Make It! Vancouver - November 19 - 21 in Vancouver

Here's a great suggestion for a snowy Vancouver day:

I've just returned from the Make It! Vancouver "craft fair" at the Croatian Cultural Centre, and I'm pleased to say I've just about finished my Christmas shopping.

Now I used the term craft fair in quotes because this isn't your average collection of vendors. Everything from paintings to jewelry, from silk-screened tshirts to handmade bath products, from plush children's toys to chocolate and everything else in between is available at Make It! I didn't see anything particularly tacky. And best of all, it's all hand-made by Western Canadians.

Admission is $5 at the door, but follow this link: http://makeitproductions.com/vancouver/2010/02/20/2-off-admission/ to get a discount of $2. Just print the page or show it on your phone/iPod and you only have to pay $3 at the door. Children under 12 are free.

The place was an absolute crush, but everyone was in good spirits and what could have been a crowded hell was a festive experience.

Some highlights for our group included Trendy Boutique, which sold beautiful hand-made hair bands and accessories made by a cheerful young woman based out of North Vancouver. The designs were simple but elegant, and she used freshwater pearls to adorn many of the hairbands. I also loved Sunshine Coast Natural Care Co., which sold hand-made bath and body products that were far from ordinary. Many of the herbs and flowers used in the soaps were grown in the vendor's garden, and she had an amazing assortment of products including dog shampoo bars and aftershave for men.

Samples were plentiful - ciders, cookies, chocolate and teas.

And to top it all off, no tinny, overplayed Christmas music. There was a DJ spinning some chill tunes (see photo).

It was fun, festive and enjoyed by the guys and girls in our group.

Make It! Vancouver is open until 6 p.m. today, and runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday at the Croatian Cultural Centre (Map to Croatian Cultural Centre) and parking is free (although the parking lot is rather crowded).

Check it out!

A Night at the Movies - Morning Glory

Tuesday nights are cheap movie nights at the Scotiabank theatre (Burrard and Smithe, Vancouver) - $6.50 for a movie, or pay full price and it includes a popcorn and a pop. That's too good to pass up, especially on a rainy night.

I joined three girlfriends at the theatre to see a movie none of our boyfriends would accompany us to: Morning Glory, starring lovely Canadian Rachel McAdams and a very surly Harrison Ford.

I arrived expecting a fairly formulaic, cutesy chick flick, but was surprised to find that this movie avoided many of the typical chick flick cliches. With strong characters, witty dialogue and a storyline that doesn't lag partway through, Morning Glory is a winner. In fact, the boyfriends might not have minded watching it after all.

Rachel McAdams plays Becky Fuller, an enthusiastic, quirky and ambitious television producer who takes a job at a dying morning show after she's laid off from her old job. She whirls into the studio, fires the perverted anchor of the show and hires Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford), a famous journalist known for delivering hard-hitting stories who is now washed up.

Our heroine is a career-driven, news-loving woman who knows what she wants in life. Sure she meets a guy, but this is merely a subplot of the movie and a "sub-aspect" of Becky's character. She's sweet, awkward, genuine, passionate and willing to work hard for what she wants - the success of her show.

While keeping it light, Morning Glory references the struggling American news industry, touching on staff cutbacks and shows being cancelled due to lack of finances. It also touches on the ongoing struggle between hard news and entertainment in the fight to bring in advertisers and revenue in hard times.

It's a feel-good story with many funny moments, and you're sure to leave the theatre in a good mood.

Inside CBC Vancouver

Today I had the opportunity to tour CBC Vancouver with my journalism class, where we met radio news anchor Susan McNamee and television news anchor Gloria Macarenko. We even spied Tony Parsons from across the newsroom.

The tour was arranged by our radio prof, Yvonne Eamor, who has been in radio for years and currently works at CBC. She told us to be there at 1:30 and to dress nicely, and beyond that I was unsure of what to expect.

It turned out to be a fun and really informative experience.

We were issued visitors badges and ushered through security into the inner space of the CBC building. The CBC has an integrated system of news gathering, and that policy reflected in the layout of the newsroom. Pretty much all news employees work in a large open space condusive to communication. At the centre of this room is the hub, which has a circle of tv's showing news from different stations with the desks of key people underneath. At one end of the room are radio employees and radio broadcast studios, and on another side are people who work in TV (both French and English). Behind the desks, in a space that overlooks Georgia Street, is the tv studio where the 5 p.m. news is read and broadcast. The integrated system of CBC means that news gathered by radio reporters will be shared with reporters in television and web, so that information is not lost between departments.

Our first stop in this vast room was a radio studio, where we had the opportunity to stand (quietly!) in the broadcast booth and listen to Susan McNamee read the 2 p.m. news. (see pic >>)

It was particularly exciting because the sentencing of Carol Berner (who killed four-year-old Alexa Middelaer while driving drunk last year) was being announced just prior to air time. Susan explained that she would lead her broadcast with this breaking story and that a reporter might phone in a story live from the scene. Sure enough, a minute into the news a man quietly came into the booth to tell Susan the reporter had her story on the phone. Without missing a beat, Susan bumped one of the stories she had planned to read in favour of this live report of breaking news and played the reporter's RANT on the air. It was very fast-paced and I imagine it must have been very difficult for Susan to focus with 20 journalism students crowded into her booth and the neighbouring one. After her 4.5 minute segment, she answered our questions and we were ushered off to another radio booth.

The next person we met was Mark Forsyth, who hosts B.C. Almanac on CBC Radio 1. He talked a bit about getting started in radio and seemed very nice and approachable. Again we had the opportunity to ask questions. We also got to see inside the control room for television. The tv broadcasts are controlled largely by one man and a massive computer system with multiple screens and mouses and switchboards that allow him to cue effects, move cameras and determine what is broadcast.

Finally we met Gloria Macarenko, who reads the 5 o'clock news for CBC and co-anchors the news at 6 p.m. with Tony Parsons. We didn't actually get to meet Tony, but we did catch a glimpse of him across the newsroom.

All in all a fantastic experience. Everyone was very friendly and encouraging of us aspiring journalists. One of the people who spoke to us is a graduate of Langara's journalism program and had started out at CBC as a radio intern after graduating. That interning position turned into a job, and after 3.5 years there she is now in Web and enjoying it.

 While I'm more interested in print for my career, it was a very inspiring day nonetheless.

 

Cycling and the City

The dreary weather today is making me think nostalgically about last Saturday, a beautiful, crisp, sunny day - an ideal day for biking.

In case you didn't know, it's possible to cycle from Lost Lagoon all the way around Stanley Park to Science World (via English Bay and Yaletown) and end up at Granville Island without having to ride on the road. Last Saturday I set out to do this ride, one of my favourites.

I started at Lost Lagoon and caught site of an adorable racoon who walked right up to me as I took a photo. I think he's forgotten he's nocturnal. I looped Stanley Park on the seawall (counter-clockwise direction), dodging tandem-biking tourists and confused pedestrians in the bike lane. Third Beach was bustling with morning sun-seekers and even a swimmer brave enough to test the November water.

I cruised through Yaletown toward Science World. The sun's in your eyes the whole way there in the morning, but that doesn't stop me from speeding past slower cyclists. My favourite section is when the path passes a group of waterfront cafes. It's definitely an area to go slow, not only to avoid killing someone but because it's a prime people-watching spot. People of all ages lounge on heated patio sipping morning caesars and dining on some truly delicious-looking brunch. There are dogs all over the place, tied to the balcony railings and sniffing at their owners' meals. I can always pick up a few brief snatches of gossip as I pass by and it's almost always salacious and amusing.

From here it's not too much further on to the Edgewater Casino (another great spot for people watching, although I find the bleary-eyed people stumbling out of their depressing sometimes). In the summer you can see the tents of Cirque du Soleil just past the casino, but on a fall day there's just a big empty lot.

The next section of seawall is picturesque, but is not ideal for bikes because of the cobblestone in some sections of the seawall. Watch out - it's slippery and quite bumpy at times!

The path continues on to Granville Island where you can stop for a visit (bike parking is decent) or continue on through townhouses, duck ponds and dog parks. I turn off the seawall at the connector to the Burrard Street Bridge. Hey, we've got these great bike lanes, we might as well take advantage of them! It's a quick jaunt back across the bridge and I'm back downtown.

A perfect way to spend a couple hours on a perfect afternoon!