All stories about "Vancouver"

Vancouver transit riders tasered for not paying fares. Canada's only armed police have used tasers "10 times in the past 18 months" on public transit passengers who have tried to get away with not paying. Vancouver's government granted transit cops the right to carry weapons 2 1/2 years ago. [via]

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A Vancouver-based artist and designer has launched a Where's Waldo viral game. Melanie Coles has placed a large-scale painting of Waldo on top of her roof in Vancouver and is challenging people to see if they can find it via Google Maps. The only thing is, you'll have to way until Google refreshes its maps of Vancouver, whenever that is, before you can start looking.

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T, the New York Times' lifestyle magazine, is all about travel for spring. Its guide to Vancouver is superpretty, but it's also Flashtastic, and that means lots of waiting to load, morose click-though Gucci ads, and some difficulty extracting what you need out of it. Click around patiently for tips on nightlife and a feature on the demographically friendly neighborhood of Gastown.

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Back in October, Canadian police tasered to death a Polish immigrant named Robert Dziekanski who had apparently become seriously agitated over customs difficulties at Vancouver Airport. The horrific incident led to the creation of this black-humored video game satire, which has provoked plenty of heated reaction. Check out the Kotaku comments for more debate.

YouTube parody of Dziekanski death triggers controversy [via]

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Yesterday, thousands of people in cold-weather cities went for painful, annual Polar Bear swims in icy oceans, rivers, and lakes to celebrate the new year. One guy in Trail, British Columbia actually died during his swim, though most other participants just froze their nads off. At the Oregon Zoo, people took literal Polar Bear plunges in the polar bear tanks, and in Rome, dozens of dudes made swan dives in to the Tiber (here's the clip).

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Vancouver has its share of chain stores and malls, but it also has a thriving community of locally focused artists and designers. Quite a few up-and-comers have their own boutiques, and even more have shelf space in various other stores. And you also have the chance to hunt around in occasional open markets. We've put together a few suggestions for shopping local in Vancouver when you're looking for cool designs in clothing, jewelry, housewares, art, and more.

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Vancouver is an increasingly popular location for filming both major Hollywood features and small indie pieces. It's also an attractive destination for film festivals both touring and local. The city's packed with indie-friendly and second-run theaters, has numerous film schools and acting studios, and sports a number of production studios. In honor of the upcoming DOXA Documentary Film Festival (May 20-27), we've created a guide to the best theaters and filmish places in Vancouver.

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Now, perhaps it's our heritage or perhaps it's all those rave horror stories where kids die from dehydration but the idea of listening to gritty-techno, drinking, and climbing into the back of a truck outfitted as a sauna seems like a dubious one. But don't let our knowledge of history doom you not to repeat it. Vancouver's Sauna Sessions proposes evenings of partying, listening to a selection of live (and quite good) djs and steaming in the back of a van retrofitted with cedar, a butane burner and a cold shower. Their latest event was held in the back alley behind the club Rime, a kind of Monkeytown performance space but in the Coover. The next one is set for March 31st and will feature the "beatz" of Matthew Dear and the opportunity, if you choose to take it, to climb in the back of a really really really hot truck.

Sauna Sessions

Previously: How Do You Like Discollection?, AUld Lang Swine: Year of the Pig, Beginner's Guide to Vancouver

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UPDATE: This venue has closed
Vancouver's Discollection is a vintage clothing store run by an incredibly hot Asia Argento look-a-like named Kim and a sometimes set for Suicide Girls photo shoots. In short, Discollection presents itself to the ideal form of a store. The store has been around a year but most of the inventory comes from long before that. When we called, a woman who wasn't the owner answered who sounded exactly like Sarah Jessica Parker's character in LA Story, SanDeE*. She informed us, "We carry everything vintage as well as some local designers. We also have faerie hats." Us: Huh? , "You know, wool cap things, like faeries wear." Vintage fur, faeries, sometimes nudie shots. Discollection is tits!

Discollection [Official site]

[Photo: kk+/Flickr]

Previously: Auld Lang Swine: Year of the Pig, Beginner's Guide to Vancouver, South of the Border, North of the Border, Bourgeois Speakeasy: Is there any other kind?

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From a series of photographs by Fred Herzog on display at Vancouver's Equinox Gallery through March 10th. Herzog's website contains nearly 80,000 photographs documenting decades of Vancouver's downtown scene.

Fred Herzog [via Amy Stein Photo]

Previous Pics of the Day: Waterslide
, Framing the City, Happy President's Day, Vgas Wedding, Place of Base, Urban Anti-Gravity, Final Resting Place, Don't Steal in Oaxaca, The Watchtower, On the Sixth Day , Liberal Library Slant, Paris is the New Pluto, Fat Kid

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Welcome the year of the Pig! The Lunar New Year takes place on Sunday February 18th which first and foremost means some major partying is happening in the Chinatowns of the world (and in China). It also means all you pigs out there are going to have a stellar year. Gridskipper is half pig (honest, modest, and shy) and half cock (self-absorbed, pretentious, and overly romantic), so we are all about 2007. In honor of our favorable year, we have a guide to Vancouver's Chinatown celebrations. With over 400,000 Chinese people living in B.C.'s hippest city, Vancouver has the second largest Chinatown in North America. So let the Tsingtao flow and go eat some gelatinous neen gow cake.

Vancouver, Canada's hippest city, has a great music and art scene, is environmentally progressive, and has spectacular beaches, mountains and views of the Pacific. The city is also Canada's most diverse with distinct ethnic neighborhoods including Chinatown, Little Italy, Punjabi Market, Greektown and Japantown. Filled with niche bookstores and fun bakeries and cafes, the Granville Island neighborhood is experiencing a revival though Yaletown still holds exerts a considerable draw on the youngun's. . The Gas Light district is touristy, while Commercial Drive is, aptly, the full of cool restaurants, cafes, and shops. If you've never been to Vancouver, or if you have and want a refresher, here's Gridskipper's handy guide to all things Vancouverite.

Seafood: Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House. With its location right on the water, Vancouver has great access to fish and an abundance of excellent seafood spots. Joe Forte's has a massive raw bar and oversized servings of fresh fish and beef and is the place to go for an indulgent dinner. Prices are not cheap by any means, but the quality of meat and seafood is worth the splurge.

Restaurant, cheap eats : The Red Onion. Vancouver attracts so many people that it's now really expensive and has been ranked just below London on affordability. So to save a little cash, go to The Red Onion. This diner is famous in Vancouver for their burgers, hot dogs, and perfect fries. Everything is cooked on an open grill so you can witness the care that goes into cooking your slab of greasy meat. The burgers are lean and delicious, and the dogs come in a bun stuffed with onions, relish, and any sauce you'd like. Order the fries with the Belgian white sauce. It's worth the extra buck fifty.

Vancouver's Baru Restaurant is an exercise in exactly the type of Latin American solidarity our government has found so discomfiting in the past. Three Colombians-two architects and an anthropologist--arrived in Vancouver and decided to open a pan-latin restaurant. The result isn't a sort of disjointed stew but rather intelligently planned and well-executed plates like fresh halibut ceviche and Colombian Sancocho. Having already received best restaurant by the Critic's Choice award and heaps of praise from nearly every Vancouver pub, strangely the diminutive space, dominated by what looks like a glowing kayak on the wall, is not too packed to be enjoyable. But, ten cuidado this too might change.

Baru Restaurant [Official site]

[Photo: Miss Peach/Flickr]

Previously: Deflated Sports Dreams: Vancouver v. NY, Bourgeois Speakeasy: Is There Really Any Other Kind?, Vancouver Pitches itself as gay tourism mecca, penetrates market, Don't Drink the Water Up There

As far as deflated sports dreams go, it's nice to see New York wasn't the only city to suffer. As our Jets and Giants jettisoned any hopes of glory, the Teflon-covered roof of Vancouver's BC Place Stadium, the world's largest air-supported stadium, ripped, tore and deflated amidst sleet and snow. The stadium was to be the centerpiece for the 2010 Olympics but the roof was already past its expected lifespan. And so on Friday afternoon, the soft-spoken Vancouver skyline went through its most radical alteration ever. The sound of the roof ripping was described by witnesses variously as "a fart" and the sounds of "elephants running through your living room," descriptions that leave no doubt as to the athleticism of BC's GI track. A new roof, by the way, is already on its way from Mexico.

BC Dome Collapses [CBC]

Previously: Bourgeois Speakeasy: Is There Any Other Kind?, Touristm Pitches Itself As Gay Tourism Mecca, Don't Drink The Water Up There, EU Film Festival

The speakeasy idea has finally spread to Canada where they never even had Prohibition (well, it did have a short-lived lax policy for a little in the 20s). The Salon de Bourgeoisie, a loose organization of hipsters who throw parties and the inspiration for the stock photo above, has opened a speakeasy at the Biltmore Hotel, long the venue of choice for ironic Canadians (and you thought they were a myth) on Saturdays starting at 2am. Shots are a mere CA$3.50, beers a paltry CA$3.75 and there's music and frivolity. Recent guests have included Kevin Blechdom, whose beats are more appealing than his name. Dress is formal.

Salon De Bourgeoisie

Previously: Touristm Pitches Itself As Gay Tourism Mecca, Don't Drink The Water Up There, EU Film Festival

According to this perfectly worded CBC news headline, Vancouver is tops in gay tourism. Vancouver has long targeted gay travelers who often have, on average, more disposable income than their hetero counterparts. In addition,

The head of Tourism Vancouver says aggressive marketing aimed at the gay community is paying off. Rick Antonson said hotels and resorts have been offering special packages for the gay traveller.

Vancouver Tops For Gay Tourism [CBC]
Gay Vancouver
Gay Vancouver [Vancouver.com]
Xtra West [Gay Vancouver Newspaper]

Previously: Don't Drink The Water, EU Film Festival, Opus Hotel, Budgies Burritos in Vancouver, Vancoolver 2006

The recent storm that swept through British Columbia last week wrought havoc on Vancouver water supply. Though the story is still murky (sorry), Vancouverites have been advised to forgo drinking tap water until given the "all clear" by the health department. The two main reservoirs serving Vancouver, the Capilano and the Seymour watersheds, are brown and muddy as is the tap water derived from said reservoirs. As a whole, Vancouver has stayed hydrated though increasingly jittery as coffee shops are doing a booming business being one of the few places where most of the drinks contain water that has been boiled, and thusly made potable. The CDC reports no end is in sight, a boon for bottled water manufacturers and baristas.

Here are a couple of coffee resources in the City of Brown Water to keep you occupied, hydrated and caffeinated.

Soma Cafe: This coffee shop gets high marks for customer appeal: the coffee's good, and the free wireless is even better.
Caffe Artigiano: Arguably the best espresso in Vancouver, this cafe also has wifi. Not bad.
Vancouver Wifi and Coffee Guide: Speaking of fine service journalism -- here's a wiki detailing Vancouver coffee shops with wifi. It s a user-generated directory of every coffee shop in the city and nearby suburbs, falling neatly into that vaunted ridiculously comprehensive category.

No End in Sight for Vancouver Water Woes [CBC]

Previously: EU Film Festival, Opus Hotel, Budgies Burritos in Vancouver, Vancoolver 2006

The European Union Film Festival in Vancouver features movies from EU member countries not widely known for their burgeoning film industry, like Bulgaria and Latvia. But the 25 films stretched over the two week festival, represent 23 of the 25 EU member countries (only Cyprus and Malta aren't represented). The tenor of the festival seems relatively light despite the chaos and depression surrounding the EU. Immigration, perhaps one of the most looming threats to unity, is treated here in film's like Germany's Kebab Connection and Austria's Welcome Home as comedic fodder. The festival, which takes place at Vancouver's Cinematheque Pacifique, runs from Thanksgiving (November 23rd) to Pearl Harbor Day (December 7th) though, as those are both only holidays south of the border, the dates are both meaningless and meaningful testaments to the power of borders.

EU Film Festival

Previously: Opus Hotel in Vancouver, Budgies Burritos, Vancoolver 2006 Music, Conde Nast Traveler Reader Choice Awards, Workspace Vancouver

Last time we checked into Opus Hotel, the newly opened boutique had named its rooms after "muses": "New York doctor Mike, Blahnik-wearing fashionista Susan, Method-acting L.A. ingénue Dede." Thankfully, management has abandoned that bit of lame marketing though they still live on in lame marketing concierge services. The 96 rooms are now known for their colors. Above you have blue, but green, red and a virtual rainbow coalition of other suites await you. The hotel has also gotten hep to the blogosphere and, to be honest, as far as hotel blogs go, the Opus Hotel's is good reading. There'll be no Booker prize here but there are interesting posts on amenity creep, a virus where guests get more and more useless amenities and surprisingly candid posts on the new competition in town.

Opus Hotel
Opus Hotel Blog
Opus Hotel [Tablet Hotels]
Opus Hotel [Gridskipper]

Previously: Budgies Burritos in Vancouver, Vancoolver, Conde Nast Traveler Awards, Workspace in Vancouver

There's no angle on this story, no pun to be made, no fun to be had. Budgies Burritos are simply the best burritos in Vancouver. Started as a passion project by a hot young vegetarian Macey Budgell who noticed that all the burritos stopped at Bellingham, Budgies Burritos offers massive vegetarian burritos for CA$6. The walls are lined with black-velvet paintings, like the one above. Happily the kitschiness stops at the kitchen and the burritos, especially the tofurkey, are a study in good taste.

Budgies [Beyond Robson]

[Photo: Filmgoerjuan/Flickr]

Previously: Vancoolver 2006, Conde Nast Traveler Awards, Workspace Vancouver, Vancouver HIpster Report

Though non-Vancouverites might be left scratching their head and nursing wounded pride after Conde Nast's Reader's Poll, Vancouverites have long known they were cool. So the rest of us can get in on the cool, we'll be featuring Vancouver, aka "Hollywood North" for the next couple of days. Today's installment of Vancoolver: Music. 'Coovers hipsterdom gathers, occassionally, at the Biltmore Hotel (the only boutique Howard Johnson we know of) for an ironic clad party called Salon de Bourgeoisie. The dance party features some pretty big names on the dj circuit like Hollywood's Steve Aoki who will be there on October 21st and Chicago's DJ Funk who will perform the following Saturday, October 28th. But if last night's party isn't your style, Vancouver also draws tons of rad bands. In the next month alone, Vancouver will be hosting the Hold Steady, The New Pornographers, Gomez, Sloan, Gridskipper favorite Love is All and Jurassic 5. There are a bunch of great music blogs to keep apprised of ongoing musical goings-on. We'd recommend From Blown Speakers, Chalked Up and, more generally Beyond Robson.

Biltmore Hotel
Salon de Bourgeoisie
From Blown Speakers,
Chalked Up
Beyond Robson

Previously: Vancouver's Workspace, Vancouver Hipster Report, Vegging Out, Premium Airport Lounges, Soma Cafe, Memphis Blues Vancouer

Yesterday the folks at Conde Nast Traveler announced their Readers' Choice Awards and I smell a fix. Okay, I actually don't. But my pride in my adopted home of Buenos Aires was dented as it came in second to Vancouver (above) in the category of Top Cities--The Americas. And everyone knows that the only thing more psychologically damaging (in the "If only!" sense) than just missing out on the gold is coming in fourth and missing out on all the medals. And seeing the fact that Vancouver Island won the Top Islands-North America made me grow even more suspicious. But seriously, it's a good list and I now have a burning desire to got the Maldives (Top Island-Asia) and Madeira, Portugal (#2 Top Islands--Europe).

Conde Nast Traveler [Official site]
Conde Nast Traveler Announces Results of the 19th Annual Readers' Choice Awards [PRNewswire via Yahoo!]

[Text: Ian Mount Photo: Kelly John Rose]

Previously: Vancouver's Workspace, Vancouver Hipster Report, Vegging Out, Premium Airport Lounges, Soma Cafe, Memphis Blues Vancouer

Business travel is a mixed blessing: your hotel is comped, you've got an expense account, and you can watch porn uninterrupted drinking tiny bottles of Scotch. The bad side: you're in meetings all day or staring at your computer screen while paying for wifi by the hour in your sad hotel room. The porn is 9 bucks and each bottlette of Scotch is $30. For those travelers to Vancouver, a better way to pass another meaningless day of your life glued to a computer screen, is to do it at Workspace, a business traveler's paradise Workspace is pretty self-explanatory. A loft kitted out with computers, wifi, ergonomically correct chairs where freelancer's and traveler's can work. What makes it more than just a drone-farm is the amentities. A cafe, a kitchen. They even have yoga. You can be a member for a month or year or day. A day pass, $35, gets you wifi, printing, faxing and scanning capabilities, and a ridiculously nice view. Open 24/7, it sure beats the business centers at most hotels: windowless soul-sucking dungeons with the smell of carpet cleaner and low-level desperation permeating the air.

Workspace

Previously: Vancouver Hipster Report, Veggie Restos in Vancouver, Soma Cafe, Bin 941

Vancouverite recently checked out a Grizzly Bear/TV on the Radio show at Commodore, one of the best larger venues for indie music up North. Whilst pretending not to care too much, they catalogued a cast of "faux hipsters." Among which we find:

1. A sort of girl. Wearing Gramma Jeans and a Def Leppard shirt. With a guy, sort of. He was wearing the tightest sweater of all time and it had a massive deer on it. The skinny jeans of a 10-year old didn't help matters much.
2. There was a man-boy, in what looked like a blue cardigan and a he a purse (okay, shoulder bag) and he was prancing around the club like he was Tinkerbell.
3. A girl. She was trying to pull of this: Police hat, turned nearly sideways. All black gothish.
4. One of the bartenders started off serving you by just flexing and posing. Awesome.

Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio [Vancouverite]

[Photo: The Cobra Snake]

Previously: Travel Like A Drunken Hipster, Your LA Hipster Bar guide, Beverly Hills Crescent Hotel Catering to Fastgrowing Wannabe Hipsters, Veggie Restos in Vancouver, Soma Cafe, Bin 941

To counterbalance our mockery of and call to arms against Cali's Cafe Gratitude, a nexus of new age douchebaggery and soy, here are some great vegan or vegetarian restaurants in Vancouver brought our attention by Beyond Robson. Perhaps this redeems vegetarian restaurants or perhaps it just condemns SF and LA.

The Foundation: "They have great food, they have great politics (sprayed on their walls) and the atmosphere is friendly and cosy." Pictured above

Bo Kong: "Really, really good vegetarian Chinese food with a Buddhist bent. They do many traditional Chinese dishes and replace the meat with gluten or soy or mushrooms."

Radha: "Veggie burgers are divine and the chai tea is worth the visit on its own. Also, the atmosphere is warm and inviting."

Annapurna: "My favorite vegetarian Indian restaurant in the city, but it's not the only one. I recommend everything on the menu, especially the Channa Masala."

[Photo: Kandyjaxx/Flickr]

Previously: Soma Cafe, Memphis Blues BBQ, Bin 941, Lotus Sound Lounge

If you're not high enough on the frequent-flyer food chain to have access to your airline's airport lounge -- or if certain airports don't have your preferred lounge flavor -- you may be in luck. Plaza Premium Lounges is an independent chain of pamperatoriums operating out of several airports (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and in their first non-Asian location, Vancouver). Prices vary by airport, but the equivalent of about US$30 gets you all-day access to the lounge, TVs, showers, WiFi, and a free buffet. You also get one glass of complimentary wine, with other drinks and add-on services available for a fee (massages, etc.). The generically pleasant facilities are anything but swank, but when compared to the rest of the airport(s') facilities, the Plaza Premium Lounges look like veritable Shangri-Las.

Far from the madding crowd - Vancouver's airport enclave [Cheapflights]
Plaza Premium Lounges [Official site]

Previously: Smokes on a Plane, Marriott Checks You, Airline Uberluxury... On Video, The Best Airports for Business Travelers, Riding the JFK Chopper

This coffee shop in Vancouver gets high marks for customer appeal: the coffee's good, but the free wireless is even better. They've got the usual array of pastries and drinks, but the main point here is all the diversions on offer. In addition to the wireless (with, we are assured, plenty of power outlets), there's a selection of magazines for your perusal. Local artists take note: it's one of those community-oriented cafes with new art always rotating through.

Metblog Vancouver
WifiMug

[Katherine Spiers]

[Photo: Caterina]

Previously: Memphis Blues BBQ - Vancouver, Bin 941, Pepsi Serenades, Coke Shrieks, Lotus Sound Lounge, The Frisco Shop

Pretty meat heavy around here today, but this BBQ joint in Vancouver seems to good to ignore. A few years ago the owners became obsessed with Memphis-style meat, went down there for an immersion into barbeque culture, and returned to Vancouver determined to clog the arteries of all those Vancouver hippies. They're doing brisk trade in ribs, brisket, and the house speciality, Cornish game hen. There are some dishes with a Canadian twist, such as the BBQ poutine (clearly labeled on the menu as "not a Memphis specialty), but they're not about to give in to health-conscious west coasters - the "salad" menu reads brisket on greens, pork on greens, rib ends on greens...

Metblog Vancouver
Memphis Blues BBQ

[Katherine Spiers]

Previously: Ghent Cool: Hall Of Meat, Jamon, Jamon! And How, Belga Queen Restaurant, Bin 941, Lotus Sound Lounge

Be not afraid -- the jaundiced eye above is merely a tasty small plate from Bin 941 on Davie Street. One could easily confuse the "tapas parlor" with its sibling Bin 942 on West Broadway; the two have divergent though thematically similar menus. Both Bins are a little too precious at times, echoing the auteristic pretensions of owner/chef/designer/singer Gordon Martin. Nevertheless, the wine list and wacky tapas selections make them good choices for grazing and knocking back the first drinks of the evening.

Crazy Good Salsa [Vancouverite]
Bin 941 [Official site]

Previously: Lotus Sound Lounge, The Red Onion, Ezogiku Noodle Cafe, Mountaintop Luncheon via Chopper, The Elbow Room