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.

I’ve had my joyful fill of Japanese, and so-called “West Coast cuisine”. Not that there’s anything wrong with them. But I was wondering if anyone in the Vancouver blogosphere could recommend something different, preferably not too expensive. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Indian Food

Thai

Filipino

German

African

Carribean

English Pub Food

Anything wacky, but great tasting.

Thanks!

“Love, marriage, fidelity – what’s the real thing? In this play of marital maneuvering, Britain’s preeminent playwright explores the mysteries of love, commitment, and authenticity.” – Arts Club Theatre. Generally, when I read a synopsis such as this, I cringe in anticipation of the pretentiousness I’m about to bear witness to. I caught this play last Saturday, and it is hilariously funny.

Written by Tom Stoppard (whose credits include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and the screenplay for Shakespeare in Love), the play centers around Max and Annie, and their taste for infidelity. Think Closer, substituting tears for hysterical laughter.

Tickets range from 25-40 dollars, playing now at the Granville Island Stage, courtesy of the Arts Club.

So if you’re a regular reader of Metroblogging Vancouver, or someone whose looking to make a splash in the local blog scene, then we’re looking at you and for you. We’re looking at you through your monitor right now, so don’t do anything weird or alarming.

What we’re peering out at the world for is for additional authors, the brave women and men who are willing and able to write about Vancouver three or more times a week. Whether you want to write about the great sandwich shop you found, or that political issue that’s been bugging you we’re offering you a platform and an audience.

So if you’re interested in writing for Metroblogging Vancouver then email me at jefferysimpson at mac dot com and let me know. Once you’ve passed our very official tests, which consists of giving me your email address and promising not to just use us to advertise your porn site, you’ll be an official Metroblogging Vancouver author.

Act now, don’t delay and remember this offer is not valid in the Province of Quebec or in conjunction with any other sale, offer or coupon.

Vancouver has a fairly deep history of protests, we’re the ones who made being pepper sprayed cool way before those posers in Seattle were doing it, but the question is how effective is it actually? I mean when we’re talking about real things and not keeping Star Trek on the television for another season or bitching about the price of cellular telephone plans, do protests actually make a difference?

Yesterday Robson Street was flooded with protests angry at the ongoing violence in Sri Lanka [th]. To which I’d like to know, what the Hell this has to do with us? I think everyone in Vancouver is well aware that there’s shittier places to live around the world and that we’re lucky not to live in a place where government violence and civil unrest put our lives in danger on an ongoing basis, but what exactly are we going to do about it?

I understand the effectiveness of say a protest against abortion, or fur or something where a graphic photo and some passionate langauge can convince the odd person to keep that baby or not buy that coat made of seal fur, but how is a protest in Vancouver meant to change what’s happening in Sri Lanka, Tibet, Iraq or Iran? The regular protests against the government of Iran that are held outside the Vancouver Art Gallery also puzzle me, what am I meant to do go invade Iran? Will I be greeted as a liberator if I do?

It’s not to say that these people do not have a right to protest however they choose, but frankly I’m sure there’s at least a half dozen more effective ways of using the manpower that was on hand last night. Shouting into megaphones at confused Canadians just is not going to solve the problem.

Friday, Jan. 9th – Night of the Living Dead / Day of the Dead
Saturday, Jan 10th – Blade Runner (1982 cut – ie Narrated version) / The Hunger

Friday, Jan. 16th – The Exorcist / The Wicker Man
Saturday, Jan. 17th – Harold and Maude / Withnail and I

Friday, Jan. 23rd – The Fly / Videodrome (Cronenberg Tribute)
Saturday, Jan. 24th – A Clockwork Orange / The Warriors

Friday, Jan. 30th – American Werewolf in London / The Howling
Saturday, Jan. 31th – Faster Pussycat Kill Kill / Vixen (Meyer Tribute)

All shows, obviously, start at midnight.

And, unconnected, but super awesome, is word has it that the Granville 7 Theatre, on Sunday, Jan. 18th, at 7PM, is showing Ghostbusters. Busting makes me feel good, so, y’know, I think I’ll go. See you there.

In a town where you can learn to make everything from buttons to video games (and, oh, science and stuff), it takes a lot to stand out as particularly cool. Personally, learning to make comics ranks pretty high.

Local scribbler of note, Steve Rolston is rapidly filling up open spots for the three classes he’ll be teaching this year (starting as early as January 12th.) If you’re looking to learn something new or perhaps fill in a few blanks and remove the final hurtle to making your very own comicbook, perhaps this is for you.

In this course, students will be guided through the various stages of creating a four-page comic, including: script writing, character design, thumbnailing, penciling, inking, page structure, panel composition, and storytelling. Students will be using Adobe Photoshop software to add lettering and greytones to their artwork, and explore how to develop a plan for pursuing their personal aspirations within the medium of comics.

Students in this course should have strong drawing skills, and submit a small portfolio upon registering. Those with minimal drawing experience can take our other courses in Basic Drawing or 2D Animation before taking this course. You should budget approximately $50 for art supplies. This course is taught by an award-winning comic book artist whose credits include Emiko Superstar, The Escapists, One Bad Day, Pounded and Queen & Country.

Pre-requisites: Drawing portfolio (up to 6 samples of artwork)

Instructor: Steve Rolston

Monday evenings (12 Classes), 7:00-10:00pm
Fee (CDN): $595 (No GST)

2009 Start Dates:
January 12, May 11, September 14

Here’s a PDF overview of the course [pdf], which goes into even more detail than the link above.

Nuff said!

[UPDATE] It turns out, a friend of mine took Steve’s class a couple of years back, and I got to watch him put his four-page project together. Very cool stuff, which ultimately led to him being included in the latest Historyonics compliation comic (produced locally – lots of good stuff.)

A: Vancouver soup.

I woke up this morning and stumbled outside to find that while my road continued to be a frosty railroad, the gutters had started to turn into lakes. And it ain’t over yet. In fact, the City of Vancouver is asking for a little civic sense of duty;

We’re asking for your help – if there is a catch basin [i.e. sewer grate -cas] in front of your property that hasn’t yet been cleared, please clear it off to help the water run off.

Also, to protect your property, make sure that your gutters, drains and any drains serving sunken patios or roof decks are clear. If you have a basement or garage, take any precious objects up off of the floor in case there is some flooding. If you’re concerned about snow on your roof, please do not clear it off yourself – hire a professional.

There are, according to the City webpage, 40,000 drains in Vancouver – even at a steady pace, there’s no way City crews can clear them all quick enough to avoid bigger trouble. So, grab a shovel, pretend your ten again, and go play in a puddle, yeah?

Having just had a successful time helping organize Cthulhupalooza*, I thought it might be time to keep the good will rolling, and started looking for a toy drive. And once I essentially started what amounted to research, I figured I might as well share. So here are a few places that could use a bag of pasta or a couple of unwrapped toys;

Fill a Container with Christmas Dreams – Canada Place and the Vancouver Port Authorityare looking to fill one of those massive shipping containers with food and toys for the Vancouver Food Bank and other Lower Mainland charities! That’s a big container, so give what you can to help.

Nat and Drew’s Food Bank Fill Up – Nat & Drew’s annual Food Bank Fill Up will take place from Tuesday, December 9th to Friday, December 12th. Nat & Drew, along with the rest of the 95 Crave announcers will be taking their shows on the road, broadcasting live from various Safeway locations to help raise food and money for local food banks.

Child’s Play (BC Children’s Hospital Wish List) – This is a link to the wish list the BC Children’s Hospital put together through Child’s Play. It allows you to buy items from Amazon.ca for the BC Children’s Hospital, though you can always go to Child’s Play if you’d like to donate to another Children’s Hospitals. Or donate to both! There are a wide variety of item prices and every item helps.

There are undoubtedly more – many took place as early as October, but the drives do not end. Sadly, they don’t really ever end. If you know of a good drive, please speak up in the comments. And just for the sake of discussion; Drive boxes at grocery and toy stores – every bit helps, but a bit opportunistic?

Unrelated, but very of-the-holiday-spirit, the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver is having a Gingerbread house contest, which I stumbled upon completely by accident – so, if you like tiny, edible houses, you might want to check it out. If not, I took a picture of one for you. You’re welcome.

* Raising money for Child’s Play, and by extension, The BC Children’s Hospital – it went very well and we’re doing it again next year!

There is a life-cycle to these spirit animals – initially they are paid for my sponsors, and put on display, usually near some location important to those sponsors. Then, once the display period is up, they are auctioned off, raising even more money for charity. And it’s at this point that they end up living in strange places, like rooftops on Broadway.

There is a Flickr pool for the bears, which I’m uploading my pics to – I’m hoping to convince that group to keep cataloging where they currently reside. And then I’m thinking about starting pools for the whales and eagles. Anybody interested in helping out?