Vancouver General Discussion Thread

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Cool. I can believe it having been the first one, considering that IMAX is a Canadian company from Ontario. That's also why Toronto was the first city to see a new laser projector being installed.

Why and when did Canada Place IMAX close down and what took its place? I assume the Flying Canada attraction occupies the space now, right?

It closed in 2009. I am guessing that the very things that made true IMAX a difficult business venture contributed to its eventual closing: it is a very difficult and expensive kind of film to produce and was thus only suitable for the occasional high-quality documentary/educational type of film, not the mass production of highly profitable and popular commercial films. Therefore, it was probably losing money. It was fairly popular in Vancouver over the years, but just not popular enough in relation to the expense of running a true IMAX theatre.

But now that Hollywood might be embracing true IMAX, who knows, we might see a resurgence in true IMAX theartres, including a return of the one in Canada Place eventually.

And yes, Fly Over Canada, currently occupies the old IMAX theatre in Canada Place.

[SpongeG]

richmond and langley both have full size imax screens.

[Klazu]

Thanks for the information, SpongeG! Then I just hope that they will upgrade to the latest projector technology, as Richmond would be a far closer drive than Seattle.

[s211]

Originally Posted by Spork

Doubtful. They have been wanting to expand locations for years, but have been struggling with internal incompetence, indecision, and the unavailability of Autoplan licenses. At best, it might mean that Oak and Broadway would move downtown or a bit further East. Keep in mind that they have a Kerrisdale location as well.

Reply to an old reply, but the BCAA location at Oak and Broadway has a "moving to Cambie/7th" sign on their windows, so it's suggesting they will be closing that location.

[Spork]

Originally Posted by s211

Reply to an old reply, but the BCAA location at Oak and Broadway has a "moving to Cambie/7th" sign on their windows, so it's suggesting they will be closing that location.

I neglected recalling that the space was WAY too big for them. There was a whole separate level included in the lease that was used for off-hand storage.

[mcminsen]

From the General Vancouver Updates thread.


Jan.4 '16, my pic

[Klazu]

Wow, what a tragedy in Whistler today! 42cm of powder overnight and then Whistler Village Gondola breaks down in the early morning. People that had arrived at 8:30 had to wait almost two hours in line-ups just to reach the gondola and then it broke down. Based on Facebook comments people were told that with only Blackcomb Gondola running it would be 1pm before they make it up there. Some people ended up skiing only for few hours.

Those that chose to board from Creekside must have been enjoying an epic day on almost empty Whistler mountain! I just wonder how busy Whistler will be on Monday with conditions like this...

I am currently in Kelowna myself and Silver Star was excellent today. Tomorrow Big White.

[Klazu]

Phew, back from long weekend in Kelowna. Skiing was great and I enjoyed both Silver Star and Big White. I do prefer the latter, as they have more interesting terrain, but Silver Star was also a pleasant first time experience. We were the first people up on both mornings and the first few runs were amazing. Damn that dry snow is something to loath for.

I guess we were lucky to make it there on Friday evening before they had to close Coquihalla due to heavy snow fall. Driving conditions back and forth were great, but god dammit those 120km/h speed limits. Few winters ago I had a flying rock chip my windscreen and this time I had not one but frickin' FIVE tiny chips and a small cracks. And I was doing everything I could to avoid those, by slowing down significantly whenever some speeding a-hole was passing and merging right in front of me.



Has anyone ever made the return trip on Coquihalla and 97 Connector in winter without any damage? I cannot be the only one with such bad luck as there were many people driving behind speeding cars and trucks, which is a sure thing to have rocks flying constantly.

This is why there are winter speed limits in civilized countries. Now it's another $200 down the drain...

[Klazu]

Five days behind me exploring Hong Kong. Wow, what a city! The level of urbanity is so crazy wherever one goes. I have never been so excited to explore city streets than in here, as one never knows what one will find around the corner. And it's all so safe in here!

I absolutely love the tights streetscapes of the Hong Kong Island where thin (and truly pointy!) towers rise to high in the sky. So crazy that one is not guaranteed a view below 35th floor or so and even then there can be a tall tower right in front of you.

It is actually quite surprising to learn that most of Hong Kong's towers are not taller or even as tall as in Toronto. Toronto actually compares very well to the height of the towers, although still loses in the total number of towers (if all commieblocks in here are taken into account). It is interesting how much more urban and tall a city can feel when the towers are just packed very close to each other.

Today I also made an unplanned day trip to check out Shenzhen. Crazy how a city of 10M+ people has sprung up in just 25 years in where rice fields used to fill the landscape. I enjoyed a lunch on the 99th floor of the 1,449 feet KK100 tower which had an incredible view.

The main reason for visiting Shenzhen was of course to see the almost-completed 1,965 feet (!!) Ping An Financial Center, which is the fourth tallest building in the world and second tallest in China (would have been tallest if they wouldn't have removed the spire). Too bad that the observation deck on the top is not yet open, so that remains for the next trip.

The building itself looks amazing and incredibly tall, rising far above the smog covering the city. It is pretty crazy how Shenzhen alone has seven completed supertalls and thirteen under construction!! Makes our construction booms in Canada look quite tiny in comparison...

[Caliplanner1]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Five days behind me exploring Hong Kong. Wow, what a city! The level of urbanity is so crazy wherever one goes. I have never been so excited to explore city streets than in here, as one never knows what one will find around the corner. And it's all so safe in here!

I absolutely love the tights streetscapes of the Hong Kong Island where thin (and truly pointy!) towers rise to high in the sky. So crazy that one is not guaranteed a view below 35th floor or so and even then there can be a tall tower right in front of you.

It is actually quite surprising to learn that most of Hong Kong's towers are not taller or even as tall as in Toronto. Toronto actually compares very well to the height of the towers, although still loses in the total number of towers (if all commieblocks in here are taken into account). It is interesting how much more urban and tall a city can feel when the towers are just packed very close to each other.

Today I also made an unplanned day trip to check out Shenzhen. Crazy how a city of 10M+ people has sprung up in just 25 years in where rice fields used to fill the landscape. I enjoyed a lunch on the 99th floor of the 1,449 feet KK100 tower which had an incredible view.

The main reason for visiting Shenzhen was of course to see the almost-completed 1,965 feet (!!) Ping An Financial Center, which is the fourth tallest building in the world and second tallest in China (would have been tallest if they wouldn't have removed the spire). Too bad that the observation deck on the top is not yet open, so that remains for the next trip.

The building itself looks amazing and incredibly tall, rising far above the smog covering the city. It is pretty crazy how Shenzhen alone has seven completed supertalls and thirteen under construction!! Makes our construction booms in Canada look quite tiny in comparison...

LOL,...that's commie magic for you Klazu. Hope you can take the super fast ferry over to the nearby gambling capital, Macao.

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by Caliplanner1

LOL,...that's commie magic for you Klazu. Hope you can take the super fast ferry over to the nearby gambling capital, Macao.

Oh, I have always loved commieblocks but the ones in Hong Kong are something to behold! So slender and so damn tall!

And yes, I will be visiting Macau tomorrow on a day trip. Been taking some 200 photos per day, so the photoset from this trip will be crazy.

[Klazu]

Arrived in Taipei yesterday after a very pleasant and way too short flight on Hong Kong Airlines business class! Based on my first day Taipei seems quite a different to Hong Kong, starting from the much smaller cityscape. It is interesting, since both cities have very similar populations of around 7 million people.

Infrastructure wise Taipei is still impressive and MRT is as efficient as in Hong Kong, although not quite as busy as in there. Great to see them expanding a line to the airport as well, but too bad it has been delayed and I still had to use a cumbersome bus to get downtown. The freeway network around Taipei was very impressive and was running on three levels at place with at 14 total lanes.

There is definitely something Japanese about Taipei and areas like the entertainment district nearby Ximen station reind me of Tokyo's Shibyua. People are also very friendly and speak relatively good English, although it was slightly easier to get by in Hong Kong. Surprisingly I am seeing more Westerners here in Taipei than in Hong Kong, but perhaps it's just the areas I have been in so far.

Before flying to Taipei, I did also visit Macau. Boy, is that place full of contrasts! First you have UNESCO world heritage old town and right next door you have brand new mega casinos! And those places are huge! I got lost in The Venetian and it took me half an hour to find my way out of there! Intentionally planned like that, of course, but apparently very effective.

If were hotel rooms tiny in Hong Kong, they are miniscule in Taipei! Or perhaps it's just my hotel, but my room is around 45 sqft. There is no much room to spare outside of the small bed in my room! Still, it does the job and has everything one could need in a clean and brand new package.

Five more days of exploring before returning to Vancouver. I see that the local mountains have been getting a good dump of new snow, so I can't wait to get back!

[Klazu]

Rode up the Taipei 101 today. Boy, those world's fastest elevators are FAST! From zero to 89th floor in 37 seconds! That's 390 meters up in almost an instant!! I have been up to many of the world's tallest structures and nothing compares even closely to those elevators. They were ridiculously fast.

For few seconds they were traveling at the top speed of 1010m/min or 16.83m/s, but most of the ride they were just breaking. What was incredible was that my ears didn't even pop, so the elevators were really well sealed!

The views from above were great (day and night view) but those elevators were really da bomb!

[VarBreStr18]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Rode up the Taipei 101 today. Boy, those world's fastest elevators are FAST! From zero to 89th floor in 37 seconds! That's 390 meters up in almost an instant!! I have been up to many of the world's tallest structures and nothing compares even closely to those elevators. They were ridiculously fast.

For few seconds they were traveling at the top speed of 1010m/min or 16.83m/s, but most of the ride they were just breaking. What was incredible was that my ears didn't even pop, so the elevators were really well sealed!

The views from above were great (day and night view) but those elevators were really da bomb!

looking forward to some Klazu quality pics when you are back!!!!

[Klazu]

You know you have too much time on your hands when...

GPS art creations put B.C. ‘Cycleangelo’ on the map

They call him Cycleangelo. His canvas is the streets of Victoria, B.C., and his artist’s tools are a bicycle and a pair of spandex-clad legs.

Stephen Lund, 50, has become a minor celebrity in the biking world after creating more than 85 incredible virtual “doodles” by tracking his specially designed bike routes via GPS, and uploading them to the Internet.

He started with a simple New Year’s message spelled out on the streets, but his designs quickly evolved into massive, amazingly complex critters and characters that take hours to plot out and even longer to cycle through.

Lund, a 50-year-old who works as a marketing consultant, is an avid amateur cyclist. He said he biked more than 22,300 kilometres last year, about a quarter of which he spent on his map art.

He said he conceived of the doodles as “a way to inject a little bit of fun into my bike rides” after he bought a GPS tracking device and paired it with the Strava app a little over a year ago.

“It struck me almost immediately that this red line on the map had more to it than just tracking ... I decided to do some experimentation,” he said.

The pieces, some of which span an area greater than 100 square kilometres, require meticulous planning. He uses the satellite and Street View features on Google Maps to write himself directions so detailed that he knows to turn “at this fire hydrant three quarters of the way up the block.”

Some of Lund’s pieces represent a single continuous ride. But if the roads don’t align with his design he uses what he calls the “connect-the-dots” method — he turns off his GPS device and restarts it again from another position, which creates a straight line on the map and allows him to craft more intricate details.

The process can involve many stops and starts, so he has to pay close attention to where he is. There are no erasers when you’re drawing with GPS. “Three hours, four hours into a ride you start to get tired. You stop focusing and you miss a turn, and it’s like, ‘Oh, my god.’ ”

On at least one occasion, Lund has had to abandon a project partway through when he realized he botched it.

So far, he’s drawn sea serpents, kangaroos, Darth Vader and Yoda, and even written “Merry Christmas.” But he said his favourite work is probably Garmina the Giraffe, a 95.4-km doodle that he completed in February 2015 and was his first to go viral.

His most difficult was a mermaid, whose face and hair he rendered in astounding detail. He said it took about 12 hours to design, and once he hit the road to create it, he had to use three bikes because he damaged the first two.

The 220-kilometre trip was also hampered by rain, and took him two days to finish.

“It was like the universe was conspiring against it,” he said. “I would have been just absolutely distraught had it not turned out. There was no way I could have gone out and repeated the whole thing.”

Lund’s doodles are so incredible that some people don’t believe they’re real. Internet commenters have accused him of being a fraud, he said, but he’s adamant the images are authentic. He said the proof is that he records and posts them through the Strava app. “You can’t outwit the GPS,” he said.

Although he has detractors, he said most people’s reactions have been overwhelmingly positive. He’s done spots on Canadian and American television, been featured in numerous cycling magazines, and last November was invited to speak at the TEDx conference in Victoria.

His masterpieces have now been seen by thousands of people all over the world, and as warm cycling weather returns to British Columbia, he plans to keep adding to his oeuvre. “The possibilities for it are really quite limitless,” he said.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouv...creations.html

• Video Link

[Klazu]

Can someone explain to me why there is always so much anti-government hate posts with lots of Likes on almost every CBC website article? It seems quite overwhelming to me considering how the last election turned out and I was wondering if they may be paid Conservative trolls? In Europe we have Russian government trolls flooding many newspaper discussion forums with their Pro-Russia / Anti-EU agenda, but does the same happen also in here or are normal people just so opinionated?

Sometimes I also feel the same way about the Canada section politics threads. So much direct hate in there that it is really puzzling to me. Much better here on the Vancouver forum IMO.

[GlassCity]

Something about comments sections always skews hard-right conservative. I think it's the older, angrier demographic that is more likely to have the time to take part in those things.

[WarrenC12]

I don't know, there were plenty of anti-Harper people when he was in power. I know he wasn't as popular generally, but I think comments tend to skew negative no matter what. You'd hear people complaining if we solved world hunger.

[Klazu]

I just find it shame that the discussion needs to be so polarized and is filled with so much hate of the opposing opinion. It really reminds me of the black-and-white political discussion in the US which is not intelligent, nor concensus-seeking. I really dislike the "you are either with us or against us" menthality there and would not like to see it in Canada.

Seeing comments like "If Trump wins, I will be moving to the US" gathering 150+ Likes is just puzzling. Do some Canadians really believe we have it so bad in here to feel so strong? One may dislike the election result, but it's not like the new government is steering Canada towards anything totally different from what it has used to be. Trump on the other hand...

Another think I don't get, is the strong hate towards CBC, which in my opinion provides a really good public broadcasting service. Yes, I can see there being a slight bias towards the Liberals in some discussions, but to me the political discussion is most of the time intelligent, about the real issue and to the point. I really enjoy watching it and there is lots of criticism towards the government actions, just as there should be by the media!

I think CBC does a good job and I am happy that they were handed extra money to continue their work. It costs money to keep a nation-wide news service and do investigative journalism, but that is exactly what they are doing most of the time. Just leave out some of those brief fill-in viral video segments before the hour.

Just looking to hear some thoughtful comments on the subject.

[SpongeG]

when did this happen? they removed the ugly looking poles?


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