts rumored to haunt the catacombs.