A Stefan Klopp Weblog

Yesterday I re-launched kloppmagic.ca my alternate home on the Internet. In the past I had simply used kloppmagic.ca to link out to my other areas of interest, such as this blog, my Flickr account, or websites I was trying to promote. With the relaunch I am giving myself an outlet to write about more technical related issues that are on my mind. It also gives me an place to showcase some of the projects I am or have worked on in the past. If web development, scalability or web technologies are of interest to you, go check it out.

Last weekend I went blueberry picking with my friend Oliver at John & John’s certified organic Blueberry Farm in Langley. I had found the farm online via the BC Farm Fresh website. Then double checked the farm at the Certified Organic website to make sure the farm was indeed organic. A quick call to find out they charged $1.50 per pound, and Oliver and I were off picking.

The farm was relatively easy to get to and was about 10 minutes off Highway 1 taking the exit for 232 street. The farm was small, but had a good bunch of blueberry bushes that were loaded with berries. They say the best way to tell if a blueberry farm is organic, is to look at the rows between the bushes. You will often see grass growing in the rows, and around the bushes, while at non organic farms it is generally a lot more muddy, and often filled in with straw or hay. My brother asked me what it means for a farm to be certified BC organic. I found the this website useful, specifically the following lines:

Organic farming promotes the sustainable health and productivity of the ecosystem – soil, plants, animals and people. Organic foods are farmed in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible way, focusing on soil regeneration, water conservation and animal welfare.
…
Produce and grains are grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers or GMOs (genetically modified organisms)

In about an hour and a half Oliver and myself had picked roughly 21 pounds of blueberries between us. I think Oliver probably ate a good 2-3 pounds while picking as well! At this point we had run out of buckets and decided to call it a day.

John and John’s Farm was a quick drive out to Langley, and a great place to spend a few hours picking organic blueberries. Their prices were reasonable, and the fruit delicious. You can find John and John’s at: 4015 244th Street, Langley, British Columbia, and can contact them via phone at: 604-803-9185.

I highly recommend going out during the season and picking fruit at either a u-pick or in the woods. It creates a better connection between yourself and the food you eat, and a stronger understanding of how and where your food is produced. Now time to go make some jam!

Last Saturday I went for a hike with some friends up Mount Brunswick. Mount Brunswick’s trail begins at the same place where you start when hiking the lions in Lions Bay. We started bright and early and started powering up the mountain.

The ascent up Brunswick was steep; much steeper than the Lions, making it not the easiest hike. We would take quick 5 minute breaks every 100 meters or so before continuing to push on higher. We did make it up the mountain quickly however and were at the top within 2.5 hours. The last little section of the ridge you have to scale across to get to the final peak (or what we thought was the peak). It was a little sketchy, but nothing outlandish.

The bugs were pretty bad on top (I got one in my eye, Rob swallowed a few), however none of them were biting. If they had been feasting I don’t think we would have made it out alive.

Overall with our lunch break we did the full hike in about 5.5 hours, which was good as we wanted to get back into the city at a reasonable time before the fireworks. Here are a few photos from the hike:

A few weekends ago I made it out to Victoria for the first time in years. I had lived there previously with my brother Tony for 5 months while going to school at UVIC, before making the move to Vancouver. It was nice to make it out to the island again.

Tony picked me up at the ferry terminal and we headed straight out to the Victoria Golf Club. He wanted to show me the course he was a member of, and get me to take a few photos. We grabbed a bucket of beer, a golf cart and drove out to the holes by the water. After taking some photos we ended up playing some of the holes. I even managed to par one of the par 3′s! It was a blast to get out onto a course again, something I wish I was able to do more often. Here are a few shots from the course:

The next day we went for a hike up the Juan De Fuca Marine Trail. We started at China beach and made our way north with stops at Mystic Beach and Bear Beach. The hike began pretty casually, however after Mystic Beach the grade began to pickup with a lot of up and downs into valleys. After about 13 kilometers into the hike I had to tell my brother we needed to head back. I was having some problems with one of my knees recently especially when hiking downhill. The constant up and down of the hike caused my right knee to be in a lot of pain. I made it out alive with a stiff knee but nothing serious. The Juan De Fuca Trail is really a beautiful trail to hike on, and has some amazing beaches that you can camp on. Highly recommended. Here are a few shots I took from our hike:

The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxed. We checked out the movie Inception, which was good, but a little too James Bond at the end, and pretty similar in concept to Canadian film ExistenZ. The Victoria Museum was also a must, and we finally finished up with beers and tacos at The Oyster Bar downtown. Finally it was off to the ferry where I rushed to get downtown Vancouver so I could catch Wolf Parade that night with my buddy Vincent.

A really great weekend on the Island, and one I will have to do soon again.

During my latest visit to my parents place in the West Kootenays I spent the majority of my time out at my parents camp site on the lake just south of Fauquier. I spent a good portion of my time out in a canoe exploring the lake, and taking in all the nature. Here are a some photos (and a select few stories) from my time back home.

One fun story is about a beaver I happened upon. I was paddling the canoe up into the mouth of Taite Creek slowly sneaking up on a blue heron. As I approached the heron quickly spotted me and flew off; too bad. However as he flew away I noticed a object slowly moving towards my canoe. On closer inspection it appeared to be either an otter or a beaver. He quickly disappeared under the water, so I decided to continue to circle through the mouth of the creek. As I was coming back around the mouth, I heard a strange gnawing sound. I navigated the canoe over to where the sound was coming from, and found the beaver sitting on a small island taking down a tree. I continued to watch (and follow) the beaver as he took the tree and dragged it to shore where I am assuming he was going to use for a damn.

The beaver became pretty familiar with me quickly and didn’t mind my presence, so I continued to watch him as he swam around and did his thing. Eventually my Father and nephew showed up on land to let me know it was time for dinner. I quickly canoed over to the bank where they were and let them in on the secret. we continued to watch the beaver as he had a late dinner himself. Eventually my nephew got restless and broke a stick, which spooked the beaver. The beaver then jumped into the water, gave us all a nasty look, then dived into the water with a big tail flap to show his displeasure. At that point we decided to give the beaver his peace and left to go for our own dinner.

Another fun story is of an osprey. One morning I woke up early for a sunrise paddle. The lake was so calm and glassy it was a perfect morning for the trek. I paddled south from Taite Creek (where my parents camp is) on my way to Octopus Creek. Along the way there is this fantastic old log that juts out over the water. On top of the log an osprey has built a nest on. As I passed by the log I noticed one osprey sitting in the nest guarding her eggs I assume, and a second osprey standing guard on a nearby tree. As I continued to paddle by I noticed two ravens fly in attempting to get at the ospreys nest. The osprey that was on the nearby tree immediately took action and flew with talons out at the ravens. It didn’t take long before the ravens had retreated.

On my return from Octopus I got really close to the nest to take a few photos. The osprey in the nest did not enjoy my presence too much and began chirping at me. The osprey did this funny head bob every time he would chirp, which I found somewhat hilarious. Eventually the bird got a little too fed up with me and took to the sky. I had thought I had chased him away, however within a minute the bird was dive bombing at me with his talons ready for action. At this point I decided I wanted to keep my eyes and paddled away as quickly as I could.

I have to say it is really awesome to see such a return of animals to the arrow lakes. When I was growing up the trend was towards the opposite. The lake was being abandoned by the ospreys, fish stocks were dwindling, and you were lucky if you ever saw an eagle. There has now been a great turn around, with osprey nests on every telephone poll, kokanee and trout in full abundance and larger than ever, and animals we never used to see like the beaver.

Hopefully I can return again before the summer is over to enjoy the solitude of the Arrow Lakes and all it has to offer.

Went for a hike yesterday with my Brother Rob, and my buddy Rob in Lynn Canyon. It was my first hike of the year so I wanted something pretty easy with the option of going a bit harder if I was feeling up to it. Norvan Falls and the Coliseum provided just that. The initial hike up to the Falls was a pretty easy hike on a low grade trail. We made it to the falls in a little under 2 hours. At the falls there was this really kick ass bridge across the creek.

The falls were gushing pretty good with all the snow melt going on. We made our way up close and snapped a few pictures. Rob decided he wanted to stand in the pools in front of the falls. The water was pretty ice cold, so he didn’t last longer than a good 20 seconds before having to step out of the water.

It was still very early in the day, and we all had lots of energy left after the Norvan Falls portion of the hike so we decided to see how far up Coliseum we could get. An hour and a half up we found a really pretty smaller waterfalls and pool where we stopped and broke for lunch. On a sunny day it would be a fantastic place to take a little dip and have a picnic.

We continued to push on forward up the trail. There was a section through a boggy area that would have been a lot worse crossing if it wasn’t for some recently built steps made out of slices of wood. As we got higher up there was more and more patches of snow. Finally we made our way up onto the ridge of the mountain. From the ridge there was a bit of a view down, however nothing great at this point. We continued to push up higher up the ridge, which was now fully covered in snow.

Eventually we got high enough that we were stuck in dense fog. The layer of fog was thick and we didn’t see the point in continue up any further than we had, as there would be no better view. So we decided to call it about 100-200 meters from the peak of Coliseum, with a vow to return again when the weather was a little better.

The way down was a challenge on our knees due to the steep decline. By the time we got to the parking lot at Lynn Valley all three of us were a little hobbled. Really fun first hike of the year, and one I will definitely have to do when the sun is shinning.

During my time back in Fauquier I made a day trip with my nephew Mateo to Vernon to visit my brother Michael and his family. It was a really nice summer day, so Mike decided to take out his boat on Kalamalka Lake to do a little wakeboarding, and just enjoy they hot summer day.

Here are a bunch of photos I took during the day. First up was Mateo who had never wakeboarded before. He was up on his first try!

Next up was Kalin. He started off on a wake skate, goofed around on that for a while then switched to the wakeboard.

My sister in law Angie and Kalin’s friend Johnny also went for a board. I went too, but nobody remembered to take any pictures of me. Maybe it was for the better!

However it was my brother Mike who showed us all how it is done.

After we all got a little wakeboarding in we got a little silly. We put Kalin in the dry-suit and filled it up with air so that he would float on the water. We then pulled him behind the boat!

The rest of the day we spent cruising around the lake enjoying the sunshine. Kelsie (Mike & Angie’s dog) was sure enjoying it.

It was a great way to spend the day, as it is always fun hanging out with Mike and Angie.

In October 2009 I flew out to Philadelphia to experience seeing the Philadelphia Flyers play at home, as well as to see Pearl Jam close out the historic Spectrum. After that trip I didn’t anticipate making it back out to Philadelphia anytime soon. However when the Flyers finished off the Montreal Canadians in 5 quick games to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals I felt compelled to make the trip out east once again.

After the finals schedule was release I realized two conflicts in my schedule. The first was the Sasquatch Music Festival, which was taking place during the first two games of the finals in Chicago. The second was a Metric concert at the Malkin Bowl in Vancouver. I was alright with missing the Metric concert, but wasn’t about to skip out on the always fun Sasquatch. So I looked at flights, and found a red eye the day after Sasquatch that would put me into Philadelphia the morning of game 3. A quick reality check, OK’ed the trip with my boss, and the trip was booked.

Before leaving for Sasquatch I was able to find a single ticket to game 3 on the Flyers official ticketing website. This took a little pressure off for the first game. Arriving into Philly on little to no sleep, and a full day of work scheduled, I wasn’t in the best shape to be hunting down a ticket to the game. Work day done, a quick nap, and a whole lot of nervous excitement filled me. I hopped on the subway down to the stadium. On the subway I met two guys from Ottawa who drove down that day just to watch the game in a Philly bar. One of several Canadian Flyers fans I met during my time in Philly. When I was walking into the arena, I ran into my friend Phil from Vancouver, who just so happened to be in Philly for the game also. We exchanged contact info and agreed to meet up the following day for beers.

When Everything Goes Right

Game three was everyone I could have asked for in a hockey game, and made the trip completely worthwhile. It was a back and forth game, that saw the Flyers take an early lead only to lose it early in the 3rd period. The Flyers fought back and scored quickly after the Hawks to tie the game and send it to overtime. In OT the Flyers had a heart wrenching goal called back, minutes before Claude Giroux scored the winner to move the Flyers with one game of a tied series. Such an amazing finish and great way to start my trip. After the game I was going to meet up with the guys from Ottawa for a beer, but when I got back to my hotel I simply crashed out on my bed after a good 40+ hours of no sleep.

Game four I was without tickets. However from previous experiences with concerts and events I knew that if I showed up at the venue box office a few hours before the event I would be bound to get something. So after work I headed down to the arena where I stood in line with 25 other fans in the sweltering 33 degree heat hoping to get a ticket. An hour later I had a ticket which came with access to the Lexus Club which gave you a free food buffet as well as free beer.

Game four was a lot more dominant by the Flyers than the previous game. They came out strong and held the lead throughout the entire game. Despite a late charge by the Hawks, the Flyers were just too strong and ended up winning 5-3. That night I hooked up with a friend Andrew who I met through Joe in October. We went out for a few beers to celebrate the win and catch up. He invited me to a Phillies game and to show me around town the following week.

A Brief Interlude

After the game three win, I received an email from Jason who was currently in Hungary. He had sent me his Expedia itinerary and told me I should meet him in New York. I had never been to New York before, and while I would have liked to spend more than a weekend there, I figured a weekend would give me a good first taste. So Saturday I hopped on a bus, and 2 hours later I was downtown Manhattan.

I mentioned earlier that it was hot in Philadelphia. New York was no different. 30+ degrees and extremely humid. That type of heat really makes the smells of the city a lot more pronounced, especially when you have a city as busy as New York. I decided I would venture north from the bus station until I hit Central Park. I ended up walking straight through Times Square, which was a bit of an experience. A few too many people for my liking, which made Central Park such a good target. More than any other park I have been to in a city, is there ever one needed more than Central Park. It is a haven from the craziness of people, tourists, and smells of the city. While it was a little busy in many areas of the park, it was easy to find more secluded areas where you could be by yourself. I found a great bench in the park and spent a few hours reading waiting for Jason to arrive from Hungary.

After meeting up with Jason, we dropped off our bags at his girlfriends sisters place, and headed out to get some food and hit the town. We ate overpriced sushi, and drank beers at a hockey themed restaurant. New York, New York. Sunday we wandered around the city and saw a bunch of a the sites. More Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, Empire States Building. Before long it was time to head back to Philly to catch the Flyers game five.

When Everything Goes Wrong

Game five was an absolute ass kicking by the Hawks. The Hawks came out hard and fast, and finished the first period up 3-0. This was not how I had anticipated this game to go. Whenever the Flyers would get anywhere near to making the game close the Hawks would score to put the game back out of reach. The game ended 7-4, leaving Jason, Andrew, and Myself a little heartbroken. It meant there was no chance the Flyers could win the cup at home, and an even worse fate that Chicago might win the cup in Philadelphia.

Fast forward to Wednesday, game six, Flyers needing to win to have a chance to win the cup. We spent the day looking for tickets online for the game. We were trying to get 3 tickets together, which was becoming a hard feat. Eventually we found someone on craigslist who said he had 3 seats together for the price we wanted to pay. We exchanged a few emails and phone calls, and eventually waited for him to arrive from ‘Virginia’. Two hours turned into four and a half, and Jason and me began to get worried. Eventually the guy called and let us know he was close to our hotel.

We met him outside the hotel. A short black man, with a bit of a hunch, who appeared a bit on edge. My first impression of him was of his hand shake. It was weak; the kind of handshake where the other persons hand just falls out of yours. Second impression was that he got really nervous when I questioned why there was no date on the ticket. Despite the warnings, the tickets looked pretty legit. Jason and I had a quick chat, then decided to buy them. As we handed him the money he told Jason “Hold onto my number, if the Flyers win tonight, I will be heading out to Chicago and will have some more tickets for you…” Last impression was of Jason handing over the money in an envelope, and the guy walking away briskly without even counting it. When that happened all I could think of was we had been had.

As we walked away I brought this up with Jason. He said he noticed that too. We double checked the tickets again. They looked pretty legit. However I noticed the seat numbers he told me via email and the seat numbers on the tickets were different. Perhaps he just read the wrong ticket. As Jason and I had dinner before the game you could tell we were both on edge, and a little nervous that we bought fake tickets. Only time would tell.

We arrived at the venue and walked past a scalper who was holding up a single ticket for sale. The ticket looked really similar to the tickets we had. This put me a little at ease, as I thought that maybe I was just being paranoid. We walked our way up to the gates. Went inside the building. Held out my ticket to the usher. He scanned the ticket. Written on his scanner in red was, “STOP”. He scanned the ticket again. Same result. Scanned it a third time. Same thing. He instructed that I better go talk to the box office about my ticket. Jason had the same experience. Yup we were hosed.

The box office confirmed the tickets were fake, which brought forth a mix of emotions. Anger, humiliation, self-pity. We were not in a great mood. Insult to injury, the skies opened up and started to pour down rain. Eventually we picked ourselves up, and headed over to the bar at the ball park. We were both in no mood to watch the game, let along with a bunch of other people. However by the end of the second period and a few beers later, we realized 2 things. One, what happened happened, and there wasn’t much we could do about it. Two, the Flyers were playing a hell of an exciting game.

The third period started with the Flyers down 3-2. It took them until late in the period to tie the game 3-3 and send it to overtime. New hope emerged. However four minutes into the overtime period the greatest letdowns happened. Patrick Kane scored a short side goal against the Flyers. It was such a bad goal that nobody knew he had scored. It took about 20-30 seconds before everyone clued in that the Hawks had just won the Stanley Cup and the Flyers season was now over.

That night we head back to our hotel, had a few drinks in the lobby bar, while guests from Chicago celebrated. The only thing that made that night somewhat memorable was meeting the real life version of “The Dude” (a story for another day). “Sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes… well, he eats you”.

Last Few Days

My final days in Philly were spent doing some touristy things, like running up the Rocky steps, taking in a Phillies game, eating too many cheese steaks, exploring the 9th street Italian Market, and sampling many of the fine craft beers from the area. I wasn’t as upset about the ticket anymore, and enjoyed my time in one of the most historic cities in the US.

You might think Chicago had done everything it could to try and disrupt my trip. My flight home, which was routed through Chicago, got delayed for close to 3 hours due to a thunderstorm in Chicago. Finally the plane arrived and everyone boarded. Our plane made it to the tarmac, at which stage we sat for another hour plus on the tarmac as the thunderstorm had now moved south to Philadelphia. Good times.

I missed my connecting flight home, but was bumped up onto the last flight back to Vancouver. They put me in their executive plus section of the plane to make up for my troubles which was a nice gesture. Finally I arrived in Vancouver to find my bag was left in Chicago. What more could I expect?

Final Comments

Despite some bad luck I really had an amazing time in Philadelphia. I got to spend time with some really great people, and explore some of the more historic cities in the US. Without a doubt I will definitely make my way back to Philadelphia sometime in the near future.

One final little story. On the Tuesday after game five, I had performed a major release of our website at work. It was eight months of development, and a complete rebuild of our website. After launching the site I had to checkout of my hotel room and check into a new hotel. I did some final tests on the launch and everything appeared to be working correctly. Since my new hotel was half a block away I didn’t think it was a big deal to go offline momentarily to change hotels.

I arrived at the new hotel only to be told I had booked the room for the following day. I had just performed a major release of our website and now was told I had no place to work or stay. I scrambled and eventually found free wifi at the local market, where I spent the rest of the day working. Everything turned out fine with the launch, but it was a moment of complete panic when I found out I didn’t have a room that night.

Finally I just wanted to say a big Thank You to Andrew who helped us out with a place to stay when we had no hotel, as well for being such a fantastic host and tour guide.

This was the third year (second in a row) that Lester and I made the pilgrimage from Vancouver down to the Gorge in Washington State. Both Sasquatch 2009, and Sasquatch 2006 were great times, so I didn’t expect anything different this year.

We left a little after 1pm from Vancouver and made it into Seattle in decent time. Lester had told me about this burger place in Seattle called Lunchbox Laboratory that apparently made some of the best specialty burgers around. I can’t remember which burger I got, but it had so much bacon in it I actually had to take some out as I felt my heart was on the brink of failure. Overall though it was a really fantastic burger, wonderfully presented. My only complaint is that is was just too over the top, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

After stocking up on groceries, we hit the road for the final stretch to the Gorge. The traffic was pretty horrible, however Lester used his super powers of driving in a lane that was apparently closing. I think he probable shaved a good 45 minutes off our trip with that maneuver.

Unfortunately once we hit the Gorge access road we weren’t as lucky. We got to the access road at around 11:30pm and the lineup of cars was something I had never scene entering the Gorge. It was somewhat reminiscent of our 4+ hour wait getting into Bonnaroo. By about 3:30am we had finally got into the camping area. We had a pretty good idea from last year where we wanted to camp, so despite the warnings that it was full, we made our way to the area. We were finally able to find a decent spot (albeit tight) close to the entrance, showers, and bathrooms. Once the tent was setup, we slammed a few beers, had a pull of whiskey, then crashed in our tent.

The next three days at the Gorge rank up there with the best of them. The music was fantastic. I think I spent the majority of my time on the main stage, however made the switch over to the side stages on occasion. Some of my highlights were Mumford & Sons, Vampire Weekend, Broken Social Scene, The National, My Morning Jacket, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, LCD Sound System, Massive Attack, The New Pornographers, Band of Horses and Ween.

Festivals are more than just the music however. Getting to party with old friends and make new ones along the way is all part of the fun. While it was just Lester and me who made the trip down together, between us we probably knew a good 15 other people who went down to for the festival. A bunch of them we didn’t even end up seeing!

Another fun pass time during Sasquatch (or any festival for that matter) is people watching. Last year Lester and me player hipster bingo which was a load of fun. This year we didn’t do the bingo but the people watching was just as good. My favorite this year was the dancing viking guy! The next day he showed up as the dancing chef. Unfortunately we didn’t catch him on the final day. Second favorite would probably be the group of people who dressed up as power rangers and other super heroes. One final costume I have to bring up was the couple who dressed all in black and used glow sticks to make them look like stick people. Very cute.

Another fantastic year at the Gorge for Sasquatch shared with some really great friends. Barring any unforeseen events I don’t see myself missing this festival too often in the future.

Here are a few more random photos from the weekend.

In a few short hours I will be off to pickup a bunch of friends on route to the Arrow Lakes. Some of my friends are from the Arrow Lakes, while others had never heard of Fauquier, Burton or Nakusp until they had met us. We are all traveling to the valley to take part in a celebration of Burton Hockey, and the 10 years since it’s official formulation when we added Kyle Kusch to take stats for us.

For most of us though, hockey has been a part of our lives for more than 10 years, but rather a lifetime. Hockey was never about winning or losing, how many goals you scored, or that sick deke (not that we didn’t want to win, score goals, or revel in how awesome that deke was!); It was about getting to spend time with your friends and having fun. Some of my fondest memories of when I was young were from playing hockey. Foot vs blade sessions in the Fauquier Rink, knee hockey in Steve’s living room or shooting balls at his shed, and of course those ridiculous sessions up at the Burton basketball court with some of my closest friends.

As we grew older, hockey became more and more a tool to keep friendships together. Often times coming home for a visit your time was short and mostly spent with family, so it was tough to see all your friends. However you were bound to see most of them if you showed up to a Burton Hockey session. In that way Burton Hockey was a tool to reconnect, to be apart of something, and to be with Friends.

With many of us original players now living in Vancouver it was natural for us to branch out, and start what we had in Burton here. It took a while, but that same enthusiasm for the game was found here with the new Vancouver based players. In the same way, Burton Hockey in Vancouver provided friends to get together, to have fun, and reconnect.

Why were stats important? Stats first and foremost were a way to include a really close friend in the fun we were having. Stats turned out to be more than that though. Stats provided a way to document our sessions, and have a record of all the good times. Along with the website the stats were a way to build excitement, and a way to make things ‘official’. It was a way to build excitement, and to entice new players to play, and in the more recent years they have been a good way to fuel the friendly rivalries between the two leagues.

While the stats provided the momentum to Burton Hockey 10 years ago, it would all be for not if there wasn’t a rink. It took a major effort from Lorne, Joern and Simon and their parents to fight for the community to build that plot of asphalt. When they had won the community over and were given the grant money, those 3 spent every day at the rink to help build it. It was a community born effort that has gone on to strengthen not just the Burton community, but the community of the Arrow Lakes as a whole.

This weekend as I take part in the DecaSession, it will to celebrate a lifetime of great times I have shared with friends. It will be to take part in something that has reconnected old friends, and made new ones; and finally it will be to play as much hockey as humanly possible to help kick start another lifetime of great memories.

From their website:

“Vectorial Elevation” was an interactive artwork that allowed you to direct powerful light beams and transform Vancouver’s skyline between February 4 – 28, 2010.

The light show was one of my favorite additions to the city during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. It added a feeling of intrigue to our skies, and gave you a sense that the city was alive. Many nights walking home across the bridge from Downtown, I would stop to watch as the lights danced across the sky.

Despite being on the go for most of the Olympics I did find time to go out and photograph the lights on one occasion. The weather was wet and we were socked in by fog, but I think it added to the effect of the photos. Here are some shots from my photo walk. Also definite thanks to Jordan and Oliver for bearing with me, and helping me setup.

Most people who know me knew I wasn’t a big proponent of the Vancouver Olympics. The city of Vancouver has a laundry list of problems that the money spent on the games could have gone towards. Despite my opinion the games were going to go on, and I had the choice to make the most of them, or sit them out sulking. I decided since I would likely be paying for these games (along with the rest of Canada) for many years I would do my best to enjoy all they had to offer; and to be quiet honest, it was hard not to.

My Olympic experienced started off with the torch running through my neighborhood down 4th avenue. Chip Wilson of Lululemon fame was the torch bearer, and got to run it past his flagship store. I was blown away by how many people were on the streets. hundreds packed 4th avenue in both directions as far as the eye could see. The city was excited.

One of the things I was looking forward to during the Olympics was all the free concerts that were going on around town. I was able to catch a good number of great bands. The Arkells and Broken Social Scene at Ontario House, The Stanfields and Julie Doiron at Atlantic Canada House, Wilco at Livecity Yaletown, and Wintersleep at the Ozone in Richmond. The sheer musical talent that was in the city over the 2 weeks was outstanding, I just wish I was able to catch more of it.

I was also able to attend one event during the Olympics; a hockey game featuring Russia vs Latvia. It was a bit of a blowout by Russia what was expected. I got to go with Jason for free courtesy of our good friend Brian in Lethbridge.

In addition to the concerts and the events I tried to get out to many of the houses and pavilions after work. It was often tough to get into specific places as the lineups were just horrible. This is to be expected when over a million new people show up in your city.

Ultimately though the Olympics came down to experiencing the excitement of the games and the city with friends. The experience wouldn’t have been the same if it weren’t for my buddies.

It was also great to have visitors from out of town in the city. Joe and Kasie made the trip up from California, Sophie was in from London, Bryan from Lethbridge, and of course Mr Newfie Joe made it to town as well.

In the final few days of the Olympics I got more and more into watching the events, especially the hockey and the curling. Out of shear luck we were able to find a place to watch the semifinals game against Slovakia as we just happened to be watching the womens curling finals outside a fully booked bar that happened to have one table just come available.

Since finding a bar to watch the gold medal hockey game was near impossible, I invited friends over to my place for an impromptu brunch to watch the final game. It was an amazing finale to the Olympics, and a nail-biter of a game to watch. Eventually Canada pulled out the victory in overtime thus calming all of our nerves.

After the game we took to the street and marched down Granville Street to join the city wide party to cap off an amazing 2 weeks.

Despite my opposition to the games I did do my best to make the most of them. Now that the party is over, it will be interesting to see what happens with this city. Will it go the way of Barcelona and turn this city into an exciting, “fun” city? Or will we be the next Athens riddled in dept. Only time will tell. One thing is for certain, that 6 billion dollar price tag certainly won’t be going away anytime soon.

Can you believe the fine folks at Google drove through my hometown of Fauquier? You know that small little Kootenay town of 200 residence? Check it out:

Street View of Fauquier

As a bit of a last minute decision I took off for Maui midway through January. My brother Michael and his wife Angie had booked a trip out there, and after finding a flight for less than $600 I decided to jump at the opportunity. As you may know I started last year off in Hawaii as well. I spent an amazing 6 weeks there last year, so it was a no brainer to return. Every year should start in Hawaii!

Most of our time in Maui was spent on the beach, or in the water either surfing or paddle boarding. We would barbeque almost daily, and coconut ice cream or shave ice was our dessert. Life was definitely grand. On our last days we did the Hana Highway drive, followed by whale watching. It was a really great trip, and I am happy I got to spend it with Mike and Angie.

Here are a some photos from the trip Maui:

During my time on vacation in Maui my brother, his wife and I went up to Honolua Bay one day to checkout the surfing. The day we went we caught the tail end of some monster waves. Still got to see the occasional 20+ foot wave being surfed though. Also was some of the best surfing I have ever witnessed live before. Here are a few shots I took from the day.