Locals know what I’m talking about when I described days that are so clear that you can spot each individual evergreen on the local mountains. Looking North, the Eye of the Wind turns on Grouse while the SkyRide ascends, packed with visitors. It’s the kind of view that makes you pull out your phone to snap a photo. You exhale upon review and mumble softly: “it’s so gorgeous here.” It’s for this reason that I’ve decided to pick through the Miss604 Flickr Pool and showcase mountain views this week, enjoy!

Photo credit: Zorro1968 on Flickr

Photo credit: Ludovic Chabant & Tyler Ingram on Flickr

Photo credit: Judy B The Travelling Eye on Flickr

Photo credit: [travelfox] on Flickr

Photo credit: fotoeins on Flickr

Photo credit: Clayton Perry Photoworks on Flickr

Photo credit: colink. on Flickr

Photo credit: tombreda on Flickr

Photo credit: Judy B The Travelling Eye & Clayon Perry Photoworks on Flickr

Photo credit: rbrtwhite on Flickr

Photo credit: monnibo on Flickr

Photo credit: WinstonWong* on Flickr

Photo credit: [travelfox] on Flickr

As always, please click through on the picture to view more work from each of the photographers and feel free to share your own images with the Miss604 Flickr Pool.

February is the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada‘s “Heart Month” and while they emailed me weeks ago, I haven’t been able to compose myself enough to write about the topic until now.

Photo credit: eych-you-bee-ee-ahr-tee on Flickr – Submitted to the Miss604 Flickr Pool.

It’s been exactly a year since my Oma was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack. I met my family in her room at the hospital and didn’t know what to expect. My Oma was indestructible, at least I always thought so. At 89 she would be out in her garden pulling up weeds with her knuckles, making jams and jellies in her kitchen, and keeping up around the house with her great-grandchildren. That day she looked weak and worried. They had to move her to another hospital for a procedure and given a few other conditions, and her current state, we had no idea what to expect. She had another heart attack that sent her into a coma.

We spent days in shifts, rotating in and out of the ICU. I held her hand and listened to the chilling amplified sounds of the device that was helping her heart beat. I’ll never forget that sound as every time I heard one beat, I held my breath until I heard another. I counted dozens of wires attached to devices and pouches at her bedside, her hand and arm swollen from the needles. She had never been admitted to a hospital in her life.

Eventually she was moved out of the ICU and woken up. She enjoyed bragging to us about how she pulled through and how much better she was feeling each day. She had inside jokes with nurses, told them about all of her kids, and watched vases and baskets of flowers light up her window sill. We all knew the much-needed emotional lift wouldn’t last as she had a complication that meant she was never going to get better.

I can’t tell you how much time had passed until she started a steady decline. We suspect she had another stroke. My mother and aunt were constantly at her side and when my sister, cousin, brother, or I would visit we’d take her hand in ours. It would be warm from the previous child’s touch. She passed away in April.

Photo credit: mararie on Flickr

Someone in Canada has a heart attack every 7 minutes. Strokes happen every 10 minutes. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in Canada and the cause of 1 in every 3 deaths.

This month, if you haven’t already, please take some time to look through the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s online resources. You can take a risk assessment test on the website or through the My Heart & Stroke Health mobile app. You can volunteer, donate, learn to smart tips for eating right, or perform a healthy action.

iPhone application

To promote Heart Month and all of the actions you can take, the Heart and Stroke Foundation is offering up a prize pack valued at $150. This includes a live or virtual nutrition counseling session with a HSF registered dietitian, a heart-healthy cookbook, pedometer, measuring spoons, water bottle, and reusable HSF bag. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

I will draw one winner at 10:00am next Tuesday, February 14, 2012.

The latest census results were released this morning and they showed that in Metro Vancouver, the largest population growth was found in Surrey and Port Moody. From the Surrey Leader: “Surrey’s population grew 18.6 per cent to 468,251, an increase of more than 73,000 since the previous count in 2006. The City of Vancouver gained about 25,000 residents, or 4.4 per cent over the five-year period, to 603,502. Port Moody climbed 19.9 per cent to 32,975.” It would seem Surrey is living up to its slogan, The Future Lives Here.

Statistics Canada map via Surrey Leader

There’s one blog I turn to when it comes to finding out about Surrey’s urban planning, development, and transit strategies. Paul Hillsdon’s Civic Surrey. I first found Paul’s personal blog in November of 2007 and in February of 2008, he launched Civic Surrey.

I wrote this about the promising 18 year-old at the time: “Our local green-powered, transit, political, and Metro Vancouver whiz kid Paul Hillsdon has just launched a new fully Surrey-centric website. Paul’s entries are entertaining, factual, occasionally hard-hitting, and valid in their opinions as a true Surreyite. I’m always pleased to promote anything form my hometown and it’s great to see such a nicely executed source for Surrey talk and content now online.”

Paul has also independently run for City Council and local office a few times since. As the blog’s fourth anniversary rolls by, I encourage you to explore its archives in order to learn more about this ever-changing urban – and still agricultural – centre. Here’s a small sampling of the topics he and contributing author Nathan Pachal have covered:

• Bing Thom wins Design Exchange Award for Surrey Library
• Time to Revive the B-Line in Surrey
• First Phase of Cloverdale’s West Village Revealed
• 54-Storey Tower Joinging City Hall Soon
• Just How Walkable Are Surrey’s Town Centres?
• The Beginning of Surrey’s Financial District?
• … and many more

Photo credit: rbrtwhite on Flickr – Submitted to the Miss604 Flickr Pool.

For a unique photo project, check out Robert White’s Nicholson Road column on Vancouver is Awesome. He provides a small blurb an a photo about a community, park, or area in the region outside of downtown Vancouver.

As quickly as it returned, my BC Travel Tuesday series is wrapping up for another season. This is the fourth installment for our winter Whistler getaways and I’d like to thank everyone for their participation so far.

backyardbc is a new travel website designed specifically for residents of British Columbia. Essentially a “be a tourist in your own backyard” program, participating hotels & resorts offer residents of BC exclusive rates and specials, designed to motivate BCers to travel more within the Province. Each offer has its own unique reservation code, and all bookings are done directly with our hotel and resort partners. Visit backyardbc online, on Twitter, or Facebook and see more of BC!

The winner of last week’s getaway to Crystal Lodge is Emily! This week we have another generous prize offered up by a beautiful property to conclude the series.

Photo courtesy of Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa

Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa
Website, Twitter, Facebook, backyardbc listing
Location: 4050 Whistler Way, Whistler, BC
About: “The Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa is a Four Diamond Resort, and rated in the Top 10 Canadian Resorts by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine for the last three years in a row. We are ideally situated in the heart of Whistler Village at the base of Whistler Mountain. The resort features beautifully appointed spacious guest rooms, an outdoor pool area, Taman Sari Spa, fitness facility, outdoor fire pit, and the Cinnamon Bear Restaurant and Bar. The Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa connects directly into the village and is steps from all of the most popular restaurants and shops.”

Prize: 2 nights accommodation
Value: $800

To enter to win, leave a comment on this post (1 entry) and/or post the following on Twitter (1 entry):

Gift certificates for hotel and resort stays will be sent directly to each weekly winner so they can arrange their visit personally with the property. Based on availability. Blackout dates February 18th to 25th. Not redeemable on Saturday nights. Open to residents of BC only. Must be 19 years of age or older to enter and win. This week’s winner will be announced next Tuesday.

View all posts in the series by following or subscribing to my BCTravelTuesday tag. Open to residents of BC.

Drinking Made Easy, the HDNET series that travels around the United States to explore local brews, mixology, and drinking culture, recently found its way North of the 49th for a quick stop in Vancouver.

Steve McKenna and Zane Lamprey. Photo courtesy HDNET.

In each episode, host Zane Lamprey steps behind the bar in various establishments to learn how local drinks are made while co-host Steve McKenna, who has been given the title of “Stunt Drinker”, tries out the concoctions. The two also go head to head during their signature Six Six-Pack Challenges that could be anything from bocce or fencing to racing up the Space Needle in Seattle.

I can’t give away too much about the Vancouver episode but there are shout outs to several BC breweries and wineries, from Vancouver Island to the Okanagan. I had the chance to chat with Steve about the Vancouver episode, the show’s first Canadian feature to air.

“Vancouver was amazing it was one of my favourite stops of Season 2,” Steve told me over the phone from his home base in Richmond, Virginia. His previous trips north of the border were to Montreal as a kid since his family lived just a few hours away. “I had heard a lot about [Vancouver] and I was really excited to go. It definitely did not disappoint.”

Steve McKenna T-Shirt

Steve first started on Drinking Made Easy thanks to host, and his good friend, Zane Lamprey. “Zane brought me into his first show, Three Sheets, by telling crazy drinking stories about his buddy Steve McKenna.” So when Drinking Made Easy started up, Steve was added. “He brought me along as his sidekick. I provide a little bit of comic relief.”

The Vancouver episode is pretty much the “Gastown” episode but Salt, The Diamond, Rogue, the Alibi Room and more represented our city and region very well. Steve specifically mentioned his stop at the Alibi Room and an impressively rare sample from Storm Brewing that you’ll see him try. Discovering that Vancouver, and BC, had a strong (and growing) local beer scene was definitely a nice surprise for him. “It was definitely amazing and a real treat – they had a lot of good beer.”

I asked Chris Bjerrisgaard, Marketing Director of Vancouver Craft Beer Week about the impact the show could have. “I think a show like Drinking Made Easy doing an episode in Vancouver is extremely important to our local beverage industry, every much as important as Diners Drive-Ins and Dives / Eat Street was to the local food culture. These shows are about putting Vancouver on the map and helping showcase our hospitality industry. People need to know that when they come to town they can find quality cocktails, beers, and wines just as easily as they can find beautiful scenery and endless outdoor activity.”

Steve McKenna in Gastown. Photo courtesy HDNET.

On the show Steve is known for his quick chugs of even the finest cocktails but he said they do keep the drinking to when the cameras are rolling. He laughed and told me one his famous quotes is: “I only drink when I’m working”.

When he’s not doing Drinking Made Easy, you can find him behind the bar of The Blue Goat. I had to ask him about his own prescription for a hangover and he said he loves a good Bloody Mary. His specialty is a Bloody Mary that’s ginger-infused with Square One cucumber vodka. Either that or a mimosa which he makes with strawberry muddled basil. “It can turn your frown upside down pretty quick.”

John and I enjoy the show because we actually learn a lot about the destinations through their individual pub culture which is always rich with history — as you’ll also see in the Vancouver episode. “It’s a lot of fun to just see every city, see the bars, hang out with the locals, and hear about each place,” Steve said.

If there’s one place he could visit with the show in the future, Steve told me it would be Alaska. Should Drinking Made Easy make it up to the Yukon, I recommended he become a member of the Sour Toe Cocktail Club in Dawson City. It isn’t for the faint of heart — but might make for some great television.

You can catch the Vancouver episode on HDNET (Shaw digital channel 235) next Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 5:00pm and 8:00pm Pacific. They usually post full show notes online once the episode has aired including links to the liquors or beers that were mentioned, the establishments visited, drink recipes, and fun facts about the city. Tomorrow night’s episode (February 8, 2012) will feature Seattle.

Update The teaser/trailer for the Vancouver episode is up now:

With another year until we get a statutory holiday in BC, February could be looking pretty gloomy at this point. However, with events to celebrate the two year Vancouver 2010 Olympic anniversary, a city-wide festival, a film festival, a comedy fetival, and more, the February 2012 calendar is looking pretty bright.

Photo credit: couloir on Flickr – Submitted to the Miss604 Flickr Pool.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Bill Reid & The Haida Canoe exhibit extended
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Sam Sullivan’s Public Salon
Opening Night: The Marvelous Wonderettes
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Orca Coin Exchange at the Vancouver Aquarium
Team in Training Fundraiser at Library Square
Vancouver Opera’s Be Jewelled cocktail fundraiser
CHF Vancouver’s ID Week Photo Exhibition and Reception
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival
City and Slope Festival
Illuminate Yaletown
Friday, February 10, 2012
Opening Day: Cindy Buckshon exhibition at Deer Lake Gallery
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival
City and Slope Festival
Illuminate Yaletown
Davis Cup at UBC
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada: Richmond
Public Dreams Dance Party
Vinyl Vaudeville Dinner Cabaret
Tales of the Cocktail on Tour: Vancouver
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival
City and Slope Festival
Illuminate Yaletown
Davis Cup at UBC
Red Mitten Weekend at BC Sports Hall of Fame
Chutzpah! Festival
Sea Inside: Art exhibition and workshops
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Wallace Leung Memorial Scholarship Fund benefit concert
Tales of the Cocktail on Tour: Vancouver
Vinyl Vaudeville Dinner Cabaret
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival
City and Slope Festival
Davis Cup at UBC
Red Mitten Weekend at BC Sports Hall of Fame
Valentine Pet Photos for the Surrey SPCA
Port Coquitlam Sunday Coffee Concert
Chutzpah! Festival
Sea Inside: Art exhibition and workshops

Monday, February 13, 2012
Tales of the Cocktail on Tour: Vancouver
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival
Chutzpah! Festival
Sea Inside: Art exhibition and workshops
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Tales of the Cocktail on Tour: Vancouver
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival
Chutzpah! Festival
Vinyl Vaudeville Dinner Cabaret
Sea Inside: Art exhibition and workshops
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tasting Plates Vancouver
Vancouver Comedy Festival
Chutzpah! Festival
Sea Inside: Art exhibition and workshops
Thursday, February 16, 2012
French Film Festival
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival
Vinyl Vaudeville Dinner Cabaret
Vancouver Comedy Festival
Chutzpah! Festival
Sea Inside: Art exhibition and workshops
National Ballet of Cuba’s Don Quixote
Friday, February 17, 2012
Randy Ponzio for the People
Vancouver Wellness Show
Vancouver Comedy Festival
French Film Festival
Chutzpah! Festival
Sea Inside: Art exhibition and workshops
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival
National Ballet of Cuba’s Don Quixote
Vinyl Vaudeville Dinner Cabaret
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Trout Lake Community Centre grand opening
“Bill you Murray me?” Group Art Show
Vancouver Wellness Show
Aesop’s Fables at Carousel Theatre
Vancouver Comedy Festival
French Film Festival
Chutzpah! Festival
Sea Inside: Art exhibition and workshops
Vinyl Vaudeville Dinner Cabaret
National Ballet of Cuba’s Don Quixote
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Vancouver Wellness Show
Vancouver Comedy Festival
French Film Festival
Chutzpah! Festival
Sea Inside: Art exhibition and workshops
Aesop’s Fables at Carousel Theatre

Monday, February 20, 2012
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival umbrella dance rehearsal
Vancouver Comedy Festival
French Film Festival
Aesop’s Fables at Carousel Theatre
Chutzpah! Festival
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
JCI Vancouver launch event
Vancouver Comedy Festival
French Film Festival
Aesop’s Fables at Carousel Theatre
Chutzpah! Festival
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
BCIT Advancing IDEAS
Vancouver Comedy Festival
French Film Festival
Aesop’s Fables at Carousel Theatre
Chutzpah! Festival
Thursday, February 23, 2012
The Dance Centre presents Discover Dance! Strathcona Chinese Dance Company
The Stone Pines album preview concert
Vancouver Comedy Festival
French Film Festival
Aesop’s Fables at Carousel Theatre
Chutzpah! Festival
Friday, February 24, 2012
National Aboriginal Achievement Awards
North Vancouver Library Book Sale
Vancouver Comedy Festival
French Film Festival
Aesop’s Fables at Carousel Theatre
Chutzpah! Festival
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Winterruption on Granville Island
Brazilian Community Association Carnaval 2012
South Burnaby Neighbourhood House fundraiser
North Vancouver Library Book Sale
Vancouver Comedy Festival
French Film Festival
Aesop’s Fables at Carousel Theatre
Chutzpah! Festival
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Winterruption on Granville Island
North Vancouver Library Book Sale
French Film Festival
Aesop’s Fables at Carousel Theatre
Chutzpah! Festival
Port Coquitlam Sunday Coffee Concert

Monday, February 27, 2012
Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival
Chutzpah! Festival
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Small Business BC Successful You Awards
Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival
Chutzpah! Festival
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Pink Shirt Day
Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival
Chutzpah! Festival

Check out the City of Vancouver’s listings for various events honouring Black History Month. Please feel free to submit your own community event listing by contacting me or posting to the Miss604 Facebook wall.

Tourism Surrey recently launched a campaign called 45 in 45 that lists off 45 activities, sights, and events that you can enjoy within 45 kilometers or 45 minutes of the City of Surrey. Through blog posts and social media outreach, they’re promoting BC’s second most populous city as a destination and affordable alternative.

Photo credit: rbrtwhite on Flickr

“Surrey is a fairly central location when you do a 360 degree look around,” says Tourism Surrey’s Jane Stark. “We’ve got the Fraser Valley, White Rock, the USA border, Vancouver, and more.” The focus of the campaign is to promote the city’s hotel offerings, making it the starting point for your family visit, vacation, business trip, or getaway.

Fusion Festival – Photo credit: John Bollwitt & John Bollwitt on Flickr

Fusion Festival – Photo credit: John Bollwitt on Flickr

From parks and recreation, to Surrey Eagles hockey, annual festivals, Crescent Beach, shopping, and award-winning golf courses, Stark also told me they want the idea of “Surrey is closer than you think” to stick in people’s minds.

The site is just getting started but they’re already running a contest with Central City Brewing. Until February 15, 2012 you can post a photo of a beer you’re drinking on Twitter, including @45in45 and @centralcitybrew, for your chance to win a $50 gift card to BC’s Best Brew Pub (according to the 2012 CAMRA Vancouver Beer Awards).

Watch for more promotions over the next few weeks including a few guest posts from yours truly as I support my hometown. Follow 45 in 45 on Twitter or Facebook for more information.

Although yesterday’s numbers haven’t yet been tallied, it’s estimated that 49 million cases of beer were consumed during last year’s Super Bowl¹. While everyone slides back into work this morning I figured an ale-themed archive photo roundup would be in order.

1890 – Employees of Doering and Marstrand Brewery in Mount Pleasant. Archive item# Dist P18.

1912 – Group of local men drinking beer. Archive item# CVA 7-196. Photographer: James L Quiney.

1926 – Men crating beer at Vancouver Breweries. Archive item# CVA 99-3071. Photographer: Stuart Thomson.

All history on Vancouver Breweries leads back to one man: Henry Reifel². He started Brewery Creek on Main and 16th in 1888, he built Canadian Brewing and Malting by 1908, and later amalgamated several companies to form Vancouver Breweries. The brewery as located on 11th and Yew, and was eventually sold to Carling O’Keefe.

Doering & Marstrand Brewery in Mount Pleasant was also sold by Charles Doering and became a part of Vancouver Breweries³. Doering had a saloon on Water Street called the Stag & Pheasant.

1926 – Vancouver Breweries at 11th and Yew. Archives item# CVA 99-3063. Photographer: Stuart Thomson.

1944 – Vancouver Breweries. VPL Accession Number: 15984. Photographer: Leonard Frank.

1932 – Vancouver Breweries. Archive item# CVA 99-2637. Photographer: Stuart Thomson.

1935 – Vancouver Breweries. VPL Accession Number: 11572. Photographer: Leonard Frank.

1935 – Vancouver Breweries. VPL Accession Number: 11570. Photographer: Leonard Frank.

1935 – Vancouver Breweries. VPL Accession Number: 15985. Photographer: Leonard Frank.

1942 – Vancouver Breweries delivery wagon. Archive item# CVA 1184-1531. Photographer: Jack Lindsay.

¹ Source: 680 News
² Source: Chuck Davis’ Vancouver History
³ Source: Chuck Davis’ Vancouver History

It’s been twenty years but the Davis Cup tournament is returning to Vancouver next weekend as Canada takes on France.

Location Thunderbird Sports Centre
Dates February 10 to February 12, 2012
Times 2:00pm daily
Tickets Sold out within 30 minutes, sorry!

Canada is ranked 14th heading into the tournament against 4th-ranked France. Those fortunate enough to have snagged tickets are encouraged to bust out their red and white Canada gear — toques, mittens, scarves, jackets, and more.

Fans are encouraged to cheer loudly and show support for members of the home team including Milos Raonic, Vancouver’s own Vasek Pospisil and Doubles Champion Daniel Nestor.

If you don’t have tickets, you can watch with other fans at Cactus Club locations around the Lower Mainland.

You can also win your way in to Saturday’s event, Men’s Doubles, as Tennis Canada has kindly offered up a pair of tickets to one lucky Miss604 reader. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

I will draw one winner at 10:00am on Thursday, February 9, 2012.

This weekend, the monster trucks roll into Vancouver for a night of family fun as part of the Maple Leaf Monster Jam 2012 tour. I had the chance to check out the trucks on the dirt-filled floor of BC Place.

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

The show features more trucks than ever and three trucks that have never been to Vancouver before. The show will also feature a brand new Canadian themed truck, Northern Nightmare, driven by Kelowna-based driver Cam McQueen.

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

Approximately 12 feet tall and about 12 feet wide, monster trucks are custom-designed machines that sit atop 66-inch-tall tires and weigh a minimum of 10,000 pounds. Built for short, high-powered bursts of speed, monster trucks generate 1,500 to 2,000 horsepower and are capable of speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. Monster trucks can fly up to 130 feet (a distance greater than 14 cars side by side) and up to 35 feet in the air.

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

A few of the cars awaiting their monster truck fate on Saturday night:

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

Getting the ‘playground’ ready for the trucks is a big task and requires a lot of dirt and grooming by the organizers:

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

Here’s a peek inside the cab of Northern Nightmare as Cam takes it for spin:

In addition to the main Monster Jam event on Saturday night, there is also a “Party in the Pits” pre-show experience Saturday afternoon from 2-5pm which gives fans the opportunity to get a view of the trucks up close and meet the drivers of these massive monster trucks.

Tickets to this one night only show, February 4, 2012, start at $15 for kids and $25 for adults and are available from the BC Place box office, ticketmaster.ca or charge by phone at 1-855-985-5000.

You can view the rest of my photos of Cam and Northern Nightmare on Flickr.