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2nd Narrows Bridge by Bike
I've lived in Vancouver on and off since 1988, of which most of that time has involved either living on the North Shore, or working there. Despite this, I have embarrassingly never ridden or walked across the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge, also known as the 2nd Narrows Bridge. So earlier in June I decided to take the plunge and bike east, rather ( Read more... ) -
The Way Back
My ride home follows more or less the same route, with some modifications. The most challenging part of the trip is navigating the rush hour traffic off the North Shore, which can be mayhem, especially if there has been an accident on one of the bridges. This may seem a rare occurrence, but in fact between the two of them, there are accidents on ( Read more... ) -
My Commute - There
A recent series of articles in the Globe and Mail on commuting and transit caught my attention today (1). While I no longer really read Canadian "newspapers", as the quality of the journalism pales in comparison to the likes of the Guardian, the Economist, or Le Monde, they unfortunately remain one of the few options for Canadian news ( Read more... ) -
On a road to nowhere: regional comprehensive transit stuck in traffic.
"Bike to Work Week", how about just calling it "Bike to Work"? It borders on the absurd the amount of public awareness pushed during bike week, asking motorists to share the road with bicycles. What about the other 51 weeks? Does this mean next week motorists can stop sharing the road again? Indeed how is it even possible for a stressed out ( Read more... ) -
drops of honey and butter
Why do I write? To me the answer is simple, it is the only way to leave something behind. Writing is time consuming, frustrating, slow, and often leads nowhere; it is for this very reason that most people don't bother to do it, they instead spend their time lining up floating strawberries on their "smart"phone ( Read more... ) -
Disturbia
I'm back, though probably no one will read this anyway. How the online world has changed since I abandoned this blog so many years ago. Long format blogging has gone the way of the fax machine, replaced by facebook, twitter, and sms sound bites. Unless one is blogging for a living, using it as a medium to drive content, direct eyeballs, push ( Read more... ) -
Goodbye My Friend
It has been three days since my dear friend Tom left us behind. The past few days, and the weekend when Tom fell ill have been a cloud of emotions. I had just come back to Vancouver from visiting family in South Africa, and was so looking forward to catching up with my old friend, a habit of ours every time one of us returned from travelling. Alas ( Read more... ) -
Passing of a dear friend
Yesterday my dear friend and life mentor Tio Tom passed away , he was fondly known on livejournal as Tomcan or as cool_moose.
Tom changed and touched the lives of many. From Chile to Canada to Ireland, he showed us life is more than simply a single road, that there are many side paths, and that these paths should be nurtured, for they are the ones ( Read more... ) -
Granville Footbridge
A bridge has a number of advantages over the current ferry system. It will:
- Increase pedestrian visits to Granville Island to the benefit of local business.
- Reduce the number of people who drive there (thus reducing carbon emissions).
- Connect the island with the city, providing a food market and entertainment public space people downtown can use ( ( Read more... )