floppy fishy

Amy's first fish heads for the frying pan.

A Rare Sighting

Occasionally, when the elements are just right, a small group of Youngs will congregate together for the purpose of eating and playing cards. In late August just such an event was spotted on the north shore - local young Youngs renewed relations over take-out Thai and a physical game of Donkey on a surprisngly flimsy table. These pictures show the group of cousins frolicking after the shared meal and before the necessary ritual sacrifice of one of the Innocents.

Progress on Pirate's Island

In August we took a sojourn to Passage Island with our comrade TA to check out the nation-building over there. We drank and dined with locals and relations, met the goat and tented on the floor of the ever-rising house. The next day we took in a local beach on Bowen Island and burned in the sun.

The Prodigal Son

Of course, as no trip to the interior is fully complete without a visit to the old folks we spent several days in the bat cave on Tamarack. The little man even came down from Rumsfields oil-patch to say hi and I renewed relations with my companion Willy, who no doubt was put out by being unable to share the bed with Amy. We visited old and new friends, toured the old neighbourhood (podcast to follow?) and donated money to the local casino (wait, that was just me...).

During our summer holidays in July we travelled to Houston BC to visit the Halvorson clan there. Fun was had by all as we fished a local lake for trout. Amy successfully caught her first fish and then tried cleaning her first fish, not so successfully.

Cup Crazy!

After losing the WHL to Medicine Hat in game 7 we met them again in the Memorial Cup Final - ah, sweet revenge - the Giants sealed their first Cup title. A great ending to a awesome season!

Seabus to the Cinematheque

Just had a chance took catch the tail end of the DOXA documentary film fest downtown this weekend. We saw Quitters; about life in a UK residential treatment program. It was a good story; reminded me of the choas I work in. Would like to split a festival pass next year though, to watch more of the films during the week. At $12 a show its a bit pricey to soak them all in. A better plan would be to volunteer down there for a free pass and to meet some if the filmmakers. Mental note.

A Day at the Coliseum

Nothing says summer like watching playoff hockey! After watching the Vancouver Giants make it to the semi-final of last years Memorial Cup, and knowing they would be hosting this years tournament, we decided to get a few season tickets to partake in the fun. We took in a number of great games at the rink on Renfrew and watched the G-men win the BC Division and then lose in double OT of game 7 of the WHL final against the Medicine Hat Tigers. This past week the great hockey continued as the Memorial Cup began. This championship tournament sees the 3 CHL league winners (WHL, OHL, QMJHL) and a host team battle it out for Canadian junior hockey supremacy. After watching several of the round robin games this week I can honestly say that this the most exciting hockey around; goals, hits, great goal-tending, and personal appearances by Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr and Trevor Linden - and we haven't even had the final game yet! The Giants will seek revenge tomorrow in the final against the Tigers - hopefully pics of their win will follow.

Oh no we didn't!

We decided to get out of the big city for the holidays; we travelled by Cavalier to balmy Summerland, BC to meet up with an assorted collection of nuclear and extended family members. Much to our chagrin however the weather was quite cold and snowy. We had to forgoe our golf game for a trip to the local Legion where ate peanuts, drank cheap beer and tried to win frozen meat door prizes. Over the next few days we also continued various family holiday traditions such as over-eating chocolates, drinking in the morning, teaching bridge to people, and making fun of Nik's forehead. We were also able to squeeze ina quick trip to Squamish as well to meet up with the Norwegian cell of the family. Pickled garlic anyone?

Spying on Deep Cove

A recent warming of the weather brought my brother out from Onterrible for visit. Shown here on the right - B. enjoys playing floor hockey, wearing sun glasses and hanging with the gang. On this particular sunny day we hiked the east end of the Baden Powell and checked out the sleepy community of Deep Cove, originally named for the french (francais) term 'really expensive housing'.