Video from what seems likely to be one of the most memorable nights of live music of 2010.

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks here in Vancouver—or, as I’ve taken to calling it, Olympictown. In so many ways the city since February 1st has been an entirely different city that it has ever been. Amongst the important questions being asked is: what will it become next?

Without a doubt the games have brought Vancouver to life: streets downtown have felt, more or less, like a 24 hour party zone, and its been quite a change from the normal routine of rolling up sidewalks in the early evening on weekdays. Bars and restaurants on Granville and Robson Streets have been overflowing, even those of dubious quality.

Granville Island was a focal point for quite a bit of activity, to say that its been busy is an understatement. It’s been a different kind of busy though: while the prepared food vendors and coffee merchants have been quite happy, the others have—in many cases—seen a dramatic drop in business: up to 40%. The impact of an exorbitant and sudden parking fee, no doubt. To say that there are many Granville Island merchants who are counting down to the end of the games is an understatement.

Our great experiment with short streetcar line provided (at no cost, it must be noted) by Bombardier has been very popular. People want to keep it. The line needs to be longer, but it would be nice to see something similar stick around. It probably won’t. It will take decades for there to be enough traffic on that line to justify the cost to Translink.

The Canadian flags being worn as capes all around town will come to an end in about two hours, with the end of the Men’s gold medal hockey game. A shame, as the bright red of which many of us are proud all year round does a nice job of punching out against the cloudy grey backdrop the weather has provided us for much of the last two weeks. The public outpouring of patriotism has been remarkable. Vancouver is not a town that feels much like it’s part of Canada most of the time. This is us, out here on the raggedy edge: a long way from an Ottawa that feels (too often) like it ignores us altogether. Perhaps that will end, thought I doubt it: we still don’t vote Conservative in the city, and the Liberals like Quebec too much.

For all the talk about Vancouver as Canada’s future—it’s been a topic of conversation before, and it will come up again—I’m not sure that this has marked any kind of substantial transition. A two week party amongst our glass towers does little to repair the economic fragility of a town lacking in head offices and sizable employers, where the cost of purchasing a house vastly exceeds the reach of the average income. It remains to be seen, of course, and its been an interesting ride.

I, for one, can’t wait to get my city back.

CBC Radio 3 likes to present and broadcast live concerts from the famous and historic CBC Studio One, deep in the underground of the building. I’ve seen some artists here for the very first time, and gone on to become a fan of them. This time, they were presenting one of my favourites artists of the last couple of years: Dan Mangan with Mint Records’ Fanshaw as an opening act.

Fanshaw was entertaining, playing guitar and accompanied by bass and drums. It was when Dan took the stage that things got very interesting. Instead of his regular band (which included Laura Smith on keyboards, an acoustic double bass, and a full assortment of percussion) the stage was set with three horn players, a cellist and two violinists. No percussion at all, and the only amplifier in sight was eventually plugged into Dan’s guitar (a Fender, I think.)

Calling the night of music that followed magic doesn’t do it justice, really. The sound was beautiful, and so totally different from anything else I’ve seen live lately. Some photos are below, with more on my Flickr page and a podcast will be made available soon that will be a must download. If you have any doubts about the value the CBC as to the country’s arts and culture, nights like this make an easy and compelling argument that it is, simply, irreplaceable.

I remain surprised and a bit disturbed by the fact that women’s ski jumping wasn’t included in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The New York Times is covering it as well.

In essence, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the IOC was not subject to the Canadian constitution, and that VANOC is not responsible for the content of the games. A political ruling if I’ve ever heard one.

The fact that the IOC hasn’t yet committed to include women’s ski jumping in Sochi in 2014 isn’t promising either. Perhaps an announcement is imminent.

I’m in Edmonton for work and—to answer the question, occasionally unspoken but always considered—I didn’t lose a bet. I actually volunteered, in part so that I could reconnect with friends.

It turns out that the only part of Edmonton I know is Whyte Avenue. It could be worse: it’s a pretty good part of town, with interesting sites to see. Of course, I’m hanging out in a Starbucks at Chapters with some free Wi-Fi. These are the compromises we make for connectivity.

I was last here in the summertime, about nine months ago, and things have changed. A nice small used bookstore I tried to spend some money in is closed. With Pages having closed in Toronto and Duthies closed in Vancouver, this is a trend that is becoming problematic for those of us who like the printed page.

I turned a TV on in a hotel room last night and lasted about a minute and a half. I haven’t had one for the last nine months or so, and the commercials and barrage of noise grate on me. The longer I stay away from it, the more annoying it gets. Back to CBC.

It’s snowy here, which is something I haven’t seen very much of this year. It makes me think that they maybe should have held the Winter Olympics here. In two days, Vancouver’s going to get crazier than it’s ever been. I fly home tonight, and I’m looking forward to it—and not just because of this Saturday night’s Wilco show.

One of the best films I’ve seen in quite some time, with music curated by the always amazing T. Bone Burnett

Paul Quarrington’s novels and characters were quirky, strange, odd, entertaining and very Canadian. Whale Music is a classic in both print, film and recorded music. Quarrington had cancer for some time which makes this loss no less shocking.

Writer Paul Quarrington dies of cancer
Beloved author, musician and screenwriter battled lung cancer, died Thursday morning at his Toronto home
Michael Posner, Toronto — Globe and Mail update
Published on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010 10:31AM EST

Paul Quarrington, 56, a beloved Canadian writer, musician and screenwriter, passed away early this morning after a heroic battle with lung cancer.

A statement posted to his official website said: “Paul Quarrington’s brave battle with cancer is over. He passed peacefully at home in Toronto in the early hours this morning surrounded by friends and family. It is comforting to know that he didn’t suffer; he was calm and quiet holding hands with those who were closest to him. The past few days saw a rapid decline in his ability to breathe.”

At the end of August, Pages Bookstore in Toronto closed. It was, in my opinion, the best bookstore in Canada and featured a great selection of first time authors: books that Chapters wouldn’t even think about stocking.

Duthie’s is the closest we have in Vancouver, though its selection of independently published first time authors wasn’t as great. Now they’re closing.

I readily admit to being part of the problem here. In the last ten years I’ve increasingly purchased used books, so I haven’t exactly been helping keep Duthie’s in business. Books can get expensive, and why kill all those new trees? I actually don’t order many books from Amazon: probably fewer than 15 in the last ten years. Still…I’m not pleased about this.

DUTHIE PRESS RELEASE
January 19, 2010

We are sad to tell you that Duthie Books 4th ave is closing.

After 53 years, the last Duthies bookstore is closing. Goodbye to all that!
The Duthie family: Cathy Legate, Celia Duthie and David Duthie, wish to thank all the customers, readers, staff, authors, and publishers who have been part of Duthie Books over the years, particularly our customers who have remained steadfast over these past 10 years at 4th Ave.

We have had 53 (mostly) happy years of bookselling in Vancouver. We have offered friendly recommendations, and stocked good books. For 53 years Duthies has provided a good book service to the city, championed BC and Canadian books, encouraged the public to read local writers, and helped to create a knowledgeable reading public. The book culture of Vancouver and BC has grown up and flourished around Duthies from publisher’s reps to publishing houses , authors, illustrators, designers, printers, literary festivals, and university writing and publishing programs have emerged in the Duthies milieu and many Duthies alumni work in all parts of the book trade.

LED lights are wonderful: bright, long lasting, even more energy efficient than compact fluorescent bulbs (and they don’t require mercury.)

Of course they also don’t give off much heat, and that fact has apparently been causing a bit of trouble with traffic signals in snowier parts of the country.

LED Signal’s Seen as Environmental Boon and Potential Hazard - NYTimes.com
The new lighting is part of a fast-growing trend in environmentalism. LED bulbs use less energy, last longer and are more visible than their predecessors. They are also known to require less maintenance. But they do not emit nearly as much heat as conventional bulbs, allowing snow and ice to accumulate more easily in certain conditions.

It’s always interesting to see the unintended consequences of a new technology. I’m not sure that anybody could have thought this problem through enough to anticipate the problem.

CBC Radio 3’s top 103 songs of 2009 are now available as a playlist. It’s as reasonable a list as anything I could have come up with. I might have bumped Amy Millan up a bit for personal reasons. I think Young Galaxy should probably have another song on the list, and Metric’s Gimme Sympathy is a bit of a predictable choice for number one (though the acoustic version Emily Haines performed at the Polaris Music Prize Gala was beautiful.)

Onwards and upwards to 2010.

From Business Week, in July of 2000, an article written a bit more than a year in advance of the iPod’s introduction on October of 2001. A priceless quote from Bill Gates.

Yes, Steve, you fixed it. Congrats! Now what’s Act Two?
“All told it’s hard to see how Apple can hold its innovation lead. ‘The big thing that Apple is providing now is leadership in colors. It won’t take us long to catch up with that,’ quipped Microsoft Chairman William H. Gates III last year. Even Jef Raskin, the ex-Apple manager who conceived the original Mac, isn’t terribly optimistic about Apple returning to its glory, ‘I think they can remain what they are: a well-loved, influential bit player, the late Walter Matthau of the computer industry. But not the top star.”

Never count Steve Jobs out. I still can’t imagine Apple without him, though I suspect he’s put a successful culture in place.

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