JOKiBLOG

2007.May 21. February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

Vancouver, VanDusen Botanical Gardens - Festival of Lights

2007.May 20. In parks in British Columbia, no one is allowed to damage a rock... In Toronto parks it's a little different - no one is allowed to climb rocks :)

Downtown Vancouver, English Bay, 2nd Beach - Balanced Rocks @ Sunset

2007.May 19. Only 1000 days until the XXI. Winter Olympic Games!

City of Vancoucer - Olympic Flag

2007.May 12. Don't let your parrot squawk or talk too loudly in British Columbia. If it disturbs someone you'll get blamed, to the tune of $100.

Vancoucer, Bloedel Conservatory - Moluccan Cockatoo Parrot

2007.May 13. Cyclists in Vancouver must paint 22.5 centimetres of their rear fenders white. That gets tricky for some cyclists, because rear fenders are not required in Vancouver. You may not use a siren(!) on your bicycle in a national park, but a bell(?), gong(??) or horn can be used :) In fact it must be sounded before passing a vehicle or person traveling in the same direction as your bicycle.

City of Vancoucer - Spanish Banks Beach @ Sunset

2007.May 06. A Judge in Collingwood, Ontario, decided it was an offence to let the Canadian flag "snap" too loudly in the wind. In February, 1999, he sent a summons for this crime to a retired schoolteacher.

Whistler Peak - Canadian flags

2007.May 05. Be on your best behavior if the Queen visits. Doing anything intended to "alarm Her Majesty" is against the law. An adult who alarms her on purpose can spend up to 14 years in prison. Knowingly selling anything "defective" to the Queen or her agents is a criminal act. Do it and you could face up to 14 years in jail!

Downtown Vancouver - Grey Cup Parade

2007.April 29. In 1967, BC Ferry passengers saw what they claimed to be a mermaid sitting on rocks at the entrance to Active Pass (outside Victoria, BC, Canada). Reports indicated that the mermaid had long blonde hair, the lower body of a porpoise and was sitting on the rocks eating a salmon.

Vancouver Island - BC Ferry

2007.April 28. 1947 April 28 A Trans Canada Airlines Lockheed Lodestar disappeared in southwestern B.C. with 15 people on board. None survived. Not until September, 1994, more than 47(!) years later, was the crash site discovered on Mt. Cheam near Chilliwack.

Chilliwack - Mt. Cheam

2007.April 25. Origin of British Columbia's Name Much of the mainland region was originally known as New Caledonia; however, this name (duplicated in South Pacific) was discarded in favour of British Columbia. The designation appears to have originated with Queen Victoria and was officially proclaimed in 1858. Columbia (after the Columbia River which was named by the American Captain Robert Gray for his ship Columbia ) had previously been loosely applied to the southern portion of the colony.

Typical BC Landscape: Garibaldi Lake - Garibaldi Provencial Park

2007.April 21. The world's oldest continuously operating family business ended its impressive run last year. Japanese temple builder Kongo Gumi, in operation under the founders' descendants since 578, succumbed to excess debt and an unfavorable business climate in 2006.

Dennis Oppenheim: Device to Root Out Evil / Upside Down Church - Downtown Vancouver

2007.April 15. In the old days, sea captains kept pigs on board because they believed, should they be shipwrecked, pigs always swam toward the nearest shore.

The North Shore, British Columbia (taken from Swenson Walk - Ladner)

2007.April 08. 1958 June 17 The new Second Narrow Bridge collapsed during construction. Eighteen workmen and one rescue worker died and 20 more were injured. Wage at the time was $3.85 an hour. The bridge's name today: Iron Workers Memorial Bridge.

The Iron Workers Memorial Bridge @ Sunrise

2007.April 01. There are about a billion bicycles in the world, twice as many as motorcars. Almost 400 million bicycles are in China.

Trike - Fort Langley

2007.March 22. Did You know that... a grizzly bear can run up to about forty miles per hour and the top human runner "only" 15 miles per hour? BC Wildlife Branch estimates that 10,000 to 15,000 Grizzly bears live in British Columbia... Good luck :)

Grizzly - North Vancouver, Grouse Mountain

2007.March 18. The Canadian flag is twice as long as it is wide. The white square and its maple leaf make up half the surface of the flag - equal to the 2 red bars combined. George Stanley, a professor at Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario in 1964, suggested a red and white single maple leaf design for the flag because it could be seen clearly from a distance.

Canadian Flag, Eh? - VanDusen Gardens, Vancouver

2007.March 15. Vancouver's natural assets and temperate climate make it one of the best cities in the world in which to live, a new survey says. The annual quality of life survey released by Mercer Human Resource Consulting placed Vancouver third out of 215 cities, the same as last year.

Downtown Vancouver @ Sunset - Lost Lagoon