Scenes in BC

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog for this short tribute to the beauty of our province of British Columbia.

'New West Dwellings' on Flickr

I took the picture above this morning. Yet years ago, I started a tag on Flickr called New West Dwellings. Most of the Lower Mainland only know New Westminster as a commuter through our city on the way to some other place. Many of road warriors are not aware of the housing we have. There are some very nice neighbourhoods with a variety of historic homes.

I often walk along Fourth Street, by City Hall, and onward to do business uptown. I love the area between Royal and Sixth Avenues, between Queen's Park and Sixth Street. I could never afford to own a home there, but walking past gives the same thrill that window shopping can.

See a slide show of a of local homes saved on my Flickr account: New West Dwellings.

Lytton Square Takes Shape

It's been more than four months since I highlighted the continuing construction of Westminster Pier Park. Of course the riverfront park has been a keen interest as it is directly in the line of sight from my apartment. The old, abandoned area with contaminated soil was an eyesore and a tremendous waste of precious land. I look forward to picnicking along the river next summer.

I have been documenting a bit of the park's construction since February 12, 2009, when I first noted activity on the site. I have put a number of construction photos with a few showing the former property in a special, online Flickr set. You may easily view a slideshow of these images. (Select SHOW INFO when the slideshow starts to see dates and other information.)

Personal Quote #17

"By the time everybody has finally gotten onboard, I've already moved on."

Dennis Sylvester Hurd (1959- )

... and I don't necessarily mean on trains; however, here is a personal Flickr slideshow with photos bearing that tag or description. Click 'Show Info' in the upper-right corner in full-screen mode.

Let's Not Cross That Bridge

A picture on the Patullo Bridge taken with my first digital camera in 2002. Look near the bottom of this entry to activate a slide show of other personal photos which either include the structure or were taken from it.

It's a tired, old thing. The Patullo Bridge crosses the Fraser River between the cities of Surrey and New Westminster, British Columbia. Just as people can come to admire the ugliness of a pug breed of dog, I have grown to love the classic design of the Patullo. Because of living in downtown New Westminster, the 74 year old structure is a part of daily life.

It is dangerous but still a major route for area commuters. The lanes are scary as they are far too narrow for the four lanes of traffic using it. Both the north and south approaches are curved. People die in head-on collisions on the bridge as there is not room for barriers as a median.

There's been talk of replacement or refurbishment since we arrived here in the 1990's. The whole controversy is rearing it's ugly head again. The regional transit authority, Translink, is again re-visiting its options. Questions include whether is should be increased to six lanes and if it should be tolled. There are big debates about how a new bridge could be connected on the New Westminster side because of existing houses and a proposed perimeter route on the north side of the Fraser.

In true local nimbyism, I'd like to suggest it be closed permanently to traffic and become a cross-river pedestrian garden and park. To hell with the traffic that is funneled though our city; let 'em cross elsewhere!

What is It About Me and Elephants?

As I have thousands of pictures online, there's bound to be duplicate items. I even surprised myself seeing the number of elephant images I have. These were snapped in a wide variety of places. Of course, a great many of these were from various times in Sri Lanka though. Some from there were shot in the wild while many were taken during a day at an elephant orphanage. When up close and in the presence of these fellow creatures, one cannot help but sense their intelligence.

Our 70 Sq Ft of Outdoors

I like not having a yard to take care of. I don't think I'd make a very good gardener. It's not that I don't like getting my hands dirty, it's just that every plant I've ever touched has died. And ... this way I have no need for a lawn mower.

I do, however, like our balcony a lot. I think, even though I'm on the 10th floor, I need a little bit of my own outdoors. On many a day, I find the time to sit on the balcony just watching the tugboats pull floating logs up and down the Fraser River. I watch the traffic scramble along Columbia Street in downtown New Westminster. I catch glimpses of the Patullo, Skytrain, and Alex Fraser bridges. I've given it over to birds who've raised babies in a potted cedar tree that sits out there. Many times, I have run out to take a photograph of either a sunrise or sunset too. Over the years of living here, I've taken many pictures of and from our balcony. In fact, there are over 200 in the slide show below.

Downtown's Key Artery

The only picture I've taken so far today was along Columbia Street. This road constitutes a sort of Main Street for downtown New Westminster, BC. Like all things in life, this stretch of our city has seen a variety of forces act on it. Recently calming measures really haven't really calmed it too much, as it is part of a major east-west route along the north side of the Fraser River. Although closed to trucks, it is often over capacity during rush hours.


(Click: Contains a slide show w/ over 600 photos I've taken since 2002.)

Still, great changes have taken place since we lived in this city. More people than ever now live in the downtown due to a number of residential towers. It's getting a new lease on life with the addition of new shopping as well as upgrades to old shops. A new civic center is being built along it which will greatly help usher in better times for Columbia.

A Little Fowl Language

They are big and a little stupid or at least that's my impression of the local geese. I remarked on Facebook recently that pigeons are rather like the movie extras of the bird world. If I could expand the idea, I'd have to suggest that local wild geese are sort of the cows of the bird family. They just sit around most of the day making noise and pooping.

These particular Canadian geese are non-migratory and never leave the area as it's fairly temperate around Vancouver. They're often considered a nuisance. I drive past them on the way to work, I walk past them when at the BCIT campus, and I have learned to pretty much ignore them. This must be why they are the subject matter of just eight of my 7,200+ images on Flickr.

"The Marrakesh Express"

Combine hundreds of thousands of ordinary people with cameras and the Internet. You get Flickr. It adds up to instantaneously-accessible photographs of nearly anywhere on the planet. I love being inspired before upcoming trips. Years ago, one would have had to make do with few brochures from a tourist board.


Click here to run in a new window.

These are glimpses of the famous night market in Marrakesh, Morocco. We should be there after some time spent in Spain and Portugal in September of this year.

The Weekend

Imagine, if you will, the perfect desert oasis with a back deck and lovely pool. The beauty of the dry landscape rolls up nearby mountains. At the house with all the amenities are a couple that rush to fulfill any little whim. Mouthwatering food is offered up each mealtime. The conversation is intelligent and wide-ranging. It feels like home without all the errands.



For example, here we were sipping pool-side cocktails on my birthday last Friday. No wonder why Jay and I are so keen on going down to visit Lynne and Joel each summer. We made a three-day weekend of it and got back yesterday evening. Just click this sentence to see a Flickr slide show of 57 photos from the entire trip.

My Own Brain Drain

What a day! After finishing up with students at 12:30, I had a vast amount of preparation to do. You see, I had to make a writing assignment which the students will take tomorrow. As well, I had to make my daily 'packets' which include a front-page, minute-by-minute schedule and necessary handouts that go with each day's work. Also, I needed to make up the evaluation sheets that we'll use to mark oral presentations. Lastly, my final exam needed to be created as it will take place on Friday. It's no wonder I feel a little tired.

I must say, it has been good for me to teach a different level with my present group. It's usually good to expand one's experiences. I do have to add that it has been a great deal of work though. Now, I have everything well-organized in clear plastic sleeves. If I have the chance to teach this level again, I'll be completely ready. I'll be able to teach from all these newly-created materials for years.

For this reason, I don't feel bad that I missed out on the weather this afternoon. It was the nicest we've had in months.


See over 350 of my BCIT images in a slide-show.

Nearly a Gross of New Online Photos

Watch 122 Picture Flickr Slideshow of Mexico 2010 trip.

I'm pretty good at taking 'em. I'm not quite so good at getting 'em online. As evidence, I think I have hundreds of pictures from Italy in 2008 which never quite made it to my Flickr account. Today, I did manage to get this month's trip to Mexico uploaded. We visited Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara from May 4th to 19th. I guess I did pretty well this time as the month on the calendar hasn't changed yet. It might be something to do with only finding 122 I wanted to make available.

Defintely Not Necessities

We have lots of souvenirs from our extensive travels. Most of the items used to sit on a cheap bookshelf that I bought at a thrift shop upon arriving here. When we had new carpeting installed in December, that shelf was amongst the items brought to the municipal transfer station. I think we need a glass-covered curio cabinet. I am not thinking of a hutch. What did we used to call 'em, a china closet, perhaps?


Click here to see a slide show of my souvenir photos on Flickr.

IKEA has apartment sized furniture but it's mostly fiberboard crap. Sears seems to have a lot of items but most are items are large enough in which to park a Smart car. Traditional furniture stores are constantly having super-gynormous sales as they generally have items marked up far too much.

Then it struck me. The answer may be just a block away. Front Street in New Westminster is known as Antique Alley. Perhaps there'll be something suitable there.

Partial to Precipitation

Today seems a total washout. It is a very typical January day in Vancouver. I can say with all honesty that I have learned to love grey, rainy winter days. I wondered how well my Flickr pictures represent my life though. I search my collection containing over 6,300 online photos. Not even 40 pictures are tagged with the word, rain. Perhaps, it is assumed and I have neglected to tag or maybe I just don't take pictures when rain is falling. Of the scant few picture of rain, not even all are from this area!


If you cannot see the embedded content, please click here.

Being Framed

Nowadays, telling things can be done with text, still photographs, or video clips. Unfortunately, I find the last in the list a bit too non-intuitive and time-consuming. You may find a few personal YouTube files embedded here hidden amongst some other clips. It's generally not my way of saying something though.

This blog started out six years ago as text and pictures. Few, if any of my entries ever reach a traditional size of say, 500 words. I guess I often keep my chatter to a minimum and add a photograph as an accompanyment. It's not as if I don't have anything to say. I never let being ignorant on a subject keep me from discussing it, sometimes even in great detail!

There are times, however, when pictures alone can suffice. At this very moment, I am downloading thousands of photos using FlickrEdit. My online photos are the backup of some the best I've taken. Strangely, all the originals sit intact on an external drive too. Now, I'm trying to fill up a couple of SD cards with images for two, digital photo frames. We're bringing several to Sri Lanka as gifts. Even 2GB cards hold thousands of images. I've got quite a few directories to include. Even some old scans will make it into the mix.

Surely, all the photos below will be included. They are the two most recent trips to Sri Lanka. The top set includes photos from our trip in 2004 and the other from 2006. These sets have probably shown up on my blog in the past, but perhaps never at the same time. As well as family, there are lots of pictures from all around the island. After you click to start a set, don't forget to enlarge to full screen. When viewing in this mode, you may also wish to click the Show Info option to see a brief description.


A Visit to Sri Lanka, Fall 2004 (320 Pictures)


Sri Lanka / Hong Kong 2006 (475 Pictures)

Where the Land's Not Uniform

In a Facebook note last week I restated one reason I like the west coast so much. Of course there are many others. In particular, I was commenting on the varied geography within close proximity. In BC one can travel from Pacific Coast rain forests with damp hanging moss, over rugged peaks, to the starkness of near-desert in just a half day. On the east coast, a drive of five hours brings one mostly more of the same. When travelling there, one might only notice a variety in small rolling mountains or a slight change in vegetation.

I'm not sure if it is due to my years in the Middle East, but I do so enjoy visiting the desert. Going down over the weekend to Lynne and Joel's home near Yakima, WA rekindled my love of the dry land that's a bit eastward. Perhaps, I associate it with Las Vegas or something as well. Anyway, it's absolutely amazing what a mountain range's rain shadow can do.

I have put together a few dozen photos from Friday, Saturday, and yesterday into a little slide show. You may have seen some of them online already.


Flickr slide show of this past weekend.

Hitting the Rails in the Fall

GETTING A FEW FACTS
In the not-too-distant past, most information passed through societies via mass media. The technological hurdles and the cost of sharing data prevented it from going niche. Now, larger and larger contributions on all topics are made by interested individuals via the Internet.

At one time, detailed information on many worthy topics was not gathered nor was it possible to share widely. Now, ordinary people have the prerequisite tools to disseminate facts on topics of personal interest. These changes are routinely taken for granted but alter the whole concept of knowledge and its assessibility.

TRAINS IN SRI LANKA
In preparation for our month in Sri Lanka later this year, I wanted concrete information on the railway system there. On several occasions, as far back as the 1980's, we travelled on Sri Lankan rail. I knew the origins go back to the British era and trains have at least 145 years of history in former Ceylon. At present, the system squeaks and groans under its own aging infrastructure. Still, a rail system makes so much sense for the island. Although the country has flooded onto highways in the last three decades, rail really could hold the key to a sustainable future.

Anyway, suitable information abounds. Wikipedia is a good place for an overview. People with a special interest in the system, contribute ideas too. Even the official website, provides some basic facts. For example, one can find that it's possible to travel hundreds of kilometers down the coast or through the mountains for the equivalent of a few dollars. Lastly, there are a surprisingly interesting collection of nearly 400 photos in a Flickr group among thousands with tags of "sri lanka" and "trains". It has an interesting collection of current and archived photographs. Some are obviously by amateurs while others are quite professional. See some in this slide show.


Sri Lanka Railroad Scenery pool on Flickr.

Where I Work

I make it a habit to carry around my camera. This is one reason why I have shot at at least one photo each day for the last 1474 days. Of course that means I quite frequently end up snapping an image at BCIT. I don't work too many days in an average year but I have been doing my Daily Picture Parade for over four years. In that length of time, I should have some evidence of where I work.

Strangely, although I had my camera with me today in class, I did not bother to take the camera out of my briefcase. Still, I decided that to include a slide show. It contains over 300 pictures taken during the past four years.


Click here for a slide show of the BCIT Burnaby Campus.

Do I Suffer from NPD?

Oh thank you Internet, both for the ability to have it and for the ability to disgnose it. If you've ever spent much time at my eJournal and images, you've most probably realized it is just a severe manifestation of my Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

I'm not really looking for a cure though. In fact, today, I'll include a slide show containing nearly 400 photographs. The special feature of all of these images is that they contain me. They're in no order so you may notice a picture taken this weekend or one taken 45 years ago. The age of the shot is of no consequence as it's the subject matter which really counts.

First get some popcorn and snuggle down into a comfortable chair. Then. start the slide show. This is gonna take a while ...


Click here to open a new page for this slide show.