Subtitle: The next stop after Seattle was The Great White, specifically
Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada. The next week-ish was a road
trip with my friend Mowgli (who had been at DFRWS), first north then
south. We stayed at the University of British Columbia (UBC), spent
some time exploring downtown Vancouver (slogan: "Discouver
Vancouver"?). We spent a day at the Butchart Gardens on
Vancouver Island (but that's in the next set of pictures), and went
to the Museum of Anthropology on the UBC campus and caught up with
Venkata, a friend of mine I hadn't seen since I sort of got him
kicked out of the US accidentally. We were in Vancouver from
August 11-15, 2016.
Other pages from the Pacific Northwest trip:
000-DSC_9011-header: UBC at Night
000-DSC_9011-headertext: The hotel was on the UBC campus, and seemed like it
was some sort of converted dorm, but everything seemed very new, so I think it
had only been around for a few months. Once we checked in, we explored campus
at night a bit and wound up seeing the Perseid meteor shower on the edge of
campus. I had no tripod, so I couldn't take any pictures of shooting stars,
plus it's mostly a matter of luck. Still, we probably saw a dozen of them
over the course of a half hour.
000-DSC_9011: A fountain kind of in the central part of campus.
001-DSC_9012: Clocktower and the main library (Irving K. Barber Learning
Centre).
002-DSC_9013: A neat looking building across the from the library whose name I
don't know and haven't looked up.
003-DSC_9016: Taken from the steps of the library. Lots of students around.
I seriously think that most of them were playing Pokemon Go. I'm kind of
hoping that it's a quick fad and soon most people won't know what that refers
to.
004-DSC_9017: This is the ASRS (Automatic Storage and Retrieval System), a
rather intimidating robotic storage system. In this facility, in the Irving
K. Barber Learning Centre, it can hold 1.8 million volumes. This contains
less used books, theses, records, and other material. I naturally assume the
ASRS is equipped with a 40 kilawatt phase plasma riffle purely for defensive
purposes only and is programmed not to kill the humans. For now...
005-DSC_9018: A close-up of the archives. I like the perspective.
006-DSC_9020: Night, with a mostly full moon by the Museum of Anthropology at
UBC. This was during the Perseids, though I doubt I got pictures of any.
007-DSC_9023:
008-DSC_9025: The UBC Museum of Anthropology.
009-DSC_9026: The main gallery with totem poles at the UBC MOA.
010-DSC_9027-header: Vancouver: The Waterfront
010-DSC_9027-headertext: The next day we took a bus into downtown Vancouver to
explore the city a little.
010-DSC_9027: The UBC campus during the day.
011-DSC_9029: The "Gastown" area of Vancouver. This is a statue of
John Deighton, also known as (and I am not making this up),
Gassy Jack.
012-DSC_9030: Vancouver has a strong film industry, since it's a big city, but
a lot easier and cheaper to use than, say, New York. There was a notice on a
random restaurant window that they'd be filming a commercial in the area soon.
013-DSC_9031: Someone clearly doesn't understand the core concept of
"secret"!
014-DSC_9034: Just outside of a restaurant. I have some friends who
appreciate the "swine arts".
015-DSC_9040: The shipping area, with lots of cargo containers.
016-DSC_9041: Boats, Burrard Inlet harbor (harbour?), and mountains
(and a Candadian flag).
017-DSC_9042: Cruise ships are are common sight in the the Burrard Inlet.
Note the helicopter just above the ship's bow.
018-DSC_9043:
019-DSC_9044: A kind of beach (Crab Park). Lucklucky.
See the sign in the next picture.
020-DSC_9045:
021-DSC_9046: A heliport in front of the cruise ship.
022-DSC_9047: A helicopter just lifted off...
023-DSC_9048: ...and its downdraft kicks up a spray over the water.
024-DSC_9049: Burrard Inlet is also a seaplane base. There are two seaplanes
in the sky.
025-DSC_9050: One seaplane in the middle of the picture is coming in for a
landing.
027-DSC_9052: A helicopter on the pad.
029-DSC_9054: It turns to taxi.
030-DSC_9055: The forward angle on the disc (seen head on) formed by the
line of the forard and rear rotor blades is pretty visible.
031-DSC_9056: Hey, there are big buildings in the city too!
032-DSC_9057: The helicopter lifts off. By the way, those are blackberry
bushes in the foreground. Given all the potential water contamination by
all the cruiseships, helicopters, and seaplanes, I decided not to try any.
034-DSC_9059: It climbs a bit.
035-DSC_9060: And then it heads out.
036-DSC_9061: The stern of a somewhat huge cruise ship.
037-DSC_9062: The seaplane base on Burrard Inlet.
038-DSC_9063: The water near the shore.
039-DSC_9064: More seaplane stuff...I think that's a twin otter taxiing in.
040-DSC_9065: The twin otter, head on view.
041-DSC_9066: The otter docking—the engines are still running.
041a-vancouver_Panorama: A panoramic shot of the northern Vancouver
area, with the beach in the foreground, the cruise ship in the distance.
042-DSC_9067-header: Dancing Waters
042-DSC_9067-headertext: Mowgli and I explored an area by the water
near the convention center that had fountains that shot up from the
ground. It took too many tries to get a few pictures. We also had
to wait at points in time, since the area wasn't clear because lots
of people were walking around. AND the fountains kept going on and
off in different locations.
042-DSC_9067: A first show of the fountain's Dancing Waters.
043-DSC_9074: A picture of me in front of the fountain. Totally not what
I was going for. Time for more briefing.
044-DSC_9075: I had Mowgli pose as a test subject to see if I could get
a shot of the fountain appearing to shoot out of his head.
045-DSC_9079: Mowgli took a shot of me with water coming out of my head.
###046-DSC_9080:
047-DSC_9081-header: Modern Buildings
047-DSC_9081-headertext: Seattle isn't the only place with cool looking
modern buildings.
047-DSC_9081: Three pictures of some buildings in Vancouver that I thought
looked pretty neat.
048-DSC_9082:
049-DSC_9083:
050-DSC_9084-header: The Inlet: Boats, Beaches, and Bridges
050-DSC_9084-headertext: We wandered around the False Creek area
seeing various water features, including beaches, the water from
a water taxi to Granville Island, and the bridges that cross it.
050-DSC_9084: Sunset Beach.
051-DSC_9085: Looking across the water (False Creek) from Sunset Beach.
052-DSC_9086: One of the bridges that goes over False Creek.
053-DSC_9087: More bridge stuff.
054-DSC_9088: Looking out where False Creek opens into English Bay, with neat
looking hills in the distance.
055-DSC_9089: The shore by Sunset Beach near the water taxi.
056-DSC_9090: People in the water with those stand-up paddle surfboard thingies.
057-DSC_9091: The water taxi across False Creek to Granville Island.
058-DSC_9092: Looking back at the dock from the water taxi on False Creek.
059-DSC_9094: Inside the water taxi.
060-DSC_9096: More water taxi.
061-DSC_9097: One of the bridges over False Creek from a water taxi.
062-DSC_9098: Approaching Granville Island from the water taxi.
063-DSC_9099-header: Granville Island
063-DSC_9099-headertext: Granville Island is a small island in False Creek
that is connected to the other parts of Vancouver by two large bridges as well
as water taxis. It has a public market (farmer's market), restaurants, and
some other stuff (like a concrete plant).
063-DSC_9099: The public market on Granville Island.
064-DSC_9100: A view of one of the bridges from the balcony of a
restaurant on Granville Island.
065-DSC_9101: The underside of one of the bridges that connects
Granville Island to the rest of Vancouver.
066-DSC_9102: A concrete plant with colorful (colourful? coulourful?) silos.
067-DSC_9106: The public market on Granville Island at sunset.
068-DSC_9107-header: Back at UBC Again
068-DSC_9107-headertext: After a day spent in downtown Vancouver, we
returned to the UBC campus. I took a few night shots. And then a
few the next day on our way to the Musuem of Anthropology.
068-DSC_9107: A fountain at night.
069-DSC_9108: Columns that list sponsors. It looked cool. If I adjusted the
brightness and contrast I could make out names, but that wasn't the point. I
think it looks better as abstract, light-sabre-like objects coming out of the
ground.
070-DSC_9235: Looking out across English Bay.
071-DSC_9239: Hey, it's a Canadian flag, with a really nice view behind it.
072-DSC_9248: A map of the mountains visible in the next shot.
072a-garden_Panorama: A panoramic shot of gardens at UBC. I left it
as is, rather than do a rectangular crop, because there's too much of it
that I'd lose. It was a neat, well-manicured garden and had a bunch of
different roses (as well as other flowers).
072b-totem_Panorama-header: The Musuem of Anthropology
072b-totem_Panorama-headertext: The Museum of
Anthropology at UBC has a collection of art and culture from
around the world, but focuses on the native cultures of the Pacific
Northwest. The main gallery is what appears in pictures I took
during the Perseids above.
072b-totem_Panorama: Large carved dooframes and a carved totem-like log
in the main gallery.
073-DSC_9251: The musuem has free guided tours of the exhibits throughout
the day. Some of the exhibits (like the carving shown) can be touched.
074-DSC_9252: A totem pole in the main gallery. This was a modern hand-made
one made in the style of older ones. The museum has some old artifacts as
well as ones that were produced for the museum in the 20th and 21st centuries.
075-DSC_9254: The Raven and the First men sculpture by Bill Reid. It
represents the creation myth of how men came to be, which is essentially
that Raven found them in a clam shell. The end. I might be missing a few
details, but it seems like it doesn't answer all the epistemological
questions raised by the story. And yes, I just wanted to use that
word, even if it wasn't properly.
076-DSC_9256: Reid made a small woodem models of the sculpture,
maybe 3 inches high.
077-DSC_9257: One of the cool things about the scrupture is that
it is not symmetric and it is fully realized from all sides. In
other words, there are details on the back, the sides have different
things going on in the clam shell. It was meant to be viewed from
ALL angles, not just the front.
078-DSC_9261: Looking out from the MOA to the area where we watched the
Perseids two nights earlier.
078a-pole_Panorama: Vertical panoramic shot of a totem pole.
079-DSC_9262: A view of the MOA from the area that has totem poles and Haida
houses.
079a-DSC_9263: Totem poles and Haida houses.
079b-moa_Panorama: A 2-picture panoramic shot of the Museum of Anthropology.
081-DSC_9266-header: Nitobe Memorial Garden at UBC
081-DSC_9266-headertext: The
Nitobe Memorial Garden is a traditional Japanese Teal and Stroll
garden, located on the UBC campus. It is regarded as one of the most
authentic Japanese gardens, among the top five outside of Japan. See
the link for details about Inazo Nitobe, whom it honors, and details
of the features, such as the Koi pond, stone lanterns, and more.
There is much symbolism and meaning in the each object in the garden,
as well as the objects location and placement. I can't begin to describe
it (a UBC professor spent 15 years studying it). So I can only give
mundane descriptions. It is a very beautiful, serene, green place.
081-DSC_9266: The Pacific Bell and Bell Tower.
082-DSC_9267: The green of a small forest of trees.
083-DSC_9268: In a sparser, more brown area, the cable-like tree roots
look as if they are burrowing into the ground.
084-DSC_9269: While the trees in the background are a bit blown-out
in the picture, the grass and small scrubs by the pond really
is that green.
085-DSC_9270: Actually, it's not grass, more of a sort of moss. This
area has the feel of Rivendell out of Lord of the Rings.
086-DSC_9271: The "7-storey pagoda" stone lantern in front of
the 77-log bridge across the pond. The pond represents the Pacific Ocean,
and Inazo Nitobe himself served as a bridge between Japan and North America.
There is a Buhhda figure carved into the stone.
087-DSC_9272: The pond, with green around and in it.
088-DSC_9273: A closer shot of the plants growing in the pond.
089-DSC_9274: A view of the pond, with the right side in the foreground
bathed in light, and the left side, in the distance more shadowed.
Every stone has been placed there deliberately.
090-DSC_9275: A bust of Dr. Inazo Nitobe, whom this garden honors.
091-DSC_9276-header: Wreck Beach
091-DSC_9276-headertext: Wreck Beach is a well known beach, with
access from UBC. It is a clothing-optional beach. When we went,
there were a couple of naked, old dudes sitting there, and a few
other people in the area walking around, but that was about it.
There is a WWII tower nearby that was used to look for Japanese
planes. We went there via Trail Number 3. There are a bunch of
steps down to get there, but it wasn't too bad.
091-DSC_9276: A sign warning that nuditity (M*A*S*H reference) might
be present. It was. Just some old dudes. There will be no pictures
(I wouldn't take pictures in any case, that'd be a bit rude).
092-DSC_9277: Journeying into the green forest, heading towards the beach.
093-DSC_9278: This was an old WWII concrete range/direction instrument
tower.
094-DSC_9279: A (very) little wave rolls in.
095-DSC_9280: Looking to the east towards West Vancouver.
096-DSC_9281: Looking to the west to the Pacific Ocean.
097-DSC_9282: The captain has turned on the clothing required sign.
Please return to your seats and make sure your garments are secured
to your body.
098-DSC_9283-header: Just Beyond UBC
098-DSC_9283-headertext: After the tour of campus and the beach, we
headed to the collegetown area for dinner. Not tons to see, but we
saw some trucks with portable dressing rooms there for some show. In
this picture above, I mentioned the Vancouver film
industry. It really is a big thing here.
098-DSC_9283: Actually, this was on the UBC campus. There was a colorful
(colourful?) piano (pianou?) outside of a building that someone was playing.
It was kind of neat.
099-DSC_9284: Venkata and Frank. He works at UBC. I hadn't seen him in
about 10 years. We seem to be hunching over a bit for unknown reasons.
100-DSC_9285: Venkata and Frank, in Vancouver, happy.
101-DSC_9286: While walking back from dinner, we passed a row of trucks
containing portable dressing rooms. It was for some TV show that is
filmed in Vancouver.
102-DSC_9287: Names on the portable dressing rooms include: Mack, Brie,
Taylor, Lizzie, Twin Tower 1, Twin Tower 2. I have no idea what show
it's from.