Fireworks!

I've got a bad habit of leaving a lot of time between posts, then posting tonnes of photos in a day or two, then forgetting about my blog again for a while. Just over three weeks ago, when I was still in Vancouver, I went to the 2008 HSBC Celebration of Light with a bunch of friends. I only managed to go to the first and third performances, Canada and China (July 23 and 30). I later heard bad things about the American show, and the finale (which is really just a recap with a short show from each country) is never the best to watch, so I wasn't too bothered that I missed those. Besides, I missed the American show to go to my friend Nelson's bachelor party, and I missed the finale to go camping with two dozen amazing people on a beach in the middle of nowhere.

I always enjoy going to the fireworks with my good buddy Stash and whoever else will join us. It's a busy event, with over 1.4 million people attending each year (I'm guessing this is spread over the 4 nights) so we always get there early to get a good spot in English Bay for a head-on view.




I took a few photos of friends who were there, but other people also played around with my camera so I can't be 100% certain that I took each of these portrait shots, I only distinctly remember some of them.


Ricardo:




Kristen:




Helaine:




Jack Hind Smith:




Alex:




Sean and Ashley:




Margarita:




Stash:




Jason:




Vitali:




Me:





Of course, I took photos of the flying explosives too! As usual I didn't bother bringing a tripod, too much hassle and it's not like I'm going to sell any of these photos, so they don't need to be perfect. So only a few came out clear enough and nice enough to post. Partly cuz I accidentally had the aperture set at f/4.0... oh well! These four are from Canada's show on Wednesday, July 23:










After fireworks, we went to eat Phở on Broadway just West of Cambie at our 24 hr Phở hangout, Phở Kim Penh Xe Lua. In Vancouver this summer I ate Phở 2-4 times a week. Delicious.

The following week, on Wednesday, July 30, we watched China's show. I've always liked China's shows the most because, although their music and fireworks are not usually very well-synchronized, they always seem to have the biggest bangs and brightest colours and whatnot. Canada's show had been a little disappointing. Amazingly well-timed with the music, but no real build-up or peak, it just sort of went on and then ended not with a bang but a whimper.

While waiting for the show to start, more portrait shots!


Stash, making one of his child-eating ogre faces:




Lesley-Ann and Sarina:




The Le-Todd-Bob-3000:




?




Fireworks! Made in China.








Yes, this IS a smiley face. Never seen these ones before, they were terrific:









Afterward, we went to Phở of course, and all slept contentedly, knowing we had got our fill of fireworks and Phở for the evening.

Nova Scotia revisited

Dad and I took a short trip back to Nova Scotia to visit with family in East Ship Harbour from July 14-19. It was a great trip, and I'm glad I managed to get a week off work to go. Here are a few pics from the trip:

Here you can see my Uncle John, Grandma, and my Dad, visiting Dad's Aunt Rita who's sitting in this photo.




This is the car my dad rented for the trip, a Chevrolet Impala with only 49km on the odometer when we got it.




This is the view looking East along the shore from my grandma's back yard, which is directly on the Atlantic coast (the end of the yard is where the water meets land).




Veggies in need of water:




On the 16th we drove across the province to Pictou for a céilidh. They have a replica of the ship Hector which brought over the first group of Scottish settlers way back in 1773, quite neat.




The Nova scotia flag as seen on the replica ship. If you care to know, the flag is the inverse of the Scottish flag (which is a white St Andrew's cross on blue) with the Scottish Lion Rampant (formally known as the Royal Standard of Scotland) crest in the centre.




The detail on the back of the ship:




We were a bit early for the céilidh so we sat outside the Decoste Centre for a while listening to a practice session of a local pipes and drums group. I love bagpipes, so it was really nice to get to watch these men and women play.






The céilidh was probably not too well advertised, as only 20 people were there as spectators, in a place that was set up to seat about 150 very comfortably. The performers didn't let it phase them, so we had a great time. This is Jimmy Sweeney, an Irishman who came to Canada some time back, and was our MC as well as one of the performers. He's a really good singer; I really enjoyed his performances of a bunch of traditional Irish and Scottish songs that I know.




This is a 9 near old Highland dancer performing the Sword Dance, something to do with dancing around the swords which were still hot from battle.




These two young ladies were down from Cape Breton. They're sisters and both play a bunch of instruments. I personally preferred when both were playing fiddle, but I enjoyed everything they did, including one song where the pianist was step-dancing while the other fiddled.




This is Stephanie Hardy, winner of the 2008 ECMA Up And Coming Young Artist award. She sang a bunch of her own stuff, in a contemporary style. She's super talented. Her voice in some of the songs sounded a lot like Sarah McLachlan.




The next day we went to Monk's Cove, named after my family (my great grandfather was Daniel Monk, and a large area where my family still lives was all settled by the Monk family when they came over from Scotland). Did I mention that almost everyone in the area is related to me in some way or another? Anyways, we saw our friend Charlie DeWolfe there, and then we drove to Murphy's Cove to have a look around. This scene on the short drive seemed photo-worthy:




The next morning we were up early, and Dad, Uncle John, and I set out to Martinique Beach for a walk. It was nice and windy with big waves and people surfing on one side of the spit of land, but on the other side the air and water were perfectly still. I skipped a bunch of stones, as that side of the beach had hundreds of perfect skipping stones. Then I followed a small butterfly until I could catch it on camera:




We also found some wild strawberries in the scrub, which are really tasty. Wild strawberries tend to be tiny, as you can see:




This is the road back to our parked car after our beach walk - nice and foggy, the way I like Nova Scotia.




Lobster fishing is much smaller in Nova Scotia than it used to be, but there are a small number of lobster fishermen around still, like Charlie DeWolfe. We passed this lobster boat on our drive back from the beach:






Lastly, for a little humour, if you're a fan of Krispi Kreme donuts (I don't care much for them myself) then maybe you'd also enjoy Krispi Kraut! Product of Nova Scotia.

Trip across Canada

My dad and I went back to Nova Scotia from July 14-19 to visit family, and on the plane there we had terrific, near-cloudless weather all the way to Toronto so I took photos with my point-and-shoot. East of Toronto there were too many clouds for good photos. Here are a few of the ones I liked best, showing a variety of places in Canada:


BC Rockies:




Alberta / Saskatchewan Prairies:






Manitoba / Ontario Canadian Shield:




Crazy lake scenery:






Just outside Toronto:




Toronto's downtown core:



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Next post: Visiting my family in Nova Scotia, on the Atlantic Coast.