The nice advantage of being a pdf stored on your device is you don’t need to have an internet connection to make use of Google Maps or whatever other real time map program you might run.

If your device doesn’t read PDFs, there’s also jpg versions of the maps that you can use instead.

Maps available for the entire city, Kitsilano, West End and the stretch from Vancouver to Whistler are all available for download at 3D Mobimaps.

If you travel a lot cross the country there’s plenty of other nice maps you can obtain as well.

It’s the second annual Yaletown outdoor movie night. Where you get to watch a movie and hang out with friends.

When:  Sunday,  Jul 19th
Where: David Lam Park

It’s being done in conjunction with a community picnic. So the picnic starts from Noon – 4pm and then the movie starts at dusk.  They play the movie on a giant 40′x20′ screen and it’s usually a “secret” classic 80’s movie that they’ll play.

Given the clue they provide “who ya gonna call?”, we can safely guess it’ll be Ghostbusters playing. They suggest bringing along a blanket and flash light.  If it rains it’ll be postponed to the 26th.

The debate continues on with the potential of a UFC fight coming to Vancouver come June 2010.  Since 2007 there’s been a ban here in Vancouver on MMA and the sport remains unregulated in BC, however the UFC has set a tentative date for a match to occur here.

Mayor Robertson has shown he supports it by voicing his intentions to hopefully have everything resolved by 2010 in order to host the event.

I personally think a lot of the people who oppose MMA are those that have only been exposed to it in its earlier forms.  Since then there have been new rules implemented and matches in general are regulated better.  It definitely has gotten away from the “anything goes” type of fighting to matches that exhibit far more technique and tactics.

What do you guys think? The comments on the CBC news article have blown up with people weighing in on both sides.

Well as promised by the Mayor, here comes the Burrard Bridge bike lane! It’s great seeing the year over year improvement in terms of greening our city and encouraging awareness of alternative transportation.

We’ll see how this bike lane experiment pans out, but this coupled with BCAA’s fairly recent announcement of providing Roadside Assistance to cyclists are two definite strides in the right direction for cyclists I think.

These two things will hopefully encourage more riders and less drivers. Especially in the downtown core.

How BCAA “Bike Assist” works as quoted from their site:

• The cyclist must have experienced a mechanical breakdown, which includes any issue that makes the bike inoperable during a rider’s commute, such as a broken chain or flat tire. No assistance will be provided to cyclists looking to avoid challenging terrain or inclement weather.
• Service technicians will do their best to get the cyclist on the go, but if the repair cannot be made at the site of the breakdown, the technician will transport the cyclist and their bicycle to their destination, home or nearest bike shop. The kilometer allotment will be consistent with the member’s current level of membership (e.g. a basic member is entitled to a five kilometre tow).
• Only two cyclists can be accommodated at a time.
• BCAA cannot break bike locks, as bike ownership cannot be easily identified.

The Vancouver Sun currently has a more thorough view/opinion piece on the Burrard Bridge bike lane trial.

The system generates a schedule complete with maps and walking times as well as time spent at the various attractions.  Whether you’re a visitor or a local it provides some pretty solid suggestions for everybody.

Depending on the date you select there may or may not be a “tour” set up but it also allows you to play tourguide and input your own.

http://citytours.googlelabs.com/

It’s probably a busy time with family during this holiday and I hope you are all having a great time with friends and family.

In case you aren’t aware (and haven’t had enough of snow/ice), the Olympic Oval is now open to the public.  Parking is a bit of a pain and it’s probably best to walk here somehow or get dropped off. You can now skate the oval before the Olympian Athletes do.

The public skate times are posted here and for only $8 for adults / $5 for kids with rentals at $3, it’s a great family activity.

They also have public speed skating too, if you’re a speed skater.

About time right?!

You’d think they do something like this after the question of whether a suspect died as a result of being tasered?

Well at least this is is headed in a better direction.  Testing has shown that the voltage occasionally exceeds the specs.  In addition to police, this includes corrections officers, sherriff’s services, and transit officials.

More details over at CTV

These New Flyer Trolley buses are now 25 years old and for many Vancouverites they have served us faithfully at one point or another during our lives here.

Unfortunately they’ve reached the end of their useful life here in Metro Vancouver. They simply don’t meet accessibility standards that we have. For example they have steps at the entries as well as poles in the centre aisle.  Since they were being phased out anyways, Translink managed to secure a deal selling them to the city of Mendoza in Argentina for $2300 a piece plus shipping.

The parade of them being towed/hauled from the Oakridge Transit Centre to the Fraser docks will continue on throughout Sept 11th.

It’s about time another world class culinary star is opening a restaurant here.  I mean we have Iron Chef Feenie with his restaurant.  David Hawksworth formally of West opening up his namesake restaurant Hawksworth at the new Hotel Georgia in 2009. Now, we’ve got Jean-George Vongerichten opening up his restaurant at the new Shangri-la.

That’s right it’s the same Jean-George behind Jean-Georges, Spice Market, & Perry in NYC and Cafe Martinique at the Atlantis in the Bahamas, Rama in London, as well as other world renowned restaurants.

Apparently it will occupy the vast majority of the entire third floor of the Shangri-La when it opens in 2009 so there is still a bit of waiting to go.

Hopefully it’ll inspire other amazing stars in the food world to open some amazing dining establishments here in Vancouver that offer consistently good food.

YUM!

Looking for something to see and do at night? Wondering who ever goes to Fantasy Garden anymore?

Well, there’s been an ongoing International Lantern Festival that’s been happening since July 1st and will be running until September 21st.

This lantern festival has been making it’s way year after year to various cities around the world. Having been exhibited in Seoul, Tokyo, Austrlia, and landing in Toronto for the past two years. It’s finally here in Greater Vancouver! During this festival it runs at night from 7:30 – 11:30pm with the lighting of the lanterns happening at 8:30pm. If you want to see the lanterns during the day, they have day showings on the weekends from 11am-2pm.

Location:
Fantasy Garden
10800 No 5 Road
Richmond