Category Archives: Uncategorized

Nomads FC Defeats Octopi in 2-1 Semi-Final

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On a dark and rainy Wednesday, Octopi took to the field in a semi-final match against the undefeated English/Irish soccer squad Nomads FC. It was the same team who’d broken the back of yours and my favorite urban rec soccer team in the first game of the season in a 6-2 slaughter.

The pink shirts knew they were up for a challenge. Casting themselves as the underdogs, the Octopi steeled themselves for battle. When the whistle was blown it quickly became clear that pink would be the underdog of this match. Nomads FC were just as skilled, aggressive and quick as the team had remembered. There chatty British lilt could be heard throughout the field as they communicated as well as anyone in the PR industry could dream. Fortunately, after a season of playing together Octopi’s own team had melded significantly.

It was a hard fought battle throughout the first half with the Nomads pressing in every which way while Octopi’s defense struggled to contain them. The ball rarely left Octopi’s half and forced strikers John Horn and Erin Loxam to drift back to mark orange’s midfielders and they pressed ceaselessly. Despite their pressure, the Nomads were unable to capitalize until late in the first half. After hammering countless balls over or far to the left of Octopi’s goal, the Nomads finally hit pay dirt with a long throw in that seemed to span half the field. After a few random heads, the ball somehow found its way into the goal putting the Nomads up a point. Later in the second half, Nomads managed to capitalize on a quick turnover close to Octopi’s box. It was 2-0.

That’s when Octopi really started to turn it on. Slowly by surely they ground their way towards the Nomads like the British Army in some godforsaken battle of World War 1. After a series of failed starts, defenseman Kurt Heinrich managed to make a run for the Nomads’ half. Tracked by three orange defensemen, he flipped the ball to the other side of the orange’s box with a long cross. Streaking in from mid-field like a F-16 was striker Erin Loxam, who was hungry to take advantage of one of the team’s first scoring opportunities of the game. Loxam, as she always seems to do in a pinch, managed to be there exactly when she needed to be and was able to pound the ball past Nomads’ chippy goaltender. The score was now 2-1 and Octopi was energized. They continued to hound Nomad players with the ball and run like demons, but with only four minutes left in the game, there was simply not enough time.

The end result of the spirited match was 2-1. Nomads FC will proceed to the final leaving Octopi to contest for third place.

Sea Planes: #Awesome Community Builders

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Seaplanes are boats that fly. How cool is that?! On that basis alone I’m going to make it a goal for 2012 to fly in one. Heck, I might even get behind the controls, or at least get to sit in the cockpit. Or maybe I missed out on that one after turning ten…

Everyday on my bike ride to work along Coal Harbour on the south shore of the Burrard Inlet, I stop briefly and watch a small fleet (‘squadron’?) of planes sputter to life and motor out to their watery ‘runway’ (is that what you would call it?).

Not only are sea planes technologically awesome, they are also vital to our coastal province and to Canada as a whole. Vancouver’s squadron of planes is one of the biggest in the country made up of over fifty planes, including Single Otters, Twin Otters and DHC-2 Beavers – all servicing the Gulf Islands and the Interior. Over 250,000 business people and tourists use them every year. Across Canada, so-called bush pilots busily buzz between far flung lakes and rivers keeping communities connected by delivering their mail, workers, supplies, medical services and the odd canoer.

The winter can’t stop them either. Check out this video of a Twin Otter Seaplane landing on a frozen lake in Saskatchewan.

I might write about Hovercrafts next time…they’re also boats that fly. Sort of….

Harper Makes Shipbuiliding History

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Some might say B.C. came out with the shorter end of the stick after the results of Canada’s $33 billion Shipbuilding bidding process were announced earlier this month. While Nova Scotia scored $25 billion to build snazzy warships, Vancouver’s Seaspan Yards only got $8 billion to knock together a few tugs and boats with nerdy names like “Channel Survey and Sounding Vessels,” or “Near-Shore Fishery Research Vessels.” But who really cares.  While these don’t make headlines like destroyers do, such a huge cash injection into B.C.’s ailing shipbuilding industry means a lot of jobs for tradespeople across the province – up to 4,000 over the next decade.

Premier Christy Clark tours Seaspan prior to announcement

I hate to admit it, but the Harper regime kind of got it right on this one. After Mulroney let domestic shipbuilding activity melt away post NAFTA, Harper is scoring major political points by revitalizing this proud part of our heritage, and injecting new stimulus into the  economy.  And don’t forget: the prime minister also lies awake at night fretting that Russia, Denmark, China, the U.S. (the list goes on) are cheekily sticking their flags on our arctic sea bed. 15 new frigates and a sexy icebreaker called Diefenbaker are meant to prevent that. Good thing too – those embarrassingly crappy, second-hand submarines we got from the Brits can barely float let alone do their job patrolling the “true north strong and free.”

 

VanValley is delicious!

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I signed up for the VanValley Buyers Club in July and it’s been such a fabulous experience, I had to share.  We paid about $600 up front for 17 weeks of amazing produce.  Each week, we’re pretty much set for fruit and veggies except for a few extras here and there, like California grapes and avocados from Chile.  I’ve always supported the philosophy of community supported agriculture (CSA), but this is the first time I’ve been directly involved.  And it’s been awesome to be a part of.

From their website, the focus of VanValley is to provide buyers club clients with the best LOCAL produce at competitive pricing. We believe that through food and supporting sustainable LOCAL food systems we are also building relationships and community (http://vanvalley.wordpress.com).  VanValley started this year and from my perspective, it’s been a smash hit.

We’ve signed up for weekly delivery of organic produce before and I didn’t love it.  No matter how many cool-packs were included in the bin, the produce would always be a bit sad by the time I got home from work to fetch the delivery from our sunny front step.  Unfamiliar produce would often end up in the compost as I didn’t know what to do with it. And it was expensive.

In contrast, VanValley offers value, convenience and fun.  Volunteers staff a pick-up table at our local coffee house from 4 to 7pm once a week.  That means we can peacefully make our way there after work.  Most evenings, we go as a family and end up chatting with neighbours and the amazing volunteers while we’re there.  And usually, we munch on farm-fresh cucumbers from Surrey or peaches from Keremeos on the walk home.

Administration has been seamless from the start, which I must admit was a pleasant surprise.  I’m not sure why, but I expected a period of working out the kinks.  There wasn’t one and I’m still impressed by how efficient the process is.  Members of the Buyers Club receive a weekly newsletter that includes a list of the produce we’re getting, recipes featuring that produce and news from the farmers.  Plus, there’s a trades box at the pick-up location and I love that.  We have lettuce in our edible garden, so we can swap out greens from our weekly box and replace it with something that another member passed on (like blueberries – yum!).  It’s such a simple idea and it makes for an even better experience.

It’s been wonderful to eat seasonal produce.  We loved the radishes and stone fruit through summer, the tomatoes and potatoes as we approached Labour Day, and now the deep purple beets and beautiful green squashes as we settle into fall.  It’s such a natural way to eat and so incredibly satisfying because the food matches the season.

The beauty of supporting local producers and sustainable food systems has become somehow less important than the experience of participating in community in this way.  We signed up because of our politics, but interestingly, our ideological motivations have sort of faded into the background because the practice makes perfect sense and the experience is just so darn great.

Like most Vancouverites, I’m already looking forward to next summer.  And our next summer will definitely include VanValley.  In the meantime, I’ll go back to shopping on the Drive for my organic produce.  And I expect that I’ll buy California grapes and avocados from Chile less often than I did before.

Masthead photo courtesy of Augapfel.

Taking Tomatoes Outside

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This post is the last in my three-part series of growing tomatoes from seeds. The first post was on planting seeds and the second on transplanting seedlings into bigger pots. This final post is in transitioning seedlings outside.
Around the last predicted frost is a great time to start to transition seedlings outside. Basically, up until now the seedlings have had it pretty good inside: fairly constant temperature, regular watering and predictable lighting. The seedlings therefore need “hardening-off” or a transition period before they can live outside full time. They need to be introduced to a whole new set of growing conditions including direct sunlight, wind, lower temperatures, and air pollution. If you were to take the plants directly from your window and just plant them outside, their growth would be significantly slowed or they may even die.
The first part of “hardening-off” is to toughen your plants up by reducing the amount of water they are getting (but don’t cut off water completely), and if possible by reducing the temperature by a few degrees, for their last week inside. The result will be a shorter, more fibrous plant that will suffer less when it transitions to outdoors.
The second part of “hardening-off” is to acclimatize the plants to outdoors. This is a gradual process where you take them outside for longer and longer periods. This can take up to a couple of weeks and it is best to be patient since introducing them to outside too quickly may do more harm than good to the plants.
Here are a few things you will want to consider during this process:
It is best to start with only a few hours of sunlight, or if possible partial shade, and then increase the amount of sunlight gradually so that in 7 to 10 days the plants can do a full day of sunlight.
Remember that being outside will speed up the rate that the soil will dry, so be sure to keep the soil moist enough to prevent wilting.
Wind can damage the plants by breaking the stems of un-staked seedlings, or by whipping the seedling around to the extent that the roots are loosened and then damaged. Therefore it is important to choose as sheltered place as possible for the first week of taking the plants outside. If you don’t have a naturally sheltered place to put them you may consider using a “cold-frame” system to keep them sheltered: I take my tomatoes out in bins or boxes without their lids for the first week. This way they get the sun and outdoor temperatures with less risk from the wind.
Cold temperatures can pose a serious threat to tomato seedlings. Be sure to bring the plants indoors if the temperature is going to drop (especially if it is below 10C) since this will put the plants into shock and seriously slow down their growth if they are fortunate enough to survive. Flexibility is important and at some point the seedlings may have to stay inside a day or two during this process until bad weather passes.
The air quality in southern Ontario is far from perfect and unfortunately smog can do a lot of damage to sensitive plants. Therefore, it is important to consider the air quality when transitioning your plants to the outside. Ontario has a great smog warning system and you can sign up to get smog warnings for where you live to be sent to you by e-mail (go to http://www.airqualityontario.com/alerts/signup.cfm to sign up). If it is a smog day, like today, it may be best to keep the plants inside or reduce the time they are outside.
You may also need to stake the seedlings, especially the ones that are tall and thin. Last year I used twine and old chopsticks (but you could use almost anything a similar size). I found it worked best if I put the chopstick into the pot as far away from the plant as possible (to prevent damaging the roots), tied one end of the twine to the chopstick, loosely looped the twine around the plant to provide some support, and then tied the other end to the chopstick. It is important not to tie tightly around the plant because it may cause damage; instead you want it so that the plant has some room to move and grow while also having some support.
After a couple of weeks the seedlings should be able to stay outside and can be transplanted for the third and final time to your garden or a larger pot on your balcony. Or, if your like me and grow way too many seedlings, you can give them away to friends and colleagues – a great way to build community annually.

A Smorgasbord of Music, Art, and Advocacy

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Last week, I went to church. My experience there was hilarious, touching, inspirational, and eclectic. There were musicians, comedians, poets, art installations, and tuba-playing mayors. Sound a bit unlike a typical church visit? That’s because I was there for Smorgasbord, an evening of music and art hosted and curated by none other than local singer-songwriter Dan Mangan, all in support of local initiatives that work to end homelessness in our city.

The event exemplified everything great about the community of Vancouver, bringing together people from all walks of life. It was awesome to see 20-something hipsters mingling (in the pews, mind you) with 50-something community activists. While the older folk got to experience twitter-gone-wild as the younger crowd took advantage of their tweets being projected on a large screen, the younger folk got to experience seasoned Vancouver performers whom they might not otherwise have the opportunity to see (such as the amazing Veda Hille). Clashing of worlds? Definitely. In a city not as classy or as open-minded as Vancouver, things could have gone horribly wrong. But the crowd took it all in stride and demonstrated just how cool Vancouver is.

The burgeoning local arts scene was also very well represented. From the up-and-coming singer-songwriter Aidan Knight who had the crowd dancing in their pews, to comedian Charles Demers (whose activist roots shone through in a very clever set), to the incredibly insightful spoken-word poet Mike McGee, the acts were diverse and equally brilliant in very different ways. Not to mention Dan Mangan capping off the night with Mayor Gregor Robertson on the tuba. If that’s not a tangible example of our city council supporting the arts, I don’t know what is!

Throughout the night, the very serious issues of homelessness and mental health were continuously raised in touching and inspirational ways. A young girl of 11 read an incredible poem she had written, and won an award for, about homelessness. Mayor Gregor handed out ‘local hero’ awards, which recognize individuals and organizations that demonstrate commitment to ending youth homelessness. And last but not least, there was a beautiful tribute to mental health advocate Dr. Nancy Hall, who passed away in March. Dr. Hall was a driving force behind Smorgasbord, and saw it as a way to engage a younger generation in the plight to end homelessness in Vancouver.

I left this event feeling a great sense of pride for Vancouver. From our commitment to ending homelessness to our incredibly engaged citizenry, our sense of community really shone through the pews at Smorgasbord 2011.

City Chase Contest

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WIN AMAZING PRIZES!

If you know what City Chase is all about then I’ll cut to the, um, chase:

Email cpayne@citychase.com with “Daily Gumboot and City Chase” in the subject and receive a Promo-Code, which will give you a discount on your registration.

Speaking of prizes and registration, the Daily Gumboot is in possession of two free registrations! Now. You may or may not know that DG Editor John Horn is not only a fan of pirates, but that also a Certified Piratologist.

If you want to win two free registrations (so, one team) skim through our archives, find your favourite post that mentions “pirates” and tell us what you think is most interesting about the piratological fact that you discovered.

Kurt and John will email the person who left the best comment.

To summarize: email Chris Payne at cpayne@citychase.com with “Daily Gumboot and City Chase” in the subject to receive a discount Promo-Code; comment on a Daily Gumboot article involving pirates for a chance to win free registration.

Savvy?

Backcountry Mojitos Done Right

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It’s summer, and with August long weekend nearly upon us I thought it time to share a camping tip that’s near and dear to my heart.

Eating and drinking well is one of my primary concerns when attacking a wilderness adventure. Actually, it’s one of my primary concerns in life.

Whether I’m camping with a big group of friends in a nicely groomed federal or provincial park or trekking in the backcountry, good food and drink is right near the top of the list of priorities.

wide mojitoIn the city, sipping a mojito on a patio is a fantastic way to enjoy sunset, and it’s no different when you’re out camping.

Mint tastes cool, so regardless of whether there’s any rum or not you get a tasty treat even if you don’t have any ice left in your cooler, or a stream/lake/glacier to cool your bevies in.

Here’s a trimmed-down trekking version of this patio-classic. It makes 4 mojiots and only adds about 750g to your pack.

Set aside 20 minutes at home to the mint syrup get the lime juice ready.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Cups water
  • 1 Cup sugar
  • ½ cup torn-up mint leaves

What to do with them:

  1. Add sugar and water to a saucepan, bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until reduced by about half. I really like ginger so at this point I chop up a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger and drop it in too, but be warned, it’ll make your drinks spicy, which may not be so good on a hot evening.
  2. Juice a couple of limes into a little container like this, or just pack the limes with the rest of your food – the lime juice comes in handy for cleaning greasy dishes too!
  3. Remove from heat and add the chopped mint. Let it steep for a few hours or overnight in the fridge, then strain with a sieve or coffee filter into a container you can pack for your adventure.
lucy in the wild

My daughter's first caping trip - just because.

Finally, get two cans or a bottle of sparkling water or soda water, and if you’re of-age and responsible, some good rum.

I use cans because one can make two nice drinks from each can, and then use the cans for candleholders to up the romance factor after the sun sets. Rawr!

Plus, they crush down so they’re easy to pack out.

That’s it – once you’re out there it’s as simple as splitting the sparkling water between two cups or glasses, adding the juice of half a lime each, and syrup (and optional rum) to taste.

Stir with a twig, and enjoy.

Discovering a Town Square

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It rained, and rained, and rained.

Early spring on the west coast can be like that.

Somehow we’d managed to be on the ball enough to all be in Squamish on the same weekend. That in itself was a major triumph for a group comprised of a dad, a gypsy pirate with no fixed address, a serious diver who lives on the island, and a Northerner with two massive (and massively high-maintenance) dogs that need a dedicated sitter if he’s away for more than 5 minutes.

Yahoos, the lot of us.

So there we were, on the best granite around, but it was wet.

Soaked.

Even the bouldering, half-protected by trees, had gone damp.

Smearing was really smeary, more like spreading butter than sticking rubber, you could aid up a crack that would normally be a walk in the park, desperately fighting for every inch of vertical progress.

I should mention we’re not the supermen and superwomen mountaineers who climb massive mixed routes or redpoint/onsight/free climb. We’re regular humans who got bitten by the climbing bug a few years ago in Northern BC, when dragged out to a little top-rope crag outside of Chetywnd.

We’ve led 5.10’s, but been scared as hell doing it.

tea in a cave

Cave tea is good tea

So, being in a climbing locale and not being able to climb, we did the next best thing,  maybe the next-next-next best, it depends on how you feel about trundling, rock-fights, and tea-in-caves) we invaded public swim at the rec-centre.

Only, we weren’t really invading much, because a good three-quarters of the people there were yahoos too. Mostly concentrated around the hot tub, conversations started with nods and “hey weren’t you working on…” questions.

We soaked our battered selves in the tub, and as we sat there it dawned on me that this was the town square of a community focused on active living – and a beautiful thing.

There’s been a lot of debate in Vancouver over where the real Town Square is or ought to be, even here on the ‘boot, but the more I connect with communities of practice or interest, rather than of physical space, the more I find a town square can be anything from your local haunts, to the dog-park, or even your own home.

Dear readers give some thought to your communities and let us know, where’s your town square – the hub of your community? Is it more important during your downtime, or is connecting there part of your daily routine?