A year in Vancouver!

He praised his own achievements, not without cause…

This week has seen a change in temperature! It is hard to believe that last Wednesday I was climbing the Grind blissfully unaware that it would be the last one of the season. The sun was shining, the sky was a bright blue, and despite a slightly chilly wind the temperature was a pleasant- well at least for running- 55F. However, come Thursday morning a storm had appeared, the sky was gray and a snow flurry signaled the start of the winter season, or at least the Grind had been closed due to snowfall. Before the weekend the skating rink was open and the skiing had begun. So, instead of climbing the trails this week I found myself standing in 2.5 ft of snow and lacing up my skates for some outside ice skating. The rink may not quite be infinity style but rather than an edge it the ice seems to rather turn into snow, which makes skating harder! However, despite the two years it has been since I last hit the ice I felt I had a handle on things. I’m still no better at dealing with the cold, but I did really enjoy myself, until small children appeared and thought they could share the rink- don’t they understand who I am?

Saturday brought about some indoor activities and I headed back into town for a lecture and a presentation at the art gallery. Owen Kydd, a Vancouver local, had a photography and film installation/ selection of pieces that he was discussing. Kydd was exhibiting three pieces if work, “Mission”, “Night” and “Joshua” and all three took the same form and were shown on three connected walls. A triptych of videos displays a series of still lifes, portraits, vignettes and tableaux, all out of sync. Each one linked to the title of the piece. “Misson” shows the city of Mission, one of the many postagricultural communities at Vancouver’s periphery, “Joshua” is a California version of the same small town story and “Night” is from the East side of Vancouver. At times an image may appear still: one shot taken across a parking lot has the feel of a still photo until a car arrives into the frame and stops in front of a movie theater, reminding us that we are watching something unfolding in time. While depicting innocuous items and seemingly unimportant moments in time I found the concept to be intrusive, as though invading thoughts and catching people unprepared and vulnerable, maybe exposing a way of life they felt contented in, and a community they felt connected to. In contrast, I found night, although evoking the same expressions and emotion within me more accessible. Maybe this was because I expected people to be more alone and vulnerable at night, more lost in their own thoughts, feelings and concepts of reality. At night, and in the dark individuals in stillness and lost in their own musing seemed more at ease with themselves and a normality I could identify with than those ‘lost’ during what I would supposed to be an industrious, social experience during the working day.

One other photographic exhibition that I do feel deserves a mention was Scott McFarland’s take on Constable. He had an exhibition on the same floor as Kydd and was where I happened to find myself later in the day. His recreations of ideas based on Constable and shot on Hampstead Heath had me reflecting on summer days in England and the pleasantness of lying on the grass watching the clouds blow and change overhead as a world gets on with its busy day around you. Possibly some of my enjoyment of these comes from reminiscing about childhood memories from Greenwich. I don’t think they invoke the same response as the Kydd works, but in my shallow opinion, much more the kind of thing I’d hang on my wall… in case anyone want to buy me a Christmas present…

A year in Vancouver!

Dullness is incurable…

And this week has certainly been anything but dull! Having previously mentioned last week to some children I teach that in England we would have fireworks on November 5, not October 31 they took it upon themselves to do some research and find out why. I was initially impressed with myself- enquiring minds and independent learning skills- I’m good, secret smile to self. So, as Thursday arrived I walked into my own mini England, complete with costumes and accents. At this point all I can say is I know I have an odd accent but I REALLY hope I don’t sound the same as they did, although they assure me they were copying me accurately. The costumes were… well, they seemed to have mixed up a few different traditions at this point and wanted to vote to see who could be King and Queen for the day, so had found some crowns and tiaras and hidden some pirate gold for the games and the dancing later, and just in case we had forgotten Hallowe’en the previous week, candy was given out for the costumes. I must admit, even I was a little confused at this, but continued smiling and went along with the fun and adventures of the day. At lunch time we burned paper “guys” that they had created and had the biggest sparkles I have ever seen. Eleven year old boys get way too excited at the prospect of setting fire to things. Then back for the last treat of the day which was a rendition of “Remember, remember the 5th of November…” My concern for their independent learning skills was awakened at this point, when they asked what ‘gunpowdertreason” was exactly because it sounded sweet and did we eat it at any other point of the year! I think a little more work maybe required on this topic before I can say that we all totally grasp the historical significance of this event!

Show and Tell this week was also drama based, but I have no idea what the Apache were doing invading Canada, speaking with Tennessee accents and playing badminton- but given this was supposed to be linked to Social Studies, it was a Friday afternoon and it made me laugh I let it slide. Teaching is not what it used to be! (Said with a wry smile, a slight shake of my head and the knowledge that I have just had two days of great fun.)

This weekend I thought I try out the Museum of Vancouver, despite the less than enthusiastic reports I have had of it in the past, and the not particularly enthusiastic guide book entries. I did have a few other options, but the weather forecast was for rain so I automatically ruled out anything that might not be undercover, and the MOV had free parking, and a huge parking lot so beat the others hands down. In my book that makes it a massive hit right away! So, I happily headed out to Kitsilano and Vanier Park.

I arrived at the museum just as a tour and a short presentation speech was being given on their new exhibit- “Ravishing Beasts”. http://www.ravishingbeasts.com/
I’m not usually a big fan of taxidermy but this was actually a fairly interesting take on it. The MOV had originally been housed on the top floor of another civic building, but at the start of the 1960s it was relocated into the premises they have today. At that time they had a large taxidermy collection, and it was carefully put away into storage for the duration of the move until they were ready to re-show it. There it remained, until this October when it was re-established as a modern art collection and presented as more than just a “scientific learning experience’. They do have some pieces that are there purely for educational value, such as the non extinct passenger pigeon- the last one died in Cincinnati Zoo in 1914, and they have tried to link in visitor experiences to the changing perception of the craft of taxidermy by showing item such as the elephant foot side table from a Victorian parlor alongside a character gopher on loan from the Gopher Museum in Calgary. Despite the disclaimer that all animals used had died from natural causes I’m not sure I understand the use of them in art, I think I find it all a little too macabre still, I can justify it as an educational necessity, or when it is a non expendable source, but I’m not sure dead animal pelts made into humanesque shapes is what I would call art. Having said that, it does not serve a utilitarian purpose, it is thought provoking and it has created a response from me, so maybe it is art after all. I think on balance though I still prefer Monet.

The rest of the MOV was dedicated to the history of Vancouver. Starting as you enter with a crab like sculpture which according to native legend guards the entrance to the harbor, and ties in nicely with the astrological symbol corresponding to July 1, and Canada Day; the museum is still undergoing a multimillion dollar renovation which might explain why the Aboriginal peoples were only represented by two small boards and a totem pole in the foyer. However, from the lead up to WW1 through to the 1970s I thought the museum was a great documenter of social history, if not the heavy factual dates and long cards to read, it was a light and entertaining guide through period costume, furniture, music, posters and TV. Often laid out as a street scene or a domestic room, it gave the opportunity to gather a feel of the time. The explanations- although not hugely detailed, were often on cards next to exhibits and the personal stories of people involved were often noted down beside particular items. While I spent a very enjoyable three hours in here, it not on the same level as major museums in other large cities, and certainly not on the scale you would find in the ROM in Toronto, this maybe an unfair comparison on my part, and possibly I should leave that thought until I get to Vancouver Island and check out the Royal British Columbia Museum.

Oh- not only did it not rain while I was out, I even saw some blue sky when I left… who knew the weather forecasters could be so wrong?

A year in Vancouver!

Going to Hell is easy; it is coming back that is hard…

And judging by the number of costumes, parties and ghosts and ghouls that this city had in offer for October 31, Hallowe’en was going to be one big celebration of magic and Paganism. I only had one slight mishap on the costume front, I genuinely couldn’t tell if one guy was dressed up, as most of the bar staff were, or if he was just wearing a flannel shirt and suspenders, was that was just his regular lumberjack attire- it is after all, Canada... and I certainly wasn’t brave enough to go ask, especially after he sat down at the bar and placed and order. Maybe not quite going to Hell, but given the events and publicity surrounding this night it was going to be one big party. The fireworks started before it even got dark and carried on pretty much all night, and I have to say they really were quite beautiful. Like any city Vancouver has its fair share of haunting and eerie ghost stories, particularly in the older areas of the city, such as the Gastown district and if you can’t be scared on October 31…

Most of my weekend has been spent outside making the most of the absolutely gorgeous weather we have had, despite the repeated warnings of rain all weekend the skies have been a bright blue, the occasional white fluffy cloud has passed by and the temperatures have been in the mid 50Fs. Therefore I have completed a Grouse Grind, run in the park and walked part of the Baden-Powell trail around Deep Cove.

Deep Cove really was a quaint and pretty little town. Possibly a bit over run with people outside and making the most of the opportunity- apparently, and I haven’t checked this out it was -8C in Calgary and hovering about the 0C mark in Toronto, I knew there was a reason I didn’t move there. Anyway, trainers laced I headed up the trail and into the woodland on the short 2KM walk to the lookout point, managing to sneak a glimpse at a sea otter on my way out of the parking lot. I was little unsure about it, and thought I might find myself writing about the embarrassing experience of pointing out, and trying to photograph a floating stick so was more than a little relieved when the “stick” started to move its head and make undulating swimming motions through the water! Unfortunately I didn’t manage a photograph.

I did however enjoy the walk up to the rock shaped point and I could look back and see the opposite side if the view I get every morning as I drive to work. Tomorrow I will be thinking- “ahh, I know what the other side of that cove looks like.” Yes, I am that sad, and yes I do talk to myself when I’m in the car.

My only whinge for the week- a Chevy Tahoe is not a small car, it never will be and people should stop trying to park them in small car spaces, and stopping distances, yes, when driving in the rain they are still important! I’m done now.