It’s hard living in Vancouver and not having an issue with Yaletown.  We’ve blogged about some of the great stuff there like Goldfish, The Hamilton Street Grill, Phat and Elfsar Comics, but parking is a bitch and at night the area turns into the sort of meat market that few people would feel beautiful enough feel as if they fit into.

Again though there’s still some great stuff, including a whole host of cool bakeries, coffee shops and of course the best comic book store in the city in Elfsar.  (Full disclosure of vested interests I work on a very part time basis at Elfsar.  They however are not paying me for the mention, and I was a regular customer for a year before being hired).  If you’ve not really checked Yaletown recently they’re having the latest in a series of summer block parties tomorrow (Friday August 8th) and the next day (Saturday August 9th) [ytbia].

The Yaletown Business Improvement Association’s website hasn’t yet really gone into detail about what’s going on, not having updated their site since June apparently, but a number of the store, banks and resturants will be having special sales.  I had to go from a Facebook posting from Elfsar for any information on what other business were doing and that’s below the jump.

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After my complainy comment in Jeffery’s earlier post that nobody had news on what’s happening downtown, details are starting to come together. But first, some downtown geography secrets - if you’re familiar with Richards and Pender, you know the park across from the Holy Rosary Cathedral? OK, how about, one block East of The Railway Club? Weird park, with concrete structures with locked doors? Right, well, that a substation in Vancouver’s downtown power system. Rumour, and possibly hyperbole, has it that the structure is 8 stories deep. And, according to the news, one of the power transformers contained therein went blooey. That’s science talk for “kerpow.” This in turn saw smoke escape up through manholes, vents, and envelope a couple of nearby buildings - which, considering the toxic nature of transformers, seems like a design flaw.

The BC Hydro website is saying the outage is due to a switch that failed at 9AM this morning. Which seems a little underwhelming an answer, given the, you know, smoke. For a look at the area affected, check out BC Hydro’s outage map.

As, as you’d imagine, they’re not something you can replace with a wrench - as such, it appears downtown may be without power tomorrow as well.

No word yet on if this affects the SeaBus service (which is right on the edge of the outage) or the SkyTrain (which runs underneath the affect area.) If anybody can confirm that they’re fine or not, maybe comment on the matter.

And all this comes one day after Burnaby and a chunk of East Vancouver lost power for 20 minutes yesterday (I was sitting in Metrotown Silvercity - last ten minutes of Hancock. Can you believe that?)

[UPDATE]
- Apparently SeaBus and Skytrain are running. The West Coast Express is operating too.
- Officials are asking motorists to stay out of downtown. With so many lights out, it’s just causing havok - no need to get in the middle of it.
- The Vancouver Sun’s newsroom was affected, so… they’re off the hook! For now…

While the selection of Summer movies is starting to pick up, the weather is promising to be most excellent - so, given the choice between air conditioned cold in the dark for $12 and cool sunset for free, which would you pick? Oh, did I mention option B has live music?

Given the continued, ritual scarification of the city - better known as the building of the new Canada line - Yaletown will not be holding it’s annual outdoor car show this year (a terrible blow, as that’s when Elfsar Comics has its annual sale - hopefully some good news on that later.)

(photo by Urban Mixer)

Instead, they will be holding Hot Fridays, which are a series of live music performances on a closed off street until late August. Tomorrow… sorry, today, July 11th, DJ Leanne and friends will be spinning and winning on the 1000 block of Mainland (that’s by the Subway, at Nelson, I think.) Don’t sweat it, if you miss out this week, Leanne is up for the following two Fridays as well. No word on the bands playing in the weeks following.

And the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is performing at Deer Lake Park on Sunday - I don’t know that much more need be said. People in evening wear playing a selection of very old, kind of old, and movie soundtrack music (in this case, West Side Story - do come and rumble, won’t you?) In a lovely park, for free - so, bring a blanket and nom noms, and enjoy.

Refrain from using the toaster AND the microwave tomorrow at the same time, not only will you save power but you’ll avoid tripping a breaker (as it turns out).

As a part of our Province’s pledge to 30 Days of Sustainability, Wednesday May 16th has been dedicated to “Turn it Off”.

…we’re asking British Columbians to join global leaders like Paris and Sydney in using designated “lights out” times as a way of bringing attention to energy use. Let’s show the world that British Columbians stand behind our commitment to sustainability - by turning off our lights and other electrical devices on the evening of Wednesday, May 16th. [30Days]

According to the Now Newspaper, “…in addition to individual efforts, landmarks such as the legislature, Lion’s Gate Bridge and the PNE will have their lights off and restaurants around the Lower Mainland will hold candlelight dinners to conserve energy.”

I can just see it now, people freaking out because lights are out on the Lions Gate - ya know I bet the park would be an interesting place in nothing but darkness… but I digress.

The momentum seems to be building though, including a Facebook group started by Rob Cottingham in support of the eco-friendly day which is bursting at the seems with over 700 new members.

Do your part, fire up the BBQ and eat on the patio with lanterns a’ blaring. Unless of course you live in a building like mine and you’re not allowed to grill outside, then… how about some making sushi by candlelight?

Click here for more info on participating municipalities, businesses and restaurants and get ready to unplug.

I came across a random blog entry where the writer hypothesized with a friend what may happen tomorrow, which is 06-06-06. Or what some claim by long stretch of the imagination is the closest we’re getting to the Number Of The Beast as far as numerical coincidences on the calendar are concerned.

“There was more brainstorming as to what will happen on the impending Apocalypse Tuesday. So far things will be set ablaze, objects will be smashed to bits, and I’m giving brad a black eye. Maybe we should get a bucket of sidewalk chalk and write satanic evil things on church sidewalks? Maybe we should kill a goat and throw it off an overpass while listening to Dying Fetus? Maybe we should crawl into the depths of spider hell cave and witness the unspeakable horrors? I’m open to suggestions.”

With that said, will there be anything special that residents of Vancouver will do? Crack out the 12 sided dice and play Dungeons and dragons? Play Doom ? Watch the remake of The Omen? Maybe see the opening reception for Justin B. Williams Wave of Mutilation exhibit at the Dadabase/Xeno Gallery?
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Though no one’s yet put up their hand in response to Travis’ entry today, there are plenty of other crazy Nanowrimo writers out there. Tomorrow night we bask in the glory of our achievement.

Regardless of wordcount, all of us can attend the Thank God It’s Over Party (more details on the Vancouver Nano forum).

I’ve made it to the 50,000-word goal line. Now there is the problem of whether or not I’ll ever make it to the party.

I’ve had my heart set on going to at least one Nano meeting since I missed the opening party because of my job. Every week there was a meetup and a write-in. Matt went to one meeting only to find out that the website displayed the wrong timezone and he was late as a result. I went to another meeting, saw the group but went to buy my coffee first; when I turned the corner to get to the writers’ table, all the writers were gone. During my penultimate attempt, I was locked out of the building. May the Gods smile on me tomorrow.

The curious can visit the Vancouver Hall of Fame or check out the BC rankings.