In the news

No, they aren't members of Vancouver's finest. They are hired by the transit system to catch fare-skippers and to maintain security. Nonetheless they are armed. The only non-regular force in Canada to do so.

Lately the transit security police are in the news because in addition to the regualar fire-arms they are equipped with the infamous "taser". The local media had dscovered that the transit police had on more than one occasion used the taser on non-violent but fleeting non-fare payers.

How much is the fare? It is $2.50 for one zone. Imagine being tased for $2.50 which is about the price of a latte at Starbucks.

Wall Centre

This is one of the few buildings in downtown Vancouver laying claim to the tallest building title. The reason for the muddle is the fact that the city is not on level ground. Thus a shorter building on a higher elevation would appear taller than its taller neighbour situated at the bottom of the slope.

Sign of Spring ...more

"In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love"

...Tennyson

The wedding industry is well aware of this and each Spring they hold Bridal fairs in the major malls. Just happened to stumble across this one.

Sign of Spring

Not all signs of Spring are by Mother Nature. Besides chirping birds, tulips, daffodils, cherry blossoms, camellias, rhododendrons.... There are the vintage cars whose owners are anxious to show public the amount of care they put in during the winter months. This was at the Superstore store front.

At the pump

This is the price for regular self-serve gasoline today and 13 days ago...


it was 5 cents per litre lower. May be it is not a bad idea to start taking photos of the posted price and track the increases. What to do about this sky is the limit type of increase? How about just park the car and throw away the keys? The exercise will not only do the body good but help to reduce one's carbon footprint. A win-win situation, ne c'est pas?

Before the rush

Everything seems so neat and orderly before the shoppers arrive. Very few of us ever give any thought to the janitorial staff who worked through the night cleaning up after us. What about those who restock the shelves during the grave yard shift?

Grand opening

Today clothing retailer H&M's Lougheed Town Centre store opens for business. I happened to go by there and noticed this lineup. It wasn't long but like other passersby we were surprised there was a lineup to start off with.

An enlarged section showing the lucky winner!

Skytrain

The provincial Transportation Minister, Kevin Falcon, recent gave the green light for the construction of the long planned Evergreen Line into the region's northeast sector. This will be the Lower Mainland's fourth rapid transit line. It'll use the same technology as the two exiting and operating line, Expo and Millennium. The currently under-construction Canada Line is incompatible with these two.

These are the two types of the current operating trains. The gap between the two designs and technology is about 16 years. It'll be interesting to see how integrated the Evergreen Line will be with the Millennium Line. To go downtown will the Evergreen run along the Millennium tracks with one transfer or will the riders force to make an extra transfer?

Earth Day

Today is Earth Day I'll direct you to a couple of sites with better than good content on the subject. One is another blog. Here is the other one:

Downtown Eastside

This pawn shop's neon sign has become a landmark for the area. Is there anything easier to remember than the large 77?

Sun Run 2008

The announced participants for this year's Sun Run is 59,000 which is almost an increase of 5,000 from the year before.


A good deal of the increase and popularity is due to participants such as this one whose shirt, the back, reveals he is a member of ...


the corporate challenge teams.


Before the run can begin all participants, runners and walkers, must tie their chips to their shoes in order to have their time recorded.






The temperature is unseasonal cold. This runner is trying to keep his hands warm.







































Before the big run there was the min-run for the younger set.

Whacky weather

This has been a strange year, weather wise. Here we are more than half-way through April and it snowed. The snow near the end of March was late in the season and unexpected. After all this is Vancouver it seldom snows in winter let alone spring.

This photo was taken at 6 this morning. Thought better do it before it melts.

Shaw Theatre

Took the SFU B-Line from the Burrard Skytrain Station the other day. The route runs along Hastings and it happened to stop in front of the old Shaw movie theatre. It was builtin the early 70's by the Hong Kong movie studio by the same name. Yes, it was the Bruce Lee era also. For the rest of the decade it was the hub of activity for the Chinese movie goers. Then it went into a rapid decline as the population shifted. It now sits vacant and boarded up.

In a basket

Took the car to my mechanic the other day and under the coffee table was this kitten. it is just so cute that I could resist in snapping a picture.

How long ago...?

Don't you just love signs like this? It is so useless that it is almost the same as not posting one. I mean when did this 10 minutes started? How much longer before whoever put it up will return? 10 minutes or 30 seconds?

Cherry blossoms

This cherry wave is located on Rosser and Buchanan, Burnaby. It is part of the residential/commercial complex where the old Lougheed Hotel used to be.