June 1998

• UVic has a break between sessions this week, so I was able to do a few things in and around town:
  • I went on a trip upisland to Tofino BC.

  • It is a challenge to find an open restaurant kitchen in Victoria after 11 p.m. Swans Brewpub stays open late and features great food in ample portions. They also brew their own beer, ranging from novelties like cherry beer (just ask for a taste) to versions of the traditional types (the bitter was very good). The clientele is diverse, and a live band most nights contributes to the lively atmosphere.

    Swans Brewpub, 506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria BC, (250) 361-3310

    

  • In 1904, Jennie Butchart, the wife of a Victoria cement magnate, began planting flowers around her house. She later expanded the garden into an exhausted limestone quarry. Today, nearly one million people come every year from all over the world to see the floral beauty of The Butchart Gardens.
    

  • Of the downtown restaurants, Wharfside Restaurant has the best view of Victoria's Inner Harbour. Just two blocks from the Empress Hotel, they certainly make use of their location by offering ample sheltered seating on large decks. Dine around sunset and watch as the lights outlining the Legislature (provincial government assembly building) come on. The kitchen specializes in seafood, oddly little of it local. Imaginitive sauces (orange chipolte was good on Digby NS scallops). The service is friendly and attentive from the bar to the table.

    Wharfside Restaurant, 1208 Wharf Street, Victoria BC, (250) 360-1808

  (28-30 June 98)

• Tonight I started playing in a summer hockey league organized by the Oak Bay Recreation Centre. My team (called "#2 Teal") scored first, but it was downhill from there as we were shellacked 8-4 by #1 Blue. We have lots of excuses -- new pads (the goalie), a cold (me), a baseball game earlier the same night (two other forwards) -- and, with two games per week during the two-month-long season, lots of time to improve!

  Oak Bay Recreation Centre, 1975 Bee Street, Victoria BC, (250) 598-4625. Ice rink, swimming pool, gymnasium and more.
  (22 June 98)

• A Garden Variety Autopsy
  "The decedent is 20 years old and probably succumbed to a chronic bacterial infection of the nutrient uptake system."
  "Are you sure, Doctor? I can see some superficial lichenification and fungal growth."
  "Those are post-mortem changes, not the primary problem."
  "There's only one way to find out for sure ..."
  So I picked up my shovel ...

  Shovel ?!? No, this was not a graveyard exhumation. For Father's Day I was assisting my plant pathologist father remove some tree stumps from the yard of the family home in Edmonton AB. This particular strain of apple tree was apparently winter hardy (good for The 'Chuck, which usually spends six months a year under some amount of snow) but also more susceptible than usual to root infection. No more of my parents' homemade apple wine (mixed response ;-) )!

  Northern Gardening.

  Plant infections can have other more economically significant effects, as some Edmonton homeowners have discovered:

  The Rotten Pine Shake Site (20-21 June 98)

  

• Victoria's colorful hanging flower baskets took their place on downtown lamp posts this week. This year, in addition to the usual 940 baskets made by the city parks staff, 150 were prepared by a visiting Japanese group, many of them gardeners, who wanted to learn how the baskets are made. Downtown business will sponsor the care of the baskets, and will let their tourist creators know how the flowers fare over the summer.
  (Source: Victoria News Weekend Edition)
  (12 June 98)
  

• The 1998 World Cup of Soccer tournament began today in France. Japan is fielding a team for the very first time; its fortunes will be closely followed by Japanese fans, who have been growing in number since the inception of the J League of professional soccer in 1991. Soccer in Japan is more popular among young people than sumo and baseball. Team Japan will be hard-pressed to emerge from a group that features always-strong Argentina. Oddsmakers put their chances of winning the championship at 200-1!

  Team Canada will not appear, having run up against stiff competition from Central American and Caribbean countries in the qualifying round. Playing minor hockey has become increasingly expensive, so more Canadian children are playing soccer these days. Will Canada be ready for World Cup 2002 in Japan and Korea?
  (11 June 98)

• Today, in a moment of distraction in the McPherson Library at UVic, I found an interesting magazine. The East: A Review and Sample of Fiction by Expatriates in Japan offers some unique perspectives on Japan.
  (08 June 98)

• I took in the first day of Sumo Canada Basho at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
  (06 June 98)

• This morning I had a break between my classes that allowed me to cycle down to Victoria's Inner Harbour, where Akebono performed the dohyo-iri (ring entering) ceremony on the front steps of the B.C. Legislature for various government and First Nations dignitaries. This was a promotional event for the Sumo Canada Basho in Vancouver tomorrow. The presence of the great yokozuna (Grand Champion, sumo's highest rank) genuinely surprised the many Japanese tourists who just happened to be there sightseeing!

  In the afternoon, I rode a ferry to Vancouver. B.C. Ferries has upgraded the food service on some of its vessels, although the coffee is still terrible -- take tea instead! For those jaded with the great scenery, diversions include a gift shop, video games and, new this year, Puri Kura (PURInto KURAbu = Print Club, or Sticker Club as it is being marketed in North America) machines! I couldn't resist.

  In the evening I went to Yaletown, a relatively new neighbourhood which has sprung up on Vancouver's former Expo '86 grounds. Warehouses have been converted to stores and apartments, giving it a New York SoHo or TriBeCa feel. One of the busier establishments is the Yaletown Brew Pub, which features many excellent in-house brews and an atmosphere much like Toronto's Amsterdam Brew Pub had in the late 1980s.
  (05 June 98)

• Kundun (USA 1997; Dir: Martin Scorsese) ****
  Wow! Politics aside, the sweeping style, sumptuous costumes and breathtaking scenery in this telling of the life story of the Dalai Lama qualify it as a "Significant Film"! The various Buddhist rituals are not explained, but one is left curious to learn more. A bunch of "Free Tibet" activists was waiting with petitions outside the theatre.
  Kundun Scorsese's masterpiece
  Shambhala Community Tibetan Buddhism in ... Halifax NS?!? (04 June 98)

• The Hanging Garden (Canada 1997; Dir: Thom Fitzgerald) ***
  A long-absent son returns to his family home in Halifax on his sister's wedding day, stirring up all manner of unfinished business. Nova Scotia gothic! Great celtic/mystic soundtrack by the likes of Ashley MacIsaac, The Rankin Family, Mae Moore and others.
  (03 June 98)

• Twilight (USA 1998; Dir: Robert Benton) ***
  A standard film noir about intrigue in Hollywood. The predictable story doesn't demand much of the stellar cast, which includes Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, James Garner and Stockard Channing. A competent and enjoyable flick, though not that memorable. This group should be capable of more. If you're in the mood for a recent example of this genre, a better choice is L.A. Confidential.
  (02 June 98)

  

• My friends Bruce and Margaret from the CJST are both on the Island for a visit. Bruce brought me my ticket for the Sumo Canada Basho in Vancouver this coming weekend. It is the first basho ever to be held in Canada -- very exciting!

  We met at Spinnakers Brew Pub, which features a number of good in-house brews, decent pub fare and a spectacular view of Victoria's Inner Harbour and, on a clear day like today, the snow-covered Olympic Peninsula mountains. Service in The Taproom pub is British style though, i.e. get it from the bar yerself!

  Spinnakers Brew Pub & Guest House, 308 Catherine Street, Victoria BC
  (01 June 98)

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