Final Day of Fireworks

Vancouver Fireworks, originally uploaded by Glacier Tim..

The Celebration of Light continues tonight in Vancouver harbour. From most parts of the city, from Spanish Banks to Stanley Park to the north shore, one can see the festive display. I've truly been blown away by the calibre of this craft. Amazed by the South African display last Saturday which I caught from a high-rise at English Bay. Tonight I'll probably watch from Kitsilano beach, or the MacMillan Space Centre, which are within walking distance of my place, and forego the usual hassle of moving into and out of restricted areas.

It's a tremendous privilege to live in a city with such a marvel we can all share. I imagine it's at quite an expense too. Not sure who picks up the tab but I did read that picking up the trash after the show adds another $30,000 to the taxpayer's bill. C'mon people! Taxes are too high already. This is really a ridiculous price to pay for lazy people who don't share the "Carry out what you carry in" philosophy. Tonight, if you see someone dumping their trash, make a point and show them how to show a little respect for their environment.

Beluga Birthing at Vancouver Aquarium!

Aurora, a 20-year old beluga whale, is giving birth to a baby beluga. You can visit Vancouver Aquarium's beluga cam to see this mom of twins give birth to another, and catch a glimpse of the newborn's tiny tail, as it makes its way out into the world. Any day now we'll get to see the beautiful baby calf swim about alongside Aurora. When this happens I'll be rushing down to catch a glimpse and share these first precious moments with More604 readers.

Olympic Tickets for Vancouver 2010 Back on Sale!

I woke up at 10AM, when Olympic tickets were to go back on sale today, and quietly sat biding my time in the virtual waiting room of www.vancouver2010.com until I could get a chance to buy snowboard tickets, or hockey or luge or anything else I could want...hopefully. The page refreshed automatically, every 30 seconds, allowing users random access to the ticket site. When I finally got my chanceto make some picks all the available tickets initially listed seemed to disappear under my nose. Fortunately, I did nail the one ticket I wanted above all else, Olympic Ladies' Snowboard Cross. I doubt it'll be anything like my favourite Olympic moment from Torino in 2006 but I'm ecstatic that I get a chance like the rest of the world to be part of 2010.

A Taste for Smoked Tuna

Yesterday, as most days, I had a craving for fish. I was starting to get the hang of the hours at Go Fish and thought I'd make it down before they closed at 6:30PM. It's a tiny, out-of-the-way, fish and chip stand right beside the fishing boats under the Granville bridge. Every piece they drop into their beer batter comes from these local fishermen who are just a docks walk away. I made the mistake of sharing my batch of batter encrusted salmon. I could've eaten both pieces, and the fries, it was all so delish; and while my piece was ample it somehow still didn't kill the craving.

Fortunately, from the tiny outdoor patio, I spotted fishing boats selling off their catch. I wandered down to see who was still open for business and found the man in the pic. Not the gorgeous celebrity chef and host of TV cooking show The Main, Anthony Sedlak, no, the darling man on the right. He's docked down at the harbour for just a few days selling smoked tuna (and showing people his picture here with Sedlak as featured in yesterday's Vancouver Sun). He sold me a nice chunk of fish for $10 which I've kept frozen and simply cut pieces off of when I need a taste of tuna; it thaws very quickly due to its fatty nature. Now I can deal with my craving without spending a fortune heading out for sushi or dropping a bunch of coin at Safeway. I've got it right here anytime I want.

Beat the Heat at Kits Pool

If you don't have your own pool during this 30 degree heatwave I can't think of anything more decadent to do than going for an oceanside dip at Kitsilano pool. For only $5.15 you'll get the chance to chill your feet in therapeutic salt water, or swim laps around the triathletes that train there. Or, you can do as I do, grab a copy of the Georgia Straight and find a sweet spot to appreciate the views, then kick back until the sun sets. Pool closes at 8:45PM.

More604's Videomatica Picks of the Week

My favourite thing, I wrote in my Yelp review about local video store Videomatica in Kitsilano, is their documentary section. With the Doxa festival here in Vancouver just wrapping up last weekend now's a good time to get acquainted with what local video stores have to offer in the documentary domain.

Videomatica rents a couple docs I've previously written up on sister site 416style, like the truly touching tale of two men in love in Chris and Don: A Love Story; you'll also find Addicted to Plastic a hopeful doc focusing on our predilection for plastic. If you missed American Swing at Doxa, and your chance to peek behind the doors of the seventies swinger spot Plato's retreat, Videomatica has that too.