Toooooooobing!

My little sister was visiting last weekend and we spiced up her time here with an evening of snow tubing. Yeehaw! They offer tubing at Cypress Mountain and even at $17 for 2 hours, it was totally worth the travel and the money. I recommend going on a Saturday evening when everyone else is at the bar because we had the run of the slopes and the attention of the attendants. Attendants hang out at the top to push you down the slope and to spin you in your tube. Super whiz bang fun!

Here's a picture the attendant took before we went going down in a big group of 7 people all hooked together.



There's a couple videos of single and group tubing from our night on Kath's friend Rob's site.

Shit City

marriedtothesea.com

Vegan cook along

I found a blog that I've now started to read regularly. It might not be to everyone's taste, but I find it's kind of fun. The Vegan Cook Along blog was started by a handful of friends who are all interested in vegan cooking and in trying new recipes. Someone suggests a recipe on the blog once a week (or so) and over the next week various people try it out, photographically document the process, and submit a blog report on the recipe.

Anyone can join by sending an e-mail request to pink.vegan@gmail.com and new people join all the time. I haven't joined yet but have tried one of their recipes called Mock Makhani Chicken. It was pretty darn tasty! Next I'm going to try the jerk tofu, and maybe the superb borscht.

Just a neat idea. Even if you are a tried and true carnivore, vegan cooking every once in a while is an easy and tasty way to cut fat, lower cholesterol, and try new foods. Have fun exploring!

Crocuses!

Yes, we have crocuses! In your face, winter!

edit: This photo is found at http://www.mygarden.me.uk/

Casino comments

On our third attempt, we finally got to see the new Bond movie, Casino Royale, this afternoon. Two previous attempts were foiled by mobs of people but since the Superbowl was on today, we figured our chances of getting in were good. We were right. For those of you who have seen it, I have a few comments. For those of you who have yet to see it, I don't think these comments will spoil the movie for you in any way, and what's holding you back? It's really *very* good!

1. Much like the infamous SNL skit "We Need More Cowbell", someone, probably the director, obviously was pleading for more, even More, and MORE jumping in the first chase scene. "I just, I just gotta have more jumping! C'mon! MORE jumping!"
2. The scenographer or maybe the script writer really has a hard on for construction sets! Like, seriously!
3. Frick that Bond girl is annoying. I was really hoping she was going to get offed early, early in the movie. No such luck. (No, this shouldn't spoil it for you.)
4. Anyone remember Terminator 2? Daniel Craig took a page out of the robot cop's book to craft the Bond run. Pump those robo-arms!
5. I've heard complaints from other people that the card game scenes stretch on endlessly (and needlessly) but I felt much more strongly about the sap sappy sapolicious scenes later in the movie. I think they couldn't decide which sap scene to use so they just left them all in. C'mon, only one avowal of devotion is needed, even for thick headed audience members. We got it.
   
6. We need more jumping!
7. Ok, the scene in the condemned building in Venice is totally awesome. Just...awesome!

Cerise Creek trip, Jan. 27-28 2007

Last weekend I was back out in the backcountry again with friends. Cerise Creek is a couple hours North of Squamish, on the road to Lillooet. We skinned up to a cabin called Keith's Hut, but everyone of our gang slept in tents since there were enough people (including one cougher) sleeping in the hut. The weather was gorgeous with barely any clouds, bright sun, and moderate temps. The skiing conditions were not. Like, really, NOT. Sure, 30 feet of snow sounds like great conditions but the 2-3" ice crust covering every snow surface made skiing not only difficult but treacherous! Still, it was a very fun time with great people, good conversation, and lots of laughter. The food was also amazing.

Shya the dog came with us. She's a beauty.

The hut had a sleeping loft. This shot is taken looking down from the loft on folks relaxing before dinner. I'm in the lower left corner, toque intact.

Did I mention the food? The people supplying dessert went all out. You're looking at chocolate pudding, chocolate fondue, and a plethora of fresh fruits that arrived carefully protected from potential bruising. Amazing!

The weather really treated us well. The night was clear, lit by the moon and stars to the point that headlamps were not necessary.

Day two was sunny but a hell of a lot of hard work. My thighs are still recovering. This is the gang taking a break after only descending about 400m which took us almost 30 minutes.

It was great trip even if the conditions were shite. Props to the photographers, Ian, Dave and Anton. More pics (including these ones) are available on Anton's and Dave's websites.

Faulty living

According to CBC Radio this morning, BC is at high risk of a major earthquake right about... now. The story reports that we are at higher risk for the next week as small tremors have been detected, moving North along the Cascadia fault line. The news was certainly not what we wanted to hear first thing this morning when brains are still foggy. I used to vent at length about "idiots who choose to live in seismically active areas" but look at me now? The dynamic techtonic activity that formed the Pacific Northwest coast created an amazing playground that offers a superb lifestyle. I love it here! It is weird to have news of an impending quake hanging over our heads (or simmering under our feet for that matter). A tourism site that ironically advertises Vancouver by describing the imminent catastrophe of a major quake claims we are due a massive seismic event and that the results of such an event would be the destruction of the city.

I found a great book a couple years ago when I first started at UBC. Vancouver, City on the Edge is a brief, well illustrated and interesting geological description of the Fraser Basin. The Duchess took a look at it and claimed this book alone could teach an introductory course on geology at the University level. I think I'll dig it out to learn more about where the quake could occur and who might be hardest hit depending on the location of the epicentre. I suspect that living on the Oak Street hill means we are in an ok position, domestically, but UBC could shear off into the ocean. Remind me to stay away from that place for the next week!