The Flaming Lips

Last Tuesday we saw The Flaming Lips. This was another gig that was supposed to be at the Orpheum Theatre but got relocated because of the civic workers strike, and once again the new venue was Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. As it turned out, it was raining all that day so we readied ourselves for another wet evening, but fortunately the rain stopped in the afternoon and the night was dry, although cold. Steph is really the Flaming Lips fan, though I do like a few of their songs. They gave a very entertaining performance, with stage dancers, balloons, confetti and other fun toys. It was most enjoyable. We took some photos which came out surprisingly well.

Whale watching

I've uploaded a few photos that Steph and Kay took when they went whale watching last Saturday (15th September). They took a bus trip straight out of downtown Vancouver down to Tsawassen and then out on a zodiac inflatable boat to see some of the Orcas that live around Vancouver Island.

Goat Mountain hike

Last Sunday we hiked to Goat Mountain. We went with some friends, and lucked out on the weather as it was a gorgeous day. We started off early, meeting at the seabus at 9am, and then caught another bus to the base of Grouse. Then we took the SkyRide (a glorified cable car) to the top of Grouse where we started our hike from. In took us just over 2 hours from there to the peak of Goat Mountain, a distance of just over 5km and an increase of 250m in elevation, although the trail has lots of ups and downs. It's a great walk with some excellent views. There was a bear at the top too! It was our first encounter with a bear out in the open, and it was quite exciting. Previously, we have spotted them on Vancouver Island when travelling in the car, which is a bit different. We would have been more scared if the bear hadn't been a few metres below us, with no particularly easy route up to where we were. That gave us enough confidence to hang around for a few photos. After that we stopped for lunch on the way down, and then had a nice cold beer when we got back to Grouse Mountain, before returning home. Steph wasn't sure whether her feet would be up for the walk, as she gets pains in the nerves of her feet, but she managed it with no problems which was great. Perhaps we'll be okay to do more walking in future, because I really enjoy it. I've uploaded the photos to Flickr here. Also, as a special bonus, here's a movie I took of the panoramic view from the top of Goat Mountain.

Visitors

Steph's sister Karin arrived yesterday from the UK. She is staying with us for a couple of weeks, although for a few days she'll be off to Santa Barbara to visit some friends. I hope the weather stays good for her visit: it has been sunny and warm now for the last two weeks.

Tonight we are all going to the launch party of Radical's latest game: Crash Of The Titans. Tomorow, Steph and Karin are going on a whale-watching trip straight out of Vancouver (I think they drive down to Tsawassen and take a boat from there). Not sure what I will get up to yet, but if the weather is good I'll be out somewhere for sure.

Have a nice weekend everybody!

Magic Music Maker!

I've fallen in love with this thing. It's called the Tenori-On and it's an interactive electronic instrument. It is hard to describe, so go check out this video instead. Or go to the official website. Shame it's only available in the UK at the moment, and that it's so expensive - around 600 pounds!

Photos from Tofino weekend

I wanted to wait until I had gathered together some photos from other people's cameras before I uploaded this set. Now I have some surfing pictures too, and a few photos of when we all ate together one evening. Check out the photos here.

We all had a good time in Tofino, despite the rain. I've come to the conclusion though that I've walked pretty much everywhere interesting there is to walk around Tofino and Ucluelet, and it's time for me to find somewhere new. If we do go back that way for surfing, I might have to take a trip to an island or something where the terrain is more varied - Tofino is a bit flat!

Crowded House

I've posted some photos on Flickr of this gig, which was on Monday (Labor Day). We came back early from Tofino for it, and unfortunately it was still raining. By the end of the evening we were quite thoroughly damp, but the music was great and watching it outdoors was a refreshing change that just made the whole thing more memorable. They played plenty of big hits to keep the crowd happy. It was a good night, and I am glad we went. Steph loved it.

Go Physics Team!

Two weeks ago yesterday, we had the ATG summer event at work. ATG is the group I work for at Radical Entertainment. It stands for Advanced Technology Group, and we work on the common engine used by all the games that Radical makes. The summer event was an amazing race around the downtown Vancouver area on foot and using public transport. Thirteen or fourteen teams competed in all, half from ATG and half from a game team called HairClub. Those guys made the Hulk games in the past. It was a hot afternoon and got pretty sweaty running from here to there. There were also challenges at each destination such as singing and a hula hoop, and many more. My team was made up of the guys who work on Physics within ATG. In the end we came in 5th which was pretty respectable, although we could have done better - we were actually leading at one point. Steph was also racing in a HairClub team, but her team quit after a while and lazed around instead. Slackers! In the overall scores, ATG won a decisive victory over HairClub. Once again the geeks are victorious (we beat the game teams in the BBQ tug-of-war too). It was good exercise, and afterwards we got free booze and food. The picture shows me and the physics guys at the end of the race (in Gastown).

More photos from Tim's cabin in Vernon

This is a bit old hat now, but I finally sorted out some of the photos that Tim and Carla took on their camera to add to our own. I've added them to the existing photoset on Flickr. Enjoy.

Coming soon - lots more photos from Tofino and Crowded House.