From the "let-it-snow" dept.

Day 4 with the white stuff. Quite fun. Shovelled the walk this morning, probably the first time in 7 years!

Here's an article I re-submitted to the Globe and Mail:

Winter in Vancouver

Judging from the television coverage, you would have thought it was the end of the world. The blanched faces of concerned reporters looking skyward live in horror. Big puffy clumps of snowflakes descending, splatting triumphantly on the upturned noses of these hardened journalists.

And then came the pictures: line-ups in stores to get one of the last shovels or remaining bags of salt. Summer tires spinning in a futile attempt to push 2000 kilos of truck-a-saurus up a two percent grade. Piles of white building up on the ground, at least a centimeter thick.

And then came the reporters again: delivering the worst news ever for the people of this Winter Olympic burg. More snow. And in case we didn't hear, a big red banner was flashing SNOW WARNING! Gather the children! Load up the wagons! Let's get outta Dodge!

Welcome to the end of the world. Welcome to winter in Vancouver.

This makes no sense. This is a city where, on a recent morning commute on the bus, I counted more snowboards than briefcases. This is a city where limos sport ski racks. This is the city that is hosting the winter Olympics, for heaven's sake.

Now, before I get slammed for my thoughts, a little background: I have lived in Vancouver for six years. And before that I have lived through brutal winters in Halifax, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. I am not new at this winter thing.

But, it appears, much of the lower mainland is.

Not that snow is a stranger to Vancouver. From practically anywhere in the city you can gaze north and see snow for much of the year. But that snow is in the mountains. And while it is handy - only 20 minutes away - it is also non-threatening. Like a polar bear in a zoo, we can gawk at it, but are safe in the knowledge that it won't come rumbling down the hill to spill our vanilla soy lattes.

I call it "winter on demand." You want snow? Just drive that way - and before your sushi gets warm you can be chucking snowballs towards the golf courses thousands of feet below.

In fairness, there are several things that make Vancouver a poor candidate for a winter city: no snow tires, no plows, and no 100km gusts across the prairie. In fact, no prairie!

Luckily, it rarely snows here. And it rarely freezes. These are two meteorological factors of which I was completely unaware of when I moved here in 1997.

ME: It's January, where is the snow?
Vancouverite: Snow? Up there!
ME: No, in the city?
Vancouverite: Bumpkin! Fancy a Chai tea?

But this year was different. Boy, was it different. It began just before New Years. Big blobs of snow begin to fall. And then they began to accumulate.

Then it turned cold.

Then it turned wet.

So in the space of a week, we experienced the full Canadian climate. Before the snow fell it was warm enough to golf. And with only some trees devoid of leaves, it looked fall-like. Then came winter. And now it is turning into a slushy spring. There still is lots of snow on the ground, but I swear on all that is Holy that there are cherry blossoms on a tree across the street.

But back to the television coverage. During the "WEEK OF DOOM" the media was in a lather. And that became a frenzy. Every newscast filled their first segment with team storm coverage. 5 stories or more - and charts, graphs and experts. Every story had a reporter reporting live out in the snow, The awful, terrible, dangerous, hideous, beautiful snow. One station had a reporter actually driving in the snowy rush hour live on camera. I actually thought that was pretty cool and was secretly hoping for a 360.

Every weather presenter was calm and collected, presenting the facts slowly, so as not to throw the entire population into a panic. But despite their relaxed demeanor, you could tell that inside they were screaming, "Oh my God! It's going to be -4. We're all going to DIE!!!! " I think they even shied away from showing the "Double Doppler" images for fear of possible riots and/or to prevent the hoarding of survival essentials like green tea ice cream.

I giggled.

It is so easy to make fun of the terror a bit of snow brings to the population of Vancouver. Especially having satellite delivered television. I can flip from the stories of white death locally to places experiencing real winter like Winnipeg. I stand in awe of a reporter standing out in the bitter Manitoba wind telling the audience that in the current conditions exposed skin will freeze in less than a, ho hum, minute. And the reporter is wearing neither a toque nor mitts. That's guts.

But there may be hope. There has been snow on the ground for over a week. If I gaze out my window to the park across the street, I can see snowmen, toboggans, dogs in coats and kids having a blast. There are smiles aplenty. And for a moment, Vancouver is just like the rest of Canada in the winter.

Except it's going to rain tonight and I'm going golfing tomorrow.

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Cheers!

2005 Day 5

Brief update:

Finished 8 days of work Monday. Moved into new place.

Tuesday: took rental car and drove to Pemberton.

Wed: Worked at CTV. Last scheduled day of work until something like the 13th!

Nice to have a break (I can do taxes, set up my room, etc), but as I intend to head to Belize in Feb, I'd rather be earning.

And speaking of that: I had found some cheap fares to Belize -- but they've since gone up. So I plan to book on payday - Friday.

Cheers!

from the "and so it begins" dept.

Jan 1, 2005.

Could it be 5 years ago that I was in Belize, as America fretted about Y2K? Wow. 5 years.

New Years eve was nice. I went to Lisa's place with Cheryl and Tom. We ate lots, drank little (me, even less, as I was DD).

Now I am back at the place where I am house sitting... two more nights and then I will finally be in my permanent home. Whew.

Got to work nightshift both Sat and Sun, which sucks. And an early (6am!) start on Monday. After that I have a grand total of 2 days of work booked in 2005.

I'm sure that will change.

If not -- it's going to be an interesting New Year. Especially with a trip to Belize only 4-6 weeks off...

Well, bed calls. More soon.

Cheers!

from the thank God it's almost over dept.

What a week. Start with the joy of Christmas. And then at least 125,000 people die.

So... do something nice. Send some money to one of the charitable organizations here:


http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/asia_earthquake/helping.html

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/photos/tsunami_sri_water_ap_6909127.jpg


See. Do.

Cheers!

Cheese and Crackers: Tsunami Video

Cheese and Crackers: Tsunami Video

Gone: In more ways than one

It's the week before Christmas and all through my life is change and upheaval but very little strife.

It's so busy that I must revert to the dastardly point form. It may not be the world's greatest communication tool, but it gets the point(s) across.

- I am pretty much moved out of the Commercial Drive home I've been sharing for 2 months. The majority of my belongings are at the new place, but I won't follow until the early new year because...

- Beginning tonight I am house-sitting for friends who live around Main & 2nd. The only drag is...

- My car is dead. So I had to rent a truck to move ($) and now I must rely on cab$ to get the last bits of stuff (computer, et al) over to Don & Linda's (aka Main & 2nd)... but that's fine because...

- It means I will actually get some peace and quiet and the opportunity to sleep in. Not that there is a lot of time to do that....

- I am doing turn around tonight, then early starts Thur and Fri. Off Sat. Nights Sun. Then 6am starts next week at CBC, plus one double shift. UGH! But that goes towards...

- Debt reduction and the Central American adventure in Feb... where you can buy...

- Flor de Cana rum - but !ALERT! I have spotted it in the Cambie Street Liquor Store. Meaning the nectar that is like drinking the tears of angels is now available locally -- no long flight to Belize required. And that is...

- About all the point form news. More to come once I am settled.

Cheers!

Tons to tell, but time is fleeting.

3 days on Galiano. Now back.

All good. More to come.

Cheers!

from the "There Goes the Retirement" dept.

It's official. Apple has opened the Canadian iTunes music store.

Now the question is: will the content be limited to Anne Murray, Crowbar and Rene Simard?

Time will tell!

Cheers!

from the "Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Dept.

I had a bad dream: George replaced Paul.


"My Fellow Canadians. We have put up with the threat of St. Pierre et Miquelon for long enough.

Effective immediately, we will take the islands over, and remove the threat of cheap French wine.

God Bless Me, and God Bless Amer... er, Canada."

from the "Why Am I Not Doing This Full Time" dept.

My item on tne American Museum of Radio and Electricity appears in the December 2nd edition of the Georgia Straight. But you can read it here first!

Cheers!

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The Golden Age of Radio (and Electricity) is still alive and well in Bellingham
By Doug Murray

With the U.S. dollar falling like a stone against the Canadian dollar, American destinations are once again becoming affordable. Boston, Boca Raton, Bellingham.

Granted, when most people think of heading down I-5 to Bellingham, they’re either focused on Seattle or have designs on cheap socks at the Bellis Fair Mall.

But there is a not-so-hidden gem of a destination, just off the interstate in Bellingham.

The American Museum of Radio and Electricity is located in the centre of downtown Bellingham. Surrounded by small shops and restaurants, it makes a great day trip from either Vancouver or Seattle.

Bellingham (pop. 70,000) is a lot livelier than you might think. Improv guru Ryan Styles has just opened the Upfront Theatre and the Boundary Bay Bistro has been brewing great things since 1995. And it’s just an hour from Vancouver.

The first thing you notice about Bellingham is the bohemian flavour of the restored downtown core. You see so much long hair and hemp clothing that, if not for the lack of pot odour, you’d swear you were on Commercial Drive.

But the museum stands alone. In fact, it stands out.

The museum seems to take up a full city block. Out front, the art deco design announces the museum and large windows feature examples of the treasures that lie within.

I felt like I was going back to another time from the moment I angle-parked outside and dropped a quarter into the meter for a full hour of parking.

Inside, the history of both radio and electricity are presented as a storyline. As you walk through the museum, you see four centuries of really cool science.

The two driving forces behind the museum share not only a love of radio and electricity – they share the same first name.

Jonathan Winter and John Jenkins are the museum’s co-curators. Both have been fascinated with radio and electricity since they were kids.

The museum got its start when Winter settled in Bellingham to put down some roots. He decided to take his personal collection of vintage radios public and, in the mid-90s, opened the small Bellingham Antique Radio Museum.

John Jenkins was born Bellingham. He spent many years in the computer field, before retiring from Microsoft in 2001.

Like Jonathan, he spent his childhood playing with radios – ripping them apart and putting them together. He began to collect radios and also pieces from the early days of electricity – another subject that fascinated him.

It wasn’t until about ten years ago when Jenkins’ his mother told him a shocking secret – there was a small radio museum in Bellingham. He was amazed – how could there be one without his knowledge? He drove from his home in Seattle to Bellingham and met Jonathan.

“We realized that by joining forces with the two collections we could create a world class museum,” Jenkins says.

Bellingham may seem an odd choice for this kind of museum, but to them it made perfect sense. Winter still lives there and Jenkins wanted to give something back to the community he was raised in.

In this case, size does not matter. “It could be a major attraction in any major city in the world, the collection is certainly worthy of that,” Jenkins explains.

True – being located on I-5 is a good place to be: Vancouver just up the road, Seattle just down it. And two blocks away, the Whatcom Museum gets 100,000 visitors a year. “So there are plenty of visitors,” Jenkins says.

Walking into the 23,000 sq. ft. facility, you’re struck by just how big the collection is.

It is a unique museum, says Jenkins. “The breadth and depth of the collection – there really isn’t anywhere that tells the complete story of the development of radio and electricity from the beginning.”

Hundreds of vintage radios on display, as well as hundreds of artifacts from the early scientific exploration of electricity. Many of the pieces can only be seen elsewhere at places like the Smithsonian. Some are one-of-a-kind.

The Dawn of the Electrical Age features rare items from the 17th and 18th centuries. Much of the equipment comes from the study of electricity, and they’ve recreated the kind of lab that Ben Franklin might have used when he conducted his famous kite experiment.

Over in the Marconi wireless room the story of the Titanic is told. Built around an original Marconi wireless set, the display is an exact replica of the Titanic’s radio room.
It’s eerie to hear a description of the Titanic’s last moments as it clipped an iceberg and sank into the icy North Atlantic. Don’t worry, Celine doesn’t sing!

If design is your thing, the collection of radios from the last century will have you spellbound. Some of the radios don’t even look like radios – they’re cleverly disguised as statues and vases.

Turn the corner and suddenly you’re sitting in a 1930s living room, staring at the radio and visualizing the adventures of the Lone Ranger.

The museum takes the experience one step further. They have a special system of internal broadcasting that lets them feed six different stations through the electrical wires. Each station broadcasts different vintage content – so when visitors twirl the tuning knob on the big radio, they surf though the stations and programs just like in the old days.

Education is a priority at the museum. “One of the things we’re trying to do is expose the process of discovery,” Jenkins tells me. “One of the ways of getting kids interested in science is to help them understand that inventions don’t just happen in a single “Eureka!” moment. It’s a lot of trial and error and a lot of hard work. “

The hands-on approach means that kids – and adults – can learn by doing.

Winter points out some of what he calls the “Holy Grails” of the collection: one-of-a-kind and extremely rare pieces – like the Collins Wireless Telephone.

Built in 1909, it was billed as the first device to transmit sounds without wires. After the invention of the telegraph and the telephone, radio was touted as the next big thing and investors were looking to get in on the ground floor. Collins went on the road with his device, saying it was the future of communication.

In demonstrations, the wireless telephone worked wonders. Conversations seemed to be taking place across great distances. In reality, the other party was 6 inches away in the next room. The wireless telephone was just a scam used to sucker investors.

Another bizarre item is the Theremin. It’s the world’s first electronic musical instrument, invented in 1919. It looks like a preachers pulpit with two antennas sticking out. One controls pitch, the other volume.

To play it, you wave your hand over the antennas – this changes the pitch and volume. A lot of skill is needed to be able to play it correctly, otherwise the beautiful music that it produces sounds more like a handheld metal detector. Or Kraftwerk.

The museum is one of the few places that actually allow visitors to play the instrument.

In January, the museum will become a radio station when WAMR-FM signs on, featuring vintage newscasts, plays and music along with some original programming. The station will also stream to the world via the internet.

Not bad for what started as a little collection in a small city off the interstate – and much more interesting than buying socks at Target.

[ IF YOU GO INFO ]

American Museum of Radio and Electricity
1312 Bay Street
Bellingham, Washington 98225
360-738-3886

Take I-5 south to exit 253, Lakeway Drive. Then follow the signs.

Hours: Wednesday – Saturday 11am – 4pm and by appointment.
Admission: US$4, children $2.

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