More Vancouver

We hadn't stayed at the Empire Landmark since it was the Sheraton Landmark but decided to stay there this time since it was walking distance to the church Atwood was reading in and also to Le Crocodile and we do love the view from the revolving Cloud 9 restaurant. And they were offering a tremendous deal beginning Oct 1 which is just when we were going in.

The rooms start at $85 a night and that includes a buffet breakfast in Cloud 9 for two people each day. Great breakfast...bacon, saucage, ham, eggs, fabulous French toast plus all the usual pastries, cereal, toast, juice, coffee, tea. And parking is just $10 a night. We upgraded to a deluxe double for $105 a night which is a larger room with fridge, bar sink, and above the 20th floor (we were on the 28th). We ended up with a great view of the harbour so it was really worth it.



View from our room.



We were really lucky with the weather but that afternoon it was raining in the North Shore so got a great photo of a rainbow from the room.



View from Cloud 9 where we had a drink before dinner.



We came across this lively group walking back from the Atwood.

Vancouver houses

It was really sad to see this derelict house beside another historic Vancouver house that has been kept up. It doesn't seem right that whoever owns this can let it go to rack and ruin like this and be such an eyesore. At least there are some old houses preserved in the West End...this is the Vancouver we grew up in...not the highrises.

The art critic

Oscar loves doing new things and the other day he jumped up on the chair I do my painting in for the first time. He seemed to make quite a point of making it clear this was also his territory...as well as the rest of the house.

Dining in Vancouver

We had a super dinner with Richard and Claudia at Le Crocodile and lunch that day at the Watermark at Kits Beach. It's so great to have a restaurant at our favourite beach and looks like the Vancouver Parks are going to create a restaurant at our second favourite beach in Vancouver, English Bay. We saw a permit sign up for that. I think these beachside restaurants are a great idea but glad Vancouver Parks have been pretty conservative and careful about commercial businesses in the parks.


They did everything up right at Le Crocodile and we loved these little chocolates they give with the bill.



Richard and Claudia particularly enjoyed our table with a view into the kitchen since they're really into cooking these days.



View from the Watermark on Kits.



Jim couldn't resist having moules-frites for lunch...I had calamari.



A couple enjoying a picnic at Kits Beach.



Fabulous willows at Kits.

Vancouver

We just got back from a quick trip into Vancouver to see Margaret Atwood's book launch of "Year of the Flood" and to see Richard. We also got to see Derek at UBC and had lunch together at Steveston before catching the ferry. We had a wonderful seafood hotpot which was like a bouillbaise...very yummy and a perfect setting by the sea with all the fishboats.

Seem to be having problems uploading photos to blogger so will leave the post as it is.

The Atwood launch was great...very different with the hymns and readings from others as well as her. She has been all over doing these in churches and every one has been different. As she commented it's kind of like giving the local group a Mr. Potato Head kit...some basics and then they take off with it. She was witty and charming as usual. I'm amazed she is still standing with the grueling schedule she has at the moment. A brief bit of "question period" in the video.




St. Andrew Wesley United Church...beautiful building and a sell out crowd.



Atwood at the pulpit.



Atwood with some of the performers.

An antidote to the gecko...

Not that the gecko isn't rather cute in its own way....

Margaret Atwood: Year of the Flood

Atwood is having a lot of fun with her readings and related events. Here is the menu for a dinner in Ottawa and the food taken from the book.

Margaret Atwood: Year of the Flood

Year of the Flood

I'm enjoying Atwood's new novel and although it is a dystopia like Oryx and Crake it is quite funny and not so gloomy. She introduces a number of different species like "Rakunk". In today's TC this new species was featured so who knows what's out there. Atwood generally maintains that everything in her dystopian fictions exists already in some sense.


A Cat Ba leopard gecko found in Vietnam is among 163 new species last year but all are at risk of extinction due to climate change, the WWF said.

I heart New York

Carole is off to New York this week and I'm sure she and Don will love it...who can't love NYC? Wonderful city and super people. A few photos I took on our 2004 trip there.


A little bistro around where we were staying...could be Paris!



Frank Lloyd Wright's wonderful Guggenheim Museum...a piece of sculpture really.



They just happened to be having a free outdoor concert at Lincoln Center when I went there.



The Met Opera House...not quite sure why we have never gone when we've been in NYC. Perhaps a problem with tickets.



Subway art.



New York Public Library...this is the outdoor reading room where you can also take out books, play chess, etc.



Central Park is an absolute jewel.



Met Museum of Art...fabulous collection!

Auntie Kake Desserts and Baking

I picked up my first order from "Auntie Kake" and Jim and I loved everything...congratulations, Kate!

The order was very professionally presented in a wicker basket with the cookies in a tin. I'll be looking forward to trying lots of new things every week.



Kate has created a very cool blog especially for the business...take a look.

Warning: May lead to immediate need for home baked goodies.

Auntie Kake Desserts and Baking

And more Ted Harrison...

First artwork of 09

I noticed that Alesha Davies Fowlie (from whom I took my first art course called "Absolute Beginner Drawing) was offering a course called "Hands-On Acrylics" which looked interesting...blending and painting techniques. I almost never "blend" anything so I thought this might be fun and it is!

I've always painted on top of a background I've laid down but we put the background in after and it was quite interesting to keep playing around with it all.

Can't seem to get a really good photo but you get the idea.


"Tulips"
12 x 18 acrylic on canvas
Sept/09

Allee Willis' Museum of Kitsch

I thought this was a really fun site to browse through.

Allee Willis' Museum of Kitsch

Ted Harrison at The Legacy

Mary and I went to the Ted Harrison exhibit on the weekend...amazing stuff and I bought the book, of course. They even allowed photos so some today and the rest tomorrow.

A great new option for baked goods

Take a look at Kate's blog post and the introduction of her new business called "Auntie Kake". I'm so often disappointed in store bought bread. I liked Cobbs for a while but then that all seemed to taste the same after a while so we're back to Silver Hills which is the best of a bad lot. Wildfire even disappointed.

So, I'm really looking forward to trying out this new possibility!

See Kate read See Kate write See Kate run

Twitpix from Atwood

Atwood Twitpixed the cover for the German translation of "Year of the Flood"...very cool cover I think. With all this blogging, twittering, performances, and rave reviews I hope she will get the attention of the Nobel Prize for Literature people. Canada has never had a winner and Atwood is the absolute logical choice for her longtime, prolific and amazing contribution to Canadian literature.

Oscar and his mouse...

I don't think Oscar is a hunter and seems not very interested in playing with this catnip mouse but every once in a while he notices it and goes a bit wild for a moment or two.

The absolutely amazing Alice Munro

I just finished the first story called "Dimensions" in her new collection "Too Much Happiness"...just wonderful...how does she do it?

Oscar again...

Fern suggested that I perhaps try to paint Oscar...I certainly have lots of material to work with!

My two Mr. Irresistibles...

How Jim begins his day. The newspaper is not even read right away as the noise bothers Oscar. He will not be devastated if daily newspaper delivery ends.

Itty Bitty Book Review: "February"

"February" by Lisa Moore

An impressive second novel by a Newfoundlander. "Aligator" was her first and she did a short story collection called "Open" I believe. I'll have to see what those are like. The story revolves around the life of a woman whose husband dies along with 83 others on the Ocean Ranger oil rig on St. Valentine's Day in 1982 and is left with four young children to raise. You get quite a feeling for Newfoundland and the people. Pretty fine writing and someone to watch I think. Newfoundland is definitely a place I want to got before it changes completely.


An outport in Newfoundland...lots of painting subjects I think.