Two more photos from Christmas day

Vancouver Poetry Slam

Monday night, we went to the Vancouver Poetry Slam at Cafe Deux Soleil, Commercial Drive, there is another one every Tuesday at Main Street. You don't know poetry slam? It's a kind of fun competition in writing and rhetoric skills, where each author and performer has 3 minutes (sometimes 5 minutes) to present a self-written poem or story, only with help of his body - including dancing, singing, beatboxing but no guitar, no powerpoint or anything else. It seems rather new, but you might remember that already ancient Greek respected rhetoric competitions as the highest form of competition.

Poetry Slams take place in many big cities all over the world, so Hamburg had some pretty good ones, I still remember the great nights at Fools Garden and later, Molotov, in Zurich there is one at Xtra once a month, though the origin is in Northern America. And here we went, to see the original thing, this Monday feat. Brandan MacLeod (who is a champion for good reason, to tell you already).













Performer at open mic

The night started with the "open mic" where everybody had the chance to perform. To our surprise, suddenly, the quite girl at our table stood up and walked on stage to perform a great poem on cyberspace and all its issues. Afterwards, some already well-known local poets entered the stage to compete in front of a jury of five randomly selected guests. Somebody already suggested us to be judges, but for good luck, this got forgotten. In contrast to Germany, not the poets were booed here but the judges! So, you need good nerves to be a judge... What does this tell about the country? Anyway...

After the break, the already mentioned Brandan MacLeod presented some longer stories of his Christmas time, before the five best poets went into a second round, deciding who will win the green bath-tube-toy-special-price and who will win the 35$. To quote the master of ceremony: "Poetry is the lowest paid art in Canada. Even mimes get more although they don't have anything to say."

To give you an impression of the night, you might watch some of the following YouTube videos, which show two of the regular local poets, we also saw that evening. These videos are actually not from the same night, but same poets and same location.


Francis


Ms Spelt

Quak Quak Quak
If you don't speak Duck,
you're fucked
Quak Quak Quak

Jingle Bells Rock

We went to Jingle Bells Rock before Christmas, seeing The Dears, Tokyo Police Club and Metric with Emily Haines live (unfortunately, we had missed the first band, Sebastian Grainger and...). In contrast to our previous concert visit in an underground venue, this official event took place in a run-down theatre with seating though no heating. Most people stood up to the music later, but still, it was somehow a strange atmosphere. Perhaps, because it was so bitterly cold. At least, the bands made it easy to move to.

The seven, around our age old, members of The Dears presented pretty good craftmanship with a cude keyboarder and a great Murray Lightburn as singer/gitarist.















Afterwards the much younger and hip Tokyo Police Club rocked the younger part of the crowd with their 2-minutes songs. Sometimes, we had problems distinguishing their songs but who cares - they are all good.














Last not least, Metric entered the stage with their "hearts beating like a hammer" and I wondered who that was. How was that possible, I didn't recognize their lead singer and keyboarder (did I mention that I love keyboards?) Emily Haines who is also well-known for her solo projects. Instead, I bet that it was an 80s band, so 80s-like they sounded. But no, it was Canada's famous Indie band Metric! Just bought their latest record a day after.














(Source of the photos: Flickr)

Xmas lounges

Walking through our neighbourhood, I already had noticed the specific style of apartment buildings, all with very representative lounges. Especially now at Christmas time, they are worth a look, so follow me through a short virtual walk through Kits.






In contrast, the last picture doesn't show an apartment lounge but an abandoned shopping trolley as it is used by the many thousand homeless, collecting deposit and other recycable garbage. Maybe, he or she couldn't get it through the raising snow anymore, nobody knows.

The whitest Christmas

We are not snowed in, we have power, we have enough food! The only thing missing are a few christmas presents and cards that still did not make it to our place :-( The road conditions require at least winter tires if not a 4-wheel drive and even Canada post seems to be overextended by 30 cm of snow.

We love the snow and look forward to the next snowfall anounced. Isn't it great to wake up at night and look out, hoping more than anything to see snow falling? Hearing the sound of nothing outside is amazing. The snow is like a blanket that takes away all sounds. It makes you feel like you are 10 again and want to go outside to sled down the hills for hours until you can't feel your hands and feet and then come home to a huge pot of hot chocolate.


View towards downtown from West 2nd Avenue


Robert's Creek cohousing

German accent

I'm afraid, I have to work on my accent. This morning, I ordered a Coffee Latte and was getting a Toffee Latte... Where is your accent from?

sub-zero conditions

The snow and the sunshine drew me outside and I went to UBC to pick up Olaf. We went down to the Tower Beach about 200 meteres from campus. You can see Vancouver at the right, West Vancouver, Bowen Island and even Vancouver Island. Its nice with snow but I can't wait to visit the beach again in summer :-)

Tower beach at UBC, just before sunset


Bowen Island


in the rear: Vancouver Island

The sub-zero condition will probably last for up to 10 days and there might be more snow tomorrow. I think chances for white christmas are increasing.

13% chance of White Christmas

We have had a beautiful day of snow this 3. advent. It started snowing last night, really nice light snowflakes and in the morning there was nearly 10 cm of snow. Some of it melted away during the day but still roofs and trees are covered. The weather forcast is temperature below zero for the next days so there's a chance the snow will stay a bit longer.


Kits Beach before the snow. It only snowed in the mountains until last night.


The beach covered with snow this afternoon.


Stylish dressed Kitsilano dogs at the beach.

One month Vancouverianer – Feedback welcome

We have been blogging about our life in Vancouver for a month now and we recieved very encouriging feedback from a lot of you! THANKS
We have had or still have a technical problem with the comments. Somehow a few people were able to comment but most of you weren't. Please keep trying and if you have any idea what the problem could be tell us. We would be happy to start discussions with you or you can just keep telling us how great the blog is :-)

click on the image und you get an enlarged version!

Yes, this is the view from our roof on a bright perfect day like today was. I had to climb up the neighbours roof though to get the best view. Luckily the weren't home otherwise I might have had a chance to finally meet them, since we have only seen light but no people there.

I went on a bike trip east today and had to stop several times to take photos between the building because the view on downtown and the mountains (with a bit of snow) was so impressive.

Tuesday is Bagel Day (and Heroes Day)

Every Tuesday I go to get one dozen of freshly baked Bagels from Siegel Bagels, probably the Best Bagel place in town. They are only $7.50 on Tuesdays.
A Bagel is a ring of bread first boiled in water and then baked. At Siegel Bagel you can get them topped with sesame seeds, poppy seeds or caraway - with whole wheat flour, blueberrys inside or even pumpernickel bread just to name a few varieties.
I was first introduced to Bagels by my host family in rural Maryville, Missouri in 1991. They were originally from Long Island close to New York which is where the Bagel was brought to by the Jewish immigrants and is until today the most important Bagel City in the world.
P.S. Tuesday is also the day we can watch the full new episode of "Heroes" on the Net!

Advent season in Vancouver

Freshly shopped christmas tree on the way home


What looks like christmas decoration is really a gas station (Petro Canada)


West 4th Avenue an sunset

Globalization of interior design

Since last weekend, we now live in an IKEA "Musterwohnung". They even have so-called starter packs that include EVERYTHING you need in your kitchen. It's a pity, they don't have a joint-venture with H&M yet, otherwise I had all I need in one shop...


Well, it's the easiest way to get all you need in just one day. Yes, I'm aware that it is another step towards globalization of culture, but we still plan to add some unique Canadian items over the next months. It's like with fashion - you buy your basic clothes from H&M and add some unique pieces from second hand shops, your grandfather or Armani to create the illusion of individuality.

Oh, and if you wish to go for some original North American culture - there is still

Starbucks

around the corner...

arts and crafts

Last sunday was filled with a lot of arts and crafts. First we (3 to 5 other friends and I) went to the "One of a kind" christmas show at BC Place stadium (football stadium and future host of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies) where you can look at/buy clothes, jewellery and other little crafty things from small businesses. It was not "weihnachtlich" at all in a european way but still quite nice, although I didn't buy much.

After that we went out into the sunny november day to the Eastside Culture Crawl, an annual 3-day visual arts festival in East Vancouver. Over 1000 Artists open their studions for the public and you can look at their art and also buy stuff. That was really nice any inspiring.

globalization of schoggi

Noch haben wir hier keine Entzugserscheinungen bezüglich Schweizer Schoggi oder anderen Leckereien. Im Gegenteil. Wir versuchen möglichst keine importierten Waren zu kaufen, sondern die Lokalen Spezialitäten zu probieren und zu fördern. Wenn wir wollten könnten wir hier allerdings Deutsche und Schweizer Produkte ohne Ende kaufen. Das fängt bei Schweizer Käse an und hört bei deutschen Hausschuhen (Birkenstock etc.) auf, es gibt Nutella, Ovomaltine, Lavazza Espresso etc. Allerdigs habe ich gehört dass einige der angeblich europäischen Leckereien mit Vorsicht zu geniessen seien, da einige nicht importiert sondern in Kanada/USA hergestellt werden. Das heisst sie können einige bedenkliche Zutaten enthalten, die in der EU nicht verwendet werden. Zum Beispiel enthalten "made in Canada/USA" Produkte von Lindt und Ferrero oftmals Palmöl, waehrend die europöischen Versionen weniger gesundheitsschädliche Öle verwenden. Und das extrem bedenkliche "High Fructose Coryn Syrup" (HFCS) ist in Nordamerika (insbesondere USA aber auch in Kanada) in vielen Produkten vorzufinden. Guten Appetit!


Display bei London Drug Store, könnte auch irgendwo bei
Denner sein oder?

New appartment

This is how our new appartment looks like now. We have a littel balcony and a terrace and its really light as you can see. Now we have twelve days left to prepare whatever is necessary so we can actually live there! Donations are welcome!!!

running at the beach

No, I am definitely NOT going to practise for the Vancouver Marathon (May 3rd 2009). I just thought since I live right at the beach with great running possibilities and other joggers running by our house the whole day its about time to start too. I bought professional running shoes and after two or three times overthinking this morning I went for the first run at the Kits Beach Park and Vanier Park. Its a beautiful scenery along the beach and the downtown skyline. Of course I am out of shape and the other runners passed me constantly. Still it felt good and I kept going and going for over half an hour. If I get over my "Schweinehund" again, this might be the beginning of a new aera!


Map: greatervancouverparks.com

the little differences

" It's the little differences. I mean they got the same shit over there that they got here, but it's just, just there it's a little different." (Vincent Vega, Pulp Fiction)

Example:
Es gibt hier drüben einfach keine "durchschnupfsicheren" (© Tempo) Taschentücher...

My first Starbucks cup

If you ever wondered why anybody should buy one of these ugly Starbuck coffee cups - because it is the only coffee place around, many people go there everyday and if you always take a plastic cup, it's making it even worse. By bringing your own Starbucks cup for a daily refill, you make not only Starbucks but even the environment happy. Or at least your conscience.

Today is the first really bright sunny day since I got here almost a week ago. Its cold and windy but really nice. So I went to the beach for a walk:


Our neighbourhood, two blocks from the beach


Group of jogging mothers at Kitsilano Beach (10:30 am)


Downtown Skyline seen from Point Grey

Vancouver Art Gallery: WACK!! I Jeff Walls I Rapture & Ruin I Kai Althoff

Tuesday was Memorial Day in Canada and after a rich breakfast at Café Zen and walking in the rain, we decided to spend the rest of the day in the Vancouver Art Gallery. Alternatively, we could have participated in the celebrations of the Memorial Day, but most participants were wearing uniforms and I didn't bring my grandfather's POW coat. Well, he always has been a big fan of the US Army who saved his live. So, we got into Vancouver Art Gallery, where the collector made me completely dizzy by flattering how cool my Swiss driving licence was. Well, I doubt that, but anyway...

The first two floors showed WACK!, an exhibition on feminism and arts in the 70s, including pieces of art from painting, installations and performances. Some cool stuff, e.g., many artists playing with her identity like Lynn Hershman, who had constructed the fictional persona of Roberta ("Roberta's Construction") and lived the life of Roberta. After some copycats had created their own Robertas, various Robertas inhabited the US.















On the third floor, some pieces of landscape visualization, e.g., by Vancouver artists Emily Carr, were exhibited. One room showed the mountain as a symbol (see the photo on the left), another the topic of the ruin in landscape art. Which can be seen in the German Bad Muskau Park as well, by the way.

Also on the third floor. some of Jeff Wall's lightboxes were shown. If you're into photography, you really should have a look at his website!














Photo: Jeff Walls

On the last floor, you could smell the new carpet, the artist - or just a crazy hippie in self-made woven clothes - drew attention, and vitrines lured the uncautious visitor. My favourite artist Kai Althoff from Düsseldorf, ok, Cologne..., displayed the dark memories of childhood, rust dripping from the edges of excotic puppets, and his latest working room atelier installation from Berlin. If you have any chance to see him, go!

In summary, I didn't see any coherence in the different exhibitions, but each one was interesting or even inspiring. See you again soon - the next exhibition will be about arts and computer games!

Ankommen in Vancouver

Dagmar und ich sind gut in Vancouver angekommen und nun dabei, uns hier einzuleben. Noch fühlt es sich wie Urlaub an – wahrscheinlich werden wir erst um Weihnachten herum realisieren, dass wir vorerst hier leben. Auf jeden Fall sind wir gut gestartet und es gefällt uns sehr. Unsere jetzige Wohnung ist sehr schön und wir haben eine noch schönere Wohnung für die Zeit danach gefunden. Beide Wohnungen befinden sich in Kitsilano, einem Stadtteil zwischen Downtown und Universität, mit Strand und bekannt als frühere Hippie-Hochburg – für Stadtplaner: heute ist Kits stark gentrifiziert und hat eine ähnliche hohe Dichte an ultahippen Babyshops, Yogakursen, Joggern, Latte-Macchiato-Junkies und dekorativen Hunden in Wolldecke wie Zürich, Berlin Prenzlauer Berg oder Hamburg Eppendorf. Aber schön ist's trotzdem! ;-)

An neuen Modetrends ist uns als erstes aufgefallen, dass fast alle jungen Frauen Gummistiefel in bunten Farben tragen. Sieht nicht nur gut aus, sondern scheint mir eine Notwendigkeit zu sein, da der Dauerregen selbst meine Wanderschuhe durchweicht hat. Wir haben auch schon einige nette Leute getroffen, wobei es uns zugute kommt, dass wir schon drei Vancouverites kennen und darüber hinaus zwei Freundinnen aus Hamburg auch seit August hier sind. Auch die Kanadier auf der Strasse oder im Bus sind sehr offen und nett, es herrscht eine lockere und entspannte Atmosphäre.


Downtown Vancouver an einem verregneten "Rememberance Day"


Pancakes all you can eat im Café Zen


Kitsilano Beach und die Bucht von Vancouver