Vancouver. I went to Spanish Banks today and Jericho Beach, walked around the Naval Museum. And the Granville Island Market was fun. We went to Mary Anne's and saw her wonderful garden with roses, rhododendruns out of bloom, hyacinths. But mainly the raspenberries and boysenberries. I am really struck at how well things grow in Vancouver and how the vines crawl all the way to the top of some of the biggest buildings. Peas. Lavender. Rosemary. Mint. Big leaf hostas (sp?). It's the growingest place! Now I'm hanging around Maple Ridge at a guys place who has a very successful wireless industrial control company. I'm just starting to get over currency exchange shock. I paid $40 today for three rolls of 60 minute Fuji DV tape. I'm paying with a credit card and trusting the banks will get it right. I saw some big silver building with a big Sony sign on it at Burnet and Grandview? What's this? May have been off United Way. I was lost at the time (I see a GPS in my future). Is this Vancouver's answer to the Metreon? Tomorrow on to Kamloops and other places, then back to Vancouver for more adventures. All the folks I'm visiting have "at home" so it's easy to plug this little Viao in to their networks. I'm taking lot's of DV video and stills with my little Sony PC-100. Everywhere we go folks are watching tapes of Rick Mercer. I made my own spoof tape with some Canadian folks. Tonight I also watched a documentary on the Mennonites and their trials in Russia and how they migrated to Canada and the US. It was a great documentary and gives me much more appreciation for the Mennonites.

I don't remember the name of the place where we ate in Steveston BC, it was right by the fishing boat docks and we ate on the second level. There was a great view from there. That's me holding open the front door in the picture as we enter the Steveston BC seafood restaurant. Some pictures of our BC trip: www.wholetech.com/apixbc/Page.html and on WholeTech

The Government of Canada http://canada.gc.ca/ http://www.canada.com/ Operated by CanWest, includes thirty Sotham newspapers, The CanWest global TV stations, and other online newspapers, carclick.com and careerclick.com travel, autos, careers, finance, free e-mail, news, shopping, sports, a business and people directory http://canada411.sympatico.ca/ Find a Person Trouver une personne Find a Business Trouver une entreprise http://www.newswire.ca/ Canada NewsWire Canada's clearing house of press releases. http://ca.yahoo.com/ http://ca-en.altavista.com/ http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/index-e.html The National Library of Canada http://www.canadacouncil.ca/ The Canada Council (for the arts) http://parkscanada.pch.gc.ca/ Parks Canada http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.html Citizenship and Immigration http://www.archives.ca/08/08_e.html National Archives of Canada http://www.canadapost.ca/segment-e.asp Canada Post http://www.cbc.ca/ the CBC - radio and TV including streaming content http://www.viarail.ca/ Via Rail http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ca.html World Factbook - What the CIA knows about Canada http://national.gallery.ca/ National Gallery of Canada http://www.tse.com/ The TSE - Toronto Stock Exchange http://www.cdnx.com/home.htm The Canadian Venture Exchange, the junior stock exchange, a merger of the VSE and the Alberta Stock Exchange and now owned by the TSE http://www.osm.ca/en/acceuil.asp Montreal Symphony Orchestra http://www.vanopera.bc.ca/ Vancouver Opera http://www.stratfordfestival.ca/2002/index.cfm The Stratford (ontario) Festival of plays http://www.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca/ The Vancouver Public Library http://www.umista.org/ The U'mista Cultural Society In earlier days, people were sometimes taken by raiding parties.J When they returned to their homes, either through payment of ransom or by retaliatory raid, they were said to have "u'mista".J The return of our treasures from distant museums is a form of u'mista. The U'mista Cultural Society was incorporated under the British Columbia Societies Act on March 22, 1974.J Since that time, it has worked towards fulfilling the mandate to ensure the survival of all aspects of cultural heritage of the Kwakwaka'wakw. http://rbcm1.rbcm.gov.bc.ca/ Royal BC Museum http://www.eciad.bc.ca/eciadMain/ Emily Carr Institute of Art+Design

A very cool, Canadian badminton site. Francois really does his homework when it comes to links to other sites. They all work! http://www.southsidebadminton.com/

http://www.laughlab.co.uk/home.html This study shows that Canadians are least likely to think jokes funny of all nationalities. Germans are easiest to tickle, America isn't far behind Germany.

We're bombing the Canadians! http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=1&cid=578&u=/nm/20020418/ts_nm/afghan_canada_bombing_dc_7 OTTAWA (Reuters) - Four Canadian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan (news - web sites) Thursday when a U.S. jet mistakenly fired on themduring a training exercise, and Ottawa said it was looking foranswers on how the accident took place. Defense Minister Art Eggleton told Reuters he was shocked by the incident in which a U.S. F-16 warplane dropped a500-pound laser-guided bomb on the soldiers, inflicting Canada's first casualties in a major combat operation since the 1950-53 Korean War. To make amends the president should crawl on his hands and knees to Ottawa, beg forgiveness and offer to drop the tax on Canadian lumber.

Yikes! :-(

*sigh* war is Hell and friendly fire happens. As long as we have to wage war this will happen. Randomly.

http://www.roadsideattractions.ca/hockey.jpg The world's largest hockey stick.

Also, largest cross country skis. Makes you want to get up to Canada.

It does?

Well maybe not just those alone. But this might. (world's largest bathtub in Nanaimo, BC)

You really go for all that kitsch, don't you Terry?!

Ha! Yep.

The bathtub is in reference to the world famous bathtub race from Nanaimo to Vancouver BC. It is held every July and brings racers from all around the world. The race is 30 miles across the Strait of Georgia and depending on the weather, can be quite dangerous. There is always a flotilla of boats to rescue those in need. On arrival in Vancouver, the racer must run about 20 yards up the beach and ring a ships bell. It's ususally quite funny because after being cramped up in their bathtub are very unsteady on their feet.