I've been stuck on the computer all day, so I figured I would go out and get some fresh air. Of course, like most walks I go on, I brought along my trusty camera. This is a shot of the sun setting over False Creek. ...

So this afternoon I headed down to a little church in east Vancouver to shoot some photos for Vancouver fashion week. Thanks to Urban Vancouver I have been able to acquire a media pass so that I basically have full access at all these events (something that I didn't realize until today, since the pass I received today was exactly the same as the one I had on Thursday night). Today was a mix of dresses and lingerie, and I had a really great time hanging out with some of the people I had met at the opening night gala the other day. And to be honest, while I have seen some amazing fashion and some ...

This weekend in Vancouver is the annual Vancouver Fashion Week. I had the opportunity the other night to attend the opening bash down at Bar None in Yaletown. I had a really great time taking photographs and interacting with a lot of the local models and clothing designers. There are events all weekend, so make sure to check out their main web site if you are interested in seeing some local fashion. I just got an email saying I was on the guest list for the swim suit portion today, so I may have to head out and check that out, even though I really don't have much time this weekend. I also did ...

Normally I don't take breaks at work, at least not many long ones. In fact, I usually buy a small lunch and eat it at my desk, using that brief time to catch up on blogs are read the current news. But yesterday, I suddenly got the urge to go outside and shoot some photos in the afternoon, so that's what I did. I didn't have my SLR, so I just shot with my point and shoot, which is always rather depressing. No matter - here are a couple shots of a surprisingly sunny Vancouver. And one this morning taken from my patio. PS - For all of you who are expecting free prints, they've been in the living ...

This should be my last Apple post for a while, but I thought this was newsworthy. Photo from here A friend sent me an email this morning which basically talks about Vancouver being chosen for a new Apple store. After years of speculation and anticipation, there is finally confirmation that that an Apple store will occupy a space inside the Pacific Centre Mall in downtown Vancouver (BC). The three-block indoor mall has been undergoing a long-term and extensive renovation that included demolition, construction and the juggling and moving of several retailers, along with the addition of new stores. ...

Warning -- you're probably gonna hear far too much information in this post, but I need to vent a bit. Ever since being discharged from the hospital, I've had some pretty bad digestive problems. It started with just your run of the mill diarrhea, but has slowly gotten worse over the last month. Lately I've been waking up a bit crampy, and have to hit the bathroom fairly often during the day right now. I spent the other evening searching on the internet, and finally pinned it down to antibiotic associated diarrhea, due mainly to the IV and oral antibiotics I had while fighting pneumonia: Antibiotic-associated ...

Today I made the long trek to work, but instead of having my head down with my iPod firmly attached, I decided (mainly because my iPod was dead) to keep my head up and look around. Being a single guy, my gaze routinely fell on cute girls and, to my complete disappointment, nearly all of them had a cigarette firmly attached between their fingers. Photo by Liz Kasameyer on Flickr Now for some reason, I always thought Vancouver was a fairly healthy city. When I moved away in 2000, I don't think a single person I knew smoked. And now, coming back, everywhere I look there are people who are puffing ...

So, I called around this morning, and the first trickle of the Canon 40Ds are hitting stores. Unfortunately, Canon is behind on manufacturing them, and there are tons of pre-orders, so the average Joe won't be able to buy one for some time. I have my name on a wait list, and I'm pretty sure I'll get mine on Tuesday, should I still want it. But since today was payday, and I have money sitting aside for it, I think I'll probably get it. ...

On Saturday night, Boris and I headed down to Kits to start celebrating Alexandre Brabant's birthday. Since Alex is a search engine optimization wizard, Boris decided the best thing would could possibly give him were a few incoming links to his website. So, without further ado, here it is. If you are looking for an absolutely amazing search engine optimization individual in Vancouver, BC, Canada, then look no further than this Vancouver BC Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Services Expert. Happy Birthday Bud. ...

I was just over at Rebecca's blog reading about "Free Hug Day" in Vancouver. I think it's a great idea, and I feel like I really need to do my part to help out. So, for tomorrow only, I'd like to encourage all single girls to come up and give me a hug. I've been told I'm quite huggable, and it's the least I can do to help out with this great Vancouver event. Photo by Rebecca Bollwitt I mean come on, who wouldn't want to hug the guy on the tractor? ...

Ok, this is a quick entry on something I've been meaning to write about for some time - tipping. For some reason, it seems like more and more places I visit now are introducing "tipping" into the system. In particular, a lot of interact machines I encounter are starting to show "please enter tip amount." In the old days, you'd usually encountered a "Tip: Yes/No" question first, but I've seen the former more and more lately, and it's starting to piss me off. You see, I don't think you should tip if you're buying something across the counter. A good example is Fritz ...

Well, I've had a few sales on the photography website already, so thanks everyone for plugging it -- I really appreciate it. I'm going to canvas a few stores this weekend and see if I can get some of my stuff into the local markets. I've been racking my brain for a few out of the box ideas, so hopefully I'll be able to take the marketing a bit further. I'd like to get some of my work nicely framed and visible in a few areas with high traffic. If anyone has any friends or know of any businesses that wouldn't mind a few photos on the wall, let me know! For those of you expecting free prints, please ...

I'm pretty beat, having spent a good portion of the day traveling again. The flight from Montreal to Vancouver, with the strong head winds, was almost six hours long - thankfully it was extremely bearable up in business class, thanks to my hot towel and my tasty meals. Despite all the perks associated with business class (and there are many), I think the main one I enjoyed is that the flight attendants and people you encounter all automatically treat you with respect. If you have a problem, they'll help you solve it. If you don't like your seat, they'll help you move. Worried about your luggage? ...

Well, I'm currently sitting in my boxers in a Montreal hotel about to go to sleep. I spent most of the day either thinking about traveling, or actually traveling, so when I landed in Montreal at 7pm, I was a bit tired from the whole ordeal. Leaving a foreign country where the rules of leaving aren't really clearly defined is a bit stressful for me. The whole tourist card thing turned out to be not a big deal, and eventually I made it through customs and security. It's amazing how less anxious I become whenever I land back in Canada -- there's a certain comfort with knowing your bank card will ...

As everyone who hits my blog these days knows, I really like taking photos. My passion for photography started about seven years ago, and is still going strong today. I've been fortunate enough to be able to afford a really nice camera and a full suite of lenses, and while I sort of understand what's needed to take "good" photos, my camera really does the majority of the heavy lifting. My friends routinely use my photos in blog posts (which I really appreciate), but every once and a while I do a quick search via Technorati to see who else is using my photos. Tonight, that search led ...

Tony Pierce is currently in town checking out some of the Canadian sights and trying his hand at drinking Canadian beer. Tonight Tony, Robyn, Rebecca, John, Keira, Adam and Corinna all came down to my place for some pre-fireworks drinking. I wasn't up to my typical drinking self, but I still managed to demolish 6 or 7 beers in fairly short order. I didn't really eat any type of supper, so I'm a bit hungry now. On Friday some of us are going to meet up after work for a longer version of tonight, with hopefully a larger group. It was a cool night though, and it is the first time since owning my ...

I saw this personal ad on craigslist tonight. This basically represents the type of ads I've grown accustomed to reading over the last year: I am an attractive woman so I deserve the best. He must be tall, athletic, and educated. He must be successful,drive a nice vehicle, live on his own (no roomates) and be on his way to owning his own home soon. He must be generous. He must be willing to pamper me, indulge me, and treat me like a princess.I want a man who will take me for nice dinners and someone who likes to travel (with me).I don't mind if he has a busy schedual. I will make him happy in ...

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I caught the original news for this in a Skype back channel yesterday, and have had a few people email me links about this since. For those of you who missed it, Microsoft has announced that it will be opening a Vancouver office to attract Canadian talent and to sidestep some of the immigration problems it has had in the past: Microsoft Corp. has ratcheted up the pressure on the U.S. government to boost the number of foreign worker visas it gets by announcing plans for a new software development centre in Vancouver. The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant said yesterday it plans to open the centre ...